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Minor NFL Transactions: 9/25/24

September 25th, 2024 at 7:24pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Cleveland Browns

New England Patriots

New York Giants

After suffering a pectoral injury in Week 2, Ja’Whaun Bentley officially landed on injured reserve today. With the linebacker expected to be sidelined for the rest of the season, the player willingly gave up his captaincy to safety Kyle Dugger, per Ben Volin of The Boston Globe.

Ty Summers was promoted from the practice squad for each of the Giants’ first three games, so the team had no choice but to sign the linebacker to the active roster. The former seventh-round pick has exclusively played on special teams for the Giants this season, and he hasn’t seen the field for a defensive snap since he was with the Packers in 2021.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/25/24

September 25th, 2024 at 6:10pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Las Vegas Raiders

New England Patriots

  • Signed: WR John Jiles

New York Giants

San Francisco 49ers

  • Signed: DT Shakel Brown

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Trenton Gill has caught on with the Buccaneers practice squad after getting cut by the Broncos back in August. Gill spent the previous two seasons as the Bears full-time punter, with the 25-year-old averaging 46 yards per punt while landing 28.6 percent of his punts inside the 20. As Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times notes, this addition is a sign that Bucs punter Jake Camarda may be on the hot seat. The former fourth-round pick is averaging a career-low 39.8 net yards per punt.

Steelers Add CB C.J. Henderson To Practice Squad

September 25th, 2024 at 5:18pm CST by Ben Levine

The Steelers have added a former first-round pick to their secondary. The team announced that they’ve signed defensive back C.J. Henderson to the practice squad.

The Jaguars selected Henderson with the ninth-overall pick in the 2020 draft. The Florida product showed flashes of his first-round pedigree as a rookie, finishing with 36 tackles, one interception, and one forced fumble in eight games before landing on injured reserve with a groin injury.

Henderson was dealt to the Panthers during his sophomore campaign and proceeded to spend two-plus seasons in Carolina, starting 22 of his 39 appearances. The cornerback occasionally filled up the stat sheet, including a 2022 campaign where he finished with tw0 interceptions and six passes defended. However, Pro Football Focus was never especially fond of Henderson’s performance, often giving him one of the worst positional grades in pass coverage.

The 25-year-old caught on with the Texans this offseason but didn’t make it through final cuts with his new squad. After remaining unsigned through the first few weeks of the regular season, Henderson has now found a new home in Pittsburgh. The veteran will still face an uphill battle to earn a promotion, as he joins a Steelers practice squad that already includes cornerbacks Anthony Averett, D’Shawn Jamison, and Thomas Graham Jr..

Saints Work Out Brian Allen, Add Chris Reed; Team Signs Shane Lemieux From Practice Squad

September 25th, 2024 at 4:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following a 2-0 start featuring a suddenly explosive offense and their veteran-laden defense performing well, the Saints lost in Week 3 and came out of it worse for wear. Plenty of questions now face New Orleans, which was missing several key contributors at practice Wednesday.

Among them, the last two members of the team’s Drew Brees offensive lines. Erik McCoy is heading to IR, and right guard Cesar Ruiz is battling both knee and ankle injuries. Coming into the season with issues up front, New Orleans now has injury hurdles to negotiate early. As a result, reinforcements are coming.

One of them will move up from the practice squad, with another coming from outside the organization. Shane Lemieux is being signed to the 53-man roster from the practice squad, per ESPN.com’s Katherine Terrell, while NewOrleans.football’s Nick Underhill indicates Chris Reed is joining team’s P-squad.

While Reed comes to New Orleans from Minnesota, his Vikings tenure did not overlap with new OC Klint Kubiak‘s. Reed spent the previous two seasons in Minnesota, after Kubiak had moved on, and worked as a Vikings backup. Reed, who worked as a Panthers regular starter in 2020 and a Colts fill-in starter in 2021, will mix in at a reeling position group.

Oli Udoh, who started 16 games at guard for the Vikings during Kubiak’s 2021 season as OC, moved into the lineup once McCoy went down against the Eagles. Udoh kicked Lucas Patrick from left guard to center, and the Saints figure to lean on the versatile blocker’s experience there for the foreseeable future. The Saints have a younger option as well in Nick Saldiveri, a 2023 fourth-round pick. The Old Dominion alum began training camp working as the first-string left guard. Patrick eventually won the job, but both Udoh and Saldiveri could be summoned if Ruiz cannot go in Week 4.

Lemieux, who became a Giants starter as a rookie, battled constant injury trouble during his final three seasons in New York. A severe foot injury sidelined the former fifth-round pick for almost all of the 2021 and ’22 seasons. Lemieux returned in 2022 but played in only one game. A biceps injury in practice last October ended Lemieux’s contract year on a familiar note. This represents another shot for a player who has played in just six games over the past three seasons.

Reed joined Brian Allen and others, ex-Colts backup Josh Sills among them, at Wednesday’s workout. Formerly the Rams’ starting center in Super Bowl LVI who worked as the team’s starter for three seasons during an injury-plagued run in Los Angeles, Allen lost his job to Coleman Shelton last season and became an offseason cap casualty. Previously given a three-year, $18MM Rams deal, Allen could not make the Browns’ 53-man roster in August.

Broncos To Sign LB Zach Cunningham, Move RB Tyler Badie To Active Roster

September 25th, 2024 at 1:35pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although the Broncos prevailed in Tampa and have displayed far superior defensive form compared to the early weeks in Vance Joseph‘s DC tenure, they continue to add veteran linebacker pieces. After signing Kwon Alexander, Denver is bringing in Zach Cunningham.

There are no Saints ties with Cunningham, whom 9News’ Mike Klis notes is joining the Broncos’ practice squad, but he also carries extensive experience as a second-level defensive piece. Cunningham, 29, spent last season with the Eagles after a career in the AFC South (Texans, Titans).

[RELATED: LB Alex Singleton Suffers ACL Tear]

This turned out to be an emergency hire, as the team will be tasked with playing without its top tackler (Singleton) after the $6MM-per-year player suffered a season-ending injury. Cunningham and Alexander, 30, will be vying for time — potentially soon — for a Broncos team that lost Josey Jewell in free agency. As a result, depth is thin for this group. Cody Barton is the only proven ILB left on Denver’s active roster; that may change soon.

A full-time starter for the Texans, Cunningham signed a lucrative extension in 2019. He fell out of favor during the Texans’ early-2020s dark ages, despite leading the NFL in tackles in 2020 (with 164), becoming a healthy scratch during David Culley‘s season in charge. The Titans claimed Cunningham and turned to him as a starter during a season that ended with Tennessee securing the AFC’s No. 1 seed. The former second-round pick battled injuries in Tennessee, starting four games to close out the 2021 season but going on IR twice in 2022. As GM Ran Carthon took over in 2023, he made Cunningham one of his many cap-casualty moves.

Last season, the Eagles used Cunningham as a 10-game starter after signing him midway through training camp. He played in 13 contests and logged every defensive snap in the team’s wild-card game, one that punctuated a season that featured a collapse. Despite the Eagles cratering, Pro Football Focus viewed Cunningham as an above-average player and graded him well in coverage. The Eagles did not bring back Cunningham, and the eight-year vet — he of 85 tackles and four pass breakups in 2023 — did not attend a training camp. As such, it would not surprise to see the Broncos hold off on an immediate promotion.

Denver is also making an interesting move at running back. After Tyler Badie showed some promise to help a struggling rushing attack against the Buccaneers, the Denver Gazette’s Chris Tomasson adds the team is signing the young RB to its 53-man roster. Badie joins Javonte Williams, Jaleel McLaughlin and rookie UDFA Blake Watson on Denver’s active roster.

A Missouri alum the Ravens chose in the 2022 sixth round, Badie has been with the Broncos since late in the at ’22 season. He did not play last season, being stationed behind Williams, McLaughlin and Samaje Perine, but delivered his best NFL work last week. Badie, who followed Montee Ball in informing the masses of a pronunciation change as he transitioned to a Broncos RB role, gained 70 yards on nine carries and helped the Broncos close out the Buccaneers. With Williams struggling, Badie now looms as a direct threat to the contract-year starter’s playing time.

Cardinals’ Justin Jones Out For Season

September 25th, 2024 at 11:56am CST by Nikhil Mehta

Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon announced defensive linemen Justin Jones will miss the rest of the 2024 season with a torn triceps suffered against the Lions in Week 3.

With Jones going on IR, the Cardinals will sign Naquan Jones from the Dolphins’ practice squad after he appeared in four games for Arizona last season.

Justin Jones signed with the Cardinals this offseason on a three-year, $30.2MM contract after recording a career-high 4.5 sacks in Chicago last year. He was originally a third-round pick by the Chargers in 2018 and earned a starting role in his second year, but struggled to stay healthy with just 36 appearances from 2019 to 2021. Jones then signed a two-year deal with Chicago, where he started every game for two straight seasons.

The Cardinals’ reunion with Naquan Jones will help limit the damage from Justin Jones’ absence. He was signed to Arizona’s practice squad last November before a promotion to the active roster the following month. He started one game out of his four appearances, with a total of 78 snaps played for the Cardinals in 2024, so his familiarity with Gannon’s scheme will allow him to easily join teammates Roy Lopez, Bilal Nichols, L.J. Collier, Khyiris Tonga, and Dante Stills on the defensive interior.

Justin Jones joins Jonah Williams, BJ Ojulari, and rookies Darius Robinson and Christian Jones on the list of key Cardinals to land on injured reserve early in the season, though not all are expected to be out for the year. Robinson, the second of the team’s two first-round picks, is eligible to be activated from IR next week.

Broncos To Add LB Kwon Alexander

September 25th, 2024 at 8:54am CST by Sam Robinson

Familiarity with Sean Payton continues to land certain players gigs in Denver, as a handful of ex-Saints assistants are also on the second-year HC’s staff. Add Kwon Alexander to the Saints-to-Broncos pipeline.

The veteran linebacker worked out for the team, per 9News’ Mike Klis, and ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter notes the club is making a practice squad addition. Alexander will join the Broncos at The Greenbrier in West Virginia, where they are practicing in preparation for their Week 4 game against the Jets.

Coming back from the second Achilles tear of his NFL career, Alexander had previously auditioned for the Falcons and Vikings. The Broncos saw enough to greenlight this reunion. Alexander will join a Broncos team that already houses seven ex-Saints — Adam Trautman, Wil Lutz, Malcolm Roach, Calvin Throckmorton, Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Lucas Krull and Jordan Jackson — on its active roster.

Alexander spent 2022 with the Jets and 2023 with the Steelers but was dealt from the 49ers to the Saints in 2020 and played all of the 2021 season — Payton’s New Orleans finale — with the NFC South team. Alexander, 30, started 15 games with the Saints under Payton. He aided a division champion in 2020 and recorded 3.5 sacks, despite operating primarily as an off-ball LB, in 2021

While the Broncos’ ILBs coach (Greg Manusky) was not in New Orleans during that time, ex-ILB Michael Wilhoite — Denver’s OLBs coach — was on Payton’s staff during Alexander’s tenure. Alexander also recovered a fumble against the Broncos during a 2020 matchup best remembered for the AFC West team having no active QBs due to COVID-19.

Formerly a standout Buccaneers ‘backer who earned a lucrative 49ers free agency deal in 2019 despite coming off an ACL tear, Alexander saw his first Saints season end due to an Achilles tear and sustained the same injury — albeit to his other Achilles — in November of last year. The Saints still re-signed the talented defender in August 2021. Alexander has played effectively in spurts. He started 12 games for a top-five Jets defense in 2022. Last season, Pro Football Focus graded the nine-year vet as a plus coverage ILB. Though, the Broncos will surely want to see how he looks in practices given the extensive injury history here.

Denver signed Cody Barton to start alongside Alex Singleton this offseason, letting Josey Jewell defect to the Panthers. Jonas Griffith had competed with Barton for that gig but did not make the team, suffering another major injury. Justin Strnad and Kristian Welch are in place as Denver’s second-string ILBs. Alexander will surely have a chance to move up to the 53-man roster soon.

Chargers S Derwin James Suspended One Game

September 24th, 2024 at 9:55pm CST by Ben Levine

SEPTEMBER 24: James appealed the suspension on Tuesday, but hearing officer Derrick Brooks upheld the ban. James will officially be out of the lineup for Week 4, the Chargers’ final game before their bye week.

SEPTEMBER 23: Derwin James will be sidelined for Week 4 after being hit with a suspension today. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Chargers safety has been suspended one game without pay for “repeated violations of playing rules intended to protect the health and safety of players.”

This sentiment includes this past weekend’s game against the Steelers. During the third quarter, James’ hit on Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth caught the attention of the league, with NFL vice president of Football Operations Jon Runyan citing the defender’s “continued disregard for NFL playing rules.”

“During the third quarter of Sunday’s Chargers-Steelers game, you were involved in a play that the League considers a serious violation of the playing rules,” Runyan wrote in his letter to James (via NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport). “The video of the play shows that you lowered your head and made forcible contact to Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth. You had an unobstructed path to your opponent and the illegal contact could have been avoided.

“Your continued disregard for NFL playing rules will not be tolerated. Substantiated penalties are warranted when players violate the rules intended to protect player safety on a repeated basis, particularly when the violations carry with them a significant risk of injury to an opposing player.”

James intends to appeal the suspension, according to Daniel Popper of The Athletic. The veteran safety has been fined a number of times throughout his career for unnecessary roughness, including a $43K fine last season for a hit on then-Lions WR Josh Reynolds. Following that most-recent fine, James said he thinks he draws more scrutiny than other NFL players.

“I think I am a little bit,” James said (via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com). “I’m not here to referee what they need to call. I’m here to play football and help my team win games.”

The former first-round pick has spent his entire career with the Chargers, earning three All-Pro nods and a pair of Walter Payton Man of the Year award nominees. Since missing the 2020 campaign with a knee injury, James has collected five forced fumbles, nine QB hits, and 240 tackles over the past three years.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/24/24

September 24th, 2024 at 8:47pm CST by Adam La Rose

Here are Tuesday’s taxi squad moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

  • Signed: DB Morice Norris

Green Bay Packers

  • Released: TE Johnny Lumpkin

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Released: TE Luke Benson, CB Nehemiah Shelton

New England Patriots

  • Signed: WR John Jiles

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Signed: LB Marcus Haynes
  • Released: TE Matt Sokol

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This year’s ‘Mr. Irrelevant,’ Key did not make the Jets’ initial 53-man roster. The 24-year-old was retained via the practice squad, but he did not see any regular season action. Now a free agent, Key will look to latch on with another organization.

Ross signed with the Eagles in May as part of his bid to return to the NFL. The former Combine 40-yard dash record holder was released during roster cutdowns, however, after he was unable to carve out a depth role on offense. Ross will rejoin the team in a bid to provide Philadelphia with a complementary receiving option as the team deals with a number of injuries at the WR spot.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/24/24

September 24th, 2024 at 7:19pm CST by Adam La Rose

Tuesday’s minor moves around the NFL:

Chicago Bears

 Detroit Lions

Las Vegas Raiders

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Patrick was among the Broncos’ final roster cuts but he quickly landed a deal with the Lions on their practice squad. Healthy after back-to-back years featuring major injuries, the 30-year-old has twice been a gameday elevation so far this year and logged a 44% offensive snap share. He will aim to remain in a depth role while now permanently on the active roster.

Covey will be sidelined for at least the next four weeks given today’s move. His injury is particularly notable given the fact A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are both injured at the moment, thinning out the team’s receiver room. Covey, 27, received seven targets across the past two games and Philadelphia will need to turn to other options for a complementary role at wideout (along with the return game).

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