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Arturo Uzdavinis

Colts Down To 53

September 2nd, 2017 at 3:47pm CST by Zachary Links

The Colts made major news on Saturday when they shipped wide receiver Phillip Dorsett to the Patriots in exchange for quarterback Jacoby Brissett. After that, they had the daunting task of bringing their bloated preseason roster down to the 53-man max in time for the deadline. Here’s the complete rundown.

Waived:

Waived/Injured:

Released:

Placed On IR:

PUP List:

Richardson, who once had a prominent role with the Rams, joined the Colts on Aug. 29 and was viewed as a longshot to make the final cut.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/2/17

August 2nd, 2017 at 5:30pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Wednesday’s minor NFL transactions:

  • The Seahawks waived long snapper Nolan Frese, who appeared in all 16 of their regular-season games a year ago. An ankle injury kept the then-rookie out of action for the Seahawks’ two playoff contests, and Tyler Ott took over in Frese’s stead. Ott will again grab the reins with Frese out of the picture.
  • The Jaguars added running back Tyler Gaffney, who’s on his third club since Carolina used a sixth-round pick on him in 2014. The ex-Stanford rusher hadn’t caught on anywhere since New England cut him in March, which wasn’t the first time the Patriots parted with him. Gaffney was with the Pats in each of the previous three summers, though he failed to crack their season-opening roster in any of those years. He vacillated between the Pats’ active roster and practice squad last season.
  • The Panthers signed cornerback Devonte Johnson and waived wide receiver Cameron Posey. Johnson signed with the Falcons as an undrafted free agent in May 2016, and the former Weber State corner went on to spend time on their practice squad last year. He then had a brief stint with the Steelers this offseason. Posey, meanwhile, had only been a Panther since mid-June. He joined them as an undrafted free agent from Purdue.
  • The Buccaneers signed wide receiver Shaq Hill and waived recently added rookie wideout Jhajuan Seales. Hill was a Texan for a short period during the spring, when he signed with them as an undrafted free agent out of Eastern Washington. Seales will now look for his third team since going undrafted from Oklahoma State. He initially signed with the Bears, who cut him, and then hooked on with the Bucs this past weekend. The union proved to be fleeting.
  • The Colts signed offensive tackle and Arturo Uzdavinis and waived fellow OT Jerry Ugokwe. Uzdavinis is up to his sixth club since he went undrafted from Tulane a year ago, having previously been with the Texans, Bears, Jaguars, Lions and Vikings. Ugokwe’s time with the Colts is up after nearly three months. The undrafted rookie from William & Mary inked a deal with them May 4.
  • The Eagles cut cornerback Randall Goforth after reaching an injury settlement. Goforth, a rookie UDFA from UCLA, suffered a season-ending ACL tear last week.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/26/17

July 26th, 2017 at 5:12pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Wednesday’s minor moves:

  • The Saints have waived running back Marcus Murphy and moved offensive lineman Chris Watt to the reserved/retired list, tweets Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com. Murphy, whom the Saints chose in the seventh round of the 2015 draft, served almost exclusively as a return man over his first two years, but he became superfluous to the team thanks to its offseason additions of Ted Ginn Jr. and Alvin Kamara. Watt signed with the Saints just over a month ago and looked like a candidate to function as interior O-line depth. That won’t be the case, though. The 26-year-old entered the NFL as a third-rounder of the Chargers in 2014 and started in eight of 17 appearances with them through last season.
  • The Jets have cut wide receiver Devin Street, per Clarence Hill Jr. of the Star-Telegram (on Twitter). New York will use Street’s old roster spot on Lucky Whitehead, whom it claimed off waivers from Dallas on Wednesday. A three-year veteran, Street was teammates with Whitehead when the two were on the Cowboys in 2015. Street was a member of the Colts last season, when he totaled five appearances and one catch. Indianapolis cut Street after the season, and both the Patriots and Jets have since waived him after short stints.
  • Safety Ricardo Allen has signed his exclusive rights free agent tender with the Falcons, who have waived undrafted offensive lineman Cam Keizer. Allen, a fifth-rounder in 2014, has emerged as an integral cog in Atlanta, having started in 30 of 31 appearances and picking off five passes since debuting in 2015. He racked up 90 tackles and two picks across 16 starts and a team-high 1,101 defensive snaps last year.
  • The Vikings have signed cornerback Sam Brown and waived offensive tackle Arturo Uzdavinis. Brown spent some time last year with the Ravens, who signed him as an undrafted free agent from Missouri Western State, but didn’t see any action. Uzdavinis just signed with the Vikings on Monday. They quickly became the fifth former team for the 2016 undrafted free agent from Tulane, who previously spent time with the Texans, Bears, Jaguars and Lions.
  • The Patriots have added defensive end Caleb Kidder, an undrafted rookie from Montana. Kidder previously had a brief stint with Minnesota, which cut him last week.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/24/17

