Marqueston Huff

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/14/17

Today’s minor moves:

  • After originally non-tendering him as a restricted free agent, the Packers have re-signed linebacker Jayrone Elliott to a one-year, $1.6MM deal, according to Peter Schrager of FOX Sports (Twitter link) and Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. The original round tender is worth $1.797MM, so Green Bay will retain Elliott — who played on 40% of the club’s special teams snaps in 2016 — at a slightly cheaper rate. Before re-signing with the Packers, Elliott took free agent visits with the Bills and Steelers.
  • The Panthers announced that they’ve re-signed reserve offensive lineman Chris Scott to a one-year pact. Scott, 29, has appeared in 43 games during his four-year run in Carolina, and started four contests last season. In sum, he played on roughly a quarter of the Panthers’ offensive snaps in 2016, and chipped in with 64 special teams plays. Scott has agreed to minimum salary benefit contracts in the past several seasons, and likely inked a similar deal for the 2017 campaign.
  • The Browns announced they’ve claimed wide receiver James Wright, whom Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link) yesterday reported had been waived by the Bengals. Wright, a former seventh-round draft pick, is entering the final season of his rookie deal. Afflicted by a nagging knee injury, Wright managed to appear in only 24 games with the Bengals, primarily serving as a special teams player during that span. The 25-year-old will now reunite with former Cincinnati offensive coordinator Hue Jackson in Cleveland.
  • The Seahawks announced that they’ve re-signed defensive back Neiko Thorpe, whom the club originally acquired from Oakland last offseason. While Thorpe didn’t play much on defense (just 97 snaps), he did see a good deal of time on special teams, where he managed over half the club’s plays.
  • The Buccaneers have a new long snapper, as they’ve agreed to sign Garrison Sanborn to one-year deal after working him out today, according to Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times. Sanborn, 31, had appeared in 128 games for the Bills from 2009-16, but was released last week. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, recently non-tendered restricted free agent long snapper Andrew DePaola, who is recovering from an ACL tear.
  • The Rams have signed long snapper Andrew East, per Field Yates of ESPN.com. East, 25, went undrafted in 2015 and has since spent time with Oakland, Seattle, and Kansas City. As Yates notes, Los Angeles already has a Pro Bowl long snapper in Jake McQuaide, so East will merely be an emergency option.
  • The Chargers have waived linebacker Brock Hekking, tweets Yates. Hekking joined the Chargers as an undrafted free agent out of Nevada in 2015, but has yet to appear in an NFL game.
  • The Ravens have withdrawn their restricted free agent tenders to cornerback Jumal Rolle and safety Marqueston Huff, reports Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Both players were tendered at the original round level ($1.797MM), but those tenders are non-guaranteed. As such, Rolle and Huff are now unrestricted free agents, and Baltimore has cleared about $3.6MM in cap room.

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/7/17

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:

Non-Tendered:

Ravens Sign DB Marqueston Huff

The Ravens have plucked defensive back Marqueston Huff off of the Jaguars’ practice squad, as Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun tweets. Huff will take the place of cornerback Maurice Canady, who has been placed on IR with a knee injury. Marqueston Huff (vertical)

Huff, 24, entered the league as a fourth-round pick of the Titans in 2014. In two years with Tennessee, the defensive back appeared in 30 games and tallied 23 tackles, one interception, one sack, and four passes defensed. Prior to the 53-man deadline, the Titans bounced Huff along with other notables from the old regime like Justin Hunter, Bishop Sankey, and Dexter McCluster.

Canady was selected by Baltimore in the sixth round of this year’s draft. A four-year player at Virginia, Canady closed out his collegiate career with 37 tackles, three tackles for a loss, and six passes defensed. He did not record an official statistic in his one month with the Ravens.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/15/16

Here are today’s minor moves.

  • Quarterback Brandon Doughty cleared waivers and will head to the Dolphins‘ practice squad, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reports.
  • The Patriots signed offensive lineman Ian Silberman to their practice squad and cut tackle Clay DeBord from the 10-man unit, via NESN.com’s Doug Kyed (Twitter links).
  • The Jaguars cut wide receiver Jamal Robinson from their practice squad and signed safety Marqueston Huff to the taxi contingent, John Oehser of the O-Zone tweets.
  • The Bills promoted offensive lineman Gabe Ikard from their practice squad to their active roster in advance of tonight’s game against the Jets, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports (on Twitter).

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/13/16

Today’s minor moves:

  • The Browns have promoted defensive lineman Gabe Wright to the active roster, reports Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal (via Twitter). The former fourth-round pick was previously waived by the Lions after only one season with the team.
  • The Titans announced that they have signed cornerback Cody Riggs back to the team’s active roster and waived quarterback Alex Tanney. Riggs, who played in 11 games for the Titans last season, was cut late last week after initially making the 53-man roster. Riggs totaled 14 tackles, two passes defensed, and one forced fumble in 2015.
  • The Redskins released center Austin Reiter, according to John Keim of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The former seventh-rounder was cut to make room for defensive end Cullen Jenkins, who signed with the team earlier today.
  • The Packers reached an injury settlement with Kyle Steuck, as Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com tweets.
  • The Texans waived rookie fullback Soma Vainuku from injured reserve, as Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle tweets.
  • The Cowboys have reached an injury settlement with defensive end Mike McAdoo, reports Wilson (via Twitter). The former North Carolina standout has previously spent time in the Canadian Football League.
  • The Jaguars have waived safety Marqueston Huff, according to Wilson (via Twitter). The former fourth-rounder was previously claimed off waivers from the Titans after being handed a one-game suspension.
  • The Jets have cut tight end Braedon Bowman, reports Wilson (via Twitter). The undrafted rookie was inactive during this past week’s loss to the Bengals. The spot will presumably go to Sheldon Richardson, who was suspended for the first game of the season.

Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC South

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC South 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 Texans, Colts, Jaguars, and Titans 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 AFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day. All links go to Twitter unless otherwise noted:

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Tennessee Titans

Titans Cut Justin Hunter, Bishop Sankey

4:00pm: The Titans have made more cuts this afternoon, including another big name. Running back/wide receiver Dexter McCluster has been let go. McCluster averaged 4.5 yards per carry last season in Tennessee and averaged 8.4 yards per reception, but the Titans saw a better use for his roster spot. McCluster already pocketed a $350k roster bonus earlier this year, but the Titans will save $2.275MM in cash by cutting him.

Here is the full, updated list of Titans cuts so far:

11:07am: The Titans have jettisoned a pair of notable players from the old front office regime. Wide receiver Justin Hunter and running back Bishop Sankey have both been cut, as Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com reports (Twitter links). "<strong

Hunter, an exceptionally talented receiver, was drafted 34th overall in 2013. Since then, the Titans have been frustrated with Hunter and there have been rumblings that his work ethic was not up to par. Days ago, the Titans shipped out another talented wide receiver with perceived motivation problems when they traded Dorial Green-Beckham to the Eagles.

“It is still going to be hard (to make the team) because we have a lot of talented receivers in the group. We are fighting for spots, and you have to keep up and progress at the same time,” said the 25-year-old Hunter last month, acknowledging that his spot on the roster was not guaranteed.

Hunter has an uninspiring 68 receptions and eight touchdowns in 35 career games (13 starts). While Hunter has averaged an impressive 16.8 yards per catch, that number dropped to a career-worst 12.0 on 22 grabs last season. The 2015 campaign was a short one for Hunter, who only appeared in nine games as a result of a mid-November fractured ankle.

Sankey was once viewed as the Titans’ best running back and was expected to break out as a rookie in 2014. Sankey, 24 later this month, appeared in all 16 games for the Titans as a rookie but amassed only 569 yards off of 152 carries. Last season, Sankey’s role was reduced even further has he had only 47 rushing attempts for 193 yards in 13 games.

The surprising cuts didn’t stop there. The Titans are going to waive guard Jeremiah Poutasi, a source tells Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Poutasi was an early third-round pick of the Titans last year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Extra Points: Cowboys, McCown, Titans, Pats

