HEADLINES

Dallis Flowers

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/7/24

December 7th, 2024 at 8:17pm CST by Ely Allen

Saturday’s minor transactions, including gameday practice squad elevations:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Eagles starting tight end Dallas Goedert has been placed on injured reserve, so Jenkins will come up from the practice squad for a little added depth.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/15/24

October 15th, 2024 at 6:41pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s NFL practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

  • Signed: T Spencer Rolland

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Amos is far-removed from his days as a full-time starter in the NFC North. With Talanoa Hufanga on injured reserve, though, and only three safeties on the active roster, Amos could have an opportunity to make an impact in the Bay Area.

Colts Waive CB Dallis Flowers

October 7th, 2024 at 11:59am CST by Sam Robinson

Part of a competition to commandeer one of the Colts’ outside cornerback jobs this offseason, Dallis Flowers has fallen out of favor with the team’s coaching staff. The backup corner has tumbled far since losing that summer position battle.

The Colts waived Flowers on Monday and opened up another roster spot by placing guard Will Fries on IR. A starting guard, Fries is set for leg surgery after being carted off during Indianapolis’ latest loss in Jacksonville.

These moves leave the Colts with some roster calls to make, as this move leaves them with only three boundary corners — leaving slot bastion Kenny Moore out of this equation — on the 53-man squad. Gus Bradley‘s defense ranks 29th against the pass.

Flowers started all four games he played for the Colts last season, before an injury shut him down. A JuJu Brents injury impacted the Colts’ CB group in Week 1; the 2023 second-round pick is out for the season. Flowers, a 2022 UDFA, had competed with 2023 seventh-rounder Jaylon Jones to start opposite Brents. Jones won the competition, and among the Colts’ top three boundary corners going into camp, he is now the last man standing.

This Flowers cut comes after he was involved in Brian Thomas Jr.‘s 85-yard touchdown reception in the Jaguars’ 37-34 win. Flowers has played 89 defensive snaps thus far this season. Flowers came to the Colts as a former Division II and NAIA standout, but he now represents the second multiyear Indianapolis CB contributor cut since the team finalized its 53-man roster in late August. Indy waived Darrell Baker to make room for a subsequent Samuel Womack waiver claim. Baker is now with the Titans.

Facing criticism for showing too much faith in their roster this offseason, the Colts resisted outside calls to add at cornerback. They did not draft one, keeping the Brents-Jones-Flowers-Baker setup in place. Three of those cogs are out of the picture now, with veteran Chris Lammons now playing a key role behind Jones and Womack. The August waiver claim moved into the starting lineup following Brents’ injury; Pro Football Focus has viewed the ex-49er’s Indianapolis start well, ranking him sixth at the position. Four corners, including former Cowboys second-rounder Kelvin Joseph, are on the Colts’ practice squad.

Titans Claim CB Darrell Baker Jr.

August 29th, 2024 at 7:31pm CST by Sam Robinson

As they transitioned from Stephon Gilmore‘s one-and-done, they trotted out an unproven cornerback group save for slot ace Kenny Moore. One of the players Indianapolis used as a starter to open the season is now on Tennessee’s roster.

After the Colts waived Darrell Baker Jr. on Wednesday, the Titans submitted a successful claim, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets. Two years remain on Baker’s rookie contract.

Baker initially made Indianapolis’ 53-man roster, but the team subsequently claimed Samuel Womack off waivers from the 49ers. Rather than passing through waivers to a potential Indy practice squad slot, Baker will head to another AFC South team’s 53-man roster.

The Colts opened last season with Baker as a starting corner and gave him five more starts on the outside as the season progressed. Baker was not viewed as a starter coming into camp, and the Indianapolis Star’s Joel Erickson adds 2023 seventh-round pick Jaylon Jones won the job opposite Julius Brents. Baker had been working opposite Dallis Flowers with the Colts’ second-stringers. Baker played 467 defensive snaps last season — after none his rookie year — and Pro Football Focus ranked the former UDFA outside the top 100 at the position.

