Here are today’s NFL workouts, with all credit going to Adam Caplan of Sirius XM unless otherwise noted.
Detroit Lions
New England Patriots
New York Giants
WR’s Corey Brown, Jeremy Ross; DT Khyri Thornton; CB Darryl Morris; P Jeff Locke (Twitter link)
Philadelphia Eagles
QB Matt Simms; TE’s Gabe Holmes, Jevoni Robinson (Twitter link)
Here are today’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Buffalo Bills
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Detroit Lions
Indianapolis Colts
Green Bay Packers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Los Angeles Rams
Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Today’s practice squad moves:
Baltimore Ravens
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Jacksonville Jaguars
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
New York Giants
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tennessee Titans
The Lions have hosted workouts for defensive lineman Jaye Howard and quarterback Garrett Grayson, according to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer (all Twitter links).
Howard, 28, was released by the Bears during final cutdowns after having a signed a one-year pact in May. A longtime Chief, Howard only suited up eight times and made five starts last year, as a hip injury ended his season in November. During his limited action in 2016, Howard added 23 tackles and a sack, and ranked 55th in performance among Pro Football Focus‘ 127 qualified interior defensive linemen.
Detroit needs all the help it can get in the front seven, as the club’s defensive line has been decimated by injuries and suspensions. Kerry Hyder and Jordan Hill have both been placed on injured reserve, while Armonty Bryant and Khyri Thornton won’t return until Weeks 4 and 6, respectively, after being hit with league-imposed bans.
Quarterback is a less-pressing need for the Lions, as Matthew Stafford and Jake Rudock comprise the team’s top two options under center. Seventh-round pick Brad Kaaya was lost via waivers earlier this month, and Detroit doesn’t currently have a signal-caller on its practice squad. Grayson, a former third-round selection of the Saints, has never attempted an NFL pass.
Howard and Grayson weren’t the only free agents on display in the Motor City. Per Balzer, the Lions also took a look at quarterback Mitch Leidner; wide receivers C.J. Board, Montay Crockett, Anthony Dable, Cyril Grayson, Bug Howard, and Jordan Payton; defensive tackles Jeremy Faulk, Marcus Hardison, and Louis Trinca-Pasat; defensive end Patrick Gamble; LB Nicholas Grigsby; and S Jack Tocho.
The Patriots auditioned some players of note this week, including linebacker Akeem Ayers, quarterback Thad Lewis, and wide receiver Jeremy Ross (Twitter link via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com).
Ayers has some history with New England after playing on their 2014 Super Bowl championship team. Last year, Ayers appeared in all 16 games for Indianapolis and recorded two sacks.
Linebackers Nicholas Grigsby and Antwione Williams also showed their stuff for the Pats.
Here’s a look at Wednesday’s other workouts from around the NFL:
The Bengals officially made 30 moves on Saturday in order to reach the 53-man max. The full rundown is below.
Waived:
Released:
Reserve/Suspended:
The team also freed up a roster spot on Saturday by trading cornerback Bene Benwikere to Dallas for a conditional sixth-round draft pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Bengals are now in roster compliance, having brought their roster to 53. The following players have been cut:
Additionally, DT Marcus Hardison was placed on injured reserve and WR Mario Alford was waived with an injury settlement, tweets Owcazrski.
Kumerow had been fighting for a reserve wide receiver spot on a Cincinnati club that lost several of its pass-catchers over the offseason. And though he offers special teams value, Kumerow wasn’t able to beat out the likes of Cody Core and Alex Erickson to join a depth chart that includes A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd, and Brandon LaFell.
On Friday, the Bengals released safety Jimmy Wilson.
The Bengals have become the latest team to lock up one of their top draft picks, announcing today (via Twitter) that they’ve signed offensive lineman Jake Fisher to his rookie contract. Fisher was the 53rd overall pick in this year’s draft.
Having considered Fisher in the first round, the Bengals opted for Texas A&M tackle Cedric Ogbuehi instead, and were pleasantly surprised to see Fisher still on the board when their second-round pick came around. While Ogbuehi continues to recover from a torn ACL, Fisher should be ready to go immediately, though it’s not clear yet if he’ll start right away.
Fisher’s new deal should pay him about $4.26MM over four years, including a $1.358MM signing bonus up front, according to Over The Cap. Now that the lineman is under contract, only Ogbuehi and third-round tight end Tyler Kroft remain unsigned among the Bengals’ draftees. The team locked up third-round linebacker Paul Dawson, fourth-round defensive back Josh Shaw, and fourth-round defensive tackle Marcus Hardison earlier this week (Twitter link).
There has been a lot of talk about the Jets making a move to go up at get Marcus Mariota, but Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Daily News gives one big reason why the team shouldn’t trade up for the Heisman-trophy winner.
New general manager Mike Maccagnan was hired because of his track record as an evaluator who will build through the draft, and Cannizzaro wants him to trust his abilities and not give up future picks to move up in the draft. If Mariota should fall that would be different, but believes Maccagnan should give himself as many chances as possible to draft players and worry about the franchise quarterback another time without mortgaging multiple picks for one player.
Here are some more notes from around the AFC East:
Draft day is only a week and a half away, but teams are still bringing in prospects for visits and working them out, as they try to compile as much information as possible on this year’s draft class. Here are a few Monday updates on the latest visits and workouts: