HEADLINES

Kerry Hyder

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/15/17

August 15th, 2017 at 7:26pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

  • Waived: DL Shaneil Jenkins

Indianapolis Colts

  • Signed: WR Justice Liggins
  • Waived/injured: RB Dalton Crossan

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Signed LB Kyle Coleman
  • Waived/injured: LB Mike Moore

Miami Dolphins

  • Signed: T Sean Hickey, WR Rashad Lawrence
  • Waived: T Kwayde Miller
  • Waived/injured: WR Francis Owusu
  • Waived from injured reserve: WR Jordan Westerkamp

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Signed: CB Mitchell White

Lions’ Brandon Copeland Done For Season

August 14th, 2017 at 7:52pm CST by Dallas Robinson

For the second time in as many days, the Lions have lost a member of their front seven for the remainder of the season. After leaning Sunday that defensive end Kerry Hyder had suffered a torn Achilles, Detroit today lost edge rusher Brandon Copeland to a torn pectoral, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.Brandon Copeland (Vertical)

Copeland, 26, doesn’t represent quite the same magnitude of loss as does Hyder, as though Copeland appeared in all 16 games last season, he started only one contest and played fewer than 150 defensive snaps. His main contributions came on special teams, where he appeared on nearly three-quarters of Detroit’s snaps and helped the club finish with a No. 6 ranking in ST DVOA.

Copeland originally signed with the Lions in the spring of 2015 after impressing at the veteran’s combine. Prior to joining Detroit, he’d spent time with the Ravens, Titans, and the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League. Copeland is scheduled to become a restricted free agent next spring, but this unfortunate injury could lead to him being non-tendered in 2018.

Lions DE Kerry Hyder Out For Season

August 14th, 2017 at 11:48am CST by Dallas Robinson

Lions defensive end Kerry Hyder is out for 2017, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Hyder suffered an Achilles tear during Sunday’s preseason game against the Colts and doctors confirmed the injury on Monday morning.

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Losing Hyder represents an enormous blow to a Lions defense that was already thin on quality depth at the edge position. Hyder, 26, played 655 defensive snaps a year ago (second-most among Detroit defensive linemen), and posted eight sacks and 36 tackles during that time. Pro Football Focus graded Hyder as the No. 42 defensive end in the league in 2016, the highest rank among Lions edge defenders.

Even with Hyder on board, Detroit’s defense struggled last season. Overall, the unit ranked dead last in DVOA while finishing 21st in adjusted line yards and 25th in adjusted sack rate. If Hyder is sidelined for the year, free agent addition Cornelius Washington, draft picks Jeremiah Ledbetter and Pat O’Connor, plus incumbent Brandon Copeland, could be called on to play more snaps opposite Ezekiel Ansah. Veterans Armonty Bryant and Khyri Thornton, too, should play a larger role once they return from suspension.

If the Lions decide to scour the free agent market for a replacement, there are options available. Dwight Freeney, Eugene Sims, Trent Cole, Paul Kruger, and Mario Williams look like the best true edge rushers, while players such as Tyson Jackson and Jared Odrick are capable of playing both end and tackle.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/17/17

April 17th, 2017 at 7:12pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The latest minor moves…

  • Raiders defensive end Denico Autry has signed his RFA tender, reports ESPN’s Adam Caplan (Twitter link). The Raiders gave the 2014 undrafted free agent an original-round tender, leading to speculation that he could draw interest from elsewhere. Instead, Autry will return to the Raiders on the heels of back-to-back three-sack seasons. ERFAs Seth Roberts (WR) and Denver Kirkland (G) are also back in the fold, according to Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (on Twitter).
  • The Seahawks have re-signed linebacker Kache Palacio, writes Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. Palacio, a former fullback who went undrafted out of Washington State last year, spent most of 2016 on Seattle’s practice squad.
  • Lions ERFAs Brandon Copeland (DE), Kerry Hyder (DT) and T.J. Jones (WR) have signed their tenders, tweets Birkett. Dolphins ERFAs Mike Hull (LB) and Anthony Steen (C) did the same earlier Monday, per Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald (Twitter link).

Earlier updates:

  • The Panthers have re-upped restricted free agent guard Andrew Norwell and a pair of exclusive rights free agents – center Tyler Larsen and punter Michael Palardy – writes Bryan Strickland of their website. Carolina used a second-round tender on Norwell, who will earn $2.746MM in 2017. Norwell combined for 29 starts over the previous two seasons and ranked 11th in performance among Pro Football Focus’ 72 qualified guards last year.
  • Steelers RFA cornerback Ross Cockrell has inked his original-round tender, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). Cockrell went in the fourth round of the 2014 draft, so the Steelers would have been entitled to a fourth-rounder had Cockrell signed elsewhere and they elected against matching the offer. The 25-year-old caught on with the Steelers in 2015 and has since totaled 31 appearances, 23 starts and two interceptions. Cockrell started in every Steelers game last year, and his performance ranked an improve 28th among 111 qualified corners at PFF.
  • Chiefs RFA kicker Cairo Santos has signed his tender, per Schefter (on Twitter). Santos, undrafted in 2014, received a low tender; as such, Kansas City wouldn’t have been entitled to compensation had he gone elsewhere. The three-year veteran has connected on 84.3 percent of field goal attempts, including 88.6 percent last season (good for fifth in the league).
  • Lions offensive tackle Cornelius Lucas has signed his RFA tender, tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. The Lions assigned Lucas an original-rounder tender last month, so they wouldn’t have gotten a pick had the 2014 undrafted free agent signed elsewhere and they chose not to match. Lucas is now slated to make $1.797MM this year in Detroit, where he has started in six of 35 career appearances.
  • The Buccaneers have re-signed quarterback Ryan Griffin, cornerback Jude Adjei-Barimah, tight end Cameron Brate, linebacker Adarius Glanton, and wide receivers Adam Humphries and Freddie Martino, per Scott Smith of the team’s website. As a restricted free agent, Griffin is the only one of the bunch who could have potentially gone elsewhere (the rest were exclusive rights free agents). The Bucs tendered the 2013 undrafted free agent at an original-round level last month, and he’ll now try to win the No. 2 role behind Jameis Winston. Tampa Bay’s previous second-stringer, Mike Glennon, is now the Bears’ starter.
  • RFA defensive back Marcus Burley and ERFA running back George Atkinson III are returning to the Browns, per a team announcement. Burley, undrafted in 2013, received an original-round tender. The former Seahawk is coming off his first year in Cleveland, where he appeared in 12 games and played just under 40 percent of the Browns’ special teams snaps.
  • Fullback Tommy Bohanon and receiver Larry Pinkard have signed with the Jaguars, tweets the team’s account. Bohanon is the only with NFL experience, having logged 36 appearances and 14 starts as a Jet from 2013-15.
  • Speaking of the Jets, they have re-signed linebacker Julian Stanford (via Randy Lange of the team’s site). The Jets could Stanford on Friday, but both sides knew that was only a procedural move. Last season was the first as a Jet for the 26-year-old Stanford, who appeared in nine games (two starts) and played about a quarter of their defensive snaps and a third of their special teams snaps.

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/8/17

March 8th, 2017 at 12:43pm CST by Sam Robinson

Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to restricted and exclusive rights free agents. All RFA tenders listed are original round/right of first refusal (worth $1.797MM), and all links go to Twitter:

RFAs:

Tendered:

Non-Tendered: 

ERFAs:

Tendered:

Extra Points: Chargers, Vikings, Lions, Giants

October 11th, 2016 at 9:59pm CST by Zachary Links

The Chargers will wait until after Thursday’s game against the Broncos before considering a head coaching change, a source tells Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). Club ownership is thinking through all its options, and the most likely candidate to take over the team in the event that Mike McCoy is fired is offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt. Whisenhunt, in his second stint as San Diego’s play-caller, boasts seven-plus years of head coaching experience with the Cardinals and Titans.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

