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Wesley Johnson

Lions Sign C Wesley Johnson

March 29th, 2018 at 9:13am CST by Zachary Links

The Lions announced that they have signed center Wesley Johnson. He may wind up as the team’s new starter in the middle of the offensive line.

Last year’s starter, Travis Swanson, remains in free agent limbo. Things have been remarkably quiet around Swanson and it’s not clear if the Lions have expressed interest in re-signing him or if any team has reached out with serious interest.

Johnson entered the league a fifth-round pick of the Steelers in 2014. When he was cut by Pittsburgh, the Jets quickly jumped on him and he has been with the team ever since. Although he started 15 games for the Jets last year and made 24 starts in total, Gang Green opted to go in a different (and pricier) direction this month by signing former Redskins lineman Spencer Long.

As shown on Roster Resource, the Lions will start Taylor Decker at left tackle, T.J. Lang at right guard, and Ricky Wagner at right tackle. The Johnson signing should allow Graham Glasgow to remain at his natural position at left guard, though new addition Kenny Wiggins may be given an opportunity to battle for the top job.

Lions Host Jets OL Wesley Johnson

March 28th, 2018 at 3:43pm CST by Zachary Links

Jets center/guard Wesley Johnson is on a free agent visit with the Lions, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Johnson, a fifth round pick in 2014, has 24 starts and 41 games in total to his credit. 

All of Johnson’s starts came at center, but his ability to play guard gives him additional value. Last year’s starting center, Travis Swanson, remains in free agent limbo, so that top role could be filled by Johnson.

For what it’s worth, the advanced metrics are not high on the Jets free agent. Last year, Johnson graded out as the second-worst qualified center in the league, per Pro Football Focus. Swanson didn’t fare much better, placing fifth from the bottom.

AFC East Notes: Brissett, Ajayi, Bills

August 13th, 2017 at 10:35am CST by Rory Parks

We heard last week that Jacoby Brissett‘s place on the Patriots‘ roster may not be safe, and Ben Volin of the Boston Globe doubled down on that report this week. Volin reiterated that Brissett’s performance in the spring and in training camp has left much to be desired, and he says it is fair to wonder whether the Patriots refused to deal Jimmy Garoppolo because they believe Garoppolo represents their future, or because they have no faith in Brissett should Tom Brady be forced to miss time (in truth, it is surely some combination of the two). In any event, Volin opines that New England may have to keep Garoppolo next year, even if that means putting the franchise tag on him (at an estimated $25-26MM cost). After all, the team will still be loaded with talent and should be a championship contender in 2018, but a Brady injury could waste all of that talent if the No. 2 QB cannot adequately replace him.

Now for more from the AFC East:

  • Dolphins RB Jay Ajayi is still in concussion protocol, but he did practice today and the team is excited about his progress, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets. Ajayai left practice early with a trainer, but that was due to a hydration issue, Jackson notes.
  • Dolphins second-round draft choice Raekwon McMillan, who was expected to see significant time at middle linebacker this season, tore his ACL while playing on the punt coverage team in Miami’s first preseason tilt Thursday night. He will now miss his entire rookie season, and head coach Adam Gase has been predictably criticized for using a player of McMillan’s importance on special teams. Roy Cummings of Florida Football Insiders believes such criticism is unwarranted, writing that a head coach cannot field kickoff, kickoff return, punt coverage, and punt return teams without playing first- or second-year guys. Likewise, you cannot expect those players to perform well on special teams in the regular season if they do not see live action in the preseason.
  • Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News offers his take on which wide receivers will make the Bills‘ roster after the team dealt Sammy Watkins and acquired Jordan Matthews. Skurski says Matthews, Zay Jones, and Anquan Boldin will make the club, which is a given, and he adds that Rod Streater is likely to earn a spot due to his excellent camp. Skurski says he currently projects Andre Holmes and Brandon Tate to round out the WR corps, but the fact that cutting Holmes could help the team land a high compensatory draft choice next season certainly works against him. If Holmes should be cut, Walter Powell could find himself on the 53-man come Week 1.
  • Christian Hackenberg played fairly well in the Jets‘ first preseason game last night, thereby creating more fodder for Gang Green’s starting QB discussion. But as Laura Albanese of Newsday writes, there are other competitions worth watching. For instance, the battle for the team’s starting center position is tighter than originally anticipated, as Jonotthan Harrison is putting pressure on presumed starter Wesley Johnson. Likewise, Albanese writes that Brent Qvale and Brandon Shell appear to be neck-and-neck in their race for the Jets’ right tackle job.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/13/17

April 13th, 2017 at 5:22pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s minor moves:

  • The Jets have re-signed restricted free agent corner Marcus Williams, as Williams has now inked his second-round RFA tender, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com (Twitter link). New York tendered two restricted free agents — Williams and center Wesley Johnson — at the second-round level, and both have now signed their tenders, which will pay $2.746MM for the 2017 campaign. Williams, 26, has appeared in 34 games (15 starts) for Gang Green since joining the club in 2014.
  • The Texans have waived linebacker Gerald Rivers, the club announced today. Rivers, 26, has bounced around the league since entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2013, spending time with six different clubs in that time. He’s appeared in three career games, but those all came during his rookie campaign. Rivers spent the entire 2016 season on injured reserve, and had inked a reserve deal with Houston in January.
  • Four players signed their exclusive rights tenders today, meaning they’ll return to their clubs on a minimum salary:

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/12/17

April 12th, 2017 at 7:40pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The latest minor moves…

  • Jets center Wesley Johnson signed his restricted free agent tender on Wednesday, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Gang Green tendered Johnson at a second-round level, entitling him to a $2.75MM salary in 2017. The 26-year-old logged career highs in appearances (15) and starts (eight) last season, and with longtime stalwart Nick Mangold no longer in the fold, Johnson is poised to take over as the Jets’ No. 1 center.

Jets Tender RFA Wesley Johnson

March 9th, 2017 at 10:36am CST by Dallas Robinson

The Jets have tendered center Wesley Johnson at the second-round level, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

Johnson, 26, appeared in 15 games last season with eight starts. He did a solid job of holding down the fort while Nick Mangold was out of action and it makes sense that Gang Green would protect him. Mangold, of course, is now out of the picture, so he should play a significant role in 2017.

Jets Notes: Fitzpatrick, Wilkerson, Revis

June 15th, 2016 at 10:37am CST by Zachary Links

It’s June and that means it’s about the time of year for Hall of Famer Joe Namath to drop some scorching hot contrarian takes on the Jets in an effort to get his name back in the local tabloids. This time around, Broadway Joe assessed the Jets’ quarterback situation and – shockingly – he took the exact opposite position of everyone else in the football world.

“I think Geno [Smith] is going to be the starting quarterback no matter if [Ryan] Fitzpatrick comes back or not,” Namath said (via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter on Twitter).

While you weigh the skills of Smith versus one of the league’s better quarterbacks in 2015, here’s a look at the latest on the Jets:

  • Jets coach Todd Bowles says the team does not have a “drop-dead deadline” on the Fitzpatrick situation, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com writes. The coach added that he has no problem with the situation lingering until training camp. The Jets reportedly aren’t comfortable offering Fitzpatrick a one-year deal worth $12MM, while Fitzpatrick himself is content to wait out the club in the hopes of landing a better deal. The stare down continues with no end in sight.
  • When asked about Muhammad Wilkerson, Bowles said that his absence from minicamp will not be a distraction (link via Cimini). “That would be his prerogative. Business is business. We’d love to have him here, but if he feels like he doesn’t want to be here, that’s on him. I’ve got a team to coach,” Bowles said.
  • Count cornerback Darrelle Revis among the Jets players that disagree with Namath and want to see Fitzpatrick back with the team ASAP. “We want him back, we want to see him walk in this locker room,” Revis said Tuesday (link via Seth Walker of the New York Daily News). “Ryan is a big part of our success. He definitely is. He came here, he’s broken a bunch of records in the quarterback category. And he was a big part of our offense. This has been going on all offseason and we’re waiting for him to come back and play.”
  • Jets backup center Wesley Johnson has a fractured bone in his hand/wrist area, a source tells Cimini. No surgery will be necessary, however, and the hope is that he will be back by training camp.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/28/15

