Tony Jones Jr.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/4/25

The last minor moves and standard gameday elevations of the 2024 NFL regular season:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Ross’ new deal to the Texans’ 53-man roster is good through the 2025 season, as well. Ditto for Jones, signed to the active roster in New England today.

Sanders returned to practice this week, and his activation will allow him to close out his second Panthers season on the field rather than on the mend. His Carolina tenure has fallen well short of expectations and a release in the near future could be in the cards. Given the team’s backfield injuries, though, Sanders could handle a notable workload tomorrow while potentially auditioning for free agent suitors.

Gilman’s return will be welcomed by the Chargers’ defense. The 27-year-old has remained a full-time starter this season, his second straight handling first-team duties. Los Angeles is assured of a wild-card spot, but moving up to the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoff picture could be possible on Sunday. In any case, Gilman’s presence will be key for a Bolts defense which leads the league in points allowed per game (17.6).

Gardner’s campaign will come to an end after 15 games played. He fell short of a Pro Bowl nod for this first time in his young career, but the fourth pick of the 2022 draft remained a critical member of the team’s secondary when healthy. Gardner is eligible for an extension this offseason, and his financial future (which will include a fifth-year option decision in the spring) will be a key point of focus once New York’s head coach/general manager tandem is in place.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/18/24

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/30/24

Here are Friday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Waived: CB Eric Scott Jr.

New England Patriots

Players let go through injury settlements are open to return to their previous teams after an agreed-upon period of time. Jones could therefore return to the Cardinals’ backfield later on in 2024, after he played three games with the team last year. The 26-year-old has also seen time with the Saints and Seahawks, logging a rotational role while contributing on special teams.

Like Jones, Anderson (who missed time last year with malaria) will be able to sign with any interested team if he does not return to New England. The latter made five appearances with New England last season, starting twice. He was one of several players competing for a spot on the Patriots’ uncertain tackle depth chart until being placed on injured reserve during final roster cutdowns. A Broncos blocker from 2020-22, Anderson has 14 total starts to his name and could provide a depth option to his next team once healthy.

Cardinals Get Down To 53

The Cardinals finalized their initial 53-man roster with the following moves:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Placed on IR:

Placed on IR (designated for return):

We’ve already reported on the most notable name, Ridder. The Cardinals instead opted to rely on second-year passer Clayton Tune to back up Kyler Murray behind center. There’s still a chance Ridder could remain on the practice squad as QB3.

Robinson and Jones will miss the first four games of the season, but both have been designated to return from IR eventually. Jones Jr. will miss the 2024 season, though.

Two rookie draft picks failed to make the 53-man. Alabama Birmingham receiver Palmer (sixth-round) and Miami (FL) cornerback Davis (seventh-round) both hit the waiver wire following the preseason. Undrafted receiver Xavier Weaver out of Colorado, does make the roster, though.

Other surprises were the cutting of Carter and Barnes. Carter struggled last year before parting ways with the Jets, who drafted him in the fourth round in 2021. Six games in Arizona last year were not enough to warrant a return in 2024 on the active roster. Carter had been shopped around a bit as of late, but with no buyers, he hits the waiver wire. Barnes started six games for the team last year after three years in Green Bay, where he started 24 games.

NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/8/24

Many teams have started signing players to reserve/futures contracts, allowing organization to retain (routinely) young, practice squad players. Here are the latest reserve/futures contracts:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

  • OL Barry Wesley

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

  • LB Brandon Bouyer-Randle, WR Davion Davis, CB D’Angelo Mandell

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/18/23

This week’s callups and minor moves heading into Sunday:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers:

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Evans had been called up from the practice squad three times by the Cowboys, meaning he needed to be added to the 53-man roster this week to continue suiting up. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports “several teams” attempted to poach the veteran off the taxi squad, but his decision to remain with Dallas has culminated in today’s move. Evans has logged 74 combined defensive and special teams snaps with the Cowboys so far, recording three tackles.

James was out of the lineup for one game after being designated for return, but he will be eligible to suit up for the upcoming Super Bowl rematch against the Eagles. Mentioned as a trade candidate earlier this year, he will be able to add depth to a WR corps which has underperformed to date, and add to his single catch recorded in his two Kansas City games at the start of the campaign.

