HEADLINES

Jonathan Jones

Patriots Sign Eight UDFAs, Cut Joey Iosefa

May 6th, 2016 at 6:16pm CST by Luke Adams

The Patriots have officially confirmed six previously reported contract agreements with their 2016 draftees, and announced that they’ve locked up two more members of their draft class. Having now signed third-round defensive tackle Vincent Valentine and sixth-round linebacker Elandon Roberts, New England has now secured all of its draft picks except for third-round quarterback Jacoby Brissett.

The Patriots have also cut running back Joey Iosefa from their roster, so he’ll become a free agent if and when he passes through waivers. Iosefa spent time on the Pats’ practice squad last season and was promoted when the backfield was hit hard by injuries. He had 15 carries on the year, with 14 of them (for 51 yards) coming in Week 15 against the Titans.

Finally, the Patriots filled out their 90-man roster by adding eight undrafted free agents to the mix. The club signed the following UDFAs:

AFC Rumors: Taylor, Bills, Broncos, Steelers

April 7th, 2016 at 5:07pm CST by Zachary Links

Asked during an appearance on the NFL Network if Tyrod Taylor is the Bills‘ long-term solution at quarterback, Doug Whaley was somewhat non-committal in his answer.

“We want him to be, he wants to be, and time will tell,” the Bills GM said, as NFL.com’s Kevin Patra writes. “But we’re excited about what he did last year — he went 8-6 as a starter. There is a lot of excitement around our football team.… I’ll tell you this, I know he’s a big competitor and he’s going to want to raise his level of his game next year and take the next step and we are excited and we’re going to try to give him as much ammunition around him for him to succeed.”

So what does that mean for a potential contract extension? Whaley says he won’t rule out a new pact being agreed to this season, but it’d have to be at the “right price.” In the interim, the Bills are keeping their options open and meeting with some of the top QBs in this year’s draft.

Here’s more out of the AFC:

  • GM John Elway and the Broncos have inquired about Taylor, according to Benjamin Allbright of AM1340 in Denver (Twitter link). A trade probably isn’t likely, as the Bills prefer to hang onto their quarterback and the Broncos are just exploring all their options, but it’s an interesting tidbit nonetheless.
  • Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak says the team worked out Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch at his pro day on Wednesday, as Troy Renck of The Denver Post tweets. Denver will still bring Lynch in for an official pre-draft visit down the line, as Cameron Wolfe of The Denver Post tweets.
  • The offensive line is definitely a priority for the Colts, but it appears they’re more focused on improving at center and guard rather than the tackle spots, Mike Wells of ESPN.com writes. “The interior of that offensive line, the center and two guard spots, is the focal point,” coach Chuck Pagano said. At the same time, there aren’t a ton of high-level interior lineman in this year’s class and Wells wouldn’t be surprised if they took a top pass-rusher or middle linebacker if there’s one on the board.
  • Auburn cornerback Jonathan Jones is visiting the Steelers today, Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle tweets. Akron outside linebacker Jatavis Brown and North Carolina Central cornerback Ryan Smith are also among the prospects in Pittsburgh to meet with the Steelers, per Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link).

Luke Adams contributed to this post.