Tre Flowers

Jaguars To Place CB Tyson Campbell On IR

Tyson Campbell‘s Week 1 injury will significant affect the Jaguars’ defense. The team is not going week-to-week with its recently extended cornerback, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter noting it will use IR in this case.

A hamstring injury sidelined Campbell, and while teams regularly keep players dealing with this type of injury on their active rosters, the issues often linger. The Jags will give Campbell at least four weeks to heal. He cannot return until Week 6.

Jacksonville has already used two of its eight allotted injury activations, having stashed safety Andrew Wingard and running back Keilan Robinson on IR upon setting its initial 53-man roster. Players placed on IR after that point do not immediately count against a team’s activation total, but those given return designations early — thanks to an offseason rule change — already do. Campbell returning in Week 6 or shortly thereafter would trim the Jags’ activation count to five.

The Jags have moved Tre Flowers back to their active roster, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. The veteran cornerback joined the team this offseason but did not land on the 53-man roster last month. Jacksonville still offered Flowers a practice squad spot and has now turned to the six-year vet as a reinforcement.

Campbell commanded a four-year, $76MM extension this summer, one that featured the Jags already handing out the two most lucrative deals in franchise history — to Trevor Lawrence and Josh Hines-Allen. Campbell’s contract included $31.4MM guaranteed at signing, but the deal’s structure calls for $27.7MM more (via an option bonus and a 2026 base salary guarantee) to be paid by March 2025. The Jags certainly have plenty of confidence in Campbell, a third-round pick in 2021.

This stings for a Jags team that blew a two-touchdown lead to the Dolphins in Week 1. The Jags released Darious Williams early this offseason and moved on from veteran slot corner Tre Herndon as well. The team already has an injury-prone CB starter, in free agency addition Ronald Darby.

Campbell’s setback will be a significant test for a team aiming to bounce back from a 2023 collapse. The Jags used rookie third-rounder Jarrian Jones and 2022 seventh-round pick Montaric Brown in part-time roles Sunday; they also drafted De’Antre Prince in Round 5. Darby and Flowers represent veteran presences, with the latter having played for new DC Ryan Nielsen last season in Atlanta.

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC South

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These ColtsJaguars, Texans and Titans moves are noted below.

Houston Texans

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Reverted to IR:

Indianapolis Colts

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Jacksonville Jaguars

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Tennessee Titans

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Jaguars Finalize 53-Man Roster

The Jaguars have unveiled their list of cuts and other roster moves which will bring the team to the 53-man limit ahead of today’s deadline. Here is the full breakdown: 25

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Beathard’s inclusion in Jacksonville’s cuts comes after he suffered a groin injury in the team’s second preseason contest. He was unable to suit up for the Jaguars’ exhibition finale, and today’s move clears the way for Mac Jones to take on backup duties. The former Patriots first-rounder was dealt to his hometown team this offseason, but a competition had been ongoing between he and Beathard. Now, Jones will move forward as QB2 behind Trevor Lawrence.

Beathard will be free to sign with a new team, although he is of course unlikely to find a suitor until he returns to full health. Other veterans like Amos and Edmunds joined Jacksonville this offseason, but they too will now have to search for a new opportunity. Several of the players waived will likely find themselves on the practice squad shortly, but Perry not doing so could leave the Jags in need of QB depth especially if Beathard were to land with a new team.

In 2024, teams are allowed to designate two players to return from injured reserve without naming them to the initial 53-man roster. That is the case for both Robinson and Wingard. The former was selected in the fifth round of this year’s draft and will provide backfield depth when healthy, while the latter is recovering from a knee injury. Both Robinson and Wingard will miss at least the first four weeks of the campaign, and their activations will count toward Jacksonville’s limit of eight for the season.

Jaguars Sign Terrell Edmunds, Tre Flowers

Two veteran DBs will make mid-offseason arrivals in Jacksonville. The team reached agreements with safety Terrell Edmunds and cornerback Tre Flowers on Thursday, adding some secondary depth.

Flowers, 27, is following new Jags DC Ryan Nielsen from Atlanta. The veteran corner caught on with the Falcons, in what turned out to be Nielsen’s only Atlanta season, last May and worked as a part-time starter. Included in the October trade that sent Kevin Byard to Philadelphia, Edmunds also made a handful of starts in 2023.

This will mark a third straight year in which Flowers has signed a one-year contract. The former Seahawks draftee, who commandeered a starting spot from the jump despite being a fifth-round pick, signed a Bengals deal in 2022 and played in all 17 Falcons games last year. The Jags will give the 44-game starter a shot to vie for a role among a cornerback group that has seen some updates this offseason.

Following its Darious Williams release, the team added Ronald Darby. Although the Jags did not use a first-round pick on a corner — as rumors suggested they considered — they added pieces here in the third and fifth rounds (Jarrian Jones, Deantre Prince).

Edmunds, 27, has logged more starts as a pro. The former Steelers first-round pick worked as a regular starter from 2018-22 in Pittsburgh; last season’s four starts upped his career total to 79. The Eagles used Edmunds as a three-game starter, as they cut costs at safety by letting C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Marcus Epps walk in free agency, but included him in the pre-deadline trade that brought Byard over from the Titans. Edmunds made one start in Tennessee but played in nine games with his third NFL employer.

Operating as Minkah Fitzpatrick‘s sidekick from 2019-22, Edmunds graded as a top-40 safety (per Pro Football Focus) in 2022 and landed in the top 25 two seasons prior. Edmunds stands to have a clearer path to playing time, as the Jaguars moved on from three-year safety starter Rayshawn Jenkins and did not replace him this offseason. The team still rosters starter Andre Cisco and role player Andrew Wingard (26 career starts), but one of the team’s offseason questions involves who will start opposite Cisco.

PFF has never viewed Flowers as an upper-echelon corner, helping explain his April and May contract agreements. Both players have proven durable. Between the 2018 draftees’ 12 NFL seasons, only Flowers’ 2020 campaign (in which he missed four games) involved more than two missed games. Flowers also has changed teams in-season, being waived by the Seahawks before catching on with the Bengals — during their Super Bowl LVI-qualifying slate — and operating as a key backup.

To make room on their 90-man offseason roster, the Jaguars waived linebacker Dequan Jackson and waived wide receiver Wayne Ruby with an injury designation.

Falcons Sign CB Tre Flowers

The Falcons have made another veteran addition to their defense. The team announced on Monday that cornerback Tre Flowers has signed a one-year deal.

The 27-year-old received interest from the Panthers prior to the draft, but he will now head elsewhere in the NFC South. Flowers has logged 41 starts in his career, all but one of which came during his tenure in Seattle. A Seahawks fifth-rounder in 2018, he saw his workload change dramatically after his first two campaigns.

Flowers’ playing time dropped in 2020 and ’21 as Sidney Jones moved ahead of him on the depth chart. That led to the Seahawks’ decision to place the former on waivers in October 2021. The Bengals took advantage of that decision by claiming him and using him in a rotational capacity during their run to the Super Bowl. Cincinnati was sufficiently impressed with the Oklahoma State alum that they re-signed him last offseason.

Flowers played primarily on special teams during his first and only full Bengals campaign. He did add one interception and three pass deflections, though, and has considerable first-team experience dating back to his time in Seattle. It comes as little surprise that Flowers will not be returning to Cincinnati, though, as the Bengals have added Jones in free agency and fellow corner DJ Turner in the second round of the draft.

In Atlanta, Flowers will join a secondary which has seen a number of additions this offseason. The Falcons signed Mike Hughes and traded for Jeff Okudah prior to the draft, moves which came after the big-ticket deal given to safety Jessie Bates. Atlanta also selected corner Clark Phillips III in the fourth round of the draft, giving them a number of options to compliment AJ Terrell. Flowers will look to carve out a role in the team’s new-look CB room, one which should enter the 2023 season with heightened expectations.

Panthers Meet With CB Tre Flowers

Although teams’ primary focuses are on the draft presently, a number of notable free agents remain on radars. The Panthers huddled up with one of them recently.

Tre Flowers met with Carolina brass, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter). The five-year veteran cornerback spent the past two seasons with the Bengals but has a clear tie to the Panthers. Carolina GM Scott Fitterer‘s lengthy Seattle tenure overlapped with much of Flowers’ three-plus-season run in the Pacific Northwest.

Fitterer resided as one of John Schneider‘s right-hand men when the Seahawks drafted Flowers in the 2018 fifth round. Continually preferring to wait on corners and develop them, rather than pay up to keep non-Richard Sherman pieces at the position, the Seahawks have had continued success with Day 3 coverage investments. Sherman proved the exception regarding an extension, but the Hall of Fame candidate was also a Day 3 draftee. Flowers came in shortly after the Seahawks cut bait on Sherman’s second contract.

Now 27, Flowers has spent much of the past two seasons as a Cincinnati backup. Despite Chidobe Awuzie‘s injury, the Bengals did not use Flowers as a starter last season. The 6-foot-3 defender did play 171 defensive snaps, however, and has two seasons of starter experience. Flowers intercepted a pass last season — his first since a three-INT 2019 — but remained on the backup level during his one-year, $1.85MM deal.

The Seahawks gave Flowers 30 starts over his first two seasons, plugging him into their lineup immediately. The organization soured on Flowers in 2020, benching him before waiving him during the 2021 season. Fitterer was in Carolina when Seattle waived Flowers.

The Panthers have Jaycee Horn and Donte Jackson atop their corner group, and former top-10 pick C.J. Henderson remains on the roster as well. Henderson, whom Fitterer and Matt Rhule acquired in 2021, struggled last season. Both he and 2021 fifth-rounder Keith Taylor ranked outside the top 100 at the position, per Pro Football Focus, last season. The Falcons also brought in Flowers, who has worked as a boundary corner, for a visit earlier this offseason. But Atlanta has signed Mike Hughes and traded for Jeff Okudah, the latter move transpiring earlier Tuesday.

Bengals Re-Sign CB Tre Flowers

The Bengals have retained a depth piece of their secondary. The team announced the recent re-signing of cornerback Tre Flowers; Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network adds that the deal is for one year and $1.85MM (Twitter link).

Flowers was a fifth-round pick of the Seahawks in 2018. He started 40 of 47 games in Seattle, totalling 196 tackles and three interceptions. His role was reduced in 2021, however, which signalled a departure in free agency was likely. He got a head start on that process when he asked for – and was granted – his release in October.

The Bengals claimed Flowers off waivers, adding the 26-year-old to their CB room. While he only registered one start in Cincinnati, he made 11 appearances in the regular season, and dressed for all four of the team’s playoff games. In his time with the Bengals, Flowers’ yards per completion against figure (9.6) was the lowest of his career, though he still received a PFF grade in line with his usual sub-par ratings.

Ahead of Flowers on the CB depth chart, the Bengals still have Chidobe AwuzieMike Hilton and Eli Apple. With Flowers back in the fold, though, they have experienced depth available at a low cost as they look to make another Super Bowl run.

Bengals Claim CB Tre Flowers

The Bengals added a cornerback with extensive starting experience Thursday, doing so without giving up an asset. They claimed Tre Flowers off waivers.

The Seahawks cut Flowers earlier this week, ending a three-plus-season tenure. That run included 40 starts, with three of those coming this season. Flowers fell out of favor with the team recently, being benched for Sidney Jones. Flowers will have the opportunity to rebuild his stock in Cincinnati.

Flowers’ rookie contract runs through the end of this season. The Bengals have considerable capital invested at corner, with veteran free agency additions Trae Waynes, Chidobe Awuzie and Mike Hilton on the team. Waynes, however, has been unable to stay healthy and is currently on IR with a hamstring injury.

When targeted in coverage the past two seasons, Flowers has struggled. Quarterbacks who threw Flowers’ way compiled a collective 78% completion rate in 2020 and a 77% success rate this season. Though, those coverage sample sizes were smaller compared to Flowers’ first two years, when he started a combined 30 games for the Seahawks in the wake of Richard Sherman‘s departure. As a full-time starter in 2019, Flowers allowed QBs to complete 60% of their passes when he was in coverage. Despite being targeted 101 times, the 6-foot-3 corner only gave up one touchdown in 2019.

Pete Carroll said Wednesday that Flowers did not request a Seattle departure, but the 12th-year Seahawks HC indicated it was time for a separation. Flowers will head to a Bengals team that, at 3-2, is off to its best start in three years.

West Rumors: Broncos, Cards, Hicks, Hawks

The Bears briefly entertained the prospect of trading standout defensive lineman Akiem Hicks, but they reconsidered and brought the former All-Pro back for his sixth season in Chicago. Shortly after free agency began, the Bears gave Hicks permission to find a trade partner. Nothing materialized, but the Chargers were monitoring this situation through the preseason, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler (ESPN+ link). Hicks, 31, has a history with Bolts HC Brandon Staley, who was on the Bears’ defensive staff — as outside linebackers coach — under Vic Fangio from 2017-18. The 11th-year veteran’s contract expires at season’s end. Should the Bears falter against a tough October schedule, Hicks could be a name to watch as the Nov. 2 trade deadline approaches. The $7MM-plus left on his 2021 salary would be a difficult accommodation for most teams, but that number will drop closer to $5MM by the deadline. A groin injury sidelined Hicks in Week 5, but he remains on the Bears’ active roster.

Here is the latest from the West divisions:

  • Staying on the trade front, the Broncos received inquiries on their two contract-year corners — Kyle Fuller and Bryce Callahan — along with Ronald Darby. The veteran defenders came up in talks leading up to the season, but new Denver GM George Paton set a fairly high asking price. The Broncos sought a third- or fourth-round pick in a deal for one of their vets, Fowler adds, scuttling talks. The Saints made a strong push for Fuller, which came months after New Orleans’ aggressive pursuit of Denver’s No. 9 overall pick — which was used to take Patrick Surtain II. While Denver has made multiple deadline deals in recent years, involving receivers Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, it would likely take a tumble out of contention for the team to deal from its corner surplus.
  • The Cardinals are likely to be without Chandler Jones as they attempt to move their unbeaten run to 6-0. While vaccinated players who test positive for COVID-19 can return after two negative tests 24 hours apart, Kliff Kingsbury said Jones is experiencing symptoms and that it would be “a stretch” for him to play against the Browns, via SI.com’s Howard Balzer (on Twitter). Jones is vaccinated. News of the veteran pass rusher’s positive test circulated Tuesday, creating a narrow window for him to recover in time.
  • Arizona will also be without center Rodney Hudson. The acclaimed O-lineman is battling a rib injury, and Kingsbury declared him out Wednesday. Seventh-year pro Max Garcia will step in for the Cards’ Pro Bowl snapper.
  • Blake Bortles auditioned for the Seahawks on Tuesday, but Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times notes they are not expected to sign him (Twitter link). Seattle instead re-signed Danny Etling, who was with the team from August 2020 to August of ’21. Etling is currently on the Seahawks’ practice squad. Bortles has not been able to land a steady gig since the 2019 season, when he backed up Jared Goff with the Rams.
  • Pete Carroll said Tre Flowers did not request to be waived, Condotta adds (via Twitter). The Flowers transaction went through Wednesday, so a claim would surface by Thursday afternoon — if a team is to claim the fourth-year cornerback. The Seahawks have used former second-round pick Sidney Jones in Flowers’ place in the past two games.

Seahawks To Waive CB Tre Flowers

The Seahawks are moving on from cornerback Tre Flowers, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The fourth-year defender will land on waivers midway through his contract year.

This move comes at Flowers’ request, per Rapoport. The Seahawks stationed Flowers as a starter during the season’s first three games but relegated him to a special teams-only participant in Weeks 4 and 5. Flowers had been with the Seahawks since being drafted in the 2018 fifth round.

Despite being a Day 3 draftee, Flowers began his career as a full-time starter with Seattle. He and Shaquill Griffin lined up as the team’s primary first-string corners in 2018 and ’19. The Seahawks drafted Flowers shortly after releasing Richard Sherman. Flowers, however, lost his starting gig last year. He regained it in Week 1, months after the Seahawks let Griffin defect to the Jaguars in free agency.

Pro Football Focus has not viewed Flowers’ work in a favorable light since his rookie season, rating him outside the top 80 at cornerback in each of the ensuing three years. While this season still has a ways to go, Flowers not being able to crack a Seahawks rotation — during a season in which the team ranks last in total defense — has further reduced his stock. Flowers, 26, has not played a defensive snap since Week 3.

The Seahawks, who rank 30th in pass defense, moved Sidney Jones into their starting lineup in Week 4 opposite D.J. Reed. The team acquired Jones, a former Washington Husky, via trade from the Jaguars just before the season.