Rufus Johnson

Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC East

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC East 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 BillsDolphins, Patriots, and Jets 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 East transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day (all links go to Twitter unless noted otherwise):

Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Patriots Cut Aaron Dobson, Move To 53

The Patriots have announced the cuts that bring them down to 53, including the waiving of Aaron Dobson.
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Dobson, 25, is a former second-round pick, but he hasn’t done much since joining New England in 2013. In three seasons with the club, the Marshall product has only posted 53 receptions for less than 700 yards. Most of that production came during his rookie season, as Dobson has put up only 16 catches during the past two years. Entering the final year of his rookie deal, Dobson was set to earn about $872K in base salary.

Here’s the list of Patriots cuts so far today:

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor Moves: Friday

Here are today’s minor moves around football, including multiple back-of-the-roster NFL transactions as well as a one-time starting quarterback heading north to the CFL….

  • Center Darren Keyton, who was cut by the Lions before the team’s Wild Card game, has re-signed with the club, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com (via Twitter).

Earlier updates:

  • Quarterback John Skelton, who started 17 games for the Cardinals from 2010 to 2012, has signed a two-year pact with the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Skelton’s stint in Arizona wasn’t particularly effective — he finished with 15 touchdowns to 25 interceptions, completing just 53.2% of his passes and posting a 63.0 QB rating. The 26-year-old spent time most recently with the Bengals in 2013.
  • Former University of Miami center Jared Wheeler signed with the Seahawks today, according to agent Brett Tessler (via Twitter). Wheeler, who was cut by the Bills prior to the 2014 regular season, is the latest signee for Seattle, after the team added 11 players on reserve/futures contracts earlier this week.
  • The Patriots also made several reserve/futures signings yesterday, and completed a few more today, according to a team release. Defensive lineman Antonio Johnson, linebacker Rufus Johnson, and running back Dion Lewis have new contracts with the Pats.

Minor Moves: Wednesday

Playoff teams and non-playoff teams both continue to make roster moves this week, and we’ll round up today’s minor transactions below. Here’s the latest:

  • The Jaguars signed wide receiver Arrelious Benn to a two-year deal, a league source tells Rand Getlin of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). Meanwhile, Dan Duggan of NJ.com reports (via Twitter) that the team also signed safety Jeremy Deering.
  • Long snapper Brandon Hartson inked a futures contract with the Chiefs, according to agent Brian McLaughlin (via Twitter). Kansas City has been busy locking up players for 2015, announcing 14 reserve deals yesterday.
  • Per Oliver Thomas of PatriotsObserver.com (via Twitter), the Patriots signed three players to reserve/futures contracts today: Defensive tackle Antonio Johnson, linebacker Rufus Johnson, and running back Dion Lewis. Since New England’s season isn’t over, the team can’t yet lock up any players from its practice squad to futures deals.
  • The Saints have added another player on a reserve/futures contract, signing veteran safety Kenny Phillips today, tweets Evan Woodbery of the Times-Picayune. A former first-round pick, Phillips worked out for New Orleans in November.

Earlier updates:

  • Cornerback Roc Carmichael and guard Antoine McClain inked reserve/futures deals with the Cardinals, per Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com (Twitter link). Carmichael has spent time with the Eagles over the last two seasons, while McClain finished the 2014 campaign on the Bears’ practice squad.
  • The Panthers signed guard Tyronne Green to a futures contract for 2015, the team announced today (Twitter link). Green most recently spent time with the Cowboys, having been cut by the team in July.
  • The Bengals have placed wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher on the injured reserve list due to a concussion, according to Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter). While losing Sanzenbacher, who caught just nine balls this season, isn’t a significant blow for Cincinnati, the team hopes A.J. Green won’t miss this weekend’s game with a similar ailment. With the newly-opened spot on the 53-man roster, the Bengals promoted wideout Cobi Hamilton from the practice squad.
  • Offensive tackle Joe Long, the brother of Rams tackle Jake Long, has been added to the Lions‘ taxi squad, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Detroit had been carrying just nine players on its unit, so no corresponding move was required to make room for Long.
  • The Buccaneers have signed former Northern Colorado quarterback Seth Lobato to a reserve/futures contract for 2015, tweets Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times.

Extra Points: L.A., 49ers, Draft, Daniels

The Chargers recently confirmed that they’ll continue to play in San Diego for the 2015 season, and it sounds as if the Rams could be the next team to make a similar announcement. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link) and Albert Breer of the NFL Network both indicate that officials in Missouri are expected to present the franchise with a plan containing “substantial public funding” soon, which will make it difficult for the club to justify leaving for Los Angeles in the short term. While there have been plenty of whispers about the possibility of one or two teams making the move to L.A., the smart money says it probably won’t happen in 2015, according to Breer.

Let’s round up a handful of other items from around the NFL….

  • The 49ers have already begun the process of researching potential head coaching candidates from other organizations, writes Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (via Twitter). Cole writes that this is further proof that the organization will move on from Jim Harbaugh this offseason.
  • Georgia outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins announced (via Twitter) that he’ll return to school for another season. Meanwhile, Alabama safety Landon Collins is viewed as a lock to enter the draft, sources tell Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
  • As NFL executive Troy Vincent points out (via Twitter), the requests for early evaluation from NCAA underclassmen dipped from 214 last year to just 147 this year. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk suggests that perhaps this means the number of early entrants will decline by a similar rate this year, but as Rand Getlin and Dan Wentzel of Yahoo! Sports write, the NFL instituted new limits this year on the information the league will provide potential early entrants. Only five underclassmen per college program can receive info, and the league will only tell those players if they’re first- or second-round picks.
  • Seahawks backup quarterback B.J. Daniels had his salary increased from the practice squad rate up to an active roster rate, reports Brian McIntyre of NFL.com (via Twitter).
  • The Patriots had three defenders – defensive end Cam Henderson, defensive lineman Antonio Johnson, and edge defender Rufus Johnson – in for tryouts this week, tweets Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com.
  • Washington is staring at the possibility of a second consecutive three-win season, and the team hasn’t even shown signs of trending upward, according to John Keim in his mailbag for ESPN. With issues between the coach and quarterback, Washington is having a season to forget.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Workout Notes: Wednesday

Today’s workouts, auditions, visits, pow-wows, get togethers, tryouts, and pop-ins..

  • The Raiders worked out former Saints wide receiver Joe Morgan, a source tells Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
  • The Saints worked out offensive lineman Will Simmons and Andre Miller, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (on Twitter).
  • The Buccaneers worked out linebacker Brandon Denmark, safety M.D. Jennings, and defensive back Jocquel Skinner , Wilson tweets. The Bucs also tried out defensive end Lawrence Sidbury, who wound up being signed to the active roster, and defensive back Varmah Sonie, who has joined their taxi squad.
  • Defensive end Sammy Brown visited the Buccaneers, according to Wilson (on Twitter).
  • The Seahawks worked out former Memphis defensive linemen Johnnie Farms, Marcus Forston, Rufus Johnson, Zach Minter, Brandon Moore, Will Pericak, Andru Pulu, and Jared Wheeler, according to Wilson (via Twitter).
  • The Cardinals tried out defensive end Shawn Lemon, wide receiver Jalil Carter, and defensive back Delvin Breaux, according to Wilson (on Twitter).

Workout Notes: Thursday

The Panthers, still somehow right in the thick of things in the NFC South race, took advantage of their bye week to bring in a number of players for auditions yesterday. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that Carolina worked out the following players: Austin Pettis (WR), Uzoma Nwachukwu (WR), Zach Bauman (RB), Toben Opurum (RB), Brad Sorensen (QB), M.D. Jennings (DB), Kimario McFadden (DB), Anthony Walters (DB), and Lou Young (DB). Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun adds one more name to the list, tweeting that wide receiver Michael Preston also visited the team.

Wilson has details on several more tryouts for free agent players this week, so let’s round up his updates (all links go to Twitter):

Latest NFC Cuts: Vikings, Redskins, Saints

Here are the latest roster moves from around the NFC, as teams pare down their rosters in advance of today’s 75-man deadline:

  • The Vikings have reduced their roster to 75 players by cutting tight end Michael Higgins, tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today. Higgins had been signed by Minnesota just over a month ago.
  • Wideout Rashad Ross is the latest roster casualty for the Redskins, having been waived this morning, according to Brian McNally of 106.7 The Fan (via Twitter). By our count, that should leave Washington with two more cuts to make before 3:00pm central time today.
  • Reports from Ramon Antonio Vargas of The Advocate and Evan Woodbery of the New Orleans Times-Picayune (Twitter links) suggest the Saints will cut a pair of defensive linemen: 2013 sixth-rounder Rufus Johnson and rookie George Uko.