NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/10/20
Here are Thursday’s practice squad decisions:
Green Bay Packers
- Cut: RB Damarea Crockett, T Alex Light
New York Jets
- Placed on practice squad IR: WR Donte Moncrief
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: RB Kenjon Barner
NFC South Notes: Saints, Clowney, Bucs
Before Jadeveon Clowney signed with the Titans, the Saints attempted to orchestrate a sign-and-trade in order to land the star edge rusher — but the NFL put the kibosh on such a maneuver, as Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com write. In the proposed scenario, an unidentified team (widely believed to be the Browns) would have signed Clowney to a one-year deal with a $5MM signing bonus and a $10MM base salary.
Clowney then would have been dealt to the Saints in exchange for a second-round pick, per the NFL scribes. The mystery team would have absorbed the $5MM signing bonus on its salary cap, giving the cap-strapped Saints the breathing room they would have needed in order to acquire Clowney. But the league office gave word it wouldn’t approve a deal that amounted to trading cap space.
“We felt like we got close,” Saints head coach Sean Payton said, via Mike Triplett of ESPN.com (Twitter link). “We weren’t able to match the money, and that’s one of the challenges every year. Mickey (Loomis) and Khai (Harley) did a great job working with (Clowney’s agent).” The Ravens may have also attempted a sign-and-trade strategy to land Clowney, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk indicates Baltimore tried to arrange a similar strategy involving the Jaguars. Tennessee ultimately landed Clowney on a one-year, $13MM pact that includes $2MM in incentives.
- Buccaneers wideout Mike Evans is dealing with a hamstring injury and could be a game-time decision for Sunday’s tilt against the Saints, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Evans ended last season on injured reserve with a hamstring issue, but he hadn’t missed any time during camp, so the injury must have flared up recently. If Evans is forced to miss Week 1, Chris Godwin could see even more targets than usual, while Justin Watson and Scotty Miller would likely become more involved in Tampa Bay’s offense.
- The Buccaneers‘ backfield split became extremely murky following the addition of Leonard Fournette, but head coach Bruce Arians says Ronald Jones is still the club’s starter, per Jenna Laine of ESPN.com. Of course, Arians has been anything but fully truthful when it comes to running back touches over the years, but Jones should at least get the first snap of 2020. Arians said Fournette will have a “situational role” in Week 1 (Twitter link via Pewter Report), while LeSean McCoy should still be a factor on passing downs. Tampa Bay also worked out a number of running backs, including veteran Kenjon Barner, earlier this week, tweets Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com.
- Saints owner Gayle Benson has thankfully recovered after contracting COVID-19 in August, as Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk writes. The 73-year-old Benson was not forced to spend any time in the hospital while quarantined, and was still able to take part in team business.
Bucs Sign Josh Rosen To Practice Squad
Josh Rosen has found a new home. The highly drafted quarterback will be signing with the Buccaneers’ practice squad, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link).
Rosen will now get to learn from Tom Brady in the quarterbacks room. The UCLA product has had a tough time in the pros, and was just recently cut by the Dolphins after Miami failed to find a trade partner. Heavily hyped coming out of college, Rosen was drafted 10th overall by the Cardinals in 2018. His rookie season was a disaster, as Arizona went 3-13 and head coach Steve Wilks was fired after just one year.
The Cards elected to start fresh the following offseason, drafting Kyler Murray with the first pick and making Rosen expendable. He was quickly dealt to the Dolphins in exchange for a second-round pick. He started three games in Miami but didn’t play well and failed to beat out Ryan Fitzpatrick for playing time.
Obviously Rosen’s circumstances have been far from ideal, and he’s had to deal with things that are extremely rare for such a highly drafted quarterback. Now he’ll be not just learning from Brady, but reuniting with Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich as well. Leftwich was quarterbacks coach and interim offensive coordinator during Rosen’s season in Arizona, when he started 13 games.
This seems like an ideal situation for Rosen to land, and a chance to jumpstart his career. For the Bucs it’s a nice low-risk signing, as they don’t currently have anyone waiting in the wings for whenever the 43-year-old Brady decides to hang up his cleats. Through 16 career NFL starts Rosen has averaged 5.7 yards per attempt with 12 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.
Here is the Buccaneers full practice squad:
- G Zack Bailey
- RB Ray Calais
- S D’Cota Dixon
- WR Cyril Grayson
- S Javon Hagan
- TE Tanner Hudson
- DL Jeremiah Ledbetter
- G Nick Leverett
- CB Herb Miller
- WR Josh Pearson
- DL Benning Potoa’e
- ILB Chapelle Russell
- C Zach Shackelford
- QB Reid Sinnett
- CB Mazzi Wilkins
Contract Re-Workings: Bucs, Evans, 49ers, Ford, Steelers, DeCastro, Seahawks, Moore
On this busy Saturday morning we’ve got a few contract re-workings to pass along. A few teams, all franchises hoping to compete for a championship this year, are freeing up some cap space, possibly to pursue some of the veterans left on the market:
- Mike Evans, WR (Buccaneers): Tampa freed up $9.5MM by converting some of Evans’ salary into a signing bonus, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The Bucs are loading up for their potential Tom Brady title run, having just signed Leonard Fournette earlier this week, and it’s possible they aren’t done yet. Evans is under contract through the 2023 season.
