HEADLINES

George Atkinson

Latest On Kareem Hunt

December 3rd, 2018 at 6:39pm CST by Sam Robinson

More trouble may well be cropping up for Kareem Hunt. A man accused Hunt and running back George Atkinson of striking him in January at a Kansas City, Mo., nightclub, TMZ reports.

A man alleges Hunt and Atkinson were part of a group that repeatedly struck him to the point he needed to be hospitalized. This assault allegedly occurred hours after the Chiefs were eliminated from the 2017 playoffs via home wild-card loss to the Titans. Atkinson was a member of the Chiefs at the time of this incident.

This came before the incident — Hunt pushing and kicking a woman at a Cleveland hotel/apartment building — that has the 23-year-old’s career in jeopardy. The NFL also began to investigate Hunt for allegedly punching a man in the face in June in Ohio.

Hunt was not arrested or charged in connection with any of these incidents. Atkinson was also not charged in connection with his alleged assault. The injured man did not press charges, Brooke Pryor of the Kansas City Star tweets.

According to a police report, Atkinson punched the accuser in the face before “several” other suspects began striking him while he was on the ground. He identified Hunt as one of those people and accused him of kicking him while he was on the ground, William Joy of KMBC in Kansas City reports (on Twitter). Both Hunt and Atkinson kicked the man in the head, according to the police report (via Pryor, on Twitter).

No team claimed Hunt on waivers Monday. He is a free agent, but one who may not be available for much of the 2019 season. Hunt is likely to be suspended for more than six games, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (video link) because of multiple incidents. The league is not believed to be investigating this latest accusation, but that may change soon and thus increase Hunt’s suspension.

Rapoport adds a few teams looked into a potential Hunt waiver claim but decided against making that decision due to needing more time to examine the situation. It’s likely Hunt will be unattached by the time the 2018 season concludes. But the 2017 rushing champion could, at some point in 2019, be in position to sign for more than he would have made on his rookie contract.

Jets Officially Cut 18 Players

August 31st, 2018 at 6:27pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Jets’ roster is now at 71 players after the club announced 18 cuts today. Like all NFL teams, New York will need to reduce to 53 players by Saturday afternoon. Several of the following transactions were reported earlier today, but we’ll list them here as well:

Waived:

Released:

Jets Sign George Atkinson; Elijah McGuire Out Three To Six Weeks

July 29th, 2018 at 10:11am CST by Rory Parks

The Jets have signed George Atkinson III, per Brian Costello of the New York Post (via Twitter). Atkinson, a running back by trade, has gotten just seven carries in his professional career. He has been deployed more frequently as a punt returner, seeing action in 2014 with the Raiders and 2016 with the Browns (his seven carries came with Cleveland). He did not log any regular season snaps last year, though he spent some time on the Chiefs’ practice squad.

Atkinson will presumably operate as a temporary replacement for running back Elijah McGuire. As Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter), McGuire will undergo surgery on his broken foot and will be sidelined for three to six weeks. Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets that the team will have to decide whether it wants to carry McGuire on the 53-man roster or place him on short-term IR.

In the wake of McGuire’s injury, Gang Green quickly set up visits with free agent running backs Orleans Darkwa and Alfred Morris yesterday, but Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweeted earlier this morning that the Jets were not expected to immediately sign either player, and the Atkinson signing seems to foreclose the addition of Darkwa or Morris. Cimini notes that the Jets also worked out running back Tion Green (Twitter link).

Darkwa, Morris, and even Green have more experience as an NFL running back than Atkinson, so perhaps the fact that the Jets signed Atkinson suggests that they expect McGuire to be back sooner rather than later. McGuire, a 2017 sixth-rounder, is a player that the Jets have high hopes for, and assuming he gets healthy, he should see his fair share of snaps, even with Isaiah Crowell and Bilal Powell also under contract.

To make room for Atkinson, the Jets cut TE Bucky Hodges.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/9/18

January 9th, 2018 at 6:03pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2018 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

  • DL Collin Bevins

Kansas City Chiefs

New Orleans Saints

Oakland Raiders

  • DB Shaquille Richardson

Philadelphia Eagles

  • C Jon Toth

Washington Redskins

NFL Workout Updates: 9/19/17

September 19th, 2017 at 9:35pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s workout updates:

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/19/17

September 19th, 2017 at 8:26pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s practice squad updates:

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

  • Signed: S Jameill Showers
  • Released: G Nate Theaker

Indianapolis Colts

  • Signed: WR Cyril Grayson Jr.
  • Released: WR Fred Brown

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Raiders Cut Down To 53-Man Roster

September 2nd, 2017 at 8:24pm CST by Zachary Links

The Raiders were among the teams to drag their feet on announcing their 53-man roster. Now that we can see their initial roster in full, we have to say that they’re looking a little thin at linebacker. Here’s the full rundown of their moves:

Waived:

Released:

Waived/Injured

Waived/NFI:

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/29/17

July 29th, 2017 at 5:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Rams have officially placed defensive tackle Aaron Donald on the reserve/did not report list, according to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The designation doesn’t mean much, as Donald can be removed from the list at any point. But it clears a roster spot for Los Angeles while Donald stages a holdout over a new contract.

Here are the rest of today’s minor moves:

  • Quarterback Zac Dysert‘s 2017 season was already over after he underwent back surgery, and the Cowboys have now made that official by designating him as waived/injured, per James Palmer of NFL.com (Twitter link). Dysert will go through waivers, but he won’t be claimed thanks to his injury. He’ll revert to Dallas’ injured reserve list.
  • The Raiders claimed running back George Atkinson III off waivers from the Browns, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The son of former Raiders great George Atkinson, the running back spent time with the Raiders from 2014-15 and played in 16 games as a special-teamer for the Browns last season.
  • Marcel Reece‘s return to the Seahawks will add a big-name fullback to the equation, and it will cut short fullback Algernon Brown. Seattle also waived linebacker Nick Usher, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times tweets. Usher was part of the Hawks’ UDFA contingent in May, but the team needed to make room for Marcus Smith. Brown’s exit leaves only Reece and Kyle Coleman as Seattle fullbacks, Condotta tweets.
  • Again in need of a replacement linebacker, the Vikings signed Darnell Sankey, Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports (on Twitter). The team waived linebacker Shaan Washington. Tomasson notes (on Twitter) the Vikes originally picked up linebacker Noor Davis to replace Washington, but after a Kentrell Brothers injury, the team added a second new ‘backer.
  • Signed by the Saints and converted to wide receiver earlier this year after a run as a dual-threat quarterback at Georgia Tech, Justin Thomas will need to find another team if he’s going to catch on in the NFL. The Saints cut the rookie wideout, Nick Underhill of The Advocate reports (on Twitter).
  • The Bengals swapped out wideouts by waiving Monty Madaris and signing Lavonte Whitfield, Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. Madaris resided on the Active/PUP list with a hamstring injury and will revert to Cincinnati’s Reserve/PUP list if he clears waivers, Owczarski notes (on Twitter).
  • The Redskins announced that they’ve signed defensive back Jeremiah McKinnon while waiving/injured DB Lou Young. Young appeared in six games for Carolina a season ago.
  • With Daimion Stafford mulling retirement, the Steelers announced that they’ve signed another safety, 2017 undrafted free agent Malik Golden.
  • The Panthers waived tight end Wyatt Houston, Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer tweets.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/17/17

April 17th, 2017 at 7:12pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The latest minor moves…

  • Raiders defensive end Denico Autry has signed his RFA tender, reports ESPN’s Adam Caplan (Twitter link). The Raiders gave the 2014 undrafted free agent an original-round tender, leading to speculation that he could draw interest from elsewhere. Instead, Autry will return to the Raiders on the heels of back-to-back three-sack seasons. ERFAs Seth Roberts (WR) and Denver Kirkland (G) are also back in the fold, according to Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (on Twitter).
  • The Seahawks have re-signed linebacker Kache Palacio, writes Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. Palacio, a former fullback who went undrafted out of Washington State last year, spent most of 2016 on Seattle’s practice squad.
  • Lions ERFAs Brandon Copeland (DE), Kerry Hyder (DT) and T.J. Jones (WR) have signed their tenders, tweets Birkett. Dolphins ERFAs Mike Hull (LB) and Anthony Steen (C) did the same earlier Monday, per Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald (Twitter link).

Earlier updates:

  • The Panthers have re-upped restricted free agent guard Andrew Norwell and a pair of exclusive rights free agents – center Tyler Larsen and punter Michael Palardy – writes Bryan Strickland of their website. Carolina used a second-round tender on Norwell, who will earn $2.746MM in 2017. Norwell combined for 29 starts over the previous two seasons and ranked 11th in performance among Pro Football Focus’ 72 qualified guards last year.
  • Steelers RFA cornerback Ross Cockrell has inked his original-round tender, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). Cockrell went in the fourth round of the 2014 draft, so the Steelers would have been entitled to a fourth-rounder had Cockrell signed elsewhere and they elected against matching the offer. The 25-year-old caught on with the Steelers in 2015 and has since totaled 31 appearances, 23 starts and two interceptions. Cockrell started in every Steelers game last year, and his performance ranked an improve 28th among 111 qualified corners at PFF.
  • Chiefs RFA kicker Cairo Santos has signed his tender, per Schefter (on Twitter). Santos, undrafted in 2014, received a low tender; as such, Kansas City wouldn’t have been entitled to compensation had he gone elsewhere. The three-year veteran has connected on 84.3 percent of field goal attempts, including 88.6 percent last season (good for fifth in the league).
  • Lions offensive tackle Cornelius Lucas has signed his RFA tender, tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. The Lions assigned Lucas an original-rounder tender last month, so they wouldn’t have gotten a pick had the 2014 undrafted free agent signed elsewhere and they chose not to match. Lucas is now slated to make $1.797MM this year in Detroit, where he has started in six of 35 career appearances.
  • The Buccaneers have re-signed quarterback Ryan Griffin, cornerback Jude Adjei-Barimah, tight end Cameron Brate, linebacker Adarius Glanton, and wide receivers Adam Humphries and Freddie Martino, per Scott Smith of the team’s website. As a restricted free agent, Griffin is the only one of the bunch who could have potentially gone elsewhere (the rest were exclusive rights free agents). The Bucs tendered the 2013 undrafted free agent at an original-round level last month, and he’ll now try to win the No. 2 role behind Jameis Winston. Tampa Bay’s previous second-stringer, Mike Glennon, is now the Bears’ starter.
  • RFA defensive back Marcus Burley and ERFA running back George Atkinson III are returning to the Browns, per a team announcement. Burley, undrafted in 2013, received an original-round tender. The former Seahawk is coming off his first year in Cleveland, where he appeared in 12 games and played just under 40 percent of the Browns’ special teams snaps.
  • Fullback Tommy Bohanon and receiver Larry Pinkard have signed with the Jaguars, tweets the team’s account. Bohanon is the only with NFL experience, having logged 36 appearances and 14 starts as a Jet from 2013-15.
  • Speaking of the Jets, they have re-signed linebacker Julian Stanford (via Randy Lange of the team’s site). The Jets could Stanford on Friday, but both sides knew that was only a procedural move. Last season was the first as a Jet for the 26-year-old Stanford, who appeared in nine games (two starts) and played about a quarter of their defensive snaps and a third of their special teams snaps.