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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).

Raiders Eyeing Roster Changes?

September 23rd, 2024 at 9:49pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Raiders were handily beaten by the Andy Dalton-led Panthers on Sunday. In his post-game press conference, head coach Antonio Pierce suggested roster moves could be coming in the near future in response to his team’s performance.

“As the game went on… I think there was definitely some individuals that made business decisions,” Pierce said while declining to name specific players (via ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez). “And we’ll make business decisions going forward as well.”

The Panthers racked up 437 yards of offense en route to a 36-22 victory. Dalton – inserted into the starting lineup in place of the struggling Bryce Young – became the first quarterback in 2024 to amass at least 300 passing yards and three touchdowns in a game. Pierce’s comments suggest notable changes could be coming in the near future to at least the depth chart at certain positions.

The 2024 offseason produced a number of changes, with ex-Chargers general manager Tom Telesco being hired as Vegas’ new GM. Owner Mark Davis previously expressed regret over not retaining Rich Bisaccia as head coach after he held the title at the end of the 2021 season. Pierce, by contrast, had the interim tag removed this spring, allowing him to carry on following his stint to close out last year. That makes 2024 his first full season as a head coach at the NFL level.

The 45-year-old will be tasked with overseeing development on the part of the Raiders, a team which faces questions at quarterback in particular. Gardner Minshew won a summer competition for the starter’s role over Aidan O’Connell after the team was active in seeking a move up the draft board to add a signal-caller. Both Minshew and O’Connell are under contract for 2025, but struggles on offense will no doubt lead to continued speculation about a move at the position during the spring.

On defense, the Raiders rank near the bottom of the league in a number of categories. Improvement on that side of the ball will be a goal moving forward, although the team’s edge rush group is shorthanded in the absence of Malcolm Koonce. It will be interesting to see how the coaching staff reacts to Sunday’s loss after it dropped the Raiders to 1-2 on the year.

Raiders S Marcus Epps Suffers ACL Tear

September 23rd, 2024 at 3:14pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Raiders were dealt a major blow during Sunday’s loss. Safety Marcus Epps suffered an ACL tear, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

Epps was part of the Raiders’ efforts to rebuild in the secondary last offseason. He inked a two-year deal as a free agent worth $12MM. That pact included $8MM in guarantees, and it proved to be a worthwhile investment from the team’s perspective last year. The 28-year served as a full-time starter, collecting 66 tackles and three pass breakups. Similar play was expected of him in 2024, but his attention will turn to recovery.

As Pelissero notes, Epps’ knee is otherwise intact, which is a positive sign regarding his long-term outlook. For the time being, though, the Raiders will be shorthanded at the safety spot. The Wyoming product logged more than 1,000 defensive snaps for the second straight year in 2023, and replacing him will be a tall order for Las Vegas. The team ranks 28th in scoring defense through three games, including poor numbers against the pass (226 yards per game), and those figures could worsen in Epps’ absence.

The former Viking and Eagle did not hold down a full-time starting role in Philadelphia until his final year with the team. Epps did not deliver strong coverage statistics that season, but his leadership and communication made him an attractive option for the Raiders to pair with Tre’von Moehrig. The latter had his best season to date in 2023, but he will close out the current campaign with a new safety partner. The likes of Isaiah Pola-Mao, Amari Burney, Christopher Smith and Trey Taylor are options to take on an increased defensive role.

The news of Epps’ injury comes not long after it was learned starting defensive end Malcolm Koonce is also out for the year. Those absences will leave the Raiders without a pair of impactful defenders moving forward as they look to improve from a 1-2 start. With nearly $28MM in cap space, a move aimed at adding safety depth to help replace Epps would be feasible from a financial standpoint.

For the former sixth-rounder, this injury will no doubt impact his free agent value. Epps will look to rehab in time for the start of the 2025 campaign, but his market will not be as strong as it would have been had he remained healthy and productive for Vegas.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/21/24

September 21st, 2024 at 5:00pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s minor NFL transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Players like Hollman, Vigil, Webb, and Quarterman will now be getting called up for the third time this season. The NFL rules limit a practice squad player to three standard gameday elevations per contract. If their teams want to get them into more games in the future, the normal route is for them to be signed to the active roster after this weekend then released/waived and signed to new practice squad deals, starting their three-game count over.

Shy Tuttle‘s foot injury will keep him off the field for Week 3, as the Panthers announced that the defensive tackle has been downgraded from doubtful to out. The Panthers called up Williams to temporarily take the open roster spot. The defensive end started 10 of his 16 appearances for the Panthers last season, and he landed back on Carolina’s practice squad last month after spending the preseason with the Bills.

The Browns announced a handful of moves ahead of their game with the Giants tomorrow. Notably, the team didn’t promote any offensive tackles, which provided some optimism surrounding the availability of their injured tackles. While Jedrick Wills Jr. is expected to play (per Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal), Jack Conklin will not (per Tony Grossi of 850 ESPN Cleveland). Conklin hasn’t played since Week 1 of the 2023 season while recovering from a torn ACL and MCL. He practiced this week and was initially listed as questionable for tomorrow’s game, but it sounds like a new hamstring injury is the culprit for his Week 3 absence.

With both Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce set to miss Sunday’s trip to Minnesota, the Texans are bringing up Taylor off the practice squad. Taylor will back up Cam Akers and Dare Ogunbowale against the Vikings this weekend.

Raiders DE Malcolm Koonce To Miss Season

September 20th, 2024 at 6:17pm CST by Ely Allen

The Raiders got some bad news to start the season when it was announced that breakout pass rusher Malcolm Koonce would miss at least the first four games of the season after being placed on injured reserve the day before the season opener. Today, that news just got a lot worse as Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report breaks that Koonce a serious knee injury suffered in a recent practice will in fact end his 2024 campaign.

The team had been holding out hope that Koonce would be able to make a return at some point in the season if the injury wasn’t too severe, per Schultz. After weighing several options, though, it was determined that a surgery was necessary, one that would end Koonce’s 2024 season.

A former third-round pick for Las Vegas out of Buffalo, Koonce spent all but five games of his rookie season sitting out with injury. Despite not making his NFL debut until Week 13 and although he only played seven snaps, Koonce delivered a sack in his first game of professional football. He would repeat the feat a week later, while only playing 15 snaps. Those 15 defensive snaps were the most action he’d see in his first two years as he spent most of his sophomore campaign on special teams.

After the depth chart cleared out a bit with the departures of Chandler Jones and Clelin Ferrell, Koonce was finally able to get ample snaps on defense last year, starting 11 games. Making the most of his time, Koonce delivered a breakout season, tallying career highs in total tackles (43), sacks (8.0), tackles for loss (9), quarterback hits (17), and forced fumbles (3). With Koonce heading into the final year of his rookie deal with plenty to prove, the Raiders were excited to have Koonce as a productive pass rusher across from defensive star Maxx Crosby this season.

This news is obviously toughest on Koonce, who, after two years, had finally distanced himself from an injury-plagued rookie season. The fourth-year defender was likely looking forward to putting forth another career year in a contract year, setting himself up for a big payday via extension or free agency. Instead, teams will have to speculate off of the 2023 season (his freshest work), and any deals he signs will likely be heavily dependent on a physical.

Another member of the 2021 NFL Draft class, Janarius Robinson has stepped up in Koonce’s absence so far this season. Robinson hasn’t registered a stat in the first few weeks of the season, but Las Vegas doesn’t have much choice but to stick with him as they work to find someone to work across from Crosby. Former first-round pick Tyree Wilson suffered a knee sprain in the team’s season opener and missed last week’s win over the Ravens as a result.

With Wilson and Koonce out, the team signed Charles Snowden from the practice squad to the active roster and filled his spot on the taxi squad with another former first-round pick in K’Lavon Chaisson. The team was already seeking options to add more pass rushers, but with the Koonce news today, they’ll be even more pressed to make a move.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/14/24

September 14th, 2024 at 8:06pm CST by Ely Allen

Saturday’s minor transactions and gameday practice squad callups:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Patrick was among the Broncos’ final roster cuts after a Saints trade was discussed. The 30-year-old missed the 2022 and ’23 campaigns due to ACL and Achilles tears, respectively. Patrick did not need to wait long to find a new opportunity, though, quickly landing a practice squad deal with the Lions. He is now positioned make his season debut tomorrow as a complementary option in Detroit’s passing attack.

