Jets To Deal CB Michael Carter II To Eagles
One of the Jets’ long-rumored trade candidates, Michael Carter II is indeed on the move. The team is sending the veteran slot cornerback to the Eagles, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports.
Carter and a 2027 seventh-round pick are going to the Eagles in exchange for a 2027 sixth and wide receiver John Metchie, per Russini. Philadelphia had acquired Metchie in a summer trade with Houston.
[RELATED: DT Quinnen Williams Drawing Trade Interest]
This move will reunite Carter with the GM who extended him last summer. Since-fired Jets front office boss Joe Douglas is back with the Eagles, having been hired this offseason. Douglas hammered out a three-year, $30.75MM extension for Carter just before last season. (At the time, those terms made Carter the NFL’s highest-paid pure slot.)
The Jets came into Wednesday with three eight-figure-per-year CB contracts. That number drops to two (Sauce Gardner, Brandon Stephens) after this deal, and it gives Carter a second chance after he had fallen out of favor under Aaron Glenn.
Seeking a change of scenery after his Jets standing changed, Carter agreed to rework his contract to facilitate a trade to Philly. He agreed to remove a $5MM injury guarantee for 2026, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport adds. Carter is now due a largely nonguaranteed $9.7MM in 2026, as $1.38MM of that total is fully guaranteed. The contract runs through 2027.
This will give the Eagles more flexibility, as they are acquiring a slot corner despite rostering Cooper DeJean. Issues finding a boundary complement to Quinyon Mitchell, however, have DeJean playing outside far more often this season. That looks set to continue, with the Eagles likely eyeing a Mitchell-DeJean-Carter trio after their Week 9 bye.
Vic Fangio said recently (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter) the team has discussed moving DeJean outside. Neither Adoree’ Jackson nor Kelee Ringo has proven a reliable option opposite Mitchell, and the 2024 rookie CB duo may be how the defending Super Bowl champs resolve this matter for the time being. In Carter, the Eagles will be acquiring a proven slot presence — at least, that was the case during most of Douglas’ GM tenure. The Jets, signing Stephens and extending Gardner at a record rate, had been dangling Carter in deals before the November 4 deadline.
Douglas drafted two Michael Carters in 2021. While the Jets moved on from the running back (now a Cardinal) earlier, they extended the corner — a fifth-round pick — in a deal that pointed D.J. Reed out of New York. But injuries limited Carter in 2024; the 2025 Jets regime change affected his long-term standing with the franchise. The Jets’ September Jarvis Brownlee trade impacted this equation as well.
A herniated disk in Carter’s back accompanied an ankle injury last year, and his snap share declined to a career-low 32% during Jeff Ulbrich‘s interim HC stretch. Carter had logged between 64 and 74% of New York’s defensive snaps from 2021-23, solidifying himself as an extension candidate. Missing three games this season, he played 45% of the Jets’ defensive snaps. That stint under Glenn and Steve Wilks did not go well; Pro Football Focus ranks Carter as the NFL’s third-worst CB regular this season. Per Pro-Football-Reference, he has been charged with a whopping 19.5 yards per completion and a 109.7 passer rating as the closest defender.
PFF graded Carter as a top-20 option in 2022 and ’23, as he excelled alongside Gardner in Robert Saleh‘s scheme. The Eagles will bet on this buy-low move boosting their defense and restoring the 26-year-old corner closer to that early-2020s form. PFF has Jackson slotted barely above Carter this season, ranking him among the 10 worst CB regulars, while placing Ringo outside the top 60 at the position. While DeJean may project as a slot player long term, the Eagles will try to get by with the standout cover man outside this year.
DeJean logged only seven boundary CB snaps in 2024; the Iowa alum is already at 103 this season. Fangio had a complex plan for DeJean this offseason, lining him up at safety and outside corner. For now, DeJean will be likely to give it a go at a position he was not drafted to play. It will be interesting to see what the Eagles’ DeJean plan is coming out of this season, as the Super Bowl hero enjoyed a strong rookie year as a slot stopper.
Despite being extended last year, Carter is on a manageable $1.7MM base salary this season. The Eagles will be responsible for barely half that, though the Jets could only secure a 2027 sixth and a now-twice-trade receiver in this deal. Metchie will join a team with a much worse receiving situation.
The Jets have played without Garrett Wilson due to injury recently and placed Josh Reynolds on IR before Week 8. Being traded from Houston to Philly before the season, Metchie has caught just four passes for 18 yards. The former second-round pick, who missed his rookie season due to a leukemia battle, should have a chance to play more with the Jets.
Metchie caught 24 passes for 254 yards as a Texans backup in 2024 and is in a contract year. The Jets have Allen Lazard stationed as a trade candidate, as the 1-7 team will need to consider other moves to recoup draft capital before the deadline. Excluding pick-for-pick deals, this is the Eagles’ 10th trade in 2025. More moves could be coming for the NFC power, as six days remain until this year’s trade endpoint.
Bengals’ Joe Flacco Battling AC Joint Injury
The Bengals have seen their offense climb out of the NFL basement since Joe Flacco‘s first half of action with the team, even as they are only 1-2 with the trade pickup at the controls. Another injury-driven return to Jake Browning, however, is in play.
Flacco is dealing with an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. While Zac Taylor said (via The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr.) Flacco could play on minimal practice reps — as he showed during his first week with the team — he did not practice today and is uncertain to play in Week 9 against the Bears.
Flacco left the field briefly Sunday but returned for the Bengals’ last-ditch drive in their loss to the Jets. Finishing with 223 passing yards, Flacco accounted for two touchdown passes and a rushing score in defeat. This came after he delivered a throwback performance to lift the Bengals to a win over the Steelers, narrowing the team’s AFC North deficit. Pittsburgh’s Week 8 loss to Green Bay kept the margin where it is, but the Bengals’ form with Browning could be a break for the struggling Steelers.
Cincy endured three straight blowout losses with Browning, who lost his support in the building ahead of the Bengals’ ultra-rare in-season trade pickup. Just the third player over the past 53 years to be added by the team via trade in-season, Flacco has made a significant difference to the team’s offense. The Bengals lost by a combined 113-37 margin during Browning’s three starts in relief of Joe Burrow.
Flacco confirmed (via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer) he did not ask the Browns to trade him, but the 18th-year quarterback noted team brass approached him to see if he’d be interested in the intra-Ohio transfer. The Browns, who had demoted Flacco for Dillon Gabriel, traded him to the Bengals in a Day 3 pick-swap move in Week 6. This came as the Bengals cast a wide net — which included retired QB Derek Carr — for an emergency Browning replacement.
“Now I don’t know if they would’ve done it anyway, if I wasn’t interested. If I said, ‘No, I really don’t want to do that, guys,’ I don’t know if they would’ve said, ‘OK, yeah, that’s cool, we won’t do it then,’” Flacco said. “But it did seem like Andrew [Berry] was like, ‘Listen, man, we appreciate what you’ve done. Would this be something you’d be open to?’ So we had a conversation about it, for sure.”
Flacco can earn 75K bonuses for Bengals wins in games in which he reaches the 50% snap threshold, but ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano indicates the team-based incentive does not kick in until a fourth occurrence. This minor bump would not be available to the 40-year-old passer until he wins a fourth game with the team.
The Bengals may be ready to redeploy Burrow by that point, as the superstar starter (via ESPN.com’s Ben Baby) has not endured any setbacks on his recovery road. The team did not say how close Burrow is to returning from toe surgery, however. December remains the target window, though Flacco (or Browning) will need to keep the car on the road for that to make sense.
Chiefs To Bring Back DT Mike Pennel
Mike Pennel is in an age-34 season and saw a struggling Bengals defense drop him. Pennel, however, requested the release. He has found a familiar landing spot.
Following a workout, the 12th-year veteran defensive tackle is returning to the Chiefs, veteran insider Jordan Schultz tweets. This will be Pennel’s third stint with the team; his most recent covered the past two seasons. The Chiefs waived defensive end Malik Herring, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, moving Pennel onto the active roster.
Pennel has been on four of the Chiefs’ five Patrick Mahomes-era Super Bowl teams, being elsewhere only for their Super Bowl LVII-winning season in 2022. Chris Jones advocated for his return recently, via Schultz, calling the experienced depth DT important for the team’s culture. Pennel was a part-time starter alongside Jones last season, and the Chiefs will see what he has left in his mid-30s this year.
The Chiefs initially added Pennel as a free agent in 2019, and they re-signed the backup interior option in 2020. The second deal barely cleared $1MM. Pennel returned as a practice squad option in 2023, following one-offs with the Falcons (2021) and Bears (2022), and saw his role expand in the playoffs. Last year, the Chiefs re-signed him on a one-year, $1.38MM deal. The three-time reigning AFC champions reupped him again this offseason (at $1.42MM) but cut him as they set their initial 53-man roster, leading to the Cincinnati agreement.
Playing in all eight Bengals games this season, Pennel had begun to lose playing time as the campaign progressed. His 25% defensive snap share remained in the ballpark of his recent Chiefs usage, but it had dropped over the past three games. Only part of Chiefs rosters during Steve Spagnuolo‘s seven-year DC tenure, Pennel will return as a role player for a team that lost Tershawn Wharton in free agency and has lost second-round rookie D-tackle Omarr Norman-Lott to an ACL tear.
Last season, Pennel started seven games and recorded three sacks in the regular season. He has played between 25-34% of K.C.’s defensive snaps over his previous four seasons with the team. Pennel has started six playoff games (including Super Bowl LVIII) with the team, including three in 2023 and one last season. He joins Derrick Nnadi as DTs reacquired by the Chiefs this year; Kansas City added Nnadi back in a trade with the Jets just before the season. This duo joins Jones and Jerry Tillery in K.C.’s DT room.
Broncos CB Patrick Surtain To Miss Time
OCTOBER 29: The Broncos are not planning to place Surtain on IR, according to Rapoport. It appears Surtain will miss three games, but he could return after the Broncos’ bye.
OCTOBER 28: Surtain is indeed in line to miss at least the Broncos’ next game, ESPN’s Jeff Legwold confirms. He adds Denver will approach this situation on a “week-to-week” basis beyond the Texans matchup. That will of course change if an IR stint is deemed necessary.
OCTOBER 27: The Broncos soared to 6-2 behind a dominant performance against the Cowboys, but they played the second half without their top player. That is expected to continue moving forward.
Patrick Surtain is expected to miss time with a pectoral injury sustained in the second quarter Sunday, veteran insider Jordan Schultz reports. A four- to six-week timetable is being floated here, via Schultz, though the reigning Defensive Player of the Year is ticketed for a second opinion. Either way, it appears the Broncos’ defense will be dealt a significant blow.
Surgery is not in the cards here, per Schultz, obviously representing good news for the AFC West leaders. It is a pec strain, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero. While this is being labeled “week to week,” the NFL.com duo notes IR is possible here. ESPN’s Adam Schefter adds Surtain is indeed an IR candidate. Additional testing introduced IR here, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler adds, noting the team had initially hoped for a one- or two-week timetable. The Broncos’ bye comes in Week 12.
This comes at a pivotal point on the Broncos’ schedule, as the team has games against the Texans and Chiefs in the next four weeks. An IR stay would shelve Surtain for the first of the Kansas City matchups, along with games against the Raiders and Commanders. The Broncos have used three injury activations this season; they would certainly save one for Surtain should IR be necessary. The team could go week to week here as well, keeping the door open for the impact defender to return without missing four games.
While this can be viewed as positive news, as a torn pec could have ended Surtain’s season, it threatens to limit the Broncos during their best stretch in probably 10 years. Surtain regularly travels with teams’ top receivers, usually getting the best of them and providing a tremendous boost to a vaunted Broncos pass rush — one that leads the NFL in sacks. Denver adjusted against a high-powered Dallas offense in the second half, but teams game-planning for a Surtain-less defense will provide an advantage.
Surtain, 25, has been a top-tier cornerback for most of his career. The three-time All-Pro was initially a bright spot on slumping Broncos teams early in his career. Denver rejected trades for the impact defender at the 2023 deadline and extended him just before the 2024 season. That $24MM-per-year deal proved to represent great timing for the Broncos, who saw the Alabama product leap onto the DPOY perch last season (before Jaycee Horn, Derek Stingley Jr. and Sauce Gardner eclipsed his AAV this offseason). Surtain intercepted four passes and picked up his second first-team All-Pro nod in 2024, helping the Broncos rank third defensively and set a franchise record with 63 sacks.
Denver is fairly deep at corner, but Surtain’s absence will obviously be difficult to match. Riley Moss is the team’s other boundary corner, with Ja’Quan McMillian manning the slot. First-round pick Jahdae Barron, who played inside and outside at Texas, has been eased into action (24% snap share). While Barron could be an option to see some time outside in place of Surtain, the Broncos used second-year player Kris Abrams-Draine in his place in the second half against the Cowboys.
