Colts Place Josh McNary On Exempt List
10:13am: The NFL has allowed the Colts to place McNary on the exempt list, the club announced today in a press release. Indianapolis promoted wide receiver Griff Whalen from its practice squad to take McNary’s place on the 53-man roster. Defensive end Gannon Conway replaces Whalen on the taxi squad.
10:08am: With linebacker and special-teamer Josh McNary facing criminal charges, the Colts have asked the NFL to place him on the commissioner’s exempt list, as Mike Wells of ESPN.com details. If the league agrees to accommodate Indianapolis’ request, McNary will be ineligible to practice or play for the Colts as they prepare for this weekend’s AFC Championship game.
McNary, 26, has been charged with rape, criminal confinement with bodily injury, and battery resulting in bodily injury. While the Colts linebacker is “unhesitatingly” denying the allegations, a precedent was set earlier this season when Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy were placed on the exempt list while their legal cases were resolved. The league’s new conduct policy calls for the possibility of paid leave if a player is formally charged with a violent crime or sexual assault. That paid leave “may last until the league makes a disciplinary decision and any appeal of the discipline is fully resolved.”
Playing in his second season with the Colts in 2014, McNary logged 272 defensive snaps to go along with his work on special teams, recording 29 tackles and 0.5 sacks. If the league allows the Colts to place him on the exempt list, he’ll be removed from the 53-man roster, allowing the team to sign or promote someone to replace him.
Practice Squad Updates: Monday
We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here..
- The Chiefs have placed Darin Drakeford on the practice squad-injured list, tweets Aaron Wilson. The linebacker was originally cut by the Falcons in August, and he signed with Kansas City in October.
- The Colts have re-signed wideout Griff Whalen to their practice squad, tweets Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star. The 24-year-old was waived this past weekend to make room for Zurlon Tipton.
Earlier updates:
- The Packers have signed offensive tackle Justin Renfrow to their practice squad, tweets ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. To make room, they released guard Rishaw Johnson, who was signed to the practice squad last week. Renfrow, a former standout for the Miami Hurricanes, briefly spent time with the Cardinals.
- The Chiefs are planning to sign defensive lineman Nick Williams off of the Steelers’ practice squad, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Kansas City has their eye on the 2013 seventh rounder all year, Rapoport adds. Williams, 24, spent last year on injured reserve. He’s now the second defensive lineman to be plucked from the Steelers’ practice squad this month. The Cardinals signed defensive end Josh Mauro off of the Steelers’ taxi squad two weeks ago.
- To fill the space left by Williams’ departure, the Steelers have signed defensive end Joe Kruger to their practice squad, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com.
Minor Moves: Saturday
Here are today’s minor transactions. We’ll update the list throughout the day, with the most recent moves added to the top…
- The Seahawks have added offensive lineman Andrew McDonald to their practice squad, reports Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). The team released defensive lineman Jimmy Staten to make room.
- The Chiefs have placed receiver A.J. Jenkins on the injured reserve, reports Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post. The team signed former Panther and Eagle Jason Avant to replace Jenkins, who has had nine catches this season.
Earlier Updates
- The Chargers have signed offensive lineman Ryan Miller to their active roster from the practice squad, reports Michael Gehlken of the U-T San Diego (via Twitter). Chargers’ center Rich Ohrnberger is injured and might not play on Sunday. The team has waived cornerback Richard Crawford in order to make room for Miller (via Twitter).
- With Montee Ball and Ronnie Hillman out this week, the Broncos have promoted running back Jeremy Stewart from the practice squad, reports Mike Klis of the Denver Post. The team waived running back Kapri Bibbs to make room for Stewart.
- The Patriots have signed Casey Walker to their practice squad, reports Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald (via Twitter). The team waived the defensive tackle to make room for LeGarrette Blount, but were able to bring him back after Walker cleared waivers.
- With only two runnings back on the roster, the Colts have promoted Zurlon Tipton from their practice squad, reports Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star (via Twitter). To make room on the roster, the team waived receiver/returner Griff Whalen.
