HEADLINES

Year: 2023

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/15/23

November 15th, 2023 at 7:41pm CST by Ely Allen

Wednesday’s minor roster moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

So far this year, Zakelj, the second-year interior offensive lineman, has only appeared in four games on special teams, but the team intended for him to compete with free agent signing Jon Feliciano for the backup center job behind starter Jake Brendel. With Aaron Banks out last week, and with the coaches wanting to get Feliciano more involved at right guard anyway, according to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports, Zakelj became a key backup at center. Unfortunately for Zakelj and the 49ers, a torn bicep will require surgery, taking Zakelj out for the remainder of the season.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/15/23

November 15th, 2023 at 7:06pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s practice squad moves:

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Houston Texans

Los Angeles Chargers

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Price was brought in to serve as center depth after an injury to starting center Tyler Biadasz. He ended up losing the backup center job to Brock Hoffman, who has played in nine games and started one of them for the Cowboys this year.

Verrett, a veteran cornerback, has been stuck on the Texans practice squad for just over a month now without making an appearance. Despite following former defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans to Houston, he reportedly didn’t fit the plan for the team moving forward, mostly due to the fact that he doesn’t play on special teams. This extends Verrett’s NFL absence as he has still not seen regular season action since September of 2021.

Cardinals Claim RB Michael Carter

November 15th, 2023 at 5:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

5:19pm: The Buccaneers and Commanders also put in Carter claims, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. Both four-win teams reside behind the Cardinals in the waiver order, leading the young running back to the desert.

3:47pm: Michael Carter did not advance far down the waiver priority list. His name stopped at the Cardinals, who submitted a successful claim, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter. The 2-8 team will move see what the third-year back can provide.

The Jets made the surprising decision to waive the backup running back Tuesday. The 2021 draftee is signed through 2024. This marks another reserve RB addition for the Cardinals, who have cycled through a few this season. Carter, 24, is due a nonguaranteed $1.1MM next year.

Both Damien Williams and Tony Jones Jr. emerged as backups during the Cardinals’ stretch without James Conner. The team moved on from both last week, with Conner back in the fold after a four-week IR stay. Despite Conner’s return to the 53-man roster, Arizona will still gauge Carter’s fit in Drew Petzing‘s offense.

One of two Michael Carters the Jets drafted in 2021, the North Carolina alum showed some promise as a rookie. In the Joe Douglas–Robert Saleh regime’s first offseason, the Jets chose Carter in Round 4. Carter proceeded to lead the Jets in rushing that season, totaling 639 yards (4.3 per carry) and four touchdowns. The former Javonte Williams Tar Heels teammate nearly reached 1,000 scrimmage yards as a rookie, contributing 325 through the air as well. Carter’s scrimmage-yards total that year paced the Jets by more than 300.

Carter enjoyed that notable rookie season despite missing three games, but with the Jets finishing 4-13, it did not generate too much acclaim. The Jets drafted Breece Hall in the 2022 second round, demoting Carter. The team also signed Dalvin Cook this offseason, bringing in the ex-Vikings Pro Bowler as Hall insurance. While Carter held off Bam Knight for a roster spot this year, the team is expected to give more playing time to rookie fifth-rounder Israel Abanikanda. Carter averaged just 3.5 yards per carry last season, filling in as one of the Jets’ solutions following Hall’s ACL tear.

The Cardinals have kept Keaontay Ingram and rookie UDFA Emari Demercado in place as Conner’s backups. Carter will join the roster as a fourth running back, potentially providing aid on passing downs. That said, Demercado has missed the past two games with a toe injury. Carter will supply more depth to a Cardinals team that could look to him as a multiyear contributor. This regime did not authorize Conner’s three-year, $21MM extension, calling the veteran’s 2024 status into question. For now, Carter profiles as a Conner backup in the again-Kyler Murray-led Cards attack.

Buccaneers Open To Extending Baker Mayfield; Latest On Mike Evans, Antoine Winfield Jr.

November 15th, 2023 at 3:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

Baker Mayfield‘s 2021 and ’22 seasons tanked his 2023 free agent market. He settled for backup money from the Buccaneers, who were looking to cut costs after the Tom Brady $35.1MM in dead money hit their cap. Mayfield fit the bill, signing a one-year deal worth $4MM.

Midway through the season, Mayfield is on pace to fare better on the 2024 market — should he land in free agency. Mayfield, 28, entered the season joining Kirk Cousins and Ryan Tannehill as starting quarterbacks in contract years. With Tannehill benched and Cousins out for the season, Mayfield is the only one left who has a clear path to adjusting his 2024 stock. The Bucs are an interested party, which makes sense given their standing.

The Bucs are open to the idea of a second Mayfield contract, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes. They have exclusive negotiating rights with their current starter until March’s legal tampering period. That said, Fowler adds the sides have not engaged in negotiations just yet. It would make sense for both parties to let more of the season play out. Mayfield could elevate his stock with a strong finish, but given his inconsistent career, the Bucs also may still be leery of a more lucrative payment to a middling quarterback.

Far from middling in 2021 and ’22, Mayfield was with three teams last year and finished with league-worst QBR. Some Panthers staffers viewed Mayfield’s late arrival in Charlotte, which came to pass because of lengthy negotiations between Cleveland and Carolina regarding both draft compensation and an adjusted contract, impacted his poor Panthers performance. Mayfield played through a shoulder injury for most of his 2021 season in Cleveland, and the Browns moved on via the controversial Deshaun Watson trade/extension.

Mayfield ranks 14th in QBR through nine games, and he is completing passes (64.6%) at a career-high rate while carrying 14-5 TD-INT ratio. While the Bucs lost four straight after a 3-1 start, Mayfield had them in position to upend the Texans before a C.J. Stroud last-minute drive. He has tossed two touchdown passes in each of the past three games while throwing just one INT in that span.

While Cousins has been one of the game’s most consistent quarterbacks during his Minnesota stretch and Tannehill has seen ankle trouble (and the Titans’ second-round Will Levis investment) ding his stock, Mayfield can change his perception over the next two months. It would be highly unlikely to see Mayfield rival Cousins for AAV in 2024, but a midlevel QB accord could be in play.

Mayfield’s top target is also in a contract year. Mike Evans came up briefly at the trade deadline, but the Bucs showed no indication then or in August — when the Jets initially called — they were open to dealing the nine-time 1,000-yard receiver. Blazing toward a record-extending 10th straight 1,000-yard year to start a career, Evans is playing out a contract he inked in 2018. The Bucs are not believed to have proposed a second extension to the best wideout in franchise history, but Fowler adds some around the league believed the door is not shut on Tampa Bay revisiting talks and finding a way to retain the free agent-to-be.

Evans set a Week 1 extension deadline, making his dissatisfaction with contract talks public late in the summer. Nothing materialized, but GM Jason Licht has continually praised the likely Hall of Fame-bound talent, and although Evans said no offer has come despite off-and-on talks over the past two years, the longtime GM said in August the team wants Evans to stay in Tampa long term. Considering how close Evans would be to becoming a first-time free agent, the Bucs may have to battle other teams on the open market.

Then again, Tampa Bay has done well in that department. Over the past three offseasons, the team has re-signed Shaq Barrett, Carlton Davis, Jamel Dean and Lavonte David after letting them gauge the market during recent tampering periods. An Evans departure would obviously create a glaring need for the Bucs, which would point to the organization being interested. It remains to be seen, however, if the team is ready to pay upper-echelon money to convince the 30-year-old weapon to pass on outside interest come March.

The best bet for a Bucs franchise tag, though, might be Antoine Winfield Jr. Much younger than Mayfield and Evans, the 25-year-old safety would be on track to become one of the top 2024 free agents. A summer rumor indicated the Bucs were interested in extending Winfield, but nothing has come of it yet. At midseason, Fowler adds the Bucs have not made aggressive attempts to re-sign their young players just yet. Given the timelines of the Davis and Dean deals, it is not too surprising the Bucs have not gotten serious on a second Winfield contract yet.