The Broncos also have not needed to play much without Surtain during the former top-10 pick’s career. He missed one game his rookie year and one last season, playing in all 17 contests in 2022 and ’23. The Broncos held the Cowboys’ first-string offense to just one touchdown after halftime sans Surtain on Sunday. It will be interesting to see how Vance Joseph arranges his pieces without his ace cover man during this expected absence.
49ers Acquire DE Keion White From Patriots
10:29pm: The 49ers did, in fact, end up signing Ferrell to a practice squad deal after today’s workout, per Schultz. Since leaving San Francisco, Ferrell’s seen his fair share of struggles — failing to make Washington’s initial 53-man roster this year then signing to and getting cut from the Chargers’ practice squad — but with so many injuries plaguing the 49ers’ defensive ends room, a familiar face will be a welcome one as Ferrell joins White as new reinforcements.
5:48pm: In need at edge rusher since Nick Bosa suffered a season-ending torn ACL in Week 3, the 49ers have since lost Bryce Huff to a short-term hamstring malady. They are making an effort to upgrade in the meantime, swinging a deal with the Patriots.
The Pats are sending Keion White to the 49ers, veteran insider Jordan Schultz reports. Signed through 2026, White is on a second-round contract. This is a pick-swap agreement, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. New England will add a 2026 sixth round pick; San Francisco receives White and a 2026 seventh-rounder in a move which is now official.
Months after giving Huff a much-needed fresh start, the 49ers will do the same for White. The former high-end EDGE prospect did not play in Week 8, with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport indicating the Pats were attempting to trade him. Rather than an injury scuttling that, White rested Sunday and is now headed west.
During Jerod Mayo‘s year in charge in 2024, White worked as a 13-game starter. That brought a mixed bag, as the Georgia Tech alum tallied five sacks and 16 QB hits. Those numbers were far better than his rookie-year showing (1/5) in those pass-rushing categories, even as the Pats played most of Bill Belichick‘s finale without then-lead rusher Matt Judon.
This year, White has started just one game. He does not have a sack or a QB hit, being among those to have fallen out of favor under head coach Mike Vrabel. Offseason free agent additions Harold Landry and K’Lavon Chaisson have taken over as the Patriots’ top EDGE players, making White expendable during the first year of the Vrabel regime.
While this might not be the end of the 49ers’ trade effort, the NFC West team had attempted to make an upgrade here for a while. Trey Hendrickson came up as a name the team asked about; the Bengals are not interested in moving the contract-year sack ace. General manager John Lynch confirmed the 49ers were interested in making a move, and the team can add White to its list of in-season EDGE pickups in recent years. The 49ers acquired Chase Young, Randy Gregory and Charles Omenihu via trade in recent seasons, and Huff rejoined defensive coordinator Robert Saleh via trade this offseason.
Huff recorded a career-high 10 sacks when he played under Saleh, then the Jets’ head coach, in 2023. The 27-year-old now leads the 49ers with four sacks this season, but Bosa still ranks second with two despite missing the team’s past five games. With a lack of complements to Huff, the 49ers were in dire need of pass-rushing help. It remains to be seen whether White will provide it, but the 49ers are left to hope a change of scenery will yield positive results.
Before agreeing to land White, the 49ers worked out free agent defensive ends Clelin Ferrell, Casey Toohill, Kingsley Jonathan, and Andrew Farmer on Tuesday, per Matt Barrows of The Athletic. The 49ers have plenty of familiarity with Ferrell, who was a 17-game starter for them in 2023. He finished with 3.5 sacks that year. While the 49ers could still circle back to Ferrell, Toohill, Jonathan, or Farmer, White has emerged as their newest acquisition.
Connor Byrne contributed to this post.
Saints Open To Trading WR Rashid Shaheed
The Saints have two receivers drawing heavy trade interest and another who has been dealt four times in a well-traveled career. New Orleans also turned to the trade market to acquire a wideout, having sent fourth- and seventh-round pick to obtain Devaughn Vele from the Broncos in August.
As the deadline nears, however, the Saints are 1-7. The team appears prepared to retain Chris Olave, who is under contract (via the fifth-year option) through 2026. At this point in his career, Brandin Cooks is unlikely to fetch much (if anything) in a trade. The former New Orleans first-round pick has not shown much in his return to Louisiana. This leaves Rashid Shaheed as the trade chip to monitor, and it does appear New Orleans is ready to seriously listen to interest.
Expecting at least one of the Saints’ wideouts to be traded by the Nov. 4 deadline, ESPN’s Adam Schefter points to Shaheed as the player interesting most WR-needy teams. With an Olave extension appearing more likely than a trade, Shaheed appears the consolation prize. The speedy Olave sidekick is in a contract year, and his production — in a trade market lacking big names — provides natural interest to clubs hoping to upgrade their respective situations. Teams have been in on Shaheed for multiple weeks.
The Saints are using Shaheed a bit differently this year. Having averaged at least 15.6 yards per catch in each of his first three seasons (and over 17 in two of them), the former UDFA is at just 11.1 per reception this year. The Weber State product, though, is on pace to smash his career high for receptions. He already has 39 grabs for 431 yards. The 2023 season (46 catches, 719 yards) represents his best thus far, but WR-needy teams are on the lookout. And Shaheed’s situation could be upgraded soon.
New Orleans has seen flashes from Spencer Rattler, but after last week’s benching, the team is transitioning to second-round rookie Tyler Shough. Olave, Cooks and Vele would represent a workable trio for Shough (even if Vele has disappointed post-trade), and compounded with the Dolphins keeping Jaylen Waddle out of trade talks, Shaheed could command a nice return for a Saints team in need of cost-controlled talent (as the restructure-heavy franchise’s annual cap troubles are coming again in 2026).
Coming up in our previous offering about Saints wideouts, the Bills, Broncos and Steelers are among the teams who have made calls on wideouts recently. Pittsburgh’s Marquez Valdes-Scantling pickup is unlikely to deter more trade interest from the AFC North leaders, and the Bills’ Week 8 dismantling of the Panthers did not feature much in the passing game. The Broncos did see Troy Franklin produce his best career game Sunday, but they do not have a consistent second option — even if Franklin is emerging — behind Courtland Sutton. Shaheed did not overlap with Sean Payton, but the Broncos’ roster has many ex-Saints, and Shaheed did play under Pete Carmichael (in a system closely resembling Payton’s offense) for two seasons. Carmichael is a senior offensive assistant in Denver.
Shaheed and the Raiders’ Jakobi Meyers may be the top options for receiver-focused teams. Both profile as rentals, though an acquiring team would obviously hold exclusive negotiating rights until the March tampering period, but Shaheed is two years younger. Playing an age-27 season, Shaheed will be a key free agent to monitor — that is, if an acquiring team does not extend him — come 2026.
The Saints will need to make a decision soon. They could collect a possible Day 2 pick for a player obtained after the 2022 draft. That would help the Mickey Loomis–Kellen Moore operation ahead of the 2026 draft.
Broncos Audition Marcedes Lewis, Miss On Two TE Waiver Claims
The Broncos are certainly showing their hand when it comes to tight ends. After reports of trade interest in the position, the team made multiple waiver claims and has now gone through with a Marcedes Lewis workout.
Attempting to play a 20th NFL season, Lewis met with the Broncos about a gig (per NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo). Lewis spent the past two seasons with the Bears, being used regularly as a blocker despite his advanced age. At 41, Lewis is attempting to make history on multiple fronts.
[RELATED: Broncos Going Week-To-Week With Patrick Surtain’s Injury]
Lewis already the oldest pure tight end in NFL history. In terms of skill positions, only Jerry Rice has played beyond his age-39 season. Rice played his age-41 season in Oakland in 2003 and kept going at 42, being traded to Seattle midseason. Being in a conversation with the greatest skill player in NFL history is certainly notable for Lewis, even if he does not end up catching on with Denver (where Rice held his retirement presser after a summer 2005 attempt to catch on with the Broncos).
The Broncos are eyeing Lewis for a role complementing Evan Engram and Adam Trautman. Rather than seek a pass-catching tight end to give Engram some help after a sluggish start, Denver is believed to want depth help. Lucas Krull‘s foot surgery will put his return from IR in doubt, and fullback/TE Nate Adkins suffered a knee injury Sunday. Engram and Trautman reside as Denver’s top two tight ends, but another could join the duo soon.
