NFL Minor Transactions: 10/21/25
Today’s minor moves:
Cleveland Browns
- Waived from IR: WR Cade McDonald
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed to active roster: CB Kevin Knowles
- Placed on IR: DT Omarr Norman-Lott
New Orleans Saints
- Signed to active roster: RB Velus Jones
New York Giants
- Signed to active roster (off Jets practice squad): CB Korie Black
Washington Commanders
- Sign: DE Jalyn Holmes
The Commanders turned to a familiar face to replace DoranceArmstrong, who is done for the season after suffering a knee injury this past weekend. Washington cut Jalyn Holmes just the other day to make room for guard Sam Cosmi on the active roster, but he quickly found his way back to the active roster. The defensive end has seen time in four games this season, and he collected a pair of sacks in 11 appearances with the franchise in 2024.
Broncos LB Dre Greenlaw Suspended One Game
OCTOBER 21: Greenlaw’s suspension has been upheld on appeal, per NFL Senior VP of Football & International Communications Michael Signora. The Broncos linebacker will officially be sitting out Sunday’s matchup with the Cowboys.
OCTOBER 20: Dre Greenlaw has been hit with a one-game ban. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Broncos linebacker has been suspended one game without pay for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Per the NFL’s release (via Josina Anderson), Greenlaw “chased after referee Brad Allen and verbally threatened him as he tried to leave the field.” The league cited Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1(b), which prohibits “the use of abusive, threatening or insulting language or gestures to opponents, teammates, officials, or representatives of the League.” It’s uncertain what sparked Greenlaw’s outburst, but NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo suspects it may have stemmed from the pass-interference penalty on a previous drive that ultimately got head coach Sean Payton flagged for arguing.
Garafolo notes that Greenlaw has three days to appeal his suspension. If it’s upheld, the linebacker will be forced to miss this Sunday’s matchup with the Cowboys.
It’s not ideal timing for the veteran, who was just making his Broncos debut after sitting out the first month-plus of the season while recovering from a quad injury. He ended up getting into about a quarter of his team’s defensive snaps yesterday, finishing with six total tackles and a QB hit. Greenlaw joined the Broncos on a three-year, $35MM deal after spending the first six seasons of his career with the 49ers. Injuries wiped out his 2021 and 2024 seasons, but he compiled a total of 247 tackles between 2022 and 2023.
Alex Singleton has yet to miss a defensive snap for the Broncos this season and will continue anchoring the linebackers room, but the team will have to get a bit creative with Greenlaw out for Week 8. Justin Strnad stepped up while his teammate was sidelined with an injury, and the former fifth-round pick will likely continue seeing a healthy dose of snaps against Dallas. Rookie Que Robinson has also seen an uptick in playing time since making his NFL debut in Week 6.
Chargers Sign LS Rick Lovato To Active Roster
Rick Lovato is back on the Chargers active roster. The team announced that they’ve signed the long snapper to their 53-man squad.
The veteran actually hasn’t missed a game for the Chargers this season. He caught on with the team’s practice squad in late August as he filled in for an injured Josh Harris. He got a single promotion before earning an actual roster spot ahead of Week 2.
However, Lovato’s future in Los Angeles seemed to temporarily be in doubt after the team suddenly released him last week. This was presumably a way of opening a roster spot, with Lovato still sticking around the organization via his second practice squad pact. With the roster shuffling presumably finished, Lovato is once again a member of the 53, and he’ll likely keep the gig until Harris is ready to return from his undisclosed injury.
Lovato found a home in Philadelphia for nearly a decade, as the long snapper didn’t miss a game for the Eagles between 2017 and 2024. During that time, the Old Dominion product earned a pair of Super Bowl rings and a Pro Bowl nod in 2019. He had the distinction of being one of four Eagles to be rostered for both Super Bowl LII and Super Bowl LIX (along with Brandon Graham, Lane Johnson, and Jake Elliott).
Cowboys Activate WR Jonathan Mingo From IR
Cowboys wide receiver Jonathan Mingo is finally in line to make his 2025 debut. The team activated Mingo from IR on Tuesday, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2.
Mingo sprained his right PCL in August, forcing him to miss the Cowboys’ first seven games. The Cowboys opened Mingo’s 21-day practice window back on Oct. 1, meaning they were running out of time to activate him.
While the Panthers used the 39th overall pick on Mingo in the 2023 draft, the former Mississippi standout has yet to establish himself in the NFL. After he caught just 55 passes in 24 games as a Panther, they dealt him and a seventh-round selection to the Cowboys for a fourth-rounder before last November’s trade deadline. Mingo went on to catch a mere five of 16 targets for 46 yards in his first eight games with the Cowboys.
Now that he’s back, Mingo will have his first opportunity to play with quarterback Dak Prescott on Sunday against Denver. A hamstring injury shelved Prescott for 10 games last season and kept him out past mid-October, preventing him and Mingo from developing a rapport.
A healthy Prescott and the receiver duo of CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens have helped lead the Cowboys’ offense to elite rankings in yards (first) and points (second) during a 3-3-1 start this season. Executive vice president Stephen Jones expects Mingo to give the Cowboys’ potent attack yet another weapon.
“That receiving room has gotten pretty spicy, so he’s going to have to get in there,” Jones told 105.3 The Fan (via Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk). “He’s got an element to his game that we don’t have — rare size and speed, and he’s a physical player, and he’ll be one to get on the field.”
To make room for Mingo, the Cowboys placed offensive lineman Trevor Keegan on IR with a neck injury. A late-August waiver claim from the Eagles, Keegan has played in two games this year and totaled 18 snaps (12 on special teams, six on offense).
Saints C Erik McCoy Suffers Biceps Tear
OCTOBER 21: McCoy and Kendre Miller are now on IR, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Miller suffered an ACL tear in a rather damaging game for the Saints’ offense.
OCTOBER 20: The Saints’ offensive line will be shorthanded for the remainder of the season. Center Erik McCoy suffered a biceps tear yesterday, and will miss the rest of the campaign as a result. 
McCoy exited Sunday’s game, and head coach Kellen Moore stated his “concern” about the possibility of a major recovery timeline being needed (h/t ESPN’s Katherine Terrell). The ailment is indeed season-ending, as first reported by Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football. This marks another campaign brought to an abrupt end in McCoy’s case.
The two-time Pro Bowler managed to avoid major injuries during his first five years in the NFL. In 2024, however, McCoy found himself in and out of the lineup as a result of a groin injury suffered early in the campaign. That year, he was limited to just seven contests. That figure will wind up being duplicated in 2025, and as such New Orleans’ offensive line will be notably shorthanded.
McCoy was one of several veterans whose deals were (as usual) restructured this past offseason. The 28-year-old is under contract through 2027, with roster bonuses due in March for each of the next two league years. How the Saints proceed with him will depend in part on the success of McCoy’s recovery efforts. For now, the 1-6 team will look to find a suitable setup along the O-line with quarterback Spencer Rattler continuing in his first full season as a starter.
The Saints have made several investments at the offensive tackle spots during recent drafts. Doing so has not been necessary at center for several years, though, given McCoy’s status as a full-time starter since arriving in 2019. Right guard Cesar Ruiz has seen time at center in the past, and shifting him to that spot is a move which will no doubt receive consideration to close out the campaign.
New Orleans ranks near the bottom of the league in several offensive categories this year. Rattler has flashed potential at times, but losing McCoy will hinder the Saints as the they look to continue developing over the final weeks of the season.
Giants Cut K Jude McAtamney
After a poor showing in a 33-32 loss to the Broncos on Sunday, the Giants have cut kicker Jude McAtamney, Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post reports. He will head to waivers.
Because the Northern Ireland native has an international exemption, he could return to the Giants’ practice squad without taking up a roster spot. However, it’s unclear if the team will retain him, according to Dunleavy.
With Graham Gano once again needing an injury fill-in (after sustaining a groin injury during a warmup for Big Blue’s Week 3 game), the Giants turned to their practice squad stash. McAtamney has kicked in four games for the Giants this season; these assignments have been quite light on field goal tries. The international signing has only attempted two field goals this season, making both, though neither was beyond 40 yards. Close-range kicks became an issue Sunday.
McAtamney missed two extra points during the Giants’ collapse in Denver, the second of which coming in the final minute. The second miss allowed the Broncos to attempt a game-winning field goal in the final seconds, and Wil Lutz made the walk-off try to sink the visitors in one of the most stunning comebacks in NFL history. McAtamney also missed a PAT in the Giants’ win over the Eagles; he is 9-for-12 on the season.
Teams up by 18 points in the final six minutes of a game had won 1,602 straight games; this became the exception, with the Broncos’ 33-point fourth quarter erasing a 26-8 deficit midway through the stanza. No staff firings have followed this crushing loss, but the Giants will have a new kicker in Week 8. Being placed on IR before Week 4, Gano is eligible for activation from IR. It is unclear if the veteran kicker — a frequently unavailable option in New York — will be ready to go, though. The Giants have Younghoe Koo, whom the Falcons released earlier this season, on their practice squad. He would be the next man up barring another addition.
It is interesting the Giants opted for McAtamney over Koo, given the latter’s experience, but he has been on the team since being signed as part of its 2024 UDFA class. The ex-Irish Gaelic footballer kicked in one game for the Giants last season, making a field goal and a PAT without a miss. But his career may be at a crossroads already after the Sunday debacle.
Sam Robinson contributed to this post.
Falcons Release WR Ray-Ray McCloud
After being sent home from Falcons practice late last week, Ray-Ray McCloud is done with the team. Atlanta is officially moving on via release, per a team announcement.
This is not especially surprising, considering the Falcons had booted the veteran wide receiver/return man from a workout before its Week 7 game. McCloud became a healthy scratch for the second straight game. This evidently did not go over well, and the parties will split midway through their second season together.
Cutting McCloud, who is a vested veteran set to avoid the waiver wire, will bring less than $500K in dead money for the Falcons. He had been tied to a two-year, $5MM deal; the guarantees paid out in 2024. Only part of McCloud’s signing bonus will be left on Atlanta’s payroll.
Considering McCloud’s 2024 production, this is a surprising cut. But the partnership had trended downward this year. The career return specialist erupted for 686 receiving yards and 765 from scrimmage — both far and away career-high marks — and worked as the team’s primary kick returner. He had been less involved this year, returning four kicks and a punt and adding six receptions for 64 yards.
Raheem Morris said the McCloud situation is not tied to the team’s decision to fire receivers coach Ike Hilliard. McCloud, however, saw his role vastly reduced after that decision. He played 69.7% of the team’s offensive snaps in Week 3; after Hilliard’s firing a day later, the slot target was at 35.4% in Week 4. He has not played since, being scratched for the team’s games against the Bills and 49ers.
No WR3 has emerged in Atlanta this season, with Drake London and Darnell Mooney the top two cogs at the position and Kyle Pitts in place at tight end. The Falcons are seeing Bijan Robinson craft a dominant season in what could be a de facto contract year, as his first offseason of extension-eligibility (after Morris has heaped praise on the former No. 8 overall pick) comes in 2026. Robinson’s 390 receiving yards are second to London on the roster, and the RB’s 914 scrimmage yards trail only Christian McCaffrey (981) in the NFL. Atlanta’s third-leading WR (Casey Washington) has five receptions for 69 yards.
Since the Falcons cut McCloud before the trade deadline, he will pass directly to free agency. The Falcons were the 29-year-old’s fifth NFL team, after he had bounced from Buffalo to Carolina to Pittsburgh to San Francisco between 2018-23. McCloud’s return history at the very least figures to generate interest from teams, even as being dropped after being dismissed from practice is not exactly a good look.
Vikings Designate Aaron Jones For Return
Aaron Jones has been out of the picture for the Vikings since suffering a hamstring injury in Week 2, but the veteran running back has a chance to return to action when first eligible.
The Vikings are designating Jones for return from IR, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports. This will give the ninth-year vet a chance to return for the team’s Thursday-night game against the Chargers. Minnesota has used Jordan Mason as its primary starter, after the trade acquisition had formed a committee with Jones in Weeks 1 and 2.
Activating Jones ahead of Week 8 would represent the Vikings’ fourth IR activation used this season. Teams have eight at their disposal, before two more emerge in the playoffs, and Minnesota has been at work reassembling its roster. The team has not seen J.J. McCarthy play since Week 2, either, but the second-year quarterback did not land on IR and can return at any time.
A role as Mason’s 1-B back would be a step down for Jones, who has worked as a primary starter for most of his career. This included a full-season run in that role in Minnesota last year. The ex-Packers standout posted a career-high 1,138 rushing yards last season, adding 408 through the air and totaling seven touchdowns.
Jones did not miss a game in 2024, but he did miss six in 2023. That led the Packers, even after the running back’s late-season resurgence keyed a run to the divisional round, to ask for another pay cut (Jones had accepted a slash in 2023). Jones declining led him to Minnesota, and the Vikings re-signed him this offseason.
The Vikes gave the dual-threat performer a two-year, $20MM deal — one that came with $11.5MM guaranteed at signing. Another $2MM will lock in on Day 3 of the 2026 league year, giving Jones an incentive to reemerge from this early-season setback and play well down the stretch. The Vikings having him ready for a short week would point to the RB being healthy, but Minnesota could give the 30-year-old option a mini-bye by holding him out from its Los Angeles trip.
Through six games, Mason is at 380 rushing yards (4.5 per carry) and four touchdowns. With Mason not much of a receiving threat, Jones would be a big upgrade in a pass-down role. Still, the Vikings effectively demoting their highest-paid RB and turning to Mason — extended on a two-year, $10.5MM deal following a March trade with the 49ers — would be an interesting move. How the team reintegrates Jones will be a storyline to follow in the coming weeks. If Jones returns in Week 8, he will be working with Carson Wentz for the first time.
Panthers To Add QB Mike White To Practice Squad
As Bryce Young nurses a high ankle sprain that’s expected to sideline him for at least Week 8, the Panthers are adding some quarterback depth. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Panthers are signing Mike White to their practice squad.
[RELATED: Panthers QB Bryce Young Dealing With High Ankle Sprain]
After being drafted by the Cowboys in the fifth round of the 2018 draft, White embarked on a tour of the AFC East. He had a notable stop in New York, where he went 2-5 in seven starts with the Jets. That stint still represents the majority of his career tape, and he ended his stint with the team having completed 62.2 percent of his passes for 2,145 yards, eight touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.
He spent the 2023 campaign serving as the QB2 in Miami behind Tua Tagovailoa, but after getting leaped on the depth chart by Skylar Thompson, he was cut loose at the end of the 2024 preseason. He ended up catching on with the Bills practice squad, where he’d spend the majority of the 2024 campaign.
White was among Buffalo’s final cuts at the end of this past preseason. He had a brief stop on the Bengals practice squad following Joe Burrow‘s injury, but he was cut loose a few weeks after signing.
Now, he’ll resurface in Carolina, where Young’s injury carries a recovery timeframe of two to four weeks. Andy Dalton will be the stopgap, and the Panthers will be counting on the veteran to carry the momentum from their active three-game winning streak. White will be an option to serve as the temporary QB2, although the Panthers are also rostering Hendon Hooker on their practice squad.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/20/25
Today’s practice squad moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: WR Colton Dowell
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: CB David Long Jr.
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: TE Brayden Willis
David Long Jr. brings some experience to Indy’s practice squad, as the veteran defensive back has seen time in 79 career games. This included a 13-game showing with the Colts in 2024, although all but nine of his 117 snaps came on special teams. If he finds his way to the active roster, he’ll likely be eyeing a similar role this time around.