HEADLINES

Sio Moore

Chiefs Cut Sio Moore

November 1st, 2016 at 7:58pm CST by Ben Levine

Sio Moore‘s tenure in Kansas City has ended without him playing a single game. According to Terez A. Sio Moore (vertical)Paylor of the The Kansas City Star (via Twitter), the Chiefs have waived the veteran linebacker. Moore originally signed with the organization in early October.

It hasn’t been the easiest year for the 26-year-old. Moore was arrested in late January for reckless driving, and he played only four games for the Colts this season before getting cut. The former third-rounder played in 16 games for the Colts between 2015 and 2016, collecting 43 tackles. Prior to his tenure in Indianapolis, Moore was a consistent contributor to the Raiders defense. In two seasons with the team, Moore averaged 70 tackles, nearly four sacks, and one forced fumble per season.

Moore was serving as the team’s fourth inside linebacker, playing behind Ramik Wilson, Derrick Johnson, and D.J. Alexander. Earlier today, the team released linebacker Sam Barrington and promoted linebacker Terrance Smith from the practice squad.

Chiefs Sign LB Sio Moore

October 7th, 2016 at 10:27am CST by Zachary Links

The Chiefs have signed linebacker Sio Moore, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Moore was cut by the Colts earlier this week. Sio Moore (vertical)

Moore suffered a significant hamstring injury this summer which held him back in practice. He healed up from that injury, but he was unable to impress in the first month of this season with Indianapolis. He was cut on Tuesday after amassing 25 total tackles and five assisted tackles.

In two seasons with the Raiders and one season and change with the Colts, Moore has appeared in 42 games with 26 starts. He had 4.5 sacks as a rookie and 3.0 sacks in his sophomore year, but he has been unable to replicate those numbers in the past couple of years.

To make room, KC cut linebacker Dezman Moses.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Colts Release Antonio Cromartie

October 4th, 2016 at 2:02pm CST by Zachary Links

The Colts announced that they have cut cornerback Antonio Cromartie. The veteran hooked on with Indianapolis in late August but his run with them is already over here in early October. The team also waived inside linebacker Sio Moore.Antonio Cromartie

Indianapolis signed Cromartie in the wake of an injury suffered by Pro Bowler Vontae Davis. However, Cromartie was not able to recapture his old form in four games this season.

Against the Bears, Cromartie suffered an arm injury and it’s not immediately clear how long he may be sidelined with that. Still, Cromartie is immediately eligible for free agency since he is a vested veteran. Any team with interest in Cromartie will check into his arm as well as his troublesome hip injury that has dogged him for a while.

Cromartie, a four-time Pro Bowler, returned to New York last year with the Jets. Pro Football Focus ranked him just 86th out of 111 qualified cornerbacks in 2015.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

South Notes: Saints, Moore, Dotson, Kuhn

August 16th, 2016 at 8:23pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Given that the Saints first-round rookie Sheldon Rankins will be out for six-to-eight weeks after suffering a broken fibula, New Orleans could look to the free agent market to augment a defensive line interior that currently includes John Jenkins, Nick Fairley, C.J. Wilson, and Tyeler Davison. One potential replacement — Tony McDaniel — came off the board this weekend when he signed a deal with the Seahawks, but Cullen Jenkins, Henry Melton, C.J. Mosley, and Sammie Lee Hill are among the veteran options that could be on the Saints’ radar, as Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com suggests. One other candidate, from my vantage point, might be former Brown Randy Starks, whom Pro Football Focus assigned the highest grade among unsigned interior defenders.

Here’s more from the NFL’s South divisions:

  • Colts linebacker Sio Moore has a “pretty significant” hamstring injury, according to head coach Chuck Pagano, the fourth-year pro figures to be sidelined for a meaningful amount of time, writes Kevin Bowen of Colts.com. As such, D’Qwell Jackson and Nate Irving will probably serve as Indy’s starting inside linebackers in the club’s 3-4 scheme. As Roster Resource shows, the Colts have several other options on their depth chart, including Josh McNary, Antonio Morrison, and Junior Sylvestre.
  • As part of his three-year extension, Buccaneers right tackle Demar Dotson scored $4.25MM in full guarantees, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Another $4.25MM, presumably guaranteed for injury only, becomes fully guaranteed on March 13 of 2017. Dotson’s new pact has a total value of $16.5MM, and will keep the 30-year-old in Tampa through 2019.
  • Titans offensive lineman Josue Matias will require season-ending knee surgery and will be placed on injured reserve, head coach Mike Mularkey told reporters (link via the Associated Press). Matias, a 2015 undrafted free agent who spent last year on Tennessee’s practice squad, is facing a six-month recovery.
  • John Kuhn‘s one-year deal with the Saints is worth $985K with no signing bonus, Nick Underhill of the Advocate tweets. As such, the veteran fullback is eligible for the minimum salary benefit, meaning he’ll only count for $600K on New Orleans’ cap.

2016 Proven Performance Escalators

February 12th, 2016 at 5:53pm CST by Dallas Robinson

According to the NFL’s contractual bargaining agreement, players drafted in rounds three though seven are entitled to raises during the fourth year of their respective rookie contracts. The pay bumps are tied to playing time — a player must have played in 35% of his team’s offensive or defensive snaps in two of his first three seasons, or averaged 35% playing time cumulatively during that period.

If one of these thresholds is met, the player’s salary is elevated to the level of that year’s lowest restricted free agent tender — that figure is projected to be $1.696MM in 2016. Players selected in the first or second round, undrafted free agents, and kickers/punters are ineligible for the proven performance escalator.

