John Samuel Shenker

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/5/23

Today’s practice squad moves:

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New York Jets

  • Signed: OL Xavier Newman-Johnson
  • Released: OL Adam Pankey

This will be a bit of a homecoming for quarterback Tanner Morgan, who played college ball at the University of Minnesota. Morgan had a breakout campaign in 2019, finishing with 30 touchdowns, but he only had a combined 26 passing touchdowns between 2020 and 2022. As a result, the QB went undrafted in this year’s draft, and following a preseason stint with the Steelers, he’ll now be joining the Vikings’ quarterbacks room.

Vikings backup QB Nick Mullens is dealing with a back injury that kept him out of practice today. Morgan will temporarily slide into the QB3 role behind Kirk Cousins and fifth-round rookie Jaren Hall.

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC 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 BroncosChargersChiefs and Raiders moves are noted below.

Denver Broncos

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Kansas City Chiefs

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Las Vegas Raiders

Placed on IR: 

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Los Angeles Chargers

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Reverted to IR:

Released from IR via injury settlement:

Raiders Reduce Roster To 53 Players

The Raiders cut down their roster to 53 players today. However, in the process, they were forced to move on from a handful of veterans:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

  • OT Dalton Wagner

The Raiders signed Jaquan Johnson early during free agency, and there was hope he’d provide some experienced depth to their secondary. Ultimately, the team decided to go in another direction, but that doesn’t mean the safety won’t quickly find another gig elsewhere. Johnson got into 60 games for the Bills over the past four years, including a 2022 campaign where he finished with a career-high 32 tackles and one interception.

On the other side of the ball, the organization moved on from some notable offensive weapons. Keelan Cole Sr. got into 14 games for the Raiders last season, collecting 10 receptions for 141 yards. Phillip Dorsett II joined Las Vegas this offseason after spending the 2022 campaign with the Texans, where he hauled in 20 catches. Damien Williams has close to 500 touches in the NFL, although he only got into one game for the lowly Falcons last season.