HEADLINES

Month: September 2024

Giants Move Down To 53-Man Limit

August 31st, 2021 at 3:30pm CST by Sam Robinson

The deadline for teams to trim their rosters to the 53-man regular-season limit just passed. Here is how the Giants slashed their roster:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on reserve/PUP list:

Placed on IR:

The bevy of O-line cuts come after the Giants made two trades to bolster their front, with Wiggins, Slade and Harrison failing to dissuade the team from making those trades. New York acquired center Billy Price and guard Ben Bredeson. Wiggins is a nine-year vet who previously was a full-time starter with the Chargers and Lions. A former Colts and Jets starter, Harrison has played six seasons. He signed with the Giants in January. Veterans of all experience levels can catch on with teams’ practice squads; six players of unlimited experience are eligible per P-squad.

Larsen’s season is over, with the Giants anyway. IR-return moves only apply if a team carried a player through to its 53-man roster. While Kreiter appears on Big Blue’s cut list, the team is expected to re-sign the veteran snapper. A third-round rookie, Robinson underwent core muscle surgery recently. He is out for at least the season’s first six weeks.

Lions Down To 53

August 31st, 2021 at 3:26pm CST by Zachary Links

The Lions have their 53-man roster in place. On Tuesday, the Lions officially cut:

Released

Waived

Placed on Reserve/Suspended

The Lions will carry three quarterbacks for now in Jard Goff, Tim Boyle, and David Blough. Boyle is currently dealing with an injured thumb, which will keep him sidelined for two months. But, in order to hang on to him and dress him ASAP, they’ll have to carry him on their initial 53-man roster. Fortunately, Goff has proven largely durable during his five-year career. He did not miss a start due to injury until late last season, when a thumb surgery sidelined him.

Bengals Down To 53

August 31st, 2021 at 3:20pm CST by Zachary Links

The Bengals are in the books. With less than an hour before the deadline, the Bengals announced a series of roster cuts to take them down to 53. Here’s the full rundown:

Placed on Reserve/Non-Football Injury list:

Placed on Reserve/Injured list:

Released:

Waived:

For now, this leaves the Bengals with seven wide receivers on the roster: Ja’Marr Chase, Tyler Boyd, Mike Thomas, Auden Tate, Stanley Morgan Jr., Tee Higgins, and Trenton Irwin. Meanwhile, they’re down a couple starters from last year in Michael Jordan and Mike Daniels.

Panthers Set Initial 53-Man Roster

August 31st, 2021 at 3:17pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Add the Panthers to the list of teams who have officially trimmed their roster down to the required 53 players. Remember this is only the initial roster, so not everybody who was spared Tuesday will make it through to the regular season after the waiver wire frenzy the next few days.

Here’s the list of players Carolina cut on Tuesday:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on season-ending IR

You’ll probably recognize at least a few names on this list, including Bynes, Grier, Kirkwood, and Bonnafon. Bynes is a veteran linebacker with 117 appearances and 63 starts under his belt since entering the league all the way back in 2011. He started all 16 games for the Bengals last year, but it took him until just a few weeks ago to get signed by Carolina.

Grier is the West Virginia product who had a fair amount of buzz coming out of college. Despite some initial talk that he could get drafted in the first or second-round, he ended up as a third-round pick in 2019. He ended up starting two games for the Panthers as a rookie, struggling mightily while tossing four interceptions and no touchdowns. Carolina is throwing in the towel after just two seasons, electing to roll with only P.J. Walker behind Sam Darnold. Grier should be able to at least end up on somebody’s practice squad.

Rams To Trade P Corey Bojorquez To Packers

August 31st, 2021 at 3:07pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Rams have made their decision at punter, and it appears All-Pro Johnny Hekker will keep his job. The team found a taker for its other punter as well.

The Packers will acquire Corey Bojorquez from the Rams, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. With the Bills over the past three years, Bojorquez will catch on with another contender this season.

Bojorquez landed in Los Angeles and pushed Hekker, whose roster spot was in jeopardy because of his near-$5MM cap hold. But the four-time first-team All-Pro will go into his 10th season as the Rams’ punter.

This trade stands to install Bojorquez atop Green Bay’s punting hierarchy, shoving aside incumbent J.K. Scott. The former UDFA has been the Packers’ punter for the past three years. Bojorquez’s 50.8 yards per punt, however, led the NFL last season and was more than five yards better than Scott’s average boot.

Jaguars Move Down To 53-Man Roster

August 31st, 2021 at 3:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Jaguars are the latest team to squeeze their roster down to 53 players Tuesday. Here are the players the Urban Meyer-led regime cut to get there:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on reserve/NFI list:

Some big names at wideout appear on this list, and the Jags also released former first-round pick Phillip Dorsett earlier Tuesday. Cooper is a former All-Pro kick returner who has held regular return gigs since that 2017 breakout. The fifth-year role player was the Cardinals’ primary return man in 2019 and filled the same role with the Panthers last season. Like Dorsett, Treadwell arrived as a first-round pick. But the former Vikings draftee has not been able to find steady footing in the league.

Jacksonville drafted Williams in the 2019 third round — two rounds after younger brother Quinnen went to the Jets — but the young linebacker did not start a game in 2020. Luton did, but the Oregon State product did not profile as a steady backup option. The Jags are going with Meyer-era investments Trevor Lawrence and C.J. Beathard at QB. The Wilson move comes after the veteran safety operated as a Jags back-line starter for the past two seasons.

Bears Cut Desmond Trufant

August 31st, 2021 at 2:54pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Bears are letting a big name go in their secondary. Chicago has released veteran cornerback Desmond Trufant, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Schefter notes that Trufant missed the last couple weeks of training camp to be with his family after the unfortunate passing of his father, although it’s not clear if that missed time played any role in the Bears’ decision. Schefter also writes that Trufant is still owed $3.5MM from the Lions for this season, and that he hopes to keep playing with another team.

A first-round pick of the Falcons back in 2013, the Washington product became a quality starter in Atlanta. He was always a full-time starter during his seven seasons with the Falcons, and made the Pro Bowl in 2015. He received a massive payday when the Falcons gave him a five-year, $68.5MM extension in April of 2017.

Cut after the 2019 season, he signed a two-year, $21MM pact with the Lions. Detroit released him back in March after he was limited to six games in 2020 due to injury, with the aforementioned significant guaranteed money still owed to him. Chicago scooped him up just a few days after his release, but he didn’t end up making the team.

It’s a surprising cut considering Trufant won’t turn 31 until next month. It probably won’t be long before he’s able to find a new home.

WFT Down To 53-Man Roster

August 31st, 2021 at 2:38pm CST by Zachary Links

The Washington Football Team has its 53-man roster in place. Today, they waived/released:

The release of Montez leaves three QBs on WFT’s roster — Ryan Fitzpatrick, Taylor Heinicke, and Kyle Allen. Barber — among their previously reported cuts — will exit a group that still includes Antonio Gibson, J.D. McKissic, and UDFA Jaret Patterson.

Ravens Waive K Jake Verity

August 31st, 2021 at 2:33pm CST by Zachary Links

The Ravens have waived kicker Jake Verity (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). Verity probably won’t be out of work for long, given his solid work in the preseason.

Verity, of course, was blocked by Justin Tucker. There are at least a few teams who would probably prefer him to their current options, though the Ravens were unable to turn the UDFA into a future draft choice. On the flipside — interested clubs already knew that there was zero room for Verity on Baltimore’s Week 1 roster. So, instead of giving up a pick, those teams probably decided to wait until today’s deadline.

Defensive end Chris Smith will also be among the Ravens’ cuts today. They’ll have to complete their trimming soon — the 53-man deadline comes at 4pm ET/3pm CT.

Vikings To Trade For Jets TE Chris Herndon

August 31st, 2021 at 2:30pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

In the wake of Irv Smith Jr’s knee injury, the Vikings are making a significant move at tight end. Minnesota is making a trade for the Jets involving draft pick compensation for tight end Chris Herndon. The Jets are sending Herndon and a 2022 sixth-round pick to the Vikings for a 2022 fourth-round pick (via Tom Pelissero on Twitter).

Smith was supposed to take over as the team’s starter after the offseason departure of longtime starter Kyle Rudolph, but we heard just a couple of days ago that Smith was having surgery for a meniscus injury that will sideline him for the early part of the season.

The depth chart got pretty thin after that, so some sort of move was always likely. Herndon was a fourth-round pick of the Jets in 2018, and he flashed major potential as a rookie. In his first year as a pro he put up 502 yards and four touchdowns, very impressive numbers for a rookie tight end.

Unfortunately he was suspended for the first four games of 2019 for a substance abuse policy violation, and then played in only one game that year after hurting himself. He returned to play all 16 games last year, but had only 287 yards as the Jets’ whole passing game struggled.

He’s still only 25 and has always been talked about as a potential breakout guy, so the addition makes a lot of sense for the Vikings. It’s also a big opportunity for Herndon as he’s set to hit free agency for the first time next offseason. The Jets will now move forward with Tyler Kroft as the unquestioned starter at tight end.

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