Princeton Fant

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/18/24

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: 9/14/24

Saturday’s minor transactions and gameday practice squad callups:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Patrick was among the Broncos’ final roster cuts after a Saints trade was discussed. The 30-year-old missed the 2022 and ’23 campaigns due to ACL and Achilles tears, respectively. Patrick did not need to wait long to find a new opportunity, though, quickly landing a practice squad deal with the Lions. He is now positioned make his season debut tomorrow as a complementary option in Detroit’s passing attack.

Olszewski is dealing with a groin injury and he was known to be facing a long-term absence. Today’s move thus comes as no surprise, but it ensures at least a four-week absence. The former All-Pro scored a punt return touchdown with Pittsburgh early last season and added another during his 10-game Giants stretch to close out the year. The team will need to rely on other options in the return game for the time being.

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:

Cowboys Reduce Roster To 53 Players

After some late trades and signings, the Cowboys joined in the NFL’s mass exodus of players to get their roster down to 53 players:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

  • T Nathan Thomas

Placed on IR (designated for return):

A number of veterans who were hoping to make the team in Dallas this year saw that hope come to an end. Freeman couldn’t compete with the young backups behind Ezekiel Elliott. Lawson couldn’t contribute to a depleted defensive line, either.

Rogers, the team’s seventh-round pick out of Auburn, is the only drafted rookie to be waived, though Thomas, the team’s other seventh-round pick out of Louisiana, will miss the entire season on injured reserve.

Brevyn Spann-Ford didn’t end up getting drafted, but the 24-year-old, 6-foot-7 tight end out of Minnesota will be the fourth tight end on the roster to start the year.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/15/24

With a handful of teams getting eliminated from the playoffs this weekend, those front offices are starting to prepare for the offseason. Here are today’s reserve/futures deals, with the majority coming from recently eliminated squads:

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/9/23

Today’s minor moves and callups heading into the Week 14 slate of Sunday games:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

There was some thought that Ammendola’s stint with the Texans had come to an end after four appearances. However, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 notes that regular starting kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn still isn’t ready to return from his strained quadriceps, requiring the practice squad kicker to step in for at least another week. Ammendola has connected on six of his nine field goal attempts and all 10 of his XP tries this season.

With Trevor Lawrence a game-time decision for Sunday’s game, the Jaguars are adding some QB depth to the active roster. Rourke is a former CFL standout, with the quarterback earning the CFL Most Outstanding Canadian award in 2022. Following that breakout, 25-touchdown campaign, Rourke got a look from a number of NFL teams and ultimately signed a three-year deal with the Jaguars this past offseason. He was waived at the end of the preseason and has spent the majority of the season on Jacksonville’s practice squad. Per ESPN’s Michael DiRocco, the rookie will be the emergency QB3 for Week 14.

Similarly, the Seahawks will call up Mannion and O’Connell as they deal with injuries to starting quarterback Geno Smith and linebacker Jordyn Brooks. Smith is questionable heading into tomorrow’s game with a groin injury.

Stewart is back on the Colts active roster after having served a six-game ban for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs. Through six games this season, the veteran has compiled 20 tackles, two stops for a loss, and five QB hits.

Crosby is set to make his 2023 debut and make an appearance for a team other than the Packers for the first time since the 39-year-old was drafted back in 2007.

Schweitzer head right back to injured reserve after being activated last week. The Jets signed a lineman to the active roster from the practice squad and elevated one for tomorrow’s game to add some depth at the position.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/30/23

Today’s minor moves:

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

  • Promoted: TE Princeton Fant

Philadelphia Eagles

Laviska Shenault Jr. missed a handful of games earlier this season thanks to a high ankle sprain, but he was able to avoid an IR stint. He wasn’t as lucky this time around, as a new ankle injury will keep him off the field for at least the next four games. Shenault has hauled in 10 receptions this season for 60 yards, and he’s added another 55 yards on 12 carries. The former Jaguars second-round pick has also returned six kickoffs.

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:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

New York Giants

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Philadelphia Eagles

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Washington Commanders

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Cowboys Set 53-Man Roster

The Cowboys were busy today, with the organization announcing 36 roster moves as they reduced their team to 53 players:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

  • OT Josh Ball
  • WR David Durden
  • LB DeMarvion Overshown
  • TE John Stephens Jr.

According to Nick Harris of the team website, both long snapper Trent Sieg and cornerback C.J. Goodwin are expected to rejoin the active roster once the dust settles from this initial round of cuts.

Quinton Bohanna spent the past two years in Dallas after being selected in the sixth round of the 2021 draft. He got into 27 games (10 starts) over the past two years, collecting 29 tackles while playing both on defense and special teams. The Cowboys added first-round defensive tackle Mazi Smith this offseason, making Bohanna expendable.

Cowboys Sign 13 UDFAs

The Cowboys didn’t release a statement on their undrafted free agent signings like most teams, but they did release a list of 29 rookie minicamp participants and their statuses with the organization. Removing their eight draft picks, two UDFA tryouts, and previously acquired youngsters, we were able to determine this list of undrafted signees:

Dallas addressed the tight end position in the second round this year with a bit of project in Michigan’s Luke Schoonmaker. They decided to bring in a couple more options in Fant and Stephens. Fant provides a unique versatility as a potential H-back. In addition to his career 579 receiving yards and five touchdowns, Fant rushed for five more scores and threw one as a sixth-year senior. Stephens was rostered as a receiver for the Ragin’ Cajuns, but his 6-foot-6, 232-pound frame should assist him in converting to tight end at the next level.

The Cowboys barely addressed wide receiver in the draft, so they’ve nabbed a few here, as well. Durden was a monster during his time with the Argonauts. A former draft pick for the Boston Red Sox, Durden left baseball for West Florida and dominated, catching 88 passes for 1,915 yards and 23 touchdowns with only three drops in his final two years of school. Over his entire college career, he averaged nearly 20 yards per catch. He’ll need to adjust to the NFL-caliber of opponents, but his raw athleticism and special teams ability could help cement him a spot on the roster.

Moreno-Cropper had a strong final two season with the Bulldogs, as well, with 1,985 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns. He’s had a bit of trouble with surehandedness and he’s a bit undersized, but the Cowboys haven’t minded smaller receivers like Brandin Cooks and KaVontae Turpin in recent history.

The team also added two strong depth pieces at defensive end. Johnson had a down 2021 but combined for 17.5 sacks and 38.0 tackles for loss in his 2020 and 2022 seasons. Wheat finished his three-year career with the Bulldogs with 17.0 sacks and 25.5 tackles for loss. They have some strong competition for potential snaps, but they provide solid depth at the position regardless.