Tag: Futures Contract

Lions sign kicker Aldrick Rosas to a reserve/futures contract

The Lions sign kicker Aldrick Rosas to a reserve/futures contract, giving them 3 kickers from 2021 now under their contractual control

A battle royale is shaping up in Allen Park this offseason for the rights to be the kicker for the Detroit Lions in 2021. After a season where the Lions burned through four kickers for various reasons, three of them are now back on the team and ready to compete for the gig in 2022.

The Lions signed Aldrick Rosas to a reserve/future contract on Monday, tying Rosas to the team through the offseason. Rosas spent one week as the Lions kicker last fall, making one extra point and one field goal in Detroit’s 13-10 loss to Cleveland in Week 11.

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Rosas took over that week for Ryan Santoso, who was dispatched after a brutal game in the tie with the Steelers. Santoso missed an extra point and wildly botched a field goal. He is the only Lions kicker from the 2021 season not with the team any longer.

Rosas joins Riley Patterson, who took over his job in Week 12, and Austin Seibert on the roster. Seibert made 10 of his 12 field goal attempts in the first six games before suffering a hip injury. He remains under contract. Patterson went 13-of-14 on field goals after taking over for Rosas. The 2021 rookie is an exclusive rights free agent (ERFA), meaning the Lions can retain his rights quite inexpensively if they so choose.

One area where Rosas, 27, has a leg up is in kickoffs. Over 60 percent of his kickoffs in his five-year career have been downed for touchbacks. Seibert is at 39 percent in his three NFL seasons, while Patterson ceded kickoff duties to Lions punter Jack Fox.

Cowboys sign kicker; competition for Zuerlein?

SMU product Chris Naggar spent time with the Jets and Browns last season; the Cowboys have signed him to a futures contract for 2022. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys have taken an early offseason step toward addressing one of 2021’s trouble spots.

Chris Naggar, a kicker out of SMU, has been signed by the team to a futures contract for 2022. His addition should send an obvious signal to veteran Greg Zuerlein that he’ll have some competition heading into next season. Zuerlein was a sixth-round draft pick by the Rams in 2012 and was the league points leader and a Pro Bowler in 2017, but he struggled in his second year with the Cowboys.

Naggar, 24, was a punter at Texas before transferring to SMU and moving to full-time placekicking. As a senior with the Mustangs, Naggar went 17-for-21 on field goals and 43-of-46 on extra points to lead the conference in accuracy. He went undrafted last year, but spent part of training camp with the Jets.

Cleveland signed him just before the season; he did not play in the Browns’ Week 1 game and was then moved back to the practice squad. Late in the season, he made the active roster again as a COVID replacement, kicking a 37-yard field goal and going 1-of-2 on PATs on Christmas Day versus the Packers. He was released by the team a few days later.

For the Cowboys, Naggar will be expected to push the squad’s 10-year veteran for a job. Zuerlein was 83% on field goals in 2021 and missed six PATs, the most in his career. He missed a field goal in three of the Cowboys’ five regular-season losses; those games- against Tampa Bay, Las Vegas, and Arizona- were decided by three points or less.

Cowboys special teams coordinator John Fassel defended his longtime kicker all year, but finally admitted last month that missing the offseason (due to back surgery) had affected Zuerlein throughout the ’21 campaign.

“I think it is psychological,” Fassel told reporters.

The coach also talked about being able to recognize when a kicker- for whatever reason- simply no longer has the goods to deliver on gameday.

“There might come a time where, yeah, he doesn’t get it back. But this time isn’t now,” Fassel said. “I love Greg, and I believe in Greg, and I’m not supporting him just because of my experience over the last 10 years. This is a production business, and when we stop producing, things change. But I just have full faith in Greg. I do, and if I’m wrong, then I’ll be wrong. But [I] just really think that I’m going to be right. I guess we’ll see.”

Naggar could help bring some clarity to that evaluation process.

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Colts sign OT Jordan Murray to futures contract

The Colts signed OT Jordan Murray to a futures contract.

The Indianapolis Colts signed offensive tackle Jordan Murray to a reserve/futures contract, the team announced Thursday.

A product of the CFL, Murray started nine games during the 2021 regular season at both right and left tackle with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He spent some time with the Generals in The Spring League in 2020 and participated in a rookie minicamp with the Seattle Seahawks in 2019.

Murray spent four seasons at North Texas (2015-2018) where he played in 44 games while making 34 starts. He was a Conference USA All-Conference honorable mention twice (2016-2017).

The Colts now have 16 players on futures contracts.

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Lions sign TE Matt Sokol to a reserve/future contract

Sokol has a prior stint with the Lions after playing collegiately at Michigan State

The Detroit Lions signed tight end Matt Sokol to a reserve/future contract on Wednesday afternoon.

This will be Sokol’s second stint with Detroit, as he first joined the team at the conclusion of the 2019 season on another reserve/future contract. He was with Detroit throughout the 2020 offseason and training camp before being released and signed to the practice squad later in the season.

Sokol, a former Michigan State Spartan and Rochester, MI native, originally signed with the Los Angeles Chargers after going undrafted in 2019.

Sokol has appeared in two games for the Chargers in 2020 but never recorded any stats as he is primarily a blocking tight end. He also spent time on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad.

At the tight end position for 2022, the Lions have T.J. Hockenson, Brock Wright, Shane Zylstra, Hunter Bryant, Jared Pinkney, and Charlie Taumoepeau under contract. Sokol may have not impressed the former Detroit front office enough to stick around the first time, but he now has a clean slate with Dan Campbell and his staff.

Colts sign CB Alexander Myres to futures contract

The Colts signed CB Alexander Myres to a futures contract.

The Indianapolis Colts signed cornerback Alexander Myres to a reserve/futures contract, the team announced Wednesday.

After signing 14 players to futures contracts on Monday, the Colts continue to make additions to the roster.

Myres, 25, initially entered the league as an undrafted rookie free agent with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2019. He’s also spent time with the Detroit Lions (2020) and San Francisco 49ers.

He’s appeared in one career game while recording a pass defended and five tackles.

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Lions sign 9 from the practice squad to reserve/future contracts

The Lions locked up nine of the players from their practice squad to reserve/future contracts on Monday

One of the first orders of business for NFL teams in the offseason is to handle the players who ended the season on the practice squad. Those players, who are not technically under contract to the team any longer, are free to do what they wish.

For the players the Detroit Lions and other teams wish to keep around to at least start the 2022 offseason, they can sign reserve/future contracts. They are effectively commitments by the team to bring the players back with a chance to compete for spots in the coming season.

The Lions locked up nine of the players from their practice squad to reserve/future contracts on Monday:

DE Eric Banks
LB Tavante Beckett
DE Bruce Hector
WR Javon McKinley
QB Steven Montez
CB Parnell Motley
OT Dan Skipper
CB Saivion Smith
TE Shane Zylstra

The Lions also activated OLB Austin Bryant from the reserve/COVID-19 list. Bryant missed the final two games.

Lions sign DT Joel Heath to reserve/future contract

Heath played four years with the Houston Texans

The Detroit Lions have signed defensive tackle Joel Heath to a reserve/future contract.

Heath joins the Lions after being waived earlier this month by the Denver Broncos. He opted out of the 2020 season due to concerns over COVID-19 and never played for the Broncos.

The 27-year-old Heath played his first four seasons with the Houston Texans. He played in 32 games, starting 16, from 2016 through 2019. He was a primary starter for the Texans in the 2017 season as a nose tackle. Heath has 34 total tackles and three sacks in his career.

Heath should be a familiar name to fans in the Mitten State. He played collegiately at Michigan State from 2012 through 2015. The 6-6, 308-pound Heath will now get a chance to compete for a spot with the Lions’ new regime.

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Detroit Lions sign TE Alize Mack to a Reserve/Future contract

The Detroit Lions announced that they have signed tight end Alize Mack to a Reserve/Future contract.

The Detroit Lions announced that they have signed tight end Alize Mack to a Reserve/Future contract.

Mack was one of the top high school tight end recruits in the country and enrolled at Notre Dame for his college playing days. His career in South Bend started out on a positive note during his freshman year, but after an academic suspension as a sophomore, he struggled once he was eligible to return.

Even though Mack has plenty of NFL potential — size (6-4, 250), fluidity, ball skills, and inline blocking skills — he is still lacking refinement in his technical skills and that led to him sliding to the seventh round on draft day.

Mack was selected with pick No. 231 overall in the 2019 draft by the Saints and got his first NFL experience learning under Lions coach Dan Campbell who was his position coach in New Orleans.

“I think the kid’s got a little bit of a chip on his shoulder in a good way,” Campbell told Mike Triplett of ESPN. “I think he probably felt like he should’ve gone higher. But I don’t feel like there’s somebody that came in that’s pouting or anything like that. I think he came in and had to go to work.”

After being released on cut day following 2019 training camp, Mack signed to the Saints’ practice squad but only lasted three weeks. He then spent a week on the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad before finishing out the season on the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad. He was not in the league during the 2020 season.

Colts sign QB Jalen Morton, WR J.J. Nelson to futures contracts

Colts add two more futures contracts.

The Indianapolis Colts signed quarterback Jalen Morton and wide receiver J.J. Nelson to reserve/futures contracts, the team announced Monday.

Morton was an undrafted rookie following the 2020 NFL draft who signed with the Green Bay Packers. He was with the team throughout training camp and the offseason.

Nelson has been around the league having appeared in 58 games with four different teams. He was a fifth-round pick with the Arizona Cardinals in 2015 and has had stints with the Oakland Raiders (2019), San Francisco 49ers (2020) and Buffalo Bills (2020).

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Detroit Lions sign kicker Matthew Wright to a futures contract

The Detroit Lions announced that they have signed kicker Matthew Wright to a futures contract.

The Detroit Lions announced that they have signed kicker Matthew Wright to a futures contract.

“Wright appeared in three games for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2020 after being elevated from their practice squad,” the Lions said in a press release. “Wright was a perfect four-for-four on field goals and seven-for-seven on extra point attempts in those contests. He originally entered the NFL with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2019 out of Central Florida.”

Matt Prater is a pending free agent and is coming off his worst field goal conversion rate (75-percent) since his first two seasons in the NFL. At age 37 if fair to speculate his longevity.

That being said, Prater still came through in the clutch multiple times this season. He won NFC Special Teams Player of the Week twice last season (in Week 3 and Week 10), set the NFL record for most career 50+ yards field goals, and won free beer for the city of Detroit after connecting on a 59-yard field goal during the season.

When ranking the Lions potential free agents this offseason, Prater checked in fourth for us at Lions Wire. And when you combine that with his expressed desire to remain in Detroit, it’s clear Wright is being brought in as insurance against a deal not getting done and training camp competition, rather than as a replacement.