Extra Points: RGIII, Panthers, Cassel
Washington head coach Jay Gruden is confident that backup quarterback Robert Griffin III will receive medical clearance and be ready for Week 1, writes Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.
“He’s got to see the independent neurologist one more time early this week,” said Gruden.
Gruden recently stripped the starting job from Griffin, who suffered a concussion in the preseason, and awarded it to Kirk Cousins. If healthy, it’s no lock RGIII will even be Washington’s No. 2 QB. Gruden wouldn’t commit to it when asked, according to Smith. That role could go to Colt McCoy instead, which would leave RGIII as a third-stringer.
Here’s more from around the NFL:
- Despite their shortage of viable wide receivers, the Panthers are not interested in free agent James Jones, according to Joe Person of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).
- The Texans have contemplated adding another quarterback in the wake of third-stringer Tom Savage‘s season-ending shoulder injury. But they have no interest in free agent Matt Cassel, whom Buffalo cut on Saturday (Twitter link via John McClain of the Houston Chronicle).
- Speaking of the Texans, one of their ex-players, wideout Damaris Johnson, will work out for the AFC South rival Titans, reports ESPN’s Adam Caplan (via Twitter). The three-year veteran played in all 16 games last season and totaled career bests in receptions (31), yards (350) and touchdowns (one).
- The Titans will work out linebacker Diaheem Watkins on Tuesday, according to agent Jeff Jankovich (via Twitter). Watkins, an undrafted rookie out of UAB, was a victim of Philly’s roster cuts Saturday.
- Rookie cornerback Justin Coleman, whom the Patriots signed Friday, also had interest from other teams, tweets Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. He worked out for the Seahawks on Wednesday, which came after Minnesota cut him a week ago.
Titans Reduce Roster To 53 Players
The Titans have confirmed the previously-reported releases of wide receiver Hakeem Nicks and offensive tackle Byron Stingily, and have announced 10 more moves, which reduce their roster count to 53 players.
Here are Tennessee’s roster moves, per a team release:
Waived:
- RB David Fluellen
- WR Jacoby Ford
- G Josue Matias
- WR Tre McBride
- G Will Poehls
- WR Rico Richardson
- QB Alex Tanney
Placed on injured reserve:
- LB Zaviar Gooden
- LB Yawin Smallwood
- LB J.R. Tavai
With Nicks, Ford, McBride, and Richardson no longer on the roster, Tennessee will start the year with just four wide receivers, barring further moves.
Titans Release Hakeem Nicks
A year after setting new career-lows in catches and receiving yards, Hakeem Nicks hasn’t survived preseason roster cuts. According to Terry McCormick of 247Sports.com (Twitter links), Nicks has been released by the Titans. However, McCormick adds that there’s a chance the team could re-sign the wideout after Week 1, when veteran salaries no longer become guaranteed for the season.
Nicks, who spent his first five years with the Giants, posting multiple 1,000-yard seasons in New York, caught just 38 balls for 405 yards and four touchdowns last year in Indianapolis.
An August report suggested that there would be some interest in Nicks if the Titans were to release him, but it took a while for him to find a home in free agency earlier this year, so I can’t imagine the competition over him this time around will be particularly fierce.
Titans Release Byron Stingily
The Titans have continued their cutdown to 53 players by letting go of veteran offensive tackle Byron Stingily, according to Terry McCormick of 247Sports.com (Twitter link).
Stingily, who turns 27 next week, re-signed with the Titans back in March after spending the first four years of his NFL career with the team. The former sixth-round pick, who started five games for the club last season, appeared to have a chance to win a starting job this year, with tackles Michael Roos and Michael Oher no longer in the picture. However, third-round rookie Jeremiah Poutasi looks poised to start at right tackle, with Byron Bell as the club’s swing tackle.
Stingily’s new two-year contract with Tennessee featured a $250K signing bonus, so the team will be on the hook for a little bit of dead money in 2015 and 2016.
AFC Notes: McCoy, Mathis, Browns
After releasing longtime backfield weapon Fred Jackson earlier this week, the Bills could find themselves without his replacement, LeSean McCoy, for their Week 1 matchup with Indianapolis on Sept. 13. McCoy, the Bills’ big-ticket offseason acquisition, has been dealing with a hamstring injury since last month and was noncommittal about his status for the opener when asked by reporters Friday.
“We’ll wait and see,” he said, according to ESPN.com. “Only thing I can do is control what I can control, and that’s just working hard and getting treatment and getting ready to go get out there.”
Bills head coach Rex Ryan stated he’s “optimistic” McCoy will be ready for Week 1. If McCoy can’t go, Ryan isn’t ready to name a starter for the Indy game.
“I’m not gonna get into those type of scenarios, the what-ifs and all that type of stuff. I know one thing: This football team will be ready. Period,” he said.
More from the AFC:
- Buffalo’s Week 1 opponent, the Colts, could have pass rusher Robert Mathis back for the opener, according to head coach Chuck Pagano. “There’s a possibility,” Pagano said, per Mike Wells of ESPN.com. “We’ll just evaluate how the week goes. Rob is doing great. He’s making great progress.” Mathis, who had an NFL-high 19.5 sacks in 2013, sat out all of last season after tearing his Achilles.
- Browns general manager Ray Farmer is suspended four weeks for violating league rules prohibiting certain uses of electronic devices during games last year. Thus, executive chief of staff Bill Kuharich will oversee their player personnel department until Farmer returns, reports Andrew Gribble of the team’s website.
- The Titans’ starting offensive line is in place, writes Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com. “Pretty much, it’s set,” said head coach Ken Whisenhunt. From left tackle to right tackle, they’ll go with Taylor Lewan, Byron Bell, Brian Schwenke, Chance Warmack and Jeremiah Poutasi.
- The Raiders are receiving interest from teams regarding receiver Seth Roberts, tweets ESPN’s Adam Caplan. Roberts, who signed with the Raiders as an undrafted free agent out of West Alabama last year, was second in receiving yards (243) during the preseason.
Titans Cut Nine Players
The Titans are down to 65 players, following the team’s latest round of roster cuts. That means that the club will have to make 12 more roster moves in advance of tomorrow afternoon’s deadline in order to get down to 53 players.
Here are the players who were cut by Tennessee today, via a press release:
- DL Isaako Aaitui
- CB Ri’Shard Anderson
- FB Zach Boren
- LB Kaelin Burnett
- C Gabe Ikard
- WR Josh Stewart
- LB Andy Studebaker
- DB Jemea Thomas
- DB Khalid Wooten
In addition to cutting those nine players, the Titans also removed a 10th player from their roster by trading veteran guard Andy Levitre to the Falcons earlier in the day. In a piece for TitansOnline.com, Jim Wyatt explained why the team moved on from Levitre.
Falcons Acquire Andy Levitre From Titans
12:03pm: The Titans have officially confirmed the trade, per Jim Wyatt of Titans Online, who tweets that Tennessee will get a 2016 sixth-round pick and a conditional pick in a future year from the Falcons.
11:31am: The Falcons are acquiring a veteran guard in a trade with the Titans, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, who reports (via Twitter) that Andy Levitre is heading to Atlanta. Levitre himself first hinted at the move, tweeting out the message “#RiseUp” from his official account.
Levitre, 29, has started all 16 games for the Titans at left guard in each of the past two seasons, and has never missed a game in his six-year NFL career. However, while his consistency and ability to stay on the field is an asset, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked the veteran lineman as just the 45th-best guard out of 78 qualified players last season, giving him a -5.8 grade.
There had been plenty of speculation that Levitre would be released by the Titans before the season, since his cap charge for 2015, and for each of the following two seasons, is an exorbitant $8.6MM. By trading Levitre, the Titans will still be on the hook for $2.1MM in dead money this year and $4.2MM next year, but it would reduce his cap hit significantly.
