HEADLINES

Month: January 2025

Giants Cut Jon Halapio, Slash Roster To 53

September 5th, 2020 at 3:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Giants revealed the moves they made to pare their roster down to 53 players. Here are the cuts Big Blue made Saturday:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

The two quarterback cuts will leave Daniel Jones and Colt McCoy as the Giants’ only two quarterbacks to start their post-Eli Manning era, though Rush certainly would profile as a practice squad candidate. He played for new OC Jason Garrett in Dallas for three seasons.
Connelly’s cut is somewhat surprising, given the linebacker’s three starts last season. But an injury cut short his rookie season. The Giants can place 16 players on their practice squad this season. If Connelly clears waivers, it is likely he will be part of that group.
The Giants re-signed Halapio days ago. He has been Big Blue’s starting center in each of their past two Week 1 games, and the former Patriots draft pick started 15 games in 2019. The Giants did not tender Halapio as an RFA this offseason and kept Nick Gates, whom they extended this year, and Spencer Pulley on the roster over him.

Ravens Cut Roster To 53

September 5th, 2020 at 3:46pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Ravens became the latest team to get down to 53, cutting a slew of players on Saturday via a team announcement. With the moves, Baltimore ended a 16-year streak of keeping at least one undrafted rookie on the roster, another sign of the impact COVID-19 and the reduced offseason had on roster decisions.

Here are the 23 guys who were let go:

Barner played a somewhat prominent role on a couple of Eagles teams and won Super Bowl LII with the team. Since leaving Philly he’s bounced between New England, Carolina, and Atlanta. Ehinger started a game at guard for Baltimore last year, but couldn’t crack the roster this time around.

Richards was a full-time starter with the Falcons in 2018, and appeared in nine games with Baltimore last year, scoring a touchdown on a fumble recovery. Townsend was the Raiders’ punter in 2018, and just signed with the Ravens a couple of weeks ago. He probably never had too good a chance of beating out Sam Koch, who has been with the Ravens since 2006. Huntley had a very solid college career at Utah, but wasn’t viewed by too many as a legitimate pro passer.

COVID-19 Latest: Masks, Testing, Pac-12

September 5th, 2020 at 3:40pm CST by Rory Parks

Thus far, training camps have been more successful than anyone could have anticipated in terms of the NFL’s battle with COVID-19. Though there was a slight hiccup last week due to a series of false positive tests, the true positivity rate across all 32 clubs is less than 1%.

In a recent videoconference with Washington Post reporters and editors, NFL chief medical officer Allen Sills said the league hopes to finalize testing protocols for regular season games within the next couple of days (via Mark Maske of the Washington Post). Those protocols are likely to include rapid-result testing that will be conducted close to game time (if not on the day of the game itself) to provide players with final clearance to participate in games. As of right now, the league and union have agreed to daily testing through September 5. The first regular season game is scheduled for September 10.

Interestingly, Sills said that a player does not need to test positive to be withheld from a game. A player who exhibits COVID-19 symptoms will be held out regardless of his test results. Sills added that it is difficult to say how many positive tests would lead to a team being shut down, though even one positive test could do it if the person who tested positive had a large number of close contacts.

As we inch closer to the Texans-Chiefs contest that is now less than two weeks away, let’s take a look at several more COVID-related items:

  • The NFL will mandate coaches and all sideline staffers wear masks during games, Sills said. Owners must also don masks if they want to enter team locker rooms on game days. The league, however, will not require players to wear masks on the sideline during games — unless a state mandates it — according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter).
  • Another big change on the COVID front this week: players will not be allowed in team facilities on Mondays after games, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. While exceptions exist — for teams on short weeks and players rehabbing injuries — this marks a notable adjustment for teams during the regular season.
  • Daily testing will continue across the league for the foreseeable future. The NFL and NFLPA on Saturday reached a second agreement to extend the daily testing period, Pelissero tweets. What was a two-week experiment has turned into a successful, longer-term policy.
  • No NFL players who have contracted COVID-19 have been diagnosed with myocarditis, the heart muscle muscle inflammation that has been associated with the coronavirus and that contributed to the Big Ten’s decision to postpone its fall schedule (Twitter link via John Kryk of the Toronto Sun). All NFL players are tested for myocarditis, so the fact that there have been no cases so far is obviously great news.
  • The Pac-12 has secured an arrangement that will allow the conference to test football players daily. The league has partnered with Quidel, and this agreement will enable test results to emerge within 15 minutes, Nick Bromberg of Yahoo.com notes. The NFL has been testing players daily for nearly a month and has not revealed plans to stop doing so. The Pac-12 joined the Big Ten in postponing its football season, but this testing deal stands to help the conference play its 2020 campaign at some point.

Sam Robinson contributed to this post.

Eagles Place Brandon Brooks On PUP List, Trim Roster To 53

September 5th, 2020 at 3:25pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Eagles made a sizable amount of cuts Thursday. They made the rest of their moves to get down to 53 players Saturday. Here are the players the Eagles jettisoned to reach the regular-season limit.

Waived:

Placed on active/PUP list:

The Brooks decision certainly is interesting, especially after the team placed left tackle Andre Dillard on season-ending IR this week. Brooks suffered a torn Achilles’ tendon in June, but the elite blocker has a history of surmounting such an injury. Brooks tore an Achilles in January 2019 and made it back in time for Philadelphia’s opener last season. The team is not ready to shut down its Pro Bowl guard for the season.

Alshon Jeffery also did not land on Philadelphia’s reserve/PUP list, which would have shelved the veteran wideout for six games. Instead, Jeffery — whom the Eagles have attempted to trade for months — is one of seven receivers on the Eagles’ 53-man roster. That will help a team that saw Marquise Goodwin opt out and first-round rookie Jalen Reagor suffer an injury that will keep him out to start the season.

Falcons Release Laquon Treadwell, Slash Roster To 53

September 5th, 2020 at 3:17pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are the players the Falcons cut to trim their roster to the 53-man regular-season limit:

Waived:

Released:

Atlanta added Treadwell last year but did not see a considerable impact from the former first-round pick. The Vikings cut Treadwell ahead of the 2019 regular season, following the formerly coveted prospects struggles to claim a consistent role in Minnesota.

Wilcox re-signed with the Falcons a month ago. He has played for five teams but has not seen regular-season action since the 2018 season. The former Cowboys started suffered a season-ending injury last summer.

The cuts of Benkert and Lauletta leave two quarterbacks — Matt Ryan and Matt Schaub — on Atlanta’s roster. With Ryan being one of the most durable passers in the NFL, the Falcons can take advantage of an extra roster spot by keeping just two QBs.

Bengals Get Roster To 53

September 5th, 2020 at 3:14pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Bengals became the latest team to get down to 53 on Saturday, releasing one player and waiving 23 others. We’ll recap the most notable names at the bottom:

Allen was drafted in the sixth-round by the Jaguars back in 2016, but didn’t appear in a game until injuries forced him to start three games at quarterback for the Broncos last year. He was decent in his first game under center but quickly declined before relinquishing the job to Drew Lock. He couldn’t beat out 2019 fourth-rounder Ryan Finley for the right to hold Joe Burrow‘s clipboard this season.

McTyer is a 2017 UDFA who started a handful of games at corner for the Dolphins in 2018 and appeared in five with the Bengals last year. McKenzie was a sixth-round pick of the Chiefs in 2018 who is best known for being the son of former Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie.

Washington Cuts CB Aaron Colvin, Moves Down To 53

September 5th, 2020 at 3:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here is how Washington trimmed its camp roster down to the 53-man regular-season limit. Some notable veterans did not make the squad.

Waived:

Released:

Placed on IR:

Washington added Colvin last year, doing so after the Texans cut him early in the season. The veteran has played six seasons, seeing action with the Jaguars, Texans and Washington. He will head back to free agency. As with Rodgers, who was the most notable tight end on Washington’s roster entering camp. Following the exits of Jordan Reed and Vernon Davis — and Thaddeus Moss‘ IR trip — Washington does not feature much of note at the position.

Mr. Irrelevant in 2018, Quinn latched on with Washington for two seasons. He operated as Washington’s slot receiver for a time, but with a new regime running the show now, Quinn will head to the waiver wire. However, he would certainly profile as a player who could be added to Washington’s 16-man practice squad. Garnett would as well.

The team added Garnett during training camp, but the former first-round pick has never managed to carve out a consistent role as a pro.

Rams Make Roster Cuts

September 5th, 2020 at 2:59pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Rams are one-upping everyone else, making a slew of roster cuts to get down to *52* players, as Adam Schefter passes along on Twitter. Presumably they’re planning on making another move imminently and not starting the year with one less player than everyone else.

Los Angeles had already made a bunch of cuts, so it’s a smaller group getting the axe now:

Deayon and Johnston have both been featured prominently on HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’ during camp, so there will surely be some fans bummed about those cuts. Both are good bets to be back on the practice squad since Johnston was a draft pick and Deayon was on the active roster at times last year.

Perkins had plenty of electrifying moments as Virginia’s quarterback, but the UDFA apparently wasn’t ready to make it as an NFL passer. Howard and Robinson aren’t getting cut but are rather being put on IR and the non-football injury list respectively. Howard, who was supposed to play a big role on defense, will be out for the season while Robinson will have to miss at least the first six games.

Broncos Move Roster To 53

September 5th, 2020 at 2:51pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Broncos parted ways with 24 players to trim their roster to the 53-man regular-season limit. Here are the players the team cut to get to 53.

Waived:

Released:

Placed on IR:

The Rypien cut will leave the Broncos with two active-roster QBs — Drew Lock and Jeff Driskel — while the Fumagalli and Fort decisions mean Jake Butt made Denver’s active roster. Viewed as a long shot to do so after the team made multiple tight end additions this offseason, Butt made it through camp healthy to start his contract year. The former Michigan standout has suffered three ACL tears in his career.

Denver drafting three wideouts made matters difficult for their lesser-known holdovers, but Winfree — a 2019 sixth-rounder — profiles as a practice squad candidate. The Broncos will carry rookie seventh-rounder Tyrie Cleveland onto their active roster.

Bausby has bounced around the league for several years now, and the former Division II standout joined Mike Purcell in vaulting from the Alliance of American Football to a Broncos role last year. But the team kept UDFA Essang Bassey over Bausby this year.

Raiders Trade RB Lynn Bowden Jr. To Dolphins

September 5th, 2020 at 2:29pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We’ve got a bit of an unusual trade to pass along. The Raiders are trading rookie running back Lynn Bowden Jr. and a sixth-round pick to the Dolphins in exchange for a fourth-round pick, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports (Twitter link).

It’s pretty rare for a third-round pick to get traded before ever playing a game for the team that drafted them, so the Raiders must not have liked something about Bowden. Especially to give him up for considerably less draft capital than they spent. The Kentucky product’s home was searched by the DEA back in June, although he was never arrested, and it’s unclear if that caused him to fall out of favor with the organization. As Rapoport points out, it’s the same fourth-round pick they’re getting back that they just traded to Miami last week in exchange for Raekwon McMillan.

As for Miami, it’s a nice low-risk pickup considering they have an unsettled backfield and could use all the young talent they could get. They’ve apparently had their eye on Bowden for a while, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets that the Dolphins “loved” him before the draft and had a top-30 visit with him scheduled before it was canceled due to COVID-19.

As of right now the Dolphins are set for a timeshare in their backfield with Jordan Howard and Matt Breida. Bowden should compete for snaps right away, and he also has value as a return specialist. He’s an elite athlete, as he even started at quarterback for a while for Kentucky after a couple of injuries. The Raiders had said they planned to use him in a versatile utility role, and it’ll be very interesting to see what Brian Flores’ staff comes up with for him.

 

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