HEADLINES

Ryan Neal

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/14/24

December 14th, 2024 at 8:47pm CST by Ely Allen

Saturday’s minor moves and standard gameday elevations:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Jacksonville Jaguars

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Demercado has taken a backseat to Florida State third-round rookie Trey Benson, but he has averaged 9.3 yards per carry on 24 carries this year. Palardy will take over punting duties with Gillikin landing on injured reserve.

Jackson signed with Bills in late July, and although he was among the team’s final roster cuts he was immediately retained via a practice squad deal. This elevation means Week 15 will mark his first time spent on the active roster this season. The 36-year-old has started all but 10 of his 203 NFL games, but last season was marred by suspensions which led to his Broncos release. Jackson could suit up for Buffalo down the stretch as a gameday elevation in a bid to rebuild his stock to a degree.

With the playoffs nearly out of reach and quarterback Joe Burrow dealing with a few ailments (wrist and knee), the Bengals don’t seem to be taking any chances. Jake Browning will continue serving as the primary backup, while Woodside’s promotion will allow him to act as the emergency backup.

Adams has seen his biggest NFL roles during his time in Pittsburgh. Though he hasn’t gotten the same number of starts as he had in 2022 and 2023, he’s continued the same level of production. After missing the last four games, he’ll be looking to return to the field as early as tomorrow.

Buccaneers Add S Ryan Neal To Practice Squad

December 3rd, 2024 at 8:14pm CST by Ben Levine

After sitting out the first chunk of the 2024 campaign, Ryan Neal has landed with a playoff contender for the stretch run of the season. The veteran safety is signing with the Buccaneers, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. It will be a practice squad gig for Neal.

[RELATED: Buccaneers Place Jordan Whitehead On IR]

This is a reunion for the two sides, as Neal spent the 2023 campaign in Tampa Bay. The veteran ended up starting 13 of his 15 appearances, compiling 76 total tackles. Pro Football Focus wasn’t especially fond of his performance, grading him as one of the worst safeties in the NFL. As a result of the poor showing, Neal found himself unsigned for the first three months of this season.

Now, Neal could look to revive his career in the same spot. The Buccaneers have lost some significant depth at the safety position over the past week. Jordan Whitehead landed on injured reserve with a pectoral injury ahead of Week 13, and fill-in Mike Edwards proceeded to suffer a knee injury in that contest. With Tykee Smith also nursing a lingering knee injury, the Buccaneers entered the day with only Christian Izien and Antoine Winfield Jr. as healthy options in their safeties room.

So, the team has reunited with a pair of old friends. In addition to Neal, the team also snagged Kaevon Merriweather off the Lions practice squad today. The former UDFA spent the first year-plus of his career in Tampa Bay, collecting 24 tackles in 25 games. After seeing a lesser role on defense as a sophomore, the safety was waived by the Buccaneers a few weeks ago. He subsequently landed on Detroit’s taxi squad, but Tampa Bay’s sudden need for depth has landed him back on the Buccaneers’ active roster.

Considering Merriweather started the 2024 season in Tampa Bay, he may be ahead of Neal on the current depth chart. However, the veteran acquisition has shown some ability to be a starting-caliber defensive back. He had a consistent role in Seattle between 2020 and 2022, appearing in 43 games. That included a 2022 campaign where he started 10 games while collecting 66 tackles, one interception, and eight passes defended.

Buccaneers Sign S Ryan Neal

April 6th, 2023 at 9:14am CST by Ben Levine

APRIL 6: Neal will not end up making what he would have on a Seahawks RFA tender. He signed for the veteran minimum, Greg Auman of Fox Sports tweets. The deal will come with just $108K guaranteed, but after the Bucs lost Edwards and Keanu Neal in free agency, Ryan Neal said he chose Tampa Bay for a chance to start. It appears the four-year Seahawk will have a chance to team with Antoine Winfield Jr. as the Buccaneers’ first-string safeties.

APRIL 4: Following a breakout season in Seattle, Ryan Neal is heading to Tampa Bay. The free agent safety is signing with the Buccaneers, reports Ari Meirov (via Twitter). Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times has confirmed the move (on Twitter), noting that the safety is inking a one-year deal with Tampa Bay.

Neal, a former undrafted free agent out of Southern Illinois, spent some time with the Eagles and Falcons before joining the Seahawks in 2019. He appeared in around 40 percent of Seattle’s defensive snaps in 29 games between 2020 and 2021, but he took on a significantly larger role in 2022.

This past year, Neal started 10 of his 14 appearances while collecting 66 tackles and eight passes defended. He graded out as one of the league’s top safeties, with Pro Football Focus ranking him as the fourth-best player at his position. Predictably, the impending free agent was hit with an RFA tender after the season, but he was squeezed out of the starting lineup when the Seahawks added Julian Love. As a result, the organization withdrew the $2.6MM offer, making Neal an unrestricted free agent.

