Danny Johnson

Commanders To Waive CB Danny Johnson

Danny Johnson has spent his entire career in Washington, being with the team through its two recent name changes. The sixth-year cornerback will now be available for other teams.

The Commanders informed the veteran defender he will be waived, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter. This comes nine months after the team re-signed Johnson to a two-year, $5MM deal. This cut will cost Washington more than $1MM in dead money.

Washington will fill Johnson’s roster spot with another cornerback. The team claimed Kyu Blu Kelly off waivers from the Packers, Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post tweets. A fifth-round Ravens pick this year, Kelly is already on team No. 4. The Ravens, Seahawks and Packers have waived the Stanford product.

Since Johnson re-signed with the team this offseason, significant changes have occurred. Ron Rivera fired DC Jack Del Rio and defensive backs coach Brent Vieselmeyer after a Thanksgiving Day loss. Johnson has been with the team long enough he predates Rivera and Del Rio, however. Among Washington defenders, only Jonathan Allen has been with the team longer. Washington initially picked up Johnson as a UDFA in 2018.

Johnson, 28, has started eight games over the course of his career; four came last season. The 5-foot-9 defender has operated exclusively as a backup this year, though he has played 24% of Washington’s defensive snaps. Johnson’s snap count has tailed off in recent weeks; Johnson has only played more than 11 defensive snaps once since Week 8.

Kelly is six years younger and remains attached to his rookie contract. Three teams have now claimed him. The Seahawks did so in August, and the Packers followed suit in November. Kyu Blu Kelly, the son of ex-Buccaneers Super Bowl-winning cornerback Brian Kelly, has played just one defensive snap over six games this season.

Injury Updates: Cajuste, Armstead, Johnson

Here are some updates on recent injury situations from around the league:

  • After agreeing to an injury settlement yesterday with the Jets, former Patriots offensive tackle Yodny Cajuste is expected to be back to form fairly soon. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2, the former third-round pick is expected to be back to 100 percent in just two weeks. The West Virginia alum disappointed in New England, only starting five games in his first two injury-plagued seasons. With New York struggling with their depth at tackle, getting Cajuste to full health soon could be big.
  • After only recently returning to the field at the turn of the month, Dolphins offensive tackle Terron Armstead received a scare as he was carted off the field yesterday with an apparent lower leg issue. Luckily, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network informed us that Armstead will not require any surgery for the injury and will continue working to be ready to play in Week 1 of the regular season, a goal confirmed by Armstead himself (Twitter).
  • We’ve all seen the viral clips of two teams getting into it at joint practices. There were fights picked recently between the Panthers and Patriots, the Jets and Buccaneers, and the Ravens and Commanders. The last team on that list saw an injury result from the added aggression that tends to come in these unregulated practice environments. Reportedly, Washington cornerback Danny Johnson sustained a shoulder injury when Ravens tight end Mark Andrews allegedly “slammed him to the ground,” per Mike Florio of NBC Sports. Whether the play was overly aggressive or not, it resulted in an injured rotator cuff for Johnson.

Contract Details: Johnson, Penny, White, Okoronkwo, Lewis

Here are some more contract details on deals recently reached around the NFL:

  • Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, DE (Browns): Three years, $19MM. The deal, according to Wilson, includes a guaranteed amount of $12.49MM, $10.83MM of which is guaranteed at signing. That $10.83MM consists of a $5.5MM signing bonus, Okoronkwo’s 2023 base salary of $1.08MM, and his 2024 option bonus of $4.25MM. The remaining $1.66MM of guaranteed money is Okoronkwo’s 2024 base salary, which becomes fully guaranteed on the third league day of the 2024 league year. He also can receive a 2025 option bonus of $3.23MM. The deal includes a $3MM sack incentive and an All-Pro base salary escalator. The team built a potential out into the deal that allows them to release Okoronkwo after 2024 with $6.7MM of dead money but $17.45MM of cap savings over the following five years, four of which are void years in the contract.
  • Mike White, QB (Dolphins): Two years, $8MM. The contract, according to Doug Kyed of AtoZ Sports, includes a guaranteed amount of $4.5MM consisting of a $3.42MM signing bonus and White’s first year base salary of $1.08MM. His second year base salary is worth $3.5MM. The deal includes up to $4MM apiece in playing time and team achievement incentives that up the contract’s maximum value to $16MM.
  • Danny Johnson, CB (Commanders): Two years, $5MM. The contract, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2, includes a guaranteed amount of $2.75MM consisting of a $1.75MM signing bonus and $1MM of Johnson’s first year base salary (worth $1.25MM total). His second year base salary is worth $1.49MM. The deal includes a $1MM annual playing time incentive and a per game active roster bonus of $15,000 for a potential season total of $255,000.
  • Tyquan Lewis, DE (Colts): One year, $2.1MM. The deal, according to Wilson, includes a guaranteed amount of $500,000 from the base salary worth a total of $1.08MM. The contract includes incentives worth up to $1.25MM for sacks, playing time, and playoffs, as well as a per game active roster bonus of $60,000 for a potential season total of $1.02MM.
  • Rashaad Penny, RB (Eagles): One year, $1.35MM. The deal, according to Wilson, has a guaranteed amount of $600,000 composed of a $100,000 signing bonus and $500,000 of the base salary (worth $1.08MM total). The deal includes a rushing yards incentive worth up to $750,000 and a per game active roster bonus of $10,000 for a potential season total of $170,000.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/25/22

Today’s minor transactions:

Carolina Panthers

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/13/22

Today’s minor NFL transactions:

New England Patriots

Washington Commanders

Harris was a sixth-round pick by the Patriots in this year’s draft, but he landed on the practice squad after getting cut prior to the regular season. With Damien Harris sidelined, Harris will join fellow rookie Pierre Strong behind starter Rhamondre Stevenson.

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC East

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These CommandersCowboys, Eagles and Giants moves are noted below.

Here are Wednesday’s NFC East transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Dallas Cowboys

Signed to practice squad:

New York Giants

Signed:

Released:

Claimed:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Philadelphia Eagles

Claimed: 

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Washington Commanders

Released:

Claimed:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Commanders Move Down To 53, Keep RB Brian Robinson On Active Roster

Teams have until 3pm CT to trim their rosters to the regular-season 53-man limit. The Commanders have done so but did it without moving Brian Robinson off the roster.

Shot twice in the lower body Sunday, Robinson underwent surgery. Ron Rivera also expressed optimism the third-round rookie could play this season. Washington is following through on these hopes, keeping the rookie running back on its active roster. Here are the moves the Commanders made to reach the 53-man max Tuesday:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

By keeping Robinson on their active roster, the Commanders opened the door to him not only playing in 2022. The team needed to carry the Alabama product through to its 53-man roster today in order to place him on short-term IR. An IR placement today would have ended Robinson’s season.

One of the gunshot wounds Robinson sustained hit his knee, but the bullet did not seriously damage ligaments, tendons or bone, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com reports (video link). It is not a lock Robinson returns this season, per Garafolo, but the team is keeping its options open.

Robinson playing as a rookie would be obviously be a remarkable development. Prior to being shot, the Day 2 draftee had made a serious charge at the Commanders’ starting running back role. The team’s primary starter over the past two seasons, Antonio Gibson, remains on the roster, as do J.D. McKissic and Jonathan Williams. Robinson being moved to IR later this week will sideline him for at least four games — likely much longer, in this case — but allow him to return later this season, should he be cleared to do so.

The Chiefs, per ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter), also submitted a claim for Blanton recently, when the Rams waived him. It will be interesting to see if the young tight end generates any interest this week. Martin has generated consistent interest on the wire. The Commanders, who drafted the guard during the Bruce Allen regime, have made two waiver attempts to land him. The second one, earlier this month after the Jaguars cut Martin, was successful. It would not surprise if Martin is brought back via the practice squad — as several of Tuesday’s cuts will be — but he could also bring more interest on the wire.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/23/22

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

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

New York Jets

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/5/21

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

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New York Jets

Washington Football Team

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC East

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These CowboysEaglesGiants and Washington moves are noted below.

Here are Wednesday’s NFC East transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Dallas Cowboys

Signed to practice squad:

New York Giants

Placed on IR:

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Philadelphia Eagles

Signed to practice squad:

Washington Football Team

Placed on IR:

Signed:

Signed to practice squad: