Paul McRoberts

Colts Try Out Keenan Lewis, Jacquies Smith

The Colts have eight tryout players on hand this week, including cornerback Keenan Lewis and defensive end Jacquies Smith (Twitter link via George Bremer of The Herald Bulletin). Wide receiver Paul McRoberts, cornerback Juante Baldwin, running back Jordan Huff, safety Tim Scott, defensive end Evan Panfil, and defensive end Christian French are also among those looking to hook on in Indy. 

Lewis, 32, has not played since the 2015 season when he suffered a leg injury. In 2016, the Saints released him as he was slow to recover from a hip malady. He nearly rejoined the Steelers in 2017, but a medical red flag kept him from signing. Pittsburgh doctors reportedly found that Lewis had undergone a “failed surgery” and he filed a grievance against the Saints this year to recoup some of his lost salary.

Lewis, a 2009 third-round pick of the Steelers, spent the first four seasons of his career in Pittsburgh. After serving as a reserve through his first few seasons, he started all 16 games for the Steelers in 2012, compiling 71 tackles and one forced fumble. He ended up signing a five-year, $26.3MM deal with New Orleans during the 2013 offseason, and he started all 32 games for the Saints in 2013 and 2014. However, he suited up just six times in 2015.

Smith, 28, established himself as a serviceable edge rusher for the Bucs (13.5 sacks from 2014-15) before a torn ACL ended his 2016 campaign after only one game. After working his way back to full health, Smith had played in his first contest of the year during Week 4 last year, but saw action on only seven snaps. Smith wound up signing with the Lions during their bye week in 2017, but did not play in any games for them. A second stint with Detroit later in the year resulted in two appearances for Smith, but he recorded only one tackle.

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC West

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC West 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 Cardinals, Rams, 49ers, and Seahawks 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 NFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

Arizona Cardinals

Los Angeles Rams

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Rams Make Cuts, Reach 53-Man Max

The Rams added a player via trade on Saturday, but their real focus was on mass cuts to get down to the 53-man max. Here’s a rundown of their moves.

Waived:

  • DT Omarius Bryant
  • WR K.D. Cannon
  • OL Parker Collins
  • K Travis Coons
  • CB Carlos Davis
  • LB Kevin Davis (waived/injured)
  • OL Michael Dunn
  • OL Jake Eldrenkamp
  • LB Josh Forrest (waived/injured)
  • DB Tyquwan Glass
  • RB Aaron Green
  • DB Isaiah Johnson
  • DB Michael Jordan
  • OL Alex Kozan
  • OLB Willie Mays
  • LB Cassanova Mckinzy
  • WR Paul McRoberts
  • OLB Andy Mulumba
  • OL Pace Murphy
  • LB Folarin Orimolade
  • DB Aarion Penton
  • NT Mike Purcell
  • FB Sam Rogers
  • WR Shakeir Ryan
  • DT Casey Sayles
  • WR Brandon Shippen
  • WR Nelson Spruce (waived/injured)
  • OLB Carlos Thompson
  • RB Lenard Tillery (waived/injured)
  • OLB Orlovsky was signed in July, but he was facing long odds since the Rams already had Jared Goff and Sean Mannion as their top two QBs.
  • G Cody Wichmann
  • TE Travis Wilson

Released:

Reserve/Injured:

Reserve/PUP:

Reserve/Suspended:

Orlovsky was signed in July, but he was facing long odds since the Rams already had Jared Goff and Sean Mannion as their top two QBs. Since being drafted in 2005, the 34-year-old has made just 12 career starts.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/5/16

Here are Monday’s practice squad signings and cuts from around the NFL:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

  • Signed: CB Trey Caldwell, P Michael Palardy, RB Terrell Watson (Twitter link via Nate Ulrich of Ohio.com)
  • Cut: OL Kaleb Johnson

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Signed: DB Julian Wilson (Twitter link via Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun)

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Signed: CB C.J. Smith, WR Paul Turner (Twitter link via Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com)
  • Cut: Quentin Gause

Seattle Seahawks

  • Signed: DT Justin Hamilton (Twitter link via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times)

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC West

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC West 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 Cardinals, Rams, 49ers, and Seahawks 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 NFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day. All links go to Twitter unless otherwise noted:

Arizona Cardinals

Los Angeles Rams

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Rams Cut Akeem Ayers, Move To 53

The Rams have announced the following moves as part of moving their roster to 53 players:

Cut:

Placed On IR:

Ayers is perhaps the most surprising release, given that the 2015 free agent signee started 11 games for the club last season. Los Angeles will clear all $3.3MM of his cap charge by parting ways.

Rams Sign 19 Undrafted Free Agents

After including a handful of their 2016 draft picks in the trade package that allowed them to move up to No. 1 to snag California quarterback Jared Goff, the Rams only drafted six players last week, with all of them but Goff coming off the board on Day 3. However, Los Angeles has supplemented its draft class by adding 19 undrafted free agents to its roster.

Here’s the complete list of new Rams from Myles Simmons of TheRams.com: