HEADLINES

Taniela Tupou

Seahawks Swap Cornerbacks, Fullbacks

September 13th, 2016 at 5:17pm CST by Ben Levine

The Seahawks have made several roster moves this afternoon, replacing a cornerback and fullback with free agents. Dov Kleiman tweets that the team has waived cornerback Tharold Simon and fullback Taniela Tupou. Bob Condotta of The Seattle Neiko Thorpe (vertical)Times tweets that the team will be signing fullback Will Tukuafu to take Tupuo’s place, while Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets that the Seahawks have signed Neiko Thorpe to take Simon’s place.

Tupou was a feel-good story coming out of the preseason. The 23-year-old made the Seahawks’ roster after making the switch from defensive tackle to fullback. The undrafted rookie out of Washington played only seven snaps in Sunday’s win over the Dolphins. The Seahawks ultimately decided to side with the veteran Tukuafu over the rookie. The 32-year-old played in a career high 14 games for Seattle in 2015. The veteran, who also previously played defensive tackle, has made 43 appearances over six NFL seasons.

Simon, a fifth-round pick in 2013, only has 10 tackles in 11 NFL games. The 25-year-old didn’t see the field during Sunday’s game. Replacing him will be Thorpe, who spent time this past summer with the Colts. The 26-year-old appeared in 14 games for the Raiders last season, compiling 40 tackles, six passes defended, and one interception.

Minor NFL Transactions: 5/8/16

May 8th, 2016 at 7:17pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

  • Former Washington Husky defensive lineman Taniela Tupou worked as a fullback with the Seahawks during their rookie minicamp and did so well enough to earn an extended look from the team. The Seahawks are expected to sign Tupou, per Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (Twitter links). Tupou played in 28 games as a defensive lineman with the Huskies from 2013-15.
  • The Giants will sign Lafayette cornerback Matt Smalley after his weekend tryout, Jordan Raanan of the Star-Ledger tweets.
  • The Giants have agreed to sign former Brooklyn and Lincoln High School star Ishaq Williams, as Ralph Vacchiano of the Daily News writes. The linebacker has not played football since 2013 since a suspension over academics knocked him off the team at Notre Dame.
  • The Lions signed undrafted rookie free agent offensive lineman Darius Johnson and waived tackle Tyrus Thompson, Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com tweets.
  • The Bengals announced that they have signed Louisville kicker Jonathan Brown, Utah linebacker Gionni Paul, Florida guard/center Trip Thurman, and Marshall cornerback Corey Tindal, as Mike Florio of PFT writes. All four players took part in the team’s weekend minicamp and outshined the other 15 UDFAs in attendance.