HEADLINES

James Burgess

Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC East

September 4th, 2016 at 5:53pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC East teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Bills, Dolphins, Patriots, and Jets are noted below.

Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s AFC East transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day (all links go to Twitter unless noted otherwise):

Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Dolphins Move Roster To 53

September 3rd, 2016 at 3:45pm CST by Zachary Links

The Dolphins have trimmed their roster to 53:

This offseason, Thomas hooked on with the Dolphins for what was to be his third stint with the team. Thomas had a path to making the 53-man roster, but his chances were hurt when the team added Arian Foster late in the offseason. In four seasons with Miami, Thomas ran for 1,480 yards off of 409 attempts, good for just 3.6 yards per carry. In 2014, he saw time in 12 games, rushing for 168 yards off of 44 carries, good for a 3.8 yard average on each try. At one point in time, Thomas was looked at as a significant piece of the Dolphins offense, but he fell out of favor in Miami and has been yo-yoed on and off the roster.

Chekwa at one point was in the mix to win a starting job with Miami. However, for one reason or another, he couldn’t make the final cut. The Dolphins now have rookie Xavien Howard back on the field and free agent addition Chris Culliver, so they have enough bodies at cornerback.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

East Notes: Dolphins, JPP, Redskins

July 13th, 2016 at 6:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

One of the Dolphins‘ higher-end UDFAs, linebacker James Burgess said (via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald) six teams contacted him after the draft but he chose his hometown franchise, tabbing Miami as a team he could make. Burgess backtracked on a commitment to join the Miami Hurricanes years ago and chose Louisville instead, and draft expert Tony Pauline told Jackson that Burgess should have been drafted and could loom as a potential nickel presence.

“Traditional weakside linebacker. Size is the only limitation. He would be a nickel linebacker. The concern is he’ll get smothered at the point of attack. Could be an eighth linebacker,” Pauline said of Burgess.

Pauline identified UDFA tight end Gabe Hughes as the Fins’ other top candidate to latch onto their 53-man roster despite not hearing his name called in the draft. The Florida Tech tight end caught 32 passes for 566 yards and three touchdowns last season, but he’ll have a bevy of players to compete against to earn a spot behind Jordan Cameron and Dion Sims. As Roster Resource shows, more experienced performers Dominique Jones, Jake Stoneburner and MarQueis Gray — and converted UCLA receiver Thomas Duarte, whom Miami took in the seventh round this year — comprise the tight end competition.

Here’s some more from Miami and the latest coming out of other Eastern locales.

  • While most of the Dolphins’ 12 UDFAs are underdogs to make the roster, long snapper Ryan DiSalvo has a chance to unseat longtime long snapper John Denney, Jackson writes. The 37-year-old Denney’s been the Dolphins’ primary deep snapper for the past 11 seasons, but DiSalvo — a rookie out of San Jose State — showed improvement in the latter stages of offseason workouts and would save the Dolphins $650K against the cap if he unseats the veteran.
  • ESPN.com’s James Walker categorizes safety Walt Aikens as having a 70% chance to make the Dolphins’ active roster. The third-year player started five games last season, but his inconsistent play helped induce Miami to sign Isa Abdul-Quddus. Walker notes that Aikens’ experience on special teams will give him the better-than-average shot of making the team.
  • Jason Pierre-Paul‘s lawsuit against Adam Schefter and ESPN for publishing his medical records that stemmed from the fireworks mishap-induced surgery last year will go to court August 25, but the network not only wants the case dismissed but seeks sanctions against the Giants defensive end for filing the lawsuit, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports. The judge seeing a possible difference between reporting JPP had a finger amputated and displaying to the public improperly disclosed medical records will decide this case, one that could have JPP paying for ESPN’s legal fees if the network prevails, Florio writes.
  • In projecting which current Redskins offensive starters will be on the team three years from now, Rich Tandler of RealRedskins.com tabs Jordan Reed, Brandon Scherff and Trent Williams as those with the best chance to be blue chip players. As for Kirk Cousins, Tandler does not see Washington’s current franchise-tagged player ascending to that level, with the now-fifth-year quarterback landing on the “solid starter” tier.
  • PFR’s resident draft guru, Dave-Te Thomas, takes a look at the Bills’ rookie class in an expansive piece.

Dolphins Sign Laremy Tunsil, 12 UDFAs

May 6th, 2016 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

The Dolphins have locked up their first-round pick, announcing today (via Twitter) that offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil has signed his rookie contract. The team also confirmed that seventh-round quarterback Brandon Doughty has signed his deal, as reported on Thursday.Laremy Tunsil

Tunsil, the 13th overall pick last Thursday, had been expected to be the No. 1 overall pick before the Titans sent that selection to the Rams in a pre-draft trade. Tunsil continued to slip on draft night when, less than an hour before the event got underway, a video surfaced of the former Ole Miss tackle smoking marijuana out of a gas-mask bong.

While the Dolphins were thrilled to have Tunsil fall to them, there’s still some lingering concern within the organization about how he may have been affected by the pre-draft leak, and whether that leaker may continue to attempt to do damage, according to Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Still, those concerns aren’t significant enough to postpone Miami’s signing of Tunsil, and the rookie lineman’s contract contains no unique clauses to protect the team, says Werder.

In addition to signing Tunsil, the Dolphins also announced that they have added 12 undrafted free agents to their roster. Here’s the full list of Miami’s UDFAs: