HEADLINES

Derek Sherrod

Chiefs Deal Kelcie McCray To Seahawks, Set Roster

September 5th, 2015 at 4:27pm CST by Luke Adams

The Chiefs announced 22 roster moves today, and one of them was of particular interest — according to a team release, the club sent safety Kelcie McCray to the Seahawks in a trade for an undisclosed draft pick. Adam Schefter of ESPN.com fills in the details, tweeting that Kansas City gets a fifth-rounder in the deal.

Recent reports had suggested that Seattle was seeking depth at its safety position, with Kam Chancellor still holding out and Earl Thomas returning from a serious injury. In McCray, the Seahawks get a solid backup who primarily served as a special-teamer last season for the Chiefs.

Here are Kansas City’s 21 other moves that get the tea down from a 75-man roster to just 53 players:

Cut:

  • WR Da’Ron Brown
  • DE Mike Catapano
  • S Sanders Commings
  • LB Ja’Gared Davis
  • DT Hebron Fangupo
  • C Garrett Frye
  • DL David Irving
  • LB James-Michael Johnson
  • C Eric Kush
  • WR Donatella Luckett
  • C Daniel Munyer
  • DB Deji Olatoye
  • G Jarrod Pughsley
  • RB Darrin Reaves
  • DB Kevin Short
  • T Derek Sherrod
  • TE Ryan Taylor
  • FB Spencer Ware
  • WR Fred Williams

Placed on injured reserve:

  • TE Richard Gordon

Reserve/suspended:

  • CB Sean Smith

Chiefs Sign 14 To Futures Contracts

December 30th, 2014 at 5:58pm CST by Zachary Links

The Chiefs announced the signings of 14 players to futures contracts earlier today. Here’s the full rundown, courtesy of Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star:

All of the players came from KC’s practice squad, with the exception of Hus, Sherrod, Feigt, and Ware. Defensive tackle Loni Fangupo and wide receiver Corbin Louks were the lone members of the taxi squad that were not signed to futures deals.

NFC East Notes: RGIII, Washington, Carter

November 19th, 2014 at 8:28pm CST by Zachary Links

Washington coach Jay Gruden told reporters today that he’s going to stop criticizing quarterback Robert Griffin III in public. “Early on in the season, when I first got the job, I knew there were going to be a lot of questions about Robert,” Gruden said, according to Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com. “But I wanted to make this thing about the Redskins and not about him, and somehow we’ve made it more about him than about the team. And that’s my fault.” More from the NFC East..

  • Former Packers offensive tackle Derek Sherrod got a tryout with Washington earlier today, a league source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (on Twitter). Just yesterday, Sherrod auditioned for the Patriots. The Packers, who took the 25-year-old with the No. 32 overall pick in the 2011 draft, waived Sherrod earlier this month.
  • DeMarco Murray and Dez Bryant are getting more attention, but Bruce Carter will also be a free agent at season’s end. The linebacker could wind up elsewhere, but he wants to stay with the Cowboys, writes Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com. “I love it here,” Carter said. “It’s been a great organization, since Day 1 when I got the first call when I was getting drafted. So it’ll be a nice place to stay. But it is a business, so we’ll just see how it goes.”
  • In today’s mailbag, a reader asks Bob Sturm of The Dallas Morning News if the Cowboys should add to their strength and take an offensive lineman in the first round of the 2015 draft. While beefing up the O-Line is always a good thing, Sturm suggests that defensive end should be top priority followed by running back and safety. Of course, depending on how things shake out with Murray, running back might not be a real need for Dallas.

Workout Notes: Tuesday

November 11th, 2014 at 6:13pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s workouts and visits here..

  • The Colts worked out notable kick returner Josh Cribbs, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter). Cribbs is the NFL’s all-time co-leader in kickoff returns for touchdowns with eight.
  • The Titans worked out former Packers first round pick Derek Sherrod, Yates tweets. The offensive tackle was cut by the Packers late last month.
  • The Panthers also auditioned Sherrod and Kevin Greene, Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post tweets.
  • Defensive tackle Fred Evans tried out for the Seahawks, according to Howard Balzer of USA Today (on Twitter).
  • The Saints tried out safeties M.D. Jennings and Kenny Phillips, according to Balzer (on Twitter). Jamarca Sanford was signed earlier today, so Jennings and Phillips probably won’t be coming to New Orleans.
  • The Saints also auditioned running backs Andre Brown, Tim Hightower, Mikel LeShoure, and Rutgers alum Brian Leonard, according to Yates (via Mike Triplett on Twitter).
  • The Packers looked at defensive tackle Kenny Horsley, safety Kimario McFadden, and linebacker Chaz Sutton, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com tweets.
  • The Falcons are working out former Utah State center Tyler Larsen today, a league source tells Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (on Twitter).
  • The Dolphins worked out Jonte Green, Wilson tweets.
  • The Seahawks worked out running backs Johri Fogerson, Stanley Havili, and Karl Williams, Wilson tweets.
  • The Titans worked out tight end Dorin Dickerson today, Wilson tweets. The Titans removed him from the IR with an injury settlement in August.

Packers Waive Derek Sherrod

November 3rd, 2014 at 5:10pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Fresh off their bye week, the Packers have made a slew of roster moves, with the most notable transaction being the waiving of tackle Derek Sherrod, who was the 32nd overall pick in the 2011 draft (Twitter link via Brian McIntyre). To replace him on the roster, Green Bay has activated center J.C. Tretter from the injured reserve/designated to return list, per Field Yates of ESPN (Twitter link). The club also tweaked its practice squad, signing running back Rajion Neal and linebacker Joe Thomas while cutting tight end Ike Ariguzo and defensive end Joe Kruger, according to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (via Twitter).

The Packers’ decision to cut Sherrod ends an unceremonious run in Green Bay for the Mississippi State product, who despite his draft pedigree, started only one game during his stint with the team. He represents a rare miss by general manager Ted Thompson — as ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky notes (on Twitter), Sherrod joins Justin Harrell as the only Thompson first-round picks no longer on the Packers’ roster. Sherrod’s most notable performance, infamously, came during the NFL opener earlier this year, when he was routinely beaten by various Seahawks defenders on his way to registering a -6.9 grade from Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Still only 25, Sherrod should be able to latch on somewhere else; because he isn’t a vested veteran, he will have to clear waivers before becoming a free agent. The Packers, meanwhile, will need to find another swing tackle, as there isn’t another OT on the roster outside of starters David Bakhtiari and Bryan Bulaga. The club does have rookie tackle Jeremy Vujnovich on its practice squad, so perhaps we’ll see him be promoted if the Packers decide they need more depth along their line.

Tretter, 23, was slated to take over as Green Bay’s starting center following the offseason departure of veteran Evan Dietrich-Smith. After injuring his knee during training camp, however, the team placed the 2013 fourth-rounder on IR-DTR. His replacement in the lineup, Corey Linsley, is playing extremely well, as evidenced by his rating as the league’s third-best center per PFF, so it’s fair to wonder if Tretter will be relegated to a reserve role. As Silverstein suggests (via Twitter), Tretter is a candidate to act as a backup tackle, so perhaps his versatility would serve him well in a bench position.

NFC Mailbags: Giants, Redskins, Packers, Rams

July 19th, 2014 at 5:06pm CST by Ben Levine

It’s Saturday, and that means ESPN.com’s NFL writers are opening up their mailbags and answering questions from readers. Let’s check out some interesting tidbits from the NFC…

NFC Notes: Falcons, Shembo, Bostic, Sherrod

June 7th, 2014 at 9:04am CST by Matt Feminis

“Our sub defense is our base defense because we play it 65 percent of the snaps,” Falcons head coach Mike Smith tells Daniel Cox of atlantafalcons.com. And while defensive coordinator Mike Nolan’s unit is multiple and versatile, he wants players to be dependable at one job first and foremost, particularly in the secondary: “I would like that back end to be set with guys that are really good at one position. I’d rather have a specific guy right now than a jack-of-all trades. When you get to the front, the jack-of-all trades really becomes a little bit more valuable because when you’re attacking protections…or going from 3-4 to 4-3, those looks, that’s where you want it to be a little bit more versatile.”

