Month: November 2024

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/19/19

Here are Monday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the day.

Chicago Bears

Green Bay Packers

  • Released from IR via injury settlement: LB Kendall Donnerson

Houston Texans

Philadelphia Eagles

Tennessee Titans

Chargers’ Derwin James To Miss Time

Chargers safety Derwin James is scheduled to undergo foot surgery on Thursday, a source tells ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). During the procedure, doctors will remove the screw that was inserted in James’ foot during his freshman year at Florida State and was bent last week. The recovery timetable will keep James out for at least the first half of the season, as he’ll need 3-4 months to bounce back. 

It’s a tough break for the Chargers as they’ll be without one of their most important defensive players for a good while. James started all 16 games for the Chargers last season after the team drafted him in the first round out of Florida State. He was a strong candidate for the NFL’s Defensive Rookie Of The Year award last season, notching 105 tackles while adding 3.5 sacks. Big things are still expected of him, but the Bolts will have to wait until November or December to see James make his impact.

James does a little bit of everything for the Chargers, including covering burly tight ends one-on-one and even chipping in at linebacker. In the interim, the Chargers may turn to Jaylen Watkins, Adrian Phillips, Adarius Pickett, or rookie safety Nasir Adderley to try and fill-in for the All-Pro safety.

Colts Sign Charcandrick West

Colts placed new running back D’Onta Foreman and wide receiver Daurice Fountain on injured reserve while waiving safety Derrick Kindred, according to a team announcement. To take their spots, the Colts added veteran running back Charcandrick West, safety Kai Nacua, undrafted free agent tailback Marquis Young. 

The nature of Foreman’s injury is not yet known, but it’s a rough break for the former Texans RB as he was looking to reassert himself while getting revenge on his former team twice this season. The 236-pound back took only seven handoffs last season, gaining minus-1 yard. But, as Lamar Miller‘s top backup in 2017, Foreman amassed 327 rushing yards (4.2 per tote) and two touchdowns.

West has been toggled on and off of the Chiefs’ roster as of late and posted negative rushing yards in 2018. However, he’s flashed promise, including the 2015 season in which he ran for 634 yards.

Lions To Meet With Dontrelle Inman

Former Patriots wide receiver Dontrelle Inman might not be out of work for long. The veteran will visit the Lions “in the next day or so,” Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. 

The Lions are never shy to explore the open market for help and Inman could provide valuable help for their WR group. The Lions project to trot out Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones, and new pickup Danny Amendola as their top three receivers, but Inman could conceivably squeeze in as one of the club’s five or six WRs to start the season.

Despite arriving in Indianapolis midseason, Inman recorded 28 receptions for 304 yards and three touchdowns. His best season, which featured 810 yards and four TDs, came with the 2016 Chargers. While teams have not viewed him as more than a stopgap, Inman nevertheless profiles as someone who could be an intriguing depth target for a club like the Lions.

Antonio Brown Reports To Raiders

The Antonio Brown soap opera could be winding down. On Monday, the Raiders’ star wide receiver reported to practice, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets

[RELATED: Drew Rosenhaus Downplays Antonio Brown’s Absence]

Brown showed up at the Raiders’ facility Monday morning and was in attendance for the daily team meeting. The club’s walk-through practice was canceled, but Brown is back in the building and, ostensibly, ready to get to work.

The mercurial Brown has put the Raiders through the ringer in recent weeks. A cryotherapy mishap left the wide receiver with a foot injury, which was believed to have been the cause of his training camp absence. Then, we learned that Brown was actually staying away because the NFL barred him from wearing his favorite helmet. Brown is still awaiting the outcome of tests to his prized Schutt AiR Advantage headgear, but it now seems like he’s on the right track to suit up in September.

Drew Rosenhaus On Raiders’ Antonio Brown

Antonio Brown missed another practice on Sunday, but Drew Rosenhaus is doing his darndest to keep the hysteria to a minimum. On Monday morning, Rosenhaus went on WSVN-TV’s “Sports Xtra” to discuss the Raiders star. 

[RELATED: Antonio Brown Misses Another Raiders Practice]

We have worked very closely with the Raiders, and will continue to work very closely with the Raiders,” Rosenhaus said. “I’m not sure we agree that we’ve exhausted all the options, as [Raiders GM] Mike Mayock said, but there’s no doubt it’s still an ongoing process. We are trying to work with the team and the league and the union on a solution. We haven’t figured that out yet.

To say that AB is upset about the decision to not let him wear his helmet is accurate, but we’re still processing it and figuring it out. I wouldn’t make too much about him not being there today, as much as we’re still trying to come up with a solution that works for everyone.”

The league is allowing Brown to find a version of the Schutt AiR Advantage helmet that can pass rigorous NOCSAE testing, but it’s not clear if he’ll be able to get clearance on his favorite headgear.

Chiefs May Re-Sign G Jeff Allen

Jeff Allen could be on the verge of reuniting with the Chiefs. The guard is discussing a deal with the team, according to former teammate Geoff Schwartz (on Twitter). 

A new deal would mark Allen’s third go-round with Kansas City. The Chiefs drafted Allen in the second round of the 2012 draft and brought him back into the fold in the middle of the 2018 campaign. In between the KC stints, he spent time with the Texans.

Allen has has 66 career starts to his credit, including four last season. The Texans paid him $7MM/year on his last deal, but he’d come significantly cheaper here in 2019.

Bills, E.J. Gaines Reach Injury Settlement

E.J. Gaines landed on the Bills’ IR list earlier this month, but the cornerback will nevertheless have a path to playing time this season. The Bills reached an injury settlement with the veteran corner to remove him from their IR list, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

The Bills placed Gaines on IR due to a groin injury on August 10; they signed Captain Munnerlyn to effectively replace him on the roster. Once Gaines heals up, he will have a chance to sign elsewhere and play in 2019.

This was Gaines’ second Bills contract. He started 11 games with the 2017 Bills and was a first-stringer in the team’s wild-card game. Gaines signed with the Browns last season but only played in six games, landing on IR in early November. The Bills signed him to a one-year, $2.1MM deal (with $250K guaranteed) in late March.

Should the former sixth-round pick suit up in 2019, this will be his age-27 season. Gaines has made 38 career starts, 25 of those coming for the Rams.

Jets Notes: Bell, Clowney, Johnson, Kalil, LBs

For a player without a major injury, Le’Veon Bell has gone through a historically light amount of organized football work over the past 19 months. Bell’s game-action delay will continue until Week 1, with Adam Gase indicating (via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com, on Twitter) his top running back will be held out from Jets preseason games. Bell has not played in a game since the Steelers’ divisional-round loss to the Jaguars in January 2018. His most recent regular-season game was Week 16 of that season. Gase had slammed the door nearly shut on Bell seeing preseason reps, but the first-year Jets coach said Avery Williamson‘s season-ending injury finalized that conversation (Twitter link via SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano). For a player who based his ’18 holdout on conservation, this should go along well with his late-2010s M.O.

Here is the Jets latest:

  • Despite the Jets devoting extensive resources to positions that are not typically tabbed as high-value areas, with Bell and C.J. Mosley making out great in free agency, the team largely left its persistent need for edge rushers alone. While Jadeveon Clowney would obviously start for the Jets, were they to make a move for the disgruntled Texans outside linebacker, Cimini writes no trade should be expected. A way it could work: the Jets trade a mid-round pick — worse value than the Texans would have received before the franchise tag extension deadline — and then flip Clowney in a 2020 tag-and-trade. The Jets hold $14.7MM in cap space, so they would have to perform some slight reorganization mechanisms to fit Clowney’s $15.9MM cap figure on their books. For now, the team will head into another season with Brandon Copeland and Jordan Jenkins on the edge.
  • On the inside, Neville Hewitt received the first crack at replacing Williamson. At the Jets’ Green and White scrimmage Sunday night, the four-year veteran — who played 16 Jets games (four starts) last season — lined up in Williamson’s inside ‘backer spot, per Vacchiano (on Twitter). Hewitt’s high-water mark for starts came with the Dolphins in 2016, when the former Miami UDFA started five games.
  • It still appears Bilal Powell, Trenton Cannon and Eli McGuire are competing for two spots. Although the Jets re-signed Powell this offseason, the 30-year-old not playing special teams stands to work against him, Cimini writes. Cannon remains the leading Jets kick-return candidate, pointing to a Bell-McGuire duel for New York’s final running back slot. McGuire is not a key Jets special-teamer, either, and only averaged 3.0 yards per carry last season.
  • Trumaine Johnson‘s adjusted timetable: Week 1. Gase said he is targeting his top cornerback for a return in time for the Jets’ opener. Johnson is dealing with a hamstring injury. He missed six games with leg trouble last year.
  • Not that Ryan Kalil‘s timetable is in question, but the recently signed center had yet to practice with his new team. The Jets deployed him with their first unit (which had some second-stringers sprinkled in) on Sunday night, Cimini adds (via Twitter). The former Panthers snapper has started in the past 12 Week 1s.