Winston Guy

AFC North Notes: Thomas, Eifert, Ravens, Pouncey

The Browns lost more of their core talents this offseason as a new front office attempts another reboot. Joe Thomas didn’t necessarily agree with the decisions to let some of those players go and mentioned previous front office’s apathy toward keeping past free agents as a reason for where the team resides today.

That’s one of the frustrations that I’ve had over the years, and that’s the problem when you constantly are hitting the reset button is guys that are really good players like that end up falling through the cracks or going to other teams because any time a new staff comes in basically they wipe out the middle class,” Thomas said, via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. “They keep a couple of your superstars and then they want everyone else being a rookie so that they can try to develop them.

When you keep doing that over and over again, you really lose all your middle class on your team. So guys like Buster Skrine, Jabaal Sheard, D’Qwell Jackson, Jordan Cameron, Travis Benjamin … disappeared, even though those were the guys that you drafted them, spent the time developing them and right when they’re hitting stride in the peaks of their career, they end up going somewhere else and having great success.”

Thomas, who continues to be the subject of trade rumors, and Joe Haden remain two of the only long-tenured Browns. The franchise also let Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz walk this spring. Cleveland possesses an NFL-most $49.3MM in cap space.

Here’s the latest from the Browns’ AFC North rivals.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/20/16

Tuesday’s minor moves from around the NFL:

  • The Chargers waived wide receiver Isaiah Burse, as Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego tweets.
  • The Buccaneers waived linebacker Josh Keyes, per Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Keyes played extensively on special teams in the first two games of the season.
  • The Colts released safety Winston Guy, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
  • The Broncos waived defensive lineman Kyle Peko, as Mike Klis of 9News tweets.
  • The Giants terminated the contract of offensive tackle Byron Stingily, reports Ralph Vacchiano of SNY (Twitter link). The lineman was on IR with a concussion.
  • The Bears waived fullback Paul Lasike, as Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune tweets. Lasike saw 14 snaps in Week 1 and just five snaps on Monday night.

Colts Sign 10 To Futures Contracts

Following their season-ending loss in New England last night, the Colts have shifted their focus towards next season. Mike Chappell of RTV6 tweets that the team has signed ten players to reserves/futures contract:

All ten players spent at least some time on Indy’s practice squad in 2014, while Quarles made a pair of appearances with the big-league club. Meanwhile, Guy compiled ten tackles and a sack in four games with the Jaguars earlier this season.

The other notable name here is Demps, an Olympic sprinter. The 25-year-old previously spent time with the Patriots and Buccaneers before joining the Colts’ practice squad.

Workout Notes: Webster, Colts, Patriots

The Broncos had former Purdue punter Cody Webster this week, reports Jeff Legwold of ESPN (via Twitter). The team also worked out Chase Tenpenny last month. Legwold credits the reports to Field Yates of ESPN.

Brian McIntyre of NFL.com notes that this is the second time they have worked out a left-footed punter this season, both times doing so before playing one (via Twitter). Tenpenny was brought in before playing Dustin Colquitt and the Chiefs, and the team will face lefty Dave Zastudil of the Cardinals this weekend.

Here are some other workout notes from around the NFL:

  • The Colts worked out a number of players this week, notably two safeties in Winston Guy and Ray Ventrone, reports Yates (via Twitter). The team also brought in linebacker Victor Butler.
  • The Patriots also had a number of players in for their late week workout. Outside linebackers Lawrence Sidbury and Jamaal Westerman, defensive end Gerald Rivers, and quarterback Brad Sorensen came in to workout for the team, according to Yates (via Twitter).
  • The Bills already made a change at quarterback, and they brought in some tall receivers to see if they could find a diamond in the rough. L’Damian Washington and Ryan Spadola worked out for the team, reports Mike Rodak (via Twitter). He also credited the report to Yates.

Practice Squad Notes: Colts, Eagles, Bills

We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here..

  • The Colts signed safety Winston Guy to their practice squad and released linebacker Rob Ruggiero to make room, according to Mike Chappell of RTV6 (on Twitter).
  • The Eagles waived Jake Knott with an injury settlement, according to Zach Berman of The Philadelphia Inquirer (on Twitter). Knott was signed to the Eagles’ practice squad after his four-game suspenion was completed, but he injured his knee.
  • The Bills have signed wide receiver Naaman Roosevelt to the practice squad, according to Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Fellow wide receiver Caleb Holley, who sat out Thursday’s practice, was placed on the practice squad injured list. Roosevelt, 27 in December, was in camp with the Lions earlier this year.

Jags Cut Winston Guy, Promote Craig Loston

The Jaguars have parted ways with the player that entered the season as one of their starting safeties, announcing today in a press release that Winston Guy has been placed on waivers. The team has signed safety Craig Loston off its practice squad to fill Guy’s spot on the 53-man roster.

Guy, 24, appeared in 14 games for the Jaguars last season and started two. The former Seattle sixth-round pick broke camp as a starter in Jacksonville’s secondary, but was lit up during the first three games of the season and was benched in advance of Week 4. According to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required), only one of 77 qualified safeties has been worse so far this season than Guy, who has allowed a QB rating of 149.1 on passes thrown into his coverage.

While Loston will provide depth in the secondary with Guy no longer in the mix, he’s unlikely to play a major role. Josh Evans and Jonathan Cyprien appear poised to move forward as the team’s two starting safeties.

With Loston no longer on the practice squad, it clears room for the team to add wideout Tommy Streeter, whose signing to the taxi squad had previously been reported.