Matt Johnson (DB)

Minor Moves: Wednesday

Tonight’s minor moves..

  • The Giants reached an injury settlement with linebacker Justin Anderson, a source tells Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (on Twitter).
  • The Cowboys waived safety Matt Johnson off of the injured reserve with an injury settlement, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com.

Cowboys Cut Caleb Hanie, 10 Others

The Cowboys are the latest NFL team to trim its roster to 75 players, with former Bears quarterback Caleb Hanie and former fourth-round pick Matt Johnson among the players cut today by Dallas. Per Todd Archer of ESPN.com (via Twitter), here’s the full list of roster moves made by the Cowboys in advance of this afternoon’s deadline:

Cut:

Waived-injured:

Placed on injured reserve:

  • Ben Gardner, DE

Placed on reserve/non-football injury list:

NFC Links: Greenway, Graham, Riddick

Vikings veteran linebacker Chad Greenway, coming off a disappointing 2013 season in which a wrist injury affected his play, is a player with “something to prove,” according to ESPN’s Ben Goessling: “Greenway took a paycut after a disappointing 2013 season with the Vikings, and he has just one year left on his contract after this season. The Vikings would have to count only a $1.7 million bonus proration against their 2015 cap if they cut Greenway after this season, and they’d save $7.1 million, meaning Greenway could be looking at another contract restructure or a release if he doesn’t pick things up at age 31 this season.”

Here’s some more NFC-related reading:

  • ESPN’s Mike Triplett did his best to clarify an arbitrator’s ruling that — for the purpose of the Saints’ franchise tag designation — Jimmy Graham was a tight end, in part, because of the so-called “4-yard benchmark.”
  • Late last month, Tim Twentyman wrote about Lions running back Theo Riddick turning heads with an impressive spring which caught the eye of head coach Jim Caldwell in particular. Now backup quarterback Dan Orlovsky is adding to the hype. Talking on Ross Tucker’s podcast, Orlovsky said, “I’m telling you, if [Riddick] doesn’t 50 catches this year, I’ll be surprised because he’s going to have opportunities and he’s very talented at it. I think he’s going to play that Sproles role, for sure.”
  • Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is rehabbing from back surgery for the second consecutive offseason, writes David Moore of the Dallas Morning News, but Romo says his conditioning is “miles ahead of last year.”
  • Barry Church will hold down one safety spot for the Cowboys, but his running mate is to be determined. Bryan Broaddus of DallasCowboys.com thinks it will come down to J.J. Wilcox or Jakar Hamilton. “Wilcox has lost weight and is playing with better movement along with a better understanding of what his responsibilities are,” says Broaddus. Matt Johnson, a 2012 fourth-rounder out of Eastern Washington, is the most talented of the bunch, according to Broaddus, but Johnson hasn’t been able to stay healthy.
  • The Redskins drafted Josh LeRibeus in the third round in 2012 anticipating he would develop into a starter. Two years later, he must prove himself a capable backup just to stick on the roster, writes Mike Jones in the Washington Post.
  • In a rundown of NFC South depth chart notes, Pro Football Focus’ Gordon McGuinness recognized the encouraging play of a pair of 2013 rookies: Saints offensive tackle Terron Armstead and Buccaneers running back Mike James, both of whom made the most of limited opportunity.