Today’s minor transactions:
Atlanta Falcons
- Waived: DE Austin Larkin
Washington Redskins
- Waived: DE Ryan Bee
Marcus Gilchrist has secured his next gig. The veteran safety has signed with the Jaguars, reports ESPN’s Michael DiRocco (via Twitter). In a corresponding move, the team placed linebacker Najee Goode on the injured reserve.
Gilchrist started 16 games for the Raiders last season, finishing with 58 tackles, six passes defended, and three picks. However, he was ranked 86th among 95 qualified safeties by Pro Football Focus, and he went without a job heading into the 2019 regular season. The 30-year-old signed with the Lions back in October, but he was cut two days later.
The Jaguars are currently rostering four safeties in Jarrod Wilson, Ronnie Harrison, Cody Davis, and Andrew Wingard. There were hints that the team was in search of reinforcement after they worked out DeShawn Shead earlier today.
Goode, 30, joined the Jaguars this offseason. The linebacker appeared in 10 games (four starts) for the Jags this season, compiling 21 tackles, one sack, and two passes defended. Goode recently suffered a knee injury, forcing him to the sideline. Rookie Quincy Williams will step up in his place.
It’s become clear that despite Seantrel Henderson‘s limited work sample over the past two seasons, contenders are interested in the free agent tackle.
After his Seahawks visit, Henderson will meet with the Ravens, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. This will make three meetings in less than a week for the former Bills and Texans blocker. The Bills hosted Henderson late last week.
Henderson has started one game in each of the past two seasons and has only played in five in that span. The Texans benched the 27-year-old lineman after Week 1 this year, doing so despite re-signing him in March. While the former seventh-round pick started 26 games for the Bills from 2014-15, he has been mostly a backup since.
The Ravens just lost starting center Matt Skura for the season and look set to plug rookie UDFA Patrick Mekari into their lineup. That would leave a swing spot open, but Baltimore also employs former starter James Hurst behind current edge blockers Ronnie Stanley and Orlando Brown. Hurst, however, also has guard experience and could fill in as an interior-line backup as well. Henderson would stand to provide an extra backup.
A year after Aldrick Rosas made the Pro Bowl, the Giants are working out kickers. Rosas missed two field goals in the Giants’ five-point loss to the Bears.
The Giants brought in kickers Blair Walsh, Giorgio Tavecchio, Austin MacGinnis and Cole Hedlund on Tuesday, according to the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson (on Twitter).
While Rosas did not kick well in Week 12, also booting a kickoff out of bounds, it would still be rather surprising to see a team give up on a third-year kicker who received a 2018 Pro Bowl invite. Rosas made 32 of 33 field goal tries last season and missed just one extra point. This year, he has not received nearly as many field goal chances. The former UDFA out of Southern Oregon is 8-for-12 on field goals and has missed three PATs.
Walsh caught on briefly with the Falcons and worked out for the Patriots and Jets this year. He also took part in a January workout for the then-kicker-needy Bears. Tavecchio and Walsh were briefly Falcons teammates this summer. The former held Atlanta’s kicking job for part of the 2018 season.
Despite starting only two games over the past two seasons, Seantrel Henderson is generating interest as a free agent. The Seahawks met with the unattached tackle, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter).
Henderson visited the Bills recently but did not sign with his former team. The Texans released the sixth-year veteran from their NFI list last week.
Both Duane Brown and swing man George Fant were listed on Seattle’s injury report last week. Brown also missed time earlier this season. Henderson has played four games this year, starting for the Texans in Week 1 but playing sparingly after that. He started Houston’s first 2018 game, but a season-ending injury ended that brief first-string stay.
The former seventh-round draft pick has done well to stick in the NFL, first starting 26 games with the Bills from 2014-15 and then serving as a Buffalo backup. Teams are still interested in the former late-round investment, and it’s certainly possible Henderson lands with a contender soon.
Hours after Dontari Poe underwent season-ending surgery, the Panthers agreed to terms with a potential replacement. Carolina will sign former Washington and Oakland defensive lineman Stacy McGee, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
McGee has not played this season but was a key interior defender with the Raiders and Redskins. The six-year veteran worked out for the Bears and Jaguars recently but did not sign with either team. He will get a chance to join a Carolina rotation decimated by injuries.
The Panthers entered the season with perhaps the highest-profile group of interior linemen in the game, with Gerald McCoy joining Poe and Kawann Short. Injuries to the latter two have left McCoy alone for the Panthers’ stretch run. Short has been on IR for several weeks, and Poe’s torn quad will sideline him for the rest of the season.
A 2013 sixth-round Raiders selection, McGee signed a five-year, $25MM deal with Washington in 2017. After a 10-start 2017 season, McGee underwent late-offseason thigh surgery. That limited him to 10 games in 2018. The Redskins cut the 29-year-old D-lineman in March, but he will have a chance to make a case for 2020 NFL employment over the final five games of this season.
Cyrus Jones‘ Broncos tenure may end up including zero games. The team placed the fourth-year cornerback/return man on its reserve/NFI list on Tuesday, Troy Renck of Denver7 tweets. This move will end his season.
The Broncos claimed cornerback Shakial Taylor off waivers from the Colts. Jones is dealing with an illness, and the Broncos are already shorthanded at corner. Duke Dawson is in concussion protocol, and the team placed Bryce Callahan on IR earlier this month.
Denver claimed Jones off waivers from Baltimore earlier this month but did not play him Sunday in Buffalo. Given the team’s situation at corner, it’s likely Taylor will be active against the Chargers.
Jones had seen scant action on defense this season for the Ravens but remained in his primary return role. The former Patriots second-round pick played well as the Ravens’ punt returner last year but was less effective this season. Jones will be an unrestricted free agent in 2020.
A rookie UDFA out of Kansas, Taylor played in five games for the Colts. Most recently, he played 17 snaps in the Colts’ Week 11 win against the Jaguars. While the Jayhawks have fallen on hard times in recent years, the Broncos have enjoyed great success with corners who spent time in Lawrence. Both Chris Harris and Aqib Talib played at Kansas before becoming All-Pros in Denver.
The Titans will have to play without one of their key pass rushers the rest of the way. They placed Cameron Wake on IR Tuesday. Wake signed with the Titans this offseason, but an injury will shelve the 37-year-old standout.
Wake registered 2.5 sacks this season, but each of those came in the Titans’ Week 1 win over the Browns. He signed a three-year, $23MM deal with the Titans in March. The team has not disclosed the nature of the injury.
The former Dolphins sack artist has certainly not made the same kind of impact with the Titans, having made just four tackles this season. Still, those 2.5 sacks in Cleveland moved him past 100 for his career. Sitting on 100.5, Wake is tied for 31st all time. Although the four-time Pro Bowler has been used in a situational capacity, with second-year edge player Harold Landry serving as Tennessee’s top sack threat, Wake did play a season-high 37 snaps against Jacksonville.
This will also mark just the second time in Wake’s 11-year NFL career he will have missed more than two games in a season. Other than going on Miami’s IR list midway through the 2015 season, Wake has been one of the NFL’s most durable players.
Tennessee promoted outside linebacker Derick Roberson and cornerback Kareem Orr from its practice squad, while also placing defensive back Chris Milton on IR.
The Giants will make an adjustment to their wide receiver group. Despite Golden Tate now residing in concussion protocol, the Giants waived Bennie Fowler.
This marks the second time this season the Giants have cut the seventh-year veteran. They did so in October, when Tate’s suspension ended. While Fowler was released then, due to being a vested veteran, he will hit the waiver wire now. No team signed him immediately upon his October release, however, so he may well head back to free agency.
Fowler had been with Big Blue for two seasons, playing in 18 games and operating as an auxiliary target for Eli Manning and Daniel Jones. The former Broncos UDFA, who worked with wideouts coach Tyke Tolbert in both Denver and New York, caught 39 passes for 392 yards and a touchdown as a Giant.
Fowler, however, was not active for Sunday’s game against the Bears. He is probably best known for catching Peyton Manning‘s final NFL pass — a two-point conversion in Super Bowl 50. Fowler has joined fellow ex-Bronco Cody Latimer on the Giants the past two seasons, with each re-signing with New York this offseason.
Jared Veldheer appears to be backtracking from his retirement stance. The veteran tackle will no longer reside on New England’s reserve/retired list and is looking for a job before season’s end, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
This is interesting given Veldheer’s offseason comments. The 32-year-old tackle said a hip injury did not progress much during his time between the Broncos and Patriots, inducing him to call it quits. The Pats signed the former Raiders, Cardinals and Broncos blocker in May but saw him opt to retire shortly after the agreement.
Despite Veldheer’s injury issues, Rapoport adds the nine-year veteran is in shape. He could profile as an emergency starter or a swing man for a contender in need at the position. Veldheer started 12 games for the Broncos last season and has been a starter for 113 of the 118 games in which he’s been active.
Injuries have limited Veldheer for years. A partially torn triceps muscle ended his 2016 season, and he battled an ankle malady in 2017. He also suffered a concussion last year.
This transaction comes a week after the Texans cut Seantrel Henderson from their NFI list, and the former right tackle starter has begun making visits. It will be interesting to see if a team meets with Veldheer, who has extensive experience at both tackle spots. The longtime left tackle moved to the right side in 2017 to accommodate D.J. Humphries in Arizona and stayed there in Denver last season.