NFL Minor Transactions: 10/22/25
Here are today’s midweek minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Opened practice window: T Storm Norton
Cincinnati Bengals
- Opened practice window: DE Cedric Johnson
Denver Broncos
- Signed to active roster: QB Sam Ehlinger
Detroit Lions
- Placed on IR: LB Zach Cunningham
Houston Texans
- Designated to return from IR: CB Jaylin Smith
Miami Dolphins
- Designated to return from IR: CB Jason Marshall
New Orleans Saints
- Activated from IR: DT John Ridgeway
Philadelphia Eagles
- Designated to return from IR: CB Jakorian Bennett
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Designated to return from IR: QB Will Howard
- Waived (with injury settlement): T Gareth Warren
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed to active roster: DE Robert Beal Jr.
- Designated to return from IR: OL Spencer Burford
- Released: DE Trevis Gipson
Seattle Seahawks
- Released: TE Eric Saubert
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed to active roster: G Michael Jordan
- Placed on IR: WR Mike Evans (story)
While several players were designated to return from injured reserve today, Norton and Johnson’s designations took place back on 8/26, the roster cut deadline. The Texans are in danger of being without their top three receivers in Week 8. Tank Dell is already on IR, but Nico Collins and Christian Kirk’s statuses for the weekend are up in the air as Collins deals with a concussion and Kirk has been dealing with n hamstring injury.
Not that they’ve needed him, since Aaron Rodgers has looked a bit more effective than he was in his days with the Jets, but Howard is nearing a return to the roster for the remainder of his rookie season. It will be interesting to see where the sixth-rounder slots in on the depth chart as he adds another level of security behind the 41-year-old Rodgers.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/22/25
Here are Wednesday’s practice squad transactions:
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: CB Zion Childress
- Placed on practice squad/injured list: WR Jalen Brooks
Denver Broncos
- Signed: WR Kyrese Rowan
New York Giants
- Signed: K Jude McAtamney
New York Jets
- Signed: S J.T. Woods
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: G Sua Opeta
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR Brandon Johnson
After getting cut from the roster earlier today, McAtamney returns to his usual post on the practice squad. No corresponding move is necessary to make room for him on the practice squad, since McAtamney hails from Northern Ireland and qualifies for the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program and doesn’t count against the 16-man limit.
Potential Fire Sale In Tennessee?
We are just over two weeks away from the NFL’s trade deadline, and as teams look around and assess what needs to be done in order to make the playoffs, phone calls are being made. One team perhaps receiving more calls than the rest of the league is the Titans. 
Starting the season with a 1-6 record and less than a week removed from firing ex-head coach Brian Callahan, Tennessee is clearly being counted out by the rest of the league. Despite the lack of elite talent that has put the Titans in this position, there are players that contending NFL teams are interested in. Most notably, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, “seemingly everyone called the Titans to see if star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons was available ahead of the…trade deadline.”
Unfortunately for those calling, the answer was a resounding no. Simmons is off limits, and he’s not the only one. The other player who would be a complete non-starter in any trade deal out of Nashville, according to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, is recent No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. Tennessee drafted Ward with intentions of building their team around him, and they’re not going to give up on him after only seven games. Despite the team’s struggles early and Ward’s lack of production, the 23-year-old quarterback has shown flashes of brilliance and a drive and dedication that has others in the building excited.
As for Simmons, they’ve seen their 2019 first-round pick become one of the top players at his position. He’s currently in the second year of the four-year, $94MM extension that was tacked on to the end of his rookie deal, but many expect that he’s headed for a raise in the coming offseason. Simmons did leave today’s game with a hamstring injury, though, per ESPN’s Turron Davenport, so there’s a chance the calls for him might have slowed depending on the severity of the injury.
Essentially, Ward and Simmons will serve as the offensive and defensive pillars around which the team plans to build around. Aside from those two, though, Russini asserts that “the Titans are open for business on every” other player. At the moment, the most attractive trade targets in Tennessee appear to be on the defensive side of the ball. Cornerback Roger McCreary and outside linebackers Arden Key and Dre’Mont Jones could be players on the move soon, with Rapoport confirming that trio has drawn interest around the league.
