Falcons Place Bralen Trice On IR; Xavier Watts, Billy Bowman In Line For Starting Roles

Bralen Trice missed his entire rookie season due to an ACL tear, and he will not be available at the start of the coming campaign. The 2024 third-rounder was placed on injured reserve Thursday, per a team announcement.

Head coach Raheem Morris said Trice aggravated the same knee affected by last year’s ACL tear. It is not known if surgery will be required at this point, but a procedure could be deemed necessary. Landing on IR at this time ensures Trice will miss at least the first four games of the campaign.

Morris also said the best-case scenario for Trice would be a return after Atlanta’s bye week. That happens to fall on Week 5, the earliest point at which the 24-year-old could have his practice window opened anyway. Activating Trice at any point will use up one of the Falcons’ eight IR activations on the season. The team already spent two when designating Ta’Quon Graham and Storm Norton for return during roster cutdowns.

Today’s move marks another injury setback for Trice, who was drafted as a candidate to handle a notable workload off the edge early in his career. Pass rush production has been hard to come by for Atlanta in recent years, something the team aimed at addressing through free agency (by signing Leonard Floyd) and the draft (by selecting Jalon Walker and James Pearce in the first round) this offseason. The team’s new options will be relied on without Trice in place at least early in the season.

In other news regarding the Falcons’ defense, Morris also announced rookies Xavier Watts and Billy Bowman will have starting roles. Watts, added in the third round, will operate as a first-team safety alongside Jessie Bateswhile Bowman – taken one round later – will handle slot corner duties. Earlier this week, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted how Bowman (who was drafted as a safety) impressed upon transitioning to a slot corner during camp, surpassing incumbent Dee Alford on the depth chart.

Morris’ announcement thus comes as no surprise, and it confirms Watts, Bowman and Bates will be joined by AJ Terrell and Mike Hughes in the starting secondary. That unit will work in tandem with a heavily renovated edge rush group, one which will be shorthanded in the fall.

Patriots To Release WR Kendrick Bourne; 49ers Interested In Reunion

AUGUST 28: John Lynch confirmed during a KNBR interview (via the San Jose Mercury News’ Cam Inman) the 49ers are indeed discussing the prospect of reuniting with Bourne. The team is factoring in Bourne’s recent injury absence into this effort, but the eight-year veteran — the first four coming in San Francisco — is on the radar to return.

AUGUST 27: Kendrick Bourne‘s up-and-down Patriots stint is over. Despite being carried through to New England’s 53-man roster, the veteran wide receiver is being released, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports.

This will wrap a four-plus-year tenure for Bourne, who has been a trade-rumor mainstay. He will now seek a fresh start elsewhere. The Vikings had shown interest in Bourne before acquiring Adam Thielen, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who adds other teams expressed interest as well. Bourne should be able to find a new home fairly soon.

Unsurprisingly, the 49ers are interested in bringing Bourne back, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco reports. Bourne played four 49ers seasons before joining the Patriots, and the teams discussed a trade during last summer’s Brandon Aiyuk saga. Bourne asked for his Pats release, The Athletic’s Jeff Howe adds. We mentioned Bourne as a release candidate earlier this summer.

The Patriots had kept eight receivers on their initial 53-man roster. Some teams keep five, six or even seven; eight is an unrealistic number for a team to devote to this position. And New England, which has made many changes in Mike Vrabel‘s first offseason, is cutting the cord. Bourne had re-signed with the Pats on a three-year, $19.5MM deal last March. No guaranteed money remained on the contract, and the Pats will escape it with just a $2.8MM dead money hit.

Although the 49ers discussed Bourne with the Pats last summer, he was not eyeing a move back to San Francisco at the deadline. Interest still came in for Bourne, who was no longer a centerpiece part in the Pats’ WR equation this year. The team added Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins in free agency. Bourne posted an 800-yard season in Josh McDaniels‘ previous Pats season (2021) but has not eclipsed 500 yards in a single campaign since. Still, he is entering an age-30 season and viewed as a solid auxiliary performer.

The 49ers have added Skyy Moore and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. This comes after Aiyuk moved to the reserve/PUP list and Demarcus Robinson shifted to the reserve/suspended list. The 49ers had not seen Jauan Jennings practice in several weeks due to a calf injury (and contract matter), while Jacob Cowing is also hurt. Bourne, a UDFA who posted 667 yards in his 2020 San Francisco finale, would make sense as an option now that he’s available.

Colts To Meet With LBs Anthony Walker, Kyzir White

The Colts’ expected Zaire Franklin sidekick, Jaylon Carlies landed on IR on Tuesday. While Carlies is on short-term IR, he will miss at least four games due to the transaction. This creates a need in Indianapolis.

At least two linebackers will meet with the Colts about a job Thursday. Kyzir White and Anthony Walker are stopping by, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Fox Sports’ Greg Auman. White played out a two-year Cardinals contract and has not signed anywhere this year, while Walker — a former Colt — did not make the Buccaneers’ 53-man roster.

Walker spent Bucs training camp on the active/NFI list, and the team released the veteran defender rather than transfer him to the reserve/NFI list this week. Walker signed a one-year, $1.42MM deal with the Bucs in March. He is certainly better remembered for a Colts tenure that lasted four seasons. Indianapolis drafted Walker in the 2017 fifth round and used him as a three-year starter alongside Shaquille Leonard.

Walker (now 30) started 48 games with the Colts and played at least 60% of the team’s defensive snaps each year from 2018-20. Arriving in Chris Ballard‘s first draft as GM, Walker (81 career starts) joined the Browns as a free agent in 2021. That cleared the runway for Bobby Okereke to see a workload increase. At that point, Franklin was not a full-timer. That changed since, with the former special-teamer becoming a lead performer on Indy’s defense. The Colts now have a question alongside their ace tackler, with Carlies down with an ankle injury, per the Indianapolis Star’s Joel Erickson.

White, 29, met with the Lions earlier this summer. The Cardinals did not re-sign the former Super Bowl LVII starter after his two-year, $10MM contract expired. White started 28 games for the Cards from 2023-24, including all 17 last season. In 2024, White made 137 tackles (nine for loss) and added 2.5 sacks and three pass breakups. Due largely to coverage issues, Pro Football Focus ranked White as one of the NFL’s worst LB regulars last season. The former Chargers and Eagles defender has 73 starts on his resume.

The Colts kept Cameron McGrone — a three-year Indy contributor with zero career starts — at linebacker to go with Franklin, special-teamer Joe Bachie (two starts in five NFL seasons) and Segun Olubi (two starts in three Colts seasons). Although Indianapolis claimed ex-Jacksonville LB Chad Muma on Wednesday, it would stand to reason the team would be interested in adding more help for the time being.

Panthers Add Hendon Hooker To P-Squad

Hendon Hooker‘s second chance will come with Carolina. The Panthers are bringing in the recently cut Lions quarterback, adding him to their practice squad.

The team announced the move, which will stash Hooker behind Bryce Young and Andy Dalton — the only two QBs on Carolina’s 53-man roster. The Lions waived Hooker on Tuesday, doing so after Dan Campbell indicated a fresh start was probably necessary after the former third-round pick could not beat out Kyle Allen for the Detroit QB2 job.

Given Hooker’s draft pedigree — as the No. 68 overall pick in 2023 — he stood to earn another opportunity; the Panthers will provide it after waiving two QBs (Jack Plummer, Bryce Perkins) prior to cutdown day. Plummer had spent last season on the Panthers’ P-squad. Plummer finished the season on Carolina’s 53-man roster. As of now, the former UDFA is not with a team.

Hendon Hooker is a guy that I loved in the process coming out of Tennessee; I had some great meetings with him,” Dave Canales said, via Panthers.com’s Darin Gantt. “He really impressed me as a man, and a really high character guy with a lot of talent. A beautiful motion, big strapping guy who can run.”

