Lions Waive DL Isaiah Buggs
Alim McNeill is eligible to come off injured reserve this week, and Dan Campbell said the ascending interior defensive lineman has a chance to do so. While McNeill has not been designated for return yet, the Lions made another move that points to that happening soon.
Detroit is waiving veteran D-tackle Isaiah Buggs, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. Thanking the city of Detroit, Buggs said this departure is best for him. This could point to Buggs having asked to be cut. It is rather interesting the Lions will cut a player who has been a regular with McNeill out, but Buggs had been a healthy scratch during points prior to McNeill’s injury.
The Lions gave Buggs two one-year contracts over the past two offseasons, adding him initially in July 2022 and circling back in March 2023. This cut is also interesting given Buggs’ two-year deal. The Lions had him signed through 2024 on a two-year, $4.5MM pact. That deal came with $2.1MM fully guaranteed, but no guaranteed money remains on the contract beyond this season. If no team claims the fifth-year veteran by Wednesday, the Lions would owe Buggs only one more game check on this accord. For waiver purposes, the Alabama alum is due a $2.1MM base salary next season.
Buggs, 27, has been active for 10 games this season. In those contests, he has played 40% of Detroit’s defensive snaps, working ahead of third-round rookie Brodric Martin, who has seen action in just three games. Pro Football Focus views this season as Buggs’ most productive work. The advanced metrics site slots the former Steeler as a mid-pack interior D-lineman (60th overall) this season. Buggs made 13 starts last year, racking up a career-high 46 tackles and 10 QB hits. This season, those numbers are way down (12, 1).
McNeill suffered a knee sprain in early December, but the emerging third-year talent had been viewed as likely to come back this season. Without McNeill, the Lions have used John Cominsky, Benito Jones, Levi Onwuzurike as D-line regulars this season. Buggs represents a decent depth piece, but the NFC North champions will move forward without him.
The Buggs move is now official, while the Lions also announced they re-signed fullback Jason Cabinda to their practice squad. Despite using an IR activation on Cabinda last week, the Lions waived him. Clearing waivers will keep Cabinda in Detroit. The Lions are soon set to use two more of their remaining IR activations on McNeill and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, with the Detroit News’ Justin Rogers noting the team has an open roster spot thanks to the Buggs cut. Detroit has four IR-return moves remaining.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/1/24
Here are the New Year’s Day practice squad decisions from around the league:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: OL Ben Brown
Chicago Bears
- Signed: OL Jerome Carvin
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: S Tyler Coyle
New York Giants
- Signed: OLB Jeremiah Martin
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: NT Matthew Gotel, DE Hamilcar Rashed, LB Christian Young
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/1/24
Here are the NFL minor moves from New Year’s Day:
Denver Broncos
- Placed on IR: S Delarrin Turner-Yell
Green Bay Packers
- Signed from practice squad: WR Bo Melton
- Placed on IR: WR Samori Toure
New Orleans Saints
- Waived: CB Cameron Dantzler
While the Broncos have not run into major injury problems this season, safety has proven the exception. Denver’s safety starters and second-stringers have missed time this season. Turner-Yell, a 2022 fifth-round pick, will join Caden Sterns and P.J. Locke as having spent time on IR. Turner-Yell, who started two games in place of Justin Simmons at points early this season, suffered a torn ACL in Week 17, per Sean Payton. Simmons and Locke remain healthy, but the Broncos lost Kareem Jackson to the Texans after placing the oft-suspended veteran on waivers. The Broncos had planned to stash Jackson on their practice squad.
Playing on New Year’s Eve as a practice squad elevation, Melton impressed with a six-catch, 105-yard showing in Minnesota. The 2022 Seahawks seventh-round pick will replace Toure on the Packers’ active roster. A 2022 Green Bay seventh-rounder, Toure caught eight passes for 78 yards in his second NFL season.
Rams Waive K Lucas Havrisik, To Bring Back K Brett Maher
3:05pm: A new face may not handle kicking duties in the postseason after all. When addressing the latest switch, head coach Sean McVay announced the Rams intend to bring Maher back. He has not played since being let go by Los Angeles earlier in the year, and now he will have the opportunity to reclaim his old gig. Given Maher’s struggles in his first Rams stint (along with his extra point issues in the playoffs with the Cowboys last year), however, it will be interesting to see if competition is brought in over the coming days.
1:36pm: In the wake of their continued struggles at the position, the Rams are set to make another change at the kicker spot. The team announced on Monday that Lucas Havrisik has been waived. 
