Workout Notes: Steelers, Bucs, Colts, Browns
British rugby player Tom Burgess has continued his wave of tryouts for NFL clubs, per Adam Schefter of ESPN (Twitter link), who reports that Burgess worked out for the Steelers today. Burgess, who’s also auditioned for the Giants, Jets, and Bills, could be line for a futures contract at the end of the season, following in the footsteps of fellow international star Jarryd Hayne.
Here’s at look at the rest of today’s workouts as clubs seek to get a feel for available free agents and update their emergency lists:
- The Buccaneers worked out several players today, including linebacker Willie Jefferson, cornerback Garry Peters, defensive end Nordly Capi, and cornerback De’Vante Bausby, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Peters, a Clemson alum, was a favorite UDFA of several draftniks this spring.
- Running back Daniel Thomas is searching for new opportunity after being released by the Bears earlier in the year, and he earned a tryout with the Colts today, per Wilson (on Twitter). Thomas, whose most notable time came with the Dolphins, could be an option for Indianapolis, who is looking to replace the injured Ahmad Bradshaw.
- The Browns brought in three players for an audition, says Wilson (via Twitter), who reports that receivers R.J. Harris and Marcus Lucas, plus safety Phillip Thomas, worked out for Cleveland. A fourth player involved in the tryout — defensive back Tim Scott — was signed to the club’s practice squad yesterday.
- A large group of receivers worked out for the Seahawks, including Rashaad Carter, Desmond Lawrence, Jordan Leslie, Colin Lockett, and Larry Pinkard, in addition to quarterback Dustin Vaughan, per Wilson (Twitter link).
- The Bears visited with receiver Kyle Prater, who was a Saints UDFA out of Northwestern earlier this year, according to Wilson (Twitter link). Prater, 23, was named the No. 1 receiver of the 2010 recruiting class.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/9/15
We’ll track the day’s minor transactions here, with the newest updates appearing at the top of the list:
- In need of secondary help while T.J. Ward deals with a high ankle sprain, the Broncos have signed safety Shiloh Keo, reports Troy Renck of the Denver Post (Twitter link). Keo, 27, played under Denver defensive coordinator Wade Phillips when both were with the Texans, and actually contacted the coach last week via Twitter in the hopes of landing a job.
- As expected, the Patriots have signed cornerback Leonard Johnson, tweets Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, who reported this morning that Johnson was expected to land on New England’s roster following a Monday workout. Johnson offers experience — 17 starts for the Buccaneers from 2012-14 — but he hasn’t played in 2015.
- The Buccaneers have an open roster spot due to Kwon Alexander‘s four-game suspension, and they’ve filled by signing fellow linebacker Orie Lemon, per Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Lemon has had a few stints on Tampa’s roster this season, logging 100 snaps (all on special teams).
- The Seahawks have brought back a familiar face in signing Anthony McCoy, who spent the first five seasons of his career in Seattle, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (Twitter link). McCoy, who was released by Washington earlier this year, auditioned for the Seahawks last week. Seattle also signed safety Akeem Davis, Condotta adds.
Kwon Alexander Suspended Four Games
DECEMBER 7, 1:13pm: Alexander will begin serving his four-game suspension this week, a source tells Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune (Twitter link). That would rule out the linebacker for the rest of the regular season, making him eligible to return either for the first game of the postseason or the 2016 opener.
NOVEMBER 22, 4:35pm: Alexander claims the substance was in an energy drink he consumed, and he will appeal the suspension, tweets Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.
8:32am: Buccaneers rookie linebacker Kwon Alexander has tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug and faces a four-game suspension, per Rick Stroud of The Tampa Bay Times, who adds that the banned substance is believed to be contained in an over-the-counter supplement that Alexander consumed (Twitter links).
According to Stroud, Alexander has been aware of the positive test for several weeks, but the NFL has not yet notified the team. Once the Bucs are formally notified, Alexander will have five business days to file an appeal. In the meantime, Alexander will continue to play, and in fact is expected to start against the Eagles this afternoon (Twitter links). Jenna Laine of Sports Talk Florida has tweeted confirmation of the news.
Although Tampa Bay is a full two games out of a wild card spot, the team has won two of its last three contests and is seeing a noticeable improvement in play from rookie signal-caller Jameis Winston. However, any playoff push it may make would be significantly hindered by losing Alexander, who has been one of the Bucs’ best defensive players this season and who is third on the team in solo tackles. The former LSU product, selected in the fourth round of this year’s draft, has added two interceptions and two sacks in head coach Lovie Smith‘s linebacker-driven defense. Alexander has started all nine of the team’s games this year.
