NFL Minor Transactions: 9/5/25
Here are Friday’s minor transactions as we await Game 2 of the 2025 season, including today’s standard gameday practice squad elevations for the Chiefs and Chargers:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed off Panthers’ practice squad: DT Sam Roberts
- Released: WR David Sills
- Released (with injury settlement): CB Grayland Arnold
Chicago Bears
- Waived (with injury settlement): C Doug Kramer
Cincinnati Bengals
- Waived (with injury settlement): TE Tanner McLachlan
Green Bay Packers
- Waived (with injury settlement): S Omar Brown
Indianapolis Colts
- Waived (with injury settlement): K Maddux Trujillo
Kansas City Chiefs
- Elevated: DT Marlon Tuipulotu
Las Vegas Raiders
- Placed on reserve/retired list: WR Amari Cooper (story)
Los Angeles Chargers
- Elevated: LS Rick Lovato, T Foster Sarell
Each NFL team is granted two standard gameday practice squad elevations each game, allowing them to call up two members of their practice squad that are able to play in that weekend’s game. After the game is played, the elevated players revert back to the practice squad with no transaction required. This differs from a transaction like we saw earlier today wherein wide receiver Justin Shorter was signed to the Raiders’ active roster from their practice squad. He is now permanently on the team’s 53-man roster until they cut him or until his contract expires.
Practice squad players can be called up a maximum of three times under a single practice squad contract. If the team wants to call up a player who’s been called up three times already, team’s will usually sign the player to their active roster for a game, cut them after, and then sign them to a new practice squad contract. Under a new contract, the player would be eligible to be elevated for three more games.
Latest On Ravens’ Recovery Outlooks
September 3: Likely is not expected to play in Baltimore’s regular-season opener against the Bills on Sunday night, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. He avoided landing on the IR to start the season, raising hopes that he would be available early in the season. However, his 2025 debut will not come in Week 1, but his recovery is proceeding smoothly.
Cornerback Jaire Alexander is practicing for the first time since August 9 as he dealt with a knee issue, per ESPN’s Jamison Hensley. However, fullback Patrick Ricard has been absent since August 14 and seems “highly questionable” to play in Buffalo, per Zrebiec.
August 30: The Ravens have worked to improve how they’re taking care of their players in the offseason and training camp ever since the 2021 season saw them lose Gus Edwards, J.K. Dobbins, Rashod Bateman, Devin Duvernay, Lamar Jackson, and even their mascot, Poe, to season-ending injuries. They aren’t immune to preseason injuries, though, and a few updates have come through on the injuries Baltimore is dealing with.
Early in the preseason, the Ravens saw rookie sixth-round cornerback Bilhal Kone go down with a season-ending knee injury. At this point, Kone’s now undergone full repairs on the torn ACL and MCL, as well as the lateral meniscus damage. His recovery timeline, per Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports, is set to be around 10-12 months. It will be a tough road back for the rookie out of Western Michigan, but barring any setbacks, he should be able to make his NFL debut in 2026.
A player with a much shorter recovery timeline, tight end Isaiah Likely is expected to be back “at some point in the early part of the season,” per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. Likely needed surgery for a broken bone in his foot at the beginning of the month. Many expected that he may end up on injured reserve with a designation to return, but the Ravens kept him on the active roster, meaning that they don’t expect Likely to miss the first four weeks of the season.
Zrebiec also gave an update on rookie third-round offensive tackle Emery Jones. He’s starting the season on the reserve/non-football injury list as he recovers from surgery a week after the combine for a shoulder injury that Baltimore knew all about when they drafted him. They’ll allow some time for him to get back in shape once healthy, so there’s no rush, but it sounds like they do expect him to get on the field as a rookie at some point.
Jaguars’ Travis Hunter To Start On Offense, Come Off Bench On Defense
Another revelation with the onset of teams’ unofficial depth charts came in Jacksonville, where ESPN’s Adam Schefter notes that rookie No. 2 overall pick Travis Hunter has been listed as a starting wide receiver on offense but a backup cornerback on defense. It’s an intriguing development in what has been a closely-watched situation concerning Hunter’s ability to play both ways at the NFL level. 
