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NFL notebook: Bush, Jones, Hawk among cuts

The Sports Xchange

February 25, 2015 at 4:32 pm.

Reggie Bush was cut by the Lions. (Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports)

The Detroit Lions released running back Reggie Bush on Wednesday.

Bush, who turns 30 in March, played in just 11 games in 2014, gaining 530 yards from scrimmage.

The previous year — his first in Detroit after signing a four-year, $16 million deal — he rushed for 1,006 yards and four touchdowns while catching 54 passes for 506 yards and three scores.

The No. 2 pick in the 2006 draft, Bush has rushed for 5,465 yards and 35 touchdowns and caught 466 passes for 3,489 yards and 18 touchdowns in nine seasons with the New Orleans Saints (2006-2010), Miami Dolphins (2011-2012) and Lions.

He was scheduled to make $3.5 million in 2015. The team will save $1.7 million against the salary cap by releasing him now.

His departure leaves Joique Bell and Theo Riddick as the Lions’ top two backs.

—The Baltimore Ravens released wide receiver/kickoff returner Jacoby Jones.

Jones, 30, signed a four-year, $12 million with the Ravens last offseason and was due to receive $2.5 million in 2015. He made $4.5 million in 2014 and had a $3.375 million salary cap number this year.

An eight-year NFL veteran, Jones spent three seasons (2012-14) with the Ravens, earning Pro Bowl honors during the team’s 2012 Super Bowl campaign.

In 44 games with Baltimore, he produced a 30.1-yard career kickoff return average, a mark that ranks No. 1 in franchise history. Jones also posted four regular-season kickoff returns for touchdowns and one kickoff return for a score in the Super Bowl. Three of his TD returns covered 108 yards, which tied for the second-longest in NFL history.

—The Green Bay Packers released veteran linebacker A.J. Hawk.

Hawk played with bone spurs in his ankle last season and underwent surgery after the Packers’ playoff run ended with a loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC title game. The league notice of his release on Wednesday indicated he had failed his physical.

The Packers drafted Hawk with the fifth overall pick in 2006 and he had spent his entire career with them, starting 136 of the 142 regular-season games he played. He started 11 of 13 playoff games as well.

In 2010, the year the Packers won Super Bowl XLV, he was a Pro Bowl pick.

Hawk, 31, tallied a franchise-record 1,118 tackles and added 19 sacks and nine interceptions. He led the team in tackles five times (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012-13), which tied Nick Barnett for the franchise record (since 1975).

— With kicker Matt Bryant set to become an unrestricted free agent on March 10, the Atlanta Falcons signed him to a contract extension.

Bryant, who turns 40 in May, has proved to be one of the NFL’s most consistent kickers the past few seasons. He has made 144 of 167 field goal attempts (88.6 percent) since he joined the Falcons in 2009 and has become the franchise’s second leading scorer with 666 points.

Last season, Bryant was 29 of 32 on field goal tries and made an NFL-best seven kicks from 50 yards and beyond.

The Falcons also re-signed defensive end Cliff Matthews, fullback Pat DiMarco and wide receiver Nick Williams, but tight end Bear Pascoe will not return.

—The New York Giants released veteran running back Peyton Hillis as they continued clearing out roster and salary cap space.

With Hillis’ release, the Giants will save $945,000 in 2015.

Hillis was a seven-year veteran who joined the Giants on Oct. 16, 2013, after David Wilson suffered a season-ending neck injury.

In 2014, Hillis played in the season’s first nine games. He left the game on Nov. 9 in Seattle with a concussion and was placed on injured reserve six days later. Hillis finished third on the team with 115 rushing yards on 26 carries. He also caught 10 passes for another 87 yards.

Hillis, 28, played for Denver, Cleveland and Kansas City before joining the Giants. His career totals include 696 rushing attempts for 2,832 yards and 23 touchdowns and 134 receptions for 1,050 yards and three scores.

— The Chicago Bears signed cornerback Demontre Hurst to a two-year contract.

An undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma in 2013, Hurst had been an exclusive-rights free agent.

After spending his rookie season on the practice squad, he played in 15 games, starting two, last season. He made 35 tackles, one interception and one forced fumble.

— John Idzik, fired by the New York Jets after two failed years as general manager, is expected to join the Jacksonville Jaguars as a salary cap consultant.

The pending hire was first reported by ESPN on Wednesday, and the Florida Times-Union reported that Idzik will work with director of football administration Tim Walsh and “focus on cap, cash spending, etc.”

Idzik was in charge of contract negotiations with the Seattle Seahawks before the Jets hired him to be their GM in 2013. He and coach Rex Ryan were fired by the Jets after they went 4-12 in 2014 and 12-20 in Idzik’s two seasons.

In Jacksonville, Idzik will be reunited with coach Gus Bradley, who was Seattle’s defensive coordinator when Idzik was with the Seahawks.

—A new NFL stadium near Los Angeles moved closer to reality when the Inglewood City Council approved plans for an 80,000-seat venue.

The development plan that includes St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke would possibly return an NFL team — or teams — to the Los Angeles area for the first time in two decades.

The Inglewood City Council approved the $2 billion plan with a 5-0 vote late Tuesday night. The vote adopts the plan without calling a public vote.

“It’s the one, best chance for the NFL to come back here,” Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts said after the four-hour council meeting.

The plan adds the 80,000 seat, 60-acre stadium to an existing 2009 plan to redevelop the former Hollywood Park racetrack site with homes, offices, stores, parks and open space and a hotel.

—San Diego Chargers linebacker Jarret Johnson announced his retirement on Tuesday after 12 NFL seasons.

Johnson played in 197 games, including 143 starts. He played his first nine seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, and the last three with the Chargers.

He had 713 career tackles, 27.5 sacks, 36 tackles for loss and three interceptions. He was selected as the Chargers’ most inspirational player each of the past two seasons.

Johnson appeared in 15 games for the Chargers in 2014, missing just one game, on Sept. 14, so he could be with his wife for the birth of the couple’s second child. He had 57 tackles, six tackles for loss and a sack last year.

—Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota agreed to an endorsement deal with Nike.

The sports apparel company owned by Oregon booster Phil Knight plans to make the deal official before the April 30 draft, Sports Business Journal reported.

Mariota won the 2014 Heisman Trophy and is projected to be the second quarterback drafted in 2015 following Florida State’s Jameis Winston, who won the Heisman in 2013.

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