As for the Falcons, they’d take on Levitre’s $6.5MM salary, which seems like an awfully steep price to pay for a guard who’s not among the league’s best. Atlanta released another veteran guard, Justin Blalock, earlier this offseason, and Blalock didn’t carry as large a cap number as Levitre does.
Still, we don’t have the full details on the move yet, so it’s possible there are other factors in play here — Levitre may have accepted a pay cut as part of the deal, or the Titans may be paying a portion of his 2015 salary, for instance.
AFC Notes: Pats, Iosefa, Levitre, Chargers
Until the NFL’s slate of Week 4 preseason games gets underway tonight, there’s only one story dominating the headlines, and that’s Judge Richard Berman’s decision to vacate Tom Brady‘s four-game suspension today. We’ll have a few more reactions and notes on that decision coming up later this afternoon, in the wake of the NFL’s announcement that it will appeal the ruling.
In the meantime, let’s check in on a few more items from around the AFC, including an additional tidbit on Brady’s Patriots….
- The Patriots are bringing in fullback Joey Iosefa for a visit and a workout today, according to Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Iosefa is the rare draftee who didn’t survive his team’s first round of cuts this week — he was selected in the seventh round by the Buccaneers in May.
- While there’s been some speculation that veteran Titans guard Andy Levitre is on the verge of losing his roster spot in Tennessee, it sounds like the team will keep him as a backup, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Levitre will earn a base salary of $6.5MM this season and will have a cap hit of $8.6MM. Those figures remain the same in 2016 and 2017, so he’ll be a release candidate going forward.
- Rooke kicker Josh Lambo has shown he deserves to be on every general manager’s emergency short list, but Nick Novak is the clear choice for the Chargers‘ job as the team makes its cuts to 53 players, writes Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Extra Points: Titans, Trent Williams, Cowboys
The NFL Players Association recently filed an injury grievance on behalf of former Titans tight end Taylor Thompson, according to a league source who spoke with ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan. Thompson, who was officially waived June 19th, is expected to have knee surgery in the near future, but he was not released with an injury designation at the time of the transaction.
Here’s more from around the NFL..
- Washington‘s new deal with Trent Williams resets the market for left tackles, Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap writes. Williams’ deal is similar to the contract Joe Thomas signed with the Browns in some respects, like the $42MM value of the first three years of the deal. However, in years four and five, Williams could earn a good deal more than Thomas or Tyron Smith of the Cowboys. The biggest difference of all, of course, is the guarantee structure, which amounts to $30MM in total.
- Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said there could be a lot of action from the team after final cuts, as Clarence Hill of the Star-Telegram tweets. Jones added that running back will be a position of interest for the organization.
- The Raiders are very likely on the look out for a kick returner on the waiver wire, Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets.
Extra Points: Hunter, Brady, Thomas
Titans wide receiver Justin Hunter‘s case was continued until Sept. 15 because a defense witness did not show up to court today, Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com tweets. Just days ago, Hunter had his charge reduced to a misdemeanor. The 24-year-old was viewed as a potential breakout candidate last year, but battled injuries and complied just 498 yards and three touchdowns on 28 receptions.
Here’s more from around the NFL..
- Judge Richard Berman will issue his decision and order in the Tom Brady case by the end of the week, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. As it stands, the Patriots QB is set to serve a four-game suspension.
- Following his doctor’s visit, Jaguars tight end Julius Thomas has decided to have surgery on his injured finger on Wednesday, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Thomas could be out for a month, as previously estimated.
- Larry Foote was coaching at Cardinals practice today, which is likely a sign that he’s not playing this season, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com tweets. Foote had to make a decision on his status by 1pm Arizona time, and that deadline has come and gone. The Cardinals added the 35-year-old to their coaching staff earlier in the offseason with the intent of signing him to the roster later in the summer if he decided to continue playing.
- Rams coach Jeff Fisher made it clear that Case Keenum will be the team’s No. 2 quarterback, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com tweets. That leaves Austin Davis and Sean Mannion to battle for the No. 3 job (link). Given that Mannion was a third-round pick this year, it seems unlikely that Davis will win that battle.