Packers To Waive WR Equanimeous St. Brown
The Packers made some notable additions at wide receiver this offseason, and a second notable holdover did not make the cut. Green Bay will waive Equanimeous St. Brown, per Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter).
A 2018 sixth-round pick, St. Brown has battled injuries as a pro but served as one of Aaron Rodgers‘ auxiliary options at points during the 2018 and ’20 seasons. This move follows the Pack’s decision to reach an injury settlement with Devin Funchess, removing him from the team’s 2021 equation.
Green Bay used a third-round pick on Amari Rodgers and then, at Rodgers’ request, reacquired Randall Cobb via trade. These two will work with Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Allen Lazard on a suddenly deep Packers receiving corps.
St. Brown missed all of the 2019 season due to injury but returned to play in 12 games last year. For his career, production has been largely elusive. The Notre Dame product and elder of the NFL’s two St. Browns has just 28 receptions for 445 yards and a touchdown as a pro.
Jets To Release QB Josh Johnson
Josh Johnson‘s second Jets stint has come to an end. The journeyman quarterback received word he did not make the team’s 53-man roster and will be released, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets.
The Jets added Johnson during the first week of training camp but are going forward without a veteran backup. Mike White is in line to be Zach Wilson‘s primary backup, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter).
Neither White nor 2020 fourth-round pick James Morgan have attempted a regular-season pass, inserting some risk into the Jets’ quarterback situation. Gang Green drafted Wilson second overall, and the rookie’s grip on the QB1 gig was never in question. But the Jets will have no game experience behind the highly touted BYU product.
White has been with the Jets since 2019, heading to the Big Apple after a Cowboys cut. The Cowboys drafted White in the 2018 fifth round out of Western Kentucky. The 26-year-old passer will now be a Wilson injury away from action.
Johnson, 35, has famously been with nearly half the league’s teams. The 2008 fifth-round draft choice last played with Washington in 2018, and those three starts came five years after his previous game action. He will be back in free agency soon.
David Bakhtiari To Begin Season On PUP List
The Packers will begin their season without David Bakhtiari. The All-Pro left tackle will be transferred to the reserve/PUP list, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Moving Bakhtiari from the active/PUP list to the reserve/PUP list will shelve the decorated blocker for at least the season’s first six games. Bakhtiari suffered a torn ACL during a practice on New Year’s Eve and has been working his way back.
Bakhtiari, who will turn 30 during his stay on the PUP list, has been Green Bay’s starting left tackle since his 2013 rookie season. He has become one of the NFL’s best tackles, earning first-team All-Pro acclaim in two of the past three years. His absence was noticeable in the NFC championship game, with Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaquil Barrett getting the better of Green Bay’s tackles.
Standout interior lineman Elgton Jenkins lined up inside in that game but has slid to left tackle in Bakhtiari’s absence, giving Green Bay an interesting option. Jenkins has played both guard and center in his first two seasons, becoming an instant starter and impact player for the Packers, and will now be on track to work on the O-line’s highest-profile position to start the season. The Pack also roster Billy Turner and former Titans tackle Dennis Kelly, providing options while Bakhtiari finishes out his recovery.
Eagles Trade Matt Pryor To Colts
The Eagles have traded guard/tackle Matt Pryor to the Colts. In exchange, the Colts will send a sixth-round round pick from the Birds while sending their own seventh-round choice back to Philly.
[RELATED: Jaguars Trade QB Gardner Minshew To Eagles]
It’s a small upgrade for the Eagles, who were set to release Pryor before today’s 4pm ET/3pm CT deadline. The Eagles still have a ways to go with upwards of 20 players to drop in order to get to 53.
Pryor, 26, saw the most action of his career last year with 15 games and ten starts. With Pryor out of the picture, the Eagles are set (for now) to move forward with former Colts swing man Le’Raven Clark and Jack Driscoll for tackle support.
Patriots To Move Stephon Gilmore To Reserve/PUP List
Stephon Gilmore will not begin his season until at least October. The Patriots are moving the All-Pro cornerback to the reserve/PUP list, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter).
Although Gilmore has been embroiled in a contract impasse with the Pats, he also is on the mend from a quadriceps injury. This roster move will sideline the former Defensive Player of the Year for the first six weeks of the season. Gilmore cannot return to practice until these six weeks are up, either.
A partially torn quad ended Gilmore’s 2020 season after 11 games. With this injury occurring in December of last year, it stands as concerning it will affect Gilmore’s 2021 campaign. The Patriots made numerous offseason additions to bolster their offense and defense, but Gilmore certainly serves as a key component to the team returning the playoffs. The team does have young standouts J.C. Jackson and Jonathan Jones and moved free agent signing Jalen Mills back to corner. New England also acquired rookie Shaun Wade from Baltimore. But Gilmore’s absence will make their jobs more difficult.
This has been a multi-issue offseason for the standout defender. The Patriots still have Gilmore attached to his 2017 deal — a five-year, $65MM contract that has become team-friendly — and the 10th-year veteran has pushed back against playing the 2021 season on it. The sides spent months at odds on this issue, though it was not believed to be a contentious matter. Gilmore, 31 in September, reported to the team for training camp. But has yet to practice and will not end up doing so for several more weeks.
Cowboys Cut Garrett Gilbert, Ben DiNucci
Same as it ever was. Dak Prescott will begin his sixth season as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback, and Cooper Rush is set to be his backup. The Cowboys, however, will part ways with two other quarterbacks — Garrett Gilbert and Ben DiNucci — on roster cutdown day.
Gilbert and DiNucci played roles during Dallas’ dreadful 2020 season, which featured Prescott go down in October and Rush begin the season with Jason Garrett in New York. A year later, the Cowboys have restored their late-2010s status quo.
“I just think that he’s shown that he can run the complete offense,” Jerry Jones said of Rush. “Credit to him, he had some tough competition. Those guys didn’t cut him any slack. He’s had a lot of reps – a lot of our quarterbacks have, because of the absence of Dak.”
Rush spent three seasons with the Cowboys, from 2017-19, and will be the only non-Prescott passer on this year’s squad. The Cowboys signed Gilbert off the Browns’ practice squad shortly after Prescott went down. DiNucci arrived in Dallas as a 2020 seventh-round pick. Both quarterbacks ended up making one start apiece last season, one that featured plenty of Andy Dalton, who departed for Chicago in March.
Lions To Cut WR Geronimo Allison
Geronimo Allison‘s bid to return to action after a 2020 opt-out decision is on hold. The Lions informed the veteran wide receiver he did not make their 53-man roster Tuesday, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.
The former Packers wideout will follow fellow veteran Breshad Perriman out the door in Detroit, which is going with Tyrell Williams and a host of young receivers. The Lions also acquired third-year wideout Trinity Benson from the Broncos on Tuesday morning.
An ex-UDFA, Allison served as a four-year Green Bay contributor. In 2019, he played in 16 games and made six starts. In four Green Bay slates, Allison totaled 89 catches for 1,045 yards and six touchdowns. The Lions signed him in March 2020 but will cut ties nearly 18 months later without the 27-year-old veteran having played in a regular-season game.
Detroit has revamped its receiving corps considerably this offseason, to go along with its Matthew Stafford-for-Jared Goff swap. Goff’s weaponry will enter the season as one of the league’s lowest-profile receiving groups.
Bills Cut Jacob Hollister
The Bills have released tight end Jacob Hollister (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). For now, that leaves Dawson Knox, Tommy Sweeney, Quintin Morris, and Nate Becker as the Bills’ remaining TEs.
After two years of limited usage in New England, Hollister enjoyed a breakout 2019 season with the Seahawks, hauling in 41 receptions for 349 yards and three touchdowns. Then, he went from 59 targets to just 40 looks in 2020. He finished out with 25/209/3.
Then, when the Seahawks’ new one-year Gerald Everett deal pushed him out, he agreed to a one-year deal with the Bills. Hollister reunited with his old Wyoming teammate Josh Allen, but it didn’t last long.
Hollister posted four catches for 53 yards in three preseason games for the Bills this year. He’ll likely land with another club before the end of the week.
Patriots To Release Cam Newton, Name Mac Jones Starting QB
Bill Belichick has made his quarterback decision, and it will lead to one of the competitors being released. Mac Jones is set to start in Week 1 for the Patriots, according to the Boston Globe’s Jim McBride. The Pats, in turn, are releasing Cam Newton.
This move will cost the team $3.5MM in dead money, though offset language will allow New England to collect up to $1.5MM if Newton signs elsewhere. The Patriots did not try to trade Newton before cutting him, according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio (on Twitter).
The Patriots continued to declare Newton their starter throughout the offseason and into the preseason. Newton took first-team reps for the bulk of training camp, but a five-day period away from the team — due to a COVID-19 issue that did not involve a positive test — allowed Jones extra work. The first-round pick capitalized and has fared well in his first NFL offseason.
This decision will allow Newton to catch on elsewhere, rather than sticking as a backup. While it is unclear if the former MVP will re-emerge as a full-time NFL starter, given his struggles as a passer in recent years, the Pats will not retain him to play behind Jones. They will make this move despite re-signing Newton and guaranteeing him moderate cash this offseason. Veteran backup Brian Hoyer still resides on New England’s roster and will be in line to mentor the Alabama-developed rookie.
Newton, 32, will end up being the stopgap between Tom Brady and Jones. The longtime Panther QB1 did not initially sign with the Patriots until late June of 2020, and he ended last season with just eight touchdown passes in 15 starts. The former No. 1 overall pick tested positive for COVID-19 last year and missed a start but logged his most games since the 2017 season. After injuries cut his 2018 and ’19 seasons short, Newton showed he could stay healthy. He will now look for a third NFL employer.
Jones overtaking Newton will set up an intriguing Week 1 matchup in which Jones will face the Dolphins and previous Alabama starter (Tua Tagovailoa). The less mobile Jones took over after Tagovailoa’s severe hip injury late in the 2019 season and dominated for the national championship-winning 2020 Crimson Tide squad. Jones completed 77% of his passes and finished with a 41-to-4 touchdown pass-to-interception ratio.
Linked to the 49ers for weeks at No. 3 overall, Jones fell to 15th. The Patriots did not need to trade up to land their new starter, separating them from many teams who took first-round QBs in recent years. And Jones did enough to join Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson as Week 1 starters from the 2021 QB class.
Saints To Release RB Devonta Freeman
Devonta Freeman‘s time with the Saints will end after exactly a month. After a late-summer signing, New Orleans will release the veteran back, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
After an injury cut Freeman’s Giants season short last year, he returned to the NFC South on a July 31 deal with the Saints. The Saints’ Alvin Kamara– and Latavius Murray-topped depth chart does not feature much work for other backs, and Freeman will head back to free agency.
The former Pro Bowler was a hotter commodity in 2020, having made several visits before his in-season Giants signing. But Freeman was believed to have set too high an asking price, leading to his lengthy 2020 stay in free agency. He ended up with the Giants and averaged just 3.2 yards per carry on 54 totes in the wake of Saquon Barkley‘s Week 2 injury.
The Giants waived Freeman in January, clearing a path for him to join the Bills during their playoff run. Freeman caught on with Buffalo’s practice squad. The former Super Bowl LI starter did not see any postseason action with the Bills.
While last year’s injury spared Freeman an extensive workload, marking the second time in three years he finished a season with fewer than 60 carries, it also docked his stock. Once the NFL’s highest-paid running back — via his 2017 extension with Atlanta — the 29-year-old veteran is running out of chances.