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Monty Madaris

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/1/17

August 1st, 2017 at 7:04pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s minor moves:

  • The Jaguars announced that they’ve signed cornerback Charles Gaines and waived/injured fellow cornerback Taurean Nixon. A sixth-round draft choice in 2015, Gaines appeared in six games for the Browns during his rookie campaign, starting four contests while playing on a quarter of Cleveland’s defensive snaps. Despite seeing that level of playing time in his first NFL season, Gaines was subsequently waived, and spent time with the Bills’ practice squad in 2016. Nixon, meanwhile, came to Jacksonville via waivers last month.
  • The Texans have signed wide receiver DeAndrew White and waived/injured wideout Deante’ Gray, the cub announced today. White, 25, signed with the 49ers in 2015 after going undrafted out of Alabama. He spent his rookie season solely as a return man, appearing in four games while returning six kickoffs and one punt. White spent the majority of the 2016 campaign on New England’s practice squad, but was waived by the Patriots in June. Gray, meanwhile, suffered a torn ACL last week and will miss the 2017 season.
  • The Saints are signing running back Darius Victor, per his representatives at Players First Sports Agency (Twitter link). Victor, a Towson product, left the collegiate ranks early in order to enter the NFL draft but ultimately wasn’t selected. Although he played in only four games in 2016, Victor had topped 200 carries in the each the prior two years, averaging five yards per carry from 2014-15. In order to create a roster spot, New Orleans waived/injured linebacker Sae Tautu, who has a sprained MCL, per Nick Underhill of the Advocate (Twitter link).
  • The Cardinals have signed defensive tackle David Moala, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Moala, 24, signed with Denver in 2016 as an undrafted free agent out of Utah State. After being cut last August, Moala — the brother of former NFL defender Fili Moala — spent the season on the workout circuit but failed to land a contract. Arizona also signed defensive tackle Peli Anau and waived cornerback Elie Bouka, the club announced.
  • The Bengals have waived wide receiver Monty Madaris off the physically unable to perform list with an injury settlement, according to Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). Madaris, an undrafted rookie out of Michigan State, signed with Cincinnati in May but had been on PUP for the duration of his stint in the Queen City.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/29/17

July 29th, 2017 at 5:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Rams have officially placed defensive tackle Aaron Donald on the reserve/did not report list, according to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The designation doesn’t mean much, as Donald can be removed from the list at any point. But it clears a roster spot for Los Angeles while Donald stages a holdout over a new contract.

Here are the rest of today’s minor moves:

  • Quarterback Zac Dysert‘s 2017 season was already over after he underwent back surgery, and the Cowboys have now made that official by designating him as waived/injured, per James Palmer of NFL.com (Twitter link). Dysert will go through waivers, but he won’t be claimed thanks to his injury. He’ll revert to Dallas’ injured reserve list.
  • The Raiders claimed running back George Atkinson III off waivers from the Browns, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The son of former Raiders great George Atkinson, the running back spent time with the Raiders from 2014-15 and played in 16 games as a special-teamer for the Browns last season.
  • Marcel Reece‘s return to the Seahawks will add a big-name fullback to the equation, and it will cut short fullback Algernon Brown. Seattle also waived linebacker Nick Usher, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times tweets. Usher was part of the Hawks’ UDFA contingent in May, but the team needed to make room for Marcus Smith. Brown’s exit leaves only Reece and Kyle Coleman as Seattle fullbacks, Condotta tweets.
  • Again in need of a replacement linebacker, the Vikings signed Darnell Sankey, Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports (on Twitter). The team waived linebacker Shaan Washington. Tomasson notes (on Twitter) the Vikes originally picked up linebacker Noor Davis to replace Washington, but after a Kentrell Brothers injury, the team added a second new ‘backer.
  • Signed by the Saints and converted to wide receiver earlier this year after a run as a dual-threat quarterback at Georgia Tech, Justin Thomas will need to find another team if he’s going to catch on in the NFL. The Saints cut the rookie wideout, Nick Underhill of The Advocate reports (on Twitter).
  • The Bengals swapped out wideouts by waiving Monty Madaris and signing Lavonte Whitfield, Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. Madaris resided on the Active/PUP list with a hamstring injury and will revert to Cincinnati’s Reserve/PUP list if he clears waivers, Owczarski notes (on Twitter).
  • The Redskins announced that they’ve signed defensive back Jeremiah McKinnon while waiving/injured DB Lou Young. Young appeared in six games for Carolina a season ago.
  • With Daimion Stafford mulling retirement, the Steelers announced that they’ve signed another safety, 2017 undrafted free agent Malik Golden.
  • The Panthers waived tight end Wyatt Houston, Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer tweets.

Bengals Sign 13 Undrafted Rookies

May 5th, 2017 at 10:32am CST by Zachary Links

The Bengals have signed a baker’s dozen of undrafted free agents:

Nickerson is the son of Hardy Nickerson Sr., a former Pro Bowl linebacker and NFL coach. The elder Nickerson currently serves as Illinois’ defensive coordinator and that allowed him to coach his son towards the end of his collegiate career. Nickerson Jr. has been lauded for his work ethic, but some scouts question whether he can stick at the next level.

“He may get a legacy grade from some teams based on his tackle production and his bloodlines, but I’m struggling to find consistent tape of him where he looks like an NFL linebacker,” a regional scout for an NFC team told NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein.

The Bengals already have five running backs under contract, including rookie Joe Mixon, so tailbacks Jarveon Williams and Stanley Williams may be facing an uphill battle as they try to make the final cut.