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Jonathan Dowling

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/14/15

October 14th, 2015 at 6:29pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor NFL signings, cuts, and other moves..

  • The Cowboys claimed running back Rod Smith off waivers from the Seahawks, according to Bryan Broaddus of 105.3 The Fan (on Twitter). After previously trading for Christine Michael, it appears that the Cowboys are fans of Seattle running backs.
  • The Broncos announced that they have signed tight end Richard Gordon while waiving fellow tight end Mitchell Henry. This will be Gordon’s third AFC West team, after stints with the Chiefs and Raiders, who selected Gordon in the sixth round (No. 181 overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft from the University of Miami.
  • The Browns have been awarded defensive back Don Jones off waivers from the Saints, as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. In a related move, outside linebacker Scott Solomon was placed on injured reserve with a sprained knee. Solomon’s injury certainly won’t help the Browns’ poor results against the run.
  • Mike Chappell of FOX59 (on Twitter) reports that the Colts have placed Tyler Varga on IR following his concussion. That move will help make room for the newly-signed Ahmad Bradshaw.
  • The Dolphins signed safety Jonathan Dowling off the team’s practice squad, as Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald tweets. Dowling was a 2014 seventh-round pick of the Raiders.
  • The Buccaneers cut Josh Martin from injured reserve with an injury settlement, Wilson tweets.
  • The Seahawks signed linebacker Nick Moody to their active roster, Wilson tweets.
  • The Bears announced (on Twitter) that they have promoted linebacker Jonathan Anderson from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.
  • The Packers announced that they have signed tight end Justin Perillo to the active roster while placing safety Sean Richardson on IR. Coach Mike McCarthy wouldn’t comment on Richardson’s future when asked about it on Monday, but his playing career could be in jeopardy, as Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com writes. The Packers brought back Richardson this year as an restricted free agent when they matched the one-year, $2.55MM offer sheet he signed with the Raiders.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/9/15

September 9th, 2015 at 2:37pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Wednesday’s practice squad signings and cuts from around the NFL:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Miami Dolphins

New York Giants

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

  • Signed: LB Jason Ankrah; LB Justin Staples (Twitter link via Terry McCormick)

Workout Notes: Bills, Dolphins, Raiders, Bucs

September 8th, 2015 at 9:06am CST by Luke Adams

With 53-man rosters set, teams around the NFL will start to frequently bring in players for workouts and auditions, keeping up-to-date on which free agents are out there, in case injury replacements or practice squad fill-ins are required.

Here are a few of the latest updates on teams working out players, or bringing them in for visits:

  • The Bills, who are exploring other possible options at kicker after an underwhelming preseason from Dan Carpenter, worked out Alex Henery, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (via Twitter). Henery’s last game in the NFL, the one that cost him his job, came last October, when he missed three field goals for the Lions against Buffalo.
  • Before they signed linebacker Adrian Hubbard, the Dolphins worked out Hubbard and several other players, according to Wilson (Twitter link). The players who earned an audition with Miami included former Raiders safety Jonathan Dowling, ex-Cardinals linebacker Glenn Carson, former Bengals linebacker Nico Johnson, ex-Cowboys cornerback Robert Steeples, and former Eagles safety Chris Prosinski.
  • The Raiders brought in a number of players for workouts, with a focus on wide receivers, quarterbacks, and defensive backs. According to Wilson (Twitter links), wideouts Phil Bates, John Harris, DeAndre Carter, and T.J. Graham, quarterbacks Jeff Tuel and Phillip Sims, and defensive backs Tommie Campbell, Phillip Thomas, B.W. Webb, and Ty Zimmerman auditioned for the club. Offensive lineman Dillon Farrell also had a tryout with Oakland.
  • Offensive lineman Austin Reiter, a 2015 seventh-rounder waived by Washington over the weekend, is working out for the Buccaneers this morning, tweets Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times.
  • After being waived by the Chargers last week, wide receiver Titus Davis paid a visit to the Lions, tweets Wilson.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/29/15

August 29th, 2015 at 9:34pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are today’s minor NFL transactions as cuts aiming to trim rosters from 90 to 75 players have begun to commence.

  • The Chiefs have released three players, Terez A. Paylor of The Kansas City Star reports: guard Marcus Reed, tight end Adam Schiltz and cornerback Kenneth Penny (Twitter links).
  • The Raiders waived 2014 seventh-round pick Jonathan Dowling, reports Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com. The ex-Western Kentucky safety lined up with the team’s second-stringers and was expected to play a bigger role this season after serving as mostly a special-teamer as a rookie. But Oakland’s signing of Taylor Mays seems to have made Dowling expendable.
  • The Jaguars cut Cody Booth, who served as a tackle and guard as a rookie last season, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). The 25-year-old Booth also played tight end at Temple. He did not see any game action for the Jags last year.
  • Eighty-seven players remain on the Cardinals‘ roster after they released safety Ross Weaver, Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic reports (on Twitter). Weaver, a 28-year-old former undrafted free agent, previously played on the Giants and Lions before signing with the Cardinals prior to the 2014 season.

Raiders Promote Scott Simonson

December 6th, 2014 at 6:05pm CST by Rob DiRe

The Raiders have promoted tight end Scott Simonson to their active roster from the practice squad, reports Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). The team placed safety Jonathan Dowling on injured reserve in order to make room for Simonson.

The team was looking forward to a different transaction, as they were hoping receiver Rod Streater would be activated from injured reserve-designated to return in time for this week’s matchup with the 49ers, according to Tafur (via Twitter). Streater should be back with the team next week.

While Simonson’s promotion may not have been a surprise, it is interesting that the team did not place tight end Brian Leonhardt on injured reserve, writes Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune (via Twitter). Leonhardt suffered two concussions in the past two weeks, leaving the remainder of his season in jeopardy.

There is a chance that move comes next week, when the team gets Streater back. At that time, the Raiders will need to open up a roster spot in order to get him back on the field. McDonald was waiting to see if that would happen this week as well (via Twitter).

Draft Signings: Titans, Raiders, Jaguars, 49ers

May 20th, 2014 at 8:06pm CST by Zachary Links

We’re dedicating individual posts to draft pick signings from the first two rounds while rounding up the deals from rounds 3-7 in bulleted posts. To keep tabs on all of this year’s draft pick signings to date, be sure to check out our tracker. Here are Tuesday’s latest draft signings from the later rounds:

  • The Titans announced that they have agreed to terms with sixth-round quarterback Zach Mettenberger and fifth-round linebacker Avery Williamson, writes Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean. Mettenberger, whose deal we heard about earlier today, fell in the draft partially due to a torn ACL suffered at the end of his final season.
  • Three seventh-rounders have inked their deals with the Raiders, the team announced today in a press release. Cornerback Travis Carrie, defensive end Shelby Harris, and safety Jonathan Dowling are now officially members of the club, and they’ll receive respective signing bonuses of about $67K, $54K, and $46K, according to Jason Fitzgerald’s figures at OverTheCap.com.
  • Former UCF standout Storm Johnson has signed his rookie deal with the Jaguars, the team announced via Twitter. The 6’0″, 209-pound tailback, who was selected with the seventh pick in the seventh round, has shown quick feet for a player of his size.
  • The 49ers announced that they have signed seventh-round fullback Trey Millard, tweets Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.