Tag: michael brockers

Look: Michael Brockers visits Rams-Texans practice in Houston

Former Rams DL Michael Brockers visited the team’s practice with the Texans on Thursday, reuniting with Sean McVay

When the Rams were out in Oxnard for their joint practice with the Cowboys, they had a couple of special visitors when Aaron Donald and Andrew Whitworth showed up. The Rams are in Houston today for a scrimmage with the Texans and another former player came out to watch.

Houston native Michael Brockers was in attendance for the Rams and Texans’ practice, checking out the team that drafted him in the first round 12 years ago. Brockers, now retired from football, reunited with Sean McVay before practice got underway.

Brockers played nine years with the Rams before being traded to the Lions in 2021. He unfortunately wasn’t part of the team that won the Super Bowl that year, but he did help the team reach the big game in 2018 as a starting defensive lineman.

In his 11-year career, Brockers had 451 tackles, 29 sacks and 64 QB hits in 160 games played.

Former Rams DL Michael Brockers announces retirement from NFL

Michael Brockers, the Rams’ first-round pick in 2012, has announced his retirement from the NFL after 11 seasons

Michael Brockers was the heart and soul of the Rams defense for nearly a decade after being the team’s first-round pick in 2012, but after 11 seasons in the NFL, he’s calling it a career.

On Tuesday, Brockers announced he is retiring from football. He shared the news on Instagram, thanking his wife, the Rams and Lions and his fans for the support during his decade-plus in the league. Brockers came into the NFL as the 14th overall pick in 2012 and spent the first nine years of his career with the Rams.

He was then traded to the Lions in 2021, spending the next two seasons in Detroit – the last of which was with Jared Goff as his teammate again. Brockers was cut in February of 2023 and he did not play last season.

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In his 11 seasons with the Rams and Lions, he recorded 451 total tackles in 160 games played, starting 157 of them. He was the model of consistency in St. Louis and Los Angeles, only missing six games in nine years with the Rams.

Brockers was the first pick made by Les Snead as general manager of the Rams and he more than lived up to expectations during his tenure with the franchise.

10 potential DT additions Cowboys could look to if Jonathan Hankins misses time

Jonathan Hankins’s ankle injury must start the wheels turning in the Cowboys front office for potential replacements. @ArmyChiefW3 discusses the top possibilities.

The Dallas Cowboys suffered a potentially serious blow to their defensive group when they lost lineman Jonathan Hankins to an ankle injury in their 33-13 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Diagnosed as a high ankle sprain, there is hope it wasn’t the type of injury that would sit the starting nose tackle for the duration of the regular season and potentially into the playoffs.

Hankins was seen walking out of the locker room unassisted and without a limp, which is a ton of positive news after he was carted off the sideline with his shoe off during the third quarter.

That scare should activate the the team’s search for additional help at the position, even if Hankins avoids missing significant time.  Does the team leave the majority of the dirty work to rookie defensive tackle Mazi Smith, whom the Cowboys selected with their first-round pick? While Smith is seen as a vital piece to the defensive future, there are still nuances he must learn before he can be trusted with a larger role.

Dallas did sign mammoth defensive tackle Carl Davis to the practice squad in the middle of November and he could be elevated to help the team. If he’s not ideal, there are multiple free agent options available should the team opt to look elsewhere.

5 defensive lineman the Vikings can sign after James Lynch injury

After the season ending torn ACL for James Lynch, there are talented players that the Minnesota Vikings can still sign.

The Minnesota Vikings got some unfortunate news on Thursday when NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported that defensive lineman James Lynch suffered a torn ACL during Thursday’s practice.

The defensive line room has a lot of question marks. Two of the candidates to make the roster are fifth-round picks Esezi Otomewo and Jaquelin Roy and the rest are journeymen or undrafted free agents.

If the Vikings don’t believe in the depth they currently have sans Lynch, they could look to the free-agent market. Here are five players available the Vikings could target.

10 free agent defensive linemen Broncos should consider signing

The Broncos’ defensive line depth was thin even before Eyioma Uwazurike was suspended. Here’s a quick list of 10 free agents available.

The Denver Broncos’ defensive line depth chart took another hit on Monday.

The league announced that Broncos second-year defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike has been suspended indefinitely for betting on NFL games in 2022. Even before losing Uwazurike for at least the 2023 season, Denver’s defensive line depth was already thin.

The Broncos lost both Dre’Mont Jones and DeShawn Williams — their starting defensive ends in 2022 — during free agency this spring. Zach Allen was signed to replace Jones, but the team did not sign a direct replacement for Williams, who started 15 games last season.

With Uwazurike suspended, the team’s remaining defensive linemen are Allen, D.J. Jones, Mike Purcell, Matt Henningsen, Jonathan Harris, Tyler Lancaster, Jordan Jackson, Elijah Garcia, PJ Mustipher and Haggai Ndubuisi.

