HEADLINES

Cierre Wood

ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/9/16

March 9th, 2016 at 7:25pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to exclusive-rights free agents. We’ll round up those decisions here:

Tendered

Non-Tendered

Bills Activate IK Enemkpali; Cierre Wood To IR

October 12th, 2015 at 12:52pm CST by Luke Adams

12:52pm: The Bills have officially activated Enemkpali and placed Wood on IR, the team announced in a press release.

12:30pm: The Bills have decided to activate edge defender IK Enemkpali to their 53-man roster in advance of today’s deadline, according to Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (Twitter links). To clear a roster spot for Enemkpali, Buffalo is placing running back Cierre Wood on injured reserve due to an ACL injury.

Enemkpali, who was claimed off waivers by the Bills after the Jets cut him for punching Geno Smith, was briefly moved to Buffalo’s 53-man roster earlier this year so that the team could store him on its reserve/suspended list while he served his four-game suspension. Now that the suspension is up, the Bills had a roster exemption for Enemkpali, giving them several days to decide whether or not to move him to the active roster — that decision was due by this afternoon.

As for Wood, the 24-year-old has seen a little action during the Bills’ last two games, with LeSean McCoy sidelined due to a hamstring issue, and Karlos Williams dealing with a concussion. Buffalo also has Boobie Dixon and Boom Herron on its roster, so adding another running back shouldn’t be necessary, particularly with McCoy and Williams hoping to return soon.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/2/15

October 2nd, 2015 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are today’s minor signings, cuts, and other transactions from around the NFL, as 28 teams prepare for their Week 4 contests….

  • The Rams have cut cornerback Brandon McGee, promoting safety Christian Bryant from their practice squad to take his place, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). McGee didn’t last long on the active roster, having just received a promotion from the taxi squad himself on Tuesday.
  • The Bills have also promoted a player from their practice squad, announcing today that they’ve added running back Cierre Wood to the 53-man roster to provide some depth with LeSean McCoy out this weekend. Buffalo released veteran defensive lineman Andre Fluellen to make room on the roster for Wood, who will act as the club’s third running back in Week 4 behind Karlos Williams and Anthony Dixon.
  • With a number of offensive linemen battling injuries, the Chargers are expected to promote G/T Michael Ola from their practice squad to the 53-man roster, tweets Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The club has yet to make the move official, and would have to remove a player from the roster.

Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC East

September 6th, 2015 at 5:08pm CST by Luke Adams

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 11:00am today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. For the 2014 and 2015 seasons, changes were made to practice squad rules that allow teams to carry eight players instead of 10, and the eligibility requirements for those extra two spots were also loosened. 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:

Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

  • Claimed off waivers:
  • Cut:
  • Signed to practice squad:

New York Jets

  • Signed:
  • Claimed off waivers:
  • Cut:
  • Signed to practice squad (press release):
    • LB Deion Barnes
    • FB Julian Howsare
    • LB Taiwan Jones
    • CB Keon Lyn
    • WR Walter Powell
    • TE Wes Saxton
    • T Wesley Johnson (Twitter link via Adam Caplan)
    • DL Jordan Williams

Bills Release 16 Players, Waive Meeks

September 4th, 2015 at 5:04pm CST by Zachary Links

5:04pm: In addition to their moves earlier today, the Bills have waived safety Jonathan Meeks, ESPN’s Mike Rodak tweets. The Bills attempted to trade Meeks, per Rodak, but were unable to find any takers. Rodak writes that Meeks is a candidate to end up on the Bills’ practice squad if he goes unclaimed on waivers. According to Fox Sports’ Alex Marvez, the Bills tried – and failed – to trade a receiver in order to keep Meeks on their 53-man roster (Twitter link).

1:07pm: The Bills announced that they have cut 16 players, including defensive end IK Enemkpali, as a part of their effort to get down to a 53-man roster. The full list of transactions is below:

Released:

  • OL William Campbell
  • FB John Conner
  • WR Andre Davis
  • DE IK Enemkpali
  • DT Andre Fluellen
  • LB Quentin Groves
  • RB Bronson Hill
  • OL Darryl Johnson
  • OL Alex Kupper
  • DE B.J. Larsen
  • WR Dezmin Lewis
  • CB Merrill Noel
  • WR Tobais Palmer
  • G Cyril Richardson
  • QB Matt Simms (as reported earlier today)
  • RB Cierre Wood

Reserve/NFI List:

  • CB Leodis McKelvin

Waived/Injured:

  • WR Deonte Thompson

Enemkpali is now (and perhaps, forever) best known as the player who punched Jets quarterback Geno Smith, causing him a broken jaw and many weeks on the sidelines. Immediately after the incident, the Jets waived the linebacker/defensive end and old pal Rex Ryan wasted little time in claiming him. Enemkpali only saw the field sparingly in his rookie season, playing 40 defensive snaps and contributing a little on special teams as well.

Groves, 31, appeared in all 16 regular season games for the Titans last season, including three starts. The linebacker, a former second round pick by the Jaguars, has bounced around a bit over the years and despite signing with Buffalo in August, he’ll be looking for a new NFL home once again in 2015.

Fluellen, 30, spent nearly all of his career with the Lions since being drafted by the team in the third round back in 2008. However, he has never played a significant role in Detroit, acting as a part-time contributor over the course of 77 career games (75 with Detroit). In 2014, Fluellen recorded 10 tackles, two sacks, and a fumble recovery in 183 defensive snaps. In June, he hooked on with Buffalo, but his stay in Western New York was brief.

 

Bills Sign Red Bryant

August 19th, 2015 at 9:50am CST by Luke Adams

The Bills have announced a series of transactions, according to Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News, who tweets that the team has signed veteran defensive lineman Red Bryant. In addition to signing Bryant, the Bills also added running back Cierre Wood, cutting tight end Chris Manhertz and cornerback Rod Sweeting.

Bryant, who was among the defensive players to work out for the Bills earlier this week, saw time in all 16 games in his first and only season for the Jaguars in 2014. In total, he racked up 23 tackles to go with one pass deflection and one sack. The 31-year-old graded out as a slightly below-average contributor, according to Pro Football Focus‘ (subscription required) metrics, coming in with a -1.6 grade. Overall, that placed him 31st out of 59 qualified 4-3 defensive ends.

Before his season in Jacksonville, Bryant spent six years with the Seahawks, starting all but one regular-season contest for the team from 2011 to 2013. Although Bryant has been a starter for the last four years, one GM tells Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that the veteran defender is best used in a rotation at this point in his career, perhaps for 20-30 plays per game. That shouldn’t be a problem in Buffalo, where the Bills have plenty of talent on the defensive line, even after taking a few injury hits.

The addition of Wood should help provide depth at another injury-plagued position for the Bills, though it’s not clear if his signing means the team has decided not to sign a veteran like Ray Rice. As I outlined earlier today, Buffalo had been discussing a possible pursuit of Rice, with LeSean McCoy (hamstring), Fred Jackson (hamstring), Anthony Dixon (calf), and Karlos Williams (illness) all battling health issues.

Minor Moves: Saturday

November 15th, 2014 at 10:09pm CST by Dallas Robinson

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

  • Running back Cierre Wood, who signed with the Seahawks‘ practice squad earlier this week, was let go by the team today, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (via Twitter).

Earlier updates:

  • With tight end Brandon Bostick ruled out for tomorrow’s game against the Eagles, the Packers have promoted Justin Perillo from their practice squad to the active roster, according to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (via Twitter). To make room for the incoming tight end, the club has released offensive lineman Jamon Meredith.
  • The Dolphins have placed cornerback Will Davis on injured reserve after he tore his ACL during Sunday’s game, the team announced on Twitter. Davis, a 2013 third-round pick, had been playing on slightly more than 20% of Miami’s defensive snaps. To fill his roster spot, the club has signed CB Jalil Brown, who spent training camp with the Dolphins.

