Raiders Place Bryant, Nelson On IR
The season is already over for three Raiders players. Safety Reggie Nelson, wide receiver Martavis Bryant, and defensive end Shilique Calhoun have all been placed on IR, according to a club announcement. 
[RELATED: Raiders Designate Donald Penn For Return]
Bryant, dubbed the “White Tiger” by coach Jon Gruden for his special ability and inability to stay on the field, appeared in only eight games this season, recording 19 catches for 266 yards and zero touchdowns. It was his weakest showing to date – even in his ten-game rookie campaign, Bryant managed 26 catches, 549 yards, and eight scores. Bryant is headed for free agency in March, but his PCL injury and mysterious suspension (or, non-suspension) for drug use will make him a tough sell on a multi-year deal.
Nelson’s season is through thanks to a shoulder injury suffered on Sunday against the Chiefs. The three-year captain’s season ends with 29 tackles and two interceptions in eleven games. The veteran is also headed towards free agency this offseason, but it’s not clear whether the 35-year-old will look to continue playing.
Broncos Claim WR Andre Holmes
The Broncos claimed wide receiver Andre Holmes off waivers, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Broncos will turn to Holmes for receiving help after the loss of Emmanuel Sanders to an unfortunate Achilles injury. 
Prior to being released by the Bills on Tuesday, Holmes had 12 catches for 157 yards on the season. He’ll have to quickly get familiar with his new team, but his time with offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave in Oakland should help.
Holmes played his best football in Oakland, including a 2014 season in which he caught 47 passes for 693 yards and four touchdowns. Since then, he’s been much more of a role player and has not amassed more than 14 grabs in a season. But, in Denver, he may have a chance to shine now that Sanders is out of action and Demaryius Thomas is in Houston.
Holmes will have an opportunity to make his Broncos debut on Sunday against the Niners.
Raiders Designate Donald Penn For Return
Left tackle Donald Penn will return to practice on Wednesday, Vic Tafur of The Athletic tweets. The move will trigger a three-week window for the club to bring him back from injured reserve. 
The move is a curious one for a few reasons. First, the Raiders’ season has been long over – at 2-10, winning will only serve to push the Raiders from the top of the draft order in April. Penn, meanwhile, may be a cap casualty candidate and a serious injury could leave the Raiders on the hook for his entire salary in 2019. As it stands, only $1.750MM of his 2019 income is guaranteed.
Also, by designating Penn for return, the Raiders are eliminating the possibility of Marshawn Lynch seeing the field again in 2018. The Raiders already burned one IR-DTR spot on defensive tackle Justin Ellis, so Lynch is now barred from playing in the club’s Christmas Eve home finale against the Broncos.
Penn appeared in 14 games for the Raiders last season, the first time in his career that he failed to appear in all 16 regular season contests. Pro Football Focus ranked him 23rd among eligible tackles, proving that the veteran still has something left in the tank. In his limited sample of four games this season, PFF gave him a putrid 47.0 overall score.
Broncos’ Emmanuel Sanders Suffers Torn Achilles
Awful news out of Denver. During Wednesday’s practice, Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders suffered a torn Achilles tendon, according to Mike Klis of 9News (on Twitter). 
Sanders is the team’s top receiver and losing him is a huge blow to the team’s playoff hopes. The 6-6 Broncos are riding a three-game winning streak, but they’ll have to make their late season push without the help of their best offensive weapon.
Prior to the injury, Sanders hauled in 71 catches for 868 yards and four touchdowns. Statistically speaking, he was on pace for his second-best season behind a 2014 campaign in which he had 101 catches for 1,404 yards and nine TDs.
The Broncos have lost three other starters (center Matt Paradis, left guard Max Garcia, and tight end Jeff Heuerman) to IR over the past month and cornerback Chris Harris could be next depending on how fast he can recover from a fractured fibula. The Broncos have an easy draw in the 2-10 49ers this weekend, but they’ll be at half-strength for the rest of the regular season, including a Week 17 matchup against the Chargers.
