HEADLINES

Joey Blount

Cardinals Waive P Nolan Cooney, Sign P Blake Gillikin

October 3rd, 2023 at 6:09pm CST by Ben Levine

The Cardinals are shaking it up at the punter position. The team announced that they’ve waived Nolan Cooney and replaced him with free agent Blake Gillikin.

Cooney earned the starting gig during training camp, beating out Matt Haack to be the replacement for veteran Andy Lee. While Cooney has only landed two of his 13 punts inside the opponent’s 20, he did average 45.5 yards per punt and a 40.3-yard net this year. However, Cooney’s performance this past weekend may have forced the Cardinals’ hand. The punter averaged only 39 yards (31 net) on his three punts.

So, in comes Gillikin. The Penn State product spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons with the Saints, averaging 47 yards per punt (41.4 net) while landing 61of his 160 punts inside the opponent’s 20. Lou Hedley ended up beating out Gillikin for the starting gig in New Orleans during the preseason, leading to the veteran’s release.

The Cardinals weren’t done making moves today, with the team also announcing that they’ve signed safety Joey Blount to the active roster. Blount joined Arizona’s practice squad last month after getting let go by the Seahawks. The former UDFA got into 11 games for Seattle last season, finishing with eight tackles while exclusively playing on special teams.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/18/23

September 18th, 2023 at 8:44pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Monday’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Signed: S Joey Blount
  • Placed on practice squad injured list: OL Hayden Howerton

Atlanta Falcons

Houston Texans

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/31/23

August 31st, 2023 at 8:38pm CST by Ben Levine

Following a busy roster deadline day on Tuesday, teams continue to reshuffle their rosters. Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

  • Placed on IR: TE Stephen Sullivan

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Chargers

New York Giants

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

The Ravens brought back a trio of veterans to their 53-man roster. Brent Urban is probably destined for the biggest role, with the veteran lineman serving as the top backup to Broderick Washington at defensive end. Urban got into 16 games for Baltimore last season, collecting 21 tackles and one sack. Veteran QB Josh Johnson will slide behind Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley on the depth chart, and Kevon Seymour will continue his role as a key special teamer.

The Cardinals are temporarily losing some production with offensive lineman Dennis Daley and linebacker Myjai Sanders being placed on IR. Daley joined the Cardinals on a two-year deal this offseason after starting 15 of his 17 appearances for the Titans in 2022. Sanders had a productive rookie campaign, with the third-round pick collecting 23 tackles, three sacks, and one forced fumble.

Julian Okwara has turned into a productive pass-rushing option in Detroit. The former third-round pick has collected seven sacks over the past two seasons, but he’ll now be sidelined for the start of the season while recovering from a knee injury suffered during in the preseason finale.

Seahawks Set 53-Man Roster

August 29th, 2023 at 10:46pm CST by Ely Allen

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: 12/26/22

December 26th, 2022 at 6:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Monday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Indianapolis Colts

  • Promoted: LB Segun Olubi

Los Angeles Chargers

Seattle Seahawks

Brewer, who has been the Cardinals’ long snapper for the past seven seasons, suffered a pectoral injury. Brewer’s contract expires after this season. The Cardinals initially signed Jackson this offseason but waived him weeks later. The Steelers carried Jackson on their practice squad for much of this season. The former second-round pick played in four games with the team.

NFC Injury Notes: Giants, Cowboys, Seahawks, Vikings

September 17th, 2022 at 8:00pm CST by Adam La Rose

Kadarius Toney‘s NFL tenure has been marred by injuries, and another one appears to have popped up. Head coach Brian Daboll told reporters that the Giants wideout is dealing with tightness in his hamstring, an issue which began earlier this week in practice (Twitter link via Dan Duggan of the Athletic).

The 2021 first-rounder also dealt with a hamstring issue in training camp last summer, and made frequent appearances on the injury report throughout the campaign. He was limited to 10 games in his debut season, and required knee surgery this past offseason. Between availability concerns and a number of other issues, the Florida product was involved in trade talk, though the Giants’ new front office made it clear that Toney was not being shopped.

The 23-year-old played just seven snaps during New York’s season opener. While he may suit up tomorrow, the workload he will be able to handle will be worth monitoring closely.

Here are some other injury updates from the NFC:

  • Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy confirmed that receiver Michael Gallup will sit out once again tomorrow, as noted by Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Gallup continues to recover from the torn ACL he suffered in January, and was expected to miss a few weeks to begin the 2022 campaign. “There is still a process of return to play that he has to finish,” McCarthy added. The news will once again make CeeDee Lamb the undisputed focal point of Dallas’ WR room as they look to bounce back from last week’s league-worst offensive output.
  • The Seahawks‘ secondary has suffered another blow. Starting nickel corner Justin Coleman has been ruled out for Week 2, per a team announcement. The 29-year-old played 77% of defensive snaps in the team’s upset win over the Broncos, but Seattle will likely now turn to rookie Coby Bryant on the inside. In addition, the team confirmed that depth safety Joey Blount will be sidelined, something which will further test their depth given the fact that Jamal Adams will miss the remainder of the season.
  • Second-round Vikings rookie Andrew Booth exited Minnesota’s Week 1 win with a quad injury. He has not recovered in time to be able to suit up on Monday, as confirmed by a team announcement. With the Clemson product sidelined, Chandon Sullivan could be in line for the start opposite Patrick Peterson once again. Kris Boyd and Akayleb Evans will provide depth as the Vikings look to move to 2-0.

Seahawks Sign 14 UDFAs

May 6th, 2022 at 10:02pm CST by Ely Allen

After adding 9 rookies to the team through the NFL Draft, Seattle announced the signing of 14 undrafted free agents today that they’ll add to their 2022 class:

After trading away quarterback Russell Wilson and failing to address the position in the Draft, Seattle signed Lewis out of Louisiana-Lafayette. Over a career that saw him start four out of five seasons, Lewis broke a Ragin’ Cajuns record throwing 74 touchdowns against 18 interceptions while amassing a 35-7 record as a starter.

The Seahawks also wanted to add some depth behind starting safeties Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams. They added 17 career college interceptions to the roster through Blount (9), Williams (6), Nelson (4), and Bolden (2).

Seattle brought in an interesting receiver prospect, as well, in Robertson. After signing to California as a 5-star recruit, Robertson was a Freshman All-American for the Golden Bears before eventually transferring and bouncing around from Georgia to Auburn.