Nate Orchard - Pro Football Rumors

Dolphins Release Nate Orchard

September 3rd, 2019 at 4:49pm CST by Rory Parks

Edge rusher Nate Orchard survived cutdown day in Miami, but he couldn’t make it to Week 1. Per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the Dolphins have released Orchard (Twitter link).

Orchard, whom the Browns selected in the second round of the 2015 draft, posted four sacks for the Fins this preseason, and he looked primed to open the 2019 campaign as a starting defensive end. Now, one of last year’s “Hard Knocks” stars will have to look elsewhere, though his strong showing this summer should earn him another opportunity fairly quickly.

The move is somewhat surprising given that Orchard is still young enough (26) for a rebuilding outfit like the Dolphins to carefully evaluate him over the course of the season. Plus, as Jackson notes in a full-length post, defensive line coach Marion Hobby praised Orchard at length just hours before he was cut. Hobby said, “[t]hat was the biggest thing, just watching him on tape. You can see from day one that he can run, that he can do some good stuff. I think he’s been doing a good job of taking coaching and sometimes you have to keep him focused.”

Without Orchard, Miami’s DE depth chart consists of Charles Harris, UDFA Jonathan Ledbetter, and recent waiver claim Avery Moss.

In a related move, the Dolphins claimed LB James Crawford off waivers from the Packers.

Dolphins Notes: Clowney, Grant, Alonso

August 27th, 2019 at 7:15pm CST by Rory Parks

The Dolphins believe they are the favorites to land Texans star Jadeveon Clowney, but Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com believes that Miami would have to increase Clowney’s tag number (currently just under $16MM) to something in the $20MM+ range to land the former No. 1 overall pick (Twitter link). Fitzgerald suggests that the Dolphins may not be interested in giving Clowney the long-term deal he wants and could be looking to trade a second-round pick for Clowney this year and flipping him for a first-rounder next year.

Let’s take a quick swing around South Beach:

Wide receiver Jakeem Grant‘s extension was reported as a four-year, $24MM pact, but NFL Insider Adam Caplan says the base value is actually $19.7MM (Twitter link). The total value could increase to $24MM with Pro Bowl incentives. The contract includes $7.5MM in guaranteed money, only $3.72MM of which is fully guaranteed.
The Dolphins are said to be shopping linebacker Kiko Alonso, though rival teams expect him to be cut. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes that head coach Brian Flores was non-committal when asked about the status of Alonso and tight end Dwayne Allen, both of whom have battled injuries this summer. Alonso returned to practice on a limited basis Sunday, and while Jackson says Miami could very well keep him around in 2019, it would not be surprising if both Alonso and Allen were released.
More from Jackson, who suggests that edge rusher Nate Orchard is on the roster bubble. Though Flores didn’t elaborate, he said “this will be a big week” for Orchard. It sounds as if one of last year’s “Hard Knocks” stars could find his way onto the 53-man roster with a strong performance in Miami’s last preseason game.
The Dolphins’ QB competition between Josh Rosen and Ryan Fitzpatrick remains open.

Dolphins Sign Nate Orchard

May 16th, 2019 at 8:31am CST by Dallas Robinson

The Dolphins signed edge rusher Nate Orchard, according to Adam Caplan of SiriusXM (on Twitter). Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link) first reported that a deal was close on Wednesday night.

Orchard signed with the Seahawks in early April, inking a one-year deal with a club that has a history of taking chances on former early-round defenders (Barkevious Mingo, Dion Jordan). However, the 26-year-old was made redundant after Seattle inked fellow defensive end Ziggy Ansah, and Orchard was waived last week.

Orchard comes with pedigree, as the Browns selected him 51st overall in the 2015 draft. An 11-game starter during his rookie campaign, Orchard has started only two contests since 2015. His last significant action came in 2017, when he played on 40% of Cleveland’s defensive snaps while grading as the NFL’s No. 68 edge defender among 123 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus. Last year, despite a valiant effort on HBO’s Hard Knocks, Orchard was waived by the Browns at final cutdowns, and subsequently spent time with the Bills and Chiefs.

In Miami, Orchard stands a far better chance of making the roster — and earning playing time — than he would have in Seattle. The Dolphins are seeking to replace nearly the nearly 1,700 snaps played by now-departed defensive ends Cameron Wake, Robert Quinn, and Andre Branch, and there’s little ahead of Orchard on the club’s depth chart aside from 2017 first-round pick Charles Harris and veteran journeyman Tank Carradine. Miami didn’t add an edge defender with any of its six 2019 draft choices.

Minor NFL Transactions: 5/10/19

May 10th, 2019 at 7:02pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We’ve got a whole bunch of minor transactions from today as we head into the weekend:

Arizona Cardinals

Signed: RB Wes Hills, CB Nate Brooks
Released: WR Bryant Mitchell, CB Jonathan Moxey, RB Brandon Wilds

Houston Texans

Waived: S Mike Tyson
Placed on IR: OLB Duke Ejiofor

New Orleans Saints

Waived: RB Martez Carter, LB Chase Hansen, TE Jake Powell

Philadelphia Eagles

Signed: CB Jay Liggins

Seattle Seahawks

Released: DE Nate Orchard

Oakland Raiders

Signed: WR Brian Burt

Orchard, the former second round pick of the Browns, is probably the biggest name on this list. He was cut to make room for Ziggy Ansah, who the Seahawks officially announced today. Orchard had signed a one-year pact last month that didn’t contain any guaranteed money. It’s a pretty bad sign for his NFL future that he was apparently at the very bottom of the 90-man roster in Seattle.

Seahawks Sign DE Nate Orchard

April 4th, 2019 at 6:02pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Seahawks have agreed to sign defensive end Nate Orchard, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (Twitter link).

Orchard was part of an early-week workout session that also included defensive lineman Courtney Upshaw and cornerback Davon House, but — so far — he’s the only member of that group to land a contract. He’s the second defensive end Seattle has signed today, joining former 49er Cassius Marsh.

Orchard comes with pedigree, as the Browns selected him 51st overall in the 2015 draft. An 11-game starter during his rookie campaign, Orchard has started only two contests since 2015. His last significant action came in 2017, when he played on 40% of Cleveland’s defensive snaps while grading as the NFL’s No. 68 edge defender among 123 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus. Last year, despite a valiant effort on HBO’s Hard Knocks, Orchard was waived by the Browns and final cutdowns, and subsequently spent time with the Bills and Chiefs.

Seattle has a history of taking chances on former early-round defenders (Barkevious Mingo, Dion Jordan), and Orchard probably didn’t receive much — if any — guaranteed money. He’ll have to fight for special teams snaps in order to make the Seahawks’ roster.

Extra Points: AAF, Seahawks, Marshall

April 2nd, 2019 at 10:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Seahawks carried a decent amount of cap space into free agency but, other than the K.J. Wright re-signing, have been fairly quiet. Compensatory picks are partially at the root of this patience. While this free agency period will produce 2020 comp picks, John Schneider also has his eye on more 2019 draft choices. The Seahawks hold just four 2019 picks, the fewest any team currently has. That is a number their GM would like to increase.

“This year, we’re trying to be a little bit more selective with the cap casualty guys that don’t count toward your compensatory picks,” Schneider said during an appearance 710 ESPN Seattle (via Seahawks.com). “Right now we’re looking at 11 picks in 2020, but we have four right now and I just spent the weekend looking at our board like, ‘That’s not cool.’”

The Seahawks have not used their originally slotted first-round pick since selecting James Carpenter in the 2011 first round. Recently, they traded back in 2018, 2017 and 2016 and in 2015 sent their first-rounder to the Saints in the Jimmy Graham deal.

“It’s safe to say, but it’s a darn good draft, so I could see a very good player being there for us at 21,” Schneider said on the prospect of his team accumulating more 2019 draft capital. “Then the other part of it is everybody’s like, ‘Well, (the Seahawks) always like to go back,’ but you have to find a partner, you have to negotiate within a specific amount of time, so it’s not like an easy thing just to move back. We’d love to pick more than four times, though.”

Here is the latest from around the football universe:

Another ominous sign for the AAF: the league sent out an email to its employees, announcing only a small staff will be retained going forward with the goal of securing additional funding. The email (via NFL.com’s Aditi Kinkhabwala, on Twitter) includes the phrase, “Should these efforts prove successful, we look forward to working with many of you in season two.” So, it almost certainly appears the AAF’s operations suspension will mean its 2019 season — which had two regular-season weeks remaining — will end.
Shifting back to the Seahawks, they will bring in three more veterans for visits. Davon House, Nate Orchard and Courtney Upshaw have Seahawks summits scheduled, Curtis Crabtree of Pro Football Talk tweets. Following Orchard’s Hard Knocks close-up, he played in four games for the Chiefs and Bills in 2018. House saw an injury end his ’18 season after three games. After the Jets released Upshaw last July, he did not catch on anywhere else. However, the former Ravens and Falcons front-seven starter is still just 29.
Prior to the Raiders signing Brandon Marshall, the Ravens expressed interest. However, they did not want to sign the free agent linebacker until after the May 7 date when UFAs no longer factor into the compensatory formula, Marshall said during an appearance on Orange and Blue 760 (via The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala, on Twitter). The Ravens, who said they would have been interested in a multiyear Marshall pact post-draft, are one of the NFL’s premier comp pick-seeking conscious franchises. Marshall said he did not want to wait until after the draft. Both the Chargers and Cardinals also showed more initial interest than the Raiders, Marshall said (Twitter link), but those teams’ respective signings of Thomas Davis and Jordan Hicks pointed him elsewhere.

NFL Workout Updates: 11/13/18

November 13th, 2018 at 9:18pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here’s the latest from the workout circuit. All links go to NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account, unless otherwise noted.

Arizona Cardinals

LB Thurston Armbrister, LB Terence Garvin, CB Leonard Johnson, T Rick Leonard, S Dexter McCoil, DT Tyrunn Walker (link)

Detroit Lions

LB Azeem Victor (link)

Indianapolis Colts

TE Kivon Cartwright, TE Je’Ron Hamm, TE Nick Keizer, CB Reggie Porter, LB Anthony Winbush (link)

Jacksonville Jaguars

DE Geneo Grissom, DT David Parry, DT Elijah Qualls, T Menelik Watson (Twitter link via Sirius XM Radio’s Adam Caplan)

New Orleans Saints

DT Michael Bennett, DT Sealver Siliga, DE Phil Taylor, DL Jerel Worthy (link)

New York Jets

WR Tanner McEvoy, LB Corey Nelson, DE Marcus Smith, DL Destiny Vaeao, TE Hakeem Valles (link)

Oakland Raiders

S Afolabi Aguda, WR Rashard Davis, WR Josh Huff, WR Charles Johnson, P Drew Kaser, S Tray Matthews, S Stephen Roberts, QB Alek Torgersen, WR Griff Whalen, S J.J. Wilcox (link)

Tennessee Titans

WR Daniel Braverman, WR Quan Bray, OLB/DE Kasim Edebali, DE Terrence Fede, CB Dontae Johnson, CB Mike Jordan, CB Ashton Lampkin, CB Jeremiah McKinnon, OLB/DE Nate Orchard, QB Nic Shimonek, WR ArDarius Stewart, TE Tyrone Swoopes, LB John Timu, RB Charcandrick West (link)

Chiefs Activate S Daniel Sorensen

November 6th, 2018 at 10:22am CST by Zachary Links

The Chiefs activated safety Daniel Sorensen from injured reserve, the team announced. To make room on the roster, the Chiefs waived linebacker Nate Orchard.

The Chiefs have been waiting on safety help and Sorensen’s return should go a long way towards fortifying the secondary. Of course, the bigger upgrade will come when/if Eric Berry is able to make his return. There’s no definitive word yet, but the Chiefs are hopeful that Berry will be able to suit up for the final stretch of the season.

Sorensen started 14 games for the Chiefs last year, but was knocked off course this year by a tibial plateau fracture and MCL damage. Before that, the Chiefs were looking to Sorensen, a contributor on the past four Kansas City defenses and Berry’s replacement throughout last season, to take over as a starter for Ron Parker. A few weeks after the full scope of Sorensen’s injury was disclosed, Parker was brought back, but the Chiefs could still use the extra ammo in the secondary.

Upon his return, Sorensen could help Parker and Jordan Lucas at safety and also pitch in at linebacker in the wake of Terrance Smith‘s season-ending injury. With 56 games under his belt and experience at both spots, he could contribute in a variety of packages starting on Sunday against the Cardinals.

Chiefs Sign Nate Orchard

October 10th, 2018 at 10:07am CST by Zachary Links

The Chiefs signed free agent linebacker Nate Orchard, according to a team announcement. Orchard will help to fill in for Justin Hosuton, who may miss multiple games with a hamstring injury.

At minimum, it sounds like the Chiefs will be without Houston on Sunday night when they face the Patriots. Houston is one of the club’s defensive leaders and has has three sacks and two forced fumbles so far this year. The Chiefs will be hurting without him, but the injury could pave the way for Orchard to see the field.

After spending three seasons with the Browns, the 2015 second-round pick was released by the team in September. Orchard was plenty productive during his rookie campaign, compiling 36 tackles and three sacks in 15 games (11 starts). Unfortunately, the Utah product was limited to only three games in 2016 after suffering an ankle injury, and he settled into more of a reserve role in 2017. He ultimately finished last season with 25 tackles and two sacks in 16 games (one start).

Orchard, a darling of this year’s “Hard Knocks,” hooked on with the Bills after being cut by Cleveland, but lasted only three weeks. He’ll try to make it a longer stay in Kansas City.