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Minor NFL Transactions: 12/2/24

December 2nd, 2024 at 6:45pm CST by Ely Allen

Monday’s minor transactions:

Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

The Falcons get the second-round rookie, Orhorhoro, back from injured reserve for the closing stretch of the season. The Clemson-product has seen minimal time in his first NFL season, rotating in for only four games so far, but Atlanta will take whatever help it can get on a defense that is dead-last in the league with only 15 sacks on the year.

Zappe was signed off the Patriots’ practice squad following Deshaun Watson‘s placement on IR. Jameis Winston has performed admirably in relief of Watson, and the team must have confidence in second-year backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson behind him.

Shenault continues to struggle to find a place on an NFL offense, but he did carve out a role as a strong kick returner in Seattle this year. That added ability may help him find another roster spot soon.

Gill is the second punter the Buccaneers have waived this year. Gill’s yards per punt average of 43.3 currently ranks for 33rd in the NFL.

Seymour has served the league’s six-game suspension for violating its performance-enhancing drugs policy and is now able to return to the field.

49ers To Open S Talanoa Hufanga’s Practice Window, Place RB Jordan Mason On IR

December 2nd, 2024 at 3:49pm CST by Sam Robinson

As injuries once again define a 49ers NFC title defense, the team still has some silver linings in the form of defenders reentering the equation. Talanoa Hufanga is on his way back.

Down with a wrist injury for months, Hufanga is set to practice this week, Kyle Shanahan said. After rehabbing the ACL tear sustained on Thanksgiving night last year, Hufanga suffered a significant wrist malady that limited him to just two games thus far this season. The 49ers, however, had not ruled him out. Now in the IR-return window, the All-Pro safety has three weeks to return.

With Hufanga joining Dre Greenlaw in a return window from an injured list, Jordan Mason is heading to IR. The Christian McCaffrey backup suffered a high ankle sprain Sunday night, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. The 49ers lost McCaffrey to another injury — a PCL issue — that is expected to shut him down. Mason is now out until at least Week 18, leaving rookie Isaac Guerendo as the 49ers’ lead back for the foreseeable future.

Hufanga, who is in a contract year, will not be 100% if he returns to action. Shanahan said (via the Bay Area News Group’s Cam Inman) the standout DB still needs support for his injured wrist. With a potential free agency run coming, Hufanga will attempt to give it a go. Counting last season’s three playoff games, the former fifth-round pick has missed 20 of the 49ers’ past 22 contests.

Conflicting reports emerged earlier this season about whether Hufanga would return. An October offering suggested the 49ers were not counting on him to return, but the team had not ruled it out. San Francisco will at least see how he looks in practice. The injuries to Hufanga and Greenlaw played a key role in the 49ers falling just short in an overtime Super Bowl loss last season; for the first time since Hufanga’s November 2023 ACL injury, both will be back at work. Though, this comes at a dire point for a team in one of the worst Super Bowl hangovers in recent memory. A three-game losing streak has dropped the 49ers to 5-7.

The 49ers already played without All-Pros Nick Bosa, Trent Williams and Brandon Aiyuk on Sunday night. All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner, who is playing through an ankle fracture, left the game as well. Recently extended cornerback starter Deommodore Lenoir missed Week 13, while Brock Purdy returned after missing Week 12 due to injury. McCaffrey joins Mason in heading to IR, and Shanahan said defensive tackle Kevin Givens suffered a pectoral tear and will join the RBs on the injured list.

Beating out Elijah Mitchell for the backup running back job, Mason became a vital piece for the 49ers during McCaffrey’s Achilles rehab. The former UDFA held the NFL rushing lead for a short span this season, producing three 100-yard games over his first four. He paces the 49ers with 789 rushing yards and three TDs. Mason can be retained beyond this season, as the Georgia Tech alum is eligible for restricted free agency next year. Mitchell is on season-ending IR.

He of a sub-4.4-second 40-yard dash at this year’s Combine, Guerendo has shown flashes as a Mason backup. The third-round pick is the only healthy back on San Francisco’s 53-man roster right now, a situation that will see changes made soon. Patrick Taylor is the only RB on the team’s practice squad.

Givens has been with the 49ers for six seasons, working as a rotational player for most of that time. He has a career-high 3.5 sacks this season but will join DT Javon Hargrave among the expanding 49ers’ IR contingent. Playing out a $2MM deal, Givens is among the many 49ers defenders headed toward free agency.

49ers To Place Christian McCaffrey On IR

December 2nd, 2024 at 3:40pm CST by Sam Robinson

DECEMBER 2: Shanahan said Monday that McCaffrey did suffer a PCL injury in his right knee, an issue that will require a six-week recovery timetable. As it stands, it would be quite surprising if the NFL’s reigning rushing champion returned this season. He is heading to IR.

