2015 September - Pro Football Rumors

Lions Waive Three Players

September 1st, 2015 at 1:10pm CST by Zachary Links

The Lions have cut a trio of players to get down to a 75-man roster. First, Detroit dropped wide receiver Andrew Peacock and linebacker Justin Cherocci, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com. Then, to go from 76 to 75, the Lions waived tight end Jacob Maxwell, according to Twentyman (via Twitter).

With Peacock out of the picture, the Lions’ depth chart at wide receiver features Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate, Corey Fuller, Lance Moore, Jeremy Ross, T.J. Jones, and Greg Salas at receiver. The Lions will likely retain five of those players on the 53-man roster.

At linebacker, DeAndre Levy, Stephen Tulloch, Tahir Whitehead, Josh Bynes, Kyle Van Noy, Travis Lewis, Brandon Copeland, and Julian Stanford remain on the 75-man roster. The team kept six linebackers heading into the season last year, so it stands to reason that one or two of those players could get dropped in the coming days.

At tight end, the Lions have Tim Wright, Joseph Fauria, and Casey Pierce behind Eric Ebron and Brandon Pettigrew.

Three Steelers Players Restructure Contracts

September 1st, 2015 at 12:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The Steelers have restructured the contracts for three of their players, freeing up $6MM in cap space for 2015 with the moves, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Schefter reports that wide receiver Antonio Brown, tight end Heath Miller, and kicker Shaun Suisham all had their deals reworked.

The most interesting move of the three is the Steelers’ decision to rework Brown’s deal. Per Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (via Twitter), it’s not just a simple restructure for the star wideout, who had been seeking a new contract this offseason. Brown won’t get a significant raise or extension, but Pittsburgh has moved up $2MM from his 2016 base salary to 2015, making it part of a new signing bonus.

While specific details on the other restructures haven’t yet been reported, I would expect Miller and Suisham to have a portion of their 2015 base salaries converted to signing bonuses. Miller had been set to earn a $4MM salary this season, while Suisham would’ve earned a $2.595MM salary.

According to Schefter (via Twitter), the Steelers intend to use the majority of their newly-created cap room to offset the large number of injured players they have counting against their cap this year. One of those injured players is Suisham, and today’s moves were likely necessary, in part, to help accommodate the salary of kicker Josh Scobee, acquired by Pittsburgh yesterday from the Jaguars.

Jets Put Jace Amaro On IR, Trim Roster To 75

September 1st, 2015 at 12:31pm CST by Luke Adams

After cutting 12 players on Sunday, the Jets have made three more moves to ensure that they’re only carrying 75 players on their roster. Most notably, the Jets announced today in a press release that tight end Jace Amaro has been placed on injured reserve, ending his season.

Amaro, 23, was New York’s second-round pick in the 2014 draft, and grabbed 38 balls for 345 yards and two touchdowns in his rookie campaign. However, he injured his shoulder in the club’s preseason opener against the Lions, and Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets that it’s a torn labrum for the tight end, who will undergo surgery.

In addition to putting Amaro on their injured reserve list, the Jets also moved veteran defensive end Kevin Vickerson to IR, and have waived/injured cornerback Dashaun Phillips.

Panthers Cut White, Boykin; Benjamin To IR

September 1st, 2015 at 12:03pm CST by Luke Adams

12:03pm: The Panthers have confirmed in a press release that they’ve cut Boykin and Lester, and that they’ve waived White with an injury designation. The club also announced the five other moves it has made to get its roster down to 75 players. Here are those transactions:

Placed on injured reserve:

WR Kelvin Benjamin

Waived:

DT Kenny Horsley
WR De’Andre Presley
DT Micanor Regis (waived with injury settlement)
T Davonte Wallace (waived/injured)

9:58am: The Panthers have yet to announce their final set of roster moves that will get the team down to 75 players, but a pair of notable Tuesday cuts have already been reported. Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer passes along a tweet from Melvin White, indicating the cornerback has been waived, while Jonathan Jones of the Charlotte Observer reports (via Twitter) that wide receiver Jarrett Boykin has also been let go.

White, 25, has spent the last two years in Carolina after joining the team as an undrafted free agent out of Louisiana-Lafayette. He claimed a larger role than expected, starting 17 regular season games for the club and recording 89 tackles to go along with three interceptions over the past two seasons. With Charles Tillman penciled in as a starter this year, White had slipped down the depth chart at cornerback, and was the odd man out.

As for Boykin, his release is somewhat surprising, given the Panthers’ lack of wide receiving talent. Boykin, who totaled 49 of his 57 career receptions in 2013 with the Packers, may have become expendable when Carolina acquired wideout Kevin Norwood from the Seahawks in a trade on Monday. According to Jones, Boykin was cut early in the process to allow him to latch on with another team.

In addition to cutting White and Boykin, the Panthers also waived safety Robert Lester, tweets Person. Person’s role was reduced last season after he started four games for the club in his rookie campaign in 2013.

By my count, the Panthers’ latest moves leave them with 80 players on their roster, so the team will have to announce a few more transactions before 3:00pm central time today.

Texans Reduce Roster To 75 Players

September 1st, 2015 at 11:58am CST by Luke Adams

The Texans have made five more roster moves today, cutting their roster down to 75 players in advance of this afternoon’s deadline. One of the four transactions, the release of punter Will Johnson was reported yesterday after the club made its first series of cuts.

