Today’s minor moves:
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
While analyzing their new rookie class, the Vikings experimented with position changes for two players at their minicamp this weekend. The team has tried shifting fourth-round pick Jalyn Holmes from defensive end to defensive tackle and undrafted rookie Hercules Mata’afa was shifted from defensive tackle to linebacker.
“I’m up for the challenge and got good coaches that are actually teaching me what to do, so I’m up for the challenge,” said Holmes, who had limited experience playing defensive tackle at Ohio State, per Andrew Krammer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Krammer notes that Holmes would likely need to add at least five pounds to his 285-pound frame to compete at the position. He also points out that Homles would be the team’s tallest defensive tackle at 6-foot-5.
At 6-foot-2, 254 pounds, Mata’afa who attended Washington State, was one of the Power Five’s smallest defensive tackles. Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, via Krammer, also pointed out an example in which switching a player defensive line to linebacker panned out.
“There have been several guys who have gone from d-line to linebacker,” Zimmer said. “[Teddy] Bruschi is a great example. I’m not saying he’s Bruschi, but guys have done that in the past. It’ll take time.”
Here’s more from around the AFC around NFC North:
Patriots guard Joe Thuney is expected to undergo foot surgery and is likely to miss the team’s entire offseason program but is expected to be ready for training camp, which was first reported by ESPN’s Mike Reiss and confirmed by Ben Volin of the Boston Globe (on Twitter).
Thuney is projected to start at left guard for the Patriots, where he’s started all 16 regular-season games the last two seasons since the Patriots took him in the third round of the 2016 draft. He’s missed just nine snaps since being drafted by the Patriots.
The 25-year-old is one of a select group of returning starters to the Patriots offensive line, with tackles Nate Solder and Cameron Fleming departing in free agency this offseason. The Patriots currently have Marcus Cannon, Ted Karras, Matt Tobin and James Ferentz as guard depth on the roster.
Reiss opines that recently-drafted Isaiah Wynn, who’s currently slated to take over as the team’s left tackle, could shift over to help at guard if Thuney were to miss any time in 2018. He also notes that Karras would’ve been the team’s in-house option to take over at guard had there been an injury at the position last season.
Here’s more from around the AFC East:
The Bengals have signed 10 undrafted free agents. Here’s the complete list:
Worley started 50 games at Ohio State and joins offensive lineman Billy Price and defensive end Sam Hubbard as Buckeyes rookies on the Bengals roster. Flowers may be the most intriguing of the group as he’s prepared to make the switch from quarterback to running back. Flowers had 71 touchdown passes and 41 rushing touchdowns in his three seasons as South Florida’s starting quarterback. Boyd finished his career at UNLV as the schools second all-time leading receiver.
Though Fleer comes from Division II Colorado Mesa, his 11-inch hands are bigger than any of those measured from offensive tackles at the Scouting Combine. Franks is the brother of Florida quarterback, Feleipe Franks, and started 21 games at tight end at UCF over the last two seasons after making the switch from the defensive side of the ball.
The Cowboys had pursued defensive tackle Terrell McClain before he signed a one-year, $4MM deal with the Falcons this offseason, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said via David Moore of the Dallas Morning News.
“We wanted him here,” Garrett said. “Different factors played into it for him and he decided to go to Atlanta.”
The Cowboys had been seeking depth with their interior line as defensive tackle Malik Collins is expected to miss at least three months after undergoing foot surgery. McClain started 15 games at defensive tackle for the Cowboys when they went 13-3 in 2016 but departed in free agency to the Redskins in March 2017. The Redskins released him this offseason, though, and the Cowboys were one of several teams he visited with before signing with the Falcons.
Johnathan Hankins, Alan Branch and Karl Klug all still remain unrestricted free agents.
Here’s more from the Cowboys:
Here are today’s rookie signings:
One of the last teams to reveal their UDFA class, the Eagles announced 15 players comprise this group that will try to earn roster spots this year. Here’s the full rundown:
Representing a sizable portion of this class, four safeties will join the Eagles’ other three backup safeties — two 2017 UDFAs and veteran special-teamer Chris Maragos — in competing for roles behind Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod. However, Neal, Roberts and Reaves played cornerback as well. Roberts manned the slot at South Alabama, while Reaves earned Sun Belt defensive player of the year acclaim last season. Sanders, however, logged the most experience in being a Georgia starter for four years. He finished with 16 career interceptions. Brown also spent time at both safety and cornerback, despite being listed as a linebacker.
The Eagles also turned to smaller schools extensively here, with mid-major Division I-FBS or non-Division I programs producing eight of these 15 players. Rumors connected the Eagles to running backs in this draft. Instead, the team re-signed Darren Sproles and is bringing in a player who is coming off a 1,430-yard, nine-touchdown season with the Fighting Irish. The 213-pound Adams averaged 6.9 yards per carry as well as a true junior in 2017.
Hector received the highest base salary guarantee of this group, with the team giving him $55K guaranteed along with a $5K signing bonus. Adams received a $30K base guarantee and $25K to sign, and Sullivan a $35K base guarantee and $16K to sign (Twitter link via Ben Volin of the Boston Globe). Volin adds will see a $20K base guarantee and a $10K signing bonus. Ostman will also see $20K guaranteed, per Volin (on Twitter).
A possible dearth of quarterback talent in the 2019 draft class may have contributed the first-round aggressiveness of teams in recent years. The Bears, Chiefs, Texans, Jets, Bills and Cardinals traded up to land their hopeful quarterbacks of the future the past two drafts, and Albert Breer of SI.com notes some of the impetus behind these moves may be coming from issues teams have with the crop of passers likely set to populate 2019 big boards.
“Not right now, there isn’t one (that would go in the first round as it stands),” an AFC college scouting director told Breer. “The kids at Auburn (Jarrett Stidham), Missouri (Drew Lock) and N.C. State (Ryan Finley), by the end of it, could work their way into the conversation. But on the surface, based on current performance, it’d be a no. Now, if they ascend, which they should, those three guys have a chance to get there.”
Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN.com (Insider link) has both Lock (No. 16) and Oregon’s Justin Herbert (No. 18) in his early top 25 for 2019. Issues with Lock’s completion percentage (57.8 percent is the senior-to-be’s career high) and Herbert’s toughness, per Breer, are early concerns for respective first-round hopefuls. While events of recent years show it’s a good bet a quarterback will be taken in the 2019 first round, Breer compares this crop — at this early juncture — to the 2013 group that saw only E.J. Manuel chosen in Round 1 instead of other recent classes that saw the likes of Jared Goff, Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston emerge as obvious down-the-line high draft choices in advance of their final college campaigns.
Here’s more on this year’s draft, courtesy of Breer:
The Bears recently announced their undrafted free agent haul. Fifteen players will attempt to stick with the team this offseason. Here’s the full rundown:
This haul continues Chicago’s restocking of its linebacking corps, with this quartet vying to join Roquan Smith, fourth-rounder Joel Iyiegbuniwe and UFA addition Aaron Lynch. Interestingly, the Bears have added two members from recent Fighting Irish linebacker rooms in Morgan and Trumbetti. The former had a bigger role, making 91 tackles last season — second-most on the team. Morgan, who also made 88 stops as a junior, underwent shoulder surgery in January.
Nick Orr is Zach Orr‘s younger brother. He was a three-year starter for the Horned Frogs; the now-retired Zach also arrived in the NFL as a UDFA. Roland took three years off of football after being a highly touted South Carolina recruit in 2011. He played three years for the Gamecocks before taking the 2014, ’15 and ’16 seasons off prior to playing at West Georgia last year. Toliver was also an acclaimed high school recruit, coming into LSU as a five-star prospect.
The only player in Oregon State history with three carries for at least 75 yards, Nall was listed at 237 pounds with the Beavers but still averaged nearly seven yards per carry in 2016 (on 147 carries en route to 13 touchdowns). The Bears re-signed incumbent punter Pat O’Donnell, but only to a one-year deal, potentially opening the door for Winslow.
A week after the Texans made the move to bring Jets executive Matt Bazirgan into the fold as their director of player personnel, the Jets will hire one of the staffers the Texans axed after the draft. Former Houston college scouting director Jon Carr will assume the same position in New York, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports. Carr spent over a decade with the Texans, rising from the scouting level to his most recent post with the AFC South franchise. Carr has a history with Jets GM Mike Maccagnan, with the two working together with the Texans for several years. Carr ended up replacing Maccagnan as the Texans’ director of college scouting in 2015 when the Jets named Maccagnan their GM.
Here’s the latest from the managerial side of the game, shifting back to Houston’s revamped scouting department.