J.J. Wilcox

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/20/20

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the day:

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Green Bay Packers

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Waived: WR John Hurst

Tennessee Titans

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/8/20

We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

New England Patriots

  • Signed: TE Paul Quessenberry

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Signed: DB Dante Olson

NFL Workout Updates: 10/6/20

Workout updates stand to be sparser going forward, with Mike Garafolo of NFL.com noting the NFL has moved to, in light of some teams’ recent issues with the coronavirus, cap workouts at five per week (Twitter link). However, the rule will not apply to teams that place more than three players on IR in a week, Garafolo tweets. In those scenarios, teams would be permitted to work out 10 players in a week. That said, here are the top developments from the workout circuit, as of Tuesday evening.

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

New Orleans Saints

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Falcons Release Laquon Treadwell, Slash Roster To 53

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.

Falcons Expected To Re-Sign J.J. Wilcox

The Falcons are expected to re-sign free agent safety J.J. Wilcox, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link). It will be a one-year deal, tweets Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. Wilcox will first need to pass both a physical and a COVID-19 test. 

Wilcox, 29, originally signed with Atlanta last spring, but a torn ACL prematurely ended his season in July. Presumably, he’s know healthy enough to resume play in 2020. A third-round pick in the 2013 draft, Wilcox began his career with the Cowboys (appearing in 58 games over four years), but has since bounced around the league, spending time with the Buccaneers, Steelers, Jets, and Colts.

Atlanta is already three-deep at safety with Ricardo Allen, Keanu Neal, and Damontae Kazee, so Wilcox will likely be viewed as depth. However, he boasts enough experience that he could be called into action due to injuries on the Falcons’ depth chart.

Falcons S J.J. Wilcox Tears ACL

The Falcons have dealt with extensive injury trouble at the safety position recently, and they lost one for the season on Monday.

J.J. Wilcox agreed to an Atlanta deal in April but may end up never putting on a Falcons game uniform. Wilcox suffered a torn ACL on the first day of Falcons training camp, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Although he had a second opinion scheduled, head coach Dan Quinn confirmed that it is indeed a season-ender (via Will McFadden of AtlantaFalcons.com). The team has placed Wilcox on the reserve/injured list.

Wilcox’s injury comes after a season that saw the Falcons lose both starting safeties — Keanu Neal and Ricardo Allen — to season-ending maladies in September. A former Cowboys starter who has played a depth role with the Steelers, Jets and Colts, Wilcox was expected to compete for a Falcons backup job this season. A full-time Dallas starter from 2014-15, the 28-year-old defender played 138 snaps last season.

Despite this early setback, the Falcons still boast experience at safety. Because of the injuries to Neal and Allen last season, backups Damontae Kazee and Sharrod Neasman received extensive work in 2018. Kazee graded as a top-20 safety, per Pro Football Focus. Both he and Neasman remain on the roster.

Falcons Sign J.J. Wilcox

On Monday, the Falcons announced the signing of safety J.J. Wilcox to a one-year deal. Wilcox, 28, played for both the Colts and Jets in 2018.

Wilcox hooked on with the Jets in June of last year and appeared in five games before being released in October. Later on, he saw time in two regular season games with the Colts, plus one playoff contest.

His most notable run came with the Cowboys, where he started 38 games as a safety and recorded 212 tackles, 15 pass defenses, five interceptions, and three fumble recoveries across four seasons.

This year, the Falcons will return safeties Ricardo Allen, Keanu Neal, Damontae Kazee, and Sharrod Neasman. They’ve also added Chris Cooper and Afolabi Laguda, but Wilcox will fight for his spot and playing time in camp.

Colts Sign J.J. Wilcox

The Colts signed free agent safety J.J. Wilcox, according to a team announcement. In related moves, the club placed linebacker Skai Moore (neck) and defensive lineman Al Woods (foot) on injured reserve. 

Wilcox, 6’0″, 212-pound veteran, has 75 career games to his credit with the Jets (2018), Steelers (2017) and Cowboys (2013-16). He didn’t do much for the Jets in his five games this season, but he’ll look to rebuild his stock for a Colts team that is pushing to make the playoffs.

Woods, 31, left the Titans in March of 2017 to sign with their divisional rival. This is the final year of his two-year, $5MM deal, so it’s possible that he has played his final game for Indianapolis. Before the foot injury, Woods appeared in all 14 games (eight starts) for the Colts and tallied 24 tackles, a tackle for loss, and one pass defensed.

If the Colts can top the Giants and Titans in the next two weeks, they’re nearly guaranteed a spot in the postseason. These injuries may thin out their defense a bit, but they’re still one of the hottest teams in the league at this juncture.

NFL Workout Updates: 11/13/18

Here’s the latest from the workout circuit. All links go to NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account, unless otherwise noted.

Arizona Cardinals

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Oakland Raiders

Tennessee Titans

NFL Workout Updates: 11/6/18

Today’s workout updates, with all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account unless otherwise noted:

Arizona Cardinals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

  • LB Christian Kuntz

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

Oakland Raiders

  • T Roubbens Joseph (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle)

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Redskins