This year’s safety market largely settled in south of $10MM per year, but Jessie Bates was the outlier, signing a four-year, $64MM Falcons pact. Winfield’s age and productivity would put him in line to rival Bates’ accord, which could conceivably bring the tag into play. A few teams have cuffed safeties during the 2020s. The Broncos tagged Justin Simmons twice, while the Bengals (Bates), Vikings (Anthony Harris), Saints (Marcus Williams) and Jets (Marcus Maye) unholstered the tag as well. Those tag prices all came in south of $13MM. OverTheCap projects the 2024 safety tag to be north of $18MM, which would make such a decision more difficult.

While the Bucs exercised Tristan Wirfs‘ fifth-year option to extend his negotiating timeline, they have until early March to keep their 2020 second-round pick off the market.

Panthers HC Frank Reich Reclaims Play-Calling Duties

November 15th, 2023 at 2:29pm CST by Adam La Rose

NOVEMBER 15: Brown’s initial run as Panthers play-caller will stop after three games. Reich will indeed take back the play-calling reins, he revealed Wednesday. Reich, who called plays throughout his Colts HC tenure, said early this offseason he saw Brown as a future play-caller. The Panthers picked up their first win with Brown calling the shots, though after topping 20 points in three of its first six games, the team has not exceeded 15 over the past three.

While Reich said (via Person and ESPN’s Adam Schefter) this will still be a collaborative process and that it will not impact Brown’s standing with the team, the quick turnaround certainly qualifies as an interesting development for the 1-8 team. Although the Panthers are in a clear rebuild, this season is obviously pivotal to Young’s long-term growth. Through that lens, Reich’s experience calling plays is rather important.

NOVEMBER 14: Frank Reich made it clear before his debut season as Panthers head coach that he would begin the year as the team’s play-caller, but that offensive coordinator Thomas Brown would be handed the reins at some point. A switch was made one month ago, but a quick change in course may be coming soon.

With Carolina struggling to produce on offense early in rookie quarterback Bryce Young‘s career, Reich chose the bye week as the time to delegate to Brown. The latter had never called plays at the NFL level, but his time with the Rams earned him a reputation as one of the league’s top young offensive minds. Brown’s three games in charge have not gone as planned, however, with the Panthers managing just two offensive touchdowns.

When speaking publicly in the wake of Carolina’s Thursday night loss to the Bears, Reich has on multiple occasions declined to confirm that Brown will remain the team’s play-caller. He has indicated, though, via Joe Person of The Athletic, that personnel changes are being considered on offense (subscription required). It remains to be seen what that will entail, but pressure is believed to be mounting for improvements to be made by Reich and Co. before the end of the campaign.

Panthers owner David Tepper has reportedly grown frustrated with the lack of progress shown by Young and a unit which has struggled both on the ground and through the air. Carolina ranks near the bottom of the league in a number of offensive categories, including 29th in both points (17) and yards (305) per game. A lack of week-to-week improvement shown during Brown’s (very brief) period at the helm could lead Reich to take back play-calling duties at some point in the near future, a move which would give the team a more experienced voice guiding the unit.

“However we’ve done the play-calling – whoever’s been doing the play-calling – we haven’t performed as an offense. So let me just make that point clear, first of all, Reich said. “As I look toward, now, the last half of the season, what’s the best dynamic and why? Any decision that’s ultimately made is just gonna be based on that one pure factor. So that’s how we’ll approach it.”

The 1-8 Panthers do not own their first-round pick in 2024 due to last year’s trade which landed them Young. With no incentive to continue their poor first half of the campaign, it will be interesting to see what changes are made down the stretch, and how the offense responds to them.

