Here are Thursday’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Carolina Panthers
New York Giants
Coughlin also appeared in today’s Minor NFL Transactions installment, but as a vested veteran, he does not need to clear waivers in order to join a team’s practice squad. Coughlin, who has been a core Giants special-teamer since 2020, re-signed with the team in March.
As the 2024 season kicks off, here are the day’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Baltimore Ravens
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Las Vegas Raiders
Miami Dolphins
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
Washington Commanders
The Ravens drafted Ali in this year’s fifth round. He entered the week joining Derrick Henry and Justice Hill as running backs on Baltimore’s 53-man roster. Kelly has since replaced him as Baltimore’s RB3. He will now join Keaton Mitchell as being on an injured list; the latter remains on the Ravens’ reserve/PUP list, sidelining him for at least four games. This designation shelves Ali for that period as well. The Ravens could use one of their injury activations to bring Ali back to the roster at that point.
As training camps near, the NFL offseason is winding down. Many unresolved matters remain, but teams’ rosters are mostly set. Leading up to Week 1, PFR will continue to add to its annual Offseason In Review series. Here is where our latest offseason examinations stand so far:
The Cardinals finished 4-13 last season. While the showing in Jonathan Gannon‘s first season locked down the No. 4 spot in the draft, Arizona obviously has a long way to go in GM Monti Ossenfort‘s rebuild. But some more attention is coming the organization’s way ahead of this regime’s second season.
Particularly, many around the league are studying the work of the Cardinals’ offensive coordinator. The scheme Drew Petzing has implemented is drawing praise, and The Athletic’s Jeff Howe indicates a widespread belief exists the second-year coordinator will be summoned for HC interviews in 2025 (subscription required). With Gannon a defense-oriented coach, Petzing is going into his second season as an NFL play-caller.
[RELATED: Offseason In Review: Arizona Cardinals]
This would be a rare development for the Cardinals, who have not seen an OC land a top job since the Kurt Warner–Larry Fitzgerald combination powered Todd Haley to the Chiefs’ gig in 2009. (Before that, it had been since Rod Dowhower‘s 1985 Colts arrival.) The Cardinals will probably need to show significant improvement for Petzing to have a true opportunity to become a finalist for a position, but Ejiro Evero‘s recent rise — after being tied to 5-12 and 2-15 teams — does remind that clubs have been more willing to look for promising assistants on non-playoff teams.
Coming from a role as the Browns’ quarterbacks coach, Petzing helped Jacoby Brissett to a bounce-back season — during Deshaun Watson‘s 11-game suspension — and coached under or alongside Kevin Stefanski for nine years. Working with the Vikings’ wide receivers for most of the Adam Thielen–Stefon Diggs pairing’s duration, Petzing followed Stefanski to Cleveland and spent two years as the Browns’ tight ends coach. Stefanski moved him to QBs coach in 2022. While Petzing could not coax Watson to anything especially close to his Texans-level form, that appears to a bigger-picture issue involving the quarterback.
Petzing, 37, only coached Kyler Murray for eight games last season, doing so after late-summer acquisition Josh Dobbs and 2023 fifth-round pick Clayton Tune combined for nine starts as the Pro Bowler finished ACL rehab. Petzing’s offense ranked 24th in scoring and 19th in yards, with DVOA placing the unit 21st. Considering the Cards only had their starting QB for eight games, that is not exactly a discouraging finish.
After helping Trey McBride to an Arizona-years franchise tight end record, with 825 receiving yards, Petzing will have No. 4 overall pick Marvin Harrison Jr. at his disposal this season. A Cardinals ascent would appear to specifically boost their OC’s stock, as the NFL perpetually searches for up-and-coming offensive minds. Harrison elevating this unit, with Murray now nearly two years removed from his knee injury, could help determine if Petzing will be the rare Cardinals OC to jump onto the coaching carousel.
Here are Labor Day’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Dallas Cowboys
Las Vegas Raiders
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
New Orleans Saints
San Francisco 49ers
Washington Commanders
Stromberg sustained a knee injury that will require surgery. The 2023 third-round pick, one of five 2023 draftees that did not make Washington’s 53-man roster last week, will only need an arthroscopic procedure, per ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler. Stromberg is aiming to catch on somewhere else around the midseason point. He only played 26 rookie-year snaps on offense. The Arkansas product would technically have a chance to land back with the Commanders, depending on the terms of the settlement, but the team moving on so early may well point to the Adam Peters regime deeming the Ron Rivera– and Martin Mayhew-overseen move a mistake.
Davis figures to land elsewhere and play this season. The 28-year-old linebacker sustained a foot sprain and will be out for a few weeks, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. Davis played in 16 games, split evenly between the Saints and Panthers, last season.
Here are Friday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Kansas City Chiefs
New England Patriots
Players let go through injury settlements are open to return to their previous teams after an agreed-upon period of time. Jones could therefore return to the Cardinals’ backfield later on in 2024, after he played three games with the team last year. The 26-year-old has also seen time with the Saints and Seahawks, logging a rotational role while contributing on special teams.
Like Jones, Anderson (who missed time last year with malaria) will be able to sign with any interested team if he does not return to New England. The latter made five appearances with New England last season, starting twice. He was one of several players competing for a spot on the Patriots’ uncertain tackle depth chart until being placed on injured reserve during final roster cutdowns. A Broncos blocker from 2020-22, Anderson has 14 total starts to his name and could provide a depth option to his next team once healthy.
PFR’s practice squad rundown, signaling we are indeed close to games that count, begins Thursday. Here is how teams began to handle their 16-man P-squads.
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
Detroit Lions
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
Washington Commanders
Slovis went to camp with the Colts, joining the team as a UDFA this year. Houston placed Case Keenum on IR and released Tim Boyle, who is now the Dolphins’ P-squad QB. Slovis, who played at USC, Pittsburgh and BYU in college, is now the Texans’ de facto third-stringer.
Shelley has 11 career starts — with the Bears and Vikings — on his resume. He joined the Raiders last year but ended up with the Rams, playing in 11 games as a backup. The Giants have spent time searching for a cornerback answer, having not been too satisfied with their Cor’Dale Flott–Nick McCloud CB2 competition. New York did not make any waiver claims at the position Wednesday.
Reagor, who played for the Patriots last season, is back after being released earlier this week. The former Minnesota first-rounder played in 11 New England games last season, returning a kick for a touchdown. Latu joins the Browns after being a 49ers cut. The 2023 third-round pick missed all of last season with an ACL tear. Jefferson is back with the Bolts hours after being released.
Here are Thursday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Carolina Panthers
Cincinnati Bengals
Dallas Cowboys
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams
Miami Dolphins
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
Washington Commanders
Schlottmann suffered what Brian Daboll called a long-term injury. Elaborating on the injury Schlottmann suffered in practice Wednesday, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan notes the veteran backup O-lineman will rehab a broken fibula. The injury is expected to shut down the free agency addition for at least two months. No surgery is on tap for Schlottmann. The Giants considering him for activation may depend on their injury situation, as teams only have eight regular-season IR activations. The Giants have seven presently, as they used a summer IR designation on linebacker Matthew Adams on Tuesday.
Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These 49ers, Cardinals, Rams and Seahawks moves are noted below.
Arizona Cardinals
Signed:
Claimed:
Signed to practice squad:
Los Angeles Rams
Signed:
Claimed:
Waived:
Placed on IR:
Signed to practice squad:
San Francisco 49ers
Signed:
Claimed:
Waived:
Placed on IR:
Signed to practice squad:
Seattle Seahawks
Signed:
Claimed:
Signed to practice squad:
Waiver claims can begin coming in at 11am CT. While the waiver order will depend on 2024 records in several weeks, teams’ 2023 finishes currently determine it. Here is how the waiver priority list stacks up heading into today’s round of claims: