After playing in five games with the Saints, Hogan is now on the team’s reserve/retired list. Hogan caught on with New Orleans just before the start of the season. He caught four passes for 41 yards, including his 19th career touchdown, as a Saint.

A four-year Bills contributor, Hogan will be best remembered for his mid-career run with the Patriots. Plucked by the Pats via an RFA offer sheet in 2016, Hogan played a key role for two Super Bowl champion squads. Hogan led the NFL with 17.9 yards per reception in 2016 and totaled 12 touchdown catches in three Pats seasons.

The Monmouth alum delivered when called upon in the playoffs with the Pats. The ex-lacrosse player caught nine passes for 180 yards and two scores in the 2016 AFC championship game, finishing with 332 postseason receiving yards for the Super Bowl LI champions. With the Pats down Julian Edelman and then Brandin Cooks, Hogan then added 128 yards in Super Bowl LII a year later.

Hogan spent the past three seasons with three different teams, suiting up for the Panthers, Jets and Saints. He suffered injuries in both the 2019 and ’20 slates, with knee and ankle maladies limiting him to 12 games over that period.

Hogan delayed a professional lacrosse career to return to the NFL this summer. The two-time Super Bowl champ signed with the Saints back in July and missed the final cut, but that had more to do with the roster shuffle than anything. After his Patriots run, Hogan spent 2019 with the Panthers and 2020 with the Jets, though both years were marred by injuries. In his five games with Gang Green last year, Hogan had 14 catches for 118 yards. He’ll turn 33 in October and will serve as depth while star Michael Thomas works his way back to the field.

Siemian also lost his spot on Aug. 31, but he was expected to return all along. The veteran will operate as Jameis Winston‘s backup on game days while Taysom Hill occupies a variety of other roles and special teams functions. Siemian, a seventh-round pick of the Broncos in 2015, became Denver’s starter after Peyton Manning retired. He started 24 games for the Broncos between 2016-17, and has bounced around with a few different teams as a backup or third-string since losing that gig. His only recent live action came in one start with the Jets in 2019, when he suffered a devastating ankle injury.

Released

• FB Alex Armah
• OL Caleb Benenoch
• RB Devonta Freeman
• WR Chris Hogan
• DB Natrell Jamerson
• OT Jordan Mills
• DB KeiVarae Russell
• QB Trevor Siemian
• DT Damion Square
• OL J.R. Sweezy
• WR Kevin White

Waived

• WR Kawaan Baker
• DL Josiah Bronson
• DB Eric Burrell
• CB Grant Haley
• DT Albert Huggins
• OL Derrick Kelly
• DL R.J. McIntosh
• LB Wynton McManis
• CB Bryan Mills
• C Christian Montano
• LB Shaq Smith
• DB Deuce Wallace
• WR Eason Winston Jr.
• TE Ethan Wolf

Placed on Reserve/PUP list

• WR Michael Thomas

Placed on Reserve/Suspended list

• DT David Onyemata

We had previously heard about a number of these transactions, which you can find here (including full stories on Thomas, Siemian, and Freeman).

Among the notable additions to the list of cut players is veteran wideout Chris Hogan, who delayed a professional lacrosse career to return to the NFL. The two-time Super Bowl champ signed with the Saints back in July. Kevin White is another notable name to earn his walking papers. The former seventh-overall pick has been unable to hold a steady gig since leaving the Bears in 2019. He got into three games for New Orleans last season but mostly appeared on special teams.

Hogan, of course, was a star lacrosse player in college and had been chasing an old dream in the Premier Lacrosse League this summer before the Saints decided to pluck him away. Hogan began his NFL career as an unheralded undrafted player, and was able to eventually carve out a heck of a career for himself. After spending his first couple years on practice squads he broke through with the Bills, and ended up becoming a big part of the Patriots’ recent success.

He won two Super Bowls while playing in New England from 2016-18, then signed with the Panthers for 2019. Injuries limited him to seven games that year, and additional injuries limited him to only five with the Jets in 2020. We hadn’t heard of any other known NFL interest before he suddenly resurfaced today.

In those five games with the Jets, he had 14 catches for 118 yards. He’ll turn 33 in October, and will be a depth piece for a Saints offense that is expected to be without star Michael Thomas to begin the year.

[RELATED: Michael Thomas To Miss Time]

Hogan has been spending his summer in the Premier Lacrosse League, reliving his days at Penn State. Hogan played only played one season of college football at Monmouth before transferring to the Nittany Lions where he played lacrosse. Then, he hooked on with the Bills practice squad and eventually became a well-known figure with the Patriots from 2016-2018.

The two-time Super Bowl champ has since spent time with the Panthers and Jets, but injuries slowed him at both stops. With Gang Green last year, he recorded 14 catches for 118 yards.

At the age of 33, Hogan doesn’t profile as a perfect replacement for Thomas. However, the Saints hope to have Thomas — with healthy ligaments — on the field sooner rather than later.

He latched on with the Bills after a couple years of practice squad shuffling, and became a well-known name during his run with New England from 2016-18. In those three years he was often Tom Brady‘s top deep threat, and he was a large part of two Super Bowl winning teams. He signed with the Panthers in 2019, but injuries limited him to eight catches in seven games. He was with the Jets for the first five games of their disastrous 2020 season, catching 14 balls for 118 yards before landing on injured reserve and later getting cut. Now he’s attempting to get back to his first sport at the age of 33. It’s unclear if he’ll actually be drafted or not, but all of us here at PFR wish him the best.

Here’s more from the football universe:

• We’ve already heard that 68-year-old Bruce Arians won’t be riding off into the sunset after the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl win, so why would his 82-year-old offensive consultant Tom Moore? Moore apparently isn’t planning on calling it quits anytime soon, as he told Guy Limbeck of the Rochester Post Bulletin that “I want to coach until physically or mentally I can’t or until I die. He added “because there is absolutely nothing about working that turns me off. So I want to coach as long as I can, I want to coach as long as someone will hire me and that I can do the job that I’m supposed to do.” Moore never made it to head coach but had multiple runs as an OC in the NFL, most recently coordinating the Colts’ offense from 1998-2008. He was Arians’ assistant head coach with the Cardinals from 2013-17.
• The Steelers recently had two players retire, long-time Center Maurkice Pouncey and tight end Vance McDonald. Although both walked away from the game without Pittsburgh cutting them, the Steelers are still taking a financial hit. Those two retirements will result in $9MM in dead cap for Pittsburgh, Mark Kaboly of The Athletic tweets. The Steelers aren’t in the best cap situation, which helps explain why Ben Roethlisberger is going to have to restructure his contract if he wants to return for another season.

Arizona Cardinals

• Activated from IR: DL Leki Fotu
• Promoted: TE Seth Devalve, RB D.J. Foster

Cincinnati Bengals

• Promoted: WR Stanley Morgan
• Placed on IR: CB Tony Brown

Cleveland Browns

• Promoted: WR Ja’Marcus Bradley

Denver Broncos

• Activated from IR: FB/TE Andrew Beck
• Promoted: TE Troy Fumagalli, S Alijah Holder, LB Josh Watson

Detroit Lions

• Activated from IR: CB Darryl Roberts
• Promoted: S Bobby Price
• Waived: TE Isaac Nauta

Green Bay Packers

• Promoted: G Ben Braden, TE Dominique Dafney

Houston Texans

• Placed on IR: RB Cullen Gillaspia

Indianapolis Colts

• Promoted: P Ryan Allen, C Joey Hunt
• Placed on IR: TE Noah Togiai

Jacksonville Jaguars

• Activated from IR: S Josh Jones, LB Shaquille Quarterman
• Promoted: TE Ben Ellefson, DT DaVon Hamilton, CB Nate Meadors, DL Caraun Reid
• Waived: RB Craig Reynolds

Los Angeles Chargers

• Activated from IR: LB Asmar Bilal
• Promoted: LB Cole Christiansen, NT Breiden Fehoko

Los Angeles Rams

• Activated from IR: LB Ogbonnia Okoronkwo
• Promoted: DB J.R. Reed

Miami Dolphins

• Promoted: S Nate Holley

Minnesota Vikings

• Promoted: DE Eddie Yarbrough, TE Brandon Dillon

New England Patriots

• Activated from IR: TE Dalton Keene
• Promoted: TE/DL Rashod Berry, WR Donte Moncrief, DL Akeem Spence
• Waived: WR Isaiah Ford

New York Giants

• Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: RB Devonta Freeman; Freeman remains on IR
• Promoted: DL Niko Lalos, QB Clayton Thorson

New York Jets

• Promoted: DB Elijah Campbell, LB Noah Dawkins
• Released from IR: WR Chris Hogan

Philadelphia Eagles

• Promoted: DT Raequan Williams

Seattle Seahawks

• Promoted: T Chad Wheeler
• Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: DT Bryan Mone

Tennessee Titans

• Promoted: T Marshall Newhouse, LB Tuzar Skipper

Hogan, 32, has played in each of the Jets’ five games this season. He played in Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals despite being questionable with knee and rib injuries. But an ankle malady will pause Hogan’s season. Although it likely will not end Hogan’s ninth NFL slate, it represents the latest in a string of issues for Gang Green’s receiving corps.

The Jets, who were without No. 1 wideout Jamison Crowder for two weeks with a hamstring injury, have been without second-round rookie Denzel Mims all season. They are currently without Breshad Perriman, who has not played since Week 2 because of an ankle injury. Vyncint Smith is also on IR.

The Jets signed Hogan in August, doing so after Mims went down with the injury that has delayed his NFL debut. A former Bills and Patriots wideout, Hogan has 14 receptions for 118 yards this season. He spent the 2019 season with the Panthers. An IR stay shortened his Carolina season to seven games.

“Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. He’s our future. He’s special. If anyone can overcome anything, it would be Dak,” Jerry’s son said when asked if anything had changed in regard to Prescott being their quarterback of the future. Of course there’s not much else Jones could say the day after such a serious injury, but the strength of the assertion is still notable. The Cowboys certainly don’t seem like they have any intention of letting Prescott leave town, although of course a lot could change between now and next season. Meanwhile Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets that a source told him last night that Prescott’s surgery went “very well,” and was performed by the highly regarded foot and ankle doctor Gene Curry, who was brought in by the team’s orthopedist.

Here’s more from the league’s eastern divisions:

• While things may seem pretty bleak for the Cowboys right now with their mounting injuries, we do have a dash of good news to pass along. Linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, who broke his collarbone in the team’s opening loss to the Rams, appears to be nearing a return, according to Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Vander Esch has apparently been ramping up his activity, and returned to padded practice late last week. The initial timeframe on his injury was 6-8 weeks, and Hill writes that head coach Mike McCarthy says he’s ahead of schedule. It sounds like Vander Esch has a chance to return for Dallas’ upcoming Monday Night Football game against the Cardinals, and their struggling defense could certainly use him.
• The Jets are now 0-5 on the year, and after watching two of his fellow winless head coaches get canned, it looks like Adam Gase is considering major changes. At his presser Monday Gase said he has “toyed” with the idea of giving up play-calling responsibilities on offense, and that “everything is on the table at this point,” via Connor Hughes of The Athletic (Twitter link). Running backs coach Jim Bob Cooter, who was the Lions’ offensive coordinator recently, and OC Dowell Loggains would be the natural candidates to hand off to. Gase has always called the plays during his head coaching career, so this would be a huge change for him.
• Jets pass-catchers have been dropping like flies this season, and another one is about to hit the shelf. Gase revealed during the same presser that Chris Hogan suffered a high ankle sprain on Sunday and will be out for a while, Brian Costello of the New York Post tweets. The former Patriots deep threat is in his first season with New York and has been playing an increased role due to all the injuries. He’s had at least three catches in each of the past two weeks and had six for 75 yards back in Week 2. Fortunately for the Jets, they should be getting fellow receiver Breshad Perriman back soon from his own ankle injury.

New York is quite familiar with Hogan, who started seeing regular playing time with the division-rival Bills in 2014 and who became a key piece of the Patriots’ offense after New England signed him away from Buffalo in 2016 as a restricted free agent.

During his three-year tenure with the Pats — which included two Super Bowl wins — Hogan averaged a regular-season slash of 36/550/4 and averaged over 15 yards per catch (including a league-best 17.9 figure in 2016). He was equally valuable in the playoffs, recording 34 catches for 542 yards and four TDs in nine postseason games.

He hooked on with the Panthers last offseason, and while his 2019 campaign was largely ruined by injury, he could still be an important contributor for the Jets. As Rich Cimini of ESPN.com writes, promising but raw second-round rookie Denzel Mims is battling a hamstring injury, and beyond Breshad Perriman and slot man Jamison Crowder, the team’s receiver depth chart is incredibly thin.

This will sort of complete Hogan’s tour of the AFC East. In addition to his stints with the Bills and Patriots, Hogan, a 2011 UDFA out of Monmouth, spent some time on the Dolphins’ practice squad in the early part of his career.

“This is where I want to be at. This is what I love to do,” Cook said of his Vikings status, via ESPN.com’s Courtney Cronin. “I was going to be here regardless of whatever the speculations (that) came up or (questions of) if I wasn’t coming. I was going to be here ready to work. … I’m locked up full go, a thousand percent.”

The Vikings and Cook were not the same page financially, and OC Gary Kubiak — save for Terrell Davis and Arian Foster — has used a system that has featured extensive running back turnover during his two-plus decades overseeing NFL offenses. Cook is set to make $1.33MM this season. The Vikings have younger backs Alexander Mattison and Mike Boone in place as backups. While the Vikings would prefer to extend Cook, the $15MM-per-year price point that emerged appears far less palatable now that the cap could plummet by more than $20MM in 2021.

Here is the latest from the NFC North:

• The Lions workout in which Trevor Siemian participated also included veteran wideout Chris Hogan, per Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Now 32, Hogan is coming off an injury-sidetracked season with the Panthers. However, he was with the Patriots during Matt Patricia‘s run there. Hogan led the NFL with 17.9 yards per catch in 2016. While Hogan was not as effective in subsequent Pats years, he served as a key option for Tom Brady for most of his three-year New England stay. The Lions employ several ex-Patriots, having added a few more this offseason. Friday’s workout also included wide receivers Shelton Gibson, Krishawn Hogan and Keon Hatcher.
• An interesting development from Bears camp: Cordarrelle Patterson is not working with Chicago’s wide receiver group. Instead, the All-Pro kick returner is practicing as a running back, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com notes. The Bears had hoped to dial up more plays to capitalize on the veteran’s unique skill set last season, and Garafolo adds that should be something to monitor for the upcoming campaign. Patterson never worked out as a true receiver, but the All-Decade return man has enjoyed success as a gadget piece while seeing some running back snaps in New England.
• The Vikings have previously mentioned the prospect of Riley Reiff shifting to guard, but they shut that down this year. However, the veteran left tackle said he would be ready to move inside if called upon, per Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Reiff is in Year 4 of a five-year contract. The Vikings drafted tackle Ezra Cleveland in Round 2, but the pandemic will make matters especially difficult on young O-linemen. This would point to Cleveland spending 2020 as a developmental backup. Cleveland, however, is competing for the Vikes’ vacant right guard spot, along with Dakota Dozier and Aviante Collins, Kubiak said.

Little had a tough act to follow in college, as he replaced former first-rounder Laremy Tunsil on the Ole Miss offensive line. His performance ended up being plenty impressive, and Little was ultimately selected in the second round of this past year’s draft.

The rookie had started three of his four games this season, but he’s been in and out of the lineup due to concussions. He sat out the past two games with an ankle injury, and that’s presumably the ailment that landed him on the injured reserve.

Hogan underwent arthroscopic knee surgery earlier this season. The former Patriots and Bills wideout will rejoin a receiving corps that has seen D.J. Moore solidify himself as a high-end receiver and Curtis Samuel eclipse his previous career-high receiving total. Hogan caught just three passes for 24 yards before injuring his knee.

Chris Hogan returned to practice Wednesday and will represent one of the Panthers’ IR-return designations. This move has been in the works for some time now but is finally coming to fruition. Carolina placed Hogan on IR in early October, meaning he can be activated at any time going forward.

The former Bills and Patriots wideout underwent arthroscopic knee surgery earlier this season. Hogan will rejoin a receiving corps that has seen D.J. Moore solidify himself as a high-end receiver and Curtis Samuel eclipse his previous career-high receiving total. Hogan caught just three passes for 24 yards before injuring his knee.

After three Patriots seasons, Hogan signed a one-year, $1.45MM contract with the Panthers this year. With a new coach coming in for the 2020 season, it’s obviously uncertain if the team will attempt to bring back Hogan for what will be his age-33 season.

Here’s more from the NFC on a quiet Friday night:

• Even without Cam Newton the Panthers are right in the thick of the playoff race, so they have to start thinking about some late-season moves. Carolina is apparently looking for a boost to their receiving corp, as the team plans on using one of their two injured reserve-return slots on receiver Chris Hogan, according to Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic. Rodrigue notes that Hogan was out on the practice field on Wednesday. Hogan only had three catches through four games with his new team before getting put on IR.
• Speaking of late-season returns, Seahawks rookie Demarcus Christmas won’t be making one. Seattle declined to activate the defensive lineman off the PUP list meaning he will miss the rest of the season, according to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times (Twitter link). The Seahawks drafted the Florida State product in the sixth-round back in April, and he’ll officially be getting a redshirt year. Since he’s on PUP he isn’t allowed to practice, which means he’ll have a lot of catching up to do as he tries to crack the team next offseason.
• Alvin Kamara is officially back. Saints head coach Sean Payton announced Thursday that he expects to have his star running back on the field when New Orleans hosts the Falcons. Kamara has missed his team’s past two games as he dealt with knee and ankle issues. This will be the first time that Drew Brees and Kamara have shared the field since back in Week 2.

Hogan, 31, landed with the Panthers during the offseason after spending the previous three seasons with the Patriots. A deep-ball threat who led the NFL in yards per reception in 2016, Hogan wasn’t a large part of Carolina’s offense through four games, as he’d received only five targets while working behind D.J. Moore, Curtis Samuel, and Jarius Wright. Per the Panthers, Hogan — who is dealing with a knee injury — has a chance to return later this year.

Benenoch will join his third team of 2019 after previously being waived by the Buccaneers and Patriots. He’ll give Carolina offensive line depth while Greg Little is in the NFL’s concussion protocol. Benenoch started all 16 games at right guard for Tampa Bay in 2018.