It’s waiver wire/cut time. Shuffling off the flotsam and jetsam. Who do you remember that a team picked up for basically nothing who went on to star/contribute mightily to their new team?
Who do you think might be this season’s find?
I’m not sure if it’s the same thing, but in July 2011 when the lockout ended prior to the start of the regular season, Seattle picked up Doug Baldwin as an undrafted free agent. He went on to be one of the most consistently productive wide receivers in franchise history.
The big difference is that he was acquired earlier in preseason and wasn’t a last minute pickup as teams were finalizing cuts, so he might not be a great example. But they did get him for practically nothing.
The best thing I saw coming out of the preseason was the new kickoff format.
Last year, they basically eliminated the kick return. This year, they made touchbacks come out to the 35, so there’s a real incentive on the kicking team to land the ball in the field of play. Ergo, more returns, more action.
(They still don’t let the kicking team start running at the ball carrier until he catches the football. That’s fine; it’s takes away some of their speed, because we still get a ball carrier trying to break through instead of just taking a knee in the end zone)
The Packers continued their 20 year old streak of having an undrafted rookie on their 53 man roster. Nazir Stackhouse, a 6’4", 327 behemoth run stopper out of Georgia went undrafted, but has apparently made the Packers final roster. Congrats to him.
Is that just Green Bay’s UDFA pickups, or UDFAs from other teams as well?
Actually, just checked. The streak includes both.
Allen Lazard, and I’ll never change my mind. I have to cheer for the Iowa State guys when they make good.
Every year Seattle has at least one player who looks freaking amazing in the preseason and gets cut.
This year it’s Patrick “Patty-O” O’Connell. He was an absolute monster in the game they played in Green Bay, and was a contributor last year on special teams, and they lack depth at LB.
He’s on waivers so he could possibly come back as a practice squad guy. Here’s hoping.
A few notable cuts for the Bears.
Zah Frazier, CB, rookie 5th round pick out of UTSA has been absent from all of camp with a mysterious “personal issue”. No one seems to have any concrete information as to what it is. Original thoughts were that it was a bereavment, but he’s now been placed on season ending IR/NFI. I’m sure we’ll learn more someday, but as a 24 year old rookie, this looks like his career is over before it started, doubly so if the root cause turns out to be drugs/crime related.
Zacch Pickens, DT, a 2023 3rd round selection who never panned out. Even his rookie season he barely saw the field, seems like it was immediately clear that he wasn’t an NFL level player.
Tyler Scott, WR, a 2023 4th round selection who is a fast but undersized WR. He got a lot of playing time his rookie year and was a favorite target of Justin Fields, but he was overall unproductive with a poor catch rate. Since his rookie season his usage has declined steadily.
Terrell Smith, DB, a 2023 5th round pick who has been a really impressive backup CB went down with a nasty patellar tendon tear in the preaseason. This injury is often viewed as a career ender, he was placed on season ending IR. We’ll hope he bucks the odds and returns to form.
Doug Kramer, C, and Bill Murray, G, who have been lingering around the team for a few seasons as backups were both put on IR as well. I think both their injuries are minor and this is more a roster action to keep them in house and get them to the practice squad when “healthy”. This is sort of small potatoes in the grand scheme of things, but it’s a direct result of the FA additions we made on the interior this offseason.
The release of Tyler Scott (and Maurice Alexander, who Ben Johnson brought in from Detroit) almost certainly opened the door for the Bears to retain presseason standout and UDFA Jahdae Walker, WR, Texas A&M. Walker has been amazing and seems like a perfect fit in Johnson’s scheme and has meshed with both Caleb and Bagent. You always need to take preseason performances with a grain of salt, but it feels like the Bears might have found an absolute gem here. It’s a crowded WR room, but the Bears aren’t going to gamble with losing him to waivers.
We kept 10 OLs, which is a modest surprise. The Bears are hanging onto all 4 young “project” blockers including the 2 rookies, and 2 second year guys.
The Bears weakest roster group is probably running back or linebacker. While I think we’re optimistic about the young LBs, we probably feel fairly uncomfortable with the ball carriers. If there’s a RB with upside on the waiver wire I would not be shocked if the Bears made a addition there.
If it were drugs/crime related, I’d think the Bears would just cut him. By keeping him on IR, he gets paid and he gets to practice with the team. I’d guess something mental-health related, or maybe a serious illness in his family.
Assuming it’s something like that, conditional kudos to the Bears for helping him out during a potentially challenging time.
Definitely hope that’s the case, but them choosing season ending NFI is a red flag. Here’s what Poles said:
“Little bit of a complicated deal; he’s going to go on NFI,” Poles said. “He had a situation that presented itself in a category that I would say is personal. As we dug into it to try and help him out, it revealed itself as something that happened before he got here. Credit to our staff for finding the root cause of what he was going through. He’ll be down for the year, but he’ll spend the time going to meetings, in the weight room, and with medical staff preparing for next season to get ready to play. Kind of a bummer on the front end, but I think because of everyone’s hard work and care here, we got him on the right path.”
The language here makes it seem like it’s not a character issue, which is encouraging. But them suggesting that the team had to “dig into the root cause” and that it “happened before he got here” makes it sound like a not-straightforward family issue.
Mental health is probably a decent candidate but putting him on season ending NFI over a mental health issue seems extreme. If there’s a mental health issue that severe, how did it not show up in the pre-draft process?
The Bears once again do themselves no favors by being misleading and evasive about stuff like this. Apparently no lessons were learned in the Eberflus era.
The hyper cynical part of me wonders if the secrecy is to save face for Poles and the front office. This would be another in a long line of really bad roster moves that shows the guys in charge are not doing their homework.
Via Babylon Bee:
“Taylor Swift Engagement Overturned As Referee Determines Travis Kelce’s Knee Didn’t Touch The Ground”
I saw that. The Bee is quite funny.
And he did! He’s a Seahawk again. The couple of this year’s late draft picks Seattle waived are also on the practice squad.
Seen somewhere on the internet: Taylor Swift got a ring before Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, or Joe Burrow.
And I just saw this on The Athletic: in the 2024 season, there were 59 different quarterbacks that started at least one game in the NFL. The Browns led the way with 4.
Tommy is coming to New England after the Giants released him. He’ll have a billboard up in the North End of Boston in no time!
Also seen on the internet:
That prenup is going to be longer than any playbook he’s ever read
It’s being reported that the Packers have obtained All-Pro linebacker Micah Parsons from the Cowboys. Parsons had been unhappy with how Jerry Jones had been treating him during contract negotiations, and the Packers are said to have already agreed to a 4-year, $188 million contract with Parsons, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history.
Beat me to it. I really hope they gave up 12 first round picks.
Maybe it’s another John Hadl/Lawrence Welk trade: “a one, a two, a one-two-three.” 