Olszewski is dealing with a groin injury and he was known to be facing a long-term absence. Today’s move thus comes as no surprise, but it ensures at least a four-week absence. The former All-Pro scored a punt return touchdown with Pittsburgh early last season and added another during his 10-game Giants stretch to close out the year. The team will need to rely on other options in the return game for the time being.

Raiders Notes: Meyers, Brady, Edge Rush

September 12th, 2024 at 8:42pm CST by Adam La Rose

The 49ers wound up retaining Brandon Aiyuk on a four-year, $120MM extension after extensive talks with outside teams about a trade. Had they ended up dealing the second-team All-Pro to the Steelers, acquiring an experienced wideout to replace him would have become a priority.

One of San Francisco’s known targets in that respect was Courtland Sutton. The Broncos turned aside interest in a trade which would have sent Sutton to the Bay Area, but they were not the only team in the AFC West to receive an offer concerning a veteran wideout. The 49ers “approached” the Raiders about Jakobi Meyers, Michael Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle writes.

Talks on the Meyers front proved to be very short-lived, however, per The Athletic’s Vic Tafur. In the end, Aiyuk deciding to remain in San Francisco ended the need for any further WR pursuit on the part of the 49ers. Meyers, 27, recorded 807 yards and a career-high eight touchdowns during his debut Raiders campaign last season. With two years remaining on his pact, expectations are high for another strong year in 2024. The former Patriot would have stepped into a starting role in an Aiyuk-less 49ers receiver room, but it comes as no surprise a trade was not seriously considered by Raiders GM Tom Telesco.

Here are some other notes out of Las Vegas:

  • Tom Brady‘s ownership stake in the team is still not official, but other NFL owners have kept it in mind during the start of his broadcasting career. Brady faces many restrictions in his gig as FOX’s lead color commentator owing to the fact he is set to be a part of Mark Davis‘ ownership group. As Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated notes, the seven-time Super Bowl winner was present for Vegas’ final practice during the 2023 season. That may have raised additional questions about how hands-on he will be once his stake is finalized, and it helps explain the steps taken to eliminate Brady’s access to other teams during his broadcasting tenure.
  • With Malcolm Koonce set to miss significant time (if not the entire season), it was particularly problematic when fellow defensive end Tyree Wilson suffered a knee sprain in Week 1. The latter avoided the worst-case scenario, but he could still miss time. The Raiders have since worked out K’Lavon Chaisson and added him on a practice squad deal; the former Jags first-rounder could provide depth, but more moves could be coming. Head coach Antonio Pierce confirmed (via ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez) Telesco is still looking into defensive end additions. Vegas has over $28MM in cap space, so finances will not be an issue if a veteran like Yannick Ngakoue or Carl Lawson is pursued.
  • Defensive lineman Jonah Laulu was one of the players let go by the Colts during roster cutdowns, and the Raiders claimed him off waivers. The seventh-round rookie was a prospect the Raiders wanted to select in the draft, Pierce said (via Tafur’s colleague Tashan Reed). Laulu began his college career at Hawaii before transferring to Oklahoma. He flashed potential with the Sooners while catching Pierce’s attention in the process, and he will now look to carve out a role in Vegas.

Raiders Sign OLB K’Lavon Chaisson To Practice Squad

September 10th, 2024 at 9:16pm CST by Ely Allen

A week after being released by the Panthers, pass rusher K’Lavon Chaisson is getting his third opportunity in the NFL. According to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report, Chaisson will be joining the practice squad of the Raiders.

Chaisson, a former first-round pick out of LSU, struggled over the course of his rookie contract in Jacksonville. The Jaguars gave their 20th overall pick a slow start to his career, giving him only three starts in his rookie season. A season later, Chaisson started eight games, without providing much more value to the defense. After missing eight games due to injury in 2022, Chaisson returned in 2023 playing a career-low numbers of snaps, though he finally did deliver a multi-sack season.

After seeing his fifth-year option declined, Chaisson became a free agent and signed with the Panthers. Two other free agent additions, Jadeveon Clowney and D.J. Wonnum, ended up making the team’s initial 53-man roster alongside Chaisson, but a week later, only Clowney and Wonnum remained.

Now, Chaisson will head to Vegas where the Raiders are dealing with a litany of injuries to their pass rushing group. The day before their season opener, the Raiders placed defensive end Malcolm Koonce on injured reserve with a knee injury. Yesterday, it was reported that last year’s first-round pick, Tyree Wilson, suffered a knee sprain, and Las Vegas was looking for help on the edge, as a result.

That help comes in the form of Chaisson. If called up from the practice squad, Chaisson would provide reinforcement for Maxx Crosby, Janarius Robinson, Wilson, and Charles Snowden. It still leaves the position room a bit thin, but it gives the team bodies on the edge.

In addition to Chaisson, the Raiders added cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly to their practice squad, as well. A fifth-round pick for the Ravens last year, Kelly failed to make Baltimore’s 53-man roster and spent parts of his rookie season in Seattle, Green Bay, and Washington. He now joins his fifth team in 13 months.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/10/24

September 10th, 2024 at 4:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Free Agent

Not long after being a 49ers cut as the NFC champions pared set their initial 53-man roster, Parker secured another opportunity. The 49ers carried Parker on their roster this offseason and brought him back shortly after releasing him. A 33-game starter with the Raiders, Parker joins a Falcons roster housing Storm Norton as the swingman behind Jake Matthews and Kaleb McGary.

Isaac went to camp with the Bucs but caught on with the Panthers, via their barrage of waiver claims, after being waived. The Panthers waived Isaac before their Week 1 game. Isaac initially signed with the Bucs as a 2023 UDFA and played in two games last season.

Hatten incurred a five-game suspension today. A Seahawks UDFA this year, Hatten did not make the team’s 53-man roster. At the same time, the NFL lifted the suspensions of the other three free agents, Jackson, Muhammad, and Thomas.

Tyree Wilson Suffers Knee Sprain; Raiders Eyeing Edge Rush Addition

September 9th, 2024 at 2:21pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Raiders’ pass rush was already shorthanded to begin the campaign, and the unit was dealt another blow on Sunday. Tyree Wilson suffered a knee sprain during the team’s loss to the Chargers, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Rapoport notes Wilson’s knee is intact. While further testing is yet to take place, that is an encouraging sign the worst-case scenario has been avoided. Nevertheless, Wilson could be in line for missed time, something which would exacerbate the absence of Malcolm Koonce. A knee injury suffered during practice this week landed Koonce on injured reserve, and he is in danger of missing the entire 2024 campaign.

Wilson was in line to handle an increased workload in the wake of Koonce’s injury. The 2023 seventh overall pick logged a 44% snap share as a rookie, although his production fell short of expectations. Wilson totaled 3.5 sacks, a stark contrast to the eight Koonce managed while operating opposite Maxx Crosby. Missed time will halt Wilson’s development, although a long-term absence may not be in store for him.

Given the injuries suffered along the edge, though, Vegas will likely be in the market for an addition. Head coach Antonio Pierce said on Monday general manager Tom Telesco is “working on” bringing in depth options at the defensive end spot (h/t Vic Tafur of The Athletic). It would come as no surprise if free agent workouts including some of the top veterans on the market were to take place over the coming days.

Carl Lawson, Yannick Ngakoue, Romeo Okwara and Shaq Lawson are among the most experienced edge defenders who are unsigned at the moment. The Raiders currently have nearly $28.5MM in cap space, so a short-term addition would certainly be feasible. How the team proceeds will no doubt be heavily influenced by Wilson’s prognosis, but Vegas will be worth watching in the near future with respect to a signing aimed at providing depth.

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