Today’s taxi squad moves:
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: WR Calvin Jackson Jr.
- Waived (injury designation): WR DaeSean Hamilton
Today’s practice squad moves:
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: WR Marquez Stevenson, LB Storey Jackson
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: DT Anthony Rush
- Released: OLB Malik Jefferson
Denver Broncos
- Signed: RB Tyreik McAllister, OLB Wyatt Ray
Houston Texans
- Restored from practice squad injured list: T Jordan Steckler
- Placed on practice squad injured list: WR Jalen Camp
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: DT Khalil Davis, S Richard LeCounte
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: WR DaeSean Hamilton, CB Ka’dar Hollman
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: DT Sheldon Day
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: OL Josh Andrews
New York Giants
- Signed: WR Jaydon Mickens
- Released: T Roy Mbaeteka
New York Jets
- Signed: OL Eric Smith
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: OLB Hamilcar Rashed
DaeSean Hamilton‘s rough run of injury luck will result in a second team waiving him with an injury designation. The Texans jettisoned the former Broncos draft pick Wednesday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
To fill Hamilton’s spot, Houston is signing wideout Chad Beebe. The second-generation NFLer made some contributions for the 2020 Vikings, working as the team’s No. 3 wideout behind Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen. But Beebe suffered a preseason injury and did not play last season.
This represents another tough break for Hamilton, who suffered a non-contact knee injury in practice this week. This injury is not an ACL tear, however, and it is not expected to sideline the Penn State product for the season. It will leave Hamilton without a job, though. Hamilton is attempting to come off a missed 2021 season. The young slot receiver suffered an ACL tear during the 2021 offseason, and the Broncos — who were on the verge of trading Hamilton to the 49ers — cut bait soon after. The Texans picked him up earlier this year.
If unclaimed, Hamilton will revert to the Texans’ IR list. An injury settlement, which would send the three-year veteran to free agency, could follow in that case. Beebe caught 20 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns for the Vikings two years ago. A foot injury sidelined him in 2021.
Beebe, 28, would represent a fringe candidate to make Houston’s roster as a backup while also posing as a practice squad candidate. The team may have more room on its Week 1 roster, however, with second-round pick John Metchie not expected to be ready from the ACL tear he suffered late in Alabama’s season. The Texans roster the likes of Chris Conley, 2021 third-rounder Nico Collins, Chris Moore and Phillip Dorsett as auxiliary options behind Brandin Cooks.
The Jaguars number-two QB went down with an injury yesterday. C.J. Beathard was carted off the field during OTAs, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter). According to the reporter, Beathard suffered a groin injury, and an impending MRI will reveal the extent of the injury.
The former third-round pick spent the first four years of his career with the 49ers. Beathard went 2-10 as a starter, completing 58.6 percent of his passes for 3,469 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. He signed a two-year, $5MM deal with the Jaguars last offseason, and he got into two games as Trevor Lawrence‘s backup, completing his pair of pass attempts.
If Beathard is forced to miss an extended amount of time, the Jaguars will likely turn to Jake Luton or rookie EJ Perry as Lawrence’s primary backup.
More injury news from around the NFL…
- Broncos lineman Graham Glasgow broke his ankle last November, but the veteran is back at practice and is competing to regain his starting spot. “I’m no stranger to competition,’’ Glasgow said (via Mike Klis of 9News in Denver). “I’ve competed in the past and I’ve competed for starting jobs in the past. This whole offseason, I’ve been competing with myself to get better in my rehab stuff. If I’m healthy, I’m just going to go out there and do what I can and do what I do. We’ll see what comes out of that.” The 29-year-old guard/center has started 78 of his 82 career games, but Klis notes that Quinn Meinerz and/0r Netane Muti could push him for a starting gig.
- Daniel Jones is apparently over his neck injury. Giants head coach Brian Daboll told reporters that if the season started today, then the Giants starting QB would be fully cleared to play (per Dan Duggan of The Athletic on Twitter). After going 4-7 in his 11 starts, Jones missed the final six games of the 2021 campaign with a neck injury. Despite his struggles, the former sixth-overall pick is expected to keep his starting gig in 2022, although the organization did bring in veteran Tyrod Taylor as competition.
- Texans wideout DaeSean Hamilton is set to have knee surgery tomorrow, reports Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com (on Twitter). The receiver suffered the injury during a non-contact drill, but he didn’t tear his ACL and is expected to make a full recovery at some point during the regular season. Hamilton was a fourth-round pick by the Broncos in 2018, and he only missed a pair of games through his first three seasons. He missed the entire 2021 season with a torn ACL, and he caught on with the Texans back in March. The 27-year-old has 81 receptions in 46 games.
- Bengals defensive tackle Tyler Shelvin suffered a wrist injury that will shut him down for the rest of the offseason program, per the team’s website. Coach Zac Taylor told reporters that the former fourth-round pick avoided a serious injury, but the player still needed to go under the knife to repair the ailment. Shelvin got into three games as a rookie, collecting four tackles.
An auxiliary wide receiver for three seasons in Denver, DaeSean Hamilton is attempting to come back after an offseason injury nixed his 2021 season. The Texans will give him that chance.
Houston signed the former fourth-round pick Monday, announcing a transaction that adds another potential contributor to the team’s Brandin Cooks-led receiver troops. The Texans are giving Hamilton a one-year deal. Despite the Penn State product coming off an injury, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com notes the deal does include guaranteed money (Twitter links). Hamilton visited the Texans earlier this month.
The Broncos selected Hamilton in 2018, adding the slot receiver two rounds after drafting Courtland Sutton. While the latter became Demaryius Thomas‘ heir apparent, seeing his role increase after the Texans traded for the perennial Pro Bowler at the 2018 deadline, Hamilton did not catch on. He churned out consistent work in Denver, catching between 23 and 30 passes in each season, with the yardage totals all between 240 and 295. The Broncos’ Jerry Jeudy and K.J. Hamler selections in 2020 moved Hamilton further to the periphery, and the team cut him following an offseason ACL tear.
Hamilton, 27, did draw trade interest before that injury. The Broncos and 49ers had a deal in place, but the May 2021 injury scuttled the swap. Cooks leads a Texans receiving corps that also houses Chris Conley and 2021 third-round pick Nico Collins. Armed with three extra picks in the first four rounds — from the Bradley Roby and Deshaun Watson trades — the Texans figure to be in the market for more talent here.
Defensive end Jacob Martin, selected by the Seahawks in the sixth round of the 2018 draft, was part of the package received by the Texans in the 2019 trade that sent Jadeveon Clowney to Seattle. Over his three years in Houston, Martin has quietly turned himself into a key component of the club’s defense, and as Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network writes, the Texans are actively discussing a new contract that would keep Martin off the open market when free agency opens this week.
In 2021, the Temple product started 14 games and appeared in 61% of the Texans’ defensive snaps, both of which represented career bests. While he posted only four sacks, his peripherals suggest that there is room for continued growth. As Wilson writes, Next Gen Stats credited Martin with the third-fastest “get-off” among all defensive players, behind only the Chargers’ Joey Bosa and the Steelers’ Alex Highsmith.
Pro Football Focus handed Martin a solid 67.3 overall score last season, which was also a career-high. The strides he has made are thanks in no small part to the fact that he was able to operate as a true 4-3 DE when Lovie Smith took over as defensive coordinator last year. Prior to that, Martin had worked as an outside linebacker in the Texans’ 3-4 scheme, which included pass coverage duties that he struggled to handle. With Smith having earned a promotion to head coach, the 4-3 alignment will remain.
Neither Martin nor fellow DE Jonathan Greenard are household names at this point, but they provide the rebuilding Texans with a young, talented, and fairly inexpensive foundation to build upon. Indeed, assuming Martin and the Texans are able to come to terms on a multi-year deal, it’s unlikely to include an eight-figure AAV, and Greenard has two seasons left on his rookie contract.
In related news, the Texans recently worked out former Broncos WR DaeSean Hamilton, as Wilson tweets. Hamilton was officially waived last week, and though the 2018 fourth-rounder was unable to carve out a consistent role in Denver, his size and raw talent figure to get him another opportunity somewhere. It’s unclear if that opportunity will come in Houston, as the Texans re-upped Chris Conley after meeting with Hamilton.
Here are the latest NFL minor moves:
Denver Broncos
- Waived: WR DaeSean Hamilton; Hamilton’s contract tolled from 2021
Houston Texans
- Signed: C Jimmy Morrissey
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: CB Tony Brown
Las Vegas Raiders
- Released: S Kavon Frazier
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: OL Ethan Greenidge
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: G Keaton Sutherland
Had DaeSean Hamilton not suffered a torn ACL while training Friday morning, he was set to be traded to the NFC West. The 49ers were the team negotiating a deal for the fourth-year wideout, Troy Renck of Denver7 reports (on Twitter).
Plenty has transpired since those talks heated up, with Hamilton’s knee injury scuttling that trade. This would have been the second trade between the Broncos and 49ers involving a wide receiver in the past 19 months; Denver sent Emmanuel Sanders to San Francisco at the 2019 trade deadline.
The Broncos have since waived Hamilton with an NFI designation. The former fourth-round pick was working out away from the team’s facility. The 49ers will have the opportunity to claim the former Penn State pass catcher, but he is set to miss the 2021 season. Hamilton’s rookie contract expires after the 2021 season as well.
The 49ers ran into some notable injury trouble last year. Both Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk missed time, while former third-round pick Jalen Hurd has missed two full seasons. Slot receiver Trent Taylor battled extensive injury trouble; he has since signed with the Bengals. Hamilton primarily played in the slot for the Broncos but could not establish himself as a consistent target, leading the team to draft two wideouts high in 2020.
San Francisco did not draft a receiver this year, though Kyle Shanahan did opt to reunite with Mohamed Sanu. Ex-Hamilton Broncos teammate River Cracraft also remains on the 49ers’ roster.
Last week, reports indicated the Broncos were ready to waive DaeSean Hamilton. But the team found a trade taker for the fourth-year wideout. Hamilton’s subsequent ACL tear nixed that deal.
The Broncos are making Hamilton’s exit official Tuesday. They waived the former fourth-round pick, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. This transaction will come with a non-football injury designation, with Hamilton having suffered the serious knee malady Friday morning.
Denver was prepared to move on because of its depth at receiver. The Broncos became the first team since the 2003 Cardinals to use first- and second-round picks on receivers in the same draft last year, taking Jerry Jeudy and K.J. Hamler. That duo joins contract-year talents Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick, and the Broncos drafted Auburn’s Seth Williams in this year’s sixth round.
Hamilton was not able to become a consistent target in Denver, failing to surpass 300 receiving yards in any of his three seasons. He is expected to miss the rest of this season due to injury, one that could become a point of contention.
Like Ja’Wuan James, Hamilton was working out on his own — during the time the Broncos going through Phase 1 of their offseason workouts. James and Hamilton were following the NFLPA’s recommendation for veterans to boycott teams’ voluntary offseason programs. The Broncos are not expected to pay James his $10.58MM base salary, setting up a potential grievance. While Hamilton was set to make far less in 2021 ($2.183MM), it will be interesting to see if the team takes the same stance with its second player who suffered a major injury working out on his own.
Although the Broncos had prepared to waive DaeSean Hamilton on Thursday, they are believed to have found a taker in a trade for the fourth-year wide receiver. But an injury will scuttle those plans.
The former fourth-round pick suffered a torn ACL, according to NFL.com’s Taylor Bisciotti (on Twitter). This injury occurred away from the Broncos’ facility Friday morning, per 9News’ Mike Klis (Twitter links). This comes shortly after Denver right tackle Ja’Wuan James offsite Achilles tear.
[RELATED: Broncos T Ja’Wuan James Tears Achilles]
However, the Broncos were set to trade Hamilton in the coming days, Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com report (Twitter links). The trade partner is not known, but Denver7’s Troy Renck tweets a deal was in place. The former Penn State wideout was due a $2.18MM salary this year but now finds himself in a situation similar to James’.
The young receiver going down away from the team’s facility will, like James, put his salary in jeopardy. The Broncos were the first team to stand in solidarity with the NFLPA’s proposed boycott of voluntary offseason workouts, but the team has become ground zero for offsite injuries during this span. Some Broncos have worked out at the team’s facility since the voluntary sessions began last month, but the injuries to James and Hamilton display the risks players take when opting to train on their own.
The Broncos have four receivers firmly ahead of Hamilton on their depth chart — Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, K.J. Hamler and Tim Patrick — and they drafted Seth Williams in the sixth round earlier this month. Hamilton has seen extensive time as a backup and spot starter in three seasons but did not eclipse 300 receiving yards in any of those campaigns. This injury will certainly affect his stock going forward.