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The New York Jets officially signed DT Jay Tufele to a contract on Monday.
Tufele, 25, was drafted by the Jaguars out of USC in the fourth round of the 2021 draft. He signed a four-year, $4,305,687 rookie contract that includes a $825,687 signing bonus.
The Jaguars waived Tufele at the start of the 2022 season and he was later claimed off waivers by the Bengals.
In 2024, Tufele appeared in 13 games for the Bengals and made three starts for them while recording 15 tackles, a half sack and a pass defense.
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- Vikings offense has sizable hole following first-round WR's NFL ruling
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Browns reporter says rookie is 'not an NFL QB'
As of the first Monday of August, there was no indication that 2025 third-round draft pick Dillon Gabriel or 2025 fifth-rounder Shedeur Sanders had any real chance to emerge as the Cleveland Browns' Week 1 starting quarterback. During a Monday morning appearance on Cleveland sports radio station 92.3 The Fan, Browns reporter Daryl Ruiter offered quite a worrisome update regarding how Gabriel has looked during training camp practices. "He's not good," Ruiter said about Gabriel. "He's not an NFL quarterback. Not right now, and the fact that they keep running him out there for first-team reps ... they're cramming this guy down our throats, and it's not good." Numerous NFL analysts viewed Gabriel as a third-day selection before the Browns made him the 94th overall pick of this year's draft. The perception, up until Sanders was held out of Saturday's practice due to arm soreness, was that he has been the team's fourth-choice option at the position behind Gabriel, Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco. All signs are reportedly pointing to Flacco getting the start for Cleveland's Week 1 game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 7. Gabriel is listed at 5-foot-11, but some who cover the team have expressed doubts about that measurement. It seems that a lack of desirable size for playing the position in the pros isn't all that's gone against Gabriel this summer. "It's not a height thing," Ruiter continued. "It's not personal. He's rolling out and can't hit guys who are wide open. He's not all that great, at times, in the warmup periods. ... He's just not a good quarterback." Ruiter said that he feels Gabriel "has no business being in contention to start a football game" for the Browns this season. "It's god awful when he's on the field," Ruiter added. Browns general manager Andrew Berry revealed in late July that he could stash all four active quarterbacks on the roster for at least Week 1. For an article published on Sunday night, Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland/The Land on Demand wrote that there's "zero chance" either Gabriel or Sanders will be cut this summer. Perhaps Gabriel will look better when he sees some action in Cleveland's preseason opener at the Carolina Panthers on Aug. 8. That said, it sounds like fans should keep their expectations low for Gabriel's unofficial debut this coming Friday.
Calls Mount for Aaron Boone to Be Fired After Fifth Straight Yankees Loss
The New York Yankees continue to play like one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball. Despite their American League, MVP candidate, Aaron Judge, being reinstated from the injured list on Tuesday, the Yankees struggled mightily -- again. The Yankees took on the Texas rangers in the second game of a three-game-series, on the road. Judge was slotted into the No. 3 slot in the batting order, as the designated hitter, and Will Warren took the mound against the Rangers, Nathan Eovaldi. Warren was solid, giving up just three hits and issuing three walks while striking out five batters in five innings pitched. Trade deadline acquisition, Camilo Doval, and Luke Weaver held down the bullpen, keeping this game scoreless as it headed into the eighth inning. Then, Yankees manager, Aaron Boone, did the inexplicable. He brought struggling reliever, Devin Williams, into a 0-0 game, despite blowing two consecutive saves and giving up earned runs in three consecutive appearances. In the least surprising outcome ever, Williams loaded the bases before giving up a two-run single to Rowdy Tellez. The Yankees freefall continues, as they have an 18-29 record since June 12. The only team in the AL with a worse record over that timeframe is the Minnesota Twins (16-29). With the frustration seemingly at an All-Time high amongst Yankees fans, they've descended upon social media, and calls are mounting for Boone to be fired. Within minutes of the 2-0 Rangers win over the Yankees going final on Tuesday night, "Aaron Boone" and "Devin Williams" were both trending on X. And "#FireBoone" was popping up everywhere. The Yankees got just two hits on Tuesday and have scored just eight runs over their past four games. To make matters worse, recent trade deadline acquisition, reliever, Jake Bird, was sent down to the Minors prior to Tuesday's game. The Yankees traded away two prospects in exchange for Bird. Time will tell if the Yankees front office will make a change at manager by firing Boone, but it is apparent that Yankees fans overwhelmingly want to see that transpire. The Yankees next game comes on Wednesday afternoon, against the Rangers, when Carlos Rodon will take the mound against Jack Leiter. First pitch is scheduled for 2:35 p.m. EDT.