He’ll now help a Buccaneers secondary that lost safeties Mike Edwards and Keanu Neal and hasn’t re-signed Logan Ryan. Neal will surely fill in one of those starting spots, but Greg Auman of Fox Sports expects the organization to still pursue a safety in the draft (Twitter link).

Seahawks Withdraw Ryan Neal’s RFA Tender

March 31st, 2023 at 10:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

Before they signed Julian Love, the Seahawks extended a restricted free agent tender to Ryan Neal. With Love now forming a trio with safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs, the Seahawks are moving on from Neal.

Seattle rescinded Neal’s RFA tender Friday afternoon, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter). This will make Neal an unrestricted free agent. The four-year Seahawk is coming off a season in which he started a career-high 10 games.

Neal will almost certainly generate immediate interest on the open market. Pro Football Focus graded his 2022 work quite well, slotting the 6-foot-3 cover man as the No. 4 overall safety last season. Neal, 27, made 66 tackles (four for loss), deflected eight passes an intercepted another during a season in which the Seahawks played 16 games without Adams. PFF graded Neal as the No. 3 overall safety in coverage last season, which represented by far his most favorable marks from the advanced metrics site.

The Seahawks gave Neal the low-end tender, which cost them $2.63MM. The team will pick up that cap space but part with Neal, who could be a candidate to land elsewhere as a starter. The transaction will bump Seattle’s cap space past $8MM. A Southern Illinois alum, Neal started 19 games with the Seahawks from 2020-22. With the new money, the Seahawks should be expected to look into more D-line additions, Brady Henderson of ESPN.com tweets.

During the parties’ in-season negotiations, the Giants offered Love more money than he ultimately received from the Seahawks, per The Athletic’s Dan Duggan (subscription required). But the breakout starter passed and ended up with Seattle on a two-year, $12MM deal. Love agreed to terms with the Seahawks three days after they tendered Neal as an RFA.

With Love in the fold, Henderson notes the Seahawks are planning to use Adams more at the line of scrimmage. The former Jets All-Pro will work as a pseudo-linebacker more often, per Henderson, opening the door for Adams, Diggs and Love to see the field together. Box work has generally been best for the aggressive defender, who makes his living in that capacity rather than as a pure coverage player. Adams set a safety record with 9.5 sacks in 2020 but did not register any in 2021.

Even with this tender off the books, the Seahawks are set to allocate an NFL-leading $41MM at the safety position. They will count on Adams, who has missed extensive time due to injuries over the past two seasons, staying healthy to justify the cost. It will be interesting to see where Neal lands.

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/14/23

March 14th, 2023 at 9:59pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s tender decisions from around the NFL:

RFAs

Tendered:

Non-tendered:

ERFAs

Tendered:

RFA/ERFA Tender Signings: 4/19/22

April 19th, 2022 at 8:08pm CST by Ben Levine

Here’s a look at the latest tender signings from around the NFL:

RFAs

Signed:

ERFAs

Signed:

NFL COVID-19 List Updates: 1/12/22

January 12th, 2022 at 10:46pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s updates for the reserve/COVID-19 and practice squad/COVID-19 lists:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: TE Maxx Williams (remains on IR)

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Placed on practice squad/COVID-19 list: TE Mark Vital

New England Patriots

San Francisco 49ers

  • Restored from practice squad/COVID-19 list: QB Tyler Bray

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Football Team

  • Restored from practice squad/COVID-19 list: DT David Bada

NFL COVID-19 List Updates: 1/6/22

January 6th, 2022 at 9:24pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are the Thursday additions and subtractions from teams’ reserve/COVID-19 lists:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Seahawks S Ryan Neal Signs ERFA Tender

June 8th, 2021 at 4:56pm CST by Ben Levine

Ryan Neal is officially under contract. The Seahawks safety signed his exclusive rights free agent tender today, the team announced.

The 2018 undrafted free agent out of Southern Illinois bounced between the Eagles and Falcons to begin his career, but he found a home in Seattle in 2019. After appearing in only three games during his first year in Seattle, he took on a significantly larger role in 2020.

The 25-year-old started four games while filling in for Jamal Adams, and he finished the campaign having appeared in 13 games and 34-percent of his team’s defensive snaps. His final stat line included 44 tackles, three tackles for loss, five passes defended, and a pair of interceptions, including one that helped clinch a Week 3 victory over the Cowboys.

The Seahawks will return a similar depth chart in 2021. Neal will likely serve as Adams’ primary backup at strong safety, with Ugo Amadi and LaDarius Wiley waiting in the wings.

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/12/21

March 12th, 2021 at 3:40pm CST by Zachary Links

The restricted free agent and exclusive rights free agent tender decision deadline is fast approaching. Some teams are already making their calls in advance of March 17. We’ll keep tabs on the latest here:

RFAs

Non-tendered: 

ERFAs

Tendered:

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