Ravens To Sign Jason Pierre-Paul
Jason Pierre-Paul‘s second Ravens visit this year will end up producing a deal. The veteran edge rusher told CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson he is signing with the team (Twitter link). It is a one-year deal worth up to $5.5MM for JPP, according to ProFootballNetwork.com’s Aaron Wilson and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter).
The 12-year veteran was at the team’s facility Tuesday but did not sign. While this seemed to repeat the pattern from earlier this year, when JPP visited the Ravens in June but left without a contract, the AFC North team is not letting the accomplished defender leave this time. Pierre-Paul, 33, will join a Ravens team in need at outside linebacker. The Ravens had been in contact with Pierre-Paul for months, per Rapoport.
This position group is shorthanded because of both tragedy and injuries. Jaylon Ferguson‘s death in June rocked the organization. The team had bigger plans for Ferguson this year. Tyus Bowser and second-round pick David Ojabo are coming off Achilles injuries, setbacks that landed them on different Ravens unavailability lists to start the season. Neither Ojabo (IR) nor Bowser (reserve/PUP) can return until Week 5. Ojabo, who suffered his Achilles tear while preparing for the draft in March, will likely need more recovery time than Bowser, who sustained his tear in January. The Ravens also just placed Steven Means on IR after his season-ending Achilles tear.
Pierre-Paul, who is joining Baltimore’s active roster, could certainly help the team. Baltimore is down to two outside linebackers on its 53-man roster — Odafe Oweh and Justin Houston, the latter being re-signed in the wake of Ferguson’s death. As veteran edge players steadily came off the free agency board this summer (from Houston to Melvin Ingram to Carlos Dunlap to Trey Flowers), JPP remained unsigned. But he will likely soon suit up for a third NFL team.
The 6-foot-5 sack artist spent the past four seasons with the Buccaneers, playing a significant role in their Super Bowl LV championship. JPP sacked Aaron Rodgers twice in the 2020 NFC championship game, with the Bucs upsetting the David Bakhtiari-less Packers en route to their second Super Bowl. Pierre-Paul, who made his third Pro Bowl in 2020, teamed with Shaq Barrett combined to pressure Patrick Mahomes throughout that hometown victory.
Although JPP (91.5 career sacks) did not finish his Tampa tenure well, recording just 2.5 sacks and five QB hits in 12 games, the Ravens will hope that is a blip rather than an indication the former first-round pick can no longer contribute. JPP will almost certainly be ticketed for a rotational role, as opposed to the starting gigs he had held for the past 11 years. A Giants backup as a rookie, Pierre-Paul broke through with a monster 2011 season — one that did plenty to key the Giants’ Super Bowl XLVI win — and has seven seasons with at least seven sacks.
Pierre-Paul underwent shoulder surgery this offseason, and ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes that led to the lengthy free agency stay (Twitter link). But surgeries have not exactly derailed him in the past. He completed comebacks from the 2015 fireworks accident and a fractured vertebra sustained in a 2019 car accident, leading to a 2020 Bucs re-signing. A 2020 knee operation commenced after that deal. His Ravens contract does not come close to the two-year, $25MM accord he signed in 2020, but this agreement will allow for a 13th NFL season.
NFL Suspends Bills OL Bobby Hart
SEPTEMBER 22: Hart’s appeal was unsuccessful. The eighth-year offensive lineman will serve his one-game suspension.
SEPTEMBER 21: Hart’s post-game altercation was with Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, reports Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com (on Twitter). During Hart’s appeal hearing today, it was alleged that Simmons spit on Hart, leading to the skirmish.
During altercation postgame with Simmons, Hart inadvertently made contact with a Titans assistant coach, leading to the one-game suspension levied by NFL vice president of operations Jon Runyan.
SEPTEMBER 19: The NFL handed Bills tackle Bobby Hart a one-game suspension Tuesday. A fight following the Bills’ Monday-night win over the Titans led to this ban.
NFL VP of football operations Jon Runyan‘s suspension letter to Hart indicates the veteran lineman threw a punch at a Titans player postgame. The punch struck a Tennessee coach in the head. This unnamed Titans assistant coach had attempted to separate the players.
Hart, 28, is in his second season with the Bills, but the former starter spent time with the Titans last year. In between Bills stays, Hart played in three games with the Titans.
The Bills signed Hart in March 2021, but he did not make their 53-man roster and landed on the Dolphins’ practice squad. Soon after, Hart re-signed with the Bills via a practice squad deal. He ended up with the Titans after the team poached him off Buffalo’s P-squad in October. After Tennessee demoted Hart to its P-squad, Buffalo made the same transaction by signing Hart to its active roster in November. The Bills circled back to Hart in free agency earlier this year.
A former seventh-round pick, Hart has done well for himself by making it into an eighth NFL season. The Florida State product was a multiyear right tackle starter for the Giants and Bengals. He has settled in as a backup. Monday night’s blowout led to Hart seeing some fourth-quarter snaps. Hart made one Titans start in 2021.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/21/22
Today’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: WR Andre Baccellia, WR Stanley Berryhill, WR C.J. Board, CB Nate Hairston
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: LB Brandon Copeland
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: WR Tanner Gentry
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: DT Frank Herron
Houston Texans
- Signed: OL Tre’Vour Wallace-Simms
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: C Matt Skura
New England Patriots
- Signed: K Tristan Vizcaino
New York Jets
- Signed: OL Adam Pankey
- Released: OL Chris Glaser
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: DL Khalil Davis
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: OL Christian DiLauro
Washington Commanders
- Signed: DT Donovan Jeter
- Placed on IR: OL Nolan Laufenberg
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/21/22
Today’s minor transactions:
Carolina Panthers
- Signed off Bills practice squad: RB Raheem Blackshear
- Signed to active roster: LB Arron Mosby
Cleveland Browns
- Promoted: LB Jordan Kunaszyk, DE Isaac Rochell
Houston Texans
- Promoted: OL Jimmy Morrissey
- Placed on IR: LB Kevin Pierre-Louis
- Placed on NFI: OL Justin Britt (story)
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed off Rams practice squad: DE Benton Whitley
Los Angeles Rams
- Suspended: TE Brycen Hopkins
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Suspended: S Damontae Kazee
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Promoted: DT Deadrin Senat
Tennessee Titans
- Placed on IR: RB Trenton Cannon, DB Chris Jackson
Kazee was suspended three games for violating the league’s policy on substances of abuse. After signing with the Steelers this offseason, he landed on injured reserve after the preseason. Per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor (on Twitter), Kazee will be allowed to serve his suspension while he’s on IR.
Hopkins was also suspended three games for violating the NFL’s policy on substances of abuse.
Rams To Sign Takkarist McKinley Off Titans’ Practice Squad
Another Takkarist McKinley relocation is on tap. The veteran pass rusher, who had caught on with the Titans’ practice squad last week, is now L.A.-bound.
The Rams will sign McKinley off that Tennessee taxi squad, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. This move will reunite McKinley with Rams DC Raheem Morris, who formerly served as a Falcons assistant head coach and interim HC during McKinley’s time in Atlanta, and signal a return to Los Angeles. McKinley, 26, is a UCLA alum.
A former first-round pick, McKinley has bounced around the league since his Falcons stay ended during the 2020 season. He was claimed three times on waivers after that Falcons cut; the 49ers, Bengals and Raiders claimed him that year. The young edge defender landed with the Raiders, but an injury prevented him from playing any games.
Last year, McKinley caught on with the Browns, who used him mostly as a rotational player behind Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney. Late in a 2.5-sack 2021 season, McKinley went down with an Achilles tear in late December. That took the five-year veteran out of the mix for several months, but interest picked up around training camp. Although the Titans lost Harold Landry to an ACL tear just before the season, they chose not to promote McKinley to their active roster to prevent this Rams poaching.
With Von Miller now in Buffalo, Leonard Floyd anchors the defending champions’ edge-rushing corps. Considerable uncertainty exists behind Floyd. The Rams have Justin Hollins and former third-round pick Terrell Lewis as their top non-Floyd options on the edge. While McKinley is far from a sure thing at this point in his career, which has taken a downturn since some late-2010s Falcons production, he has made 27 career starts and totaled 20 sacks. Thirteen of those came between the 2017 and ’18 seasons. Morris was on Atlanta’s staff throughout McKinley’s time with the team.
This has been a rather interesting, as far as practice squads go, day for the Titans’ P-squad. Prior to losing McKinley, Tennessee signed safety Andrew Adams off the Steelers’ taxi squad and added cornerback Terrance Mitchell off the Patriots’ 16-man squad.
49ers Place Trey Lance On IR, Bring Back RB Tevin Coleman
Both Elijah Mitchell and Tyrion Davis-Price are now on the mend for the 49ers. Davis-Price’s ankle sprain is expected to keep him out for multiple games, while Mitchell is early in what is viewed as a two-month recovery timetable from an MCL sprain. Veteran backs are en route.
After the 49ers promoted Marlon Mack to their active roster, they replaced him on the practice squad with Tevin Coleman. Weeks after the Jets released Coleman, the seven-year veteran worked out for his former team last week. This marks a return Bay Area trip for Coleman, who was with the 49ers from 2019-20.
The 49ers officially placed Trey Lance on IR as well. Lance underwent surgery to repair a broken ankle. San Francisco’s starter is out for the season and staring at a four- to six-month recovery timetable. This led Jimmy Garoppolo back to the top of the depth chart and Kurt Benkert onto the 49ers’ P-squad. This year’s Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy, is currently Garoppolo’s backup.
This will be yet another Shanahan-Coleman reunion. The sixth-year 49ers head coach was Atlanta’s offensive coordinator during Coleman’s first two NFL seasons, and once the former third-round pick hit the market in 2019, the 49ers added him on a two-year deal. Coleman, 29, now represents insurance against another 49ers backfield injury.
Prior to unleashing Raheem Mostert in 2019, the 49ers had Coleman pegged as their starter. Even as Mostert morphed from special-teamer to first-stringer, Coleman played a steady role for the 49ers’ Super Bowl LIV-qualifying team. He totaled 724 scrimmage yards and seven touchdowns in 2019 and surpassed 100 on the ground in San Francisco’s divisional-round win over Minnesota. A shoulder injury slowed him for the rest of those playoffs, and a knee injury in Week 2 of the 2020 season led to a lengthy absence and a vastly reduced role down the stretch that year.
Last season, Coleman played in 11 Jets games — in ex-49ers OC Mike LaFleur‘s offense — and averaged 4.2 yards per carry (84 totes, 356 yards). The Jets brought him back on a one-year, $1.5MM deal, but the team soon drafted Breece Hall in the second round and went with younger backs after training camp. The 49ers have ex-Coleman backup Jeff Wilson installed as their current starter, with Mack and rookie UDFA Jordan Mason as backups.
Patriots Trade OL Justin Herron To Raiders
The Patriots and Raiders have agreed on another trade. Months after the Pats sent Jarrett Stidham to the AFC West franchise, Justin Herron is headed to Las Vegas.
This deal will involve a 2024 pick swap, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). Herron will see some familiar faces in Vegas, with longtime Patriots OC Josh McDaniels and ex-New England exec Dave Ziegler now running the Raiders. New England will receive Las Vegas’ 2024 sixth-round choice and send over a 2024 seventh-rounder in this swap, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets.
Although Herron has not suited up this season, he started 10 Patriots games between the 2020 and ’21 slates. The Pats drafted Herron in the 2020 sixth round. Herron, 26, worked as a backup tackle in New England. He will head to a Raiders team that has encountered right tackle instability.
