Report: Colts & Cardinals Also Placed Claims On Ben Tate

Field Yates of ESPN is reporting that two other NFL teams placed waivers claims on recently released RB Ben Tate.

According to Yates, the two teams were the Colts and Cardinals, but the obviously didn’t get him as the Vikings held a much higher waiver priority due to their current record.

The order for teams claiming players this week is: OAK, JAX, TB, TEN, NYJ, WAS, NYG, CAR, ATL, MIN, CHI, NO, STL, HOU, BUF, CLE, SD, SEA, BAL, MIA, IND, SF, PIT, CIN, DAL, DET, GB, PHI, KC, DEN, NE, and AZ.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN previously reported that the Colts were doing research on Tate and appeared to be interested in placing a waiver claim on him.

The Colts seemed like the team to watch all along given that they just lost Ahmad Bradshaw for the season and will now have to rely on Trent Richardson to shoulder the load.

Arizona placing a claim is somewhat interesting as they have Andre Ellington as their clear-cut No. 1 running back. Behind him, there are some question marks, so this would have been a depth move by the Cardinals.

Tate, 26, signed a two-year, $6.2 million contract that included $2.5 million guaranteed with Cleveland back in March, but had fallen behind Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West on the team’s depth chart. On top of that, Tate publicly complained about his role within the Browns’ offense, which likely played a role in him being cut.

The Vikings will have to pay him the remaining $352,941 in guarantees, plus his per-game roster bonuses of $46,875. Although, his contract includes no guarantees beyond this season.

This season, Tate has ran for 333 yards on 106 carries (3.1 YPC) and caught nine passes for 60 yards to go along with four total touchdowns.