Maurice Alexander

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/21/24

Today’s minor transactions and standard gameday practice squad elevations:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

After being activated from injured reserve in early November, Bates only played two games before suffering a concussion. The 27-year-old has not played since Week 11 and will now miss the remainder of the season on IR. Bates is under contract through 2025.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/5/24

Here are the latest moves from around the league, including game day elevations for Thursday Night football:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Designated to return from injured reserve: CB Elijah Jones

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

  • Elevated to the active roster from the practice squad: CB Kalen King

Houston Texans

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

The Lions signed Adams to their practice squad on Sunday after a slew of injuries on Thanksgiving. The onetime All-Pro played 20 snaps across three games for the Titans this year before he landed on the Non-Football injury list and requested his release. Though he’s still listed as a defensive back, Adams is likely to play in the box after Malcolm Rodriguez joined three other Lions linebacker on injured reserve.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/3/24

Today’s practice squad moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

With Trevor Lawrence currently in concussion protocol, the Jaguars have added some QB depth to the organization. John Wolford brings four games of starting experience to Jacksonville, all coming with the Rams between 2020 and 2022. The Wake Forest product went 2-2 in those appearances, tossing one touchdown vs. five interceptions. He’ll slide in behind Mac Jones and C.J. Beathard in the franchise’s QB pecking order.

The Eagles added a veteran fullback to their roster in Khari Blasingame. The 28-year-old has appeared in 66 games since entering the league in 2019, collecting 131 yards from scrimmage on 24 carries. The Eagles recently lost part-time fullback Ben VanSumeren for the season, opening a role for a handful of blocking snaps per game.

Lions Place LB Malcolm Rodriguez, DL Mekhi Wingo On Season-Ending IR

The Lions have officially placed linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez and defensive lineman Mekhi Wingo on injured reserve, per a team announcement. Head coach Dan Campbell announced that both players were out for the rest of the season, according to team reporter Tim Twentyman.

Rodriguez tore his ACL during Thursday’s win over the Bears, while Wingo injured his knee but managed to finish the game. Further evaluation revealed that Wingo would need surgery, sidelining him for the remainder of the year. Those injuries were two of several suffered by the Lions on Thanksgiving, with Josh Paschal (knee) and Levi Onwuzurike (hamstring) considered day-to-day ahead of another Thursday night matchup in Week 14.

Wingo is a rookie who appeared in all 11 of the Lions’ games so far this season as a reserve defensive tackle with 176 snaps on defense and 44 on special teams. The sixth-round pick recorded nine tackles, but had yet to factor into the pass rush.

Detroit signed Jonah Williams off the Rams’ practice squad on Friday to shore up their defensive line depth. They also added Myles Adams from the Seahawks’ practice squad on Saturday. He appeared in three games for Seattle this year with a total of 36 snaps and three tackles. Both players will join Brodric Martin, Al-Quadin Muhammad, and Pat O’Connor in filling the snaps vacated by Wingo (plus Paschal and Onwuzurike if they can’t play on Thursday).

Trevor Nowaske will be the next man up at linebacker after Rodriguez’s injury. He has played just under 28% of the Lions’ total defensive snaps this season and will see an uptick in the Lions’ three-linebacker formations. Detroit also signed veteran linebacker Kwon Alexander from the Broncos’ practice squad to provide more depth. Additionally, the team has not ruled out a return from Derrick Barnes from his September knee injury that threatened to end his season.

The Lions had two open spots on the roster after today’s IR designations, so they also waived wide receiver Maurice Alexander to make room for all three new signings. He only appeared in one game this season with eight snaps exclusively on special teams.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/27/24

Wednesday’s minor transactions, including some standard gameday practice squad elevations for the Thanksgiving Day slate:

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

  • Designated to return from IR: CB Myles Harden

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Vikings’ release of Murphy is disappointing one for the organization for sure. The rookie pass rusher out of UCLA was not healthy enough to be on the active roster to start the season, but Minnesota liked him enough to dedicate one of their eight IR activations on him in August. He was activated yesterday but hit waivers today. If he clears the waivers, he’ll be available to sign to the team’s practice squad.

Adams has seen his biggest NFL roles during his time in Pittsburgh. Though he hasn’t gotten the same number of starts as he had in 2022 and 2023, he’s continued the same level of production. After missing the last four games, he’ll be looking to return to the field soon.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/12/24

Today’s practice squad moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

  • Released: LB Cam Johnson

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

New York Giants

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

The Falcons have added a notable name to their special teams corps in Jakeem Grant. The long-time Dolphins returner has collected six ST touchdowns in his career (four via punts, two via kickoffs), and he’s even hauled in 100 catches. However, the veteran hasn’t seen the field since the 2021 campaign while spending the past few years on Cleveland’s practice squad.

With Dak Prescott done for the season, the Cowboys have added some extra QB depth. In comes old friend Will Grier, who spent the 2021 and 2022 campaigns in Dallas. The former third-round pick has since bounced around the NFL, including stops with the Bengals, Patriots, and Chargers in just 2023. Grier still only has two career appearances on his resume, both coming with the Panthers in 2019.

The Texans have added some experienced OL depth in Cameron Erving. The veteran is coming off a 2023 campaign where he started two of his three appearances for the Saints, and he barely played in 11 appearances with the Panthers in 2022. Still, the 32-year-old brings 98 games (58 starts) of experience to Houston, a factor that could be valuable down the stretch. To make room on the practice squad, the Texans moved on from cornerback Desmond King. The veteran has only seen time in one game for Houston this season, although he’s not far removed from a 2022 campaign where he started 13 games for the Texans.

Lions Get Down To 53 Players

The Lions used a couple of different methods to get their active roster to 53 players:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Placed on IR (designated for return):

Placed on reserve/PUP list:

The Lions released a lot more vested veterans than we typically see at this time in the year, perhaps a sign of the young talent on the roster. Peko seemed like a sure thing to make the roster after starting 10 games for the Titans in 2023.

Detroit will dismiss a couple of young rushers in Jefferson and Knight after the two failed to develop a significant role on the roster. Fromm was easily outshined in the preseason by an electric Hendon Hooker, who will take the backup job behind Jared Goff. Fromm continues to search for his place in the NFL after nearly winning it all at the collegiate level.

Martin, like Mahogany, will be able to return after four weeks, thanks to a new NFL rule that allows each team to place two players on IR before or at the roster cut deadline and designate them to return. Cornerback Emmanuel Moseley has the other designation.

Mahogany is the only drafted rookie not to make the initial 53, but he’ll stick around in Detroit. On the other side of things, the Lions kept three undrafted rookie signees on their active roster to start the season. Most notably Hogan Hatten will come in and operate as the team’s new long snapper. Safety Loren Strickland from Ball State and wide receiver Isaiah Williams from Illinois are the other two undrafted rookies to make the initial roster.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/30/24

Here are Tuesday’s reserve/futures deals:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Detroit Lions

Philadelphia Eagles

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC North

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 BearsLionsPackers and Vikings moves are noted below.

Chicago Bears

Placed on IR:

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Detroit Lions

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Green Bay Packers

Claimed:

Released:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Minnesota Vikings

Placed on IR:

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Lions Announce 53-Man Roster

We knew the Lions were going to make a handful of QB transactions leading up to today’s deadline, with Hendon Hooker destined for NFI and Nate Sudfeld tearing his ACL. Of course, the team made many additional moves to get to the 53-man roster limit:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Activated from PUP:

Placed on reserve/NFI:

Placed on reserve/suspended:

Placed on IR:

Released from IR:

Craig Reynolds spent the past two seasons with the Lions, and he made the most of his opportunities while on the field. He was limited to 14 games across the two seasons, but the RB still posted 500 yards from scrimmage on 94 touches. With a new-look depth chart in 2022, Reynolds found himself on the outside looking in.

The same goes for Benny Snell, who joined the organization earlier this offseason. The running back has spent his entire career in Pittsburgh, starting five of his 63 appearances. He didn’t miss a game for Pittsburgh over the past three seasons, although he’s seen a drop in productivity. After compiling 429 yards from scrimmage during the 2020 campaign, Snell has only collected 218 yards in 34 games since.