Nick Becton

Saints Work Out Offensive Linemen

The Saints are worked out a handful of offensive linemen on Tuesday, according to a league source who spoke with Josh Katzenstein of the Times-Picayune. It stands to reason that the Saints will sign at least one lineman given the injuries suffered by center Max Unger and Jermon Bushrod on Monday night.

Unger was forced out of Monday’s win over the Panthers with a concussion and Bushrod’s hamstring injury landed him on the sidelines. After that, the Saints were forced to turn to Cameron Tom and Will Clapp to fill in the front five. The Saints were pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel against their divisional rivals, especially since they were already without left tackle Terron Armstead, who has been out for five straight games.

Offensive tackle Nick Becton, who was in camp with the Saints in 2014 and 2015, was among those to audition. The other players are not yet known, but they’re unlikely to be major names. At this point in the season, it’s slim pickins.

The Saints effectively clinched a first-round bye by beating the Panthers on Monday night, but they may need the additional bodies to get through the final two weeks of the season and fortify their bench for the playoffs.

Giants Lock In 53-Man Roster

The Giants will head into the 2018 season without one of their longest-tenured players and one of their 2017 starting safeties, with both Mark Herzlich and Darian Thompson failing to make the team.

A 2017 fifth-round pick, edge defender Avery Moss missed out as well. As did Roger Lewis, a wideout who became needed when the Giants became decimated at receiver last season.

The Giants also released recently signed cornerback Leonard Johnson, who was trying to make a fifth NFL franchise’s 53-man roster. The former Buccaneer, Patriot, Panther and Bill started seven games with Buffalo last season.

Here’s the full list of Giants cuts:

Released:

Waived:

Waived with an injury designation

Placed on IR:

Placed on Reserve/NFI list:

  • DL R.J. McIntosh

Suspended:

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/30/17

Here are today’s minor moves.

Atlanta Falcons

New York Giants

Seattle Seahawks

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/14/17

Today’s practice squad updates:

Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals

Baltimore Ravens

Indianapolis Colts

  • Signed: WR Dres Anderson
  • Waived: WR KeVonn Mabon

Kansas City Chiefs

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

  • Signed: OL Cameron Hunt
  • Placed on injured list: OL J.P. Flynn

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Redskins

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/24/17

Today’s practice squad updates:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

  • Signed: WR Kenny Bell
  • Released: TE Gabe Holmes

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

  • Signed: DT Jarrod Clements

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

  • Signed: OL Brandon Thomas
  • Released: OL Norman Price

Kansas City Chiefs

New York Jets

Oakland Raiders

  • Signed: CB Tevin Mitchel

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

NFL Workout Updates: 10/17/17

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

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions 

Houston Texans

  • QB Taylor Heinicke (link via Caplan)

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Washington Redskins

Giants Audition OL Orlando Franklin

The Giants auditioned or met with a host of free agents today, according to Field Yates and Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com (Twitter links), and the club specifically focused on the offensive line. Here’s the entire list:

Workouts

Visits

Franklin, 29, has already been released twice this calendar year, first by the Chargers — who employed Franklin for the past two seasons — and then by the Saints, with whom Franklin lasted less than a week. A knee injury reportedly led to New Orleans cutting ties, and though there was some thought that Franklin could re-sign with the Saints, a new deal never came to fruition.Orlando Franklin (vertical)

A guard by trade, Franklin has also played tackle (the area of most need on the Giants’ roster), but it’s not clear that he’d be an improvement over Ereck Flowers or Bobby Hart. To be sure, Flowers and Hart have struggled mightily this season, but Franklin graded as one of the seven worst guards in the NFL a year ago, per Pro Football Focus. As far as reserves go, however, New York could do worse, as Franklin boasts 89 starts worth of pro experience.

Kouandjio offers several intriguing traits, as well, and chief among them is his youth, as he’s still only 24 years old. The former second-round pick was waived by the Bills earlier this year following an odd off-field incident, and then failed to beat out draft bust Greg Robinson for the Lions’ fill-in left tackle job. He’s only started 12 games in three NFL seasons.

NFL Workout Updates: 9/14/17

The latest workout updates from across the NFL, courtesy of Howard Balzer (Twitter links here):

Arizona Cardinals

Detroit Lions

Kansas City Chiefs

New York Giants

New York Jets

Lions Set 53-Man Roster

The Lions have met the NFL’s 53-man maximum requirement by making the following transactions:

Traded:

Released:

Waived:

Suspended:

Placed on non-football injury list:

Placed physically unable to perform list:

Lions OT Tony Hills Retires; Team Signs Nick Becton

Veteran tackle Tony Hills is retiring, the Lions announced. To take his place, the team has signed free agent tackle Nick Becton.

Hills, 33 in the fall, has moved around the league a bunch since being drafted by the Steelers in 2008. This offseason, the Lions signed him in the wake of Taylor Decker‘s shoulder injury. Of course, Hills was never expected to replace Decker’s production and was only being brought on board as a potential reserve.

Becton is expected to fill a similar role for Detroit. The 27-year-old met with Detroit in late March and the team apparently kept his name in mind for an occasion such as this. He has spent time with the the Chargers, Giants, Saints, and Bears, but we haven’t seen him on the field in the regular season since 2015.