October 28th, 2015 at 3:38pm CST by Luke Adams

With Week 8’s slate of games around the corner, NFL teams are getting their rosters ready for their upcoming contests. Here are Wednesday’s minor transactions from around the league:

  • The Texans cut Mike McFarland from injured reserve with an injury settlement, Wilson tweets.
  • A day after being cut by the Colts, safety and special-teamer Dewey McDonald has been claimed off waivers by the Patriots, tweets Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, adding that New England will need to open a roster spot to make it official.

Earlier updates:

  • The Ravens have placed rookie receiver Darren Waller on injured reserve, ending his season, per Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter links). Offensive tackle De’Ondre Wesley has been promoted to the active roster to give the team some depth, as Eugene Monroe battles a shoulder injury.
  • The Jets have also made a move to provide insurance for a banged-up offensive lineman, elevating Wesley Johnson to their active roster, according to the team (Twitter link). Veteran center Nick Mangold suffered a neck injury against the Patriots, though he may not have to miss much – if any – time.
  • As expected, the Buccaneers – who will be without Louis Murphy for the rest of the season and Vincent Jackson in the short term – have promoted wide receiver Adam Humphries from their practice squad, tweets Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.
  • The Jaguars have signed linebacker Hayes Pullard from off the Browns’ practice squad, waiving linebacker James-Michael Johnson to clear a space on their roster, according to John Oehser of Jaguars.com (Twitter link).
  • Having been cut from the 53-man roster on Saturday, wide receiver T.J. Graham re-signed with the Saints today, per Evan Woodbery of the Times-Picayune. Graham takes the roster spot that opened up when New Orleans waived cornerback Sammy Seamster.

Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC East

September 6th, 2015 at 5:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC East 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 Bills, Dolphins, Patriots, and Jets are noted below.

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

Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

  • Claimed off waivers:
  • Cut:
  • Signed to practice squad:

New York Jets

  • Signed:
  • Claimed off waivers:
  • Cut:
  • Signed to practice squad (press release):
    • LB Deion Barnes
    • FB Julian Howsare
    • LB Taiwan Jones
    • CB Keon Lyn
    • WR Walter Powell
    • TE Wes Saxton
    • T Wesley Johnson (Twitter link via Adam Caplan)
    • DL Jordan Williams

Jets Trim Roster To 53 Players

September 5th, 2015 at 1:48pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jets have officially announced the cuts and other roster moves that will get their squad down to 53 players today. We’ve already heard about several of the moves — quarterbacks Matt Flynn and Josh Johnson, along with veteran defenders Jason Babin and Joe Mays, have been cut, and Stevan Ridley has been moved to the reserve/PUP list.

Here are the rest of the Jets’ moves to reduce their roster to 53, via a team release:

Cut:

  • WR Shaq Evans
  • WR Chris Owusu
  • WR Walter Powell
  • TE Arthur Lynch
  • TE Wes Saxton
  • RB Daryl Richardson
  • FB Julian Howsare
  • OL Charles Brown
  • OL Wesley Johnson
  • DL Ronald Talley
  • DL Jordan Williams
  • LB Deion Barnes
  • LB Taiwan Jones
  • CB Keon Lyn
  • S Durell Eskridge

Reserve/suspended:

  • OL Oday Aboushi
  • DL Sheldon Richardson
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