Today’s minor moves:
Denver Broncos
Houston Texans
Kansas City Chiefs
New Orleans Saints
San Francisco 49ers
The Commanders moving Chase Young to their reserve/PUP list sidelines him for at least four games, but Young may not make his debut in Week 5. A longer layoff appears in the cards.
Young is not expected back until closer to midseason, Ralph Vacchiano of Fox Sports notes. The former Defensive Rookie of the Year is recovering from a right ACL tear, and the reconstructive surgery required a graft from his left patellar tendon. This has pointed to a longer rehab timetable.
Ron Rivera called Young’s ACL tear a bit more severe than Logan Thomas‘. Despite suffering his ACL tear in mid-December, Thomas came off Washington’s active/PUP list earlier this week. Young went down Nov. 14. Week 10 — a Monday-night game against the Eagles — would mark a year since the injury. Though, a precise return date will likely not be known for a bit. Washington’s bye week is not until Week 14.
Although Montez Sweat is healthy, after the team’s 2019 first-round pick missed a chunk of last season due to injury, the Commanders did not make any notable investments to fill in for Young during the season’s first half. The team has former seventh-round pick James Smith-Williams, who made six starts last season, and third-year edge Casey Toohill. A former seventh-round Eagles pick, Toohill also made six 2021 starts. The two combined for 3.5 sacks last season.
Young, 23, was not as effective in 2021 as he was during a standout rookie season. The Commanders being cautious with the former No. 2 overall pick should be the expectation, given his potential long-term future with the team. A lot will be on Sweat and the team’s bevy of acclaimed interior D-linemen until the Commanders’ front-four anchor returns.
The Bears’ new regime cut the cord on wide receiver Dazz Newsome quickly, waiving the former sixth-round pick before his second season. Unclaimed on waivers, Newsome has generated interest as a free agency addition.
Newsome was part of a Titans workout Friday, Doug Kyed of Pro Football Focus tweets, and is slated to audition for the Patriots on Sunday. While the North Carolina alum would make for an interesting flier, he will soon be competing with dozens of receivers in a similar position. Teams are required to cut down from 80 to 53 by 3pm CT Tuesday.
A four-year Tar Heels contributor, Newsome joined Javonte Williams, Michael Carter and Dyami Brown in a strong nucleus surrounding Sam Howell. Despite both Newsome and Brown surpassing 1,000 yards in 2019, with Brown at 1,034 and Newsome at 1,018, Washington took the latter in Round 3 last year. Newsome fell to pick 221.
Newsome primarily worked as a punt returner for the Bears last season, one that began after he suffered a broken collarbone in the offseason, but only played in three games. Newsome also spent time on the Bears’ practice squad. With P-squads still at 16 for the 2022 season, Newsome figures to have another opportunity soon.
The Patriots are down their second-round pick, wideout Tyquan Thornton, for an extended stretch because of a collarbone injury. Even with Thornton almost certain to begin the season on IR, the Pats still have a host of veterans — Jakobi Meyers, Kendrick Bourne, Nelson Agholor and DeVante Parker — in line to be regulars.
The Titans have Robert Woods atop their depth chart and have seen nice early returns from fifth-round rookie Kyle Phillips. Treylon Burks has not been as quick to assimilate, but the first-round pick obviously remains a key part of the team’s future. Spot starter Nick Westbrook-Ikhine also remains in the picture for Tennessee, which made Jets wideout Vyncint Smith, ex-Panthers cornerback Troy Pride, 2021 Broncos fifth-round corner Jamar Johnson and quarterback Kurt Benkert part of Friday’s workout, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com tweets.
The Bears’ offensive line has generated a number of questions this offseason, and resolutions have not come just yet. Buzz around the NFL connects the team to pursuing outside help in trades, Adam Jahns of The Athletic writes (subscription required).
An effort to obtaining guard help, in particular, has circulated, per Jahns, even though Teven Jenkins may be moving close to becoming the starter at right guard. The former second-round pick has gone from tackle to trade rumors to guard this offseason, but Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes the Bears have been pleased by the second-year blocker’s transition thus far (Twitter link). The team also signed veteran Michael Schofield, who could be a backup at multiple spots given his tackle past, just before training camp.
Chicago also added Riley Reiff at the start of camp, but Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune notes the veteran has ceded the first-string right tackle spot to Larry Borom — an eight-game 2021 starter. The latter, a 2021 fifth-round pick, has worked opposite fifth-round rookie Braxton Jones in recent days. Despite being a rookie out of Division I-FCS Southern Utah, Jones is being given “every opportunity” to win Chicago’s blindside job, though Biggs wonders if the two young blockers are competing against one another for a spot opposite Reiff.
Reiff, 33, counts just $3MM against Chicago’s cap, but that amount is fully guaranteed. No guarantees are present in Schofield’s veteran-minimum deal. Reiff has started 139 career games, working mostly as a left tackle. Although, he did slide to the right side to accommodate Taylor Decker in 2016 and play RT in Cincinnati last season.
The two other veterans in this mix — Cody Whitehair and Lucas Patrick — are not vying for roles. Whitehair is locked in as Chicago’s left guard, and Patrick — one of a few ex-Packers OC Luke Getsy brought with him this offseason — is in place at center. Patrick, however, is still recovering from thumb surgery. He is not a lock to be ready by Week 1, with Biggs adding the Bears expect him back sometime in September. Patrick being sidelined into the regular season could intensify Chicago’s interest in adding interior help.
Holding the No. 7 waiver priority spot, the Bears will be in a good position to land O-linemen Wednesday — after teams’ rosters are trimmed from 80 to 53 — but new GM Ryan Poles looks to be seeing what it will take to add a veteran upgrade ahead of that point.
2:35pm: More testing revealed bad news for the rookie. Penning suffered a ligament tear in his injured foot, and Rapoport adds surgery will be necessary (Twitter link). The player the Saints eyed as a long-term left tackle will not be beginning his season on time and will be out indefinitely.
9:28am: It sounds like Saints first-round pick Trevor Penning is going to miss some time. The offensive lineman suffered a “bad case of turf toe” during last night’s preseason finale, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter).
Penning is set to undergo an MRI to determine the severity of the injury. Rapoport hints that the offensive tackle will miss at least a game or two to start the season. We’ll likely get more clarity on his roster status (and whether he’ll land on injured reserve) once the Saints cut down their roster to 53 players.
The offensive tackle got into 10 snaps last night before suffering the injury. According to Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com, Penning suffered the injury when tight end Juwan Johnson accidentally hit the back of his leg during Mark Ingram‘s one-year touchdown run. Penning walked to the sidelined before getting carted to the locker room.
The Northern Iowa product was selected by the Saints with the 19th-overall pick in this year’s draft, and he was expected to replace the departed Terron Armstead in the starting lineup. The rookie made headlines during training camp when he got into fights with teammates for three consecutive days. Pro Football Focus showed him taking a major step in New Orleans’ second preseason game, but the latest injury may have cost him his early-season opportunity to snag the starting gig. James Hurst has been listed atop the Saints depth chart at LT throughout the preseason, and while the veteran is dealing with his own foot injury, he’s a good bet to earn the starting nod with Penning temporarily out of the picture.
2:15pm: The Panthers’ search will start with Brian Johnson, a Virginia Tech product who kicked in seven games with Washington and New Orleans last season, Person tweets. Johnson was 10-for-10 on field goal attempts but missed four extra points as a rookie.
1:21pm: After the news of Sam Darnold‘s injury, the Panthers have another veteran set to miss what looks like an extended time period. Zane Gonzalez suffered what Matt Rhule called a significant, long-term injury, David Newton of ESPN.com tweets. He suffered the setback during warmups.
Gonzalez, whom the Panthers re-signed this offseason, sustained a groin injury. As a result, the Panthers are looking for a replacement kicker. Gonzalez, 27, is the only one on Carolina’s roster. The Panthers can stash him on IR after roster cutdown day.
[RELATED: Darnold Expected To Miss 4-6 Weeks]
The former Browns and Cardinals specialist missed the final four games of last season due to a quadriceps injury. He re-signed with the Panthers on a two-year, $4.5MM deal in March. Gonzalez has not kicked in a full season since 2019, when he was with the Cardinals. He connected on a career-high 90.9% of his field goal tries in 2021 and was 22-for-23 on PATs with the Panthers last season.
Carolina has gone through some kicker turnover in recent years. The team moved on from Joey Slye after two seasons and ditched Slye’s replacement — 2021 trade acquisition Ryan Santoso — after one game. Lirim Hajrullahu also worked as the team’s primary Gonzalez replacement. Hajrullahu is available, after the Cowboys waived him last week.
Rhule said the team will look at free agent fill-in options while examining teams with two-kicker rosters presently. Kickers will be available on the waiver wire Tuesday, when rosters must be slashed from 80 to 53 players. New special teams coordinator Chris Tabor will help with the search, per The Athletic’s Joe Person, who notes recently cut Jets kicker Eddy Pineiro will be a name to monitor (Twitter link). Tabor coached Pineiro with the Bears.
Sam Darnold will miss at least a handful of regular season games, if not the first month of the season. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter), the Panthers backup quarterback is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks with a high-ankle sprain.
[RELATED: Panthers QB Sam Darnold Carted Off Field]
Darnold exited last night’s game after Bills defensive tackle C.J. Brewer rolled over the QB’s ankle. The injury looked severe, with ESPN’s David Newton tweeting that Darnold’s lucky his ankle isn’t broken. Instead, Darnold is dealing with a high-ankle sprain that will sideline him for at least a month, and the injury could ultimately necessitate a trip to injured reserve.
While recently-named starting QB Baker Mayfield appears to be healthy heading into the regular season, the rest of the Panthers QB room is banged up. Darnold joins rookie Matt Corral, who is out for the season after suffering a Lisfranc injury, on the shelf. This means P.J. Walker, who was once believed to be on the roster bubble, is the team’s temporary backup quarterback. The Panthers entered the preseason believing they’d be rostering three QBs (Mayfield, Darnold, Corral), and with the team down to only two healthy arms, it remains to be seen how the depth chart will look come Week 1. A lot of it depends on the health of Darnold, according to head coach Matt Rhule.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Rhule said about making any additions (via Newton). “Sam’s a tough kid. He usually comes back really quickly. I’d say nothing’s off the table.”
Speaking of the team’s now-depleted depth at quarterback, Rhule was also asked about the possibility of adding former MVP Cam Newton back to the group.
“You guys know my feelings on Cam, but probably too early to say anything about that,” Rhule said (via Joseph Person of The Athletic on Twitter).
After spending the 2020 season in New England, Newton returned to Carolina last season and started five games.
Chuck Clark has been mentioned as a trade candidate throughout the offseason, and it sounds like the veteran safety would welcome a move. Following an offseason that saw Baltimore make two major commitments at safety, Clark acknowledged that he asked the organization for a trade following the NFL Draft in April.
[RELATED: Trade Candidate: Ravens S Chuck Clark]
“Me personally, I just felt the situation that I was in, how things were going, of course, yeah I did ask, ‘Can I get out of here?'” Clark said (via NFL.com’s Kevin Patra). “And so, I felt like that didn’t happen and I wasn’t just going to give away my spot. If I’m not going to be a starter, it’s going to have to be taken from me.”
The Ravens signed Marcus Williams to a five-year, $70MM deal, and they selected safety Kyle Hamilton with the 14th-overall pick in the draft. Naturally, Clark thought he was at risk of losing his starting spot, and it sounds like that was the motivation for making his trade request.
The 27-year-old has spent his entire career in Baltimore, and he’s made 44 starts for the team over the past three years. That includes a 2021 campaign where Clark started 16 games while compiling 80 tackles, 12 passes defended, and a pair of interceptions.Pro Football Focus ended up ranking him 41st among 92 qualifying safeties.
Despite the request, Clark still attended offseason workouts and has been a full participant throughout training camp and the preseason. Plus, since the Ravens have the luxury of bringing Hamilton along slowly thanks to their depth, it sounds like Clark could remain a starter for at least another season.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen moving forward, but I think that what you all have seen so far is how everyone has been in place,” Clark said. “There was definitely a time I didn’t know what was going to happen, honestly. And whatever was to come with that was going to come. At one point I did feel that way, but now that I’m out here with my team, man, I’m just like … I’m here, I’m locked in. They’re going to get what I got for right now. So, whatever comes in the future, that’s what’s going to come.”
Clark still has two years remaining on the three-year, $16MM extension he signed in 2020.
It’s Geno Time in Seattle. After last night’s preseason game, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll announced that Geno Smith will be the team’s starting quarterback in Week 1.
[RELATED: Seahawks Still Eyeing Jimmy Garoppolo?]
Following the offseason trade of Russell Wilson, the Seahawks have spent training camp and the preseason evaluating who will guide their offense in 2022. Smith, who’s been the team’s backup over the past two seasons, was going against Drew Lock, who was acquired from the Broncos in the Wilson trade. While Lock is younger and has more recent starting experience, Smith always seemed to be the favorite for the starting gig considering his familiarity with offensive coordinator Shane Waldron’s system, and this was reflected in him taking first-team snaps throughout the preseason.
Lock further lost some ground when he was forced to miss the Seahawks second preseason game while he was sidelined with COVID. He didn’t do much to help his case when he returned to the field for last night’s preseason finale, tossing three interceptions. Carroll informed the team after the contest that Smith would be the starting QB to start the season, and he later passed on the information to reporters.
“We really put him up against the competition, and Drew took his shot at him all the way throughout,” Carroll said (via ESPN’s Brady Henderson). “Those guys … they have gotten along beautifully, they’ve supported one another throughout. They really couldn’t have done that better and in more classy, great competitor fashion. They know that they need each other and all that, and they did it right.
“But Geno, he knows our stuff and he does really well and he understands it and he can manage everything that we’re doing and he’s good about the football. He’ll give us the best chance to play great football right off the bat.”
Smith started three games last season while filling in for Wilson, going 1-2 while tossing five touchdowns vs. one interception. He hasn’t had a full-time starting gig since 2014, when he went 3-10 in 13 starts for the Jets. Lock, meanwhile, got 21 starts for Denver over the past three years, going 8-13. Following a 2020 campaign where he tossed a league-high 15 interceptions, the 25-year-old was limited to only three starts (all losses) in 2021.
Considering the uninspiring track record of Smith and Lock, it remains to be seen if Seattle would pursue an upgrade. Mostly, if Jimmy Garoppolo eventually shakes loose in San Francisco, you’ve got to wonder if the Seahawks would jump at the opportunity to add him. Plus, assuming Jimmy G would need some time acclimating himself to the offense, Carroll could still stick with his declaration that Smith would be his early-season starter.
The Panthers may have more QB troubles coming their way. Backup Sam Darnold has been carted off the field during the team’s preseason finale against the Bills, reports ESPN’s David Newton (Twitter link). NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweets that he is believed to have suffered a high-ankle sprain, and that he will have an MRI tomorrow. 
The 25-year-old had his left ankle twisted while taking a hit (video link via Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post). The play has resulted in the second piece of bad news for him this week; head coach Matt Rhule recently named Baker Mayfield the team’s starting quarterback. The position is facing serious question marks now, however.
Third-round rookie Matt Corral is likely out for the season after he suffered a Lisfranc injury. He was not in the running for the starting role, but had a comfortable grip on the No. 3 spot as a developmental reserve. If Darnold were to miss any significant time, Mayfield would of course remain a first-teamer, but the team would be dangerously thin behind him.
The team has announced, to no surprise, that Darnold will not return. The Panthers also have two other notable players who have gotten banged up during tonight’s game. Defensive tackle Derrick Brown left the contest with an oblique injury, Newton tweets. Any absence from the 2020 first-rounder would be a major blow to the team’s defensive interior.
In addition, kicker Zane Gonzalez required a cart to leave the field, as noted (on Twitter) by The Athletic’s Joseph Person. He suffered a groin injury and, like Darnold and Brown, will not return. The 27-year-old was injured last season during warmups before a game against the Bills.
In Darnold’s absence, P.J. Walker has taken over at QB. The multi-year backup won each of the starts he has made during spot-duty with the team, but was thought to be on the roster bubble even after Corral’s injury. A significant absence from Darnold, in conjunction with Corral being sidelined indefinitely, could leave Walker with a clear path to a roster spot. With more than $21MM in cap space, the Panthers could also have the flexibility to add a more experienced insurance policy.