NFL Player News

The Giants signed Watson to a contract Wednesday, Chris Adamski of TribLive.com reports.

Watson opened the 2017 season as the Steelers' No. 3 running back, but didn't do much in the role and was demoted to the practice squad by year's end. He's an interesting name to keep an eye on in redraft leagues ahead of the 2018 campaign given the uncertainty in the Giants backfield.

Gillislee (knee) was listed as a limited participant on Wednesday's posted practice estimation.

While Gillislee's knee was not sufficiently recovered to play in the AFC championship game this past Sunday, we suspect that he'll be available for the Super Bowl against the Eagles on Feb. 4. That said, in such a scenario, he's not a lock to be active, and if he is, he'd work behind Dion Lewis, while adding depth to a running back rotation that would also include Rex Burkhead and James White.

Ellington had two carries for five yards and six catches on nine targets for 72 yards in four games with the Texans.

Ellington began the 2017 season as a pass-catching specialist for the Cardinals and had some productive games early. His name was mentioned as a possible fill-in when David Johnson suffered a season-ending wrist injury in Week 1. However, the Cardinals went to great lengths to avoid using Ellington in the RB rotation. The 28-year-old was eventually released and landed with the Texans for the final weeks of the season. There were opportunities for Ellington as a receiver in Houston due to injuries at wideout, and he played 47 snaps in his Week 13 debut. However, as the injury situation improved, Ellington was limited to just 22 snaps over the final four weeks. The Texans are already set at running back with Lamar Miller and D'Onta Foreman. If Alfred Blue returns to the fold, there will be little room for Ellington.

Jones finished the 2017 season with five carries for 14 yards.

Jones joined the Colts organization just before the season began, and he suited up for just five games as he was often a healthy scratch or a practice squad player. The 2015 third-round pick will be faced with another offseason of fighting for roster spots, whether it's for the Colts or someone else.

West appeared in just five games in 2017, rushing 39 times for 138 yards and two touchdowns and adding two receptions for 23 yards.

The four-year veteran heads to free agency at an unfortunate time as West put together the worst season of his career to date in 2017. West entered as the favorite to be the Ravens' primary back on standard downs after Kenneth Dixon went down with a season-ending meniscus injury, but he surprisingly fell behind Alex Collins -- who was signed to the practice squad just before the regular season -- and Javorius Allen. West will be 27 when the season begins, but he still has the size and physical running style to garner some attention from teams in need of a short-yardage back. That said, his days of being a starter-level option for teams is likely over.

Cook signed a reserve/future contract with the Jaguars on Tuesday.

After going undrafted out of Oregon State last spring, Cook latched on with Jacksonville and stuck with the team through the end of training camp before being cut loose. The 23-year-old will rejoin Jacksonville for its offseason program but faces similarly long odds to crack the roster in 2018.

Murray rushed six times for 18 yards while bringing in both of his targets for 11 yards during Sunday's 38-7 loss to the Eagles in the NFC championship game.

Murray struggled to find holes in the Eagles' tough run defense and his usage was blunted once the Vikings were forced to abandon the run game. He now finishes the postseason having averaged an inefficient 2.7 yards on 25 carries after averaging 3.9 yards on 216 carries during the regular season. Under contract with Minnesota for another two seasons, Murray is set to return in 2018 as the clear No. 2 runner on the depth chart behind Dalvin Cook (knee), as teammate Jerick McKinnon will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the league year.

McKinnon, who is set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the league year, intends to sign with a team that will give him a bigger offensive role than he had with the Vikings, ESPN's Courtney Cronin reports. "I want to be the guy," McKinnon said. "I don't put in all the work in the offseason to come back and be in this role. I appreciate the role. It worked out well, but I want bigger and better things for myself."

McKinnon added that he's open to re-signing with the Vikings if they can satisfy his desire for a featured role, but that seems unlikely to be something Minnesota can provide after they invested a 2017 second-round pick in Dalvin Cook (knee) while having Latavius Murray under contract through 2019. It may not be all that likely that another team will afford him that chance either considering McKinnon's averaged just 3.58 yards on 309 carries over the past two seasons. The 2014 third-rounder should still have a number of suitors on the free-agent market, but it seems more probable that he enters the 2018 season as a change-of-pace runner rather than as a lead ballcarrier.

The Jaguars signed Wilds to a reserve/future contract Monday, Mike Kaye of the First Coast News reports.

Wilds is entering his third season in the league after going undrafted out of South Carolina in 2016. He didn't log a snap during the 2017 campaign after suffering a shoulder injury with the Browns in training camp and now joins a stable of Jacksonville running backs that has each of Leonard Fournette, T.J. Yeldon and Chris Ivory under contract in 2018.

Cook (knee) said Monday that he has started jogging but remains without a firm timetable to return to full football activities, Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com reports.

The running back is a little over three months removed from surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee, so his lack of extensive activity to date shouldn't be viewed as a concern at this stage of his recovery. Assuming Cook endures no significant snags during the rehab process, he should be at or near full strength for the beginning of training camp in the summer, though the Vikings will almost certainly monitor his workload carefully during practices. While Latavious Murray and Jerick McKinnon proved to be an effective backfield tandem once the rookie was shut down for the season in Week 5, a healthy Cook profiles as the clear No. 1 back for Minnesota heading into the 2018 campaign.