Josh Lambo

NFC Rumors: Bradford, Seahawks, McAdoo

Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford took the majority of first-team reps with the offense this week, according to Stacey Dales of the NFL Network (via Twitter), and her colleague, Ian Rapoport, tweets that Bradford looks increasingly likely to suit up for Minnesota’s matchup against the Bears tomorrow night. Bradford, of course, has missed the team’s last three games with a knee injury after a brilliant Week 1 performance, and the Vikes have gone 1-2 in that time. His return will be most welcome.

Now for more from around the NFC:

  • Seahawks RB Eddie Lacy looked sharp in last week’s win over the Colts, and Rapoport tweets that, with fellow running back Chris Carson likely to miss the rest of the season, Seattle is treating Lacy like the starter. However, the team may still elect to use a committee approach rather than devote a lion’s share of the carries to Lacy.
  • Seahawks G Luke Joeckel is expected to play against the division-rival Rams today and then undergo knee surgery during the team’s bye next week, according to Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network (via Twitter). Joeckel has performed reasonably well in his first year in Seattle, and it is unclear whether his surgery will force him to miss the team’s next game, which will take place on October 22.
  • Giants head coach Ben McAdoo is not on the hot seat despite his team’s horrific 0-4 start, according to Rapoport (video link). Rapoport spoke with a team source this week who pointed out that the club does not have a quick trigger when it comes to major decisions, and New York still believes McAdoo will be a successful head coach in the NFL.
  • Rapoport tweets that the Buccaneers‘ kicker audition, which is expected to take place tomorrow, will include Josh Lambo in addition to Mike Nugent and Andrew Franks, whose names were previously reported. Incumbent kicker Nick Folk‘s future with the team will become clear after that audition, though it is possible Tampa Bay retains Folk.
  • We learned earlier today that the 49ers have commenced efforts to extend running back Carlos Hyde.

Bears Audition Two Kickers

The Bears could be considering a change at kicker. Today, the team brought in Roberto Aguayo and Josh Lambo for a tryout, a league source tells Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune (on Twitter). Roberto Aguayo (vertical)

Connor Barth has been the Bears’ kicker since taking over for Robbie Gould in 2016. Last year, the veteran converted on just 78.3% of his field goals. This year, the 31-year-old has missed two of his four attempts, though one of those was a 57-yard try against Green Bay last week. The other miss was a 47-yard attempt against the Steelers in Week 3. To his credit, he is a perfect 7-of-7 on extra points in 2017 and he missed only one XP last year.

If signed, this will mark Aguayo’s second stint with Chicago in 2017. The former second round pick was claimed by Chicago after he was waived by the Bucs, but he was unable to prove himself in camp and was dropped three weeks later. The Bucs took on Aguayo’s $428K salary guarantee when they picked him up on the waiver wire and they had nothing to show for it.

Lambo lost the Chargers’ kicking competition to undrafted rookie Younghoe Koo this summer. After he was cut, he worked out for the Raiders, Eagles, and Jaguars, but was unable to find a home with any of those teams.

NFL Workout Updates: 9/15/17

The latest workouts from around the NFL (all links go to Twitter):

Cleveland Browns

  • DEs Ian Seau, Jhaustin Thomas; CBs De’Chavon Hayes, Marcus Sayles, JaCorey Shepherd; LB Garrett Sickels (links via Adam Caplan of ESPN)

Jacksonville Jaguars

  • WRs Montay Crockett, Tim Patrick; Ps Matt Darr, Jordan Gay, Richie Leone, Austin Rehkow; QB Jerod Evans, Joel Stave; PKs Andrew Franks, Josh Lambo, Mike Meyer; LS Colin Holba (link via Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union)

Los Angeles Rams

  • WRs Jaydon Mickens, Michael Rector, Kenneth Walker (links via Caplan)

NFL Workout Updates: 9/13/17

Today’s workout updates, with nearly all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account:

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Tennessee Titans

Washington Redskins

Raiders Work Out Mike Nugent, Josh Lambo

Sebastian Janikowski is set to enter yet another season as the Raiders kicker, but the team appears to be exploring outside options in advance of his 18th year.

Oakland brought in Mike Nugent, Josh Lambo and Marshall Koehn — all cut on Saturday — for workouts Monday, Field Yates of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). Nugent did not win the Giants’ job, and Lambo also saw a younger kicker displace him with the Chargers. Koehn did not win the competition in Minnesota.

