HEADLINES

Dylan Gandy

Bears Cut Adrian Wilson, Eight Others

August 24th, 2014 at 12:28pm CST by Ben Levine

Sunday, 12:28pm: The Bears have also waived OL Joe Long, tweets Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. Chicago needs to make six more cuts before 3pm central time on Tuesday.

Saturday, 9:02pm: The Bears have cut ties with veteran safety Adrian Wilson, reports Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter). Biggs also reports that the team has let go of defensive tackle Nate Collins (Twitter link), offensive lineman Dylan Gandy (Twitter link) and a group of young players:

The Bears signed the 34-year-old Wilson in June with the hope that he’d add a veteran presence to the secondary. The safety missed the entire 2013 season with a foot injury, and Biggs writes that he didn’t move around well enough in camp to justify a role. According to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required), Wilson’s last productive season came in 2011 when he made the Pro Bowl with the Cardinals.

Collins, a former undrafted free agent, was beginning to establish himself last season after starting a pair of games. The 26-year-old went down with an ACL injury, and while he’s done an admirable job recovering, Biggs indicates that the team preferred to move forward with draft picks Ego Ferguson and Will Sutton. 

Gandy, a ten-year veteran, had spent the previous five seasons with the Lions, where he served exclusively as a backup. Before that he played for the Raiders, Broncos, and Colts, where he won a Super Bowl in 2007. The 32-year-old has played primarily guard and center throughout his career, and has appeared in at least 15 games since 2009.

Bears Sign Dylan Gandy

July 25th, 2014 at 7:11pm CST by Ben Levine

The Bears have signed veteran offensive lineman Dylan Gandy to a one-year deal, the team announced on Twitter. The team also waived rookie defensive end Jamil Merrell. We heard last week that the team was trying out some offensive lineman, and Kyle Long‘s absence from camp may have convinced the team to add some depth.

The nine-year veteran has bounced around since being selected by the Colts in the fourth round of the 2005 draft. He won a Super Bowl with Indianapolis in 2007, played for the Broncos and Raiders in 2008 and was with the Lions for the past five season. The 32-year-old has played in 120 career games with 19 starts. He’s appeared in at least 15 games each season since joining the Lions in 2009.

Gandy has played center and both guard positions during his career, but his impact with the Lions came on special teams. Gandy was one of seven players on last year’s squad (excluding the kicker and punter) to have a positive special teams rating, per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required).

Merrell was signed by the Bears in June after lasting a week on the Titans’ roster in May.

 

Lions Rumors: Suh, FAs, Bell, Pettigrew

February 21st, 2014 at 8:02am CST by Luke Adams

Already this morning, we’ve passed along word that the Lions signed safety Isa Abdul-Quddus to a contract for 2014. Martin Mayhew offered several more tidbits of note during a conversation with reporters this morning though, so let’s dive right in and round up the highlights from the Detroit general manager….

  • While Ndamukong Suh has yet to officially decide on a new agent, the Lions still expect to get a contract extension done with their standout defensive lineman sometime around March 11, when the new league year begins, according to Mayhew (Twitter links via Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com and Chris McCosky of the Detroit News).
  • With an extension likely for Suh, Mayhew says he hasn’t considered alternative scenarios, such as a trade, tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
  • Mayhew told reporters, including ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein (Twitter links), that the Lions don’t expect to bring back several prospective free agents: Safety John Wendling, defensive end Israel Idonije, kicker David Akers, linebacker Rocky McIntosh, and offensive lineman Dylan Gandy.
  • Although those players won’t be back with the Lions, the club has interest in retaining a couple of its free-agents-to-be. Mayhew indicated that Detroit is interested in a long-term deal for running back Joique Bell, who will be tendered and return to the Lions no matter what (Twitter link via Rothstein).
  • The Lions also want to re-sign tight end Brandon Pettigrew, and will talk to his agent at the combine, tweets Twentyman. Birkett adds (via Twitter) that Mayhew didn’t rule out the possibility of using the franchise tag on Pettigrew.