Ryan Davis

NFL Workout Updates: 10/1/19

Here’s a look at the latest workouts from around the NFL:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Cleveland Browns

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Minor NFL Transactions: 9/4/18

Today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Washington Redskins

Rams Cut Cornelius Lucas, Place Ryan Davis On IR

The Rams are the latest team to start the cut down to 53 players, which must be completed by Saturday afternoon. Los Angeles made the following transactions:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Placed on injured reserve:

Lucas could have conceivably given the Rams a bit of depth at offensive tackle, as he has 35 career games under his belt (although he’s played in only six contests over the past two seasons). Davis, meanwhile, flashed during training camp and may have been an option on the edge if not for injury.

Rams Sign DE Ryan Davis

Former Jaguars, Cowboys and Bills defensive end Ryan Davis has signed with the Rams, a league source tells Mike Kaye of First Coast News (on Twitter). Details of the deal are not yet known. 

Davis, 29, appeared in all of the Bills’ regular-season contests last season, as well as their postseason game, and recorded three sacks. In March, the Bills released him in order to escape his $1.28MM cap hit for 2018.

The Rams are not short on front seven talent, but it never hurts to look at depth options when rosters are still at their 90-man max. In their 3-4 set, the Rams project to start Ndamukong Suh, Michael Brockers, and Aaron Donald up front with Ethan Westbrooks and fourth-round pick John Franklin-Myers serving as the top defensive ends off of the bench. Westbrooks and Franklin-Myers are virtual locks for the roster, but Davis may be able to creep in behind them.

Davis recorded a career-high 6.5 sacks in 2014, but has not been able to replicate that performance over the last three years. He’ll try to get back on track and make the cut in L.A. this summer.

Bills Release DE Ryan Davis

The Bills have cut ties with defensive end Ryan Davis, a source told Eric Edholm of Pro Football Weekly (on Twitter). Davis, 29, appeared in all of the Bills’ regular-season contests last season, including their postseason game, and recorded three sacks. 

The Jaguars originally signed Davis as an undrafted free agent in 2012 out of Bethune-Cookman. Davis recorded a career-high 6 1/2 sacks in 2014 and spent 2016 with the Cowboys before signing a two-year $2.2MM deal with the Bills last offseason.

The Bills are set at defensive end, with Shaq Lawson and Jerry Hughes entrenched as the team’s starters. Davis became more expendable with the Bills’ addition of Trent Murphy in free agency.

Davis enters a defensive end free-agent market that’s headlined by Robert Ayers, Charles Johnson, Benson Mayowa and Jared Crick. Davis was due to have a cap hit of $1.28MM for the upcoming season. His release marked the second loss to the Bills’ defense Friday as free-agent cornerback E.J. Gaines agreed to terms with the Browns.

AFC Notes: Bengals, Flacco, Boldin, Landry

PFR sends best wishes to Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, who “will be taking time away from the team to focus on a minor health issue,” according to a club announcement. Specifically, Lewis is dealing with a Baker’s Cyst on his ankle, but the initial fear was that he had a blood clot, per Stacey Dales of NFL Network (Twitter link). The Bengals expect Lewis to return sometime this week, fortunately, and special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons will hold the reins as long as he’s out.

More from the AFC:

  • There’s no comeback date for Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, who’s dealing with a back injury, but a second opinion last week yielded news that was “positive for a slow return,” a league source told ESPN’s Dan Graziano (via Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com). The Ravens can afford to be patient with Flacco because he’s a 10-year veteran who has a full understanding of their offense, noted head coach John Harbaugh. “Every play we’ve run, he’s run before numerous times,” Harbaugh said.
  • The Bills’ signing of Anquan Boldin could help put them in position to land a third-round compensatory pick next offseason, writes Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. Because the Bills signed seven free agents and lost five prior to May 9, the cutoff date for the compensatory formula, they aren’t poised to receive a pick at the moment. But Boldin may make one of those signings, wideout Andre Holmes, expendable, and Rodak lists fellow FA additions Vlad Ducasse (guard) and Ryan Davis (defensive end) as release candidates. Parting with all three would give the Bills more losses than signings (five to four), thus netting them a valuable pick for 2018.
  • This week, the girlfriend of Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry issued a statement regarding the allegations that were raised against him earlier this year (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). “In March of 2017 the father of my child and I had a vocal disagreement that resulted in someone calling 911. I, myself did not call the police. When the police arrived they determined that there was no cause for any arrests nor was there any concern for my physical well-being. There were no arrests made, there were no criminal charges, I was not in any way physically harmed Yes, we are going through a civil family court case and emotions are high, but I would like to make it very clear that Jarvis would never, ever do anything to harm me or anyone else. Jarvis and I are happily raising our beautiful daughter and I would like to make a plea to the media that they refrain from spreading this completely false story.”

Zach Links contributed to this post.

AFC Notes: Chiefs, Browns, Kap, Bills

The latest news and notes from the AFC:

  • The Chiefs have announced several changes to their front office, including the hiring of Tim Terry as director of pro personnel and the promotion of Ryan Poles from college scouting coordinator to director of college scouting. Terry is joining his second NFL organization after spending the first 13 years of his career in Green Bay, where he was most recently the team’s assistant director of pro personnel. General manager John Dorsey was in the Packers’ front office before the Chiefs hired him in 2013, so he’s already familiar with Terry. Kansas City’s Dorsey-led front office also pried Chris Shea away from Philadelphia. Shea, the Chiefs’ new salary cap and legal executive, previously served as the Eagles’ director of scouting administration.
  • Former NFL head coach and current 49ers assistant Eric Mangini believes that Colin Kaepernick would be a great fit for the Browns.  “I think as the market settles and people start looking at these young quarterbacks they brought in and start evaluating the quarterback situation, they might realize it may not look as good as they hoped it would be,” Mangini told PFT. “I always thought he would be a good fit for the Browns. Hue [Jackson’s] system is multiple shifts and motions, and that’s what he did in San Francisco. Hue has an element of quarterback-driven runs, I think Colin is excellent as that. As a candidate, him vs. RGIII a year ago, I’d take Colin 10 times out of 10.” So far, the Browns have shown no interest in Kaepernick. To date, only Seattle has given him a real look.
  • Currently, the Bills are not projected to receive any 2018 compensatory picks because they signed more unrestricted free agents (seven) to qualifying contracts than they lost to other teams (five). However, the Bills can change that, as Mike Rodak of ESPN.com writes. By releasing a total of four of their seven signed free agents between now and Week 10, the Bills would be projected to tack on two compensatory picks – one being a third-rounder for losing cornerback Stephon Gilmore plus a fourth-rounder for losing wide receiver Robert Woods. The most likely UFAs to go, in Rodak’s estimation, are defensive end Ryan Davis, offensive lineman Vlad Ducasse, and wide receiver Andre Holmes. To secure that fourth-round pick, they could also cut fullback Patrick DiMarco or kicker Steven Hauschka.

Bills Sign DE Ryan Davis

The Bills have signed defensive end Ryan Davis, according to a team announcement. Terms of the deal are not yet known. "<strong

Davis played in 30 games for the Jaguars in 2014-15 and racked up ten sacks between the two seasons. After that, the Jaguars placed a second-round tender ($2.55MM) on him to prevent him from leaving in free agency. Then, Jacksonville surprised everyone by dropping him in September of last year. After that, he hooked on with the Cowboys and was used largely as a special teamer. Unfortunately, he suffered a knee injury late in the regular season which prevented him from suiting up in the playoffs.

It’s not immediately clear what kind of role Davis is ticketed for in Buffalo. He may get a chance to return to a traditional workload on defensive end with Corbin Bryant and Leger Douzable still out there as free agents. If neither player is retained, there should be more playing time available for Davis behind projected starters Adolphus Washington and Kyle Williams.

Last year, Davis joined Dallas on a modest one-year, $675K deal.

Cowboys Place Ryan Davis On IR

Ryan Davis‘ 2016 season stabilized to a degree after being a surprise training camp cut, but he will not have a chance to play for the Cowboys during the playoffs. The team placed the pass-rusher on IR and signed Richard Ash off the Jaguars’ practice squad to fill the roster spot.

Davis did not see the kind of playing time in Dallas as he did in Jacksonville in recent years, but he saw action in nine games for the NFC’s No. 1 seed. Mostly used as a special-teamer, Davis recovered a fumble and made just four tackles in his fifth season.

A knee injury suffered Monday night ends his season.

The Jaguars made Davis a rather curious camp cut after placing a second-round tender ($2.55MM) on the then-RFA in March. He played in 30 games for the Jags in 2014-15 and combined to record 10 sacks in that span. Jacksonville moved Davis to linebacker this offseason after using him as an off-the-bench defensive end previously. He signed for $675K to play for the Cowboys in September.

Ash resided behind Davis in the Jags’ defensive line hierarchy, spending most of his two-year stay in Jacksonville on the struggling teams’ practice squads. The second-year UDFA has played in one game in each of the past two seasons.

Cowboys Sign Ryan Davis

After working out 14 players on Tuesday, the Cowboys have emerged with a defensive end. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets that the team has signed Ryan Davis. Ryan DavisESPN.com’s Todd Archer notes that the veteran had tried out for the team earlier this afternoon.

Davis, an undrafted rookie back in 2012, spent his first four NFL seasons with the Jaguars. While the former Bethune-Cookman standout never started a game, he still managed to produce some impressive numbers during his tenure in Jacksonville. Over the past three seasons, Davis has 11 sacks, including 6.5 during the 2014 season. The 27-year-old was released by the Jaguars earlier this month.

With the ability to play both linebacker and defensive end, Davis should surely carve out a role on this squad. Plus, as Archer points out, Davis’ 11 career sacks are the most on the entire roster, topping Orlando Scandrick‘s 10.5 sacks. Davis will presumably compete with Charles Tapper and Jack Crawford for snaps on the defensive line, and he’ll go against Keith Smith, Mark Nzeocha, Andrew Gachkar, Justin Durant, and Damien Wilson for action at linebacker.