T.Y. McGill

Eagles Place Jay Ajayi On IR

The Eagles’ depleted running back situation became considerably thinner on Monday. The team is placing starter Jay Ajayi on IR.

A knee malady’s afflicting Ajayi, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter), and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reveals (via Twitter) it’s a severe setback. Ajayi tore an ACL and will miss the rest of the season. The 25-year-old back was already playing through a fracture in his back.

The Eagles signed defensive tackle T.Y. McGill to take Ajayi’s roster spot.

This is brutal timing for Ajayi, who is in a contract year. The fourth-year running back had knee issues coming into the NFL, and they’re believed to have caused the 2015 fifth-round pick to have dropped in the draft. Nevertheless, he submitted two seasons of starter work, the second of which helping the 2017 Eagles soar to the Super Bowl LII championship.

Now, Ajayi will likely head into free agency on the heels of one of the worst injuries possible in football.

Philadelphia already has been without Darren Sproles and Corey Clement, forcing the likes of Wendell Smallwood — the team’s previous No. 4 back — and Josh Adams (the player whom Smallwood beat out for that back-end job during the preseason) into action. Clement, though, looks to be close to returning from his quadriceps injury. He was active on Sunday against the Vikings but didn’t play.

This also figures to add heat to the Le’Veon Bell-to-Philly rumors. That’s been out there for several days now, with the Eagles reportedly giving “serious consideration” to acquiring Bell from the Steelers. Now that their backfield is bereft of a proven starter, this figures to be perhaps the team to watch if Pittsburgh is indeed ready to unload its superstar back.

Ajayi exited Week 5 averaging 4.1 yards per carry. Following the midseason trade from the Dolphins, Ajayi posted a stellar figure of 5.8 per tote for the Eagles last season. He rushed for a career-high 1,273 yards en route to a Pro Bowl nod in 2016. It’s fair to wonder if Ajayi will be able to secure a medium- or long-term pact from a team after this ill-timed injury.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/6/18

Here are Saturday’s minor moves and additional post-suspension activations:

Buffalo Bills

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Oakland Raiders

San Francisco 49ers

Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC West

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC West 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 Broncos, Chiefs, Chargers, and Raiders are noted below.

Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT 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 West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

Denver Broncos

Placed on injured reserve:

Re-signed:

Claimed:

Cut:

Practice squad:

Kansas City Chiefs

Claimed:

Placed on injured reserve:

Cut:

Practice squad:

Los Angeles Chargers

Claimed:

Cut:

Practice squad:

Oakland Raiders

Claimed:

Cut:

Signed to practice squad:

* = suspended

Chiefs Cut Down To Final 53

In addition to David Amerson, the Chiefs will release longtime depth cog Frank Zombo.

The outside linebacker’s been in Kansas City since the Andy Reid regime began in 2013. He started 11 games in 2016, when Justin Houston missed most of the season with knee trouble, but will not be part of the 2018 team. The Chiefs drafted Breeland Speaks in the second round and plan to use 2017 second-rounder Tanoh Kpassagnon more extensively than they did last season.

Here’s the full list of players who won’t be on Kansas City’s initial 53-man roster.

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Suspended:

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/13/17

Today’s minor moves:

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Los Angeles Rams

Oakland Raiders

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Extra Points: Colts, Browns, McGill, Patriots

The Colts placed a waiver claim on wide receiver Kasen Williams after he was cut by the Seahawks on Saturday, but the Browns held waiver priority and landed the preseason standout, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Ultimately, Indianapolis ended up keeping six wideouts: T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief, Kamar Aiken, Chester Rogers, Matt Hazel, and Quan Bray. A Williams addition likely would have led to the release of either Hazel or Bray. The Colts, of course, also traded away a wideout over the weekend, shipping former first-rounder Phillip Dorsett to the Patriots in exchange for quarterback Jacoby Brissett.

  • Another Browns waiver claim — defensive tackle T.Y. McGill — is in legal hot water after being charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana early Saturday morning, reports Katherine Peralta of the Charlotte Observer. Cleveland picked up McGill, who’s appeared in 25 career games, from the Colts just hours after the charge. While it’s an minor episode (McGill wasn’t arrested and was cooperative when cited, per Peralta), but the NFL could still hand down some sort of suspension down the road.
  • After being waived by the Patriots on Saturday, tight end James O’Shaughnessy was claimed by a league-high six NFL clubs, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). The Bills, Colts, Chargers, Jets, Saints, and Jaguars (who ultimately landed him) all put in claims on O’Shaughnessy, whom New England originally acquired in a draft-day trade with Kansas City. O’Shaughnessy, 25, appeared in all 16 games for the Chiefs in 2016 and spent most of his time on special teams. He’ll be Jacksonville’s third tight end behind Marcedes Lewis and Ben Koyack.
  • The 49ers, Browns, and Jaguars will enter the 2017 regular season with the most cap space in the league, although San Francisco ($64.2MM) and Cleveland ($61.8MM) are in a different tier than the rest of the NFL, as Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. While some of those reserves can be spent during the season on additional signings and extensions, most of that space will be carried over to the 2018 campaign. The Dolphins, Rams, and Chargers, meanwhile, sit at the bottom of the league in cap space.
  • Defensive backs Jarrell Carter, Cody Riggs, Channing Stribling, and Jamal Wiltz, plus tight end Alex Ellis, all worked out for the Patriots on Tuesday, per Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Only Riggs (14 games) and Ellis (six) have appeared in an NFL contest thus far in their careers.

Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC North

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 12:00pm CT 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:

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Pittsburgh Steelers

Colts Down To 53

The Colts made major news on Saturday when they shipped wide receiver Phillip Dorsett to the Patriots in exchange for quarterback Jacoby Brissett. After that, they had the daunting task of bringing their bloated preseason roster down to the 53-man max in time for the deadline. Here’s the complete rundown.

Waived:

Waived/Injured:

Released:

Placed On IR:

PUP List:

Richardson, who once had a prominent role with the Rams, joined the Colts on Aug. 29 and was viewed as a longshot to make the final cut.