Yesterday, the Oakland Raiders starting left tackle Donald Penn finally ended his holdout and reported to the team. Meanwhile, their rivals in the AFC West also made the news. The Los Angeles Chargers saw center Max Tuerk get suspended while the Denver Broncos swapped backup running backs.
Raiders' Penn ends holdout
Donald Penn, the Oakland Raiders Pro Bowl left tackle, has finally ended his contract holdout and reported to the team 26 days after training camp started. News of Penn's return was first broke by “San Francisco Chronicle” reporter Vic Tafur.
In order to make room for Penn and add him to the team's roster, the Raiders released first-year defensive end Jimmy Bean. It is still unknown if Penn will end up getting a new contract from the team and where talks on that stand.
Since he entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back in 2007 Penn has always been available, having never missed a regular season game. In 621 passing plays last season, Penn only gave up one sack in route to making the Pro Bowl for the second time in his career.
Chargers' Tuerk gets suspended
On Tuesday the Los Angeles Chargers announced that center Max Tuerk has been suspended for the first four games of the upcoming season. He has been suspended without pay for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances.
The 23-year-old will be eligible to return to the team's active roster on October 2 but can still practice and play in games during the preseason.
Tuerk had been competing for the job at center but had so far been working with the second team offense in practice and preseason games. He was drafted in the third-round of the 2016 draft by the Chargers out of USC.
He missed his entire rookie season due to a lingering knee injury he suffered towards the end of his college career.
Broncos made changes at running back
The Denver Broncos released running back Bernard Pierce on Monday, who has struggled to find a home in the NFL since the Baltimore Ravens released him after the 2014 season.
In January the Broncos signed Pierce to a reserve/future contract but he clearly did not impress them during his time with the team.
ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted that to replace Pierce's spot on the roster the team signed running back Stanley Williams off of waivers from the Cincinnati Bengals. Williams is an undrafted rookie out of Kentucky who the Bengals waived on Saturday. During his time in college, the shifty 5'8 running back led the team in rushing during each of his three seasons.
Donald Penn just ran out to practice
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) August 23, 2017
Max Tuerk suspended first four games of the 2017 season.
— Los Angeles Chargers (@Chargers) August 22, 2017
READ: https://t.co/Thi8bDgAff pic.twitter.com/cDixaoqLHI
Broncos released RB Bernard Pierce and claimed RB Stanley Williams on waivers from the Bengals.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 21, 2017