Bears Place LB Tremaine Edmunds On IR
3:32pm: The Bears indeed placed Edmunds on injured reserve today as they expect him to miss four to six weeks because of his groin injury, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Chicago is leaving the door open for Edmunds to come back for a potential playoff run. Meanwhile, cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon will not yet be activated from IR.
Joining Edmunds on IR will be backup running back Roschon Johnson. He and recently activated fellow back Travis Homer were ruled out for tomorrow, so practice squad rusher Brittain Brown has been signed to the 53-man roster, along with practice squad linebacker Carl Jones Jr., to fill the newly vacant roster slots. Tight end Nikola Kalinic and offensive lineman Jordan McFadden have been designated as the Bears’ two standard gameday practice squad elevations who will revert back to the taxi squad after tomorrow’s game.
1:58pm: Although the Bears haven’t announced it, their media website indicates that they’ve placed linebacker Tremaine Edmunds on IR, per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. The Bears have already ruled out Edmunds for Week 12 with a groin injury.
If the Bears do put Edmunds on IR, it would require at least a four-game absence. Even if that doesn’t happen, a source told Biggs that Edmunds is likely to miss multiple weeks.
With the Bears at 7-3 and pushing for their first playoff berth since 2020, a long-term Edmunds absence would be an awful development for their defense. The career-long starter and former Bills first-round pick has been a key piece for the Bears since they signed him to a four-year, $72.5MM contract in 2023. Now in his eighth NFL season, Edmunds has been one of the league’s most productive linebackers this year.
Just 10 games into 2025, Edmunds has already matched a career high with four interceptions, and his nine passes defensed are tied for his second-highest mark. His 97.4% snap share ranks third among Bears defenders, trailing safeties Jaquan Brisker and Kevin Byard. With 89 tackles, Edmunds is on track to go over 100 yet again. The Virginia Tech product has recorded triple-digit tackles in all of his professional seasons, but his streak could be in jeopardy if he misses significant time.
Edmunds’ output this year has led Pro Football Focus to rank his performance 20th among 81 qualifying LBs. He and T.J. Edwards (ranked 13th) have formed a top-notch duo when healthy, though the latter is also out of commission. Multiple injuries have limited Edwards to five games this season. Edwards underwent surgery on a broken hand earlier this month, and he’ll miss his third straight game Sunday against the AFC North-leading Steelers.
Noah Sewell has filled in for Edwards, but he’s dealing with an elbow injury that will shelve him for the Pittsburgh game. That means the Bears won’t have any of their top three linebackers this week.
The injuries to Edmunds, Edwards, and Sewell leave D’Marco Jackson, fourth-round rookie Ruben Hyppolite, and Amen Ogbongbemiga as the only healthy LBs on Chicago’s active roster. Ogbongbemiga is the lone member of the trio who has made an NFL start (he picked up two with the Chargers back in 2021), but he has played exclusively on special teams in two games this season.
Lions Activate CBs D.J. Reed, Khalil Dorsey From IR
A banged-up secondary in Detroit will see some reinforcements as the Lions activate both D.J. Reed and Khalil Dorsey from injured reserve. The Lions have removed both cornerbacks from their injury report, meaning they should be available for a matchup with the Giants on Sunday.
Reed was a headlining offseason pickup for the Lions, who signed the former 49er, Seahawk, and Jet to a three-year, $48MM deal after losing Carlton Davis to the Patriots. Before suffering a hamstring strain, Reed started in each of his first four games with Detroit and notched 16 tackles, four passes defensed, and an interception. He led Lions cornerbacks with an 88% snap share before missing all of October and most of November.
A week after the Lions placed Reed on IR, Dorsey joined him on the shelf. A wrist injury has held the fourth-year depth corner and special teamer to four games in 2025. He and Reed are returning to a secondary that will go without fellow CB Terrion Arnold (concussion) for the second week in a row. Reed, Amik Robertson, and Rock Ya-Sin will lead the Lions’ group of corners against Giants backup quarterback Jameis Winston, who’s starting in place of the injured Jaxson Dart.
With Reed and Dorsey back, the Lions waived safety Erick Hallett and linebacker Ty Summers. Hallett started in one of two games with Detroit this season and made eight tackles. Summers has played in five of the Lions’ first 10 contests, and all 66 of his snaps this year have come on special teams.
In an additional move, the Lions elevated tight end Anthony Firkser from the practice squad. Firkser joined the Lions’ practice squad on November 11. He’ll give the Lions a look at another option at tight end tomorrow with standout Sam LaPorta likely to miss the rest of the season after undergoing back surgery.
Connor Byrne contributed to this post.
Jaguars TE Brenton Strange Activated Off IR
The Jaguars are getting a key cog back in their offense today. In preparation for tomorrow’s matchup with the Cardinals, Jacksonville has activated tight end Brenton Strange from injured reserve. 
The team also announced defensive tackle Matt Dickerson and safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig as standard gameday practice squad elevations for tomorrow. Dickerson was called up as an elevation last week, but Silmon-Craig will be making his NFL debut, if the undrafted rookie out of Colorado sees the field in Arizona.
Strange has been an interesting weapon in Duval since getting drafted in the second round two years ago out of Penn State. As a rookie sharing a position room with Evan Engram and Luke Farrell, Strange mostly heard his named called as a second tight end in heavy run packages. By Year 2, though, Strange passed up Farrell on the depth chart, and though his strengths came as a run blocking tight end, he dominated the field time during stretches missed by Engram due to injury and reeled in 40 receptions for 411 yards and two touchdowns as a result.
With Engram and Farrell no longer on the roster, Strange was expected to have a breakout year in 2025. After he exited Jacksonville’s Week 5 game with a quad injury, the team predicted at least a five-week absence. With five weekends having passed between that prediction and now, it’s safe to say they pretty much nailed that call.
Over his extended absence, the Jaguars haven’t really seen a tight end step up to fill his void. Veteran Johnny Mundt has done an admirable job of taking up Strange’s duties as a blocking tight end, and Hunter Long has gotten some run, as well, but quarterback Trevor Lawrence hasn’t really looked their way in the passing game. The two have combined for 19 catches on 32 targets, totaling 168 yards and two touchdowns so far this year. In four and a half games before injury, Strange, alone, tallied 20 catches on eight fewer targets for 204 yards.
Lawrence should be happy to get Strange back in the lineup. Since Strange last played in early-October, Lawrence has seen rookie No. 2 overall pick Travis Hunter‘s season ended, and his top target, Brian Thomas Jr., has already been ruled out for the third game in a row. Strange will be added to a passing attack now led by receivers Parker Washington and Dyami Brown.
Vikings Activate C Ryan Kelly From IR
Vikings center Ryan Kelly will return in Week 12. The team announced that it has activated Kelly from IR. He’ll head into Sunday’s game against the NFC North rival Packers without an injury designation.
Kelly spent his first nine NFL seasons in Indianapolis, where he started in all 121 appearances and made four Pro Bowls. He left for Minnesota’s two-year, $18MM offer last March.
Two concussions have limited Kelly to three games in his first season with the Vikings. They placed him on IR after his second head injury knocked him out of a Week 4 loss to the Steelers. Blake Brandel started in his absence.
Between Kelly’s concussion issues and starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy‘s high ankle sprain earlier this season, the two haven’t had much chance to form a rapport in 2025. They paired together in the Vikings’ season-opening win over Chicago and their Week 2 loss to Atlanta. Carson Wentz was under center against Pittsburgh.
Kelly and McCarthy will reunite Sunday in an enormous game for two teams trying to keep pace with the NFC North-leading Bears (7-3). The 6-3-1 Packers are nipping at the Bears’ heels, but the 4-6 Vikings can ill afford another loss after Chicago knocked them off last week.
In addition to activating Kelly, the Vikings signed cornerback Dwight McGlothern to their practice squad and elevated him for Sunday’s game. They released running back Cam Akers from the practice squad to make room.
The Vikings quickly brought back McGlothern after waiving him on Thursday. He has played in eight of Minnesota’s games this year and totaled 47 snaps (31 on defense, 16 on special teams). Akers has made three appearances with the Vikings this season and rushed for 19 yards on five carries.
Cowboys Waive CB Kaiir Elam
The Cowboys made a trade for cornerback Kaiir Elam last March, but they’re moving on eight months later. The team announced that it has waived Elam. He’ll be free to sign anywhere if he goes unclaimed. If a team does claim Elam, it would take on the fully guaranteed $1MM left on his contract.
Elam isn’t far removed from going in the first round of the 2022 draft. The Bills traded up two spots to take Elam 23rd overall after a successful three-year run at Florida. It proved to be an ill-advised decision for Buffalo, though the team did find its No. 1 corner much later in the draft when it chose Christian Benford in the sixth round.
Elam wound up starting in 12 of 29 appearances with the Bills and totaling two interceptions. Both picks came during his rookie season. An ankle injury helped limit Elam to three games in his second year. He returned to play in 13 games in 2024, mostly working as a reserve. In his final game with the Bills, an AFC championship game loss to the Chiefs last January, Elam struggled filling in for Benford after the latter left early with a concussion.
The Bills cut the cord on Elam two months after the Chiefs knocked them out. They sent Elam and a 2025 sixth-round choice to the Cowboys for a 2025 fifth-rounder and a 2026 seventh-rounder. While Dallas believed enough in Elam to take a cheap flier on him, it unsurprisingly declined his fifth-year option (worth around $12.68MM) not long after acquiring him.
Elam ended up starting in seven of 10 games with the Cowboys, who own the NFL’s 30th-ranked pass defense. The 24-year-old contributed to their woes, allowing 25 completions, 372 yards, and three touchdowns before the Cowboys cut him. Opposing quarterbacks have managed a 105.0 passer rating when throwing Elam’s way this season. Pro Football Focus rates his performance 61st among 108 cornerbacks.
With rookie corner Shavon Revel debuting in Week 11 after missing the Cowboys’ first nine games, Elam didn’t play a snap in their win over the Raiders on Monday. Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus left Elam on the bench in favor of Revel, Caelen Carson, DaRon Bland, and Reddy Steward. Trevon Diggs could rejoin that group in the coming weeks if he returns from a concussion that forced him to IR on Oct. 25.
With Elam no longer occupying a spot, the Cowboys signed running back Malik Davis from their practice squad to their active roster on Saturday. Davis has recorded seven carries for 26 yards in four games this season. Most of his work (67 of 90 snaps) has come on special teams.
Colts Activate CB Charvarius Ward From IR
Indianapolis is getting a major defensive piece back ahead of a crucial Week 12 showdown with the Chiefs. The Colts announced that they have activated cornerback Charvarius Ward from IR.
After the Colts opened Ward’s practice window on Wednesday, he’ll play Sunday for the first time since he suffered a concussion in warmups in Week 6. It was the second concussion of the year for Ward, who has missed six of 10 games during the Colts’ 8-2 start.
Ward, 29, revealed earlier this week that he had doubts that he’d play again after his latest concussion (via James Boyd of The Athletic). However, Ward said he’s back to normal, no longer experiencing dizziness, and “ready” to return.
Ward, whom the Colts signed to a three-year, $60MM contract last March, has held his own over four starts this season. The former Chief and 49er has recorded 13 tackles and three passes defensed. Pro Football Focus rated him as the game’s second-best corner before he went on IR.
With Ward unavailable at the time, the Colts pulled off a stunning trade with the Jets for cornerback Sauce Gardner on Nov. 4. He debuted with the Colts in a Week 10 win over the Falcons, leading their corners in snaps. Mekhi Blackmon acted as the Colts’ other starting boundary CB, but Ward will now slot into that spot to give the Colts an imposing duo as they come off their bye. Along with Gardner and Ward, the Colts boast an outstanding nickel corner in Kenny Moore.
While the Colts are staring at a tough remaining slate featuring matchups with several playoff contenders, having the Gardner-Ward-Moore corner trio in place should be a significant advantage. The AFC South-leading Colts will enter Sunday third in the conference, but their hope is that a shutdown secondary will help propel them to the No. 1 spot and a first-round bye in the playoffs.
With Ward returning, the Colts waived cornerback Cameron Mitchell on Saturday. The 24-year-old began the season with the Browns, but they waived him in late September. Mitchell caught on with the Colts’ practice squad and wound up appearing in four games before they cut him. He played 100 defensive snaps and picked up five tackles with Indianapolis.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/21/25
Here are today’s practice squad moves as we head into the weekend:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: S J.T. Gray
- Released: G Karsen Barnhart
A three-time All-Pro special teamer over seven years in New Orleans, Gray landed on Baltimore’s practice squad this year after failing to make the Saints’ initial 53. He was signed off Baltimore’s taxi squad to the Broncos’ active roster, where the veteran appeared in one game before getting waived with an injury designation.
This marks the fourth time Barnhart, an undrafted free agent last year, has been signed to and cut from a practice squad after twice going through that cycle with the Chargers then lasting a week in October with the Broncos.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/21/25
Here are Friday’s minor moves:
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed to active roster: DE Isaiah Foskey
Miami Dolphins
- Placed on IR: S Jordan Colbert
Foskey joins Cincinnati’s 53-man roster after appearing in two games off the practice squad. After failing to make the initial 53-man roster for the Saints, who drafted him in the second round two years ago, Foskey gets an opportunity in Cinci, where the Bengals have four defensive ends on the injury report with two already ruled out for the weekend.
Colbert suffered a stinger in this weekend’s game in Madrid. His time on the 53-man roster comes to an end after a short month and a half.
Broncos, K Wil Lutz Agree To Extension
Wil Lutz has enjoyed a strong tenure with the Broncos. The veteran kicker will remain in the Mile High City for the foreseeable future.
Lutz and the Broncos have agreed to a three-year extension, Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network report. As a result of the deal, the 31-year-old will be on the books through 2028. Lutz (who was on track for free agency) has been with Denver since 2023, head coach Sean Payton‘s first year with the Broncos.
The former Saints reunited after Lutz spent a total of six seasons with New Orleans. The former UDFA had by far the worst campaign of his career in 2022, sparking a trade from the Saints to the Broncos. Things have gone much better in Denver, with Lutz posting field goal success rates of 88.2% and 91.2% during his first two seasons there.
In 2025, the Georgia State product has remained one of the league’s most consistent kickers. Lutz has only missed three of his 20 field goal attempts; he has also gone 24-for-24 on extra point tries. With four game-winning kicks so far this season, Lutz leads the league in that regard. He has served as a key factor in the Broncos’ 9-2 record, and expectations will remain high moving forward.
After playing out the final year of his deal during his debut Broncos season, Lutz inked a two-year pact averaging $4.2MM per season. It will be interesting to see where this newest contract checks in from a financial perspective. The kicker market now includes 10 players attached to an AAV of $5MM or more and two averaging at least $6MM annually. Lutz should not be expected to move to the top of the pecking order, but a small raise would come as little surprise.
The Broncos have a number of starters on both sides of the ball who are still on track to see their contracts expire at the end of the season. At least one notable piece of business has now been taken care of on that front, however, and Denver could look to handle more pending free agents over the coming weeks.
Texans Waive RB Dameon Pierce
NOVEMBER 21: Pierce may clear waivers today due to the timing of when his Texans tenure ended, but Wilson reports there are multiple teams interested in him. If/when Pierce reaches free agency, a new deal could be lined up in short order.
NOVEMBER 20: The Texans waived fourth-year running back Dameon Pierce on Thursday, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. To fill his spot on the active roster, cornerback Ajani Carter was signed from the practice squad.
Pierce, 25, once seemed like he could be the future of the Texans’ backfield before injuries derailed his time in Houston. The former Florida Gator was drafted in the fourth round of the 2022 draft and earned a starting job as a rookie. Pierce racked up 939 yards in 13 games – 72.2 yards per game, the eighth-most in the league – before a high ankle sprain landed him on injured reserve and ended his season.
The Texans signed veteran Devin Singletary during the 2023 offseason and handed him the lead back role. Pierce struggled behind him, averaging just 2.9 yards per carry and missing three games due to another ankle sprain. Houston then got Joe Mixon, reducing Pierce’s workload further. Another injury, this time to his hamstring, sidelined him at the start of the 2024 season and limited his work for the rest of the year. He finished with just 40 carries for 293 yards, though 92 of those came on a single rush. Without that play, he still averaged a solid 5.15 yards per carry, but again, Houston looked elsewhere in the offseason, signing Nick Chubb and draft Woody Marks with a fourth-round pick.
With Mixon sidelined by a foot injury to start the 2025 season, Chubb and Marks have led the backfield with just 10 carries for Pierce. Mixon is now expected to miss the rest of the season, which was reported hours before Pierce’s release hit the NFL’s transaction wire, making it a somewhat surprising move. If anything, it speaks volumes about how much Pierce fell out of favor under DeMeco Ryans‘ regime. Despite a promising rookie season, Pierce’s opportunities undeniably plummeted after Ryans was hired. Other teams will now have a chance to claim him off waivers; if that does not happen, he will be free to sign with any team (or their practice squad) as a free agent.
Carter, an undrafted rookie out of the University of Houston, signed with the Texans’ practice squad in September and saw his first NFL action against the Titans last week. His special teams work must have satisfied the coaches, earning him a 53-man roster spot and a role on game days for the foreseeable future.
The Texans also elevated veteran safety Jalen Mills and undrafted rookie linebacker Jackson Woodard to the active roster for Thursday night’s matchup with the Bills.