Tag: Bradlee Anae

Falcons sign two veteran players following Friday’s tryout

The Falcons signed defensive lineman Bradlee Anae and defensive back Dane Cruikshank following Friday’s tryout

The Atlanta Falcons began their rookie minicamp on Friday with 40 total players in attendance. This group featured 18 rookies, nine veterans and 13 players trying out. Apparently, two of the tryout players impressed the coaching staff enough to land contracts.

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Falcons signed defensive lineman Bradlee Anae and defensive back Dane Cruikshank to their 90-man offseason roster on Friday.

Anae, 26, was selected in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He’d spend his first two NFL seasons in Dallas, appearing in 11 total games. Anae signed with the New York Jets in 2022 but didn’t appear in a game and finished the 2023 season on the injured reserve list.

Cruikshank was selected in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL draft by the Tennessee Titans, where he’d spend the first four years of his career. The 29-year-old appeared in 46 games for the Titans, racking up 65 tackles, two passes defended and an interception.

Check out Atlanta’s updated 90-man roster following these two transactions.

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Jets sign Kutztown WR Jerome Kapp, place Bradlee Anae on IR

Jets add a DII WR, send Anae to IR.

The Jets added another body to the wide receiver room and a potential sleeper from the Division II level. The Jets announced the signing of Kutztown WR Jerome Kapp this week.

Kapp was among the rookie minicamp tryouts and earned a spot on the 90-man roster. He caught 47 passes for 916 yards and nine touchdowns last season for Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. For his career, he caught 122 passes for 2,190 yards and 22 touchdowns.

In a corresponding move, the Jets placed DL Bradlee Anae on injured reserve. Anae spent last season on the practice squad for the Jets, being called up to the active roster for Week 18. Details of the injury were not known. Anae originally came into the league as a fifth-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 2020.

Most surprising cuts from the Jets

These guys surprised a few people by being let go.

Every year, players get cut from a team which makes people take a step back and wonder how their favorite team could ever let that player go.

The Jets certainly did not lack in that department, as they had a couple of cuts that certainly took fans aback for a moment. Here are some of the most surprising cuts made by the Jets as they finalized their initial 53-man roster for 2022.

Jets waive Bradlee Anae

Anae could very well land on the Jets’ practice squad.

Bradlee Anae had a strong preseason, including a strip-sack and a touchdown against the Falcons in the second preseason game. Unfortunately, with the strong depth already at the position, that wasn’t enough to crack the 53.

Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Jets are waiving Anae. He is a viable practice squad candidate for the Jets if he does not get claimed off waivers.

As of this writing, the edges still on the roster are Carl Lawson, John Franklin-Myers, Jermaine Johnson, Jacob Martin, Bryce Huff, Micheal Clemons, Jabari Zuniga and Vinny Curry.

Anae joined the Jets back in January, signing a reserve/future contract after two seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. Anae was drafted in the fifth round of the 2020 season by the Cowboys out of Utah.

Watch: Bradlee Anae strip-sacks Falcons QB Feleipe Franks, returns for touchdown

Check out Bradlee Anae’s fourth-quarter strip-sack touchdown.

Jets defensive end Bradlee Anae has had himself a very nice camp as he tries to work himself into the edge rotation behind Carl Lawson and John Franklin-Meyers. One surefire way to state your case is to force a fumble and return it for a touchdown.

That’s exactly what Anae did in the fourth quarter of Monday’s preseason win over the Atlanta Falcons, getting a strip-sack of quarterback Feleipe Franks and returning it 30 yards to give the Jets a 24-16 lead after Eddy Pineiro’s extra points.

Check out the highlight play from Anae that put the cherry on top of New York’s second-half comeback, in which the Jets outscored the Falcons, 21-0.

 

Cowboys DE Bradlee Anae signs with New York Jets

Anae was a fifth-round draft pick in 2020, but saw limited opportunities behind DeMarcus Lawrence, Randy Gregory, and Dorance Armstrong. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The end of the season always brings turnover, both on the coaching staff and in the locker room. While most of the focus in Dallas over the past few days has been on Mike McCarthy, Kellen Moore, and Dan Quinn, the first Cowboys player looking for greener pastures has slipped out the door.

Defensive end Bradlee Anae has signed with the New York Jets, according to his agent. Anae was a fifth-round draft choice out of Utah in 2020.

He was considered one of the best pass rushers in the country coming out of college in terms of stats, but had some work to do to improve his athleticism as he made the transition to the pro game.

Of course, any young edge rusher on the Cowboys roster knows he’ll be competing with the likes of superstars DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory for playing time. This past season, free agent additions Tarell Basham, Brent Urban, and Carlos Watkins were also lobbying for snaps, while Dorance Armstrong continued to be a solid contributor; Chauncey Golston also came into camp as a promising rookie at the position.

All of those factors combined to offer very limited opportunities for the 6-foot-3-inch native Hawaiian. Anae logged two tackles and a quarterback hit over 50 defensive snaps in 2021 across four games, though he did get additional time on special teams. He was officially waived prior to Week 9 and then re-signed to the practice squad.

While the long-term status of several Dallas edge rushers- Gregory, Urban, Watkins, and Armstrong- is still up in the air, Anae apparently wasn’t going to be in the Cowboys’ plans moving forward. He was not one of the players signed by the Cowboys to a futures deal this week following the team’s playoff loss.

Now he’ll seek a fresh start with the Jets, who finished among the worst in the league in sacks and passing yards allowed in 2021.

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Report: Cowboys’ pass rush takes a hit as Bradlee Anae is added to Reserve/COVID list

The Cowboys take another hit defensively as their second-year DE joins the COVID reserved list. LB Keanu Neal was added on Wednesday just as they are getting Randy Gregory back. | From @StarConscience

The Dallas Cowboys defense is riding a wave of momentum entering their NFC East showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night. In the first two weeks of the season, they have forced a league-leading six turnovers and are only yielding 73.5 yards per game on the ground.

Unfortunately for the Cowboys, they’ll be going into this game short-handed on the defensive side of the ball. After linebacker Keanu Neal was added to the Reserve/COVID list on Wednesday, second-year defensive end Bradlee Anae is joining him.

Anae only logged six defensive snaps as a rookie but nearly doubled that in the season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with 10. With DeMarcus Lawrence out for six to eight weeks with a broken bone in his foot and Randy Gregory being out due to COVID protocols, Anae saw a career-high 23 snaps and showed his natural pass-rushing ability by beating 2021 first-round pick Rashawn Slater multiple times to apply pressure on Justin Hebert.

This news isn’t ideal for the Cowboys’ defense with such a huge game coming up. In addition to Dorance Armstrong and Carlos Watkins being out the loss of Anae is a blow to the Cowboys’ pass rush. He’s the 12th player on the team to be added to the Reserve/COVID list since August 21 with seven producing positive tests. The Eagles are going to be without their starting left tackle Jordan Mailata, so it appeared to be a favorable matchup for the club.

Although the Cowboys are getting Gregory back, their task defensively on Monday night just got a little tougher.

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Cowboys to be without two starting defensive linemen against Chargers

The Chargers offensive line could be in position for another strong performance.

The Cowboys will be without two of their starting defensive linemen when they face the Chargers this Sunday.

Dallas was already expected to be without edge defender Randy Gregory, who is currently on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. But the team suffered another blow after it was confirmed that DeMarcus Lawrence sustained a broken foot and would be out indefinitely.

This adds to the Cowboys’ challenge in matching up against a Chargers offensive line that only allowed five pressures on 52 dropbacks against a Washington defensive front that’s among the league’s best.

Gregory and Lawrence combined for eight of Dallas’ 17 pressures against Tampa Bay last Thursday, which goes to show how important they are.

With Gregory out, Dorance Armstrong will serve as his replacement, while Tarell Basham and Bradlee Anae will be leaned on in place of Lawrence.

Dallas will also be without starting wide receiver Michael Gallup (calf injury) and tackle La’el Collins (suspension).

Cowboys News: Prescott pops, COVID updates, IR loss, that ‘Hard Knocks’ drone shot

Dak Prescott got rave reviews at practice while the Cowboys add players to (and get one back from) the COVID list, plus Rico Dowdle’s loss. | From @StarConscience, @Cdburnett7, and @ToddBrock24f7

In the final week of preseason football, the Dallas Cowboys have a lot to figure out. A multitude of players and coaches are currently in COVID protocol, limiting their preparation for Week 1 and raising questions about when they’ll each be back. Running back Rico Dowdle has also been lost, but his absence will be felt for longer after being placed on season-ending IR.

The Cowboys won’t have to wait much longer to unleash Dak Prescott, though; the starting quarterback rejoined team drills on Wednesday to rave reviews. Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones spoke highly of backup Cooper Rush, though, saying the offense would be efficient if he had to be the starter during the regular season. Jones also made headlines of a different sort with one NFL agent who had some harsh words for the Dallas boss.

In the player countdown to the regular season, there are four new entries with the profiles on linebackers Leighton Vander Esch and Luke Gifford, defensive end Bradlee Anae, and left guard Connor Williams.

And the story behind that epic Hard Knocks drone shot is as crazy as the three-minutes of footage that opened this week’s episode. This is Wednesday’s Cowboys News and Notes.

Cowboys News: Hooker transaction pending, opportunities abound for redemption

A new safety in the mix could show just how serious Dallas is in competing for greatness. A deeper eval of the first day of summer camp sees opportunities for bouncing back, and announcing arrivals. Nees and Notes round up from @SrarConscience

Dak Prescott’s mobility has looked amazing since hitting the field after his compound fracture and ankle dislocation in 2020. So much so, that he’s hoping for some preseason reps. Ezekiel Elliott has been in the lab getting his body in the best shape of his career, and he’s done so with the mindset of proving his performance last season will be a distant memory in 2021.

The search for a playmaking free safety has been something the Dallas Cowboys haven’t seemed to be all that interested in over the years. However, after a visit in March, free-agent Malik Hooker is set to meet with the Cowboys again and is expected to sign. Bradlee Anae’s opportunity for playing time, Blake Jarwin reaching a milestone, multiple cornerbacks shining in the first training camp practice, and a lot more led the way in Friday’s news and notes.