Eagles To Trade S Ugo Amadi To Titans
For the second time in less than two weeks, safety Ugo Amadi is on the move. The Eagles are sending their recent acquisition to the Titans (Twitter link via ESPN’s Adam Schefter). 
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero tweets that Philadelphia is including a seventh-round pick in 2024 along with Amadi, in exchange for a sixth-rounder of the same year. In terms of draft stock, that represents a stark difference to the cost the Eagles paid to acquire Amadi last week: former second-rounder J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. More than anything, of course, that deal was a reflection of the wideout’s underwhelming career to date.
Amadi, 25, was thought to be a release candidate hours before being dealt to Philadelphia. He made seven starts last season, logging a defensive snap share above 50% for the second straight season. The 2019 fourth-rounder totaled 125 tackles, 13 pass deflections and one interception across three campaigns in Seattle. He was seen as a depth addition for Philadelphia, whose situation at the safety position is rather murky. Instead, he will now look to make the Titans’ 53-man roster as an insurance policy on the backend while entering a contract year.
In related roster news, the Titans also announced that linebacker Monty Rice has been placed on the reserve/PUP list. That opens up the spot for Amadi to fill, but means that the Titans’ LB corps will be thinner for at least the first four weeks of the season. The 2021-third rounder started four of his 10 appearances last year, recording 36 tackles. His rookie campaign was cut short by an Achilles injury, which obviously won’t be fully recovered in time for September.
Buccaneers To Sign OLB Genard Avery
Not long after reuniting with Carl Nassib, the Buccaneers are adding another edge-rushing piece to their equation. They are signing Genard Avery, according to InsidetheBirds.com’s Adam Caplan (on Twitter).
The Steelers made Avery one of their Tuesday cuts, moving their roster down to the new 80-man limit. This came as a bit of a surprise, but Avery will nevertheless have another chance to catch on as a rotational rusher somewhere.
Avery also has experience as an off-ball linebacker, with the Eagles trying the young defender in this role last season. The Eagles used Avery as a 12-game starter in 2021, though he played just 34% of the team’s defensive snaps. Avery made 43 tackles (four for loss) and registered a sack in 2021. Pro Football Focus ranked Avery 56th among regular linebackers last season.
The Browns traded the former fifth-round pick to the Eagles during the 2019 season. As a rookie, Avery showed some pass-rushing chops by notching 4.5 sacks and 14 quarterback hits despite starting only five games. He has not been able to replicate that production as a rusher in the years since.
Tampa Bay returns Shaq Barrett and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka on the edge, having said goodbye to Jason Pierre-Paul this offseason. Nassib signed on a one-year deal worth the league minimum. Avery likely agreed to the same terms.
Colts To Sign P Matt Haack
Days after losing the Bills’ punting competition, Matt Haack has secured another opportunity. The Colts are signing the sixth-year veteran, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com tweets.
Haack served as the Bills’ punter last season but played out a four-year Dolphins rookie contract before his Buffalo commitment. The Colts are in need at the position; they confirmed Rigoberto Sanchez‘s Achilles tear Wednesday. The Colts held a punter workout today, leading to the Haack addition.
Fourth-round pick Matt Araiza beat out Haack for Buffalo’s punting job during camp. The Bills had signed Haack, 28, to a three-year, $5.48MM deal in 2021. The former UDFA will be in line to enjoy a friendlier punting environment, Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium, this season.
Sanchez has been the Colts’ punter since his 2017 rookie season. Like Haack, he entered the offseason signed for multiple years. But the Achilles tear Sanchez sustained while running gassers at the end of the Colts’ Tuesday practice has changed Indy’s plans at this position, one that has enjoyed continuity for a lengthy stretch — from Pat McAfee (2009-16) to Sanchez.
Haack’s one season in Buffalo featured a career-low 42.9 yards per punt. The Arizona State alum’s per-boot numbers were better in Miami, where he averaged between 44.5 and 45.0 yards from 2017-20. Sanchez, however, has also served as the Colts’ kickoff specialist throughout his career. Haack has not done so, at least not primarily. He has recorded only four kickoffs during his career. Indianapolis’ kicker, Rodrigo Blankenship, seems likely to handle this responsibility, having made 24 kickoffs over his two-year run. Twenty of those came in 2020, a season that featured Sanchez miss time after having a cancerous tumor surgically removed.
Giants WR Sterling Shepard To Return To Practice
The Giants did not move Sterling Shepard to the reserve/PUP list Tuesday, despite sending multiple other offensive contributors (Nick Gates, Matt Peart) to the list early. That inaction will precede a return to practice for the longest-tenured Giant.
Shepard, who is coming off an Achilles tear sustained in December, will return to practice Wednesday, Brian Daboll said. This will mark a key checkpoint for Shepard, who can no longer be stashed on the team’s PUP list to start the season. It is not a lock Shepard returns for Week 1, but a re-emergence during the team’s September slate looks likely.
This Giants team features a glut of receivers, though it is unknown if each of their four notable veterans — Shepard, Darius Slayton, Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney — will be on the 53-man roster alongside second-round pick Wan’Dale Robinson. Slayton has long looked like the odd man out. As for Shepard, the team reached a restructure agreement — what amounted to a pay cut — to keep him around this year. This will be Shepard’s seventh Giants season.
The only remaining holdover from the Jerry Reese GM regime, the former second-round pick signed a four-year, $41MM extension during Dave Gettleman‘s GM run. The 2019 deal has preceded modest results, with injuries — a steady theme during the talented wideout’s career — interfering regularly.
Still, having Shepard back stands to help Daniel Jones in his contract year. Shepard missed time for multiple ailments in 2021, playing only seven games for a dreadful Giants offense — one that did not have Jones for a chunk of the season. In 12 2020 games, Shepard caught 66 passes for 656 yards and three touchdowns.
LB Shaquem Griffin Announces Retirement
Shaquem Griffin defied considerable odds by becoming a Central Florida standout and NFL regular, forging a football path despite losing his left hand at the age of 4. The 2018 fifth-round pick played three seasons with the Seahawks and spent time on the Dolphins’ practice squad.
The inspirational linebacker, however, announced Wednesday (via The Players’ Tribune) he will retire rather than pursue a fifth NFL season. The twin brother of Jaguars cornerback Shaquill Griffin, Shaquem said he aimed to catch on with the Jags last year — one featuring a few opportunities elsewhere — but after that did not materialize, he began moving toward leaving the game.
“All this traveling around, working out for teams, trying to catch on somewhere, trying to hang on — it wasn’t what I wanted. Football had already given me so much, and the only thing I still really wanted from the game was to play with my brother again,” Griffin said. “So I told my agent, Buddy Baker, thank you for grinding and bringing me these opportunities. But unless it’s Jacksonville, I’m good.”
Griffin spent the early part of last season on Miami’s taxi squad and worked out for the Cardinals, Titans and Jets. The Bills, Cowboys and Falcons also expressed interest, Griffin said, and he participated in the Broncos’ 2021 minicamp. But after the Dolphins released him from their practice squad in October, the St. Petersburg, Fla., native passed on offers that did not come from the Jags. Jacksonville signed Shaquill Griffin in March 2021, separating the twin brothers after they had played three seasons in Seattle.
For his career, Shaquem Griffin played mostly on special teams. He made 25 tackles with the Seahawks, who drafted him ahead of Shaquill’s second season. Shaquem notched 18.5 sacks over his final two college seasons and helped Central Florida finish the 2017 campaign at 13-0. He tallied one NFL sack, doing so after working his way back onto Seattle’s active roster following a September cut. Shaquem, who played with his brother for four seasons at Central Florida and three with the Seahawks, added a sack on Aaron Rodgers in Seattle’s 2019 divisional-round game.
Jaguars To Acquire OL Cole Van Lanen From Packers, Waive G Wes Martin
8:10pm: The Packers acquired a 2023 seventh-round pick, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter).
11:46am: A year into his career, Cole Van Lanen is being traded. The Packers are sending the 2021 sixth-round pick to the Jaguars, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com tweets.
Jacksonville will create a roster spot by cutting guard Wes Martin, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes (on Twitter). Not yet a vested vet, Martin generated waiver interest earlier this year and will head back to the wire.
The Packers will receive an undisclosed draft pick for Van Lanen, a Green Bay native. A Wisconsin alum, Van Lanen played in one game with the Packers, despite a flood of injuries along their offensive line in 2021. The Jaguars will take a flier here.
Wisconsin’s primary left tackle from 2019-20, Van Lanen earned second-team All-Big Ten acclaim in ’19 and first-team honors in the truncated 2020 season. The Packers had been using Van Lanen at tackle and guard during his short stay with his hometown team, Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. The Packers drafted offensive linemen in the third, fourth and seventh rounds this year (Sean Rhyan, Zach Tom, Rasheed Walker).
Both the Chargers and Commanders put in claims for Martin in May, when the Giants cut him. Washington originally drafted Martin in the 2019 fourth round and used him as a starter at points during his first two seasons. Martin, 26, started 10 games for Washington from 2019-20 and played in seven Giants games last season.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/23/22
Tuesday marked the day teams were forced to cut down from 85 to 80 players. Here are the moves teams made made to reach the new maximum. Players who land on the reserve/PUP or reserve/NFI list must miss at least the first four regular-season games.