The 39-year-old Janikowski has kicked with the Raiders since the 2000 season. He’s in the final year of his contract and is set to count $4.41MM against Oakland’s cap. That figure represents the second-most in the league, behind only Stephen Gostkowski.

Lambo kicked for the Bolts for the past two seasons, and Nugent — a former second-round pick — has 12 years’ experience. Almost all of that came with the Jets and Bengals. Koehn has yet to kick in an NFL game.

Chargers Reach 53-Man Limit

The Chargers announced 37 player moves on Saturday, bringing them down to the 53-man limit. Here’s the full breakdown.

Released:

Waived:

Waived/Injured:

Reserve/Suspended:

Reserve/Injured:

Barner seemed to have a decent chance of cracking the roster as a pass-catching back, particularly after the loss of Danny Woodhead. On 27 carries last season, Barner averaged a career-best 4.8 yards per attempt.

Clemens, 33, was slated to return for a fourth season as Philip Rivers‘ backup. Instead, that job will go to Cardale Jones, who was acquired in a trade with Buffalo earlier this offseason.

Chargers To Cut Josh Lambo

The Chargers will cut third-year kicker Josh Lambo and give his job to undrafted rookie Younghoe Koo, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

Lambo played in all 16 games for the Bolts over the past two seasons, but the team will move on and go with Koo — a South Korean talent who kicked at Georgia Southern before signing with the Chargers in May.

The Bolts are the latest AFC team to award their kicking job to the lower-profile competitor, doing so shortly after the Texans released Nick Novak — whom Lambo succeeded with the Chargers in 2015 — in favor of a second-year kicker.

Lambo made 26 of 32 field goal tries last season. He’s missed eight extra point attempts in his two-year run, however, misfiring on four post-touchdown efforts in each season. Koo only served as Georgia Southern’s full-time kicker in one season, 2016, but made 95 percent of his tries (19-for-20) during his final college campaign.

AFC Notes: Pats, Iosefa, Levitre, Chargers

Until the NFL’s slate of Week 4 preseason games gets underway tonight, there’s only one story dominating the headlines, and that’s Judge Richard Berman’s decision to vacate Tom Brady‘s four-game suspension today. We’ll have a few more reactions and notes on that decision coming up later this afternoon, in the wake of the NFL’s announcement that it will appeal the ruling.

In the meantime, let’s check in on a few more items from around the AFC, including an additional tidbit on Brady’s Patriots….

  • The Patriots are bringing in fullback Joey Iosefa for a visit and a workout today, according to Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Iosefa is the rare draftee who didn’t survive his team’s first round of cuts this week — he was selected in the seventh round by the Buccaneers in May.
  • While there’s been some speculation that veteran Titans guard Andy Levitre is on the verge of losing his roster spot in Tennessee, it sounds like the team will keep him as a backup, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Levitre will earn a base salary of $6.5MM this season and will have a cap hit of $8.6MM. Those figures remain the same in 2016 and 2017, so he’ll be a release candidate going forward.
  • Rooke kicker Josh Lambo has shown he deserves to be on every general manager’s emergency short list, but Nick Novak is the clear choice for the Chargers‘ job as the team makes its cuts to 53 players, writes Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Chargers Agree To Terms With 21 UDFAs

The Chargers have agreed to terms with 21 undrafted free agents. The list comes courtesy of Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter):

  • Ikechi “Chi Chi” Araguzo, ILB, Northwestern
  • Manuel “Manny” Asprilla, CB, Boston College
  • Ben Beckwith, OG, Mississippi State
  • Cameron Botticelli, DE, Minnesota
  • Tyreek Burwell, OT, Cincinnati
  • Cameron Clemmons, OT, Western Kentucky
  • Titus Davis, WR, Central Michigan
  • Nick Dzubnar, ILB, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo
  • Jahwan Edwards, RB, Ball State
  • Eric Frohnapfel, TE, Marshall
  • Curtis Grant, ILB, Ohio State
  • Brock Hekking, OLB, Nevada
  • Gordon Hill, S, Sacred Heart
  • Josh Lambo, K, Texas A&M ($5k bonus, per Aaron Wilson)
  • Johnny Lowdermilk, S, Iowa
  • Ryan Mueller, OLB, Kansas State
  • Brian Parker, TE, Albany ($7k bonus, per Wilson)
  • Dreamius Smith, RB, West Virginia
  • Cole Stoudt, QB, Clemson ($2k bonus, per Wilson)
  • Tyrell Williams, WR, Western Oregon
  • Demetrious Wilson, WR, Arkansas