Bengals Waive RB Thomas Rawls
The Bengals have waived running back Thomas Rawls, according to a team announcement. Rawls signed with the Bengals on Sept. 19 but lasted less than a month with the club. 
Although Rawls was on the Bengals’ roster for multiple weeks, he was only on the active roster for their Week 5 win over the Dolphins. He did not touch the football in that game or record an official statistic.
Rawls spent the offseason with the Jets and many believed that he would wind up as active participant in their running back committee. However, he was bounced during the club’s final cuts. Rawls had 830 yards as a Seahawks rookie in 2015, but hasn’t done much since then.
The release of Rawls is a good indication that backup Giovani Bernard is nearing his return from a sprained MCL. Bernard is expected to miss Sunday’s showdown with the Steelers, but a return on Oct. 21 against the Chiefs remains possible.
Eagles Interested In Bills’ LeSean McCoy
Could the Eagles reunite with LeSean McCoy? The club has “some interest” in trading for the Bills running back, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. 
[RELATED: Eagles Create Cap Space; Unlikely To Use It On Le’Veon Bell]
The Eagles recently lost starter Jay Ajayi for the season, leaving them thin in the backfield. For now, Corey Clement and Wendell Smallwood figure to pick up the slack, but McCoy would give the Eagles a proven starter at running back.
Of course, there are a lot of external factors to consider when it comes to McCoy. McCoy’s ex-girlfriend, Delicia Cordon, claims that he ordered the the July home invasion that left her battered and recently accused him of physical abuse. The 30-year-old Harrisburg, PA native vehemently denies all of the accusations, but a league suspension remains possible.
Beyond that, the Eagles would have to assume McCoy’s contract, which calls for a $8.95MM cap number this year and a $9.05MM figure in 2019. Releasing McCoy before the start of next season would result in $2.625MM in dead money, and that’s not chump change for a club that is tight against the salary cap limit. Still, McCoy would require less of a financial commitment than Le’Veon Bell, and it’s possible that McCoy would be willing to restructure his deal in order to facilitate a return to Philadelphia.
McCoy played his best football while flying with the Eagles, including the 2013 season in which he led the league with 1,607 yards. He’s also been effective in the second half of his career in Buffalo, averaging 4.5 yards per tote since 2015.
Texans To Promote Mike Tyson
The Texans are elevating defensive back and special teamer Mike Tyson from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Tyson, a sixth-round pick of the Seahawks in 2017, may have an opportunity to make his NFL debut against the Bills on Sunday.
Tyson, a Cincinnati product, registered five interceptions as a senior. The Seahawks selected him in the sixth-round of the 2017 draft, but he has yet to see time in a regular season game. This year, he missed Seattle’s final cut, but the Texans moved quickly to add him to the taxi squad.
The Texans will be without cornerbacks Kevin Johnson and Aaron Colvin for a while, leaving them a bit thin in the secondary. Tyson figures to serve as the club’s fifth safety, though his quickest path to the field will likely be on special teams.
Cowboys To Sign Darian Thompson
The Cowboys are signing safety Darian Thompson off of the Cardinals’ practice squad, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. Thompson was a third-round pick of the Giants in 2016, but he has yet to find his footing in the NFL. 
Thompson’s would-be rookie season was mostly lost to a Lisfranc injury suffered in training camp. He started in all 16 of his games in 2017, but a hamstring injury held him back in the summer. The Giants’ new regime didn’t feel that he was worth keeping and cut him with an injury designation on Sept. 1.
The move was a head-scratcher for some, but Thompson graded out as just the 66th-ranked safety in the NFL last year, per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics. Thompson could not find a 53-man deal when he first hit the open market, but the Cowboys have a role in mind for him after plucking him from Arizona’s p-squad.
Thompson is a Boise State product and he’ll find plenty of fellow alums in Dallas. Cowboys stars Leighton Vander Esch, Tyrone Crawford, and Demarcus Lawrence all wore orange and blue before donning navy, silver, and white.
Colts Sign S Mike Mitchell
The Colts are signing safety Mike Mitchell, a league source tells Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). Terms of the deal are not yet known, but it’s likely a low-cost one-year pact. 
Mitchell was one of several veteran safeties who were victimized by an uncharacteristically slow market for the position this offseason. The Steelers cut him loose in early March and nothing came of his multiple workouts. Mitchell tried out for the Cardinals in July, showed his stuff for the Titans before they signed Kenny Vaccaro, and worked out for the Bears and Bengals in September. Finally, Mitchell has an NFL deal, and it’s with the Colts.
Mitchell, 31, spent the past four seasons in Pittsburgh, where he started each of his 61 games. In 13 games last season, Michell finished with 53 tackles and two passes defended. Pro Football Focus ultimately ranked him 62nd among 87 safety candidates.
The Colts expect to have starting corners Quincy Wilson and Kenny Moore back from their concussion layoffs when they face the Jets on Sunday. Mitchell, meanwhile, will be on hand to provide depth in the middle of the field.
Jaguars To Sign Jamaal Charles
The Jaguars have agreed to sign running back Jamaal Charles, a source tells ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Charles will give Jacksonville another backfield option while star Leonard Fournette recovers from a hamstring ailment. To make room, the club is releasing backup running back Brandon Wilds.
Charles, 32 in December, is admittedly not the player that he once was. The veteran had some brilliant seasons in Kansas City, including a 2010 campaign in which he ran for 1,467 yards and averaged 6.4 yards per carry, but he has not topped 1,000 yards since his 2014 season with the Chiefs. Injuries and time have slowed Charles, but the Jaguars believe that he has enough juice to help hold down the fort while Fournette is out.