A 2006 first-round pick, Lewis has proven an incredibly durable player even into his 40s. He has not missed a game since the 2021 season. After a 12-year Jaguars tenure, Lewis played five Packers seasons. Primarily working as a blocker in Green Bay and Chicago, Lewis played more than 40% of the Packers’ offensive snaps from 2019-22. With Chicago, his usage dipped toward the 20% threshold.
Last season, Lewis played 19% of the Bears’ snaps. He started eight games and caught five passes as a Bear but was mostly used in the run game. Lewis has played in 285 career games, starting 229. He would be more than 10 years older than every Broncos offensive player save for Garett Bolles (33). But Lewis recently held a role as a third tight end, complementing Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett in Chicago last year.
In addition to Lewis, the Broncos telegraphed their interest in TE help by submitting two waiver claims Monday. The team attempted to add tight ends Brenden Bates and Ben Sims, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Teams with better waiver priorities (Browns, Vikings) were awarded the players. The Texans waived Bates, while the Packers cut Sims. Adkins remains on Denver’s active roster, but a move for another option here appears imminent.
Vikings’ QB Search Will Not Affect Max Brosmer’s Status
With Daniel Jones and Sam Darnold faring well after relocating in free agency, the Vikings’ primary 2025 starter — Carson Wentz — is done for the season. That will relaunch J.J. McCarthy‘s initial effort to justify his draft slot during a Minnesota season far off last year’s pace.
McCarthy is on track to return from a high ankle sprain in Week 9. The 2024 No. 10 overall pick has missed five games, certainly on the high end for this injury, but will be set for a reemergence against the Lions. Minnesota has been cautious with its top QB asset, but a key phase in his development will come soon.
Wentz’s move to IR will impact the Vikings’ depth chart, and while the team could theoretically look for a stopgap to provide more cover in the event it wants to keep slow-playing McCarthy’s return, it appears a depth addition is the more likely course of action. The team’s QB addition — should there be one — will not affect Max Brosmer‘s standing as the top McCarthy backup, Kevin O’Connell said (via ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert).
This proclamation shows considerable respect to a rookie UDFA who entered the season as the team’s third-stringer. Though, the Vikings did carry the local product onto their active roster — rather than waive him on cutdown day — to avoid a team poaching him. The Minnesota alum has thrown eight regular-season passes, most recently finishing out the Vikings’ loss to the Chargers on Thursday.
The Vikes nabbed Brosmer in May, giving him a $244K guarantee to sign as part of the UDFA class. The 6-foot-2 passer initially played at Division I-FCS New Hampshire before transferring to Minnesota in 2024. Brosmer started that season for the Golden Gophers, throwing 18 touchdown passes and six interceptions during a year that featured a 66.5% completion rate. Brosmer only averaged 7.0 yards per attempt, however, and profiled as something of a fixer-upper entering the NFL. O’Connell has been known to elevate QBs during his Twin Cities stay, and he is attempting to develop Brosmer into a steady McCarthy backup.
Minnesota did trade for a quarterback following Kirk Cousins‘ Achilles tear in October 2023, and Josh Dobbs quickly took over as the team’s starter. With the Vikes letting Darnold and Jones walk to clear a path for McCarthy — during an offseason in which Aaron Rodgers‘ efforts to play for O’Connell were not reciprocated by the team — this situation does not closely remind of where the franchise stood in 2023.
But McCarthy will need to show improvement based on where he was in September. The Vikings are set to give him that chance, and with no intention of demoting Brosmer, McCarthy will have no internal challenges to his job. The team does not have a quarterback on its practice squad, so a move will need to come soon. Given McCarthy’s injury history, O’Connell endorsing Brosmer as QB2 is rather important as the Vikings still try to compete for a playoff spot.
Chiefs’ Isiah Pacheco Suffers MCL Injury
Hoping to bounce back from an injury-marred 2024, Isiah Pacheco will see another malady hamper him during a contract year. This time, a knee injury will likely force the Chiefs’ starting running back off the field.
Pacheco suffered an MCL sprain Monday night, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. Labeled “week to week,” Pacheco is likely to miss at least the Chiefs’ Week 9 matchup against the Bills. Kansas City’s bye is in Week 10, so the team could pass on moving the longtime starter to IR.
Veering toward serviceable in Year 4, Pacheco has been part of a committee upon coming back from a broken leg. Kareem Hunt returned during Pacheco’s 2024 injury absence and re-signed this offseason. The aging RB has remained a steady presence in Kansas City’s backfield, with rookie seventh-rounder Brashard Smith seeing more work as this season has progressed as well. Earlier, the Chiefs appeared puzzled by their backfield struggles. The team expected more from Pacheco earlier, though he has delivered a slight production uptick since.
Pacheco, 26, has posted three straight games with 50-plus rushing yards. The Chiefs rank ninth in rushing, and Pacheco (329 yards; 4.2 per carry) finally passed Patrick Mahomes in ground yardage — after the QB’s scampers comprised a big chunk of the team’s total earlier in the season. But this will stall any Pacheco momentum, leaving Hunt (245, four TDs) as the next man up.
The Chiefs had come up at multiple junctures since August as a team looking around for RB help, but recent reporting suggested the three-time reigning AFC champions were more likely to ride it out with their current crew there and find pass-rushing aid at the trade deadline. It is possible this injury prompts the team to reconsider, but if Pacheco does not head to IR, the team could merely wait it out. MCL sprains, though, can linger. It is quite possible IR will be necessary.
A seventh-round success story who had bailed out the Chiefs on their Clyde Edwards-Helaire first-round miss, Pacheco posted 830 rushing yards as a rookie and 935 in 2023. Both seasons brought Super Bowl wins for the Chiefs, who had a low-cost RB complementing a team with big-ticket contracts at several O-line spots. The hard-charging back’s 2024 injury slowed him, and this MCL issue provides another hurdle in his path toward a notable free agent market. Though, he should still have some time to adjust an injury-prone narrative before that point. Edwards-Helaire remains on the Chiefs’ practice squad; he could be an option to move up if an IR move occurs.
Chargers Sign S Marcus Williams
More than seven months after the Ravens released Marcus Williams, the veteran safety has secured his first post-Baltimore gig. The Chargers are signing the longtime starter to their practice squad, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets.
The Ravens designated Williams a post-June 1 cut this offseason, having demoted him during what became a disappointing tenure. Chargers GM Joe Hortiz was in Baltimore when the team signed Williams back in 2022, and after sending Alohi Gilman to the Ravens in the trade for Odafe Oweh, the Bolts will take a flier on Williams. This addition also comes as questions surround Derwin James‘ near-future availability after a Week 8 injury.
Los Angeles is also adding defensive tackle Kyle Peko to its practice squad and releasing running back Nyheim Miller-Hines from the 16-man unit. Williams joins ex-Ravens safety Tony Jefferson among the Bolts’ back-line crew. The Bolts also released wide receiver Luke Grimm from their P-squad, per ESPN.com’s Kris Rhim.
This signing comes after Williams took part in a Chargers workout late last week. The Bolts also auditioned Marcus Maye, Lewis Cine and ex-Raven Daryl Worley, according to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. Maye was an in-season Chargers addition last year, while Worley was part of many Ravens transactions in recent years. This could have been an 11th team for Worley, but instead it will be Williams receiving the opportunity.
Baltimore could not count on Williams, who signed a five-year deal worth $70MM as a 2022 free agent. Injuries and shaky play defined the ex-Saints draftee’s Maryland stay. The Ravens benched Williams midway through last season and made him a healthy scratch down the stretch. Acquired weeks before the Kyle Hamilton pick, Williams could not justify his $14MM-per-year contract. The Ravens reworked the deal in January to precede a release. Although Williams met with the Panthers and Steelers this offseason, no deal came to pass. He will now accept a practice squad invite.
A Saints standout who drew a franchise tag in 2021, Williams is now 29. He has made 106 career starts. Known partially for a mishap on the Vikings’ Minneapolis Miracle play, Williams was a key part of the Saints’ late-2010s resurgence — an ascent largely keyed by the team’s 2017 draft class. He has 20 career INTs. While his recent play left much to be desired, the former second-round pick will provide experienced depth behind James, Jefferson and Elijah Molden. James, though, is not certain to play in Week 9 due to a sprained ankle suffered against the Vikings. Williams stands to provide some insurance in case James misses time.
Peko also worked out for the Bolts last week, per Wilson, who adds Raekwon Davis participated as well. Davis has been out of football since the Colts cut him this offseason. The defensive tackle signed with Indianapolis in 2024. Peko, 32, has played for five teams in nine seasons.