Brock Vereen

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/6/16

Here are Tuesday’s practice squad signings and cuts from around the NFL:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Signed: QB Aaron Murray, QB Zac Dysert (team announcement)

Atlanta Falcons

  • Signed: WR Nick Williams (Twitter link via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution), DL Joe Vellano (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com)
  • Cut: DT Joey Mbu (Twitter link via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com)

Baltimore Ravens

  • Signed: QB David Fales (Twitter link via Adam Caplan of ESPN.com), G Jarell Broxton (Twitter link via Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun)

Buffalo Bills

  • Signed: LB Carlos Fields, DB Damian Parms (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle)

Dallas Cowboys

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Minnesota Vikings

  • Signed: T Carter Bykowski (Twitter link via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press)
  • Cut: CB Tre Roberson

New England Patriots

New York Jets

New Orleans Saints

Seattle Seahawks

  • Signed: OL Takoby Cofield

Tennessee Titans:

  • Signed: WR Tre McBride (Twitter link via Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com)
  • Cut: WR Ben Roberts

Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC West

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC West teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders, and Chargers are noted below.

Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s AFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day. All links go to Twitter unless otherwise noted:

Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs

Oakland Raiders

San Diego Chargers

Chiefs Move Roster To 53

The Chiefs have moved their roster to 53 by cutting the following players:

The Chiefs also traded WR Rod Streater to the 49ers. Reaves was also a late cut by the Chiefs this time last year. KC signed him to the taxi squad in October of 2015 and he later inked a future/reserve deal with the team in January 2016.

Chiefs Claim Brock Vereen From Patriots

The Chiefs have claimed safety Brock Vereen off waivers from the Patriots, reports Field Yates of ESPN (Twitter link). It appeared Tuesday that Vereen, who turned 24 today, was going to retire. However, Vereen was reinstated from the retirement list shortly after landing on it. The Pats then released him.

Vereen, whom the Bears chose out of Minnesota in the fourth round of the 2014 draft, partook in all 16 of their games (four starts) as a rookie and posted 30 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble. He didn’t appear in a game last year, though, after the Bears waived him in September. Vereen, the brother of Giants running back Shane Vereen, then spent time on the practice squads of the Vikings and Patriots.

A free safety, Vereen will now try to catch on in a Chiefs secondary that’s bereft of its starter, four-time Pro Bowler and current holdout Eric Berry. Along with Vereen, the Chiefs’ depth options include Stevie Brown and Jamell Fleming, as Roster Resource indicates.

Brock Vereen To Retire

TUESDAY, 4:38pm: This is odd, but Vereen has been reinstated from the retirement list after 24 hours. It’s not clear if Vereen still plans on playing football, but regardless, he has been released by the Pats, Jeff Howe of The Boston Herald tweets.

5:54pm: Former fourth-round pick Brock Vereen will retire after spending only two seasons in the NFL, according to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald (Twitter link). The Patriots have placed Vereen on the reserve/retired list.Brock Vereen (Vertical)

Vereen, a safety, was selected by the Bears out of Minnesota in the 2014 draft, and was an immediate contributor, appearing in all 16 games (starting four) while posting 30 tackles, one interception, and one forced fumble. His playing time dwindled during his sophomore campaign, however, and Vereen was eventually waived at the start of the 2015 season.

Vereen, who turns 24 years old on Wednesday, subsequently spent time on the practice squads of Minnesota and New England before signing a futures deal with the Pats earlier this year. According to Howe, Vereen had been having a solid camp with the Patriots, so one has to wonder if there is some underlying cause to this sudden news.

Vereen is the younger brother of Giants running back Shane Vereen.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/25/16

Here are today’s minor transactions from around the NFL, including reserve/futures signings and practice squad moves:

  • Having been eliminated from the postseason, the Patriots began signing their practice squad players to reserve/futures contracts today. Per Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (Twitter link), the following players inked futures deals with New England:
  • The Broncos have the flexibility to continue to make changes to their practice squad since they’re still alive in the playoffs, and apparently did so today by releasing tight end Dan Light from their 10-man unit. Light himself tweeted word of the move this afternoon. To replace Light on their practice squad, the Broncos signed fellow TE Nick Kasa, according to Mike Klis of 9News (via Twitter).

NFC Notes: D. Hall, Cowboys, Lions

Washington defensive back DeAngelo Hall, a longtime cornerback who has earned three Pro Bowl nods at the position, wants to play safety not just to extend his career, but to make a real impact, writes Liz Clarke of the Washington Post.

“I’m not gonna try to go play safety just to try to extend my career,” Hall said. “I’m gonna go play safety just to be a damn good safety. I’m not in the business of just trying to just tack on years. I can go home and hang with my kids and my family before I do that.”

Here’s more from around the NFC:

  • In addition to the trio of ex-Seahawks running backs the Cowboys have acquired this year, Dallas also tried to sign Thomas Rawls as a priority free agent, Ed Werder of ESPN.com tweets. The Cowboys are currently carrying former Seattle backs Robert Turbin and Rod Smith on their roster, having recently cut Christine Michael.
  • Explaining why the Seahawks released wide receiver Chris Matthews this week, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said that the club “just didn’t feel like we got what we were looking for” from Matthews (Twitter link via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times). The Seattle OC praised Matthews talent, but cautioned there was more to on-field success than that. “You have to be able to fit in and you have to be able to make plays when your opportunities come,” Bevell said. “You have to be able to understand the offense and do the right thing, and all those things together, it just wasn’t enough.”
  • With a game against Carson Palmer‘s old team coming up this weekend, Cardinals GM Steve Keim said he can’t believe his club got the quarterback “for basically nothing,” tweets Ed Werder of ESPN.com. Of course, Arizona’s game this week is against the Bengals, who got a much more significant return for Palmer when they sent to him to Oakland than the Raiders did when they sent him to the Cards.
  • The Lions‘ search for secondary depth resulted in workouts for defensive backs Danny Gorrer, R.J. Stanford, and Brock Vereen, along with a visit from cornerback Josh Gordy, per Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (Twitter links). The team ultimately signed veteran corner Bill Bentley, who also had an audition this week.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/18/15

Here are Wednesday’s practice squad signings and cuts, with any additional moves added to the list throughout the day:

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

  • Signed: CB Terrance Mitchell (Twitter link via Rich Campbell of ESPN.com)

Dallas Cowboys

New England Patriots

New York Giants

  • Signed: WR Ben Edwards, C Shane McDermott (link via Jordan Raanan of NJ.com)

San Diego Chargers

Seattle Seahawks

St. Louis Rams

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/13/15

Here are Friday’s practice squad signings and cuts from around the NFL:

Indianapolis Colts

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Jets

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/30/15

Tuesdays and Wednesdays are typically the most active time during the NFL season for teams to make changes to their practice squads, so we should expect another busy day today. Here are the latest practice squad signings and cuts from around the league:

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington:

  • Signed: OLB Sage Harold (Twitter link via Mike Jones of the Washington Post)