2021 August - Pro Football Rumors

Seahawks Host DT Geno Atkins

August 23rd, 2021 at 4:55pm CST by Zachary Links

The Seahawks are meeting with free agent Geno Atkins (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Now fully cleared from rotator cuff surgery, the defensive tackle offers lots of upside for Seattle.

Atkins went through a successful workout, veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson tweets, adding that the Seahawks are interested in adding him. The ball is now in Atkins’ court. It likely will come down to how low of a salary the 33-year-old interior D-lineman is willing to accept after the Bengals removed his four-year, $63.5MM extension from their payroll.

Atkins was limited to just eight games in total last year. But, even when he was healthy, the Bengals weren’t giving him a ton of playing time. His final tally: zero sacks and zero starts. It was a sharp drop from his pre-extension season in 2017, when he finished out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 2 ranked interior defender.

Before all of that, he was a perennial Pro Bowler with 75.5 career sacks. At this stage of the offseason, contenders like the Seahawks can probably add him on a low-cost one-year deal – perhaps with a couple million in incentives. The Seahawks would give Atkins a chance to reclaim his value, pursue a Super Bowl ring, and reunite with old pal Carlos Dunlap. Dunlap arrived via trade last season, notched five sacks, and re-upped on a two-year, $13.6MM deal.

If signed, Dunlap will join Kerry Hyder, Benson Mayowa, Al Woods, and Robert Nkemdiche in the Seahawks’ remodeled front seven.

Raiders Meet With LB Mark Barron, Release CB Rasul Douglas

August 23rd, 2021 at 4:39pm CST by Sam Robinson

Ailing at linebacker, the Raiders are taking a look at a longtime starter. Mark Barron, who missed all of last season, is in Las Vegas for a workout, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

The Broncos brought Barron aboard last year, but the former first-round pick did not play. Hamstring and pectoral injuries sidelined Barron last year, and the Broncos ended up cutting ties with him in December. This marks the first Barron connection this year.

Nicholas Morrow, Nick Kwiatkoski and Darron Lee are currently down with injuries for the Raiders. While Kwiatkoski is expected back soon, Jon Gruden expressed concern about the foot injury Morrow suffered in practice last week.

Barron has made 102 career starts. Though a chunk of those have come at safety, the 31-year-old defender has been entrenched at linebacker since he joined the Rams in 2015. Barron has played with the Buccaneers, Rams and Steelers during his career.

Teams also have until 3pm CT Tuesday to trim their rosters from 85 to 80, and the Raiders made Rasul Douglas a somewhat surprising early cut, Yates adds. The team signed Douglas in April. Las Vegas rosters fellow veteran corners Casey Hayward, Blidi Wreh-Wilson and Nevin Lawson but also houses a host of recent draftees, creating a roster crunch of sorts at this position.

Douglas, 26, is a vested veteran after spending three seasons with the Eagles and one with the Panthers. The Eagles parted ways with Douglas nearly a year ago, leading to his stopover in Charlotte. His 11 starts with the Panthers marked a career-high total. The former third-round pick contributed on Philadelphia’s Super Bowl LII-winning team four years ago, but he will need to find another new home after Monday’s Raiders decision.

In addition to the Douglas release, the Raiders waived guard Parker Ehinger and punter Corliss Waitman.

Luke Willson To Visit Seahawks

August 23rd, 2021 at 3:48pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Luke Willson could be headed back to Seattle once again. The veteran tight end will visit the Seahawks later this week, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).

The Rice product, originally drafted by the Seahawks in the fifth-round in 2013, has already had three separate stints with the team. He spent his first five pro seasons with the team before signing with Detroit in 2018. After a season with the Lions he was with the Raiders for a bit, then cut and scooped back up by the Seahawks. Seattle cut him in November of 2020, he then signed with the Ravens, and was cut by Baltimore about a month later.

That led him back to the Seahawks one final time, and he finished the year on the roster. This is the first we’ve heard of the 31-year-old this offseason. Willson’s most productive season as a receiver came in 2014, when he had 22 catches for 362 yards and three touchdowns.

He’s been more of a blocker in recent years, and if he signs once again he likely won’t be counted on to play too big of a role on offense. Seattle currently has ex-Ram Gerald Everett and Will Dissly atop the depth chart at tight end.

Packers To Trade Ka’dar Hollman To Texans

August 23rd, 2021 at 3:22pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

New Texans GM Nick Caserio continues to wheel and deal. Houston has agreed to a trade to acquire cornerback Ka’dar Hollman from the Packers, a source told veteran NFL reporter Aaron Wilson (Twitter link). The Texans will send back a 2022 seventh-round pick via the Bears for Hollman, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

Caserio has made several trades recently, and this isn’t even his first one with Green Bay. The two teams recently worked out a deal for receiver Randall Cobb, at the behest of Aaron Rodgers. Caserio just traded corner Keion Crossen to the Giants last week, so Hollman can essentially be seen as a replacement in the secondary.

The Packers drafted Hollman in the sixth-round out of Toledo in 2019. He barely saw the field as a rookie, but took on a real role this past season. He appeared in 14 games for Green Bay, and even started one.

Hollman ended up playing a bit over 10 percent of the defensive snaps, finishing with 10 tackles and three passes defended. He was also a contributor on special teams, and is a bit on the older side for a third-year pro as he’ll turn 27 next month. Caserio is certainly being aggressive if nothing else as he continues to completely remake Houston’s roster.

Browns To Place Cody Parkey On IR

August 23rd, 2021 at 2:49pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Browns will officially have a new kicker in 2021. Cleveland will place kicker Cody Parkey on injured reserve with a quad injury, head coach Kevin Stefanski announced on Monday.

Since Parkey is being moved to IR before final roster cut-downs, it means he won’t be able to play for the Browns this season. He kicked in 15 games for the Browns in 2020, connecting on 19 of his 22 field goal attempts. He went 43/47 on extra point attempts. Parkey has been the regular season kicker for four different teams in the past four seasons.

He was with the Dolphins in 2017, the Bears in 2018, the Titans in 2019, and then the Browns last year. He began his pro career in 2014, and was the Eagles’ kicker in his rookie season, so he’s bounced around a fair amount. Parkey has kicked in plenty of games, but he’s perhaps most well known for his infamous ‘double doink’ missed kick in the playoffs with Chicago a few years ago.

The move will leave Chase McLaughlin as the only kicker on Cleveland’s roster. Although beat writers were quick to point out that Stefanski stopped short of declaring McLaughlin the new full-time kicker, it appears it’ll be him unless they decide to add a last-minute veteran to the mix. McLaughlin kicked in three games with the Jaguars and one with the Jets last year.

Vikings Sign Ito Smith, Place Janarius Robinson On IR

August 23rd, 2021 at 2:28pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Teams continue to make flurries of roster moves on Monday, and we’ve got another couple of notable ones to pass along. The Vikings announced that they’ve signed free agent running back Ito Smith and placed rookie defensive end Janarius Robinson on injured reserve.

Smith wasn’t out of a job too long, as he was just released by the Cardinals last week. He spent the first three seasons of his pro career with the Falcons, and was Atlanta’s lead back for stretches in both 2018 and 2020. As a rookie he got his most extensive run, carrying the ball 90 times for 315 yards and four touchdowns, adding 27 receptions for another 152 yards. This past season he rushed 63 times for 268 yards and one touchdown, with 17 catches for 75 yards.

Smith will now compete with Ameer Abdullah and Kene Nwangwu for spots in Minnesota’s backfield behind Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison. Since Robinson is being placed on IR before the cutdown to 53 players, that means he’ll have to miss the entire season.

It’s a disappointing end to his first campaign. The pass-rusher was just drafted by the Vikings in the fourth-round out of Florida State. Minnesota re-signed Everson Griffen earlier this morning, perhaps partially due to this injury.

Packers Cut Kamal Martin

August 23rd, 2021 at 1:49pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

As teams trim their rosters down to the required 80 players, the Packers have made a notable cut. Green Bay has waived linebacker Kamal Martin, a source told Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Martin was a fifth-round pick of the team just last year, and his release raised plenty of eyebrows. Numerous Packers beat writers were quick to express surprise that Martin wasn’t even able to make it to final cuts. The Minnesota product was running with the ones for a lot of last offseason, and he started six games for the Pack in 2020.

It is pretty rare for a guy to go from six-game starter to released well before final cuts in the span of one year, especially when there was no coaching change with the team. Martin had 24 tackles, three for a loss, and one sack in 10 games last year.

Normally an inside linebacker, the team was trying him out at outside linebacker earlier this training camp, which in hindsight would’ve been a sign he was battling for his roster spot.

Jets’ Jarrad Davis To Miss Time

August 23rd, 2021 at 12:41pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Another week, another brutal blow to the Jets’ defense. Last week it was pass-rusher Carl Lawson tearing his Achilles, and now one of New York’s other big offseason acquisitions is hitting the shelf.

Linebacker Jarrad Davis has an ankle injury that will keep him out until some time around the Jets’ bye week, rookie head coach Robert Saleh announced Monday. Fortunately it’s not a season-ender like Lawson’s, but it’s still a tough break. Davis, who went down during the team’s preseason game against the Packers over the weekend, was supposed to be a starter. Saleh announced that rookie fifth-round pick Jamien Sherwood would slide into the starting lineup to replace him while he’s out.

The 21st pick of the 2017 draft by the Lions, Davis didn’t quite live up to first-round expectations in Detroit. He saw his fifth-year option get declined, and became a free agent after four seasons with the team. The Florida product then inked a one-year, $5.5MM pact with the Jets this offseason.

That deal apparently almost never happened, because Davis revealed just a few weeks ago that he considered walking away from the game and retiring. He went on to say that he felt rejuvenated playing for Saleh and his 4-3 defense where he felt like a better fit, so this injury is especially disappointing.

New York underwent a lot of change this offseason, with a new coach, new quarterback, and overhauled defense. Health issues are the last thing they needed as they enter a 2021 campaign with lots of uncertainty.

Chiefs Cut Taco Charlton, Will Parks

August 23rd, 2021 at 11:14am CST by Zachary Links

The Chiefs have released defensive end Taco Charlton, defensive back Will Parks, and guard Bryan Witzmann, per a club announcement. They’ve also waived linebacker Riley Cole and quarterback Anthony Gordon, bringing them down to an 80-man roster in advance of tomorrow’s deadline.

Despite entering the league as a seventh-round pick, Parks has seen considerable playing time as a pro. He spent most of his career with the Broncos before moving on to the Eagles in 2020. Injuries led to Parks’ release in December, bringing him back to the Broncos. Parks missed six games last year, but previous to that, he was only scratched for two. He’s been with the Chiefs since May — now, he’ll have to hook on elsewhere.

Charlton, a highly-touted first-round pick of the Cowboys, flamed out quickly in Dallas. After just two-plus years with the Cowboys, he moved on to the Dolphins and did his best work in 2019 — five sacks in ten games. He had a decent 2020 with the Chiefs too, up until he broke his leg in November. He finished out with two sacks, four quarterback hits, and a forced fumble for KC. However, the 26-year-old (27 in November) wasn’t able to make the cut.

Seahawks’ Ben Burr-Kirven Done For Year

August 23rd, 2021 at 9:44am CST by Zachary Links

Seahawks linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven has suffered a torn ACL (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). It’s a tough blow for the former fifth-rounder, who was in the midst of a solid camp.

Burr-Kirven went down during the opening kickoff of the Seahawks’ 30-3 loss to the Broncos on Saturday night. His Monday morning MRI confirmed the team’s fears — a serious knee injury that will force him to spend 2021 rehabbing.

“Both those guys got hurt seriously,’’ said head coach Pete Carroll, referring to Burr-Kirven and receiver John Ursua. “And it breaks your heart. This is a rough game and sometimes it takes a toll. Those two kids are hurting, so we’ll see what happens with them. But it’s going to be a while.’’

Like Ursua, Burr-Kirven will be placed on injured reserve. The Seahawks may need to find outside help to replace the ‘backer — Cody Barton stands as the only other reserve ILB with experience. Otherwise, the Seahawks may need to rely on fullback Nick Bellore to work at his original position. Fortunately, there are some quality options still available, including old pal K.J. Wright.