HEADLINES

Kaare Vedvik

Bills Worked Out RB Alex Collins

December 14th, 2019 at 9:03am CST by Ben Levine

The Bills had some notable names in for workouts on Friday. Buffalo auditioned running back Alex Collins and kicker Kaare Vedvik, according to ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques (and passed along by Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com). Running back Ricky Ortiz and defensive backs A.J. Howard and Chris Johnson also worked out for the Bills.

A fifth-round pick of the Seahawks in 2016, Collins broke out the following season after making his way onto the Ravens’ active roster. In 15 games (12 starts), Collins posted 973 yards and six touchdowns on 212 carries, good for 4.6 yards per attempt. He also finished eighth in Football Outsiders‘ success rate, which measures how well a running back helps move the sticks.

He struggled a bit in 2018, and his season ended with him being placed on the injured reserve. This year, Collins was recovering from a broken leg, and he was slapped with a three-game ban after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges for possession of a handgun and possession of marijuana. We heard back in November that Collins was fully recovered and was no longer suspended.

Vedvik earned some hype as Justin Tucker‘s backup in Baltimore, and the Ravens traded him to the Vikings for a fifth-rounder back in August. The 25-year-old didn’t catch on with Minny, and his next stop with the Jets lasted only one game.

Ortiz, 25, appeared in 12 games (nine starts) last season for the Falcons, hauling in three catches. He spent part of the 2019 campaign on the Saints practice squad. Howard, a former undrafted free agent out of Appalachian State, hasn’t made his NFL debut despite spending time with six organizations. Johnson, 24, is an undrafted rookie out of Grand Valley State.

NFL Workout Updates: 12/3/19

December 3rd, 2019 at 7:42pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s notes from the workout/visit circuit:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Tennessee Titans

NFL Workout Updates: 11/27/19

November 27th, 2019 at 7:53pm CST by Marc Delucchi

Here is the latest from the workout circuit on Wednesday:

Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns

Miami Dolphins

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Washington

NFL Workout Updates: 11/11/19

November 11th, 2019 at 7:19pm CST by Marc Delucchi

Here’s the latest from around the league’s workout circuit:

Cleveland Browns

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

New York Giants

Oakland Raiders

Philadelphia Eagles

Patriots Work Out Five Kickers

October 2nd, 2019 at 6:24pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Patriots are in need of a new kicker after placing Stephen Gostkowski on injured reserve earlier today, and they worked out five free agents on Wednesday. New England took a look at Kai Forbath, Elliott Fry, Mike Nugent, Blair Walsh, and Matthew Wright today, tweets Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com.

New England will need another kicker for Sunday’s contest against the Redskins, but the club doesn’t seem to be acting with any sense of urgency. The Patriots are not expected to sign a kicker today and may bring in more free agents on Thursday, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). The Chargers also held kicker auditions today, which created travel issues for several free agents, per RapSheet.

Nugent by far the most experienced of the kickers that tried out for the Patriots, having attempted more than 300 field goals during his career, but both Walsh and Forbath have each attempted more than 100 kicks each. Fry lost the Bears’ kicking competition over the summer, while Wright is an undrafted rookie free agent.

Meanwhile, Kaare Vedvik — who was traded from the Ravens to the Vikings this offseason before briefly landing with the Jets — declined to work out for the Patriots, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link), who adds Vedvik is focusing on punting and kickoffs rather than field goals.

Jets To Sign K Sam Ficken

September 10th, 2019 at 1:35pm CST by Zachary Links

The Jets are set to sign kicker Sam Ficken, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Ficken will replace Kaare Vedvik, who missed a field goal and an extra point in the team’s 17-16 loss to the Bills on Sunday. 

Ficken served as Greg Zuerlein‘s injury replacement, but the Rams cut him prior to Zuerlein recovering. Ficken’s brief trial period ended after he missed two of three field goal tries between Weeks 3 and 4 last season. This offseason, he had stints with the Seahawks and Packers, but wound up back on the free agency pile when he missed the cut in Green Bay.

Vedvik, a hybrid kicker/punter specialist, has had a rough offseason. After being traded from the Ravens to the Vikings for a fifth-round pick, he was hoping to fill the Jets’ void at kicker. Instead, he’s now looking for his fourth team in four weeks.

Jets To Hold Kicker Tryout

September 9th, 2019 at 5:35pm CST by Sam Robinson

While the Bears this offseason garnered more publicity than just about any kicker-seeking team ever has, the Jets are entering that realm. They are almost certainly set to move to a fourth kicker in less than a month.

The Jets will hold a kicker tryout on Tuesday, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets. Sam Ficken, Greg Joseph, Elliott Fry, Younghoe Koo, and Tristan Vizcaino will vie to replace the struggling Kaare Vedvik, according to Manish Mehta of the Daily News.

