Dolphins Activate G Ted Larsen
The Dolphins announced that they have activated guard Ted Larsen. This means that Larsen will be available to play when the Dolphins face the Raiders on Saturday night. 
Larsen suffered a torn biceps injury over the summer, forcing the Dolphins to park him on injured reserve for the first two months of the season. Finally, the Dolphins will have the offensive line they intended to have in Week 1. Larsen, a free agent addition in the spring, will start at left guard along with left tackle Laremy Tunsil, center Mike Pouncey, right guard Jermon Bushrod, and right tackle Ja’Wuan James. It’s good timing for the Dolphins since Larsen’s first stand-in, Anthony Steen, is done for the season with a broken foot. Jesse Davis, the latest starting solution at LG, will revert to the bench.
Larsen, 30, started in 65 of 102 appearances as a Buccaneer, Cardinal and Bear from 2010-16. In Chicago last year, Larsen posted the fifth 16-game slate of his career and logged eight starts, during which he ranked 37th in performance among Pro Football Focus’ 75 qualified guards.
Chiefs Move Tamba Hali To Active Roster
The Chiefs are ready to fire up Tamba Hali. The outside linebacker has been moved to the active roster and will dress this weekend against the Cowboys. To make room, defensive back D.J. White has been placed on waivers. 
Hali began the year on the PUP list, ruling him out for the first half of the season. It was first reported on Nov. 2 that Hali would begin practicing, but there was a hiccup in the plans. Coincidentally or not (probably not), Hali has been given the green light to play after an adjustment to his deal for the 2018 season.
The new contract calls for Hali to make an extra $250K in signing bonuses, but also shifts $1MM in 2018 base pay to a roster bonus due on March 1. That might seem like a minor change, but it will result in the Chiefs making a decision on Hali before the start of free agency. If the Chiefs kick Hali to the curb, he’ll have an opportunity to go elsewhere while the free agent cash is still flowing.
Hali, 34, appeared in all 16 games for the Chiefs in 2016, but he only logged two official starts.
Browns Give Raise To Joe Thomas
The Browns are doing right by Joe Thomas. The offensive tackle has been given a pay bump for the current year as well as next season, as detailed by ESPN.com’s Field Yates. 
Thomas has been given $3MM in new money between 2017 and 2018, including a $1.5MM roster bonus that was paid out to him earlier this week. The other $1.5MM comes from a pay raise for next year. With that extra cash for ’18, Thomas is slated to make $13.5MM, giving him the highest salary of any offensive lineman in the league next year.
The Browns didn’t necessarily have to give Thomas the pay bump since he is already signed through next year. It’s possible that the bonus is to help talk Thomas out of retirement – he said over the summer that he was thinking about hanging ’em up after this season. It could also just be a goodwill gesture towards for Cleveland’s longest-tenured player.
Remarkably, Thomas has made the Pro Bowl in all ten of his professional seasons. He won’t be going to the Pro Bowl this year, however, after a triceps injury shut him down after seven games. Up until that injury, Thomas had logged 10,363 straight snaps on the field.
Saints’ Delvin Breaux Done For Year?
Saints cornerback Delvin Breaux was scheduled to return to the field soon. Unfortunately, a recent setback in practice may make it difficult for him to play this year, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. 
The new ailment may require an additional 3-6 weeks of recovery, Rapoport hears. The three week window to activate Breaux starting ticking on October 20, so the Saints would have to carry Breaux as dead weight on the roster for roughly three weeks before even possibly getting him on the field. That’s probably not a worthwhile gamble for New Orleans, so his season is likely over.
Per NFL IR-DTR rules, Breaux could have returned in time for Sunday’s Week 9 matchup against the Buccaneers. Obviously, that is no longer in the cards. It’s a tough setback for Breaux, a third-year pro who has suffered two leg fractures in two years.
Last year, the former CFL standout had a dismal 39.1 mark from Pro Football Focus in his abbreviated six-game campaign. In 2015, however, he had an 85.0 overall score which cast him as a top-15 type of cornerback.
Seahawks’ Earl Thomas Could Miss Games
The Seahawks have ruled out safety Earl Thomas for Sunday’s game against the Redskins, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The injury may result in a multi-game absence. 
Thomas’ hamstring forced him out of action during last week’s contest against the Texans. Losing him for an extended period will hurt the Seahawks, not just because he is a defensive leader, but because he is among the league’s very best safeties. So far this season, Thomas is the No. 8 ranked safety in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus. He’s regularly placed in PFF’s top ten, but his 87.6 score for this year actually represents a career watermark.
For now, Thomas will be replaced in the starting lineup by Bradley McDougald. Given that he started 31 games at safety over the past two seasons with the Bucs, the Seahawks can comfortably stick with what they have in-house for the time being.
After Sunday’s game against Washington, the Seahawks have a short week before facing the Cardinals on Thursday night. If Thomas can’t make a quick recovery, he might not see the field again until Seattle’s post-bye matchup against the Falcons on Nov. 20.
Chiefs, Tamba Hali Adjust Contract
Tamba Hali is set to return from the PUP list shortly. When he does, he’ll be doing so under a revised contract. The Chiefs outside linebacker will now receive a $250K signing bonus for the 2018 season while also having $1MM of his 2018 salary moved from base pay to a March 1 roster bonus (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). 
The adjusted contract might explain why Hali did not begin practicing on Wednesday, as originally planned.
“I’m not sure exactly what’s going on, to be honest with you,” Reid said earlier this week (video link via the Kansas City Star). “When I walked out here, he was not practicing. [GM] Brett Veach is dealing with all that. I don’t know exactly the situation and what’s going on right now. That’s between Brett, Tamba and his representatives.”
The changes to the deal might seem inconsequential, but they could impact Hali’s future with the team. By converting $1MM of his 2018 base pay into a March 1 roster bonus, the Chiefs will be forced to decide whether to keep him or cut him much earlier in the offseason. If the Chiefs opt to move on from Hali on 3/1, he will have an opportunity to get in on the first wave of free agency when teams are still flush with cash.
Hali, 34, appeared in all 16 games for the Chiefs in 2016 and played on roughly half the club’s defensive snaps. However, he finished with only 3.5 sacks, his lowest posting since 2008.
Bills’ Taiwan Jones Done For Season
Taiwan Jones‘ season is over. Bills coach Sean McDermott informed reporters on Friday morning that the running back and key special teamer is going on injured reserve with a broken arm. 
Jones, 29, joined up with the Bills this summer after he was released by the Raiders. He didn’t come with a lengthy offensive resume, but he did have lots of experience in the third facet of the game. Last year, he was seventh among Raiders players in special teams snaps, and he’s not far removed from leading the AFC in kick return yards (829) in 2015.
This year, Jones appeared in all eight games as a special teamer. He returned two kicks for a total of 50 yards and had one reception on offense.
Latest On Colin Kaepernick
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and Texans owner Bob McNair, amongst others, will be deposed and asked to turn over all cell phone records and emails in relation to the Colin Kaepernick collusion case against the NFL, a league source tells ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (Facebook link). Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and owner 49ers Jed York are also among those on the deposition list, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) hears.
Other owners, team officials, and league officials may also be deposed, but those are the individuals confirmed for now.
Here’s more on Kaepernick:
- Colin Kaepernick’s attorney believes that the quarterback will sign with an NFL team soon. “I think within the next 10 days somebody will sign him,” Mark Geragos told Adam Carolla earlier this week (transcript via BleacherReport.com). “I think somebody’s gonna sign him. I think the NFL has to come to their senses, and realize every day that goes by just proves the collusion case even more.” Geragos may have confidence, but there’s no reason to expect a Kaepernick signing anytime soon. A potential spot opened up this week when Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending ACL tear, but Houston opted to sign Matt McGloin and T.J. Yates. For now, Tom Savage is the starter in Houston and there are no known plans for the team to audition Kaepernick.
- NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart deferred to the NFLPA on the topic of having Kaepernick at the next meeting between players and owners (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). “We’d welcome his participation, but that’s an issue for the players to determine,” he said.
Packers’ Taybor Pepper Done For Season
Packers long snapper Taybor Pepper broke his foot in practice on Thursday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). He’s done for the season and will be placed on injured reserve. 
The Packers moved quickly to work out long snappers on Friday. After the auditions, they settled on Derek Hart, according to Rapoport (Twitter link). In related news, the Packers are bringing fourth-round rookie linebacker Vince Biegel off of the PUP list. Both players will have an opportunity to make their Packer debuts against the Lions on Monday night.
Pepper, 23, was a long way from football in September when he was working the cash register at his parents’ consignment store. Suddenly, an opportunity opened up with the Packers when long snapper Brett Goode went down with a hamstring injury.
“My agent called me and was kind of like, ‘There might be a situation. There might not be. Be ready,’” Pepper said (via the team’s website). “After the game, [Packers director of football operations] Eliot Wolf called me and said, ‘We need you here.’”
Ravens Bring CB Maurice Canady Off Of IR
The Ravens announced they have activated cornerback Maurice Canady off of injured reserve. To make room on the roster, wide receiver Chris Matthews has been released. 
Canady went down with a knee issue in July, making him one of many Ravens to succumb to the injury bug. A sixth round pick in the 2016 draft, Canady looked great in this year’s spring practices and was in line to be the team’s top slot cornerback. He could work his way up to a similar role now that he is healthy. Canady has yet to record an official statistic in his four NFL games.
Matthews was added to the Ravens’ roster on Sept. 4 when Canady was first placed on IR. The 28-year-old had three catches for 25 yards in six games this season. Unfortunately, a thigh injury has sidelined him for the last two games.
With Matthews out of the picture, the Ravens have just four healthy receivers on the roster in Mike Wallace, Jeremy Maclin, Breshad Perriman, and Chris Moore.