Minor NFL Transactions: 8/27/18
NFL teams are making roster moves in advance of Saturday’s 53-man deadline. We’ll keep track of the minor moves here:
Detroit Lions
- Released: CB Josh Okonye
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: LB Brandon Chubb
- Waived: RB Tion Green
Minnesota Vikings
- Waived: C Jacob Judd
Oakland Raiders
- Signed: CB Jarell Carter
New England Patriots
- Signed RB Kenneth Farrow, WR K.J. Maye, RB Khalfani Muhammad
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: S Ironhead Gallon
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: RB Lenard Tillery
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/22/18
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: DT Tani Tupou, DT Nigel Williams
- Released: TE Chris Bazile, WR Austin Wolf
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: RB Tion Green
- Waived/Injured: RB Josh Ferguson
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: RB Terrell Watson
- Waived/Injured: LB James Onwualu
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/20/18
Today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: FB Jalston Fowler, WR Julian Williams
- Waived: FB Luke McNitt, WR Taj Williams
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed WR Cobi Hamilton
- Waived: RB Tion Green
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: FB Kobe McCrary, G Kareem Are
- Placed on IR: DE Ade Aruna
- Waived/Injured: OL Cedrick Lang, FB Johnny Stanton, TE Josiah Price
New York Giants
- Signed: RB Jhurell Pressley
- Waived/Injured: LB Thurston Armbrister
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: DT Jerel Worthy
- Waived/Injured: LB Shaheed Salmon
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: DB Joshua Kalu
- Placed on IR: DB Kalan Reed
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/14/18
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: WR Austin Wolf
- Released: WR Rashad Ross
Denver Broncos
- Claimed: WE DeAndrew White (Texans)
- Waived/Injured: WR Philly Brown
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: RB Tion Green
- Waived: LB William Ossai
San Francisco 49ers
- Waived: OL Alan Knott
Seattle Seahawks
- Waived from injured reserve: OL Avery Young
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived from injured reserve: CB David Rivers
Jets Sign George Atkinson; Elijah McGuire Out Three To Six Weeks
The Jets have signed George Atkinson III, per Brian Costello of the New York Post (via Twitter). Atkinson, a running back by trade, has gotten just seven carries in his professional career. He has been deployed more frequently as a punt returner, seeing action in 2014 with the Raiders and 2016 with the Browns (his seven carries came with Cleveland). He did not log any regular season snaps last year, though he spent some time on the Chiefs’ practice squad.
Atkinson will presumably operate as a temporary replacement for running back Elijah McGuire. As Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter), McGuire will undergo surgery on his broken foot and will be sidelined for three to six weeks. Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets that the team will have to decide whether it wants to carry McGuire on the 53-man roster or place him on short-term IR.
In the wake of McGuire’s injury, Gang Green quickly set up visits with free agent running backs Orleans Darkwa and Alfred Morris yesterday, but Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweeted earlier this morning that the Jets were not expected to immediately sign either player, and the Atkinson signing seems to foreclose the addition of Darkwa or Morris. Cimini notes that the Jets also worked out running back Tion Green (Twitter link).
Darkwa, Morris, and even Green have more experience as an NFL running back than Atkinson, so perhaps the fact that the Jets signed Atkinson suggests that they expect McGuire to be back sooner rather than later. McGuire, a 2017 sixth-rounder, is a player that the Jets have high hopes for, and assuming he gets healthy, he should see his fair share of snaps, even with Isaiah Crowell and Bilal Powell also under contract.
To make room for Atkinson, the Jets cut TE Bucky Hodges.
Minor NFL Transactions: 5/10/18
Here are Thursday’s minor moves.
Arizona Cardinals
- Waived: RB Bronson Hill
Detroit Lions
- Waived: RB Tion Green
Miami Dolphins
- Waived/Injured: CB Tracy Howard
New England Patriots
- Waived: OL Jason King
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: LB Matthew Thomas
Lions Sign LB Jarrad Davis
The Lions announced that they have signed eight of their nine draft picks, plus 14 undrafted free agents. The complete list:
Draft Signings:
- 1-21: Jarrad Davis, LB (Florida)
- 2-53: Teez Tabor, CB (Florida)
- 4-124: Jalen Reeves-Maybin, LB, Tennessee
- 4-127: Michael Roberts, TE (Toledo)
- 5-165: Jamal Agnew, DB (San Diego)
- 6-205: Jeremiah Ledbetter, DT (Arkansas)
- 6-215: Brad Kaaya, QB (Miami)
- 7-250: Pat O’Connor, DE (Eastern Michigan)
UDFAs:
- Brandon Barnes, TE (Alabama State)
- Alex Barrett, DE (San Diego State)
- Dontez Ford, WR (Pittsburgh)
- Tion Green, RB (Cincinnati)
- Nick James, DT (Mississippi State)
- Leo Koloamatangi, OL (Hawaii)
- Desmond Lawrence, CB (North Carolina)
- Storm Norton, OT (Toledo)
- Michael Rector, WR (Stanford)
- Maurice Swain, DT (Auburn)
- Noel Thomas, WR (UConn)
- Josh Thornton, CB (Southern Utah)
- Robert Tonyan, TE (Indiana State)
- Jeremiah Valoaga, DE (UNLV)
As far as draft picks go, Northern Illinois wide receiver Kenny Golladay is the only player that has yet to put pen to paper. The reason for the delay is not known, but third round picks often take longer to sign than other picks as things are less rigid in those slots.
Davis was said to be a target of the Dolphins at No. 22, so it’s a good thing that the Lions were up at No. 21. Davis impressed scouts at his Pro Day when he posted a 4.56 40-yard dash and 38.5 inch vertical jump. As shown on Roster Resource, Davis may be in for a starting role in 2017.
Tabor fell to the Lions at No. 53 but some draft analysts, like NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah, felt that he should have gone much higher. The Florida product suffered a hamstring injury during his workout with Detroit and was unable to audition for other teams, so that might explain why he was still available. Then again, we’ve seen “pretend injuries” before, so it’s possible there was a wink-wink deal between Tabor’s team and the Lions.
Kaaya was said to have one of the highest football IQs of any quarterback in this year’s class. It remains to be seen whether he has the arm to make it as an NFL quarterback, but the Lions believe that he can be a solid backup QB, at minimum.
According to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (on Twitter), Valoaga got $22K guaranteed ($12K bonus, $10K base) to sign with Detroit. Typically, UDFAs get around $5K, so that’s a sign that Valoaga had at least a few teams interested in adding him to the 90-man roster.