HEADLINES

Kamu Grugier-Hill

Eagles Place Kamu Grugier-Hill On IR

December 18th, 2019 at 9:05am CST by Zachary Links

The Eagles are placing Kamu Grugier-Hill on the injured reserve list, per a team announcement. The linebacker will undergo spinal surgery to fix a painful lower lumbar disc herniation that has plagued him throughout the year.

Grugier-Hill played through the pain for ten games (six starts) this year, but doctors ultimately determined that he would need surgery. His 2019 season ends with 22 stops and one fumble recovery.

Grugier-Hill cracked the Eagles’ starting lineup in 2018 and racked up 45 tackles, a sack, an interception, and two passes defended. This year, he was having an exceptional training camp this year before a Grade 3 MCL sprain stopped him in August. Now, a much more serious issue will sideline him until 2020.

The timing is brutal on a number of levels. The Eagles are gearing up for a pivotal game against the Cowboys on Sunday that will make or break their playoff chances. Meanwhile, Grugier-Hill is slated for unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career.

AFC East Notes: Gronk, Jets, O-Line, Enunwa

November 19th, 2019 at 2:17pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although Rob Gronkowski issued another reminder he will not come back this season, the former Patriots tight end has not closed the door on a 2020 comeback or beyond.

“I wouldn’t say ‘never coming back,'” Gronkowski said Tuesday, via ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss. “I’m 30 years old. I’m young. I still stay fit, still watch the game whenever I can, still enjoy it. I’m feeling good, but you know, one year off could possibly be the case. Or maybe two years off, man. It’s always an option in the back of my head.”

Robert Kraft was hopeful Gronkowski would return this season. He would need to do so by November 30, due to league rules. The Patriots, who have struggled to generate consistent offense against the better teams on their schedule, have certainly missed perhaps their future Hall of Famer this season. Gronk jokingly acknowledged this, but it looks like the will-he/won’t-he rumors will continue into next year.

Here is the latest from the AFC East:

  • It is possible every Jets offensive line starter from Week 1 will not be part of the 2020 team. The Jets cut Kelechi Osemele, and the rest of that September group — Kelvin Beachum, Ryan Kalil, Brian Winters and Brandon Shell — are either free agents (Beachum, Kalil, Shell) or players without any guaranteed money left (Winters). It would not be a surprise if all were elsewhere next year, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com notes. Third-round pick Chuma Edoga can be expected to start next season, and trade-acquisition guard Alex Lewis has intrigued the team. But beyond that, GM Joe Douglas will be looking to overhaul the unit. The Jets’ $61MM in projected cap space is less than they’ve possessed in recent years, however.
  • Quincy Enunwa‘s fines for missing rehab sessions involved some shaky communication, per Cimini, who adds that the wide receiver was told to talk to three different staffers — wideouts coach Shawn Jefferson, HC Adam Gase and then Douglas — before receiving clarity on this matter. While Enunwa’s second neck injury in three years puts his career in jeopardy, this process and the one that led to Osemele’s exit may factor into how free agents view the Jets.
  • Isaiah Wynn can come off IR this week, and Bill Belichick confirmed (via NESN.com’s Zack Cox, on Twitter) the Patriots do plan on activating him when he’s ready. The 2018 first-round pick has played in only two games, missing all of last season with an Achilles tear and the past eight weeks because of turf toe.
  • Kamu Grugier-Hill has become an Eagles linebacker starter, but the former sixth-round pick was once in the Patriots’ plans. The Pats drafted Grugier-Hill in the 2016 sixth round but cut him before that season. They wanted to pass the Eastern Illinois alum through to their practice squad, viewing him as a developmental piece (per Reiss), but the Eagles claimed him.
  • The Dolphins recently agreed to an extension with Allen Hurns, making every member of their current receiver nucleus signed through at least 2020.

Eagles LB Kamu Grugier-Hill To Miss Regular Season Time

August 3rd, 2019 at 7:18pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Eagles had terrible injury luck on defense last year, and it looks like those issues could be popping up again. They’ve been a bit banged up in the secondary, and now linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill has a Grade 3 MCL sprain, sources told Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (Twitter link).

As Garafolo notes, Grugier-Hill is a projected starter for the team, so this is a big blow. Garafolo writes that Grugier-Hill will “likely miss some regular-season time but should be back relatively early” in the season. It sounds like it could’ve been worse, although the Eagles will probably have to go the first few games without him. The Eagles had high hopes for him in 2019, and Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP tweets that he “was having an outstanding training camp.”

Grugier-Hill appeared in all 16 games for the Eagles last year, making ten starts. He finished with 45 tackles, a sack, an interception, and two passes defended. He was originally drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round back in 2016. He was waived by New England at final cuts, and claimed by the Eagles before the Pats could stash him on the practice squad.

He’s turned into a very nice find for Philly, and hopefully he can get back out there before too long. The Northern Illinois product is heading into the final year of his contract, so this is an especially pivotal year for him. Free agent signing Zach Brown will be even more important while Grugier-Hill is sidelined.

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC East

September 5th, 2016 at 9:10am CST by Dallas Robinson

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC 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 Cowboys, Giants, Eagles, and Redskins are noted below.

Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. 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 NFC East transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day (all links go to Twitter unless noted otherwise):

Dallas Cowboys

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Redskins

AFC Notes: Forsett, Ravens, Patriots, Broncos

September 3rd, 2016 at 8:24pm CST by Zachary Links

The Ravens could soon re-sign running back Justin Forsett, according to Jeff Zriebec of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link), who expects the transaction to happen “sooner rather than later.” Forsett, 30, was released earlier today, and the Ravens $3MM by doing cutting ties. But if the club can get him back at a reduced rate, it sounds like a reunion might be in the best interests of both parties.

More from the AFC:

  • The Patriots could scan the waiver wire for help on the offensive line and at receiver after settling their roster today, NESN.com’s Doug Kyed writes. Right now, the Pats have only four players at wide receiver and offensive tackle is looking weak with LaAdrian Waddle and Cameron Fleming behind Nate Solder. Running back could be another area of need for New England. Undrafted free agent D.J. Foster made the initial cut after two strong games in the preseason, but there could be a better tailback out there. Veterans like Bishop Sankey, Ronnie Hillman, and Forsett are available after cuts, Kyed notes.
  • Elway said the Broncos wanted to hear back from Emmanuel Sanders‘ representatives recently, but so far they haven’t (Twitter link via Cameron Wolfe of The Denver Post). Typically, contract talks don’t linger into season, so time is ticking for Sanders to get a new deal done with Denver. It’s possible that Tavon Austin‘s new four-year, $42MM deal with Los Angeles will set the floor for Sanders in his talks with Denver. While Sanders is older, he has been far more productive than Austin. Sanders, 29, is set to earn $5.6MM this season, the first and final year of the free agent deal he signed with Denver in 2014.
  • At least one scout expects safety Kamu Grugier-Hill, cut by the Patriots today, to generate quite a bit of interest, tweets Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports. A sixth-round rookie out of Eastern Illinois, KGH is viewed as a solid special teams player, and could be picked up on waivers tomorrow.

Patriots Cut Aaron Dobson, Move To 53

September 3rd, 2016 at 5:05pm CST by Zachary Links

The Patriots have announced the cuts that bring them down to 53, including the waiving of Aaron Dobson.
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Dobson, 25, is a former second-round pick, but he hasn’t done much since joining New England in 2013. In three seasons with the club, the Marshall product has only posted 53 receptions for less than 700 yards. Most of that production came during his rookie season, as Dobson has put up only 16 catches during the past two years. Entering the final year of his rookie deal, Dobson was set to earn about $872K in base salary.

Here’s the list of Patriots cuts so far today:

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Patriots Notes: Belichick, Easley, Brady

May 18th, 2016 at 12:57pm CST by Zachary Links

Bill Belichick sees a “strong trend” in the NFL with hybrid defensive players, as Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes. This year, the Patriots followed that trend when they selected Kamu Grugier-Hill of Eastern Illinois in the sixth-round, a player who played linebacker in college but could play safety in the NFL. Bill Belichick (vertical)

“I think that you are definitely seeing a strong trend in the league towards corners that play safety or corner-type athletes that play safety, bigger safeties that play linebacker. Both of those are trends,” Belichick said during the draft.

At 6’2″ and 215 pounds, Grugier-Hill is on the bigger side for a safety but light for a linebacker in the team’s base defense. The Patriots wil likely move him between both positions, depending on their needs throughout the season and during each drive.

Here’s more out of New England:

  • The Patriots have offset language on Dominique Easley’s $1.084MM salary, as Ben Volin of The Boston Globe (Twitter links) points out. The Patriots now only owe Easley the difference between that figure and what the Rams pay him. The minimum salary for Easley is $600K, so at most, the Patriots will owe him roughly $484K.
  • If Tom Brady and the NFLPA successfully get U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to give them another hearing, then the quarterback will likely avoid any suspension for the 2016 season as the legal proceedings drag on. However, even if the Second Circuit denies the petition, the Pats QB still has a path by which he can further delay his suspension, Mike Florio of PFT writes. The first step then would be for Brady to ask the Second Circuit for a stay of the suspension while an appeal to the Supreme Court is prepared. If that request is denied, Brady would present the question of whether the suspension will be stayed not to the Supreme Court justice assigned to the Second Circuit, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. If Ginsburg were to issue a stay, Brady would not be suspended until 2017, at the earliest.
  • Earlier this week, Dwight Freeney told Peter King of The MMQB that he would not rule out joining up with the Patriots.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

AFC Draft Signings: Chiefs, Texans, Jaguars

May 5th, 2016 at 5:51pm CST by Zachary Links

The Chiefs have signed second-round pick Chris Jones, a source tells PFT (Twitter link). The defensive lineman out of Mississippi State becomes KC’s first rookie to sign. Jones’ stock rose in the weeks leading up to the draft as more and more teams zeroed in on interior pass rushers.

Here are the rest of today’s draft signings from the AFC:

  • The Texans signed fifth-round nose tackle D.J. Reader, according to Mark Berman of FOX 26 (via Twitter).
  • The Jaguars sign sixth-round quarterback Brandon Allen, as Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union tweets.
  • The Jaguars signed sixth-round linebacker/defensive end Tyrone Holmes, as Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle tweets.
  • Linebacker Jatavis Brown inked his rookie contract with the Chargers, Rand Getlin of NFL.com tweets. The Akron product was taken in the fifth-round.
  • The Jets signed seventh-round punter Lachlan Edwards, according to his agency on Twitter.
  • The Patriots signed sixth-round linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill to a $2.44MM deal, including a $100K signing bonus, as his slot dictates, Wilson tweets.
  • The Steelers announced the signing of seventh round draft picks Demarcus Ayers and Tyler Matakevich. Ayers, a wide receiver/returner from the University of Houston, and Matakevich, a linebacker from Temple, are now the first two Pittsburgh rookies to sign from this year’s class.
  • The Ravens signed fifth-round defensive end Matt Judon, Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun tweets.
  • The Texans signed fifth-round safety K.J. Dillon, as Mark Berman of FOX 26 tweets.