The Bills released nine players on their way to the 75-man limit. Here’s the full rundown.
Released:
Reserve/PUP:
Waived/Injured:
Reserve/NFI:
Reserve/Injured:
The Seahawks are down to the mandated 75-man limit. Here’s a full rundown of today’s moves.
Waived/Injured:
Waived:
None of today’s moves were major surprises, though Brooks was a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft.
Smith, Sokoli, and Lewis were on the Seahawks’ regular season roster in 2015.
Ladarius Green has been placed on the PUP list by the Steelers, according to a team announcement. He will be ineligible to practice with the team or join the active roster until after Week 6.
Green was intended to give the Steelers a major offensive weapon at tight end. Instead, it sounds like the Steelers will have to wait a while before they see their free agent splash take the field. Early on this offseason, Green was sidelined as his surgically-repaired ankle healed up. His absence dragged on into August and it was later reported that the tight end has been dealing with crippling headaches. That’s a big deal for Green who has a history with concussions.
Depending on who you ask, Green may or may not be considering retirement as a result. Both the Steelers and Green have denied reports of his headaches, but today’s news more or less confirms it.
The Titans have dropped a notable name on their way to the NFL-mandated 75-man limit. David Cobb was cut this afternoon, as Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets. Wide receiver Jarrod West has also been cut.
Cobb was considered to be on the bubble this offseason as he battled it out with fellow running backs Bishop Sankey, Antonio Andrews and David Fluellen for a spot behind DeMarco Murray, Derrick Henry, and Dexter McCluster.
Cobb, 22, was selected in the fifth round of the 2015 draft by the Titans, but saw his NFL regular-season debut postponed due to a calf injury. Tennessee placed him on injured reserve with the designation to return, and activated him in November. In seven games (one start), Cobb rushed for 146 yards off of 52 carries.
As a part of their effort to get down to 75, the Vikings have released center John Sullivan, per a club announcement.
Sullivan, 31, has long been on the league’s more underrated pivots, as though he’s never been named an All Pro or Pro Bowler, he’s been considered among the top centers in the NFL. Until last season, he had started at least 14 games in every season since 2009. Sullivan missed all of 2015 due to injury, and veteran Joe Berger performed like a top-five center in his stead. Given that Berger is much cheaper, the Vikings tried trading away Sullivan and his $5.4MM base salary. When they couldn’t find a taker, they released him instead.
The 49ers announced that they have placed wide receiver Bruce Ellington on season-ending injured reserve. Ellington sustained his severe hamstring injury on Friday night. The team also cut undrafted rookie linebacker Jason Fanaika. With those two moves, SF is at the 75-man maximum.
Days ago, the 49ers traded for wide receiver Jeremy Kerley, giving them additional experience at the position. That’s good news for San Francisco since it’s quite a young group behind veteran Torrey Smith.
Free agent quarterback T.J. Yates has fully recovered from the ACL injury he suffered last season, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Yates is now available to sign with a new club.
After beginning his career in Houston, Yates was traded to Atlanta by the Texans in June of 2014. The former fifth-round pick spent the year playing behind Matt Ryan for the Falcons, and was re-signed by Atlanta in March. However, the team cut him prior to the 2015 season, opting for Sean Renfree as Ryan’s backup.
Yates, 29, re-signed with the Texans in midseason, and started two games for the club, completing 49% of his passes, 370 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception before tearing his ACL in a December contest.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Seahawks apparently didn’t find any takers for center Patrick Lewis, because the club has waived him today, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link). Seattle had been trying to trade Lewis in recent days.
[RELATED: Seahawks Release Brandon Browner]
Lewis, 25, started nine games for the Seahawks last season. Seattle has been reshuffling its offensive line, and Justin Britt, who was formerly both a tackle and a guard, is now set to move to the middle, and early reports on the transition have been glowing. Lewis is entering the final year of his deal, and will earn $1.671MM for 2016.
Because Lewis was tendered as a restricted free agent, none of his base salary was guaranteed, meaning the Seahawks won’t incur any dead money with his release.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
After one of the busiest offseasons in the NFL, the Titans are looking to take one major step forward in their rebuilding process.
There was lots of activity in Tennessee over these last few months, but relatively little happening on the free agent market. One notable move they did make was the signing of center Ben Jones, which strengthened their interior line while hurting the rival Texans. Given the season-ending injury suffered by presumptive starter Nick Martin, the loss of Jones will sting extra hard in Houston. 
Jones, 26, was with the Texans since 2012, when he entered the league as a fourth-round pick out of Georgia. He became Houston’s full-time starter in 2014, and he’s started all 32 games since. Jones posted solid marks from Pro Football Focus, which ranked him as the No. 18 center in the league last season, noting that he was better in the pass game than as a run-blocker.
Early on in free agency, the Titans re-signed defensive tackle Al Woods to a three-year pact. Woods, who recently turned 29, picked up 22 tackles in 14 games (nine starts) for the Titans in 2015. With fellow nose tackle Sammie Lee Hill recovering from a knee injury to open the season, Woods saw most of the playing time at the position, earning 362 defensive snaps to Hill’s 190 for the season. While Pro Football Focus ranked Woods just 88th out of 123 interior defenders, PFF gave him a solid grade as a run defender, and he was primarily used on early downs. At the time of his new deal, it looked like Woods would be slotted in as the team’s starting nose tackle. However, the Titans found their new starter in the draft (more on that later).
Wide receiver Rishard Matthews was a pleasant surprise for Dolphins fans and fantasy owners alike in 2015. In 11 contests last season, Matthews totaled 662 yards and averaged 15.4 per reception as the Fins’ downfield complement to Jarvis Landry. Unfortunately, a season-ending injury later in the season ended his breakout campaign prematurely. That bad break also may have capped his free agent market somewhat. Ultimately, the Titans were able to sign Matthews to a three-year deal with a paltry $2.5MM guaranteed. After Dorial Green-Beckham was jettisoned to Philly, Matthews probably now stands as the team’s No. 1 wide receiver.
Matthews isn’t the only Miami import as the Titans also signed cornerback Brice McCain. McCain started 10 games and played 735 defensive snaps for the Dolphins in 2015, picking up an interception to go along with 39 tackles. However, the Dolphins decided to cut him this year in order to save $2.5MM against the cap. Despite making 10 starts for Miami last year, he’ll play a reserve role this year behind starters Jason McCourty and Perrish Cox.
The Titans reportedly made quarterback Matt Cassel a priority in free agency as they wanted to shore up the quarterback position behind Marcus Mariota. Evidently, the Cassel signing was made so that the Titans could move on from Zach Mettenberger later on in the offseason.
The Colts announced that they’ve trimmed their roster to 74 players, one below the league-mandated maximum. Indy could potentially add another player between now and Saturday, if it so chooses.
Waived:
Placed on injured reserve:
