NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/30/15
Tuesdays and Wednesdays are typically the most active time during the NFL season for teams to make changes to their practice squads, so we should expect another busy day today. Here are the latest practice squad signings and cuts from around the league:
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: TE Blake Annen (Twitter link via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com)
- Placed on PS-IR: LB James Vaughters
Houston Texans
- Signed: QB Zac Dysert (Twitter link via Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston)
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: DL Jimmy Staten (Twitter link via Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star)
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: S Brock Vereen (Twitter link via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press)
New England Patriots
- Cut: WR Kenbrell Thompkins, DT Joe Vellano, OL Chris Barker (Twitter link via Ben Volin of The Boston Globe)
New York Giants
- Signed: QB/S G.J. Kinne (Twitter link via Jordan Raanan of NJ.com)
- Cut: WR Julian Talley
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: G Antoine Everett, TE Tevin Westbrook (press release)
Washington:
- Signed: OLB Sage Harold (Twitter link via Mike Jones of the Washington Post)
Workout Notes: Jets, Brown, Chargers, Lions
The Jets auditioned running back Bryce Brown on Tuesday, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter). Brown has showed flashes of promise in the past, but he was unable to stick with the Bills in 2015. The Bills traded a 2015 fourth-round pick to the Eagles to acquire Brown before the start of last season and that’s a deal that GM Doug Whaley probably wouldn’t make again. In 2014, Brown ran for a grand total of 126 yards off of 36 carries.
Here’s a rundown of other notable workouts from around the NFL..
- As we noted earlier today, the Patriots worked out former Broncos running back Montee Ball and the Steelers took a look at Terrelle Pryor.
- Former Jets defensive lineman Jordan Williams worked out for the Lions today, a source tells Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter).
- Former Browns outside linebacker Mike Reilly worked out for the Chargers on Tuesday, a league source tells Wilson (on Twitter).
- With defensive tackle Will Sutton’s expected to miss a short period of time following a left biceps injury, the Bears brought in four linemen for a tryout on Tuesday, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune writes. According to an NFL source, veterans DeAngelo Tyson, Cliff Matthews, D’Anthony Smith, and Greg Scruggs were worked out. The Bears also put running back George Atkinson III, a former Notre Dame player, through a workout.
- The Jets worked out former Giants fullback Henry Hynoski today, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (via Twitter).
- In addition to Ball, the Patriots auditioned tight end Brandon Bostick, quarterback Zac Dysert, tight end Brian Leonhardt, former Panthers running back Darrin Reaves, and tight end Konrad Reuland, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com tweets.
- Defensive end/outside linebacker Lawrence Sidbury auditioned for the Lions on Tuesday, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
- The Rams have auditioned a ton of wide receivers lately, as Wilson tweets. Issac Blakeney, Kain Colter, DaVaris Daniels, Jordan Leslie, Tyler Rutenbeck, and Corey Washington were among the wide receivers to audition for St. Louis. Nick Toon, who was also a part of those tryouts, inked a practice squad deal with St. Louis this week.
- The Panthers auditioned three punters on Tuesday, including ex-Bears punter Adam Podlesh, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter). Spencer Lanning and Kasey Redfern also auditioned, Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer tweets.
- The Chargers auditioned center J.D. Walton and guard Joe Looney, according to Howard Balzer of USA Today Sports (on Twitter).
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/23/15
Here are the latest practice squad signings and cuts from across the NFL:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: TE Joseph Fauria, RB Kerwynn Williams (Twitter links via Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com)
Buffalo Bills
- To be signed: QB Dustin Vaughan (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com)
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: DE Efe Obada (Twitter link via Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com)
Detroit Lions
- Signed: WR/KR Kaelin Clay (link via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press)
- Cut: WR Kendrick Ings
Houston Texans
- Signed: T Edawn Coughman; RB Daryl Richardson (Twitter links via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle)
- Cut: QB Zac Dysert; T Joseph Treadwell
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: TE Sean McGrath (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle), CB Eric Patterson (via Mike Chappell of FOX59 on Twitter)
- Cut: OL David Arkin
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: WR Damarr Aultman; LB Terrell Manning (Twitter link via Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald)
- Cut: WR Deon Long
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: TE Connor Hamlett (Twitter link via Evan Woodbery of the Times-Picayune)
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: OL Dillon Farrell (link via Associated Press)
- Cut: TE Tevin Westbrook
Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC South
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC South teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Texans, Colts, Jaguars, and Titans are noted below.
Additionally, as of 11:00am today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. For the 2014 and 2015 seasons, changes were made to practice squad rules that allow teams to carry eight players instead of 10, and the eligibility requirements for those extra two spots were also loosened. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.
Here are Sunday’s AFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:
Houston Texans
- Signed to practice squad:
- G Karim Barton (Twitter link via John McClain)
- WR Alan Bonner (Twitter link via McClain)
- ILB Max Bullough (Twitter link via Mark Berman)
- S Kurtis Drummond (Twitter link via McClain)
- QB Zac Dysert (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson)
- RB Kenny Hilliard (Twitter link via Wilson)
- S Corey Moore (Twitter link via McClain)
- TE Eric Tomlinson (Twitter link via Tony Pauline)
- WR Chandler Worthy (Twitter link via Wilson)
Indianapolis Colts
- Claimed off waivers:
- DT T.Y. McGill (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport)
- G Robert Myers (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson)
- Cut:
- LB Amarlo Herrera (Twitter link via Stephen Holder)
- RB Dan Herron (link)
- Signed to practice squad (via press release)
- OLB Daniel Adongo
- G David Arkin
- WR Quan Bray
- WR Duron Carter
- T Ulrick John
- S Dewey McDonald
- ILB Josh McNary
- CB Eric Patterson
- DT Jeris Pendleton
- TE Erik Swoope
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed to practice squad (via press release):
- DL Richard Ash
- TE Ben Koyack
- S Craig Loston
- OL Chris Reed
- WR Neal Sterling
- LB Todd Thomas
- DB Peyton Thompson
- WR Tony Washington
Tennessee Titans
- Claimed off waivers:
- OLB David Bass (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport)
- ILB Steven Johnson (Twitter link via Rapoport)
- Acquired via trade:
- RB Terrance West, from Browns (link)
- Cut:
- Signed to practice squad (Twitter link via Jim Wyatt):
- S Josh Aubrey
- RB David Fluellen
- G Josue Matias
- WR Tre McBride
- G Will Poehls
- WR Rico Richardson
- TE Tevin Westbrook
Bears Set 53-Man Roster
John Fox‘s first roster with the Bears will include three quarterbacks, but the third isn’t the one he oversaw in Denver. The Bears sent Zac Dysert back to waivers after picking up the ex-Broncos quarterback last week.
Instead, David Fales will back up Jay Cutler and Jimmy Clausen, as the Bears made their cuts to slash their roster to 53 players, per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.
Also among the cuts was third-year defensive end/linebacker David Bass, who played in 20 games the past two seasons. A former seventh-round pick of the Raiders in 2013 with a pick-six to his credit as a rookie in Chicago, Bass has interested suitors and will land somewhere soon, per Bleacher Report’s Dan Pompei (on Twitter).
Here are the rest of Chicago’s final cuts:
- Jonathan Anderson, ILB
- Qumain Black, WR
- Conor Boffeli, OL
- A.J. Cruz, WR (Waived/injured)
- Jacoby Glenn, CB
- Anthony Jefferson, DB (Injured reserve)
- Rashad Lawrence, WR
- Tyler Moore, OL
- Michael Ola, OL
- Ify Umodu, WR
- Gannon Sinclair, TE
- Matthew Wells, ILB
- Terry Williams, DT
- Kyle Woestmann, OLB
Bears Claim Zac Dysert Off Waivers From Broncos
4:44pm: The Bears announced that running back Senorise Perry is headed to the IR, as Jahns tweets.
The Bears also claimed tight end Gannon Sinclair off waivers from the Cardinals and released guard Lucas Nix, per Jahns (link).
With that, the Bears are at the 75-man limit.
3:47pm: The Bears have claimed Zac Dysert, who was waived Monday by the Broncos, team sources tell Adam Jahns of the Chicago Tribune. Dysert is expected to play Thursday night in the Bears’ final preseason game against the Browns.
Dysert was a seventh-round pick out of Miami of Ohio in 2013 and Jahns hears that Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase is very high on him. Dysert spent the 2014 season on the Broncos’ practice squad, so he’s plenty familiar with the signal caller.
The Bears may need a viable backup for Week 1 against the Packers after Jimmy Clausen suffered a concussion in preseason. As it stands, David Fales and Shane Carden are the Bears’ other two quarterbacks, but the UDFA Carden will be released, according to Jahns. Fales has missed most of training camp with an illness.
Broncos Waive 9; Trade Chris Clark To Texans
The Broncos made a whole lot of moves today as they get set to trim their roster down to 75. Among their transactions, Denver traded tackle Chris Clark to the Texans for a seventh-round choice in 2016, as Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com tweets. The sixth-year offensive tackle appeared in 69 games (27 starts) with Denver during the last five seasons. Prior to that, Clark spent two years competing on Minnesota’s practice squad.
The team also announced a litany of transactions on Monday morning. Vested veteran Reggie Walker has been cut loose while nine other players were waived:
Released:
- Reggie Walker, ILB
Waived:
- Tevrin Brandon, CB
- Andre Davis, G
- Joe Don Duncan, TE/FB
- Zac Dysert, QB
- Spencer Lanning, P
- Ross Madison, S
- Jake Murphy, TE
- Jeremy Stewart, RB
- Chase Vaughn, OLB
Walker, a former special-teams standout for the rival Chargers, was signed in March but unable to win a job amongst a competitive group of inside linebackers. That batch of ILBs includes 2014 draft picks Corey Nelson and Lamin Barrow. In addition to the moves listed above, Denver also placed third-round pick Jeff Heuerman on injured reserve.
Minor Moves: Thursday
Today’s minor moves..
- The Ravens announced they have signed receiver Aldrick Robinson to a reserve/futures deal, tweets Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. Robinson, 26, was a sixth-round pick by Washington in 2011. After being waived by Washington on December 6, Robinson joined Baltimore’s practice squad three days later.
- The Broncos signed quarterback Zac Dysert to a reserve/futures deal, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (via Twitter). Dysert was one of a handful of practice squad players earning more than the minimum salary in 2014. Dysert made $10K per week on Denver’s taxi squad versus the league minimum of $6,300 per week. Dysert, 24, was taken in the seventh round of the 2013 draft by Denver.
11 PS Players Earning More Than The Minimum
Players on NFL practice squads are eligible to receive a minimum salary of $6,300 per week, which works out to a 17-week salary of about $107K if a player remains on his team’s practice squad for the entire season. In most cases, teams don’t pay more than the minimum to fill those practice squad spots, since clubs have much more leverage than the players vying for those 320 total openings.
In some cases though, if a team really likes a player, or if he’s drawing interest from several teams for their practice squads, a club will increase that weekly rate. So far this year, with all 32 teams having filled up their 10-man squads, at least 11 players are known to be receiving salaries worth more than the minimum. NFL writer Brian McIntyre rounded up all those players and their salaries for us in a series of tweets, so let’s check out the full list, sorted by weekly salary:
- Brandon Magee, LB (Buccaneers): $29,117 (link)
- Josh Bynes, LB (Ravens): $15,000 (link)
- Rodney Austin, G (Lions): $11,765 (link)
- Zac Dysert, QB (Broncos): $10,000 (link)
- Charles Johnson, WR (Browns): $10,000 (link)
- John Simon, OLB (Ravens): $10,000 (link)
- Ahmad Dixon, S (Vikings): $9,300 (link)
- Brandon Dixon, CB (Buccaneers): $7,500 (link)
- Solomon Patton, WR (Buccaneers): $7,500 (link)
- Jamell Fleming, CB (Ravens): $6,500 (link)
- Ryan Jensen, C (Ravens): $6,500 (link)
Magee’s practice-squad salary is the most notable on this list — his weekly figure adds up to just below $495K for the full season, which is the minimum salary for a second-year player on an active roster. In other words, if he spends the entire season on the practice squad, Magee could still earn more money than some players on active rosters, which is a sign of how much the Bucs want to keep him around.
Sunday Transactions: AFC West
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC West teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions are noted below.
Additionally, as of 11:00am today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. For the 2014 and 2015 seasons, changes were made to practice squad rules that allow teams to carry eight players instead of 10, and the eligibility requirements for those extra two spots were also loosened. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.
Here are Sunday’s AFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:
Denver Broncos:
- Signed to practice squad (officially announced): Shaquil Barrett, LB (via Aaron Wilson on Twitter), Kapri Bibbs, RB (via Wilson on Twitter); John Boyett, S (via Wilson on Twitter); Zac Dysert, QB (via Mike Klis on Twitter); Bennie Fowler, WR (via Lindsay Jones on Twitter); Nathan Palmer, WR (via Adam Caplan on Twitter); Vinston Painter, G (via Klis on Twitter); Matt Paradis, C (via Klis on Twitter); Gerell Robinson, TE (via Klis on Twitter)
Kansas City Chiefs:
- Claimed off waivers: Damion Square, DE (via Josina Anderson on Twitter)
- Cut: Richard Gordon, TE (via Terez Paylor on Twitter)
- Signed to practice squad (officially announced): Jordan Campbell, FB (via Paylor on Twitter); Ricky Henry, G (via Paylor on Twitter); Kona Schwenke, DL (via Paylor on Twitter); Darryl Surgent, WR (via Paylor on Twitter); Fred Williams, WR (via Paylor on Twitter); Ben Gottschalk, C; Nico Johnson, LB; Charcandrick West, RB; Jerry Franklin, LB (via Brad Biggs on Twitter).
Oakland Raiders:
- Claimed off waivers: Benson Mayowa, DL (via Tom Pelissero on Twitter)
- Cut: Kaelin Burnett, LB (via Burnett on Twitter)
- Signed to practice squad: Bojay Filimoeatu, LB (via Aaron Wilson on Twitter); Ricky Lumpkin, DT (via Damond Talbot on Twitter); Lamar Mady, G (via Talbot on Twitter); Scott Simonson, TE (via Mike Uva on Twitter)
San Diego Chargers:
- Signed to practice squad (officially announced): Chas Alecxih, DL; Torrence Allen, WR; Greg Ducre, CB; Javontee Herndon, WR; Cordarro Law, OLB; Ryan Lindley, QB; Adrian Phillips, S; Jeremiah Sirles, T; Craig Watts, G