July 24th, 2017 at 8:06pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

  • The Vikings have signed tackle Arturo Uzdavinis, bringing their roster back up to the 90-man max. The former undrafted rookie out of Tulane has bounced around since joining the league, previously spending time with the Texans, Bears, Jaguars, and Lions. The Vikings are currently rostering six other offensive tackles in Riley Reiff, Mike Remmers, Jeremiah Sirles, T.J. Clemmings, Rashod Hill, and Willie Beavers.
  • The Broncos have waived linebacker Josh Banderas with a non-football injury designation, reports Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post (via Twitter). The former Nebraska standout joined the organization as an undrafted free agent earlier this offseason. The defender earned All-Big Ten Coaches and Media honors in 2016 after compiling 93 tackles.
  • The Eagles announced (via Twitter) that they have signed tight end Adam Zaruba to a three-year contract. Zaruba, who played rugby in Canada, is coming off of a successful audition with Philly. The 6-foot-5, 265-pound player is set to compete with Zach Ertz, Trey Burton, Brent Celek, Anthony Denham, and Billy Brown for a spot on the roster. According to Zach Berman of The Philadelphia Inquirer (on Twitter), despite working out with the team on Sunday, Zaruba can’t return to the Eagles until he is granted a visa.

Lions Acquire Greg Robinson, Sign Cyrus Kouandjio

June 15th, 2017 at 8:24am CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Lions have acquired offensive tackle Greg Robinson from the Rams for a sixth-round pick in 2018, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Additionally, Detroit has signed free agent offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandjio, according to ESPN’s Field Yates (Twitter links).

Greg Robinson (vertical)

Both Robinson and Kouandjio will compete to start at left tackle for the Lions, head coach Jim Caldwell announced. The position became a concern for the Lions when stalwart Taylor Decker suffered a torn labrum during organized team activities, thereby creating an obvious need opposite big-money right tackle Ricky Wagner.

Like Decker, a first-round pick last year, both Robinson and Kouandjio were high selections in recent drafts. However, neither has established himself as a quality NFLer. Robinson disappointed in St. Louis and Los Angeles after going second overall in the 2014 draft, which led the Rams to decline his fifth-year option for 2018 before dealing him. Robinson does come with plenty of experience, having started in 42 of 46 appearances (including all 14 in 2016), though Pro Football Focus ranked him among the league’s worst tackles in each of his first three seasons. He’s due a $3.3MM salary as he enters the final year of his contract.

Kouandjio was in the same draft class as Robinson, and the second-rounder from Alabama is coming off a three-year stint in Buffalo that saw him appear in just 25 of a possible 48 games. He only started in seven of those contests, including a career-high five last year, when PFF placed him a solid 34th among 78 qualified tackles. Despite his recent output, the Bills waived Kouandjio in May after an odd off-field incident in April. The 23-year-old was found partially undressed in a field in Elma, N.Y., not far from the scene of a car accident and taken to a nearby hospital, though he wasn’t arrested.

To create roster space for its two newest players, Detroit waived long snapper Jimmy Landes and tackle Arturo Uzdavinis, per Tim Twentyman of the team’s website (on Twitter).

Minor NFC Transactions: 5/15/17

May 15th, 2017 at 5:49pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier today, we rounded up some minor moves out of the AFC. In the interest of equal time, we turn our attention to the NFC:

