NFL roster cuts: Browns release veteran QB Seneca Wallace, make Colt McCoy top backup

The Cleveland Browns have released backup quarterback Seneca Wallace, ESPN reported, and the team has elevated Colt McCoy to the No. 2 role behind rookie starter Brandon Weeden.

The 32-year-old Wallace had been a valuable veteran reserve for the team the past two seasons. He started seven games in his 14 appearances, as the Browns had injury and inconsistency issues with both McCoy and the now retired Jake Delhomme.

Wallace (5-11, 205) also played for current Browns president Mike Holmgren when Holmgren coached the Seattle Seahawks. Wallace's skill set, including his mobility, tailored him well to the West Coast passing offense.

McCoy, who has been part of trade rumors ever since the Browns decided to use a first-round pick on Weeden in April, impressed coach Pat Shurmur enough to wrestle the backup job from Wallace. McCoy's upside as a young player trumped what Wallace could bring with his experience and willingness to mentor Weeden.

The Browns also parted ways with two tight ends, Evan Moore and Dan Gronkowski, the brother of New England Patriots Pro Bowler Rob Gronkowski.

source: aol.sportingnews.com

Evgeny Kuznetsov, Caps' top prospect, says he's staying in KHL

Evgeny Kuznetsov says he's staying put.

The Washington Capitals' 2010 first-round pick, regarded as one of the top players outside the NHL, doesn't believe he is ready to play in North America and will stick with Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL for two more seasons, he told Russian media outlet Sovietsky Sport.


Kuznetsov, who turns 20 on March 19, could've opted to leave Traktor for the Capitals—or failing that, another KHL team as a free agent in that league—and was openly undecided as recently as March.

"I said I was staying in the KHL so they'd leave me alone," Kuznetsov told a Russian television network on March 24.

Kuznetsov had 41 points in 42 games for Chelyabinsk Traktor in 2011-12, and Capitals GM George McPhee had said that he expected the 2010 first-round pick to play for Washington in 2012-13.

‘To be honest, my decision has been reached,” Kuznetsov told the KHL's TV network earlier in March. “It is my intention to continue my career in the KHL. At the same time there is no clarity as to which club it will be.”

Now, he says, clarity has arrived. There was no word on how much the deal was actually for, but previous estimates had his potential annual salary pegged at $4 million. His entry-level NHL deal would pay $900,000 annually for three seasons.

Keeping Kuznetsov in the fold is a win for the KHL, which lost star power when Jaromir Jagr and Alexander Radulov opted to return to the NHL. Other top Russian prospects, like presumed No. 1 overall pick Nail Yakupov and Mikhail Grigorenko, left Russia to play Canadian junior hockey and say they're only interested in the NHL.

Ak Bars Kazan told the Edmonton Journal recently that it has made an offer to Winnipeg Jets winger and 2010 first-round pick Alexander Burmistrov, who is still under contract with the Jets—a claim Burmistrov's agent flatly denied. The NHL and KHL have an agreement that each will honor the other's contracts, but there's no real legal obligation on either side to do so.

source: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nhl/story/2012-05-01/evgeny-kuznetsov-capitals-khl-alexander-radulov-alexander-burmistrov