Here’s a look at the latest tender decisions from around the NFL:
Tendered:
Non-tendered:
Tendered:
Here is Saturday’s usual barrage of minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Cincinnati Bengals
Dallas Cowboys
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Kansas City Chiefs
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams
Minnesota Vikings
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
Washington Football Team
Here are Saturday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
New York Giants
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
Seattle Seahawks
Tennessee Titans
Here are the latest practice squad moves from around the league:
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Carolina Panthers
Cincinnati Bengals
Jacksonville Jaguars
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
Seattle Seahawks
Takkarist McKinley will not make his Bengals debut this week, needing to go through the NFL’s COVID-19 protocol. But the team will have a key pass rusher in uniform after some time away.
The Bengals activated Sam Hubbard from IR Saturday. The third-year defensive end has missed the past three games because of an elbow injury.
Cincinnati also moved John Ross to its IR list. While Ross has not been active since Week 6 and has not caught a pass since Week 1, he has run into multiple injury issues during another disappointing season. After a foot injury shelved him recently, more foot trouble emerged in practice this week, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.
This setback came shortly after Bengals coaches had a conversation with Ross about working as a cornerback, Garafolo notes, but the injury came on a play in which Ross was playing his usual position. None of this is good for a player who joined the Bengals as a top-10 pick.
The team did not pick up Ross’ option and has not featured him prominently this season, using younger players Tee Higgins and Auden Tate over Ross. While Ross requested a trade, the Bengals did not move him. Ross’ contract expires at season’s end. The Combine’s 40-yard dash record holder is not on track to enter free agency with much momentum.
Hubbard will return to a defensive line that no longer houses Carlos Dunlap, whom the Bengals traded during Hubbard’s injury hiatus. Hubbard will rejoin Carl Lawson in Cincy’s lineup, while McKinley — added on waivers this week — is set to join the incumbents next week.
The Bengals also placed cornerback Darius Phillips on IR and promoted guard Quinton Spain, wide receiver Stanley Morgan, cornerback Jalen Davis and defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie ahead of their matchup with the Steelers.
The Bengals became the latest team to get down to 53 on Saturday, releasing one player and waiving 23 others. We’ll recap the most notable names at the bottom:
Allen was drafted in the sixth-round by the Jaguars back in 2016, but didn’t appear in a game until injuries forced him to start three games at quarterback for the Broncos last year. He was decent in his first game under center but quickly declined before relinquishing the job to Drew Lock. He couldn’t beat out 2019 fourth-rounder Ryan Finley for the right to hold Joe Burrow‘s clipboard this season.
McTyer is a 2017 UDFA who started a handful of games at corner for the Dolphins in 2018 and appeared in five with the Bengals last year. McKenzie was a sixth-round pick of the Chiefs in 2018 who is best known for being the son of former Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie.
Receivers are dropping like flies. Just moments after we heard the Chargers were placing Dontrelle Inman on injured reserve, we got word of another wideout hitting the shelf. The Bengals are placing John Ross on IR, according to a tweet from Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic.
Dehner notes that the Bengals have promoted receiver Stanley Morgan from the practice squad in a corresponding roster move, and that it’s a sternocavicular injury for Ross. We heard yesterday that Ross was going to miss some time, but it was initially reported as something that would sideline him for around a month. Now, he’ll have to miss the next eight weeks at least. On the bright side Ross is expected back this season, and the injury had about a six-week timetable but the Bengals wanted to give him extra rest, tweets Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.
It’s a tough blow for Ross, and for the Bengals’ offense. The ninth overall pick of the 2017 draft, who had been written off by many as a bust, was finally starting to make an impact. Injuries and a lack of trust from Marvin Lewis had plagued Ross’ first two years in Cincy, but he had 270 yards through the first two games of this season and was starting to look like the elite deep threat he was supposed to be.
With A.J. Green still not set to return anytime soon, the Bengals’ 0-4 offense is in dire circumstances. Second-year seventh-round pick Auden Tate will now be asked to play a big role moving forward. Morgan is an undrafted rookie from Nebraska who was waived at final cuts.
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC North teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Ravens, Bengals, Browns, and Steelers are noted below.
Additionally, as of today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.
Here are Sunday’s AFC North transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:
* = International Pathway Program player
The Bengals announced their final 53-man roster. One of the moves will be, as expected, placing Darqueze Dennard on their reserve/PUP list. Dennard now must miss at least the first six games of the season. This comes after the Bengals re-signed their former first-round pick on a one-year, $5MM deal. The team knew Dennard needed a post-signing knee surgery, but the arthroscopic procedure was performed several months ago.
Cincinnati is also placing Jonah Williams on its PUP list instead of season-ending IR. While the first-round tackle was believed to be set to miss the season, this move is a way of retaining a chance he can recover. Williams would revert to IR if he cannot recover from the shoulder injury he sustained this offseason.
Here’s the full list of the Bengals’ moves to meet the 53-man limit:
Placed on Reserve/Injured list:
Placed on the Reserve/PUP list:
Released:
Waived:
Suspended:
All of the waived players, except for Core, will be practice squad eligible if they clear waivers.
The Bengals are the latest NFL team to announce their crop of undrafted college free agents. Cincinnati has agreed to sign the following 10 players:
Morgan is probably the most interesting name on the list, as many prognosticators believed he could come off the board at some point on Day 3. Over his final two seasons at Nebraska, Morgan averaged 995 yards receiving and eight touchdowns. The Bengals didn’t add a wide receiver with any of their 10 draft picks, so Morgan has a good shot to compete with the likes of Cody Core and Auden Tate for the fifth receiver role on Cincinnati’s roster.