Tag: Reserve/futures contract

Report: Cowboys to bring WR Martavis Bryant back on futures contract

From @ToddBrock24f7: Bryant was reinstated by the NFL in November. The Cowboys released him 2 weeks ago in a roster shuffle, but want him back for ’24.

The Martavis Bryant experiment in Dallas is apparently not over after all.

The Cowboys are expected to sign the veteran wide receiver to a reserve/futures contract on Wednesday, per a report from Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News.

The 32-year-old was signed by the Cowboys in early November upon his reinstatement to the NFL following a 2018 suspension by the league. Bryant joined the team’s practice squad but was released just after the first of the year in order to make room for offensive lineman La’el Collins.

Some observers took it as a signal that Bryant was done, but not so.

The 6-foot-4-inch receiver, once a fourth-round draft pick of the Steelers in 2014 out of Clemson, showed promise in Pittsburgh and with the Raiders, but saw his career derailed by both injury and violations of the league’s substance abuse policy at the time.

He bounced around from the CFL (though he didn’t actually play for Toronto) to the Indoor Football League, back to the CFL (though he never suited up for Edmonton either), to the Fan Controlled Football league, and finally to the XFL’s Vegas Vipers in 2023.

But Bryant maintains he can still contribute to an NFL roster.

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“I’m still fast, still big, still want to play football,” he told reporters back in November.

“I haven’t lost anything. It’s more of a proving point to me. I’ve got a lot of doubters out there. It’s more me proving it to myself that I’ve still got it.’’

The Cowboys were willing to give him the chance to prove it in November and December. They apparently saw enough to warrant securing him for the 2024 season’s initial 90-man roster.

Dallas signed eight other practice squad players to futures deals on Monday.

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Cowboys sign 8 to reserve/futures contracts

From @ToddBrock24f7: TE Princeton Fant and LB Buddy Johnson were among those inked to reserve/futures contracts on Monday, locking them in for the start of 2024.

The season came crashing down around the Cowboys’ ears on Sunday, but the business of running a football team goes on. To that end, even as most players took part in exit interviews and cleaned out their lockers at The Star, the Cowboys front office signed eight members of the practice squad on Monday to reserve/futures contracts.

Dallas’s practice squad was- as is standard- dissolved at the conclusion of their season, with all players technically becoming free agents. But these players on reserve/futures contracts are now locked in with the club for the start of the 2024 NFL league year, which will begin March 13. They cannot negotiate with another team in the offseason, but they also do not count against the Cowboys’ roster limit or salary cap until March.

Here’s a look at who the Cowboys retained with reserve/futures contracts.

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Falcons sign two more players to futures contracts

The Atlanta Falcons have signed two more players to reserve/futures contracts, bringing their total to 16

The Atlanta Falcons signed two more players to futures contracts on Tuesday, adding running back Robert Burns and defensive back Arnold Tarpley, ESPN’s Michael Rothstein reported.

The team signed 13 other players to reserve/futures deals on Monday. Here’s a look at all 15 players that the team has added thus far:

  1. RB Carlos Washington
  2. RB Robert Burns
  3. WR Chris Blair
  4. OL John Leglue
  5. OL Justin Shaffer
  6. OL Ryan Swoboda
  7. OL Tyler Vrabel
  8. OL Barry Wesley
  9. DL Willington Previlon
  10. DL Demone Harris
  11. LB Donavan Mutin
  12. LB Milo Eifler
  13. DB Arnold Tarpley
  14. DB Natrone Brooks
  15. S Lukas Denis

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The Commanders make some roster moves to conclude the 2023 season

The Commanders released a tight end who never made an impact and signed three players to reserve/futures contracts.

The Washington Commanders had a big news day on Monday. Washington fired head coach Ron Rivera after four seasons with the team. Also, the Commanders hired a pair of notable sports executives, Bob Myers (former Golden State Warriors president & GM) and Rick Spielman (former GM of the Minnesota Vikings).

Shortly after announcing those moves, the Commanders were in the news all day, requesting permission to speak to numerous coaches and executives around the league for their vacant coach and GM positions, respectively.

But at the end of every season, all 32 NFL teams sign players, mostly practice squad players, to reserve/future contracts.

What is a futures contract? Here’s the answer, courtesy of Broncos Wire.

Players who were not on an active roster at the end of the season are eligible to sign reserve/future contracts (every player on the practice squad is eligible, for example). These players will officially join the 90-man offseason roster when the NFL’s new league year begins on March 13.

Surprisingly, the Commanders released a player that garnered more attention than the three players they signed. Washington released tight end Curtis Hodhes, who it signed as an undrafted free agent in 2022. Hodges spent his rookie season on injured reserve. He made Washington’s 2023 roster but never appeared in a game and was placed on IR again back on Dec. 15.

The Commander’s lack of tight end depth kept Hodges around as they believed in his potential as a pass-catching option, but it never materialized for different reasons.

  • LB Brandon Bouyer-Randle
  • WR Davion Davis
  • CB D’Angelo Mandell

Washington will likely sign more players to these deals once it names a new general manager.

16 players sign reserve/futures contracts with Falcons

The Falcons have signed 16 players to reserve/futures contracts

The Atlanta Falcons ended their season on Sunday afternoon and quickly began looking ahead to next season. After relieving Arthur Smith of his duties, the team immediately started searching for a new head coach.

While many were busy watching Arthur Blank and Rich McKay’s interesting 90-minute press conference, the Falcons signed 16 players to reserve/futures contracts (see below).

Saints sign another wide receiver from Antonio Brown’s group workout

The New Orleans Saints signed free agent wide receiver Maurice Harris, formerly of the Patriots and Redskins, to a reserve/futures contract.

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The New Orleans Saints signed veteran wide receiver Maurice Harris to a reserve/futures contract, as first reported by Nola.com’s Amie Just. Harris, 27, spent the 2019 offseason with the New England Patriots after starting his career with the Washington Redskins. He’s got nice size for the position at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, and has caught 40 of 65 targets (61.5%) for 432 receiving yards (10.8 yards per reception) in 28 career games, all with Washington.

Harris was also suggested as the best wide receiver at Patriots training camp last year, before his year ended on injured reserve with a vague lower-leg issue. Interestingly, he was one of the other wide receivers to participate in the Saints’ infamous late-season workout with a group of free agents including Tommylee Lewis and Antonio Brown. He joins Tim White as the only players to sign with the Saints after that tryout.

Now that he’s signed a reserve/futures contract, Harris will count against New Orleans’ 90-man offseason roster. He joins a sketchy wide receivers depth chart that includes White, Michael Thomas, Tre’Quan Smith, Deonte Harris, Emmanuel Butler, and Krishawn Hogan. Keith Kirkwood and Lil’Jordan Humphrey are exclusive-rights free agents who should stick around on minimum-salary contracts. Ted Ginn Jr. and Austin Carr are also headed for free agency, but it would be a surprise if they don’t test the open market.

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