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NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/24/23

October 24th, 2023 at 7:44pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Released: CB Quavian White

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Panthers Place S Jeremy Chinn, OLB Yetur Gross-Matos On IR, Activate G Austin Corbett

October 24th, 2023 at 4:27pm CST by Adam La Rose

Coming out of their bye week, the Panthers have made a number of injury-related moves. The team announced on Tuesday that safety Jeremy Chinn and pass rusher Yetur Gross-Matos have been placed on injured reserve. The same is true of tight end/special teamer Giovanni Ricci.

As a result of the move, all three players will be forced to miss at least four weeks. In Chinn’s case, a quadriceps injury is expected to keep him sidelined for longer than that, so today’s move comes as no surprise. The 25-year-old is in the final year of his contract, but the injury likely took him off the board with respect to trade interest from outside teams.

Gross-Matos is dealing with a hamstring injury which has been deemed serious enough to interrupt an encouraging season. The former second-rounder has posted 2.5 sacks through six games, only one short of matching his career high. He has added three tackles for loss and six quarterback pressures despite seeing a drop in playing time compared to last year. Starters Brian Burns and Justin Houston will be counted on more heavily in the edge department given Gross-Matos’ absence. Ricci has a shoulder injury, per ESPN’s David Newton.

In more positive news, the Panthers activated guard Austin Corbett from the PUP list. This marked the final week of his 21-day return window, so today’s move was needed to avoid having him revert to season-ending IR. The 28-year-old suffered an ACL tear in Week 18 last year, and has been rehabbing ever since. His return will be welcomed on an offensive line which has used three different starters at both left and right guard this season. Corbett indicated (via Newton) that he may not suit up for Week 8 despite being brought back onto the roster. That move will did use up any of Carolina’s seven remaining IR activations, but bringing back Chinn, Gross-Matos and Ricci will.

To fill the other roster spots opened up by the IR moves, the Panthers have signed edge rusher Luiji Vilain off the Vikings’ practice squad. The 25-year-old Canadian has made four regular season appearances since signing in Minnesota as a UDFA. Likewise, Carolina has added offensive lineman Brett Toth from the Eagles’ taxi squad. The latter has made one start across his 17 total games played, all with Philadelphia.

Titans, Eagles Agree To Kevin Byard Trade

October 23rd, 2023 at 10:06pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Eagles have made a signficant addition to their secondary. Philadelphia has agreed to a trade which will see them acquire safety Kevin Byard from the Titans, as first reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports that fellow safety Terrell Edmunds, along with 2024 fifth- and sixth-round picks will be headed back to Tennessee. The Eagles have long been named as a candidate to make an addition in the secondary – particularly at the safety spot – and now that has taken place. The move marks an end to Byard’s seven-plus year run in Nashville.

With that said, this move will represent a homecoming for the Philadelphia native. Byard’s time with the Titans appeared to be on shaky ground in the offseason, with new general manager Ran Carthon approaching him (unsuccessfully) about agreeing to a pay cut. In spite of that, the 30-year-old made it clear he was not looking to be moved out of Tennessee. He ultimately agreed to a restructured contract, a move which lowered his base salary to $4MM this season.

Given the ease which which his 2023 earnings could be absorbed – along with the fact no guaranteed money is in place in 2024, the final year of his deal – Byard represented an attractive trade chip. He was recently reported to be the subject of interest from teams, but doubts remained regarding the compensation Tennessee could fetch in return. Instead of seeing Byard potentially become a cap casualty in the offseason, the Titans will now receive a pair of Day 3 picks along with a short-term replacement in Edmunds, who signed a one-year deal this offseason.

The picks exchanged here will be the Eagles’ highest pick in the 2024 fifth and sixth rounds, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones tweets. Both are conditional selections, per GOPHNX.com’s Howard Balzer. It is unknown at this point what conditions are included here, but this will bring an end to an eight-season partnership between Byard and the Titans.

Byard earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro acclaim in 2017 and ’21, and he has remained productive across his time in Nashville. He has recorded multiple interceptions every full year since his rookie campaign, and eclipsed 100 tackles twice. His ball production and coverage marks have taken a step back this year, but he will be joining a more talented defense upon arrival with the Eagles, a team which has lost a number of key members of its secondary since their Super Bowl appearance.

That included the free agent departure of both Marcus Epps and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and Philadelphia has been in search of a true replacement for the latter’s playmaking in particular early in the season. Byard will have the chance to take on a starting role alongside Reed Blankenship (when healthy) in the team’s new-look safety arrangement. Their performances when paired together will go a long way in determining the secondary’s success, especially given the season-ending injury suffered by slot corner Avonte Maddox.

The Eagles entered today with roughly $4.3MM in cap space, so this move will likely be the most notable one the reigning NFC champions can afford. Still, it proves the team’s all-in approach as they look to go one step further than they did last year. From Tennessee’s perspective, meanwhile, this move will invite questions about Carthon and Co. being willing to part with other veterans. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill and running back Derrick Henry are not believed to be on the block, but at 2-4 it would not come as no surprise if the Titans were to act as sellers in other moves ahead of the October 31 deadline.

Eagles Sign WR Julio Jones

October 21st, 2023 at 3:52pm CST by Sam Robinson

OCTOBER 21: To little surprise, Jones will make his Eagles debut on Sunday. The team announced he (along with cornerback Mekhi Garner) is a game day elevation for Week 7. Jones will thus revert back to the taxi squad after the contest, allowing two more game day call-ups before a signing on the active roster will be required. It will be interesting to see how large of a role he plays within an already capable Eagles offense during Sunday’s primetime matchup against the Dolphins.

OCTOBER 17: Already rostering one of the NFL’s top wide receiver tandems, the Eagles will add an All-Decade player to the mix. The team agreed to a deal with Julio Jones on Tuesday.

Jones, who has not played since his Buccaneers one-off in 2022, signed a one-year contract with the Eagles, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. This will be Jones’ age-34 season. Jones will reunite with ex-Titans teammate A.J. Brown and former Falcons sidekick Olamide Zaccheaus.

This is a practice squad deal, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Since the league expanded P-squads to 16 players in 2020, teams have used the increased flexibility to stash veterans and provide ramp-up periods. The Eagles did this recently with Bradley Roby, who joined the team on a P-squad agreement before moving up to the 53-man roster days later. Jones should be expected to be on Philly’s active roster soon, with CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones indicating a real chance exists this transaction will happen before Week 7.

The Eagles are adding Jones not long after placing their No. 3 wideout, Quez Watkins, on IR. Watkins has missed three games this season and landed on IR ahead of Week 6 because of a hamstring ailment. The 5-1 team brought in Marquez Callaway and Dezmon Patmon for workouts Monday, Schefter adds, but will go with one of this era’s best receiving options. Jones is obviously well into his post-prime period by this point, but the 6-foot-3 target supplies tremendous experience — both as a lead target on a Super Bowl team and a supporting-caster on playoff-bound squads.

Philly has shown a willingness to bring in accomplished veterans near the end of their careers, doing so in 2022, when they aided their run defense by signing defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph midway through last season. Both vets stayed on the team through Super Bowl LVII. Jones, who played in Super Bowl LI with the Falcons, will sign on to chase a ring in what could very well be his final season.

Jones authored the most statistically productive five-year run by a pass catcher in NFL history, totaling 7,994 receiving yards from 2014-18. That stretch produced two first-team All-Pro nods, and Jones ripped off three second-team All-Pro seasons during his lengthy peak, one that effectively concluded with the 2019 season. That 15-game Atlanta slate represents a line of demarcation of sorts for Jones, who saw injury trouble wrap his prime during the 2020 slate. He has missed 21 games due to injury over the past three years.

The initial months of the Terry Fontenot–Arthur Smith Falcons partnership led to a Jones trade to the Titans. Brown had pushed for the Titans to acquire Jones in 2021, and while the duo played together for a team that booked home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs, both missed time due to injuries. The hamstring trouble that slowed Jones in 2020 followed him to Tennessee. He finished the ’21 season with 34 catches for 434 yards and one touchdown. Signing with the Buccaneers last year, Jones worked as an auxiliary target alongside Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. The 12-year veteran tallied 24 catches for 299 yards and two scores for a Bucs team that cratered offensively, though a porous NFC South kept the Tom Brady-fronted team afloat en route to a playoff berth. Jones missed games but did not land on IR during his Tampa stay.

