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NFL Workout Rumors: Basham, Dobbs, Raiders, Beckham

December 2nd, 2022 at 8:45pm CST by Ely Allen

Veteran defensive end Tarell Basham is quickly back to work in trying to secure his spot on an NFL roster, spending the day with the Titans on a free agent visit, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. He’s been available for three days and has clearly been busy attempting to find his fourth NFL home.

This display of resiliency is nothing new for the 28-year-old. After disappointing as a third-round pick in Indianapolis, Basham was waived partway through only his sophomore season in the league. He was claimed the next day by the Jets but failed to produce much more in the next season and a half. In his final year in New York, Basham decided to have a career year starting nine games for the Jets and recording career highs in sacks (3.5), tackles for loss (5.0), and quarterback hits (13).

He capitalized on that performance, signing a two-year, $5.5MM contract to join the Cowboys. Basham rewarded Dallas with a season much like his last in New York matching his sack total and racking up three tackles for loss and 11 quarterback hits. His second year with the team hit a bit of a snag, though. A thigh injury in the fourth quarter of the team’s season-opening loss to the Buccaneers landed Basham on injured reserve. He would eventually return to the active roster, after sitting out seven weeks, but would only play eight more snaps as a Cowboy before being released earlier this week.

The Titans could certainly use the depth in a season that currently shows them with fifteen players on IR, tops in the NFL. Basham likely wouldn’t start for Tennessee if signed to the team but he could certainly provide some strong depth behind starting defensive ends Jeffery Simmons and DeMarcus Walker.

Here are few other workout rumors from around the NFL, starting with a former AFC North quarterback looking for a new home:

  • Former Browns backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs worked out for the Broncos today, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2. The sixth-year quarterback out of Tennessee is looking to join the fourth NFL team of his career after being waived in order to make room for newly available Browns starting quarterback Deshaun Watson following Watson’s 11-game suspension. Also involved in the workout were wide receivers Javon McKinley, Malik Taylor, and Connor Wedington.
  • The Raiders also hosted a large workout today, according to Wilson, with the most notable names being former Baylor running back Abram Smith and former Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate. Smith had a breakout senior year for the Bears that saw him rush for 1,601 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. Smith originally signed as an undrafted free agent with the Saints, getting cut before the final roster deadlines. He’s auditioned for the Texans and Browns since then and was recently the No. 1 overall pick in the recent 2023 XFL Draft. Tate spent his rookie in 2020 attempting to convert from quarterback to wide receiver for the Eagles before eventually getting waived just prior to his sophomore season. He had offseason stints with two separate teams in the Canadian Football League this summer but did not appear in any games. Other participants in the workout were quarterback Nathan Rourke, wide receiver Jerreth Sterns, and defensive backs Daniel Isom and Nate Meadors.
  • Free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. made the first in a tour of several visits today, according to Wilson. The visit with the Giants reportedly lasted two days involving a medical check early in the day and dinner with some players and coaches later on, according to Jordan Raanan of ESPN. His next stop is expected to be in Buffalo before eventually heading to Dallas. As we reported recently, it is not uncommon that Beckham didn’t actually work out for New York. His visits with the Bills and Cowboys are expected to follow a similar itinerary of medical examination and sales pitch.

Browns To Sign Josh Dobbs

April 8th, 2022 at 7:35pm CST by Adam La Rose

After a pair of visits with other AFC teams, quarterback Josh Dobbs is landing in Cleveland. The Browns are signing him to a one-year deal (Twitter link via NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport).

[RELATED: Dobbs Visited Ravens, Patriots]

Dobbs was drafted in the fourth round by the Steelers in 2017. He made five appearances in Pittsburgh one year later, but was then traded to the Jaguars the following September. While he ended up back with the Steelers in 2020, he ultimately lost out to Mason Rudolph as the team’s backup to Ben Roethlisberger.

The 27-year-old garnered a notable amount of interest in free agency, working out with Baltimore and New England. The former only currently has two QBs on the roster, so a signing with the Ravens wouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. Instead, he will join a different Steelers’ AFC North rival.

In Cleveland, Dobbs will join a QB room which is – at least for the time being – rather crowded. The Browns have Deshaun Watson at the top of the depth chart, and added experienced depth by signing Jacoby Brissett to replace Case Keenum. The elephant in the room remains Baker Mayfield, whom the team has been widely expected to trade but has expressed a willingness to keep.

Regardless of how the rest of the Browns’ roster shakes out at the position, Dobbs will provide the team with another depth option amongst its signal-callers.

QB Josh Dobbs Visited Ravens, Patriots

April 5th, 2022 at 10:51pm CST by Ben Levine

Josh Dobbs is generating some interest around the league. The quarterback tried out for the Ravens yesterday, according to ESPN’s Field Yates (on Twitter). Meanwhile, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com tweets that Dobbs also had an audition with the Patriots.

Dobbs entered the NFL as a fourth-round pick out of Tennessee in 2017. He spent the first two-plus seasons of his career with the Steelers, and after spending most of the 2019 campaign in Jacksonville, he returned to Pittsburgh for 2020 and 2021.

Dobbs ultimately saw time in six games for the Steelers, completing 10 of his 17 pass attempts for 45 yards and one interception. He also added 31 rushing yards on six carries. After re-signing with the organization last offseason, the QB ended up spending the entire 2021 campaign on injured reserve.

The Ravens are currently rostering only two QBs in Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley, so Dobbs would provide some depth at the position. In New England, Mac Jones has a pair of backups in Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham, so Dobbs would have more of an uphill battle to make the Patriots roster.

Evaluating Steelers’ 2022 In-House QB Options

December 10th, 2021 at 9:29pm CST by Ely Allen

After 18 years in the National Football League, it’s sounding more and more likely that the 2021-22 season will be Ben Roethlisberger‘s last. Over the last few years, Pittsburgh has taken stabs at potential replacements for Roethlisberger, usually utilizing late-round draft picks in hopes of molding a young prospect into a starter. But Roethlisberger potentially putting an end to his career when the season concludes places a lot more pressure on the Steelers to come up with a solution.

The easiest solution is to use the materials you already have. Pittsburgh currently has two quarterbacks on the active roster behind Big Ben and one on the injured reserve. Former first round pick Dwayne Haskins and Joshua Dobbs, currently on IR, both have contracts that expire at the end of the season, but it’s easier to have contract discussions with players already in the building than not.

Mason Rudolph is the team’s current primary backup. Rudolph beat out Dobbs for the second quarterback job and took over as the team’s starter in 2019 when Roethlisberger was ruled out for the season after an elbow surgery. Rudolph went 5-3 as the Steelers’ starter before getting benched for Devlin Hodges after struggling against a winless Bengals team. He completed 62% of his passes for 1,765 yards and threw 13 touchdowns to 9 interceptions on the year. Before the 2021 season, Rudolph signed a one-year extension, pushing his free agency back until after the 2022 season. Rudolph has appeared in one game this year, filling in as Roethlisberger was held out with COVID-19. In a game that resulted in a tie with the winless Lions, Rudolph completed 30 out of 50 pass attempts for 242 yards, throwing 1 touchdown and 1 interception.

Haskins was taken in the 2019 NFL Draft with the 15th overall pick by the Washington Football Team. He saw some game time for Washington in two games in the first 8 weeks of his rookie year, but earned his first start in Week 9 after the season’s original starter, Case Keenum, could not play with a concussion. Haskins took over the offense for every game but one for the rest of the season as he missed Week 17 with an ankle injury. Haskins retained the starting job to begin the 2020 season, but was benched in a Week 5 game against the Rams. He returned to the field when new starter Alex Smith left the game in Week 14 with an injury. Haskins started the next two games before being benched once again, this time for Taylor Heinicke. Haskins was released the next day due to some controversies with breaking COVID-19 protocols and not meeting the team’s standards off the field. In two years of play, Haskins completed 60% of his passes for 2,804 yards, throwing 12 touchdowns to 14 interceptions.

There are plenty of different directions Pittsburgh could go to replace Roethlisberger should this be his final season. While they haven’t quite proven to be world-beaters, Rudolph and Haskins do provide the Steelers with workable options that are already in the building. If the Steelers decide that they don’t think they can win a Super Bowl with the talent currently in their QB room, they’ll be sure to explore some options via free agency, trade, and the 2022 NFL Draft.

If the likes of Pitt’s Kenny Pickett, Ole Miss’s Matt Corral, North Carolina’s Sam Howell, or Liberty’s Malik Willis don’t pique the Steelers’ interest, Pittsburgh may look into a short-term free agent rental as they have in the past with quarterbacks Michael Vick and Bruce Gradkowski. Quarterbacks Jameis Winston, Andy Dalton, and Teddy Bridgewater are some of the bigger names set to hit the market this offseason that could delay the Steelers’ need to draft a quarterback until some more attractive prospects potentially surface in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Pittsburgh could also trade, as they did for Dobbs, with a number of quarterbacks rumored to be available for a price. Texans’ quarterback Deshaun Watson is obviously the most available option, due to a league investigation that could result in disciplinary action. 49ers’ quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has been rumored to be available due to the expected emergence of 2021’s No. 3 overall draft pick, Trey Lance. Garoppolo is not known to be flashy, but has still accomplished a 30-13 record as a starter in the NFL. Two other veterans that have shown a little frustration with their current squads and may be open to a trade are Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers.

While Steelers’ management is certainly preoccupied right now with making the playoffs in a wild AFC, they will have much to consider when the season comes to an end. Whoever ends up under center for the Steelers in Week 1 of the 2022-23 NFL season, it will certainly be a change of pace for the franchise if the jersey doesn’t have fourteen letters across the top.

Steelers Cut Down To 53

August 31st, 2021 at 3:38pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Steelers became the latest team to officially get their roster down to 53 players on Tuesday. More shuffling can be expected in the days to come, but the initial 53 is set. Here’s who didn’t make the cut:

Waived:

Placed on season-ending IR:

Some of these names will certainly be familiar, including Samuels. The 2018 fifth-round pick from N.C. State received a lot of run in his first two years as a hybrid player, and got 113 touches in 2019. He fell out of favor last year, playing sparingly and only getting 18 touches. With the team drafting Najee Harris in the first-round, there was no longer any need for him.

Finney was with the Steelers from 2015-19, and started at least two games in four straight years from 2016-19. But he wasn’t able to crack the 53-man roster in his return after spending last year with the Seahawks and Bengals. Notably, former first-round quarterback Dwayne Haskins has made the initial 53-man roster behind Ben Roethlisberger and Mason Rudolph. Dobbs will spend the whole year on IR after getting hurt in the preseason finale.

Steelers Re-Sign Joshua Dobbs

April 14th, 2021 at 12:10pm CST by Zachary Links

The Steelers have re-upped quarterback Josh Dobbs, per an announcement from his agent. The quarterback will return on a one-year deal, giving him a chance to backstop Ben Roethlisberger in 2021.

Dobbs, 26, spent the first two-plus seasons of his career with the Steelers, including a 2018 campaign where he completed six of his 12 pass attempts for 43 yards and one pick in five games. In the fall of 2019, he was shipped to the Jaguars for a 2020 fifth-rounder. At the time, he was a candidate to take over for injured Jaguars quarterback Nick Foles. Instead, Gardner Minshew ran away with the gig and turned in a surprisingly strong rookie season. Dobbs never got into a game with Jacksonville, but he did get to return to the Steelers as a waiver wire pickup last fall.

Despite having two stints with the Steelers over multiple seasons, Dobbs has only attempted a grand total of 17 passes in the NFL. His spot on the Week 1 roster is far from guaranteed, especially given the presence of Dwayne Haskins and Mason Rudolph.

Steelers Sign S Sean Davis, Claim QB Josh Dobbs, Cut QB Devlin Hodges

September 6th, 2020 at 12:21pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Steelers are bringing back a couple of familiar faces. Pittsburgh is signing safety Sean Davis and they’ve claimed quarterback Josh Dobbs off waivers from the Jaguars, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links).

In order to make room for Dobbs, the team has cut fellow quarterback Devlin Hodges. The Steelers drafted Davis in the second round in 2016, and he spent his first four years in Pittsburgh. He started 31 games between 2017-18, but missed almost all of last season due to injury. He signed a one-year deal worth $5MM with Washington this offseason, but couldn’t make it out of camp.

