Tag: Brian Allen

Iowa football reveals game-day injury report vs. Nebraska

Six Iowa Hawkeyes were listed out in Iowa’s game day availability report vs. Nebraska.

As Iowa football (7-4, 5-3 Big Ten) prepares for the Pioneer Heroes Classic game against Nebraska (6-5, 3-5 Big Ten) at 6:30 p.m. CT from Kinnick Stadium, the Hawkeyes will be without six players.

According to the conference-mandated game-day availability report, Iowa will be without freshman wide receiver Reece Vander Zee, graduate defensive back Jermari Harris, junior linebacker Karson Sharar, junior offensive lineman Gennings Dunker, sophomore defensive end Brian Allen, and graduate quarterback Cade McNamara.

Iowa’s rivalry clash with the Nebraska Cornhuskers will be the 55th all-time meeting between the two historic programs. The Cornhuskers lead the series, 30-21-3.

Friday night’s game will be broadcast on NBC and it will stream on Peacock. Iowa fans can listen as well on the Hawkeye Radio Network.

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Browns sign UFL standout offensive guard Zack Johnson after placing Brian Allen on IR

Another offensive lineman has been added to the roster

On the same day that veteran center Brian Allen limped off the practice field, the Browns added another offensive lineman to the roster. According to Aaron Wilson, the Cleveland Browns have signed USFL guard Zack Johnson. Allen has since been placed on Injured Reserve.

Johnson played this past season with the championship Birnigham Stallions and received All-USFL honors. He has good size at 6-foot-6 and 315 pounds. He played several positions on the line in college at North Dakota State. Johnson played both tackle spots and right guard for the Bison before going undrafted in the 2020 draft.

Johnson has bounced around the NFL, spending time with the Packers, Cardinals, Broncos, Ravens, and Titans before heading to the USFL. He will join a stacked room of interior linemen and will be a total long shot to make the roster after camp.

The Browns wrapped up their third training camp practice of the year Saturday with the first padded practice coming up on Monday.

Center Brian Allen limps off the field during Browns practice Saturday

The veteran offensive lineman exited Saturday’s practice early

After the injuries along the offensive line last year, the Browns made sure to load up at the position this off-season. Veteran center Brian Allen was one of the players brought in with a ton of experience at the position.

During training camp practice on Saturday, the team’s third of the year, Allen left early, limping off the field before going inside with trainers. After 2023, Browns fans are likely feeling some deja vu seeing an offensive lineman hurt, whether he is a starter or not.

Of course, Allen was set to be Ethan Pocic’s backup and not start, but it’s so important to have quality depth. That being said, this early in training camp, you don’t worry a ton about injuries unless they require surgery or a long recovery period.

As of the time in which this article was written, there wasn’t any information available about the severity of the injury as head coach Kevin Stefanski spoke to the media prior to practice.

Former Spartans C Brian Allen reportedly signs with Cleveland Browns

Former Michigan State Spartans center Brian Allen reportedly will have a new home in the NFL next year

Former Michigan State Spartans center Brian Allen reportedly will have a new home in the NFL next year.

Allen has reportedly “agreed to terms” with the Browns, according to Noah Wiskopf of 247Sports. Allen was selected by the Rams in the 2018 NFL Draft and has appeared in 50 career games for Los Angeles. He has started 32 of those 50 games for the Rams.

Allen starred for the Spartans from 2014 to 2017. He was a team captain in 2017 and was a second-team All-Big Ten selection for three straight seasons (2015-2017).

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6 Offensive linemen the Vikings could pursue in free agency

The Minnesota Vikings need to fortify their offensive line. These six players could be targets for them when free agency begins.

Offensive line is a position group that has haunted the Minnesota Vikings for some time. What has plagued them has been a series of poor draft picks, rough free agent signings and bad development.

Over the last few years, the Vikings have started to find hits, especially at tackle. Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill are two of the best tackles in the National Football League. On the interior, Ed Ingram is slowly developing and Garrett Bradbury is fine but replaceable.

With the current state of the offensive line, left guard is currently open as are the backup offensive line spots. Who could the Vikings choose to bring in to help fortify the offensive line? One seems like a near certainty at left guard so we focused on rotational guys behind the starters.

Former Michigan State football C Brian Allen to be released by LA Rams

Brian Allen will be hitting free agency after six productive seasons with the LA Rams:

Brian Allen was a beloved center during his time with the Michigan State program. Alongside his brothers, Jack and Matt, the Allen family were staples of the MSU offensive line in the Mark Dantonio era.

After his MSU career, Allen was selected in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. He has spent his whole six year NFL career with the Rams, playing in 50 games, while starting 32, and winning Super Bowl 56 in 2021.

Now, after six seasons, the Rams are releasing the veteran offensive lineman.

Surely, there will be a market for a veteran offensive lineman with the experience Allen has.

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Salary cap impact of Rams releasing Brian Allen

How much cap space will the Rams save by releasing Brian Allen?

There are still three weeks until the new league year begins but the Los Angeles Rams have already started clearing some cap space. The team announced on Wednesday that veteran center Brian Allen has been released after six seasons in Los Angeles.

Allen was previously a starter but was relegated to a backup role behind Coleman Shelton last season. With a cap hit of $8.05 million this year, cutting Allen was always a likely move for the Rams.

The question many are asking is how much money this move saves the Rams. According to Over The Cap, the Rams will save $4.9 million in cap space, taking on $3.15. million in dead money. So instead of Allen counting $8.05 million against the cap in 2024, he’ll only take up $3.15 million.

It’s not a massive savings, but it is enough for the Rams to sign a potential starter at another position. It also gives the Rams some more money to use on Shelton, assuming he opts out of his contract and becomes a free agent this offseason.

Allen signed a three-year extension worth $18 million in 2022 but he ended up starting just seven games on that contract due to injury. The former fourth-round pick did help the Rams win the Super Bowl in 2021, starting 16 games during the regular season and all four in the playoffs.

Rams release C Brian Allen after 6 seasons

The Rams have released Brian Allen, who signed an $18M contract before the 2022 season

The Los Angeles Rams aren’t going to wait it out with Brian Allen. The six-year veteran was viewed as a potential cap casualty this offseason and on Wednesday, the Rams made that a reality.

The team announced it has released Allen after six seasons, thanking the veteran center on social media. Allen was a fourth-round pick by the Rams in 2018 and signed a three-year, $18 million extension in 2022.

Allen started 32 games and played 50 since being drafted by the Rams six years ago, though he didn’t play a single game during the entire 2020 season. Injuries plagued his career in Los Angeles, limiting him severely in 2019, 2022 and 2023.

Allen was set to have a cap hit of $8.05 million this year but releasing him will save the Rams $4.9 million, giving them a dead cap charge of $3.15 million in 2024.

Rams have big decisions to make with two of their highest-paid O-linemen

Joe Noteboom and Brian Allen have a combined cap hit of $28 million in 2024, but with either be back with the Rams?

After the 2021 season, the Los Angeles Rams rewarded two starting offensive linemen with contract extensions. They signed left tackle Joe Noteboom to a three-year, $40 million deal, committing to him as their replacement for Andrew Whitworth. They also gave center Brian Allen a three-year, $18 million extension after he put together a strong season in 2021.

Neither player started more than seven games in the first year of their extensions, battling through injuries during a difficult 2022 season for the entire team.

This past season wasn’t much better, with Allen getting beaten out by Coleman Shelton at center and Noteboom making just eight starts at left tackle, right guard and even right tackle. He was a valuable depth piece, but that’s not what the Rams paid him to be.

Entering this offseason, the Rams have big decisions to make with both players. Alaric Jackson, Coleman Shelton and Kevin Dotson will all be free agents, but does the front office and coaching staff feel confident enough in Allen or Noteboom to go back to them as starters? Or, will the Rams move on from them after they both failed to meet the expectations that their lucrative contracts came with?

According to Over The Cap, Noteboom has a cap hit of $20 million in 2024, the fourth-largest on the team. Allen’s cap hit is $8.05 million, seventh-highest on the roster. This is the result of the Rams restructuring the contracts of both players last offseason in an attempt to free up some cap space in 2023, though it came at the expense of giving each player larger cap hits in 2024 and 2025.

Cutting Noteboom before June 1 isn’t a great idea. That would come with a dead cap charge of $15 million, netting a savings of only $5 million. It’s more feasible to cut Allen before June 1, which would save the Rams $4.9 million after a dead cap hit of $3.15 million.

As post-June 1 cuts, the Rams could save $15 million with Noteboom and $7 million with Allen. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t see the cap savings of those moves until after June 1, but it would be more financially responsible than taking on $18.15 million with pre-June 1 cuts.

Trading either player doesn’t save the Rams any additional cap space compared to cutting them before June 1. The savings with Noteboom would only be $5 million and trading Allen would save $4.9 million.

There are a few different ways the Rams can play this with Noteboom and Allen. Jackson should be back as a restricted free agent, but if Dotson prices himself out of the Rams’ budget, might they just plug Noteboom in at right guard and hope he can stay healthy? The same goes for Shelton, who will be an unrestricted free agent and should have a decent market after playing well in 2023. If he leaves, will the Rams feel good enough about Allen to give him a third opportunity to start?

No matter what, it’s not a great situation to be in. The Rams will either be taking a risk with injury-prone players, paying them a lot to be backups or cutting them for an insignificant savings before June 1.

There’s been no indication yet of which way the front office will go, but it’s a decision that will need to be made at some point for both players.

Rams have only re-signed 3 players drafted in the Sean McVay era

Since 2017, the Rams have only given second contracts to 3 players that they’ve drafted and only 1 has really worked out

Drafting rookies is hard. Ask any general manager, scout or head coach. Finding future stars in the NFL is extremely difficult, and even landing a handful of starters in one class is a challenge.

For the most part, Rams GM Les Snead has done a good job selecting players in the draft. He found Aaron Donald, Jared Goff, Cooper Kupp, Michael Brockers, Tyler Higbee, Todd Gurley and Rob Havenstein. Lately, though, the results have been more of a mixed bag.

Since 2017, the Rams have had their share of misses, with the 2020 class immediately coming to mind. After trading Van Jefferson to the Falcons, the Rams have just three players left from that nine-player class: Brycen Hopkins, Jordan Fuller and Tremayne Anchrum Jr., two of whom are backups.

Not a single player from that class has received a contract extension yet, and it’s unclear if any of them will next offseason when they become free agents. It could follow the path of the 2019 class, which the Rams have no players left on the roster from.

Widening the scope, it’s become common practice for Los Angeles to let draft picks leave, either via trade, release or in free agency. Since Sean McVay took over as the head coach in 2017, only three players drafted by the Rams have gotten second contracts.

  • Cooper Kupp: three years, $48 million (2020)
  • Joe Noteboom: three years, $40 million (2022)
  • Brian Allen: three years, $18 million (2022)

Typically, the mark of a good draft pick is a second contract. If a team doesn’t give a player a second contract before or after their rookie contract expires, it’s usually a sign that the player didn’t do enough to earn a long-term extension – unless they priced themselves out of the team’s range in free agency.

For the Rams, many of their draft picks since 2017 simply haven’t panned out, and it’s not as if they’ve gone on to have big years with other teams. Sure, Taylor Rapp, Greg Gaines and David Edwards were solid players, but they didn’t turn into must-keep free agents.

And obviously, the 2020 class is headed down the same road with Cam Akers and Jefferson being traded, Terrell Lewis and Terrell Lewis being cut last year and Clay Johnston and Sam Sloman failing to make it through their rookie years in L.A.

The Rams have overcome some draft misses and still won a Super Bowl, but it’s not often this team nails a pick that becomes a high priority when their rookie contract expires. Hopefully Ernest Jones, Cobie Durant, Steve Avila and Byron Young (among others) can change that narrative in Los Angeles.