DeDe Lattimore

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/15/15

Here are Saturday’s minor signings, cuts, and other moves from around the NFL.

  • The Saints have signed linebacker Justin Anderson, reports Katherine Terrell of NOLA.com (via Twitter). Anderson, 24, has spent time on the rosters of the Vikings, Giants, and most recently, the Cowboys, with whom he reached an injury settlement last week.

Earlier updates:

  • The Cowboys signed two running backs, inking Michael Hill and Ben Malena to deals after the duo worked out for the team today, per Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter link). As a result, the team waived injured safety Ray Vinopal. A third-year veteran who’s now on his sixth team, the 26-year-old Hill was released by Washington last month after playing special teams for the Colts in the playoffs due to Trent Richardson‘s deactivations. The second-place finisher in the 2012 Harlon Hill Trophy voting (Division II’s Heisman equivalent), Hill has nine career totes for 23 yards — all coming as a rookie with the Bucs. Malena, 23, initially signed with Dallas last offseason after going undrafted out of Texas A&M.
  • The Dolphins exchanged wideouts, re-signing Tyler McDonald and waiving the injured Tommy Streeter, the team announced on its Twitter account. Miami waived the 24-year-old McDonald on Tuesday. Streeter played for the Jaguars last season and spent time on the Dolphins’ practice squad.
  • The Bears signed wideout Jeremy Kelley and waived linebacker DeDe Lattimore, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter). Kelly spent time on the Broncos’ practice squad last season before being waived by John Fox‘s old team in May on the same day as Paul Cornick, who also went on to sign with Fox’s new team. Although Cornick was waived by Chicago in May as well. The 6-foot-5 Kelley, a recent CFL and Arena League cog, fills a camp need, with the Bears’ receiving corps thin at the moment due to injuries. Lattimore played in 10 games for the Bears last season.

Minor Moves: Friday

Here are today’s minor transactions from around the NFL, with any additional moves added to the top of the list throughout the afternoon and evening:

  • The Bears have locked up linebacker and special-teamer DeDe Lattimore to a two-year contract extension, the team announced today (Twitter link). An undrafted free agent in 2014, Lattimore would have been an exclusive rights free agent, so it’s a modest deal for him — Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun tweets that he’ll earn the minimum salary for the next two seasons, with no guaranteed money.
  • Safety Ian Wild, who worked out for the Steelers several weeks ago, has signed a reserve/futures contract with the team, according to PR man Burt Lauten (Twitter link).

Bears Promote DeDe Lattimore

The Bears have made a change to their 53-man roster, promoting linebacker DeDe Lattimore from their practice squad, the team announced today (via Twitter). The club has waived-injured offensive lineman Taylor Boggs to clear an opening for the incoming addition.

Lattimore, an undrafted free agent out of South Florida, signed with the Bears following May’s draft, and was waived during the cutdown from 75 to 53 players at the end of the preseason. He has spent some time on Chicago’s practice squad during the season, though this will be the first opportunity he gets on the 53-man roster.

As Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune notes (via Twitter), Lattimore’s promotion may suggest that Jonathan Bostic‘s status for Sunday is in doubt. Currently, Bostic is listed as questionable with a back issue. The team has already ruled out injured veteran Lance Briggs, so reinforcements may be needed for the linebacking corps anyway.

Bears Waive Isaiah Frey

3:30pm: In addition to confirming they’ve cut Frey, the Bears announced several more roster moves today (Twitter links). The team has promoted cornerback Al Louis-Jean from its practice squad to the 53-man roster, and has also cut defensive end David Bass from the roster. Additionally, linebackers DeDe Lattimore and Terrell Manning have joined the practice squad, while defensive tackle Roy Philon and wideout and returner Rashad Ross have been dropped from the unit.

12:56pm: The Bears have parted ways with their nickel back, placing Isaiah Frey on waivers today, reports Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The move will leave Chicago with an open spot on its 53-man roster.

