HEADLINES

McTelvin Agim

Colts Re-Sign WR Isaiah McKenzie, Place TE Jelani Woods On IR

August 30th, 2023 at 5:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

5:23pm: McKenzie’s release has proven to be a paper transaction. The Colts announced he has been re-signed, so his time with the team will continue. To open a roster spot to make the McKenzie reunion possible, second-year tight end Jelani Woods was placed on IR. The latter – who has been named by some as a breakout candidate for 2023 – will thus be sidelined for at least the first four weeks of the season.

1:50pm: Making three waiver claims Wednesday, the Colts needed to clear roster space. Isaiah McKenzie will be one of the players moved off Indianapolis’ 53-man squad.

The Colts claimed tackle Ryan Hayes (from the Dolphins), defensive end Isaiah Land (from the Cowboys) and guard Josh Sills (from the Eagles). D-tackle McTelvin Agim and offensive lineman Carter O’Donnell join McKenzie in being cut to make room.

This is the second time a team has cut McKenzie this year. The Colts gave the 5-foot-8 slot receiver a one-year deal worth $1.32MM. The only dead money that will come via this release will be the $403K guarantee Indy authorized. The Colts picked up McKenzie not long after the Bills dropped him this offseason.

As a result of this release, the Colts have just three wide receivers — Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce, third-round rookie Josh Downs — on their active roster. Indy also moved on from veterans Amari Rodgers, James Washington and Breshad Perriman this week. Though, Rodgers and former seventh-round pick Mike Strachan are back on the practice squad. The Colts will need to make some adjustments before Week 1, as teams do not go with three-wideout gameday configurations.

Downs is on track to work in the slot alongside Pittman and Pierce, while the Bills picked up Deonte Harty from the Saints shortly after cutting McKenzie. The Bills had given McKenzie a two-year, $4.4MM deal in 2022, keeping his Buffalo resurgence going. McKenzie scored 15 touchdowns with the Bills, including five in 2021, and posted a career-high 423 receiving yards last season. Despite the Bills also using him as a gadget weapon, they did not opt to keep the 28-year-old playmaker around after an inconsistent receiving campaign.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/9/23

January 9th, 2023 at 6:45pm CST by Ely Allen

18 teams had their seasons come to an end yesterday, and their front offices have already turned the page to the 2023 NFL seaon. This started today, as a number of players were signed to reserve/futures contracts, which allows organizations to retain (routinely) young, practice squad players throughout the offseason. Here are today’s reserve/futures contracts:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

  • WR Ty Fryfogle

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Washington Commanders

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/15/22

December 15th, 2022 at 7:05pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

New York Giants

Seattle Seahawks

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/13/22

December 13th, 2022 at 7:56pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Signed: QB Carson Strong

Atlanta Falcons

  • Signed: LB Nate Landman
  • Released: OL Parker Ferguson

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

  • Signed: LB Storey Jackson

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Tennessee Titans

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC West

August 31st, 2022 at 3:48pm CST by Sam Robinson

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 Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs and Raiders moves are noted below.

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

Denver Broncos

Re-signed:

Signed to practice squad:

Kansas City Chiefs

Signed to practice squad:

Las Vegas Raiders

Released from IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Los Angeles Chargers

Signed: 

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Broncos Pare Roster Down To 53

August 30th, 2022 at 3:49pm CST by Sam Robinson

After trading Malik Reed to the Steelers, the Broncos finished off their moves to reach the NFL’s 53-man roster max Tuesday. Here is how the team reached that number:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Some John Elway-era defensive lineman have been swapped out for George Paton acquisitions. Purcell, a three-season Broncos starter whom the team extended in 2020, is the most notable. But former third-round pick Agim joins the former Alliance of American Football success story in being moved off Denver’s roster. Agim heads to waivers; Purcell is a vested veteran.

After helping Denver stabilize its run defense upon arrival in 2019, Purcell missed half the 2020 season due to injury and missed time in 2021 as well. The Broncos added D.J. Jones in free agency and drafted two D-linemen — Eyioma Uwazurike (Round 4) and Matt Henningsen (Round 6) — this year.

Muti was seeing first-string action this offseason but was the underdog to beat out Quinn Meinerz at right guard. The former Fresno State-developed sixth-rounder also underwent arthroscopic knee surgery recently. Hinton, whom the Broncos turned to upon losing all their QBs to the reserve/COVID-19 list against the Saints in 2020, contributed as a receiver last season. The Broncos kept rookie UDFA wideout Jalen Virgil over Hinton. He could be back in Denver via the practice squad. The Broncos signed Tomlinson this offseason but also brought back Eric Saubert. The team drafted Greg Dulcich in the third round as well. Those two join Albert Okwuegbunam and Andrew Beck on the team’s 53-man roster.

NFL COVID-19 List Updates: 1/4/22-1/5/22

January 5th, 2022 at 11:32pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are Tuesday and Wednesday’s activations from and placements on the reserve/COVID-19 lists:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: TE Jared Cook, LB Damon Lloyd (remains on IR)

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Broncos Place Bradley Chubb, Jerry Jeudy On Reserve/COVID-19 List

December 31st, 2021 at 4:07pm CST by Sam Robinson

Already favored before the Broncos’ run of positive COVID-19 tests, the Chargers keep learning of more Denver starters who will miss Sunday’s game.

The Broncos will be down Bradley Chubb, Jerry Jeudy and linebacker Baron Browning on Sunday due to positive coronavirus tests. They also placed rotational edge rusher Jonathan Cooper and backup defensive lineman McTelvin Agim on their reserve/COVID-19 list Friday.

[RELATED: Broncos To Start Drew Lock In Week 17]

Additionally, the Broncos could also be without Courtland Sutton. Vic Fangio said the recently extended wideout could soon be moved to the team’s virus list, though that has not happened as of Friday afternoon (Twitter links via 9News’ Mike Klis). If Sutton ends up being shelved, the Broncos will likely be down to Kendall Hinton as their top wide receiver in Los Angeles. The team placed Tim Patrick on its virus list Wednesday.

Thirteen Broncos have been placed on the virus list over the past three days. Defensive line coach Bill Kollar also will miss Sunday’s game after a positive test. Chubb and Jeudy have each missed extensive time this season. A second 2021 ankle surgery sidelined Chubb for much of the year, while Jeudy missed most of the season’s first half because of a high ankle sprain sustained in Week 1.

The NFL moved three Week 15 games to new dates but has since altered its protocols twice in order to limit player unavailability. No games have been moved since, with the NFL playing Dolphins-Saints as scheduled despite New Orleans’ run of positive tests, and it should be expected the Broncos-Chargers rematch will be played Sunday.

While the Broncos are not technically eliminated, their losses to the Bengals and Raiders all but buried them in the AFC wild-card race. The Chargers have a 35% chance to qualify for the playoffs, per FiveThirtyEight.com.

AFC West Notes: Raiders, Jefferson, Broncos, Massie

June 28th, 2021 at 8:42pm CST by Ben Levine

During an appearance on HBO’s The Shop: Uninterrupted, Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady discussed his reactions to a potential 2020 free agent suitor pulling out of the sweepstakes to stick with their incumbent signal-caller.

“There was a story, in free agency, one of the teams, they were interested and all of sudden they weren’t interested at the very end,” Brady said. “I was sitting there thinking, you’re stick with that [expletive]? Are you serious?

“When I look back I’m like, there’s no [expletive] way I would’ve went to that team. But they said they didn’t want me. I know what that means, I know what that feels like.”

There’s been plenty of speculation about the mystery team and quarterback that Brady was referring to, and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com cites multiple league sources who believe the future Hall of Famer was referring to the Raiders and Derek Carr. Las Vegas had been mentioned as a potential Brady suitor during the 2020 offseason, but the organization dropped out of the sweepstakes after balking at Brady’s long list of requests. As Florio notes, Brady had his chance at payback last season, when he tossed four touchdowns in a 45-20 Tampa Bay victory over Las Vegas.

Unless Brady unexpectedly reveals who he was talking about, we’ll never truly know if it was the Raiders. Plenty of other teams and quarterbacks have been mentioned, including the Bears/Mitch Trubisky and the Titans/Ryan Tannehill. The 49ers and former teammate Jimmy Garoppolo have been a popular suggestion, but considering Brady’s lifelong affinity for San Francisco (and his declaration that he was never going to sign with that team in the first place), we can probably cross them off the list.

