Malcolm Perry

Injury And Fit Issues Cause Two Young Players To Retire

Two 25-year-old players were moved to the reserve/retired list today. The Lions tweeted out that nose tackle John Penisini would retire and Patriots wide receiver Malcolm Perry‘s retirement was reported by ESPN’s Mike Reiss. A combination of injury trouble and issues with current team-fit precipitated both moves. 

Penisini was drafted in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft with the intention for him to play a zero-technique position in former head coach Matt Patricia‘s defensive scheme. After starting in 12 games as a rookie, Penisini struggled to find a productive role in new defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn‘s defense, which asked for more attacking out of the defensive line. Penisini also dealt with a serious injury in the offseason between coordinators that didn’t help the transition.

“(Penisini) had what looked like softballs in his shoulder that he had repaired after the season,” head coach Dan Campbell explained to SB Nation’s Jeremy Reisman. “It just looked like a bunch of calcium deposits that had been in there. You wonder when you watch the film last year why he’s not using his arm. It’s because he had issues. It’s a credit to him playing through it.”

Perry was drafted 49 picks after Penisini in the seventh round after receiving approval from the United State Marine Corps to defer his mandatory five year service commitment in order to play in the NFL. The four-year quarterback for the Midshipmen switched positions to wide receiver in order to give himself the best opportunity to play at the next level.

As a rookie, Perry made his first of two starts in a Week 8 game against the Rams. In nine games, Perry caught 9 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown. Before last season, the Dolphins waived Perry as they trimmed their roster to 53 players, hoping to sign him to the practice squad. Unfortunately for Miami, New England claimed Perry. Unfortunately for New England, Perry suffered a foot injury that would land him on the injured reserve and, eventually, see him released. Perry would spend most of the rest of the year on the Saints’ practice squad and, upon the conclusion of the season, signed a reserve/future contract with the Patriots.

Penisini had not reported to Detroit’s minicamp, but the team, reportedly, knew of his situation and gave him the opportunity to announce his retirement on his own terms. Perry was facing an uphill battle to make the Patriots’ roster. Whether it was a factor in his decision or not, Perry is set to return to the Navy to begin his service commitment, according to Doug Kyed of Pro Football Focus.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/17/22

Here are today’s reserve/futures deals:

Dallas Cowboys

Las Vegas Raiders

New England Patriots

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/11/22

A number of players continue to sign reserve/futures contracts, which allows organizations to retain (mostly) young, practice squad players throughout the offseason. We’ve compiled today’s reserve/futures contracts below:

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/28/21

Today’s taxi squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts 

Jacksonville Jaguars 

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/23/21

Today’s taxi squad moves:

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

New England Patriots

  • Signed: P Corliss Waltman

New Orleans Saints

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

  • Signed: C Tyler Gauthier
  • Released: LB Anthony Hines, WR Damion Willis

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/17/21

Today’s minor moves:

Carolina Panthers

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Patriots Promote Brian Hoyer, Nick Folk

Two familiar faces are back on the Patriots’ active roster. The team elevated Brian Hoyer and Nick Folk from its practice squad Saturday, Sports Talk 790’s Aaron Wilson tweets. The Pats also placed wide receiver Malcolm Perry on IR.

This has been a busy day for the kicker position, with Folk’s promotion following AFC South callups — Joey Slye (Texans) and Michael Badgley (Titans). But Folk will give the Pats two active-roster kickers. Quinn Nordin remains on New England’s roster. Barring an IR move, the rookie would need to pass through waivers in order to be shuttled down to the practice squad.

Bill Belichick hinted this week the Pats could carry both Folk and Nordin on their active roster. Folk could again be moved down to New England’s practice squad next week, given the 2020 CBA’s additional flexibility regarding practice squad promotions. Teams can now carry 55 players on their active rosters on game days; 48 can dress.

The Pats used Folk as their kicker throughout last season and in seven games in 2019. Arriving after Stephen Gostkowski‘s injury ended his 14-year tenure as New England’s kicker, Folk delivered a strong 2020 season by making 92.9% of his field goal attempts. This will be Folk’s 14th NFL season. Because he and Hoyer are elevations and not promotions, neither’s salary is guaranteed for the full season.

Following the Patriots’ release of Cam Newton, Hoyer was set to be Mac Jones‘ backup. The team cut Hoyer recently but re-signed him on a practice squad deal. Hoyer’s promotion has been a formality for a bit. The veteran passer is now on his third stint with the Patriots and will be tasked with mentoring a promising rookie. Jones and Hoyer are the only QBs on the Pats’ active roster. Jarrett Stidham is on the team’s reserve/PUP list, which will keep him off the roster for at least six games.

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC East

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These BillsDolphinsJets and Patriots moves are noted below.

Here are Wednesday’s AFC East transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Buffalo Bills

Signed:

Placed on IR: 

Signed to practice squad:

Miami Dolphins

Claimed:

Waived: 

Signed to practice squad:

New England Patriots

Claimed:

Waived: 

Signed to practice squad:

New York Jets

Claimed:

Re-signed:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Dolphins Set Initial 53-Man Roster

The Dolphins have joined the club of teams to officially get down to 53 players on cutdown day. Here’s the list of of players from Miami that will be looking for new homes in the coming days:

Placed on season-ending IR:

Released:

Waived:

There are some reasonably big names on this list, including LeBlanc and Harvey-Clemons among the vested veterans getting outright released. LeBlanc played a sizable role in the Eagles’ secondary last season, and started nine games for the Bears as a rookie back in 2016. Harvey-Clemons was a decent-sized part of Washington’s defense in 2018, but his role was reduced in 2019 before he opted out of the 2020 seasons.

You’ll likely recognize some of the waiver cuts as well, including Griffin. The brother of star cornerback Shaquill Griffin, the linebacker was attempting to make the team after a few years with the Seahawks. Laird started four games for the Dolphins in 2019 and received 62 carries that year, but he was mainly a special teams guy last season.

Dolphins Sign Rookie RB Malcolm Perry

The Dolphins have signed seventh-round pick Malcolm Perry, as Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The fleet-footed quarterback out of Navy is expected to play running back as a pro. 

Last year, Perry racked up 2,017 yards for the Midshipmen, who run a variation of the triple-option. He was listed as a QB, but Perry only threw for ~1,000 yards in 2019 while spending a good chunk of snaps in the “A-back position” – in essence, that means lining up as a running back.

Perry’s versatility should come in handy for the Dolphins, though they’ll have to carve out practice reps as a receiver. The feeling is that Perry’s athleticism will lend itself well to WR assignments, but he had just 22 catches in college and zero receptions last year.

The Dolphins have now inked the majority of their gargangtuan draft class. Here’s the full rundown, via PFR’s tracker:

1-5: Tua Tagovailoa, QB (Alabama): Signed
1-18: Austin Jackson, T (Miami)
1-30: Noah Igbinoghene, CB (Auburn)
2-39: Robert Hunt, OL (Louisiana)
2-56: Raekwon Davis, DL (Alabama): Signed
3-70: Brandon Jones, S (Texas): Signed
4-111: Solomon Kindley, OL (Georgia): Signed
5-154: Jason Strowbridge, DT (UNC): Signed
5-164: Curtis Weaver, DE (Boise State): Signed
6-185: Blake Ferguson, LS (LSU): Signed
7-246: Malcolm Perry, WR/RB (Navy): Signed