Tag: Colin Holba

Rams cut LS Colin Holba after claiming Matthew Orzech

The Rams are back down to two long snappers.

One day after claiming long snapper Matthew Orzech off waivers, the Los Angeles Rams opened up a roster spot by cutting another long snapper. According to Aaron Wilson, the Rams released LS Colin Holba, leaving Orzech and Steven Wirtel as the only two long snappers on the depth chart.

The Rams are searching for Jake McQuaide, who left in free agency after a decade with the team.

Los Angeles signed Holba to the practice squad in December but he was signed by the 49ers a few weeks later. After San Francisco waived him, the Rams brought him back on the practice squad and then gave him a reserve/futures contract for the offseason.

San Francisco 49ers sign LS Colin Holba, activate TE from COVID-19 list

The San Francisco 49ers signed longsnapper Colin Holba to the active roster for Taybor Pepper, who is on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

The San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday announced the signing of long snapper Colin Holba, and activated tight end Charlie Woerner from the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

Woerner was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list last week and missed Saturday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Holba will step in for long snapper Taybor Pepper who was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Monday. Holba played for the 49ers in 2018 and 19, and had stints with the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams. The 26-year old has appeared in 18 career games, but has not been on an active roster this season.

Woerner is primarily a blocking tight end who the 49ers drafted in the sixth round of the 2020 draft. The Georgia product has appeared in 13 games this season and amassed two receptions for 33 yards.

Tennessee Titans to hold tryout with pair of long snappers

The Titans are set to look at long-snapper options from outside the organization.

With long snapper Beau Brinkley unlikely to suit up in Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills after being placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list last week, the Tennessee Titans are going to take a look at a pair of long snappers.

Per the league’s transactions wire, the Titans will hold tryouts with long snappers Colin Holba and Matt Overton in the days ahead. As far as experience is concerned, Overton has the edge over Holba.

Overton has seven years and 100 games of experience in the NFL, five with the Indianapolis Colts and two with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was also a Pro Bowler back in 2013.

Holba has played in just 18 games over three seasons, but he has seen the field more recently than Overton, as Holba last played in a game in 2019, while Overton hasn’t seen the field since 2018.

The Titans won’t be able to work out either player until the team is cleared to re-open their facility and both Overton and Holba clear the COVID-19 protocols for players trying out.

Head coach Mike Vrabel said that he was hopeful the team could re-open its facility on Wednesday, but first the Titans will need another round of tests to come back negative before that can happen. Those results will come in early Wednesday morning, per Vrabel.

Giants officially sign 10 UDFAs; waive six from roster

The New York Giants have officially signed 10 undrafted rookie free agents and waived six others from their roster.

The New York Giants made a number of roster moves on Tuesday, signing 10 undrafted free agents and releasing six players.

The 10 rookie free agents signed are:

  • Quarterback Case Cookus of Northern Arizona
  • Wide receiver Derrick Dillon of LSU
  • Wide receiver Binjimen Victor of Ohio State
  • Tight end Kyle Markway of South Carolina
  • Tackle Tyler Haycraft of Louisville
  • Defensive end Oluwole Betiku Jr. of Illinois
  • Defensive end Niko Lalos of Dartmouth
  • Linebacker Dominique Ross of North Carolina
  • Defensive back Christian Angulo of Hampton
  • Defensive back Malcolm Elmore of Central Methodist

The players waived were:

  • Tight end C.J. Conrad
  • Center Tanner Volson
  • Defensive back Derrick Baity
  • Punter Sean Smith
  • Long snappers Colin Holba
  • Long snapper Drew Scott.

The Giants’ roster currently stands at 85 players, five under the current limit of 90.

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Giants have some decisions to make on their restricted free agents

The New York Giants have some decisions to make when it comes to a small handful of restricted free agents, including kicker Aldrick Rosas.

NFL Free Agency formally begins on March 18 at 4:00 p.m. ET, but teams will be busy doing some housekeeping before the floodgates open. The New York Giants may make several moves before the league’s March Madness period begins.

Firstly, they need to make decisions on their restricted free agents by assigning tenders to them. They currently have four RFAs in house they either need to tender or release: center Jon Halapio, fullback Eli Penny, linebacker Devante Downs and placekicker Aldrick Rosas. Another player, wide receiver Amba Etta-Two, is an exclusive rights free agent.

Long snapper Colin Holba was scheduled to become a restricted free agent, but the Giants signed him to a two-year deal in November.

Odds are they tender Halapio and Rosas and let the others walk. That is, if the new coaching staff believes in both players. The Giants have been inquiring about centers this offseason and Rosas, after a Pro Bowl 2018 where he made 97% of his kicks and PATs, fell off slightly in 2019.