- Dee Ford, DE (49ers): San Francisco also created $9.5MM in space by doing the same thing with Ford, Yates notes in the same tweet. Ford was a disappointment in his first year with the 49ers in 2019 as he battled various health issues that limited him to 11 games, and the organization reportedly shopped him before the draft. He’s signed through the 2023 season as well, although there are outs earlier. He’s also reportedly dealing with a relatively minor calf issue at the moment.
- David DeCastro, OL (Steelers): Pittsburgh created $3.85MM with the signing bonus trick with DeCastro, Yates notes. The veteran guard has two years left on his five-year, $50MM pact.
- David Moore, WR (Seahawks): Moore has reworked his deal to stay in Seattle, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. This one sounds like more of a pay cut in order to keep his roster spot rather than the vets above who just had salary converted to signing bonuses. Rapoport notes that Moore had been set to make $2.13MM under his RFA tender, and he presumably took less than that to make the 53. He had 17 receptions for 301 yards and two touchdowns last year.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/4/20
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Waived: DT Miles Brown, WR Hakeem Butler, OL Sam Jones, P Ryan Winslow
- Waived/injured: OL Brett Toth
Atlanta Falcons
- Waived: DT Hinwa Allieu, FB Mikey Daniel, T Evin Ksiezarczyk, RB Craig Reynolds
Buffalo Bills
- Placed on IR: FB Patrick DiMarco
- Waived: LB Vosean Joseph, LB Corey Thompson
Carolina Panthers
- Released from IR via injury settlement: WR Tommylee Lewis
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: T Brady Aiello
Dallas Cowboys
- Released: OL Cody Wichmann
Detroit Lions
- Waived: WR Chris Lacy
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Released: DE Caraun Reid
- Waived: RB Nathan Cottrell, TE Matthew Flanagan, OL Blake Hance, OL K.C. McDermott, OL Garrett McGhin, LS Matthew Orzech, OL Ryan Pope, OL Austen Pleasants, WR Marvelle Ross
Los Angeles Rams
- Waived: DB Adonis Alexander, LB Daniel Bituli, TE Kendall Blanton, C Cohl Cabral, G Jamil Demby, WR Earnest Edwards, DB Jake Gervase, DB JuJu Hughes, RB John Kelly, G Jeremiah Kolone, WR J.J. Koski, DB Dayan Lake, DB Tyrique McGhee, LB Derrick Moncrief, WR Easop Winston
Miami Dolphins
- Waived: RB Salvon Ahmed, DB Nate Brooks, CB Breon Borders, DT Brandin Bryant, WR Matt Cole, T Jonathan Hubbard, G Danny Isidora, WR Kirk Merritt, TE Chris Myarick, CB Ken Webster, TE Nate Wieting
New York Jets
- Waived: LB James Burgess
Philadelphia Eagles
- Waived: DB Michael Jacquet, DE Matt Leo, TE Caleb Wilson
- Released: DT T.Y. McGill, CB Trevor Williams
San Francisco 49ers
- Released from IR via injury settlement: DE Jonathan Kongbo
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived: OL Zack Bailey, RB Ray Calais, ILB Noah Dawkins, S D’Cota Dixon, K Matt Gay (story), WR Cyril Grayson, S Javon Hagan, TE Tanner Hudson, DL Jeremiah Ledbetter, OL Nick Leverett, TE Codey McElroy, CB Herb Miller, WR Bryant Mitchell, RB Dare Ogunbowale, WR Josh Pearson, DL Benning Potoa’e, ILB Chapelle Russell, WR Spencer Schnell, QB Reid Sinnett, CB Mazzi Wilkins
Buccaneers Cut Matt Gay
The Buccaneers are waiving Matt Gay, as Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. With that, the Bucs are set to roll with Ryan Succop as their primary kicker.
[RELATED: Bucs Sign Leonard Fournette]
Gay was the league’s fourth-highest scoring kicker as a rookie in 2019 and made five of his eight tries from 50+ yards. Still, the Bucs wanted a more experienced option. Earlier this week, they inked Succop and dropped Elliott Fry, putting Gay in a two-man race for the gig. A few days later, they made their call.
Succop made just 1 of 6 field goals in his final Titans season, which began and ended on IR. But, before that, Succop played in every game for the Titans from 2014-18 and made at least 83% of his field goals in each of those seasons.
In bigger Bucs news, the club welcomed running back Leonard Fournette to Tampa on Thursday. The former No. 4 overall pick joins incumbent Ronald Jones, rookies Ke’Shawn Vaughn and Raymond Calais, and fellow newcomer LeSean McCoy on TB’s RB depth chart.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/3/20
Here are Thursday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the day:
Atlanta Falcons
- Released from IR via injury settlement: TE Khari Lee
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: RB Antonio Williams
Carolina Panthers
- Placed on IR: WR Tommylee Lewis
Cincinnati Bengals
- Waived: T O’Shea Dugas, LB Brady Sheldon and DE Bryce Sterk
Cleveland Browns
- Waived: S J.T. Hassell, CB Donnie Lewis, WR J’Mon Moore, DT Ricky Walker
Indianapolis Colts
- Waived: WR Artavis Scott
New England Patriots
- Waived: CB Michael Jackson
- Waived/injured: DT Michael Barnett
Philadelphia Eagles
- Placed on IR: T Andre Dillard
- Waived: DB Grayland Arnold, WR Manasseh Bailey, WR Deontay Burnett, WR Travis Fulgham, G Julian Good-Jones, WR Marcus Green, RB Elijah Holyfield, C Luke Juriga, RB Adrian Killins, DB Elijah Riley, TE Tyrone Swoopes, RB Michael Warren
San Francisco 49ers
- Released: CB Jamar Taylor
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: DE Damontre Moore
- Waived: WR Seth Dawkins, DE Pita Taumoepenu
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Released: DT Kyle Love
Buccaneers Sign RB Leonard Fournette
The Bucs got their man. Shortly after it was reported that Tampa was pursuing former Jacksonville RB Leonard Fournette, the Bucs agreed to terms with the 2017 first-rounder, per Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network (via Grant Gordon of NFL.com).
It will be a one-year deal worth up to $3.5MM. Fournette will take home a base salary of $2MM and will have the chance to earn an extra $1.5MM in incentives based on rushing yards and playing time. Plus, since Fournette’s deal with the Jags did not include offset language, he could still pocket the $4.2MM that he was due to earn this year prior to being waived by Jacksonville if he wins his grievance against his former club.
Tampa was said to be interested in Fournette earlier this year and reportedly engaged in trade talks with Jacksonville. Ultimately, the Bucs were able to acquire him without sacrificing any draft capital, but their RB room has become pretty crowded. In addition to incumbent Ronald Jones, Tampa added Ke’Shawn Vaughn and Raymond Calais in the draft and signed veteran LeSean McCoy in July.
Prior to the Fournette signing, the team continued to tout Jones as its RB1, but Fournette is clearly the better back, even if he hasn’t quite lived up to his status as a former No. 4 overall pick. And since McCoy was signed for the veteran minimum, some have speculated that the Bucs could release him, though Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network says that Shady remains in the team’s plans (Twitter link). Fournette did pick up 76 receptions out of the backfield last year, but he may see most of his work on first and second downs while McCoy becomes a third-down/passing game complement.
Fournette added 265 carries for 1,152 yards in 2019, good for a career-high 4.3 yards-per-carry average. He now has a prime opportunity to truly break out in what is shaping up to be a prolific offense.
Buccaneers Pursuing RB Leonard Fournette
Let’s add another team to the list of potential Leonard Fournette suitors. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo tweets that the Buccaneers are among the teams “making a push” for the running back. Albert Breer of TheMMQB is hearing similar things, with the reporter tweeting that Tampa Bay has “emerged as a serious suitor” for Fournette.
The Buccaneers’ offense has received a major makeover this offseason, with Tom Brady, LeSean McCoy, and Rob Gronkowski joining wideouts Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. However, thanks to the team’s lavish spending, the front office doesn’t have a whole lot of financial flexibility; Greg Auman of The Athletic estimates on Twitter that the Bucs could only offer Fournette around $1.9MM without having to make another move.
While Tampa Bay may have added McCoy, the team has continued to tout Ronald Jones as their starter. The former second-rounder had a breakout campaign in 2019, finishing with 724 rushing yards and six scores on 172 carries. Of course, that production doesn’t hold a candle to Fournette, who finished last season with 1,152 rushing yards on 265 carries. He also added 76 receptions for 522 yards.
The 25-year-old was waived by the Jaguars earlier this week, and we’re naturally hearing about potential suitors. Earlier today, we heard that the Patriots could be a fit for the running back. Meanwhile, the Bears reportedly won’t pursue the former fourth-overall pick.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/1/20
Today’s minor moves:
Detroit Lions
- Claimed (from Texans): DT Albert Huggins
- Released: WR Geremy Davis
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Released from IR via injury settlement: TE Charles Jones
Indianapolis Colts
- Released: FB Roosevelt Nix
- Released from IR via injury settlement: TE Ian Bunting, OL Andrew Donnal
Las Vegas Raiders
- Waived/failed-physical: CB Nick Nelson
Miami Dolphins
- Released: WR Ricardo Louis, WR Chester Rogers
- Waived: S Jeremiah Dinson, DE Avery Moss, CB Deatrick Nichols
San Francisco 49ers
- Waived/left-squad: DL James Lockhart
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived: K Elliott Fry