In Colorado last year, Hunter won the Heisman Trophy after playing 753 of a possible 871 (86%) snaps on offense and 776 of a possible 938 (83%) snaps on defense. Hunter did so all while ranking as a top-performing player at both wide receiver and cornerback. In fact, he won both the Fred Biletnikoff Award for the NCAA’s best wide receiver and the Chuck Bednarik Award for the NCAA’s best defensive player.
In the NFL last year, triple-crown wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase played 1,053 of a possible 1,136 (93%) snaps on offense and Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II played 1,054 of a possible 1,233 (85%) snaps on defense. For more realistic comparisons, top rookie wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. played 822 of a possible 1,033 (80%) snaps on offense and Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell — finished second in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting — played 1,158 of a possible 1,320 (88%) snaps on defense.
There are multiple challenges that experts cite as issues that could keep Hunter from continuing to work as a two-way player in the NFL. As noted in the difference of possible snaps counts above, NFL seasons are much longer than college football seasons. Chase’s offense played 265 more snaps than Hunter’s — a 31% increase — and Mitchell’s defense played 382 more snaps than Hunter’s — a 41% increase. That’s a lot of extra snaps for a player to be on the field, even if they have displayed outstanding endurance by playing both ways in college.
It may seem unfair to hold Hunter up to the expectations of award winners and the top rookies from last year, but the only reason Hunter could be a two-way starter in the NFL would be if he is truly starting-caliber on both sides of the ball. If playing on both sides of the ball takes away from his ability to be starting-caliber on either side, it feels as if his value would be better served focusing on one side of the ball.
For much of the draft process, it was believed that most teams viewed Hunter as either a wide receiver or a cornerback, with most slotting him in on defense. That made it seem likely that he may be a starting cornerback who may enter the offense for specialty plays or situations here and there, but the opposite seems to be the case now in Duval. Now, it appears that he will be a starter at wide receiver and rotate in off the bench in the secondary.
It’s hard to say whether the Jaguars are truly entertaining the idea of playing Hunter on both sides of the ball all season, as they have in training camp and the preseason, or if this depth chart is how rookie head coach Liam Coen is breaking it softly to Hunter that his focus is going to be on the offense. We won’t truly know until Sunday, when Hunter’s Jaguars host the Panthers and rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, a player Hunter did a good job of defending over two years in college.
Indeed, while Schefter confirmed in a subsequent report that Hunter would be an every-down wide receiver and situational corner in the team’s regular season opener against Carolina, the team still plans to vary his usage throughout the course of the year. There may be some weeks when he is used as both a full-time wideout and CB, and even his Week 2 snap counts could look very different than his Week 1 deployment.
It will be interesting to watch so many aspects of Hunter’s use in the NFL this year. How much will he see the field on defense as a backup cornerback to Tyson Campbell and Jarrian Jones? Will the rookie be prominently featured on the offense in a receiving corps alongside Thomas and Dyami Brown? If Jacksonville does play him both ways, will they limit his time on both sides of the ball or will they play him as much he wants to go? Does overuse result in poor play or potential injuries? With so many answers waiting in the near future, Sunday can’t come soon enough.
Cowboys Set Focus On Deals With OL Tyler Smith, DE Sam Williams
SEPTEMBER 2: Though it looked like there might be a chance for the Cowboys to get a new deal done with Smith before the onset of the regular season, that appears less likely with the first game of the season less than 48 hours away. Smith doesn’t seem concerned about the delay in the slightest, though. Per an update on the team website, Smith’s attention is fully on Thursday’s season opener, as he remarks that “everything will happen in due time.”
AUGUST 31: Back in April the Cowboys set their sights on new deals for tight end Jake Ferguson, cornerback DaRon Bland, left guard Tyler Smith, and kicker Brandon Aubrey. Since then, Ferguson and Bland have received their desired extensions, and now, Smith should be the next priority in Dallas, per Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 
Smith came to Dallas as a first-round pick out of Tulsa in 2022. A left tackle during his time with the Golden Hurricane, Smith was expected to move inside to guard as a rookie. When veteran left tackle Tyron Smith suffered a torn hamstring, though, the rookie Smith was tapped as the next man up and looked like a natural as he started every game as the blindside blocker for a team that finished with the fourth-fewest sacks allowed in the NFL that year.
In his sophomore campaign, the Cowboys shifted Smith back inside to the left guard position he was expected to play as a rookie. Despite missing three games, Smith was named a second-team All-Pro and a Pro Bowler. When Tyron Smith departed in free agency, the team debated shifting Tyler Smith out to the left tackle role he excelled in as a rookie. Instead, Dallas drafted Oklahoma offensive tackle Tyler Guyton at No. 29 overall and trusted the rookie with the left tackle job, allowing Smith to earn another Pro Bowl bid at left guard.
Now headed into the final year of his rookie contract, the Cowboys made the decision to exercise Smith’s fifth-year option. You don’t often see teams utilize a fifth-round option on an interior lineman, since the system for calculating the value of fifth-year options groups the usually cheaper interior linemen with notably more expensive tackles. The Cowboys likely don’t intend to pay out the option year but instead use the exercising of the option as a commitment to work towards an extension for the 24-year-old before his rookie contract expires.
Back in May, Smith changed up his representation in anticipation of contract negotiations. ESPN’s Todd Archer reports that Smith and the team have started talks towards a new deal, and new head coach Brian Schottenheimer expressed hope that Smith would be the next player to get locked in long term.
Another player named as the next potential top priority for the team is defensive end Sam Williams, according to Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News. The Cowboys’ pick in the second round after Smith in 2022, Williams logged 8.5 sacks as a rotation rusher in his first two years with the team. He was expected to take on a potential starting role in 2024, but a torn ACL in training camp — with a partial MCL tear — took him out for the entire season. He now heads into the final year of his rookie contract and is once again expected to be a starter in 2025.
As owner/president/general manager Jerry Jones works to make everybody forget about Micah Parsons, it may be in his best interest to sign promising young players like Smith and Williams to long-term deals. They have another three days to talk, if they hope to get any more deals done before the regular season is underway.
Commanders Rookie T Josh Conerly Jr. To Start Week 1?
With unofficial depth charts coming out in the last few days before the regular season, Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic pointed out that the Commanders have listed Oregon rookie Josh Conerly Jr. as the starting right tackle for Week 1 of the NFL season. If true, it would mean that the No. 29 overall pick of this year’s draft has officially won the position battle with incumbent starter Andrew Wylie. 
Last year, Washington counted on Wylie and third-round rookie left tackle Brandon Coleman to bookend the offensive line. On a line that gave up the eighth-most sacks in the NFL last year, neither player graded out favorably. Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), out of 81 players graded at offensive tackle last year, Wylie ranked 57th and Coleman ranked 64th.
It now appears neither player will retain their starting duties from last year, as the team traded for former Texans Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil early on in the offseason. Coleman, though, seems likely to keep a starting gig, even if not at left tackle. The second-year lineman out of TCU is currently slotted in as the first-team left guard. The bump inside shouldn’t be too difficult for Coleman, who started eight games at the position for the Horned Frogs in 2021.
Wylie, who has spent the past two seasons as the team’s starting right tackle, seems poised to serve in a swing tackle role for Washington in 2025. This makes his early-offseason pay cut make a bit more sense. Though, while last year’s starting left guard, Nick Allegretti, is listed as the first-team right guard for Week 1, the unofficial depth chart has an “or” between his name and Wylie’s.
Wylie has a versatile history, having started seasons at both right guard and left guard in the five years he spent in Kansas City before joining the Commanders. That, combined with Allegretti’s below average performance in his first full-time role as a starter last season, gives Wylie a decent shot at following Coleman’s path to bumping inside to retain a starting job. He’ll also likely be close by in the case that the rookie Conerly struggles at all in his first year of NFL play.
Conerly, a two-year starter for the Ducks, definitely showed areas that needed refinement as the left tackle in Eugene, but his athleticism, body control, and recovery balance made him a strong, bend-but-don’t-break tackle prospect with an ability to start early, if necessary. The Commanders have expressed a vision of Conerly being a left tackle for the team in the future, but with Tunsil manning the blind side at the moment, Washington will test Conerly’s ability to switch sides until potentially moving back to his normal position when Tunsil is no longer with the team.
