HEADLINES

MarShawn Lloyd

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/3/25

January 3rd, 2025 at 10:23pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Here are today’s minor moves from around the NFL:

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Green Bay Packers

New York Giants

Johnson sustained a concussion in a car accident earlier this week, per ESPN’s David Newton. The 2023 third-round pick will miss the Panthers’ final regular season after 14 appearances (including two starts) this year.

The Browns added three more players to injured reserve before Saturday’s matchup with the Ravens, including their leading rusher in Ford and second-leading pass-catcher in Njoku. Those absences have extended Baltimore to 19.5-point favorites as they look to lock up the AFC North. Cleveland will finish the year with 23 players on IR, including key players like Deshaun Watson and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.

Packers Place Marshawn Lloyd On NFI List

November 20th, 2024 at 5:14pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Packers have placed rookie running back Marshawn Lloyd on the Non-Football Injury list, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Lloyd had just returned to practice last week after spending several weeks on injured reserve due to an ankle injury suffered in Week 2. The third-round pick then fell ill with appendicitis, making it unlikely that he would be able to play when his 21-day practice window expired.

To avoid a reversion to season-ending injured reserve, the Packers activated Lloyd on Monday before moving him to the NFI list on Wednesday, where he can recover from his appendicitis and remain eligible to return this season without counting against the 53-man roster limit.

“You can’t make this stuff up,” said Packers head coach Matt LaFleur last week when announcing Lloyd’s diagnosis, per The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman. LaFleur had been encouraged by Lloyd’s progress since returning to practice, but will now have to wait before getting any contributions from the rookie this season.

Lloyd sat out of Week 1 with a hamstring injury, and his ankle and appendix have now combined to turn his rookie season into essentially a medical redshirt year. He managed just 15 yards on six rushing attempts in his NFL debut in Week 2, and will not play again until at least Week 16.

The Packers are 7-3 and locked in a pitched battle for the NFC North title. Josh Jacobs has excelled as Green Bay’s workhorse, ranking third in the NFL with 838 yards on 176 carries (4.8 yards per attempt), and second-year back Emanuel Wilson has also averaged 4.8 yards per carry in backup and change-of-pace duties. The success of that duo will be a clear obstacle to Lloyd earning rookie playing time upon his return.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/18/24

November 18th, 2024 at 6:54pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

  • Waived from IR: LB Deion Jennings

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

MarShawn Lloyd‘s path back to the Packers active roster has taken an unusual turn. The rookie third-round pick landed on IR in September with an ankle injury. He returned to practice last week but suffered appendicitis only a few days later, putting his activation within the 21-day window in doubt.

Worried that Lloyd wouldn’t be ready to play by his early-December activation deadline, the Packers consulted with the NFL about the best route forward (per ESPN’s Rob Demovsky). That ultimately led to today’s transaction, which is only the start of several transactional machinations. As Tom Silverstein of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes, Lloyd will temporarily join the active roster before landing on the non-football injury list. That means he won’t count against the team’s roster limit until he’s healthy enough to return to the field.

Lloyd doesn’t have a return timetable from this recent setback. While the rookie entered the year as the hopeful RB2 behind Josh Jacobs, there’s a good chance he’ll also behind Emanuel Wilson for the stretch run of the season.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/11/24

November 11th, 2024 at 6:34pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Here are today’s minor moves around the NFL:

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

  • Reinstated from suspension, one-game roster exemption granted: DE Mario Edwards

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Seattle Seahawks

Williams completed his three-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. He remains on injured reserve after a season-ending knee injury suffered during training camp.

Edwards served a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy and is now eligible to be reinstated to the Texans’ active roster. Houston requested and received a one-game roster exemption to give Edwards an additional week to practice with the team before being added back to the 53-man roster.

Packers Place Rookie RB MarShawn Lloyd On IR

September 17th, 2024 at 9:27pm CST by Ely Allen

Packers running back Josh Jacobs has been extremely impactful on his new team so far this season, despite not having reached the end zone yet. 104 total yards in Week 1 followed by a 151-yard rushing performance this weekend show that Green Bay seems to have hit on the free agent market at running back. Jacobs can’t rush 32 times a game like he did last week, though, making depth at running back crucial. That depth took a hit today when rookie third-round pick MarShawn Lloyd was placed on injured reserve, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

Lloyd sat out of the team’s season opener, appearing on the injury report as questionable with a hamstring issue. After a week of limited practice, Lloyd made his NFL debut this past weekend, despite still appearing on the injury report. In his lone game appearance, Lloyd ran as the RB2 behind Jacobs. He played three fewer snaps than second-year back Emanuel Wilson but earned one more carry and a target in the passing game.

