Ronald Talley

Jets Trim Roster To 53 Players

The Jets have officially announced the cuts and other roster moves that will get their squad down to 53 players today. We’ve already heard about several of the moves — quarterbacks Matt Flynn and Josh Johnson, along with veteran defenders Jason Babin and Joe Mays, have been cut, and Stevan Ridley has been moved to the reserve/PUP list.

Here are the rest of the Jets’ moves to reduce their roster to 53, via a team release:

Cut:

  • WR Shaq Evans
  • WR Chris Owusu
  • WR Walter Powell
  • TE Arthur Lynch
  • TE Wes Saxton
  • RB Daryl Richardson
  • FB Julian Howsare
  • OL Charles Brown
  • OL Wesley Johnson
  • DL Ronald Talley
  • DL Jordan Williams
  • LB Deion Barnes
  • LB Taiwan Jones
  • CB Keon Lyn
  • S Durell Eskridge

Reserve/suspended:

  • OL Oday Aboushi
  • DL Sheldon Richardson

Minor Moves: Wednesday

Tonight’s minor moves..

  • The Giants officially tendered tight end Larry Donnell, one of their two exclusive rights free agents, as Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News (via Twitter). Donnell, 27 in November, enjoyed a breakout season in 2014, catching 63 passes for 623 yards and six touchdowns.
  • The Jets announced that they have signed free agent defensive end Ronald Talley. Talley, 28, played under coach Todd Bowles in 2013 with the Cardinals. He signed as a free agent with the Buccaneers last year but was a final cut and didn’t play last season.
  • The Colts announced they have agreed to terms on a contract extension with long snapper Matt Overton, as Curtis Crabtree of Pro Football Talk writes. Overton was going to be a restricted free agent upon the start of the new league year but his new deal will probably take him through 2018. Overton has played in all 48 games over the first three years of his career with 22 tackles on special teams.
  • Washington (via Twitter) announced the re-signing of exclusive rights free agent safety Duke Ihenacho.
  • The Patriots signed long snapper Tyler Ott, according to Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun (on Twitter).

Workout Notes: Colts, Jaguars, Browns, Broncos

In our roundup of several AFC East and NFC East items this morning, we passed along word on a handful of free agents who recently worked out for East teams. Across the rest of the league, several more auditions took place, so we’ll take a look at all those updates right here. All links are from Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun, and go to Twitter:

  • The Colts brought in a few notable free agents for tryouts, taking a look at running back Mikel Leshoure, ex-Jets cornerback Ellis Lankster, and former LSU wideout Kadron Boone. Of the three players, Leshoure is the most interesting name, considering Indianapolis is believed to be considering adding running back depth.
  • Linebacker A.J. Edds ultimately signed with the Jaguars, joining the team’s active roster yesterday, but Edds also worked out for the Bengals earlier in the week. Additionally, Jacksonville auditioned veteran linebacker Victor Butler before deciding on Edds.
  • Browns kicker Billy Cundiff has had his ups and downs this season, missing six field goals, including three from less than 40 yards. While I don’t expect Cleveland to replace him, the team did take a look at a couple other kickers this week, bringing in Michael Barnard and Zach Hocker.
  • The Broncos worked out an extensive list of players this week, and Wilson has all the previously-unreported names: Rodney Barnes (S), Deion Belue (CB), Kenny Horsley (DE), M.D. Jennings (S), Vernon Kearney (CB), Keon Lyn (CB), Leon Mackey (DL), Ross Madison (S), and Danny Mason (LB).
  • In addition to trying out wideout Jace Davis, who signed with their practice squad, the Texans auditioned quarterback Brad Sorensen and several other receivers, including Rashad Ross, Willie Snead, and former Niner Kyle Williams.
  • Former Cardinals defensive end Ronald Talley worked out for the Chiefs. Talley spent some time with the Buccaneers earlier this year, but was removed from the roster prior to the regular season.
  • The Packers tried out cornerback Lavelle Westbrooks, a 2014 seventh-round pick waived by the Bengals during the preseason.
  • Tight end Xavier Grimble, who hit the open market once again last week after a brief stint with the Patriots’ practice squad, worked out for the Panthers.

Bucs Cut Mike Kafka, Major Wright, Others

6:05pm: The Buccaneers have officially announced their roster moves (via Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com), revealing their final cut:

Instead of releasing Ronald Talley and Major Wright, the team placed the duo on injured reserve.

5:09pm: The Buccaneers have yet to officially announce their full list of cuts to get down to 53 players, so for now we’ll have to rely on various reports to determine which players are no longer on the rest. After yesterday’s series of moves, seven more cuts have been reported so far today, meaning the team has to make just one more move to get from 54 to 53 players. Here’s the list so far:

Buccaneers Sign Ronald Talley

The Buccaneers auditioned six players at their minicamp earlier this week, and at least one of those players has earned a contract with the club. According to Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com, the Bucs have signed free agent defensive end Ronald Talley. In related roster moves, the team also cut wide receiver Aaron Burks and defensive tackle Everett Dawkins.

Talley, 28, spent his first three NFL seasons with the Cardinals as a reserve defensive lineman. In those three years, the Detroit native was never more than a very occasional contributor, logging between 44 and 75 snaps on defense in each of his seasons with the club. Arizona elected not to submit an RFA tender to Talley in March, so the 28-year-old became an unrestricted free agent, paying a visit to the Titans in April before reaching an agreement with Tampa Bay.

As for the players who were cut, Dawkins finished last season with the Bucs, while Burks received a $5K signing bonus as an undrafted free agent last month. The moves leave Tampa Bay with one open roster spot on its 90-man roster, so the club could still add one more player from the group that auditioned this week, or bring in someone else.

Bucs Auditioning David Gettis, Five Others

Six non-roster players are auditioning for the Buccaneers this week at the team’s minicamp, according to Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). Wide receiver David Gettis and defensive tackle Ronald Talley are perhaps the most notable names among a group of players that also includes safety Tony Dye, cornerback Kip Edwards, linebacker T.J. Fatinikun, and punter Kirby Van Der Kamp.

Gettis, 26, had a productive rookie season for the Panthers in 2010, hauling in 37 passes for 508 receiving yards and three touchdowns. However, injuries have derailed his career in recent years. The Baylor product had a solid preseason in 2013, but a hamstring injury prompted Carolina to waive him before the regular season began. If he’s healthy, Gettis would seem to be the most likely player among the six to sign a contract with Tampa Bay.

Among the other recognizable names is Talley, who spent the last three seasons with the Cardinals as a reserve defensive lineman. Arizona elected not to submit an RFA tender to Talley in March, so the 28-year-old became an unrestricted free agent and paid a visit to the Titans in April.

Titans Rumors: Schofield, Talley, Pryor

The Titans remain in the midst of the first week of the post-Chris Johnson era in Tennessee, and it sounds like the team is keeping busy in the days since parting with the franchise’s third all-time leading rusher. Here’s a round-up of the latest out of Tennessee:

  • Linebacker O’Brien Schofield, who agreed to a two-year deal with the Giants early in free agency before it fell apart, paid a visit to the Titans, tweets ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter. According to Schefter, although Schofield failed his physical with the Giants, he passed one with Tennessee.
  • The Titans hosted several more free agents yesterday, as defensive end Ronald Talley was in town, according to Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean (via Twitter). The Cardinals decided not to offer Talley a contract tender last month, making him an unrestricted free agent.
  • Former Brown Alex Hall also visited the Titans on Wednesday, according to Wyatt (via Twitter). Hall, who worked out for the Cardinals back in January, racked up 16 sacks in the CFL last season.
  • Finally, ex-Bengals defensive lineman DeQuin Evans visited the Titans yesterday as well, tweets Wyatt.
  • We heard earlier today that the Titans met with safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, but he’s not the only young safety the club is eyeing. Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com tweeted last night that Calvin Pryor is among Tennessee’s pre-draft visitors, while Wyatt confirmed today (via Twitter) that the visit happened recently.

FA Rumors: Broncos, Allen, LaFell, Redskins

According to a Denver Post report, the Broncos are considering free agent linebackers Jon Beason and Daryl Smith. However, the report surfaced yesterday before word broke that the team had agreed to sign Aqib Talib and scheduled a visit with DeMarcus Ware, so it’s not clear whether Denver still has interest. The team certainly does seem to be going all-in to try to take advantage of Peyton Manning‘s final years though.

Here are several more Wednesday morning free agency updates:

Contract Tenders: Dobbs, Lattimore, Bears

The 49ers are expected to extend the restricted free agent tender to defensive lineman Demarcus Dobbs and extend a tender to exclusive rights free agent Michael Wilhoite, tweets Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. We’ll keep track of the latest contract tenders here..