Los Angeles began the season with Brett Maher in place, but he missed six field goals (along with one extra point) in seven games. That required a change to be made, and Maher was let go. Havrisik was signed off the Browns’ practice squad to take his place. However, the Rams also auditioned a number of more experienced options, leaving the door open to a third option seeing game time.
Havrisik had a nine-game run with the Rams, but he was unable to lock down the kicking gig on a permanent basis. The 24-year-old went 15-for-20 on field goal attempts, including four misses from inside 50 yards. He also missed three extra points in his tenure with Los Angeles; two of those occurred in Week 17’s narrow win over the Giants. That victory secured a playoff spot for the Rams, but their special teams situation is once again uncertain with the postseason looming.
Los Angeles briefly added Mason Crosby, but Havrisik remained in place long enough to lead the veteran elsewhere. Crosby (who missed a 54-year game winner on Sunday) is set to finish out the season with the Giants. While New York’s campaign will come to an end in Week 18, the same is not true for the Rams. As a result, their actions in the coming days will be worth watching.
No other kicker currently resides on the team’s roster or practice squad, so an addition will need to be made soon. It would come as little surprise if the Rams were to again host several options on the free agent market as they look to solidify the kicker position ahead of the playoffs. Havrisik will now be available to all teams via waivers; he will become a free agent if no team puts in a claim.
Seahawks Waive Frank Clark, Place S Jamal Adams, WR Dee Eskridge On IR
After a short reunion in Seattle, the Seahawks have opted to part ways with veteran pass rusher Frank Clark, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The former three-time Pro Bowler will hit the waiver wire and potentially be available to sign for a playoff run. Additionally, the team will spend the remainder of the season without safety Jamal Adams and wide receiver Dee Eskridge, announcing that both players have been placed on injured reserve. 
The Seahawks drafted Clark back in the 2015 second round and franchise-tagged him four years later, but the team executed a tag-and-trade transaction to send the former Michael Bennett–Cliff Avril sidekick to the Chiefs. While the Chiefs were viewed as perhaps the lead candidate to sign Clark, the recent Bronco found his way back to the Pacific Northwest. Injuries and poor fit led to his departure from Denver, so established fits like Seattle and Kansas City were really the best options for Clark.
Adams has missed the team’s last two games with a knee injury, and he will now miss their final two games of the season, as well. Despite Adams’ return to practice this week, head coach Pete Carroll made the call, determining that Adams was not doing well enough to play. This continues a troubling trend as Adams has not played a full, healthy season since joining the Seahawks three years ago. After missing almost all of the 2022 season, Adams will now have missed eight more games in 2023.
With continuing large cap hits over the next two seasons, there’s been plenty of speculation that Adams’ injury issues could lead to him becoming a salary cap casualty. Even if Seattle opts not to take that route, Adams himself considered calling it quits after last year’s season-ending quadriceps injury. More injury trouble this year may push Adams even closer to retirement. Regardless, this may have been the last season that we see Adams in navy and green.
Eskridge will now see a stint on IR for the third straight year to start his career. It’s safe to say that the Seahawks have not quite seen the return on investment out of their former second-round pick. Including a six-game suspension to start his 2023 campaign, Eskridge will have missed 27 of a possible 51 games since being drafted in 2021. He failed to catch his lone target of this year and only has 17 catches for 122 yards and a touchdown in his career.
