August 15th, 2016 at 6:40pm CST by Dallas Robinson
Today’s minor moves:
The Buccaneers have signed defensive tackle Ishmaa’ily Kitchen and waived/injured rookie safety Elijah Shumate, the club announced. Kitchen, who weighs in at 330 pounds, appeared in 40 games for the Browns from 2012-14, but saw action in only two contests last year with the Patriots and Lions.
The Cardinals announced that they’ve waived/injured safety Durell Eskridge and re-signed safety Tyrequek Zimmerman.
The Raiders have waived offensive lineman Torian White, per an announcement from the club. Additionally, head coach Jack Del Rio told reporters, including Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link) that tight end Gabe Holmes is likely headed to injured reserve.
The Seahawks announced that they’ve waived running back Cameron Marshall and signed linebacker Quayshawn Nealy.
The Colts have claimed guard Donovan Williams off waivers from the Bears and waived punter Michael Palardy, the team announced.
The Steelers announced that they’ve signed linebacker Jermauria Rasco and waived long snapped Matt Dooley. Pittsburgh also reached an injury settlement with special teams ace Ross Ventrone, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
The Jets cut defensive tackle Christo Bilukidi with a left squad designation, according to Wilson (Twitter link).
The Panthers announced that they’ve swapped out punters, signing Kasey Redfern while waiving Swayze Waters.
The Chargers have signed defensive tackle Kamal Johnson, linebacker Zach Hodges, and linebacker James Vaughters, and waived waived cornerback Carrington Byndom.
The Packers have waived/injured long snapper Jesse Schmitt and will likely release him with an injury settlement, according to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link).
The Cowboys announced that they have signed linebacker James Morris. Morris was one of three players to work out for the team on Tuesday morning. Dallas also auditioned former Eagles linebacker Emmanuel Acho and Georgia Tech product Quayshawn Nealy, but it is Morris who came away with the job.
Morris, 24, spent the 2015 season with the Giants and appeared in six regular season games. In May, the Giants cut him loose as they shuffled the roster. Even though 2015 marked Morris’ first year with NFL burn, he also spent time with the Patriots taxi squad in 2014 and won a Super Bowl ring for his efforts.
Cowboys VP Stephen Jones says the club will likely use Wednesday’s day off to evaluate more players at other positions, according to a team press release. Jones indicated that the team will bring in some defensive tackles, safeties, and offensive linemen tomorrow. The team could particularly use reinforcements at DT as Tyrone Crawford sits out with a back injury.
The Cowboys are working out former Eagles linebacker Emmanuel Acho, according to a source who spoke with Brandon George of The Dallas Morning News. James Morris of Iowa and Quayshawn Nealy of Georgia Tech will also get a look from the Cowboys. Dallas has an open roster spot at linebacker after releasing Darius Eubanks over the weekend.
Acho, a sixth-round draft pick of the Browns in 2012, played his high school football in Dallas and made a name for himself as a member of the Texas Longhorns. Acho appeared in 14 games for the Eagles in 2014 but was cut loose during the 2015 season without having appeared in a game. He did not hook on with another team, though he did audition for the Raiders in December.
SATURDAY, 8:25am: The deal also includes a $40K roster bonus, tweets ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss.
FRIDAY, 1:35pm: It’s a one-year, $800K deal for Butler, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets.
WEDNESDAY, 2:08pm: The Cardinals announced that they have signed linebacker Donald Butler. To make room for Butler on the roster, the Cards released inside linebacker Quayshawn Nealy.
Butler, who has seven career sacks and three interceptions to his credit, played well enough in both 2012 and 2013 to earn a lucrative extension after the 2013 season. However, he struggled in 2014 and 2015, leading to his release earlier this offseason. Brown, 29, was set to enter his contract year before the Bolts cut him, absolving themselves of a $500K roster bonus, plus a $3MM base salary in the fall. By dropping him, they wiped that entire $3.5MM from their cap.
If he makes the roster, Butler will bring experience to Arizona’s inside linebacker corps. Aside from their latest addition, the Cards have Deone Bucannon, Kevin Minter, Alani Fua, Gabe Martin, and rookie Lamar Louis at inside linebacker, as shown on Roster Resource.
Here are today’s reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL, including the Cardinals signing their entire practice squad to new deals for 2016:
The Jets signed wide receiver Chandler Worthy to a reserve/future deal, as Mark Berman of FOX 26 tweets. Worthy was previously on Houston’s taxi squad.
The Packers worked out former Nebraska linebacker Jason Ankrah on Tuesday, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
The Chargers have signed former CFL inside linebacker Dexter McCoil to a futures deal, Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun tweets.
The Broncos have signed tight end Manasseh Garner, punter Will Johnson, and tackle Darrion Weems to futures deals, James Palmer of NFL.com tweets.
Washington signed defensive linemen Corey Crawford and Kamal Johnson and linebacker Derrick Mathews to reserve/future contracts, as Master Tesfatsion of the Washington Post writes.
The Panthers have signed guard David Yankey to a futures contract, as Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press tweets.
The Cardinals signed Quayshawn Nealy to the practice squad, Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun tweets.
The Patriots signed safety Cedric Thompson and wide receiver J.J. Worton to the practice squad and cut wide receiver DeAndre Carter, Wilson tweets.
The Steelers, who have been leaning heavily on DeAngelo Williams since Le’Veon Bell went down for the year, worked out former Rams and Jets running back Daryl Richardson, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (Twitter link). It doesn’t appear Pittsburgh will sign Richardson at this point, but it’s worth keeping an eye on the free agent market, considering Jordan Todman and Fitzgerald Toussaint – Williams’ current backups – have combined for just four carries this season.
Here are more workout notes from Wilson:
The Broncos had a huge group of players in for tryouts this week, and Wilson (Twitterlinks) has the full list:
Tight end Rob Housler was part of the Bears‘ latest workout group, which also featured tight end Nick Kasa and wide receiver Marcus Lucas, according to Wilson (Twitter link). Chicago’s starting tight end, Martellus Bennett, is expected to return to action this weekend, so I wouldn’t expect the team to add another player at the position.
The Cardinals auditioned linebackers Josh Francis, Quayshawn Nealy, Markus Pierce-Brewster, and Mike Reilly, along with cornerback Jalil Brown, tweets Wilson.
In addition to working out offensive tackle Pierce Burton, who signed to the team’s practice squad, the Colts also took a look at defensive end Nordly Capi and defensive back Terrance Mitchell, says Wilson (via Twitter).
The Raiders tried out safety Dewey McDonald, tweets Wilson. McDonald was signed by the Patriots last week, but only lasted two days on New England’s roster.