Here, via Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston (Twitter link), are the Texans’ other four moves:

Cut:

LB Jeff Tarpinian

Waived/injured:

TE Anthony Denham
S Terrance Parks

Placed on reserve/non-football illness list:

T David Quessenberry

Extra Points: Bucs, F. Jackson, Brady, Ridley

September 1st, 2015 at 11:32am CST by Luke Adams

The Buccaneers had a slew of problems on their offensive line last year, and even after addressing the position multiple times in the draft, the club isn’t totally satisfied with its line play. According to Jenna Laine of SportsTalkFlorida.com (via Twitter), the Bucs are looking for interior offensive line help, and are shopping for possible trades. The club could also look to claim a player off waivers or sign a free agent, as more cuts are made this week.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NFL, as teams reduce their rosters to 75 players:

Fred Jackson appears likely to land with the Seahawks, but the Ravens have also expressed interest in the veteran running back, says Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News (via Twitter). According to Carucci, there’s been no indication that the Patriots, Cowboys, or Browns have shown interest in Jackson.
When Judge Richard Berman announces his decision on Tom Brady‘s case this week, he’ll either uphold or vacate the four-game suspension for the Patriots quarterback. However, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk explains, Berman has a handful of different options available to him when he makes that ruling.
All signs are pointing to Jets running back Stevan Ridley, who is returning from an ACL injury, starting the regular season on the club’s reserve/PUP list, tweets Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.
David Newton of ESPN.com conducted a Q&A with Panthers GM Dave Gettleman, who addressed the play of new left tackle Michael Oher, the team’s acquisition of wideout Kevin Norwood, and the areas of the roster that may still need an upgrade.
Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell also discussed a Monday trade, indicating that the decision to move kicker Josh Scobee was the “toughest decision we’ve had to make.” John Oehser of Jaguars.com has the details.
Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap examines the cap ramifications of some of the more notable veteran cuts made over thee weekend and on Monday.

Rams Cut Damian Williams, Others

September 1st, 2015 at 11:21am CST by Zachary Links

TUESDAY, 11:21am: The Rams are now down to 75 players, having waived two more players today. Linebacker Keshaun Malone and defensive tackle Doug Worthington are the latest roster casualties in St. Louis, per a team release.

MONDAY, 7:06pm: The Rams announced that they have cut a number of players today to trim down their roster, including former third round pick Damian Williams. The full list is below:

Released:

Damian Williams, WR

Waived:

Steven Baker, OT
Travis Bond, OL
Imoan Claiborne, CB
Jay Hughes, S
Tyler Ott, LS
Michael Palardy, K/P
Tyler Slavin, WR
David Wang, C

Waived/Injured:

Brad Smelley, TE
Korey Toomer, LB

Rams coach Jeff Fisher said Claiborne is a “practice squad candidate,” according to Nick Wagoner of the Post-Dispatch (on Twitter). Still, the Rams have other UDFAs gunning for 53-man roster spots. The Rams now have 77 players on their roster in advance of the 75-man deadline.

Ravens, Bengals Cut Down To 75 Players

September 1st, 2015 at 11:02am CST by Luke Adams

Two AFC North rivals, the Ravens and the Bengals, have reduced their rosters to 75 players in advance of this afternoon’s deadline, the teams announced today.

The Ravens confirmed in a press release that they’ve officially placed Dennis Pitta on the reserve/PUP list, a move we heard weeks ago was coming. The club waived offensive lineman De’Ondre Wesley to get down to 75 players on the active roster, and also cut tackle Darryl Baldwin, who had been on the reserve/NFI list.

As for the Bengals, their roster had been at 78 players after they cut Denarius Moore and eight other players on Monday. Cincinnati’s final three roster moves, according to the team (via Twitter), were placing offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuehi on the reserve/NFI list, placing linebacker Sean Porter on the reserve/PUP list, and waiving wide receiver Onterio McCalebb with an injury designation.

Ogbuehi and Porter will now have to sit out at least the first six weeks of the regular season, while McCalebb will land on the Bengals’ IR list if and when he clears waivers.

Bucs Cut Michael Koenen, Get Down To 75

September 1st, 2015 at 10:22am CST by Luke Adams

10:22am: The Bucs have confirmed Koenen’s release and announced four more roster moves, to get down to the required 75 players. Here are Tampa Bay’s other Tuesday transactions, per a team release:

Waived/injured:

G Josh Allen
WR Robert Herron
CB Leonard Johnson

Placed on reserve/PUP list:

DT Akeem Spence

8:09am: The Buccaneers have made a change on their special teams unit, according to Rick Stroud and Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times, who report (via Twitter) that the club has released veteran punter Michael Koenen. As a vested veteran, Koenen will avoid waivers and will become a free agent immediately.

The Bucs brought in multiple punters this offseason to challenge Koenen, and while Spencer Lanning didn’t make the cut, it appears the team likes what it has seen from newcomer Jacob Schum. Unless another move is forthcoming, Schum looks likely to open to the regular season as Tampa Bay’s punter.

Koenen, 33, had been set to earn a $3.25MM base salary in 2014 after ranking as just the 23rd-best and 24th-best punter in the NFL over the last two seasons, according to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required). Because he had no prorated signing bonus money left on his deal, Koenen won’t leave any dead money on the Bucs’ books, so the team clears his entire $3.25MM cap charge for this year and for 2016.

Titans Trim Roster To 75 Players

September 1st, 2015 at 10:16am CST by Luke Adams

The Titans have made their final four transactions to get down to 75 players on their roster before this afternoon’s deadline, according to Jim Wyatt of Titans Online (via Twitter). In addition to confirming the previously-reported release of defensive tackle Toby Johnson, Wyatt says the club has waived safety Josh Aubrey and tight end Tevin Westbrook, and has placed wide receiver Andrew Turzilli and linebacker Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil on injured reserve.

It’s the second wave of cuts for Tennessee, after the team announced 10 roster moves on Sunday. The most notable transaction in that bunch was the release of veteran offensive lineman Fernando Velasco, who has started 37 games over the course of his NFL career, including 19 with the Titans.

The team will have to make 22 more cuts before Saturday, when 53-man rosters are due.