Today’s minor roster moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
Green Bay Packers
Los Angeles Rams
New Orleans Saints
Pittsburgh Steelers
Today’s minor moves:
Chicago Bears
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Los Angeles Chargers
New Orleans Saints
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Washington Redskins
Rueben Randle‘s inconsistent play was maddening to the Giants, but the Eagles signed him to a free agent deal last March with the belief that they could get him to fulfill his potential. They were wrong. Randle was cut in August and, despite having a couple of NFL auditions, never caught on with another team. 
The Bears were one of the teams to try him out and while he did not earn an NFL deal on the spot, they are signing him to a reserve/futures deal, per a team announcement.
Randle, 26 in May, averaged 56 receptions, 782 yards, and six touchdowns over the three seasons with the Giants. At 6’4″ and 205 pounds, the former second-round pick offers solid athleticism for a receiver of his size and the Bears are willing to take a low-risk look at him.
In an offseason where they could lose pending free agent Alshon Jeffery, the Bears must explore every depth option available.
The Bears worked out a group of wide receivers which included Rueben Randle, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter links).Keshawn Martin, Dres Anderson, and Quinshad Davis also participated in the Monday workout. On the other side of the ball, the Bears auditioned defensive backs D’Joun Smith, Trae Elston, Tevin McDonald, Rolan Milligan, and Varmah Sonie.
The Eagles signed Randle in March with the hope that he could fulfill his potential in a different jersey. However, he disappointed in Philly just as he often did for their divisional rivals. It has been said that Randle’s work ethic was suspect while with the G-Men and he may not have been giving it his all in camp with the Eagles. Not only did Randle not make the team, but he was cut loose before the 75-man deadline. Still only 25, Randle averaged 56 receptions, 782 yards, and six touchdowns over the past three seasons with the Giants.
Smith, a 2015 third-round pick of the Colts, was waived by Indianapolis with an injury designation in September. Since then, he has had workout for the Saints, Jets, and Packers and had a cup of coffee with the Lions’ practice squad. It’s fair to wonder whether Smith is healthy given his injury history.
The Saints auditioned a small army’s worth of players today. Among the notable players to work out for New Orleans were wide receivers Rueben Randle, Greg Little, and Andre Caldwell (Twitter links via Nick Underhill of The Advocate). 
Offensive lineman Khalif Barnes, long snapper Aaron Brewer, long snapper Andrew East, long snapper Thomas Gafford, offensive tackle Bryce Harris, tight end Nic Jacobs, tight end Jake Stoneburner, guard/center Mike Liedtke, cornerback Sterling Moore, cornerback Darrin Walls, cornerback B.W. Webb, and wide receiver Nate Washington also auditioned for the Saints. Liedtke’s visit “went well” and “there’s a good chance something may happen soon,” according to agent Brett Tessler (Twitter link).
Randle, 25, joined the Eagles this offseason after averaging 56 receptions, 782 yards, and six touchdowns over the past three seasons with the Giants. However, he was cut loose before the 75-man deadline. Randle is known to be a talented receiver but there were serious questions about his work ethic while he was in East Rutherford.
Caldwell, 31, appeared in 14 games for the Broncos last season, catching 10 passes (22 targets) for 72 yards. While he wasn’t one of the primary targets in Denver, he did also have two touchdowns on the year. In the spring he signed on with Detroit and before he was cut by the Lions in August, it was said that he suffered a “season-ending” hand injury. It seems that Caldwell’s injury might not be as bad as once feared.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Eagles have announced a series of roster moves today, and the most surprising transaction is the release of wide receiver Rueben Randle, who was signed to a one-year deal over the offseason. Randle, who is still only 25 years old, was thought to be a clear starter for Philadelphia after averaging 56 receptions, 782 yards, and six touchdowns over the past three seasons with the Giants.
But after the Eagles acquired Dorial Green-Beckham, Randle’s roster spot became tenuous, especially given his lackluster performance during the preseason. Philadelphia handed Randle $500K in guarantees plus a $25K roster bonus, so the club will incur $525K in dead money. Because he’s a vested veteran, Randle will not have to clear waivers and will become a free agent immediately.
The Eagles also made the following transactions:
Cut:
Placed On Injured Reserve:
Wide receiver Rueben Randle joined the Eagles earlier this offseason on a one-year deal after spending the first four seasons of his career with the division-rival Giants. If Randle had it his way, he’d still be with Big Blue. The 25-year-old told Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post he was “a little disappointed” the Giants didn’t show an interest in re-signing him before he headed to Philadelphia. “I just moved on and accepted it for what it was. I would’ve liked to have stayed,” said Randle, who called it “an unfortunate situation.” Randle was a productive and durable member of the Giants during his tenure with them, hauling in 188 passes and 20 touchdowns on 14.1 yards per catch while appearing in 64 straight regular-season games. He racked up 57 receptions and a career-best eight TDs last season.
Here’s more from the NFL’s two East divisions:
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Receiver Rueben Randle says he turned down longer deals than the modest one-year offer he accepted from the Eagles last week, according to Dave Zangaro of CSNPhilly.com. “There were [other teams interested],” the 24-year-old said. “I just felt like it was a better opportunity for me here to showcase my talents on a one-year deal, to go out and prove myself.” Along with Jordan Matthews, Randle is one of the Eagles’ two most accomplished wideouts. Not surprisingly, then, he expects to start. “I feel confident that I will be [a starter]. That’s for me to go out there and prove,” he said.
More from the NFL’s two East divisions:
Zach Links contributed to this report.
THURSDAY, 8:30am: Randle’s one-year deal actually only has a base value of $1.025MM, tweets Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer. $500K of that total is fully guaranteed, and the contract can be worth $3MM+ via incentives.
WEDNESDAY, 4:11pm: The Eagles announced that they have signed Rueben Randle to a one-year deal. Agent Vincent Taylor of Elite Loyalty tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) that the deal is worth more than $3MM with $500K guaranteed.
Randle, who will turn 25 in May, was one of the youngest unrestricted free agents on the market this offseason. The receiver put up solid numbers during his last few years in New York, though his up-and-down play was a source of frustration for some fans. He set career highs in 2014 with 71 receptions and 938 yards, then caught a career-best eight touchdowns in 2015, to go along with 57 catches and 797 yards.
The Giants were said to be concerned about Randle’s work ethic and his “desire to be great,” per one report from Jordan Raanan of the Star-Ledger. That report gained some validity this offseason as the Giants didn’t make much of an effort to re-sign him.
This year’s crop of free agent wide receivers was rather underwhelming on the whole, but Randle came in as our No. 4 player at the position. In front of Randle, we had Marvin Jones, Travis Benjamin, and Rishard Matthews. Randle’s No. 4 ranking put him ahead of players like Anquan Boldin, Jermaine Kearse, Mohamed Sanu, Marques Colston, Brandon LaFell, James Jones, and Andre Johnson.
Before signing with the Eagles, Randle drew some interest from the Rams.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Chip Kelly told Philadelphia-area media, including Jeff McLane of Philly.com, he didn’t communicate directly with Howie Roseman last season before being fired by the Eagles. The current 49ers coach said owner Jeffrey Lurie constructed an arrangement where the then-demoted Roseman sent messages to the then-empowered Kelly through player personnel VP Ed Marynowitz.
Kelly also asserted he didn’t control the contracts given to Byron Maxwell and DeMarco Murray, with the three-year Eagles coach telling media Roseman, who has since traded both players, constructed those deals.
“I wasn’t the personnel guy. I was in charge of the 90-man roster,” Kelly said. “But I didn’t negotiate and say this guy gets this amount of money and that guy gets that amount of money. And Ed was the one who ran our personnel department. That really fell on Ed’s shoulders in terms of how he handled everything. And Ed communicated with him all the time.
Here’s some more on the Eagles and news from some additional NFC teams.
Zach Links contributed to this report