Tag: tryouts

Saints work out free agent pass rushers including Noah Spence, Shane Ray

The New Orleans Saints are managing injuries along their defensive line, so they worked out free agents like Noah Spence and Shane Ray.

[jwplayer FgrNrsL9-ThvAeFxT]

The New Orleans Saints worked out several veteran pass rushers on Tuesday, per a report from Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Wilson reported that players involved in the tryouts included Noah Spence, Shane Ray, and Chris Smith. With two starting defensive linemen sidelined by injuries against the San Francisco 49ers last week (Sheldon Rankins and Marcus Davenport each exited the game) and a top backup on the mend after taking a painful shot to the knee (Trey Hendrickson), it makes sense for the Saints to consider their options.

Spence was frequently connected to the Saints ahead of the 2016 NFL Draft; the team met with him extensively before that year’s Reese’s Senior Bowl and hosted him in New Orleans on an official visit, which reportedly went well. Spence finished his college career at Eastern Kentucky after initially playing with the Ohio State Buckeyes, making him one of several prospects the Saints studied (they ended up drafting both Michael Thomas and Vonn Bell in the second round that year, each of whom played with Spence at Ohio State). However, Spence failed to gain traction after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him, and was waived during roster cuts before the 2019 season.

Ray was a highly-touted former first-round draft pick by the Denver Broncos out of Missouri, but injuries and ineffectiveness resulted in him testing free agency after his contract expired. The Baltimore Ravens took a shot on him over the summer but waived him during roster cuts, and he hasn’t yet caught on with another team.

It’s a similar story for Chris Smith, who spent time with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals before playing for the Cleveland Browns this season. The sixth-year pro was released in early December after signing a three-year contract with the Browns back in March.

At this point in their careers, each of these players are probably going to make their best impact at the end of a pass-rush rotation. Katherine Terrell of The Athletic reported that it doesn’t appear the Saints are looking to add any new players at this time, instead using these veteran workouts as an opportunity to update in-house scouting report.

[vertical-gallery id=24148]

Broncos worked out 19 players, including QB Tyree Jackson

The Broncos worked out more than a dozen players this week, including former Buffalo quarterback Tyree Jackson.

We already knew that the Denver Broncos worked out former Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald on Tuesday. Thanks to NFL reporter Howard Balzer, we now know the names of 18 other players that worked out for the team.

In addition to Fitzgerald, Denver also worked out two other QBs: Taryn Christion and Tyree Jackson. Here’s the complete list of players that worked out for the Broncos, according to Balzer:

  • WR Tyre Brady
  • WR De’Mornay Pierson-El
  • WR DeAndrew Thompkins
  • WR Trevion Thompson
  • WR Alex Wesley
  • WR Papi White
  • QB Taryn Christion
  • QB Nick Fitzgerald
  • QB Tyree Jackson
  • TE Tyree Mayfield
  • OG Larry Allen
  • OG Joshua Garnett
  • OG Bunchy Stallings
  • OT Ka’John Armstrong
  • OT Brian Fineanganofo
  • RB Alex Barnes
  • RB Nick Brossette
  • RB Jeremy Cox
  • RB Matthew Dayes

Jackson (6-7, 249 pounds) is likely the most notable player on the list. He threw for 6,999 yards and 49 touchdowns during his three years at Buffalo and rushed for 757 yards and 16 more scores. Jackson signed with the Bills as a college free agent in April but failed to make their 53-man roster.

Related: Broncos worked out 16 players last week.

Jackson was selected by the DC Defenders in the XFL draft for the upcoming 2020 season but he would likely turn down a chance to start in the upstart league if he is invited to camp by an NFL team.

Jackson and the other players that worked out for the Broncos are likely being considered as “future contract” candidates. Players not on an active roster at the end of the season are eligible to sign future deals that become official when the new league year begins in March.

At the end of last season, Denver signed 10 players to future contracts.

[vertical-gallery id=628662]

Panthers work out four kickers after Joey Slye’s rough day vs. Saints

Carolina Panthers kicker Joey Slye had a bad day against the New Orleans Saints, causing Carolina to try out free agents like Kai Forbath.

[jwplayer jcPYpmHE]

The New Orleans Saints defeated the Carolina Panthers after some spotty kicking from Panthers specialist Joey Slye last Sunday, and the team is taking steps to find a better answer at the position, according to a report from Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Slye missed two extra point tries and a 28-yard field goal against the Saints in a game Carolina lost 34-31, dropping them to 5-6 on the season.

Ironically, Carolina’s free agent tryouts included former Saints kicker Kai Forbath, who appeared in 10 games for New Orleans back in 2015. Forbath went 9-for-13 on field goal tries and 33-for-34 on extra point attempts that season before stints with the Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Other kickers who worked out for Carolina per Wilson’s report were Elliott Fry (66-of-88 on field goals in 51 games at South Carolina, but no extensive NFL experience), Greg Joseph (17-of-20 in 14 games with the Cleveland Browns last year), and Nick Rose (11-of-14 in 10 games for two teams from 2017 to 2018).

The Panthers haven’t made any moves yet beyond adding Joseph to their practice squad, but the Saints will see whoever gets the starting nod next when they fly out to Charlotte in the regular season finale on Dec. 29.

[lawrence-related id=23175]

[vertical-gallery id=23127]

Broncos worked out 16 players last week

Tre’ Crawford was among 16 players who worked out for the Broncos last week.

The Broncos worked out 16 players last week and half of those players were defensive backs, perhaps a sign that Denver plans to add more depth in the secondary this offseason. Here’s the list of last week’s workouts, courtesy of The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala:

  1. DB Corrin Ballard
  2. DT Daryle Banfield 
  3. DE Tashawn Bower
  4. LB Tre’ Crawford 
  5. DB Davante Davis 
  6. DT Willie Henry 
  7. DB P.J. Locke 
  8. DB Tray Matthews
  9. DB Picasso Nelson 
  10. LB Gimel President 
  11. DE Wyatt Ray
  12. DB Tyree Robinson 
  13. DB Kahani Smith 
  14. LB Pita Taumoepenu 
  15. NT Jay-Tee Tiuli 
  16. DB Isaiah Wharton

Of note, the Broncos did not work out any punters last week. Colby Wadman has come under pressure in recent weeks and he didn’t help his case on Sunday when he had an awful 13-yard punt. He has averaged 43.8 yards per punt this season, which ranks 28th in the league.

Denver has been working out players as candidates for “futures contracts.” Players that are not on an active roster at the end of the season are eligible to sign future deals that will become official in March. Teams are allowed to have 90 players on the roster during the offseason.

[vertical-gallery id=628347]

Colin Kaepernick’s tryout was moved at the last minute. Here’s what we know.

The location of the Colin Kaepernick workout was changed just hours before its scheduled start at the Atlanta Falcons facility. What we know.

On Saturday, Colin Kaepernick was meant to conduct a workout for NFL representatives to see if the former quarterback could catch on with a team.

From the start, the process seemed a bit strange. The NFL first announced that representatives from all 32 teams would be there, then backtracked and said it didn’t know how many teams would be there, and also wouldn’t publicly be saying who would attend.

More reporting uncovered that the NFL threw together the workout hastily, giving Kaepernick only two hours to agree to appear, and then scheduled it for a Saturday, when most NFL personnel would be preparing for tomorrow’s game (and scouts would most likely be at college games).

On Saturday afternoon, another wrinkle came out. Kaepernick’s representatives announced that the workout would no longer happen at 3 p.m. at the Falcons facility, but would rather happen an hour later, at 4 p.m., at an undisclosed location.

Their reasoning for the move was that they believed the NFL had asked them to sign an “unusual” waiver, and they were confused why the league would refuse to allow any media there.

The statement said that media that requested it would be told where the workout was, and would be free to attend. It’s unclear if any NFL teams will still plan on attending, or will skip it for fear of the league having repercussions for attending a tryout not set up by the NFL.

Here’s the statement from Kaepernick’s reps:

I don’t know the particulars of the liability waivers, and I’m not an attorney so I’m not going to guess.

UPDATE: Oh man. According to ProFootballTalk, the “unusual waiver” would have made it so Colin Kaepernick had to drop any future lawsuit over the league keeping him from signing with a team. Instead of it being a waiver in the event that he was injured, Kaepernick’s team says that the waiver would have exonerated the league from ANY employment claims.

The NFL refusing to allow media there seems bizarre, as well. If they really want to give him an open and fair shot, what difference would it make if people could watch the workout?

By demanding that it take place in secret, it sure seems to reinforce what a lot of people fear: This is merely a PR stunt, and no matter how well Kaepernick performs, the league can just say he didn’t look good and then have cover when he continues to go unsigned by teams. And with that update from PFT, it sure seems like it was a crafty legal maneuver as well.

UPDATE 4:20 p.m. ET: The workout has been moved to a local high school football field.

You can now watch a live video feed of the workout.

UPDATE 4:50 p.m. ET: The league has now issued a statement.

It appears that this had been set up in anticipation of NFL hi-jinx.

UPDATE: It already appears that some NFL personnel are abandoning the workout.

[lawrence-related id=870784]

[vertical-gallery id=869963]