Knile Davis - Pro Football Rumors

Packers Cut RB Knile Davis

October 31st, 2016 at 3:32pm CST by Zachary Links

The Packers have released running back Knile Davis, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Davis’ Packers career ends after amassing just five carries for five yards.

Green Bay acquired Davis earlier this month after starter Eddie Lacy and primary backup James Starks were sidelined with injuries. At the time of the signing, it was expected that Davis would take over as Green Bay’s No. 1 traditional tailback for at least a little while. However, the Packers instead continued with converted wide receiver Ty Montgomery as their main option. Running back Don Jackson, who was recently promoted from the practice squad, is currently No. 2 on the RB depth chart.

Montgomery was sidelined on Sunday with an illness related to sickle cell trait, leaving Jackson to start for the Packers. Today’s move to cut Davis could be a sign that Montgomery is doing well. It could also be an indication that Starks’ return isn’t far off.

The Packers’ trade with the Chiefs called for them to send a conditional seventh-round pick to KC. Needless to say, Green Bay will now hang on to that pick.

Packers Acquire RB Knile Davis From Chiefs

October 18th, 2016 at 8:06am CST by Zachary Links

The Chiefs have traded running back Knile Davis to the Packers, a source tells Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter). In exchange for Davis, the Chiefs will receive a conditional seventh-round pick in 2018, according to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). The two sides have since confirmed the deal via press release.

The Packers need some help at running back after No. 2 RB James Starks had knee surgery. Making matters worse, starter Eddie Lacy is playing through an ankle injury of his own. Green Bay promoted UDFA Don Jackson from the practice squad yesterday, but they also wanted a running back with NFL experience on the depth chart. Davis fell out of favor in KC, but it wasn’t long ago that he was the primary backup to Jamaal Charles. Starks will likely be out “about four weeks” after going under the knife and Davis should help to hold down the fort until then.

Davis has been seeking a trade for some time now and he finally got one today. The Chiefs now have Charles back in the lineup and his return bumped Davis all the way down to No. 4 on the running back depth chart. With no real need for Davis, KC decided to get something of value instead of stashing the young tailback behind Charles, Spencer Ware, and Charcandrick West. All three players recently signed extensions with the Chiefs while Davis was left on his old contract.

Last season, Davis’ main contribution came in the Wild Card playoffs when he opened up the contest against the Texans with a 106-yard kick return touchdown. In the regular season, Davis had just 28 total carries for 72 yards and one score. From 2013-2015, the former third-round pick carried the ball 232 times for 777 yards, good for a 3.3 yards-per-carry average. This year, he had just one carry for a loss of two yards.

Chiefs RB Knile Davis On Trade Block

August 29th, 2016 at 5:46pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Chiefs have made running back Knile Davis available, according to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Davis’ only chance at making the Kansas City roster was as a return man, but as Garafolo notes, that role has been taking by Tyreek Hill.

Davis finds himself buried on Kansas City’s depth chart with Jamaal Charles, Charcandrick West, and Spencer Ware ahead of him on the depth chart. Earlier this year, West and Ware both inked brand new deals with KC that will keep them in the fold for the next two seasons.

Davis, meanwhile, reportedly requested a trade prior to the new deals for Charles’ primary backups. The Dolphins called the Chiefs about acquiring a running back in March and asked about all four tailbacks on KC’s depth chart, including Davis.

Davis was once listed as Charles’ primary backup, but he has since been leapfrogged by Ware and West. Last season, Davis’ main contribution came in the Wild Card playoffs when he opened up the contest against the Texans with a 106-yard kick return touchdown. In the regular season, Davis had just 28 total carries for 72 yards and one score. Over three seasons for the Chiefs, the former third-round pick has carried the ball 232 times for 777 yards, good for a 3.3 yards-per-carry average.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

AFC Notes: Chiefs, Bolts, Ravens, Titans

June 21st, 2016 at 4:50pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The fact that the Chiefs have running backs Jamaal Charles, Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware in the fold could lead them to trade fellow rusher Knile Davis, writes Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star. As of late April, the Chiefs were shopping Davis, who requested a trade over the winter. Davis switched gears last month in expressing a desire to remain with the Chiefs, but even with Charles missing most of last season on account of a torn ACL, Davis only racked up 28 carries. West and Ware, meanwhile, combined for 232 attempts and subsequently netted contract extensions earlier this offseason. The writing seems to be on the wall, then, for the 24-year-old Davis, whom the Chiefs used a third-round pick on in 2013. The ex-Arkansas Razorback has amassed 232 carries and a paltry 3.3 yards-per-rush average during his three-year career.

Here’s more from the AFC:

Chargers first-round defensive end Joey Bosa has a better chance at improving the payout of his ~$17MM signing bonus than getting guarantees without offsets, Joel Corry of CBSSports.com (on Twitter) opines. Bosa, the third overall selection, is one of the last few first-rounders in this year’s class who hasn’t signed yet; however, Chargers president of football operations John Spanos doesn’t seem concerned.
The Ravens have a handful of notable veterans who will enter training camp on the bubble to make the roster, reports Clifton Brown of CSN Mid-Atlantic. Eighth-year cornerback Kyle Arrington, 2013 second-round linebacker Arthur Brown, 2014 third-round safety Terrence Brooks and fourth-round running back Lorenzo Taliaferro, and third-year receiver Michael Campanaro are all in jeopardy, per Brown.
Dennis Polian, son of Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian, has resigned from his position as the Titans’ assistant director of football administration/pro scout to take a player personnel role with Texas A&M, according to Jason Wolf of the Tennessean.
Earlier Tuesday, the Jaguars signed third-round edge defender Yannick Ngakoue and have now locked up their entire seven-player draft class.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Knile Davis Wants To Remain With Chiefs

May 26th, 2016 at 3:13pm CST by Zachary Links

This offseason, the Chiefs doled out multi-year extensions to Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware, the two running backs who serve as Jamaal Charles‘ primary backups. Those deals left Knile Davis in limbo, but the 24-year-old says that he wants to stay in KC.

“I hope so, but that’s not up to me,” Davis said about the possibility of remaining with the Chiefs (link via Adam Teicher of ESPN.com). “This is my team. I’m under contract. I’m here until I’m not.”

There were rumblings that the Chiefs were trying to shop Davis this spring, but the tailback claims that he never asked for a trade. Davis, meanwhile, reportedly requested a trade prior to the new extensions for West and Ware. The Dolphins also called the Chiefs about acquiring a running back in March and asked about all four tailbacks on KC’s depth chart, including Davis.

Last season, Davis’ main contribution came in the Wild Card playoffs when he opened up the contest against the Texans with a 106-yard kick return touchdown. Unfortunately, Davis faltered one week later against when his third quarter fumble allowed the Patriots to put the game away. In the regular season, Davis had just 28 total carries for 72 yards and one score. Over three seasons for the Chiefs, the former third-round pick has carried the ball 232 times for 777 yards, good for a 3.3 yards-per-carry average.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Chiefs Shopping RB Knile Davis

April 27th, 2016 at 4:19pm CST by Zachary Links

The Chiefs are shopping running back Knile Davis, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).

Davis finds himself buried on Kansas City’s depth chart with Jaamal Charles, Charcandrick West, and Spencer Ware ahead of him on the depth chart. Late last month, West and Ware both inked brand new deals with KC that will keep them in the fold for the next two seasons.

Davis, meanwhile, reportedly requested a trade prior to the new deals for Charles’ primary backups. The Dolphins called the Chiefs about acquiring a running back in March and asked about all four tailbacks on KC’s depth chart, including Davis.

Davis was once listed as Charles’ primary backup, but he has since been leapfrogged by Ware and West. Last season, Davis’ main contribution came in the Wild Card playoffs when he opened up the contest against the Texans with a 106-yard kick return touchdown. In the regular season, Davis had just 28 total carries for 72 yards and one score. Over three seasons for the Chiefs, the former third-round pick has carried the ball 232 times for 777 yards, good for a 3.3 yards-per-carry average.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Chiefs Extend Charcandrick West, Spencer Ware

March 31st, 2016 at 1:53pm CST by Luke Adams

1:53pm: Interestingly, West and Ware appear to have signed to the exact same terms, according to Rapoport, who tweets that both deals are two-year extensions worth $3.6MM, with $2.35MM guaranteed.

11:19am: The Chiefs have locked up a pair of running backs to new contract extensions, the team announced today in a press release. As first reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware, who teamed up to replace Jamaal Charles after his ACL injury last season, have signed new deals with the team.

“Charcandrick and Spencer both stepped in and were very effective for us offensively last year,” Chiefs GM John Dorsey said in a statement. “These guys have different styles and abilities, and together they provide us quality depth at the running back position.”

The timing of the extensions for West and Ware is interesting, since neither player would have even be eligible for restricted free agency until 2017, meaning they weren’t on track to become unrestricted free agents until 2018. Nonetheless, the Chiefs clearly liked what they saw from the duo last season, and are perhaps preparing for the end of the Jamaal Charles era in Kansas City.

Although Charles – who has a $5.3MM+ cap charge – is expected to remain on the Chiefs’ roster in 2016, his cap hit increases to $7MM in 2017, the final year of his current deal. He’s coming off another major knee injury, and will turn 30 later this year, so it makes sense that Dorsey and the Chiefs would be looking ahead to the future.

West, who turns 25 in June, was the first man up for the Chiefs in 2015 when Charles went down, and ultimately carried the ball 160 times for 634 yards and four touchdowns. He added another 20 receptions and a TD through the air.

As for Ware, he earned a couple starts when West got hurt, and averaged 5.6 yards per carry on 72 attempts, for 403 yards and six touchdowns for the season. According to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link), Ware’s extension is for two years, so he’ll be under contract through the 2018 campaign. Rapoport tweets that the two-year extension is heavy on incentives — the base value is $3.6MM, with $2.35MM guaranteed, but it can be worth up to $9.6MM via yardage and TD incentives.

With Charles, West, and Ware all in the mix for 2016, Knile Davis finds himself buried on Kansas City’s depth chart, and Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets that the team is working on a trade involving Davis. Details on those talks aren’t known yet, and it’s not clear if anything will get done, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Dolphins, who have been in the market for running back help all month, have some interest in Davis — we heard last week that Miami was exploring trade options for a back.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Dolphins, Chiefs Have Discussed RB Trade

March 31st, 2016 at 1:06pm CST by Luke Adams

The Chiefs announced contract extensions for running backs Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware earlier today, signaling that those players remain in the team’s backfield plans beyond 2016. The signings left Knile Davis buried on Kansas City’s depth chart, so it came as no surprise when Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweeted the team was exploring a potential Davis trade. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com added (via Twitter) that Davis requested a trade “weeks ago.”

Since we heard last week that the Dolphins were exploring the trade market for a running back, I speculated that Miami might be talking to the Chiefs about Davis, and Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald confirms that is indeed the case. According to Salguero, Kansas City is just one team the Dolphins have spoken to, and Miami has shown interest in all four of the Chiefs’ top backs.

Of course, with West and Ware now locked up, that leaves Davis and Jamaal Charles, and a Charles deal appears unlikely. Davis, who has averaged just 3.3 yards per carry on 232 career rushing attempts, is hardly the most accomplished player of the group, but he’s the most available, so if the Dolphins and Chiefs do work out a deal, he would be the most logical candidate to be on the move. Given his trade request and his lack of a clear role in Kansas City, the 24-year-old likely wouldn’t cost much in terms of trade compensation.

The Dolphins saw Lamar Miller depart in free agency, then had their offer sheet for restricted free agent C.J. Anderson matched by the Broncos. Miami was also in the running for Chris Johnson before he opted to re-sign with the Cardinals, so the team remains in the market for a back.

As Salguero detailed in a piece earlier today, there’s a good chance the Dolphins end up drafting a running back. However, while Salguero makes the case for selecting Derrick Henry in round two, Miami may not address the position until later on, so adding a veteran to complement that rookie and 2015 draftee Jay Ajayi would make sense.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.