Padres already demoting one of their trade-deadline acquisitions
The Padres announced they’ve optioned JP Sears to Triple-A El Paso. They recalled reliever Sean Reynolds and will go with a nine-man bullpen in the short term. Sears will spend at least 15 days in the minors unless he’s brought up to replace a player going on the injured list. San Diego acquired Sears alongside Mason Miller in last week’s massive deadline deal. The 29-year-old southpaw made his team debut Monday night. He allowed five runs in as many innings on 10 hits and a walk against the Diamondbacks. Sears took the loss in a 6-2 defeat. He’d carried a 4.95 earned run average over 22 starts with the A’s. Monday's performance pushed his ERA to 5.12 across 116 innings. It’s a bottom-10 mark among pitchers to log at least 100 frames. Sears had the highest home run rate among that group, offsetting his nearly league average 20.3% strikeout rate and solid 6% walk percentage. This is the first time in two-and-a-half years that Sears heads to the minors. He broke camp with the A’s in 2023 and has been in the majors since then. Sears has also avoided the injured list for that entire time. As a result, he’s tied for fifth in MLB with 87 starts since the beginning of the ’23 season. The durability is the big selling point, as his production (4.62 ERA/4.56 SIERA) over that stretch is that of a fifth or sixth starter. The demotion shouldn’t have any impact on Sears’ service trajectory. He has already surpassed the three-year mark and will qualify for arbitration next winter. He’s under team control for three seasons beyond this one. While he’ll probably be back up at some point this year, it may require an injury elsewhere in the rotation. San Diego optioned Randy Vásquez over the weekend. They have a four-man rotation of Dylan Cease, Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish and deadline acquisition Nestor Cortes. Darvish and Cortes will get the ball for the next two outings. San Diego is off Thursday and could turn back to Pivetta and Cease on extra rest for their first two games of the weekend series against the Red Sox. That’d point to the series finale on August 10 as Michael King’s return date. King threw 61 pitches in what is expected to be his final rehab start on Sunday, via the MLB.com injury tracker. He’d be on six days rest for his first MLB appearance since he went on the injured list in late May with a nerve problem in his throwing shoulder.
‘Probably the best pure pass rusher on the team’ — Jaelan Phillips hypes up a young Dolphins teammate who has yet to play his first NFL snap
The Miami Dolphins' pass rush is going to serve as one of the key engines for the 2025 season. The EDGE room boasts plenty of natural ability, as the Dolphins are home to three former first-round picks — Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, and Chop Robinson. Miami has plenty of reason for excitement around this group, as the Dolphins were completely without Chubb in 2024 and Phillips missed all but three and a half games. But according to Phillips, Miami sorely missed another member of the pass rush room last season — yet another name who missed all of 2024. Phillips, during his Tuesday press availability, credited young second-year pass rusher and former undrafted free agent Grayson Murphy as "the best pure pass rusher on the team". Former first-round pick Jaelan Phillips heaps heavy praise for Dolphins second-year pass rusher 'Grayson (Murphy) is probably the best pure pass rusher on the team, in my opinion.' - Jaelan Phillips on second-year UDFA pass rusher Grayson Murphy Talk about some hefty praise. Murphy was a splash player for the Dolphins in training camp and the preseason in 2024, only to suffer an injury and get placed on injured reserve after the first preseason game of the year against Atlanta. He's back and looking to make the team in 2025 amid the healthy competition at the top of the depth chart. The crazy thing about a statement like Phillips' comments is he may not be wrong. Murphy didn't go undrafted because he wasn't athletic enough or he lacked football IQ. Murphy went undrafted out of UCLA in 2024 in large part because he had a significantly shorter arm-length than what most teams would consider to be the desired "threshold" to be drafted. Murphy's arm length measured in at 30.50", with a 76" wingspan at his Pro Day at UCLA in 2024. Those numbers are zeroth-percentile (not a typo!) and second-percentile respectively amongst all EDGE defenders to pass through the pre-draft process since 1999. There's short arms and then there's where Murphy measured in. As a result, he was bucketed as an outlier and likely taken off many draft boards for the risk. The list of players with that little anatomical length to have success rushing the passer in the history of the NFL is pretty short. But here's the rub — you don't make it to the NFL and you don't play at a major college program with those severe physical shortcomings without making up for it with other elite qualities. Murphy tested well at his Pro Day: he ran a 4.66s 40-yard dash, posted a 37" vertical, jumped 10'05" in the broad jump and posted a 7.10s three-cone drill. Those a great numbers for an EDGE defender. But it's the football IQ that's allowed him to make it as far as he has. Murphy, in two seasons at UCLA, posted 108 pressures on 616 pass rush attempts. It's equal to a healthy 17.5% pressure rate. Despite his lack of reach, he showcased a variety of pass rush counters and hand maneuvers — because he had to in order to secure wins as a player. Sure, he had a twitchy first step and could turn the corner on tackles. But most players who are lacking in physical traits in some way can't lean on them as a crutch, so they have to develop and refine the other elements of their game. From that perspective, Phillips may be right. Phillips and Chop Robinson were both 5-star recruits coming out of high school. Their athleticism allowed them to win with raw ability for longer and deeper into their careers. Bradley Chubb played at North Carolina State and boasted 34" arms with heavy hands. Grayson Murphy was a 3-star transfer out of North Texas. You're darn right he's an instinctive, technical pass rusher. And in the case of Jaelan Phillips, it takes one to know one.
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