Here’s more out of the AFC West…

  • Quinton Jefferson has played all over the defensive line during his five-year career, but despite the Raiders depth at defensive tackle, the team is still planning to play their free agent acquisition at his natural position. The 28-year-old will be teaming up with the Raiders main offseason acquisition, defensive tackle Yannick Ngakoue, and Jefferson is excited to form a two-headed monster with his good friend and former college teammate. “Yannick is one of the best pass rushers in the NFL right now and he brings that intensity,” Jefferson told The Athletic’s Vic Tafur. “He is going to bring some pressure and help relieve Maxx (Crosby), free Maxx up so that other teams can’t key on one guy. And then hopefully I can bring some interior pressure as well, so we should have a good mix out there. I am excited to see how that all comes together.”
  • Ryan O’Halloran of the Denver Post explores several Broncos players who find themselves on the roster bubble prior to training camp and the preseason. Atop his list is defensive tackle McTelvin Agim, a 2020 third-round pick who was limited to only 110 defensive snaps as a rookie. O’Halloran notes that it’s troubling that the young defensive lineman wasn’t working with the starters during minicamp despite the absences of Mike Purcell and Shelby Harris. Offensive tackle Calvin Anderson, running back Royce Freeman, safety Trey Marshall, and linebacker Derrek Tuszka also earned spots on the list.
  • The Broncos brought in both Bobby Massie and Cameron Fleming to compete for the starting right tackle spot, and ESPN’s Jeff Legwold believes Massie will get the first shot at the gig. Massie certainly has the advantage when it comes to experience; the 31-year-old has started 110 of his 118 career games, including each of his eight games in 2020. Meanwhile, Fleming has mostly served as backup throughout his career (91 games, 42 starts), although he did start a career-high 16 games for the Giants last season.

NFL Draft Pick Signings: 7/22/20

July 22nd, 2020 at 5:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are the latest draft pick signings. With rookies set to report to teams’ training camps this week, teams are busy on this front.

  • The Vikings were the busiest team in the draft, making 15 picks this year. They have been active signing them Wednesday. Beyond first-rounder Justin Jefferson, Minnesota has agreed to terms with second-round tackle Ezra Cleveland, fourth-round linebacker Troy Dye, fourth-round defensive tackle James Lynch and seventh-round offensive lineman Kyle Hinton. Cleveland, rumored as a possible late-first-round selection, will be groomed to become a near-future starter for the Vikings.
  • The Broncos began signing some of their picks, most notably getting third-rounders Michael Ojemudia and McTelvin Agim under contract. A cornerback, Ojemudia is set to compete for a starting job opposite A.J. Bouye; Agim profiles as D-line depth behind established starters this season. Denver also signed fourth-round tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, a Mizzou alum set to rejoin his former quarterback (Drew Lock) in the Mile High City. The Broncos also reached an agreement with seventh-round outside linebacker Derrek Tuszka.
  • Despite having T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree under contract, the Steelers used a third-round pick on outside linebacker Alex Highsmith. The Charlotte alum agreed to terms on his four-year rookie deal. Highsmith recorded 15 sacks at the mid-major program last season.
  • Packers third-round pick Josiah Deguara also agreed on his four-year rookie contract. Green Bay eschewed its wide receiver need throughout the draft, using Day 2 to add a running back (A.J. Dillon) and Deguara, who profiles as a tight end/fullback. The Cincinnati product surpassed 900 yards between his final two college seasons, totaling 12 touchdown grabs in that span.
  • Tennessee third-round running back Darrynton Evans signed his rookie deal as well. Evans looks set to replace Dion Lewis as the Titans‘ Derrick Henry change-of-pace back. The Appalachian State alum rushed for 1,480 yards and 18 touchdowns last season. He added five receiving TDs.
  • The Giants used first- and third-round picks on tackles. The latter selection, UConn’s Matt Peart, agreed to the terms of his rookie deal Wednesday. Peart profiles as a developmental lineman, working behind expected starters Nate Solder and Andrew Thomas. He stands to join Cameron Fleming as depth for Big Blue.
  • Washington has agreed to terms with third-round running back/wideout Antonio Gibson, fourth-round receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden and fifth-round center Keith Ismael. Gibson and Gandy-Golden figure to be key parts of a Washington offense that is limited, beyond Terry McLaurin, in the passing game. Gibson totaled 1,104 yards from scrimmage at Memphis last season, while Gandy-Golden caught 20 touchdown passes in two years at Liberty.
  • Fourth-round Cowboys pick Reggie Robinson agreed to terms as well. The Tulsa cornerback joins a Cowboys team that lost Byron Jones in free agency. Dallas was active in an effort to replace the Pro Bowler, drafting Trevon Diggs in Round 2 and signing Daryl Worley.
  • Sixth-round Chargers safety Alohi Gilman, a Notre Dame alum, signed his Chargers contract Wednesday. Gillman joins a deep Bolts safety corps.
  • The Buccaneers drafted two running backs this year. On Wednesday, they agreed to terms with the second of those picks — seventh-rounder Raymond Calais. In addition to his work as a running back at Louisiana, Calais was a four-year kick returner for the Rajin’ Cajuns.