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Treyton Welch

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 8/29/24

August 29th, 2024 at 8:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

PFR’s practice squad rundown, signaling we are indeed close to games that count, begins Thursday. Here is how teams began to handle their 16-man P-squads.

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Slovis went to camp with the Colts, joining the team as a UDFA this year. Houston placed Case Keenum on IR and released Tim Boyle, who is now the Dolphins’ P-squad QB. Slovis, who played at USC, Pittsburgh and BYU in college, is now the Texans’ de facto third-stringer.

Shelley has 11 career starts — with the Bears and Vikings — on his resume. He joined the Raiders last year but ended up with the Rams, playing in 11 games as a backup. The Giants have spent time searching for a cornerback answer, having not been too satisfied with their Cor’Dale Flott–Nick McCloud CB2 competition. New York did not make any waiver claims at the position Wednesday.

Reagor, who played for the Patriots last season, is back after being released earlier this week. The former Minnesota first-rounder played in 11 New England games last season, returning a kick for a touchdown. Latu joins the Browns after being a 49ers cut. The 2023 third-round pick missed all of last season with an ACL tear. Jefferson is back with the Bolts hours after being released.

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC South

August 28th, 2024 at 4:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers and Saints moves are noted below.

Atlanta Falcons

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Carolina Panthers

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

  • WR Jalen Coker

Waived from IR:

Signed to practice squad:

New Orleans Saints

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Browns Release RB D’Onta Foreman, Trim Roster To 53

August 27th, 2024 at 7:21pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Browns kept four quarterbacks on their active roster, using other position groups to make their way down to 53. Here is how Cleveland maneuvered there:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on reserve/non-football illness list:

Placed on reserve/non-football injury list:

Placed on reserve/PUP:

Placed on IR:

Placed on commissioner exempt list:

Kevin Stefanski pointed to Foreman not being out of the picture, alluding this only being the team’s initial 53-man roster. The veteran back, who signed as a depth/rotational option this offseason, should be expected back, cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot tweets. Teams can use up to six practice squad slots on vested veterans. This is Foreman’s fourth team in four years, but he has managed to play regular roles for each. The Browns also have their two other high-profile options — Chubb and Hines — out for at least four games, as they recover from 2023 injuries.

Cleveland considered trading Jameis Winston or Tyler Huntley, with second-year QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson showing enough improvement to have made the 53-man roster. But the team stopped short and made the rare move to carry four active-roster arms. One of the non-Deshaun Watson passers could be vulnerable, however, as the waiver wire will come into play soon. Winston and Huntley are vested vets and would head straight to free agency if released; Thompson-Robinson would need to pass through waivers. Teams often prioritize those players on cutdown day.

Hall is out of the picture for the foreseeable future, as his legal issue runs its course, and Wypler is out for the year with a broken ankle. The Browns designated Dunn for return. This will cut into Cleveland’s eight injury activations, and while the veteran blocker will miss at least four games, the team prioritized his comeback enough to use this early designation. Dunn has been with the team since 2020.

Browns Eyeing TE Depth?

July 1st, 2024 at 7:15pm CST by Ben Levine

The Browns could be on the lookout for tight end depth before the regular season. Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com believes the Browns will keep an eye on tight ends who shake loose during the preseason, including both young options and veterans.

David Njoku will continue to lead the depth chart in 2024. Despite having to deal with Cleveland’s QB carousel last season, Njoku still finished the campaign with one of his strongest statistical seasons, collecting career-highs in receptions (81), receiving yards (882), and touchdowns (six). Njoku also led the position with seven drops, although Cabot attributes that stat to the team’s underwhelming QB play.

The team is also set to return backup Jordan Akins, who will be entering the final season of the two-year pact he inked in 2023. The former Texans third-round pick got into all 17 games during his first season in Cleveland, although he finished the campaign with career-low marks in receptions (15) and receiving yards (132). His familiarity with Deshaun Watson is a plus, but his 2023 performance means he isn’t entirely guaranteed to make the roster.

The team lacks experienced depth behind that duo. As Cabot notes, Kevin Stefanski and Ken Dorsey will still rely a bit on multiple tight-end sets, meaning the team could be eyeing an upgrade over the likes of Giovanni Ricci, Zaire Mitchell-Paden, Treyton Welch, and even Akins. Jimmy Graham and Geoff Swaim lead the remaining crop of free agents, but a number of tight ends will surely join that duo before the end of the summer.

Browns Bring In Eight UDFAs

May 10th, 2024 at 5:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are the eight priority free agents heading to Cleveland as part of the Browns’ post-draft haul:

  • Ahmarean Brown, WR (South Carolina)
  • Javion Cohen, G (Miami)
  • Christopher Edmonds, S (Arizona State)
  • Dyshawn Gales, CB (South Dakota State)
  • Winston Reid, LB (Weber State)
  • Aidan Robbins, RB (BYU)
  • Lorenzo Thompson, T (Rhode Island)
  • Treyton Welch, TE (Wyoming)

After playing alongside first-round pick Xavier Legette with the Gamecocks, Brown will collect some notable (in the UDFA realm, that is) guarantees to join the Browns. Cleveland is giving Brown $170K guaranteed, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets. Standing 5-foot-8 and weighing just 170 pounds, Brown provided a contrast to the 227-pound Legette. Brown tallied 26 receptions for 265 yards and two TDs in 2023. As a freshman at Georgia Tech, the diminutive target totaled a career-high 396 yards and seven TD grabs.

Cohen profiles as an interesting add. ESPN’s Scouts Inc. slotted the interior blocker as the 159th-ranked player in this year’s class. An Alabama transfer, Cohen started 36 games in college. This included 10 for the Crimson Tide in 2022, when Cohen received second-team All-SEC acclaim. The former four-star recruit was a full-time guard starter for the 2021 Alabama edition as well.

The Browns hosted Robbins on a “30” visit in April. They reached a pay-cut agreement with Nick Chubb, and while Nyheim Hines joined the team in free agency, the Browns did not draft a back. Robbins played for three Division I-FBS teams, transferring from Louisville to UNLV to BYU. Robbins’ most notable season came in 2022 — his lone Runnin’ Rebels year — when he rushed for 1,009 yards and nine touchdowns. He totaled 485 on the ground in eight games at BYU.

Cleveland dipped into the lower levels of the sport in its UDFA haul, with one of its bigger-school additions (Edmonds) having transferred from the Division I-FCS tier as well. Reid spent seven years at Weber State, while Gales intercepted four passes en route to all-conference honors while at South Dakota State in 2022. Thompson twice earned all-conference acclaim at Rhode Island, starting 37 straight games along the Rams’ O-line. Edmonds transferred from Samford, having been a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award (given to Division I-FCS’s top defender) in 2021. Edmonds picked off three passes with the Sun Devils last year.