HEADLINES

Jack Snyder

Vikings Make Cuts To Reach 53-Man Roster

August 29th, 2023 at 8:25pm CST by Ely Allen

Most of the Vikings’ roster moves were done ahead of the deadline, but today they did the rest of the work to get down to the 53-man roster. Here are the moves made today to reach the deadline:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

  • LB Abraham Beauplan

Released:

A strong preseason performance by backup running back Ty Chandler and the returning prowess of Kene Nwangwu led to the disappointing cut of the seventh-round pick McBride. Besides that, there weren’t many surprises on the offensive side of the ball as the Vikings continually value consistency on the offensive line.

Minnesota needed to work out how to replace the production lost in the departure of pass rusher Za’Darius Smith. The opportunity led to a nice surprise as undrafted rookie Andre Carter II makes the initial 53. Carter is joined on the defensive side by undrafted linebacker Ivan Pace, who got plenty of run in camp as Brian Asamoah recovered from injury. Safety NaJee Thompson is the last undrafted rookie to find his way onto the roster thanks to his contributions on special teams.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/24/23

July 24th, 2023 at 9:34pm CST by Ely Allen

In a very busy day for the NFL in transactions, here are some of the minor moves that may have slipped through the cracks:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Ravens signed Ott after working out a trio of long snappers that also included Ryan Langan and Shane Griffin. The former Pro Bowler for the Seahawks won the tryout and is expected to be the replacement for Baltimore’s usual long snapper Nick Moore, who suffered a torn Achilles tendon during his offseason training, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. Also, the breath of relief for Bateman is short-lived as, a day after being activated from the reserve/did not report list, Baltimore has placed the young receiver on the PUP list.

On a more positive note, a day after the Bears placed Claypool on the PUP list, he has been removed from it. He’ll now be eligible to participate in training camp starting this Wednesday. Tomlinson returns to Houston after being released back in May. He’ll get another chance to work in the tight ends room that includes Dalton Schultz, Teagan Quitoriano, and Brevin Jordan.

Rams Reduce Roster To 53 Players

August 30th, 2022 at 8:42pm CST by Ben Levine

As the Rams look to defend their Super Bowl title, the team reduced their roster to the 53-man limit today:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Placed on reserve/NFI:

Placed on reserve/PUP:

Placed on reserve/suspended:

Jacob Harris getting cut came as a bit of a surprise after the 2021 fourth-round pick got into nine games as a rookie. However, he rarely got a look on offense in 2021, and despite the Rams only rostering two tight ends at the end of the day (Tyler Higbee, Brycen Hopkins), Harris was let go. Chris Garrett was also a 2021 draft pick, being selected by the Rams in the seventh round. He only got into one game as a rook.

AJ Arcuri was a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft, but the rookie didn’t show enough to crack the 53-man roster. There’s a good chance the Michigan State product lands back on the Rams practice squad.

Rams Bring In 17 UDFAs

May 4th, 2022 at 6:16pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Rams are the latest team to unveil their crop of undrafted free agents. Here are the 17 UDFAs who have officially signed on with the defending Super Bowl champions:

Texas’ kicker for the past four seasons, Dicker is listed as a punter despite only punting in two of those four. Dicker served as the Longhorns’ full-time punter last season but only logged eight punts prior to that senior year. Dicker averaged 46.8 yards per boot last season, earning first-team All-Big 12 acclaim. The Rams cut 10-year punter Johnny Hekker but signed Riley Dixon later this offseason.

Although the four outside linebackers in this year’s crop should not necessarily be connected to the team’s loss of Von Miller in free agency, this quartet joins a team that used one draft choice (a seventh-rounder at that) on the edge spot. Thomas, who teamed with first-rounder Jermaine Johnson at Florida State last season, used his COVID-19-enabled extra season after playing five years at South Carolina. Thomas recorded 6.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss last season. Brayden Thomas and Hughes-Murray also spent six years in college. They registered nine and six sacks as seniors, respectively.

The Rams pursued UDFA quarterbacks, per The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue, and plan to add one before camp (Twitter link). John Wolford and 2020 UDFA Bryce Perkins comprise Matthew Stafford‘s backup contingent. Jamal Pettigrew is a cousin of former Lions first-rounder Brandon Pettigrew. Jamal transferred from LSU, where he played a backup role on the Tigers’ unbeaten national championship team, to McNeese State and played 18 games — seven in the spring due to COVID adjustments — last year. Counting the draft, the Rams added six rookie cornerbacks