HEADLINES

Chris Barker

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/30/17

July 30th, 2017 at 12:32pm CST by Rory Parks

Here are today’s minor moves:

  • The Panthers have signed safety Damian Parms, per Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer (via Twitter). Parms tried out with the team back in May.
  • The Browns signed offensive lineman Kitt O’Brien, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal tweets that Cleveland waived offensive lineman Chris Barker with an injury designation in a corresponding move. O’Brien, 27, spent the 2013-14 campaigns in the Arena Football League after going undrafted out of Ball State. Subsequently, he latched on with the Colts and spent parts of the past two seasons on Indianapolis’ practice squad. O’Brien has yet to appear in an NFL game.
  • The Dolphins will sign WR Jordan Westerkamp today, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). In four years at Nebraska, Westerkamp posted 167 catches for 2,474 yards and 18 touchdowns, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets.
  • The Jets announced that they’ve signed cornerback David Rivers and waived/injured fellow CB Bryson Keeton. Rivers, a Youngstown State product, went undrafted earlier this year and has already been cut by Green Bay.

Minor NFL Transactions: 5/19/17

May 19th, 2017 at 5:02pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Friday’s minor moves from around the NFL:

  • The Browns have claimed offensive lineman Chris Barker off waivers from the Patriots and waived defensive lineman Gabe Wright. Barker, whom the Patriots cut Thursday, appeared in six of their games from 2013-15. Wright, a fourth-round pick of the Lions in 2015, was in and out of the Cleveland organization last year after joining its practice squad in early September. He ultimately suited up for five of the Browns’ games and picked up four tackles.
  • The Titans have signed a pair of players, wide receiver Darius Jennings and fullback Joe Bacci, and waived receiver K.J. Maye. Jennings spent time with three teams last year, though he didn’t see any regular-season action. As a rookie with Cleveland in 2015, he appeared in four games and caught 14 of 21 targets for 117 yards. Bacci went undrafted out of Central Michigan this year, while Maye went unpicked in 2016. The former Minnesota Golden Gopher was with the Giants last offseason, but they cut him in August and he landed on the Titans’ practice squad in December.

Minor NFL Transactions: 5/18/17

May 18th, 2017 at 4:20pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Thursday’s minor NFL transactions:

  • A week after signing Charles Walker, the Eagles have waived/injured the former Oklahoma defensive tackle, citing a knee ailment. Walker declared for the draft in November, thus ending his career with the Sooners before their season concluded. As a result, he drew widespread criticism – including from head coach Bob Stoops – but Walker explained in a pre-draft letter to teams that a battle with depression was at the root of his decision. Walker also noted that he’s now doing better, but he still ended up going undrafted.
  • The Patriots have waived guard Chris Barker and signed a pair of players – offensive lineman James Ferentz and undrafted free agent tight end Sam Cotton – Mike Reiss of ESPN.com was among those to report (on Twitter). Barker appeared in six games with the Pats from 2013-15. Ferentz, the son of Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz (a friend and former colleague of Bill Belichick‘s), played his college ball with the Hawkeyes and then went undrafted in 2014. He appeared in 20 games, including seven last season, with the Broncos from 2015-16. Cotton, meanwhile, attended Nebraska and posted modest numbers there over the previous four years, catching 17 passes and three touchdowns.
  • The Panthers have claimed defensive tackle Toby Johnson off waivers from the Vikings, tweets Howard Balzer of BalzerFootball.com. Carolina has waived linebacker Kyle Kragen in a corresponding move, reports David Newton of ESPN.com. Johnson, meanwhile, hit the waiver wire on Wednesday, when Minnesota parted with him after he played in two of the team’s games last year.

Patriots Sign Nine To Reserve/Futures Contracts

February 7th, 2017 at 6:45pm CST by Ben Levine

Patriots coach Bill Belichick started a “no days off!” chant during today’s victory parade, and that sentiment was confirmed hours later when the team announced that they had signed the majority of their practice squad to reserve/futures contracts (via Patriots.com):

Rob Housler (Vertical)The team also inked tight end Rob Housler to a contract. The team didn’t sign fullback Glenn Gronkowski or wideout DeAndrew White, although that could change in the coming days or weeks.

Housler is probably the most notable name on the list, as the tight end has five NFL seasons under his belt. The former third-round pick was actually a staple in the Cardinals lineup from 2011 through 2014, averaging nearly 14 games a season. The tight end was especially productive in 2012 and 2013, combining for 84 receptions, 871 yards, and one touchdown in 28 games. Since then, the tight end bounced between the Bears and Browns before sitting out the entire 2016 campaign.

Otherwise, Kilgo has the most experience having played in 18 games for the Broncos between 2015 and 2016. Douglas (16 games, six starts), Barker (five games), Hamilton (three games), and Bates (one game) have also seen the field for at least one NFL game. Both Gaffney and Lucien proved to be intriguing prospects for the Patriots during this past preseason.

Patriots Notes: Lewis, Jackson, Bennett, Butler

October 16th, 2016 at 3:05pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Patriots have made team-friendly extension offers to a number of their pending free agents — including Martellus Bennett, Malcolm Butler, Jamie Collins, Dont’a Hightower, and Logan Ryan — but so far, no player has been interested in putting pen to paper, according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. Given that the salary cap continues to rise, each of these impending free agents figures to cash in the open market, and therefore have little incentive to agree to any offer New England puts on the table.

Here’s more on the Patriots, who are now 5-1 after beating the Bengals today:

  • After opening the year on the physically unable to perform list, running back Dion Lewis is eligible to begin practicing this week. There’s a chance that happens, but it also wouldn’t be surprising for the Patriots to hold Lewis out of game action until after the club’s November bye, writes Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. Lewis has made “positive progress” as he recovers from ACL surgery, per Reiss, but New England will exude caution nonetheless.
  • Offensive lineman Tre’ Jackson also started the season on the PUP list, but he’s closer to returning than is Lewis, reports Reiss. Mason is expected to practice this week, and should be able to play again as soon very soon. In fact, New England’s release of guard Jonathan Cooper may have precipitated by Mason’s health.
  • The Patriots recently gave $52,700 raises to four practice squad players — running back Bishop Sankey, defensive end Geneo Grissom, guard Chris Barker, and defensive tackle Anthony Johnson. For what it’s worth, Grissom and Johnson were then promoted to active roster on Saturday.

Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC East

September 4th, 2016 at 5:53pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC 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 Bills, Dolphins, Patriots, and Jets 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 AFC East transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day (all links go to Twitter unless noted otherwise):

Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Patriots Cut Aaron Dobson, Move To 53

September 3rd, 2016 at 5:05pm CST by Zachary Links

The Patriots have announced the cuts that bring them down to 53, including the waiving of Aaron Dobson.
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Dobson, 25, is a former second-round pick, but he hasn’t done much since joining New England in 2013. In three seasons with the club, the Marshall product has only posted 53 receptions for less than 700 yards. Most of that production came during his rookie season, as Dobson has put up only 16 catches during the past two years. Entering the final year of his rookie deal, Dobson was set to earn about $872K in base salary.

Here’s the list of Patriots cuts so far today:

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/25/16

January 25th, 2016 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are today’s minor transactions from around the NFL, including reserve/futures signings and practice squad moves:

  • Having been eliminated from the postseason, the Patriots began signing their practice squad players to reserve/futures contracts today. Per Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (Twitter link), the following players inked futures deals with New England:
  • The Broncos have the flexibility to continue to make changes to their practice squad since they’re still alive in the playoffs, and apparently did so today by releasing tight end Dan Light from their 10-man unit. Light himself tweeted word of the move this afternoon. To replace Light on their practice squad, the Broncos signed fellow TE Nick Kasa, according to Mike Klis of 9News (via Twitter).

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/19/15

November 19th, 2015 at 4:54pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier today, Washington made an attention-grabbing move when they signed ex-Cowboys running back Christine Michael to the taxi squad.

Michael, who turned 25 last Monday, was acquired by the Cowboys from the Seahawks in a trade earlier this year, and had been expected to get an increased workload after Joseph Randle was demoted and then released. However, it was the veteran, Darren McFadden, who ended up taking many of those carries, prompting Dallas to waive Michael and take a flier on Robert Turbin this week. In five games with the Cowboys, Michael ran for just 51 yards on 15 attempts, adding a single reception for two yards.

Here are the rest of Thursday’s practice squad moves from around the NFL:

Baltimore Ravens

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Oakland Raiders

Washington

  • Cut: RB Mack Brown (Twitter link via Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com)

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/17/15

November 17th, 2015 at 6:50pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Tuesday’s minor transactions from across the NFL:

  • The Dolphins waived center Sam Brenner, as Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald tweets.
  • The Browns waived tight end Rob Housler (hamstring) from injured reserve today, Nate Ulrich of the Beacon Journal tweets.
  • The Patriots waived offensive lineman Chris Barker while promoting wide receiver Chris Harper from the practice squad, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com tweets.

Earlier Updates:

  • The Seahawks have waived wide receiver Chris Matthews, according to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Matthews had just four receptions during his 12 regular-season games with Seattle, matching the four balls he caught in last season’s Super Bowl against the Pats. Per Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (via Twitter), the Seahawks are promoting wide receiver Kevin Smith to the active roster to replace Matthews.
  • The Dolphins will sign linebacker James-Michael Johnson, tweets Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Johnson was just released by the Lions on Saturday, so he didn’t last long on the open market.
  • Speaking of the Lions, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press tweets that, as expected, the club will place cornerback Josh Wilson on injured reserve due to what Jim Caldwell called a “significant” knee injury. Detroit is expected to sign a new cornerback shortly to help solidify a position that has been hit hard by injuries.
  • The Titans have added two players to their 53-man roster, signing wide receiver Tre McBride from their own practice squad, along with wide receiver Andrew Turzilli from the 49ers‘ practice squad (Twitter link via Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com). The two wideouts will take the roster spots vacated by WR Justin Hunter and CB Jason McCourty, who were formally placed on injured reserve today.
  • The Bears have made a change at cornerback, waiving Terrance Mitchell and promoting Jacoby Glenn from their practice squad to fill the newly-opened roster spot, the team announced today (Twitter link).
  • The Chiefs have placed tight end James O’Shaughnessy on injured reserve due to a foot injury, creating an opening for defensive tackle David King, whom Kansas City claimed off waivers from the Seahawks, according to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter).
  • The Giants have waived linebacker James Morris, according to a team release. Morris, who was elevated from the practice squad at the end of October, played on special teams during his brief stint on New York’s 53-man roster.
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