Tag: roster cuts

Chiefs players figure to be popular waiver wire targets during roster cuts

Kansas City Chiefs players could become the prize of waiver claims during roster cuts.

Heavy is the head that wears the NFL crown during roster cuts.

The Kansas City Chiefs, as your reigning Super Bowl champions, will have plenty of teams looking to claim the players they put on waivers during Saturday’s upcoming 53-man roster cuts. This is fairly common for championship-winning teams because they have an advantage in signing undrafted talent, but also because they’re considered to have talented rosters in general.

The Chiefs already had quite a bit of activity on the players they’ve released during the course of training camp. Guys like Andre Baccellia, Cody White and Jovahn Fair all found new teams after clearing waivers. The Dolphins claimed UDFA CB Javaris Davis. The Packers claimed former Chiefs TE John Lovett. If that’s any indication, the team could be seeing more activity on the players they release this weekend.

Teams like the Cincinnati Bengals, who hold the No. 1 spot in terms of waiver priority, will have a chance to claim anyone released by Kansas City. Flashback to 2013, when the Chiefs had the top waiver priority, the team scoured the waiver wire for talent. They landed guys like DB Ron Parker, DT Jaye Howard, DB Marcus Cooper, DE Dezman Moses, TE Sean McGrath and LB James Michael-Johnson. Fans literally dubbed it the “second draft” of 2013 because of the quality of players the team was able to grab to fill out their roster.

The Chiefs won’t have the luxury of doing much claiming themselves this year, holding the No. 32 spot on the waiver wire. But rest assured that teams will be taking a close look at all of the players that Kansas City puts on waivers. There was a lot of competition to sign some of these players following the 2020 draft. Even second or third-year guys waived by the team could be seen as valuable additions to opponents.

The one advantage the Chiefs might have this season is the lack of preseason games and film. Brett Veach even said he’s hoping that will allow the team to “sneak some guys through and continue to work and develop them.” At the end of the day, they’ll still be holding their breath and hoping that 31 teams pass on a few of the players they waive so that they’ll be able to add some familiar faces to their 16-man practice squad.

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Colts’ 53-man roster cuts tracker 2020: Live updates

Tracking all of the cuts.

The Indianapolis Colts will be busy over the next two days as the time has come to condense the roster down to 53 players with just over a week left until the regular season begins.

>>>READ: Final 53-man roster projection<<<

The Colts have until Saturday at 4:00 p.m. ET to finalize their roster cuts ahead of the 2020 regular season and while the roster won’t be officially announced until then, there are likely to be some reports that leak players getting cut beforehand. Some have been made official while others won’t be confirmed until the team announces its initial roster.

These reports are subject to change and shouldn’t be considered official until the team announces the moves.

>>>READ: Projecting the 16-man practice squad<<<

Along the way, we are here to keep you updated on the latest news and reports about the Colts’ roster cuts so keep refreshing the page:

Reported roster cuts

  • FB Roosevelt Nix (Link)
  • WR Artavis Scott (Link)
  • WR Chad Williams (Link)
  • OT Brandon Hitner (Link)

Trades

  • N/A

Seahawks waive cornerback Brian Allen and running back Anthony Jones

The Seattle Seahawks waived cornerback Brian Allen and running back Anthony Jones, bringing the current roster down to 77 players.

The Seattle Seahawks announced a pair of roster moves on Monday, waiving running back Anthony Jones and cornerback Brian Allen to bring their roster size down to 77.

Jones, an undrafted free agent out of Florida International University, made headlines in 2018 after overcoming severe gunshot injuries. He was considered a long shot to make the Seahawks roster in a position group that includes Chris Carson, Carlos Hyde, and Travis Homer, as well as Rashaad Penny – once the latter is activated from the PUP list.

Allen was selected by the Steelers in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft and appeared in 16 games over the past two seasons with Pittsburgh. He spent the majority of 2019 on Seattle’s practice squad. With Allen’s removal, the team still has 11 cornerbacks on the roster.

The Seahawks now have three open roster spots due to Monday’s cuts and the placement of wide receiver John Ursua on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

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Broncos camp notes: Early cuts, opt outs and rookie watch

Here’s a quick recap of the first week of Broncos training camp.

With training camp underway, here’s a quick recap of the first week for the Denver Broncos.

Early cuts: Denver cut 9 players before camp even started and then parted ways with TE Jeff Heuerman just three days after veterans reported for testing. Releasing Heuerman will save the team about $3.875 million in salary cap space. Because the NFL’s salary cap will be lower in 2021, Broncos GM John Elway will likely try to roll over as much cap space from this year as possible. After placing TE/FB Andrew Beck on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, the Broncos have two open spots on the roster. Denver will likely continue trimming the roster well ahead of the 53-man roster deadline of Sept. 5.

Broncos RT Ja’Wuan James joined DL Kyle Peko on the opt-out list.

Rookie watch: After getting in some unofficial work with QB Drew Lock at a local park during the offseason, Broncos WR Jerry Jeudy will now get to work with his quarterback under the supervision and instruction of coaches. Jeudy and fellow rookie WR KJ Hamler will add speed and explosiveness to a Denver offense that ranked 28th in scoring last season. Jeudy ran a 4.46 40-yard dash at the combine and Hamler says he ran a sub-4.3 earlier this year.

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COVID-19 offseason makes it ‘very difficult’ for Broncos to evaluate players on roster bubble

COVID-19 will make it even harder for the players on the Broncos’ roster bubble to make the 53-man roster.

It’s been a unique offseason in the NFL.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, teams didn’t have on-field organized team activities or minicamps this spring. There won’t be any preseason games this month, either.

That’s bad news for players on the bottom of the Broncos’ roster who are trying to make the team. It’s going to make roster cuts even more difficult than usual for Denver’s staff.

“It makes it very difficult,” general manager John Elway said. “It makes it a lot more difficult, especially with no preseason games also. We’re going to have to see everything we can in the 14 padded practices that we’re going to have before the opener. What it does is it really creates less of an opportunity for those guys to make our football team.

“We’re going to have to find guys with the expanded practice squad, which we have spots for four veterans. We’re going to have to find the right guys to be able to expand the practice squad with. It definitely hurts the opportunities of those CFAs [college free agents] to get out there and really show us what they have — even more so without preseason games.”

If running back Phillip Lindsay didn’t have a pro day, OTAs and preseason when he entered the league, he might not have even made the Broncos 53-man roster. There’s no replacement for games, even if they are exhibition games.

“You can’t evaluate them totally until it’s live action,” coach Vic Fangio said. “Who can tackle, who’s willing to tackle and who can break tackles, it will be an adjustment for everybody.”

Denver will probably do some live drills during camp and the team might have a scrimmage at their stadium. The team will have an expanded practice squad but even that might not stop some players from falling through the cracks. Hopefully the Broncos don’t miss out on the next Lindsay.

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Broncos cut tight end Jeff Heuerman

The Broncos have cut tight end Jeff Heuerman.

The Denver Broncos have cut veteran tight end Jeff Heuerman, the team announced Friday.

Heuerman (6-5, 254 pounds) was selected by the Broncos in the third round of the 2015 NFL draft out of Ohio State. He missed his entire rookie season with a torn ACL and he missed four games with injuries in 2016.

Heuerman has battled injuries throughout his career, missing two games in 2017, five games in 2018 and two games last season. His best season came two years ago when he caught 31 passes for 281 yards and two touchdowns.

Denver selected Noah Fant in the first round of last year’s draft and Albert Okwuegbunam in the fourth round of this year’s draft. The Broncos also signed Nick Vannett during free agency, making Heuerman expendable.

Behind Fant, Vannett and Okwuegbunam, Denver also has Jake Butt, Troy Fumagalli, Austin Fort and Andrew Beck at tight end.

After placing Beck on their Reserve/COVID-19 list and parting ways with Heuerman, the Broncos now have 78 players on their offseason roster.

Heuerman, 27, has four seasons of experience in the NFL. He has caught 63 passes for 678 yards and five touchdowns in his career.

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Which Miami Dolphins are unlikely to survive pre-training camp cuts?

Which Miami Dolphins are unlikely to survive pre-training camp cuts?

Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL and the NFL Player’s Association (NFLPA) have been hard at work to iron out the details of a safe return to action this fall over the last few days — and one of the latest details rumored to be finalized will put NFL rosters at 80 players apiece entering training camp, which means the Miami Dolphins have some difficult decisions ahead of them. The Dolphins’ offseason roster currently sits at 87 players, meaning the team is facing the prospect of going from 4 vacancies to needing to cut seven players before camp opens next week.

Cuts without the chance to prove anything on the field have happened before — but never under any circumstances like this. It will be a difficult decision for the Dolphins, but a necessary one as the NFL tries to provide as stable of an environment as possible.

Which seven Miami Dolphins are most likely to be cut ahead of camp? Here’s our best guess.

IDL Ray Lima

Lima is a 2020 undrafted free agent — and he won’t be the only one to make this list. With the Dolphins’ reinforcements in the trenches provided the team with a much more admirable two-deep along the defensive line, it is difficult to envision Lima getting preferential treatment over other rookies like Raekwon Davis and fellow UDFA Benito Jones.

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DaeSean Hamilton makes list of NFL players most likely to be cut or traded

DaeSean Hamilton might be in danger of not making the Broncos’ 53-man roster.

After the 2020 NFL Draft, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell published a list of the 32 players most likely to be cut or traded, one player from each team.

For the Denver Broncos, Barnwell listed wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton. Denver drafted Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler and the team already had Courtland Sutton so Barnwell believes Hamilton could be the odd man out at wide receiver.

“With Hamilton playing just one special-teams snap last season, he wouldn’t retain much value on the roster as Denver’s fourth or fifth wideout,” Barnwell wrote on ESPN.com.

Hamilton (6-1, 203 pounds) was selected by the Broncos in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of Penn State. Over the last two years, he has averaged just 29 receptions per season with an average of 270 yards and 1.5 touchdowns per year.

Hamilton will likely be competing with players including Tim Patrick, Diontae Spencer, Juwann Winfree and Tyrie Cleveland for a spot on the 53-man roster. Last season, Denver carried six WRs on the initial roster.

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ESPN’s Bill Barnwell suggests Larry Warford as Saints’ most-likely offseason cut

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell suggested that New Orleans Saints Pro Bowl guard Larry Warford could be cut or traded after the 2020 NFL Draft.

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What’s next for the New Orleans Saints, now that the big waves of free agency and the 2020 NFL Draft are behind them? The months between now and their late-July training camp look to be quiet, but the Saints could still shake things up with a few crafty roster moves.

One transaction we should prepare for might be the release or trade of veteran guard Larry Warford. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell singled Warford out in a survey of every NFL team’s most-likely cut candidates, writing:

The Saints keep flooding the interior of their offensive line with assets. Last year, they signed Nick Easton in free agency and then traded up to draft Erik McCoy, who excelled at center as a rookie. This offseason, they re-signed Andrus Peat to a five-year, $57.5 million deal and then used their first-round pick on center Cesar Ruiz, who will shift over to guard.

This raises questions about Warford’s future, given that the former Lions guard — who has started 44 regular-season games over the past three seasons in New Orleans — is owed $8.5 million in the final year of his deal.

It isn’t the first time Warford’s name has come up in these sort of conversations. The Athletic also put him out there as an option for the Saints to move during or after the 2020 draft, maybe recouping some picks in 2021 after their always-aggressive trade strategy in this year’s event. The Saints already used their third- and sixth-round picks in 2021, but they’re projected to earn each selection back as compensatory picks — unless the NFL doesn’t allow it.

However, we might not see any movement on Warford until the Saints meet for training camp. The team doesn’t really need any more salary cap space right now, even if they should consider starting on long-term deals with Alvin Kamara, Demario Davis, and a handful of other 2021 free agents.

There’s something to be said for making Ruiz and McCoy each earn their starting jobs this summer, and Warford’s presence would push them to compete even harder for a spot on the starting lineup. While the Saints plan to try out both Ruiz and McCoy at guard and center, there could be a scenario where Warford puts in the work during the offseason and ends up looking like the best option to start at right guard again in 2020. If that’s the case, the Saints would know they at least have a quality backup in either Ruiz or McCoy.

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Broncos waive 4 players to make room for UDFA signings

The Broncos waived four players on Monday.

After agreeing to terms with seven undrafted free agents, the Denver Broncos had to open up four spots on the 90-man offseason roster.

Denver waived safety Tyvis Powell, tight end Bug Howard and defensive linemen Deyon Sizer and Jay-Tee Tiuli, the team announced Monday.

Howard played in the AAF last spring and spent part of the 2019 season on the Broncos’ practice squad. Powell also spent time on the practice squad last season, as did Sizer and Tiuli.

Sizer played in one game last season, recording one tackle in a 23-3 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in December.

After the draft, Denver signed quarterback Riley Neal, running back Levante Bellamy, offensive tackle Hunter Watts, cornerback Essang Bassey, safety Douglas Coleman III and wide receivers Zimari Manning and Kendall Hinton. Bassey was one of the top UDFAs available.

The Broncos also selected 10 players in this year’s NFL Draft.

Denver’s staff will now turn its attention toward the team’s virtual offseason program, which began Monday. Players will participate in virtual meetings and workouts with the team’s coaching staff.

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