Here are Wednesday’s minor moves:
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: S Doug Middleton
New Orleans Saints
- Promoted from practice squad: WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey
New York Jets
- Placed on IR: QB Trevor Siemian
Kyle Allen is trending toward starting for the Panthers this week, as Cam Newton missed practice Wednesday while he recovers from a foot injury, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. After Carolina’s loss to Tampa Bay last week, Newton complained of foot pain and it was expected that he would miss some game time. After initially suffering the injury during the preseason, and then aggravating it last week, it would seem wise for Carolina to let the former MVP fully heal before taking the field again.
In the interim, Allen would be the starter for the foreseeable future and would be set to face former college teammate Kyler Murray this Sunday when they take on the Cardinals. In his lone career start last year, a win against the Saints, Allen played well, completing 16 of 27 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns.
Let’s take a look at some other quarterback notes from around the NFL:
- A week ago, Jerry Jones said a deal for Dak Prescott was “imminent,” but a few days later acknowledged just because he thinks it is imminent doesn’t mean the quarterback does, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer. After the Cowboys‘ win in Washington, Jones continued to display his belief a deal will get done. “I have no hesitation about it. I’m very comfortable. He’s very comfortable,” Jones said. “The way it is, he’s very comfortable. Those are things we re-emphasize a timeframe in anything that requires two people … and I’m not trying to be talking riddles here. Certainly from the standpoint of where we’ve been from talking about, his business, talking about the Cowboys’ business, we have a lot of water under the bridge.” Many expect a deal to get done between the Cowboys and Prescott at some point this season.
- With Drew Brees expected to miss the next six weeks due to a thumb injury, the Saints will rely on Teddy Bridgewater to carry the load and run the offense. Interestingly, there are also some financial incentives tied to Bridgewater making starts for the Saints in the wake of Brees’ injury. Bridgewater can earn up to $5.25MM in incentives, while also getting $2.5MM if he plays 50% of the offensive snaps and they make the playoffs, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
- After undergoing an MRI on Tuesday, Adam Gase informed the media that Trevor Siemian would unsurprisingly be out for the season, with an MRI revealing torn ligaments. After the swelling goes down, Siemian is expected to have surgery, according to Rapoport. In the interim, Luke Falk is penciled in as the Jets’ starter until starter Sam Darnold returns from mono, which could be as soon as Week 5 against the Eagles.
- After being benched by the Giants for rookie Daniel Jones, Eli Manning said today that that he was “obviously disappointed, not happy”, but still intends to finish this season and support Jones. It remains to be seen if Manning finishes the season with the only NFL franchise he’s known. However, if any of the quarterback-needy teams were to try and trade for Manning, they would have to take on a hefty amount of salary. Manning is making $17MM this year, with $5.5MM (roster/workout bonuses) having already been paid out, costing any team $676k a week (base salary), according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
Saints coach Sean Payton says he does not plan to place quarterback Drew Brees on injured reserve. That means Brees will be eligible to return in less than eight weeks, which is excellent news for the Saints. 
This jibes with what we heard shortly after Brees was diagnosed with a torn ligament in his thumb earlier this week. The initial estimate was six weeks, so he’s likely on track for that same window.
If he’s out for six weeks, Brees will miss games against the Seahawks (this Sunday), Cowboys, Buccaneers, Jaguars, Bears, and Cardinals. After that, the Saints have a bye week, which would put Brees on target for a Nov. 10 return at home against the rival Falcons.
In the interim, the Saints are moving forward with Teddy Bridgewater as the starter and Taysom Hill as his lone backup. With Brees still on the 53-man roster, the club is unlikely to consider an outside arm to round out the QB room.
Here are Tuesday’s practice squad decisions:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: OL Nate Wozniak, P Matt Wile
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: TE Cole Herdman
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: LB Curtis Akins
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: T Dino Boyd
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: RB Jordan Chunn, LB Chris Covington
- Cut: RB Darius Jackson
Denver Broncos
- Signed: C Corey Levin
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: DB Tevaughn Campbell, S Adarius Pickett
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: QB J.T. Barrett
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: OL Will Holden
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: T Elijah Nkansah
- Cut: QB Cardale Jones
Washington Redskins
- Signed: TE Donald Parham
- Cut: TE Drew Belcher
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Detroit Lions
- Signed: QB Jeff Driskel
- Released: QB Josh Johnson
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: DE Chris Peace
- Waived: WR Andre Patton
New Orleans Saints
- Placed on IR: WR Keith Kirkwood
- Waived: DT Taylor Stallworth
Philadelphia Eagles
- Promoted from practice squad: TE Alex Ellis
- Waived: CB Craig James
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: LS Jon Condo
- Waived: LS Colin Holba
Here are Tuesday’s updates from the workout circuit, all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter unless otherwise noted.
Atlanta Falcons
- LB Carroll Phillips (per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, on Twitter)
Cleveland Browns
- T Dino Boyd, G Colby Gossett, G Malcolm Pridgeon (Twitter links via Balzer and the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson)
Dallas Cowboys
- T Paul Adams, WR Quincy Adeboyejo, CB Deante Burton, DT Justin Hamilton, DE Willie Henry, LB Jawaun Johnson, S Josh Jones, WR DaMarkus Lodge, WR Anthony Ratliff-Williams (via ESPN.com’s Todd Archer)
Detroit Lions
- RB Benny Cunningham, RB Quinton Flowers, DE Durrant Miles, CB Marcus Sherels, LB James Vaughters (link)
Green Bay Packers
- WR Keon Hatcher, RB Bo Scarbrough, RB Austin Walter, DL Anthony Zettel (Twitter links)
Indianapolis Colts
- T Gerhard deBeer, Christian DiLauro, Brandon Hitner, C James Murray (link)
New Orleans Saints
- LB Ray-Ray Armstrong, QB J.T. Barrett, TE Crockett Gillmore, WR Krishawn Hogan, TE Gabe Holmes, QB Chad Kanoff, WR Jordan Matthews, TE Brian Parker, LB Brian Peters, LB Malcolm Smith, WR Deonte Thompson, QB Phillip Walker (link)
New York Jets
- LB B.J. Bello, CB Jordan Brown, CB Nigel Harris, CB Joshua Holsey, Shakial Taylor, CB Ahmad Thomas (link)
Oakland Raiders
- WR Jamal Custis (Twitter link via Wilson)
San Francisco 49ers
- LS Jon Condo, LS Garrison Sanborn, LS Drew Scott, T Sam Young (Twitter links via Balzer and ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter)
Seattle Seahawks
- LB Malik Carney, CB Jeremy Clark, S Adrian Colbert, DT Lyndon Johnson, CB Greg Mabin, CB Duke Thomas (link)
Washington Redskins
- RB Josh Ferguson, RB De’Angelo Henderson (Twitter links via Rapoport and NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo)
We’ve got another batch of workout updates from the past few days, all via veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer on Twitter (unless otherwise noted):
Detroit Lions
- OT Caleb Benenoch, OL Justin Evans, CB Alexander Myres, CB KeiVarae Russell, OT Zach Sterup
Houston Texans
- OT Caleb Benenoch (via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle on Twitter)
Indianapolis Colts
- LB Curtis Akins, S Corrion Ballard, S Briean Boddy-Calhoun, DT Carl Davis, DT Deon Simon, RB David Williams (via Wilson)
Miami Dolphins
New Orleans Saints
- LB B.J. Bello, LB Andrew Dowell, LB Connor Strachan
Oakland Raiders
San Francisco 49ers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- WR Amara Darboh, WR Ryan Davis, WR Ishmael Hyman (via Wilson)
While injury news out of New Orleans will naturally be focused on quarterback Drew Brees, the Saints lost another contributor today. ESPN’s Field Yates tweets that the team has placed linebacker Alex Anzalone on the injured reserve.
As Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com points out, while Anzalone’s current injury isn’t known, the third-year player has struggled with shoulder ailments during his brief career. He was limited to only four games (and, notably, four starts) as a rookie before landing on the IR with a shoulder injury. He also had shoulder surgery this past offseason.
The former third-rounder out of Florida did manage to appear in all 16 games (seven starts) last season, compiling 59 tackles, two sacks, and three forced fumbles. He also appeared in the Saints first two games this season, collecting seven tackles and one sack. However, he only appeared in 18 of his team’s 70 defensive snaps yesterday.
The Saints acquired Kiko Alonso prior to the start of the season, and while the veteran has played a minor role through his first two games with New Orleans, he’ll surely be counted on following this latest injury. The Saints are also rostering linebackers Demario Davis, A.J. Klein, Craig Robertson, and Kaden Elliss.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees has been diagnosed with a torn ligament in his right thumb, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). He’ll need surgery to fix the issue, which will likely keep him out for six weeks. 
From here, the Saints will have to decide whether to place Brees on injured reserve, or keep him on the active roster. Placing Brees on IR would free up a place on the 53-man squad, but it would rule Brees out for a full eight weeks. Given Brees’ importance to the team, it seems likely that he won’t go on IR, but we should know for sure in the coming hours.
While Brees is out, backup Teddy Bridgewater figures to start for the Saints at quarterback. Of course, Taysom Hill also looms in the background.
Previous to this, Brees hadn’t missed a game since 2015. Even though Brees has beaten the odds, and Father Time, for many years, no one can escape the injury bug forever in football.
Bridgewater is the highest-paid backup in the NFL, and the team gave up draft capital to acquire him in the first place, so they clearly have confidence in the one-time Vikings star. The 26-year-old finished Sunday’s game having completed 17 of his 30 attempts for 165 yards and no touchdowns.
Quarterback Drew Brees left the Saints’ loss to the Rams today after injuring the thumb on his throwing hand. Following the game, the future Hall of Famer didn’t sound particularly optimistic about his ailment.
“Yeah I am concerned,” Brees told reporters (including ESPN’s Mike Triplett). “I’m hoping it’s not too significant.”
Brees revealed that he injured his thumb after hitting the hand of Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald. The veteran didn’t return to the game, and he was seen with a lower hand/wrist wrap as he stood on the sideline. Brees told reporters after the game that he already underwent x-rays and is set to visit a hand specialist, and he warned that his status is “all up in the air right now” (via Katherine Terrell of The Athletic on Twitter).
As Triplett notes, the durable quarterback has missed only one single game since high school: a 2015 matchup against the Panthers when he was recovering from a shoulder injury. Brees also suffered a major shoulder injury towards the end of the 2005 season, but he managed to return in time for the start of the 2006 campaign.
While losing Brees would naturally have a significant impact on their season, the Saints believe highly in their backups. Teddy Bridgewater is the highest-paid backup in the NFL, and the team gave up relatively-significant draft capital to acquire him in the first place. The 26-year-old finished Sunday’s game having completed 17 of his 30 attempts for 165 yards and no touchdowns. The Saints are also rostering quarterback Taysom Hill, although the coaching staff seems to prefer him in his Swiss-Army-knife role.