Today’s workout updates, with all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account:
Cleveland Browns
Indianapolis Colts
New York Jets
The Giants worked out cornerback Tony Lippett, linebacker Kevin Minter, and a host of other free agents on Tuesday, according to Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Lippett, who transformed from a collegiate wideout to an NFL corner, was a 13-game starter for the Dolphins in 2016, but didn’t make it through final cutdowns earlier this week after missing the entire 2017 campaign with a torn Achilles. Provided he’s now healthy, Lippett could give New York’s secondary a boost, as the only experienced players on the Giants cornerback depth chart are starters Janoris Jenkins and Eli Apple. The Giants know they have a problem in the defensive backfield, as they claimed three cornerbacks off waivers on Sunday.
Minter, 27, was cut by the Jets earlier this week after inking a one-year deal during the offseason. After starting 32 games for the Cardinals from 2015-16, Minter has struggled to find playing time (or even a job) in recent seasons. While he could conceivably offer depth behind starters Alec Ogletree and B.J. Goodson (and has familiarity with Giants defensive coordinator James Bettcher, formerly of Arizona), Minter hasn’t played special teams since his rookie season. That’s a problem for a backup linebacker, and could be why New York signed ST standout Nate Stupar — also a part of today’s cattle call — instead.
Here’s the full list of players who auditioned for the Giants on Tuesday:
The Miami Dolphins are the latest team to cut their roster all the way down to the required 53 players. Here are their latest moves:
Waived:
Waived/Injured
Terminated vested veteran
Overall, not too many surprises. It looks like the Dolphins will be keeping three quarterbacks, with both Brock Osweiler and David Fales making the team.
The Dolphins are releasing a former starter. ESPN’s Cameron Wolfe reports (via Twitter) that the organization is cutting cornerback Tony Lippett.
Following a so-so rookie year, the 2015 fifth-round pick broke onto the season in 2016. Lippett established himself as a capable cornerback during that campaign, starting 13 of his 16 games with Miami. The Michigan State product finished the year with 67 tackles, 10 passes defended and four interceptions.
However, Lippett suffered a torn Achilles last year, forcing him to sit out the entire season. Wolfe notes that the cornerback still hadn’t full recovered from the injury, perhaps explaining his release.
With the 26-year-old out of the picture, Cordrea Tankersley, Cornell Armstrong, and Taveze Calhoun seemingly have a better chance of making the roster.
The Dolphins reached the 53-man roster maximum. Here’s how:
Waived:
Waived/injured:
Released:
Placed on IR:
PUP List:
Williams played in ten games between the Chiefs and Dolphins last season, finishing with eight tackles. He restructured his deal in March, but it wasn’t enough to keep his spot in Miami.
Young was slated to make $1.2MM in 2017 per the terms of the extension he signed in the winter.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott admitted it’s a “fair question” as to whether Buffalo would have traded Sammy Watkins had they known fellow wide receiver Anquan Boldin would soon retire, according to Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (multiple links). Although McDermott referred to the two transactions as “separate entities,” Boldin announced his retirement just four days after the Bills shipped Watkins to the Rams for cornerback E.J. Gaines and a second-round selection. Of course, Buffalo also acquired pass-catcher Jordan Matthews on the same day it traded Watkins, and the Bills are “always” examining upgrades at wide receiver, per McDermott.
More from Buffalo and two other AFC cities:
Dallas Robinson and Connor Byrne contributed to this post.
Dolphins cornerback Tony Lippett is lost for the season, coach Adam Gase told reporters on Tuesday morning. The third-year pro suffered a torn achilles during practice on Monday and doctors confirmed the team’s worst fears soon after. 
Last year, Lippett started in 13 games for Miami. This year, he was slated to play a big role once again, though he would have been behind Xavien Howard and Byron Maxwell in the pecking order.
“He jumped up, came down, no one touched him,” Gase said (via the Sun Sentinel). “Anytime you lose a guy that has started [games] for you last year, it’s not ideal. But that’s why we’ve collected the depth we have. That’s why we’re trying to get young players to go because this is what happens. We have to just keep developing these young players and that’s why every year we’re drafting a guy or when we get to college free agency, we feel like we found a couple of guys this year. We just want them to keep proving it to us. We feel like we’re pretty deep there and we just have to keep getting these guys better.”
Indeed, the Dolphins are a bit deeper at cornerback than they were in April. The Fins drafted Clemson product Cordrea Tankersley in the third round of this year’s draft and added veteran Alterraun Verner in July. The Dolphins could still consider out-of-house options (including big names like Darrelle Revis) as training camp winds down, but they might also be able to stand pat.
This has been a rough few weeks for the Dolphins, who have watched four starters suffer serious injuries. Before Lippett’s injury, quarterback Ryan Tannehill and linebacker Raekwon McMillan suffered season-ending ACL tears. Meanwhile, offensive guard Ted Larsen will be out for a while with a torn biceps muscle.
The Dolphins are demoting high-priced cornerback Byron Maxwell, report Adam H. Beasley and Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. Not only will the team reduce Maxwell’s playing time against the Bengals on Thursday, but it will also start Tony Lippett in his place, according to Beasley and Salguero.
Maxwell and Lippett have been polar opposites this year in terms of playing time, as the former has participated in all 244 of the Dolphins’ defensive snaps and the latter hasn’t yet taken the field. Maxwell hasn’t done enough to justify seeing as much action going forward in the eyes of either the Dolphins or Pro Football Focus, which ranks the 28-year-old a below-average 69th out of 104 qualified corners in overall performance this season.
Maxwell has disappointed since leaving Seattle as a free agent after the 2014 season and signing a six-year, $63MM contract with Philadelphia. After the 6-foot-1, 203-pounder didn’t live up to his deal with the Eagles last season, they elected in March to send him, linebacker Kiko Alonso and the 13th pick in this year’s draft to Miami for the eighth selection.
Alonso has bounced back from a dreadful 2015 to serve as one of the league’s top linebackers against the run this season, per PFF, but the Maxwell era in Miami hasn’t been as fruitful. As a result, he’ll cede playing time to Lippett, a converted receiver and a fifth-rounder in the 2015 draft, as the Dolphins face the A.J. Green-led Bengals on Thursday.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Here at PFR, we’re giving individual posts to players from the first and second-round that sign with their respective clubs. You’ll find news on the guys from rounds 3-7 in the roundups. Here are the latest..