Dalton Keene

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/4/22

Today’s practice squad moves:

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Eagles Add WR Auden Tate, TE Dalton Keene To Practice Squad

The Eagles made a few changes to their practice squad today. The team announced that they’ve signed tight end Dalton Keene and wide receiver Auden Tate. To make room on the taxi squad, the Eagles released running back La’Mical Perine and quarterback Reid Sinnett.

After barely playing as a rookie seventh-round pick, Tate had a bit of a breakout season in 2019, finishing the campaign with 40 receptions for 575 yards. However, he found himself buried on the depth chart in both 2020 and 2021, finishing with only 17 catches between the two seasons. He caught on with the Eagles earlier this offseason but was cut before the end of the preseason. The Eagles are currently rostering only four wide receivers, so there’s a chance he could eventually get elevated to the active roster.

Keene, a 2020 third-round pick by the Patriots, only had three catches during his two seasons in New England. The 23-year-old could see some time on the active roster if any of Dallas Goedert, Jack Stoll, and/or rookie sixth-round pick Grant Calcaterra go down with an injury.

After collecting 295 yards from scrimmage as a rookie in 2020, Perine was limited to only 31 yards with the Jets in 2021. After getting cut by New York at the end of the preseason, he caught on with Philly. With Kennedy Brooks already on the practice squad, the team decided to move on from the 24-year-old.

Sinnett spent much of the 2021 season in the Eagles organization, but he had little chance of cracking the active roster in 2022 with three QBs blocking his way.

NFC Workouts: Keene, Osemele, Brown, Butler

NFL teams continue to try and piece together their ideal rosters as the regular season approaches. Tight end Dalton Keene is putting out feelers lately, taking visits to San Francisco and Pittsburgh this week, according to two tweets from ESPN’s Field Yates.

Keene faces long odds of getting a job with the 49ers, who currently hold four tight ends on a roster that includes George Kittle, Tyler Kroft, Charlie Woerner, and Ross Dwelley. All three backups behind Kittle had more play and production last year than Keene has had throughout his young career.

Pittsburgh has three tight ends on their roster with Pat Freiermuth, Zach Gentry, and sixth-round rookie Connor Heyward (brother of Steelers defensive lineman Cameron Heyward). The Steelers’ tight end group is a bit less experienced or proven than San Francisco’s, so Keene has a better chance of getting an opportunity in Pittsburgh, but no deals have been announced in the meantime.

Here are a few other notable workouts from around the NFC, starting with a former All-Pro who hasn’t played since 2020:

  • Offensive guard Kelechi Osemele is attempting to make a big comeback into the NFL. Osemele worked out with the Bears this past Thursday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The 2016 first-team All-Pro has seen his career derailed by injuries over the past few years. After being traded from the Raiders to the Jets, Osemele was released when he underwent shoulder surgery that the Jets didn’t deem necessary. He signed on the next year with Kansas City but was placed on injured reserve after tearing tendons in both knees in a Week 5 game in 2020. The 33-year-old looks to be trying to make his way back to the field and the Bears, who recently claimed another former Raider in Alex Leatherwood, certainly could use the depth.
  • With defensive tackles Malcolm Roach and Albert Huggins on injured reserve, the Saints are looking to improve their depth at the position. On Wednesday they tried out former Panthers and Bills defensive lineman Vernon Butler, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Butler’s best season came with he started nine games for the Panthers in 2019, racking up 6.0 sacks, but he has been a reliable rotational defensive lineman for the Bills since then.
  • The Lions hosted defensive tackle Malcom Brown back in late-August, according to Yates. The former first-round pick failed to make an impression, though. Despite the Lions dedicating 13 roster spots to the defensive line on their initial 53-man roster, Brown remains a free agent in search of his next opportunity.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/21/22

We will keep track of today’s minor moves right here:

Chicago Bears

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Los Angeles Rams

  • Reverted to IR: WR J.J. Koski

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

Moore’s placement on IR indicates that his season is over, and as James Palmer of the NFL Network tweets, a leg injury is the culprit. Moore, who signed with the Bears in April, was a useful complementary receiver in Seattle from 2018-20, and he may have had a shot to carve out a rotational role with Chicago. He was arrested on drug and weapons charges in July and could face league discipline as a result.

The Patriots made Keene the second piece of their two-tight end third round in 2020, trading up (via the Jets) to No. 104 to nab the Virginia Tech product. But neither Keene nor the No. 91 overall pick from that draft (Devin Asiasi) have made big impacts as Patriots. Keene missed all of the 2021 season due to a knee injury. In six games in 2020, Keene caught three passes for 16 yards. In the offseason following the Pats’ Day 2 tight end dive, they signed Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry to big-ticket deals. That duo remains in place in front of Asiasi.

Patriots Rumors: Injury Updates, Zappe, Perkins

The Patriots released some practice photos recently and, according to Zack Cox of NESN, some of the pictures seem to indicate the much anticipated returns of several previously-injured Patriots. These players included running back James White, cornerback Jonathan Jones, tight end Dalton Keene, linebacker Raekwon McMillan, and linebacker Anfernee Jennings.

White suffered a hip injury last year that required surgery serious enough to end his season and leave him bedridden for months. He hasn’t been fully cleared to return, but seeing him active on the field bodes well for his recovery.

Jones had surgery to repair his shoulder in October and missed the remainder of the season in recovery. McMillan tore his ACL before the season started, but impressed in his limited time before the injury. Keene and Jennings were both placed on injured reserve in August and missed the entire season as a result.

Here are a few other rumors from New England:

  • New England turned some heads on Day 3 of the Draft when they selected quarterback Bailey Zappe in the fourth round. At a point in the Draft where some teams normally address their positional needs, the Patriots selected a quarterback in the first draft after rookie passer Mac Jones led them to the playoffs. For an explanation, ESPN’s Mike Reiss pointed to a discussion with analysts Todd McShay and Louis Riddick, in which they cover “how it can be good business to draft and develop quarterbacks.” He also quotes former NFL general manger Randy Mueller who applauded the pick, saying that he would rather draft for value over need at that point in the Draft.
  • After not appearing in any regular season games last season, second-year Patriots outside linebacker Ronnie Perkins is ready to take the next step, according to Reiss. Perkins was buried on the depth chart behind Kyle Van Noy, now with the Chargers, and Jamie Collins, now a free agent. The departure of Van Noy and Collins leaves a hole opposite Pro Bowl pass rusher Matt Judon and Reiss reports that New England coaches are confident Perkins is getting ready to step up.

NFL COVID List Updates: 12/21/21

Once again, we’ve had a busy day of moves on and off the reserve/COVID-19 list. Here are the players who were placed on the list or activated off of it today:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: TE Dalton Keene (remains on IR)

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions:  12/13/21

Today’s minor moves:

Buffalo Bills

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Kansas City Chiefs

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/8/21

Here are the latest minor moves from around the league:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Signed: RB Pete Guerriero

San Francisco 49ers

Washington Football Team

  • Waived: OL Cole Boozer

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/5/20

Here are Saturday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans