Nate Theaker News & Rumors

East Notes: Eagles, Dolphins, Timmons, Pats

Now that Darren Sproles is out for the rest of the season with a broken arm/torn ACL, the Eagles will add another running back in the coming days, head coach Doug Pederson told reporters, including Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com (Twitter link). Byron Marshall, who’s spent most of the past year-plus on Philadelphia’s practice squad, is presumably one option to join an Eagles backfield that currently consists of LeGarrette Blount, Wendell Smallwood, and Corey Clement. If Philadelphia wants to scour the free agent market, the club will find options such as Shaun Draughn, C.J. Spiller, Travaris Cadet, and former Eagle Kenjon Barner, all of whom could help replace the pass-catching prowess of Sproles.

Here’s more from the NFL’s two East divisions:

  • Lawrence Timmons is now in limbo after going AWOL and being suspended by the Dolphins, but his agent Drew Rosenhaus is “cautiously optimistic” the veteran linebacker will be able to return to Miami, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Dolphins head coach Adam Gase seemingly opened the window for Timmons last week, indicating that his situation could be forgiven. Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reported Sunday that Timmons visited his former club — the Steelers — during Miami’s Week 1 bye and expressed regret for signing with the Dolphins this spring.
  • The Patriots worked out offensive linemen Gino Gradkowski, Nate Theaker, and Earl Watford, plus defensive back Harold Jones-Quartey, on Monday, tweets Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. The auditions of Gradkowski and Watford are particularly notable, as both offer plenty of experience and would given New England depth on the offensive line interior. The Patriots only listed tackle Marcus Cannon on last week’s injury report, however, so instead of searching for injury replacements, New England was likely just updating its emergency list of free agents.
  • In case you missed it, the Redskins worked out free agent safety Shamarko Thomas today. Thomas, who has spent his entire career with the Steelers, has 48 games of experience under his belt.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/19/17

Today’s practice squad updates:

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

  • Signed: S Jameill Showers
  • Released: G Nate Theaker

Indianapolis Colts

  • Signed: WR Cyril Grayson Jr.
  • Released: WR Fred Brown

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC East

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC East teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Cowboys, Giants, Eagles, and Redskins are noted below.

Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s NFC East transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

Dallas Cowboys

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Redskins

Cowboys Trim Roster To 53

The Cowboys navigated the busy cut week and moved down to the 53-man limit. Here are the players Dallas removed from its roster to reach the regular-season standard.

Released:

Waived:

Placed on Reserved/Suspended list:

Placed on IR:

Cowboys Sign 2 Quarterbacks

The Cowboys have added a host of undrafted free agents, including two quarterbacks. Here’s the full list plus some details on the team’s newest signal callers:

Appleby started out at Purdue but transferred to Florida for his final collegiate season. In 2016, he threw for ten touchdowns against seven interceptions with a 60.8% completion percentage in his nine games. It probably wasn’t as strong of a showing as he would have liked before shifting his focus to the NFL. Rush, meanwhile, started in all four seasons at Central Michigan and received high praise for his football IQ during the draft process.

Both players will compete for a spot behind Dak Prescott and Kellen Moore. It’s not clear whether the Cowboys want to carry three QBs on the roster, but it helps that the team did not select any QBs in the draft.

Jarwin will received a higher-than-average bonus of $15K, per Tom Pelissero of USA Today (on Twitter).