2016 August - Pro Football Rumors

Chiefs’ Tamba Hali Comes Off PUP List

August 22nd, 2016 at 12:32pm CST by Zachary Links

Chiefs outside linebacker Tamba Hali is coming off of the PUP list, the team announced. He’ll begin practicing on a limited basis starting tomorrow.

Hali, 32, re-signed with KC this offseason before the official start of free agency. He has seen his sack totals decline a little over the last two seasons after he piled up a total of 46.5 from 2010 to 2013, but he has continued to be an effective edge defender for the Chiefs. Despite picking up just 12.5 total sacks in 2014 and 2015, Pro Football Focus ranked the veteran 11th out of 110 qualified players at the position in 2015, assigning him solid grades as both a pass rusher and a run defender.

Hali’s new deal pays him $21MM over the next three yeras with $11.5MM fully guaranteed.

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Patriots Release TE Bear Pascoe

August 22nd, 2016 at 12:24pm CST by Zachary Links

The Patriots have released tight end Bear Pascoe, a source tells Mark Daniels of The Providence Journal (on Twitter). New England signed the blocking tight end late last month.

Pascoe, 30, spent five seasons with the Giants before joining the Falcons in 2014. Last year, Pascoe was out of the NFL until he hooked on with the Lions in December on 2015. A sixth-round pick of the 49ers in 2009, Pascoe has totaled 40 receptions and two touchdowns in the NFL.

The Patriots already seem to have a full group at tight end with Rob Gronkowski, Martellus Bennett, A.J. Derby, and Clay Harbor. In recent weeks, Derby seems to have leapfrogged Harbor and he may join Pascoe in free agency soon.

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Colts Working Out Antonio Cromartie

August 22nd, 2016 at 12:16pm CST by Zachary Links

The Colts are working out Antonio Cromartie and other free agent defensive backs, a source tells Stephen Holder of the Indy Star (on Twitter). The Colts are apparently looking at outside options in the wake of Vontae Davis‘ rolled ankle.

Recently, Cromartie expressed confidence that he would soon land an NFL deal.

“I think right now, everyone just wants to see the younger guys, the guys they drafted,” Cromartie said. “But you also have to look at it this way — I’m 32 years old, going into my 11th year. My 2015 campaign wasn’t a great campaign and I think if you look at the first 10 games of the 2015 season it wasn’t great at all for me. My last six games were more like me…I think something is going to happen for me soon so I’m looking forward to it.”

Cromartie, a 10-year veteran and four-time Pro Bowler, has been on the open market since the Jets released him in February. That was the end of Cromartie’s second stint with New York, which lasted only one season. Pro Football Focus ranked him just 86th out of 111 qualified cornerbacks in 2015.

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Giants To Audition Kickers

August 22nd, 2016 at 12:02pm CST by Dallas Robinson

MONDAY, 12:02pm: The Giants are also scheduled to work out punter/kicker Randy Bullock, a source tells Josina Anderson of ESPN.com tweets. Bullock is not a vested veteran, so he could be a viable one-game fill-in for Brown, Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com tweets.

Veteran Josh Scobee was also invited to the Giants‘ kicker workout, but had to turn down an invitation because of another commitment at the same time, a source tells Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

SUNDAY, 8:18pm: Giants head coach Ben McAdoo said “never say never” when asked earlier today about the possibility of his club signing another kicker, and New York will in fact work out several kickers tomorrow, including Garrett Hartley, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).

Incumbent kicker Josh Brown is suspended for the season opener following a 2015 domestic violence arrest, and it’s unclear if the Giants are considering moving on from him, especially given that more serious details have emerged about Brown’s history of violence against his ex-wife. Fellow kicker Tom Obarski, meanwhile was given a “golden opportunity” — McAdoo’s words — to scratch out a role with New York, but he missed a 28-yard field goal attempt in the club’s most recent preseason game.

Hartley, 30, spent five season with the Saints and last kicked for the Browns during a short stint in 2014. He was out of the league in 2015, but he was a part of workouts with the Lions, Jets, and Patriots after spending the preseason with the Steelers, and owns a 81.7% career accuracy rate. La Canfora’s report didn’t list the other kickers who will be involved in Monday’s tryout, but Josh Scobee and Randy Bullock are among the other free agent specialists available.

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Colts Remove Henry Anderson From PUP

August 22nd, 2016 at 11:50am CST by Zachary Links

MONDAY, 11:50am: The Colts have officially removed Anderson from PUP.

THURSDAY, 1:55pm: Henry Anderson is close to being healthy once again and not a moment too soon for the Colts. The defensive end is almost ready to come of the PUP list, as Kevin Bowen of Colts.com writes.

“He’s doing really good, so I think we are close. We just have to make a decision what we want to do,” Colts coach Chuck Pagano said. “Basically the doctors have said, ‘When you guys feel good about it, we can get him off PUP.’”

Anderson, 24, was selected by the Colts in the third round of the 2015 draft (No. 93 overall). Immediately slotted into the club’s starting lineup, Anderson was one of the pleasant surprises of last year’s rookie class, totaling 31 tackles, a sack, and a pair of passes defended in his first nine games in the NFL. Unfortunately, an ACL tear in November ended his season prematurely. The good news is that if Anderson comes off of the PUP list in the next few days, he may be ready to go for Week 1.

The Colts could certainly use the help on the defensive line as Kendall Langford may not be ready to go for the Sept. 11 season opener following arthroscopic knee surgery. The Colts will also be without also will be without Art Jones for the first four games of the season thanks to his suspension.

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Ravens S Matt Elam To Undergo Knee Surgery

August 22nd, 2016 at 11:45am CST by Zachary Links

Ravens safety Matt Elam will undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair a chip in his knee, as ESPN.com’s Jamison Hensley tweets. It’s not a season-ending injury but will sideline him “a number of weeks into early part of the season,” coach John Harbaugh told reporters.

The Ravens will have to decide whether to carry Elam on the 53-man roster, cut him, or place him on IR-designated to return. With Eric Weddle, Lardarius Webb, Kendrick Lewis, and Terrence Brooks at safety, Baltimore should be able to get by just fine for however long he’s out. In fact, Elam’s spot on the 53-man roster wasn’t necessarily a lock anyway. With solid play in recent weeks, Brooks arguably leapfrogged Elam on merit.

The Ravens declined Elam’s fifth-year option for 2017 earlier this offseason. Elam, 25 in September, started 26 regular season contests at safety for the Ravens during his first two NFL seasons. Releasing Elam would save Baltimore $1.33MM.

In other Ravens news, tight end Dennis Pitta has a fractured finger and will be kept off the field for now to avoid additional damage. Pitta has been looking to make his way back from a second major hip fracture but he is now being held back by a new injury. The injury came as a result of a fight, Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun tweets.

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Breshad Perriman Off Of PUP List

August 22nd, 2016 at 10:36am CST by Zachary Links

More good news for the Ravens as coach John Harbaugh tells reporters that wide receiver Breshad Perriman has been removed from the PUP list (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). Perriman passed his physical on Monday morning, clearing the way for his return to football.

Perriman was the taken with the No. 26 overall pick in last year’s draft. Unfortunately, he missed the entire season after spraining the PCL in his right knee on the first day of training camp. This June, Perriman suffered another knee injury, but fortunately he did not tear his ACL as initially feared.

More than a year ago, the former UCF star turned heads at the scouting combine with his 4.26 second 40-yard dash. Evaluators last year believed that Perriman’s NFL future was bright and, hopefully, that is still the case despite his setbacks. In his rundown of the Ravens’ rookie class for 2016, scouting guru Dave-Te Thomas couldn’t help but highlight Perriman, who is technically still a rookie.

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Bears Work Out Cary Williams

August 22nd, 2016 at 10:22am CST by Zachary Links

The Bears recently worked out free agent cornerback Cary Williams, a source tells PFR’s Dallas Robinson (on Twitter).

Williams, 31, signed a three-year deal with the Seahawks prior to the 2015 season. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned and Seattle cut him loose after ten games. Pro Football Focus ranked the veteran 102nd out of 118 qualified cornerbacks at the time of his release last month. Williams was inactive for his final two games with the Seahawks before he was cut. In January, Williams hooked on with the Redskins and appeared in their lone playoff game.

Williams didn’t play his best football in Seattle, but he does offer plenty of experience with 75 starts on his resume. Now, he’s looking for his next NFL opportunity and the Bears could have interest.

As shown on Roster Resource, the Bears currently have reserves Bryce Callahan, Deiondre’ Hall, Sherrick McManis, Demontre Hurst, and others behind starters Kyle Fuller and Tracy Porter. Williams could provide veteran leadership in that group following Brandon Boykin‘s season-ending injury.

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Bills Activate Seantrel Henderson

August 22nd, 2016 at 9:40am CST by Zachary Links

The Bills announced that they have activated offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson from the active/non-football illness list. Henderson has not played or practiced since he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease last December.

Henderson started all 16 games in his rookie season in Buffalo, and had started 10 games for the team in 2015 before he was sidelined with Crohn’s. In May, head coach Rex Ryan and some of Henderson’s teammates indicated that they had not heard from him in some time. There were also rumblings that perhaps Henderson’s heart wasn’t really in playing football. Anonymous teammates told Tyler Dunne of The Buffalo News that his work ethic was suspect when he was on the field and, off the field, he had used marijuana too frequently. The Bills were able to draft Henderson in the seventh round of the 2014 draft in part because of his multiple failed drug tests at the University of Miami. He also reportedly tested positive for marijuana at the scouting combine.

With Henderson away from the team, the Bills have been using Jordan Mills as their first-team right tackle in practice with the hope that 2014 second-rounder Cyrus Kouandjio can put it all together and win the starting job. Now, it will be interesting to see how Henderson factors into the Bills’ offensive line picture.

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Ravens’ Elvis Dumervil Off PUP List

August 22nd, 2016 at 9:20am CST by Zachary Links

Ravens linebacker Elvis Dumervil is off of the PUP list and back practicing, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Dumervil has passed his physical after undergoing offseason foot surgery.

Had Dumervil remained on the PUP list for Week 1, he would have been required to sit out for at least six weeks. Dumervil was expected back as his summer surgery was deemed a “preventative procedure” by coach John Harbaugh, but he has only just been cleared to practice. The Ravens are breathing a sigh of relief as they have been able to pull both Dumervil and fellow veteran linebacker Terrell Suggs off of PUP.

In 2016, the Louisville product appeared in and started all 16 regular season games, recording 48 tackles and 6 sacks, earning his fifth Pro Bowl appearance. In 2014, Dumervil exploded for 17 sacks, matching a career high and earning his second career First-Team All-Pro selection.

With Dumervil back in action, running back Lorenzo Taliaferro (foot) and wide receiver Breshad Perriman (knee) stand as the last two Ravens players on the PUP list.

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