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Month: November 2024

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/23/22

September 23rd, 2022 at 5:30pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s only practice squad moves:

Las Vegas Raiders

Guidry was brought in for cornerback depth a little over a week ago when Anthony Averett was placed on injured reserve. He made an appearance in the Raiders Week 2 game, only playing three special teams snaps, but was later waived to make room for tackle Justin Herron, who was acquired in a trade with the Patriots earlier this week. After clearing waivers, Guidry has returned as a member of the Raiders’ practice squad and can still contribute as a standard gameday elevation.

George Kittle To Return In Week 3

September 23rd, 2022 at 3:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

After three practices this week, George Kittle is set to make his season debut Sunday. The All-Pro tight end sustained a groin injury just before the season, and it kept him out two weeks.

Injuries have been a frequent occurrence for Kittle during his second contract, but he will team with Jimmy Garoppolo in a “new”-look 49ers offense Sunday night in Denver. Kyle Shanahan said Friday the sixth-year pass catcher will not have any restrictions heading into the 49ers-Broncos matchup.

Knee, ankle, foot and calf injuries have plagued Kittle as a pro. The calf ailment cost Kittle three games last season, while the foot trouble — a fracture — represented his most significant setback. That break came midway during a 2020 season, costing Kittle eight games, in which Garoppolo and many other 49er starters missed extensive time.

The maladies that keep cropping up have interrupted Kittle on his $15MM-per-year contract. The former fifth-round pick signed that extension just before the 2020 season, and the bulk of Kittle’s injury trouble came after it. Still, the Iowa product — going into his age-29 season — is one of the NFL’s best tight ends. His blocking and receiving ability represents a rare combination in modern football, giving the 49ers a unique weapon — one that has certainly buoyed their Garoppolo-led attacks over the past several years.

Despite missing three games last season, Kittle caught 71 passes for 910 yards and a career-high six touchdowns. Those numbers did not quite match his late-2010s work — a then-tight end-record 1,377 yards in 2018 and 1,053 in a 14-game 2019 slate — that led the 49ers to extend him. But his return should still provide a noticeable boost. San Francisco’s offense does not exactly have a replacement close to its dual-threat tight end’s level. He stands to assist a team that is reacclimating Garoppolo and dealing with multiple running back injuries (to starter Elijah Mitchell and third-round rookie Tyrion Davis-Price).

Titans To Be Without Taylor Lewan, Bud Dupree In Week 3

September 23rd, 2022 at 2:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

As the Titans prepare for a matchup between 0-2 teams coming off playoff appearances, their Raiders tilt will not include Taylor Lewan or Bud Dupree. Tennessee ruled out both starters for Week 3.

Lewan’s absence is not especially surprising, but it certainly will sting a Titans offense that already moved on from two 2021 O-line starters — including veteran guard Rodger Saffold — this offseason. Lewan went down with a knee injury on the first play of Monday night’s loss to the Bills. Mike Vrabel said this week Dupree’s injury was not expected to keep him out in the long term, but the veteran pass rusher will miss at least one game.

The Lewan injury concerns a bit more due to it being the same knee on which he underwent surgery in 2020. Lewan missed 11 games in 2020 because of an ACL tear on his right knee. He returned for Week 1 of the 2021 season and played 13 games, but the 31-year-old blocker’s status may be up in the air for the near future.

While Vrabel offered a timetable for Dupree, he did not answer a question regarding Lewan’s timeline Friday. Lewan remains on Tennessee’s 53-man roster. The three-time Pro Bowl left tackle’s $16MM-per-year deal runs through 2023. Dennis Daley, whom the Titans acquired from the Panthers just before their roster cutdown to 53, is set to start at left tackle. Daley replaced Lewan on Monday and spent much of his 2019 rookie season as the Panthers’ blindside starter.

On its own, Dupree’s hip injury would not concern quite as much. But the Titans are without Harold Landry (ACL) for the season. Dupree, who joined Lewan in suffering an ACL tear in 2020, also battled back to start in Week 1 last year. But the ex-Steelers first-rounder missed six games in 2021 as well. The $16.5MM-per-year pass rusher will miss more time now.

Tennessee will also be without auxiliary pass rusher Ola Adeniyi, who started in Week 1 and came off the bench against the Bills. Despite their mounting injury issues at edge rusher, the Titans opted not to promote Takkarist McKinley from their practice squad this week. That led to the Rams poaching him.

Patrick Mahomes Played Central Role In Chiefs Signing JuJu Smith-Schuster, MVS

September 23rd, 2022 at 1:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Chiefs are 2-0 and enter Week 3 second in points per game. The team, which traded Tyreek Hill and lost other wide receivers in free agency, heads to Indianapolis ranked sixth in passing yards and third in offensive DVOA.

Patrick Mahomes is obviously driving this effort, but the former MVP and Super Bowl MVP is still adjusting to a new-look receiving corps. Kansas City’s fifth-year starter did plenty to assemble this group, beginning shortly after the Hill extension talks took a turn that led to the blockbuster swap with Miami.

Chiefs GM Brett Veach informed Mahomes in mid-March of the increasing likelihood Hill would be dealt, Nate Taylor of The Athletic notes, with the perennial Pro Bowl wideout’s request for a significant raise becoming an untenable proposition for the Chiefs (subscription required). The Raiders’ Davante Adams contract changed Hill’s approach, and the Chiefs added their two free agent receiver targets shortly after the Adams extension (JuJu Smith-Schuster) and the Hill trade (Marquez Valdes-Scantling).

Although it looked for a bit like the Chiefs brought in Smith-Schuster to complement Hill, due to the team’s No. 1 wideout still being on the team when the longtime Steeler signed, Taylor adds Mahomes had begun recruiting Smith-Schuster shortly after learning Hill could be gone. Smith-Schuster had been on Kansas City’s radar for two offseasons. The Chiefs pursued him in 2021, but the former Steelers second-round pick opted to stay in Pittsburgh for one more year. A January report indicated Smith-Schuster was interested in circling back to the Chiefs as well. Mahomes helped move this transaction — a one-year, $3.76MM deal — across the finish line, eyeing the Pittsburgh slot as a player who could excel in myriad capacities in Kansas City.

Valdes-Scantling did not have the Chiefs on his radar to start free agency, according to Taylor, but Mahomes called the ex-Packers deep threat shortly after the Hill deal commenced. MVS visited the Chiefs and signed with them a day later. The Packers had made a late push to retain their former fifth-round pick, but Taylor notes they offered a one-year deal. MVS had expected to land a one-year pact, however, and the Chiefs only guaranteed $8.56MM of the wideout’s three-year, $30MM deal at signing.

Combined, the Chiefs’ top four receivers’ salaries — also factoring in Mecole Hardman and Skyy Moore‘s second-round contracts — come in at a fraction of Hill’s league-record $30MM-per-year Dolphins dough. Hill has gotten off to a fast start in Miami and fit better on a Dolphins payroll lacking a franchise-QB salary. Travis Kelce still leads the Chiefs in receiving by a wide margin — something that probably should be expected to be the case at season’s end, barring injury — while Smith-Schuster, MVS and Hardman have combined for 21 receptions through two games. Moore is being brought along slower, having played just 15 offensive snaps in two weeks.

Jerry Jones: Amari Cooper’s Contract Became Issue

September 23rd, 2022 at 12:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Cowboys built an escape hatch in Amari Cooper‘s 2020 contract, and the team took its Year 3 out by trading its previous No. 1 wide receiver to the Browns in March. Only $6MM in dead money came from unloading Cooper, who remains attached to the five-year, $100MM deal he signed in March 2020.

Although Noah Brown stepped up to help Cooper Rush to a win in his latest relief outing, the Cowboys have missed Cooper to some degree. They deployed a heavily CeeDee Lamb-dependent wideout cadre in Week 1, with Michael Gallup and James Washington out and third-round pick Jalen Tolbert inactive. Tolbert has yet to suit up for a Cowboys game.