Here’s some more morning NFC links:

  • ESPN’s Vaughn McClure relays brief quotes from Nolan on his defensive rookies, including fourth-rounder Prince Shembo, who will be used at inside linebacker despite playing outside at Notre Dame.
  • Bears outside linebacker Jon Bostic struggled during his rookie season, but the team thinks the second-year pro will be better as the defense moves away from a base cover-2 scheme, writes Adam Jahns in the Chicago Sun-Times. “I feel a lot more comfortable this year, especially with all the changes to the defense,” said Bostic. “A lot of the changes that we did make, it’s a lot more natural for me. I can play how I’ve been taught literally from little league to high school to college to now. It’s back to playing how I used to.”
  • Packers 2011 first-rounder Derek Sherrod, who went through the off-season program healthy for the first time, faces a make-or-break season after the team declined his fifth-year option, notes ESPN’s Rob Demovsky in his Saturday mailbag.
  • The Seahawks starting linebackers — Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright and Malcolm Smith — will combine to make approximately$2.86MM in base salary next season, notes Todd Dybas of the News Tribune.
  • “If you think [Redskins receiver] Santana Moss is a goner come September, think again,” says Rich Tandler of CSN Washington.
  • The Rams are converting defensive lineman Mason Brodine, who spent two seasons on the practice squad, to tight end, per Joe Lyons of the Post-Dispatch.

Packers To Decline Derek Sherrod’s Option

May 2nd, 2014 at 12:32pm CST by Luke Adams

Confirming what had been expected, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter) that the Packers won’t exercise their fifth-year option on Derek Sherrod‘s contract. The decision will ensure that Sherrod is eligible for unrestricted free agency following the 2014 season.

As our fifth-year option tracker shows, the option for Sherrod would have been worth $7.438MM, an exorbitant price to commit to a player who has had trouble getting healthy in recent years. A 2011 compound leg fracture sidelined the former 32nd overall pick for a good chunk of his first three NFL seasons, limiting Sherrod to just 121 career offensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.

Sherrod, 25, is reportedly healthy and expected to compete for a starting job this summer, but considering he’s the rare player who had an injury sideline him for multiple seasons, it would have been too risky for the Packers to pick up that option, which is guaranteed for injury only.

Packers Notes: Cap, Dietrich-Smith, Draft

February 15th, 2014 at 8:52am CST by Matt Feminis

In an off-season, position-by-position analysis of the Packers, ESPN Wisconsin’s Jason Wilde provided an outlook on the team’s offensive line. While the depth chart isn’t settled, the team is relatively content with its depth and competition heading into 2014. Key points:

  • The Pack boasts nearly $30MM in cap space.
  • After losing starting left tackle Bryan Bulaga to a season-ending injury in training camp, rookie David Bakhtiari “stepped up in a big way,” but played with inconsistency you’d expect of a fourth-round rookie.
  • Left guard Josh Sitton was the most consistent blocker, according to Pro Football Focus, allowing just one sack and eight hurries. At 27, he’s also the oldest of the group.
  • Center Evan Dietrich-Smith‘s contract is up, but line coach James Campen wants him back: “I think [Dietrich-Smith] grew as the season went along,” said Campen. “He got better with communication [and] his command with tempo and getting people set and where they had to align. I think still he’s a player that has room to grow.” Wilde expects Dietrich-Smith to be re-signed.
  • Bulaga, Bakhtiari, 2013 right tackle starter Don Barclay and 2011 first-rounder Derek Sherrod are viable options and will compete for the starting tackle jobs.
  • The team “will almost certainly” add another lineman to the mix in the draft.