In order to fill the three newly vacated roster spots, the Seahawks have signed linebacker Patrick O’Connell, safety Ty Okada, and offensive tackle Jake Curhan to the active roster from the practice squad. With linebacker Jordyn Brooks ruled out for this week’s matchup, O’Connell should provide some added depth at the position. Additionally, Seattle announced that nose tackle Austin Faoliu and cornerback Kelvin Joseph will join the above three as standard gameday elevations from the practice squad this weekend.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/30/23
Here are today’s minor transactions and callups for the remainder of the Week 17 matchups:
Arizona Cardinals
- Activated from IR: CB Bobby Price
- Elevated: WR Dan Chisena
Atlanta Falcons
- Elevated: OL John Leglue
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed to active roster: WR Laquon Treadwell
- Elevated: S Andrew Adams, OLB Jeremiah Moon
- Placed on IR: CB Jalyn Armour-Davis
Carolina Panthers
- Elevated: G J.D. DiRenzo, CB AJ Parker
Chicago Bears
- Elevated: WR Collin Johnson
Dallas Cowboys
- Elevated: DT Carl Davis, LB Buddy Johnson
Denver Broncos
- Signed to active roster: WR Michael Bandy
- Elevated: WR Phillip Dorsett, OLB Ronnie Perkins
- Placed on reserve/non-football illness list: RB Dwayne Washington
Detroit Lions
- Signed to active roster: TE Anthony Firkser
- Elevated: DL Tyson Alualu, DE Bruce Irvin
Indianapolis Colts
- Elevated: LB Liam Anderson, WR Ethan Fernea
Kansas City Chiefs
- Elevated: RB Keaontay Ingram, NT Mike Pennel
- Waived: DT Matt Dickerson
Las Vegas Raiders
- Elevated: DT Matthew Butler, TE Cole Fotheringham
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed to active roster: WR Keelan Doss
- Elevated: DT Christopher Hinton, OL Austen Pleasants
Miami Dolphins
- Elevated: OLB Melvin Ingram
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed to active roster: DL T.J. Smith, LB Nick Vigil
- Elevated: WR Lucky Jackson, CB Jaylin Williams
- Placed on IR: LB Troy Dye
New England Patriots
- Elevated: TE Matt Sokol, OL Andrew Stueber
New Orleans Saints
- Elevated: CB Shemar Jean-Charles
New York Giants
- Signed to active roster: LB Darrian Beavers
- Elevated: K Mason Crosby, WR Dennis Houston
- Placed on IR: TE Lawrence Cager
Philadelphia Eagles
- Elevated: LB Brandon Smith
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Elevated: LB Myles Jack, S Eric Rowe
San Francisco 49ers
- Elevated: S Erik Harris, WR Tay Martin
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Elevated: CB Derrek Pitts, TE David Wells
Tennessee Titans
- Signed to active roster: DT Ross Blacklock
- Elevated: LB Tae Crowder, CB Kendall Sheffield
- Placed on IR: TE Josh Whyle
Alualu is set to make his Lions debut after signing earlier this month. Given the injury issues Detroit has faced up front, the 36-year-old has the chance to see playing time through the close of the regular season and into the playoffs. Alualu expressed a desire to continue playing with the Steelers this offseason, but he remained a free agent deep into the year. His tenure in the Motor City could help boost his free agent stock if he wishes to remain in the league in 2024, though.
Patriots Place JuJu Smith-Schuster On IR
JuJu Smith-Schuster‘s first season with the Patriots has come to an end. The team announced on Saturday that he has been placed on injured reserve. 
The 27-year-old has missed the past two games, and he will not return for the final two contests of the campaign. Smith-Schuster joined New England on a three-year, $25MM deal in free agency following his one-year stint in Kansas City. Today’s move marks an end to a disappointing first run with the Patriots.
Smith-Schuster – who upped his value in 2022 by posting 933 yards on 78 catches with the defending champions- put up far less production this year. The former Steelers draftee delivered a 29-260-1 statline in 11 contests with New England, ranking him just sixth on the team in receiving. Especially given the lack of high-end playmakers on the team, his ability to return to full heath and his previous form in 2024 will be critical for the Patriots.
Not much has gone according to plan on offense for New England, a team which faces uncertainty under center and on the sidelines heading into the offseason. Smith-Schuster’s $7MM base salary for next season is guaranteed, however, meaning he will at least remain in place for the start of the next campaign. A rebound would help a passing attack which has struggled with both Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe at the helm in 2023, something which has produced a league-low 14.1 points per game on offense.
Today’s news means that as the Patriots close out the campaign – a two-game stretch which could see them move higher up the 2024 draft order – they will be without another skill-position player. Lead running back Rhamondre Stevenson has also been moved to IR, shutting him down for the season. New England will finish its schedule against the Bills and Jets with a shorthanded group of pass-catchers. To fill Smith-Schuster’s roster spot, safety Joshuah Bledsoe was signed off the practice squad.
Eagles Activate Avonte Maddox From IR
DECEMBER 30: Maddox is now set to return to action, having been activated from IR on Saturday. Especially with fellow CB starter Darius Slay potentially out until the playoffs, Maddox being in the lineup will be a welcomed sight for Philadelphia’s defense. In a corresponding move, backup tight end Albert Okwuegbunam was placed on injured reserve; he will be forced to miss at least four weeks as a result.
DECEMBER 21: This season continues to see players make their way back to practice despite suffering pectoral tears. Following C.J. Gardner-Johnson and DaQuan Jones on this front, Avonte Maddox is back at Eagles practice.
The veteran slot cornerback sustained his pectoral injury in Week 2, days before Gardner-Johnson’s, and was not certain to return this season. But the Eagles opening his 21-day practice window Thursday points to Maddox having a clear path back to the 53-man roster. Considering the issues the Eagles have had in coverage this season, that will be an important development.
Pectoral tears regularly end players’ seasons, and Maddox underwent surgery to repair the issue after seeking a second opinion. This season looks set to see some late returns from defensive contributors following operations. All three received return designations this week. The two DBs going down in Week 2 helped their chances of coming back, but this will still make for impressive rallies. Maddox and Gardner-Johnson are on track to return in time for the NFC playoffs.
Maddox, 27, has been the Eagles’ primary slot corner for several years. Despite the team trading for Darius Slay and extending him in 2020, the Eagles paid Maddox not long after. Maddox agreed to a three-year, $22.5MM extension in 2021. The Eagles have Slay, Maddox and James Bradberry tied to veteran deals, but the returns have not been as good as they were in 2022. After leading the NFL in pass defense last season, Philadelphia enters Week 16 ranked 28th. The team has already demoted first-year DC Sean Desai, increasing Matt Patricia‘s responsibilities as it attempts to stem the tide.
One of the players tried in the slot following Maddox’s injury, Mario Goodrich, has been bumped down to the practice squad. The Eagles added Bradley Roby to help, while using rookie Sydney Brown here at points as well. Signed in-season, Roby has played 283 defensive snaps — third-most among Eagles corners. Maddox’s injury prompted Philly to add the 10th-year veteran. Pro Football Focus does not slot any of the Eagles’ three cornerback regulars in the top 40 at the position this season.
While Maddox has manned the slot in Philly for the bulk of the time since being drafted in the 2018 fourth round, injuries have kept him off the field for much of the past two years. Maddox missed nine games because of hamstring, ankle and toe injuries last season. The ankle setback prompted Philly to place Maddox on IR, though he was back in time for the NFC championship game.
PFF rated Maddox as a top-25 corner last season and in 2021, however. His return would provide some help to a struggling unit, which did not have Slay available Monday night due to arthroscopic knee surgery. Slay remains on Philly’s active roster; the team has three weeks to activate Maddox. The 10-4 team, which also has Nakobe Dean on IR, carries five remaining injury activations.
Saints Place T Ryan Ramczyk On IR
Barring a deep playoff run on the part of the Saints, Ryan Ramczyk‘s season has come to an end. The veteran right tackle was placed on injured reserve Saturday, per a team announcement. 
Ramczyk has been dealing with a knee injury which has forced him to miss the past two games. Today’s move comes after he was unable to practice at any point this week, so it is relatively unsurprising. Moving to IR guarantees at least a four-week absence, so the 29-year-old will not be able to return until at least the divisional round of the postseason.
Reaching that point will be a challenge for New Orleans, one of three teams still in the running for the top spot in the NFC South. Sitting at 7-8 on the season, though, the Saints trail the surging Buccaneers for the division lead. A wild-card berth will also be difficult to secure given the team’s situation in the standings and the growing list of starters set to miss the remainder of the campaign.
Both cornerback Marshon Lattimore and wideout Michael Thomas are not expected to return by the end of the regular season as they recover from their respective injuries. Their absences will hinder New Orleans’ chances of claiming a playoff spot, and the team’s underwhelming offense will remain shorthanded without Ramczyk in the fold. The latter has started all 12 games he has played this season, remaining one of the league’s top tackles by drawing a PFF grade of 73.5.
That figure represents the lowest of the former All-Pro’s career, a sign of his consistent high-level play when healthy. Ramczyk is under contract through 2026, and his most recent restructure leaves him with cap hits over $25MM in each of the next three seasons. A return to full health will thus be critical for him and the team this offseason. 2021 sixth-rounder Landon Young is in place to finish the season as New Orleans’ right tackle starter.
To fill Ramczyk’s roster spot, the Saints signed fellow O-lineman Cameron Erving to the active roster. He had been on the team’s practice squad since October, and he has made one appearance to date with New Orleans. Erving, 31, has played 96 games (57 starts) across his time with five teams in the league. He will provide experienced depth up front for the Saints as the team’s playoff push reaches it closing stage.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/30/23
Not many practice squad transactions today:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: OL Germain Ifedi
- Released: S Tre Norwood
Detroit Lions
- Signed: CB Chase Lucas