HEADLINES

Scooby Wright

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC West

September 3rd, 2017 at 4:13pm CST by Dallas Robinson

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

Cardinals Down To 53

September 2nd, 2017 at 7:00pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cardinals announced their full slate of cuts to get to 53:

Wright was a standout at the University of Arizona. As a sophomore for the Wildcats, Wright was an absolute monster as he tallied 163 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, 14 sacks, and six forced fumbles. Unfortunately, he was slowed by injuries in 2015 and he wound up as a seventh-round pick of the Browns. The Cardinals were happy to scoop him up in December, but he has been pushed out in favor of veteran Josh Bynes and others.

Also of note – fourth-round guard Dorian Johnson has been cut. Johnson struggled in camp and the Cardinals were not willing to use a roster spot on him. I would speculate that he could be a taxi squad candidate.

Cardinals Sign Scooby Wright To Active Roster

December 13th, 2016 at 12:08pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cardinals have signed linebacker Scooby Wright to the active roster, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Wright was previously with the Browns’ practice squad. Scooby Wright (vertical)

[RELATED: Cardinals WR Michael Floyd Arrested For DUI]

This marks a homecoming for Wright, a former star at the University of Arizona. Wright, 22, was a seventh-round draft selection of the Browns this year but at one point in time he had the makings of a much higher draft pick. In 2013, Wright received Freshman All-American honors from multiple scouting services. As a sophomore, Wright was an absolute monster as he tallied 163 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, 14 sacks, and six forced fumbles. Unfortunately, he was slowed by injuries in 2015 and his draft stock suffered as a result.

The Cardinals hoped to sign Wright as an undrafted free agent, but the Browns beat them to the punch by taking him at No. 250 overall. It took a little while, but the Cardinals got their man. Wright will help provide depth at linebacker after Deone Bucannon was placed on IR.

Browns Sign Scooby Wright To Practice Squad

September 21st, 2016 at 4:10pm CST by Zachary Links

One day after being waived, Scooby Wright is back with the Browns. This time, Wright is signed to the practice squad, though Cleveland has agreed to give Wright the same salary he was making on the active roster, Mike Florio of PFT tweets. Scooby Wright (vertical)

Wright, a seventh-round pick, generated an unusual amount of excitement amongst Browns fans this offseason. The Arizona linebacker played out of his mind in 2014, racking up 164 total tackles, 15 sacks, and 31 tackles for a loss. Last year, Wright’s season ended after just three games due to injury. The Browns believe that he has big upside, but a numbers crunch meant that they had to expose him to waivers this week.

Per the terms of his agreement with the Browns, Wright will earn a weekly salary of $26K. That’s likely the highest practice squad salary in the NFL.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Browns Waive Rookie LB Scooby Wright

September 20th, 2016 at 2:18pm CST by Zachary Links

When you draft 14 rookies, they can’t all be winners. Today, the Browns are waiving linebacker Scooby Wright, as Mike Florio of PFT tweets. The Browns hope to add Wright to the practice squad if he clears waivers, but it’s not a given that he will go unclaimed. Scooby Wright (vertical)

Wright, a seventh-round pick, made a name for himself as a sophomore at Arizona in 2014. With 164 total tackles, 15 sacks, and 31 tackles for a loss, Wright was a national star and even finished No. 9 in Heisman voting. Unfortunately, the 22-year-old’s 2015 season did not go as well as he played only three games due to injury. Hoping to still capitalize on his ’14 success, he skipped his senior season to enter the draft. Wright and his reps were probably a bit disappointed when he went No. 250 overall. Still, with his pedigree, another team could very well claim him and put him on the 53-man roster tomorrow.

The move will create room for center Austin Reiter, who was plucked off of the Redskins’ practice squad earlier today.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Draft Pick Signings: Packers, Panthers, Browns

May 12th, 2016 at 10:00pm CST by Luke Adams

News on draft pick signings continues to trickle in, so after pass along word of several draftees inking their rookie contracts earlier today, we’ve got a few more updates to round up. Let’s dive in…

  • The Packers have signed third-round linebacker Kyler Fackrell, the team announced today in a press release. Green Bay has now secured all but one of its seven draft picks, with only first-round defensive tackle Kenny Clark still unsigned.
  • The Panthers have also signed each of their draft picks except for their first-rounder, having formally locked up fifth-round cornerback Zack Sanchez today, per David Newton of ESPN.com. Sanchez, the 141st overall pick in the draft, is in line for a four-year contract worth $2.612MM, with a signing bonus of about $272K, according to Over the Cap’s data.
  • The Browns begin getting their draftees under team control today by signing fifth-round wideout Jordan Payton and seventh-round linebacker Scooby Wright to their rookie deals, tweets Rand Getlin of the NFL Network. Cleveland still has plenty of business left to conduct — the team drafted 14 players, so 12 remain unsigned.
  • For the full breakdown of which draft picks have signed and which haven’t, check out our complete list.

Extra Points: Broncos, Cowboys, Draft

December 19th, 2015 at 6:26pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

With quarterback Peyton Manning nearing a return from injury, the Broncos are on the brink of having to make the most important decision of their season, Troy Renck of The Denver Post offers.

The 39-year-old Manning was having a bottom-of-the-barrel season before he landed on the shelf in mid-November with a torn plantar fascia in his left foot, and his loss looked like addition by subtraction as the Brock Osweiler era got off to a solid beginning. Osweiler’s first three starts all ended up as wins for Denver, but some shine wore off two weeks ago in a 17-3 victory over a horrific San Diego team and matters worsened in a 15-12 loss to Oakland last Sunday.

Manning will be inactive for Sunday’s game against playoff-caliber Pittsburgh, but he’s likely to be healthy enough for activation by Week 16. That means Osweiler might be playing for the starting job at Heinz Field. As Renck points out, Denver’s Osweiler-led offense has gone 23 straight possessions without scoring a touchdown, which isn’t going to cut it with a prolific Steelers offense on the other side. With another underwhelming showing from Osweiler, head coach Gary Kubiak could turn back to Manning as the playoffs near.

Some other NFL news and notes:

  • Tonight is potentially the end of the Matt Cassel era in Dallas. The 33-year-old has fared poorly in place of Tony Romo this season, and he’ll be on a short leash against the Jets, ESPN’s Ed Werder tweets. The Cowboys’ current No. 2 QB, Kellen Moore, got some first-team reps in practice this week and could see his first action since going undrafted out of Boise State in 2012.
  • Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright capped off an injury-riddled junior year Saturday by announcing he’ll enter the 2016 draft, Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk reports. A foot injury cost Wright all but three games this season, making it a disappointing follow-up to a highly productive 2014 campaign that saw him earn All-America honors, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Award, the Jack Lambert Award (nation’s best linebacker), and the Chuck Bednarik Award (nation’s top defender).
  • A list of the top 20 failed free agent signings from last offseason reveals predictable names – Dwayne Bowe, DeMarco Murray, Brandon Browner, among others – but also mentions lower-tier additions like Tampa’s Bruce Carter and Arizona’s Sean Weatherspoon, Alex Marvez of FoxSports.com writes. Both Carter and Weatherspoon were beaten out early for starting linebacker jobs.

Sam Robinson contributed to this report.

Extra Points: Browns, Draft Prospects

October 16th, 2015 at 9:28pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Browns running back Robert Turbin is recovered from an ankle injury that kept him out of action for the five weeks of the NFL season and will make his debut with the team this Sunday. Turbin, whose first opponent will be the Broncos and their fifth-ranked run defense, has lofty goals for the season.

“I feel like this is going to be my team,” Turbin said, according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.

Turbin added that he wants to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark, which will be extra difficult in an 11-game season.

Turbin, a fourth-round pick out of Utah State in 2012, spent the first three years of his career in Seattle. The Seahawks waived him in September and the Browns subsequently claimed him. The 25-year-old has amassed 231 carries and 928 yards, good for 4.0 yards per rush. That’s not great, but it would be an improvement for a Browns offense that currently has the league’s 27th-ranked per-carry average (3.7).

More on the Browns and a couple of notes concerning the 2016 draft:

  • Despite his latest off-field issue, the Browns plan to suit up quarterback Johnny Manziel as Josh McCown‘s backup Sunday. That’s the wrong approach, opines the Northeast Ohio Media Group’s Bud Shaw, who believes the Browns should discipline Manziel by deactivating him for Week 6.
  • In another piece regarding Manziel, Lindsay H. Jones of USA Today contends that any credibility he reestablished with the team after an offseason that included a rehab stint could be gone. She also wonders whether the second-year man’s career is now in jeopardy.
  • Former UCLA linebacker Myles Jack has chosen Octagon Sports as his agency as he prepares for next spring’s draft, according to Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal (Twitter link). John Thornton will represent Jack, who withdrew from UCLA earlier this month after suffering a season-ending knee injury in September. Jack is a potential first-round pick.
  • There’s talk among agents that junior Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright will turn pro after this season, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (via Twitter). Wright’s standout performance last year earned him All-America honors, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Award, the Jack Lambert Award (nation’s best linebacker), and the Chuck Bednarik Award (nation’s top defender).