Reid Fragel

Minor Moves: Friday

Here’s a round-up of the latest minor moves from around the NFL:

  • The Bengals have waived former Texas Tech wide receiver Eric Ward, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.

Earlier updates:

  • The Falcons waived five players today, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Running back Ronnie Wingo, tackle Reid Fragel, cornerback Jordan Mabin, linebacker Jacques Smith, and safety Brandan Bishop were all cut to help make room for the incoming rookie class. None of the five players were contributors in Atlanta.
  • The Bears signed safety Malcolm Bronson to a two-year contract after he impressed as a tryout player in their three-day minicamp, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune tweets. The McNeese State product entered the NFL in 2003 as an undrafted free agent with the Chiefs and spent the 2013 season on Kansas City’s practice squad before being released before the start of the 2014 season. Bronson appeared in 40 games at McNeese State from 2009-12, recording 230 tackles, 10 interceptions, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, nine tackles for a loss and 18 pass break-ups.

Falcons Sign 11 Players To Futures Deals

The Falcons have signed 11 players to reserve/future contracts for next season, according to a list compiled by Mike Wilkening of ProFootballTalk.com. The full list is below:

The organization retained its entire practice squad. The only new addition is Shuler. The former seventh-rounder has bounced around a bit since entering the league in 2010, including a brief stint with Atlanta. The son of former All-Pro tight end Mickey Shuler, the 28-year-old has two receptions for 44 yards in his brief career.

Practice Squad Updates: Tuesday

We’re tracking Tuesday’s minor 53-man roster transactions around the NFL in a separate post, but we’ll use this spot to keep tabs on Tuesday’s practice squad moves. Here’s the latest:

  • The Texans have signed punter Chris Boswell to their practice squad, according to James Palmer of CSNHouston.com (on Twitter).
  • The Packers have signed offensive lineman Josh Walker to the practice squad, according to Rand Getlin of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The team released center Josh Allen to make room on the roster.
  • The Chargers signed D.J. Adams and former University of Oregon tight end David Paulson to the practice squad, according to Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun (on Twitter).
  • The Saints signed fullback/tight end Orson Charles to their practice squad, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com.
  • The Bears have re-signed Josh Bellamy to their practice squad, tweets Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post.
  • The Browns signed wide reciever Lee Doss to their practice squad, tweets Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. The move fills the vacancy left by Charles Johnson leaving the Browns’ taxi squad for the Vikings.
  • Brandon Smith had a successful tryout for the Jets and they’re expected to sign him to their practice squad, a league source tells Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun (on Twitter).

Earlier updates:

  • Defensive back Josh Victorian has filled the final opening on the Lions‘ practice squad, tweets Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com.
  • The Redskins have finalized the addition of center Tevita Stevens to their practice squad, and also announced that offensive lineman Braxston Cave has been cut (Twitter link). That leaves the club with nine players on its taxi squad still.
  • The Panthers have filled the final opening on their practice squad by bringing aboard wide receiver Willie Snead, according to David Newton of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Snead was cut by the Browns at the end of the preseason.
  • After working out for the club earlier today, tight end Emmanuel Ogbuehi has signed with the Ravens‘ practice squad, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Ogbuehi takes the spot vacated by Phillip Supernaw, who has been promoted to the team’s active roster.
  • Offensive lineman Reid Fragel, who was on Indianapolis’ practice squad earlier this season, has signed with the Falcons‘ taxi squad, replacing tackle Terren Jones on the unit, per a team release.
  • As part of the flurry of transactions they made today, the Jaguars added fullback Eric Kettani to their practice squad, filling the 10th and final spot, tweets John Oehser of Jaguars.com.
  • The Colts have removed defensive end Nnamdi Obukwelu from their practice squad with an injury settlement, the club announced today in a press release. Linebacker Trevardo Williams takes Obukwelu’s place on the squad.
  • With outside linebacker Cordarro Law set to join the Chargers‘ 53-man roster, another outside linebacker – rookie Colton Underwood – will take Law’s spot on San Diego’s practice squad, writes Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

NFC North Notes: Vikings, Lions, Packers

For now, the Vikings have placed Adrian Peterson on the exempt list, continuing to pay him while he stays away from the club and doesn’t count against the 53-man roster. However, sooner or later, Minnesota will have to make a more permanent decision on the running back, and Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com thinks terminating his contract – either later this year or next year – is the only route that really makes sense for the team.

Multiple sources who spoke to La Canfora believe the idea of a trade is a non-starter, and Peterson’s salaries and cap numbers are on the rise in coming seasons, making it unpalatable to keep him for the duration of his contract even if there were no off-field factors to consider.

Let’s check in on a few more updates from across the NFC North….

  • Don’t expect the Vikings to make a move to add a running back to their roster, tweets Alex Marvez of FOX Sports. According to Marvez, the team is comfortable moving forward with Matt Asiata, Jerick McKinnon, and Joe Banyard.
  • We’ve heard word of several players auditioning for the Lions in the past few days, and Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun adds a couple more. Per Wilson (via Twitter), offensive lineman Reid Fragel and defensive back Justin Rogers auditioned for the club.
  • The Packers tried out guard James Brown, defensive back Tay Glover-Wright, and defensive tackle Greg Hickman, according to Wilson (Twitter links).
  • Packers linebacker and special-teams ace Andy Mulumba confirmed today on Twitter that he has suffered a torn ACL. While Green Bay has yet to make an official announcement, it appears likely that Mulumba will land on the injured reserve list, ending his season.

Minor Moves: Friday

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here, with the latest transactions added to the top of the page throughout the day:

  • Confirming the signing of cornerback Jamell Fleming, the Chiefs announced that they’ve placed offensive lineman Jeff Allen on injured reserve in a corresponding roster move (Twitter link). It’s the latest blow to a line that already took several hits this year via free agency and a suspension.
  • The Colts have tweaked their practice squad, re-adding running back Zurlon Tipton, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Offensive tackle Reid Fragel will be the odd man out, per Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (via Twitter).
  • Raiders head coach Dennis Allen confirmed earlier today that special teams ace Taiwan Jones is headed to the IR list (Twitter link via Fallon Smith of CSN Bay Area), and Bill Williamson of ESPN.com says (via Twitter) that it’ll mark the end of the season for Jones, who won’t be given the designation to return.

Earlier updates:

  • The Raiders are promoting Bojay Filimoeatu from practice squad to active roster, a source tells Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (on Twitter). Oakland signed the linebacker to their practice squad in late August, one day after releasing him to get down to the 53-man roster. The 6-1, 258-pound linebacker suffered a torn patellar tendon after his senior season and went undrafted in 2013.

Colts Sign Jamon Meredith

The Colts have made a series of roster moves this evening, including signing offensive lineman Jamon Meredith, as Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun notes (Twitter links). Indianapolis cut Tyler Hoover from practice squad and Deji Karim was removed from injured reserve with an injury settlement. Meanwhile, the Colts have added tackle Reid Fragel to the practice squad while placing Xavier Nixon on injured reserve-designated to return.

Meredith signed a two-year contract with the Buccaneers for $2.7MM, with $350K in guaranteed money and up to $750K available in playing time incentives. However, Tampa Bay made the decision to let him go late last week as a part of their effort to get down to a 53-man roster. It was somewhat surprising given Meredith’s contract and his role in practice. The tackle/guard had been seeing some reps with the first-team offense, which intimated to outsiders that he could be a big part of the Bucs’ O-Line. That was not meant to be, but he’ll now try and make a mark with the Colts.

Browns Cut Nate Burleson, Others

5:31pm: The Browns have confirmed the previous roster moves noted below in this post, and have announced their other 14 moves to reach the 53-man roster limit. Here’s the list of players cut from the active roster:

Additionally, Josh Gordon and Marlon Moore have been placed on the reserve-suspended list.

1:20pm: The Browns have also let go of their third-round pick from last season, among other players:

10:00am: The Browns have released veteran wide receiver Nate Burleson, Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot reports on Twitter. The 33-year-old signed with Cleveland in April after having spent the past four seasons with the Lions.

It wasn’t a sure thing that the veteran would make the roster, considering he’s only appeared in 15 games over the past two years. Burleson also hinted that he was considering retiring following the 2014 season. However, at the very least, Burleson was expected to be a veteran leader to the team’s group of young wideouts. As Brian McIntyre tweets, $285K of Burleson’s base salary is full guaranteed.

The Browns will also let go of running back Chris Ogbonnaya, according to Cabot (via Twitter). The 28-year-old has compiled 130 carries since joining the Browns in 2011.

The rest of the Browns moves will be listed below: