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Steve Vallos

Sunday Transactions: AFC South

August 31st, 2014 at 7:45pm CST by Luke Adams

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC South 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 South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

Houston Texans:

Indianapolis Colts:

Jacksonville Jaguars:

  • Claimed off waivers: Mickey Shuler, TE (via Ryan O’Halloran on Twitter)
  • Cut: Marcel Jensen, TE (via Aaron Wilson on Twitter)
  • Signed to practice squad (officially announced): Cody Booth, T; DeAndre Coleman, DT; Henry Josey, RB (via Adam Caplan on Twitter); Craig Loston, S; Stephen Morris, QB; Kerry Taylor, WR; Tony Washington, WR; Marcus Whitfield, LB. The team has also added cornerback Peyton Thompson, reports Michael DiRocco (via Twitter), although the team has not officially announced the signing.

Tennessee Titans:

Titans Sign Steve Vallos

August 13th, 2014 at 3:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The Titans completed a handful of roster moves today, announcing (via Twitter) that they’ve signed offensive lineman Steve Vallos and linebacker Kendrick Adams, cutting linebacker David Gilbert and lineman Viondy Merisma to clear spots for the newcomers. The series of transactions leaves Tennessee with a full 90-man roster.

Of the four players, Vallos is the only one with regular-season NFL experience, having been active for 59 total contests for the Seahawks, Browns, Jaguars, Eagles, and Broncos. The 30-year-old, who worked out for the Dolphins and Colts this offseason, spent the 2013 campaign with Denver, providing veteran insurance on the interior offensive line after center Dan Koppen suffered a season-ending injury. For Tennessee, he figures to compete for a roster spot, but even if he earns one, he likely won’t see much playing time if the line stays relatively healthy.

As for Adams, since going undrafted out of LSU, he has seen time on multiple clubs’ practice squads, including the Bucs’, Lions’, and Giants’. However, he was cut earlier in the month by New York when the team signed Israel Idonije.

Gilbert and Merisma will have to pass through waivers before becoming free agents.

East Notes: Dolphins, Revis, Eagles, Redskins

June 29th, 2014 at 8:52pm CST by Dallas Robinson

We’ve already brought you one batch of AFC East notes today, but there’s more news from that division and its intra-conference counterpart, the NFC East.

  • In the aforementioned AFC East notes, we learned the Dolphins were bringing in Samson Satele, along with two unknown offensive lineman, for a workout following an injury to center Mike Pouncey. The identity of one of the other lineman has been revealed to be Steve Vallos (per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald). Vallos, 30, is something of an NFL journeyman, having spent time with five franchises, including the Broncos last season. I covered the possible options at center for Miami last week.
  • Darrelle Revis was often an enemy of the Patriots when he played for the Jets, but now that he’s in New England, he offers his praise for the team, according to Ira Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune. “They work their butts off in New England,’’ said Revis. “As soon as you get into the offseason program, it’s non-stop. They want to be winners. They know what I can bring to the table and at the same time, we want to win.”
  • Former Patriot Steve Gregory is staying in shape and waiting to hear from teams, but as Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes, it will probably take a training camp injury for a team to show interest in the 31-year-old.
  • Th Eagles’ defense could show vast improvement next season, writes Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer, simply due to the maturation of the team’s 2012 draft class, which includes Brandon Boykin and Mychal Kendricks.
  • The Eagles face a quandary at the kicker position, writes Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com. Incumbent Alex Henery can hit field goals, but his distance on kickoffs leaves much to be desired, while undrafted free agent Carey Spear can cause touchbacks with ease, but has trouble on routine field goals. Mosher posits that both specialists could be unseated by a free agent signing, and specifally names former Titan Rob Bironas as a player whom Philadelphia could bring in.
  • In other kicker news, the Redskins could opt to keep two kickers in Kai Forbath and seventh-rounder Zach Hocker, according to Rich Tandler and Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com.

David Kipke contributed to this post.

AFC Notes: Browns, Haden, Bills, Fins, Colts

May 1st, 2014 at 2:37pm CST by Luke Adams

With this weekend’s deadline looming, head coach Mike Pettine says the Browns have yet to make a decision on whether or not to exercise the fifth-year option for defensive tackle Phil Taylor (Twitter link via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal). For his part, Taylor expressed a desire to have that option picked up, but says he won’t let it affect his play if the team decides to turn it down (all Twitter links).

Let’s round up a couple more Browns items and check in on a few other AFC clubs…

  • Cornerback Joe Haden confirmed that extension talks with the Browns are ongoing, as Ulrich tweets. “I’d like to get it done as soon as possible, but we’re still working on it,” Haden said.
  • More from Ulrich (Twitter link): Pettine confirmed today that the Browns‘ phone has been ringing and that trade talks are happening for virtually all the teams in the top 10 of the draft.
  • Gil Brandt of NFL.com tweets that he’s hearing “a lot of chatter” about the Bills wanting to move up from the No. 9 pick, and the Dolphins wanting to trade down from No. 19, which is consistent with other whispers we’ve heard in the last week or so.
  • Free agent offensive lineman Steve Vallos had a tryout with the Colts yesterday, according to Howard Balzer of The SportsXchange (via Twitter). Vallos, who spent the 2013 season with the Broncos, left the audition without a contract.
  • The Colts, who don’t have a first-round pick in this year’s draft, are keeping their options open when it comes to moving up, GM Ryan Grigson said today (link via Mike Chappell of the Indianapolis Star). However, as Grigson acknowledges, with just five picks in hand, the Colts don’t have a ton of ammunition for trades.
  • Morgan State cornerback Joe Rankin is drawing interest from the Chargers, a source tells Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link).