Tennessee moved on from three-year contributor Elijah Molden via trade and cut bait on Caleb Farley‘s first-round contract. As Dennard Wilson takes over on defense in Nashville, the team added two big-ticket pieces in free agent Chidobe Awuzie and trade pickup L’Jarius Sneed. With Roger McCreary expected to patrol the slot, the Titans look to have Baker en route as a second-string option. The team also rosters fifth-round rookie Jarvis Brownlee at the position.

The Titans also signed Nick Vannett from their practice squad and placed fourth-round rookie linebacker Cedric Gray on IR, Wilson adds,

Jaylon Jones, Dallis Flowers Vying For Colts Starting CB Job; JuJu Brents Likely To Start

July 4th, 2024 at 10:40am CST by Sam Robinson

An early-May report indicated the Colts could be in the market for veteran help in the secondary. Boundary cornerback would seemingly be the team’s focus here. In between the offseason program and training camp, however, no such signing transpired.

The Colts, who ranked 28th in pass defense last season, included slot ace Kenny Moore among their spate of re-signings but have questions about both outside cornerback posts. One of those spots looks to be earmarked for JuJu Brents, per The Athletic’s James Boyd, but the other position will bring competition (subscription required).

[RELATED: Nick Cross In Lead For Starting S Role]

Brents may not be a true lock to start, but the Colts chose him in the 2023 second round and used him as an eight-game starter last season. Brents was sidelined for two extended stretches, though he did suit up for the team’s final four games. Pro Football Focus slotted Brents 66th among corners last season.

Opposite the Indianapolis native, the Colts feature uncertainty. The team drafted two corners, selecting Jaylin Simpson in Round 5 and Micah Abraham in Round 6, but Boyd points to Jaylon Jones and Dallis Flowers as the primary competitors for the boundary job opposite Brents.

A 10-game starter last season, Jones worked with the first-stringers for most of the Colts’ offseason workouts. The team drafted Jones in the 2023 seventh round, and the Texas A&M product made the quick move into the starting lineup. Brents missing eight games and Flowers going down with an Achilles tear in early October contributed to this, and PFF ranked Jones 94th last season. He was charged with five touchdowns allowed. Flowers made five starts in two seasons, working behind Stephon Gilmore and the Isaiah Rodgers–Brandon Facyson tandem in 2022, but the Division II product was working with the starters each week before going down last year.

The Colts clearly believe in their current nucleus, as their batch of re-signings and extensions — headlined by the likes of Moore, Julian Blackmon, Michael Pittman Jr., DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart — illustrate, but the team having employed Moore and still ranking in the bottom five in pass defense seems to point toward a deficiency at a rather key area.

Options are limited, as could be expected, weeks away from camp. Xavien Howard is not expected to be a Colts consideration, Boyd adds, due to the the civil suit that came up since his Dolphins release. Another potential option, Steven Nelson, retired after nine seasons. Adoree’ Jackson remains available ahead of his age-29 campaign, as does Gilmore, who will turn 34 in September. Patrick Peterson is also available ahead of his age-34 season.

Indy only has two non-homegrown players — Buckner and Samson Ebukam — projected to start (Moore technically counts, as a Patriots UDFA, but he was a Colt before his rookie season started). In the free agency era, that is obviously a rather low number. As of now, the team is preparing to roll out an entirely homegrown secondary. The Flowers-Jones competition may change that, but for the time being, Indy’s inward-focused plan extends to cornerback.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/3/23

October 3rd, 2023 at 7:18pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Tennessee Titans

Colts CB Dallis Flowers Out For Season

October 2nd, 2023 at 3:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

Already dealt an unexpected blow when Isaiah Rodgers‘ gambling suspension surfaced after the draft, the Colts’ cornerback contingent sustained another loss Sunday. Dallis Flowers will not return this season.

The second-year corner suffered a torn Achilles, Shane Steichen said (via ESPN.com’s Stephen Holder). Flowers emerged as a starter during the preseason and had opened each of Indianapolis’ four games as a first-stringer on the boundary.

Flowers joined Julius Brents as Indy’s outside starters alongside slot staple Kenny Moore. The Moore-fronted group went through major changes this offseason, when the team traded Stephon Gilmore to the Cowboys and let Brandon Facyson walk in free agency. Found to have bet on Colts games, Rodgers incurred an indefinite ban and hit waivers soon after the suspension surfaced. Rodgers is now with the Eagles, who will attempt to see if he can contribute — pending reinstatement — once his contract tolls to 2024.

A Division II product out of Pittsburg State, Flowers arrived in Indiana as a UDFA last year. The 26-year-old defender started one game in 2022, working as a kick returner and backup defender. This year, he lined up on 99% of the team’s defensive snaps. Pro Football Focus ranked Flowers just outside the top 40 at the position. An extensive rehab effort will need to take place before the 6-foot-1 defender can resume his on-field growth.

Beyond Moore, the Colts are inexperienced at this position. Second-year UDFA Darrell Baker appears to be the next man up, having played 110 defensive snaps thus far this season. Brents replaced Baker in the lineup, after the latter opened the season as a starter. PFF ranks Baker as the league’s second-worst corner through four games; he might have a second chance soon. Seventh-round rookie Jaylon Jones looms as an option, and sixth-year veteran Tony Brown (four career starts) are also on Indy’s 53-man roster.

Colts Cut Roster Down To 53

August 30th, 2022 at 9:07pm CST by Ely Allen

Indianapolis has made a couple headline moves, but, most notably, succeeded in trimming their roster down to 53 players today. Here are the moves that helped them get down to the limit today:

Activated from active/physically unable to perform:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

The biggest stories of the day for the Colts come in the linebacking corps. In addition to adding star linebacker Leonard off the PUP, Indianapolis acquired second-year player Grant Stuard in a trade with Tampa Bay today. Stuard was primarily a special teamer with the Buccaneers last year, playing in every game as a rookie. He’ll go from one stacked linebacker room to another, likely backing up Leonard upon his arrival.

The Colts have quite an interesting rookie class. A sixth-round defensive tackle, Brooks is the only drafted rookie not to make the final roster besides sixth-round tight end Andrew Ogletree who will start his NFL career on injured reserve. None of this is spectacular, though. The interesting part is that Indianapolis will roster four undrafted rookies to start the 2022 NFL season.

Former SMU safety Trevor Denbow finds his way onto the initial 53 after leading the NFL this preseason with five special teams tackles. Cornerback Dallis Flowers can also thank his special teams value as his athleticism was supplemented by a 53-yard kickoff return to help him make the team out of Pitt State. Former Cornhusker JoJo Domann joins Leonard and Stuard in the linebackers room. And the French-Fries offensive line combination stays alive as Wesley French makes the final roster out of Western Michigan.

There were a number of other players who have special teams’ ability to thank for their roster spot in addition to Denbow and Flowers. Running back Deon Jackson played on all punt/kick return/coverage units for the Colts last year, earning him a tightly contested roster spot over Lindsay and Williams. Cornerback Tony Brown was the team’s highest-graded special teams player in the preseason, according to Pro Football Focus, and safety Rodney Thomas II played the third-most special teams snaps on the team.

Finally, the biggest performer of the Colts’ preseason was likely quarterback Sam Ehlinger whose stellar preseason led Indianapolis to roster three quarterbacks going into the season. The former-Longhorn’s impressive preseason play helped him earn a spot on the initial roster despite the Colts already rostering starter Matt Ryan and one of the league’s top backup quarterbacks in Nick Foles.

The Colts will have the opportunity tomorrow to announce any moves to form their 16-man practice squad. Players cut today who have not vested will have to clear waivers before returning to the team.