Penny is a player the previous coaching staff liked but, as we said, there’s a new sheriff in town (actually a Judge) and they may opt to either go with a different player or no fullback at all.

As for the unrestricted free agents, it makes little sense to sign Leonard Williams to a deal before the new league year. That would make the 2021 pick they traded to the Jets a fourth-round pick instead of a fifth, so they’ll likely wait.

There’s also no rush to sign any of the others until after March 18. They want to go into free agency will every available penny and if they have designs on bringing any of these players back (Michael Thomas, David Mayo, Mike Remmers, Cody Latimer, Russell Shepard, Scott Simonson, Corey Coleman, Cody Core), they’ll do it with the leftover money or not at all.

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Report: Giants signed long snapper Colin Holba to a two-year deal

Back in November, the New York Giants quietly signed lone snapper Colin Holba to a two-year deal.

Back in November, long before any of their offseason work had begun, the New York Giants decided to do a little under-the-radar house cleaning.

After renegotiating the contracts of three exclusive rights free agents — linebacker Devante Downs, guard Chad Slade and tackle Eric Smith — general manager Dave Gettleman turned his attention to the team’s five restricted free agents.

One of those restricted free agents was long snapper Colin Holba, who the team had promoted from the practice squad to replace the injured Zak DeOssie.

In DeOssie’s absence, Holba played relatively well and that did not go unnoticed. And with DeOssie headed for free agency and unlikely to return, Gettleman got a jump-start on things by quietly signing Holba to a two-year deal.

The two-year deal does not guarantee that Holba will be the starting long snapper in 2020, but it does give him a leg up on any potential incoming competition.

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3 takeaways from Giants’ Week 13 loss to Packers

Here are three takeaways from the New York Giants’ Week 13 loss to the Green Bay Packers, which dropped them to 2-10.

The New York Giants’ latest loss, a 31-13 slopfest against a recently struggling Green Bay Packers team, has all but put the lid on Big Blue’s designs of becoming a competitive team this season.

In front of a large throng of Packer fans, the Giants once again displayed for the whole word that thy are officially one of the NFL’s worst and most poorly run franchises.

Here are three takeaways (click away now if you’re looking for a silver lining).

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Numbers don’t lie

At 2-10, the Giants are officially the doormat of the NFC. There is no further to fall. They are it. John Mara and Dave Gettleman can be proud of the mess they’ve made of this franchise. Sure, you can blame Jerry Reese, but Gettleman has had two full offseasons and the team has gotten worse. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

How do you get to 2-10? Easily. The other team scores more than you every week, that’s how. They are averaging 19.2 points per game but have scored only 13 and 14 points respectively in the past two games. That’s not going to get it done when you’re allowing 28.2 points each week.

Who is to blame? Just about everyone. The team is not coached very well, has two many inexperienced players and the veterans who are here are under-performing.

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Giants place Zak DeOssie on IR, promote Colin Holba from practice squad

The New York Giants have placed long snapper Zak DeOssie on season-ending IR and promoted Colin Holba from their practice squad.

The New York Giants don’t seem to know if they are coming or going these days and that was perfectly represented by a series of embarrassing moments on Friday.

After reports had surfaced that long snapper Zak DeOssie would be placed on season-ending injured reserve, special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey was asked about the situation and the confusion was immediately evident on his face.

“Who said he was shut down? That’s something you’d have to talk to the head coach about. I don’t know, we’re just working,” a puzzled McGaughey said.

Head coach Pat Shurmur was barely able to offer any additional clarity, tripping over his words when trying to explain that DeOssie’s injuries were sustained earlier in the season and that he hadn’t practiced this week. Or had he?

Again, there seemed to be some confusion.

“Zak DeOssie? I can’t say that at this point. I don’t know that,” Shurmur said of DeOssie going on IR. “But he hasn’t been able to practice this week, so we’ll just have to see as the rest of the week unfolds.”

Pressed about DeOssie practicing on Wednesday, Shurmur suddenly appeared to remember that the long snapper did, in fact, practice to start the week.

“No, he wasn’t… Or, Wednesday yeah. But he hadn’t practiced yesterday and today,” a confused Shurmur said, unable to recall when DeOssie was originally injured. “No, I think in the Jets game he got banged up a little bit. He was just fighting through it being a tough guy. He was just unable to go Thursday and Friday.”

Uh… What? Seriously, what in the world is going on in East Rutherford?

The entire situation becomes all the more confusing and embarrassing with word that DeOssie has, in fact, been placed on season-ending injured reserve with fellow long snapper, Colin Holba, being promoted from the practice squad to replace him.

What an ugly, confusing and botched ending to Zak DeOssie’s lengthy Giants career.