Scott Simonson

Minor NFL Transactions:

Here are Saturday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Promoted from practice squad: QB Drew Anderson
  • Placed on IR: TE Darrell Daniels

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Rams

New York Giants

New York Jets

Giants Sign TE Scott Simonson

The Giants have signed tight end Scott Simonson, as Matt Lombardo of NJ.com reports. New York will have its bye this week, but Simonson, 27, may have a chance to see plenty of action when Big Blue returns to the field against the Bears in Week 12.

Fellow tight end Rhett Ellison entered the concussion protocol on Monday, per Lombardo, and Evan Engram is dealing with a foot injury that sidelined him for Sunday’s game against the Jets. So while Simonson is lauded more for his run-blocking abilities than his receiving skills, he could be called on to do a little bit more in the short-term.

Simonson appeared in all 16 games for the Giants in 2018, catching nine passes for 86 yards and a touchdown. New York re-signed him in early 2019, but he suffered a high ankle sprain in this year’s preseason finale and was ultimately released with an injury settlement. This week was the earliest he was eligible to sign with any club, and the injury fortunes of New York’s other TEs worked to his advantage.

In addition to the Simonson signing, the Giants announced a series of practice squad moves. They signed WR Alex Bachman, TE Garrett Dickerson, and LS Colin Holba to the taxi squad and released WR Reggie White Jr. and DL Freedom Akinmoladun from the squad.

Giants Cut Kyle Lauletta; Reach 53

The Giants waived quarterback Kyle Lauletta as a part of their moves to reach the 53-man roster limit. The move leaves Alex Tanney as the No. 3 QB behind starter Eli Manning and first-round pick Daniel Jones.

Between an October arrest and a poor professional debut, Lauletta dug himself into a bit of a hole. Although the 2018 fourth-round pick is just 24 and had enough upside to merit a mid-round selection, the 31-year-old Tanney edged him out in practice. This, perhaps, isn’t a huge surprise after the G-Men signed him to a two-year, $2.1MM contract with $775K guaranteed.

Besides Lauletta, here’s how the Giants got to the limit.

Released:

Waived/injured:

Waived off the commissioner’s exempt list:

Placed on IR:

Giants Re-Sign TE Scott Simonson

How can a team re-sign someone who’s still on the roster? The Giants sort of answered that question today, as they re-signed veteran tight end Scott Simonson, though Simonson was ostensibly under contract with Big Blue already.

Simonson appeared on the league’s transaction wire Wednesday afternoon, leading a number of beat writers to report that he had been cut. But according to Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com, Simonson’s previous contract didn’t “register” for the current league year, so he appeared on the wire not because the Giants cut him, but because they re-signed him (Twitter link). Raanan speculates (via Twitter) that there was simply an error in filing the previous contract.

Simonson was a quality blocking TE for the Giants last season, so his “release” was something of a surprise. He remains in the fold, though, and Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com believes New York will carry four TEs, including Simonson (Twitter link). It seems that UDFA C.J. Conrad is the favorite to be the fourth tight end on the roster.

Simonson, who has also suited up for the Raiders and Panthers in his career, has never been much of a receiving threat. He posted nine catches for 86 yards and a touchdown for New York in 2018, all of which represented professional high-water marks. But it seems as if his blocking ability will earn him a second season in the Big Apple.

East Notes: Zeke, Giants, McCoy

Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott managed to escape a suspension for a potentially troublesome incident in May, but Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk suggests that if Elliott should even come close to violating the league’s personal conduct policy again, the punishment will be severe. Commissioner Roger Goodell gave everyone in the league office this week off, so Florio believes the only reason for Goodell to summon Elliott to league headquarters on Tuesday was to sufficiently scare him into staying on the straight and narrow. Goodell has been less harsh with players who run afoul of league policies in recent history, but if Elliott should put another toe out of line in the future, the commissioner will likely hand out a lengthy ban, and his decision to not suspend Elliott this time will help to justify such a measure.

Now for more the league’s east divisions:

  • There do not seem to be any starting jobs up for grabs along the Giants‘ defensive line, even though the presumptive starters are young and mostly unproven. However, with that youth comes a great deal of potential, and one of the keys to Big Blue’s immediate prospects is the realization of that potential. Third-year player Dalvin Tomlinson, second-year talent B.J. Hill, and rookie Dexter Lawrence are expected to open the season atop the Giants’ D-line depth chart, as Paul Schwartz of the New York Post writes, and the addition of Lawrence allows Tomlinson to slide into a traditional nose tackle spot, to which he is better-suited.
  • In a separate 2019 positional preview piece, Schwartz examines the Giants‘ tight end group, which is headed by Evan Engram. Engram had a disappointing start to 2018, his second professional season, but when Odell Beckham missed the final four games of the season, Engram excelled and finished with some positive momentum. Now that OBJ is in Cleveland, New York will need Engram to show more of the same in a crucial year for his development. The club’s second TE, Rhett Ellison, is a favorite of HC Pat Shurmur, while returnee Scott Simonson will have to hold off C.J. Conrad — a UDFA who impressed this spring — and former Syracuse QB Eric Dungey, another UDFA who is trying to make the club as a TE/gadget player.
  • Vic Carucci of BNBlitz.com says it’s possible that Bills GM Brandon Beane and LeSean McCoy have adamantly pushed the notion that McCoy will be the team’s starter in 2019 in order to generate some trade interest. After all, the club does have a large stable of RBs, and McCoy, a 2020 free agent, appears to be nearing the end of his career. But Carucci says he has heard nothing to indicate that Buffalo is seeking to trade McCoy.
  • In the same piece, Carucci says he believes Levi Wallace will start for the Bills at cornerback opposite TreDavious White.
  • In case you missed it, we heard this morning that Cowboys edge rusher Randy Gregory will be applying for reinstatement shortly.
  • Also from this morning: the Giants may deploy safety Jabrill Peppers as their primary punt returner.

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/14/18

Here are today’s restricted free agent and exclusive-rights free agent tender decisions, with the list being updated throughout the day. All links go to Twitter unless otherwise noted:

RFAs

Tendered at the second-round level ($2.914MM):

Tendered at original round level ($1.907MM):

Non-tendered:

ERFAs

Tendered:

Non-tendered:

Panthers’ Roster Down To 77

The Panthers made a series of moves on Friday to bring their roster to 77 players, still 24 above the 53-man limit (courtesy of Bryan Strickland of the team’s website):

Waived:

  • C Brian Folkerts
  • CB Devonte Johnson
  • DT Gabriel Mass
  • DE Arthur Miley
  • DE Efe Obada
  • TE Bryce Williams
  • DT Connor Wujciak
  • CB Zack Sanchez (waived/injured)

Released outright (vested veterans who are not subject to waivers):

Placed on IR:

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/2/17

Here are today’s reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2017 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters.

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Read more