  • Given that the club has $33MM worth of salaries on injured reserve at the moment, Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said he needed a “magic wand” in order to fit new signee Jake Long‘s cap figure, writes Andrew Krammer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Spielman, who said Minnesota had less than $50K in cap space before adding Long, claimed he didn’t need to restructure any other contracts to squeeze in the veteran offensive lineman. It’s unclear exactly how the Vikes made financial room for Long (one possibility, from my vantage point, could be tweaking another player’s incentives to “not likely to be earned”), and Krammer reports that Spielman was “vague” about the subject.
  • Lions defensive lineman Kerry Hyder has made an agent change. The 25-year-old will now be represented by Select Sports Group (Twitter link). Hyder, who was previously repped by Rich Rosa and Tony Agone, appears to be in the midst a breakout season with five sacks through five games.
  • The NFL is now looking into Giants tackle Ereck Flowers after he pushed a reporter after Sunday night’s game, according to a league official who spoke with Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). After a poor showing against the Packers, Flowers shoved an ESPN scribe, but has since apologized for the incident.
  • With Dallas Thomas cut today, only three members of the Dolphins‘ nine-man 2013 draft class left are Dion Jordan, Jelani Jenkins, and Dion Sims, as Alex Marvez of The Sporting News tweets. Clearly, none of that trio has made a significant thus far in their Miami careers.

Lions Put Travis Swanson On IR

January 2nd, 2016 at 3:42pm CST by Sam Robinson

Travis Swanson‘s first season as a full-time starter will end prematurely, with Tim Twentyman of Lions.com reporting the Lions sent their starting center to injured reserve.

Detroit promoted defensive lineman Kerry Hyder from their practice squad to fill the roster spot.

The Lions ruled out Swanson on Friday with a shoulder injury. A second-year player, Swanson started all 14 games for which he dressed after breaking with the first unit in five of 16 games last season.

The former third-round pick beat out trade acquisition Manuel Ramirez for the starting center position but didn’t impress in his first full season up front, according to Pro Football Focus, which rated Swanson as its No. 33 overall center.

An ex-UDFA, Hyder will ascend to the 53-man roster due to Jason Jones entering Week 17 with a doubtful designation. The team opted for Hyder over 2014 fourth-round pick Larry Webster, per Twentyman, as its 11th-hour defensive front call-up from the taxi squad.

 

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC North

September 6th, 2015 at 5:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC North 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 Bears, Lions, Packers, and Vikings are noted below.

Additionally, as of 11:00am today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. For the 2014 and 2015 seasons, changes were made to practice squad rules that allow teams to carry eight players instead of 10, and the eligibility requirements for those extra two spots were also loosened. 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 North transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

Lions Reach 53-Man Roster

September 5th, 2015 at 6:25pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Lions slashed their roster to the 53-man regular-season limit and included a couple of notable names in their cuts.

Veteran defensive lineman Corey Wootton did not make the roster after joining the Lions this offseason. The 28-year-old made 22 starts for the Bears in 2012-13 before serving as a Vikings backup last season.

To make room for Zach Zenner and Tim Wright, respectively, Detroit waived George Winn and Joseph Fauria. After releasing former Boise State star Kellen Moore, the Lions also will go into a season with just two quarterbacks for the first time since 2009.

The remainder of Detroit’s cuts are as follows:

  • Al Bond, OL
  • Crezdon Butler, DB
  • Braxston Cave, OL
  • Jermelle Cudjo, DL
  • Kerry Hyder, DL
  • Emil Igwenagu, RB
  • Isaiah Johnson, DB
  • Joe Madsen, OL
  • Nate Ness, DB
  • Casey Pierce, TE
  • Xavier Proctor, OL
  • Jeremy Ross, WR
  • Greg Salas, WR (placed on IR)
  • Julian Stanford, LB
  • Brian Suite, DB
  • Larry Webster, DL
  • Torrian Wilson, OL
  • Jerel Worthy, DL

North Notes: Browns, H. Smith, Steelers

July 30th, 2015 at 8:46am CST by Luke Adams

The 2015 season will likely be a redshirt year for rookie cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Browns head coach Mike Pettine said on Wednesday, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. At one point, Ekpre-Olomu, who continues to recover from a serious knee injury, was viewed as a potential first-round pick, but Cleveland snagged him in the seventh round in May following his torn ACL and disclocated knee. The Browns will have to wait until the end of training camp to move the Oregon alum to injured reserve if they want to avoid the risk of losing him on waivers.

Here’s more from around the NFL’s two North divisions:

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