Today’s taxi squad moves:
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Denver Broncos
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Los Angeles Rams.
New York Giants
Today’s taxi squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Baltimore Ravens
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Kansas City Chiefs
Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Washington Football Team
With major injury issues at running back, the 49ers continue to bring in outside talent at the position. They are adding former Washington back Chris Thompson to their practice squad.
Thompson’s Washington stint lasted long enough he has a history with Kyle Shanahan. Washington drafted the pass-catching back in the 2013 fifth round, when the current 49ers HC remained Washington’s offensive coordinator. The eight-year veteran will now join the 49ers, who have seen injuries inject considerable uncertainty into their backfield.
Thompson, 30, spent last season with the Jaguars but did not factor into their offense much during James Robinson‘s standout rookie season. The 49ers are without Raheem Mostert for the rest of the season and have Jeff Wilson on the reserve/PUP list. Elijah Mitchell, Trey Sermon and JaMycal Hasty battling injuries. Mitchell and Hasty, who are respectively dealing with shoulder and ankle maladies, did not practice Wednesday. Sermon suffered a concussion in his NFL debut Sunday.
Washington used Thompson as its passing-down back for several years, with the Florida State product initially supplementing Alfred Morris before ending his D.C. career playing alongside Adrian Peterson and Derrius Guice in 2019. Thompson eclipsed 700 scrimmage yards in two seasons and earned an extension in 2017. The veteran backup auditioned for the Bears this week but will end up heading to San Francisco.
The 49ers now have eight running backs on their active roster and practice squad combined. Kerryon Johnson and Josh Hokit reside on the team’s taxi squad, while ex-Bengals practice squad cog Jacques Patrick is now on the 49ers’ 53-man roster, joining Trenton Cannon.
The Bears worked out a trio of defensive backs today, including a former first-round pick. The team auditioned D.J. Hayden, Lafayette Pitts, and Kevon Seymour, per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter).
While Hayden hasn’t necessarily lived up to his 12th-overall selection in the 2013 draft, he’s still managed to put together an eight-year career. The veteran had spent the past three seasons in Jacksonville, but he bounced on and off injured reserve in 2020 while dealing with a hamstring injury. The 31-year-old ultimately saw time in five games, collecting 18 tackles.
The Bears struggled during their loss to the Rams, with slot corner Marqui Christian getting his fair share of the blame. The cornerback finished the game having allowed five catches (including two touchdowns) on six targets.
The Bears were also busy working out running backs today, with Brian Hill, Wendell Smallwood, and Chris Thompson all in for tryouts. Biggs assumes (on Twitter) that the team is simply updating their RB free agent list, which makes sense considering the team’s depth (David Montgomery, Damien Williams, and (eventually) Tarik Cohen).
Details on a couple of recent NFL deals (Twitter link via ESPN’s Field Yates unless otherwise specified):
The Jaguars are set to sign Chris Thompson, as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. The deal will reunite the running back with his former head coach Jay Gruden, who now serves as the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator.
When he was healthy, Thompson was a strong pass-catching specialist out of the backfield for the Redskins. And, in an admittedly limited sample size, he was effective on the ground, too.
The former fifth-round pick enjoyed a breakout season in 2017, his fifth year as a pro. That year, he caught 39 passes for 510 yards, good for 13.1 yards per grab. Unfortunately, that campaign ended in November, thanks to a fractured fibula. For his career, Thompson’s averaged 4.8 yards per tote, though he’s never logged more than 68 carries in any single season.
The Redskins liked him enough to give him a two-year, $7MM extension under Gruden’s watch and he’ll get a chance to work for him in Jacksonville. For now, the Jaguars are forging ahead with Leonard Fournette as their primary back; Thompson could be an option to spell him and keep defenders on their toes.
Linebacker Preston Smith is slated to be a free agent after the season, but the Redskins have yet to approach him about a new deal (Twitter link via John Keim of ESPN.com). The Redskins have hammered out pre-season extensions with key players in the past such as Trent Williams, Ryan Kerrigan, and Jordan Reed, but Smith is still waiting on that call. For what it’s worth, Smith says he’s staying patient.
“You play good; they’re going to pay good,” said Smith, who matched a career-high with eight sacks last season.
If Smith is not signed to a new deal and can offer a repeat performance, he could be in store for riches in March. For now, the former second-round pick is set to play out the final year of his contract as he earns a modest $1.2MM base salary.
Here’s more from D.C.:
Despite Jimmy Garoppolo entering his 49ers training camp, he’s not expected to receive an abnormal workload this preseason. Even though Kyle Shanahan has cited the time it takes for quarterbacks to become sufficiently assimilated in his system, Matt Barrows of The Athletic notes (subscription required) backup C.J. Beathard is likely to receive most of the reps during preseason games. The 49ers figure to have an ulterior motive by doing this, with Barrows writing San Francisco will want to trade Beathard for draft compensation at some point before his rookie contract expires. They will be intent on showcasing the 2017 third-rounder as much as possible as a result. The Iowa product completed 54.9 percent of his passes, with four TDs and six INTs, as a rookie before Garoppolo supplanted him as the Niners’ starter.
It’s camp-reporting week. Here’s the NFC’s latest:
Redskins running back Chris Thompson suffered a fractured fibula and will miss the remainder of the 2017 campaign, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Thompson, 27, had been in the midst of a breakout campaign in his fifth NFL season. Heading into Week 11, Thompson had posted 771 yards from scrimmage, a total that had already topped his previous career high. He’d averaged 4.6 yards per carry on the ground, but was even more effective in the passing game, where’d he posted 38 receptions for 494 yards. All told, Thompson had managed five total touchdowns.
A former fifth-round pick, Thompson agreed to a contract extension earlier this year. The new pact will keep Thompson in Washington through the 2019 season, and will pay him $7MM+ over the next two years. Next season, Thompson will earn nearly $2MM in base salary and count for roughly $3.25MM on the Redskins’ cap.
Thompson will become the second Redskins’ running back to be placed on injured reserve in recent weeks, joining former starter Rob Kelley. Head coach Jay Gruden & Co. will now continue to lean on fourth-round rookie Samaje Perine, who handled 23 carries in today’s loss to the Saints. Byron Marshall, signed off the Eagles’ practice squad last week, will also contribute, while Washington could also promote rookie LeShun Daniels from its practice squad.
The Redskins have signed running back Chris Thompson to a two-year extension, a source tells Master Tesfatsion of The Washington Post (on Twitter). Thompson is now under contract through the 2019 season. He’ll earn $6.5MM guaranteed over the course of the extension, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
The pass-catching specialist was a restricted free agent this year and the Redskins retained him via the second-round tender. He’ll earn $2.74MM for 2017 before the new deal kicks in.
The 2013 fifth-round pick has spent his entire four-year career with the Redskins. Last year he turned in what was arguably his most productive season with career-highs in carries (68), rushing yards (356), and rushing touchdowns (three). He continued to make his mark in the passing game as well, catching 49 passes for 349 yards and two TDs. Thompson’s 489 offensive snaps were the most of any Redskins running back.
Rob Kelley will be the Redskins’ primary back this year, but Thompson and rookie Samaje Perine also expected to see significant playing time.