Allan, Bruce fail to survive final cuts
Former Whitworth tight end Michael Allan and former Washington State defensive end Mkristo Bruce were among the players cut Saturday as NFL teams trimmed their rosters to 53 players.
Allan was released by the Kansas City Chiefs, while Bruce was let go by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Elsewhere, offensive tackle Willie Anderson and running back Rudi Johnson lost their starting jobs with the Cincinnati Bengals during training camp. Now they’ve lost their roster spots, too.
The 33-year-old Anderson was the most tenured Bengal at 12 seasons. Injuries limited him to seven games last season, ending his streak of four consecutive Pro Bowl appearances. He became a backup to Stacy Andrews in training camp.
The 28-year-old Johnson missed most of camp because of a hamstring injury, making him expendable. Chris Perry, a first-round pick in 2004, moves into the starting job.
As expected, Tampa Bay cut Chris Simms, its former starting quarterback, who missed all of last season after a serious spleen injury and asked to be released.
Atlanta released quarterback Joey Harrington, the third overall pick in the 2002 draft by the Lions and a starter in 10 games for the Falcons last season.
Drew Henson, the former Michigan quarterback and New York Yankees prospect, was cut by Detroit.
San Francisco released underachieving receiver Ashley Lelie.
Taylor, Smith arrested
Jacksonville’s career rushing and receiving leaders were arrested in a span of about five hours.
Running back Fred Taylor was arrested outside a Miami Beach nightclub early Saturday and charged with disorderly conduct. Former receiver Jimmy Smith was arrested Friday night on a drunken driving charge in Jacksonville, Fla.
Taylor was released on his own recognizance and agreed to appear in court at a future date.
Smith was arrested after he tried to drive around a DUI checkpoint about 10:45 p.m. Friday.
Jacksonville Sheriffs officers said there was a “strong odor of marijuana” coming from Smith’s car, marijuana butts in the console and an open container of beer.
Around the league
The Super Bowl champion New York Giants signed 44-year-old place-kicker John Carney to handle the kicking job until Lawrence Tynes recovers from a knee injury. … Coach Ken Whisenhunt said that Kurt Warner would be the starter over Matt Leinart in Arizona’s season opener. … The Pittsburgh Steelers placed backup quarterback Charlie Batch on injured reserve. That means Byron Leftwich will be Ben Roethlisberger’s backup. … The NFL has suspended Baltimore Ravens cornerback Derrick Martin without pay for the team’s season opener and fined him an additional game check for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. … The NFL has suspended New England Patriots running back Kevin Faulk for the team’s opening game against the Kansas City Chiefs for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. Faulk was also fined two game checks.