Easop Winston

Seahawks Add Jaren Hall To Practice Squad

One of the Vikings’ four starting quarterbacks last season, Jaren Hall could not stick with Minnesota’s 53-man roster this year. The Vikings waived the 2023 fifth-rounder to make room for Brett Rypien last week.

As Rypien makes his way from Chicago to the Twin Cities, Hall will receive another opportunity. The Seahawks are bringing him in as their de facto third-stringer. The Seahawks are adding Hall to its practice squad, per the Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta. Seattle released wide receiver Easop Winston to make room.

[RELATED: Seahawks Not Discussing Geno Smith Extension]

Hall joined Kirk Cousins, Joshua Dobbs and Nick Mullens as Vikings QB starters during a rare four-QB1 season in NFL history. The BYU product completed 65% of his passes at an impressive 8.4 yards per attempt. Hall, however, suffered a concussion in his first start — leading to Dobbs’ quick post-trade debut — and was benched in his second start, a Week 17 loss to the Packers.

Hall had replaced a struggling Mullens ahead of Week 17 but did not get the call for the Vikes’ season finale. Minnesota still has Mullens on its 53-man roster, with the ex-San Francisco UDFA joining Rypien as Sam Darnold‘s backups. J.J. McCarthy is on IR. The Vikings are not carrying a practice squad passer.

Minnesota drafted Hall 164th overall, doing so after he threw 31 touchdown passes compared to six interceptions in his final BYU campaign. Hall succeeded Zach Wilson as the Cougars’ starter in 2021. The Seahawks showed pre-draft interest in the two-year college starter last year, per ESPN.com’s Brady Henderson.

The Seahawks will take over Hall’s development, stashing him behind Geno Smith and trade acquisition Sam Howell. Seattle had placed P.J. Walker in that role during training camp but cut the veteran backup/XFL 2.0 starter last week. Two years remain on Howell’s rookie contract, while Smith is also signed through the 2025 season. The Seahawks can elevate Hall to their 53-man roster up to three times, before they must use waivers to make him their emergency option — thanks to the NFLPA nixing an offseason rule change aimed at QB flexibility.

Seahawks Waive WR Dee Eskridge, Leave T Abraham Lucas On PUP; Squad Now At 53

Here is how the now-Mike Macdonald-led Seahawks reduced their roster to 53 players:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Placed on reserve/PUP list:

Injury trouble lingers for Lucas, who missed a chunk of last season because of an injury Pete Carroll labeled “chronic.” While the Seahawks’ new staff pushed back on that, the team’s right tackle starter is once again out of commission. Lucas, who started alongside Charles Cross as rookies in 2022, has started all 22 games he has played. But that only included six contests last year. Lucas must miss at least four games due to Tuesday’s designation. Lucas, who underwent knee surgery this offseason, also dealt with a shoulder issue heading into his second season.

The Seahawks brought back George Fant, who filled in as a Texans spot starter at RT last season. Fant’s presence becomes more important in light of this latest Lucas injury news. The player Fant was primarily competing with, Curtis, received cut notice today as well.

Macdonald and OC Ryan Grubb are not keeping Eskridge around, representing a miss for GM John Schneider. The Seahawks made Eskridge their top pick in the 2021 draft, which began in the second round due to the Jamal Adams trade. The Western Michigan alum has been unable to catch on. He has 17 career catches for 122 yards, with injuries intervening along the way. The Seahawks further addressed the issue by taking Jaxon Smith-Njigba in last year’s first round, but they have needed to devote considerable resources to stocking their WR positions.

Burns figures to be a candidate to come back soon, via ESPN.com’s Brady Henderson, who notes the former first-rounder enjoyed a good training camp and worked as the team’s starting slot corner at points. The Seahawks also cut one of the players they just acquired in a trade. Barrett, obtained from the Panthers, could be kept on the practice squad if he clears waivers Wednesday.

NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/8/24

Many teams have started signing players to reserve/futures contracts, allowing organization to retain (routinely) young, practice squad players. Here are the latest reserve/futures contracts:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

  • OL Barry Wesley

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

  • LB Brandon Bouyer-Randle, WR Davion Davis, CB D’Angelo Mandell

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/21/23

Here are the minor moves made around the league in advance of the Week 7 slate of Sunday games:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos 

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Restored to active roster (from suspension exemption): DE Charles Omenihu

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Giants 

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

Dulcich already had one IR stint this season due to an aggravation of last year’s hamstring injury. The 2022 third-rounder has appeared in only two contests so far this season, and in the most recent one he suffered yet another setback. As a result, he will once again be shut down for at least four weeks.

The Giants’ decision to again promote DeVito points to starter Daniel Jones missing another game. Indeed, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports Jones is considered a “longshot” to play tomorrow against the Commanders. It will in all likelihood be Tyrod Taylor under center for New York in Week 7 while Jones continues to recover from his neck injury.

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC West

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These 49ersCardinalsRams and Seahawks moves are noted below.

Arizona Cardinals

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Los Angeles Rams

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

San Francisco 49ers

Placed on IR:

Signed: 

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Seattle Seahawks

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad: 

Seahawks Set 53-Man Roster

A new-look running backs room and the continuation of one of the best stories of the preseason underline today’s announcements. The Seahawks had made some cuts in the days leading up to the deadline, but here are the remaining moves the team made to get down to 53 players:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

While not a shock, the established running backs group looks a bit different from last year. The sole returners, Kenneth Walker III and DeeJay Dallas, will be joined on the 53-roster by rookie draft picks Zach Charbonnet and Kenny McIntosh.

Undrafted rookie wide receiver Jake Bobo gets rewarded for his outstanding preseason performance and will be suiting up in Week 1 of the regular season. The UCLA standout could even earn some significant playing time early as rookie first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba deals with a fractured wrist and Dareke Young and Cody Thompson also deal with injuries.

Veteran former first-round pick Artie Burns survives the final round of roster cuts. Finally healthy, Burns played well in the slot, moving inside as rookie first-round pick Devon Witherspoon dealt with injuries and Coby Bryant played a bit at safety.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/30/23

There was one minor transaction among all of the college transactions today:

Seattle Seahawks

 

Winston signed with the Seahawks’ practice squad early last season. He’s spend time with the Rams, Saints, and Browns but only appeared in games with New Orleans. He played three games with the Saints, primarily as a punt returner but with snaps on offense, as well. Winston signed a reserve/future contract to stay in Seattle back in January but was waived two weeks ago.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/15/23

Saturday’s lone minor move in the NFL:

Seattle Seahawks

Winston, 26, saw his only regular season game action come with the Saints in 2021. In a three-game stint in New Orleans, he racked up 119 scoreless yards on 10 catches. The former UDFA was claimed off waivers by the Browns this past August, but wasn’t able to land a spot on their 53-man roster. He joined Seattle’s practice squad in October and signed a reserve deal with them at the end of the season. Now, he will look for a new NFL home.

 

NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/17/23

Today’s reserve/futures deals:

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/19/22

Today’s practice squad moves:

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders