Minor NFL Transactions: 8/13/19
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the night.
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: P Sean Smith
Chicago Bears
- Waived: WR Emanuel Hall
Cincinnati Bengals
- Waived: T Kent Perkins
Green Bay Packers
- Waived/failed physical: CB Derrick Jones
Los Angeles Chargers
- Waived: LB Josh Corcoran
New York Giants
- Signed: TE Jake Powell
- Placed on IR: WR Amba Etta-Tawo
- Waived: DE Alex Jenkins
- Waived/injured: TE Isaiah Searight
New York Jets
- Waived: TE Nick Truesdell
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: DT Aziz Shittu
- Waived/injured: S Blake Countess
- Reverts to IR: WR Shelton Gibson
Seattle Seahawks
- Released from IR: TE Tyrone Swoopes
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived: DE Dare Odeyingbo
Buccaneers Sign S Darian Stewart
The Buccaneers have signed safety Darian Stewart, according to Greg Auman of The Athletic (on Twitter). When completed, it’ll be a one-year deal at the veteran’s minimum salary, plus incentives, Auman hears.
Stewart, 31, has spent the last four years as a starter for the Broncos. With the Bucs, he’s expected to provide veteran guidance to a young secondary group.
The Broncos released Stewart in March in order to save roughly $3.6MM against the cap. Prior to that, the veteran started in nearly all of his 58 games for the Broncos and recorded a forced fumble and a sack in the team’s Super Bowl 50 victory.
Stewart saw some time at cornerback and free safety in ’17, but he played mostly at strong safety last year. He graded out as just the No. 77 ranked safety in the NFL in 2018, according to Pro Football Focus. His 59.6 overall score was a massive step back from his first two seasons in Denver, which included a Pro Bowl nod in 2016.
The Colts met with Stewart earlier this summer but did not sign him.
Tom Moore To Stay On Buccaneers’ Staff For 2019 Season
The Buccaneers will have another key voice on offense this season. Bruce Arians brought in Tom Moore as an offseason consultant for his first Bucs squad, but Greg Auman of The Athletic notes (on Twitter) the veteran assistant will stay on Tampa Bay’s staff all season.
Moore and Arians have worked together for decades, their tenures overlapping with the Colts from 1998-2000 and on Arians’ Cardinals staffs. Now 80, Moore has worked as a consultant for a few teams this decade — including the Jets and Titans — but is most known to this generation of NFL fans as Peyton Manning‘s OC in Indianapolis.
Previously serving as OC for the Steelers and Lions in the 1980s and ’90s, Moore has been in coaching since the early 1960s. His first NFL job came as wide receivers coach for the bulk of Pittsburgh’s John Stallworth–Lynn Swann tenure. Moore oversaw Arians’ work in Indianapolis, with the current Bucs HC working as the Colts’ QBs coach for three seasons.
Moore presided over 13 top-10 scoring offenses, at least two at each OC stop. Arians, Moore and OC Byron Leftwich will be tasked with helping Jameis Winston revitalize his career in a contract year.
Saints Sign T Chris Clark
Chris Clark will make his way to a third NFC South team. The former Buccaneers UDFA and 2018 Panthers starter signed with the Saints on Monday.
Also known for his stints as a Broncos and Texans starter/swing tackle, the 33-year-old blocker is a New Orleans native. He stands to compete for one of the Saints’ jobs behind starters Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk. Clark joins Marshall Newhouse and Michael Ola as veteran tackle options for New Orleanns.
Clark said (via NOLA.com’s Amie Just) he declined three other offers, including one from the Bucs, but agreed to come in for a Saints workout. This marks the second straight late-summer signing for Clark, who landed in Carolina after Week 1 of last season. He ended up starting 13 games and playing more than 77% of the Panthers’ offensive snaps.
Signed as a swing man in multiple places, Clark found his way into both Denver and Houston’s starting lineups in full-time capacities. Injuries to Ryan Clady, Derek Newton and Duane Brown kept Clark a frequent Broncos and Texans starter between 2013-17. Overall, the former UDFA has made 66 starts since 2011.
Buccaneers Work Out S Marcus Gilchrist
Former Texans and Raiders safety Marcus Gilchrist will visit and work out for the Bucs on Monday, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Gilchrist may be able to provide some veteran help late in training camp and make a push for the final cut.
[RELATED: Former Bucs K Chandler Catanzaro Retires]
Last year, Gilchrist joined the Raiders on a one-year, $4MM with $3.85MM guaranteed. This time around, Gilchrist didn’t find as strong of a market for his services and may be looking at a lower-cost deal, if he draws an offer from Tampa Bay.
In 2018, Gilchrist started in all 16 of the Raiders’ regular season games and finished out with 58 tackles, six passes defensed, and three interceptions. For his work, Pro Football Focus gave him a weak 54.5 overall score, placing him as just the No. 86 safety in the NFL out of 95 qualified players.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/11/19
Here are Sunday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the day.
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: DL Pasoni Tasini
Carolina Panthers
- Placed on IR: OL Dillon Gordon
Denver Broncos
- Signed: CB Rashard Causey
- Waived: LB Jeff Holland
Detroit Lions
- Signed: WR Deontez Alexander
- Waived/injured: LB Tre Lamar
Green Bay Packers
- Claimed off waivers from Jets: CB Derrick Jones
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: CB Isaiah Langley
- Waived: TE Zach Conque
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: LB Terrance Smith
- Waived/injured: DL Jonathan Woodard
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: T Nate Wozniak
- Waived: G Tyler Catalina
Oakland Raiders
- Claimed off waivers from Falcons: DB Hamp Cheevers
- Placed on IR: CB D.J. Killings
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: CB Sojourn Shelton
- Waived/injured: WR Shelton Gibson
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: S Micah Abernathy
Washington Redskins
- Signed: QB Jalan McClendon, DB DeJuan Neal, LB Darrell Williams
- Placed on IR: QB Josh Woodrum
- Waived: WR T.J. Rahming
- Waived/injured: LB Garrett Sickels
Jets K Chandler Catanzaro Retires
Jets K Chandler Catanzaro, 28, has retired, according to a team announcement. To take his place on the roster, the club has signed K Taylor Bertolet.
Catanzaro’s job was clearly in jeopardy after he missed a pair of extra points in the Jets’ preseason opener. It was reported yesterday that New York would be bringing in kickers Blair Walsh and Chris Blewitt for tryouts, and the Jets are said to still be interested in Ravens’ kicker Kaare Vedvik, who also caught their eye last summer.
In addition to his difficulties in the first preseason game, Catanzaro had apparently struggled in camp as well. Perhaps he saw the writing on the wall and elected to leave the game on his terms rather than being cut.
Catanzaro, a Clemson product, signed with the Cardinals as a UDFA in 2014 and won Arizona’s kicking competition that year. His first two seasons in the league were quite promising, as he nailed 87.9% of his kicks in his rookie campaign and 90.3% in 2015. But his success rate dipped to 75% in 2016, and he signed with the Jets in March 2017. He experienced something of a bounceback in his first stint with Gang Green, converting 83.3% of his kicks and all of his PATs, and he signed a three-year deal with the Buccaneers last offseason. Tampa Bay released him after he missed two field goals in a loss to the Redskins last November — he ultimately made just 73.3% of his kicks with the Bucs — and he caught on with the Panthers for the last few games of the season.
The Jets saw Jason Myers turn in a Pro Bowl effort last year, but they lost Myers to free agency in March and hoped that Catanzaro would be an adequate replacement. Obviously, that did not turn out to be the case, though as Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets, the Jets could at least recoup Catanzaro’s $500K signing bonus if they so choose.
Bertolet was with the Jets last summer and performed well, but he has no regular season experience.
Bucs Release OL Evan Smith
The Buccaneers have released veteran offensive lineman Evan Smith, The Athletic’s Greg Auman tweets.
Entering his 11th season in the league and coming off two hip surgeries, Smith was due to make $2 MM in 2019. The move did not result in any dead cap space for Tampa Bay. Smith was slated to be a backup for the Bucs in 2019. His release now opens a spot as a backup guard/center for Earl Watford, Josh LeRibeus and undrafted rookie Nate Trewyn.
Undrafted coming out of Idaho State, Smith caught on with the Packers in 2009 and appeared in 13 games. He stayed in Green Bay as a versatile lineman for four seasons before joining the Buccaneers in 2014, with whom he started 15 games at center. Splitting time between both guard positions and center, Dietrich-Smith has been plagued by injuries in his last four season, playing in just 42 of a possible 64 games.
Bucs’ Vita Vea Out 6-8 Weeks
Buccaneers defensive tackle Tevita Tuli’aki’ono Tuipulotu Mosese Va’hae Fehoko Faletau Vea (also known as Vita Vea) has a sprained LCL that could sideline him 6-to-8 weeks, sources tell ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Still, the good news is that Vea is said to already be making progress, so the Bucs are not ready to rule him out for the season opener against the 49ers on Sept. 8. 
[RELATED: Buccaneers OL Mike Liedtke Done For Season]
Vea, the No. 12 overall pick in the 2018 draft, notched three sacks and 28 total tackles last season from the interior. This year, the Bucs are expecting big things from him, especially after he had a productive training camp up until the LCL sprain.
Vea has been here before – he missed all of training camp and the first three games of the 2018 season due to a strained calf. Once he’s back, he should form a strong 1-2 duo with new addition Ndamukong Suh.
Vita Vea Suffers Knee Injury
- After going down in a Buccaneers practice this week, Vita Vea will get a knee MRI on Friday, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com tweets. The Bucs hope their second-year nose tackle suffered an LCL sprain, per Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). Vea missed three games due to injury as a rookie.
- The Bucs worked out rookie UDFA defensive lineman Shane Bowman on Thursday morning, Greg Auman of The Athletic tweets. The Jaguars waived Bowman earlier this summer.