Charles is not necessarily ticketed for a giant workload while Fournette is sidelined – the top job is expected to remain in T.J. Yeldon‘s grasp. Still, Charles has a clear path to playing time for at least one week.
The Jaguars recently lost Corey Grant to a season-ending Lisfranc injury, so the signing of Charles and the release of Wilds leaves the club with just two healthy running backs. It’s likely that another RB will be added to the mix, and it will have to be an outsider as there are no RBs on the Jags’ taxi squad.
Bengals Work Out TE Clive Walford
The Bengals worked out free agent tight end Clive Walford, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). If signed, Walford could help to fill the void following Tyler Eifert‘s season-ending injury. 
The Raiders made Walford an early third round pick in 2015, but he never lived up to his potential at the pro level. He received a lot of hype his first couple training camps, and was expected at various points to start at tight end for the Raiders, but ended up lasting just three years in Oakland.
The Raiders cut him back in March, and he was quickly scooped up by the Jets, who claimed him off waivers. Walford missed the Jets’ final cut, and the fact that Walford couldn’t make the Jets despite the team having very few proven options at tight end wasn’t a great look. Since then, he has auditioned for the Seahawks, Chiefs, and Jaguars, but has yet to find an NFL home for the 2018 season.
Through three seasons in Oakland, Walford amassed 768 yards and six touchdowns on 70 catches.
Buccaneers Sign Ali Marpet To Extension
The Buccaneers and offensive lineman Ali Marpet have agreed to an extension, according to his representatives at Select Sports Group (on Twitter). It’s a five-year add-on that will keep him under contract through the 2023 season. Marpet’s extension is worth $55MM over the five-year period with $27.125MM in guarantees, a source tells Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). 
Marpet has been a full-time starter along the Buccaneers’ offensive line ever since being selected in the second round of the 2015 draft. A right guard during his first two years in the league, the 25-year-old Marpet transitioned in 2017, but shifted to right guard this year. Last year, Pro Football Focus graded Marpet as the NFL’s No. 6 pivot before he was placed on IR in late November. This year, PFF has him as the seventh-best guard in the NFL through five weeks.
Marpet missed three games due to injury as a rookie and five games last year, but he has been on the field for every offensive snap in 42 of the other 44 contests since his arrival in Tampa. He’s also started in all 44 of those games.
Before the new deal, the former second-round pick was scheduled to reach free agency in March. He’ll carry a tidy $1.2MM cap charge this year before getting a sizable pay bump in 2019.
Marpet’s skillset, versatility, and age would have positioned him as one of the most valuable offensive lineman in free agency next year. The Bucs were willing to pay the price in order to keep Marpet off of the open market or avoid using the pricey franchise tag to delay his free agency until 2020.
With Marpet’s deal completed, the team is expected to turn its attention to left tackle Donovan Smith, a fellow second-round pick in the 2015 draft.
Cowboys Sign CB C.J. Goodwin
The Cowboys are signing cornerback C.J. Goodwin off of the Bengals’ practice squad, a source tells ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). The well-traveled 28-year-old will give the Cowboys another option in the secondary as Chidobe Awuzie recovers from an ankle injury. 
Goodwin spent the offseason with the Bengals, but was unable to make the final cut on Labor Day Weekend. He’s been biding his time on the practice squad ever since, and he’ll finally get a chance to see live action in Dallas. Goodwin has appeared in 28 career games, most of them coming between 2016 and 2017 with the Falcons.
For now, Goodwin will serve as the club’s fifth cornerback behind Byron Jones, Jourdan Lewis, Awuzie, and Anthony Brown. If Awuzie can’t go on Sunday, he may get a spot on the active roster for the afternoon tilt against the Jaguars.
Bills Sign QB Derek Anderson
The Bills’ reported signing of Derek Anderson is now official, per a team announcement. To make room for Anderson on the active roster, the Bills released safety Dean Marlowe. 
“First and foremost, he’s a team first guy,” said Bills head coach Sean McDermott. “A guy that has been around, whether as a starter or a backup. A lot of football over the years. He’s got a good outlook on the game from an offensive standpoint. He understands defenses. So there’s just a lot of value to it in terms of where we are right now in that quarterback room…I think highly of Derek having been around him in Carolina and how he not only played, but also was a primary backup and helped Cam (Newton) in his learning curve. I was on the defensive side so I wasn’t in the room there, but he’s a good quarterback who has played and also backed up so he’s got some good wisdom stored up in that brain.”
Anderson has 76 career NFL appearances under his belt, though he has not seen consistent action since his 2010 campaign with the Cardinals. He went just 2-7 that year, but he did lead the 2007 Browns to a 10-5 record in 15 starts en route to his only Pro Bowl nod.
By sacrificing Marlowe, the Bills will keep three quarterbacks on the roster in Josh Allen, 2017 fifth-round pick Nathan Peterman, and Anderson. The downside is that the Bills are left with only four true safeties on the roster, but they’re apparently confident in their group despite Micah Hyde‘s nagging groin issue and Rafael Bush‘s recent shoulder injury.
The Bills have been rolling with two quarterbacks since trading A.J. McCarron before the season, and that has left them without a veteran in the QB room. It’s possible that Anderson will never see the field in Buffalo, but McDermott is hopeful that he can impart some wisdom on his rookie starter.