A second-round pick in 2022, McCreary is playing in the final year of his rookie deal. McCreary has established himself as one of the league’s stronger nickelbacks, though he’s shown the ability to play on the outside, as well. Expecting that he’ll price himself out of Tennessee in free agency, the Titans would be hoping to get something for him now as opposed to losing him for nothing in the offseason.
Key looked early in his career to be a bit of a bust as a third-rounder out of LSU. Racking up only three sacks in his first three years of play, Key eventually found success in his fourth season and grew in his role more and more until he landed a three-year, $21MM deal with the Titans and became a full-time starter in the second season of that deal last year. Now in the contract’s final year, Key’s services will likely be shopped off with the hopes that he will continue his success with the contender to whom he gets traded.
Jones landed in Tennessee on a one-year, $8.5MM deal. He’s had consistently solid production at previous stops in Denver and Seattle and, so far this season, has been worth his money so far in Nashville. Like McCreary and Key, nothing appears to be awaiting Jones in the offseason but free agency, so the Titans will hope that somebody bites with an offer worth trading him for.
And what exactly would that offer look like? While the Titans have a lot of work to do in building up the roster around pillars Ward and Simmons, it would appear they prefer to do so with young players that they choose. Per Russini, Tennessee isn’t looking for players in exchange for any trade assets; the team wants draft capital. The Titans are hoping to stockpile future draft picks so they can move their rebuild plans forward with youth. We’ll see how well negotiations go over the next 16 days.
Commanders QB Jayden Daniels Leaves Game With Hamstring Injury
The Commanders were just beginning to enjoy the return of quarterback Jayden Daniels after a two-week absence earlier in the season, but they may be looking at another absence in Daniels’ sophomore campaign. Daniels was knocked out of today’s game in Dallas with a hamstring injury, and there’s a chance the injury could affect him long term. 
After playing through fractured ribs in his rookie season, Daniels has spent quite a bit of his sophomore campaign working to get healthy. He first appeared on the injury report in Week 2 with a reported injury to the wrist on his throwing hand. He would play in that game, but he would come away from it with a knee sprain that would cause him to miss the next two games. Daniels was eventually able to return to the field, though, and continued to look like his usual, mobile self.
Things took a turn in today’s loss to the Cowboys, though, when linebacker Shemar James strip-sacked him, and Daniels was left on the ground grabbing at the back of his leg. The team took Daniels straight to the blue medical tent to be evaluated, and he was eventually seen jogging to the locker room. While seeing him put active weight on his leg seemed a good sign, he was soon diagnosed with a hamstring injury and listed as questionable to return, getting ruled out for the rest of the game 30 minutes later.
There may be nothing to fret about yet, but the team has scheduled an MRI for Monday in order to determine the severity of Daniels’ injury, per JP Finlay of NBC Sports. The fact that they find an MRI necessary at all could be cause for concern. If bad enough, hamstring injuries can easily require multi-week recoveries, which means Daniels could be in danger of missing even more time this year.
If the MRI brings back unfortunate results, Washington does employ one of the league’s more formidable backup quarterbacks. By the time Marcus Mariota entered today’s game, a 41-15 deficit was too much to overcome. Earlier in the season, though, Mariota split his two spot starts, winning big against the Raiders at home but losing by a touchdown in Atlanta. In those two starts, he completed just under 65 percent of his pass attempts for three touchdowns and an interception. He added another touchdown on the ground, along with 60 yards on eight carries.
Washington will hope for the best news to come out of tomorrow’s MRI, but either way, they will have a quarterback who can give them a chance to win games. With a 3-4 record and a daunting three-game stretch on the horizon, there’s very little room for error if the Commanders want to make the playoffs. We’ll likely find out over the next couple of days whether or not it will be Daniels behind center for a Monday night trip to Kansas City followed by back-to-back home games against the Seahawks and Lions.
49ers Host LBs Workout
Last week, the 49ers suffered the loss of their best defensive player for the remainder of the season when Fred Warner‘s ankle was fractured and dislocated. The team officially placed him on injured reserve yesterday while, at the same time, hosting five free agent linebackers for workouts. Per Howard Balzer of CardsWire, linebackers Ben Niemann, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Chandler Wooten, and two others were in San Francisco for the tryout yesterday. 
One of the worst parts about losing a player as talented and reliable as Warner is that, considering he’s missed one of a possible 122 regular season games in his career, there usually isn’t much incentive to stack talent at the position behind him. The 49ers typically run two off-ball linebackers in their base defense. The starters are Warner and Dee Winters, and before last week’s game, there had only been five defensive snaps all season in which both were not on the field.
It was Tatum Bethune that subbed in for Warner in the remainder of last week’s game. Bethune was a seventh-round draft pick out of Florida State last year who played almost exclusively on special teams as a rookie. Appearing in 11 games, he saw defensive snaps in just five. He only saw more than four snaps in one game — the 6-11 team’s regular season finale in which Bethune was given a chance to start. The Week 18 start was not a sign of things to come, though. When Bethune entered for Warner last week, he was seeing his first defensive snaps since the three he played in Week 1 of this year.
So, while the 49ers may be comfortable moving forward with Bethune as the starting middle linebacker based on his familiarity with the defense over the past year and a half, one can hardly blame them for trying out some potential help. Niemann is the most experienced of the crowd. Starting his seven-year career in Kansas City, Niemann has been a dependable rotation defender for the Chiefs, Cardinals, and Lions over his career. He’s played in 103 total games, starting 25, and aside from his rookie season and a down year in Denver in 2023, Niemann’s averaged just over 50 tackles per season.
Reeves-Maybin is the next most experienced linebacker. Though he spent many years (seven in Detroit, one in Houston) as a depth piece and special teamer, Reeves-Maybin has shown he can perform as an injury replacement with 14 spot starts for the Lions, including 11 in 2021. He and Niemann were actually on the same defense in Detroit last year. Wooten was a depth piece and special teamer for the Panthers the last few years, earning two starts last year. He had signed briefly to San Francisco’s practice squad last year, returning to Carolina after a week.
The other two linebackers attending the workout were undrafted rookies Stone Blanton and Kam Arnold. Blanton signed with San Francisco out of Mississippi State, spending the offseason with the 49ers before failing to make the initial 53-man roster. Arnold, coming out of Boston College, followed a similar path with the Commanders. No contracts came immediately from yesterday’s workouts, but it will certainly be something to keep an eye on, depending on how Bethune performs in place of Warner as the season goes on.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/18/25
Here are today’s minor moves and practice squad elevations as we head to the seventh Sunday of the regular season:
Arizona Cardinals
- Elevated: RB D’Ernest Johnson
Atlanta Falcons
- Activated from IR: DL Ta’Quon Graham
- Placed on IR: CB Clark Phillips
Chicago Bears
- Activated from IR: RB Travis Homer
- Elevated: DT Jonathan Ford, K Jake Moody
Green Bay Packers
- Activated from IR: G Jacob Monk
- Elevated: DE Arron Mosby, RB Pierre Strong
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Elevated: LB Branson Combs
Las Vegas Raiders
- Elevated: WR Shedrick Jackson
Los Angeles Rams
- Elevated: RB Ronnie Rivers
Miami Dolphins
- Elevated: LB Quinton Bell, CB Kendall Sheffield
New England Patriots
- Elevated: CB Miles Battle, RB Terrell Jennings
New Orleans Saints
- Elevated: LB Nephi Sewell
New York Giants
- Activated from reserve/PUP list: OLB Victor Dimukeje
- Waived: DL Elijah Garcia
- Elevated: WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey, LB Zaire Barnes
New York Jets
- Activated from IR: LB Ja’Markis Weston
- Signed to active roster: WR Isaiah Williams
- Elevated: CB Korie Black, LB Jackson Sirmon
- Waived: LB Mark Robinson
Philadelphia Eagles
- Elevated: TE E.J. Jenkins
San Francisco 49ers
- Released (with injury settlement): WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Tennessee Titans
- Elevated: LB Curtis Jacobs, WR Mason Kinsey
As injured reserve activations start to dominate the headlines, a couple teams are making minor additions off their injured lists. In Homer, the Bears are getting a veteran special teamer and some running back depth. Monk adds depth to Green Bay’s offensive line. And Weston will do the same for a linebacking corps in New York that has seen rookie fifth-round pick Francisco Mauigoa starting in place of an injured Quincy Williams.
