Jon Halapio

Workout Notes: Wednesday

The latest workouts and auditions from around the NFL..

  • The Seahawks worked out Mister Alexander and Fred Evans, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (on Twitter).
  • The Chargers worked out offensive lineman Michael Huey, according to Wilson (on Twitter). Huey had a brief stint with the Chargers in August of 2011 and has also spent time with the Seahawks. The 26-year-old has also racked up a slew of awards during his time in the Arena Football League with the Arizona Rattlers. Washington also took a look at Huey (link).
  • The Bucs worked out wide receiver Chandler Jones, running back LaDarius Perkins, guard Jon Halapio, quarterback Garrett Gilbert, wide receiver Jeremy Gallon, and running back David Fluellen, according to Wilson (on Twitter).
  • The Titans worked out quarterback B.J. Coleman and wide receiver Ja-Mes Logan, according to Wilson (on Twitter).

NFC North Notes: Lions, Bears, Vikings

Let’s round up a few Thursday items from out of the NFC North, where the two preseason favorites – the Packers and Bears – sit at 0-1, looking up at the first-place Lions and Vikings….

  • The Lions will have an open roster spot after placing Corey Hilliard and Bill Bentley on injured reserve this week, and while it had been assumed that the opening would be used to add a defensive back, it won’t necessarily be an outside signing. Head coach Jim Caldwell said today that the most likely scenario would have the team promoting a player from its practice squad, tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. As Birkett points out (via Twitter), Mohammed Seisay and Nate Ness are the two defensive backs currently on the club’s practice squad.
  • Depending on the status of a handful of their injured players, the Bears could make additional roster moves before Sunday, perhaps to add an offensive lineman and/or a wide receiver, writes Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.
  • The Vikings were among the teams that had players in for workouts this week, auditioning linebackers Steve Beauharnais and Phillip Steward, as well as guard Jon Halapio, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). It’s worth noting that both Beauharnais and Halapio were cut at the end of the preseason by the Patriots, Minnesota’s Week 2 opponent.

Patriots Cut Boyce, Worthy, Others

4:03pm: The Pats have announced three more cuts, in a press release:

The team’s official website now lists the team’s active roster at 55 players, so we’ll have to wait and see if there are another pair of announcements today. Presumably, the last two players removed from the roster will be Brandon Browner and Brian Tyms, who will be placed on the reserve-suspended list.

1:50pm: The Patriots continue to make moves, as they’ve cut three more players:

  • James Morris (LB) (via Young on Twitter): Placed on injured reserve
  • Eathyn Manumaleuna (DL) (via Young on Twitter)
  • Chris Martin (OL) (via Young on Twitter)

11:42am: The Patriots have released 14 players this afternoon, including a player they acquired only two weeks and a fourth-rounder from 2013. The list is below:

Patriots Sign Two Picks, Three UDFAs

The Patriots have made a handful of moves, most notably signing two more of their draft picks, writes Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com (via Twitter). They selected a pair of interior offensive lineman from the Sunshine State in the draft, and today have officially signed center Bryan Stork of Florida State and guard Jon Halapio of Florida. Stork was a fourth-round pick coming off his national championship season, and Halapio was a sixth-rounder.

These signings leave only two Patriots’ draft picks without contracts, the team’s top two picks Dominique Easley of Florida and Jimmy Garoppolo of Eastern Illinois. However, there is no reason to worry, as Jeff Howe expects both players to sign soon (via Twitter).

Howe also reports that the team has signed three undrafted rookie free agents, cornerback Malcolm Butler of West Alabama, receiver Derrick Johnson of Maine, and linebacker Taylor McCuller of West Texas A&M (via Twitter).

AFC East Notes: Patriots, Jets, Bills

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.

Extra Points: Options, Rice, Keller, Visits

As our fifth-year option tracker shows, we’re still waiting on many teams to make their official decisions on 2015 options for players who were drafted in the first round in 2011. The deadline arrives on May 3, so we still have nearly two more weeks before all those contract situations are resolved, but Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com has decided to take his best guess at the upcoming decisions. In La Canfora’s view, 17 options are “no-brainers” to be exercised, while 10 are virtually certain to be declined — the remaining five, including Aldon Smith‘s and Mark Ingram‘s, among others, are still up in the air.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

  • The Jets offered Sidney Rice a larger contract than the Seahawks did, but the receiver wanted to return to the Super Bowl champs, he said today on 710 ESPN in Seattle (Twitter link).
  • Tight end Dustin Keller remains unsigned, but the agent for Keller says his client is “good to go” after missing the 2013 season with a serious knee injury, tweets Jordan Raanan of NJ.com.
  • After visiting the Jets today, TCU cornerback Jason Verrett will move on to the Rams on Tuesday and the Texans on Wednesday, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).
  • Rapoport passes along a couple more draft updates on Twitter, writing that LSU running back Jeremy Hill is visiting the Bengals today and previously visited the Titans. Rapoport adds that Florida offensive lineman Jon Halapio has worked out for the Dolphins, Buccaneers, Browns, and Colts.
  • Boston College defensive end Kaleb Ramsey will work out for NFL scouts on campus this Wednesday, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.
  • According to reports from Wilson, Gil Brandt of NFL.com, and Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com, Florida defensive tackle Dominique Easley is visiting the Rams, Patriots, Browns, and Cowboys this week.
  • We heard last week that Nebraska guard Spencer Long has visits lined up with the Eagles, Chargers, Dolphins, and Falcons, and Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net says (via Twitter) Long will also visit three other clubs.

NFC Notes: Bucs, Vikings, Redskins, Seahawks

A total of 26 local prospects from 11 schools worked out for the Buccaneers today, tweets Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com. Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times identifies a handful of them in a series of Twitter links, including Florida offensive lineman Jon Halapio, Boston College offensive lineman Matt Patchan, USF defensive end Ryne Giddins, USF defensive back Fidel Montgomery, Toledo receiver Bernard Reedy, and Rutgers safety Jeremy Deering.

  • The Vikings will work out Teddy Bridgewater on Saturday, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter).
  • It was reported yesterday that the Redskins brought in free agent receivers Austin Collie and Anthony Armstrong for visits, and Mike Jones of the Washington Post adds another name to that list, tweeting that the club also worked out Brian Hernandez. Hernandez has signed with the Eagles and Redskins, though he has never appeared in a regular-season NFL game.
  • Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun provides the breakdown on Jeron Johnson’s reworked deal with the Seahawks (via Twitter). Rather than earning a $2.187MM base salary in 2014, Johnson will now have a $1MM base, a $250K signing bonus, up to $250K in per-game roster bonuses, and up to $500K in playing-time incentives. As John Clayton reported yesterday, the one-year pact can be worth up to $2MM in total.
  • Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com discusses whether the Cowboys will add a quarterback in this year’s draft or wait another year to address the situation.