Frey, 24, has been with the Bears since being selected as a sixth-round pick in 2012’s draft, shuttling between the team’s active roster and practice squad at times. After starting this year on the taxi squad, Frey received a promotion during the season’s third week, when Charles Tillman went down with a season-ending injury. Since then, he has acted as the nickel back in Chicago, appearing in 95 defensive snaps over the last three weeks.

While Frey held his own as the Bears’ regular nickel back last season, he has struggled so far this year, allowing a quarterback rating of 133.3 on passes thrown in his direction, along with a pair of touchdowns, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). I’d expect the Bears to try to bring back Frey on their practice squad, but it will be interesting to see which direction the team goes in at the nickel spot now — Sherrick McManis looks like the logical in-house candidate, assuming he’s getting close to 100% healthy.

Practice Squad Updates: Thursday

We’ll round up Thursday’s news related to teams adding and removing players from their practice squads in this post, with the latest moves added to the top of the page throughout the day….

  • With Chris Long having been placed on the injured reserve list with the designation to return, the Rams filled his 53-man roster spot by promoting defensive tackle Matt Conrath from their practice squad, according to his agency Eastern Athletics (Twitter link). Defensive end Kourtnei Brown has been added to the team’s practice squad in Conrath’s place, per agency ARN Sports and Entertainment (Twitter link).
  • After cutting him from their active roster, the Broncos have re-added wideout Nathan Palmer to their practice squad, the club announced today (Twitter link).
  • The Bears have signed wide receiver and kick returner Chris Williams to their practice squad, tweets Jeff Dickerson of ESPNChicago.com. Williams, the fourth receiver on Chicago’s practice squad, will take the place of linebacker DeDe Lattimore, who has been cut.
  • Defensive lineman Kona Schwenke has been removed from the Chiefs‘ practice squad to make room for newly-added safety Daniel Sorensen, tweets Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star. Sorensen has cut from the club’s 53-man roster earlier in the week.

Sunday/Monday Transactions: NFC North

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC North 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 are noted below.

Additionally, as of 11:00am CT 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 NFC North transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

Chicago Bears:

Detroit Lions:

Green Bay Packers:

Minnesota Vikings:

Bears Cut Eben Britton, Others

4:41pm: The Bears have officially announced all their cuts, so we can add the following names to the list of players no longer on the team’s active roster:

1:35pm: The Bears have also cut a duo of young defenders:

11:12am: The Bears cut down on their offensive line depth this morning, as Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune reports that Eben Britton will be released. The 26-year-old started four games for Chicago in 2013, seeing action on 235 snaps.

As Biggs notes, the only Bears backup lineman with any NFL experience is Brian De La Puente. The team appears ready to roll with rookies Charles Leno Jr. and Michael Ola.

The rest of the Bears moves are listed below:

Bears Sign 11 Undrafted Free Agents

MAY 18: The Bears continue to add to their UDFA crop, signing former Louisville running back Senorise Perry (per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter) and cornerback Marcus Trice, formerly of North Texas (per Grice’s agent Josh Thomas (via Twitter). Both attended the Bears’ rookie minicamp on a tryout basis.

MAY 11: The Bears have signed nine undrafted free agents, according to a series of tweets from the team. The list of players headed to Chicago is as follows:

  • Cody Booth, T, Temple ($1K bonus, per Brad Biggs)
  • James Dunbar, G, TCU ($1.5K bonus)
  • Brandon Dunn, DT, Louisville ($8K bonus)
  • Ryan Groy, G, Wisconsin ($8K bonus)
  • Christian Jones, LB, Florida State ($7K bonus)
  • DeDe Lattimore, LB, South Florida ($1.5K bonus)
  • Jordan Lynch, RB, Northern Illinois ($3K bonus)
  • Tana Patrick, LB, Alabama ($750 bonus)
  • Lee Pegues, DT, East Carolina ($3.5K bonus)