HEADLINES

Month: November 2024

Cowboys Sign 18 UDFAs

May 1st, 2018 at 1:36pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cowboys have added 18 undrafted players to their offsaeason roster. Here’s the full breakdown:

The Cowboys have found gems in the UDFA ranks before, including quarterback Tony Romo and offensive lineman La’el Collins. In total, the Cowboys now project to head into camp with 27 rookies.

Sturm threw for 2,185 yards and 15 touchdowns against five interceptions while completing 62.3% of his passes last year. He came to UTSA as a walk-on and did not earn a scholarship until 2016, so he has a history of achieving when up against long odds. In the ’16 season, he set a UTSA record with 20 passing touchdowns.

Chunn isn’t the speediest running back in the world, but he does offer the ability to catch passes out of the backfield. In his final two years on campus, he caught 58 passes. The Cowboys have three established running backs in Ezekiel Elliott, Rod Smith, and Trey Williams plus seventh-round pic Bo Scarbrough. Fullback Jamize Olawale is also under contract.

Saints Sign QB J.T. Barrett

May 1st, 2018 at 1:14pm CST by Zachary Links

J.T. Barrett did not hear his name called during last week’s draft, but at least one team believes highly in his potential. The Saints have signed the former Ohio State quarterback to a three-year deal, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). 

The deal comes with no guarantee, according to Nick Underhill of The Advocate (on Twitter), so the Saints can drop him between now and the fall without fiscal penalty. Before signing with New Orleans, Barrett also had an invite to try out for the Colts and had interest from other clubs, so there was a decent market for three-time First Team All-Big Ten player.

Barrett may have a real chance at making the Saints’ final cut given that Tom Savage and Taysom Hill are the only other QBs behind starter Drew Brees. Savage, a former fourth-round pick out of Pittsburgh, began the 2017 season as the Texans’ starter but quickly lost the job to Deshaun Watson. He regained the starting job when Watson went down, but, unfortunately, his most memorable moment of the year came when he was allowed to continue playing in a game after a scary concussion that left him shaking on the ground. He finished the year with 1,412 yards and five touchdowns against six interceptions.

Barrett completed 63.5% of his passes over four years at Ohio State with 104 touchdowns against 30 picks.

Patriots Wanted Baker Mayfield?

May 1st, 2018 at 12:59pm CST by Zachary Links

The Browns weren’t the only team that had Baker Mayfield ranked as the top quarterback in this year’s class. The Patriots considered trading up to the No. 2 pick in order to take the Oklahoma product, his agent tells Andrew Brandt of The MMQB (audio link). 

“We had another team which is going to surprise you. Another team had said, ‘You may get a big surprise on draft day, at No. 2, if he’s available.’ And it was the Patriots,” Mills said. “They had 23 and they had 31 and they had two seconds. We thought, ‘That’s gonna be a heck of a move, to get up that high from where they are.’ And of course he wasn’t available so we never knew if that was reality or not.”

There was speculation that the Patriots could move up in the draft for a quarterback and it’s possible that Mayfield was their one and only target in that respect. Even if Mayfield had fallen to No. 2, however, it’s not clear whether they would have had the ammo necessary to get a deal done. The Pats’ late first round picks could have easily vaulted them into the top ten, but that might not have been enough to entice Giants GM Dave Gettleman to walk away from Saquon Barkley. Even with a pair of second rounders to work with, it’s hard to say whether the Pats and Giants could have been a match.

Had the Pats landed Mayfield, it would have sparked serious drama in New England and New York. The Patriots would have had to deal with Tom Brady‘s reaction, the Giants would have risked giving up on potential generational talent, and the Jets would have to face Mayfield – who some say was their top QB target – twice per season.

But, that’s all one big “What if?” now that Mayfield is in Cleveland.

Giants’ Ereck Flowers Hires Agent Drew Rosenhaus

May 1st, 2018 at 12:39pm CST by Zachary Links

The Giants tried their darnedest to find a trade for Ereck Flowers during the draft, so the former first-round pick is understandably concerned about his football future. On Tuesday, the tackle hired Drew Rosenhaus to represent him, the agent announced on Twitter. 

Flowers entered the NFL without the services of an agent in order to avoid paying out a portion of his contract. Later on, he hired his own father as an advisor once he obtained the proper certification from the NFLPA. Everald Flowers will continue to serve as a rep for his son, but Rosenhaus will ostensibly be in charge of either smoothing things out with the Giants or navigating him to a better situation for 2018.

Flowers has started at left tackle for the G-Men for the past three seasons, but he’s presently in line to compete for the team’s right tackle job after the signing of free agent Nate Solder. The Giants are not expected to pick up Flowers’ fifth-year option before the Thursday deadline, so he’s effectively entering his contract year. Even if another team acquires Flowers in the next 48 hours, it seems unlikely that he’d have the $12.525MM option exercised.

If the Giants release Flowers outright, they’ll save themselves $2.2MM in roster bonuses, but they’ll be left with nearly $4.6MM in dead money.

Bengals Sign Moritz Böhringer

May 1st, 2018 at 11:43am CST by Zachary Links

The impressive athleticism of German wide receiver Moritz Böhringer compelled the Vikings to take a flier on him in the sixth round of the 2016 draft. This year, the Bengals will take an up close look at him as a part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway program, the league announced. 

Böhringer is the only European player in NFL history to be selected in the draft without playing any college football. His lack of experience probably put a cap on his pro prospects as he spent his rookie year on Minnesota’s practice squad and did not sign with another team after his release in September. He’s still pursuing his pro dreams, however, and he’s slated to enter the year as the eleventh player on the Bengals’ practice squad.

The league’s International Player Pathway program will allow each AFC North team to carry an extra overseas player on their practice squad in 2018. Unlike those on the traditional ten-man practice squad, the additional player cannot be activated during the season. Last year, the NFC South had the honors.

The Ravens will have German Football League linebacker Christopher Ezeala, the Browns will practice with former British American Football League defensive back/wide receiver Tigie Sankoh, and the Steelers will have former English professional rugby tight end Christian Scotland-Williamson.

Falcons Sign 27 UDFAs

May 1st, 2018 at 11:06am CST by Zachary Links

The Falcons have signed a whopping 27 undrafted free agents. Here is the full rundown:

Most NFL teams do not employ a fullback but the Falcons rostered one last year in Derrick Coleman, so McNitt and Marx may have a shot at making the team. At quarterback, there may be an opportunity for Benkert and Lamar Jordan to unseat Garrett Grayson as the third QB (assuming Jordan is being evaluated as a QB), though they are well set with Matt Schaub as the primary backup to Matt Ryan.

Benkert received a $60K guarantee to sign, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets, so it’s clear that the Falcons think highly of him. Benkert started his collegiate career at East Carolina before transferring to Virginia for the 2016 season. In two years as Virginia’s starter, he completed 57.7% of his passes with 46 touchdowns against 21 interceptions.

In other Falcons news, GM Thomas Dimitroff recently addressed speculation about the team’s relationship with star Julio Jones. The Falcons also triggered the fifth-year option for defensive end Vic Beasley recently.

Colts Waive RB Matt Jones

May 1st, 2018 at 10:06am CST by Zachary Links

The Colts announced that they have waived running back Matt Jones. Linebackers Darnell Sankey and Jermaine Grace, wide receiver Justice Liggins, nose tackle Joey Mbu, and defensive end Arthur Miley were also waived while defensive tackle Johnathan Calvin was waived-injured. 

Jones was once primed to be the Redskins’ primary running back, but he slipped down the team’s depth chart over time. The Redskins waived Jones after they were unable find a trade partner for him, leading him to the Colts. He cycled between the Colts’ active roster and practice squad throughout last year, but the team has decided against keeping him on the expanded roster now that the draft has concluded.

The Colts selected NC State’s Nyheim Hines in the fourth round and Mississippi’s Jordan Wilkins in the fifth round, so there was little hope for Jones to make the final cut. Marlon Mack and Robert Turbin project to be the Colts’ lead rushers while Christine Michael and Josh Ferguson will battle alongside the two rookies for a place on the roster.

Jones, a 6’2″, 239-pound athlete, has played in 25 career games with seven starts. All in all, he has averaged 3.9 yards per carry with six rushing touchdowns.

Sankey appeared in six games for the Colts last year and spent time on the team’s practice squad. He wrapped up the year on the Ravens’ taxi squad, but circled back to the Colts for a futures deal in January.