Seahawks Open T Abraham Lucas’ Practice Window

November 15th, 2023 at 1:34pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Seahawks lost both their starting tackles in Week 1. While Charles Cross returned not long after, the team has been without its starting right tackle since the opener. After missing half the season, Abraham Lucas is on his way back.

Lucas received a return designation Wednesday, per The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar, coming back to practice for first time in more than two months. A knee injury sidelined Lucas against the Rams. It is now a possibility the second-year blocker makes his return for the Week 11 Seahawks-Rams rematch.

[RELATED: Week 11 Injured Reserve Return Tracker]

Voyaging to the playoffs despite starting two rookie tackles, the Seahawks were naturally expecting the Cross-Lucas tandem to improve in its second season. Lucas’ injury put those plans on hold. The Seahawks have turned to Stone Forsythe as their RT replacement. Jason Peters, who is in his age-41 season, has been rotating in as well. The team signed Peters in the wake of the Cross and Lucas maladies, and the 20th-year lineman has played over the past three weeks. Peters played 55 offensive snaps to Forsythe’s 25 against the Commanders.

Seattle chose Cross ninth overall and bookended him with Lucas, who went 72nd. The Washington State alum started 16 games. Together, Lucas and Cross played more than 94% of Seattle’s offensive snaps, becoming a crucial reason for Geno Smith‘s Comeback Player of the Year campaign and the 2022 Seahawks edition’s surprising playoff appearance.

As the Seahawks became the rare team to turn to two rookie tackles, Pro Football Focus graded Lucas just inside the top 40 among tackles last season. The team made changes at center and right guard this season, with Austin Blythe retiring and the team cutting Gabe Jackson. PFF has not viewed the replacements — free agency addition Evan Brown and former backup Phil Haynes — as especially effective thus far, ranking Haynes 55th among guards and Brown 26th at center. These showings have prompted the advanced metrics site to rank Seattle’s O-line 25th after Week 10. Lucas’ return would certainly stand to help matters, but the team has some issues to iron out at the midpoint.

Patriots Designate T Riley Reiff For Return

November 15th, 2023 at 12:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Patriots’ top offseason acquisition to staff their right tackle spot has not been available much this season, but the team still has Riley Reiff in its plans. Despite already using one IR activation on Reiff this year, the Patriots once again designated him for return, per ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss.

Reiff is back at Pats practice Wednesday, signifying the return designation. The NFL’s 2022 rule update, which reintroduced limits on how many players can return from IR in a season, allows for the same player to be designated for return twice. Both moves, however, will count toward the Pats’ eight-activation total. So far, the team has only used three. Reiff landing on IR for a third time would end his season; he has three weeks to be activated or would revert to season-ending IR.

An October activation went to Reiff, who was initially placed on IR just before the season. A leg injury shut Reiff down at that point. A knee injury, which Bill Belichick classified as a new malady rather than an aggravation of the previous ailment, led Reiff back to IR two weeks later. The Patriots are on bye this week, but Reiff became eligible to return to practice after Week 10. It seems likely the 34-year-old blocker will be back on the Pats’ active roster soon.

Reiff, who signed a one-year deal worth $5MM this offseason, avoided a notable injury last season and ended up transitioning from a Bears swingman to their right tackle starter. While the Patriots were rumored to be eyeing a bigger splash at right tackle, they instead signed Reiff and made other lower-level investments to staff the position. The team has since moved guard Michael Onwenu to right tackle, thus making Reiff’s return interesting on multiple fronts.

Onwenu has played right tackle extensively, but the former sixth-round pick began the past two seasons at guard. Although the team planned to start Onwenu at right guard and Reiff at right tackle to begin the year, Bill Belichick said Onwenu is staying at right tackle. Reiff has also spent time at guard this year, playing inside in Week 5 and having previously worked at the position in the summer. Reiff has spent nearly his entire career at tackle, lining up on the left and right edges for his bevy of teams. If Onwenu is truly entrenched at RT, Reiff may well have another chance at guard.

Reiff, who will turn 35 in two weeks, is likely nearing the end of a lengthy career. This is Year 12 for the former Lions first-round pick. He has started 149 career games and played in 164, suiting up for the Lions, Vikings, Bengals, Bears and Patriots. While a season-ending injury prevented Reiff from helping the Bengals clinch a Super Bowl LVI berth, the Iowa alum had never played fewer than 12 games in a season. The two IR stints this year ended that streak.

Vikings Open Nick Mullens’ Practice Window

November 15th, 2023 at 11:27am CST by Sam Robinson

Wednesday morning’s stream of quarterback news will continue with a Vikings update. They will have one of their original active-roster QBs back at practice this week. Nick Mullens will begin work toward an IR activation, being designated for return.

The Vikings placed Mullens on IR last month with a back injury. In the time since that transaction, the team lost sixth-year starter Kirk Cousins to a torn Achilles and saw replacement Jaren Hall sustain a concussion. This has opened the door to Josh Dobbs, who should be expected to keep the job for the foreseeable future.

Mullens has been with the Vikings, however, for the past two seasons. The former 49ers UDFA returning will fortify Minnesota’s QB position, which featured in-season practice squad addition Sean Mannion backing up Dobbs in Week 10. Hall had not yet cleared concussion protocol, moving Mannion back into his old job as the Vikes’ backup. Mullens would stand to be on track to reclaim that role, though it is not certain he will be ready to do so this week. The Vikings have three weeks to activate Mullens.

The Vikings have gone from 0-3 to 6-4, making a remarkable turnaround without Justin Jefferson available for most of this stretch. Dobbs piloted the team to wins in its past two games, coming off the bench to lead a win over the Falcons days after being acquired from the Cardinals. Dobbs continued one of the more eventful stretches in QB-journeyman annals last week, leading a win over the Saints. If the Vikings can turn this into a playoff spot, they would join the 2018 Texans as the only 0-3 teams to recover and advance to the playoffs.

Minnesota designated Jefferson for return last week, and while the all-world wide receiver has not considered shutting himself down for the season, he made it clear he will not return at less than 100%. Considering the number of hamstring aggravations in recent years, it would not surprise to see Jefferson need multiple weeks in the IR-return window before coming back. The Vikings face the Broncos on Sunday night. Minnesota remains in good shape regarding its IR activations; the team has only used two thus far, opening the door to both Jefferson and Mullens coming back.

After initially bringing in Mullens just before the 2022 season, the Vikings re-signed him to a two-year, $4MM deal in March. Mullens, 28, has not started a game as a Viking, as Cousins’ previous run of durability kept his backups on the bench for the bulk of this six-year period. But the veteran backup has completed 21 of 25 passes over four appearances with the team.

Justin Fields Expected To Return In Week 11

November 15th, 2023 at 11:01am CST by Sam Robinson

The Bears’ plan of evaluating Justin Fields skidded off track in October. A Week 6 thumb injury sidelined the young quarterback, but the team is on track to resume its Year 3 study soon.

Matt Eberflus confirmed Fields is expected to come back in Week 11, with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport previously indicating the third-year passer was readying to return after four missed games. Fields never landed on IR, but Chicago has been cautious with the 2021 first-round pick.

Since the draft settled in April beginning in 1976, no team had knowingly traded a No. 1 overall pick before April until GM Ryan Poles pulled the trigger on the blockbuster with the Panthers. The second-year GM did so before free agency in March, pledging to see how Fields would look in an improved offense. The young QB’s dislocated thumb put this plan on hold for an extended stretch, leading to four Tyson Bagent starts. The Bears will see how Fields looks coming off this injury — in what figures to be an important stretch for the franchise’s long-term outlook.

Through six games, calling this evaluation incomplete would be the kind way to frame this process. Fields ranks 25th in QBR and has again displayed an issue avoiding sacks. Fields took 24 sacks despite finishing only five games this season. In four-plus games, Bagent has been sacked just five times. While Chicago was missing multiple starting offensive linemen frequently during Fields’ early-season run, the QB’s 2022 sacks-taken number (a league-high 55, despite two missed starts) makes this an area to monitor as the Ohio State product’s 2023 season resumes.

That said, Fields is still on pace to top his career high for passing TDs. The run-oriented quarterback threw 11 before the injury. Fields made a run at Lamar Jackson‘s single-season record for rushing yards by a QB — a mark he may well have hit had the Bears not rested him in Week 18, en route to the No. 1 overall pick — the former No. 11 overall pick finished last year with only 17 touchdown passes. Fields’ midseason pause also came with his yards per attempt (7.4) and completion percentage (61.7) figures north of his 2022 numbers, providing some optimism. But Chicago’s long-term QB situation remains uncertain.

By virtue of the trade with Carolina, Chicago holds 2024’s No. 1 overall draft slot. Its Bagent-directed Week 10 win over the Panthers helped the cause. That status does not mean too much yet, considering two months remain in the season. But the Bears are a near-lock to exit this season with two top-10 picks. That will provide considerable ammo for a team that might be hunting for a quarterback.

While Poles committed to Fields for this year, Ryan Pace drafted him. Poles holding a top-two pick in next year’s draft would likely mean a move for Drake Maye or Caleb Williams, putting Fields in limbo. Fields may already be in an uphill battle to keep the Chicago gig for another season, but that effort is set to resume this week.

Bills Fire OC Ken Dorsey

November 14th, 2023 at 10:26pm CST by Adam La Rose

In the aftermath of another underwhelming performance, the Bills are making a signficant change on the sidelines. Offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey has been fired, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The team has since confirmed the move.

The Bills have struggled to an extent on offense in 2023, Dorsey’s second year in charge of the unit. He will be replaced by quarterbacks coach Joe Brady, Schefter adds. The latter has also been in Buffalo since 2022, having previously served as the Panthers’ offensive coordinator under head coach Matt Rhule.

The departure of Brian Daboll led to questions about Buffalo’s ability to remain amongst the league’s top offenses with Dorsey at the helm. It came as little surprise when the Bills decided to look in-house for Daboll’s successor, promoting Dorsey from the QB coach position he had held with the team for the previous three years. While Buffalo has posted strong statistical showings during Dorsey’s time as OC, he has been dismissed in the hopes of providing a spark for the unit and getting the team’s postseason push back on track.

The Bills ranked second in the league in both total and scoring offense last season, a sign that the switch to Dorsey could have been one with long-term appeal. However, the team suffered a lackluster defeat in the postseason during the divisional round, and week-to-week consistency has been hard to come by in 2023. This year, Buffalo sits eighth in the NFL in both points (26) and yards (377) per game.

After recording three straight high-scoring wins starting in Week 2, the Bills have failed to score 30 points in their last six games. Turnovers have been a major issue for the unit, which has led to increased criticism of quarterback Josh Allen. Aiming to produce a rebound from their franchise passer, the team will now proceed with a new face for the stretch run. Today’s move will leave Buffalo with neither the offensive nor defensive coordinator which was in place following the end of the 2022 campaign.

DC Leslie Frazier stepped away from football in February, though he intends to return to the sidelines either as a coordinator or a head coach in the future. Head coach Sean McDermott has called plays on defense this season, and that unit has not delivered to the extent it has in past seasons. Injuries on defense have been a major storyline for Buffalo this year, but McDermott has drawn criticism on a number of fronts, including most recently the disorganization which resulted in a penalty to give the Broncos a chance to win in come-from-behind fashion last night. In the wake of that special teams mistake, McDermott will move forward with a new voice for the offense.

Dorsey will now join the 2024 coaching cycle early. The 42-year-old interviewed with the Panthers for their head coaching vacancy last offseason. Given the manner in which his Buffalo tenure has come to an end, it will be interesting to see how much of a market he generates in the winter. Buffalo, meanwhile, will aim for a step forward in efficiency with Brady at the helm.

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