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Injury Rumors: London, Stevenson

August 14th, 2022 at 7:01pm CST by Ely Allen

Here’s the word on some of the injuries from Week 1 of the preseason:

  • The Falcons saw their top draft pick of 2022 leave their first preseason game in the first quarter on Friday. Wide receiver Drake London asked to be subbed out after reeling in a 24-yard pass from quarterback Marcus Mariota. This was the last thing Atlanta fans wanted to see considering London was drafted so highly despite an injury that ended his final season at USC prematurely. Luckily, it doesn’t appear that his college injury was the cause of his exit, according to AP News. London left the game with a knee injury, a different ailment from the broken ankle that sidelined him in college. The Falcons will play it careful with London and allow him time to get back to 100% before the regular season begins. “It’s nothing that we’re really concerned about long term,” head coach Arthur Smith told the media. “We’ll be smart…We hope to get everyone back by the time the regular season rolls around.” It looks like London will sit out this week, at least, and the team will reevaluate on the other side of their Week 2 preseason matchup with the Jets next Monday.
  • The Bills were without wide receiver Marquez Stevenson this week in a preseason game that likely would’ve seen him get plenty of playing time. Head coach Sean McDermott told the media that Stevenson “had surgery to repair a foot injury last week,” likely sidelining him for the remainder of the preseason, according to a tweet from Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic. McDermott seemed to convey that the team was uncertain whether or not he would be ready to begin the regular season. It’ll be interesting to see what effect, if any, this has on the Bills’ final 53-man roster for guys like Tavon Austin, Tanner Gentry, and Jake Kumerow.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/14/22

August 14th, 2022 at 5:00pm CST by Rory Parks

We will keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Green Bay Packers

New England Patriots

  • Signed: CB Devin Hafford

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

The most notable name amongst the Cardinals’ cuts is Keke. The 25-year-old made 17 starts with the Packers over the past two seasons, and was claimed off waivers by the Texans in February. Houston cut him in May, however, leading him to the Cardinals. In the waning months of the offseason, the 2019 fifth-rounder will need to find another NFL home in time for Week 1.

Another recent Packers draftee being let go is Martin. The 2020 fifth-rounder made six appearances last season with Carolina, playing all-but exclusively on special teams. Each of the team’s other roster cuts had yet to play in for the Panthers, including Westry, who had showed potential in 2021 when briefly starting for the Ravens.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/12/22

August 12th, 2022 at 5:40pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s minor transactions:

Buffalo Bills

  • Activated from active/PUP list: DT Eli Ankou

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

  • Released from IR with injury settlement: LB C.J. Avery

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

New Orleans Saints

  • Released from IR with injury settlement: CB Dylan Mabin

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

AFC East Notes: Patriots, Gesicki, Lawson

August 11th, 2022 at 8:02pm CST by Ben Levine

Jake Bailey signed an extension with the Patriots earlier this month, and we’re now getting details on the punter’s new deal. According to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe (on Twitter), Bailey earned a four-year pact worth $13.125MM, with $6.275MM of that deal fully guaranteed.

Bailey got a raise on his 2022 salary, jumping from $3.986MM to $4.5MM. The move lowered his cap number, however, reducing it from $4.058MM to $2.025MM. Next year, Bailey’s cap number will increase to $3.415MM before going to $3.79MM in both 2024 and 2025.

“I’m just so happy and blessed I get a few more years here,” Bailey said last week (via the team’s website). “I was just kind of on the phone with my agent and I was like, ‘Alright, that’s it. We’re good with that,’ and it wasn’t like a crazy big moment. But it was fine and a huge milestone in my life and just thankful God put me in this position.”

The 2019 fifth-round pick out of Stanford has spent his entire career in New England, including a 2020 campaign where he earned first-team All-Pro honors.

More notes out of the AFC East…

  • While you should never put too much stock into preseason depth charts, Volin points out on Twitter that the Patriots‘ initial depth chart shows that the team is committing to Trent Brown at left tackle and Isaiah Wynn at right tackle. The two offensive lineman are swapping positions following a 2021 campaign that mostly saw Wynn at LT and Brown at RT.
  • Mike Gesicki leads the Dolphins in receptions since the beginning of the 2019 campaign, but the tight end may find himself as a secondary target for Tua Tagovailoa in 2022. As Adam H. Beasley of ProFootballNetwork.com points out, Gesicki will likely be fourth in line for targets behind wide receiver Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and Cedrick Wilson. As new head coach Mike McDaniel noted, the offense won’t try to force the ball to the tight end, but there will surely be situations where the team is counting on Gesicki to contribute. “It’s something that we’ve talked to the tight ends about at length — it comes in waves,” McDaniel told Beasley. “There have been practices where he’s got seven or eight … he had more targets maybe Practice 7 — it was 7 or 8 — than Tyreek had. It’s just one of those things that you try in the game of football, especially when you are a pass receiver at any position, to really focus on what you can control. You can’t control the defenses. You can’t control the progression. You can’t control the pass rush.”
  • Veteran defensive end Shaq Lawson is back in Buffalo after re-joining the organization this offseason. Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic expects Lawson to ultimately make the Bills 53-man roster, but he’s fallen behind the likes of A.J. Epenesa and Boogie Basham on the depth chart and will likely serve as the team’s fifth defensive end. The 28-year-old started seven games for the Jets in 2021, collecting 23 tackles and one sack.
  • If Tre’Davious White isn’t ready for the start of the regular season, then there’s a good chance the Bills will be starting a rookie cornerback opposite Dane Jackson. As Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports writes, first-round rookie Kaiir Elam would be a natural choice, but he’s struggled during training camp. As a result, sixth-round rookie Christian Benford could find himself in the starting lineup come Week 1.

This Date In Transactions History: Bills Trade Sammy Watkins, Ronald Darby

August 11th, 2022 at 11:53am CST by Sam Robinson

A few transactions keyed the Bills’ rise from perennial regular-season-only team to one that has been on the Super Bowl contender tier in the 2020s, but August 11, 2017 represents a fairly important date on the franchise’s timeline.

On this day five years ago, the Bills swung two trades. Those deals, one in particular, helped the franchise transform its position in the NFL hierarchy. Shortly before noon CT that day, the Rams acquired Sammy Watkins and a 2018 sixth-round pick in exchange for a 2018 second-round pick and cornerback E.J. Gaines. Minutes later, word emerged that the Eagles had obtained Ronald Darby for a third-round pick and wide receiver Jordan Matthews.

Both Watkins and Darby were Bills starters brought in during Doug Whaley‘s run as general manager, the former as a 2014 first-round pick and the latter via the 2015 second round. The Bills traded up to No. 4 for Watkins in 2014, but the injury concerns that have largely defined the talented pass catcher’s career showed up early. The team got out early on Darby, who had two years remaining on his rookie contract at the time of the trade.

Both have since bounced around the league, though each has made key contributions post-Buffalo. Watkins elevated his value on Sean McVay‘s first Rams team, playing a career-high 15 games in 2017. This led to his signing a then-startling $16MM-per-year Chiefs deal in 2018 and helping Kansas City to back-to-back Super Bowls. Darby started for the Eagles’ Super Bowl LII-winning team in his first Philadelphia season. He has since signed deals with Washington and Denver. The Bills, however, used the trades to position themselves for a quick ascent under Sean McDermott and GM Brandon Beane.

Armed with the two additional Day 2 picks, Beane maneuvered to land the team’s next franchise centerpiece in his first draft as GM. In a rare two-pronged move up the first-round board, the Bills began their April 2018 odyssey by acquiring the No. 12 overall pick. To do so, they packaged veteran left tackle Cordy Glenn in a pre-draft deal with the Bengals. That move featured Glenn, Buffalo’s No. 21 pick and a 2018 fifth-round choice going to Cincinnati for No. 12 and a 2018 sixth. On draft night, Beane flipped the No. 12 selection to the Buccaneers for No. 7. To move into the top 10, the Bills included the pick they obtained for Watkins (No. 56). They traded Nos. 12, 53 and 56 to Tampa Bay for the slot that became Josh Allen, the third quarterback selected in 2018’s five-QB first round.

With the pick from the Darby deal, the Bills chose defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, who became a four-year contributor and part-time starter. Phillips left in free agency this year to sign with the Vikings. Although Matthews and Gaines did not contribute much in Buffalo, the Allen acquisition obviously changed the franchise’s course.

Despite hurting their 2017 roster by dealing away Darby and Watkins, the Bills made a surprise playoff bid that season. While 2018 featured a considerable step back, the team has qualified for the past three AFC brackets. Allen has since become one of the NFL’s top players, leading the team to the 2020 AFC championship game and into the 2021 divisional round. He is locked in through 2028 via a six-year, $258MM extension. This year’s Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson and Kyler Murray deals have bumped Allen’s contract down to fifth among quarterbacks.

Cody Ford On Bills’ Roster Bubble?

August 8th, 2022 at 9:03am CST by Adam La Rose

Expectations were high for offensive lineman Cody Ford when he was drafted in the second round in 2019. After three seasons in Buffalo, however, his level of play has made this year’s training camp one of great importance for his future either with the Bills or elsewhere in the league. 

The Oklahoma product started 15 games at right tackle as a rookie – the position he was widely expected to play throughout his NFL tenure. He surrendered seven sacks en route to a poor PFF grade, though, and was moved inside to guard the following year. In a campaign cut short by injury, he didn’t show the level of improvement many hoped to see.

In 2021, Ford registered a career-low snap percentage of 47%, and only started seven of the 15 contests he appeared in. He ended the season with his lowest PFF grade to date (46.7), and is now strictly viewed as an interior lineman. With one year remaining on his contract, the 25-year-old thus entered the summer with plenty to prove.

However, Ford “has not had a good camp,” per Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic (subscription required). The six-foot-three, 329-pounder’s struggles in practice have reached the point where Buscaglia writes that it “wouldn’t be a surprise” if Ford found himself being traded or cut at the end of August. Other lineman such as David Quessenberry, Greg Mancz and Bobby Hart have outperformed him so far, so preseason performances could go a long way to determining his future.

Moving on from a high draft pick so early in his career would be a disappointing development for the Bills, but the possibility of doing so will be a key storyline to watch through the remainder of the offseason.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/7/22

August 7th, 2022 at 8:05pm CST by Rory Parks

We will keep track of today’s minor moves right here:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Green Bay Packers

Jacksonville Jaguars

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Commanders

Saffold landed on the NFI list after injuring his ribs in a car accident. Getting their starting left guard back sooner rather than later is an important development for the Bills.

Colburn will take the place of Cottrell in the Jags’ RB room. The Wake Forest product played in four games for the USFL’s Philadelphia Stars this year, garnering 102 rushes for 457 yards (just under 4.5 YPC) and eight scores.

Cottrell has seen action in each of the past two years for Jacksonville, returning seven kicks in 2020 and handling one carry in 2021.

Wolf and Parker get preseason roster positions after successful workouts yesterday. The Commanders are looking for depth at both positions as they work towards a 53-man roster.

Bills, FB Reggie Gilliam Agree To Extension

August 7th, 2022 at 8:54am CST by Rory Parks

The Bills have signed FB Reggie Gilliam to a two-year extension worth up to $5.2MM, as Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network was first to report (via Twitter). The team subsequently announced the move.

A 2020 UDFA, Gilliam has seen most of his action on special teams, appearing in 504 third-unit snaps in his first two years in the league (as opposed to just 236 offensive snaps). However, he received high marks for his blocking prowess in his limited time on the offensive side of the ball, with Pro Football Focus assigning him a strong 76.3 grade for run-blocking and a stellar 84.7 pass-blocking grade in 2021.

Although he has lined up in the backfield and as a tight end, Gilliam hasn’t gotten many touches. In his career, he has five catches for 39 yards and a TD, to go along with three carries for three yards.

Still, the Bills clearly value his contributions. We do not yet know how much of the above-referenced $5.2MM payout is guaranteed, but as a former UDFA who plays a position that many NFL teams no longer utilize and who does not see nearly as much burn as better-compensated fullbacks like Kyle Juszczyk and Patrick Ricard, Gilliam appears to have done well for himself.

The soon-to-be 25-year-old was eligible for free agency at season’s end but is now under club control through 2024.

Injury Updates: Patriots, Burrow, Poyer, Giants, Falcons

August 3rd, 2022 at 9:35pm CST by Ben Levine

James White remains without a return timetable. The veteran is still sidelined following hip surgery, and Jeff Howe of The Athletic tweets that it’s uncertain when the long-time Patriots RB will return to the field.

The longest-tenured member of the Patriots offense could ultimately land on PUP, but Howe notes that the organization will wait a few more weeks to evaluate White’s progress. The RB suffered a hip subluxation injury last September, limiting him to only three games during the 2021 season. White had 496 yards from scrimmage during his first non-Tom Brady season in 2020, but he topped 1,000 yards from scrimmage in both 2019 and 2018.

Fortunately for the Patriots, the organization still has Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson atop their depth chart, but it’s tough to replace the pass-catching prowess of White. The organization also used a pair of draft picks on RBs Pierre Strong Jr. (fourth round) and Kevin Harris (sixth round).

More injury notes from around the NFL…

  • Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had an appendectomy last week, and it’s unlikely we see him until the regular season. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweets that Burrow likely won’t play during the preseason. Rapoport estimates that the QB could return two to four weeks after his initially surgery, and he’ll likely participate in throwing sessions while limiting his hits during practice.
  • Bills All-Pro safety Jordan Poyer hyperextended his elbow yesterday, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). While the injury will keep Poyer off the field for a few weeks, he’s expected to be ready for the start of the regular season. The veteran defensive back has only missed a pair of regular season games since joining the Bills in 2017.
  • Giants fourth-round safety Dane Belton suffered a broken collarbone, reports ESPN’s Jordan Raanan (via Twitter). While the rookie will be sidelined for the foreseeable future, the organization is holding out hope that he’ll be good to go for the start of the season. There’s a better chance he lands on IR following final cuts and will then be activated at some point in October. The Iowa product had already made a strong impression at training camp, according to Raanan.
  • Falcons defensive tackle Vincent Taylor ruptured his Achilles, according to ESPN’s Michael Rothstein (on Twitter). The injury will force Taylor to miss the 2022 season. The 28-year-old joined the Falcons back in April. The journeyman has appeared in 40 career games, including a single start with the Texans in 2021.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/30/22

July 30th, 2022 at 5:55pm CST by Ben Levine

We’ll keep track of today’s minor transactions here:

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

Detroit Lions

  • Activated from non-football illness list: OT Dan Skipper

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Rams

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

 

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