HEADLINES

Eric Herman

Colts’ Roster Sits At 81 Following 10 Cuts

August 28th, 2016 at 4:54pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Colts announced that they’ve moved a bit closer to the 75-man deadline, as they’ve cut 10 players today. Indianapolis will still need to release/waive six more players before 3pm CT Tuesday.

[RELATED: Colts Sign Stevan Ridley]

The Colts have cut the following players:

Lumpkin, 28 next week, is the only member of this group with any NFL experience. In three season, he’s appeared in seven games with the Cardinals and Raiders, though he was out of the league in 2015.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/21/16

August 21st, 2016 at 5:40pm CST by Rory Parks

Here are today’s minor moves:

  • The Colts announced that they’ve signed free agent offensive linemen Eric Herman and Keith Lumpkin, while waiving guard Donovan Williams and waiving/injured tackle Kevin Graf. If Graf clears waivers, he’ll revert to Indy’s injured reserve list.
  • The Patriots have waived safety Cedric Thompson, as his agent David Canter tweets. New England signed Thompson to a futures deal in January.
  • The Buccaneers have reached an injury settlement with safety Elijah Shumate, according to Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). As such, Shumate has been removed from Tampa’s IR injured reserve list.

Earlier updates

  • The Eagles have cut WR T.J. Graham, C Bruce Johnson, RB Cedric O’Neal, and WR Xavier Rush, per the team’s official Twitter account.
  • The Browns have signed WR Josh Boyce, whom New England selected in the fourth round of the 2013 draft, and waived/injured 2016 UDFA Dennis Parks, as Nate Ulrich of The Akron Beacon Journal reports. Boyce spent most of this year with the Colts before he was waived on August 16. He has nine catches for 121 yards in his professional career.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/16/15

December 16th, 2015 at 7:17pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Wednesday’s practice squad signings and cuts from around the NFL, with the latest moves added to the list throughout the day:

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

Indianapolis Colts

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

  • Signed: WR Shane Wynn (Twitter link via Evan Woodbery of NOLA.com)

Philadelphia Eagles

San Diego Chargers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington

Workout Updates: 10/16/15

October 16th, 2015 at 5:02pm CST by Luke Adams

We’ve passed along a few of the more notable updates from the last few days on workouts and free agent visits, including the Giants trying out wide receivers like Terrelle Pryor and the Cowboys bringing in running back LaMike James. However, there are plenty more tryout updates from this week to round up, and we’ve got them all below. All links point to the Twitter account of Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post, unless otherwise indicated.

Arizona Cardinals

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

  • Devin Gardner, WR (link)
  • Josh Harper, WR

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

  • Jordan Dewalt-Ondijo, LB (link)

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Giants Waive Robert Malone, Others

September 1st, 2015 at 3:17pm CST by Zachary Links

The Giants made a score of moves at the 3pm CT deadline for 75-man rosters. The Giants’ cuts include Brandon Mosley, Eric Herman, Robert Malone, and Jordan Stanton, as Jordan Raanan of the Star-Ledger tweets. The Giants also released running back Akeem Hunt, offensive lineman Michael Bamiro, wide receiver Juron Criner, fullback Justin Halley, offensive lineman Derrick Johnson, defensive tackle Jummy Staten, and tight end Will Tye, as James Kratch of NJ Advance Media tweets.

Bennett Jackson and Josh Gordy have also been placed on season-ending IR, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post tweets.

The release of Malone means that Steve Weatherford has won the battle for the punter job. Safety Nat Berhe is noticeably absent from the IR list and that means his status for 2015 is still up in the air.

Giants Put Ayers, Kiwanuka, Snyder On IR

December 2nd, 2014 at 5:43pm CST by Luke Adams

5:43pm: Even more bad news for the Giants. The Giants have also placed guard Geoff Schwartz and linebacker Terrell Manning on injured reserve, according to ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano (via Twitter). Meanwhile, running back Chris Ogbonnaya has been added to the roster (link).

Ogbonnaya, 28, saw his second stint with the Panthers come to an end recently when he was waived to make room for the promotion of defensive tackle Micanor Regis. The running back/fullback compiled 50 yards on 14 carries this season, but he hasn’t played since Carolina’s loss to the Saints in late October.

Schwartz, 28, signed a four-year deal with the Giants when he hit free agency in March, but has barely played for the club in 2014. Sidelined with a toe injury, Schwartz was placed on injured reserve with the designation to return prior to Week 1. The 28-year-old returned for November contests against the Cowboys and Jaguars, but that apparently was the beginning and end of his 2014 campaign.

The Giants plucked Manning off of the Bengals’ taxi squad just days ago, but an ankle injury took him off the field. The Giants placed 5 players on IR today but they can only replace four of them since Manning was signed off Cincy’s practice squad last week. NFL rules stipulate that a player signed off of another’s teams practice squad can’t be replaced on the 53-man roster until three weeks have lapsed since the signing.

4:37pm: The Giants’ lost 2014 season took another downward turn today, as the team placed three more veteran players on injured reserve, bringing the total count of Giants players on IR up to 18. According to Field Yates of ESPN.com (via Twitter), defensive end Robert Ayers, defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka, and offensive lineman Adam Snyder are the latest New York players to land on the injured reserve list.

As we heard yesterday, Ayers sustained a torn pectoral muscle during Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars, which was expected to end his season. Kiwanuka and Snyder are both on the shelf with knee ailments, and will also see their 2014 seasons end prematurely. For the Giants, these are just the latest in a series of season-ending injuries that have plagued the team all year. Notable contributors like Victor Cruz, Jon Beason, Walter Thurmond, and Prince Amukamara have also been placed on the IR at some point this season.

While Ayers remains under contract for 2015 at an affordable rate and will likely return to the team next season, assuming he makes a full recovery, Kiwanuka and Snyder may have played their last games for the Giants — Kiwanuka’s cap hit increases to an unpalatable $7.45MM next year, while Snyder’s contract expires at season’s end.

As for this season, the Giants will promote three players from their practice squad to fill the newly-created openings on the roster, tweets Dan Graziano of ESPN.com. Linebacker James Davidson, guard Eric Herman, and defensive tackle Dominique Hamilton will receive promotions to the 53-man unit.

Minor Moves: Friday

September 19th, 2014 at 4:45pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Friday’s minor transactions from around the NFL, including teams adjustments to the backs of their 53-man rosters and to their practice squads:

  • The Giants have waived offensive lineman Eric Herman, tweets Jordan Ranaan of NJ.com. Herman was reinstated from suspension this week, with the team receiving a two-day roster exemption for him. The Giants have elected to cut him rather than place him on the 53-man roster, but if he clears waivers, he’s a candidate for the practice squad.
  • The Lions are set to promote defensive back Mohammed Seisay from their practice squad to their active roster, says Justin Rogers of MLive.com (via Twitter). The club will have to remove a player from its 53-man roster to make it official though, so the move hasn’t yet been finalized. According to Rogers (via Twitter), the team is still mulling that corresponding move, with the IR a possibility for a couple players.
  • Linebacker Terrell Manning has joined the Bears‘ practice squad, replacing wide receiver Greg Herd on the unit, according to Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
  • The Rams have signed cornerback Jemea Thomas to their practice squad, reports Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). To make room, wide receiver and returner Justin Veltung has been cut by the club (Twitter link).
  • Defensive end Shelby Harris has rejoined the Raiders‘ practice squad after clearing waivers, tweets Bill Williamson of ESPN.com. The team will have to cut a player to open up a spot for Harris.

Minor Moves: Wednesday

September 17th, 2014 at 4:57pm CST by Luke Adams

We’ll round up Wednesday’s minor transactions right here, with additional moves listed at the top of the page throughout the rest of the day:

  • Rams wideout Stedman Bailey has formally been reinstated to the team’s roster and practiced today, according to Howard Balzer of The SportsXchange (via Twitter). Bailey, whose penalty was reduced as part of the league’s new PED policy, takes the lone opening on St. Louis’ roster.
  • The Giants have officially received the roster exemption for Eric Herman that we made note of below. As Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News tweets, the club will have until Friday afternoon to either cut Herman or someone else in order to get down to 53 players.

Earlier updates:

  • The Broncos officially announced Wes Welker‘s reinstatement today, according to Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Denver had previously been carrying just 52 players, so no exemption or corresponding cut was necessary to slide Welker back onto the 53-man roster.
  • Chris Lewis-Harris‘ roster exemption has expired and the Bengals have re-added the cornerback to their active roster, tweets Coley Harvey of ESPN.com. Like Denver, Cincinnati also had an open spot on their 53-man squad, so now that Lewis-Harris is back on board, the roster is once again full.
  • Although his name wasn’t mentioned in the press release issued today by the NFL and NFLPA, the league’s new PED policy has allowed Giants guard Eric Herman to return early from his suspension, writes Conor Orr of NJ.com. The team has applied for a roster exemption for Herman in order to get him back on the practice field without immediately cutting anyone, and is waiting to hear back from the league.

Welker, Scandrick, Others To Be Reinstated

September 15th, 2014 at 4:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Broncos wideout Wes Welker and Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick are among the players who will be reinstated when the term sheet for the league’s new drug policy is agreed upon, according to Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (Facebook link). Welker and Scandrick are two of the estimated 20 players whose suspensions will be affected by the new policy once it’s approved by the NFL, which is expected to happen within the next 24 hours.

Besides Welker and Scandrick, Rams receiver Stedman Bailey, Giants offensive lineman Eric Herman, and former Vikings defensive end Spencer Nealy will also have the remaining games on their suspensions wiped out and will be reinstated immediately, according to the ESPN duo. Additionally, Browns wideout Josh Gordon and ex-Colts receiver LaVon Brazill will have their year-long bans reduced to 10 games.

That handful of players named by Schefter and Mortensen is far from the complete list of players who will be affected by the NFL’s new drug policy, but we may not get that full list of names until the agreement becomes official. In any case, it seems plenty of players who had originally been suspended through Week 3 will get the opportunity to return to their teams’ respective practices this week, and many of them could be active this coming Sunday.

Extra Points: Herman, Finnegan, Boone, Colts

August 8th, 2014 at 4:33pm CST by Luke Adams

Over at ESPN.com, Jim Trotter has published an interesting piece on why teams are inclined to pay big bucks to lock up non-elite quarterbacks.

“Teams are just afraid to say, ‘Let’s start again, because we literally do not have a legitimate chance to win a Super Bowl with the quarterback that we have,’” one club president told Trotter. “They’d rather have an average to above-average quarterback than wait to get a great quarterback. I think it’s more than fair to say that the fear of the unknown is greater than the fear of the known.”

Let’s check in on a few more odds and ends from around the NFL….

  • Giants offensive lineman Eric Herman has been suspended for four games for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy, tweets Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports. The NFLPA released a statement on behalf of Herman explaining the positive test.
  • Cornerback Cortland Finnegan tells Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com that he considered a pitch from the Falcons this offseason before ultimately reaching an agreement with the Dolphins (Twitter link).
  • In the wake of the 49ers‘ first preseason contest, it doesn’t sound as if there has been any movement on contract talks with holdout guard Alex Boone, tweets Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group.
  • As Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk details, former Colts running back Chris Rainey doesn’t seem to believe he should have been cut by Indianapolis for breaking team rules, and took to Twitter to vent last night. Rainey, a free agent, has since deleted the tweets.
  • The Colts’ offensive line is thinning out, with both Khaled Holmes and rookie Ulrick John suffering injuries this week. According to Mike Chappell of the Indianapolis Star (via Twitter), the team believes Holmes may have sprained his left ankle, which would sideline him for a few weeks. As for John, Stephen Holder of the Star reports (via Twitter) that his ankle might be broken. Meanwhile, Xavier Nixon tweeted today that he’s set to undergo surgery, presumably on the knee that his been bothering him.