Matt Lengel

Browns Cut TE Gavin Escobar

The Browns are trimming down the roster in advance of the draft. On Thursday, Cleveland announced that seven players have been cut. Here’s the full rundown:

Released:

Waived:

Escobar, 27, never lived up his to second-round draft status with the Cowboys. In four seasons with Dallas, he managed just 30 receptions for 333 yards. He inked a minimum salary benefit contract with the Chiefs in March of 2017, but did not make the final cut. He later hooked on with the Ravens, but he did not record an official statistic in his two games with the club.

Bullough spent three years with the Texans and appeared in 29 games with the club between 2015 and 2016. In the summer of 2017, the Texans released him after he was hit with a PED suspension. After his release, the NFL hit the linebacker with another four-game ban. The Michigan State product has not seen the field since Week 17 of the ’16 season.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/25/2017

Today’s minor moves:

Buffalo Bills

Cleveland Browns

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Oakland Raiders

Philadelphia Eagles

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Signed: CB Deji Olatoye

Washington Redskins

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/10/17

Today’s practice squad updates:

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Cleveland Browns

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Oakland Raiders

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/27/17

Today’s minor moves:

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Jacksonville Jaguars

New England Patriots

  • Waived: DE Caleb Kidder
  • Waived/injured: TE Matt Lengel

New York Giants

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

AFC Notes: Dolphins, Pats, Dupree

Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill believes the team’s 2017 offense will be the best he has ever played with, and James Walker of ESPN.com agrees with him. On paper, Miami does boast a great deal of talent at the skill positions, but as Walker observes, the Dolphins still have some depth problems. Jay Ajayi was a revelation in 2016, but what happens if he should go down with an injury, or if he needs to be spelled from time to time as the season progresses? Could Kenyan Drake or Damien Williams step up? And can Leonte Carroo be counted on to complement Kenny Stills, Jarvis Landry, and DeVante Parker, or even carry the load if one of those players should get hurt? Will Mike Pouncey stay healthy for a full season. Of course, every team can ask itself similar questions, but for the Dolphins’ offense to take a step forward this year, it will need to stay healthy or else get contributions from unlikely sources.

Now for more from the AFC:

  • As Mike Reiss of ESPN.com observes, the Patriots don’t have many major position battles, but one to keep an eye on is at backup tight end. Of course, Rob Gronkowski and Dwayne Allen are entrenched in the top spots, but given Gronk’s health issues, the No. 3 TE could end up playing a significant role. As it currently stands, Matt Lengel and James O’Shaughnessy will compete with UDFAs Jacob Hollister and Sam Cotton for the job.
  • Steelers LB Bud Dupree was drafted with the thought that he could become the next great Pittsburgh pass rusher, and given the way he performed down the stretch in 2016, the team believes the third-year pro is ready to make the leap. As Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review points out, Dupree did not start his first game in 2016 until Week 14 — he began the year on injured reserve and was slowly eased back into action — but in that Week 14 matchup, Dupree played all but one snap and racked up 2.5 sacks (he ended the regular season with 4.5 sacks). He also recorded a half-sack in the playoffs while playing all but three snaps, so he appears primed for a breakout in 2017.
  • The Browns finished 1-15 last season, and most think they will be lucky to get to six or seven wins in 2017, but Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com says head coach Hue Jackson is not on a short leash. The team’s front office realizes it was again looking at a multi-year overhaul when it hired Jackson, and Jackson will get a chance to see it through (assuming he wants to, of course).
  • Some are wondering why Chad Henne is still on the Jaguars roster even though he does not have a pass attempt since 2014, but Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union has a succinct answer. O’Halloran says, “Henne has experience in many offenses. He has experience working with new coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. And he has accepted being a sounding board for Blake Bortles. That’s why [he] is here.” Of course, as we heard last month, second-year player Brandon Allen could unseat Henne with an impressive preseason.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/18/17

Tuesday’s minor moves from around the NFL:

  • Free agent defensive tackle Drew Iddings will sign with the Panthers after the draft, according to Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer. Iddings joined the Raiders as an undrafted free agent last year, but they cut the ex-South Dakota standout prior to Week 1.
  • Patriots tight end Matt Lengel, Cardinals offensive tackle John Wetzel and defensive tackle Olsen Pierre, and Seahawks running backs Terrence Magee and Troymaine Pope have signed their exclusive rights free agent tenders, per Howard Balzer of BalzerFootball.com and Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com (Twitter links).

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/7/17

Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to restricted and exclusive rights free agents. All RFA tenders listed are original round/right of first refusal (worth $1.797MM), and all links go to Twitter:

RFAs:

Tendered:

Non-Tendered:

ERFAs:

Tendered:

Non-Tendered:

Patriots Sign TE Matt Lengel

The Patriots have signed tight end Matt Lengel off of the Bengals’ practice squad, as Jim McBride of The Boston Globe tweetsMatt Lengel (vertical)

Lengal was part of the Bengals’ final round of cuts before they reached a 53-man roster. Soon after, he hooked on with their practice squad for the 2016 season. Now, he has an opportunity to see some NFL action with the Patriots.

Lengel, an Eastern Kentucky product, can give the Patriots a big receiving target at 6’7″. He went undrafted in 2015, an expected outcome after tearing the same ACL in both 2012 and 2013. Lengel will slot behind Rob Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett on the Patriots’ depth chart. Barring injury, we probably won’t see much of him on the field.

The Patriots are on their bye week. Lengel will have extra time to learn the playbook between now and their next game on Nov. 13 against the Seahawks.

Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC North

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC North teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Ravens, Bengals, Browns, and Steelers are noted below.

Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s AFC North transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day. All links go to Twitter unless otherwise noted:

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Pittsburgh Steelers

Bengals Bring Roster To 53

The Bengals are now in roster compliance, having brought their roster to 53. The following players have been cut:

Additionally, DT Marcus Hardison was placed on injured reserve and WR Mario Alford was waived with an injury settlement, tweets Owcazrski.

Kumerow had been fighting for a reserve wide receiver spot on a Cincinnati club that lost several of its pass-catchers over the offseason. And though he offers special teams value, Kumerow wasn’t able to beat out the likes of Cody Core and Alex Erickson to join a depth chart that includes A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd, and Brandon LaFell.

On Friday, the Bengals released safety Jimmy Wilson.