Jake Stoneburner

Dolphins Pare Roster Down To 53

The Dolphins removed 20 players from their roster in order to reach the mandated 53-man limit, with the most notable of the team’s releases coming at kicker.

Caleb Sturgis will not begin a third season as the Dolphins’ kicker, as Andrew Franks won competition for the spot, according to the team’s website.

In going with rookie undrafted free agent Franks over Sturgis, a third-year veteran, it marks the first time in eight years Miami will deploy two new specialists. Rookie Matt Darr supplanted eight-year punter Brandon Fields, a 2013 Pro Bowler, earlier this week.

Sturgis missed eight kicks in each of his two campaigns.

Miami’s additional cuts are as follows:

  • Damarr Aultman, WR
  • McLeod Bethel-Thompson, QB
  • Sam Brenner, C
  • Deandre Coleman, DT
  • James Davidson, LB
  • Emmanuel Dieke, DE
  • Mike Gillislee, RB
  • Cobi Hamilton, WR
  • Donald Hawkins, T
  • Mike Hull, LB
  • Anthony Johnson, DT
  • Christion Jones, WR (Waived/injured)
  • Don Jones, S
  • Mike Liedtke, G/T
  • Jeff Luc, LB
  • Jordan Tripp, LB
  • Cedric Thompson, S
  • Jake Stoneburner, TE
  • Tim Semisch, TE
  • Aundrey Walker, T

Dolphins Sign Six To Futures Contracts

The Dolphins signed a half dozen players to reserve/futures contracts today, according to Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald (via Twitter):

All six players were previously on Miami’s taxi squad. The only player left out was wide receiver L’Damian Washington, who joined the practice squad in early December.

Practice Squad Updates: Wednesday

We’ll use this space to round up Wednesday’s practice squad signings and cuts from around the league. Here’s the latest:

  • Confirming the previously-reported signing of linebacker Jake Knott to their practice squad, the Dolphins also added wide receiver L’Damian Washington, parting ways with safety Ahmad Dixon and tight end Jake Stoneburner to make room, tweets Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald.

Earlier updates:

  • The Ravens‘ practice squad underwent some turnover today, with the team cutting tight end Allen Reisner and signing tight end Phillip Supernaw and wide receiver LaQuan Williams, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.
  • With three spots open on their practice squad, the Patriots got the unit back up to 10 players by signing defensive back Justin Green, linebacker Deontae Skinner, and defensive back Daxton Swanson, the team announced today in a press release.
  • Tight end Kevin Greene, who worked out for the Panthers several weeks ago, has now signed with the team’s practice squad, according to Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer (via Twitter).
  • Having promoted tight end Anthony Denham from their practice squad to their 53-man roster, the Texans quickly filled the open spot on their taxi squad by adding wide receiver Jace Davis, tweets Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston.
  • Former Notre Dame defensive lineman Kona Schwenke has signed with the Jets‘ practice squad, per Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com (via Twitter). No corresponding move was necessary, since New York had been carrying nine players.

Minor Moves: Monday

As teams deal with Week 9 injuries and look ahead to Week 10, we can expect to see several clubs tweak the backs of their 53-man rosters and their practice squads. Here are Monday’s latest minor transactions:

  • The Dolphins have placed safety Michael Thomas on injured reserve after he suffered a significant chest injury in Sunday’s game, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link). To take his place on the roster, Miami signed fellow S Jordan Kovacs off the Eagles’ practice squad, per Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (via Twitter). The Fins will also add tight end Jake Stoneburner to its taxi squad, tweets Salguero.
  • Two Buccaneers players, defensive end Da’Quan Bowers and fullback Jorvorskie Lane, have been reinstated from the suspended list, according to Howard Balzer (Twitter link).
  • The Buccaneers have waived defensive tackle Matthew Masifilo, reports Caplan (on Twitter). The 2012 undrafted free agent played in one game this season for Tampa Bay.
  • Because return man Trindon Holliday was waived/injured, and has now cleared waivers, he has reverted to the Buccaneers’ injured reserve list, according to Wilson (on Twitter).
  • More Bucs news, as the club has made several changes to its practice squad. Tampa added linebacker Denicos Allen and tight end Ted Bolser to its taxi squad, while cutting fullback Lonnie Pryor and linebacker Mister Alexander, says Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com (via Twitter).
  • To make room for Square (referenced below), the Chargers have cut safety Adrian Phillips, who was just signed on Saturday, per Wilson (Twitter link).
  • The Bengals announced several changes to its practice squad, tweets Coley Harvey of ESPN.com. We learned earlier today that linebacker Khairi Fortt was lost to the Jaguars, but the team also cut tight end Kevin Greene. To replace them, Cincinnati signed tight end Jake Murphy and linebacker Justin Jackson.
  • The Cardinals have re-signed defensive tackle Bruce Gaston, who was let go on Saturday, to their taxi squad, according to Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com (on Twitter).
  • The Jets have made an addition to their PS, bringing in receiver Chris Owusu, per Brian Costello of the New York Post (Twitter link). Owusu caught 13 balls for the Buccaneers last season.

Earlier updates:

  • Defensive end Damion Square, who was cut by the Chiefs on Saturday, has been claimed off waivers by the division-rival Chargers, according to Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). San Diego doesn’t have an open roster spot, so the team will need to make a corresponding move for the transaction to become official.
  • The Bills have filled their lone open roster spot by claiming safety Jerome Couplin off waivers from the Lions, per Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
  • The Lions have made a few changes to their practice squad, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com, who tweets that the team has added tight end Jordan Thompson, cornerback Trevin Wade, and defensive tackle Roy Philon, releasing tight end Ifeanyi Momah.
  • After working them out earlier, the Vikings have signed quarterback Pat Devlin and tight end Rashaun Allen to their taxi squad, according to Matt Vensel of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (via Twitter). To make space on the unit, the team moved quarterback Chandler Harnish to the practice squad IR list and cut tight end Ryan Otten.
  • Fullback Michael Zordich has signed with the Saints‘ practice squad, according to his agency, Tier 1 Sports Management (Twitter link).
  • The Buccaneers are set to sign tackle Matt Patchan to their practice squad, reports Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter).

Workout Notes: Beauharnais, Brown, Lewis

With injuries piling up and rosters changing, a number of players have had workouts with various teams in anticipation of week four action.

Here are some of the players who have had workouts with teams recently:

Minor Moves: Thursday

We’ll keep track of the day’s minor transactions here, with the latest moves being added to the top of the page:

  • The Miami-New England waiver wire saga continues, as the Dolphins have claimed defensive tackle Bruce Gaston from the Patriots, who waived him yesterday, according to Field Yates of ESPN (via Twitter). Gaston, 22, was a 2014 undrafted free agent out of Purdue. In order to clear a roster spot, the Dolphins waived defensive back Brandian Ross, who started 13 games for the Raiders last season, tweets Yates.
  • Jake Stoneburner, a second-year tight end out of Ohio State, has been removed from the Packers’ injured reserve list with an injury settlement, per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Twitter link).

Packers Cut Roster Down To 53

5:50pm: The Packers have formally announced their last few transactions to get down to 53 players. The team placed tight end Jake Stoneburner and defensive end Khyri Thornton on injured reserve, and cut center Garth Gerhart, tight end Justin Perillo, defensive end Luther Robinson, and tackle Jeremy Vujnovich. Additionally, Hubbard has been fully cut from the roster rather than being placed on IR, as indicated earlier.

1:30pm: The Packers are not finished making moves, as they’ve parted ways with five more players in addition two placing a duo on injured reserve:

Cut:

Placed on injured reserve:

10:55am: The Packers have released eight players this morning. You can find a running list of the team’s moves below:

  • Ryan White (CB) (via Rob Demovsky on Twitter)
  • Michael Hill (RB) (via Tom Silverstein on Twitter)
  • John Fullington (OT) (via Demovsky on Twitter)
  • Jordan McCray (OG) (via Ryan Wood on Twitter)
  • Jake Doughty (LB) (via Demovsky on Twitter)
  • Alex Gillett (WR) (via Silverstein on Twitter)
  • LaDarius Perkins (RB) (via Silverstein on Twitter)
  • Tanner Miller (S) (via Silverstein on Twitter)

A handful of these players have an opportunity to catch on with the Packers’ practice squad. As mentioned in each player’s respective tweet, White and Doughty have a chance of sticking around. The team could also bring back Hill or Perkins, but Silverstein indicates that the team won’t bring back both.