HEADLINES

Keith Marshall

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/25/18

July 25th, 2018 at 4:27pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Indianpolis Colts

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Waived: OL Donavon Clark

Los Angeles Rams

  • Signed: WR Aaron Lacombe, WR Khadarel Lott, WR JoJo Natson
  • Waived: WR LaQuvionte Gonzalez, WR Ricky Jeune

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Waived/injured: DB Trey Johnson

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Redskins

Redskins Sign RB Kenny Hilliard

July 31st, 2017 at 3:37pm CST by Zachary Links

The Redskins have signed free agent running back Kenny Hilliard. To make room, fellow running back Keith Marshall has been cut with an injury designation. Kenny Hilliard (vertical)

[RELATED: Safety David Bruton Retires]

Hilliard first joined the Texans as a practice squad player in 2015 and circled back to the taxi squad late in the 2016 season. He signed a futures deal to remain with the club in the winter, but he was cut in May as the team added tackle Breno Giacomini and a handful of undrafted free agents. We have yet to see him in a regular season game, but he did post four 100-yard games during his time at LSU.

The speedy Marshall suffered a knee injury during Saturday’s practice, an especially rough break considering that he missed his entire rookie season with an elbow injury. Marshall was said to be having a strong offseason and projected to be the fourth and final running back on the team’s roster.

Marshall’s injury could mean that Hilliard will slide in as the Redskins’ RB4. In theory, this may also give the Redskins an opportunity to work Matt Jones back into the game plan.

NFC Notes: T. Johnson, Elliott, Martin

July 30th, 2017 at 11:54am CST by Rory Parks

Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson is clearly disappointed that he did not receive a long-term deal and that he will be play out the season under his second consecutive franchise tag, as Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com writes. Johnson said his focus is now on the field, but he added, “I wanted [a multi-year deal]; I wanted it big time. I believe the Rams are going in a different direction at the end of the season. It’s out of my control.” 

While it is impossible to say for certain whether the Rams will move on from Johnson at the end of the year, it does seem as if that will be the case. Indeed, as Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports tweets, Los Angeles put the tag on Johnson because it wanted to see what new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips could do with him. If Phillips had not joined the club, Johnson would already be elsewhere, per Robinson, and even with Phillips on the sidelines, it is difficult to see Johnson elevating his play enough to convince the Rams to give him elite CB money on a long-term basis.

Let’s take a look at a few more rumors from the NFC:

  • Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said embattled running back Ezekiel Elliott met with NFL officials in New York last month to discuss the domestic violence allegations levied against him. While Jones does not have a timeframe for the league’s much-anticipated decision, he did say “everything is in place” for that decision, as Todd Archer of ESPN.com writes.
  • We heard earlier this month that the Buccaneers are well-stocked at running back even without Doug Martin, who will miss the first three games of the 2017 season due to suspension. And, as Dan Graziano of ESPN.com writes, GM Jason Licht is so pleased with his stable of RBs that he says Martin may not be the starter when he returns in Week 4. That may just be GM-speak to give Martin a little extra motivation, but it underscores how comfortable Tampa Bay is with its backs, who do offer a nice variety of skill-sets.
  • New Saints offensive lineman Orlando Franklin started all 16 games for the Chargers last year after an injury-plagued 2015, but he graded out as one of the seven worst qualified guards in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus. However, Joel Erickson of the New Orleans Advocate writes that Franklin had knee surgery in January, and Franklin says he was never fully healthy during his time in San Diego. This year, he expects to return to the form he displayed during his best seasons in Denver.
  • The Lions were the first team to reach out to LB Zach Orr when he announced his intention to come out of retirement, but Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press says Detroit is unlikely to sign Orr, which is consistent with a report we heard yesterday afternoon.
  • Eagles rookie CB Randall Goforth has suffered a season-ending ACL tear, per Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). Goforth, a UDFA from UCLA, had a real chance for playing time given Philadelphia’s shaky cornerback situation.
  • Giants rookie safety Jadar Johnson, whom the team signed as a UDFA this year, has decided to retire from football, as Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network tweets.
  • Redskins RB Keith Marshall tore his right patella tendon and will miss the 2017 season, per John Keim of ESPN.com. Washington selected Marshall in the seventh round of the 2016 draft, but he missed the entire 2016 season with an elbow injury. He now will have to wait until 2018 to get his NFL career on track.

