2015 September - Pro Football Rumors

Raiders To Release Christian Ponder

September 4th, 2015 at 8:39pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Raiders will release quarterback Christian Ponder, according to ESPN’s Adam Caplan (Twitter link). As a result, Oakland will absorb $1.5MM in dead money this year, per Caplan (via Twitter). Ponder’s departure means Matt McGloin will serve as Derek Carr‘s primary backup.

Ponder, a first-round pick from Florida State in 2011, spent the first four years of his career as a Viking. He appeared in 38 regular-season games and made 36 starts, struggling throughout his tenure in Minnesota to live up to his draft status. The 27-year-old threw 38 touchdowns against 36 interceptions and had a sub-60 percent completion rate with the Vikings. His best season was 2012, when he threw 18 TDs and 12 picks for a playoff-bound team.

The Raiders signed Ponder to a one-year, $2.25MM deal during the offseason in the hopes that he’d replace Matt Schaub as a quality backup for Carr. However, he was outdone in the preseason by McGloin and will now look for work elsewhere.

Buccaneers’ Kenny Bell Out For Season

September 4th, 2015 at 8:08pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Buccaneers rookie wide receiver Kenny Bell will miss the 2015 season because of a hamstring injury, according to Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune (Twitter link).

Bell, a fifth-round pick from Nebraska, suffered the injury last month. At the time, Cummings wrote that Bell was impressive for the Bucs in training camp, though he was held without a catch during the preseason. Head coach Lovie Smith was unsure then if Bell had done enough to earn a roster spot.

“Have we seen enough? No, it’s not like he’s done enough right now where we can say we definitely know which direction to go,” Smith said.

Bell had a prolific college career, catching 181 passes and 21 touchdowns in four years with the Cornhuskers.

Chargers Release Austin Pettis

September 4th, 2015 at 7:33pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Chargers have released receiver Austin Pettis, reports Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link).

Pettis, whom the Chargers signed to a futures-reserve contract in January, spent the first four seasons of his career with the Rams after they took him in the third round of the 2011 draft. He posted 107 catches and nine touchdowns in St. Louis, amassing career highs in receptions (38), yards (399) and scores (four) in 2013. He caught 12 passes in five games last year before the Rams released him in October.

Raiders Trade Sio Moore To Colts

September 4th, 2015 at 7:15pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Raiders have traded linebacker Sio Moore to the Colts, tweets Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com. In return, the Raiders will get a sixth-round pick in 2016, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).

Oakland was recently shopping Moore, who fell out of favor with head coach Jack Del Rio and his staff, per Bair. Prior to the sour turn in the relationship between him and the coaches, Moore was expected to be the Raiders’ starting weakside linebacker this season.

Moore has 26 appearances (22 starts), 140 tackles and 7.5 career sacks to his name since the Raiders used a third-round pick on him in 2013. Moore’s 2014 campaign came to an end after only 11 games because of a hip injury, though he’s healthy now and looking to build on a 90-tackle, three-sack effort. Despite his solid numbers, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) was unimpressed with Moore last year, ranking him toward the bottom (19th out of 21) among 4-3 OLBs who played at least 50 percent of snaps. He received a rather positive assessment from the site as a rookie, though, particularly against the run. Opposing ground games have been a bugbear lately for the Colts, who had the 18th-ranked run defense in 2014. They were famously gashed by the rival Patriots runners twice last season – including in a 45-7 AFC title game shellacking.

Moore will switch schemes with the Colts, who run a 3-4, so the role he’ll fill in Indianapolis is currently unclear.

Bears Release Dante Rosario, Bear Pascoe

September 4th, 2015 at 5:41pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Bears are moving on from tight end Dante Rosario after two seasons, according to the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Briggs, who reports they’ll terminate his contract (via Twitter). They’re also parting with fellow tight end Bear Pascoe, Briggs writes.

Rosario, 30, was the second tight end on Chicago’s depth chart last season, behind Martellus Bennett. The former fifth-round pick caught 16 balls for 116 yards, but primarily served as a blocker during his 323 offensive snaps. Although his Pro Football Focus grades weren’t spectacular in 2014, Rosario has traditionally been a very solid run blocker.

The eight-year veteran has appeared in 120 games for four different teams, hauling in 116 passes and eight touchdowns.

Pascoe signed a one-year contract with the Bears this past offseason after spending 2014 in Atlanta, where he caught just two passes (one TD) in a blocking role for the Falcons. Prior to that, the 29-year-old was a Giant for five seasons. He was a sixth-round pick of the 49ers in 2009 and has totaled 40 receptions and two touchdowns in the NFL.

