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Randy Bullock

49ers To Add K Matthew Wright

October 8th, 2024 at 9:02am CST by Nikhil Mehta

The 49ers look to have their temporary kicker selected. After a five-specialist workout, San Francisco is going with Matthew Wright. The veteran fill-in will be added to the team’s practice squad, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets.

The 49ers lost starting kicker Jake Moody to a high ankle sprain during their Week 5 loss to the Cardinals, and their next game on Thursday gave them little time to find a replacement.

Wright has spent four years in the NFL as a mercenary kicker for teams in need of stopgap solutions due to injury like the 49ers. He played 14 games for the Jaguars in 2021 after Josh Lambo went down, and has also spent time with the Steelers, Chiefs, and Panthers. Wright has made 40 of his 47 career field goal attempts (85.7%), with a long of 59, and his PAT conversion rate is 94.6%.

Wright beat out Randy Bullock, Anders Carlson and Matt Coghlin for San Francisco’s kicking job, per Schefter. Riley Patterson also auditioned for the gig, according to Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Wright will have to quickly get on the same page as punter/holder Mitch Wishnowsky. Wishnowsky hit a 26-yard field goal against Arizona, but 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan declined to give him a chance from 44 yards, instead electing to attempt a fourth-and-23. The conversion failed, and the Cardinals would go on to score 10 unanswered points to win.

Wright is expected to be elevated from the practice squad for the 49ers’ Thursday matchup with the Seahawks. He will need to overcome a raucous Seattle crowd to help San Francisco keep up in the NFC West.

Giants Work Out Four Kickers, To Add Greg Joseph Off Lions’ Practice Squad

September 17th, 2024 at 2:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

Graham Gano‘s injury changed the Giants’ gameday procedure, costing them dearly in a narrow loss to the Commanders. After not attempting any extra points once Gano went down, the Giants will make their expected addition.

With Gano set to miss at least four games, New York worked out four kickers. The team, however, will take another course. The Giants are signing Greg Joseph off the Lions’ practice squad, per his agency. The team must keep Joseph on its 53-man roster for at least three weeks due to poaching him off another team’s P-squad. Gano is now on IR, per a Giants announcement.

The Giants initially attempted a free agency path here, with NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo indicating the team worked out Zane Gonzalez, Randy Bullock, Riley Patterson and Tanner Brown. Instead, it will be Joseph, who will head to team No. 3 this year. Joseph signed with the Packers early this offseason but did not make their 53-man roster, joining the Lions’ practice squad as Jake Bates insurance. But an immediate opportunity will come his way in New York.

Joseph, 30, spent the past three seasons as the Vikings’ kicker. He drilled a 61-yard game-winning field goal to beat the Giants in Week 16 of the 2022 season. Like Gano, who made a 63-yarder to beat the Giants as a Panther in 2018, Joseph will make his way to the NFC’s New York franchise.

Joseph made 86.8% of his field goals in 2021 but did not clear the 80% barrier in either of the past two seasons. He made 80% of his tries last season, missing three from between 40 and 49 yards, and saw the Vikings take a different route this year.

As for Gano, this is the second time he has landed on IR in as many seasons. Gano has suffered two injuries since the Giants gave him a three-year, $16.5MM extension ($11.34MM guaranteed) in September 2023. Gano, 37, missed nine games last season. The Giants will hope to have their regular specialist back from his hamstring injury this season, but they will need to use an IR activation to make that happen.

Bullock served as the Giants’ Gano replacement in six games last season, while Patterson could not secure a spot as the Commanders’ kicker in the preseason. (Gonzalez has not kicked since the 2021 season.) The Commanders, who settled on Austin Seibert as their latest kicker, became the first NFL team to win a game despite scoring zero touchdowns to their opponent’s three.

Giants To Place K Randy Bullock On IR

December 21st, 2023 at 11:57am CST by Sam Robinson

The Giants will end up using at least three primary kickers this season. Brought in to be Graham Gano‘s replacement, Randy Bullock will not make it to the finish line.

Bullock is heading to IR, per ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan. The veteran kicker sustained a hamstring injury during the Giants’ Week 15 loss to the Saints. This transaction will end Bullock’s season; he kicked in the past six Giants games.

This latest Giants kicker setback will give Cade York another chance. The Giants have the former Browns draftee stashed on their practice squad, putting him in position to resume his career in Week 16. Cut by the Browns after struggling during the preseason, York has not played this season.

In signing Bullock in early November, the Giants also added York off the Titans’ practice squad. That mandated York stay on the roster for at least three weeks. Later last month, the Giants waived the second-year kicker. But he stuck around on Big Blue’s P-squad. The 2022 fourth-round pick will be set for another chance soon. The LSU alum made only 75% of his field goals last season, missing two PATs.

York could be auditioning for another team over the season’s final three weeks. The Giants gave Gano a three-year extension early this season, and although he underwent knee surgery recently, the veteran should remain in place as the team’s kicker for 2024. The Giants could certainly keep York around as offseason insurance, but Gano’s deal includes $13.25MM guaranteed.

Technically, York will be the fourth Giants kicker this year. Punter Jamie Gillan connected on a field goal in relief of Bullock in New Orleans. Bullock, 34, made 5 of 6 field goals — one of those a game-winner over the Packers — and all 10 extra points during his second Giants stint. A one-game Giant fill-in back in 2016, Bullock spent the past two seasons with the Titans. Tennessee released him amid a February payroll purge. Bullock has kicked for seven teams over his 11-year career.

Giants Shuffle Kickers On Roster

November 24th, 2023 at 6:53pm CST by Ely Allen

When Giants kicker Graham Gano suffered a knee injury that would require surgery and a stint on injured reserve, the team made two moves to cover their bases. First, New York added veteran journeyman kicker Randy Bullock to their practice squad and, second, they signed second-year kicker Cade York off of the Titans’ practice squad to their active roster.

Despite having York on the active roster, requiring no transactions for him to play, the Giants opted to instead use one of their two weekly practice squad elevations on Bullock for each of the past three weeks. So far, so good for Bullock who has yet to miss a kick in game action. After not being asked to even attempt a kick in his first elevation, Bullock has gone 6-for-6 on extra points and 2-for-2 on field goals in the two games since, with a long of 40 yards.

Now, the NFL’s practice squad elevation rules mandate that a player can only be elevated three times on their practice squad contract. If the Giants were hoping to utilize Bullock in any more game action, they would have to sign him to the active roster. The team signaled such a move was coming when they waived York two days ago.

Now without a kicker on the active roster, New York has officially made the move of signing Bullock to the 53-man squad, according to Pat Leonard of NY Dailey News Sports. In addition, they signed York back to the team on a practice squad contract, effectively swapping the two kickers’ positions on the roster.

New York now has the ability to play Bullock without needing to elevate him each week, and York, who hadn’t made an in-game appearance during his three weeks on the active roster, is no longer using up a precious roster spot while remaining inactive. It’s unclear if Gano has a chance of returning from knee surgery this year, but in the meantime, Bullock has done a good job filling in and should continue to do so.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/18/23

November 18th, 2023 at 8:55pm CST by Ely Allen

This week’s callups and minor moves heading into Sunday:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers:

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Evans had been called up from the practice squad three times by the Cowboys, meaning he needed to be added to the 53-man roster this week to continue suiting up. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports “several teams” attempted to poach the veteran off the taxi squad, but his decision to remain with Dallas has culminated in today’s move. Evans has logged 74 combined defensive and special teams snaps with the Cowboys so far, recording three tackles.

James was out of the lineup for one game after being designated for return, but he will be eligible to suit up for the upcoming Super Bowl rematch against the Eagles. Mentioned as a trade candidate earlier this year, he will be able to add depth to a WR corps which has underperformed to date, and add to his single catch recorded in his two Kansas City games at the start of the campaign.

Giants OLB Azeez Ojulari Activated From IR

November 11th, 2023 at 5:47pm CST by Ely Allen

Third-year linebacker Azeez Ojulari will attempt to turn around what, so far, has been a second straight injury-marred season. After spending the past four games on injured reserve with an ankle injury, Ojulari will return to the Giants defensive line after being activated from IR today.

After an impressive rookie year that saw Ojulari lead the team in sacks, the former second-round pick only saw seven contests in his sophomore season. Even in extremely limited time, the Georgia-product was able to rack up 5.5 sacks. Injuries kept Ojulari from blossoming during his second season in New York, but the talent level was clearly still there for one of the team’s top pass rushers.

This year, before his IR stint, though, Ojulari had been held sackless. Granted, he’s only seen action in three games this year, and in two of those games he saw only 55 percent of the team’s snaps or fewer, he’s had the least-effective season of his career thus far. He’ll attempt to turn that narrative around starting this week.

The Giants also announced their two standard gameday elevations from the practice squad today. With regular kicker Graham Gano still on IR, New York will once again rely on practice squad kicker Randy Bullock. Bullock was called up for last week’s game but wasn’t asked to attempt an extra point, let alone a field goal.

Lastly, the team’s second gameday practice squad elevation will be used on tight end Tyree Jackson. The converted college quarterback has a few career catches from his time in Philadelphia but has yet to appear in a game for the division-rival Giants.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/4/23

November 4th, 2023 at 3:49pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves and gameday callups for Week 9:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

  • Elevated: QB Dresser Winn

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

With Kyler Murray not being activated from injured reserve this week, the Cardinals are heading into Week 9 with Clayton Tune as the only quarterback on their active roster. Driskel will be called up for the week as a standard gameday elevation to back up Tune.

With Matthew Stafford listed as questionable for tomorrow’s game, the Rams are adding some depth at the quarterback position. Dresser Winn had a breakout 2022 campaign at UT Martin, tossing 18 touchdowns while adding another three scores on the ground. He joined the Rams as an UDFA but was cut at the end of the preseason. He had a brief stint in the Canadian Football League before rejoining the Rams practice squad earlier this week. If Stafford can’t go, Brett Rypien will get the call under center for the Rams.

Peters will be elevated for the second straight week in Seattle. The 41-year-old, playing in his 19th NFL season, split snaps with right tackle Stone Forsythe last week against Cleveland.

Giants Sign Randy Bullock, Place Graham Gano On IR; Cade York Added From Titans’ Practice Squad

November 3rd, 2023 at 10:30am CST by Sam Robinson

NOVEMBER 3: In addition to Bullock, the Giants have signed Cade York, head coach Brian Daboll announced on Friday. As ESPN’s Jordan Raanan notes, the pair will have a brief competition to determine the team’s kicker in Week 9. York was drafted in the fourth round last year by the Browns, but his struggles in training camp and the preseason this summer led to Cleveland waiving him. The 22-year-old quickly joined the Titans’ practice squad, but this move to New York’s active roster will give him the opportunity to win a full-time gig in Gano’s absence.

NOVEMBER 2: Graham Gano has given the Giants some kicker stability during the 2020s, but the team will need to pivot to another option soon. Gano’s knee injury will sideline him for a while.

The recently extended kicker is set to undergo knee surgery and will land on IR, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, who adds the team will replace Gano with Randy Bullock. The veteran kicker joined Mason Crosby, Robbie Gould and Matthew Wright in working out for the Giants on Thursday, per ex-Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes.

Bullock, whom ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter notes will initially join the Giants’ practice squad, has not kicked in a game this season. Amid a February salary purge, the Titans released Bullock. But he will bring 10 years’ experience to the Giants. Bullock, 33, kicked for the Titans for the past two seasons. While Bullock has bounced around the league, the Thursday signing will mark a reunion. During his 2010s travels, Bullock stopped through New York in 2016, kicking in one game with the Giants.

Gano signed a three-year, $16.5MM Giants extension in September; the 36-year-old specialist has been the Giants’ kicker since 2020. Gano acknowledged recently he will need surgery at some point. Rather than playing through this issue any longer, Gano will go under the knife soon.

The veteran kicker is coming off a two-miss performance in an ugly Giants loss to the Giants; the second of those misses came from 35 yards out. Gano, who also missed a 47-yarder in Week 8, could have effectively sealed a Giants win by making the shorter try late in the fourth quarter. The Jets instead rallied back to tie the game and force overtime, winning in the extra period. The former Washington and Carolina kicker had hoped to finish out the season and then undergo surgery, per Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano, but the Jets outing appears to have changed plans.

On the season, Gano is just 11-for-17. The Giants guaranteed the 15th-year veteran $11.34MM at signing, providing an opportunity for the incumbent to reclaim his job once recovered. For now, Bullock will receive another chance. The former Texans fifth-round pick has kicked for six teams, also suiting up for the Bengals, Steelers and Jets during his run. The Giants stopover, which came in Week 1 of the 2016 season when Josh Brown served a one-game suspension, occurred as Bullock bounced around during the 2016 and ’17 seasons. Beyond those two slates, he served as a steady option in Houston, Cincinnati and Tennessee.

Bullock finished his two Titans seasons with 84% and 85% field goal accuracy rates. He is not necessarily known for prolific long-range success, having not made more than three 50-plus-yard field goals in a season since 2014. But the Giants preferred Bullock to Wright and the more experienced options they brought in Thursday.

Rams Release K Brett Maher; Team Signs K Lucas Havrisik Off Browns’ Practice Squad

October 25th, 2023 at 8:39pm CST by Adam La Rose

OCTOBER 25: Havrisik may be a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option in Los Angeles, as the Rams have shown they may not view him as a permanent solution. Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 reports that the team hosted a mass tryout for kickers today. In addition to veteran kickers Mason Crosby and Randy Bullock, the team also tried out Austin Seibert, Matthew Wright, and Tucker McCann.