Redskins Down To 75

August 30th, 2016 at 4:05pm CST by Zachary Links

The Redskins are now down to a 75-man roster. Minutes ago, the Redskins announced that they have placed tight end Derek Carrier on the PUP list and running back Keith Marshall on the reserve/injured list. The team also waived/injured wide receiver Reggie Diggs.

Those three moves were the final ones necessary for the team to comply with the Tuesday afternoon deadline. Earlier in the day, the Redskins released two notable defensive veterans in defensive end Stephen Paea and linebacker Perry Riley Jr. The Redskins’ current inside linebacker situation has Will Compton and Mason Foster as the starters with Martrell Spaight and Su’a Cravens among the backups. On the D-Line, the team’s recent signing of Cullen Jenkins made Paea expendable.

Injury Notes: Lewis, Pruitt, Cooper, Marshall

August 29th, 2016 at 9:25pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Steelers are still considering free agent cornerback Keenan Lewis, but it will take him at least a month to recover from hip and groin injuries, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link). That news jibes with at least one report earlier this month that indicated Lewis would need as much as six weeks to heal from his ailments. However, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently reported that the Steelers were troubled by the medicals on Lewis’ hip when he visited the team recently.

Here’s more on the injury front:

  • Although tight end MyCole Pruitt looked to have suffered a serious injury during yesterday’s preseason games, the second-year Viking will only miss two-to-four weeks with a sprained MCL, tweets Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. As such, Pruitt will likely miss at least the season opener, but he’ll return as Minnesota’s No. 2 tight end at some point early in the campaign.
  • Rams rookie wide receiver Pharoh Cooper has a shoulder injury and will miss “a few weeks,” head coach Jeff Fisher yesterday told reporters, including Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com. At minimum, Cooper will probably miss the season opener. Cooper, a fourth-round pick, had apparently been the favorite for the LA’s third receiver role (and could still be when he gets back to action).
  • The Redskins will also lose a rookie for a short period of time, as seventh-round running back Keith Marshall will likely be out for three weeks, according to coach Jay Gruden (Twitter link via Mike Jones of the Washington Post). However, Gruden added that Marshall could be placed on injured reserve, which would likely allow Washington to stash Marshall until 2017.
  • The Buccaneers are expected to place WR/KR Donteea Dye on the waived/injured list with a hamstring issue, according to Jenna Laine of ESPN.com. Dye will need roughly a month to recover, but there’s a possibility could bring Dye back into the fold, tweets Laine (though it’s unclear if that means the club would bring him back off IR, or re-sign him after releasing him with an injury settlement).

Washington Signs Josh Doctson, Others

May 9th, 2016 at 10:18am CST by Luke Adams

Washington has locked up all but one of its seven draft picks, the team announced today, as detailed by Stephen Czarda at Redskins.com. The list of draftees locked up by the club includes first-round wideout Josh Doctson, whose four-year rookie contract will feature a fifth-year option for 2020. Here’s the full list of draft picks who have officially signed with Washington:Josh Doctson

With six picks locked up, Washington just needs to finalize a deal with third-round cornerback Kendall Fuller to secure its entire draft class. Contracts for third-rounders can often be the trickiest to get done, since there’s a little more wiggle room to negotiate, whereas terms are fairly rigid throughout most of the rest of the draft.

Per Over The Cap’s data, Doctson’s four-year pact will be worth about $10.05MM, with a $5.509MM signing bonus. Cravens’ deal features a signing bonus of $1.423MM, while the rest of the team’s rookie contracts will be far more modest, with bonuses of less than $250K apiece for the late-round picks.

In addition to signing several draftees, Washington also added a pair of undrafted free agents – cornerback Lloyd Carrington and linebacker Reggie Northrup – to the roster, reaching the 90-man limit.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.