Practice Squad Updates: Tuesday

November 11th, 2014 at 6:11pm CST by Luke Adams

In addition to tweaking their 53-man rosters in preparation for Week 11’s games, teams around the NFL are also making changes to their practice squads. Here are Tuesday’s practice squad signings and cuts:

  • The Browns signed defensive lineman Jamie Meder to their taxi squad, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal (on Twitter). Meder, an Ohio native, was recently cut from the Ravens’ practice squad.
  • Brian McIntyre (on Twitter) has the goods on the Seahawks‘ latest taxi squad moves. Seattle has signed defensive end Ryan Robinson and running back Cierre Wood while placing running back Demitrius Bronson and defensive tackle Julius Warmsley on the IR. Linebacker L.J. Fort, who was being looked at as a possible fullback option, has been released.
  • The Giants released safety Kyle Sebetic from the practice squad, tweets Jordan Raanan of the Star-Ledger.
  • The Packers have re-signed wideout Alex Gillett to their taxi squad, releasing Jordan McCray in a corresponding move, a source tells Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
  • Confirming a Monday report, Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com tweets that center Darren Keyton has formally been added to the Lions‘ practice squad, replacing linebacker Jerrell Harris.

Earlier updates:

  • After placing linebacker Patrick Willis on injured reserve today, the 49ers signed another linebacker, Shayne Skov, to their practice squad, the team announced (via Twitter). Skov, who spent the summer with the Niners, was cut from the Buccaneers’ taxi squad last month.
  • Looking to add depth at the tight end position, the Chiefs not only added Phillip Supernaw to their active roster today, but also signed tight end Adam Schiltz to their practice squad, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Schiltz takes the spot vacated by running back Charcandrick West, who was promoted to the 53-man roster today.
  • The Browns have released defensive lineman Jacobbi McDaniel from their practice squad, leaving an opening on the unit, according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Twitter link).
  • Linebacker Denicos Allen has been cut from the Buccaneers‘ practice squad, per Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com (Twitter link).
  • Amidst a flurry of other roster moves, the Jaguars released cornerback Lou Young from their practice squad today, according to Wilson (via Twitter).

West Notes: Raiders, L.A., Chargers, Cards

October 8th, 2014 at 3:37pm CST by Luke Adams

As rumors swirl about the NFL’s goal of moving not just one but two franchises to Los Angeles in the near future, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report hears that the Raiders – and owner Mark Davis – are open to relocating to the NFC if it means getting a new stadium in L.A. Assuming the league gets its wish and relocates two teams to Los Angeles, the Raiders and Chargers appear to be the two most likely candidates, and having two L.A. teams in the same division wouldn’t be ideal, as Cole explains. We’re still a long ways off from this scenario becoming a reality, but the fact that such a possibility is even being considered suggests that it’s not just a pipe dream.

Let’s round up a few more Wednesday items from around the NFL’s two West divisions….

  • According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), if a team were to move to Los Angeles, possibilities for a temporary home (until a new stadium is built) include Dodger Stadium, the Coliseum, and the Rose Bowl.
  • As they deal with a lack of depth at the linebacker position, the Raiders brought in several veterans for a look, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). Tim Dobbins, Jamar Chaney, and Steve Beauharnais all worked out for Oakland, though Beauharnais has since signed with Washington’s practice squad.
  • The Chargers, who lost Danny Woodhead for the year and have also seen Ryan Mathews and Donald Brown suffer injuries, worked out running backs Cierre Wood and Brennan Clay this week, according to Wilson (via Twitter).
  • A pair of free agent defensive backs, Robert Steeples and Ross Weaver, auditioned for the Cardinals, tweets Wilson.
  • Head coach Pete Carroll indicated today that the Seahawks may make a move to add some depth at center, tweets Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times.

Ravens’ Roster Now At 75 Following Moves

August 25th, 2014 at 12:31pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Ravens’ roster count now sits at 75 in advance of tomorrow’s 3pm cutdown deadline. Baltimore has waived the following players, per a press release:

Additionally, the Ravens have placed DE Kapron Lewis-Moore, G Will Rackley, and DE Brent Urban on injured reserve, ending their respective seasons.