Here are the players who will see their salary rise in 2016 courtesy of the proven performance escalator:Keenan Allen (Vertical)

49ers: Gerald Hodges, LB

Bears: Marquess Wilson, WR

Buccaneers: William Gholston, DE; Mike Glennon, QB; Akeem Spence, DT

Cardinals: Andre Ellington, RB; Tyrann Mathieu, CB/S; Alex Okafor, LB

Chargers: Keenan Allen, WR

Colts: Sio Moore, LB; Hugh Thornton, G

Cowboys: J.J. Wilcox, S; Terrance Williams, WR

Dolphins: Jelani Jenkins, LB; Dallas Thomas, T; Dion Sims, TE; Kenny Stills, WR

Eagles: Bennie Logan, DT

Falcons: Kemal Ishmael, S; Levine Toilolo, TE

Jaguars: Josh Evans, S; Dwayne Gratz, CB

Jets: Brian Winters, G

Lions: Larry Warford, G

Packers: David Bakhtiari, T; Micah Hyde, S

Patriots: Duron Harmon, S; Chris Jones, DT; Logan Ryan, CB

Raiders: Mychal Rivera, TE

Rams: T.J. McDonald, S

Ravens: Ricky Wagner, T; Brandon Williams, DT

Saints: Terron Armstead, T; John Jenkins, DT

Seahawks: Luke Willson, TE

Steelers: Markus Wheaton, WR

Titans: Brian Schwenke, C

Washington: Jordan Reed, TE

Colts’ Sio Moore Arrested

January 21st, 2016 at 10:09pm CST by Ben Levine

Colts linebacker Sio Moore was arrested in Indianapolis on Thursday evening for reckless driving, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (via TheIndyChannel.com). An officer said the 25-year-old was weaving in and out of traffic while driving at least 100 miles per hour.

Moore, a third-round pick in 2013, spent his first two season with the Raiders, where he started 22 of 26 games. The linebacker was traded to the Colts in September for a sixth-round pick in the 2016 draft, and he ended up playing in 12 games for Indy. The former UConn standout finished 2015 with 13 tackles, and he’s compiled 153 tackles, 7.5 sacks, and a pair of forced fumbles in his three-year career.

Moore will be entering the final season of his four-year, $3MM rookie contract. The linebacker is set to make just over $700K next season, but if the Colts want to move on from him, they can easily cut bait, as the contract won’t leave any dead money — that dead money remains on Oakland’s cap.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Del Rio: Sio Moore “Wasn’t Going To Make Our Team”

September 6th, 2015 at 8:57pm CST by Rob DiRe

Before being traded to the Colts, Sio Moore was expected to start at weakside linebacker for the Raiders. However, he had reportedly fallen out of favor with new head coach Jack Del Rio, which is why he became expendable, writes Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com.

“He wasn’t going to make our team,” Del Rio said. “We had depth there that we’re really happy about.”

That depth he is talking about comes with free agent pickups Malcolm Smith, Curtis Lofton, and Lorenzo Alexander, as well as Ray Ray Armstrong and draft picks Ben Heeney and Neiron Ball.

“We brought in two free agent linebackers that are both playing really well. We brought in two draft picks that are both playing pretty well. We developed a guy at the position that’s returning in Ray-Ray and we added a guy that we think is a real core difference maker on special teams,” said Del Rio. “We’ve got a full group. It was an opportunity to acquire a pick for a guy that somebody else may want to have.”

The Raiders will receive a 2016 sixth-round pick in exchange for Moore.

Raiders Trade Sio Moore To Colts

September 4th, 2015 at 7:15pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Raiders have traded linebacker Sio Moore to the Colts, tweets Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com. In return, the Raiders will get a sixth-round pick in 2016, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).

Oakland was recently shopping Moore, who fell out of favor with head coach Jack Del Rio and his staff, per Bair. Prior to the sour turn in the relationship between him and the coaches, Moore was expected to be the Raiders’ starting weakside linebacker this season.

Moore has 26 appearances (22 starts), 140 tackles and 7.5 career sacks to his name since the Raiders used a third-round pick on him in 2013. Moore’s 2014 campaign came to an end after only 11 games because of a hip injury, though he’s healthy now and looking to build on a 90-tackle, three-sack effort. Despite his solid numbers, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) was unimpressed with Moore last year, ranking him toward the bottom (19th out of 21) among 4-3 OLBs who played at least 50 percent of snaps. He received a rather positive assessment from the site as a rookie, though, particularly against the run. Opposing ground games have been a bugbear lately for the Colts, who had the 18th-ranked run defense in 2014. They were famously gashed by the rival Patriots runners twice last season – including in a 45-7 AFC title game shellacking.

Moore will switch schemes with the Colts, who run a 3-4, so the role he’ll fill in Indianapolis is currently unclear.

Raiders Place Sio Moore On IR

December 16th, 2014 at 4:53pm CST by Luke Adams

Sio Moore‘s sophomore season in Oakland has officially come to an end, with the Raiders placing the starting linebacker on the injured reserve list today to accommodate the team’s previously reported signing of cornerback Chance Casey. The club confirmed the pair of transactions in a press release.

A third-round pick in 2013, Moore is turning into one of the key contributors on the defensive side of the ball for the Raiders, racking up 99 tackles and three sacks in his 11 games this season. A hip injury sidelined him for Oakland’s Week 15 game, and the team has now elected to shut him down for the season in order to make better use of the roster spot.

Casey, who was signed off the 49ers’ practice squad, spent most of 2013 with the Raiders. Now that he’s back in the fold, the team will have an opportunity to keep him under control through the end of the season and the offseason.

Extra Points: Tannehill, Burnett, Panthers

June 7th, 2014 at 10:44pm CST by Ben Levine

Here are some assorted NFL notes on this Saturday evening…