Chase Garbers

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/27/23

With the preseason over for 30 of the NFL’s 32 teams, many have begun the process of working their rosters down to the eventual 53-man rosters they will open the season with:

Indianapolis Colts

  • Waived: WR Tyler Adams, WR Kody Case, G Emil Ekiyor, TE Nick Eubanks, K Lucas Havrisik, TE Michael Jacobson, T Matthew Vanderslice
  • Released: CB Teez Tabor

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Although never quite reaching the heights of his tenure with the Bengals, Vigil has a history as a strong contributor and potential starter at linebacker. Coming off a season that saw him only play in four games for the Cardinals before getting put on injured reserve, Vigil failed to stick in New York and will need to find his next opportunity elsewhere.

Vallejo’s tenure in Minnesota lasted a short two weeks. The special teams specialist will have to keep searching for his 2023 home.

Raiders To Release TE O.J. Howard

For the second straight summer, O.J. Howard has seen his spell with a new team come to an abrupt end. The veteran tight end is being released by the Raiders, as noted by Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (Twitter link).

Howard joined the Raiders in March, not long after the trade which sent Darren Waller to the Giants. The latter’s departure left a pass-catching role available for Howard, but his grip on a final roster spot was always a tenuous one. The former first-rounder underwhelmed in his five years with the Buccaneers, and his career has seen him bounce around the AFC since then.

Howard joined the Bills in 2022, but his struggles during training camp and the preseason left his roster spot in serious jeopardy. Buffalo made him one of their final cuts, marking a disappointing end to his Bills tenure after landing a $5MM deal in free agency. He spent this past season with the Texans, making 10 receptions in 13 games, setting up his Raiders deal.

Vegas lost not only Waller but also Foster Moreau this offseason, despite the team’s efforts to retain the latter in free agency. Plenty of TE snaps are thus up for grabs this year, but instead of Howard the Raiders will look to their other options at the position. That includes second-round rookie Michael Mayer, who was one of the headliners of a celebrated tight class in this year’s draft. The Notre Dame product was already in line for a notable role with Howard in the fold, but his release will make that even more likely.

The Raiders also have free agent signing Austin Hooper and former UDFA Jesper Horsted available as depth options with Howard no longer in the picture. The latter will again look to latch onto a roster late in the offseason as he tries to find a long-term home, while Vegas’ new-look offense will move forward with their efforts to sort out the TE pecking order.

Bonsignore also tweets that quarterback Chase Garbers has been re-signed. The 24-year-old found himself on and off the Raiders’ practice squad last season, and he was released one week ago as part of the team’s ongoing summer moves. He will again look to earn himself either a practice squad spot in Vegas or a look from another team following roster cuts.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/25/23

With a number of teams preparing for the start of training camp, a long list of players were placed on inactive lists today. We’ve compiled all of those and today’s other minor moves below:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

Free Agents

Isaiah Wilson hasn’t had an NFL gig since he was released by the Giants in January of 2022. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero tweets that the free agent lineman was slapped with a three-game suspension, but it’s uncertain what led to the temporary ban. Wilson was a first-round pick by the Titans in 2020 but got into only one game with Tennessee before getting shipped off to Miami. He was waived by Miami after showing up late to his team physical, and his practice squad stint with New York only lasted one season.

Max Garcia is an experienced addition to the Saints OL room, with the veteran having most recently started seven of his 12 appearances with the Cardinals in 2022. The 31-year-old has 59 games of starting experience, although Pro Football Focus was iffy on his production last year (63rd among 77 qualifying offensive guards).

Following a three-year stint in Cleveland, Terrance Mitchell has spent the past two seasons bouncing around the NFL. He got into 14 games (13 starts) for the Texans in 2021, finishing with 60 tackles and 10 passes defended. He spent the 2022 season with the Titans, finishing with 39 tackles in 11 games (five starts). 49ers fifth-round pick Darrell Luter Jr. is set to miss some time with a knee injury, providing Mitchell with an opportunity during training camp.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/31/22

Today’s roster moves heading into gameday:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

  • Promoted from practice squad: G Kyle Hinton, DL T.J. Smith

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC West

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These BroncosChargers, Chiefs and Raiders moves are noted below.

Here are Wednesday’s AFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Denver Broncos

Re-signed:

Signed to practice squad:

Kansas City Chiefs

Signed to practice squad:

Las Vegas Raiders

Released from IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Los Angeles Chargers

Signed: 

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Raiders Trim Roster To 53 Players

The Raiders have been busy today, trading former second-round cornerback Trayvon Mullen to the Cardinals for a conditional seventh-round pick. The Raiders have since completed their 53-man roster, cutting a number of players:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Keelan Cole started 11 of his 15 games for the Jets last season, finishing with 28 receptions for 449 yards and one touchdown. He was expected to serve as an end-of-the-depth-chart option at wide receiver (and in the return game), but he ultimately lost out on the gig to Tyron Johnson and DJ Turner. Wideout Dillon Stoner and Isaiah Zuber were also candidates for the fourth or fifth receiver gig, but they were cut.

Matthias Farley saw time in all 17 games for the Titans last season, finishing with 16 tackles. He has extensive special teams experience, but the Raiders ended up pivoting to younger options to round out their roster, Darius Phillips was also a candidate to contribute on special teams following a 2021 campaign where he returned 25 punts for the Bengals.

Austin Walter had a career-high 28 touches for the Jets last offseason, but he wasn’t able to crack the Raiders roster even with the release of Kenyan Drake. The Raiders RB room is still plenty crowded, with Josh Jacobs, rookie fourth-round pick Zamir White, special teams ace Brandon Bolden, rookie seventh-round pick Brittain Brown, and veteran Ameer Abdullah all earning roster spots.

Raiders Sign 15 Undrafted Free Agents

The Raiders rookie class grew significantly today, as the organization announced the signing of 15 undrafted free agents:

Tagovailoa-Amosa got a significant chunk of money from the Raiders, earning $207K in guaranteed money (including a $197K base salary guarantee), per ProFootballFocus.com’s Doug Kyed on Twitter. The cousin of Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa, the Notre Dame defensive end had a standout season in 2021, collecting six tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. Another notable NFL-family connection is Pola-Mao, who is the nephew of Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu. During his time at USC, Pola-Mao collected 178 tackles, five interceptions, and four fumble recoveries.

Olaseni grew up in London, England and didn’t start playing football until the age of 17 thanks to the British American Football Association. He played collegiate ball at Utah, where he earned All-Pac-12 Second Team honors.