Xavier Smith - Pro Football Rumors

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/5/24

October 5th, 2024 at 7:29pm CST by Adam La Rose

Saturday’s gameday elevations and other minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Elevated: OL Charlie Heck, K Chad Ryland

Baltimore Ravens

Elevated: RB Chris Collier, OLB Yannick Ngakoue

Buffalo Bills

Elevated: WR Tyrell Shavers, DT Branson Deen

Carolina Panthers

Elevated: LB Thomas Incoom, DT T.J. Smith
Placed on IR: LB Shaq Thompson (story)

Cincinnati Bengals

Elevated: CB Jalen Davis

Dallas Cowboys

Signed to active roster: LB Nick Vigil
Elevated: DE Carl Lawson, CB Amani Oruwariye

Denver Broncos

LB Levelle Bailey

Green Bay Packers

Signed to active roster: CB Robert Rochell
Elevated: FB Andrew Beck

Houston Texans

Elevated: RB J.J. Taylor

Indianapolis Colts

Elevated: RB Evan Hull, CB David Long

Jacksonville Jaguars

Elevated: LB Tanner Muse, S Matthew Jackson

Las Vegas Raiders

Signed to active roster: DE K’Lavon Chaisson
Placed on IR: LB Luke Masterson
Elevated: RB Sincere McCormick, WR Alex Bachman

Los Angeles Rams

Elevated: WR Xavier Smith, CB Ahkello Witherspoon

Miami Dolphins

Elevated: CB Nik Needham

Minnesota Vikings

Elevated: RB Myles Gaskin, S Bobby McCain

New England Patriots

Signed to active roster: DT Jaquelin Roy
Elevated: OL Bryan Hudson, LB Ochaun Mathis

New York Giants

Activated from IR: LB Matt Adams
Waived: LB Benton Whitley
Elevated: WR Isaiah Hodgins, RB Dante Miller

New York Jets

LB Marcelino McCrary-Ball, QB Adrian Martinez

Pittsburgh Steelers

Activated from IR: OLB Jeremiah Moon
Elevated: WR Brandon Johnson, RB Jonathan Ward

San Francisco 49ers

Activated from IR: DT Kalia Davis
Elevated: DL T.Y. McGill, WR Trent Taylor

Washington Commanders

Activated from IR: QB Marcus Mariota
Elevated: CB Kevon Seymour, WR Brycen Tremayne

Mariota returned to practice on Wednesday, which was the earliest point at which he could be designated for return. As a result, it comes as little surprise he has been brought back onto Washington’s active roster. The 30-year-old is in his first season with the Commanders, and today’s move paves the way for him to handle backup duties moving forward.

Ngakoue remained on the free agent market into the start of the regular season. He was not connected to a Ravens reunion, but one took place last week. The journeyman sack artist had a brief spell with Baltimore in 2020, and he posted three sacks in 11 games. Ngakoue, 29, had one-and done campaigns in Vegas, Indianapolis and Chicago before taking a Ravens practice squad deal. He will make his debut tomorrow and aim to provide depth along the edge.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/28/24

September 28th, 2024 at 7:27pm CST by Ely Allen

Minor transactions and practice squad callups for the Week 4 weekend:

Arizona Cardinals

Elevated: DT Angelo Blackson, T Charlie Heck

Atlanta Falcons

Elevated: G Matt Hennessy

Baltimore Ravens

Elevated: RB Chris Collier
Placed on IR: CB Jalyn Armour-Davis

Carolina Panthers

Elevated: OLB Thomas Incoom, DE DeShawn Williams

Chicago Bears

Elevated: DT Byron Cowart, S Tarvarius Moore
Placed on IR: TE Stephen Carlson (story)

Cleveland Browns

Elevated: CB Tony Brown, TE Geoff Swaim

Denver Broncos

Elevated: LB Levelle Bailey, S Tanner McCalister

Green Bay Packers

Elevated: CB Kamal Hadden, CB Robert Rochell

Houston Texans

Elevated: RB J.J. Taylor

Indianapolis Colts

Elevated: DT Adam Gotsis, CB David Long

Jacksonville Jaguars

Signed to active roster: TE Josiah Deguara
Elevated: CB Christian Braswell, LB Tanner Muse

Las Vegas Raiders

Signed to active roster: TE John Samuel Shenker
Elevated: WR Alex Bachman, OLB K’Lavon Chaisson
Waived: WR Ramel Keyton

Los Angeles Chargers

Elevated: LB Blake Lynch, C Sam Mustipher

Los Angeles Rams

Elevated: WR Xavier Smith, CB Ahkello Witherspoon

Minnesota Vikings

Elevated: OLB Bo Richter, TE Robert Tonyan

New England Patriots

Signed to active roster: CB Isaiah Bolden
Elevated: DT Trysten Hill, TE Mitchell Wilcox
Placed on IR: CB Alex Austin

New Orleans Saints

Elevated: G Kyle Hergel

New York Jets

Elevated: DT Bruce Hector, LB Marcelino McCrary-Ball

Philadelphia Eagles

Elevated: WR Parris Campbell, WR John Ross

Pittsburgh Steelers

Elevated: CB Thomas Graham Jr., RB Aaron Shampklin

San Francisco 49ers

Signed to active roster: DE Sam Okuayinonu
Elevated: DT Evan Anderson, S Jaylen Mahoney
Placed on IR: DT Javon Hargrave (story), LB Curtis Robinson (story)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Elevated: P Trenton Gill, WR Sterling Shepard

Washington Commanders

Elevated: DE Andre Jones Jr., RB Chris Rodriguez Jr.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/21/24

September 21st, 2024 at 5:00pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s minor NFL transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Elevated: T Jackson Barton, T Charlie Heck

Baltimore Ravens

Elevated: RB Chris Collier, CB Ka’dar Hollman

Carolina Panthers

Elevated: DE DeShawn Williams

Chicago Bears

Elevated: DE Byron Cowart, WR Collin Johnson
Placed on IR: RB Travis Homer

Cleveland Browns

Signed to active roster: RB Gary Brightwell, TE Blake Whiteheart
Elevated: CB Tony Brown, TE Geoff Swaim

Dallas Cowboys

Elevated: DE Carl Lawson, LB Nick Vigil

Detroit Lions

Elevated: WR Tim Patrick, WR Allen Robinson

Green Bay Packers

Elevated: QB Sean Clifford, CB Robert Rochell

Houston Texans

Elevated: RB J.J. Taylor, LB Zeke Turner

Las Vegas Raiders

Elevated: CB Sam Webb

Los Angeles Chargers

Elevated: LB Shaquille Quarterman

Los Angeles Rams

Elevated: TE Nikola Kalinic, WR Xavier Smith

Miami Dolphins

Signed to active roster: QB Tim Boyle
Elevated: WR Dee Eskridge, WR Erik Ezukanma
Placed on IR: WR Grant DuBose

Minnesota Vikings

Elevated: OLB Bo Richter, TE Robert Tonyan

New Orleans Saints

Elevated: LB Isaiah Stalbird

New York Giants

Elevated: CB Art Green, LB Ty Summers

Philadelphia Eagles

Elevated: WR Parris Campbell, TE Jack Stoll

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Elevated: DL Mike Greene, WR Sterling Shepard

Tennessee Titans

Elevated: LB Luke Gifford, RB Jabari Small

Players like Hollman, Vigil, Webb, and Quarterman will now be getting called up for the third time this season. The NFL rules limit a practice squad player to three standard gameday elevations per contract. If their teams want to get them into more games in the future, the normal route is for them to be signed to the active roster after this weekend then released/waived and signed to new practice squad deals, starting their three-game count over.

Shy Tuttle‘s foot injury will keep him off the field for Week 3, as the Panthers announced that the defensive tackle has been downgraded from doubtful to out. The Panthers called up Williams to temporarily take the open roster spot. The defensive end started 10 of his 16 appearances for the Panthers last season, and he landed back on Carolina’s practice squad last month after spending the preseason with the Bills.

The Browns announced a handful of moves ahead of their game with the Giants tomorrow. Notably, the team didn’t promote any offensive tackles, which provided some optimism surrounding the availability of their injured tackles. While Jedrick Wills Jr. is expected to play (per Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal), Jack Conklin will not (per Tony Grossi of 850 ESPN Cleveland). Conklin hasn’t played since Week 1 of the 2023 season while recovering from a torn ACL and MCL. He practiced this week and was initially listed as questionable for tomorrow’s game, but it sounds like a new hamstring injury is the culprit for his Week 3 absence.

With both Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce set to miss Sunday’s trip to Minnesota, the Texans are bringing up Taylor off the practice squad. Taylor will back up Cam Akers and Dare Ogunbowale against the Vikings this weekend.

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC West

August 28th, 2024 at 9:30pm 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 49ers, Cardinals, Rams and Seahawks moves are noted below.

Arizona Cardinals

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

WR Andre Baccellia, LB Markus Bailey, LB Krys Barnes, OL Jackson Barton, RB Michael Carter, WR Dan Chisena, CB Jaden Davis, OL Marquis Hayes, OL Keith Ismael, LB Julian Okwara, WR Tejhaun Palmer, QB Desmond Ridder, TE Bernhard Seikovits, DL Ben Stille, CB Divaad Wilson

Los Angeles Rams

Signed:

DT Neville Gallimore (story)

Claimed:

RB Cody Schrader

Waived:

DT Cory Durden

Placed on IR:

OT Conor McDermott

Signed to practice squad:

OL A.J. Arcuri, OL Justin Dedich, B Zach Evans, TE Miller Forristall, DB Tanner Ingle, DB Shaun Jolly, TE Nikola Kalinic, DB Cam Lampkin, DT Tuli Letuligasenoa, OL Mike McAllister, DT David Olajiga, WR Xavier Smith, WR Drake Stoops, DB Jason Taylor II, OLB Keir Thomas, LB Zach VanValkenburg, WR Sam Wiglusz

San Francisco 49ers

Signed:

OL Ben Bartch, WR Terrace Marshall Jr., TE Eric Saubert, CB Rock Ya-Sin

Claimed:

Waived:

DL Sam Okuayinonu

Placed on IR:

OL Jon Feliciano, CB Ambry Thomas

Signed to practice squad:

DE Jonathan Garvin, DB Chase Lucas, S Tracy Walker

Seattle Seahawks

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

CB Artie Burns

Rams Pare Roster To Initial 53

August 27th, 2024 at 11:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here is how the Rams’ initial 53-man roster looks ahead of Sean McVay‘s eighth season:

Waived:

OL A.J. Arcuri
OL Justin Dedich
RB Zach Evans
TE Miller Forristall
DB Tanner Ingle
DB Shaun Jolly
TE Nikola Kalinic
DB Cam Lampkin
DL Tuli Letuligasenoa
OL Mike McAllister
DL David Olajiga
WR Xavier Smith
WR Drake Stoops
DB Jason Taylor II
OLB Keir Thomas
OL Zachary Thomas
OLB Zachary VanValkenburg
WR Sam Wiglusz

Waived/injured:

DE Anthony Goodlow

Placed on IR:

CB Tre’Vius Tomlinson

Placed on IR/return designation:

OL K.T. Leveston
DL Larrell Murchison

Despite Los Angeles trading Ernest Jones to the Titans, McVay said the team is not looking around at inside linebacker. The Rams kept kept five off-ball LBs — Christian Rozeboom, Troy Reeder, Jacob Hummel, Omar Speights and Elias Neal — and McVay labeled Rozeboom and Reeder as the team’s expected starters. Rozeboom, a former UDFA out of South Dakota State, has made five starts in his three-season career. Reeder, whom the Rams brought back last year after he spent 2022 with the Chargers, has made 31 career starts. Ten of those came during the team’s Super Bowl LVI-winning season. The veteran played only 192 defensive snaps last season. Both Neal and Speights were part of the team’s UDFA contingent this year.

The Rams’ other major piece of injury news emerged earlier today; Tyler Higbee will make the expected trip to the reserve/PUP list. That will knock out the team’s longtime tight end starter for at least four games. Leveston and Murchison are also sidelined for that span, but the Rams’ IR-return moves will lead to two of their eight injury activations being used before Week 1. The NFL greenlit up to two such moves this year, but the Rams have run out of injury activations in the not-so-distant past, exhausting theirs during an injury-flooded 2022 season.

The nephew of Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson, Tre’Vius played 318 special teams snaps as a rookie last year. This development follows Derion Kendrick‘s July ACL tear. The Rams placed Kendrick on IR weeks ago.

NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/16/24

January 16th, 2024 at 9:33pm CST by Ben Levine

Here are today’s reserve/futures contracts:

Chicago Bears

C Doug Kramer, DE Khalid Kareem

Cleveland Browns

DT Jayden Peevy

Dallas Cowboys

OL Dakoda Shepley

Green Bay Packers

LB Deslin Alexandre, LB Deandre Johnson, LB Christian Young

Las Vegas Raiders

OL Ben Brown, S Tyreque Jones, RB Tyreik McAllister

Los Angeles Rams

TE Miller Forristall, TE Nikola Kalinic, G Grant Miller, WR Xavier Smith

Minnesota Vikings

WR Daylen Baldwin

New Orleans Saints

DB Rejzohn Wright

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC West

August 30th, 2023 at 3:27pm 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 49ers, Cardinals, Rams and Seahawks moves are noted below.

Arizona Cardinals

Claimed:

C Trystan Colon, TE Elijah Higgins, C Keith Ishmael, T Ilm Manning, DB Starling Thomas, DB K’Von Wallace

Waived:

WR Daniel Arias, G Marquis Hayes, S Javonte Moffatt, DL Ben Stille, TE Blake Whiteheart

Signed to practice squad:

QB Jeff Driskel

Los Angeles Rams

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

OL A.J. Arcuri, OL Logan Bruss, DT Marquise Copeland, RB Royce Freeman, DB Tanner Ingle, WR Tyler Johnson, TE Nikola Kalinic, OL Mike McAllister, DB Cameron McCutcheon, OL Grant Miller, LB Troy Reeder, QB Brett Rypien, WR Xavier Smith, OLB Keir Thomas II, WR Austin Trammell

San Francisco 49ers

Placed on IR:

DL Robert Beal, WR Danny Gray

Signed:

DL Austin Bryant, DL Kerry Hyder

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

DT Alex Barrett, FB Jack Colletto, WR Chris Conley, DL Marlon Davidson, TE Troy Fumagalli, OL Alfredo Gutierrez (via International Player Pathway), RB Brian Hill, CB Qwuantrezz Knight, OL Corey Luciano, WR Tay Martin, DL T.Y. McGill, LB Curtis Robinson, WR Willie Snead, CB Tre Swilling, OL Leroy Watson, WR Isaiah Winstead

Seattle Seahawks

Claimed:

CB Kyu Blu Kelly, LB Drake Thomas

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

QB Holton Ahlers, OLB Levi Bell, CB Lance Boykin, CB Artie Burns, T Greg Eiland, DT Matthew Gotel, C Joey Hunt, WR Cade Johnson, RB Bryant Koback, WR Matt Landers, TE Tyler Mabry, LB Patrick O’Connell, S Ty Okada, RB SaRodorick Thompson, WR Easop Winston Jr.

Rams Cut Down To 53 Players

August 29th, 2023 at 9:44pm CST by Ely Allen

The Rams did a bit of work yesterday in moving towards the 53-man deadline. Here are the additional moves the team made today to get down to the max roster number to start the season:

Waived:

OL AJ Arcuri
K Tanner Brown
OL Logan Bruss
DE T.J. Carter
OLB Daniel Hardy
DB Quindell Johnson
WR Tyler Johnson
TE Nikola Kalinic
OL Mike McAllister
DB Cameron McCutcheon
OL Grant Miller
DB Robert Rochell
WR Xavier Smith
OLB Keir Thomas
WR Austin Trammell
QB Dresser Winn
LB Jaiden Woodbey

Waived/injured:

DB De’Andre Square
DB Rashad Torrence

Released:

It appears that fourth-round rookie draft pick Stetson Bennett won out in the battle for the backup quarterback job, leading to the expendability of Rypien and Winn. Youth similarly won out at the running back spot as rookie Zach Evans and second year backs Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers beat out the veteran backup in Freeman. On defense, Copeland is bit of a surprise after starting nine games last year for the Rams.

The special teams room is quite intriguing for now. The room was looking to hold three rookies before the above waiver of the undrafted Oklahoma State kicker Brown. Seventh-round rookie punter Ethan Evans and undrafted rookie long snapper Alex Ward remain on the roster, but without Brown, the Rams will need to look into adding a new kicker out of the free agent market. Or they may attempt to follow the recent trends and trade for one.

Rams Sign 26-Man UDFA Class

May 3rd, 2023 at 9:57pm CST by Ely Allen

The Rams continue adding to a massive rookie class. After drafting 14 prospects last weekend, Los Angeles has announced the signing of a prodigious 26 undrafted free agents:

LB Kelechi Anyalebechi, Incarnate Word
K Tanner Brown, Oklahoma State
WR Braxton Burmeister, San Diego State
CB Timarcus Davis, Arizona State
CB Tyon Davis, Tulsa
S Collin Duncan, Mississippi State
K Christopher Dunn, NC State
RB Tiyon Evans, Louisville
WR Tyler Hudson, Louisville
S Tanner Ingle, NC State
WR Sam James, West Virginia
OLB Matthew Jester, Princeton
S Quindell Johnson, Memphis
CB Jordan Jones, Rhode Island
C Sean Maginn, Wake Forest
C Mike McAllister, Youngstown State
CB Cameron McCutcheon, Western Carolina
G Grant Miller, Baylor
TE Christian Sims, Bowling Green
LB Ryan Smenda, Wake Forest
WR Xavier Smith, Florida A&M
LB DeAndre Square, Kentucky
S Rashad Torrence, Florida
LS Alex Ward, UCF
QB Dresser Winn, Tennessee-Martin
LB Jaiden Woodbey, Boston College

With former kicker Matt Gay now residing in Indianapolis, the Rams have resolved to a kicking competition between Brown and Dunn. Brown had a stellar year with the Cowboys converting 22 of 23 field goal attempts and making all 42 of his extra points. Dunn had an even better 2022, rebounding after 5 missed field goals in 2020 and six misses in 2021. He converted 28 of 29 field goal attempts in 2022 and, over five years with the Wolfpack, never missed one of his 200 extra point attempts.

Gay wasn’t the only special teamer Los Angeles lost. After losing Matthew Orzech to the Packers in free agency, the Rams will give Ward a run at the position. After drafting punter Ethan Evans in the seventh round, Los Angeles is set to have a full rookie special teams unit.

Winn joins the quarterback room behind Matthew Stafford, Stetson Bennett, and Brett Rypien. He threw for nearly 3,000 yards as a sixth-year senior for the Skyhawks with 18 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. The Rams also signed Burmeister, a former starting quarterback at Virginia Tech who transferred to the other coast. Based on his listing with the Rams, he’ll be attempting to switch positions in the NFL.

With only eight linebackers under contract in a base 3-4 defense, the Rams supplemented heavily from the rookie class, drafting three and signing five more undrafted. They similarly added some significant depth at defensive back, drafting two and signing eight more undrafted.

The Rams have a substantial 40 rookies occupying roster spots on the current 90-man roster (which only holds 89 players as of right now). This seems to be a bit emblematic of the Rams recent all-in strategy that resulted in a Super Bowl but left them with a top-heavy roster with hefty contracts. Regardless, it presents many young rookies with clear opportunities for roster spots and playing time.