NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/22/20
Here are Thursday’s practice squad decisions:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: LB Ahmad Gooden
Carolina Panthers
- Released: RB Michael Warren
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: DB Saivion Smith
Denver Broncos
- Signed: RB Damarea Crockett
Detroit Lions
- Signed: RB Dalyn Dawkins
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: DE Will Clarke
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/21/20
Here are Wednesday’s minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Promoted: DT Justin Zimmer
Carolina Panthers
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: OL Trent Scott, K Joey Slye
Detroit Lions
- Promoted: CB Chris Jones
- Placed on IR: DE Julian Okwara
New England Patriots
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: DT Byron Cowart, G Shaq Mason, DE Derek Rivers
- Placed on IR: T Jermaine Eluemunor
Philadelphia Eagles
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: OL Matt Pryor
San Francisco 49ers
- Promoted: LB Joe Walker
Seattle Seahawks
- Placed on IR: DB Delano Hill
Washington Football Team
- Signed off Packers’ practice squad: WR Robert Foster
Bills Release Quinton Spain
The Bills have released guard Quinton Spain, per a club announcement. Effectively a full-time starter for four straight seasons, Spain now finds himself on the open market in the middle of the season.
Spain, 29, was slated to be a free agent in March before he re-upped with Buffalo on a three-year, $15MM deal. Although he wasn’t a world-beater like fellow free agents like Brandon Scherff and Joe Thuney, the Bills wanted to lock him up for the long haul.
Buffalo made its offensive line a priority in 2019, adding free agents Mitch Morse, Ty Nsekhe, and Spencer Long and second-round draft pick Cody Ford, in addition to Spain. A former undrafted free agent, Spain spent the first four years and 48 starts of his career with the Titans. In ’19, Spain started all 16 games for the first time in his NFL tenure, grading as the league’s No. 59 guard among 80 qualifiers per Pro Football Focus. Spain and the other reinforcements helped the Bills’ running game, as Buffalo improved from 30th in Football Outsiders‘ 2018 run-blocking metrics to 16th last season.
This year, Spain lost his starting gig to Cody Ford. Then, he suffered a foot injury, costing him the last two games. The Bills will forge ahead with Ford at LG and Brian Winters at RG with support from Ike Boettger and Ryan Bates.
2020 NFL Cap Space, By Team
As shown by Le’Veon Bell‘s recent deal with the Chiefs, big name free agents can come available at any point throughout the season. His contract wasn’t particularly pricey, but teams like to keep cash on hand during the year, especially when mulling potential trades before the deadline. Excess cap room can also be rolled over from year-to-year and give clubs the opportunity to lock up their most valuable players with extensions.
Here are the most recent figures for each team, via Over The Cap:
- Cleveland Browns – $33.1MM
- New York Jets – $27.9MM
- Dallas Cowboys — $23.9MM
- Washington Football Team – $23.6MM
- Jacksonville Jaguars– $22.9MM
- New England Patriots – $22.9MM
- Denver Broncos – $19.7MM
- Detroit Lions – $17MM
- Philadelphia Eagles– $18MM
- Miami Dolphins – $15.8MM
- Indianapolis Colts – $10.4MM
- Pittsburgh Steelers – $9.6MM
- Cincinnati Bengals– $9MM
- Baltimore Ravens – $9MM
- Arizona Cardinals– $8.9MM
- Chicago Bears – $8.4MM
- Tennessee Titans – $8.3MM
- Houston Texans – $8.1MM
- Los Angeles Chargers — $8MM
- New Orleans Saints – $8MM
- Green Bay Packers – $7.7MM
- New York Giants – $7.2MM
- Los Angeles Rams – $7MM
- Las Vegas Raiders – $6.3MM
- Carolina Panthers – $6.2MM
- Kansas City Chiefs – $5.8MM
- Buffalo Bills – $5MM
- San Francisco 49ers – $4MM
- Seattle Seahawks – $4MM
- Atlanta Falcons – $2MM
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers – $1.4MM
- Minnesota Vikings – $158K
No Multi-Year Offers For Le’Veon Bell?
On Thursday night, Le’Veon Bell agreed to join the Chiefs on a one-year deal. There were other suitors, but none of those teams offered Bell a multi-year pact, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter).
Previously, the Dolphins were believed to have offered a two-year deal to lure Bell to Miami. Apparently, that’s not the case. The Bills were also in the hunt, but Buffalo didn’t offer up a deal to extend into the 2021 season, either.
Ultimately, Bell got what he wanted – an opportunity to reassert himself with a bonafide Super Bowl contender. At minimum, Bell figures to serve as rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire‘s top supporting cast member, slotting him ahead of Darrel Williams and Darwin Thompson.
Bell’s production and constant clashing with Adam Gase made his $13.25MM-per-year price untenable for the Jets. The former Steelers dynamo lumbered for a career-low 3.2 yards per carry in 2019 and suited up for just two games in 2020. But, upon return in Week 5, Bell did average 4.62 yards per tote. And, considering his overall track record and reduced price, it was a no-brainer move fr the Chiefs.
With Bell, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Mitchell Schwartz, and Tyreek Hill, the Chiefs’ offense now features five former first-team All-Pros on the active roster. As a Steeler, Bell posted 1,800-plus scrimmage yards three times en route to the 2014 and ’17 All-Pro teams. He added three 75-catch seasons in that span, making him one of the league’s most dynamic offensive weapons.
Bills, Chiefs, Dolphins In On Le’Veon Bell
Le’Veon Bell is down to three teams, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The former Jets running back is deciding between the Bills, Chiefs, and Dolphins, and a deal could come together by the end of business on Thursday. Meanwhile, despite some speculation regarding the 49ers, head coach Kyle Shanahan says he’s not interested (via Cam Inman of the Mercury News). 
The Chiefs – who made a similar move by signing veteran LeSean McCoy last year – were quickly connected to the former All-Pro back. He’d make sense for the Chiefs, who are without Damien Williams due to his opt-out. Currently, KC features Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Darrel Williams, and Darwin Thompson on the RB depth chart. Bell reportedly wants to play for a winner after escaping New York, so the Chiefs would be a logical fit for him.
The Dolphins would provide Bell with an instant opportunity for revenge against Adam Gase, as they face the Jets on Sunday. The Bills and Chiefs play the Jets on Week 7 and Week 8, respectively, so he’d get to face his former club with any of these three teams. Bell would support Myles Gaskin as the lead rusher in Miami and support Devin Singletary in Buffalo.
Bell underperformed in 2019 and reportedly clashed with team brass. He averaged just 3.2 yards per carry and his 66 catches for 461 yards out of the backfield weren’t nearly enough to offset that lack of efficiency. This year, he suited up in just two games before his divorce with the Jets. Before all of that, and his infamous Steelers holdout, Bell notched 1,291 yards off of a league-high 321 carries in 2017. He also reeled in a career-high 85 catches for 655 yards and scored eleven all-purpose touchdowns.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/14/20
Here are Wednesday’s practice squad moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: CB Lafayette Pitts
New York Jets
- Signed: K Sergio Castillo, DT Tanzel Smart
- Released: WR Donte Moncrief
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/13/20
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves. While the Titans are moving some players off their reserve/COVID-19 list, other teams have placed players on their respective coronavirus lists.
Atlanta Falcons
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: DT Marlon Davidson; the rookie defensive lineman tested positive for the coronavirus, Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com tweets.
- Promoted: CB Tyler Hall
Buffalo Bills
- Promoted: CB Dane Jackson, LB Andre Smith
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed off Browns’ practice squad: QB Garrett Gilbert
Green Bay Packers
- Placed on IR: TE Josiah Deguara, C Jake Hanson
Kansas City Chiefs
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: FB Anthony Sherman; the 10th-year veteran did not test positive for the coronavirus, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter).
Los Angeles Rams
- Promoted: S JuJu Hughes
- Placed on IR: S Jordan Fuller
Minnesota Vikings
- Waived: Hercules Mata’afa
New York Jets
- Promoted: CB Lamar Jackson
Philadelphia Eagles
- Waived: DB Grayland Arnold, DE Casey Toohill
San Francisco 49ers
- Claimed off waivers from Buccaneers: CB Parnell Motley
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Promoted: CB Ross Cockrell, LB Chapelle Russell
Tennessee Titans
- Activated off reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Kamalei Correa, CB Kristian Fulton
- Promoted: LB Darren Bates, WR Cody Hollister, CB Kareem Orr, OL David Quessenberry
No New COVID-19 Positives For Titans
Tonight’s Titans-Bills game will go on as (re-)scheduled. Monday’s round of COVID-19 testing yielded no new positives, clearing the way for their Tuesday Night Football matchup. Ditto for the Chiefs and Patriots (Twitter links via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero).
Over the weekend, one Titans staffer tested positive for the coronavirus, though that person had not been at the team facility for roughly two weeks. Since the staffer has not been in contact with other players, coaches, or executives, the Titans still had the green light to play, pending Monday’s test results. The Titans also got some more good news on Tuesday morning – wide receiver A.J. Brown is good to go after healing up from his bone bruise, per Paul Kuharsky (on Twitter).
The Patriots were asked to nix in-person activities after their flare-up, but they should be able to get back to the practice field on Wednesday. There’s no official word yet, but there’s hope that the Patriots will be able to face the Broncos on Sunday. The two teams were originally scheduled to play last Sunday, then slated for Monday night, before being bumped to Week 6.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/12/20
Here are today’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Promoted from practice squad: C Trystan Colon-Castillo
- Placed on IR: LB Otaro Alaka
Buffalo Bills
- Promoted from practice squad: LB Deon Lacey
- Placed on IR: LB Del’Shawn Phillips
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: DT Caraun Reid
- Placed on IR: S Andrew Wingard
- Released: DT Carl Davis
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: DE Jordan Brailford
New England Patriots
- Moved to COVID-19 list: DT Byron Cowart
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: CB Ken Crawley
- Promoted from practice squad: WR Austin Carr, TE Garrett Griffin
- Released: DL Margus Hunt
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: CB Ross Cockrell, LB Chapelle Russell
- Placed on IR: LB Jack Cichy
- Waived: CB Parnell Motley
Tennessee Titans
- Activated from COVID-19 list: LS Beau Brinkley, NT DaQuan Jones