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Darius Phillips

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/26/23

December 26th, 2023 at 6:31pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are the NFL’s Boxing Day practice squad updates:

Atlanta Falcons

Denver Broncos

  • Released: DB Keidron Smith

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

  • Signed: TE La’Michael Pettway

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Smith will make his way to a third team this season. The Saints signed the former Cowboys mainstay just before the season, but the Raiders later poached the eighth-year veteran off New Orleans’ practice squad. The Steelers, who have lost regulars Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander for the season, will turn to him now. This move come after the Steelers added Mykal Walker, who is on team No. 4 this year, to their linebacking corps.

Henderson resurfaced with the Rams midway through this season, coming back after the team lost Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers in one game. Williams made his way back to action last month, while Rivers moved back to the 53-man roster last week. With Royce Freeman in place as veteran insurance, the Rams will again cut Henderson.

The Broncos are planning to bring Smith back to their P-squad soon, per the Denver Gazette’s Chris Tomasson. The team initially planned to cut Smith to clear a spot for Kareem Jackson. With the Texans making another high-profile waiver claim — this one to reunite with Jackson, who was primarily a Houston cornerback from 2010-18 — the Broncos no longer have to clear a P-squad spot.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/10/23

October 10th, 2023 at 7:30pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Atlanta Falcons

  • Released: WR Xavier Malone

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Signed: FB Jack Colletto

Anthony Firkser will provide the Lions with some veteran tight end depth. Darrell Daniels has mostly transitioned to a fullback role and James Mitchell is sidelined with a hamstring injury, leaving Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright as the two healthy TEs on the roster. Firkser has seen time in 69 regular season games, hauling in 115 catches for 1,207 yards and five touchdowns. The 28-year-old tight end got into 11 games for the Falcons in 2022, finishing with nine catches for 100 yards.

Yodny Cajuste is back in New York after getting cut by the Jets back in August. The former third-round pick got into 17 games (five starts) for the Patriots between the 2021 and 2022 seasons. He was waived by New England back in May before catching on with the Jets for the preseason.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/20/23

September 20th, 2023 at 7:55pm CST by Ely Allen

Wednesday’s practice squad transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

  • Signed: RB Carlos Washington Jr.

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/25/23

August 25th, 2023 at 8:02pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are today’s minor moves heading into the final weekend of preseason games this year:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Signed: C Cohl Cabral

Baltimore Ravens

  • Waived from IR with injury settlement: WR Shemar Bridges

Buffalo Bills

  • Released from IR with injury settlement: DE Shane Ray

Carolina Panthers

Houston Texans

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

Pittsburgh Steelers

Ray’s unlikely return to the NFL will have to wait a bit longer, it seems. Having not appeared in an NFL regular season game since 2018, Ray’s opportunity in Buffalo has come to an end. His bid to play alongside former Broncos teammate Von Miller will fall short due to injury.

Zentner is likely a short-term signing for Houston, who lost punter Cameron Johnston to a tweaked calf. Johnston shouldn’t need long to get back to the field, but Zentner will be asked to fill in for the team’s preseason game against the Saints this weekend.

Texans Sign DB Darius Phillips

May 4th, 2023 at 8:06pm CST by Ben Levine

The Texans have been busy today. After adding offensive tackle Greg Little and linebacker Neville Hewitt, Houston has now signed a defensive back. The team announced that they’ve signed defensive back Darius Phillips.

[RELATED: Texans Sign T Greg Little, LB Neville Hewitt]

Phillips, a former fifth-round pick, spent four seasons in Cincinnati to begin his career. The defensive back got into 47 regular season games for the Bengals, compiling 73 tackles and five interceptions. He saw an inconsistent role on defense during his tenure with the team, but he consistently contributed on special teams, including a 2021 campaign where he returned 25 punts and eight kicks.

After spending the 2022 preseason with the Raiders, Phillips caught on with the Broncos. He ended up getting into nine games with Denver, collecting only a pair of tackles while playing the majority of his snaps on special teams.

The veteran’s best chance at making Houston’s roster will probably come on special teams. However, thanks to his versatility in the secondary, he could catch on as a bottom-of-the-depth-chart cornerback or safety.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/20/22

December 20th, 2022 at 7:31pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

  • Signed off Chiefs practice squad: LB Elijah Lee
  • Designated for return: RB Khalil Herbert (story)
  • Released: CB Justin Layne

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

Caleb Huntley suffered a season-ending Achilles injury this past weekend, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). The injury is expected to require surgery. The Falcons RB made his NFL this season and has collected 369 yards from scrimmage.

While Russell Wilson is expected to start for the Broncos on Christmas, the Broncos still decided to promote a third QB to the roster in Jarrett Guarantano. According to Troy Renck of Denver7 (on Twitter), there was enough interest from other teams (including the Cardinals) for the Broncos to decide to promote the rookie. The UDFA out of Washington State had his first professional gig with the Cardinals before catching on with the Broncos.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/1/22

September 1st, 2022 at 6:08pm CST by Ben Levine

Teams continue to tinker with their rosters after hundreds of players were cut earlier this week. We’ve tracked all of today’s minor moves below:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Broncos To Sign CB Darius Phillips

September 1st, 2022 at 10:47am CST by Sam Robinson

Although the Broncos’ top three cornerbacks are healthy, the player expected to be their primary backup (Michael Ojemudia) is on IR after an elbow dislocation. The team brought in a reinforcement Thursday.

Denver is adding veteran Darius Phillips, Mike Klis of 9News tweets. This is an active-roster addition, and Klis adds the team is making room on its 53-man unit by waiving cornerback Essang Bassey.

A former Bengals fifth-round pick, Phillips spent training camp with the Raiders after a March signing. Las Vegas, which removed a corner from its equation by trading Trayvon Mullen on Tuesday, did not see enough from Phillips to retain him. But the fifth-year defender did work as a part-time starter for the Bengals two years ago and saw extensive action as the team’s punt returner last season.

Phillips, 27, logged 593 defensive snaps in 2020 and graded as a top-20 cornerback (per Pro Football Focus). That lofty spot does not match the 5-foot-10 cover man’s profile, and rather than giving Phillips more run as a starter last season, the Bengals signed Chidobe Awuzie, Mike Hilton and Eli Apple. Phillips also intercepted four passes in 2019, despite playing just 109 defensive snaps (mostly working as a backup).

The Broncos are set to use Patrick Surtain II, Ronald Darby and slot K’Waun Williams as their top three corners, but Ojemudia is out for at least four games. This will be the second straight year Ojemudia — a 2020 third-round pick — has started a season on IR. He missed most of last season due to a hamstring injury. Ojemudia’s injury left Denver vulnerable on the outside, and Klis adds the expectation will be Phillips fills that void (Twitter link).

The team used a fourth-round pick on a corner Damarri Mathis this year. He and Phillips are currently the only backups at the position on the Broncos’ 53-man roster.

Raiders Trim Roster To 53 Players

August 30th, 2022 at 6:34pm CST by Ben Levine

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.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/15/22

March 15th, 2022 at 2:11pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep tabs on today’s minor moves here:

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

Philadelphia Eagles

Tennessee Titans

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