Purcell will begin training camp this week on the non-football injury list after undergoing surgery this offseason. With Purcell sidelined, Henningsen (a second-year player with no starts on his resume) is currently the team’s No. 3 defensive lineman behind Allen and Jones.

It seems fair to say Denver could use some more depth at the position. Here’s a quick list of 10 free agent defensive linemen the Broncos should consider signing following Uwazurike’s suspension.

Ex-Lions DL Michael Brockers working out for the Titans

Brockers started 16 games in 2021 in Detroit but was inactive for the Lions in much of 2022

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Hours after Lions head coach Dan Campbell praised defensive lineman Michael Brockers for his leadership legacy with the Detroit Lions, the veteran free agent made the news.

Per Aaron Wilson, Brockers had a workout with the Tennessee Titans to potentially join that team. He has not signed with the team as of yet.

Brockers fell out of the Lions defensive line rotation last season, playing just 125 snaps in six games. He was inactive in 10 of the team’s final 11 games. In his first season in Detroit after coming to the team from the Rams, Brockers was a full-time starter in 2021. The Lions parted ways with Brockers earlier this offseason.

Campbell praised Brockers’ lasting legacy of positive leadership and tutelage for younger players in his pre-practice press conference on Wednesday.

 

Report: Titans worked out veteran DL Michael Brockers

The Titans reportedly worked out veteran DL Michael Brockers recently.

On a day in which the Tennessee Titans made headlines with the news DeAndre Hopkins would be making a free-agent visit to Nashville on Sunday, it appears the team is working on another addition.

According to Aaron Wilson of Click2Houston.com, the Titans recently worked out veteran defensive lineman, Michael Brockers.

The veteran defender and former first-round pick spent the first nine years of his career with the Los Angeles Rams before joining the Detroit Lions prior to the 2021 campaign.

Brockers is coming off a season where he only played in five games, but in 2021 he produced a respectable 52 tackles, four tackles for loss and one sack.

Assuming Tennessee can get him at a reasonable price, Brockers could be a solid depth piece for a Titans defense that should have one of the better defensive lines in the league if everything goes according to plan.

Nothing appears to be imminent at the moment, but this one bears watching as we slowly inch closer to training camp.

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11 veteran free agents the Rams should consider signing following the 2023 NFL draft

The 2023 NFL draft has passed and the Rams could still sign these veterans to fill the remaining holes on their roster.

The 2023 NFL draft is now behind us, with the Los Angeles Rams making 14 total selections in the seven rounds. After the draft was completed, the Rams have also proceeded to sign 26 undrafted rookies to deals.

Besides adding first-year players via the draft, the Rams will likely use free agency to shape the rest of their roster this offseason. With the draft passing by, teams in the NFL can now sign veterans without it affecting their compensatory pick status.

So with the Rams having an opportunity to choose from the remaining free agents, here are 11 veterans they should consider signing this offseason to fill the rest of the holes on the roster.

1 pending free agent the Eagles could target from each NFC team

With the legal tampering period and NFL league year fast approaching, we’re looking at 1 pending free agent the Eagles should target from each NFC team

The Eagles won’t be major players in the free-agent market, but it’s always fun to take a hypothetical look at one potential target from every team.

Philadelphia agreed to a deal with Brandon Graham on Friday but is expected to lose Javon Hargrave, Fletcher Cox, James Bradberry, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson — among others — to lucrative deals.

It was also announced that Darius Slay was granted permission to seek a trade, further clouding up a transition period for one of the NFL’s top defenses in 2022.

With the new league year fast approaching, here’s one pending free agent from each NFC team that the Birds should target.

15 free agents the Eagles can sign that don’t count against compensatory picks

We’re looking at 15 players the Philadelphia Eagles can sign in 2023 NFL Free Agency that won’t count against the compensatory pick formula

The NFL’s new league is less than a week away, and with the legal tampering period scheduled to start on Monday, Philadelphia will look to retool on defense, while making cost-effective decisions.

All-Pro quarterback Jalen Hurts and his contract is the biggest concern this offseason, but the Eagles will also need to navigate 19 looming free agents and the likelihood that they’ll lose C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Javon Hargrave and James Bradberry.

GM Howie Roseman has made it clear that he’s prepared to lose several key starters and he’ll retool via the draft with a handful of 2024 compensatory picks.

The formula is simple in nature.

If you lose more unrestricted free agents than you sign, you are eligible for that many compensatory selections. What round they come is determined by how big their contract is.

Roseman and other general managers can take advantage of the rule by signing players released before their contract expires. Those players don’t count toward the formula.

Plenty of players will be available to sign this offseason that can both help the team and not count against the formula.

Here are 15 players Philadelphia could sign that wouldn’t count against 2024 compensatory picks.