Miles Boykin

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/18/24

Today’s practice squad moves:

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

  • Signed: DT Dashaun Mallory

Green Bay Packers

Los Angeles Rams

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Signed: LB David Anenih

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/2/24

Here are Monday’s practice squad additions and subtractions:

Carolina Panthers

  • Signed: WR Praise Olatoke

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

  • Signed: OL Blake Larson

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Signed: DB Ayo Oyelola

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

  • Signed: S Kendell Brooks

Weaver has dropped from the player who logged 640 defensive snaps in 2022, when Harold Landry was sidelined for the year, to the practice squad level. The Titans waived Weaver after setting their initial 53-man roster. He will follow ex-teammate Teair Tart by joining the Texans’ D-line upon being a Titans cut. Though, Tart landed in Houston via waiver claim and never dropped to the P-squad. Weaver registered 5.5 sacks in 2022 but did not record any in 15 games last season.

The Giants waived Long last week. He will join a Colts team that has made multiple moves at corner since setting its initial roster. Indianapolis, which took some heat for not augmenting its outside CB situation this offseason, claimed Samuel Womack off waivers from San Francisco and waived Darrell Baker. Long, a former Rams third-round pick, played for three teams (Raiders, Panthers, Packers in 2023.

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC East

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 CommandersCowboysEagles and Giants moves are noted below.

Dallas Cowboys

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

New York Giants

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Philadelphia Eagles

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Washington Commanders

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Giants Place Isaiah McKenzie On IR, Move Roster To 53

Here is how the Giants moved down to the 53-man limit today:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Placed on season-ending IR:

Placed on IR/return:

Just as the NFL greenlit a full-on kickoff revamp, McKenzie is out of the picture in New York. Signing with the Giants this year and completing a reunion with ex-Bills staffers Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll, McKenzie has been a return man and slot receiver for seven seasons. This transaction, unlike the Adams designation, will knock the 5-foot-7 cog out for the year. McKenzie only received $75K guaranteed.

McKenzie joins Hodgins among the players not currently in the mix for the team. The Giants received good value from the former waiver claim, who was a Bills teammate of McKenzie’s under Daboll earlier his career. They brought him back after non-tendering him as an RFA in March, and he and Robinson were battling for back-end receiver jobs. The Giants kept Bryce Ford-Wheaton, a 2023 UDFA, over Hodgins. Considering Hodgins’ past with Daboll, it would not surprise to see New York circle back with a potential practice squad invite. Though, the fifth-year veteran might have other options.

Beavers was viewed as a potential inside linebacker starter in 2023, but Micah McFadden ended up beating out the former sixth-round pick. Beavers played in only two games last season. Cager also was considered a contender to be one of the Giants’ receiving tight ends, but the converted wideout fell short. Daniel Bellinger and fourth-round rookie Theo Johnson are leading the way post-Darren Waller.

Giants Sign WR Miles Boykin

After spending his first five seasons in the AFC North, Miles Boykin will be looking to continue his career in the NFC. The Giants announced today that they’ve signed the veteran wide receiver.

The former third-round pick showed some promise through his first two years in the NFL. In 32 games with the Ravens between 2019 and 2020, Boykin hauled in 32 receptions for 464 yards and seven touchdowns.

Things haven’t gone nearly as well over the past three seasons. Between 2021 and 2023, the receiver has only caught six passes in 41 games with the Ravens and Steelers. His offensive role has basically dried up; after averaging 485 offensive snaps per season through his first two years in the NFL, he’s only averaged 96 offensive snaps per season over the past three campaigns. Still, he’s managed to contribute on special teams, culminating in a 2023 season where he got in a career-high 316 ST snaps.

The Giants haven’t done a whole lot to address their WR situation this offseason. Prior to today’s move, the team added Isaiah McKenzie to a group of holdovers that includes Darius Slayton, Wan’Dale Robinson, Jalin Hyatt, and Isaiah Hodgins.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/24/23

Minor moves from around the league today:

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

AFC North Rumors: Pickett, Ravens, Boykin

It appears that the Steelers‘ quarterback job is Mitchell Trubisky‘s to lose and, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, rookie first-round pick Kenny Pickett is not quite ready to push Trubisky for the role.

Pittsburgh has been riding with Trubisky as the first-team quarterback for much of the offseason with incumbent backup Mason Rudolph as the primary second stringer. While it’s become quite trendy for rookie quarterbacks to start from Day 1, Pittsburgh has stayed patient with Pickett with no plans of rushing him into the starting role.

Rudolph has proven to be better competition for Trubisky early in the preseason and has truly made things interesting. In order for him to overtake Trubisky on the depth chart, though, he’d likely have to be near perfect this preseason and will need Trubisky to fall off.

Pickett in the meantime will have this time to grow and mature at the NFL level. He still may be the quarterback of the future in Pittsburgh, but he’ll have to take the old-fashioned route of sitting and learning before he gets his opportunity on the field.

