Shaquille Richardson

Minor Moves: Tuesday

Today’s minor moves..

  • The Dolphins waived offensive guard Davonte Wallace, according to Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald (on Twitter).
  • The Chiefs waived former 2014 Steelers first-round choice Shaquille Richardson, as Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk writes. The cornerback signed with KC in February, but he couldn’t stick with the team through the spring.
  • Ravens backup long snapper Patrick Scales signed his $435K exclusive-rights free agent tender, as Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun writes. Scales was signed last season after two long snappers went down with season-ending injuries in Baltimore.
  • The Chargers cut linebacker Alvin Scioneaux, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (on Twitter). Scioneaux, 24 in May, spent last season on the Bolts’ IR.
  • The Lions have released guard Rodney Austin, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com (via Twitter). Austin, an Elon University product, was let go after being arrested on two charges of assault, as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes. For what it’s worth, Austin’s agent says that the issue will soon be behind his client. “I’m very well aware of what happened and that’s why I know this is not going to be an ongoing issue,” said Mark Magazu. The 26-year-old was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Lions after the 2012 draft.
  • Cowboys running back Lance Dunbar and punter Chris Jones signed their restricted free-agent tender offers, as Todd Archer of ESPN.com writes. The Cowboys gave both players the low tender, worth $1.542MM. Still, neither player is a lock to make the team in 2015.

Minor Moves: Tuesday

The Giants have re-signed free-agent-to-be wideout Kevin Ogletree to a one-year contract, a source tells Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports (Twitter link). Ogletree joined the team back in October in the wake of Victor Cruz‘s season-ending knee injury, and didn’t see a ton of action during the season’s second half. For the year, he caught five balls for 50 yards in seven games (96 offensive snaps).

While financial terms of the deal aren’t yet known, it will almost certainly be a minimum-salary contract for the veteran receiver. For a player with his NFL experience, that would mean a base salary of $745K for the coming season.

Here are the rest of Tuesday’s minor transactions, with any additional minor moves added to the top of this list throughout the day:

  • The Cowboys cut linebacker Mister Alexander, according to Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). Alexander, who spent the year on Dallas’ taxi squad, was signed to a futures deal in January.
  • Cornerback Shaquille Richardson, who was selected by the Steelers in the fifth round of last year’s draft, has signed with the Chiefs, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). Richardson didn’t survive the final round of roster cutdowns in Pittsburgh last August.
  • The Jaguars‘ signing of offensive tackle Brennan Williams is now official, per Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union (via Twitter). Williams, a former Texans third-round pick, tweeted word of his agreement with the Jags last week.

Earlier updates:

  • Offensive tackle Darrion Weems has re-signed with the Cowboys, reports Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). Weems, who has yet to actually play a regular-season snap for Dallas, had been on track to be an exclusive rights free agent, so he’ll be back for the minimum salary.
  • The same goes for guard Ronald Leary, another Cowboys ERFA who re-signed with the club today, per Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com (Twitter link). Unlike Weems, Leary is a starter on the Cowboys’ line, but since he has fewer than three years of experience, he’s not yet in line for a real raise.
  • According to Archer, the Cowboys also adjusted the contract for linebacker Dekoda Watson, who agreed to take a pay cut from $1.25MM to $745K. Watson’s deal with Dallas doesn’t include any bonuses or dead money, so his base salary is the only figure that changed.

Sunday Transactions: AFC North

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC North 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 are noted below.

Additionally, as of 11:00am CT 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 AFC North transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

Baltimore Ravens:

Cincinnati Bengals:

Cleveland Browns:

Pittsburgh Steelers:

Steelers Reduce Roster To 53 Players

The Steelers have become the latest team to reduce their roster count to 53 players in advance of this afternoon’s deadline. Here are the 22 players cut from the club’s active roster today, per a press release:

Draft Signings: Redskins, Browns, Steelers

By our count, 182 of this year’s draftees have signed their rookie contracts or at least agreed to terms with their new NFL teams coming into today, leaving just 74 players still to sign. A handful of those remaining 74 have formalized their agreements already today, so let’s round up the latest news….

  • The Redskins have locked up the last of their eight draftees, announcing today (via Twitter) that they’ve signed third-round tackle Morgan Moses to his four-year rookie contract. Moses was considered a potential first-round pick heading into the draft, so Washington did well to land him early in the third — the former Virginia lineman will receive a signing bonus worth about $698K, per Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap.
  • No Browns draftees have put pen to paper yet, but Cleveland has at least reached an agreement with one of its picks now, confirming today (via Twitter) that Pierre Desir has agreed to terms. A fourth-round cornerback, Desir was the last player selected by the Browns in the draft, so it appears the club will work its way backwards through its signings.
  • Fifth-round cornerback Shaquille Richardson has signed his contract with the Steelers, the team announced in a press release. According to Fitzgerald’s figures, Richardson’s signing bonus will amount to about $190K, while his overall four-year total will be around $2.41MM.

North Notes: Lions, Ravens, Steelers

Jadeveon Clowney won’t be working out for any more NFL teams prior to the draft, as we heard this morning from Peter King, but that doesn’t mean he’s done making visits. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), the Lions will be hosting Clowney for a visit soon. There’s obviously no chance the standout defensive end falls to Detroit at No. 10, so bringing in Clowney could be a further signal that the Lions are exploring moving up in the draft. The club has also been linked multiple times to wideout Sammy Watkins, who will almost certainly be off the board by No. 10 as well.

Here’s more on the Lions and a few other teams in the NFL’s two North divisions:

  • Rapoport’s previously linked tweet also includes word that the Lions are meeting today with UNC tight end Eric Ebron.
  • Notre Dame tight end Troy Niklas, who visited the Bills earlier in the month, recently met with the Ravens, writes Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Wilson also tweets a couple more players who were in attendance at the Ravens’ local prospect day: Dexter McDougle (CB, Maryland) and Louis Young (CB, Georgia Tech).
  • TCU cornerback Jason Verrett, Arizona corner Shaquille Richardson and Oregon State defensive end Scott Crichton are visiting the Steelers today, tweets ESPN.com’s Scott Brown.
  • Matt Vensel of the Star Tribune takes a look at how the Vikings are spending their money by position, noting that the club is only among the top 10 NFL teams in spending at running back (first) and defensive end (ninth).
  • The Lions hosted Boston College linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis on a pre-draft visit last week, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter). We heard on Friday that Pierre-Louis also visited the Steelers.