Adam Gase‘s official word has not yet sealed Vedvik’s fate, but Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News notes the first-year Jets coach was “fuming” regarding the recently acquired kicker on Sunday night (Twitter link). Vedvik missed an extra point and a 45-yard field goal in what became a one-point Jets loss to the Bills. The hybrid specialist is 1-for-5 on field goals since being traded from the Ravens to the Vikings in the second week of the preseason.

Vedvik loomed as a Ravens trade chip for two offseasons, and after spending the 2018 season on Baltimore’s IR list, the Ravens acquired a fifth-round pick for him. The Vikings were set to offer a practice squad spot to Vedvik before the Jets made a waiver claim. The Vikings have another kicker, Chase McLaughlin, on their P-squad.

The Jets opted to let 2018 Pro Bowl kicker Jason Myers defect to the Seahawks in free agency. Replacement Chandler Catanzaro retired in mid-August, and the team added AAF alum Taylor Bertolet. The Vedvik claim sent Bertolet back to the waiver wire. Despite a versatile skill set that stems from extensive punting experience as well, Vedvik looks set to head there again soon.

Jets Considering Kicker Change?

September 9th, 2019 at 8:02am CST by Zachary Links

Nothing has been decided just yet, but it sure sounds like the Jets are thinking about dumping their kicker. After Kaare Vedvik missed a PAT and 45-yard field goal in the first half in a 17-16 loss to the Bills, head coach Adam Gase didn’t exactly offer up a glowing endorsement of the kicker.

“We’ll see what happens on Monday,” Gase said when asked if he can trust Vedvik moving forward (via NJ.com). “I don’t know, I haven’t had a chance to have a conversation with the personnel guys, what they want to do. We’ll have more as we go.”

In August, the Vikings sent a fifth-round pick to the Ravens to acquire Vedvik. Then, just a few weeks later, the Vikings released him outright, leading him to the Jets. The Jets figured that their well-documented kicking woes were over – turns out, things are the same as ever. Vedvik’s miss from 45 yards out was hideous, and his missed extra point wound up being the difference-maker in the one-point loss.

By the end of the business day on Monday, Vedvik could be in search of his fourth NFL team in four weeks.

NFC North Notes: Lions, Jackson, Vikings, Fields, Vedvik, Packers, Goodson

September 2nd, 2019 at 8:12pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Lions might not be done stockpiling quarterbacks. At cutdown day, they had amassed five on the 90-man roster. They cut Tom Savage and Luis Perez to get them down to three, but are now apparently looking for additional options. Detroit will work out Tyree Jackson on Monday, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link). The Bills waived Jackson this weekend. As of right now the Lions have journeyman Josh Johnson and undrafted rookie David Blough, who they just traded for, on the roster behind Matthew Stafford.

The Lions also scheduled a Kyle Sloter workout, but the recently waived Vikings passer ended up signing with the Cardinals’ practice squad. Sloter drew interest from several teams, Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets. Jackson left the University of Buffalo a year early, then went undrafted. He’s widely regarded as having impressive physical tools, but still being far too raw to play anytime soon.

Here’s more from the NFC North:

  • The Vikings made a minor trade with the Chiefs for cornerback Mark Fields over the weekend, and now we have the details. The 2021 seventh-round pick Minnesota sent is conditional, a source told Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (Twitter link). Gooessling writes that it’s “based on Fields being on the Vikings’ roster for an agreed-upon number of games,” and that if Fields isn’t on the roster long Minnesota won’t have to give up anything. Fields was an undrafted rookie from Clemson who the Vikings reportedly had interest in right after the draft.
  • Speaking of Vikings trades, Minnesota caught some flak for trading a fifth-round pick for kicker/punter Kaare Vedvik and then cutting him a few weeks later. Vedvik struggled during the preseason, and Minnesota opted to stick with Dan Bailey as their kicker. The Jets ended up claiming Vedvik off waivers, but Minnesota apparently wanted him back. The Vikings had offered him a spot on the practice squad and he was likely going to accept before New York claimed him, Tomasson tweets.
  • We also now have terms on the B.J. Goodson trade. The Giants initially announced they intended to release the inside linebacker, but then traded him to the Packers earlier this morning. The deal was done in exchange for the teams agreeing to swap conditional 2020 seventh-round picks, according to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer (Twitter link). Balzer notes that Green Bay sent a pick they had previously acquired from Baltimore in the deal. Goodson was a fourth-round pick of the Giants’ back in 2016, who started 13 games for them last year.

Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC East

September 1st, 2019 at 5:54pm CST by Sam 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, Jets and Patriots are noted below.

Additionally, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads today. 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.

Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Jets 

* = International Pathway Program player

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