Tag: 2024 free agency

New Orleans Saints sign UFL wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr.

The Saints signed UFL wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr., who previously tried out with the Jaguars after playing college football at Notre Dame:

It’s a little late to make earth-shaking moves, but the New Orleans Saints are adding a new wide receiver. Kevin Austin Jr. signed with the team before the start of training camp, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Austin lands with the Saints on a one-year deal. He played college football at Notre Dame and had his best season in 2021. In 13 games, he caught 48 passes for 888 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.

Austin went undrafted in 2022 but signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars that summer. After he was waived by the Jaguars, he landed with the UFL’s Birmingham Stallions, where he caught 15 passes for 253 receiving yards (that’s 16.9 yards per catch), scoring two touchdowns. Austin has NFL-quality size and speed at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds with a timed 4.43 in the 40-yard dash.

After Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, there’s a lot of competition for reps at wide receiver. The team brought in veterans Cedrick Wilson Jr., Stanley Morgan, and Equanimous St. Brown while adding young guys like Bub Means, Jermaine Jackson, and Mason Tipton. A.T. Perry also returned from last year’s team.

It’ll be an uphill battle, but if Austin can impress at training camp, he might be able to earn a spot on the depth chart. The good news for Austin is that there is an opening for playing time with Michael Thomas not returning to the team.

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Seahawks signing former Ravens running back Ricky Person Jr.

According to a report by Aaron Wilson, the Seattle Seahawks are signing free agent running back Ricky Person Jr.

According to a report by Aaron Wilson, the Seattle Seahawks are signing free agent running back Ricky Person Jr., who apparently had offers from multiple NFL teams after having spent this past season playing for the UFL’s Birmingham Stallions.

Person (6-foot-1, 222 pounds) played his college ball at NC State, where he posted just under 2,000 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns from 2018-2021.  He has also put in time with the Baltimore Ravens but has not appeared in a regular season game as of yet.

To start out, Person is likely at the bottom of the depth chart at running back, beneath Ken Walker, Zach Charbonnet, Kenny McIntosh, George Holani, TaMerick Williams and Kobe Lewis. He will need a very strong showing in the preseason to have a chance at the initial 53-man roster.

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Cowboys work out 4 UFL defenders, including 2 former 1st-round draft picks

From @ToddBrock24f7: CBs Deandre Baker and Gareon Conley were 1st-round picks in the NFL. Their workouts Tuesday could be the first step toward a comeback bid.

Cowboys management loves to say that player evaluation happens 365 days a year. What they never mention is that some of those days are slightly busier than others.

Tuesday was one of those days. The team hosted four defensive players from the UFL- DC Defenders cornerback Deandre Baker, DC Defenders cornerback Gareon Conley, Michigan Panthers linebacker Noah Dawkins, and St. Louis Battlehawks linebacker Willie Harvey Jr.- for workouts at The Star in Frisco as the team prepares for training camp in late July.

All have at least some level of experience with NFL clubs; two of them were first-round draft picks at one point before their careers took a detour.

Baker was taken in the first round of the 2019 draft by the Giants. A Jim Thorpe Award winner and consensus All-American at Georgia, New York actually traded up to get him. But an arrest before his second season landed him on the commissioner’s exempt list, and the Giants waived him shortly thereafter. He made the Chiefs practice squad toward the end of the 2020 season and got back onto the field in late 2021, but a broken femur cut his comeback bid short. 2024 was his first year back in football; he was named to the inaugural All-UFL Team.

Conley was a first-round draft pick of the Raiders in 2017. The former Ohio State Buckeye played 23 games for the silver and black, making 20 starts and logging four interceptions over three seasons. The Houston Texans traded for him midway through the 2019 season, but he played just eight games with the club and spent most of 2020 on injured reserve. He logged two interceptions for the 4-6 Defenders this spring.

Dawkins was impressive enough coming out of The Citadel to be ranked in Mel Kiper Jr.’s Top 300 in 2019, but he went undrafted. He spent that summer in camp with the Bengals, then signed with Tampa Bay. After one season, he joined the Jets, where he stayed through the 2021 season. After a camp stint with Chicago in 2022, he moved to the USFL’s Panthers. This spring, he recorded 38 tackles for 7-3 Michigan under former Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Nolan.

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Harvey was an undrafted free agent out of Iowa State in 2019 and spent three seasons in the Browns organization. This spring was his second season with the Battlehawks and his league-leading 76 tackles earned him an All-UFL nod.

Per the team website, the Cowboys currently have just two open roster spots with about six weeks to go before training camp opens in Oxnard, Calif.

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Former Seahawks strong safety Jamal Adams visits with Ravens

Jamal Adams had a free agent visit today with the Baltimore Ravens, according to a report by Adam Schefter at ESPN.

Former Seattle Seahawks safety and current free agent Jamal Adams had a visit today with the Baltimore Ravens, according to a report by Adam Schefter at ESPN.

Adams was originally picked by the New York Jets in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft. He played 46 games in three years there before getting traded to Seattle in the summer of 2020.

Adams spent the next four seasons on and off the Seahawks roster, missing as many games as he played due to a variety of injuries. All together Adams has made three Pro Bowl teams and he was a first-team All-Pro in 2019.

Where Adams might fit in with the Ravens is an intriguing question. He has played his entire career listed as a strong safety, but there has been talk that Seattle might re-sign him as a linebacker.

If Baltimore’s coaching staff (which was built in part by Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald) is thinking of a similar role he might fit in beneath Roquan Smith on the depth chart in the absence of Patrick Queen, who signed with the Steelers in free agency.

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Texans listed as best fit for free agent CB Xavien Howard

The Houston Texans could be an interesting destination for Texas native and former All-Pro Xavien Howard and is considered a prime location per ESPN.

The Houston Texans still have uncertainty in the secondary.

Free agent cornerbacks Jeff Okudah, Myles Bryant and C.J. Henderson were brought in this offseason to compete for the starting position across from second-year standout Derek Stingley Jr. Additionally, the Texans used the  42nd overall selection on Georgia cornerback Kamari Lassiter.

Could Houston add another boundary defender before the start of training camp? At least one writer believes the team could use additional help at the position in the form of a pending free agent.

ESPN’s Matt Bowen listed Houston as the best fit for former Miami Dolphins’ cornerback and current unrestricted free agent Xavien Howard.

Howard is entering his ninth NFL season and is still looking for a home after spending eight seasons with the Dolphins. Perhaps no longer one of the league’s best, he still earned All-Pro honors in 2018 and 2020 as well as four Pro Bowl selections.

Last year was a down season for Howard in coverage and Miami elected to move on from his expensive contract. In 13 games, he defended just 12 passes and had one interception.

Howard, a Houston native, still has ties to the state following high school. He became a household name while starting for the Baylor Bears from 2012-15.

His public desire to compete for a Super Bowl title and his ties to the Houston area make for a logical fit for a team that has questions at corner.

Howard would likely compete with Okudah for the second boundary corner position. If acquired, it would likely signal that Lassiter would compete for snaps at the nickel cornerback position as a rookie.

It’s possible that would be a preferable development since Lassiter has a greater ability to contribute against the run than any other cornerback currently on Houston’s roster.

Houston is set to begin Organized Team Activities (OTAs) on Tuesday and has a chance to see its 2024 defensive back group work together for the first time.

If they were to make a move for a veteran like Howard, expect the Texans to bring in a new addition following the first few practices.

Seahawks updated 90-man roster by jersey number with new UDFAs

In addition to the new arrivals, a couple of Seahawks players have changed jersey numbers for this year.

Here is the updated Seattle Seahawks 90-man roster by jersey number for the 2024 offseason.

Latest updates: Undrafted rookie linebacker Easton Gibbs has switched from No. 57 to No. 40, while No. 57 has gone to rookie defensive tackle Nathan Pickering. Also, defensive tackle Buddha Jones has taken No. 62 and linebacker Devin Richardson is wearing No. 43.

Former Cowboys TE Sean McKeon signs with Detroit Lions

From @ToddBrock24f7: The veteran spent most of his 4 seasons in Dallas on special teams. He’ll now join a Lions TE room led by Sam LaPorta.

Former Cowboys tight end Sean McKeon has found a new team, and it will make 2024 a homecoming season for the ex-Michigan Wolverine.

The 26-year-old has signed with the Detroit Lions, per a report from the team on Thursday. He’ll vie for a roster spot alongside Sam LaPorta, Brock Wright, Parker Hesse, and several others.

McKeon joined the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and played sparingly over his four seasons with the club. He leaves with 45 regular-season game appearances and three career starts. Primarily used as a blocker and special-teamer when he was called up off the Dallas practice squad, he recorded six total catches for 38 yards. His lone touchdown catch came in 2021’s Thanksgiving Day shootout against the Raiders.

He was not re-signed following the conclusion of the 2023 season.

 

The Cowboys currently have seven tight ends on the roster. Behind starter Jake Ferguson are Luke Schoonmaker, Peyton Hendershot, John Stephens Jr., Princeton Fant, and undrafted rookies Alec Holler and Brevyn Spann-Ford.

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Dallas will host the Lions (coached by another former Cowboys tight end in Dan Campbell) during Week 6 of the 2024 season.

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Report: Cowboys release WR Martavis Bryant

From @ToddBrock24f7: Bryant was brought to Dallas last November but did not see the field. His release could signal a new veteran WR signing for the Cowboys.

For the second time in 125 days, Martavis Bryant has been released by the Cowboys.

The wide receiver, who was signed by the team to a reserve/futures contract in mid-January, has now been let go, according to a Wednesday report from NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, who cited a source.

Bryant, 32, had first joined the Cowboys back in November, just after his reinstatement to the NFL following a 2018 suspension. Having bounced around the Indoor Football League, the CFL, Fan Controlled Football, and the XFL in his time away, Bryant remained on the Cowboys’ practice squad as he worked to get himself back into NFL shape.

A former fourth-round draft pick out of Clemson, he was released just after the first of the year to make room for La’el Collins as a depth piece heading into the playoffs. Shortly after the team’s postseason loss to Green Bay, though, Bryant was re-signed to continue his comeback bid.

Now the experiment is apparently over for good. Bryant’s release comes just hours after it was announced that the Cowboys were hosting free agent receiver Zay Jones for a visit.

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The writing could very well be on the wall for a Jones signing, giving the team’s WR room the veteran experience that Bryant was hoped to bring. Of course, the Cowboys could be making room for someone else, maybe at a different position altogether.

Other teams around the league are expected to be interested in inviting Bryant to town. He has not played in an NFL game since 2018.

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Report: Cowboys meeting with WR Zay Jones

From @ToddBrock24f7: Jones is a seven-year veteran in the league. The former 2nd-round draft pick torched the Cowboys in a Week 15 game in the 2022 season.

The Cowboys may be looking to make a late free-agency add to an already-crowded wide receiver room.

The team is meeting with seven-year veteran Zay Jones on Wednesday, per a report from Jordan Schultz. The former second-round draft pick spent the last two seasons with the Jaguars and has already met with the Titans and Cardinals recently.

Jones, 29, came highly touted out of East Carolina in the 2017 draft, going to Buffalo with the 37th overall pick. After 36 game appearances, the Bills traded him to the Raiders midway through the 2019 campaign.

Cowboys fans will no doubt recall Jones’s electric performance in 2022’s Week 15 visit to Jacksonville. Born in Dallas, Jones torched his hometown Cowboys for 109 yards on six catches, taking three of them to the end zone in a Jaguars overtime win.

There is another Cowboys connection. Jones’s father Robert was a first-round draft pick of the Cowboys in 1992; he played linebacker for Dallas and was a part of all three Super Bowl wins that decade.

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Following the departure of Michael Gallup, the Cowboys currently have an opening in the WR3 role behind CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks. Third-year man Jalen Tolbert, speedster KaVontae Turpin, veteran Martavis Bryant, and six other wide receivers are expected to compete for the job in camp this summer.

Jones has 104 regular-season game appearances on his NFL résumé, with 67 starts. He’s amassed 287 receptions for 3,028 yards and 18 touchdowns.

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