In hindsight, the Broncos may or may not regret their midseason trade of Demaryius Thomas. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and the Broncos will have to bank on youngster Courtland Sutton even more going forward. It’s likely that Tim Patrick will line up on the opposite side of Sutton the rest of the way with DaeSean Hamiton stepping into Sanders’ role.
Sanders, 32 in March, is under contract through next year with a cap number of $12.9MM. It’s worth keeping an eye on his recovery – which often takes 7-8 months – as the Broncos can release him with just $2.687MM in dead money.
Cardinals Place D.J. Humphries On IR
The Cardinals placed left tackle D.J. Humphries on injured reserve, according to a team announcement. In related moves, the club signed offensive linemen Joe Barksdale and Rees Odhiambo from the Colts’ practice squad. 
It has been a disastrous year for the Cardinals on the whole, but their offense line has been hit particularly hard by injuries. So far this year, the Cardinals have trotted out eight different combinations of starting offensive linemen, lost four different linemen to IR, and are presently starting none of their projected front five. Heading into camp, the Cardinals’ line was comprised of A.Q. Shipley, Justin Pugh, Mike Iupati, Humphries, and Andre Smith. The first four were knocked out by injury and Smith was released in November due to inconsistent play in his eight starts.
Humphries, who turns 25 on Dec. 28, has been out of action since suffering a knee injury in the club’s Week 10 loss to the Chiefs. It’s a disappointing way for his season to end, and the Cardinals now have a decision to make regarding his future. The Cardinals can control him through 2019 thanks to his $9.625MM fifth-year option, but the deal is guaranteed for injury only. If the Cardinals want to move on from Humphries, they can cut him loose, provided that he can pass a physical early next year.
The former No. 24 overall pick pick in the 2015 draft is no stranger to the injury bug. He was inactive for every game as a rookie and a knee injury limited him to just five games in 2017.
Giants To Place Landon Collins On IR
Landon Collins‘ season is over. The Giants safety will undergo surgery on his injured shoulder next week, ruling him out for the remainder of the season (Twitter link via Josina Anderson of ESPN.com). 
Publicly, the Giants are leaving open the possibility that Collins can return this year. When asked about Collins on Wednesday morning, head coach Pat Shurmur admitted that Collins will “most likely” require an operation, but did not say that it was a certainty. Unfortunately, a 2018 return for Collins is simply not an option.
Collins is scheduled to reach free agency in March, but the Giants reportedly plan to keep him from the open market with the franchise tag if they two sides cannot agree to an extension. Last month, Collins said the Giants have yet to contact him about a new deal with him and questioned the team’s desire to re-sign him in the wake of midseason trade rumors.
Collins, a second-round pick in the 2015 draft, has been a full-time starter for the Giants since entering the league. A two-time Pro Bowler, Collins has 67 tackles, four passes defensed, and a forced fumble this season while grading as the NFL’s 36th-best safety, per Pro Football Focus. For what it’s worth, PFF had Collins as the No. 13 ranked safety in the league through Week 9.
Auburn QB Jarrett Stidham Enters NFL Draft
Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham is going pro. This week, the QB took to Twitter to announce that he’ll forgo his final season of eligibility in order to enter the 2019 NFL Draft.
[RELATED: Ole Miss WR A.J. Brown To Enter NFL Draft]
“Jarrett has been a terrific player for us the last two years, leading us to an SEC West title and becoming one of the most prolific passers in Auburn history,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “He has tremendous ability and a bright future ahead of him. I look forward to seeing Jarrett perform one more time in an Auburn uniform and can’t wait to see him playing in the NFL next year and for years to come.”
Stidham first made a name for himself at Baylor, where he threw for 12 touchdowns against just two interceptions as a true freshman in 2015. After head coach Art Briles was let go, he transferred to Auburn, where he had an up-and-down tenure. Last year, he led Auburn to an SEC championship game appearance, but he failed to build off of that momentum in 2018.
