Seahawks Open T Abraham Lucas’ Practice Window
The Seahawks lost both their starting tackles in Week 1. While Charles Cross returned not long after, the team has been without its starting right tackle since the opener. After missing half the season, Abraham Lucas is on his way back.
Lucas received a return designation Wednesday, per The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar, coming back to practice for first time in more than two months. A knee injury sidelined Lucas against the Rams. It is now a possibility the second-year blocker makes his return for the Week 11 Seahawks-Rams rematch.
[RELATED: Week 11 Injured Reserve Return Tracker]
Voyaging to the playoffs despite starting two rookie tackles, the Seahawks were naturally expecting the Cross-Lucas tandem to improve in its second season. Lucas’ injury put those plans on hold. The Seahawks have turned to Stone Forsythe as their RT replacement. Jason Peters, who is in his age-41 season, has been rotating in as well. The team signed Peters in the wake of the Cross and Lucas maladies, and the 20th-year lineman has played over the past three weeks. Peters played 55 offensive snaps to Forsythe’s 25 against the Commanders.
Seattle chose Cross ninth overall and bookended him with Lucas, who went 72nd. The Washington State alum started 16 games. Together, Lucas and Cross played more than 94% of Seattle’s offensive snaps, becoming a crucial reason for Geno Smith‘s Comeback Player of the Year campaign and the 2022 Seahawks edition’s surprising playoff appearance.
As the Seahawks became the rare team to turn to two rookie tackles, Pro Football Focus graded Lucas just inside the top 40 among tackles last season. The team made changes at center and right guard this season, with Austin Blythe retiring and the team cutting Gabe Jackson. PFF has not viewed the replacements — free agency addition Evan Brown and former backup Phil Haynes — as especially effective thus far, ranking Haynes 55th among guards and Brown 26th at center. These showings have prompted the advanced metrics site to rank Seattle’s O-line 25th after Week 10. Lucas’ return would certainly stand to help matters, but the team has some issues to iron out at the midpoint.
Patriots Designate T Riley Reiff For Return
The Patriots’ top offseason acquisition to staff their right tackle spot has not been available much this season, but the team still has Riley Reiff in its plans. Despite already using one IR activation on Reiff this year, the Patriots once again designated him for return, per ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss.
Reiff is back at Pats practice Wednesday, signifying the return designation. The NFL’s 2022 rule update, which reintroduced limits on how many players can return from IR in a season, allows for the same player to be designated for return twice. Both moves, however, will count toward the Pats’ eight-activation total. So far, the team has only used three. Reiff landing on IR for a third time would end his season; he has three weeks to be activated or would revert to season-ending IR.
An October activation went to Reiff, who was initially placed on IR just before the season. A leg injury shut Reiff down at that point. A knee injury, which Bill Belichick classified as a new malady rather than an aggravation of the previous ailment, led Reiff back to IR two weeks later. The Patriots are on bye this week, but Reiff became eligible to return to practice after Week 10. It seems likely the 34-year-old blocker will be back on the Pats’ active roster soon.
Reiff, who signed a one-year deal worth $5MM this offseason, avoided a notable injury last season and ended up transitioning from a Bears swingman to their right tackle starter. While the Patriots were rumored to be eyeing a bigger splash at right tackle, they instead signed Reiff and made other lower-level investments to staff the position. The team has since moved guard Michael Onwenu to right tackle, thus making Reiff’s return interesting on multiple fronts.
Onwenu has played right tackle extensively, but the former sixth-round pick began the past two seasons at guard. Although the team planned to start Onwenu at right guard and Reiff at right tackle to begin the year, Bill Belichick said Onwenu is staying at right tackle. Reiff has also spent time at guard this year, playing inside in Week 5 and having previously worked at the position in the summer. Reiff has spent nearly his entire career at tackle, lining up on the left and right edges for his bevy of teams. If Onwenu is truly entrenched at RT, Reiff may well have another chance at guard.
Reiff, who will turn 35 in two weeks, is likely nearing the end of a lengthy career. This is Year 12 for the former Lions first-round pick. He has started 149 career games and played in 164, suiting up for the Lions, Vikings, Bengals, Bears and Patriots. While a season-ending injury prevented Reiff from helping the Bengals clinch a Super Bowl LVI berth, the Iowa alum had never played fewer than 12 games in a season. The two IR stints this year ended that streak.
Vikings Open Nick Mullens’ Practice Window
Wednesday morning’s stream of quarterback news will continue with a Vikings update. They will have one of their original active-roster QBs back at practice this week. Nick Mullens will begin work toward an IR activation, being designated for return.
The Vikings placed Mullens on IR last month with a back injury. In the time since that transaction, the team lost sixth-year starter Kirk Cousins to a torn Achilles and saw replacement Jaren Hall sustain a concussion. This has opened the door to Josh Dobbs, who should be expected to keep the job for the foreseeable future.
Mullens has been with the Vikings, however, for the past two seasons. The former 49ers UDFA returning will fortify Minnesota’s QB position, which featured in-season practice squad addition Sean Mannion backing up Dobbs in Week 10. Hall had not yet cleared concussion protocol, moving Mannion back into his old job as the Vikes’ backup. Mullens would stand to be on track to reclaim that role, though it is not certain he will be ready to do so this week. The Vikings have three weeks to activate Mullens.
The Vikings have gone from 0-3 to 6-4, making a remarkable turnaround without Justin Jefferson available for most of this stretch. Dobbs piloted the team to wins in its past two games, coming off the bench to lead a win over the Falcons days after being acquired from the Cardinals. Dobbs continued one of the more eventful stretches in QB-journeyman annals last week, leading a win over the Saints. If the Vikings can turn this into a playoff spot, they would join the 2018 Texans as the only 0-3 teams to recover and advance to the playoffs.
Minnesota designated Jefferson for return last week, and while the all-world wide receiver has not considered shutting himself down for the season, he made it clear he will not return at less than 100%. Considering the number of hamstring aggravations in recent years, it would not surprise to see Jefferson need multiple weeks in the IR-return window before coming back. The Vikings face the Broncos on Sunday night. Minnesota remains in good shape regarding its IR activations; the team has only used two thus far, opening the door to both Jefferson and Mullens coming back.
After initially bringing in Mullens just before the 2022 season, the Vikings re-signed him to a two-year, $4MM deal in March. Mullens, 28, has not started a game as a Viking, as Cousins’ previous run of durability kept his backups on the bench for the bulk of this six-year period. But the veteran backup has completed 21 of 25 passes over four appearances with the team.
Justin Fields Expected To Return In Week 11
The Bears’ plan of evaluating Justin Fields skidded off track in October. A Week 6 thumb injury sidelined the young quarterback, but the team is on track to resume its Year 3 study soon.
Matt Eberflus confirmed Fields is expected to come back in Week 11, with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport previously indicating the third-year passer was readying to return after four missed games. Fields never landed on IR, but Chicago has been cautious with the 2021 first-round pick.
Since the draft settled in April beginning in 1976, no team had knowingly traded a No. 1 overall pick before April until GM Ryan Poles pulled the trigger on the blockbuster with the Panthers. The second-year GM did so before free agency in March, pledging to see how Fields would look in an improved offense. The young QB’s dislocated thumb put this plan on hold for an extended stretch, leading to four Tyson Bagent starts. The Bears will see how Fields looks coming off this injury — in what figures to be an important stretch for the franchise’s long-term outlook.
Through six games, calling this evaluation incomplete would be the kind way to frame this process. Fields ranks 25th in QBR and has again displayed an issue avoiding sacks. Fields took 24 sacks despite finishing only five games this season. In four-plus games, Bagent has been sacked just five times. While Chicago was missing multiple starting offensive linemen frequently during Fields’ early-season run, the QB’s 2022 sacks-taken number (a league-high 55, despite two missed starts) makes this an area to monitor as the Ohio State product’s 2023 season resumes.
That said, Fields is still on pace to top his career high for passing TDs. The run-oriented quarterback threw 11 before the injury. Fields made a run at Lamar Jackson‘s single-season record for rushing yards by a QB — a mark he may well have hit had the Bears not rested him in Week 18, en route to the No. 1 overall pick — the former No. 11 overall pick finished last year with only 17 touchdown passes. Fields’ midseason pause also came with his yards per attempt (7.4) and completion percentage (61.7) figures north of his 2022 numbers, providing some optimism. But Chicago’s long-term QB situation remains uncertain.
By virtue of the trade with Carolina, Chicago holds 2024’s No. 1 overall draft slot. Its Bagent-directed Week 10 win over the Panthers helped the cause. That status does not mean too much yet, considering two months remain in the season. But the Bears are a near-lock to exit this season with two top-10 picks. That will provide considerable ammo for a team that might be hunting for a quarterback.
While Poles committed to Fields for this year, Ryan Pace drafted him. Poles holding a top-two pick in next year’s draft would likely mean a move for Drake Maye or Caleb Williams, putting Fields in limbo. Fields may already be in an uphill battle to keep the Chicago gig for another season, but that effort is set to resume this week.
Raiders Claim CB Jack Jones
7:15pm: The Vikings also put in a claim for Jones, a source told ESPN’s Field Yates. The Raiders landed the cornerback by virtue of having higher waiver positioning.
ESPN’s Kevin Seifer wonders if Akayleb Evans‘ calf injury influenced Minnesota’s claim. The Vikings cornerback exited Sunday’s win, leading Mekhi Blackmon to see more playing time and secure the first interception of his career.
3:20pm: Although Mark Davis cut ties with the Patriot Way leadership he hired just last year, the Raiders will be the team that gives recent Patriots cut Jack Jones a second chance. Jones will head to Las Vegas after the team submitted a successful waiver claim, per NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo.
While this is yet another ex-Patriot joining the now-Antonio Pierce-led roster, he arrived as a 2022 draftee — after Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler were in Nevada. The Pierce tie is more relevant here than the Patriots component. Pierce has an extensive background with Jones, having coached him in high school (at Long Beach Poly) and in college (at Arizona State). This past made the Raiders a natural suitor for Jones, who the Patriots waived after multiple benchings.
Pierce was head coach at the Southern California high school from 2014-17. This overlapped with Jones’ tenure. The 25-year-old corner was a five-star recruit coming out of Long Beach Poly. While he signed with USC, off-field issues led him to the junior college ranks. By the time the 5-foot-11 corner was back on the Division I radar, Pierce was in place as Arizona State’s linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator under Herm Edwards. Jones signed with the Sun Devils in 2019 and fared well enough to warrant a fourth-round draft investment.
The Patriots drafted Jones in 2022 and used him as a regular. Jones played 54% of the Patriots’ defensive snaps last season; Pro Football Focus rated him 17th overall among corners. This year has proven rockier for Jones — on and off the field. PFF rates Jones outside the top 100 at the position, and the talented cover man has only played 121 defensive snaps in his second season.
An accumulation of performance-related issues and other matters contributed to Jones’ New England exit, per SI.com’s Albert Breer. Bill Belichick still referred to Jones as a talented player, via the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed, and The Athletic’s Jeff Howe adds the Pats did not view Jones as a bounce-back candidate this season. The team benched Jones in Week 9, along with J.C. Jackson, and used him on just 10 defensive plays in their Germany matchup. Belichick had said the Pats were not planning to bring Jones back on the practice squad, had he cleared waivers. While that is a moot point, the Raiders are taking a chance on a corner with notable baggage.
Jones was booted off the USC squad for academic reasons, leading to him playing at Moorpark (Calif.) College for the 2018 campaign. That season, Jones was arrested following an incident at a Panda Express, and he served 45 days of house arrest after pleading guilty to commercial burglary, which is a second-degree misdemeanor. In June, Jones was arrested on a number of charges in connection with bringing two loaded guns to an airport and attempting to board a plane. A deal with prosecutors led to the charges being dropped, but Jones still began the season sidelined, suffering a hamstring injury in an early-September practice.
The Raiders rebooted at corner this offseason, letting 2022 starters Rock Ya-Sin and Anthony Averett walk in free agency. The team took a few fliers in the spring, but none became regulars. Marcus Peters, who signed during training camp, leapfrogged the spring additions. Ditto Jakorian Bennett, who went from fourth-round rookie to starter. But the Raiders benched Bennett, using third-year defender Amik Robertson opposite Peters. Robertson, however, left the Raiders’ Week 10 game with a head injury.
Jones has worked primarily as an outside corner as a pro. He finished with two interceptions, a forced fumble and six passes defensed as a rookie. The Pierce-led Raiders would seemingly represent Jones’ best chance to salvage his NFL career. The 5-5 team will give him that chance.
Lions, Bruce Irvin Agree To Deal
Less than 24 hours after Jason Pierre-Paul agreed to join the Saints, the Lions will make an in-season edge-rushing addition. Bruce Irvin agreed to terms with the Lions on Tuesday, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.
Irvin, 36, played last season with the Seahawks — his third stint with the team that drafted him back in the 2012 first round — but has been with five teams over the course of an 11-year career. As team No. 6, the Lions will aim for Irvin providing some supplementary pass-rushing aid.
As is the case with many in-season veteran signings, Irvin will start out of the Lions’ practice squad. The team will certainly be interested in the veteran edge making his way to the active roster. This has become a routine for Irvin, who signed with the Bears in November 2021 and rejoined the Seahawks in October of last year.
The Lions do not have a five-sack player. Aidan Hutchinson leads the team with 4.5, and while his status as Detroit’s top pass rusher is not in question (as he leads the NFL with 32 pressures), the team is aiming to add some help in this department. Among the Lions’ non-Hutchinson edge rushers, Julian Okwara — who spent a chunk of the season on IR — leads the way with two sacks. In his abbreviated 2022 season back in Seattle, Irvin totaled 3.5 sacks.
Irvin also tallied 8.5 sacks with the Panthers back in 2019, getting there in 13 games. The West Virginia alum does not have a double-digit sack slate in the NFL, but he does have seven seasons with at least 5.5. Irvin forced six fumbles with the 2016 Raiders, helping them snap a lengthy playoff drought. Despite the midseason arrival, Irvin also started 10 games for last year’s Seahawks. Overall, the seasoned edge defender 55.5 career regular-season sacks and 4.5 in the playoffs. Two of those came to help Seattle to the 2014 NFC championship.
Detroit’s OLB group consists of Hutchinson, the Okwara brothers (Romeo and Julian), along with former first-rounder Charles Harris and 2022 second-round Josh Paschal. Paschal and Romeo Okwara do not have a sack this season. As a team, the Lions have 21 sacks — tied for 21st in the league.
Dolphins Waive CB Kelvin Joseph, Activate WR River Cracraft From IR
Acquiring Kelvin Joseph via a cornerback-for-cornerback trade just before 53-man rosters were due, the Dolphins are bailing on the corner they obtained. Miami waived Joseph on Tuesday, clearing a roster spot for an IR activation.
The Dolphins will bring wide receiver River Cracraft off IR to take Joseph’s spot on the 53-man roster. Miami had until Wednesday to activate Cracraft, or else he would have been moved to season-ending IR. Barring a move down to Miami’s practice squad post-waivers, Joseph’s time with the team will end.
Even as the Dolphins have played most of this season without Jalen Ramsey, Joseph did not earn much playing time. The former Cowboys second-round pick has logged only 21 defensive snaps this year. Dallas and Miami exchanged Joseph and ex-first-rounder Noah Igbinoghene in late August. The latter, who is in a contract year, has not played regularly in Dallas. The Cowboys have given Igbinoghene only 25 defensive snaps, though the Auburn alum remains on Dallas’ roster.
Joseph’s rookie deal runs through 2024. The Dolphins will save roughly $600K by making this cut. Joseph, who turned 23 over the weekend, is due a non-guaranteed $1.72MM base salary in 2024. The Cowboys gave up on Joseph after two seasons, doing so after trying him in the slot this offseason. The LSU and Kentucky alum previously logged 164- and 166-snap seasons in Dallas, and he was ultimately unable to carve out a regular role on Dan Quinn‘s defense. An off-field incident in March, in which Joseph was a passenger in a vehicle from which fatal shots were fired, did not produce any charges, and Joseph has not received a suspension. On the field, however, he was unable to gain traction in Vic Fangio‘s defense.
Cracraft has been with the Dolphins for the past two seasons. While he has some return experience, Miami has used the former UDFA as an auxiliary receiver. The 29-year-old pass catcher, who landed on IR in late September with a shoulder injury, will rejoin the likes of Braxton Berrios, Cedrick Wilson, Chase Claypool and Robbie Chosen among Miami’s Tyreek Hill–Jaylen Waddle supporting cast.
Marcus Davenport Undergoes Ankle Surgery
Winners of five straight, the Vikings are threatening to become the second team this century to move from 0-3 to the playoffs. They will need to continue without their top Danielle Hunter sidekick for a while, however.
Although Marcus Davenport is now eligible to return from IR, no such transaction appears imminent. Davenport ended up undergoing tightrope surgery to repair the high ankle sprain he sustained in October, Kevin O’Connell said. The free agent signing is still in play to return this season, per ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert, but does not sound like a near-future re-emergence is on tap.
O’Connell indicated Davenport, 27, has a chance to come back before season’s end. Many players who sustain high ankle sprains are ready to come back from IR when first eligible, if an IR stint commences at all, but no two injuries are alike. Tony Pollard suffered a broken leg and a high ankle sprain in last season’s divisional round; the Cowboys running back ended up needing surgery — the tightrope procedure Davenport underwent — for the ankle injury. Cooper Kupp also underwent a tightrope procedure last year. He did not return for the Rams, though they were in the process of sitting their injured stars amid a disastrous Super Bowl title defense.
This injury has effectively doomed Davenport’s effort to vault back into free agency and secure a better contract. An inconsistent Saints tenure led to Davenport accepting a one-year, $13MM deal from the Vikings in March. The Falcons also pursued Davenport, but the $10MM guaranteed the Vikings proposed likely represented the top option available. Davenport signed with Za’Darius Smith still on the roster, but it soon became apparent the Vikings were planning to jettison the latter. They did so via a May trade with the Browns.
A 2018 first-round pick, Davenport posted nine sacks in 2021 and six in 2019 and registered 16 QB hits in both seasons. His even-year production: less good. Davenport’s 2022 contract year featured a half-sack in 15 games, leading to the modest market and the “prove it” deal. As it stands now, another “prove it” pact — this one potentially less lucrative — would be in store for the sixth-year vet. Davenport did tally two sacks in four Vikings games, going down after 17 snaps in Week 4. A late-season comeback would give the edge defender an opportunity to make a late impression, but this will also be the third season in the past four featuring at least five missed games. Davenport also missed Weeks 1 and 3 due to injury.
Hunter has cruised along unfazed, pushing his league-leading sack count to 11 last week. The Vikings will have a decision to make with Hunter, but it will take a big offer to keep the nine-year veteran off the market. Because of a late-summer agreement, the Vikings cannot use their franchise tag on Hunter. The team has seen D.J. Wonnum produce five sacks. A 2020 fourth-round pick, Wonnum is also in a contract year. Minnesota will have many questions to answer at its outside linebacker spot. For now, the team will hope to have Davenport back to help secure a playoff spot.
Three Teams Made Trade Offers For Broncos CB Patrick Surtain
Following their walk-off win over the Bills, the Broncos may have made the right decision in standing pat at the trade deadline. The team has gone from 1-5 to 4-5 in Sean Payton‘s first season, now residing in a glut of AFC teams vying for wild-card spots. While offers came in for Jerry Jeudy, teams also explored Patrick Surtain.
Leading up to the deadline, the Broncos had made it fairly clear they were not looking to move Surtain. They are believed to have set the price of two first-rounders to even begin discussions, but ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter notes seven teams still contacted the Broncos regarding the All-Pro cornerback’s availability. Three of those made offers.
None of the proposals moved the needle, with Schefter adding the Broncos did not consider trading their top player. Surtain is off to a strong start, joining Dallas’ Micah Parsons and San Francisco safety Talanoa Hufanga as the only first-team All-Pros from the 2021 draft class. Surtain, 23, staying on his current course will call for an easy fifth-year option decision by May and put him on track for a record-setting extension.
It took two first-rounders for the Jaguars to trade Jalen Ramsey in 2019, his fourth season. But Ramsey had aimed to be moved; no speedbumps have occurred during Surtain’s time in Denver. The second-generation corner can be kept on his rookie contract, once the fifth-year option becomes official, until 2025. Payton’s team kept Marshon Lattimore on his rookie deal through his 2021 option year; Surtain on this contract represents one of the most valuable commodities in the game.
Surtain also has some pre-Denver ties to both the Broncos’ current power brokers. Broncos GM George Paton was a Dolphins exec during part of Patrick Surtain Sr.‘s tenure in Miami, and the Saints attempted to trade up for the Alabama prospect in 2021. The younger Surtain went to the Broncos at No. 9 overall that year.
Some around the Broncos’ organization view Surtain as the most talented corner they have come across, Schefter adds. The 2022 All-Pro most recently displayed his coverage prowess against Stefon Diggs on Monday night. The Broncos have enjoyed talented corners for most of this century. Chris Harris collected three All-Pro nods and is on the short list for top slot corners in NFL history, while Aqib Talib was 4-for-4 in Pro Bowls as a Bronco. Although it is early, Surtain’s career arc is closer to Hall of Famer Champ Bailey‘s. The Broncos rostered the first-ballot Hall of Famer for 10 seasons, but they did not acquire the perennial Pro Bowler until his sixth year — via the 2004 Bailey-Clinton Portis swap.
While contract talks or a potential franchise tag situation down the line could change this relationship, it should be expected Surtain’s rookie deal will turn into a mega-extension at some point in the mid-2020s.
Additionally, Schefter said Monday night the Broncos received an offer of third- and fifth-round picks for Jeudy. The team had held out for a first-rounder this offseason, and although Darius Slay went for this picks package years ago, the Broncos have Jeudy signed through 2024. Interest cooled in the Alabama alum, who has been inconsistent this season. But the Broncos still received a reasonable offer for a player without a 1,000-yard season on his resume. They could certainly revisit trade talks next year, considering how frequently Jeudy’s name has come up in trade rumors. For now, they will move forward with the former first-round pick.
Ravens Sign OL Josh Wells To Practice Squad
It initially appeared Josh Wells‘ gateway to a 10th NFL season would be in Jacksonville. The veteran offensive lineman signed with his initial NFL team back in April, but that partnership did not last too far beyond training camp.
The Jaguars placed Wells on IR in August, preventing him from suiting up for them this season. But a September injury settlement led Wells off Jacksonville’s IR list and back into free agency. On Tuesday, he agreed to terms with the Ravens on a practice squad deal. This came after a workout, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets.
The Ravens have dealt with some injury trouble on the offensive line as of late. Right tackle Morgan Moses has missed the past two games with a shoulder injury, though he logged a full practice Monday. Ronnie Stanley left the Ravens-Browns matchup with a knee injury and did not return. The longtime left tackle did not practice Monday. Considering Stanley’s history with knee trouble and the Ravens readying for a Thursday-night Bengals tilt, they are bringing in a veteran reinforcement.
Wells, 32, has primarily worked as a swing tackle throughout his career. The James Madison alum spent the past four seasons backing up Donovan Smith and Tristan Wirfs in Tampa. Wells made 15 starts with the Buccaneers, including seven last season. He started in the Bucs’ 2021 divisional-round matchup against the Rams, filling in for an injured Wirfs at right tackle. A 2014 Jags UDFA, Wells made nine starts with his first NFL employer before moving on and joining the Bucs in Bruce Arians’ first offseason in Tampa.
To make room on the practice squad, the Ravens released veteran tight end Eric Tomlinson. Spending parts of the 2020 and ’21 seasons in Baltimore, Tomlinson rejoined the team this offseason. After playing regularly in Denver last season, the seven-year vet has not seen action this season.