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Obum Gwacham

Jets Sign DL Ed Stinson, LB Obum Gwacham

October 4th, 2017 at 11:43am CST by Zachary Links

The Jets have signed defensive lineman Ed Stinson and plucked linebacker Obum Gwacham from the Cardinals’ practice squad. To help make room, the team placed rookie outside linebacker Dylan Donahue on IR. Ed Stinson (vertical)

The Jets have the option of bringing Jalin Marshall back from suspension this week, but they’ll need to make another roster move if they want to do that. By adding the two defenders and placing Donahue on IR, the Jets are back up to the 53-man max.

Stinson, a fifth-round pick of the Cardinals in 2014, appeared in 29 games for Arizona over a three-year period. He was hampered by injuries this summer and he wound up being cut from IR last month.

Gwacham made ten appearances for the Saints over the last two years. He missed New Orleans’ final cut, but hooked on with the Cardinals’ taxi squad. He now has an opportunity to make a mark on the main roster in New York along with a fellow ex-Cardinal.

Donahue injured his elbow during Sunday’s win over the Jaguars. He’ll technically be eligible to return in December, if he recovers in time and the Jets want to go that route.

Cardinals Sign P Andy Lee

September 4th, 2017 at 12:12pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cardinals announced that they have signed punter Andy Lee to a two-year deal. Naturally, punter Matt Wile has been released to make room. Andy Lee

Arizona expressed interest in Lee last week when he was being shopped by the Panthers. The Cardinals were unwilling to take on his old contract and give up draft considerations for him, but they were happy to snag him as a free agent.

The Cardinals’ 14.7 points of lost field position was second only to the Jets last year, per Football Outsiders. The 35-year-old Lee might be able to help in that regard if he can stay healthy. He was limited to nine games last year, but his net average of 40.4 yards per punt would have ranked 14th among all punters if he saw enough action to qualify.

In related moves, the Cardinals placed running back T.J. Logan on IR and added outside linebackers Bryson Albright and Obum Gwacham to the practice squad.

Saints Reach 53-Man Roster Limit

September 2nd, 2017 at 10:16pm CST by Zachary Links

Every team had to get under the 53-man limit by Saturday’s deadline, but the Saints were the last to publicly announce their cuts. Here’s the full rundown of their moves:

Waived:

Released:

IR:

The Saints re-signed Cadet this offseason only to put him on the trade block in June. They didn’t find any takers then and they apparently couldn’t find any now. The Jets, who pursued him in free agency, could have interest in signing him.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/28/16

September 28th, 2016 at 8:49pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are today’s minor moves.

  • The Saints moved defensive end Obum Gwacham to IR to make room for Khalif Barnes, whom they signed earlier today, Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com reports. It’s unclear, per Katzenstein, what injury forced Gwacham to IR. But the defender debuted Monday night and played seven special teams plays.
  • The Raiders promoted rookie offensive lineman Denver Kirkland from their practice squad to move their roster to 53 players, Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com. As Bair notes, Kirkland can play both tackle and guard. The Raiders may need him more at the former spot, considering Menelik Watson and Austin Howard are battling injuries this season. Oakland played the first three games of the season at 52 players, choosing not to fill Mario Edwards‘ spot — the defensive end sits on IR until he’s expected back by midseason — until today.
  • To make room on their roster for Marqui Christian, the Rams cut defensive back Isaiah Johnson, Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com reports. The Rams claimed Christian off waivers from the Cardinals earlier today. A second-year UDFA out of Georgia Tech, Johnson’s played in seven games thus far, including one this season, in his short career. He still has practice squad eligibility, if the Rams so choose to relocate him there.
  • The Cardinals signed punter Ryan Quigley and placed linebacker Alani Fua (knee) on IR, as Mike Jurecki of FOX Sports 910 tweets.

NFC South Notes: Saints, Brees, Falcons, Bucs

July 28th, 2016 at 6:23pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

While extension talks between the Saints and future Hall of Famer Drew Brees haven’t yielded progress yet, the contract-year quarterback said Thursday that he harbors no ill will toward general manager Mickey Loomis (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk). “Just to clarify, nothing is adversarial. I have a great relationship with Mickey Loomis and have for my entire time here,” stated Brees. “We’ll see how this shakes out over the next month and a half.”

Brees reiterated Thursday that the start of the regular season is his deadline for contract negotiations, so the two sides won’t talk again until the end of the campaign if they don’t reach an agreement by Week 1. To place the franchise tag on Brees next offseason would cost the Saints $43.2MM, so that probably won’t be an option. The only choice, then, would be a multiyear deal, and Brees, 37, believes he’s capable of lasting for a while longer. “I don’t see any reason why I can’t play at the highest level for the next five years minimum,” commented Brees, who threw for 4,870 yards and 32 touchdowns against 11 interceptions in 2015.

More from the NFC South:

  • After failing to add an edge rusher through either free agency or the draft and losing Hau’oli Kikaha to a torn ACL, the Saints are left to hope at least one of Kasim Edebali, Obum Gwacham or Davis Tull emerges as a viable complement to Cameron Jordan, writes Larry Holder of NOLA.com. The 26-year-old Edebali is the most proven of the three in terms of sack production, having tallied five last season, though his overall play earned him a 103rd-place ranking among 110 qualifying edge defenders at Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Gwacham impressively picked up 2.5 sacks in just 97 snaps as a sixth-round rookie. Tull, meanwhile, didn’t get into a game last year after the Saints selected him in the fifth round of the draft. The Saints’ woeful defense finished a bottom-of-the-barrel 25th in the NFL in sacks last season (31), and nearly a third came from Jordan (10).
  • The Falcons, who have three roster spots available, worked out some receivers Thursday and could sign one, according to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com (on Twitter). McClure didn’t specify which wideouts tried out with the Falcons, though the free agent list isn’t exactly rife with appealing options at this point. Notably, the Falcons auditioned ex-Chargers practice squad member Donatella Luckett last month. The top of Atlanta’s receiver depth chart is all set with Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu and Justin Hardy in place, but there are questions about the unit otherwise.
  • One reason the Falcons are looking for depth at receiver is because they released Devin Hester on Tuesday. General manager Thomas Dimitroff spoke about cutting the all-time great return man Thursday, saying, “He passed his (pre-camp) physical. It was a football decision for us in the end” (via Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution). Hester, 33, underwent toe surgery in January and missed all but five games last season because of the issue. He also failed to register a reception after pulling in 38 in 2014.
  • The Buccaneers auditioned free agent offensive tackle Caylin Hauptmann on Thursday, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Hauptmann, 25, has garnered just one NFL appearance, which came back in 2013 as a member of the Seahawks. He has also spent time with the Browns and Patriots organizations.

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC South

September 6th, 2015 at 5:52pm CST by Luke Adams

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC 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 Falcons, Panthers, Saints, and Buccaneers are noted below.

Additionally, as of 11:00am today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. For the 2014 and 2015 seasons, changes were made to practice squad rules that allow teams to carry eight players instead of 10, and the eligibility requirements for those extra two spots were also loosened. 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 NFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Seahawks Confirm McCray Trade, Set Roster

September 5th, 2015 at 5:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Seahawks have confirmed one of their two recently-reported acquisitions, announcing that they’ve traded for safety Kelcie McCray, sending a fifth-round draft pick to the Chiefs in the swap, as we heard earlier. According to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (via Twitter), the deal for McCray is a public sign of what the team has privately told Kam Chancellor: Seattle isn’t willing to negotiate with him.

We’re still awaiting official word on Seattle’s reported agreement with running back Fred Jackson, so an additional cut will be required when that move is finalized. For now though, the Seahawks are down to 53 players. Via a team release, here’s how they got there:

Released:

  • CB Will Blackmon
  • TE Anthony McCoy

Waived:

  • LB Tyrell Adams
  • TE Rashaun Allen
  • QB R.J. Archer
  • DE Obum Gwacham
  • S Keenan Lambert
  • S Ronald Martin
  • DT T.Y. McGill
  • CB Douglas McNeil
  • OL Keavon Milton
  • S Ryan Murphy
  • OL Will Pericak
  • LB Eric Pinkins
  • OL Terry Poole
  • LB Alex Singleton
  • WR Kevin Smith
  • RB Rod Smith
  • DE Julius Warmsley
  • WR Kasen Williams

Placed on injured reserve:

  • CB Mohammed Seisay
  • RB Robert Turbin

Placed on reserve/non-football illness list:

  • DT Jesse Williams

Seahawks Sign Four Draft Picks

May 8th, 2015 at 5:39pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Seahawks are moving quickly to process deals with their draft choices, doing so with four of them on Friday, according to Mike Wilkening of Pro Football Talk.

Seattle signed guards Terry Poole and Mark Glowinski, who were both selected in the fourth round, along with fifth-round cornerback Tye Smith and sixth-round defensive end Obum Gwacham.

Second-round defensive end Frank Clark and third-round wideout Tyler Lockett are the NFC champions’ only unsigned selections.