Cardinals Activate RB James Conner From IR

Arizona is getting more than one key pieces of its offense back this weekend. With quarterback Kyler Murray already set to return as the starter in Week 10 for the Cardinals after being activated from injured reserve this week, Arizona will also be returning starting running back James Conner, who has been out since suffering a Week 5 knee injury.

Cardinals staff writer Darren Urban informs that Conner will officially be activated off of IR today with the intention of playing him against the Falcons this Sunday. “(Conner) is our workhorse in the run game, and it will be good to get him back,” head coach Jonathan Gannon said about the running back’s return to the field. “It helps not only Kyler, it helps our team.”

In Conner’s absence, Arizona has mostly relied on the legs of undrafted rookie Emari Demercado. With Demercado reportedly out this week, though, Conner isn’t the only addition the team is making to the running backs room. After waiving him just two days ago, the Cardinals are bringing back Tony Jones Jr. on a practice squad deal. In order to make room for Jones on the practice squad, the team released offensive lineman Vitaliy Gurman.

Jones will be one of two standard gameday elevations from the practice squad for this week’s game. He and Keaontay Ingram will be tasked with backing up Conner in his first game back from IR. The team’s other gameday elevation will be utilized to promote practice squad tackle Jackson Barton for the weekend.

Cardinals Reach Injury Settlement With RB Damien Williams, Waive RB Tony Jones Jr.

James Conner‘s injury has required some running back shuffling in Arizona, but the team’s moves Thursday point to the starter coming back. With Conner practicing after a four-week IR stay, the Cardinals jettisoned two running backs.

The team reached an injury settlement with Damien Williams, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets, doing so while waiving Tony Jones Jr. Williams had been on Arizona’s practice squad injured list, being placed there last week. This transaction will send the veteran running back into free agency.

This marks the second straight year in which Williams, 31, has been cut loose via an injury settlement. The former Super Bowl starter began last season with the Falcons but suffered a rib injury in the team’s opener. As Tyler Allgeier began to flourish in his rookie season, the Falcons did not use one of their injury activations on Williams, releasing him from IR in December.

Although he caught on with the Raiders during Josh Jacobs‘ training camp absence, Williams did not make their 53-man roster. Conner’s injury prompted the Cardinals to add him in October. Williams, who totaled 10 touchdowns between the 2018 and ’19 postseasons as the Chiefs’ Kareem Hunt replacement, was active for three games with the Cardinals. He produced 43 yards on 11 carries, joining second-year back Keaontay Ingram and rookie UDFA Emari Demercado as Arizona’s ball carriers during Conner’s absence.

Jones has played in four Saints games this season; he joined the Cardinals as a waiver claim, arriving in the desert shortly after Williams. Jones, who went to training camp with the Broncos, logged three carries as a Cardinal. Demercado and Ingram remain on Arizona’s roster, but the team ditching two other backs points to Conner being ready when first eligible. Though, Demercado missed Week 9 and has not practice this week due to a toe injury. The Cardinals have until Saturday afternoon to activate the seventh-year back. Conner has missed time due to a knee injury, continuing a trend of short-term absences for the former third-round pick.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/2/23

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns

  • Signed to active roster: OT Leroy Watson

Detroit Lions

  • Signed to active roster: LB Trevor Nowaske
  • Waived: RB Devine Ozigbo

Las Vegas Raiders

New England Patriots

Tennessee Titans

With the trade deadline behind us, all veterans are now subject to waivers, meaning some of the players cut today could land on new teams without even hitting free agency. David Long is probably the most intriguing of the bunch, with the cornerback having started 11 of his 60 appearances through five seasons in the NFL. The 25-year-old started one of his eight appearances for the Raiders this season, compiling 12 tackles.

Kevon Seymour is another potential target for those who need some help in the secondary or on special teams. After bouncing around the NFL to begin his career, Seymour found a home in Baltimore in recent years, seeing time in 30 games (two starts) across two-plus seasons with the organization. The former sixth-round pick has mostly played special teams over the past year-plus, collecting six total tackles.