With Lloyd now joining A.J. Dillon on injured reserve, Wilson will be stepping into a much bigger role as RB2 behind Jacobs. Jacobs can shoulder most of the work, but Wilson will likely need to contribute more than the 14 carries for 85 yards that he had as an undrafted rookie last year.

Joining Wilson on the depth chart will be Chris Brooks, who was signed from the practice squad to take Lloyd’s place on the active roster. Also an undrafted rookie in 2023, Brooks spent last year with an explosive Dolphins’ running backs crew, rushing for 106 yards on just 19 carries.

Brooks and Wilson will try to help make sure that Jacobs’ yoke isn’t too heavy as a workhorse. With Lloyd out for at least four weeks and Dillon perhaps not in the Packers’ long-term plans for the season, it will be important to keep Jacobs fresh however they can.

Packers Sign Six Draft Picks

May 14th, 2024 at 6:48pm CST by Ben Levine

The Packers are one step closer to completing their draft pick signings. The team announced the signing of six rookies today, with the group including:

  • Round 3, No. 88: MarShawn Lloyd (RB, USC)
  • Round 3, No. 91 (from Bills): Ty’Ron Hopper (LB, Missouri)
  • Round 4, No. 111 (from Jets): Evan Williams (S, Oregon)
  • Round 5, No. 163 (from Bills): Jacob Monk (C, Duke)
  • Round 5, No. 169: Kitan Oladapo (S, Oregon State)
  • Round 6, No. 202: Travis Glover (T, Georgia State)

Lloyd is the biggest name on the list following his breakout lone season at USC. The running back finished the season with 1,052 yards from scrimmage and nine touchdowns, leading to him being the fourth RB off the board. In Green Bay, the rookie will likely compete with A.J. Dillon for any backup reps behind new addition Josh Jacobs.

Hopper is another notable addition to the squad following two standout seasons at Missouri. Between 2022 and 2023, the linebacker compiled 132 tackles and 5.5 sacks in 23 games, performances that put him firmly on the NFL radar. Considering his coverage skills in college, he’ll likely be called on as a weakside LB behind Quay Walker.

The Packerspreviously signed seventh-round picks Michael Pratt and Kalen King. Following today’s moves, the Packers have three unsigned draft picks: first-round offensive tackle Jordan Morgan, second-round linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, and second-round safety Javon Bullard.

Cowboys, Giants Had RB MarShawn Lloyd On Day 2 Radar

May 8th, 2024 at 3:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

Linked to running backs during the pre-draft process, the Cowboys instead passed on drafting one and followed through with what became a much-discussed reunion with Ezekiel Elliott. The Giants waited until the fifth round to add a back to their group.

This RB class did not generate too much hype, with only one player — Texas’ Jonathon Brooks — going off the board in the first two rounds. Closely connected to Brooks, the Cowboys also did plenty of work on one of this class’ second-tier options. MarShawn Lloyd‘s camp viewed Dallas as one of the teams that could take the former USC and South Carolina back, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes, adding the Giants also carried interest in the recent Pac-12 RB.

Lloyd ended up going 88th overall to the Packers, making him an intriguing backup in a contingent housing free agency pickup Josh Jacobs and the recently re-signed AJ Dillon. Both the Giants and Cowboys carry more questions at the position, seeing as each team refrained from high-end investments this offseason.

The Giants were not willing to go near where the Eagles did for Saquon Barkley, failing to make an offer despite having submitted a proposal that included more than $20MM fully guaranteed last summer. They gave Devin Singletary a three-year, $16.5MM deal ($9.5MM guaranteed at signing) to replace Barkley, and the team has 2023 fifth-rounder Eric Gray and rookie fifth-rounder Tyrone Tracy Jr. as Singletary’s top backups. The Giants eyed Lloyd, per Fowler, but he landed between the team’s third- (No. 71) and fourth-round (No. 106) picks. Before the draft, a report indicated the Giants were eyeing veteran RB help. They may, however, be content once again to roll with an experienced starter and unseasoned backups.

Passing on Derrick Henry and other available RBs early in free agency, the Cowboys re-signed Elliott to a one-year, $3MM deal. Dallas has Royce Freeman and 2023 Tony Pollard backups Rico Dowdle and Deuce Vaughn among its backfield options. This plan (as it stands now, that is) has generated some scrutiny. The team showed interest in Lloyd, doing plenty of pre-draft work on him, and Tennessee’s Jaylen Wright, Fowler adds. The Cowboys, however, did not carry a fourth-round pick. Wright went to the Dolphins, who traded up to acquire the SEC product at No. 120.

Lloyd transferred from South Carolina to USC in 2023, totaling a career-high 820 rushing yards (7.1 per carry) last season. Lloyd tallied nine rushing touchdowns with the Gamecocks in 2022. He will be among the rookie RBs attempting to prove teams wrong for their pre-draft outlook on this class.