General manager Jason Licht has not commented on this development, as he is still awaiting notification from the league (Twitter link via Stroud). Should Alexander lose his appeal, or should he opt to not file one, Bruce Carter could see an increase in playing time.
NFC Notes: Hester, Hawley, Graham
Falcons returner Devin Hester was activated from the IR-DTR yesterday, and the 33-year-old is set to return to the field for the first time this season. After having dealt with a turf-toe injury for the past three months, Hester acknowledged how good it feels to be back.
“It was a long process of rehabbing,” he told D. Orlando Ledbetter of MyAJC.com. “It’s was hard work getting up every morning and going in for treatment. If feels great to back in the locker room, in the huddle and out of the field with the teammates that I have.”
While Hester is generally regarded as the best returner of all time, veteran Eric Weems has filled in admirably this season. The 30-year-old has returned 15 kicks for 403 yards, and he’s fielded another 19 punts for 221 yards.
Let’s check out some other assorted notes from around the NFC…
- Joe Hawley‘s two-year contract with the Buccaneers called for four $250K bonuses based on playing time, TampaBay.com’s Greg Auman passes along. Considering he’s already played 94-percent of the team’s snaps in 2015, the 27-year-old is in good position to practically double his $1.25MM salary.
- Hawley was released by the Falcons days before the season opener. Despite returning from a torn ACL, Buccaneerss offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter knew the veteran could help his offensive line. “When Joe became available, I went to Coach (Lovie Smith) and went to Jason (Licht, general manager), and said, ‘Look, we have a chance to get this guy,’ “ Koetter told Auman. ” ‘He may not be quite healthy yet, but he is going to get better.’ I know what kind of player Joe is.”
- Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said surgery on Jimmy Graham‘s torn patellar tendon went as planned. ““[E]verything, as the doctors would report, it went really well,” he said on Friday (via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com). “He was uncomfortable, I know, the next couple of days. He was fighting through it to get back, started getting back. Looking forward to his return and his spirits are looking ahead and all that. It was a difficult surgery for him.”
Latest On 2016 NFL Salary Cap
Earlier this week, we heard that NFL executives had been informed by the league office that 2016’s salary cap for teams is expected to be in the range of $147MM-155MM, an increase over this year’s $143.28MM figure. Today, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reduces the gap on that estimate, tweeting that the league’s estimate projected a cap between $150MM and $153.4MM.
As Albert Breer of the NFL Network observes, the projection teams get in December typically comes in a little lower than the final figure, so we can probably assume that the cap will eventually land around $153MM. Breer passes along the projected franchise-tag amounts for a hypothetical cap of $153MM, which predictably come in just slightly below the figures provided by Joel Corry of CBSSports.com last month — Corry was projecting a $154MM cap.
While teams can start making tentative plans based on the latest cap estimates, agents and players may prefer to wait things out. According to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link), many players and their agents would rather see where the cap lands before signing new contracts, out of concern that those new deals will quickly become outdated, with the cap on the rise. Cole identifies Buccaneers running back Doug Martin and Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins as two players exercising patience, even though their clubs wouldn’t mind getting something done prior to free agency.
As Over the Cap’s team-by-team cap projections for 2016 show, there are currently two clubs – the Dolphins and Saints – whose salary commitments put them over the cap for ’16 already. OTC’s figures are based on a $150MM estimate, but since Miami and New Orleans each have more than $154MM in salary on their books, they’d still be a little over the cap even if it lands on the high end of the league’s projections.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/3/15
It’s been a fairly quiet day in the NFL when it comes to transactions, but we do have a couple minor roster moves to pass along:
- In advance of tonight’s game against the Lions, the Packers have promoted running back John Crockett from their practice squad, waiving running back Alonzo Harris to make room on the roster, per Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. Harris has been Green Bay’s third running back behind Eddie Lacy and James Starks for most of this season, but hasn’t seen much action, carrying the ball just four times for 19 yards.
- Buccaneers cornerback Leonard Johnson was cut from injured reserve by Tampa Bay today, tweets Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post. Johnson, who appeared in all 48 of the Bucs’ regular season games from 2012 to 2014 (17 starts), was waived/injured by the team in September and has been on IR since then. He’ll be free to sign elsewhere if he clears waivers.
NFC Notes: Hawley, Lions, Cassel, Saints
Buccaneers center Joe Hawley feels like he got a raw deal from his former team, the Falcons. On a conference call, D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked Hawley if he felt that he was given enough time coming back from the injuries to win the starting job.
“Uh, honestly, no. I think they kind of used it as an excuse,” Hawley said. “When I got here I wasn’t 100 percent yet. But they gave me a chance. Now, I’m feeling like the knee is back to new. But it just took four or five more weeks that I thought it would. Yeah, I think they kind of cut me short of that.”
The Bucs (5-6) are set to host the Falcons (6-5) on Sunday.
- With Matt Prater battling an illness, the Lions tried out free agent kickers Kyle Brindza, Billy Cundiff, and Garrett Hartley, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links). However, Prater will be able to play tonight against the Packers after all, so the team didn’t sign anyone.
- If Matt Cassel plays the final five games of the Cowboys‘ season, that extra playing time could earn him $1.2MM in incentives, as Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com explains. Cassel’s deal includes incentives for playing a certain percentage of the team’s snaps, and he’s projected to play over 55% ($1.2MM), but not up to 65% ($1.6MM).
- The performance of certain players over the course of the Saints‘ final five games this year could help dictate some of the salary cap decisions the club makes in the offseason, writes Larry Holder of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. I examined the Saints’ cap outlook for 2016 earlier this fall.
- Edge defender Willie Jefferson, a former Texan who spent the last two seasons with the CFL’s Edmonto Eskimos, will work out for two NFC teams next month, and is drawing a lot of interest, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (Twitter link). Jefferson had six sacks this season for the Grey Cup champions.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/30/15
Here are Monday’s minor signings, cuts, and other transactions from around the NFL:
- The Seahawks promoted defensive tackle A.J. Francis from the practice squad, as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
- The Patriots have released wide receiver Chris Harper following Sunday night’s muffed punt, as Tom E. Curran of CSNNE.com tweets.
- The Cowboys waived running back Trey Williams, as Todd Archer of ESPN.com tweets.
- The Giants are signing guard Adam Gettis off of the Raiders‘ practice squad, a person with knowledge of the situation told Jordan Raanan of the Star-Ledger. The Giants are short on offensive lineman, so Gettis will help provide the Giants with some much-needed depth.
Earlier updates:
- In advance of Monday night’s game against the Browns, the Ravens have promoted guard Kaleb Johnson and wide receiver Daniel Brown from their practice squad, the team announced today in a press release. To make room, Baltimore cut wide receiver Chuck Jacobs and placed tight end Chase Ford on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. Johnson, in particular, could play a role tonight, since the club doesn’t have many healthy offensive linemen left on the roster.
- The Bills are releasing linebacker A.J. Tarpley, according to Sal Capaccio of WGR550 (Twitter link). Tarpley, who recorded his first career NFL sack on Sunday, looks like a candidate to join the team’s practice squad if he clears waivers. Per Joe Buscaglia of WKBW (Twitter link), Buffalo also placed defensive end Alex Carrington on injured reserve, officially ending his season after he tore his quad tendon.
- The Eagles have signed interior offensive lineman Barrett Jones off the Bears‘ practice squad, waiving offensive lineman Julian Vandervelde in the corresponding move (Twitter link). Given the history between the Eagles and Vandervelde, who has now been cut four times by the club since the start of September, it may just be a matter of time until he finds himself back with Philadelphia.
- The Buccaneers have signed linebacker Adarius Glanton from the Panthers‘ practice squad, waiving safety Kimario McFadden, according to a press release from the team. With Kwon Alexander facing a four-game suspension and Bruce Carter having left Sunday’s game to be evaluated for a concussion, linebacker depth was a priority for Tampa Bay.
- The Bengals waived linebacker Sean Porter from the physically unable to perform list today, tweets Coley Harvey of ESPN.com. Porter returned to practice for Cincinnati earlier this month, but the team apparently determined there was no place for him on the 53-man roster.
Sunday Roundup: Marrone, Martin, Keenum
As the afternoon games get underway, let’s take a look at some news and notes from around the league:
- We heard earlier today that Jaguars OL coach Doug Marrone will be viewed as a top head coaching candidate this offseason, and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com explains why. As Florio writes, Marrone, who became available after opting to terminate his relationship with Buffalo last year, came on the market “a little too unexpectedly” for teams to scrap their existing plans at the time. Now, however, with a high number of potential head coaching vacancies and a relatively small number of truly qualified candidates, Marrone will be an attractive option, especially given that the Bills are doing less (record-wise) with more talent under Rex Ryan than they did under Marrone.
- Former NFL agent Joel Corry tweets that there is no need to speculate as to whether the Buccaneers will put the franchise tag on Doug Martin, as the nearly $12MM cap number for a franchised running back is too steep in today’s NFL. The last time the tag was used on an RB was in 2012, when the Ravens tagged Ray Rice and the Bears tagged Matt Forte. The cap number for a franchised RB at the time was $7.7MM.
- ESPN’s Chris Mortensen tweets that, even though the NFL has apparently closed the book on whether the Rams should be penalized for last week’s concussion controversy surrounding Case Keenum, the NFL Players Association is continuing its own investigation.
- In his latest mailbag, Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com looks at what the Browns might expect to receive if they were to trade Johnny Manziel at this point, and he notes that the best the Browns could hope for is a future pick conditioned on Manziel’s active status and number of starts.
- After the Lions promoted Isa Abdul-Quddus to a starting role and moved James Ihedigbo to the bench, they began to see a noticeable improvement from the back end of their defense, as Kyle Meinke of MLive.com observes. Abdul-Quddus is not as physical as Ihedigbo, but he covers much more ground and has established himself as a quality option in the team’s secondary, particularly in light of the recent injury to Glover Quin. Adbul-Quddus, who signed a one-year deal with Detroit last year, may be putting himself in line for a multi-year pact this offseason.
- David Moore of The Dallas Morning News examines the futures for Cowboys defensive backs Byron Jones and Morris Claiborne, predicting that Dallas plans to move Jones to safety moving forward, thereby increasing the likelihood that the team retains Claiborne.
- In a series of three articles, Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com reexamines the Eagles‘ offseason decisions, offers his thoughts on the Jets‘ rebuilding process, and previews the 2016 class of free agent tight ends.
NFC Notes: Berger, Bucs, Alexander, Eagles
With starting center John Sullivan sidelined all year for the Vikings, veteran offensive lineman Joe Berger – rated by Pro Football Focus as one of the league’s top centers – has been invaluable for the team, writes Matt Vensel of the Star Tribune. Minnesota prioritized re-signing Berger in the offseason, and he was happy to return to the Vikings, even in a backup role.
Having played every offensive snap for the club this season, Berger is on track to earn an extra $400K in incentives if he continues that pace, and barring an injury, there’s no reason to believe he won’t. Sullivan suffered a setback and underwent another surgical procedure in October, and isn’t expected to return this season, so the center job looks like Berger’s for at least the rest of the year.
Here’s more from around the NFC:
- Although he’s facing a four-game suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs, Buccaneers linebacker Kwon Alexander looks likely to play in Sunday’s game against the Colts. Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times notes that the NFL officially notified the team of Alexander’s suspension on Wednesday, giving him five days to appeal the ban, which he’s expected to do. By the time the appeal process plays out, Alexander may end up serving the penalty over the final four games of the regular season, assuming the suspension is upheld.
- Buccaneers running back Doug Martin made comments this week suggesting he doesn’t like the idea that he’s having an excellent season because he’s in a contract year. However, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk observes, teams may be wary of a repeat of DeMarco Murray‘s situation, so if Tampa Bay doesn’t franchise Martin or make a competitive offer, “the warning to everyone else will be implied.” For what it’s worth, the Bucs have indicated they want to retain the running back beyond the 2015 season.
- If the Eagles decide to replace head coach Chip Kelly before the 2016 season, Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News would be surprised if a new coach could come in and immediately transform the club into a playoff team. Of course, that just means that Kelly the general manager should be getting at least as much criticism as Kelly the coach, since he was responsible for many of the roster decisions that have depleted the club’s talent.
- After consecutive 10-6 seasons, Kelly didn’t suddenly becoming a bad coach, according to Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who points out that there are Super Bowl-winning coaches that succeeded after flaming out in their previous head coaching jobs. Like Bowen though, McLane questions Kelly as a general manager, writing that Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie will have to decide if replacing Kelly as GM and/or head coach is the answer.