The roster pare-down to 75 continues but at this point only back-up players are being released. The 53-man cut-down is over at 4 P.M. EST on Saturday, August 30th. All 32 teams will have their fourth and final preseason game on Thursday evening. The Dolphins released PK John Potter and will stick with Caleb Sturgis. Josh Brown remains the Giants kicker after Brandon McManus was traded. Quarterbacks Trent Edwards (OAK), Thad Lewis (BUF), Brady Quinn (MIA) and Matt Scott (CIN) were released. This weekend will be the blood-letting when 22 players from each team are given their walking papers and that is bound to involve one or two surprises.
The big story of the day was the trade between the Patriots and the Buccaneers. In exchange for LG Logan Mankins, the Pats receive TE Tim Wright and the Bucs fifth round pick in 2015. In fantasy terms, this is a good move all around. Gronkowski is unaffected in this since he plays a different sort of tight end than Wright and may actually get help from someone else for the secondary to worry about. Tim Wright fills in the spot vacated by Aaron Hernandez as the “move” tight end and Wright is a receiving tight end – he’s never been much of a blocker. Lastly, the Buccaneers offensive line gets an obvious upgrade that benefits the entire offense but none so much as Doug Martin.
The Packers are still determining who will be the #2 behind Eddie Lacy. James Starks has been considered the front runner all summer but DuJuan Harris remains in the race that the coaching staff has not yet called. In fantasy drafts, it means there is no safe handcuff for Lacy.
- Be sure to check out today’s “10 Stats That Matter From Week Three of the Preseason.“
Matt Schaub remains out with tendinitis in his elbow but is still expected to be ready for the season opener. HC Dennis Allen is adamant that Schaub is the starter but the fact he has to come out and say that points to a shaky situation. Schaub has impressed no one in Oakland so far while the rookie Derek Carr has been better than expected. Schaub should remain a safe start in week one but later in the season all bets are off.
The Broncos acquired Brandon McManus from the Giants in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick. He’ll fill-in for Matt Prater during his four week suspension. No one wants to carry extra kickers on their fantasy roster but 12 weeks of Prater may be better than 16 weeks of many other kickers.
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Le’Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount were charged with marijuana possession and Bell also received a DUI. The NFL will not make a ruling on this until the legal system has run its course which could easily be next year. HC Mike Tomlin said that the team would not be bound by waiting for the final resolution of the case before acting so there remains a chance that something this season could be handed down by the team. So far their only punishment is having to play in the preseason games last week and on this Thursday.