Returning this year will delay Jones’ Hall of Fame induction, though given the waits receivers regularly endure en route to Canton, the former No. 6 overall pick may not be a lock for first-ballot enshrinement. Nevertheless, the surefire Hall of Famer will join an Eagles team that endured an ugly loss to the Jets. Brown and DeVonta Smith are coming off a 1,000-1,000 season, and Zaccheaus finished with 533 yards for the 2022 Falcons. Though, the diminutive Philly native has just 74 yards this year. Watkins cannot return until Week 12, leaving a bit of a void behind Brown and Smith. Howie Roseman will see if Jones can help fill it for the Super Bowl-contending squad.

Eagles “Staying Put” With RB Rashaad Penny

October 21st, 2023 at 12:45pm CST by Ben Levine

After joining the Eagles this past offseason, running back Rashaad Penny has barely seen the field for Philly. While the former first-round pick could appeal to a running back-needy team, it doesn’t sound like the Eagles intend to break up their depth at the position.

According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, the Eagles are “staying put” on Penny heading into the trade deadline. Howie Roseman and the Eagles understand that they’ll need their running back depth as they eye a deep playoff run.

Penny never lived up to his first-round billing during his time with the Seahawks, although that was thanks in part to a torn ACL that ended his 2019 campaign and wiped out most of his 2020 season. He had his best season in 2021, finishing with 797 yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns, but he still missed seven games thanks to injury.

The running back hit free agency in 2022 after having his fifth-year option declined, but he ended up re-signing with the Eagles a one-year, $5.7MM deal. He started each of the first five games for Seattle, collecting 362 yards from scrimmage on 61 touches. He suffered a season-ending broken fibula in Week 5, ending his season prematurely.

Penny caught on with the Eagles this past offseason, and we was part of the team’s RB makeover that saw the subtraction of Miles Sanders and the addition of D’Andre Swift. Swift has taken a firm hold on the RB1 role, with incumbents Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott still earning backup reps. As a result, Penny has only seen time in one game this season, garnering three carries on nine snaps.

While the Eagles aren’t looking to subtract from their roster, they are certainly looking to add. Per Russini, Roseman has “been working the phone,” with the organization specifically eyeing some defensive reinforcement. The secondary has been hit especially hard by injuries, and Russini notes that the Eagles have specifically been targeting a safety in trade talks.

Giants Place OL Joshua Ezeudu On IR

October 20th, 2023 at 10:36am CST by Ben Levine

OCTOBER 20: After tests on the second-year blocker’s injury, Brian Daboll revealed the situation “doesn’t look good,” per the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy. The 2022 third-round pick may not return this season, which would be another blow to a Giants O-line that remains without Thomas, center John Michael Schmitz, swing tackle Matt Peart and guard Shane Lemieux. All four are out for Week 7, with Lemieux done for the year after suffering a biceps tear in practice Thursday.

OCTOBER 17: The Giants are down yet another offensive lineman. The Giants have placed offensive tackle Joshua Ezeudu on injured reserve, per Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. Ezeudu suffered a toe injury during Sunday’s loss to the Bills.

The 2022 third-round pick found himself starting for the Giants at left tackle after Andrew Thomas went down with a hamstring injury. After starting two of his 10 appearances as a rookie, Ezeudu has already started five of his six appearances in 2023. Pro Football Focus hasn’t been very fond of his performance, ranking him 71st among 74 qualifying offensive tackles, but his injury will still force the Giants to dig deeper into their OL depth.

Ezeudu’s exit from Sunday night’s game forced the Giants to play Justin Pugh at LT despite the veteran only having six career snaps at the position. Pugh was elevated from the practice squad with the expectation that he’d chip in at left guard, but Ezeudu’s injury changed those plans. It’s uncertain if Pugh is indeed the organization’s top healthy option at LT or if he was merely an emergency, in-game solution.

The Giants were busy adding some depth at the position today. According to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, the team has signed offensive lineman Josh Miles off the Falcons’ practice squad. The former seventh-round pick saw time in 17 games with the Cardinals between the 2019 and 2021 seasons.

Raanan also reports that the Giants have snagged lineman Tyre Phillips off the Eagles’ practice squad. The lineman actually started five of his 12 appearances for the Giants in 2022 and was a surprise cut back in August. The former third-round pick started 13 of his 22 appearances with the Ravens to begin his career.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/19/23

October 19th, 2023 at 6:40pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Los Angeles Rams

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

It’s not a huge surprise that Lawrence Cager landed back on the Giants’ practice squad after he was waived from the active roster yesterday. After hauling in 18 catches in six games (three starts) for the Giants in 2022, Cager has hauled in a pair of catches in five games this season.

DB Notes: Packers, Chinn, CJGJ, Roby, Rams

October 19th, 2023 at 9:43am CST by Sam Robinson

The Packers do not likely have a starting spot waiting for Eric Stokes upon his return. As we heard in June, the 2021 first-round pick is on track to return as a backup. Green Bay has Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas and Keisean Nixon as its top three corners, and unlike 2022, the team is not planning on changing Douglas’ position to accommodate a cornerback surplus. Douglas moving to safety appears a non-starter, per The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman. Last season, the Packers moved Douglas to a slot role to make room for the returning Alexander. After Stokes’ midseason Lisfranc injury, Douglas moved back to his more natural boundary position.

Stokes, who underwent foot and knee surgeries this offseason, remains on the Packers’ reserve/PUP list. The team designated him for return two weeks ago, setting his activation deadline at Oct. 24. Stokes was running at full speed in July and would have been ready to come back had multiple hamstring issues not slowed him during training camp, Schneidman adds. Stokes fared better as a rookie, when the Pack were down Alexander, than he did last season. Pro Football Focus graded Stokes outside the top 100 among corners last season, and this backup role does not present an ideal rebound opportunity.

Here is the latest from NFL secondaries:

  • Mentioned as a trade candidate last week, Jeremy Chinn now looks likely to finish his contract year in Carolina. The fourth-year Panthers safety sustained a significant quadriceps injury that ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter expects to sideline him for up to six weeks. Despite being a versatile cog who has been a Panthers regular throughout his career, Chinn has seen his playing time dip in Ejiro Evero‘s defense this season. After logging snap rates over 90% from 2020-22, the former Defensive Rookie of the Year runner-up has played 52% of Carolina’s defensive snaps. The Panthers prioritized Chinn as a foundational piece before last year’s deadline; his stock has fallen since.
  • Bradley Roby avoided the worst-case scenario after suffering a pectoral injury in Week 6. The recent Eagles addition sustained a pectoral strain, per NFL reporter Jordan Schultz, who adds the 10th-year cornerback will avoid IR. In the two games since being signed and quickly promoted to the 53-man roster, Roby has played 46% of Philadelphia’s defensive snaps. The Eagles have already lost their top slot corner, Avonte Maddox. Roby’s setback represents another blow for the defending NFC champions, but the 31-year-old cover man should be back fairly soon.
  • C.J. Gardner-Johnson is navigating a longer return timetable, suffering a torn pec in Week 2. The Lions safety, who led the NFL in INTs during his Eagles one-off last season, is believed to be months away from coming back — if he is to return at all — according to the Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birkett. Pectoral tears often end players’ seasons, so it will be interesting if Gardner-Johnson becomes a true candidate to come off IR down the stretch — perhaps if Detroit makes the playoffs.
  • Rams corner Derion Kendrick faces two misdemeanor charges in connection with his recent gun arrest, Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times notes. Arrested Monday morning, Kendrick was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possessing a loaded firearm. While teams regularly deploy players after arrests, waiting for NFL suspensions to come down later, Kendrick did not practice with the Rams upon his release from custody. The 2022 sixth-round pick has started all six Rams games this year. Discipline should be expected, but until a ban surfaces, Kendrick will likely continue to suit up for the team.
  • In a Ravens workout that led to safety Andrew Adams being signed, Eric Rowe received an audition, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. An eight-year veteran, Rowe spent the past four seasons with the Dolphins. Rowe, 31, signed a one-year, $1.32MM Panthers deal this offseason but did not make the team. Carolina released Rowe from its practice squad last month.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/18/23

October 18th, 2023 at 7:39pm CST by Ely Allen

Minor transactions from around the league today:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Denver Broncos

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

New York Giants

Seattle Seahawks

The Giants are dealing with an unprecedented epidemic at offensive tackle right now as their injury report starts to read like a phone book. Already missing starter Andrew Thomas and primary backup Matt Peart, New York went into Sunday night’s game with Evan Neal and Joshua Ezeudu bookending the line. Pugh had recently been brought in to help address the team’s depth at guard, but when Ezeudu exited the game with a toe injury, and was subsequently placed on injured reserve, Pugh kicked out and played the rest of the game at tackle with the first-team offense. Pugh will now serve as depth at tackle, as will Philips, who started his career in Baltimore as a guard before proving his versatility for the Ravens and Giants. He started five games for New York last year.

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