Heading into the year, Stidham looked the part of a second-round pick with the potential to work his way into the backend of the first-round. Today, he ranks just tenth among QBs, according to Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN.com. However, it’s possible that Stidham could boost his stock with strong workouts and interviews in the buildup to the draft.
Bengals Place A.J. Green On IR
It’s official. On Wednesday morning, the Bengals formally placed star wide receiver A.J. Green on injured reserve. To fill his place on the roster, the Bengals activated fifth-round cornerback Davontae Harris from IR. 
[RELATED: Latest On Marvin Lewis]
This marks the second time in three seasons that Green has ended a season on IR. Green has been in and out of the Bengals’ lineup all year and the team clearly missed him when he was sidelined for three November games. After starting the season 4-1, the Bengals have dropped to 5-7 and are looking to stop a four-game losing streak without the services of Green or quarterback Andy Dalton.
Green’s nagging toe injury held him back earlier this season and he had to be carted off the field after re-aggravating the malady during Sunday’s loss to the Broncos. His season ends with 46 catches for 694 yards and six touchdowns. The Bengals, meanwhile, are effectively mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.
Without Green, the Bengals will turn to Tyler Boyd, John Ross, and former UDFA Alex Erickson as their top receivers. They’ll be catching passes from Jeff Driskel as the Bengals wrap up their season against the Chargers, Raiders, Browns, and Steelers. Currently, the Bengals are on course for the No. 13 overall pick in the draft.
Cowboys’ Frederick Hopes To Play In 2019
Cowboys center Travis Frederick says that he is unlikely to return to the field this season. However, he feels “very good” about his outlook for the 2019 season. 
“I have certainly made progress, but at this point in the season, having not been able to do my football movements. … Even if I was 100 percent strength wise to be able to come back and play. … I’m still six or eight weeks out from that,” Frederick told 105.3 The Fan.
Frederick was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome before the start of the season, which caused numbness in both of his arms and a host of other symptoms. The four-time Pro Bowler recently regained feeling in his hands and technically can return from IR to play this year, but he’ll need additional time to get his medical situation straightened out and get back into playing shape. Frederick didn’t completely rule out the possibility of rejoining the team for the playoffs, but he characterized the odds as as “long shot.”
Before the illness, the 27-year-old started 80 straight games for the Cowboys. He had another productive season in 2017, as Pro Football Focus ranked him third among eligible centers. In his stead, the Cowboys have been relying on Joe Looney, who currently ranks 20th among centers according to PFF’s metrics.
The Cowboys have Frederick under contract through 2023 thanks to the six-year, $56.4MM extension he signed back in 2016. The offensive line has done an adequate job this year, and should be strengthened by the impending return of left tackle Tyron Smith, but it won’t be at its absolute best until Frederick is back in the lineup.
Redskins To Sign QB Josh Johnson
The Redskins reached agreement on a deal with quarterback Josh Johnson, according to John Keim of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Johnson auditioned alongside several other QBs on Tuesday and emerged as the best option of the bunch. 
Johsnon now becomes the Redskins’ second healthy quarterback, joining Mark Sanchez. After losing both Alex Smith and Colt McCoy to injury, the Redskins are hoping to get by, somehow, with a duo of journeymen.
Johnson, 29, was quickly chosen over E.J. Manuel, T.J. Yates, Landry Jones, and Ryan Mallett, but the Redskins had some hurdles to clear first. Johnson was the first pick of the AAF’s San Diego franchise just last week, but AAF co-founder Bill Polian confirmed that Johnson will be released from his deal so that he can sign with Washington.
Sanchez struggled against the Eagles last week, but he’ll start this week against the Giants as the Redskins fight to keep their playoff hopes alive. Johnson, who has history with coach Jay Gruden thanks to their time in Tampa and Cincinnati, might have an opportunity to get in the game if Sanchez falters again.