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Raekwon McMillan

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/28/24

December 28th, 2024 at 8:03pm CST by Adam La Rose

Saturday’s minor moves, including gameday elevations for Week 17:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

It was already known Lamb would be out for the remainder of the year, but the same will now be true of Oruwariye. The latter made seven appearances in 2024, his debut Cowboys season. That included four starts and a defensive snap share of 62%, making him a notable contributor on a Dallas defense which has dealt with a number of injuries. Oruwariye, 28, is a pending free agent.

McCoy and Patrick suffered injuries during the Saints’ Week 16 loss, and today’s move confirms they will both miss the remainder of the season. New Orleans’ offensive line has been dealt a number of blows in 2024, and that will continue through the final two games of the season. McCoy appeared in just seven games this year, but plenty of term remains on his pact. Patrick, by contrast, is set to hit the open market this spring.

Whitehead returned to practice earlier this week, so it comes as no surprise he will be available to the Buccaneers tomorrow. He will be expected to reprise his role as a defensive starter as Tampa Bay looks to seal the NFC South over the final two games of the campaign. Bringing back Whitehead and Johnson will leave the team with two IR activations.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/24/24

December 24th, 2024 at 5:23pm CST by Adam La Rose

Tuesday’s taxi squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

  • Signed: K Andre Szmyt

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New York Jets

Tennessee Titans

Szmyt spent time on the Bears’ practice squad last year before playing with the USFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks recently. The 26-year-old terminated his pact with the spring league club to take a deal in Cleveland. A former All-American and Lou Graza winner as the country’s top kicker during his college career, Szmyt could see time late in the year given the Browns’ kicking struggles in 2024.

Thomas appeared to be on his way to join the Colts after he was claimed off waivers by Indianapolis. The veteran corner failed his physical upon arrival with his new team, however, leading to another trip to the waiver wire. No teams put in a claim this time around, but shortly after reaching free agency Thomas has landed a deal. The former 49er has 42 games and 11 starts to his name, and he will provide Minnesota with cornerback depth through the closing stages of the campaign.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/8/24

November 8th, 2024 at 6:43pm CST by Ely Allen

Friday’s minor roster moves:

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

New England Patriots

San Francisco 49ers

Taylor was waived today in anticipation of everyone’s expectation that Christian McCaffrey will finally be coming off of injured reserve to make his season debut this week.

Virgil was previously on the Broncos but landed on waivers as part of final roster cuts before the start of the regular season. According to Chris Tomasson of the Denver Gazette, Denver tried desperately to sign him to their practice squad after he cleared waivers, but Virgil ultimately decided to sign with Buffalo’s practice squad. He’ll now get an opportunity on the team’s active roster after two standard gameday elevations this year.

Despite being a vested veteran, McMillan will need to clear waivers in order to be re-signed to the Patriots’ practice squad, per Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald. The team already has Joe Giles-Harris and Monty Rice on the practice squad at the position.

Patriots To Extend LB Raekwon McMillan

August 14th, 2023 at 5:29pm CST by Sam Robinson

Raekwon McMillan‘s history of contract extensions doubles as one of the more interesting run of transactions in recent NFL history. For the second time, he has agreed to a Patriots extension ahead of a season in which he will not participate.

The Patriots are signing McMillan to another extension, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The deal will be worth up to $2.25MM. It comes more than two months after McMillan suffered a season-ending injury during the Pats’ offseason workouts. McMillan went down with a partially torn Achilles in May.

[RELATED: Patriots Extend LB Ja’Whuan Bentley]

This agreement emerges two years after a similar pact. McMillan suffered a torn ACL during the Pats’ 2021 training camp, but the team still extended him for the 2022 season — via a one-year, $1.27MM deal agreed to in late September of that year. The Patriots-McMillan partnership can be classified as strange, with the team giving the veteran linebacker two contracts after major injuries. But this ensures the Pats are not planning an injury settlement with the former Dolphins draftee. He will be in the picture to return for the 2024 Pats iteration.

McMillan, 27, bounced back from his 2021 ACL tear to play 16 games for the Patriots last season. He operated more as a special-teamer than defensive regular, playing 64% of New England’s ST snaps and 250 total defensive plays. The Ohio State product made 35 tackles (five for loss) and returned a fumble for a score.

McMillan previously worked as a Dolphins starter over the first two seasons of his career, but the Raiders acquired him via trade in 2020. After a season as a part-time Las Vegas starter, McMillan signed a one-year, $1.15MM accord with the Patriots in 2021. He has since agreed to two more Pats pacts.

It cannot exactly be considered a lock McMillan is with the team in 2024. He has now suffered two ACL tears and this partially torn Achilles as a pro. The first of those ACL setbacks occurred during McMillan’s rookie year. The former second-round pick will exit 2023 having missed three full seasons during his seven-year career. But Monday’s agreement ensures the team will give the veteran defender another opportunity.

Patriots Place LB Raekwon McMillan On IR

May 25th, 2023 at 6:23pm CST by Ben Levine

Raekwon McMillan‘s 2023 season has ended before it even started. The Patriots announced earlier today that they’ve placed the linebacker on injured reserve. Jeff Howe and Chad Graff of The Athletic report that McMillan suffered a partially torn Achilles during practice.

This is a tough break for McMillan, who re-signed with the Patriots earlier this offseason. The former second-round pick got into 16 games (one start) for New England in 2022, finishing with 35 tackles, a sack, and a fumble return for a touchdown. The 27-year-old previously started 28 games across the 2018 and 2019 seasons for the Dolphins, including a rookie campaign where he had 105 tackles.

The Patriots haven’t done a whole lot this offseason to address their hole at off-ball linebacker. As Graff points out, the team now only has three players with any experience for those spots: Ja’Whaun Bentley, Jahlani Tavai, and Mack Wilson. Third-round rookie Marte Mapu could potentially fill McMillan’s spot on the depth chart, but Graff writes that the college safety projects to be more of a nickel than a linebacker in the NFL.

Players who are placed on the injured reserve during the offseason can’t be activated by their team during the regular season, meaning McMillan’s 2023 is effectively over. New England could later release the linebacker with an injury settlement, allowing him to sign elsewhere. Considering the length of McMillan’s impending recovery, it’s more likely he sits on the Patriots IR for the rest of the season.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/10/23

March 10th, 2023 at 8:39pm CST by Adam La Rose

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: 7/26/22

July 26th, 2022 at 7:56pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor NFL transactions, including a handful of notable names landing on the physically unable to perform list and the non-football injury list as teams open up camp:

Arizona Cardinals

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

  • Released with NFI designation: WR Cody Core

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

Patriots Place Five Players On PUP

July 21st, 2022 at 6:53pm CST by Ben Levine

The Patriots placed a long list of players on the physically unable to perform list today. Per ESPN’s Mike Reiss on Twitter, New England placed center David Andrews, cornerback Jonathan Jones, linebacker Raekwon McMillan, safety Jabrill Peppers, and running back James White on PUP. The players are able to return to practice at any time, but they’ll be watching from the sideline until they’re officially activated.

Jones is still rehabbing a shoulder injury that limited him to only six games in 2021, while Andrews is recovering from his own shoulder surgery. White was limited to only three games last season thanks to a hip issue, and it sounds like the injury is lingering into this year’s training camp. Peppers and McMillan are both returning from ACL injuries.

White is one of the most veteran players on the Patriots roster, and in an ideal world, the running back would serve as a pass-catching safety blanket for Mac Jones. Between the 2016 and 2019 campaign, White averaged 68.8 catches and 950 yards from scrimmage per season. Now 30, this injury could spell the beginning of the end for White, and with Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson requiring carries (plus rookie fourth-round pick Pierre Strong Jr.), it’s hard to really see a role for White even if he’s healthy.

Andrews is also one of the longest-tenured Patriots players, having appeared in 89 games across seven seasons with the organization (including a 2019 campaign that he missed due to a pulmonary embolism). Despite the 2021 season being Andrews’ age-30 season, he still proved he was one of the best centers in the NFL, with Pro Football Focus ranking him fifth among 39 eligible centers.

McMillan joined the Patriots last offseason, but he tore his ACL in August and missed the entire season. Peppers, a former first-round pick, spent the past three seasons with the Giants. He collected 29 tackles and one sack in six games before suffering a torn ACL in October. Jones has spent his entire six-year career in New England, starting 27 games (including 21 starts between 2018 and 2020). He collected 20 tackles and three passes defended in six games last season.

Latest On Patriots’ LB Competition

June 26th, 2022 at 2:08pm CST by Adam La Rose

Inside linebacker has been the source of plenty of roster turnover this offseason in New England. The team has seen a number of veterans depart recently, leaving them with much uncertainty amongst their current options at the position. 

The losses of Dont’a Hightower, Jamie Collins and Kyle Van Noy left the Patriots with a significant number of snaps to fill in the middle of their defense. That made LB as a position many expected would be a draft target for New England; however, they elected not to add rookies with any of their selections, and even declined to sign any UDFAs to add competition for roster spots.

[RELATED: Patriots Open To Hightower Return?]

As a result, the team is using the offseason to re-order its new depth chart at the position. ESPN’s Mike Reiss reports that Raekwon McMillan has been one of the “top” linebackers in practice, taking starter’s reps alongside Ja’Whaun Bentley. The former signed with New England after brief stints with the Dolphins and Raiders. A torn ACL – already the second of his career – prevented him from seeing the field this past campaign. New England still extended him, though, paving the way for what could be a significant role in 2022.

Other linebackers slated for notable playing time include Mack Wilson, whom the Patriots acquired in a trade with the Browns during the early stages of free agency. He has rotated amongst McMillan and Bentley, seeing time with Josh Uche. Where the latter (a 2020 second-rounder drafted as a pass-rusher) lines up will remain a key storyline into the summer. Reiss notes that Uche’s precise fit in the LB corps “looks like a moving target,” given his usage in spring practices.

A veteran addition would come as little surprise at this point, given New England’s lack of known commodities at linebacker. If they elect to maintain the status quo, however, the position could provide one of the most intriguing training camp competitions on the roster.

Patriots Rumors: Injury Updates, Zappe, Perkins

May 22nd, 2022 at 7:11pm CST by Ely Allen

The Patriots released some practice photos recently and, according to Zack Cox of NESN, some of the pictures seem to indicate the much anticipated returns of several previously-injured Patriots. These players included running back James White, cornerback Jonathan Jones, tight end Dalton Keene, linebacker Raekwon McMillan, and linebacker Anfernee Jennings.

White suffered a hip injury last year that required surgery serious enough to end his season and leave him bedridden for months. He hasn’t been fully cleared to return, but seeing him active on the field bodes well for his recovery.

Jones had surgery to repair his shoulder in October and missed the remainder of the season in recovery. McMillan tore his ACL before the season started, but impressed in his limited time before the injury. Keene and Jennings were both placed on injured reserve in August and missed the entire season as a result.

Here are a few other rumors from New England:

  • New England turned some heads on Day 3 of the Draft when they selected quarterback Bailey Zappe in the fourth round. At a point in the Draft where some teams normally address their positional needs, the Patriots selected a quarterback in the first draft after rookie passer Mac Jones led them to the playoffs. For an explanation, ESPN’s Mike Reiss pointed to a discussion with analysts Todd McShay and Louis Riddick, in which they cover “how it can be good business to draft and develop quarterbacks.” He also quotes former NFL general manger Randy Mueller who applauded the pick, saying that he would rather draft for value over need at that point in the Draft.
  • After not appearing in any regular season games last season, second-year Patriots outside linebacker Ronnie Perkins is ready to take the next step, according to Reiss. Perkins was buried on the depth chart behind Kyle Van Noy, now with the Chargers, and Jamie Collins, now a free agent. The departure of Van Noy and Collins leaves a hole opposite Pro Bowl pass rusher Matt Judon and Reiss reports that New England coaches are confident Perkins is getting ready to step up.
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