Hooker’s pre-draft tour in 2023 included a visit with the Buccaneers during Canales’ one-year stop as Tampa Bay’s OC. The Tennessee-developed prospect, however, was unable to impress despite an extended opportunity with the Lions. Detroit stashed Hooker on its reserve/NFI list in 2023, activating him near the end of that season. After Hooker’s ACL rehab effort, he earned the Lions’ backup job. Near the end of last season, however, the Lions re-signed Teddy Bridgewater — their 2023 backup — and the veteran made a cameo in the No. 1-seeded squad’s divisional-round game. Despite a downgrade to Allen this offseason, the Lions saw Hooker lose a competition to be their backup.

Going unclaimed Wednesday separates Hooker from his third-round contract; he will now be on a practice squad salary. The Panthers will begin to evaluate the 27-year-old passer, who has appeared in three games and attempted nine regular-season passes. During the preseason, however, Hooker committed five turnovers. He was 22 of 40 for 187 yards with no TD passes and three INTs. Hooker, however, shined at Tennessee and crafted a Heisman campaign before suffering the ACL tear in November 2022.

The Lions do not currently have a quarterback on their practice squad, carrying only Allen and Jared Goff at the position.

Packers Interested In Micah Parsons Trade; Cowboys DE Files Grievance Over Fifth-Year Option Salary

The hold-ins keeping Terry McLaurin and Trey Hendrickson off the field have come to an end this week. No resolution on the Micah Parsons front appears imminent, however.

Parsons’ trade request still stands, and the thought of a departure from the Cowboys will remain a talking point until and unless an extension agreement can be reached. By and large, teams do not view a Parsons trade as being viable and Dallas does not intend to pull off a deal. At least one potential suitor is worth watching in this case, though.

Whispers about the Packers looking into a Parsons trade have picked up recently, and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reports the team is indeed “interested.” Of course, that would no doubt apply to any number of potential landing spots for the All-Pro edge rusher, and Florio cautions Green Bay’s interest is “nowhere near the smoke that’s out there.”

When speaking to the media on Wednesday, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst was asked about the late-summer trade market. Without mentioning Parsons by name, he left the door open to a notable move taking place. If Green Bay were to swing a deal, pass rush could represent a logical target.

“You’re never one player away, but good players make impacts,’ Gutekunst said (via Ryan Wood of USA Today). “Any time there’s a player of that caliber you can acquire, you’re trying to.”

Parsons and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones have escalated tensions over a lack of communication involving agent David Mulugheta regarding extension talks. Any new deal which is reached will no doubt make him the highest-paid edge rusher in the NFL, something Jones has stated he communicated a willingness over to Parsons when the two spoke this spring. In the absence of a long-term pact, though, a campaign spent on the fifth-year option is in store.

Parsons is slated to collect $24.01MM this season as a result, although Florio reports a grievance was filed earlier this offseason regarding the value of the one-year tender. Edge rushers often encounter situations such as this based on the variance in value between outside linebackers and defensive ends. Parsons is currently viewed by the Cowboys as a DE, something which would drop his option value to $21.32MM. The former Defensive Rookie of the Year and his camp, by contrast, are attempting to have him classified as an OLB.

A number Parsons’ Pro Bowl and All-Pro nods have come with him listed as a linebacker, but the key determinant in this situation is his most common position played in 2023 (his third NFL season). Circumstances such as this often result in a compromise being agreed to between team and player regarding the option value, but the Parsons-Jones relationship is – at least publicly – rather strained at the moment. That could complicate efforts to resolve this matter, which is of course small in comparison to extension talks.

A back issue has been present in Parsons’ case for much of the summer while he has remained a non-participant in training camp. The 26-year-old recently underwent an MRI which came back clean, but this layer to the ongoing saga may not be over. NFL Network’s Jane Slater reports Parsons is now seeking a second opinion on his back. It will be interesting to see what becomes of that endeavor.

Eight days remain until the Cowboys kick off the regular season; it remains unclear whether or not Parsons will suit up for that contest. Meanwhile, with a trade potentially seen as feasible, the Packers’ moves over the coming days will be worth watching closely.

Chiefs’ Rashee Rice Accepts Six-Game Ban

The earlier report of a six-game Rashee Rice suspension proved telling; the Chiefs wide receiver will accept that NFL punishment, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports.

