Marcus Gilchrist

Vikings To Interview Chris Beatty For OC Job

Kevin O’Connell is officially the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, and he’s now looking to add some key members to his staff. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter), the Vikings will interview Chargers receivers coach Chris Beatty for their offensive coordinator job. The interview will take place today.

Beatty had a long collegiate coaching career, including stints as co-offensive coordinator at Illinois and Maryland. After spending two seasons as Pittsburgh’s wideouts coach, he joined the NFL in 2021 as the Chargers receivers coach. During his first season in the role, the Chargers had a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in Keenan Allen and Mike Williams.

We’ve been hearing various notes about O’Connell’s staff throughout the week. Notably, Dave Canales will remain as the team’s QBs coach, while Brian Angelichio and Curtis Modkins will serve as offensive pass and run game coordinators.

On the other side of the ball, Ed Donatell was recently confirmed as the team’s new defensive coordinator, giving the first-time head coach an incredibly experienced staffer on the defensive side of the ball.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/27/20

We’ll keep track of the practice squad moves from the past day here:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Jacksonville Jaguars

  • Released: T Jared Hilbers

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

  • Signed: K Austin MacGinnis

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/17/20

Here are Saturday’s minor moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Indianapolis Colts

Miami Dolphins

New York Giants

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/30/20

Today’s practice squad moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

  • Signed: G Deion Calhoun, LB Kendall Donnerson
  • Released: OT Josh Knipfel

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Seattle Seahawks

New Orleans Saints

NFL Workout Updates: 9/29/20

Here are some of the key developments from the NFL’s workout circuit as of Tuesday:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Miami Dolphins

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Football Team

Jaguars Waive Marcus Gilchrist

The Jaguars waived veteran safety Marcus Gilchrist, per a club announcement. To take his place, they promoted safety Doug Middleton from the practice squad. 

Gilchrist joined the Jags in late November and appeared in each of the team’s last three games. His Jacksonville stint ends with two tackles on 53 defensive snaps and 19 special teams plays. The 31-year-old has started in 98 games as a pro for the Chargers, Jets, Texans, and Raiders.

Middleton, meanwhile, has 12 total NFL games on his resume, including seven last year for the Jets. For his career, he has 28 tackles and four passes defensed.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/26/19

Today’s minor moves:

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

New Orleans Saints

Lions Sign S Marcus Gilchrist

The Lions are signing Marcus Gilchrist, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press relays on Twitter. The safety started 16 games for the Raiders last season.

Detroit traded away Quandre Diggs earlier this week, which created a need in the secondary. Gilchrist will add depth to a passing defense that ranks 15th, according to Football Outsiders’ DVOA.

Gilchrist was a second-round pick by the Chargers out of Clemson back in 2011. In addition to at-the-time San Diego, the safety has previously played for New York, Oakland, and Houston.

NFL Workout Updates: 10/23/19

Today’s workout updates:

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

Broncos Notes: Sanders, Harris, Patrick

A year after trading the other half of their Super Bowl 50 starting receiver tandem, the Broncos dealt Emmanuel Sanders to the 49ers. The interest in Sanders had escalated to the point five teams were in on him, Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic notes (subscription required). John Elway hinted at a Sanders-related event occurring between the Titans and Chiefs games, with Jhabvala adding it didn’t sit well with the GM. Sanders also wanted to be traded, per Jhabvala, and expressed that desire in a meeting with Elway and Vic Fangio last week.

This Broncos return — third- and fourth-round picks — is considerably better than the one they fetched for Demaryius Thomas, whom the Texans acquired for a fourth-rounder last October. Sanders had grown into Denver’s top wideout last season and rehabbed an Achilles tear to the point he was a key factor in this Broncos offense. But over the past three games, the 32-year-old took a backseat to Courtland Sutton and had caught just seven passes for 69 yards. The Broncos now have seven picks in the first four rounds of the 2020 draft.

Here is the latest from the Broncos, who may not be done selling.

  • Interest has naturally developed for Chris Harris, but the teams that were interested added other corners in recent days, per Mike Klis of 9News (on Twitter). The Texans pursued Harris but instead acquired Gareon Conley from the Raiders for a third-rounder, pointing to the Broncos setting a higher asking price for their four-time Pro Bowler. With Wade Phillips running the Rams’ defense, it’s likely they were interested in reuniting Harris and Aqib Talib. They bet bigger on Jalen Ramsey instead. Harris will obviously be a name to watch before the Oct. 29 trade deadline.
  • The contract-year corner is expected to test the market next year, after he and the Broncos could not come to terms on an extension this offseason. But Harris said he has not approached Elway about a deal now and still wants to finish his career with the Broncos, per Jhabvala (Twitter links). The Broncos do not have an obvious replacement for Harris like they did with Sanders (DaeSean Hamilton), so a trade there would stand to limit the 2019 team more.
  • An interesting piece of the Broncos’ IR equation will take shape as a result of the Sanders trade. Elway said Tim Patrick will be one of the team’s IR-return players. Patrick, an auxiliary wideout for last season’s Denver team, cannot return until Week 11. With Drew Lock having returned to practice, this points to the Broncos’ two spots being spoken for. That would leave Theo Riddick and Jake Butt in line to miss the season. The Broncos signed Riddick for one year and $2.5MM.
  • Being without safety starter Will Parks, the Broncos auditioned veterans Marcus Gilchrist and Kentrell Brice, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Gilchrist spent last season with the Raiders and was a Charger from 2011-14. Brice started 10 games for the Packers last season and spent time with the Buccaneers earlier this year. Denver also worked out defensive linemen DeShawn Williams and Joel Heath.