Monty Rice

Saints Claim LB Monty Rice

Unable to reclaim a starting job with the Titans this season, Monty Rice landed on waivers Tuesday. The third-year linebacker will not reach free agency. The Saints submitted a successful claim Wednesday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

Rice had played behind free agency addition Azeez Al-Shaair and second-year UDFA Jack Gibbens on the Titans’ defensive second level this season. From 2021-22, however, the former third-round pick made 10 combined starts. He has not logged any this season.

The Saints picked up Rice’s through-2024 rookie contract. No guaranteed money remains on the Round 3 deal, giving the Saints a low-cost opportunity to gauge the Georgia alum’s fit in their defense. The Titans drafted Rice 92nd overall two years ago, doing so after he finished as a 2020 Butkus Award finalist and a first-team All-SEC linebacker. That top-tier college success has not equated to steady playing time just yet.

Injuries to Zach Cunningham and David Long led to increased Rice work last season, when he logged 366 defensive snaps. Rice made 66 tackles (four for loss) last year, and he was expected to be a starter alongside Al-Shaair this season. Gibbens, however, won the job. Both he and Al-Shaair have stayed healthy, keeping Rice in a reserve role. He ended up playing only 86 defensive snaps with Tennessee this season and did not sound particularly broken up about his separation from the AFC South club.

The Saints played Week 13 without Pete Werner, but the young talent managed a limited practice Wednesday. Ageless veteran Demario Davis still anchors New Orleans’ linebacking corps, with 2020 third-rounder Zack Baun also in the picture. No other Saints ‘backer has played more than 50 defensive snaps this season, though Rice’s addition bumps the team’s LB total to seven on the 53-man roster.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/5/23

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

New Orleans Saints

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

  • Waived from PUP list: LB Drew White

A 2021 third-round pick, Rice started 10 games over his first two seasons. Although the Titans cut Zach Cunningham and let David Long sign with the Dolphins, they brought in Azeez Al-Shaair and have used second-year UDFA Jack Gibbens as starters this season. Rice has been strictly a backup, and a post-transaction tweet suggested the young defender was not too broken up about this Tennessee cut.

Hyder joined the Texans earlier this season. The 49ers had waived the rotational pass rusher after trading for Randy Gregory. Reuniting with DeMeco Ryans, Hyder spent much of his Texans stay on their practice squad. The team used the defensive end in two games this season, giving him 40 defensive snaps as a backup. Hyder would be eligible to return to Houston’s P-squad if he clears waivers.

Titans Place WR Treylon Burks On IR

Treylon Burks will be sidelined for at least the next four weeks. The Titans rookie wideout has been placed on injured reserve, according to Jim Wyatt of the team’s website.

The first-round rookie was injured during the fourth quarter of last Sunday’s win over the Colts. Burks was carted off the field and was later diagnosed with a turf toe injury. He had already been ruled out for this weekend, but the team is now sidelining him through the end of the month.

Following a standout career at Arkansas that saw him earn first-team All-SEC in 2021, Burks was selected with the 18th-overall pick in this year’s draft…the selection the Titans acquired after dealing A. J. Brown to the Eagles. Burks was relatively productive in his first two games, hauling in seven of his 11 targets for 102 yards. While he saw an uptick in offensive snaps during Week 3 and Week 4, he was limited to only three catches between the two games.

Veteran receiver Robert Woods will still guide the receivers room, but the team will have to dig into their depth chart for some reinforcement. Tennessee is also rostering the likes of Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Cody Hollister, and rookie Kyle Philips, with veteran Josh Gordon among the WRs on the Titans practice squad.

Meanwhile, the Titans have activated linebacker Monty Rice from the PUP to the active roster. The 2021 third-round pick had 30 tackles in 10 games (four starts) as a rookie, but his season ended early thanks to an ankle injury. He landed on PUP to start the 2022 campaign. The Titans also promoted receiver Dez Fitzpatrick and linebacker Joe Schobert from the practice squad.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/5/22

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

A number of players who were placed on IR after the preseason and prior to the regular season returned to practice today. These players will have a three-week practice window until they have to be activated to the active roster. Otherwise, they’ll be ineligible to return this season.

One of the most surprising returns is Cardinals cornerback Antonio Hamilton. The former undrafted free agent rode a strong preseason to a potential starting gig, but he was sidelined with second-degree burns after spilling hot oil on his legs and feet. Kliff Kingsbury previously said an early-October return may be a “little aggressive” (per ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss on Twitter), but the cornerback ended up working his way back to practice.

Eagles To Trade S Ugo Amadi To Titans

For the second time in less than two weeks, safety Ugo Amadi is on the move. The Eagles are sending their recent acquisition to the Titans (Twitter link via ESPN’s Adam Schefter). 

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero tweets that Philadelphia is including a seventh-round pick in 2024 along with Amadi, in exchange for a sixth-rounder of the same year. In terms of draft stock, that represents a stark difference to the cost the Eagles paid to acquire Amadi last week: former second-rounder J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. More than anything, of course, that deal was a reflection of the wideout’s underwhelming career to date.

Amadi, 25, was thought to be a release candidate hours before being dealt to Philadelphia. He made seven starts last season, logging a defensive snap share above 50% for the second straight season. The 2019 fourth-rounder totaled 125 tackles, 13 pass deflections and one interception across three campaigns in Seattle. He was seen as a depth addition for Philadelphia, whose situation at the safety position is rather murky. Instead, he will now look to make the Titans’ 53-man roster as an insurance policy on the backend while entering a contract year.

In related roster news, the Titans also announced that linebacker Monty Rice has been placed on the reserve/PUP list. That opens up the spot for Amadi to fill, but means that the Titans’ LB corps will be thinner for at least the first four weeks of the season. The 2021-third rounder started four of his 10 appearances last year, recording 36 tackles. His rookie campaign was cut short by an Achilles injury, which obviously won’t be fully recovered in time for September.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/23/22

Today’s minor moves around the NFL:

Baltimore Ravens

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Rams

  • Signed: QB Luis Perez

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

NFL COVID-19 List Updates: 1/4/22-1/5/22

Here are Tuesday and Wednesday’s activations from and placements on the reserve/COVID-19 lists:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: TE Jared Cook, LB Damon Lloyd (remains on IR)

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Titans Place Monty Rice On IR

The Titans have placed linebacker Monty Rice on injured reserve, according to a team press release. In an injury-marred year, Rice becomes the 18th player to land on the Tennessee’s IR.

The Titans turned to Rice as their starting inside linebacker after losing Rashaan Evans and David Long to injury. Now, they’ll have to look elsewhere for support, alongside fellow fill-in Jayon Brown. That could mean an uptick in work for backups Dylan Cole and Nick Dzubnar.

It’s a disappointing setback for the rookie ‘backer, as he was starting to gain favor with head coach Mike Vrabel.

He started by finishing [on special teams]…running his guy and taking care of the returner, so I think he started to build some confidence there. Then he made some tackles on kickoff and really started to build some confidence there. [Now,] he’s got an opportunity to play linebacker,” Vrabel said recently (via Jim Wyatt of the team website). “He is continuing to improve and hopefully we can start to really see some more progress.”

Rice, a third-round rookie, could theoretically return later this year after sitting out for at least three games. So far, the Georgia product has 36 stops on the year, plus one pass defensed and a quarterback hit.

Titans Sign Third-Round LB Monty Rice, Wrap Up Draft Class

The Titans became the latest team to finalize their 2021 draft class on Saturday. Tennessee agreed to terms with third-round linebacker Monty Rice, their last remaining unsigned draft pick, the team announced.

Rice was the 92nd pick of this past draft coming out of Georgia. He earned first-team All-SEC honors in 2020 after making second-team the year before. He became a starter in his sophomore season and was a finalist for the Butkus Award this past season.

In nine 2020 games for the Bulldogs he finished with 49 tackles, four for a loss, a sack, and two forced fumbles. The Titans have Jayon Brown, Rashaan Evans, and David Long ahead of him at inside linebacker right now, so they likely won’t be counting on him to play a ton as a rookie. They did recently decline Evans’ fifth-year option, and Brown is entering a contract year as well, so Rice could be looked at as the future.

With Rice under contract, all eight of the Titans’ picks are now wrapped up:

Round 1: No. 22 Caleb Farley, CB (Virginia Tech)
Round 2: No. 53 Dillon Radunz, OT (North Dakota State)
Round 3: No. 92 (from Packers) Monty Rice, LB (Georgia)
Round 3: No. 100 Elijah Molden, CB (Washington)
Round 4: No. 109 (from Texans via Panthers) Dez Fitzpatrick, WR (Louisville)
Round 4: No. 135 (from Packers) Rashad Weaver, DE (Pittsburgh)
Round 6: No. 205 Racey McMath, WR (LSU)
Round 6: No. 215 (from Chiefs) Brady Breeze, S (Oregon)