John Lovett

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/4/23

Here are today’s minor moves as we head into the weekend:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Removed from commissioner’s exempt list: OL Josh Sills

San Francisco 49ers

Sills was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list back in February when a grand jury indicted him on counts of rape and kidnapping. The charges stem from an event that allegedly took place back in December 2019. Today it was announced that Sills was acquitted of both charges, according to sources at The Athletic. The Eagles released a statement that, with his adjudication, he will return to the team’s active roster.

The 49ers announced that Johnson has been placed on season-ending injured reserve. They didn’t disclose the injury that will sideline the young edge they signed two months ago.

The Vikings are adding the XFL’s 2023 leading rusher in Smith. Smith had 791 rushing yards in 10 games last year.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/16/23

Today’s minor NFL transactions:

Baltimore Ravens

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

San Francisco 49ers

There’s some long snapper news to pass along! Cardona will be returning to New England for his ninth season with the organization, making him the Patriots’ second-longest tenured player (behind Matthew Slater). Per ESPN’s Mike Reiss (on Twitter), Cardona got a four-year deal with a $1MM signing bonus, with that latter value being “an important marker” for the veteran to clear.

Meanwhile, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic tweets that Moore will be getting a two-year, $2.5MM deal. The long snapper was non-tendered by Baltimore yesterday but ultimately re-upped with the team on a multiyear deal. Per Zrebiec, Moore received interest from other teams but wanted to stick around Baltimore. The 30-year-old has been with the Ravens since 2020 and earned a second-team All-Pro nod in 2022.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/1/22

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Miami Dolphins

  • Released: QB Reid Sinnett

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/18/22

Here are Tuesday’s practice squad additions and subtractions:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Signed: LB Blake Lynch
  • Released: WR Stanley Berryhill

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

  • Signed: S Innis Gaines
  • Released: CB Benjie Franklin, LB Ray Wilborn

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

  • Signed: WR DeMichael Harris

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

  • Released: WR Kevin Kassis

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC South

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 BuccaneersFalcons, Panthers and Saints moves are noted below.

Here are Wednesday’s NFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Atlanta Falcons

Claimed:

Released:

Signed to practice squad:

Carolina Panthers

Signed to practice squad:

New Orleans Saints

Claimed:

  • T Tanner Owen (from Bills)

Released:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Signed to practice squad:

Panthers Trim Roster To 53 Players

The Panthers trimmed their roster to 53 players today, meaning a long list of players earned their walking papers:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Placed on IR:

The most notable move was kicker Zane Gonzalez landing on injured reserve, making him ineligible to return for the 2022 campaign. Gonzalez injury himself on Friday night while warming up on the sideline. It was later revealed that he suffered a significant groin injury, and that injury ended up being season-ending. The Panthers worked out five potential replacements yesterday.

Juston Burris started 20 of his 23 games for the Panthers over the past two seasons. After collecting a career-high 53 tackles in 2020, the safety finished with only 23 tackles this past year, with Pro Football Focus ranking him 77th among 92 qualifying safeties. He was on the roster bubble following the offseason pickup of Xavier Woods. Brandon Zylstra has seen time in 37 games for the Panthers over the past three years, hauling in 29 receptions for 391 yards and one touchdown. Yesterday’s trade for Laviska Shenault Jr. only pushed him further down the depth chart, leading to his release.

Dolphins Place Mackensie Alexander On IR

Mackensie Alexander‘s time with the Dolphins may be short-lived. The team placed the veteran cornerback on injured reserve Tuesday.

Due to the IR placement coming before roster cutdown day, the former Vikings and Bengals cover man cannot come off the injured list four games into the season. Players carried through to the 53-man roster can do so, but IR placements at this point on the calendar prevent such transactions.

The team also waived punter Sterling Hofrichter, linebacker Deandre Johnson and safety Sheldrick Redwine. Fullback John Lovett joins Alexander in being IR-bound. Teams have until 3pm CT today to pare their rosters from 85 to 80 players.

The Dolphins signed Alexander eight days ago. An injury settlement could lead the seventh-year defender off Miami’s IR list and back into free agency at some point this year — that is, if this is not viewed as a season-ending injury. Alexander, 28, could rejoin the Dolphins post-settlement. For now, however, he is off the team’s 80-man roster.

Best known for his role as Minnesota’s slot corner, Alexander spent five months in free agency this offseason. The former second-round pick is coming off a season in which Pro Football Focus graded him as the league’s worst full-time corner. Alexander, however, has been a regular throughout his career. The Vikings made the Clemson product a key part of Mike Zimmer‘s quality defenses throughout his rookie contract during the late 2010s, and the Bengals gave him $4MM to sign in 2020.

The Dolphins signed the 28-year-old defender to a league-minimum accord, guaranteeing him $138K. The team has not seen 2020 first-rounder Noah Igbinoghene step up as a reliable slot player alongside veterans Xavien Howard and Byron Jones. Miami also did not re-sign Justin Coleman this offseason; Coleman is back in Seattle. The team did place a second-round tender on Nik Needham, however. This Alexander move could prompt the team to resume a search for corner depth. Dozens of defensive backs will become available next Tuesday, when teams trim their rosters from 80 to 53.

Panthers Sign 13 Undrafted Free Agents

With the 2022 NFL Draft over, the Panthers went quickly back to work, signing 13 free agents from the undrafted rookie class. Here’s the full list of UDFAs headed to Carolina:

Carolina had one of the more interesting draft experiences. They took the Draft’s first offensive lineman, who was a threat to go No. 1 overall, with the sixth pick of the night. After that, they weren’t expected to make another pick until the end of the fourth round. The Panthers, though, made a move as they saw quarterbacks tumbling closer and closer to their draft position, trading up to take former Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral in the third round.

Cheek is being brought in as a bit of additional quarterback competition. Cheek’s a hometown kid who started 40 games at Elon. He passed for 8,548 yards throwing 51 touchdowns to 21 interceptions over his college career.

Carolina’s UDFA class is also headlined by players like Rambo, Tolson, and Hartlaub. Rambo, the former Oklahoma Sooner who transferred to Miami for his last year of college ball, set single season records for the Hurricanes in receptions and receiving yards during his sole season with the team. Tolson can bring a lot of speed to the linebacker room. He ran a 4.45 40-yard dash at 235 lb. during the Fighting Illini’s pro day. The Panthers were eager to bring him in, giving him a guaranteed $85,000, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network.

Hartlaub is not a name most will recognize, as he spent most of his college career on special teams, but it says a lot about his abilities that he was able to earn an UDFA contract as a career-special teamer. Besides being outstanding on special teams, the Panthers were likely attracted to another aspect of Hartlaub. During the Nittany Lions’ pro day, Hartlaub reportedly ran a 4.22 40-yard dash. If accurate, that would have been the fastest 40-time at this year’s NFL Scouting Combine.

Carolina was willing to spend a bit to put together this group. In addition to the impressive amount guaranteed to Tolson, Wilson reported that the Panthers gave Henry a guaranteed amount of $100,000, as well as a $17,500 signing bonus.