HEADLINES

Luke Gifford

49ers To Sign DB Jason Pinnock

March 11th, 2025 at 9:59pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The 49ers are signing former Giants defensive back Jason Pinnock to a one-year, fully-guaranteed deal, per FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz and KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson.

The 25-year-old started 32 games at safety over the last two years in New York, but the Giants’ signing of Jevon Holland made it clear that the team was moving in another direction, according to The Athletic’s Dan Duggan. Pinnock will have an opportunity to earn a starting job in San Francisco after Talanoa Hufanga signed with the Broncos.

Pinnock was excellent in coverage in 2023 with a 74.8 passer rating when targeted, but that figure was above 135.0 in his other three seasons. He can play in the box and offers upside as a pass-rusher with 6.5 sacks across the last three seasons.

The 49ers also re-signed defensive tackle Kevin Givens. The 2019 undrafted free agent will head into his seventh season in the NFL, all in San Francisco. He flashed as a pass-rusher in 2024 with a career-high 3.5 sacks in just eight games before a pectoral tear ended his season. Givens will likely take on a bigger role in 2025 after the team moved on from Javon Hargrave.

San Francisco isn’t placing an RFA tender on linebacker Curtis Robinson, but they will retain him on a one-year deal, according to The Athletic’s Matt Barrows. Robinson was the 49ers’ Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee last season, but played in only three games before suffering a torn ACL. He has played three games for the 49ers in each of the last four years, with all but three of his snaps coming on special teams.

In 2025, Robinson will be joined by former Titans and Cowboys special teams ace Luke Gifford. The 29-year-old linebacker is signing a one-year deal with the 49ers, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Gifford played a career-high 203 snaps on defense in 2024 along with a core special teams role in Tennessee. Robinson and Gifford will continue their special teams prowess next season, but they may also have to play a bigger role on defense after the departure of Dre Greenlaw in free agency.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/27/24

September 27th, 2024 at 6:41pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s only minor move:

Tennessee Titans

Taking the 53-man roster spot of cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, who was placed on injured reserve with a groin injury, Gifford’s promotion is an expected one. The veteran linebacker has been a standard gameday practice squad elevation in the first three games of the season so far. The NFL restricts practice squad players to only three such elevations in one contract. In order for Gifford to continue appearing in games, Tennessee is signing him to a new active roster deal. If they so choose, the Titans can release Gifford after this game and re-sign him to the practice squad, restarting his three-game limit.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/21/24

September 21st, 2024 at 5:00pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s minor NFL transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Players like Hollman, Vigil, Webb, and Quarterman will now be getting called up for the third time this season. The NFL rules limit a practice squad player to three standard gameday elevations per contract. If their teams want to get them into more games in the future, the normal route is for them to be signed to the active roster after this weekend then released/waived and signed to new practice squad deals, starting their three-game count over.

Shy Tuttle‘s foot injury will keep him off the field for Week 3, as the Panthers announced that the defensive tackle has been downgraded from doubtful to out. The Panthers called up Williams to temporarily take the open roster spot. The defensive end started 10 of his 16 appearances for the Panthers last season, and he landed back on Carolina’s practice squad last month after spending the preseason with the Bills.

The Browns announced a handful of moves ahead of their game with the Giants tomorrow. Notably, the team didn’t promote any offensive tackles, which provided some optimism surrounding the availability of their injured tackles. While Jedrick Wills Jr. is expected to play (per Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal), Jack Conklin will not (per Tony Grossi of 850 ESPN Cleveland). Conklin hasn’t played since Week 1 of the 2023 season while recovering from a torn ACL and MCL. He practiced this week and was initially listed as questionable for tomorrow’s game, but it sounds like a new hamstring injury is the culprit for his Week 3 absence.

With both Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce set to miss Sunday’s trip to Minnesota, the Texans are bringing up Taylor off the practice squad. Taylor will back up Cam Akers and Dare Ogunbowale against the Vikings this weekend.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/14/24

September 14th, 2024 at 8:06pm CST by Ely Allen

Saturday’s minor transactions and gameday practice squad callups:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Patrick was among the Broncos’ final roster cuts after a Saints trade was discussed. The 30-year-old missed the 2022 and ’23 campaigns due to ACL and Achilles tears, respectively. Patrick did not need to wait long to find a new opportunity, though, quickly landing a practice squad deal with the Lions. He is now positioned make his season debut tomorrow as a complementary option in Detroit’s passing attack.

Olszewski is dealing with a groin injury and he was known to be facing a long-term absence. Today’s move thus comes as no surprise, but it ensures at least a four-week absence. The former All-Pro scored a punt return touchdown with Pittsburgh early last season and added another during his 10-game Giants stretch to close out the year. The team will need to rely on other options in the return game for the time being.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/7/24

September 7th, 2024 at 7:42pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are all the NFL’s minor transactions for Saturday, including the gameday callups leading into the first Sunday of the 2024 season:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

With regular kicker Matt Gay listed as questionable for the season opener after hernia surgery, the Colts will call up Shrader from the practice squad as an emergency option. The 25-year-old has not made a regular season appearance in his career, but that could very well change tomorrow.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/3/24

September 3rd, 2024 at 6:43pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Buffalo Bills 

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

  • Removed from IR via injury settlement: DE Viliami Fehoko

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Seattle Seahawks

  • Removed from IR via injury settlement: DL Buddha Jones

Tennessee Titans

  • Waived: LB Luke Gifford
  • Removed from IR via injury settlement: WR Tre’Shaun Harrison

The Eagles waived Tuipulotu to make room for waiver claim Byron Young. Tuipulotu had worked as an Eagles rotational DT, playing 232 snaps in 2022 and 162 last season. A 2021 sixth-round pick, Tuipulotu notched two sacks and three tackles for loss last season.

Early September is a bit earlier than most teams poach a player of another club’s P-squad. The Panthers doing so means they must carry Swinson, a rookie UDFA out of Arizona State, on their 53-man roster for at least three weeks. Panthers tight ends Tommy Tremble and Ian Thomas are battling injuries. Swinson joins those two, veteran Jordan Matthews and rookie fourth-rounder Ja’Tavian Sanders on a rare five-TE depth chart.

Titans Place DL Jeffery Simmons, LB Jack Gibbens On IR

December 23rd, 2023 at 4:57pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Titans were on busy on Saturday with respect to roster decisions. Among the many moves made on Saturday was defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons and linebackers Jack Gibbens and Luke Gifford being placed on injured reserve.

Players moved to IR are required to miss at least four weeks. Since the Titans have been eliminated from postseason contention, the news confirms that trio will not see the field again in 2023. The loss of Simmons and Gibbens in particular will deal a signficant blow to Tennessee’s defense to close out the season. The Titans’ special teams unit will also be notably weaker without Gifford in the fold.

Simmons has already missed the past two games due to a knee injury. Head coach Mike Vrabel made it clear a multi-week absence would be on tap, so with the Titans out of contention it comes as little surprise that they will shut him down for the rest of the year. 2024 will mark his next action; it also represents the beginning of his four-year, $94MM extension signed this offseason.

The 26-year-old was one of many young defensive tackles who earned a substantial raise, and he maintained his status as an impact defender this season. Simmons racked up 44 tackles (including 10 for loss) along with 5.5 sacks in 2023. Especially with Teair Tart out of the picture, Tennessee’s D-line will look much different to close out the year.

Gibbens did enough last season to earn a signficant role in 2023. The former UDFA logged a 66% snap share on defense this season, starting 13 of his 14 appearances. Gibbens totaled 92 tackles (which ranked second on the team), proving his value as a key member of the Titans’ front seven. He is a pending exclusive rights free agent, and it will be interesting to see how the team handles his financial future given the impact he made this year.

Gifford joined Tennessee this offseason on a two-year, $4MM deal. As was the case during his Cowboys tenure, he was used almost exclusively on special teams in his debut Titans campaign. Gifford saw a career-high 83% snap share in the third phase, compared to just eight total defensive snaps. He could have seen a more diverse workload in Gibbens’ absence, but instead he will join safety Amani Hooker in being shelved for the final weeks of the season.

To fill the open roster spots, the Titans announced the signings of linebacker JoJo Domann, along with offensive linemen John Ojukwu and Andrew Rupcich. All three were on the team’s practice squad, and they will now have the opportunity to see game action as Tennessee’s injury list continues to grow.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/14/23

March 14th, 2023 at 9:51pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

New England Patriots

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Minor NFL Transactions:  3/18/22

March 18th, 2022 at 8:49am CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals 

  • Re-Signed: LB Ezekiel Turner

Buffalo Bills

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

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