The latest from a few NFL cities as Hall of Fame weekend begins…

  • As was reported Thursday, the backup quarterback-needy Cowboys are reluctant to meet the Browns’ relatively lofty asking price for Josh McCown. It’s possible the two will eventually agree to a deal, though, and with that in mind, the Browns have talked to McCown about a possible trade, per Ed Werder of ESPN.com. Cleveland would prefer to keep McCown, but it hasn’t made the 37-year-old any promises (Twitter link).
  • The Cowboys’ lack of cap space might preclude them from acquiring McCown, notes David Moore of the Dallas Morning News. Giving up a draft pick for McCown, who has a $5MM-plus cap hit each of the next two seasons, would knock the Cowboys’ spending space down to $500K. To soften the financial blow, Dallas could include a member of its roster in a McCown trade, release one or two players it would like to keep, or restructure the quarterback’s deal. None of those are ideal options, as Moore points out, which is why the team is biding its time as it scans for depth under center in the wake of Kellen Moore‘s broken ankle.
  • Wide receiver Andre Johnson‘s two-year deal with the Titans is easy for the team to escape after 2016, reports Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com. The contract includes base salaries of $985K and $2MM, and it features a $500K roster bonus due on the third day of the 2017 league year. Johnson will also have a chance to earn $250K in per-game active bonuses (Twitter links), though his pact with Tennessee doesn’t contain any guaranteed money, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).
  • The league has suspended Titans safety Marqueston Huff for Week 1 because of a substance abuse violation, Zac Jackson of Pro Football Talk writes. Huff has appeared in 30 of 32 regular-season games and made one start since the Titans selected him in the fourth round of the 2014 draft. Most of Huff’s impact has come on special teams, where he participated in 80.8 percent of the Titans’ snaps in 2015.
  • The Patriots worked out receiver Cobi Hamilton on Thursday, Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald tweets. Hamilton ended up signing with Pittsburgh on Friday.
  • In case you missed it, the Cardinals awarded extensions to franchise linchpins Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald on Friday. The Saints agreed to a deal with four-time Pro Bowl fullback John Kuhn.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Draft Signings: Titans, Jets, Cowboys

Teams continue to waste no time in signing their 2014 draft picks, with news of several more agreements trickling in this morning. Here are the latest draft pick signings from around the NFL:

  • Defensive lineman Daquan Jones and cornerback Marqueston Huff, a pair of fourth-round picks, have agreed to terms with the Titans, reports Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean (via Twitter). The moves leave Tennessee with four more picks to sign.
  • The Jets have reached an agreement with fifth-round pick Jeremiah George, who will be in line for a four-year, $2.411MM deal with a signing bonus worth approximately $192K, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. The linebacker is the third of 12 draftees to agree to terms with the Jets.
  • The Cowboys‘ draft was heavy on seventh-rounders, and the team has locked up one of the five players it selected in the seventh. According to Wilson (via Twitter), defensive end Ben Gardner has agreed to a contract with the Cowboys that includes a signing bonus of about $59K and has an overall four-year value of $2.279MM.

Draft Updates: Clowney, Bortles, Robinson

With no throws to make or brooms to evade, Jadeveon Clowney‘s Pro Day may not have had the fanfare of Johnny Manziel‘s event at Texas A&M, but plenty of coaches and executives showed up to watch Clowney at South Carolina today. Following his Pro Day, Clowney will make visits to work out for the Rams and Falcons, he confirmed today, according to Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).

Here’s more on May’s draft and the 2014 class of prospects:

  • The Browns are conducting their private workout with Blake Bortles today, a source tells Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com (Twitter link).
  • Auburn offensive tackle Greg Robinson is visiting the Rams in St. Louis today, tweets Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com.
  • Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net (Twitter link) hears from several sources that Clemson cornerback Bashaud Breeland, who had dinner with GM Trent Baalke following his Pro Day, is drawing “heavy interest” from the 49ers.
  • The Panthers worked out Wyoming defensive back Marqueston Huff today and will do the same for Wyoming wideout Robert Herron and quarterback Brett Smith on Thursday, says Gil Brandt of NFL.com (Twitter links).
  • According to Brandt (via Twitter), Ball State quarterback Keith Wenning has nine workouts lined up with nine NFL teams, including the Jaguars, Browns, and Patriots.
  • Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean (all Twitter links) passes along details on three prospects visiting the Titans: Auburn running back Tre Mason, who left Nashville today; West Virginia running back Charles Sims, who will visit later this week; and UCLA edge defender Anthony Barr, who will be in town next Tuesday.
  • The Bills hosted Ohio State cornerback Bradley Roby, Baylor running back Lache Seastrunk, and Ohio State linebacker Ryan Shazier today, according to the team.