HEADLINES

Jemea Thomas

Pats Cut Six Players, Place Two On IR

August 26th, 2014 at 3:45pm CST by Luke Adams

3:45pm: The Pats are now down to 75 players, after officially announcing their last few roster moves of the day. According to a press release, New England also cut defensive lineman Ben Bass and defensive back Jemea Thomas, and placed linebacker Cameron Gordon on injured reserve.

12:14pm: Defensive back Travis Hawkins will also be waived by the Pats, according to Howe (via Twitter).

12:12pm: The Patriots continue to reduce their roster count on their way to getting down to 75 players by this afternoon’s deadline. While the team has yet to officially announce its latest transactions, Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald reports (via Twitter) that rookie receiver Wilson Van Hooser has been waived and that the team will place running back Tyler Gaffney on injured reserve. Additionally, wideout Derrick Johnson and linebacker Deontae Skinner will be among the Pats’ cuts, according to reports from Christopher Price of WEEI.com and Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe (Twitter link).

According to Howe (via Twitter), Van Hooser has already received some interest from a couple other NFL teams, and looks like a candidate to land on a practice squad somewhere. The wideout could technically still end up signing with New England’s practice squad, though typically a player waived during the first wave of cuts won’t be among a team’s top choices.

As for Gaffney, the Pats originally claimed him off waivers from Carolina, when the Panthers tried to sneak him through to their own injured reserve list. However, by hanging on to him until roster cutdowns, New England will no longer have to put Gaffney through waivers to place him on IR.

By our count, New England will still have 79 active players on its roster after these four moves, so four more transactions will be necessary this afternoon.

Minor Moves: Sunday

May 18th, 2014 at 3:58pm CST by Rory Parks

We will keep an eye on any minor transactions from today and update this post with news of any such transactions (most recent news on top).

  • The Patriots have signed sixth-round cornerback Jemea Thomas, tweets his agency, Universal Sports Management. Thomas played college football at Georgia Tech.
  • The Saints will sign edge player Cheta Ozougwu, who spent the past two seasons with the Bears before being waived about a month ago, reports ESPN’s Adam Caplan (Twitter link).

Earlier Updates:

  • The Colts have waived WR Greg Moore and signed WR Ryan Lankford, tweets Craig Kelley of Colts.com.
  • The Bears will release punter Drew Butler, writes Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post. The release was confirmed via Twitter by Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune and Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com (Twitter links). The release leaves the door open for new draftee Pat O’Donnell to become the team’s punter.

AFC East Notes: Patriots, Jets, Bills

May 11th, 2014 at 11:07am CST by Peter Sowards

Versatility was the theme of day 3 for the Patriots, as each of the seven players taken on Saturday figure to fill multiple spots on the depth chart, writes Zuri Berry of Boston.com.

“I feel like we improved our team today,” coach Bill Belichick said. “We had seven picks and we kind of had them in clumps there, but I felt like we were able to take some players that will be able to compete.

“We’ll see how it all goes.”

The Patriots‘ day 3 picks were Florida State center Bryan Stork, Wisconsin running back James White, Stanford offensive tackle Cameron Fleming, Florida guard Jon Halapio, Concordia-St. Paul defensive end Zach Moore, Georgia Tech defensive back Jemea Thomas and Michigan wide receiver Jeremy Gallon.

Read below for more from the AFC East:

  • Boston.com’s Erik Frenz passes along a post-draft depth chart, penciling in second-round pick Jimmy Garoppolo as the third-string quarterback behind Tom Brady and Ryan Mallett.
  • The 12 draft picks by the Jets all share similarities that helped them land in New York. “There’s pretty much a common thread with these fellas,” general manager John Idzik said, via newsday.com’s Kimberley A. Martin. “They fit our profile. They’re aggressive, they have a passion for our game, they’re great teammates. They fit the Jet profile.”
  • Five trades in three days highlighted an exciting extended weekend for the Bills, wrote Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News. The most notable moves were trading for running back Bryce Brown, trading away wide receiver Stevie Johnson and trading up for Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins at No. 4 overall.
  • Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald aggregated notes and feedback from media analysts on the Dolphin’s Saturday draft picks, as well as adding his post-draft thoughts, specifically his concerns at cornerback.

NFC Notes: Cowboys, Panthers, Cards, Saints

April 15th, 2014 at 4:27pm CST by Luke Adams

After hosting prospects such as defensive linemen Aaron Donald and Kony Ealy on Monday, the Cowboys are being visited by the likes of Florida State’s Timmy Jernigan, UCLA’s Anthony Barr, and Boise State’s Demarcus Lawrence today, writes David Moore of the Dallas Morning News. Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com adds (via Twitter) that Northwest Missouri State cornerback Brandon Dixon is also visiting the club today.

Here’s more out of the NFC:

  • A player like Donald may not be available at No. 16, but there’s no guarantee the Cowboys will be keeping that pick, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, who points out that in the 25 drafts Jerry Jones has overseen, the team has traded up or down 20 times.
  • The Panthers worked out LSU receivers Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry today in Baton Rouge, according to David Newton of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
  • Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link) provides the specifics on Thomas DeCoud‘s two-year contract with the Panthers, which has a base value of $3.525MM. That includes a $500K signing bonus and base salaries of $900K (2014) and $1.675MM (2015). Meanwhile, Alex Hall‘s one-year deal with the Panthers is for the minimum, but included a modest $10K signing bonus, tweets Wilson.
  • Colorado State center Weston Richburg visited with the Cardinals on Monday, according to Mike Klis of the Denver Post (via Twitter).
  • Ohio State’s Bradley Roby and Lindenwood’s Pierre Desir are among the five cornerbacks visiting the Saints today, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com. The other three – Justin Gilbert, Aaron Colvin, and Demetri Goodson – had been previously reported.
  • Mike Jones of the Washington Post reports (via Twitter) that Stanford offensive tackle Cameron Fleming visited the Redskins today, while ESPN.com’s John Keim tweets that Demarcus Lawrence is also scheduled to visit Washington.
  • D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution lists more than a dozen players who worked out at the Falcons‘ local prospect day today, including Tennessee running back Rajion Neal and Georgia Tech safety Jemea Thomas, among others.