Patrick Scales

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

Signed:

Claimed:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Detroit Lions

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Green Bay Packers

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Minnesota Vikings

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Bears To Place LS Patrick Scales On IR, Sign LS Scott Daly

11:55am: Daly will indeed be the Bears’ pick. In completing the Scales IR transaction, Chicago will add the former Detroit deep snapper, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets.

10:17am: Going into his 10th season as the Bears’ long snapper, Patrick Scales will not begin the year on time. The team will soon place its deep snapper on IR, according to the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs.

Scales is set to undergo back surgery, per Biggs, who adds the team is hoping for a recovery timetable of roughly six weeks. Dealing with a disk issue, the 36-year-old specialist has been out since going down in the Hall of Fame Game.

The Bears waived the other long snapper on their roster — Cameron Lyons — on Tuesday, but they will certainly need someone here soon. Scott Daly, the Lions’ snapper for the previous three seasons, is on the team’s radar, Biggs adds. Detroit cut Daly, 30, to go with rookie UDFA Hogan Hatten on Tuesday.

While Chicago could have placed Scales on IR before setting its 53-man roster, the team already allocated those spots. Swing tackle Larry Borom and rotational rusher Jacob Martin received IR-return designations Tuesday; the NFL’s tweak to the IR rule allows for up to two such designations.

Scales’ niche position and the nature of his injury also may have made the Bears hesitant about burning one of their IR-return slots so early. The Bears are down to six IR-return slots already, but the upcoming Scales move will not further subtract from that total just yet. By waiting until today to make the IR transition, the Bears will not lose an activation until they actually move Scales back onto the active roster.

Acquired during the 2015 season, Scales has played 122 Bears games. He also has a notable injury history — for a long snapper, at least. The veteran role player missed the 2017 with a torn ACL. The Bears still have Scales in their plans, having re-signed him on a one-year deal this offseason. But he will need another stint off the roster before attempting to suit up again.

LS Patrick Scales Re-Signs With Bears

There will be no change to the Bears’ specials teams core. Kicker Cairo Santos and punter Trenton Gill are already set on multi-year deals, but today Chicago avoided watching their long snapper hit free agency, re-signing Patrick Scales to a one-year deal, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

Originally an undrafted free agent in 2011, Scales came into the NFL after long snapping at Utah State. Scales started off in Baltimore and spent time with the Dolphins, Jets, and Buccaneers before eventually returning to the Ravens for his NFL debut in 2014.

Since initially signing with the Bears in 2015, Scales has spent his eight years in Chicago on one one-year contract after the next. That trend continues into 2024, and though we don’t have all the details on his newest contract, Pelissero reports that the deal includes $1MM of guaranteed money.

At 35 years old, and with tight end Marcedes Lewis heading to the free agent market, Scales is set to be the most senior member of the Bears locker room. He also returns as the longest-tenured player in Chicago.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/10/23

Today’s minor moves around the NFL:

Arizona Cardinals

Chicago Bears

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Waived: DB Carlins Platel

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

  • Signed: T Drew Himmelman

 

Bailey has been the punter for the Patriots since the team drafted him in the fifth round in 2019. He spent some time on injured reserve this past season and looked ready to return before being suspended by the team in response to missed rehabilitation appointments. In Bailey’s absence, New England relied on former Panther Michael Palardy for the rest of the season. With Palardy set to hit free agency, the Patriots will need to figure out who will be flipping the field for them next year.

Gray has been a standout special teamer for the Saints, earning first-team All-Pro honors in 2021. His new contract will be his largest yet, a three-year, $9.6MM deal, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The deal includes $4MM guaranteed, $2.4MM at signing, and has annual playing time incentives that could pay up to $500,000 per season. The first year’s base salary of $1.1MM is fully guaranteed for injury, followed by second- and third-year base salaries of $2.5MM and $2.6MM, respectively. The new contract has an potential maximum value of $11.1MM.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/15/22

We’ll keep tabs on today’s minor moves here:

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

Philadelphia Eagles

Tennessee Titans

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/4/21

Here are Wednesday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the day:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

  • Signed: CB Saivion Smith
  • Waived/injured: OT Cody Conway; Conway suffered a torn ACL

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

  • Waived/injured: S Brandon White

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Placed on IR: DB DeMarkus Acy; Acy suffered a torn ACL
  • Waived/injured: OT Anthony Coyle

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/18/21

We’ll keep tabs on today’s “minor” moves here:

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Rams

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/13/19

Here is the latest news involving restricted free agents and exclusive-rights free agents, with updates coming throughout the day:

ERFA

Tendered:

Non-tendered:

RFA

Tendered at second-round level: 

Tendered at original-round level:

Non-tendered: