Minor moves from around the league today:
Baltimore Ravens
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
The rebooted USFL’s inaugural season has produced its first NFL opportunity. Christian Sam, who played for the New Orleans Breakers during the spring and summer, signed with the Cowboys on Friday.
To make room on their 90-man offseason roster, the Cowboys placed Devante Bond on IR. The veteran linebacker sustained a season-ending knee injury during workouts last month. Bond is not expected to play in 2022, but this transaction happening before roster cutdown day ensures he cannot suit up for the Cowboys this season.
A sixth-round Patriots draftee in 2018, Sam did not make it into a regular-season game during his first go-round in the NFL. He bounced from the Patriots, who placed him on IR ahead of their Super Bowl-winning 2018 slate, to the Dolphins to the 49ers to the Lions. Detroit waived Sam during its 2020 training camp.
Now 26, Sam is coming off a season of game work in the latest spring-league effort. The Arizona State product made 54 tackles (eight for loss) and intercepted a pass with the Breakers during the USFL season.
This will probably precede a few other USFL-to-NFL moves this summer. The Alliance of American football and XFL 2.0 folded during their respective winter-spring efforts — in 2019 and ’20, respectively — but the leagues sent some of their standouts to the NFL soon after. AAF alum Mike Purcell landed an extension from the Broncos not long after establishing himself as their starting nose tackle. The Panthers carried XFL quarterback P.J. Walker on their roster over the past two seasons.
The Cowboys have received an unfortunate update on the injury front. Linebacker Devante Bond suffered a knee injury in OTAs which will require season-ending surgery, per ESPN’s Todd Archer (Twitter link).
Bond, 28, spent time last year on Dallas’ practice squad. He would have been in competition to land on the backend of the Cowboys’ roster, which has seen plenty of changes in the edge rush department. Most notably, the team is looking to replace Randy Gregory, who backed out of an extension to sign in Denver. The team has added Dante Fowler in free agency, and drafted Sam Williams in the second round to try and offset the loss.
A sixth-round pick in 2016, Bond began his career in Tampa Bay. He started six of 29 contests with the Buccaneers, after losing his entire rookie campaign due to a hamstring injury. In 2019, he was released days before it came out that he was being suspended for PED usage. He finished out the season in Chicago.
That offseason, the Bears re-signed him, though it didn’t lead to much in the way of playing time. Bond saw the field for just nine special teams snaps. Over the course of his career, he has totaled 39 tackles and has yet to register a sack. While today’s news leaves a vacancy on the Cowboys’ roster, it may therefore also leave his NFL future in doubt.
Here are today’s reserve/futures deals:
Dallas Cowboys
Las Vegas Raiders
New England Patriots
Today’s taxi squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Jacksonville Jaguars
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Rams
New York Giants
New York Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Tennessee Titans
Here are Thursday’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
Chicago Bears
Kansas City Chiefs
New Orleans Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Here are Saturday’s minor moves. There are many, as teams take advantage of the rule change allowing 55-man rosters ahead of regular-season games. Teams can dress 48 players for games this season, up from 46.
Arizona Cardinals
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Kansas City Chiefs
Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
Washington Football Team
Recent practice squad notes from around the league:
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Cleveland Browns
Jacksonville Jaguars
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
Miami Dolphins
New Orleans Saints
Pittsburgh Steelers
Of course, the big news here surrounds Callaway. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports (via Twitter) that the wideout has earned an additional four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. This means he’ll be eligible to return to the field in Week 8.
Callaway will continue to sit on the Dolphins’ practice squad suspended list, per Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com. The 23-year-old will still be allowed to attend meetings, but he can’t practice with the squad until his suspension ends.
The talented wideout out of Florida fell to the Browns in the fourth round of the 2018 draft thanks in part to a 2016 four-game suspension from former head coach Jim McElwain. Callaway immediately contributed in Cleveland, hauling in 43 receptions for 586 and five scores during his rookie campaign. However, the receiver was suspended for the first four games of the 2019 season after violating the substance-abuse policy, and he underwhelmed in the four games following his return (eight receptions, 89 yards).
He was slapped with a 10-game ban late last year, and the suspension was supposed to last through the third week of the 2020 season. Thanks to the latest suspension, Callaway won’t see the field through the first seven weeks of the season.
Here are the workouts that took place around the NFL on Friday:
Buffalo Bills
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Kansas City Chiefs
Las Vegas Raiders
Pittsburgh Steelers
Here are Monday’s notable workouts:
Arizona Cardinals
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Las Vegas Raiders
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers