HEADLINES

Garry Peters

NFL Workout Updates: 12/12/17

December 12th, 2017 at 9:36pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s workout updates, with all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account unless otherwise noted:

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Workout Notes: Steelers, Bucs, Colts, Browns

December 9th, 2015 at 7:45pm CST by Dallas Robinson

British rugby player Tom Burgess has continued his wave of tryouts for NFL clubs, per Adam Schefter of ESPN (Twitter link), who reports that Burgess worked out for the Steelers today. Burgess, who’s also auditioned for the Giants, Jets, and Bills, could be line for a futures contract at the end of the season, following in the footsteps of fellow international star Jarryd Hayne.

Here’s at look at the rest of today’s workouts as clubs seek to get a feel for available free agents and update their emergency lists:

  • The Buccaneers worked out several players today, including linebacker Willie Jefferson, cornerback Garry Peters, defensive end Nordly Capi, and cornerback De’Vante Bausby, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Peters, a Clemson alum, was a favorite UDFA of several draftniks this spring.
  • Running back Daniel Thomas is searching for new opportunity after being released by the Bears earlier in the year, and he earned a tryout with the Colts today, per Wilson (on Twitter). Thomas, whose most notable time came with the Dolphins, could be an option for Indianapolis, who is looking to replace the injured Ahmad Bradshaw.
  • The Browns brought in three players for an audition, says Wilson (via Twitter), who reports that receivers R.J. Harris and Marcus Lucas, plus safety Phillip Thomas, worked out for Cleveland. A fourth player involved in the tryout — defensive back Tim Scott — was signed to the club’s practice squad yesterday.
  • A large group of receivers worked out for the Seahawks, including Rashaad Carter, Desmond Lawrence, Jordan Leslie, Colin Lockett, and Larry Pinkard, in addition to quarterback Dustin Vaughan, per Wilson (Twitter link).
  • The Bears visited with receiver Kyle Prater, who was a Saints UDFA out of Northwestern earlier this year, according to Wilson (Twitter link). Prater, 23, was named the No. 1 receiver of the 2010 recruiting class.

Workout Notes: Patriots, Texans, Chargers

November 3rd, 2015 at 6:08pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest workouts from around the NFL:

Workout Notes: Titans, Brown, Johnson, Dixon

October 21st, 2015 at 4:46pm CST by Zachary Links

Just over seven months after he announced his retirement from the NFL, cornerback Cortland Finnegan had a workout today with the Patriots. Finnegan, 31, was one of the league’s worst cornerbacks in 2013, according to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics. PFF ranked Finnegan 109th out of 110 qualified corners, with a grade of -19.7 in just seven games. As such, it came as a bit of a surprise when Miami inked the former Ram to a two-year, $11MM deal in 2014. He might not be worthy of that kind of pay, but he could make for an intriguing depth option for the Pats or another team.

Here’s a rundown of today’s other workouts from around the NFL, with all links going to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post on Twitter, unless noted otherwise..

NFC East Notes: Kelly, Giants, USC, Cowboys

October 15th, 2015 at 2:50pm CST by Zachary Links

The Eagles are 2-3 and Southern Cal just fired coach Steve Sarksian. Naturally, people have started connecting Chip Kelly, who was a successful coach with Oregon, to the Trojans. At a Thursday morning press conference, Kelly did his best to quiet down that talk. Kelly said that no one from USC, or any college, has contacted him about its head coaching opening, as Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. Kelly went on to say that he hopes to reach a level of success like Giants coach Tom Coughlin so that he doesn’t have to answer questions about returning to college football.

Here’s more out of the NFC East..

  • Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara will be out for 2-4 weeks with a partial pectoral tear, Coughlin told reporters (via the Giants on Twitter).
  • Former Colts/Dolphins/Raiders linebacker Philip Wheeler was among those working out for the Giants on Wednesday, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter). Over the course of his seven-year career, he has played in 108 games (60 starts). Overall, he has registered 455 tackles, 5.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. In 2013 with the Dolphins, he led the team with a career-high 118 tackles. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) rated Wheeler as the 18th best outside linebacker in a 3-4 set last season, giving him an overall grade of 2.6.
  • The Giants also worked out defensive backs Brandon McGee, Garry Peters, Greg Reid, and Dax Swanson this week, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com tweets. Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on Twitter) adds wide receiver A.J. Jenkins of Illinois to that list.
  • Cowboys special teams coach Rich Bisaccia could have interest in the South Carolina job recently vacated by Steve Spurrier, as Charean Williams of the Star-Telegram writes.

AFC East Notes: Jets, Grossman, Bills

August 11th, 2015 at 3:14pm CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of the locker-room altercation that left Geno Smith with a broken jaw, the Jets are in the preliminary stages of adding another quarterback to their roster, tweets Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.

It makes sense that the team would want to add another veteran to the mix while Smith is out, since Ryan Fitzpatrick would be the only signal-caller on the roster with NFL experience — rookies Bryce Petty and Jake Heaps are also on the Jets’ roster, but Heaps is likely just a camp arm and a potential practice squad candidate, while the club would probably rather not have Petty see regular-season action this year.

One potential target for the Jets may be Rex Grossman, according to Rand Getlin of the NFL Network, who tweets that the team reached out to the veteran free agent. However, Grossman is dealing with an injury he suffered during his training, and would need a few weeks to get ready, so the Jets figure to consider other options as well.

As we wait to see which direction the Jets go, here’s more from around the AFC East:

  • Jonathan Martin, the offensive tackle at the center of the Dolphins‘ bullying scandal in 2013, explained in a since-deleted tweet that he decided to retire from the NFL because “in the end, football was just a job, albeit a fun and well-paying one.” Alluding to the health concerns inherent in being an NFL player, Martin added that “being in a wheelchair at 50 isn’t worth any amount of money,” per Bill Voth of the Black and Blue Review. As Voth observes, another Martin tweet in which the former lineman compliments his Panthers and 49ers teammates, without mentioning his Dolphins teammates, serves as a reminder that Martin’s time in Miami didn’t exactly go smoothly.
  • Jim Turner, the offensive line coach who was dismissed by the Dolphins after Ted Wells published his report on the 2013 bullying scandal, filed a lawsuit against Wells and his law firm, but didn’t name the Dolphins or the NFL as defendants, writes Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
  • Former Clemson cornerback Garry Peters is working out for the Bills, a league source tells Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post. Peters signed with the Panthers as an undrafted free agent earlier this offseason, but was cut at the end of July by Carolina.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/30/15

July 30th, 2015 at 9:00pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves and signings..

  • The Panthers announced (on Twitter) that they have signed wide receiver Avius Capers and punter Matt Wile while waiving cornerback Garry Peters.
  • Tackle Jonathan Martin, who has retired from the NFL, has been placed on the Reserve/Did Not Report list (Twitter link). Martin was supposed to fill out retirement paperwork by this afternoon but apparently did not, prompting the Panthers to make that roster move, Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer tweets.
  • The Bengals signed rookie free agent wide receiver Desmond Lawrence, Paul Dehner Jr. of The Cincinnati Enquirer tweets.
  • The Titans have signed nose tackle Isaako Aaitui, Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean tweets.

Panthers, 10 UDFAs Reach Deals

May 4th, 2015 at 11:11am CST by Rory Parks

MONDAY, 11:11am: The Panthers have officially agred to terms with 10 undrafted free agents, the team announced today in a press release. Of the eight names reported yesterday, seven are included in the team release — Blitch’s name isn’t in there, so it appears he’ll just be a rookie minicamp invitee for now. Here are the other three players signed by Carolina:

  • Steve Miller, DE, Ohio State
  • Brandon Wegher, RB, Morningside
  • Matt Wile, P, Michigan

SUNDAY, 9:14am: The Panthers have agreed to sign eight undrafted free agents thus far. Jonathan Jones of The Charlotte Observer provides the list:

  • Brian Blechen, OLB, Utah
  • Daniel Blitch, OT, Charlotte
  • Damiere Byrd, WR, South Carolina
  • Darious Cummings, DT, Florida
  • Dean Marlowe, S, James Madison
  • Arthur Miley, DT, Southern ($15K bonus, per Aaron Wilson)
  • Garry Peters, CB, Clemson
  • Terry Redden, DT, Memphis