Here are a few other rumors from around the AFC North, starting with a rumor from the rival Ravens:

  • When considering Baltimore’s weakest position groups, wide receiver and pass rusher are the two most often mentioned. But the Ravenslack of depth at inside linebacker could cause them to reach out for some help, according to Jeff Zrebiec at The Athletic. With Patrick Queen and Josh Bynes sitting out the team’s first preseason game last night, Malik Harrison and Kristian Welch saw initial snaps with the defense. Several undrafted rookies came in after that. Without even considering that the combination of Queen and Bynes is not the scariest inside linebacker duo, that depth is concerning. Zrebiec suggests the easy answer is a reunion with free agent L.J. Fort who has spent most of the last three seasons with Baltimore. If things look desperate, though, a call could always be made for a price-check on Bears’ disgruntled linebacker Roquan Smith.
  • In a question and answer this week, The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly addressed the potential roster outlook at receiver for the Steelers this year. With the depth chart topped by Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, George Pickens, and Calvin Austin III, the question was brought up who slots in as the team’s fifth-receiver. Kaboly threw out an idea suggesting that if Austin can serve double-duty as a return-man, that could affect the roster status of Anthony Miller, Cody White, or Gunner Olszewski. But he was adamant that offseason waiver claim Miles Boykin would not be making the final roster. While Kaboly states there in an array of reasons for this certainty, he points to salary as the main one. The Steelers picked up Boykin with his rookie contract from the Ravens. The final year of that deal is set to pay Boykin $2.54MM with a $2.75MM cap hit.

Steelers Claim WR Miles Boykin

Miles Boykin will have another chance in the AFC North. A day after the Ravens moved on, the Steelers made a successful waiver claim, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.

One year remains on Boykin’s rookie contract. The Steelers have an extensive track record of developing receivers, and Boykin will be leaving the NFL’s run-heaviest offense. Of course, the Steelers have an uncertain quarterback situation — one now centered around Mitchell Trubisky — and Boykin is coming off a 2021 no-show.

Even as the former third-round pick struggled to catch on in Baltimore, he did combine for seven touchdown receptions on just 32 grabs between the 2019 and ’20 seasons. Subsequent Ravens additions Devin Duvernay and Rashod Bateman surpassed Boykin on the team’s depth chart. The 6-foot-4 wideout played eight games last season and caught only one pass.

Pittsburgh lost JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Washington in free agency, opening the door for others to vie for a complementary role alongside Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool. Boykin and Claypool were teammates at Notre Dame. The Steelers drafted Johnson in the 2019 third round, 27 spots before Boykin. Washington signed with the Cowboys, while Smith-Schuster joined the Chiefs a year after spurning their offer to stay in Pittsburgh.

Ravens Waive WR Miles Boykin

Miles Boykin popped up in trade rumors just ahead of free agency, but the Ravens were not able to deal him. As they start their offseason program, the Ravens waived the former third-round pick.

This comes after Boykin tumbled down Baltimore’s depth chart, catching just one pass in eight games last season. This move will save the Ravens just more than $2.5MM in cap space.

A hamstring issue led to Boykin beginning last season on IR, but the Ravens had used another first-round pick on a wide receiver (Rashod Bateman) last year and had signed Sammy Watkins to play alongside Marquise Brown. After starting 24 games over his first two seasons, Boykin was relegated to backup duty during the games in which he was active. Boykin totaled 32 receptions for 464 yards and seven touchdowns from 2019-20, but he entered the Ravens’ 2021 training camp on their roster bubble.

The Ravens let the injury-prone Watkins walk in free agency and did not replace him with a veteran. Baltimore’s run-centric offense led to some big-name receivers turning down offers last year, but the team does return Brown, Bateman and 2020 third-rounder Devin Duvernay, an All-Pro return man who moved past Boykin on the depth chart last year.

Ravens Looking To Trade Miles Boykin?

The Ravens started making cost-cutting moves yesterday, as they attempt to maximize their cap space in the lead-up to free agency next week. Another could soon be on the way, this time with wide receiver Miles Boykin. CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reports that the team is “seeking to deal” him (Twitter link). 

[RELATED: Ravens Release Tavon Young]

Boykin was a third round pick of the Ravens in 2019, the first year of Eric DeCosta‘s tenure as general manager. He was one of two wideouts (the other being Marquise Brown) the team drafted that year, in an attempt to rebuild the position. The Notre Dame product was met with plenty of optimism, as many felt relatively underwhelming numbers in college wouldn’t overshadow his combination of size and speed.

Things have yet pan out for Boykin in Baltimore, however. His most productive season came in 2020, where he posted 19 catches for 266 yards and four touchdowns. Relegated to playing almost exclusively on special teams (and dealing with a finger injury) last season, he registered just one catch. The team has continued to draft the position heavily, selecting two more wideouts in 2020, and another pair – including first rounder Rashod Bateman – in 2021. All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews represents, of course, further competition for targets in the Ravens’ offense.

Having struggled to develop chemistry with Lamar Jackson and increasingly buried on the depth chart, Boykin would likely be well-served by a change of scenery. Still only 25, he could provide upside to teams looking for a complimentary piece to their receiving corps. From the Ravens’ perspective, moving Boykin would make sense financially, as a trade would create just over $2.5MM in cap space. It’s not surprising, then, that La Canfora states a deal is “likely”.