Wednesday’s taxi squad moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: QB Anthony Brown
- Released: DT Eli Ankou
Houston Texans
- Signed: WR Alex Erickson
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: WR Jason Brownlee
- Released: TE Robert Tonyan
Many teams used Friday to make further adjustments to their practice squads. Here is the full breakdown:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: OLB Adedayo Odeleye
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: QB John Wolford, WR Deon Cain, OL Brandon Walton
- Released: S Alex Cook, DT Walter Palmore, OL Mason Brooks
Denver Broncos
- Signed: LB Levelle Bailey
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: FB Andrew Beck, CB Kamal Hadden, RB La’Mical Perine
- Placed on IR: RB Nate McCrary
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: QB John Rhys Plumlee
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: CB Nic Jones, DT Marlon Tuipulotu
- Released: RB Emani Bailey
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: CB M.J. Devonshire
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: RB Jaret Patterson
- Released: RB Isaiah Spiller
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: DT Cory Durden
- Released: DT Tuli Letuligasenoa
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: OLB William Bradley-King, T Anderson Hardy, RB Deneric Prince
New England Patriots
- Signed: CB Isaiah Bolden, LB Ochaun Mathis
New York Giants
- Signed: S Gervarrius Owens
- Released: LB K.J. Cloyd
New York Jets
- Signed: WR Jason Brownlee
- Released: WR Lance McCutcheon
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: S JT Woods
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: OL John Leglue, OL Doug Nester, LB Devin Harper, LB Adetokunbo Ogundeji, WR Brandon Johnson
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: LB Tyreke Smith
Wolford’s seven regular season appearances to date have all come with the Rams. The 28-year-old spent last season with the Buccaneers, though, working with then-offensive coordinator Dave Canales. Canales is now the head coach in Carolina, and Wolford has followed him in a bid to earn a 53-man roster spot at some point during the season. The Panthers already had Jack Plummer on their taxi squad, but Wolford will offer Canales and Co. a more familiar option behind Bryce Young and Andy Dalton.
Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These Bills, Dolphins, Jets and Patriots moves are noted below.
Buffalo Bills
Signed:
Claimed:
Signed to practice squad:
- RB Frank Gore Jr., WR Deon Cain, WR KJ Hamler, WR Tyrell Shavers, TE Zach Davidson, OL Richard Gouraige, OL Will Clapp, OL Mike Edwards, DE Kingsley Jonathan, DE Kameron Cline, DT Eli Ankou, DT Branson Deen, CB Daequan Hardy, CB Te’Cory Couch, S Kareem Jackson
Miami Dolphins
Released:
Claimed:
- WR Grant Dubose
Signed to practice squad:
- S Jordan Colbert, WR Erik Ezukanma, DT Jonathan Harris, OL Chasen Hines, LB Dequan Jackson, CB Isaiah Johnson, T Bayron Matos, RB Anthony McFarland Jr., CB Nik Needham, TE Hayden Rucci.
New England Patriots
Signed:
Claimed:
- LB Curtis Jacobs, T Demontrey Jacobs, DT Eric Johnson, T Zachary Thomas
Released:
- DT Trysten Hill, OL Michael Jordan, WR Jalen Reagor
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
- T Liam Fornadel, RB Kevin Harris, RB Terrell Jennings, WR Matt Landers, DE Jotham Russell, DB A.J. Thomas, TE Mitchell Wilcox
New York Jets
Signed:
Claimed:
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
- LB Sam Eguavoen, OL Obinna Eze, TE Anthony Firkser, OL Jake Hanson, DL Bruce Hector, DL Jalyn Holmes, S Jaylen Key, TE Zack Kuntz, OL Kohl Levao, QB Adrian Martinez, LB Marcelino McCary-Ball, WR Lance McCutcheon, S Jarius Monroe, CB Kendall Sheffield, WR Brandon Smith, CB Tre Swilling, RB Xazavian Valladay
The Jets continue to see struggles at the quarterback position. Hours after hearing that Aaron Rodgers would likely not work his way back to a starting role this season, the situation at the position became even more dire as third-string starter Tim Boyle was benched in today’s loss to the Falcons in favor of veteran Trevor Siemian. The team is currently undecided on whether or not the switch will be permanent going into next week, per Josh Alper of NBC Sports.
New York was trailing Atlanta early in the second half, and Boyle had completed just over half of his passes for 148 yards in what was a fairly uninspiring performance. When Boyle threw an ill-advised pass that ended up in the hands of an over-the-top safety, head coach Robert Saleh put the 29-year-old on the bench, sending in Siemian, the recent journeyman.
Siemian, who despite playing for four different teams has started a game in each of the past five years, didn’t fare much better than Boyle against Atlanta. While Saleh hoped the move would spark the offense, Siemian failed to lead the team to any points, completing only 5 of his 13 pass attempts for 66 yards. He also fumbled the ball three times, losing one to the opposing defense.
With that failed experiment, Saleh has yet to make a decision on what the plan will be next week. Asked if benched former starter Zach Wilson could make a return to the first team, Saleh replied that Wilson is “always in consideration.” With Rodgers not likely to return, Saleh will need to figure something out with the options available to him.
Here are a few more rumors coming out of East Rutherford:
- Defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey made his season debut today after being a standard gameday elevation from the practice squad. Unfortunately, that’s where his 2023 campaign will end. In today’s loss, Winfrey suffered a “really bad” foot injury that Saleh proclaimed would leave him done for the season, according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini.
- Also sidelined in the loss were veteran tight end C.J. Uzomah and undrafted rookie wide receiver Jason Brownlee. Per Cimini, Uzomah suffered a sprained MCL and Brownlee left the game with an ankle injury. Taking away offensive weapons from the Jets’ arsenal surely doesn’t help the team’s struggles at quarterback.
The Jets landed a gamechanger at quarterback this spring, and now it’s up to them to figure out how to protect him. Head coach Robert Saleh made sure to communicate that the plan is to play the five best linemen, according to Brian Costello of the New York Post, clarifying that the center and tackle spots, specifically, will be open for competition.
The guard spots are presumably safe. Despite a down year for Laken Tomlinson, the Jets signed him to a three-year deal last year to start at guard. After an admirable rookie year as a starter, Alijah Vera-Tucker put together a strong start to his sophomore season last year, even being forced into playing tackle due to injuries before a torn triceps injury of his own sidelined him for the rest of the year. Confirming earlier reports, Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post recently reported that Vera-Tucker is still on track to return from his injury by training camp.
At tackle, Mekhi Becton is also slated to return in time for training camp after missing all but one game of last season due to an avulsion fracture of his right knee. Duane Brown mostly held down the left tackle position while right tackle was mostly handled by Vera-Tucker, Max Mitchell, and George Fant. Fant departed as a free agent, but the team brought in veteran tackle Billy Turner from Denver who can compete for the position, as well.
At center, Connor McGovern has handled starting duties in New York for the last three years, grading out as a top 10 center in the league in each of the past two seasons, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). The Jets only re-signed McGovern to a one-year contract, though, so it may not be so surprising that his job is open for competition. That point was further dictated by New York drafting one of the top center prospects in the draft, Wisconsin’s Joe Tippmann, in the second round as the first center off the board. Despite McGovern’s recent years of success, Tippmann may represent the future at the position for the Jets.
Here are a few more rumors surrounding Gang Green this offseason:
- Speaking of the Aaron Rodgers acquisition, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer indicated that Rodgers playing two more years was reportedly a big part of the team’s discussions with him before the trade. That supposed dedication was only reinforced when Rodgers claimed that he would participate in offseason workouts. Many veterans don’t feel the need to attend such workouts, but considering Rodgers is new to the facility, NBC Sports’ Mike Florio’s report that he plans on being present for “more than half” of the remaining offseason workouts is encouraging for Jets fans.
- New York recently re-signed long snapper Thomas Hennessy to a four-year extension. The new deal, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2, has a value of $5.97MM. The deal has a guaranteed amount of $1.96MM consisting of an $875K signing bonus and Hennessy’s first year base salary of $1.08MM. $670K of his 2024 salary is guaranteed for injury at signing, and the rest of the $1.21MM will become fully guaranteed on the fifth league day of the 2024 season. He’s set for base salaries of $1.26MM in 2025, $1.3MM in 2026, and $1.35MM in 2027, but the contract has a potential out built in after this season that would allow the Jets to cut Hennessy after this year with only $700K of dead cap.
- The Jets recently included Southern Mississippi wide receiver Jason Brownlee in their group of undrafted free agents. New York was clearly eager to ink Brownlee, giving the rookie a $246K guarantee, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN. That amount is the equivalent of the guarantee given to a low fifth-round pick.
- With all their offensive line suffering so many injuries last year, the Jets were happy to have the help of veteran Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. Now, with his contract expired, Duvernay-Tardif may have set his sights past football. The medical school graduate has been spinning several plates since the season ended, working shifts in the emergency department of the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, starting a Masters of Public Health program at Harvard, and promoting a French skin care brand. Still, while Duvernay-Tardif maintains that medicine is still his future, he hasn’t committed to retiring claiming that he’s still in shape “if the phone rings in October.”
The Jets have announced their 2023 crop of undrafted free agents. Here is the breakdown of rookies who will look to compete for a roster spot this summer:
- DE Deslin Alexandre (Pittsburgh)
- WR Jason Brownlee (Southern Mississippi)
- LB Claudin Cherelus (Alcorn State)
- S Trey Dean (Florida)
- RB Travis Dye (USC)
- WR Xavier Gipson (Stephen F. Austin)
- LB Maalik Hall (Southeastern Oklahoma State)
- TE E.J. Jenkins (Georgia Tech)
- LB Caleb Johnson (Miami)
- OL Brent Laing (Minnesota-Duluth)
- CB Derrick Langford (Washington State)
- WR T.J. Luther (Gardner-Webb)
- S Marquis Waters (Texas Tech)
New York has made a few sizeable financial commitments amongst this group. That includes $110K in guaranteed money for Jenkins, as noted (on Twitter) by Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. Jenkins’ lone campaign with the Yellow Jackets came last season, after he saw time at South Carolina. The 6-7, 243-pounder posted 316 yards and three touchdowns on just 17 receptions, showing big-play potential for his size.
The Jets have also given a six-figure guarantee to Dean, per Wilson (Twitter link). The former Gator will receive $100K following a highly productive five-year college career. Dean recorded one interception in each of his first four campaigns, and racked up a total of 18 pass deflections as evidence of his ball skills. He added 255 stops, 13.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks in Florida, making him a versatile addition to the secondary for at least the short-term future.
Dye transferred to USC last season after four years at Oregon. The 5-10, 200-pounder eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the first time with the Ducks in 2021, totaling 1,271 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground. He remained an efficient rusher in his lone Trojans campaign by averaging 6.1 yards per carry. Dye recorded 1,086 scrimmage yards and nine total touchdowns in 2022, but will face competition from fourth-rounder Israel Abanikanda for the third RB spot on the depth chart.