During these uncertain times, teams are clearly placing an emphasis on familiarity and system knowledge. Davis played closer to the line of scrimmage his first couple of pro seasons, but moved to free safety in 2018. The Steelers drafted Dobbs in the fourth-round in 2017, but he became expendable when they drafted Mason Rudolph the following year and they ended up trading him to Jacksonville.

Dobbs lost the battle in Jacksonville to be Gardner Minshew‘s backup, which is how he ended up on waivers. Ben Roethlisberger is coming off a season-ending elbow injury, and Pittsburgh apparently wants all the insurance they can get behind him.

Hodges was an incredible story last year, as the unheralded UDFA from Samford was promoted from the practice squad after Big Ben went down and ended up starting games. Hodges ended up starting six games, becoming a fan favorite in the process. He declined sharply as more tape on him became available, but he’ll still probably end up on Pittsburgh’s or someone else’s practice squad.

Jaguars Trim Roster To 53

September 5th, 2020 at 2:29pm CST by Sam Robinson

In addition to the cuts of quarterbacks Mike Glennon and Joshua Dobbs, here are the players the Jaguars parted ways with in order to reduce their roster to the 53-player limit.

Waived:

Waived/injured: 

Placed on IR:

Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list:

Placed on reserve/suspended list:

Armstead is one of six players currently on a COVID-19 list around the league. He was expected to lead a Jaguars running back committee, following Leonard Fournette‘s departure. Players can be removed from the COVID list at any point. Armstead’s status will leave Devine Ozigbo and rookie UDFA James Robinson as the Jags’ running backs. This will be a team to monitor for waiver-claim adds at running back.

Nickerson, Giles-Harris and Orzich spent time on the Jaguars’ 53-man roster last season. The players jettisoned Saturday will become practice squad candidates, at least the bulk of them, on Sunday. Teams can begin signing players to their taxi squads Sunday, and after years of P-squads residing at 10 players, they will be 16-man units in this unique season.

Jaguars Cut QBs Mike Glennon, Joshua Dobbs

September 5th, 2020 at 12:32pm CST by Ben Levine

The Jaguars are moving on from a pair of backup quarterback contenders. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that Jacksonville is cutting Mike Glennon and Joshua Dobbs.

This means rookie sixth-rounder Jake Luton is currently the only quarterback on the depth chart behind starter Gardner Minshew. However, as Rapoport notes, the team could end up inviting back one of Glennon or Dobbs based on how the final roster “shakes out.”

The 30-year-old Glennon seemed like a natural choice to backup Minshew. However, it’s been almost seven years since the veteran got an extended look as a starter. Glennon spent the 2018 season with the Cardinals and 2019 season with the Raiders, appearing in four total games. During those cameos, Glennon completed 21 of his 31 pass attempts for 230 yards and two scores. In total, the former third rounder has appeared in 29 games (22 starts), tossing 36 touchdowns vs. 20 interceptions.

Dobbs, 25, spent the first two-plus seasons of his career with the Steelers, including a 2018 campaign where he completed six of his 12 pass attempts for 43 yards and one pick in five games. He was traded to Jacksonville last September for a 2020 fifth-rounder following an injury to Jaguars quarterback Nick Foles. Of course, Minshew stepped up as the starter, and Dobbs never got into a game with Jacksonville.

Steelers Trade Josh Dobbs To Jaguars

September 9th, 2019 at 11:01am CST by Zachary Links

The Jaguars have a new quarterback. On Monday, the Jaguars traded a fifth-round pick to the Steelers in exchange for Joshua Dobbs, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

The Jaguars lost their brand new starter, Nick Foles, to a clavicle fracture in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs. After that, Gardner Minshew and performed well, even though the team was unable to keep up with the Chiefs’ relentless offense.

Minshew will continue as the Jags’ starter, but Dobbs will be on hand to hold the clipboard in support. Prior to the trade, the Jags did not have another QB on the roster.

Dobbs, a former fourth-round pick, was Ben Roethlisberger‘s top backup last year and appeared in five games as a reserve. This year, he lost his footing to Mason Rudolph, making his superfluous in Pittsburgh.

Minshew, with Dobbs as his backup, will lead the Jaguars against the Texans in Week Two.

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