  • The Rams signed two Northwestern State alums in wide receiver Shakeir Ryan and running back De’Mard Llorens, Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com reports. In addition to the skill-position talents from the Natchitoches, Louisiana-based program, the Rams added another small-school product in Mary Hardin-Baylor linebacker Teidrick Smith. The two Division I-FCS talents and Division III defender will displace two Rams in defensive back Jared Collins and offensive lineman Shaq McMeans, per Gonzalez. Their roster currently houses 89 players.
  • Former Georgia Tech quarterback Justin Thomas signed with the Saints, who also added guard Josh LeRibeus and running back Trey Edmunds, Nick Underhill of The Advocate reports. The 5-foot-11 Thomas operated as a dual-threat quarterback with the Yellowjackets and probably would convert positions for an NFL opportunity. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards as a sophomore in the program’s run-centric offense and threw for 18 touchdown passes that season. In the two subsequent slates, Thomas combined to throw 21 TDs. The son of former Dolphins Pro Bowl tight end Ferrell Edmunds, Trey Edmunds served as a reserve at Virginia Tech and Maryland.
  • On a busy Monday, the Saints signed Drew Iddings, a source tells Underhill (on Twitter). Iddings, a former defensive lineman, will be trying to stick as an offensive guard. The 6-foot-6, 290-pound athlete has no significant experience on offense, but New Orleans believes that the powerful lineman can make a smooth transition. In college at South Dakota, Iddings appeared in 46 games and totaled 149 tackles and eight sacks.
  • The Seahawks cut quarterback Skyler Howard and fullback Brandon Cottom and signed fullback Kyle Coleman and wide receiver Speedy Noil, per a team announcement. Noil entered the draft early out of Texas A&M. He caught just 42 passes combined the past two seasons.
  • Giants signed wide receiver Kevin Snead, a Carson-Newman product, after his tryout. Snead, a former track star, reportedly ran a sub-4.3-second 40-yard-dash. To make room, the team waived offensive lineman Martin Wallace.
  • The Lions have signed free agent offensive tackle Arturo Uzdavinis and waived tackle Pierce Burton.
  • The Vikings signed guard Freddie Tagaloa after a successful rookie minicamp tryout, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
  • The Cardinals signed wide receiver Larry Clark.

Jaguars Sign 16 UDFAs, Cut 11 Players

May 1st, 2017 at 3:46pm CST by Zachary Links

The Jaguars announced that they have signed 16 undrafted free agents. In order to make room, they have released eleven players from the roster. Here’s the full rundown:

Signed:

Released:

Dimick led the Pac-12 in sacks last season with 13.5 and earned a first-team All-Conference selection. Prior to the draft, one NFC West Coast scout told Lance Zierlein of NFL.com that Dimick’s work ethic is admirable, but his lack of natural talent may inhibit him at the next level.

“He’s more try-hard than talented. His effort is great. I love how hard he plays, but when you are as sawed-off as he is on the edge and you can’t unlock your hips, I don’t know how he is going to see the field,” the scout said.

Horton got $25K guaranteed from the Jaguars between his $5K bonus and $20K guaranteed base, Tom Pelissero of USA Today tweets.

The Jags’ roster is now at the 90-man max.

 

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/15/16

November 15th, 2016 at 5:26pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s practice squad moves:

Chicago Bears

Houston Texans

  • Signed: RB Kenny Hilliard

Jacksonville Jaguars

  • Signed: OL Arturo Uzdavinis

New England Patriots

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Redskins

Workout Notes: Pack, Vikes, Chiefs, Giants

November 8th, 2016 at 7:50pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

In addition to the previously reported Joique Bell, the running back-needy Packers worked out fellow rushers James Wilder Jr. and Brandon Wegher on Tuesday, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. Defensive end Arthur Miley and defensive back Brandon Dixon also tried out.

More of the latest workouts (courtesy of Howard Balzer, unless otherwise noted):

Jets Work Out DT Sammie Lee Hill

November 7th, 2016 at 7:06pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Jets auditioned defensive tackles Sammie Lee Hill, Jordan Hill, and Lawrence Virgil, as well as offensive tackle Arturo Uzdavinis today, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link).Sammie Lee Hill (Vertical)

[RELATED: Jets, Broncos Discussed Sheldon Richardson]

Sammie Lee Hill, who will turn 30 years old tomorrow, served a four-game suspension as a free agent earlier this season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. Injuries limited Hill to only 10 games (five starts) with the Titans in 2015, and Tennessee expressed no interest in re-signing him during free agency. No other clubs were knocking down Hill’s door, either, as his only known visit came with the Seahawks in March.

Jordan Hill, meanwhile, was released off Seattle’s injured reserve list earlier this season. Hill, 25, was a key reserve during the 2014 campaign, posting 5.5 sacks, and was a part-time player (10 appearances) last season as well. He’s worked out for several teams since being cut loose by the Seahawks, including the Falcons, Bengals, Redskins, and Colts.

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