With Crosby’s time in Green Bay coming to an end after 16 years as a Packer, he’s aiming to join the second franchise of his NFL career. Bullock, after starting out in Houston, has had decent stints with the Bengals and Titans over the past several years. Seibert and Wright have both had a single decent season, Seibert with the Browns and Wright with the Jaguars, but both have bounced around a bit since.

Havrisik may have first dibs, already being under contract, but with the Rams continuing to explore other options, his grip on the kicking job may be tenuous at best.

OCTOBER 24: After struggling in Week 7, Brett Maher now finds himself on the lookout for a new opportunity. The veteran kicker was released by the Rams on Tuesday, per a team announcement.

Maher missed a pair of field goals, along with an extra point, in the Rams’ 24-17 loss to the Steelers on Sunday. That drew understandable criticism from head coach Sean McVay, and led to questions about whether or not a change at the position would be deemed necessary. Today’s move confirms Los Angeles’ stance on that front.

The 33-year-old had his second Cowboys stint end in disappointing fashion in last year’s postseason. Maher had delivered a strong performance in the regular season, but he missed four extra point attempts in the wild-card round and another in the divisional round. To no surprise, Dallas looked elsewhere for a replacement, which left Maher in search of a new home.

That initially sent him to Denver in a reunion with head coach Sean Payton. Maher spent the 2021 season with the Saints in Payton’s final year in New Orleans. By the time the season started, though, the Broncos had acquired another Payton-era Saints alum (Wil Lutz) to handle kicking duties. The latter has missed only one field goal and one extra point to date, so Denver likely does not regret that decision.

Maher had been busy during his brief Rams stint. His 23 field goal attempts through seven weeks (along with 17 makes) lead the NFL. However, that 74% success rate is the second-lowest of his career, and a recurrence of his XP issues will likely make it difficult to find another NFL gig in the near future. With respect to his replacement, the Rams appear to have a successor in mind.

Los Angeles plans to sign Lucas Havrisik off the Browns’ practice squad, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. The 24-year-old initially joined the league with the Colts last season, but after a long stretch as a free agent, he joined Cleveland’s taxi squad this summer. The Browns ran into kicking trouble in the preseason, which led to Cade York‘s departure. He was replaced by Dustin Hopkins, who has been nearly perfect to start the year. Now. Cleveland will lose its backup plan at the kicking spot while the Rams (who have confirmed the signing) will give Havrisik his first opportunity in regular season NFL action.

Broncos To Conduct Training Camp K Competition

June 26th, 2023 at 8:57am CST by Adam La Rose

The Broncos will have a kicker not named Brandon McManus in place at the start of the 2023 season, but it remains to be seen who his successor will be. Only one kicker is on Denver’s roster at the moment, but that is likely to change in the near future.

Elliot Fry took part in spring practices for Denver after signing with the team last month. His lone competition at that point was veteran Randy Bullock, who was brought in on a tryout basis without joining the team’s 90-man roster. The former will be a participant in the Broncos’ kicking competition during training camp, but it remains to be seen who will be challenging him.

Mike Klis of 9News notes that at least one addition at the position will be coming in time for next month, which could include Bullock or another experienced option on the lookout for a new opportunity. The likes of Robbie Gould, Mason Crosby, Ryan Succop and Brett Maher remain unsigned, and it will be interesting to monitor their markets as teams look for upgrades or participants in their own competitions. Klis adds that roster cuts could be another source of Denver’s eventual Week 1 kicker.

Fry, 28, has made just three regular season appearances during his career (the most recent of which came in 2021), so his spot is certainly far from assured heading into training camp. Bullock, by contrast, has 138 games of experience but was let go by the Titans as part of a widespread cost-cutting effort on the team’s part. Either of those two, or another addition to be made later, will face the challenge of effectively replacing McManus after his nine-year run in the Mile High City which included generally consistent performances along with a dip in accuracy last season.

“Making that transaction was a tough call,” special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica said on the decision to release McManus. “I think there was a lot of thought going into that… He’s done a lot of great things, but that’s part of the business. Transactions occur, and there will be more transactions. We wish him nothing but the best.

“Going to Jacksonville, I think that’s a great spot for him,” Kotwica added. “We’re excited about the guys we have in Elliott and Randy. We’ll see how this takes fold as we move forward to the season.”

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