Garry Williams

Workout Notes: Cards, Lions, Browns, Bears

Friday’s workouts from around the NFL:

  • The Cardinals auditioned a pair of offensive linemen, guard Vlad Ducasse and tackle Garry Williams, reports Adam Caplan of ESPN (on Twitter). Ducasse is the more experienced of the two, having made 78 appearances and 22 starts since the Jets drafted him in the second round in 2010. Ducasse totaled a career-high 11 starts with Chicago last season. Williams has played far fewer games than Ducasse (41), but he has made just one fewer start (21). The 30-year-old’s latest action came in 2014, though, and he hasn’t appeared in more than one game in a season since 2012. Williams spent the first five years of his career with the Panthers.
  • The Lions tried out two offensive tackles – Sam Young and Laurence Gibson – and defensive tackle Cliff Matthews, tweets Caplan. Young, a sixth-round pick in 2010, has amassed a combined 58 appearances and 13 starts with the Cowboys, Bills and Jaguars. He suited up in all 16 games last season for the first time. The Falcons chose Matthews in the seventh round of the 2011 draft, and he ultimately appeared in 32 games with Atlanta from 2012-14.
  • The Browns worked out offensive lineman Mike Leidtke, as agent Brett Tessler tweets. Liedtke, an Illinois State product, auditioned for New Orleans last week.
  • Punter A.J. Hughes tried out for the Bears, according to Caplan (Twitter link).

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Bears’ Roster At 53

The Bears have officially reduced their roster to 53 players, and in doing so, placed LB Pernell McPhee and WR Marquess Wilson on PUP. As such, each player will be forced to miss at leas the first six games of the season.

Cut:

Waived/Injured:

PUP:

  • LB Pernell McPhee
  • WR Marquess Wilson

Braverman was the club’s seventh-round pick this year after posting a whopping 109 receptions for Western Michigan in 2015.

Moeaki has bounced around a bit since leaving the Chiefs in 2012. The 29-year-old played in 11 games for the Falcons last season, but he only hauled in three catches for 58 yards. Following a 2012 campaign where he caught 33 passes for 453 yards and a score, Moeaki has only compiled 11 catches for 192 yards over the past three seasons.

Bears Cut Several Players

The Bears dropped a number of players today in their quest to get down to a 53-man roster. Here are the cuts that we know of so far. All links to go to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter), unless otherwise noted.

Waived:

Released:

Waived/Injured:

  • LB Danny Mason (link)

Mason suffered a knee sprain in last night’s preseason game. Daniels hooked on with the Bears in late July, making them his fifth NFL franchise since San Francisco picked him in the seventh round of the 2013 draft. The former South Florida quarterback has spent time at both QB and receiver in the pros. In his eight appearances (six with Seattle, two with Houston) last year, he lined up at wideout and on special teams.

NFC Notes: Panthers, Lions, Saints, Giants

As we wait to see whether the Eagles can take sole possession of the top spot in the NFC with a win tomorrow in San Francisco, let’s round up some notes from around the conference….

  • Offensive lineman Garry Williams landed on injured reserve for the third time in four years today, and while it’s an unfortunate break for both Williams and the Panthers, the team protected itself against injury in its one-year extension for the veteran, according to Brian McIntyre (Twitter links). Williams’ base salary drops from $650K to $373K on IR, and he’ll miss out on nearly $100K in per-game roster bonuses.
  • While Kyle Meinke of MLive.com initially scoffed at the notion that injured linebacker Stephen Tulloch may have placed his last game with the Lions, he notes that the team could save more than $3MM by cutting the linebacker in the offseason, which is money that could be put toward re-signing Ndamukong Suh or another player. Meinke isn’t advocating for Tulloch’s release and doesn’t necessarily view it as likely, but the combination of the 29-year-old’s ACL injury and cap figures make it a possibility.
  • Mike Triplett’s latest Saints mailbag at ESPN.com deals primarily with questions about Drew Brees‘ potential longevity as he enters his late-30s, and whether it’s realistic to expect New Orleans to be a Super Bowl contender as long as Brees has one of the league’s largest contracts.
  • Meanwhile, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com fields Giants-related questions in his Saturday mailbag, including one on how the team might balance the workload for free agent signee Rashad Jennings and rookie Andre Williams going forward.

Minor Moves: Saturday

We’ll continue to update you on all of today’s minor transactions right here, with the latest moves added to the top…

  • In addition to cutting Gabe Miller, as noted below, the Redskins have also waived defensive lineman Robert Thomas, who had been promoted from the practice squad for Thursday’s game, the team announced today (Twitter link). I expect if Thomas clears waivers, there’s a good chance he’ll rejoin Washington’s taxi squad.
  • The Colts have promoted linebacker Andrew Jackson to their active roster, tweets Aaron Wilson. To make room, the team waived-injured fullback Mario Harvey.

Earlier updates:

  • The Panthers have signed running back Tauren Poole from their practice squad, tweets Wilson. The team also placed offensive tackle Garry Williams on injured reserve.
  • The Patriots have signed defensive lineman Casey Walker from the Panthers‘ practice squad, the team announced. To make room, the Pats placed defensive lineman Sealver Siliga on injured reserve with a designation to return.
  • The Redskins have waived linebacker Gabe Miller, tweets agent Brett Tessler. The 26-year-old was originally drafted by the Chiefs as a defensive end. He was converted to a tight end during his stops with the Seahawks and Bears before returning to defense with Washington. He made his first career tackle on Thursday against the Giants.

Panthers Re-Sign Brockel, Williams

The Panthers have locked up a pair of players before they reached free agency, the team announced today in a press release. Tight end and fullback Richie Brockel has inked a two-year deal, forgoing restricted free agency, while offensive lineman Garry Williams has signed a one-year contract to avoid unrestricted free agency.

Brockel, 27, appeared in just over 200 offensive snaps last season and was also a productive special teams player for the Panthers. Williams, meanwhile, began the year as the team’s starting right guard, but went down with a torn ACL in the first week of the regular season. Williams may return to a starting role for the team in 2014, with Jordan Gross retiring and other linemen eligible for free agency.