Spencer Hadley

Raiders’ Roster Takes Shape

Despite surpassing Trent Richardson on the depth chart, Michael Dyer couldn’t complete his ascent into regular-season action with the Raiders.

Instead, Oakland rejiggered its depth chart by bringing Taiwan Jones, a former running back, back to his original spot from corner, where he played previously. Jones now occupies the third-string spot behind Latavius Murray and Roy Helu, as the Raiders announced the waiving of Dyer and others in order to dice their roster down to 53.

In addition to severing ties with Christian Ponder, Oakland released Kris Durham and defensive lineman C.J. Wilson.

Here are the rest of Oakland’s cut-day casualties:

  • George Atkinson III, RB
  • Mitch Bell, G
  • Spencer Hadley, LB
  • Shelby Harris, DE
  • Dan Kistler, T
  • Brian Leonhardt, TE
  • Ricky Lumpkin, DT
  • Tevin McDonald, CB
  • Anthony Morris, T (Waived/injured)
  • Leon Orr, DT
  • Brandian Ross, S (IR)
  • Josh Shirley, LB
  • Georgio Tavecchio, K
  • Max Valles, DE
  • Gary Wilkins, DE
  • Devon Wylie, WR

Minor Moves: Saturday

We will keep track of all of Saturday’s minor transactions here. As usual, newest moves will be added to the top as they come in:

  • The Seahawks have made a change to their 53-man roster, placing tight end Rashaun Allen on waivers and promoting offensive lineman Keavon Milton from their taxi squad, tweets Brian McIntyre. Milton will provide some depth on Seattle’s offensive line as the team prepares to be without Russell Okung and Max Unger this weekend in Arizona.

Earlier updates:

  • Earlier today, the Raiders placed Tarell Brown on injured reserve. The team has signed linebacker Spencer Hadley off of its practice squad to fill Brown’s roster spot, according to Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter).
  • The 49ers have placed rookie inside linebacker Chris Borland on the injured reserve, reports Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). The team has promoted outside linebacker Chase Thomas from its practice squad.
  • The Buccaneers have placed safety Major Wright on injured reserve, reports Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com (via Twitter). The team has promoted cornerback C.J. Wilson from the practice squad to the active roster to fill his spot.
  • The Dolphins have signed wide receiver Matt Hazel off of the practice squad to the active roster, reports James Walker of ESPN (via Twitter). The team has released linebacker Jake Knott to make room for Hazel.

Raiders Announce Full Practice Squad

The Raiders were one of just a handful of NFL teams that didn’t make any announcements regarding their practice squad yesterday, but the team issued a press release today to formally confirm the previously-reported names on the squad, and to announce the other additions. Here’s the full list of players that will make up Oakland’s initial practice squad:

  • George Atkinson III, RB
  • Denico Autry, DE
  • Ras-I Dowling, CB
  • Bojay Filimoeatu, LB (previously reported)
  • Spencer Hadley, LB
  • Dan Kistler, T
  • Ricky Lumpkin, DT (previously reported)
  • Lamar Mady, G (previously reported)
  • Seth Roberts, WR
  • Scott Simonson, TE (previously reported)

Raiders Release Greg Little, 21 Others

Two (now) former Raiders, defensive end Jack Crawford and tight end Jake Murphy, revealed last night that they didn’t make the 53-man roster. It took up until now to discover the rest of the team’s moves, as the Raiders officially announced their transactions in a press release this evening.

Perhaps the most surprising move was the release of wide receiver Greg Little. The 25-year-old was claimed from the Browns, where he spent his first three seasons, in May. The former second-rounder has seen at least 90 targets per season since entering the league, but has never finished with more than 61 receptions.

The rest of the team’s moves are below:

Released:

Minor Moves: Wednesday

We’ll round up Wednesday’s minor transactions from around the NFL in this space, with the latest moves added to the top of the list throughout the day:

  • The Raiders announced that they have signed journeyman safety Larry Asante and waived/injured fellow safety Shelton Johnson. Asante joins the Raiders following stops with the Browns, Buccaneers, and Colts. For his career, the 6’0″, 210-pounder has played in 17 games and totaled 12 tackles (nine solo), one interception, one pass defensed, and one forced fumble. He played in five games last season for the Colts, seeing time primarily on special teams.
  • Saints defensive tackle Tyrone Ezell and linebacker Marcus Thompson have cleared waivers, tweets Larry Holder of The Times-Picayune.
  • Former BYU linebacker Spencer Hadley has signed with the Raiders, according to Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle, who tweets that the club has waived-injured linebacker Marshall McFadden to make room on the roster.
  • Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link) passes along a couple new roster updates, reporting that the Cowboys have waived undrafted rookies Dashaun Phillips and Joe Windsor to make room for their defensive back signings (noted below). According to Wilson, the Lions also cut Cody Wilson from their IR with an injury settlement.

Earlier updates:

  • The Vikings have cut undrafted tight end A.C. Leonard, who left practice last week with a headache, according to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
  • Just a day after signing him, the Seahawks have waived defensive back Trey Wolfe, replacing him with DB Michael Dobson, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). Dobson participated in the club’s rookie minicamp in the spring.
  • In order to make room for new signee James Shaw, whose deal was reported yesterday, the Steelers have waived-injured wide receiver Danny Coale, tweets Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.
  • Another signing reported yesterday, the Titans‘ addition of defensive lineman Lanier Coleman, was finalized today, with Tennessee also agreeing to terms with tight end Chase Coffman, per Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean. To clear two spots on the roster for the new players, the Titans waived-injured tight end Dorin Dickerson and cut quarterback Tyler Wilson (Twitter links). Wilson was selected in the fourth round of the 2013 draft by the Raiders, and was signed by the Titans off Oakland’s practice squad last season.
  • The Cowboys have added a pair of defensive backs to their roster to bolster a secondary that has been hit hard by injuries in training camp, signing Korey Lindsey and Johnny Thomas, tweets Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Clarence Hill of the Star-Telegram had indicated yesterday that Dallas was eyeing those two free agents. The club will need to cut two players to make room for Lindsey and Thomas.

Minor Moves: Vikings, Bears, Saints, Bills

A couple of more notable free agents have come off the board today, including cornerback Aaron Berry and center Jonathan Goodwin. However, there are also a handful of under-the-radar moves to round up. Here are Monday’s minor transactions from around the NFL:

  • After being cut by the Browns on Friday, defensive back Julian Posey has been claimed off waivers by the Vikings, the club announced today (Twitter link). Another defensive back, Kip Edwards, was waived to make room on Minnesota’s roster for Posey.
  • The Bears have signed undrafted free agent cornerback Al Louis-Jean, the team confirmed today (via Twitter). Louis-Jean, who played his college ball at Boston College before leaving early, auditioned for Chicago at last month’s rookie minicamp.
  • Guard Mike Golic Jr. and linebacker Spencer Hadley, who both signed with the Saints last month, have been cut, according to Larry Holder of the Times-Picayune (via Twitter).
  • Former Syracuse center Macky MacPherson has signed with the Bills, bringing the team’s roster to the maximum 90 players, tweets ESPN.com’s Mike Rodak.

Saints Sign 20 Undrafted Free Agents

7:57pm: In addition to Hull, the Saints have signed former Tulane defensive back Derrick Strozier, according to Strozier’s Twitter. Per Katherine Terrell of the Times-Picayune, Strozier, who also played a little offense in college, tried out for New Orleans as a running back.

SUNDAY, 4:43pm: The Saints have also signed former Illinois receiver Steve Hull, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.

WEDNESDAY, 4:24pm: The Saints added one more undrafted free agent to their haul, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun, who tweets that Akron DT Moses McCray signed with the club.

MONDAY, 11:53am: The Saints have become the latest club to formally announce their undrafted free agent class, confirming in a press release that they’ve agreed to terms with 17 new players. Here’s the complete list:

  • Matthew Armstrong, OL, Grand Valley State
  • Brandon Coleman, WR, Rutgers
  • Brian Dixon, DB, Northwest Missouri State
  • Kasim Edebali, OLB, Boston College
  • Tim Flanders, RB, Sam Houston State
  • Spencer Hadley, LB, Brigham Young
  • Je’Ron Hamm, TE, Louisiana-Monroe
  • Nic Jacobs, TE, McNeese State
  • Seantavius Jones, WR, Valdosta State
  • Logan Kilgore, QB, Middle Tennessee State State
  • Brandon McCray, DL, Louisiana-Lafayette
  • Micajah Reynolds, OL, Michigan State
  • George Uko, DL, USC
  • Chidera Uzo-Diribe, OLB, Colorado
  • Lawrence Virgil, DL, Valdosta State
  • Pierre Warren, S, Jacksonville State
  • Ty Zimmerman, S, Kansas State