- The Cowboys have promoted cornerback Micah Pellerin and released defensive tackle Davon Coleman, reports ESPN.com’s Todd Archer (via Twitter). Coleman has compiled three tackles this season after joining Dallas as an undrafted free agent.
Colts Notes: Fullback, Whalen, Nixon
Following the Colts minicamp, coach Chuck Pagano realized how much talent he has on his squad. Pagano relayed the message to his team:
“It will be really, really difficult to get to 53 this year,” said Pagano (via Mike Chappell of IndyStar.com). “The final cutdown is going to be difficult.”
Chappell decided to give the coach a hand and give his crack at the roster. Here are some of the more interesting notes, along with two bonus tweets from the Indianapolis Star’s Stephen Holder…
- At fullback, Chappell chose Mario Harvey over Stanley Havili. Harvey, a former linebacker, is switching to the offensive side of the ball. Havili has 218 career all-purpose yards.
- The writer took LaVon Brazill and Da’Rick Rogers at wide receiver, but notes that Griff Whalen could beat out the duo.
- For the final tight end spot, Chappell sided with Jack Doyle over Weslye Saunders, but adds that the team could very well carry four at the position.
- Chappell envisions a year on the practice squad for seventh-round pick Ulrick John.
- Jeris Pendleton earned Chappell’s final spot on the defensive line, but the writer warns that the job could be Brandon McKinney‘s if the veteran has regained form following his two knee injuries.
- Holder tweets that former undrafted offensive tackle Xavier Nixon “is a keeper.” The 23-year-old made his NFL debut last season.
- Holder also tweets that rookie wideout Donte Moncrief has looked good and is making coaches excited.
AFC Mailbags: Bengals, Steelers, Colts, Jags
ESPN’s NFL writers answered questions from their readers this weekend. Let’s take a look at some interesting notes from the AFC…
- Jay Cutler‘s deal with the Bears and Alex Smith‘s likely extension with the Chiefs will have an impact on the Bengals negotiations with Andy Dalton, writes Coley Harvey.
- Even though the team selected Jeremy Hill in the second round this year (and Giovani Bernard in the second round last season), Harvey would be surprised if the Bengals let go of veteran running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis.
- In spite of the above opinion, Harvey says the team will likely part ways with one of Green-Ellis, Cedric Peerman or Rex Burkhead. The writer believes that Burkhead is at the most risk of being cut.
- Scott Brown says “it would make all the sense in the world” for the Steelers to bring back Brett Keisel. In an another article, Brown writes that Heath Miller‘s recent quote (the tight end stated that the linebacker was not with the team “right now”) is an indication that the veteran will return.
- LaVon Brazill, Da’Rick Rogers and Griff Whalen will likely be competing for the Colts‘ final wideout spot, writes Mike Wells. The writer believes that Reggie Wayne, T.Y. Hilton, Hakeem Nicks and Donte Moncrief are locks to make the roster.
- If the Jaguars weren’t in such good shape cap-wise, Michael DiRocco thinks the team would have cut or tried to restructure the contract of tight end Marcedes Lewis.
Free Agency Notes: Visits, Jaguars, Patriots
A couple of notes from around the NFL to distract on this Selection Sunday…
- Defensive end Alex Carrington will be visiting the Raiders and the Rams, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
- The Steelers will host receiver Lance Moore on Tuesday, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. Moore was released by the Saints more than a week ago.
- The Jaguars still need to add an offensive lineman and are looking for depth at receiver, writes Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com.
- Having lost both Dane Fletcher and Brandon Spikes, the Patriots depth at linebacker is getting thin, opines Field Yates of ESPNBoston.com. Jerod Mayo, Jamie Collins and Dont’a Hightower were the only linebackers on the current roster to have played more than a single defensive snap last season and because of that, Yates thinks the team should consider bringing in more depth either through the draft or free agency.
- Michael Oher‘s new contract with the Titans is “scary,” says Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com. Oher signed a four-year, $20MM deal earlier this weekend.
- The Colts may need to cut a receiver after adding Hakeem Nicks, writes Mike Wells of ESPN.com. Wells believes the competition for the fifth receiver will be between Griff Whalen and LaVon Brazill.