Cooper, 28, has been the Browns’ No. 1 target. After a down Week 1, the eighth-year receiver has come through over the past two weeks, producing back-to-back 100-yard games. The latter effort helped the Browns to a Thursday-night win over the Steelers. When asked about Cooper’s Dallas departure, Jerry Jones reiterated it was a financial sacrifice. Cooper, who carried the top wide receiver cap number in 2021, became a cut candidate in early March. But the Browns took on the deal after winning a modest sweepstakes for the four-time Pro Bowler.

“The issue with Amari Cooper was how much we were paying him and what we could do with that money, completely,” Jones said during an appearance on 105.3 The Fan (via the Dallas Morning News’ Michael Gehlken, on Twitter). “Amari Cooper is a real good player. Top player. You can’t have it all.'”

One of several Cowboys to sign big-ticket contracts between 2019-21, Cooper only fetched fifth- and sixth-round picks in the trade. The Cowboys also sent a 2022 sixth-rounder to the Browns to complete the transaction. Cooper’s contract began to look a bit different as the receiver market boom transpired this offseason. Eight receivers passed Cooper in per-year salary via extensions between March and July, bumping Cooper’s AAV into a tie for 12th at the position. The other teams that traded their top receivers this offseason — the Packers, Chiefs, Titans and Ravens — also each fetched at least a first-round pick in those deals, making the Cowboys’ haul look minuscule by comparison.

The Browns soon restructured Cooper’s contract, dropping his 2022 cap number under $5MM. Cleveland may need to venture further into the void-years realm come 2023, when Cooper’s cap figure spikes beyond $23MM as Deshaun Watson‘s balloons to an unprecedented $54.9MM place.

The Cowboys, who also cut La’el Collins and saw Randy Gregory back out of an extension agreement, regrouped and did not dole out big money to an outside free agent this offseason. After passing on Von Miller‘s offer to take a hometown discount, the Cowboys re-signed Dorance Armstrong and added Dante Fowler on a low-cost deal. The team did not devote much in the way of funds to its offensive line. Dallas re-signed safety Jayron Kearse and gave Gallup a five-year, $57.5MM contract; that became the team’s top offseason expense. Gallup’s contract could age remarkably well, considering where the receiver market has gone. But for now, the Cowboys have him coming off a major injury. They will count on Gallup being a quality Lamb complementary piece this season, as Cooper strives for his fifth Pro Bowl.

Giants LB Azeez Ojulari Expects To Play Monday Night

September 22nd, 2022 at 9:44pm CST by Ben Levine

It sounds like Azeez Ojulari will make his season debut on Monday night. The Giants linebacker told reporters that he’ll play against the Cowboys, per Paul Schwartz of the New York Post (on Twitter).

The 2021 second-round pick injured his calf during a practice in late August. The team avoided placing him on injured reserve with the hope that he’d return within the first four games. It sounds like the gamble worked out, as Ojulari will have ultimately missed only a pair of games.

Ojulari had a productive rookie season in New York, finishing with 49 tackles, eight sacks, and 13 QB hits. Pro Football Focus graded him as a below-average edge defender, but despite an especially low pass-rushing score, he still managed to put up solid numbers for a rookie.

The 22-year-old won’t be the only pass rusher aiming to take the field this weekend. Kayvon Thibodeaux is hoping to make his NFL debut on Monday after nursing a knee injury suffered during the preseason.

“Thibs and Azeez, they’re getting close,” coach Brian Daboll told reporters (via Michael Eisen of the team’s website). “They’re going to take some team reps today. I think they took a little bit last week, but they’re going to take more this week. They’re getting close, so we’ll see with them. I’d say they’re still day-to-day even though they’re on the close side.”

When the two players return, Jihad Ward and Oshane Ximines will likely be demoted to secondary roles on the edge.

Latest On Josh McCown’s Coaching Future

September 22nd, 2022 at 8:19pm CST by Ben Levine

Former NFL quarterback Josh McCown has twice interviewed for the Texans head coaching gig, but that’s not the only interest he’s generated around the NFL. In a profile of the 43-year-old, Dan Pompei of The Athletic writes that the Colts, Eagles, and Vikings have reached out to McCown about joining their coaching staffs, with the writer suggesting there have probably been other suitors for the retired player’s services.

McCown got into 102 games after entering the NFL in 2002. He saw time in three games for the Eagles in 2019 (plus a playoff loss where he attempted 24 passes), and after briefly joining Houston’s practice squad, he was asked to interview for their head coaching job after the 2020 campaign. That gig ultimately went to David Culley, but McCown was asked to join the staff as associate head coach.

Instead, McCown joined the staff at Rusk High School in Texas, where he’s coached his sons over the past two years. He was brought in this past offseason to once again interview for Houston’s head coaching gig, with some reports suggesting he was the favorite for the position. The Texans ended up promoting defensive coordinator Lovie Smith to head coach, but McCown clearly made a good impression during his time with the Texans.

After spending time with 12 different organizations during his playing career, McCown has many connections throughout the league. As a result, Pompei writes that “there is a chance” the former QB could be hired somewhere as a head coach, a feat that would make him the first individual to go directly from the NFL to a HC gig since Norm Van Brocklin in 1961.

“Life takes you a bunch of places, and those experiences develop skill sets that you can sit on, or you can pass on and maybe try to bring more good into the world that way,” he says. “Coaching in the game of football is a way for me to do that, to pass that forward and have an influence the way some of these good men have had in my life.”

While it’d certainly be strange for McCown to jump right into a head coaching job, he has earned endorsements from a number of former coaches and executives, including Bill Parcells. While he rejected previous overtures to join coaching staffs, he made it clear that he wouldn’t solely look for a head coaching job next offseason and would consider a variety of roles.

Rams Sign RB Malcolm Brown To Practice Squad

September 22nd, 2022 at 6:37pm CST by Ben Levine

The Rams have added a familiar face to their practice squad. The team announced that they’ve signed running back Malcolm Brown to the taxi squad.

A former undrafted free agent out of Texas, Brown spent the first six seasons of his career with the Rams. He mostly served as Todd Gurley‘s backup during much of his time with the organization, but he did see a larger role on offense in 2020, finishing with a career-high 581 yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns on 124 touches.

He inked a one-year deal with the Dolphins last offseason, collecting 125 rushing yards in seven games (three starts). He landed on injured reserve in October and didn’t see the field again in 2021. He joined the Saints earlier this offseason but was cut by the team in early August.

The Rams have barely gotten any production out of Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson, and the team currently has the second-fewest rushing yards in the NFL with 117. Brown will provide the organization with another veteran option if their current duo continues to struggle, although 2021 seventh-round pick Jake Funk will likely continue to stick around the roster for the time being. The organization also has rookie Ronnie Rivers on the practice squad, and the Rams moved on from running back Trey Ragas earlier today.

Browns Promote WR Chester Rogers

September 22nd, 2022 at 6:14pm CST by Ben Levine

The Browns have promoted two players for tonight’s game against the Steelers. The team announced that receiver Chester Rogers and tight end Miller Forristall have been elevated from the practice squad.

After failing to see the field for a regular season game during the 2020 campaign, Rogers got into 16 contests for the Titans in 2021. He finished the season with 30 receptions, his highest total since the 2017 campaign. He also continued to produce on special teams, setting career-highs in kick returns (30) and punt returns (14).

The 28-year-old landed with the Texans in late August, but after being placed on IR, he settled with the organization and earned his release. He caught on with Cleveland’s practice squad shortly thereafter. He should see a role immediately; the Browns deactivated Demetric Felton for tonight’s game, meaning Rogers should be the primary punt returner against Pittsburgh. It remains to be seen if he’ll seen any role in a WR grouping that is currently led by Amari Cooper, Donovan Peoples-Jones, David Bell, and Anthony Schwartz.

Forristall earned a pair of championships during his time at Alabama, but after finishing with only 44 receptions in parts of five seasons, he went undrafted in the 2021 draft. He spent most of the 2021 campaign in Cleveland, and he could make his debut tonight behind David Njoku and Harrison Bryant.

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