Player Notes

Report: Steelers sign versatile former All-Pro cornerback Desmond King ·

8/30/2023A day after setting their initial 53-man active roster, the Pittsburgh Steelers began to tweak it by reportedly signing versatile former All-Pro cornerback Desmond King.The NFL Network reported the deal, and details on term of value were not yet available.Entering his seventh NFL season, King was released by the Houston Texans this week after playing in all 17 games and starting 13 for them ...

Unheralded Dylan Cook goes from college QB to making Steelers' roster as backup tackle ·

8/30/2023Dylan Cook learned he had made the Pittsburgh Steelers’ initial 53-man roster the same way the average fan did Tuesday afternoon.He saw it posted on the team website.The 25-year-old tackle and first-year player from Montana spent the day playing a FIFA soccer video game to pass the time until the 4 p.m. deadline came and went.“I probably played for five hours,” Cook said Wednesday. “That’s ...

Steelers add veteran cornerback Anthony Brown to practice squad ·

8/30/2023The Pittsburgh Steelers added another veteran option to their cornerbacks corps Wednesday, signing 30-year-old Anthony Brown to their practice squad.Brown played the past eight seasons for the Dallas Cowboys but joins the Steelers nine months after suffering a torn Achilles injury that ended his 2022 season. Brown has been a starter for roughly three-quarters of the 94 NFL games he has played, ...

Steelers fill half of practice squad with 8 players let go on cutdown day ·

8/30/2023Half of the players the Pittsburgh Steelers released as part of their final cutdown Tuesday were brought back as half of their practice squad Wednesday.Eight of the 16 Steelers’ deadline day cuts were re-signed to the practice squad: cornerback Luq Barcoo, running back Greg Bell, defensive lineman Breiden Fehoko, receiver Dez Fitzpatrick, defensive lineman Jonathan Marshall, linebacker David ...

AFC East is a tough division for Jets, but 'they've all got to play us, too' ·

August 30, 2023 1:00 pmThe Jets last won the AFC East in 2002, a stinging fact of which coach Robert Saleh and the players are well aware.But they really don’t care.“These guys don’t care about what happened 20 years ago,” Saleh said on Wednesday. “They’re focused on the moment. It’s acknowledged, but it’s not their story. Their story is about to be written.”That story begins on “Monday Night Football” ...

Jets ‘tricked’ receiver into thinking he missed team, now it’s clear they have big plans for this rookie ·

NJ Advance Media for NJ.comUndrafted rookie receiver Xavier Gipson knew it was going to be tough to make the Jets roster, no matter how well he played in training camp and the preseason. So even after he performed quite well in training camp and the preseason, he was not surprised when the coaches called him into the facility before roster cutdown day and began the meeting by saying “sorry.”He was ...

Packers insider: Desperate Jets were blind to ‘toxic’ Aaron Rodgers ·

NJ Advance Media for NJ.comIt’s no secret that the New York Jets were desperately seeking an upgrade at the quarterback position after last season. Jets quarterbacks ranked last in completion percentage (56.9) and passer rating (75) in 2022. They ranked second to last with 15 touchdowns.When it became clear that Aaron Rodgers wasn’t going to retire - after a short stint at a darkness retreat - and ...

Jets practice squad tracker: With 53-man roster set, Joe Douglas keeps prepping for Week 1 ·

NJ Advance Media for NJ.comJets general manager Joe Douglas and coach Robert Saleh have already endured the hardest part of the offseason: telling more than 30 players that they wouldn’t be making a NFL roster in the span of a few days.And while the Jets have trimmed their roster down to the initial 53 men, the roster won’t look the same on Monday, Sept. 11, when they start the season against the Bills ...

Giants’ Jihad Ward explains why he shoved Aaron Rodgers, leading to trash-talking altercation that was featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks ·

NJ Advance Media for NJ.comAnd now for the rest of the story.HBO’s Hard Knocks captured the moment early in Saturday’s game between the Jets and Giants when Jihad Ward gave Aaron Rodgers a light shove after the Jets’ quarterback had completed a short pass to Mecole Hardman that went for a 10-yard gain.The cameras showed Rodgers giving Ward, an eight-year NFL veteran, a shove back before the two exchanged ...

Two 'Hard Knocks' favorites get cut by Jets ·

8/30/2023The cruel reality of the NFL made an appearance on the fourth episode of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” on Tuesday.Defensive tackle Tanzel Smart and wide receiver Jerome Kapp — two players released by the Jets as they trimmed their roster to 53 — were the subjects of two lengthy scenes about their unlikely paths to training camp, but their appearances ended with Smart’s shoulder injury in the preseason ...

Recent Stories

NFL roster madness explained

Something always has to have a nickname. Like “Black Monday” in the NFL, when head coaches are fired the day after the end of the regular season, it was only a matter of time before someone slapped a name on the cutdown in the NFL. Some have called it “Black ...

CeeDee cashes in, sets stage for rookie WR class

Now that the Dallas Cowboys finally quieted the daily discussion about wide receiver CeeDeee Lamb with a massive contract, there is no doubt the trend is to covet these pass catchers second only to the almighty quarterback. The prolific All-Pro wideout agreed ...

Must-see 2024 NFL rookie QB battles

After the first 12 picks in this year’s draft were complete, the 2024 quarterback class was destined to be forever linked to that celebrated 1983 draft, which also saw six quarterbacks, including three Hall of Famers, taken in Round 1. With the countdown to the ...

Rookie IOLs with mettle to medal

Amid the Summer Olympics, the NFL season has officially begun with a full slate of preseason games. This is the time of year when the attention is typically on the skilled position players as fantasy football degenerates are fine-tuning their draft strategies to ...

When Life Choices Become Grave Mistakes

I'm deeply saddened to hear about the tragic "accident" that claimed the lives of three young men: Khyree Jackson (24), Isaiah Hazel (23), and Anthony Lytton Jr. (24). These childhood friends shared dreams and aspirations of becoming professional athletes. They ...

Running back: Devolution of a proud position

In this, the first in a series on the state of running backs, we discuss how a dramatic evolution has negatively impacted a once proud position. The series will look back at RBs selected in the 2024 draft, ahead to a 2025 class that seems loaded with runners and ...

Trump's forgotten charge: Killing the USFL

July 11, 2024, is already etched in history as the day former President Donald Trump will be sentenced for 34 felony convictions. Regardless of the outcome, I am reminded of July 29, 1986, when he actually won his battle in a New York court and lost the war. Trump ...

Larry Allen: A long road to respect

Arguably the most dominant offensive lineman in football history, Larry Allen died Sunday while on vacation with his family in Mexico. He was 52.   His life story redefined perseverance. It could have been the original plot line for Straight Outta Compton, but ...

Controversy: Are punters, kickers NFL-draft worthy?

Kansas City Chiefs’ placekicker Harrison Butker made an impression in 2023 by making 33 of 35 field goals. Last week, he made quite an impression at Benedictine College, where Butker, shall we say, pushed his commencement speech wide right.   Controversy and ...

Jim Otto, the original Mr. Raider, dies at 86

The original Mr. Raider has passed. Jim Otto, the first Raider to touch a football, died Sunday at his Auburn (CA) home, with his family at his side. He spent most of his 86 years sneering at the inevitable, enduring last rites three previous times. Otto is survived ...

2024 Draft: A next-gen affair

As we look forward to watching the 257 draftees selected last week in the 2024 NFL Draft, we also gaze in the rear-view mirror at those relatives who preceded them and established the family name long ago. Fathers, uncles, and brothers with names everyone ...

Calculating the 2024 Draft grades of all 257 picks

 2024 DRAFT: 32 TEAMS AND 257 PLAYERS GRADED Exhale. The 2024 NFL Draft did indeed conclude when Mr. Irrelevant, Jaylen Key (DB, Alabama) was drafted by the New York Jets with the No. 257 selection. We can break out the calculators and over analyze the selection ...