Patriots trade Logan Mankins, Anthony Spencer closer to return for Cowboys and more
The Raiders continue to juggle injuries in the linebacking corps while the Chargers wonder what to do along the defensive line now that Kwame Geathers is lost for the season.
John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been searching for offensive line help all offseason, and likely found their man on Tuesday. The Buccaneers sent tight end Tim Wright and a fourth-round pick to the New England Patriots in exchange for offensive guard Logan Mankins, a six-time Pro Bowler. The fourth-round pick is for the 2015 NFL Draft.
Mankins has been one of the best interior linemen in all of football, but is on the decline. It hasn’t been a sharp decline though, as he made the Pro Bowl in 2013, for the fifth consecutive year. Wright caught five touchdowns last season, his rookie year, and should have a chance to make waves with the Patriots offense, which puts a high value on the tight end position. It looks like a win-win for both teams.
Injuries
The Dallas Cowboys plan to take defensive end Anthony Spencer off of the physically unable to perform list soon, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has said that Spencer will not be ready for the season opener against the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 7, but that "there's a possibility that any time after that he could feel good enough about his repairs."
Spencer had microfracture surgery on his left knee in October. When the Cowboys take him off the PUP list, he will count against the current 75-man roster and against the 53-man roster when its cut down again on Aug. 30. Were he to remain on the list, he’d be forced to miss at least the first six games of the season. Obviously, the Cowboys feel good about his chances to return before then.
Linebacker Sio Moore returned to practice, per CSN's Scott Bair, for the Oakland Raiders after injuring his neck on Friday in a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. Moore, the team's third-round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, is expected to start in the middle alongside Nick Roach in the Raiders 3-4 base defense.
Speaking of Roach, Bair said he remains out after suffering a concussion in the same game. He will likely be held out of any further preseason activities to exercise caution before the regular season begins.
The Chargers took a hit along the defensive line with the announcement that nose tackle Kwame Geathers was lost for the season and will be placed on injured reserve. The team's options aren't that great, and John Gennaro from Bolts from the Blue says the team will likely look for outside help to bolster the defensive interior.
Washington safety Phillip Thomas will seek another opinion for a foot injury, per team announcement. Thomas also missed all of last season, his rookie campaign, to a Lisfranc injury.
The Minnesota Vikings got good news on Linval Joseph on Tuesday. The defensive lineman was signed this offseason to help the team up front on defense, but became one of several victims of a shooting in downtown Minneapolis. His status was uncertain for a while, but now reports say he will be ready for Week 1 against the St. Louis Rams.
The Green Bay Packers made some more injury-related moves this afternoon, placing WR Jared Abbrederis, T/G Don Barclay, RB Rajion Neal, DT B.J. Raji, LB Joe Thomas and G Andrew Tiller on injured reserve. Not all of these guys have season-ending injuries, but stashing them on IR allows the Packers to keep them around and possibly give them a chance to make the roster later in the year.
Denver Broncos coach John Fox gave an update today on Wes Welker's status, saying that he is doing "fantastic" in the concussion protocol and the team is optimistic he will be able to return to the field soon, reports NFL.com's Ian Rapoport. Welker sustained a concussion in a preseason game against the Texans on Saturday. Welker also suffered two concussions last year, missing the final three games of the regular season before returning for the playoffs.
Position Battles
St. Louis Rams defensive end Michael Sam is one of the higher-profile players fighting for his spot on the team. We're not exactly past the sensation of him even being in the NFL, but make no mistake about it: He's fighting for his spot on the football field, and his prospects are looking good.
Head coach Jeff Fisher said on Tuesday that the decision on Sam’s place on the roster will come down to his defensive ability, not his play on special teams, as reported by Albert Breer of the NFL Network. Sam is a seventh-round pick, but he’s looked solid thus far in the preseason. Whether or not he makes it is really up in the air at this point. The biggest thing going against him is the fact that the Rams have some very solid defensive linemen already on the team.
Henry Melton is up and running with the first team for the Dallas Cowboys after being out for a groin injury. That's good news for a Cowboys front line that could use a boost.
Roster cuts
On Tuesday, NFL teams had to cut their rosters down to a max of 75 players from 90 by 4 p.m. ET. That's an awful lot of players losing their jobs and a lot of information to take in at once. Fortunately, we had a tracker with all of the cuts made on Tuesday for you to get caught up. On Aug. 30, the rosters will be chopped down again, from 75 to the 53-man regular-season limit.
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