Bucs hope for chip off old block
Tampa Bay signs the son of former Heisman winner
Quarterback Vincent Testaverde, whose father was the No. 1 pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1987, has signed with the Bucs.
The younger Testaverde started his college career at Texas Tech and then moved to Miami, his father’s alma mater, before ending up at Albany.
In one season with the Great Danes, he started eight games and threw for 1,714 yards and 11 touchdowns while completing 53.4 per cent of his passes.
Testaverde tried out with the Buccaneers at rookie mini-camp in May and his addition comes after rookie Nick Fitzgerald was put on the active/non-football injury list with a hamstring injury to start training camp.
The Bucs drafted the elder Testaverde after he won the Heisman Trophy with the Hurricanes. He spent the first six seasons of his 21-year career there, also playing for the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers.
Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy watched the last two men standing in the placekicker competition excel on a surprisingly bright stage at training camp.
With more than 13,000 fans flocking to Bourbonnais, Ill., for Bears training camp over the weekend, Nagy came out pleased with the results of what became a showdown between Elliott Fry and Eddy Pineiro.
Nagy, fans and most everyone on the team have a strong interest in the outcome of the only legitimate position battle in Bears camp.
On Saturday, with more than 8,300 fans in the stands, Fry made eight consecutive kicks and then was given the “dealer’s choice” opportunity by Nagy. This amounts to the chance to end practice with a field-goal attempt from any distance. Fry opted for a 60-yarder and punched it right through.
Sunday afternoon, Pineiro had a better day, pulling a 63-yarder out of his sleeve to end practice.
Cameron Meredith was released Monday by the New Orleans Saints.
The 26-year-old wide receiver signed a two-year, $9.5-million offer sheet with the Saints as a restricted free agent in 2018.
Meredith never regained his pre-injury form following a torn ACL in the 2017 pre-season with the Chicago Bears. He played in six games with the Saints last season and caught nine passes for 114 yards, but landed on injured reserve due to persistent swelling and discomfort in his knee.
Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Keith Reaser was carted off the field in practice Monday and coach Andy Reid told reporters it appears he suffered a torn Achilles.
In April, he became the first player from the defunct Alliance of American Football to sign with an NFL team. This is his second stint with the Chiefs.
Reaser, who played for the Orlando Apollos, was a fifth-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in the 2014 NFL draft. He had three interceptions in eight games with the Apollos.
In three-plus seasons with the 49ers, he played in 29 games. He played one game for the Chiefs in the 2017 season.