Scott Crichton

Bills Waive DE Scott Crichton

Days after claiming him from the Vikings, the Bills have waived defensive end Scott Crichton after he failed his physical, Buffalo announced today.Scott Crichton (Vertical)

Crichton, 25, has never been able to get his career of the ground after being selected in the third round of the 2014 draft. He’s appeared in 21 games over three seasons, but ended the 2015 season on injured reserve and spent the entirety of the 2016 campaign on IR. As such, it’s perhaps unsurprising Crichton was unable to pass a physical once he arrived in Buffalo.

Crichton has one year left on his rookie contract worth $769K. Any club can now claim Crichton off waivers and assume that salary, but given his health status, Crichton will almost assuredly pass through waivers.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/27/17

Monday’s minor moves:

  • The Bills have claimed defensive end Scott Crichton off waivers from the Vikings, tweets ESPN’s Field Yates. The Vikings used a third-round pick (No. 72) on Crichton in 2014, but he has failed to live up to that selection thus far. The 25-year-old spent 2016 on injured reserve after combining for five tackles in 21 appearances over his first two seasons.
  • The Seahawks have re-signed linebacker Dewey McDonald, an exclusive rights free agent, per Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). The three-year veteran is coming off his first season as a member of the Seahawks, with whom he logged a personal-best 14 appearances and played 63.3 percent of special teams snaps.
  • The Browns have announced the signing of offensive tackle Matt McCants. The five-year vet is already a journeyman at the age of 25, as he’s now on his fifth team. McCants set career highs in games (13) and starts (three) in 2013 with the Raiders, but he hasn’t started in any of his 15 appearances since.

Vikings Waive DL Scott Crichton

The Vikings announced that defensive lineman Scott Crichton has been waived. Crichton was a 2014 third-round pick and he was widely expected to be a cap casualty this offseason. The Vikings will save approximately $769K against the cap with $164K in dead money.

To date, the 25-year-old defensive lineman (26 in October) has only compiled 10 total tackles in 21 career games. His 2015 season ended on IR and he was waived/injured in the summer prior to the 2016 season. He reverted to Minnesota’s IR after the transaction, but the team is not interested in finding out whether he can return to health and contribute in 2017.

With Crichton out of the picture, the Vikings are left with 64 players on the active roster.

Vikings’ Roster Now At 75

The Vikings had already released center John Sullivan today, and now they’ve announced several other moves that bring them in at the 75-man deadline.

Waived/Injured:

Waived:

  • WR Troy Stoudemire

Placed on reserve/non-football illness:

Harris, a former undrafted free agent, served an as offensive tackle during his two seasons with the Chargers. Harris played 12 games at right tackle for the Vikings in 2014, and he started all 16 games at guard this past season. He re-signed with the Vikings on a one-year, $2MM deal.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/19/15

Here are Saturday’s minor transactions from around the NFL, which we’ll continue to update throughout the day…

  • Brad Sorensen‘s eventful week continues, with the Chargers again calling up the quarterback from their practice squad to the active roster, Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports (on Twitter). The Bolts cut guard Craig Watts to make room. The Chargers signed Sorensen from their practice squad last Saturday as a result of Philip Rivers‘ illness, waived him Monday, re-signed him Wednesday, cut him Thursday, before re-signing the 27-year-old to the taxi squad Friday. Sounds like a lot of paperwork.
  • The Patriots are adding running back Joey Iosefa to their active roster from their practice squad, Doug Kyed of NESN.com reports. A seventh-round pick of the Buccaneers’ this year, Iosefa didn’t make the team in training camp and has resided on the Patriots’ practice squad since Oct. 21. Kyed notes Iosefa, listed at 6-foot and 245 pounds, has shed weight since joining the Pats’ practice squad and could be used as a fullback or running back behind James White and Brandon Bolden. The Pats waived/injured linebacker Eric Martin in a corresponding move. Martin suffered a concussion this week.
  • The Vikings have put former third-round pick Scott Crichton on the season-ending injured reserve, tweets Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The 24-year-old defensive lineman has only compiled 10 total tackles in 21 career games. To take his spot on the roster, the team has promoted defensive end Zach Moore from the practice squad.

Vikings Notes: Peterson, Zimmer, Barr, Crichton

Barring an unexpected move, star running back Adrian Peterson will be playing for the Vikings in 2015. His wife, Ashley, told ESPN.com’s Tania Ganguli that she’s happy her husband is back with Minnesota, but that she would have preferred to move closer to her home in Oklahoma.

“I am happy that he’ll be going back,” she said. “They have supported us. I just would personally, for me, I would’ve preferred to be closer to home. That’s just a personal preference for me. The Vikings have been supportive of him and the fans have been pretty supportive, so we’re happy to be going back.”

When asked if her opinion has anything to do with how the organization treated her husband, Ashley gave a vague response:

“Well, the thing is, kind of, but you never know how that would’ve played out with anyone else. Just kind of have to go with the flow on that. I personally would’ve preferred to be closer to my family. I’m having a baby and all that.”

Let’s check out some other notes from the North Star State…

  • Head coach Mike Zimmer doesn’t have a particular “style” or “scheme,” but Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune writes that the outlook is refreshing. Previous Vikings coaches have ultimately been unsuccessful with their particular philosophies, but Zimmer’s “fly by the seat of my pants” attitude is exactly what the organization needs. “I just try to be myself,” he said. “My only strategy was that, especially around the defense, I wanted to show them that in the meeting rooms and by the way I’m teaching them with the tape and with techniques, that they can believe that I can coach.”
  • Linebacker Anthony Barr has been present for the team’s OTAs, but a knee injury has prevented the former first-rounder from participating. While the second-year player had arthroscopic knee surgery following last season, FoxSports.com’s Brian Hall writes that Barr is currently struggling with a separate injury. “He’s got another injury, but I really don’t want to talk about it,” Zimmer said. “He’s going to be fine.”
  • Defensive end Scott Crichton struggled during his rookie campaign as he adjusted to the Vikings’ system. ESPN.com’s Ben Goessling says the second-year player has surprised during OTAs, and his head coach has also noticed the improvement. “He’s not thinking so much,” Zimmer said. “He’s more attacking and then playing football as opposed to thinking and then playing football. In a lot of those ways he’s improved a lot. We’ve moved him inside some and he’s flashed a little bit in there, but again, I’m being cautious with my evaluations.”

Draft Signings: Vikings, Chiefs, Eagles, Jags

We’re dedicating full posts to first- and second-round picks who sign their rookie contracts, but we’ll be recapping the remaining mid-to-late round signings in posts like this one. Here are the latest draftees to agree to terms with the clubs that selected them earlier in May:

  • Vikings third round pick Scott Crichton tweeted out a picture of himself signing his rookie deal. The Oregon State defensive end racked up 22.5 career sacks in three seasons. With Crichton in the fold, Minnesota has just one unsigned rookie remaining: third-round running back Jerick McKinnon.
  • The Chiefs have signed fifth-round quarterback Aaron Murray, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). Kansas City is now one player away from locking up its modest six-player draft class, with only first-rounder Dee Ford left to sign.
  • Fifth-round safety Ed Reynolds has agreed to terms with the Eagles on his four-year rookie contract, the club announced today (via Twitter). The Stanford product is in line for a signing bonus worth about $184K, per Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap.
  • The Jaguars have also signed a fifth-round pick, securing defensive end Chris Smith, tweets John Oehser of Jaguars.com. Smith went three spots ahead of Reynolds, at 159th overall, meaning he figures to receive a slightly larger bonus of about $187K.
  • The Bengals inked a pair of draft picks today, signing sixth-round linebacker Marquis Flowers and seventh-round wideout James Wright to four-year deals, says Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter). Flowers and Wright are the first two draftees that have reached agreements with the Bengals so far this month.

NFC North Notes: Bears, Houston, Packers, Vikings

Following one of the worst defensive seasons in team history, the Bears’ scheme under defensive coordinator Mel Tucker will “undergo significant alterations in 2014,” says ESPN’s Michael C. Wright. “There are some significant changes in terms of techniques that we’re going to play; how we’re going to fit the run, some of our alignments,” Tucker said. “We’ll have some alternative fronts that we’ll play. I’m not sure how much of a difference you’ll see during the OTAs and things like that because we’re going to work to lay the foundation on our base principles and techniques, which will allow us to do pretty much anything we want down the road.” Wright also mentions that the team plans to cross train all of the defensive linemen in an effort to achieve better flexibility and versatility.

In other NFC North notes. . .

  • Lions veteran cornerback Chris Houston had toe surgery earlier this week, and the team is uncertain if he’ll be ready for the start of training camp, writes Dave Birkett in the Detroit Free Press.
  • The Packers drafted four defensive rookies. Of the group, first-round safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and third-round defensive lineman Khyri Thornton are expected to contribute as rookies. “There’s a reasonable chance Clinton-Dix will be plugged in as a starter on Day 1 of training camp,” says Tyler Dunne in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “Thornton, while raw, was taken in the third round for a reason. Green Bay envisions him adding rotational juice to the defensive line.”
  • Because of an NFL rule, Vikings rookies Anthony Barr, Scott Crichton and David Yankey can’t join the team full-time until next month, writes Master Tesfatsion of the Minnesota Star-Tribune. The players’ schools — UCLA, Oregon State and Stanford, respectively — are on quarters instead of semesters, and the players are required to return to school until the term ends in June.
  • Meanwhile, the Vikings envision third-round pick Jerick McKinnon, an option quarterback at Georgia Southern, as the type of complimentary, all-purpose back that has thrived in so many of offensive coordinator Norv Turner’s units, writes ESPN’s Ben Goessling.

NFC East Notes: Eagles, Cowboys, Redskins

Although Chip Kelly has had nothing but good things to say about Johnny Manziel publicly, it seems clear that the Eagles never really thought about taking him with the 22nd pick, writes Sheil Kapadia of Philadelphia Magazine. “I love him,” Kelly said. “I think he’s a dynamic quarterback. I also think we have a very, very good quarterback situation – not only with Nick [Foles], but you add Mark Sanchez and Matt Barkley – we think quarterback is a strength for us right now. We felt like the pass-rusher who we had rated higher was the guy we were gonna take.”

  • “Best player available” is used ad nauseam during the draft. However, it’s the Eagles‘ philosophy and they’re adamant about it, as evidenced by the quotes from GM Howie Roseman and elly in a column by Philadelphia Daily News writer Paul Domowitch following the (surprise) selection of Marcus Smith.
  • And then there’s the Cowboys, who did not stick to their board, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer (via Twitter). When the Cowboys lost out on their top three draft targets last night — all defensive players — they opted for a relatively safe choice in offensive lineman Zack Martin even though they had Manziel graded higher.
  • Consequently, rounds two and three have become more important for the Cowboys, says Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News. After fielding a historically bad defense in 2013 and losing DeMarcus Ware, the team has plenty of holes to fill, especially on the defensive line. George mentions four defensive lineman who could be on the team’s radar tonight: Boise State’s Demarcus Lawrence, Missouri’s Kony Ealy, Oregon State’s Scott Crichton and Florida State’s Timmy Jernigan, all of whom made predraft visits to Dallas.
  • The Giants‘ selection of wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. at No. 12 puts them on track to fix their broken offense, writes Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News. The LSU star caught 59 passes for 1,152 yards and eight touchdowns last season. Giants wide receiver Reuben Randle, who played with Beckham at LSU, described him as a “DeSean Jackson type,” writes Ebenezer Samuel of the Daily News.
  • The Redskins were not part of Thursday night’s festivities, but they’re up at No. 34 tonight, and USA Today’s Steven Ruiz takes a look at their options. Most speculation centers around the team selecting an offensive lineman, perhaps Alabama’s Cyrus Kouandijo, Virginia’s Morgan Moses or UCLA’s Xavier Su’a-Filo.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

AFC Notes: Pats, Browns, Sam, Chargers

Let’s round up a few Wednesday updates from across the AFC….

  • Within his latest piece at Bleacher Report, Mike Freeman writes that the Patriots are considering adding a receiver earlier in the draft and that the Browns “really love” Derek Carr, who is a strong candidate for the club’s second first-round pick.
  • The Browns aren’t set on Carr yet though — Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter) that the club is privately working out Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron today, and Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer adds (via Twitter) that McCarron will also have a formal visit with the Browns next week.
  • Five of the six teams that have expressed the most interest in Missouri’s Michael Sam are AFC clubs, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun, who identifies the Ravens, Patriots, Colts, Browns, Jets, and Falcons as suitors for the edge defender.
  • Meanwhile, in a piece for the National Football Post, Wilson reports that Illinois State defensive end Colton Underwood has visited the Chargers and Chiefs, and also worked out for the Patriots.
  • After having visited the Cowboys yesterday, Oregon State defensive end Scott Crichton is visiting the Broncos today and the Chargers tomorrow, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
  • The Chargers are hosting Indiana wideout Cody Latimer and Montana linebacker Brock Coyle today, according to Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter links). Coyle will visit the Seahawks next, Gehlken notes.
  • Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk attempts to discern what we can learn from the Alex Mack saga when it comes to future offer sheets for transition players.