Arizona Cardinals
- Waived: P Nolan Cooney, CB Cortez Davis, TE Josh Hokit, RB T.J. Pledger
- Waived/injured: CB Darrell Baker Jr.
Atlanta Falcons
- Released: WR Geronimo Allison, CB Lafayette Pitts, WR Auden Tate
- Waived: OLB Kuony Deng
- Waived/injured: DL Jalen Dalton
Baltimore Ravens
- Waived: ILB Diego Fagot, WR Bailey Gaither, T Jaryd Jones-Smith
- Waived/injured: WR Slade Bolden
Carolina Panthers
- Placed on IR: QB Matt Corral (story), CB Duke Dawson
- Waived: TE Jared Scott
Chicago Bears
- Released: T Julie’n Davenport
- Waived: FB Jake Bargas, CB BoPete Keyes, DT LaCale London, WR Dazz Newsome
Cincinnati Bengals
- Placed on reserve/PUP list: S Brandon Wilson
- Waived: QB Drew Plitt
Dallas Cowboys
- Placed on IR: TE Jeremy Sprinkle
- Waived/injured: LB Christian Sam
- Waived: K Lirim Hajrullahu, CB Quandre Mosely, WR Jaquarii Roberson
- Released from IR via injury settlement: DB Kyron Brown, WR Ty Fryfogle, RB Ryan Nall
Detroit Lions
- Waived: LB Shaun Dion Hamilton
Green Bay Packers
- Placed on reserve/PUP list: RB Kylin Hill
- Waived: WR Danny Davis
- Waived/injured: S Vernon Scott
Houston Texans
- Placed on reserve/non-football illness list: WR John Metchie (story)
Indianapolis Colts
- Waived: C Alex Mollette, RB C.J. Verdell
Kansas City Chiefs
- Placed on reserve/PUP list: T Lucas Niang
- Placed on IR: RB Derrick Gore
Las Vegas Raiders
- Released: CB Chris Jones
- Waived: WR Chris Lacy
- Waived/injured: CB Cre’von LeBlanc
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: CB Michael Jacquet
- Waived/injured: CB Tevaughn Campbell, LB Damon Lloyd, OLB Ty Shelby
- Placed on reserve/NFI list: TE Stone Smartt
Minnesota Vikings
- Placed on reserve/PUP list: LB Ryan Connelly, WR Blake Proehl
- Waived: TE Shaun Beyer, CB Harrison Hand
New England Patriots
- Placed on IR: LB Ronnie Perkins
- Placed on reserve/NFI list: OL Andrew Stueber
New Orleans Saints
- Released from IR via injury settlement: T Sage Doxtater, DT Jaleel Johnson
New York Giants
- Placed on reserve/PUP list: OL Nick Gates, T Matt Peart
- Placed on IR: ILB Darrian Beavers (story), TE Andre Miller, TE Ricky Seals-Jones
New York Jets
- Released: OL Caleb Benenoch, LB Kai Nacua
- Waived: S Elijah Riley, OL Isaiah Williams
Philadelphia Eagles
- Placed on reserve/PUP list: TE Tyree Jackson, OL Brett Toth
- Waived: CB Josh Blackwell, RB DeAndre Torrey, T Jarrid Williams
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Released: OLB Genard Avery
- Waived: WR Christian Blake, RB Mataeo Durant, QB Chris Oladokun, K Nick Sciba
San Francisco 49ers
- Placed on reserve/PUP list: DT Kalia Davis, CB Jason Verrett (story)
- Released: TE Tanner Hudson
- Waived: LB Jeremiah Gemmel
- Waived/injured: OL Sam Schlueter
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: TE Cade Brewer
- Waived: G Shamarious Gilmore
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived/injured: TE Bug Howard
Tennessee Titans
- Placed on reserve/PUP list: K Caleb Shudak
Washington Commanders
- Released: T Rashod Hill
- Placed on IR: LB Nathan Gerry
- Waived: WR Kelvin Harmon
- Released from IR via injury settlement: TE Sammis Reyes
Saints Release TE Chris Herndon, Place WR Kevin White On IR
Chris Herndon‘s latest bounce-back bid left him on the outside looking in as the Saints made their second round of cuts. They released the fifth-year tight end Tuesday, Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com tweets.
The Saints’ move down to 80 players also included the placement of wide receiver Kevin White on IR. White, who played six games for a receiver-depleted New Orleans squad last season, signed a reserve/futures deal to stay with the team in January.
New Orleans added Herndon just after the start of training camp, but the former Jets starter has not shown too much since his rookie-year breakout. A 2019 suspension and an injury soon after stalled Herndon’s momentum after his 502-yard rookie year in New York. He has not topped 300 yards in a season since and only caught four passes while with the Vikings last year.
Injuries have defined White’s NFL career. While the former No. 7 overall pick has done well to hang around this long, he has been an afterthought since multiple major injuries wrecked his Bears run. White, 30, missed all of his 2015 rookie season and only played five Bears games from 2017-18. He has since caught on with the 49ers and Saints, suiting up as a backup.
RB Gus Edwards Lands On Ravens’ Reserve/PUP List
The Ravens have waited a while to redeploy their optimal one-two running back punch. The team will wait until at least October for its J.K. Dobbins–Gus Edwards attack to return.
While both players missed all of last season due to ACL tears, Edwards landed on Baltimore’s reserve/PUP list Tuesday. He will be shut down for the Ravens’ first four games.
John Harbaugh recently expressed doubt about Edwards’ Week 1 status, but the 15th-year Ravens HC does expect the veteran back to be full speed later in 2022. Edwards went down during a 2021 preseason practice, suffering his ACL tear within minutes of Marcus Peters‘ season-nullifying knee injury. Peters is on track to make his return in Week 1, illustrating the differences in timelines these injuries can cause.
Edwards, 27, signed a Ravens extension months before suffering the injury. His three-year, $12.38MM deal included $8MM fully guaranteed. The contract runs through the 2023 season. The longtime Baltimore off-the-bench back ripped off three straight 700-plus-yard seasons to start his career, averaging north of five yards per carry in each.
Dobbins returned to practice two weeks ago, but the Ravens are carefully ramping up their starter for work. Dobbins, who went down barely a week before Edwards last year, also suffered meniscus damage. The Ravens’ batch of 2021 replacement options is no longer on the team, with veteran Mike Davis and sixth-round rookie Tyler Badie now representing Dobbins-Edwards insurance.
Raiders To Release RB Kenyan Drake
AUGUST 23: As Drake expected, no trade materialized. The Raiders have followed through on their pledge to release the six-year veteran running back, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
AUGUST 22: Given a two-year deal in 2021, Kenyan Drake is not expected to be part of the 2022 Raiders. Las Vegas plans to release the veteran running back, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The team is still holding out hope for a trade and will hold off on an official release for a bit, per Josina Anderson of CBS Sports (on Twitter). But Drake’s contract makes a deal difficult.
The former Dolphins and Cardinals back signed an $11MM deal during Jon Gruden‘s final offseason in charge. Teams must cut their rosters from 85 to 80 players by Tuesday afternoon. Drake does not expect a trade to happen.
“I’m just waiting on the next 24 hours,” Drake said, via Anderson (all Twitter links). “I don’t think anyone would trade for me just because of the contract situation, either way Raiders have to pay me.
“Honestly, I felt like the writing has been on the wall recently — like within the last two to three weeks. I never felt like I had a fair shot to really compete for the job coming off the injury. I feel like, as time progressed through camp, there really wasn’t a role for me to have anymore because they had guys that they brought in, they traded for and I was kind of odd man out, especially coming off my injury.”
Because the Raiders fully guaranteed Drake $8.5MM, a release will come with some dead money. The Raiders also restructured Drake’s deal in March, creating some cap space but pushing more money into the future. The Raiders will eat $8MM in dead money from this cut, though only $3.6MM of it will go on this year’s cap. The move will provide less than $500K in cap savings. A trade would lessen the blow, moving Drake’s $2.5MM base salary off the books.
Drake, 28, did not finish out his first season as a Raider; a broken leg sidelined him in December. Drake had recovered, however, and suited up for Las Vegas’ preseason games thus far. The Raiders’ new Josh McDaniels–Dave Ziegler regime added Brandon Bolden and Ameer Abdullah and drafted two backs — fourth-rounder Zamir White and seventh-rounder Brittain Brown — this offseason. The roster crunch behind Josh Jacobs left Drake without a place, with Vic Tafur of The Athletic noting (via Twitter) Abdullah — a former second-round pick but a player whose primary role in recent years has been as a kick returner — had beaten him out.
The Cardinals transition-tagged Drake in 2020, giving the former Dolphins third-rounder a nice payday to stick around following an in-season 2019 trade. Drake worked as Arizona’s primary back in 2020, and Gruden — who was interested in the Alabama product in 2020 as well, prior to the Cards tagging him — viewed him as a player who would help on passing downs. After totaling 1,092 scrimmage yards in 2020, Drake amassed just 545 (with three touchdowns) last season.