Bills Release 16 Players, Waive Meeks

September 4th, 2015 at 5:04pm CST by Zachary Links

5:04pm: In addition to their moves earlier today, the Bills have waived safety Jonathan Meeks, ESPN’s Mike Rodak tweets. The Bills attempted to trade Meeks, per Rodak, but were unable to find any takers. Rodak writes that Meeks is a candidate to end up on the Bills’ practice squad if he goes unclaimed on waivers. According to Fox Sports’ Alex Marvez, the Bills tried – and failed – to trade a receiver in order to keep Meeks on their 53-man roster (Twitter link).

1:07pm: The Bills announced that they have cut 16 players, including defensive end IK Enemkpali, as a part of their effort to get down to a 53-man roster. The full list of transactions is below:

Released:

OL William Campbell
FB John Conner
WR Andre Davis
DE IK Enemkpali
DT Andre Fluellen
LB Quentin Groves
RB Bronson Hill
OL Darryl Johnson
OL Alex Kupper
DE B.J. Larsen
WR Dezmin Lewis
CB Merrill Noel
WR Tobais Palmer
G Cyril Richardson
QB Matt Simms (as reported earlier today)
RB Cierre Wood

Reserve/NFI List:

CB Leodis McKelvin

Waived/Injured:

WR Deonte Thompson

Enemkpali is now (and perhaps, forever) best known as the player who punched Jets quarterback Geno Smith, causing him a broken jaw and many weeks on the sidelines. Immediately after the incident, the Jets waived the linebacker/defensive end and old pal Rex Ryan wasted little time in claiming him. Enemkpali only saw the field sparingly in his rookie season, playing 40 defensive snaps and contributing a little on special teams as well.

Groves, 31, appeared in all 16 regular season games for the Titans last season, including three starts. The linebacker, a former second round pick by the Jaguars, has bounced around a bit over the years and despite signing with Buffalo in August, he’ll be looking for a new NFL home once again in 2015.

Fluellen, 30, spent nearly all of his career with the Lions since being drafted by the team in the third round back in 2008. However, he has never played a significant role in Detroit, acting as a part-time contributor over the course of 77 career games (75 with Detroit). In 2014, Fluellen recorded 10 tackles, two sacks, and a fumble recovery in 183 defensive snaps. In June, he hooked on with Buffalo, but his stay in Western New York was brief.

Patriots Cut Ryan Lindley, Sign Justin Coleman

September 4th, 2015 at 4:57pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Patriots have cut quarterback Ryan Lindley, according to Howard Balzer of TheSportsXchange (Twitter link). Additionally, they’ve signed free agent cornerback Justin Coleman, reports Mike Kaye of First Coast News (via Twitter).

Lindley, whom the Patriots signed last month, was hoping to earn a backup role behind Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo. However, he became superfluous to the Pats when Brady’s four-game suspension regarding his role in DeflateGate was overturned Thursday.

The 26-year-old Lindley was a sixth-round pick of the Cardinals in 2012 and has nine regular-season appearances under his belt. He tossed two touchdowns against 11 interceptions in those nine contests and is best known for starting Arizona’s playoff loss to Carolina last January. He completed 16 of 28 passes for just 82 yards, a touchdown, and two picks in the Cardinals’ 27-16 defeat.

Coleman went undrafted out of Tennessee this year and subsequently signed with Minnesota, which released him Sunday.

Zeke Motta Suspended Two Games

September 4th, 2015 at 4:48pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The NFL has suspended free agent safety Zeke Motta for two games, reports Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It’s currently unclear why the league suspended the 25-year-old.

Motta – a seventh-round pick of the Falcons in 2013 – hasn’t seen action since his rookie season, when he posted 16 tackles in 10 games before suffering a fractured C1 veterbra. He missed all of last season and the Falcons waived him with a failed physical designation this past April.

AFC Notes: McCoy, Mathis, Browns

September 4th, 2015 at 4:38pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

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.

Dolphins Cut Josh Freeman

September 4th, 2015 at 3:45pm CST by Luke Adams

For the second time this summer, the Dolphins have cut Josh Freeman, according to Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). When Miami cut Freeman in July, the club re-signed him four days later, but it’s not clear if he’s still in the team’s plans at all after his latest release.

Freeman, 27, was Tampa Bay’s full-time starting quarterback from 2009 to 2012, but saw the wheels come off in 2013 and was cut by the team. In his first four seasons, the former 17th overall pick completed 58.8% of his passes and tossed 78 touchdowns to go with 63 interceptions, as well as throwing for more than 4,000 yards in 2012.

With Ryan Tannehill and Matt Moore ahead of him on the depth chart, however, Freeman was never considered a good bet to make the Dolphins’ regular season roster, barring an injury to one of the top guys, or an unexpectedly productive preseason by Freeman. The former Bucs starter completed 13 of 22 passes against his former team in Thursday night’s preseason finale, throwing no touchdowns and two interceptions.