With that in mind, it seems that Conerly will be tested in multiple ways this weekend. As he appears set to open his rookie season as a starter, the 21-year-old will be showcasing that he can both start early in his career and play on the right side of the offensive line.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/2/25
Here are today’s minor moves as we inch a day closer to the start of the regular season:
Carolina Panthers
- Waived (with injury settlement): G Ja’Tyre Carter
Chicago Bears
- Waived (with injury settlement): G Bill Murray, RB Ian Wheeler
Cleveland Browns
- Waived (with injury settlement): RB Pierre Strong
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: QB Jake Haener
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed to active roster: WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling
- Released: WR Russell Gage
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived (with injury settlement): CB JayVian Farr, CB Roman Parodie
The 49ers are doing a bit of shuffling in their receiving corps, calling up Valdes-Scantling from the practice squad and cutting Gage. According to multiple sources, it’s believed that Gage will be immediately signed back to the team’s practice squad to remain with the team.
Haener was brought back to the active roster in New Orleans after being waived at the roster cut deadline. The Saints had three quarterbacks, with Iowa Western rookie practice squad passer Hunter Dekkers, but adding Haener gives the team a bit more experienced depth, if only barely, in what may be the league’s youngest quarterbacks room.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/2/25
Here are Tuesday’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: LB Jared Bartlett, DT Denzel Daxon
- Released: T Roy Mbaeteka
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: DT Simeon Barrow Jr., OLB Ronnie Perkins
- Released: T Brandon Parker
Denver Broncos
- Signed: WR Thayer Thomas
- Released: CB Quinton Newsome
New England Patriots
- Released: DT Jahvaree Ritzie
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: LB Eku Leota
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Released: WR Robert Woods
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: DT Anthony Campbell, DE Jalan Gaines, G Sataoa Laumea
- Released: CB Shemar Jean-Charles, T Amari Kight, RB Damien Martinez
Washington Commanders
- Signed: G Darrian Dalcourt
The 12-year veteran wide receiver, Woods, had been signed to the Steelers’ practice squad after failing to make the 53-man roster. Per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, Woods requested to be released from his practice squad contract but told Pittsburgh that he would be open to returning if a spot on the active roster opened up for him. The team granted his request.
The Cardinals are able to add two players while only releasing one because Daxon is part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program, having been born in the Bahamas. Teams can have one more than the 16-player limit for their practice squad, as long as the 17th players is in the IPPP.
Per Brady Henderson of ESPN, it’s believed that the Seahawks have made this transaction as a courtesy to Campbell, Gaines, and Laumea, who’ve all spent most of the offseason in Seattle with the team. This week on the practice squad will potentially get each player a minimum check for $13K, but the Seahawks are expected to bring Martinez and Jean-Charles back to the p-squad. The same has yet to be confirmed for Kight.
Offseason In Review: Arizona Cardinals
2024 marked a year for improvements in Arizona. In the second year of the Jonathan Gannon–Monti Ossenfort regime, the head coach and general manager duo took a team that had finished last in the NFC West for two straight years and had given up the second-most points and most rushing yards on defense in 2023 and improved in every one of those facets. Seeing that the new leadership was having a positive effect and knowing that quarterback Kyler Murray is now well over two years removed from his late-2022 ACL injury, the Cardinals came into this offseason with a new plan.
With a 2024 salary cap carryover of $11.38MM and another cap increase by the league, Arizona entered the offseason with $71.33MM in cap space — good for the fourth-highest amount in the NFL — and a plan to utilize it. With the small caveat of having to shoulder Murray’s $43.33MM-cap hit — good for the fifth-highest such figure in the NFL — the Cardinals came out of 2024 looking to improve the roster with tons of new contracts for players both foreign (to the team) and domestic.
Extensions and restructures:
- Extended TE Trey McBride on four-year, $76MM deal ($32.5MM guaranteed)
Early this offseason, the Cardinals expressed hope to sign their star tight end to an extension as soon as he became eligible. They got it done just two months after that report, making McBride the highest-paid tight end in NFL history (for a little less than four weeks, until George Kittle moved the market just past him).
McBride, 25, has proven to be more than worth the $19MM-per-year price tag after finishing just one catch (111) and 48 yards (1,146) short of matching the totals of the league’s leading tight end in both stats. The TE market remains south of the $20MM-per-year place, even as WR salaries are now past $40MM AAV, but McBride set the table for such a breakthrough after his strong third season.
Although frustrating fantasy GMs by catching only two touchdown passes last season, McBride has established himself as the most prolific receiving tight end in the Cardinals’ Arizona-years history. McBride’s past two seasons rank first and second for Cards TEs in single-season yardage since the team relocated to the desert in 1988. This contract ensures the Colorado State product will team with Marvin Harrison Jr. as the Cardinals’ top pass-catching weapons for the foreseeable future.
Part of McBride’s full guarantee comes via a $16.5MM signing bonus. The former second-round pick secured a fully guaranteed 2026 base salary, and the Cardinals used $7.5MM in option bonuses — in lieu of void years — to help keep his cap hits low. McBride will not be tied to a cap number higher than $9MM until 2027. McBride’s $1.88MM 2026 option bonus is guaranteed, while $3MM of his 2027 base salary locks in on Day 5 of the 2026 league year. Per Spotrac, the other $7.53MM of McBride’s 2027 base salary shifts from an injury guarantee to a full guarantee on Day 5 of the 2027 league year.
Free agency additions:
- Josh Sweat, DE: Four years, $76.4MM ($38MM guaranteed)
- Dalvin Tomlinson, DT: Two years, $29MM ($15.5MM guaranteed)
- Jacoby Brissett, QB: Two years, $12.5MM ($8MM guaranteed)
- Akeem Davis-Gaither, LB: Two years, $10MM ($5MM guaranteed)
- Calais Campbell, DL: One year, $5.5MM ($4.25MM guaranteed)
- J.J. Russell, LB: One year, $1.17MM
- Jake Curhan, T: Practice squad
- Josiah Deguara, TE: Practice squad
- Simi Fehoko, WR: Practice squad
The area in which the Cards were most prepared to spend was in free agency, and the main focus was on a defense that, despite showing improvement in 2024, still had a long way to go in order to be considered an impressive unit. A defensive line last year that most often was comprised of L.J. Collier, Dante Stills, Roy Lopez, and Naquan Jones has been transformed into a unit led by a familiar face in Campbell, with Tomlinson, Sweat, and last year’s first-round pick, Darius Robinson, filling out the rest of the line. 
Campbell spent the first nine years of his career in Glendale, and when he tested the free agency waters for the first time at 30 years old, he was a hot commodity. To Arizona’s credit, the team tried to retain the star lineman on a $9MM-per-year hometown discount back in 2017, and the Denver native even received a $13MM-per-year offer from his actual hometown Broncos team. Ultimately, he landed in Jacksonville — which promptly became known affectionately as “Sacksonville,” due in part to his presence — and gave the Jaguars three of the best years of his career.
Campbell was traded in 2020 to the Ravens, where he put forth three more decent campaigns, but injuries began to nag a bit when his time in Baltimore ended at 36 years old. Not one to bow to Father Time, though, Campbell played all 17 games in each of the past two seasons — 2023 with the Falcons, 2024 with the Dolphins — before heading back to the team that drafted him. The Cardinals, in fact, had attempted to reacquire him in the middle of the 2024 season.
Set to turn 39 Monday, Campbell has not posted double-digit sacks since his second year in Jacksonville. But he routinely grades as one of the strongest defensive linemen in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), and his leadership and community work are often considered second to none. Recent rumblings have revealed Campbell’s return to Arizona may include a swan song performance as he anticipates retiring after his 18th NFL season.
Joining Campbell on the line are top signees Sweat and Tomlinson. Sweat arrives in Arizona after seven years in Philadelphia, where he had established himself as a full-time starter after earning a three-year, $40MM extension and collected 43 sacks in his final six years with the team after going sackless as a rookie.
It became clear the Eagles were not going to be able to retain Sweat following their Super Bowl-winning campaign, and the 28-year-old switched his representation up in preparation to land a deal like the one he got with the Cardinals. PFR’s No. 2 overall free agent, Sweat dominated in Super Bowl LIX — with 2.5 sacks and a crucial second-quarter pressure that forced a Patrick Mahomes interception — to cement himself as a top-tier free agent. This will bring a reunion with Gannon, Sweat’s DC from 2021-22.
Tomlinson, on the other hand, found himself a surprise free agent after the Browns made him a cap casualty in the aftermath of making Myles Garrett the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL (at the time). Tomlinson, 31, had been midway through his third NFL contract after playing out his rookie deal with the Giants and spending two years in Minnesota. Per PFF, his first season in Cleveland was a down year for the veteran, but he recovered quite well in 2024.
Before becoming a Brown, though, Tomlinson routinely graded out as a top-25 interior defensive lineman in the NFL. The new one-two of Campbell and Tomlinson in the middle with Sweat and Robinson on the ends should make for a formidable new-look unit.
The team’s linebacking corps also got some renovations. Deciding to move on from the Kyzir White experience, the Cardinals added a budding Davis-Gaither to the group. Davis-Gaither spent the first four years of his career as a rotational player with the Bengals, starting only four games in 54 appearances. More was asked of Davis-Gaither at the end of last season, though, when an injury to Logan Wilson forced him into the starting lineup for the final six games. The team’s current depth charts indicate that Davis-Gaither may retain a starting role in his first year with the Cardinals.
The team made relatively very few moves on offense when looking at external free agents, deciding instead to focus their efforts on bodies in the building already, as we’ll visit in later sections. One spot in which the team figured it could make a significant improvement was at backup quarterback.
When Murray suffered his ACL injury two years ago, the two backup quarterbacks, Joshua Dobbs and Clayton Tune, went a combined 1-8 to open the 2023 season. Luckily for Arizona, Murray started every game last season, but it seems the Cardinals still felt a need to find a more experienced, successful option than the former fifth-round pick out of Houston.
Brissett seems to be the latest entry into the journeyman emergency starter archetype. Like those who came before him — Ryan Fitzpatrick, Josh McCown, Vinny Testaverde — he comes to town with multiple years of experience as a full-time starter and double-digit starts for the Browns and/or Jets.
While it is true that Brissett has never finished a season with more starts won than lost, the 32-year-old is a composed professional that rarely throws the ball to the other team. When your star quarterback is out for any reason, being able to minimize mistakes becomes a crucial part of winning games. Regardless, Arizona will hope it doesn’t see much of its new $6.25MM-per-year asset.
One area on the defense the team failed to improve through free agency was at cornerback. While Garrett Williams earned much acclaim for his performance in the slot, the outside group of corners was pretty average. A season-ending knee injury in May for returning starter Sean Murphy-Bunting put a scare into the team, then a torn ACL for the other returning starter, Starling Thomas, exacerbated concerns (more on that below) at the position even more three weeks ago.
Very early in the offseason, the Cardinals kicked the tires on former Chargers starting cornerback Asante Samuel Jr., who’s coming off an injury of his own. No contract emerged from the visit, but Samuel remains unsigned to this day. At the moment, though, it appears Arizona will be content with the help it obtained at the position through the draft.
Re-signings:
- Baron Browning, OLB: Two years, $15MM ($10MM guaranteed)
- Evan Brown, G: Two years, $11.5MM ($6MM guaranteed)
- Kelvin Beachum, OL: One year, $4MM ($3.49MM guaranteed)
- L.J. Collier, DE: One year, $3MM ($1.5MM guaranteed)
- Zay Jones, WR: One year, $2.4MM ($1.3MM guaranteed)
- Will Hernandez, G: One year, $2.17MM ($790K guaranteed)
- Joey Blount, S: Two years, $3.75MM ($400K guaranteed)
- Aaron Brewer, LS: One year, $1.42MM ($167.5K guaranteed)
When Ossenfort and Co. looked at the free agent market, they saw a lot of players they liked who wore the same logo they did. The front office then got busy re-signing several key players from last year’s team.
Bills DT DeWayne Carter Out For Season
The Bills saw a depth piece on their defensive line go down with a season-ending injury today. Defensive tackle DeWayne Carter suffered a torn Achilles tendon, according to Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports. Now, instead of preparing for Week 1 of the 2025 season, the 24-year-old will begin working his way back to the field in time for 2026.
Carter was a third-round pick for Buffalo last year after five years at Duke. He started earning some recognition in his redshirt sophomore year with the Blue Devils, when he earned third-team All-ACC honors in his first year as a full-time starter, breaking out with 4.5 sacks, eight tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, and three batted passes. He stepped it up in 2022, logging 5.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, four passes defensed, three forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries, including one returned for a touchdown.
After earning second-team All-ACC honors for his redshirt junior season, Carter’s production dropped a bit in 2023 as he became a focal point for opposing offenses. He only logged once sack and four tackles for loss, but he did bat four passes and returned another fumble for a touchdown. His defensive impact was still clear as he earned first-team All-ACC honors and became a third-round pick headed to Buffalo.
As a rookie, Carter was eased into the NFL with a minimal Week 1 workload but became a significant part of the rotation on the defensive line for the next six weeks, even earning his first two career starts in Weeks 5 & 6. He missed the next five weeks but returned to play in four of the final five games of the season, including a Week 18 start as the usual starters rested. In 11 games with three starts, Carter totaled five tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, and one pass defensed.
Carter wasn’t expected to step into a starting role in 2025 as DaQuan Jones and Ed Oliver return to the starting lineup, but the second-year lineman was once again expected to be a key part of the rotation, especially during the suspension of free agent addition Larry Ogunjobi. Instead, Carter will likely undergo surgery and begin rehabilitation with a goal of being healthy for Year 3.
Bills Work Out Three Kickers
For the second year in a row, the Bills are doing their due diligence on kickers amidst concerns with regular kicker Tyler Bass. Bass’s kicking performance in 2024 was about the same as the prior year that prompted the first host of kickers, but per USA Today’s Nick Wojton, there are now injury concerns also in consideration. 
According to Wojton, Bass missed most of training camp with a pelvic injury. He was able to be cleared in time for the preseason finale, making three of his four attempts in that game, but there are clearly concerns about his ability to be reliable here at the start of the season.
As said last year, and as if to underline the point, Bass has been nothing if not consistent. In his first three seasons, Bass missed four field goals attempts in each regular season. In both 2023 and 2024, Bass went exactly 24-for-29. Last year, Bass went a perfect 4-for-4 on field goals over 50 yards but missed four from 40-49 yards and one from 20-29 yards.
His rookie season saw him miss two field goals and an extra point attempt in the playoffs, and his second trip to the postseason the next year saw him miss two more extra point attempts. He cleaned it up with a perfect postseason in 2022, though he didn’t attempt a kick over 40 yards, but 2023 saw him miss three postseason field goal attempts, including one late in the team’s divisional round loss to the Chiefs. He turned it around again in 2024, going a perfect 6-for-6 in the postseason, including two from beyond 50 yards.
With injuries serving as a potential hindrance to Bass starting the regular season, the team hosted three free agent kickers — up one from last year. According to Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports, Eddy Pineiro, Zane Gonzalez, and Greg Joseph came in to work out with the Bills.
Gonzalez has been around the longest of the three, getting drafted in the seventh round by the Browns in 2017. Gonzalez appeared in six games for the Commanders in 2024 but hadn’t appeared in a game before that since the 2021 season.
Joseph had three straight seasons with the Vikings from 2021-23, but the team allowed him to walk in free agency after watching him struggle with accuracy issues. Last year, Joseph appeared in eight games with three different teams; he kicked in six games with the Giants and a game apiece with the Commanders and Jets, going 16-for-20 overall.
Pineiro has been the Panthers’ primary kicker for each of the past three seasons. He’s been impressive as a field goal kicker, going 33-for-35 in his first year with the team and 5-for-7 from beyond 50 yards in his second year with the team. His biggest struggle has oddly been with extra points. During his time in Carolina, Pineiro has missed seven extra point attempts.
While Bass has had his struggles at times in Buffalo, it’s clear that none of the options visiting this weekend are clear upgrades over the 28-year-old. If Bass ends up needing to miss any time due to his pelvis injury, though, look for one of the veteran kickers to land on the practice squad in Buffalo, so they can be called up as a standard gameday elevation, if needed.