Colts Re-Sign CB Pierre Desir
Cornerback Pierre Desir has agreed to a new one-year deal with the Colts, a league source tells Stephen Holder of the Indy Star (on Twitter). 
Desir was claimed by the Colts in September of 2017 after he missed the Seahawks’ initial 53-man cut. The 27-year-old (28 in September) quickly impressed coaches and found himself with a prominent role behind top corners Nate Hairston and Rashaan Melvin. He appeared in nine games (six starts) for Indianapolis, finishing out with career highs in passes defensed (7) and total tackles (32) before landing on IR in December with a pectoral injury.
Now that Melvin has signed with the Raiders, Desir figures to be in for serious playing time right off the bat in 2018. The Colts likely will continue to look for cornerback help with Quincy Wilson, Kenny Moore, and Nate Hairston amongst their top CBs under contract. Darius Butler, who spent time at cornerback before playing primarily at safety in ’17, is in free agency limbo.
Colts Place Pierre Desir On IR
The Colts have placed starting cornerback Pierre Desir on injured reserve. He suffered a muscle tear in his shoulder over the weekend that will require several weeks of recovery. The team has also announced that they have signed running back Matt Jones to fill the open spot on the roster.
Desir was claimed by the Colts in September after he missed the Seahawks’ initial 53-man cut. The 27-year-old quickly impressed coaches and found himself with a prominent role behind top corners Nate Hairston and Rashaan Melvin. Melvin is dealing with a hand injury of his own, so the Colts will have to dig deep at the cornerback position the rest of the way.
Desir appeared in nine games (six starts) for the Colts, finishing out with career highs in passes defensed (7) and total tackles (32).
Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC South
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC South 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 Texans, Colts, Jaguars, and Titans 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 South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:
Houston Texans
- Claimed:
- WR Andy Jones
- Cut:
- RB Akeem Hunt
- Signed to practice squad:
- TE Evan Baylis
- CB Bryce Jones
- WR Riley McCarron
- RB Dare Ogunbowale
- LB Gimel President
- G David Quessenberry
- DE Daniel Ross
- G Chad Slade
- WR Chris Thompson
- Cut from IR:
- P Cory Carter
Indianapolis Colts
- Claimed:
- CB Pierre Desir
- WR Matt Hazel
- RB Matt Jones (story)
- DB Kenny Moore
- G Ian Silberman
- Cut:
- T Zach Banner
- S Ronald Martin
- QB Stephen Morris
- OL Brian Schwenke (story)
- TE Brandon Williams
- Signed to practice squad:
- WR Fred Brown
- TE Henry Krieger-Coble
- G Adam Redmond
- LB Darnell Sankey
- LB Garrett Sickels
- QB Phillip Walker
- S Andrew Williamson
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Claimed:
- DT Eli Ankou
- TE James O’Shaughnessy
- LB Donald Payne
- DB Lafayette Pitts
- T William Poehls
- Cut:
- QB Brandon Allen (story)
- DT Stefan Charles
- OL Jeremiah Poutasi
- LB Hayes Pullard III
- TE Neal Sterling
- Signed to practice squad:
- DE Hunter Dimick
- WR Amba Etta-Tawo
- OL Avery Gennesy
- TE David Grinnage
- DB Tracy Howard
- OL Chris Reed
Tennessee Titans
- Signed:
- WR Eric Weems
- Placed on IR:
- Signed to practice squad:
- DT Antwaun Woods
- RB Khalfani Muhammad
- QB Tyler Ferguson
- TE Jerome Cunningham
- WR Darius Jennings
- S Denzel Johnson
- OL Tyler Marz
- T Steven Moore
Seahawks Now At 53
The Seahawks made some moves to get down to 53, including the release of last year’s backup quarterback. Here’s the full rundown:
Waived:
- QB Trevone Boykin
- T Darrell Brown
- LB Rodney Butler
- RB Alex Collins
- RB Mike Davis
- CB Pierre Desir
- WR Cyril Grayson
- DT Tylor Harris
- C Joey Hunt
- DT Quinton Jefferson
- WR Kenny Lawler
- DT Jeremy Liggins
- DT Greg Milhouse
- WR David Moore
- LB Kache Palacio
- C/G Will Pericak
- LB Otha Peters
- WR Darreus Rogers
- DT Garrison Smith
- WR Rodney Smith
- TE Tyrone Swoopes
- T Tyrus Thompson
- CB Mike Tyson
Waived/Injured:
- LB Christian French
- CB Demetrius McCray
- DT Rodney Coe
- WR Kasen Williams
Released:
- LB Mike Morgan
- FB Marcel Reece
Boykin has lost the backup QB job to Austin Davis and that’s not a huge surprise after Davis’ performance in the preseason. Coach Pete Carroll indicated recently that he would have liked to keep three signal callers, but it just wasn’t realistic.
“It’s a good idea if you can do it,” Carroll said. “They’re so important. It just depends on the rest of the roster.”
West Notes: Broncos, Raiders, Chiefs, Hawks
The Broncos want to bring in a third quarterback, but that player is likely to be either a young veteran or a draft pick, head coach Vance Joseph tells Mike Klis of 9News (Twitter links). Denver is apparently content to allow Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch battle it out for the starting QB job, meaning any new addition would be a third-stringer. Tony Romo, meanwhile, is looking like less of an option, as the Broncos are reportedly backing off their pursuit of the Cowboys signal-caller.
Here’s more from the NFL’s two West divisions:
- After losing defensive tackle Stacy McGee in free agency, Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie admits his team may bring in another piece up front, as Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. Currently, Oakland boasts Khalil Mack, Jihad Ward, Dan Williams, Mario Edwards, restricted free agent Denico Autry, and others along the defensive line. Johnathan Hankins, Jared Odrick, and Vance Walker rank as PFR’s best remaining interior defenders.
- The Chiefs‘ decision to decline their option on backup quarterback Nick Foles was purely cap-related, head coach Andy Reid tells Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star. Foles’ 2017 option was worth $6.75MM, an untenable figure for the Chiefs given that even now they only have $3MM in cap space. While Foles has since signed a two-year, $11MM with the Eagles, Kansas City currently has Tyler Bray behind starting quarterback Alex Smith.
- Although Seahawks corner Pierre Desir had an opportunity to sign with the Lions last season, he opted to stick on Seattle’s practice squad and has since been re-signed on a futures deal, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (all Twitter links). Seahawks general manager John Schneider pointed to Desir, Neiko Thorpe, and Tampa Bay import Bradley McDougald as key depth pieces that can fill out the secondary.
- Free agent signee Oday Aboushi will begin his Seahawks tenure at right guard, which means Seattle is set to try 2016 first-round pick Germain Ifedii at right tackle, tweets Condotta. Ifedi played tackle at Texas A&M, but shifted to right guard during his rookie campaign. The results were near disastrous, as Ifedi graded as the single worst guard in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus.
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/16/17
Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2017 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters.
Dallas Cowboys
- G Clay DeBord
- G Kadeem Edwards
- WR Shaquelle Evans
- LB Jeremiah George
- TE Connor Hamlett
- DE Lenny Jones
- CB Jeremiah McKinnon
- DB Jameill Showers
- CB Sammy Seamster
- RB Rod Smith
- CB Duke Thomas
- LS Zach Wood
Houston Texans
- TE RaShaun Allen
- DE Brandon Dunn
- OT Laurence Gibson
- RB Kenny Hilliard
- WR Tevin Jones
- OLB Eric Lee
- ILB Shakeel Rashad
- OG Chad Slade
Seattle Seahawks
- C Ross Burbank
- FS Pierre Desir
- RB George Farmer
- DT Tylor Harris
- DT Shaneil Jenkins
- FB Malcolm Johnson
- WR Kenny Lawler
- TE Marcus Lucas
- C/OG Will Pericak
- RB Kelvin Taylor
Tennessee Titans
- CB Tye Smith
Washington Redskins
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/4/16
Friday’s practice squad changes:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: CB Marcus Roberson
- Cut: WR Mose Frazier
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: S Pierre Desir
- Cut: QB Joel Stave, RB George Farmer, FB Julian Howsare
NFL Workout Updates: 11/1/16
Tuesday is workout day in the NFL, and today was no different. Due to the sheer volume of today’s auditions, we’ll split up the reports by conference:
AFC
- The Dolphins worked out players on both sides of the ball. ESPN’s Adam Caplan tweets that the team auditioned running back Jonas Gray and defensive end Martin Ifedi.
- Besides signing Bishop Sankey, the Chiefs also worked out running backs Trent Richardson and Vick Ballard, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (via Twitter). Caplan tweets that the team also worked out defensive end Rakim Cox and wideout Marcus Johnson.
- The Colts worked out a trio of defenders today, according to Caplan (via Twitter): defensive tackle Jordan Hill, inside linebacker Nate Irving, and linebacker Danny Lansanah.
- Three offensive tackles worked out for the Jets, according to Caplan (on Twitter): Rob Crisp, Pierce Burton, and Jesse Davis.
- The Titans auditioned three wideouts and two guards, according to Caplan (on Twitter). Receivers Jeremy Ross, Dres Anderson, and Jonathan Krause were in for workouts, as were offensive guards Dallas Thomas and Josh LeRibeus.
NFC
- The Bears worked out a pair of defensive backs, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter): Rashaad Reynolds and Ryan White. The team also worked out former Patriots offensive lineman Bryan Stork, as well as running back Daniel Davie.
- Caplan reports (via Twitter) that the Lions hosted a number of players this afternoon: tight end Matthew Mulligan, linebackers Ben Jacobs and Trevor Bates, and cornerbacks Crezdon Butler and Jeremiah McKinnon.
- Three cornerbacks worked out for the Packers, according to Caplan (on Twitter): Duke Thomas, Cleveland Wallace, and Larry Scott.
- Before adding Vinnie Sunseri to the practice squad, the 49ers took a look at former Saints defensive back Marcus Ball (via Nick Underhill on Twitter). Caplan adds that the team also auditioned defensive tackle Lars Koht and defensive end Mike Rose.
- The Seahawks worked out cornerback Pierre Desir, reports Caplan (via Twitter).
Chargers Promote WR Isaiah Burse
The Chargers announced today that they’ve promoted wide receiver Isaiah Burse from the practice squad in advance of Sunday’s game against the Broncos. Cornerback Pierre Desir has been waived in a corresponding move.
[RELATED: San Diego Chargers Depth Chart]
Before the addition of Burse, San Diego had only four wide receivers on its depth chart, with Tyrell Williams, Travis Benjamin, Dontrelle Inman, and Griff Whalen making up the club’s pass-catching unit. Two of those receivers are listed as questionable for Sunday’s contest, as both Williams and Benjamin are battling knee injuries. However, both players appear “on track” to play in Week 8, according to Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com.
Burse, 24, has 13 games of NFL experience under his belt — he played in one contest with the Chargers last season, and spent 12 games on Denver’s roster the year prior. He’s never caught an NFL pass, and has mostly contributed as a special teams player. Burse was the Broncos’ primary punt returner in 2014, averaging 7.3 yards per return on 29 chances.
Desir, 26, was waived by the Chargers last Saturday before being brought back into the fold the following Monday. He’s appeared in five games for San Diego this season, but has played on only 22 defensive snaps — he’s managed another 37 on special teams. With Desir out of the picture, the Chargers will head into their divisional matchup with Brandon Flowers, Casey Hayward, Craig Mager, Steve Williams, and Trevor Williams in the defensive backfield.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/25/16
Today’s minor moves:
- The Dolphins officially placed running back Arian Foster on the reserve/retired list, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com. Foster announced yesterday that he was hanging up his cleats.
- After acquiring tight end A.J. Derby earlier today, the Broncos have cleared a roster spot by releasing safety Shiloh Keo, according to Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post (Twitter link).
- The Jaguars announced that they’ve officially placed defensive tackle Roy Miller on injured reserve and promoted fellow DT Richard Ash from the practice squad.
- The Bills have promoted wide receiver Ed Eagan to the active roster. In a corresponding move, offensive lineman Michael Ola has been waived. Buffalo was in dire need of pass-catching help as both Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin are dealing with injuries.
- The Chargers have placed defensive lineman Caraun Reid on injured reserve and re-signed cornerback Pierre Desir, the club announced. As Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets, Reid is the 16th player San Diego has placed on IR, tops in the league.
- The Bears announced that they have promoted defensive back Demontre Hurst to the 53-man roster from the practice squad. To make room, cornerback Jacoby Glenn has been waived.
- The Seahawks have placed defensive end Quinton Jefferson on injured reserve and signed fellow DE Malliciah Goodman, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (Twitter link).