Rather than proceed to a Sept. 30 hearing, Rice will accept this deal and serve the ban to open the season. While it would have been quite strange to see Rice play the first four games before the hearing and drag this process out, Pelissero adds that was never the real plan here. A settlement loomed as the most likely outcome, and it has now come to pass.

Rice’s criminal case — in connection with a March 2024 hit-and-run incident that brought eight felony charges — concluded last month with a sentence of five years probation and a 30-day prison term. Rice received deferred adjudication, which would potentially allow him to avoid the prison stay, but his NFL matter lingered for several weeks after the legal resolution.

The NFL was believed to be initially seeking a suspension that ranged into double-digit territory. While Rice finalized his hit-and-run matter, he was accused of punching a photographer at a nightclub following that freeway street-racing incident (though, the accuser did not end up pressing charges). Another incident during Rice’s college days also was believed to have factored into the NFL’s investigation. When Rice was at SMU, Rice or a member of his party fired gunshots into an empty vehicle belonging to a Mustangs basketball player.

But this latest Chiefs off-field saga has produced finality. They will have Rice eligible to return beginning in Week 7. The three-time reigning AFC champions will be without their top wideout for games against the Chargers, Eagles, Giants, Ravens, Jaguars and Lions.

Coming on during his rookie-year stretch run, Rice proved pivotal during the Chiefs’ 2023 Super Bowl-winning season. He started off hot last season as well, but an LCL tear ended his season early. The Chiefs, who also played without Marquise Brown for most of last season, have largely struggled at receiver for the past two years. As Travis Kelce has moved into mid-30s, Patrick Mahomes has fallen off his stratospheric pace. While the Chiefs have still relied on a strong defense to help them to Super Bowls, they are counting on their megastar QB to recapture earlier form. Rice’s suspension may put that on hold.

The Chiefs have Brown healthy and saw first-round pick Xavier Worthy make strides down the stretch last season. Fourth-round rookie Jalen Royals also should factor into the AFC powerhouse’s equation during the Rice ban. The Chiefs also still have JuJu Smith-Schuster rostered; the former mainstay quietly re-signed this offseason. Rice’s absence figures to be felt early, though Kelce’s presence in an age-36 season will certainly help — even if he is in clear decline.

This suspension also gives Rice additional time to recover from the LCL injury, even as he had already resumed full practice. The third-year receiver will not be able to practice, however, until Week 7. The Chiefs have shown an ability to make do with a suboptimal receiver situation over the past two years, but this time around, they are poised to see their preferred array be available by midseason.

Panthers Trade WR Adam Thielen Back To Vikings

Adam Thielen is returning home. The Panthers have agreed on terms to send the Minnesota native back to the Vikings, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting the deal is done.

Carolina will receive a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 fourth-rounder. Minnesota adds Thielen, a conditional 2026 seventh-round pick and a 2027 fifth-rounder, according to Schefter, who adds talks between the NFC teams have been serious for a few days. The conditional seventh-rounder the Vikings received becomes a sixth if Thielen is not active for 10 games or not on the 53-man roster for 14, The Athletic’s Joe Person tweets.

The teams had been haggling over trade value this week, and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler adds the Panthers initially asked for a lot in return for the established possession receiver. With terms agreed to, the Vikings are finalizing a revised contract, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero adds.

Thielen rejoins a Vikings team hurting at wide receiver to open the season — to the point the team eyed trade help. Jordan Addison incurred a three-game suspension for a 2024 DUI arrest, while Rondale Moore suffered a season-ending knee injury for a second straight year. Jalen Nailor is also recovering from a hand injury, and Justin Jefferson missed a few weeks because of a hamstring injury sustained early in training camp.

Despite the Vikings cutting Thielen in 2023, veteran reporter Jordan Schultz indicates Kevin O’Connell advocated “strongly” to add a veteran to help. Thielen, 35, fits the bill and has scheme familiarity from his 2022 season in O’Connell’s offense. Prior to that, Thielen played nine seasons in Minnesota. The former rookie-camp tryout body is set to play a 13th NFL season, and he will be asked to help J.J. McCarthy transition to the pros. When addressing the trade, Panthers head coach Dave Canales noted (via ESPN’s David Newton) Thielen never specifically asked to be dealt back to Minnesota.

Nonetheless, Thielen becomes the third receiver the Panthers have traded since October. They dealt Jonathan Mingo to the Cowboys and ended the failed Diontae Johnson experiment before the 2024 deadline. Thielen, who accepted a revised contract this offseason, will be dealt from an offense that added another first-round wideout — Tetairoa McMillan — this year. McMillan leads the way for the Panthers at receiver now, headlining a group featuring Xavier Legette and UDFA talent Jalen Coker. This does strip a proven pass catcher from Bryce Young, but the Panthers have young talent to garner key reps this season.

After two productive seasons in Carolina, Thielen accepted a reworked contract this offseason. The Panthers had him on a one-year, $8.75MM deal ($1.5MM guaranteed). While the rework gave Thielen some guaranteed money for 2025 — the final year of his contract — it also left the door open for a trade. The Panthers will take on $5MM in dead money from moving Thielen, with the figure being split between the 2025 and ’26 seasons.

Thielen tacked on a third 1,000-yard season to his resume in Carolina, being a woeful offense’s top option in 2023. He added a 615-yard year in 2024, doing so despite missing seven games with a hamstring injury. The former Jefferson and Stefon Diggs sidekick ranks third in career Vikings receptions and receiving TDs, sitting fifth in career Minnesota yardage.

Thielen had pointed to 2025 potentially being his NFL finale, and it will now come in his home state. Thielen combined for 24 TD receptions in Jefferson’s first two years. After working with Kirk Cousins for five seasons, Thielen garnered experience with a younger QB in Young; that should help him ahead of McCarthy’s debut campaign.

Minnesota initially had Diggs complementing Thielen, who eclipsed 1,200 yards in 2017 and ’18. Thielen agreed to two Vikings extensions, the second of which a four-year, $64.8MM accord. The Vikes revised that deal in 2022 but cut the accomplished receiver in March 2023, after the sides could not agree on another adjustment.

Thielen then collected a three-year, $25MM deal from the Panthers. While Carolina missed on some 2023 additions, Thielen provided value. After trade rumors emerged at the 2024 deadline, the Panthers circled back to a deal now. The Vikings had added Addison in Round 1 weeks after cutting Thielen. It will be interesting to see that duo work together, with Nailor (414 yards last season) and third-round rookie Tai Felton rounding out what will be one of the NFL’s deepest WR groups once Addison is activated in Week 4.

Lions To Trade WR Tim Patrick To Jaguars

For a second straight August, Tim Patrick will be on the move. A year after making a Denver-to-Detroit trip, the veteran wide receiver is heading to Jacksonville.

The Lions are trading Patrick to the Jaguars, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports. The Jags are sending a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Lions in this trade. Patrick is tied to a guaranteed one-year, $2.5MM deal. The deal is now official, and the Jags waived wide receiver Austin Trammell to clear a roster spot.

Patrick, 31, had missed two full seasons but managed to stay healthy after joining the Lions in 2024. The Broncos moved on from the 6-foot-4 receiver following training camp last year, dangling him in trades before not including him as part of their initial 53-man roster. As Denver went with a younger group of pass catchers alongside Courtland Sutton, Patrick caught on with Detroit’s practice squad before making a quick move onto the active roster.

The former UDFA caught 33 passes for 394 yards and three TDs, working as a possession receiver in an explosive Lions attack. Patrick operated as an auxiliary wideout for a Lions team that had three defined targets ahead of him — Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta — and made key contributions for a 15-2 juggernaut. The season reestablished some value for Patrick, who suffered ACL and Achilles tears during the 2022 and ’23 training camps.

While Patrick did not live up to the three-year, $30MM extension he signed with the Broncos during the 2021 season, his reemergence caught the Jaguars’ attention. Patrick posted back-to-back 700-plus-yard years (2020-21), drawing a second-round RFA tender, and will now be positioned to complement Brian Thomas Jr. and Travis Hunter. The Jags also signed Dyami Brown to a one-year deal.

The ex-Commanders Day 2 draftee and Patrick are positioned as complementary pieces, though it is still not known how much Hunter will play on offense as he prepares for a historic two-way role. Patrick stands to give the Jags some cover there, as Hunter may not be available on a full-time basis offensively.

This trade clears some runway space for Lions third-round pick Isaac TeSlaa, a Combine standout whom the team traded up for in the third round. The Lions used third- and seventh-round picks on receivers (Dominic Lovett going in Round 7) and kept six on their initial 53-man roster Tuesday. Detroit traded up 30 spots (from No. 102 to No. 70) for TeSlaa, highlighting an interest in developing him as its WR3 for the time being. Two years remain on Williams’ rookie deal.

Eagles Reuniting With S Marcus Epps

The Eagles are set for another reunion in the days leading up to the regular season. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, veteran safety Marcus Epps is signing with Philadelphia after two seasons away from the team.

A former sixth-round pick out of Wyoming in 2019, Epps got his start in Philadelphia when Minnesota, the team that drafted him, waived him partway through his rookie season. The Eagles claimed him off waivers and immediately put him to use. After being primarily a special teamer for the Vikings, playing only 12 total snaps on defense in eight games, Epps became a frequent presence in the Eagles secondary as a rookie, playing as a third safety behind Rodney McLeod and Malcolm Jenkins.

Once Jenkins went back to New Orleans, Epps shared the defensive backfield with McLeod and a roaming Jalen Mills, making five starts and logging two interceptions. The team ran back a similar system in 2021, substituting Anthony Harris for a departed Mills. In 2022, McLeod went the way of Jenkins and Mills, and Epps took a full-time starting role as a deep safety, sharing the area with C.J. Gardner-Johnson and a rookie Reed Blankenship.

Epps’ first season as a full-time starter in a contract year paid off in free agency when he landed a two-year, $14MM deal with the Raiders. In his first season in Las Vegas, Epps formed a formidable safety duo with Tre’von Moehrig. Unfortunately, in the second year of the deal last season, Epps suffered a season-ending ACL tear only three games into the year.

Coming off the injury in free agency, Epps signed a one-year deal with the Patriots to join a crowded safeties room. Ultimately, he was unable to find a role in New England, and the team released him in final roster cuts yesterday. Luckily, he’s rebounded with the team that took a shot on him as a rookie on waivers.

In Philadelphia, the Eagles are once again filling a question mark with an old name, much like they did at swing tackle. The starting spot next to Blankenship has been up in the air as Sydney Brown tries to take back the starting job he lost to Gardner-Johnson last year and rookie second-round pick Andrew Mukuba works to get up to speed after missing time in training camp with a shoulder injury. With Epps coming into the picture, the Eagles still have the ability to see if Brown or Mukuba can handle a starting role, but the veteran will be available as a safety blanket, if needed.

Extension For Seahawks LT Charles Cross Not Happening This Year

The Seahawks only really got their roster set to start the 2025 NFL season today, but general manager John Schneider already found himself fielding questions about extensions for players set to become free agents next year. Those questions mostly pertain to members of Seattle’s 2022 draft class, but the top pick from that class, left tackle Charles Cross, will not be signing an extension this year, per ESPN’s Brady Henderson.

Cross has started all but three games at left tackle since the Seahawks made him the ninth overall pick in 2022, and Pro Football Focus (subscription required) graded him as the ninth-best offensive tackle in the NFL last year, so it seems safe to say that Seattle will want to extend Cross. The reason he won’t be considered for a deal this year is because the Seahawks “don’t extend deals with more than a year left,” and with the team exercising Cross’ fifth-year option, the 24-year-old has two years left on his rookie contract.

When considering Cross’ 2022 draft classmates, Schneider offered a different perspective (per Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic), saying, “We love our guys, and we’ll keep working with them. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. And if it doesn’t, you just have to move on to the next guy. We won’t ever stop trying to do that.”

Unfortunately for Cross, that doesn’t seem to apply to him until next year. Multiple times this summer, Cross has expressed his desire to remain in Seattle long-term just to be shut down due to the timing. At some point, the Seahawks will come to the table Cross continues to wait at with an offer. They’ll just have to hope that waiting to get a deal done doesn’t raise the price tag to an unattainable number.