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Chris Boswell

Minor NFL Transactions: 2/2/17

February 2nd, 2017 at 8:15pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s minor moves:

  • The Steelers announced that they’ve signed long snapper Greg Warren to a one-year deal. While there’s word on the financial details, Warren has signed a minimum salary benefit contract in each of the past few offseasons, so it’s fair to assume he’s agreed to a similar pact. Warren, 35, has served as Pittsburgh’s long snapper since 2005, and has played in 180 career games.
  • The Steelers weren’t done inking new deals with special teamers, as the club has also agreed to a one-year contract with exclusive rights free agent Chris Boswell, tweets James Palmer of NFL.com. As an ERFA, Boswell lacked the ability to negotiate with any other teams unless Pittsburgh waived its rights of first refusal. Acting as the Steelers’ placekicker for the past two seasons, the 25-year-old Boswell has managed an 87.7% career success rate on field goals, and converted all of his extra point attempts in 2016.
  • Former NFL quarterback Ryan Lindley announced (via Twitter) that he’s signed with the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League. Lindley, 27, started six regular season games in two seasons with the Cardinals, and was memorably under center during Arizona’s 2014 playoff contest. After a brief stint with the Colts in 2015, Lindley was out of the league last year.
  • The Jets have agreed to sign former Sacramento State long snapper Josh Latham, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Tanner Purdum is New York’s current long snapper.

AFC North Notes: Steelers, Suisham, Manziel

June 8th, 2016 at 10:52am CST by Zachary Links

Steelers kicker Shaun Suisham is supposed to be in a roster battle with Chris Boswell, but there might not be much of a fight if Suisham doesn’t get healthy soon, as Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes. Suisham says he has yet to recover from a torn ACL that he suffered last year and he has not attempted a kick since then. Now, Suisham isn’t sure if he will be ready for training camp at the end of July.

“Any sort of a battle is not an issue with me right now because I am not healthy,” Suisham said. “I will continue to work to get there, but I don’t know when that will be. I don’t have a time frame. Hopefully, it is for training camp.”

Suisham signed a four-year, $12.5MM extension in 2014, making him one of the top 10 highest-paid kickers in the NFL. The Steelers would save $2.4MM by releasing him. Boswell, meanwhile, makes the NFL minimum $525K.

Here’s more from the AFC North:

Steelers Notes: Suisham, Boykin, Colbert

February 16th, 2016 at 7:22pm CST by Zachary Links

Shaun Suisham spent the season on IR and while he was out, kicker Chris Boswell sank 29 of 32 field goal tries. Will it be out with the old and in with the new for the Steelers? Not quite. Steelers GM Kevin Colbert says the team won’t cut Suisham anytime soon and instead the team will have a kicker competition, as Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets.

“We feel very fortunate we have two kickers to work with. We should have a great competitive situation,” Colbert said (Twitter link via Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).

Here’s more on the Steelers:

  • Colbert said that cornerback Brandon Boykin didn’t play as much as the player and the team anticipated, Dulac tweets. When asked about the free agent, Colbert said, “He helped us down the stretch. He’ll definitely be an option [to re-sign] for us” (link).
  • The feeling is mutual, as Boykin says he’d consider a return. “At the end, the organization said they appreciated how I went about it, being a pro, not really talking about it,” Boykin said (via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com). “I don’t have any hard feelings toward Pittsburgh. Absolutely, under the right circumstances, for sure [I’d return].” Boykin, Pro Football Focus’ 10th-ranked free-agent cornerback (sub req’d), was mainly relegated to special teams duty in 2015. That was a big step down for Boykin who recorded six interceptions with the Eagles in 2013.
  • Colbert says his focus is on keeping talent in-house rather than acquiring it elsewhere (Twitter link via Dulac). “If there is a guy on outside who makes us better we’ll plug him in. Our big play is keeping our own,” the GM said.
  • Colbert says the team’s cap situation “relative to other years is pretty good,” (Twitter link via Dulac). He went on to say that the team doesn’t have to “make a lot of drastic changes.”
  • Earlier today, Colbert indicated to reporters that James Harrison is in the team’s plans for 2016. Soon after, the linebacker’s agent hinted that his client plans to be in camp with Pittsburgh, though other reps of his say things are still up in the air.

Steelers Sign Chris Boswell

October 3rd, 2015 at 1:47pm CST by Ben Levine

1:47pm: Boswell’s deal runs for two years, with the Steelers retaining his rights through the end of 2016, according to Caplan (on Twitter). Although he’s obviously no lock to make it to the end of 2016, considering the volatile status of this spot.

1:35pm: Pittsburgh made it official in cutting Scobee and signing Boswell, per CBSSports.com’s Jason La Canfora (Twitter link). The Steelers will now have more than $6MM worth of commitments to kickers no longer on the active roster, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter).

12:04pm: The Steelers are set to sign kicker Chris Boswell, reports ESPN’s Adam Caplan (via Twitter). It’s uncertain what the signing will mean for incumbent kicker Josh Scobee, who missed a pair of crucial field goals on Thursday night. As Caplan notes in a separate tweet, Boswell will be the team’s fourth kicker this season, as Shaun Suisham and Garrett Hartley are both on the injured reserve.

Boswell has yet to make an NFL appearance after going undrafted out of Rice in 2014. He previously spent time on both the Texans and Giants practice squad. During his four seasons at Rice, the 25-year-old converted 51 of his 67 field goal attempts and 117 of 123 extra point chances.

Scobee was traded to Pittsburgh this offseason after having spent his entire career with the Jaguars. The 2004 fifth-round pick has made over 80-percent of his field goal attempts during his career, which is 23rd among active kickers. In his first season with the Steelers, Scobee has made six of ten field goal attempts and six of his seven extra point chances.

Steelers Release Josh Scobee

October 3rd, 2015 at 1:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

1:41pm: Since no offset language existed in Scobee’s contract, the 12-year veteran is free to recoup the $1.91MM left on his deal on top of whatever he would receive if he signed with another team, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

1:26pm: The other end of the Steelers’ addition of Chris Boswell came down in the form of the team releasing Josh Scobee, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter).

Boswell will serve as Pittsburgh’s fourth kicker in two months, after Shaun Suisham and Garrett Hartley both wound up on injured reserve, inducing the team’s September trade for Scobee.

The longest-tenured kicker in this merry-go-round, Scobee did not have a successful Steelers stint, which culminated in two missed field goals in Thursday night’s overtime loss to the Ravens. Those nationally televised misfires on a windy night led to Mike Tomlin eschewing longer tries for fourth-down conversion attempts, both of which failed.

Scobee, an 11-year member of the Jaguars and the north Florida franchise’s all-time scoring leader, also missed two field goals in the Steelers’ opening-night loss to the Patriots. He missed just eight kicks from 2011-13, but has now missed 10 since the start of the 2014 season.

He fetched a sixth-round pick in the trade, but after a sputtering start will now give way to the least-experienced kicker in this shuffle.

Kai Forbath To Work Out For Steelers

October 2nd, 2015 at 3:13pm CST by Luke Adams

3:13pm: Kicker Chris Boswell will also participate in the Steelers’ kicker audition, according to James Palmer of the NFL Network (Twitter link)

2:18pm: After a pair of missed Josh Scobee field goals paved the way for the Ravens to knock off the Steelers in overtime last night, Pittsburgh is bringing in veteran kicker Kai Forbath for a workout, according to J.P. Finlay of CSNMidAtlantic.com.

Forbath, 28, made 94.4% of his field goals (17 of 18) in his first season with Washington back in 2012, and while he never matched that accuracy mark in subsequent years, his career percentage remains a solid 87.0%. Forbath was cut after Week 1 this season by Washington, with the team signing Dustin Hopkins to take his place.

Since his release, Forbath has worked out for multiple teams, and was said to be the second choice for both the Eagles, who signed Caleb Sturgis, and the Texans, who signed Nick Novak. Perhaps the third audition will be the charm for Forbath, though he’s unlikely to be the only kicker the Steelers consider.

It would be a little surprising if Pittsburgh decides to move on from Scobee, despite his early-season struggles. After Shaun Suisham went down with a season-ending injury, the Steelers sent a sixth-round pick to the Jaguars to acquire Scobee, and his $2.5MM salary for the 2015 season should be fully guaranteed at this point.

Scobee missed field goals of 41 and 49 yards in last night’s loss to the Ravens, his third and fourth missed field goals this year. The 33-year-old also missed an extra point in Week 2.

AFC Notes: Texans, Richardson, Bowe

September 28th, 2015 at 10:19pm CST by Zachary Links

With Randy Bullock looking shaky, the Texans will audition a number of kickers this week, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Houston will take a look at Nick Novak, Connor Barth, Kai Forbath, Chris Boswell, and Giorgio Tavecchio as potential replacements, though it’s not a lock that they’ll sign one of those players.

Here’s more from the AFC..

  • The Jets haven’t heard from the league about more possible discipline for Sheldon Richardson and as of right now, coach Todd Bowles is operating under the assumption that he’ll be back on Monday, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets.
  • Despite the fact that he has yet to make his mark in Cleveland, Browns coach Mike Pettine says the team has not discussed cutting wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer tweets.  Bowe had a $9MM guarantee on his deal and the team expects him to play this season.
  • Jets guard Willie Colon suffered a sprained knee on Sunday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.  Colon will likely be out this week and may miss more time beyond that.
  • Bengals offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth told reporterss, including Coley Harvey of ESPN.com, that length wasn’t the most important factor for him when it came to his extension. Whitworth only wanted to be in Cincinnati again and the length of the deal was apparently secondary.  He admitted that his family and other factors could influence decisions on future deals.  “I want Andy Dalton, A.J. Green, Adam Jones and all these guys to know what it’s like to win a Super Bowl,” Whitworth said (link).

Giants Trim Roster To 53 Players

September 5th, 2015 at 4:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The Giants have been one of the more interesting teams to watch, as cuts are made from 75 players to 53 — New York released several notable veteran players, including wide receiver James Jones, fullback Henry Hynoski, punter Steve Weatherford, and linebackers Jameel McClain and Ashlee Palmer.

In a press release today, the club confirmed those moves, along with the decision to place safety Nat Berhe on injured reserve, and announced the rest of the transactions made to get the roster down to 53 players. Here are those moves:

Released:

  • CB Chykie Brown
  • S Jeromy Miles

Waived:

  • DL Brad Bars
  • K Chris Boswell
  • OL Emmett Cleary
  • DB C.J. Conway
  • OL Sean Donnelly
  • LB Cole Farrand
  • DB Chandler Fenner
  • OL Adam Gettis
  • DL Dominique Hamilton
  • RB Kenneth Harper
  • TE Adrien Robinson
  • WR Julian Talley

Waived/injured:

  • WR Corey Washington (shoulder)

Placed on injured reserve:

  • OL Brett Jones (knee)

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/2/15

September 2nd, 2015 at 3:22pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are today’s minor signings, cuts, and other transactions from around the NFL:

  • The Falcons have made a change on offense, signing offensive lineman Eric Lefeld and waiving wide receiver Bernard Reedy, the team announced today in a press release. Reedy, who joined the Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2014, spent last season on the team’s practice squad.
  • After cutting their roster down to 74 players on Tuesday, the Jaguars have filled the lone opening by re-signing tight end Connor Hamlett, per Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union (Twitter links). O’Halloran adds that the club also reached an injury settlement with wide receiver Greg Jenkins, so he has been removed from the injured reserve list.
  • The Giants also left an open spot on their 75-man roster following Tuesday’s cuts, and they’re using that spot to re-sign kicker Chris Boswell, according to ESPN’s Adam Caplan (Twitter link). As Dan Graziano of ESPN.com notes (via Twitter), Josh Brown has been dealing with a leg injury, so Boswell will handle the job in New York’s final preseason game on Thursday night.
  • The Ravens released linebacker Steven Means (groin) with an injury settlement, as Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun tweets.

Giants Sign Brandon Meriweather

August 16th, 2015 at 4:48pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Giants have signed veteran safety Brandon Meriweather, the club announced. To create a roster spot, New York waived kicker Chris Boswell. The team also announced that it has placed rookie safety Mykkele Thompson on injured reserve.

The Giants had been on the hunt for help in the secondary after injuries to both Thompson and fellow safety Landon Collins. While Collins’ injury isn’t considered as serious as Thompson’s, Collins’ MCL sprain could keep him out for a few weeks, and perhaps the rest of the preseason. At the very least, Meriweather’s presence will give New York some experienced depth while Collins begins his recovery.

Meriweather, 31, had spent the past three season in Washington, where he appeared in 10 games last season. He posted 36 tackles on the season, but was placed on injured reserve in December after suffering a toe injury. The Miami alum was selected in the first round of the 2007 draft by the Patriots, and has also spent time with the Bears. I’d be surprised if Meriweather’s Giants contract was anything more than a minimum salary benefit deal, with little to no guaranteed money.

Because Thompson is not a vested veteran, he’ll continue to count against the Giants’ 90-man roster because he is not a vested veteran.

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