DECEMBER 1: This has been a forgettable season for Christian McCaffrey. The reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year missed nearly half the season due to a lingering Achilles injury; weeks after debuting, the star running back joined a few of the 49ers’ other standouts in being out of the mix.

McCaffrey left Sunday’s blowout loss in Buffalo with a knee injury, and Kyle Shanahan was quick to rule him out. Postgame, Shanahan said McCaffrey sustained a potentially season-ending PCL malady. An MRI is scheduled for Monday, ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner notes.

This would be a tough blow for the eighth-year back while underscoring the importance of securing guaranteed money. The 49ers authorized a two-year, $38MM extension this offseason, with the deal coming with $24MM at signing. McCaffrey, 28, played the lead role in powering San Francisco’s offense last season. With the former top-10 pick missing most of this season, the 49ers are in danger of falling out of the playoff mix. The defending NFC champs are now 5-7.

After a grim 2023, the running back position has seen a resurgence of sorts — in a macro sense. Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Derrick Henry and Joe Mixon are thriving on third contracts after changing teams. McCaffrey beat his peers in doing so, dominating between his October 2022 trade and Super Bowl LVIII. McCaffrey had shaken his Panthers-years injury trouble during the 2022 and ’23 seasons, not missing a game due to injury in that span. This season brought a regression for the dual-threat dynamo, and it has coincided with a brutal run of health for the 49ers.

San Francisco did not place McCaffrey on IR to start the season, but the Achilles issue did lead to such a move before Week 2. McCaffrey had been in play to suit up in Week 1, but the 49ers scratched him for that game. He then drifted out of the picture, going as far as making a trip to Germany for treatments that could potentially accelerate his recovery. McCaffrey did not debut until Week 10, but he immediately returned to a near-full-time workload. He logged 88% of the 49ers’ offensive snaps in Week 10 and then posted 82% and 94% snap rates over the past two 49ers games.

The 49ers had established a productive run game amid tonight’s Western New York snowstorm, and McCaffrey drove that effort during the early part of the game. He totaled 53 yards on seven carries, though his seventh tote brought lost yardage after a quick tumble to the turf. McCaffrey hobbled to the sideline, and the 49ers proceeded to fall behind 28-3. Both McCaffrey and Fred Warner exited the game due to injury, reminding of how far off track this 49ers season has veered.

Shanahan’s team played without Trent Williams and Nick Bosa tonight. Neither All-Pro is on IR or has been ruled out for Week 14, but the team has also battled numerous longer-term issues. San Francisco has missed Dre Greenlaw throughout the season, with the Achilles tear sustained while the veteran linebacker trotted onto the field for a first-half Super Bowl possession sidelining him throughout this season to date. Warner has played through a broken bone in his ankle. The 49ers lost recently extended wideout Brandon Aiyuk and high-priced defensive tackle Javon Hargrave for the season, and Talanoa Hufanga has joined McCaffrey in battling two significant injuries during the campaign. The All-Pro safety was still on the mend early due to the ACL tear sustained in November 2023, and he only squeezed in two games before a wrist injury shut him down.

This season reminds of the team’s previous NFC title defense, as the 2020 slate featured Bosa sidelined most of the way and then-QB1 Jimmy Garoppolo missing 10 contests. Both Deebo Samuel and George Kittle missed extensive time that year as well. The 49ers went 6-10 in 2020 but resurfaced by surging to the next three NFC championship games. The nucleus from San Francisco’s Super Bowl LIV team is still mostly intact. Bosa, Kittle, Warner, Greenlaw and Samuel are still rostered. But the group is obviously much older now. This season suddenly runs the risk of draining a year from several standouts’ primes.

McCaffrey became a hired gun to form a nucleus that featured four All-Pros at the skill positions, with Aiyuk earning second-team recognition last season. McCaffrey has burnished his credentials as a top-tier running back upon returning to the Bay Area; the Stanford alum won the rushing title last season (1,459 yards) and added 564 more through the air despite resting in Week 18. McCaffrey added 160 scrimmage yards in Super Bowl LVIII, a game that provided the most painful of the 49ers’ Shanahan-era big-game losses.

As McCaffrey appears likely to see his missed-games count balloon to 14 by season’s end, his career number would sit at 37 in that scenario. San Francisco’s top skill player would have been headed into a contract year in 2025, via his previous Carolina extension, but the offseason redo locks him in for 2025. No guarantees remain on McCaffrey’s deal beyond next season, but he did well to secure a guarantee that trails only Barkley’s among RBs this year, effectively ensuring he will be back in the 49ers’ plans in 2025.

Rams Claim CB Emmanuel Forbes

December 2nd, 2024 at 3:37pm CST by Sam Robinson

Despite being tied to a mid-first-round contract, Emmanuel Forbes will not clear waivers. The Rams are ensuring the 2023 first-round cornerback will remain tied to that deal.

Forbes is heading to Los Angeles via waiver claim, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. The Commanders’ Adam Peters-run regime moved on despite the 2023 No. 16 overall pick being signed through 2026. The Rams are bringing that contract onto their payroll, illustrating considerable interest on the NFC West team’s part. The Rams waived rookie UDFA cornerback Charles Woods to make room on the roster.

As significant changes occurred in Washington this offseason, Forbes was unable to secure steady playing time. This reached the point of the Commanders attempting to gauge his trade value before the deadline last month. The team ended up cutting bait, resulting in dead money this year and next. The Commanders are on the hook for all of Forbes’ prorated signing bonus ($8.2MM); that will leave a $4.1MM dead money hit in 2025 as well.

As our Ely Allen pointed out, Forbes is the only cornerback to be drafted after weighing in under 170 pounds at the Combine since 2000. Elite ball production led to the Commanders preferring the 166-pound defender to Christian Gonzalez, who went off the board one spot later to the Patriots. Forbes intercepted six passes in 2022 at Mississippi State, returning three for touchdowns. For his career, the 6-foot cover man intercepted a staggering 14 passes and totaled six pick-sixes. That enticed the Commanders to dive in, but neither last year’s nor this year’s coaching staffs liked enough about his game to deploy him as a full-time starter regularly.

Forbes has started seven games as a pro; six came last season. After allowing a 60.7% completion rate as the closest defender last season, Forbes ceded a whopping 75% number in limited duty this year. The Rams will still give him a second chance, pulling the trigger on a waiver claim to do so. They will be on the hook for guaranteed base salaries ($2.15MM in 2025, $2.85MM in 2026), which the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala adds will save the Commanders $5.3MM, but the NFC East team is still responsible for the bulk of the contract. On the Rams’ 2025 payroll, Forbes will only carry a $2.15MM cap number.

The Forbes pick came during one of the many Sean McVay-era first rounds in which the Rams did not hold a selection. This transaction will give the team a look at a player it clearly liked coming into the 2023 draft. The Rams have seen some issues form at corner, having already benched and traded Tre’Davious White this season. Pro Football Focus has no Rams CBs ranked inside the top 65 at the position; the team has given its most CB snaps to Cobie Durant and Darious Williams. PFF slots Durant and Ahkello Witherspoon 70th among corners this season, tabbing Williams — re-signed after two years in Jacksonville — 73rd.

Forbes, 23, will join an L.A. secondary that acquired more experience this year via the Williams and Witherspoon re-signings. The team also has a rookie UDFA (Josh Wallace) joining Quentin Lake in rounding out its CB group. Forbes will attempt to mix in for the 6-6 team.

Dallas Goedert Expected To Miss Time

December 2nd, 2024 at 3:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

Dallas Goedert has been one of the NFL’s best all-around tight ends for a few years now, and he has certainly been a central part of the Eagles’ surge to 10-2. But the veteran continues to struggle with injuries.

The seventh-year pass catcher’s latest setback is expected to key an absence. Goedert is now battling a knee injury that will sideline him on a week-to-week basis, per the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane. While this is not expected to be a season-ending issue, a short-term IR stay may be in the cards. That would be familiar territory for Goedert.

Set to turn 30 next month, Goedert has landed on IR twice in his career. Ankle and shoulder injuries previously moved the former second-round pick off Philadelphia’s 53-man roster (in 2020 and ’22). A forearm fracture sustained last year did not, but Goedert still missed time. Goedert has already missed three games this season, with a hamstring injury sidelining him. Altogether, Goedert has missed 17 games as a pro. He has not seen any of his ailments require more than a five-week in-season recovery, however, and this one should be no exception.

The Eagles’ trade for Jahan Dotson notwithstanding, they still feature a well-defined target tree. Goedert operates as the third pillar alongside A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Through nine games, Goedert has 38 receptions for 441 yards and two touchdowns. One of those scores came Sunday in Baltimore. While injuries have impeded him from producing eye-popping stats as a pro, the South Dakota State alum has been integral to Philly’s passing and rushing attacks.

Philly released Albert Okwuegbunam earlier this season, doing so despite using one of its IR-return activations on him, but the team also added veteran C.J. Uzomah. Grant Calcaterra remains the team’s backup tight end. The Eagles used Calcaterra as an eight-game starter; he has 17 catches for 216 yards. An extended Goedert absence would hurt the Eagles’ passing attack, especially considering both Brown and Smith have missed time this season.

Smith has missed the past two Eagles games, though the now-Saquon Barkley-powered team has motored to an eight-game win streak anyway. Were Goedert to land on IR, he would not be able to return until Week 18. This would stand to impact the team’s push for its second NFC No. 1 seed in three years.

Giants Place Dexter Lawrence, Theo Johnson On IR; Cory Durden Signed Off Rams’ Practice Squad

December 2nd, 2024 at 3:06pm CST by Adam La Rose

Both Dexter Lawrence and Theo Johnson suffered notable injuries during the Giants’ Thanksgiving loss. Neither player is in line to suit up again this season.

Lawrence and Johnson are now on injured reserve, per a team announcement. An absence of at least four games is thus in store, but Lawrence in particular is not expected to come back for the regular season finale. The two-time Pro Bowler is dealing with a dislocated elbow, and his attention will turn to rehab in advance of the 2025 campaign.

In his absence, the Giants will look for short-term replacements along the defensive interior. That could prove to be challenging given the other D-line injuries the team dealt with on Thanksgiving. In a move aimed at providing depth at that spot, Cory Durden has been signed off the Rams’ practice squad. The 25-year-old made four appearances last season but has yet to see any game action in 2024.

Lawrence led the league in sacks (nine) through seven games this season, demonstrating his status as New York’s most important defensive player and one of the league’s top interior linemen. The 27-year-old inked a big-ticket extension last offseason, so it comes as no surprise the team will avoid attempting to rush him back into the fold during the closing stages of the campaign. Sitting at 2-10 on the year, the Giants are officially out of postseason contention.

Johnson’s absence will be notable as well. The fourth-round rookie has handled a notable role in the wake of Darren Waller‘s retirement, posting 334 yards and one touchdown on 29 receptions. A foot injury threatened to shut Johnson down for the rest of the campaign, and today’s news all-but guarantees he will indeed be sidelined until 2025. His presence will be missed on a low-output New York passing attack.

The Giants are among the teams which could wind up with the No. 1 pick in April’s draft. Given their lack of a franchise quarterback, securing the top spot in the order would be critical. Playing without Lawrence and Johnson will lessen New York’s chances of adding further wins over the closing weeks of the season.

Jaguars, LT Walker Little Agree To Extension

December 1st, 2024 at 10:04pm CST by Rory Parks

The Jaguars have agreed to a three-year, $45MM extension with left tackle Walker Little, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter was first to report. The deal, which features $26MM in guaranteed money, will keep Little under club control through 2027.

Little, 25, was selected by Jacksonville in the second round of the 2021 draft and saw just six regular season starts over his first two professional seasons. However, three of those games — along with two more postseason appearances as a starter — came at the end of the Jaguars’ exciting 2022 campaign, when the club rallied to a playoff berth and won a memorable wildcard round bout against the Chargers. Little’s efforts during that stretch earned the praise of quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

This season, speaking shortly after the Jags traded longtime LT Cam Robinson to the Vikings (thereby paving the way for Little), Lawrence said, “[Little] had to come in, in ‘22 when Cam got hurt, and finish the season when we were on that run. We didn’t skip a beat because he was prepared, and he prepared every day like a starter. … [H]e’s more than ready and he’s done a great job. I’m excited for him. I’ve got all the faith in the world, and he’s played great so far” (h/t John Shipley of SI.com).

Little received extensive work in 2023 thanks in large part to Robinson’s PED suspension and subsequent knee injury (though some of Little’s action came at left guard). In 14 games (11 starts), Little was flagged for seven penalties and yielded 26 total pressures, seven of which got home for sacks. That amounted to a middling 58.8 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, which positioned him as the 58th-best tackle out of 81 qualifiers.

Now the unquestioned starter at left tackle in the wake of this year’s Robinson trade, Little has started each of the Jags’ last four games and has allowed just one sack and three QB hits during that time. PFF has assigned him a strong 67.9 overall mark for his 2024 work, and his performance to date has convinced Jacksonville brass that Little is the right player to protect Lawrence’s blind side for the foreseeable future.

Naturally, GM Trent Baalke was “heavily involved” in the Little negotiations, as Schefter confirms. Of course, Baalke is very much on the hot seat, so it is at least notable that he is making major decisions that will impact the long-term future of the Jaguars. A rival executive tells Schefter that the Little extension is a sign that Baalke is planning to remain with the club, though Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle throws some cold water on that notion. As Branch reminds us, Baalke authorized a five-year, $35MM deal for tight end Vance McDonald in December 2016, when Baalke was serving as GM of the 49ers. Baalke was fired less than a month later.

Regardless of what it means for Baalke’s future, Little’s new contract likely takes the 2-9 Jaguars out of the running for an offensive tackle when they make their first pick of the 2025 draft, as ESPN’s Field Yates posits.

Lions Sign S Jamal Adams

December 1st, 2024 at 12:28pm CST by Rory Parks

Shortly after signing linebacker Kwon Alexander, the Lions are adding another former Pro Bowler in the hopes of strengthening their injury-ravaged defense. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Detroit is signing safety Jamal Adams to the practice squad with the intention of elevating him to the active roster in short order.

Adams, 29, was cut by the Titans in October, a move that the player himself requested. He had just signed with Tennessee in July, but he appeared in a grand total of 20 snaps with the team before landing on the reserve/non-football injury list with a hip ailment. His placement on that list coincided with reports of his discontent regarding his playing time, and he was granted his release shortly thereafter.

The Jets made Adams the No. 6 overall pick of the 2017 draft, and the LSU product delivered on his draft pedigree by earning Pro Bowl acclaim in his second and third professional seasons. Understandably, he angled for a lucrative contract extension when he first became eligible after the end of the 2019 campaign, but the lack of an offer and the fact that he had been dangled in trade talks in advance of the 2019 trade deadline irked him, and he formally requested a trade in June 2020. A month later, the Jets obliged and sent Adams to the Seahawks in exchange for a package headlined by two first-round draft picks.

After a productive debut season in Seattle, in which he set a DB record with 9.5 sacks, Adams was rewarded with a four-year, $70MM deal prior to the 2021 season. That was a record-setting mark for safeties at the time, but Adams’ career fell off track shortly after signing the contract. Over the 2021-23 seasons, he appeared in a total of 22 games due to injury, and his salary cap charges made him an obvious release candidate this year. The Seahawks cut ties in March, though the club subsequently expressed interest in a reunion on a less expensive deal.

If Seattle had re-signed Adams, it had hoped to deploy him as a linebacker. That would not have been too different than the in-the-box safety role he generally filled during his time with the ‘Hawks, but player and team could not come to terms on a second accord, and Adams eventually headed to Nashville.

After failing to make an impact with the Titans, Adams will now try to resuscitate his career with the Lions. Although Detroit has posted an 11-1 record in 2024, the club has dealt with a number of key injuries on the defensive side of the ball. Safety Ifeatu Melifonwu is back on IR for the time being, so Adams could offer safety depth behind the the starting tandem of Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch.

Interestingly, the Lions’ LB corps has been hit especially hard by injury (hence the Alexander acquisition). Perhaps Detroit will ask Adams to operate more on the second level of the defense — just as Seattle had planned to do — and/or to rotate in as a pass rusher.

Bills Activate Matt Milano Off IR

November 30th, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Bill have activated Matt Milano off of injured reserve, as first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The veteran linebacker is in line to make his season debut on Sunday night against the 49ers.

Milano has been sidelined since tearing his bicep during training camp in August. The Bills placed him on IR after 53-man roster cuts with a designation to return, indicating that the team expected Milano to play at some point this season.

His practice window was opened on November 11, but Milano needed a few weeks to ramp up before retaking the field in the middle of the Bills defense. Just like last year when Milano missed most of the season with a fractured leg, Buffalo has been vulnerable in the middle of the field without the 2022 All-Pro. The Bills are also allowing 4.9 yards per carry this year, the fifth-highest in the league.

However, Buffalo’s opportunistic defense has only surrendered 214 points, the seventh-fewest in the NFL, largely due to a league-high 17.9% turnover rate. Adding Milano back into the fold won’t take away their turnover potential, but it will shore up their weaknesses, raising the defense’s floor without taking away their disruptive ceiling.

Dorian Williams and Terrel Bernard have started at linebacker in Milano’s absence, with 11 starts and a 77.4% snap share for Williams and eight starts and a 62.14% snap share for Bernard. Both players will likely see a reduction in playing time now that Milano is healthy, especially with the Bills’ propensity to run three-safety dime packages in obvious passing situations.

The Bills also elevated tight end Zach Davidson and quarterback Mike White from the practice squad for Sunday night’s game, per a team announcement. This will be Davidson’s second appearance of the season after serving as the offense’s third tight end against Kansas City. White has yet to be active in a game this year, and he will likely serve as the Bills’ emergency third quarterback.

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