The Raiders have used ex-Patriot Jermaine Eluemunor as their right tackle starter thus far, but the team has deployed a rotation on the right side of its offensive line. Seventh-round rookie Thayer Munford has rotated in at right tackle during each of Las Vegas’ first two games. This rotation comes after the Raiders cut 2021 first-round pick Alex Leatherwood and saw would-be right tackle starter Brandon Parker suffer a season-ending injury during the preseason. Herron could be in position to compete for a starting job. If nothing else, the Wake Forest product will supply depth.
Herron filled in for Trent Brown during part of the then-right tackle’s 2021 absence and filled in for then-left tackle Isaiah Wynn during part of his rookie year. Pro Football Focus did not view Herron’s 2021 work too positively, but his scheme familiarity and through-2023 rookie contract made him a target for a Raiders team experiencing some O-line turbulence.
To clear a roster spot, the Raiders are waiving cornerback Javelin Guidry, Rapoport adds (on Twitter). Should the speedy defender clear waivers, the Raiders plan to add him to their practice squad. The Raiders claimed Guidry off waivers from the Cardinals, who cut him shortly after claiming him on the wire from the Jets. Guidry played three special teams snaps for the Raiders against the Cards in Week 2.
Buccaneers Place RB Giovani Bernard, OL Josh Wells On IR
After injuries to veterans Giovani Bernard and Josh Wells, the Buccaneers are making roster adjustments. Both players landed on injured reserve Wednesday, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times tweets.
Ankle and calf injuries, respectively, will sideline Bernard and Wells for at least four weeks. Wells’ ailment is not believed to be season-ending, per ESPN.com’s Jenna Laine (on Twitter), but the backup tackle will be shut down for a while.
[RELATED: Bucs Add Cole Beasley To Practice Squad]
Wells started in place of injured left tackle Donovan Smith in Week 2, but the ninth-year veteran went down during the Bucs’ win over the Saints. Following Wells’ exit, the Bucs turned to third-year UDFA Brandon Walton, who had spent last season on the team’s practice squad. A Florida Atlantic alum, Walton has only dressed for two NFL games. Sunday marked his first regular-season snaps on offense.
Wells joins center Ryan Jensen and guard Aaron Stinnie on IR. Smith, who missed Week 2 with an elbow injury, remains on the team’s active roster. Smith being unable to go in Week 3 against the Packers would mark yet another new starter for a Bucs offensive line that continues to absorb injury blows. Wells, 31, has been with the Bucs as a backup O-lineman since 2019.
Although the Bucs re-signed Bernard this offseason, the veteran running back has not been used on offense through two games. Leonard Fournette and rookie Rachaad White have played in front of Bernard, whom the Bucs signed as a possible passing-down option last year. Bernard caught 23 passes for just 123 yards last season. At 30, the former Bengals running back has seen time on special teams in his second Bucs slate.
Tampa Bay promoted linebacker Kenny Young and wide receiver Kaylon Geiger to its 53-man roster to replace Bernard and Wells, Stroud adds (via Twitter). The team also added offensive lineman Justin Skule to its practice squad. Skule spent the past three years with the 49ers. While he missed the 2021 season with an ACL tear, Skule started 12 games between the 2019 and ’20 seasons. The Vanderbilt product served as Joe Staley‘s primary replacement during the latter’s 2019 finale.
Titans To Sign S Andrew Adams Off Steelers’ Practice Squad
A Buccaneers contributor for the past four seasons, Andrew Adams is joining a third team since his Tampa stint ended. After signing with the Giants earlier this year and then landing with the Steelers’ practice squad, Adams is now a Titan.
Tennessee is signing the veteran safety off Pittsburgh’s practice squad, per ProFootballNetwork.com’s Aaron Wilson (on Twitter). Adams, 29, is a six-year veteran who has spent time on the Giants and Bucs’ active rosters. He will be on the Titans’ 53-man roster Wednesday.
Although Adams’ Giants deal did not lead to a spot on their 53-man roster this year, the former UDFA has made 35 career starts. He opened his career by moving into New York’s starting lineup, during the team’s most recent playoff season (2016), and was an 11-game starter for Todd Bowles‘ first Tampa Bay defense three years ago.
The latter bump came after Adams intercepted four passes with the 2018 Bucs. Adams played all 20 Bucs games during their 2020 Super Bowl-winning season, working as a backup behind Jordan Whitehead and Antoine Winfield Jr., and started three games last year for the team. Pro Football Focus graded Adams as a solid safety last season, on 214 defensive snaps. He worked extensively as a Bucs special-teamer as well, seeing time on more than 60% of Tampa Bay’s special teams snaps from 2020-21.
The Titans have two solidified safety starters, in Kevin Byard and Amani Hooker, but the team placed backup A.J. Moore on IR last week. Lonnie Johnson, who has bounced from cornerback to safety over his career, has also been with three teams this year (Texans, Chiefs, Titans). Joshua Kalu, who caught on with the Titans just before camp, is the AFC South team’s other backup safety.
CB Joe Haden Announces Retirement
After a 12-year career spent in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, Joe Haden is walking away from the game. The former Pro Bowl cornerback plans to retire, according to agent Drew Rosenhaus (via Pro Football Talk’s Josh Alper).
While Haden drew some interest this offseason, he did not sign with a team ahead of training camp. The 33-year-old defender ended his career as a 149-game starter. That ranks as a top-50 total in NFL history at cornerback. Among active corners, only Patrick Peterson has lined up as a first-stringer more often.
The Cardinals, Dolphins, Rams and Raiders showed interest this offseason, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter). Haden was said to be weighing offers. If so, none of the teams’ proposals did enough to convince him to play a 13th season, but Fowler adds the longtime starter entered free agency planning to do so.
The first cornerback chosen in the 2010 draft (No. 7 overall), Haden earned Pro Bowl nods with the Browns and Steelers. He spent time anchoring secondaries in Cleveland and, after a late-summer release in 2017, became a key figure on a few Steelers playoff teams. Lasting longer than most as a No. 1 corner, Haden made Pro Bowls with the 2013 and ’14 Browns and received his third invite in 2019 — at age 30 — with the Steelers. The 5-foot-11 defender ended his career with 29 interceptions; a six-INT rookie season did the most to bolster that total.
Haden signed a Browns extension in 2014 and played three seasons on that contract but was one of a few veterans to leave the team during its aggressive rebuild attempt from 2016-17. The Browns attempted to keep the ex-Florida Gator on a reduced salary and made efforts to trade him, but the team’s top corner instead ended up on the open market. Although Haden became connected to several other teams — the Dolphins, Eagles, Saints, Chiefs, Cowboys and 49ers — in free agency, he chose the Steelers after visit that occurred hours after his Browns exit. The short Rust Belt trek produced a three-year, $27MM deal, the first of Haden’s two Steelers agreements.
After the arrivals of Haden and T.J. Watt in 2017, the Steelers made a run at the AFC’s No. 1 seed. Ryan Shazier‘s injury and the controversial Jesse James touchdown overturn re-routed the 13-3 team to the No. 2 seed, and an eventual divisional-round loss, but that season began a lengthy Haden second act. The Steelers extended Haden in 2019 — a two-year, $22MM accord — and he ended up starting 67 games with his second NFL employer. That period produced top-10 total defenses from 2017-20 in Pittsburgh and three playoff berths. Haden angled for a third Steelers deal last year, but the team moved on via younger, cheaper options this offseason.
Haden ended up doing incredibly well for himself financially in the NFL, making more than $121MM in 12 years. He arrived during the last draft to feature monster rookie contracts for first-rounders, before the 2011 CBA changed the rookie salary scale, landing a five-year, $40MM deal in 2010. That figure eclipses what 2022 No. 1 overall pick Travon Walker signed for this offseason. The Browns gave Haden a five-year deal in 2014 (worth $67.5MM) as well.