HEADLINES

Wayne Hunter

Wayne Hunter To Retire

July 21st, 2015 at 4:44pm CST by Luke Adams

4:44pm: Hunter has decided to retire following his release, Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears. Rodak (link) adds that the Bills’ decision to release Hunter was his own decision since he didn’t feel like his body was good enough to play again. The Bills, he says, could pursue more offensive line depth between now and the start of camp.

3:51pm: Despite an effort to return to action in the NFL for the first time since 2012, veteran offensive lineman Wayne Hunter saw his time in Buffalo cut short after just three weeks. According to Brian McIntyre (via Twitter), the Bills have released Hunter, less than a month after signing him.

Hunter, who started all 16 games at right tackle for the Jets in 2011, was widely criticized by fans during his time in New York. In his final year in green, Hunter graded out as one of the very worst tackles in the NFL, according to the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Hunter finished with an overall grade of -24.6, ranking him 71st out of 76 qualified players at the position.

In August of 2012, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer convinced the Rams to send Jason Smith to the Jets in order to bring Hunter to St. Louis. Hunter fared slightly better in his 14 games (4 starts) with the Rams, but still graded out with a below average mark, according to PFF.

Given the somewhat unsettled situation on the Bills’ offensive line, Hunter’s former head coach, Rex Ryan, wanted to take a look at his old tackle. However, the audition didn’t last long — Hunter, who turned 34 earlier this month, will return to the free agent list immediately since he’s not subject to waivers.

East Notes: Bradford, Dez, Hunter, Moffitt

July 6th, 2015 at 10:37am CST by Luke Adams

Nearly four months after the Eagles acquired Sam Bradford from the Rams, some executives are still shaking their heads about the move, according to Mark Eckel of NJ.com. Eckel spoke to one top personnel exec who acknowledged that perhaps the former first overall pick would have more success under Chip Kelly, but isn’t totally sold.

“I understand they gave up on [Nick] Foles,” the executive said. “But I don’t know why they’re building up Bradford so much. I’m still confused about that whole deal. You can only talk about him being the first pick of the draft for so long. What has he done since then?”

As we wait to see how Bradford looks on a new team under a new head coach, let’s check in on a few more Monday morning items from around the league’s two East divisions….

  • In a Q&A with Mike Ramczyk of MyRacineCounty.com, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was asked about Dez Bryant‘s contract situation and replied, “I think it will work out with Dez.” The star wideout and the Cowboys have until next Wednesday to strike a long-term deal — if that doesn’t happen, Bryant can only play the 2015 season on his one-year franchise-tag tender.
  • Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter links) passes along the details on a pair of contracts signed recently by offensive linemen, reporting that Wayne Hunter‘s deal with the Bills and John Moffitt‘s pact with the Eagles are both for one year at the minimum salary, with no guaranteed money.
  • Earlier this morning, our Rob DiRe provided a recap and analysis of the Dolphins‘ 2015 offseason, which included the league’s biggest free agent signing.

Bills Sign Wayne Hunter

July 1st, 2015 at 1:12pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

WEDNESDAY, 1:12pm: The Bills officially announced that they have signed tackle Wayne Hunter, as Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post tweets.

TUESDAY, 4:49pm: The Bills have signed free agent offensive tackle Wayne Hunter to a one-year deal, reports Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.Net (Twitter link).

The 33-year-old Hunter last appeared in the NFL as a member of the Rams in 2012, but he played under current Bills coach Rex Ryan from 2009-11 with the Jets. Hunter tried out for the Bills earlier this month and Ryan said at the time that he expected Buffalo to sign Hunter before training camp, ESPN’s Mike Rodak tweeted.

Although the Bills’ right tackle situation is unsettled, it seems unlikely Hunter will latch on with the team in any significant way – especially after being out of the league for three seasons and having struggled mightily throughout his career. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked Hunter 71st out of 76 qualified tackles during his final year in New York, for which he started all 16 games in 2011.

Minor Moves: Wednesday

June 24th, 2015 at 1:45pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are the latest minor transactions from around the NFL:

  • Several days after parting ways with Terrelle Pryor, the Bengals have filled his spot on their 90-man roster by signing former Ball State signal-caller Keith Wenning, the team announced today (via Twitter). Wenning, selected by the Ravens in the sixth round of the 2014 draft, looked poised to compete for the No. 2 job in Baltimore behind Joe Flacco this year before the team signed Matt Schaub. Wenning was cut by the Ravens last month.
  • The Bills announced on Tuesday that they have released defensive end Bryan Johnson. Johnson, a product of West Texas A&M, originally joined Buffalo as an undrafted free agent following the 2014 draft. After spending most of last season on the Bills’ taxi squad, Johnson may have been cut to make room for offensive lineman Wayne Hunter, tweets Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Bills Expect To Sign Wayne Hunter

June 18th, 2015 at 11:00am CST by Zachary Links

Bills coach Rex Ryan told reporters that he expects to sign veteran offensive lineman Wayne Hunter, according to Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Hunter has been trying out for Buffalo over the past couple of days.

It has been a couple years since we’ve heard from Hunter, who started all 16 games at right tackle for the Jets in 2011, and last appeared in the NFL in 2012. The tackle was widely criticized by Jets fans during his time in New York. In his final year in green, Hunter graded out as one of the very worst tackles in the NFL, according to the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Hunter finished with an overall grade of -24.6, ranking him 71st out of 76 qualified tackles.

In August of 2012, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer convinced the Rams to send Jason Smith east in order to bring Hunter to St. Louis. Hunter fared slightly better in his 14 games (4 starts) with the Rams, but still graded out with a below average mark according to PFF.

East Notes: Hunter, Bills, Giants

June 17th, 2015 at 7:59pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier today, Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant took to Twitter to further present his side of the story in his contract dispute.

“$13MM is cool, but where is my security?” Bryant tweeted.

Recently, Bryant suggested that he is prepared to sit out regular season games if an extension isn’t in place. However, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones indicated that he’s not taking that threat seriously. Here’s more from the East divisions..

  • Former Jets offensive lineman Wayne Hunter had a tryout for the Bills at the team’s minicamp today, per Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (via Twitter). It’s been a couple years since we’ve heard from Hunter, who started all 16 games at right tackle for the Jets in 2011, and last appeared in the NFL in 2012.
  • Ereck Flowers is one of just six first-round draft picks without a signed NFL contract, but the Giants’ rookie left tackle isn’t worried, as Paul Schwartz of the New York Post writes. Flowers’ situation is unique in that he does not have an agent, so he is effectively represented by himself and his family. When asked if he might be a possible training camp holdout, Flowers said “I don’t see it getting to that point.’’
  • When asked if he had any indication from the league when a ruling might be coming down, Jones said that he hasn’t. “No, I don’t. We don’t want to expect anything from a time standpoint. We don’t want to expect anything cause we need to have the league and Greg and us to have a full opportunity to have a thorough consideration,” the Cowboys owner said, according to Drew Davison of the Star-Telegram. Hardy’s suspension was the subject of today’s Community Tailgate here at PFR.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.