Bruce Hector

49ers Cut 25 Players, Set 53-Man Roster

The 49ers had some work to do to get down to their initial 53-man roster. The front office achieved that daunting task this afternoon, as the organization announced the following moves:

Released:

Waived:

Activated from active/PUP:

Placed on reserve/PUP:

Placed on reserve/NFI:

Placed on reserve/suspended:

Placed on IR (designated for return):

Placed on IR:

Punter Thomas Morstead was cut today, but it sounds like the veteran won’t be a free agent for long. Matt Barrows of The Athletic reports that Morstead is expected to re-sign with the organization. The 39-year-old spent the past two seasons with the Jets, including a 2023 campaign where he led the NFL in punts and punting yards.

Barrows also notes that Jacob Cowing made the initial roster but is expected to land on injured reserve as he nurses a hamstring injury. This could open the door for one of the team’s cut WRs to land back on the active roster. That grouping includes Russell Gage, who had more than 1,500 receiving yards for the Falcons between the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Elsewhere on offense, Jeff Wilson‘s reunion with the 49ers proved to be short lived after he joined the organization earlier this month. The veteran spent the past two-plus seasons in Miami, but he had a successful run in San Francisco to begin his career. This included a 2020 campaign where he compiled 733 yards from scrimmage and 10 touchdowns.

49ers Release K Greg Joseph

The 49ers made a slew of roster moves on Monday. Included among them is the release of veteran kicker Greg Joseph.

In May, the 49ers signed Joseph as a contender for the 2025 kicking gig. The 31-year-old took part in minicamp and the opening stages of training camp, but his time in San Francisco has come to an end before the preseason. As a result of today’s move, Jake Moody is the lone kicker on the roster at the moment.

Moody entered the league in 2023 with high expectations as the No. 99 pick in his draft class. He enjoyed a strong rookie campaign, connecting on 21 of 24 field goal tries and all but one of his extra point attempts. Last season, however, things took an unwanted turn. In 14 games, Moody missed 10 field goal attempts, including five from within 50 yards. Competition was sought out in response, but pending another addition at the position he is set to once again handle kicking duties in 2025.

Joseph had a three-year run with the Vikings following brief tenures in Cleveland and Tennessee. Last season, the former UDFA made appearances for three teams; in all, he went 16-for-2o on field goals and 11-for-11 on extra points. As teams around the league prepare for the preseason in advance of final roster cuts, it will be interesting to see if Joseph lands another opportunity in the near future.

The 49ers’ other Monday moves consisted of signing defensive end Bradlee Anae, defensive tackle Bruce Hector, safety Jaylen Mahoney, cornerback Fabian Moreau and offensive lineman Isaiah Prince. They will each look to carve out a depth spot over the coming weeks while (in all likelihood) seeing playing time during the preseason as the team deals with minor injuries at number of positions.

In corresponding transactions, cornerback Tre Averyreceiver Isaiah Neyorquarterback Tanner Mordecai and tight end Mason Pline have been waived. Each member of that quartet will be available to interested teams via the waiver wire. Provided they go unclaimed, each will become a free agent.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/4/25

The last minor moves and standard gameday elevations of the 2024 NFL regular season:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Ross’ new deal to the Texans’ 53-man roster is good through the 2025 season, as well. Ditto for Jones, signed to the active roster in New England today.

Sanders returned to practice this week, and his activation will allow him to close out his second Panthers season on the field rather than on the mend. His Carolina tenure has fallen well short of expectations and a release in the near future could be in the cards. Given the team’s backfield injuries, though, Sanders could handle a notable workload tomorrow while potentially auditioning for free agent suitors.

Gilman’s return will be welcomed by the Chargers’ defense. The 27-year-old has remained a full-time starter this season, his second straight handling first-team duties. Los Angeles is assured of a wild-card spot, but moving up to the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoff picture could be possible on Sunday. In any case, Gilman’s presence will be key for a Bolts defense which leads the league in points allowed per game (17.6).

Gardner’s campaign will come to an end after 15 games played. He fell short of a Pro Bowl nod for this first time in his young career, but the fourth pick of the 2022 draft remained a critical member of the team’s secondary when healthy. Gardner is eligible for an extension this offseason, and his financial future (which will include a fifth-year option decision in the spring) will be a key point of focus once New York’s head coach/general manager tandem is in place.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/21/24

Today’s minor transactions and standard gameday practice squad elevations:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

After being activated from injured reserve in early November, Bates only played two games before suffering a concussion. The 27-year-old has not played since Week 11 and will now miss the remainder of the season on IR. Bates is under contract through 2025.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/20/24

Wednesday’s practice squad moves:

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/18/24

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

  • Waived from IR: LB Deion Jennings

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

MarShawn Lloyd‘s path back to the Packers active roster has taken an unusual turn. The rookie third-round pick landed on IR in September with an ankle injury. He returned to practice last week but suffered appendicitis only a few days later, putting his activation within the 21-day window in doubt.

Worried that Lloyd wouldn’t be ready to play by his early-December activation deadline, the Packers consulted with the NFL about the best route forward (per ESPN’s Rob Demovsky). That ultimately led to today’s transaction, which is only the start of several transactional machinations. As Tom Silverstein of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes, Lloyd will temporarily join the active roster before landing on the non-football injury list. That means he won’t count against the team’s roster limit until he’s healthy enough to return to the field.

Lloyd doesn’t have a return timetable from this recent setback. While the rookie entered the year as the hopeful RB2 behind Josh Jacobs, there’s a good chance he’ll also behind Emanuel Wilson for the stretch run of the season.

Jets Waive K Riley Patterson, Sign K Anders Carlson To Practice Squad

Riley Patterson made a single appearance for the Jets, but his time with the team may be coming to an end. The veteran kicker was waived on Friday, per a team announcement.

Patterson was added in the wake of Greg Zuerlein‘s injury, one which landed him on injured reserve. Patterson and Spencer Shrader were signed to the practice squad initially, and to no surprise New York went with experience in Week 9. Patterson was elevated for that contest, and he connected on all three of his extra point attempts in the Jets’ 21-13 win.

In spite of that success (and the continued presence of Schrader on the taxi squad), Patterson will now hit the waiver wire as a post-trade deadline cut. Any interested team could put in a claim, but if that does not happen the 25-year-old will be free to remain with New York by re-signing to the practice squad. Patterson is a veteran of 40 games, and he has a career accuracy rate of 88.1% on field goals while connecting on 96 of his 100 extra point kicks. To fill his roster spot, defensive tackle Bruce Hector was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster.

Today’s move does not necessarily pave the way for Schrader to handle kicking duties moving forward, however. The Jets have signed Anders Carlson to the practice squad, giving the 2023 Packers draftee another opportunity. Carlson joined the 49ers last month after Jake Moody‘s injury replacement (Matthew Wright) suffered an injury of his own. Carlson wound up making a pair of appearances for San Francisco, going five-for-five on field goals and three-for-four on extra points. He was let go after the 49ers reunited with safety Tashaun Gipson on Tuesday.

Consistency in the kicking game – regardless of who it comes from – would be a welcomed development for the Jets considering Zuerlein’s struggles before his injury. The 36-year-old received a vote of confidence earlier in the week from general manager Joe Douglas (as noted by ESPN’s Rich Cimini), but once healthy Zuerlein figures to have competition for his spot.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/28/24

Minor transactions and practice squad callups for the Week 4 weekend:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

  • Elevated: G Kyle Hergel

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC East

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These BillsDolphinsJets and Patriots moves are noted below.

Buffalo Bills

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Miami Dolphins

Released:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

New England Patriots

Signed:

Claimed:

Released:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

New York Jets

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Jets Set 53-Man Roster

The 2023 campaign obviously didn’t go as planned for the Jets, but the organization is hoping for much more success with a healthy Aaron Rodgers under center in 2024. Of course, before they can take the field, the team had to set their 53-man roster. The Jets announced the following roster moves today:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on reserve/NFI list:

Following today’s moves, the Jets are temporarily rostering only a pair of tight ends in Tyler Conklin and Jeremy Ruckert. Anthony Firkser isn’t an especially surprising cut, but the veteran could have provided some experience to the position grouping. After topping 30 receptions with the Titans in 2020 and 2021, Firkser was limited to nine catches in 2022 before appearing in only a pair of games with the Lions in 2023. The Jets also moved on from 2023 seventh-round pick Zack Kuntz, although there’s a chance the six-foot-eight tight end lands back on the team’s practice squad.

The Jets also moved on from a notable rookie in Jaylen Key, who had the distinction of being this year’s Mr. Irrelevant. The safety had a strong one-season stint at Alabama, where he collected 60 tackles and one interception.