William Campbell (OL)

Titans Cut Ropati Pitoitua, 11 Others

The Titans have made 12 roster moves today, moving their roster to 77 men, the club announced. Tennessee has until 3pm CT Tuesday to get to 75 players.

The Titans have made the following transactions:

Cut:

Waived/Injured:

Pitoitua, 31, seemed liked one of the likeliest cuts in the entire NFL. Pitoitua only played 31 defensive snaps last season, but was scheduled to count more than $3.8MM on the Titans’ salary cap. By releasing him, Tennessee will save $3.078MM.

Gallik, meanwhile, will revert to the Titans’ injured reserve list if he clears waivers.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/26/16

Today’s minor moves:

  • The Browns announced that they have waived defensive back A.J. Stamps. The move makes room for the return of wide receiver Josh Gordon to Cleveland’s 90-man roster. On Monday, the NFL announced that Gordon has been conditionally reinstated by the NFL and will be eligible to return in Week 5, provided that he stays on the straight and narrow between now and then.
  • Cowboys offensive lineman Charles Brown has retired, reports David Moore of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). A former second-round pick, Brown never lived up to his draft status, but did start 14 games for the Saints as recently as 2013. Dallas waived him today, along with fellow tackle David Hedelin, in order to make for offensive lineman Darryl Baldwin and Cameron Bradfield.
  • The Titans have signed offensive lineman William Campbell, the club announced. Campbell was part of the same workout that veteran wide receiver Andre Johnson took part in today, according to Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com.
  • Center Garrett Gilkey has been waived by the Buccaneers with a failed physical designation, tweets Roy Cummings of FanRag Sports. Gilkey appeared in all 16 games for Tampa Bay in 2014, starting one contest. To fill his roster spot, the Bucs have signed offensive lineman Joel Hale.
  • The Colts have signed running back Abou Toure, waived cornerback Daniel Davie, and placed running back Tyler Varga on the reserve/retired list, the club announced today.
  • The Broncos announced the signing of rookie linebacker Darnell Sankey. To make room, Denver has waived long snapper Nathan Theus.
  • The Bengals announced that they have released rookie defensive end Dezmond Johnson and rookie running back DyShawn Mobley, Coley Harvey of ESPN.com tweets.
  • Tight end Chase Coffman will be signing with the Colts, Rand Getlin of NFL.com tweets. Coffman was most recently with Seattle.

Bills Release 16 Players, Waive Meeks

5:04pm: In addition to their moves earlier today, the Bills have waived safety Jonathan Meeks, ESPN’s Mike Rodak tweets. The Bills attempted to trade Meeks, per Rodak, but were unable to find any takers. Rodak writes that Meeks is a candidate to end up on the Bills’ practice squad if he goes unclaimed on waivers. According to Fox Sports’ Alex Marvez, the Bills tried – and failed – to trade a receiver in order to keep Meeks on their 53-man roster (Twitter link).

1:07pm: The Bills announced that they have cut 16 players, including defensive end IK Enemkpali, as a part of their effort to get down to a 53-man roster. The full list of transactions is below:

Released:

  • OL William Campbell
  • FB John Conner
  • WR Andre Davis
  • DE IK Enemkpali
  • DT Andre Fluellen
  • LB Quentin Groves
  • RB Bronson Hill
  • OL Darryl Johnson
  • OL Alex Kupper
  • DE B.J. Larsen
  • WR Dezmin Lewis
  • CB Merrill Noel
  • WR Tobais Palmer
  • G Cyril Richardson
  • QB Matt Simms (as reported earlier today)
  • RB Cierre Wood

Reserve/NFI List:

  • CB Leodis McKelvin

Waived/Injured:

  • WR Deonte Thompson

Enemkpali is now (and perhaps, forever) best known as the player who punched Jets quarterback Geno Smith, causing him a broken jaw and many weeks on the sidelines. Immediately after the incident, the Jets waived the linebacker/defensive end and old pal Rex Ryan wasted little time in claiming him. Enemkpali only saw the field sparingly in his rookie season, playing 40 defensive snaps and contributing a little on special teams as well.

Groves, 31, appeared in all 16 regular season games for the Titans last season, including three starts. The linebacker, a former second round pick by the Jaguars, has bounced around a bit over the years and despite signing with Buffalo in August, he’ll be looking for a new NFL home once again in 2015.

Fluellen, 30, spent nearly all of his career with the Lions since being drafted by the team in the third round back in 2008. However, he has never played a significant role in Detroit, acting as a part-time contributor over the course of 77 career games (75 with Detroit). In 2014, Fluellen recorded 10 tackles, two sacks, and a fumble recovery in 183 defensive snaps. In June, he hooked on with Buffalo, but his stay in Western New York was brief.

 

Bills Sign 10 To Reserve/Futures Contracts

Today is the first day that teams can begin signing players who didn’t finish the regular season on an NFL roster to reserve/futures contracts for the 2015 season, and the Bills have locked up 10 such players, according to a team release.

Here’s the full list of the players to ink futures deals with the team. Of these 10 players, all but one finished the year on the Bills’ practice squad:

Defensive end Ike Igbinosun was the only player to finish the season on Buffalo’s taxi squad and not receive a futures contract from the team. Meanwhile, Holley was the only one to sign a deal after not being on the practice squad, though he spent time earlier in the season on the unit before being placed on the injured list.

For a refresher on how reserve/futures contracts work, be sure to check out our glossary entry.

Practice Squad Updates: Tuesday

With practices resuming following the weekend’s games, and teams having a better of idea of how serious its players’ injuries are, Tuesdays are often a busy day for practice squad transactions, as clubs replenish their rosters and swap in players at potential positions of need. As such, we expect to update this post plenty of times throughout the day, with the latest news of practice squad signings and cuts from around the NFL. Here’s the latest:

  • Defensive tackle Joe Vellano, who was waived by the Patriots on Monday, has agreed to stay with New England on its practice squad, tweets Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com. Vellano is the beneficiary of the new practice squad rules that allow a second-year player to be eligible despite playing in 16 games in 2013.
  • Defensive back Chandler Fenner and wide receiver Julian Talley, both waived by the Giants yesterday, have been re-signed to the practice squad, tweets Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News.
  • The Eagles re-signed linebacker Brandon Hepburn to their practice squad, according to Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com (via Twitter).
  • The Packers signed Joe Kruger, the brother of Paul Kruger, to their practice squad, tweets Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun.
  • Former Ravens defensive tackle A.J. Pataiali’i has been added to the Browns’ taxi squad, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter).
  • As noted below, cornerback Mike Harris has signed with the Lions‘ practice squad, replacing fellow defensive back Josh Victorian, tweets Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com.
  • The Jets have released cornerback LeQuan Lewis from their practice squad, signing another cornerback – Dashaun Phillips – in his place, the team announced today (via Twitter).

Earlier updates:

  • One wide receiver has replaced another on the Cowboys‘ practice squad, tweets Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, as Tim Benford has been cut and LaRon Byrd has been signed.
  • The Rams are down to nine players on their practice squad, having cut wide receiver Justin Veltung today, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter).
  • The Lions have signed defensive back Mike Harris to their taxi squad, a source tells Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link). Detroit had a full 10-man unit, so a corresponding cut will be necessary to finalize the move.
  • Offensive tackle Ryan Miller has been cut from the Broncos‘ practice squad, reports Mike Klis of the Denver Post (via Twitter).
  • The Browns have cut long snapper Charley Hughlett from their practice squad, per agent Brett Tessler (via Twitter). Hughlett was brought in to provide competition for the team’s regular long snapper, Christian Yount, but Cleveland has opted to continue on with Yount.
  • The 49ers have swapped one offensive lineman for another on their practice squad, cutting tackle John Fullington in order to bring aboard guard Andrew Tiller, according to the club.
  • Guard William Campbell and defensive tackle Jeremy Towns are the newest members of the Bills‘ practice squad, replacing fullback Lonnie Pryor and tight end Jamie Childers, according to Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
  • Three days after cutting him from their active roster, the Jaguars have re-signed tight end Mickey Shuler to their practice squad, the team announced today in a press release. To make room on the squad, wide receiver Kerry Taylor has been cut.
  • Last week’s promotion of quarterback Chandler Harnish to the active roster suggested the Vikings were more confident in him than McLeod Bethel-Thompson in an emergency scenario, and the team’s moves today reflected that as well. The Vikes announced in a press release that Bethel-Thompson has been let go from the practice squad, with Harnish, wideout Donte Foster, and defensive back Pierre Warren joining the unit.
  • To keep tabs on all 32 practice squad rosters, be sure to check out our complete list.

Extra Points: Peterson, Blackmon, Redskins

The NFL announced today that they have inked a new multi-year deal with DirectTV. Terms weren’t disclosed, but a source with knowledge of the deal told ESPN.com’s Darren Rovell that the pact is for eight years. The right fee was worth an average of $1.5 billion a year, up 50% from the $1 billion a year average DirecTV will pay through this season. Here’s more from around the league..

  • One of the topics on the agenda for the NFL owners meetings next week will be to discuss how teams should be financially responsible for players who are banned while being paid full salaries, sources told Ed Werder of ESPN.com. The Vikings are paying Adrian Peterson his full salary and the Panthers are doing the same with Greg Hardy per the conditions of the commissioner’s exempt list. One model that could be discussed is whether all teams should share the financial burden in such extreme situations.
  • Suspended Jaguars receiver Justin Blackmon has voluntarily checked into a treatment facility and coach Gus Bradley says he’s “doing very well,” writes Mark Long of The Associated Press. Of course, given his litany of off-the-field problems and status with the league office, we shouldn’t expect to see the former first-round pick back on the gridiron anytime soon.
  • Former Dolphins quarterback Pat Devlin worked out for the Redskins on Monday, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
  • In addition to safety Jamarca Sanford, who they signed earlier this week, the Redskins also worked out defensive backs Robert SteeplesCharles Mitchell, and Thomas Wolfe, guard William Campbell, wide receivers Chris Harper and Vidal Hazelton, and tackle Richard Muldrow. according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (Twitter links).
  • Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is glad that his team picked up center A.Q. Shipley just before the season started, writes Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. “A.Q. has done a great job of coming in, being a pro,” quarterback Andrew Luck said. “Came in the Monday before we played our opener, and starts that opener. Heck of a job, and I’m glad that we had history beforehand from my rookie year where we played a bunch of games together…He’s a consummate professional and the type of teammate, the type of guy you want in a locker room.” Shipley faces his former team, the Ravens, this Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Jets Finalize 53-Man Roster

A few notable cuts by the Jets had already been reported today, with players like cornerback Dimitri Patterson and wide receiver Stephen Hill being cut loose by Rex Ryan‘s club. We rounded the team’s first 11 cuts in a pair of posts earlier today, but here, via a team press release, are the remaining 11 roster moves:

Cut:

Placed on reserve-PUP list: