An injury-riddled 2014 campaign will be the last for running back Reggie Bush with the Detroit Lions. The team announced they released Bush Wednesday.
Bush had two years left on his contract and sending Bush on his way will save the Lions $1.7 million in cap space, but have to eat almost $4 million in dead money. The tailback never could get healthy last season and only appeared in just 11 games. In Detroit’s playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys Bush played hurt, but still scored a touchdown and contributed 47 total yards.
It was the first year Bush dealt with nagging injuries since his final season with the New Orleans Saints. Bush rushed for 1,006 yards in his first year in Detroit and added 506 yards receiving, scoring a combined seven touchdowns. Bush averaged 4.5 yards per carry and 9.4 yards per catch that season.
Packers part ways with A.J. Hawk
A.J. Hawk holds the Green Bay Packers’ career record for tackles, but after the team announced they had cut him Tuesday, he’ll not get the chance to add to it. Hawk was banged up at the end of last season, but never missed a game, recording a solid final stat line of 90 tackles, half a sack and two passes defended.
Hawk was drafted by the Packers in the 2006 draft out of Ohio State. He made the Pro Bowl once in 2010.
“A.J. is a consummate Packer and we are grateful for all that he has given and how he represented the organization over the past nine seasons,” Packers GM Ted Thompson said in a statement. “He was a durable and consistent contributor to our success, but more importantly, he is a great person and teammate.”
Hawk played hurt himself over the latter part of the 2014 season and just recently had surgery to remove bone spurs in his ankle. The Packers actually cut Hawk once before in 2011, but re-signed him the next day to a smaller contract. It doesn’t appear that will be the case this time.
Hawk has been a solid, if not spectacular, starter in the NFL and should be able to find another job as long as he can pass a physical.
Ravens cut wide receiver Jacoby Jones
Jacoby Jones slid down the Baltimore Ravens depth chart last season and will now slide right on out of the facility. The 30-year-old wide receiver and kick returner hits the open market as a free agent for the second time in his career after being originally drafted by the Houston Texans out of Lane University in 2007.
Jones’ production in the passing game was down last season and he eventually lost his job as the No. 3 receiver, but he was still a dangerous kick and punt returner. Jones record 978 yards of kick-off returns alone and had an 108-yard TD return against the Pittsburgh Steelers in November. The 108-yarder matches the Super Bowl record return Jones reeled off against the San Francisco 49ers in Jan. 2013.
That year was Jones best as a player in the NFL, not only scoring a kick return in the Super Bowl, but catching the pass that sent the Ravens there in the first place, a 70-yard touchdown pass with 44 seconds left against the Denver Broncos that sent the game into overtime.
Jones added a 56-yard TD reception in that year’s Super Bowl.
“We don’t win Super Bowl XLVII without Jacoby,” Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome said. “You immediately think of the touchdown against Denver in the divisional round and then the big plays in that Super Bowl — the long touchdown from Joe (Flacco) and the kickoff to open the second half. He also had a big punt return in that game. Jacoby was an outstanding Raven, good teammate on and off the field.”
Jones seems to have no hard feelings, tweeting a goodbye to Ravens fans.
https://twitter.com/TheRealJacoby12/status/570637051491520513
Giants tell Peyton Hillis to hit the road
Just four years removed from a career season and a Madden NFL 2012 video game cover, running back Peyton Hillis is looking for work again. The New York Giants announced they released the veteran running back Tuesday.
If Hillis lands on another team it will be his fifth since entering the league as a seventh-round draft choice of the Denver Broncos in 2008. Hillis captured the imagination and hearts of Cleveland fans two years later when he rushed for 1,177 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Browns. Hillis spent much of the next season injured and left for Kansas City in 2012.
The move saves the Giants $945,000 in the salary cap. Between cutting Hillis Tuesday and Mathias Kiwanuka Monday, New York has opened up $6 million in cap space.
