Clayton Fejedelem

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/8/22

Here are the roster moves for today, leading into gameday tomorrow. Reminder that gameday elevations will revert to the practice squad after this weekend’s games:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/5/22

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

A number of players who were placed on IR after the preseason and prior to the regular season returned to practice today. These players will have a three-week practice window until they have to be activated to the active roster. Otherwise, they’ll be ineligible to return this season.

One of the most surprising returns is Cardinals cornerback Antonio Hamilton. The former undrafted free agent rode a strong preseason to a potential starting gig, but he was sidelined with second-degree burns after spilling hot oil on his legs and feet. Kliff Kingsbury previously said an early-October return may be a “little aggressive” (per ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss on Twitter), but the cornerback ended up working his way back to practice.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/1/22

Teams continue to tinker with their rosters after hundreds of players were cut earlier this week. We’ve tracked all of today’s minor moves below:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Dolphins, DB Justin Bethel Agree To Deal

Although Justin Bethel has turned his talents on special teams into a lengthy NFL career, he did not make the Patriots’ 53-man roster this year. But another AFC East team will provide an opportunity.

Bethel is signing with the Dolphins. As a vested veteran, Bethel bypassed the waiver process and will head to Miami after spending the past two-plus seasons in New England. To make room on their 53-man roster, the Dolphins placed safety Clayton Fejedelem on IR.

The former sixth-round pick has 10 seasons under his belt; three of those (2013-15) produced Pro Bowl nods. While those honors came during Bethel’s run as a part-time cornerback in Arizona, they were associated with his special teams acumen. Bethel, 32, never worked out as a corner but has become one of the league’s top special-teamers.

The Patriots used Bethel on 84% of their special teams plays in 2020 and had him out there on 79% of such sequences last season. High-level valuers of special teams performance, as Matthew Slater‘s career illustrates, the Pats still could not find a roster spot for the veteran this year.

While Bethel did not have a regular role on defense in New England, he will rejoin former Pats cornerbacks coach Josh Boyer, who is going into his third season as the Dolphins’ defensive coordinator. Bethel will see his previous teammates in Week 1.

Dolphins, CB Byron Jones Rework Contract

The Dolphins are working to keep one the league’s most respected cornerback tandems together in Miami while retaining a bit of spending ability under the salary cap. According to Field Yates of ESPN, cornerback Byron Jones agreed to a reworked contract today to help create some cap space. 

The Dolphins converted $13.26MM of the base salary due to Jones in 2022 into a signing bonus. Along with clearing $750,000 of cap space by reworking the contract of safety Clayton Fejedelem, Miami was able to create $11.35MM of cap space. With the release of offensive lineman Jesse Davis and wide receiver Allen Hurns yesterday, the Dolphins have cleared $17.55MM of cap space in the course of two days.

The new available spending money makes the recent additions of tackle Terron Armstead and wide receiver Tyreek Hill (who was extended after his trade from Kansas City) a bit easier to stomach. Jones was able to joke about helping the team acquire such talent, tweeting out clown-faced emojis meant, in his words, to depict “(him) restructuring (his) contract just to have Tyreek Hill burn (him) everyday in practice.”

The Dolphins’ focus will now likely shift to the other side of the secondary with cornerback Xavien Howard. Howard is reportedly seeking an increase in salary and a reworked deal could kill two birds with one stone: getting Howard a new and improved deal while creating a bit more cap space for Miami.

Clayton Fejedelem Joins Miami

While it’s far from the biggest news in the Dolphins secondary, Miami agreed to terms with safety and core special-teams player Clayton Fejedelem on a three-year deal worth up to $8.55MM ($3MM guarantees), according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com.

The Bengals selected Fejedelem in the seventh round of the 2016 Draft and has appeared in every game for Cincinnati in the four seasons since. While he started five games at safety in 2017 and nabbed an interception and a pair of passes defended, the bulk of his work has come on special teams.

Over his career, Fejedelem has made 77 solo tackles, forced one fumble, recovered two fumbles, and scored one touchdown. The Dolphins amidst a major rebuild are flush with cap space and are clearly targetting specific players. Fejedelem’s addition will not transform the franchise, but it will add a solid contributor to a team flush with young talent, assets, and a long-term plan.

Draft Signings: Packers, Seahawks, Chargers

The Packers have signed second-round pick Jason Spriggs, as Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com writes. The tackle from Indiana will earn just over $5MM on his four-year deal with nearly $3MM guaranteed. Spriggs is now the the fifth Packers draft pick to sign and only two rookies remain unsigned for Green Bay in first-round pick Kenny Clark and third-rounder Kyler Fackrell.

Here are the rest of today’s draft signings from round two and lower:

  • The Panthers announced the signing of second-round cornerback James Bradberry and seventh-round tight end Beau Sandland. Bradberry started his collegiate career at Arkansas State but finished up at Samford.
  • Derek Watt, former Wisconsin fullback-tight end and J.J. Watt‘s brother, signed his sixth-round rookie deal with the Chargers today, Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle tweets.
  • The Raiders announced the signing of seventh-round guard Vadal Alexander. Alexander is the first member of Oakland’s draft class to officially put pen to paper.
  • The Raiders also announced the signing of quarterback Connor Cook. The Michigan State product fell to Oakland in the fourth-round of last month’s draft.

Earlier Updates:

  • The Seahawks signed seventh-round pick Zac Brooks, as Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times tweets. All ten of Seattle’s draft picks have now signed.
  • The Chargers signed fourth-round linebacker Joshua Perry, as Jenna Laine tweets.
  • The Ravens have signed fourth-round cornerback Tavon Young, as Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun tweets.
  • The Bengals announced (Twitter link) the signing of seventh-round safety Clayton Fejedelem.
  • The Cardinals signed three of their rookies in cornerback Brandon Williams, center Evan Boehm, and cornerback Harlan Miller (Twitter link).