Ford in Chicago, Sewell in New Orleans, and Jacobs in Tennessee are all being called up as standard gameday practice squad elevations for the third time this year. In order to appear in any more games after this weekend, their respective teams will need to sign them to the 53-man roster.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/18/25
Here are Saturday’s practice squad moves:
Chicago Bears
- Signed: DE Tanoh Kpassagnon
Denver Broncos
- Signed: QB Sam Ehlinger
- Released: CB AJ Woods
- Released (with injury settlement): WR Thayer Thomas
Los Angeles Chargers
- Released: WR Jalen Reagor
When Ehlinger was released yesterday to make room for linebacker Dre Greenlaw to come off injured reserve, it was announced that Ehlinger was expected to remain in Denver on a practice squad contract. Both sides followed through on that report today.
49ers Activate TE George Kittle From IR
As the 49ers say goodbye to one star, they’ll welcome another. Opening a spot on the 53-man roster by officially placing linebacker Fred Warner on injured reserve, San Francisco will fill it with the activation of tight end George Kittle from IR. Kittle is joined as an IR activation by defensive tackle Kevin Givens.
After suffering a full tear of his right hamstring in a Week 1 win over the Seahawks, Kittle sat out five games – the second-highest total of his career. The six-time Pro Bowler will return to an offense that will go without starting quarterback Brock Purdy for the third straight game. With Purdy dealing with a toe injury, Mac Jones will lead the 4-2 Niners against the 3-2 Falcons on Sunday.
The multi-game absences of Kittle and Purdy have been among several injury-related setbacks for San Francisco’s offense this year. The defense also hasn’t been spared. Star pass rusher Nick Bosa went down with a season-ending ACL tear in Week 3. The unit took a similarly brutal shot when Warner dislocated and fractured his ankle in a loss to the Buccaneers last week. The four-time Pro Bowler underwent surgery and will miss the rest of the regular season. A playoff return for Warner is an extreme long shot.
With Warner out of commission, Tatum Bethune will face a gargantuan task in replacing one of the game’s preeminent defenders. Bethune, a seventh-round pick in 2024, has only made one start in 17 career games. Out of 134 snaps this year, just 48 have come on defense. Bethune has otherwise worked on special teams.
While San Francisco’s defense has lost Warner, it’s getting some D-line depth back with Givens set to make his season debut. Givens hasn’t played in 2025 as a result of a pectoral injury. The seventh-year 49er totaled 3.5 sacks and six QB hits in eight games last season.
In addition to the IR transactions, San Francisco announced that defensive end Trevis Gipson has been signed from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. Joining him for the weekend as standard gameday practice squad elevations will be wide receiver Malik Turner and offensive lineman Nick Zakelj. To make room for Gipson on the active roster, the 49ers waived tight Brayden Willis.
Connor Byrne contributed to this post.
Commanders G Sam Cosmi To Make 2025 Debut
The Commanders have added a major asset to their offense today, announcing that guard Sam Cosmi has finally been activated of the reserve/physically unable to perform list. He’ll be joined by cornerback Jonathan Jones, who is being activated off injured reserve. 
Last year, the Commanders had one of the more consistent offensive line configurations in the NFL. Between left tackle Brandon Coleman, left guard Nick Allegretti, center Tyler Biadasz, Cosmi, and right tackle Andrew Wylie, no one player missed more than three games between Week 1 and the NFC Championship game. This year’s line has seen similar consistency with Biadasz and new tackles Laremy Tunsil and Josh Conerly, but the guard spots have seen change early on.
With Cosmi on the PUP list, the team started with Coleman shifting inside to left guard and Allegretti moving over to the right side. By Week 3, Chris Paul had stepped into the left guard spot, and Wylie returned to the starting lineup after shifting inside to right guard. Paul and Wylie have manned those starting roles for the last four weeks.
Cosmi was the starting lineman in Washington last year to miss more than two games, and it came at the worst possible moment. After tearing his ACL in the team’s regular season finale, Cosmi missed the Commanders’ entire playoff run. There were hopes in training camp that Cosmi may be able to work his way back for the start of the regular season, but ultimately, he was placed on the PUP list at the roster cut deadline and expectations soon dropped as he was deemed unlikely to even be able return after the mandatory four-week absence.
Ultimately, it wasn’t until October that Cosmi was finally able to return to practice, and with only three days remaining in his 21-day practice window, he’ll finally be able to return to the active roster. It’s unclear if Cosmi will be injected into the starting lineup right away. He’s been a full participant in practice all week, but they may want to ease him in. They also may not put him back at right guard but instead determine which spot needs him most.
Originally brought in to compete for a starting job across from Marshon Lattimore, Jones was beat out by rookie second-rounder Trey Amos. As a result, Jones was seeing his lowest snap shares since his rookie campaign in New England to start this year before getting placed on IR with a hamstring injury. Coming off of IR, Jones will get a chance to earn more opportunities while adding depth to the secondary. Washington released defensive end Jalyn Holmes to make room on the 53-man roster.
Falcons WR Ray-Ray McCloud Dismissed From Practice
An interesting report came out of Atlanta this afternoon that could see bigger implications in the near future. According to ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris sent wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud home from practice today. Few details were provided as Morris called it “a private matter between the team and McCloud,” but the head coach indicated that “he doesn’t know if McCloud will return.” 
Falcons senior reporter Tori McElhaney added that McCloud has already been ruled out for the team’s Sunday night trip to San Francisco. This will be the second game in a row in which McCloud will be a healthy scratch. After missing Monday’s win over the Bills, McCloud has been a non-participant at practice all week for the Falcons. Despite the rough look of today’s departure, it doesn’t appear to be a punishment for the veteran receiver.
“I sent him home, an excused absence,” Morris told reporters. “We are working through some things that are private with the young man, and we will get those things figured out.”
Morris made sure to stress that, whatever McCloud is dealing with, this isn’t a reaction to the team’s decision to fire wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard back in September. “This is between Ray-Ray, the organization, and us,” Morris continued. “…I wouldn’t say it is a disciplinary thing, more of a football thing with something we have to get straightened out.”
McCloud’s absences have been difficult for Atlanta as fellow wide receiver Darnell Mooney has missed two games this year, as well, the most recent with a hamstring injury. Mooney has been limited in practice all week as he deals with the ailing hamstring, and he didn’t participate at all today. If Mooney, once again, can’t go on Sunday, the receiving corps Atlanta takes cross country will be a thin one.
Last week, behind leading receiver Drake London, it was second-year pass-catcher Casey Washington and converted college quarterback David Sills taking up most of the available snaps on offense. They seemed to serve mostly as decoys, though, as London drew 16 targets to Washington’s two and Sills’ zero, and all other passes were directed at running backs Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier and tight end Kyle Pitts.
It may be more of the same this weekend with McCloud out and Mooney trending in the wrong direction. As for McCloud, hopefully more details will emerge to give some insight into his path moving forward. After breaking out last year for by far a career-best 62 catches for 686 yards in his seventh NFL season and with his fifth NFL team, this has been an extremely disappointing follow up for the 29-year-old. He and the team will now work to get things back on track.