Minor NFL Transactions: 10/16/23
Here are Monday’s minor moves:
Dallas Cowboys
- Activated from IR: CB Nahshon Wright
- Signed to active roster: LB Tyrus Wheat
- Elevated: RB Malik Davis, LB Malik Jefferson
- Placed on IR: CB C.J. Goodwin (story)
Los Angeles Chargers
- Elevated: WR Keelan Doss
New Orleans Saints
- Activated from reserve/suspended by commissioner: QB Jake Haener
- Waived: QB Jake Luton
New York Giants
- Waived: G Jalen Mayfield
Washington Commanders
- Released from IR: TE Kaden Smith
The Cowboys are bringing in some reinforcements after having to place linebacker Leighton Vander Esch on IR this week. The Chargers are bringing up Doss as a standard gameday elevation, as well, with Mike Williams, Simi Fehoko, and Jalen Guyton all out tonight.
Haener, the Saints’ rookie fourth-round passer, started his NFL career on a six-game suspension due to a violation of the league’s performance-enhancing substance policy. With Haener adding another arm to the bullpen, Luton became expendable but may find a spot on the team’s practice squad.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/16/23
Practice squad moves from today:
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: CB Amani Oruwariye
- Released: TE Derek Parish
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: WR DJ Turner, CB Sam Webb
- Placed on practice squad IR: T Sebastian Gutierrez, TE Noah Togiai
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: RB Lew Nichols
- Released: RB Bryant Koback
Washington Commanders
- Signed: DT Abdullah Anderson
- Released: DE William Bradley-King
Steelers Designate WR Diontae Johnson, RB Anthony McFarland For Return
The Steelers could soon have reinforcements available on offense. Both wideout Diontae Johnson and running back Anthony McFarland returned to practice on Monday, per a team announcement. 
[RELATED: Steelers Not Moving On From OC Matt Canada]
Both players have been on injured reserve since Week 2, a move which guaranteed at least a four-week absence. The fact they have each started practicing at the first available opportunity is an encouraging sign for their availability as soon as this Sunday. Today’s move opens their three-week window to be activated and avoid reverting to season-ending IR.
A hamstring injury forced Johnson to miss the past four weeks, but he has been confident he would be able to return following the team’s bye. That seems likely given his immediate return to the practice field, and suiting up in Week 6 would be a welcomed development for a Steelers offense which is in need of improvement. Johnson has led Pittsburgh in receiving yards the past three years, and he has received at least 144 targets in each of those campaigns.
The 27-year-old has produced one 1,000-yard season in that span (1,136 in 2021), and he has been a consistent presence in the team’s passing game since his rookie year in 2019. That helped earn him a two-year, $36.71MM extension last offseason as Pittsburgh made the rare move of re-upping a homegrown receiver. Johnson will regain his starting spot upon return alongside George Pickens and Allen Robinson, and he will aim to end his touchdown-less streak which lasted all of 2022 and continued in his season debut of this year.
McFarland, on the other hand, will likely have a more challenging path to playing time when he is activated. The Maryland product sits firmly behind Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren on the RB depth chart, and the latter two should be expected to carry the load moving forward. Once Johnson and McFarland are officially brought back, the Steelers will have six IR activations remaining.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/14/23
Here are today’s minor transactions heading into the Week 6 weekend:
Arizona Cardinals
- Activated from IR: OL Dennis Daley
- Elevated: CB Bobby Price, RB Damien Williams
Atlanta Falcons
- Elevated: S Micah Abernathy, DT LaCale London
Baltimore Ravens
- Activated from IR: RB Keaton Mitchell
Buffalo Bills
- Activated from IR: LB Baylon Spector
- Elevated: CB Ja’Marcus Ingram
Chicago Bears
- Activated from IR: CB Kyler Gordon (story)
Detroit Lions
- Activated from IR: CB Khalil Dorsey
- Signed to active roster: T Dan Skipper
- Elevated: RB Devine Ozigbo
- Placed on IR: RB Zonovan Knight, CB Emmanuel Moseley (story)
Houston Texans
- Activated from IR: WR Noah Brown
- Elevated: CB D’Angelo Ross
- Waived: CB Alex Austin
Las Vegas Raiders
- Elevated: CB Tyler Hall, G Netane Muti
Los Angeles Rams
- Elevated: DT Marquise Copeland, DT Cory Durden
Miami Dolphins
- Activated from IR: G Robert Jones
- Elevated: TE Tanner Conner
New Orleans Saints
- Signed to active roster: RB Jordan Mims
- Elevated: TE J.P. Holtz, S Daniel Sorensen
- Placed on IR: FB Adam Prentice
New York Giants
- Signed to active roster: G Jalen Mayfield
- Elevated: QB Tommy DeVito, G Justin Pugh
Philadelphia Eagles
- Activated from IR: LB Nakobe Dean
- Elevated: WR Devon Allen, CB Mekhi Garner
- Placed on IR: WR Quez Watkins
San Francisco 49ers
- Elevated: CB Shemar Jean-Charles, LB Curtis Robinson
Seattle Seahawks
- Elevated: WR Cody Thompson
- Placed on IR: CB Coby Bryant
Dean took the starting role the Eagles had in store for him in Week 1, but a foot injury interrupted his second NFL campaign. The 22-year-old was poised to return ahead of Sunday’s game by returning to practice earlier this week, though, and a first-team role is expected to await him upon suiting up. Dean taking on a heavy workload will relegate Nicholas Morrow (who was promoted from the practice squad) to backup duty despite the latter’s strong performances so far.
Seattle has seen fellow corners Devon Witherspoon and Riq Woolen enjoy considerable success, but the team’s secondary will be shorthanded without Bryant. The latter will miss at least the next four weeks as a result of the IR move as he recovers from a toe injury. The 2022 fourth-rounder, who has seen his defensive snap share jump from 65% to 77% this year, has not played since Week 2.
Giants Place OLB Azeez Ojulari On IR
The Giants’ offense has dealt with a slew of injuries to start the season, but the team’s defense will be without a starter for the time being as well. Edge rusher Azeez Ojulari was placed on injured reserve Saturday. 
As a result of the move, he will be sidelined for at least the next four weeks. Ojulari’s absence will leave the Giants without a starter in the pass-rush department, and his ankle injury will add to the list of ailments which have forced him to miss time in his young NFL career. The 23-year-old was limited to seven contests in 2022, and he missed a pair of games in September of this season.
Ojulari found himself in and out of the lineup with a calf issue in his second campaign, one which carried signficant expectations given his success as a rookie. The former second-rounder led New York with eight sacks in 2021, but that total fell to 5.5 as he missed considerable time last year. Ojulari has been held without a sack, quarterback hit or tackle for loss this season while seeing the field for 95 snaps across three contests.
Still, his absence will be felt on a Giants defense which has mustered only five sacks to date. Four of those have come from fellow edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, who has shown signs of growth after a relatively quiet rookie campaign last season. The former fifth overall pick will be counted on to anchor the Giants’ pass rush to an even larger degree with Ojulari shut down for a month or more. Bringing the latter back will require using one of New York’s eight IR activations available throughout the season.
Ojulari’s starting spot will likely go to either Jihad Ward or Boogie Basham moving forward. The former has been with the Giants since last season, one in which he provided 43 tackles and three sacks. The latter, meanwhile, was dealt away by the Bills ahead of roster cutdowns to mark an end to his underwhelming Buffalo tenure (4.5 sacks in 23 games). As the Giants look for answers along the offensive line and prepare for at least one game without quarterback Daniel Jones, the team will now need to make an adjustment to the starting lineup on the edge.
Patriots Place Matt Judon On IR, Activate Tyquan Thornton, Sign Malik Cunningham To Active Roster
The Patriots opted for a busy weekend in the personnel office with today’s transactions. They started by activating wide receiver Tyquan Thornton from injured reserve. Unfortunately, this was followed up by the team finally deciding to place star pass rusher Matt Judon on IR, along with recently acquired tackle Tyrone Wheatley Jr. With a new spare roster spot, New England signed practice squad quarterback Malik Cunningham to the active roster. Finally, the Patriots announced their standard gameday practice squad elevations would be defensive tackle Jeremiah Pharms and wide receiver Jalen Reagor. 
Let’s start with Thornton. One of the couple of moves here aimed at providing a spark on the offensive side of the ball, bringing back Thornton was a necessity. As JuJu Smith-Schuster and Demario Douglas deal with injuries, Thornton will come in as a reinforcement to earn targets alongside DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne, and Kayshon Boutte. Thornton didn’t quite live up to the high expectations of his draft stock last year as a rookie, but he’s one of the few returning receivers that quarterback Mac Jones worked with last year. He’ll hope to redeem himself a bit in Year 2 with the Patriots.
After multiple reports that he would be out indefinitely, Judon has finally been placed on IR. Based on the team slow-playing that transaction, it was already doubtful that Judon would make a return this season. Now, the earliest he could return from IR would be in Week 10. He’s joined on IR by Wheatley Jr., who was acquired in the trade that sent running back Pierre Strong to Cleveland.
The addition of Cunningham is an interesting move. He has the potential to provide a spark on offense in two ways. New England has worked him out plenty at wide receiver since signing him as an undrafted free agent, but Cunningham surpassed a lot of Lamar Jackson‘s passing marks as a quarterback at Louisville, ranking fourth all-time for passing yards and fifth all-time for passing touchdowns. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that Cunningham’s return to the active roster will result in a three-year contract.
This will be Pharm’s third game being called up from the practice squad. He’s gotten a few snaps rotating in on the defensive line in the team’s last two blowout losses. Reagor was called up last week but didn’t actually see the field.
Panthers Place TE Ian Thomas On IR; Activate TE Stephen Sullivan
The Panthers are trading one tight end from injured reserve for another with today’s transactions. Carolina has opted to send tight end Ian Thomas to IR as he recovers from a calf injury, according to Panthers staff writer Darin Gantt. Reinforcements will arrive swiftly, though, as tight end Stephen Sullivan has been activated off of IR in Thomas’ place.
Injuries are working their way through the roster in Carolina this week. Running back Miles Sanders and safeties Vonn Bell and Xavier Woods may lead the headlines as inactives, but backup tight end Giovanni Ricci has also been ruled out for tomorrow’s game with a shoulder injury, leaving just Hayden Hurst and Tommy Tremble atop the depth chart.
Sullivan will be making his 2023 season-debut his weekend after being placed on IR to start the year. Through three years in the NFL, Sullivan has only reeled in two catches for 46 yards, but he’ll provide some important depth this Sunday.
In addition to the above two moves, the Panthers will be calling up safety Matthias Farley and offensive lineman Justin McCray from the practice squad as standard gameday elevations. With Bell out as a starter, Farley is not only expected to play, but he is also expected to make his first start since 2020. McCray may not get significant playing time, but he will provide some serious depth off the bench as the team prepares to deal with the neck injury of Chandler Zavala, another inactive starter.
Browns Elevate QB P.J. Walker
Finally setting up what has been hinted at all week, the Browns announced this morning that they have officially promoted quarterback P.J. Walker from the practice squad as a standard gameday elevation. With starter Deshaun Watson still out with injury and rookie backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson struggling in a Week 4 start against the Ravens, Walker seems primed to start this Sunday under center for Cleveland. 
Watson has been nursing a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the team’s fourth game of the season. He had technically been cleared to play in the divisional matchup but opted instead to rest and allow his shoulder to heal. While a timeline for Watson’s return is unclear to the public, the Browns and their 2022 trade acquisition appear to be on the same page. Time will tell when Watson gets back to the field, but for the time being, Cleveland will have to turn elsewhere for their quarterbacking needs.
Thompson-Robinson, the fifth-round rookie out of UCLA, may not be who they look to moving forward. In his lone NFL start, albeit against a stout Ravens defense, Thompson-Robinson struggled with three interceptions to zero touchdowns. After a bye week of rest and preparation, Cleveland may believe he has a better chance for success in Week 6, but it will likely have to be off the bench.
Instead, it’s become seemingly clear that the Browns will turn to Walker, the former XFL standout passer, until Watson can return. Walker started seven games for the Panthers over the last three years, going 4-3 in those starts. He struggled in his initial transition back to the NFL, throwing only two touchdowns to eight interceptions in his first two seasons back. Last year, though, in five starts, Walker showed improvement.
Walker is surely not a viable long-term option if the Browns are hoping to make a return to the playoffs. Until Watson is able to make his comeback, though, Cleveland will trust Walker’s experience and XFL success over Thompson-Robinson for now. Thompson-Robinson still showed a lot of promise in the preseason and earned a lot of faith from the coaches. He may just need a bit more time to develop his NFL game. For now, expect Walker under center.
Joining Walker as a standard gameday elevation from the practice squad will be Jaelon Darden. Darden has appeared in 23 games so far in his still young NFL career, only making eight catches for 69 yards. While he hasn’t been necessarily effective on offense, he’s averaged 9.4 yards per punt return and has experience returning kickoffs, as well.
Jaguars Activate DE Dawuane Smoot From PUP
After suffering an Achilles injury late during the 2022 season, Dawuane Smoot is ready to make his return to the field. The Jaguars announced that they’ve activated the defensive end from the physically unable to perform list. To make room on the roster, the Jaguars placed cornerback Christian Braswell on injured reserve.
While it took a few years for him to find his place on defense, Smoot has emerged as one of the Jaguars’ most consistent pass-rushers in recent years. The former third-round pick collected 22.5 sacks for Jacksonville between 2019 and 2022, including a 2021 campaign where he started a career-high 10 games en route to 36 tackles, six sacks, and 16 QB hits.
He continued his production in 2022, finishing with five sacks, six tackles for loss, and 12 QB hits. He suffered a torn Achilles last December, an injury that proved to be poor timing since Smoot was finishing up a two-year, $10MM deal he signed with the organization in 2021. It took the 28-year-old until July to re-sign with the Jaguars, and he was placed on PUP to begin the 2023 campaign. Smoot returned to practice earlier this month.
Josh Allen and Travon Walker are manning the edge spots, meaning Smoot will compete with K’Lavon Chaisson for any leftover pass-rush reps. For what it’s worth, coach Doug Pederson said this week that he doesn’t expect Smoot to be on a snap count when he returns to the field.
“He brings a veteran leadership and presence out there,” Pederson said (h/t Adam Stites of JagsWire). “You can play him in base defense, you can play him in nickel in pass rush situations. There’s his production that comes from being inside and all of that on third down and stuff.
“I don’t think you want to put him on a pitch count, but I think you have to monitor, and you don’t want to get his rep count too high. But at the same time, you want to let him get comfortable with the game and see how he is doing throughout the course of three hours or so that you’re out there.”
Smoot will be taking the roster spot held by Braswell, a rookie sixth-round pick. The Rutgers product appeared in each of Jacksonville’s first three games this season, but he’ll now be sidelined for at least the next four games while he recovers from a hamstring injury.
Commanders Activate DL Efe Obada From IR
The Commanders will welcome back a key member of their defensive line for tomorrow’s game against the Falcons. The team announced that they’ve activated Efe Obada from injured reserve.
Obada spent the first five weeks of the season on IR while dealing with a patella tendon injury. He was designated to return to practice earlier this week, and after being listed as questionable heading into the weekend, he’s since been removed from the injury report.
While the Commanders will surely welcome Obada back to their defensive line corps, the team isn’t in dire need of pass-rush help. The team has collected 11.5 sacks from their starting-four on the defensive line, meaning the veteran addition will be sliding into a backup role for the time being.
Obada had a breakout season with the Panthers back in 2020, finishing with 5.5 sacks and 15 QB hits despite starting just one game. He added another 3.5 sacks to his resume in 10 games with the Bills in 2021 before he joined the Commanders for the 2022 campaign. While he served as a situational backup to Montez Sweat and Chase Young, Obada still managed to finish his first season in Washington with four sacks. The Commanders re-signed him this past offseason.
The team wasn’t done making moves this morning. The Commanders also announced that they’ve released defensive tackle Abdullah Anderson and promoted cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields from the practice squad. Anderson appeared in all five games for the Commanders this season, collecting five tackles and 0.5 sacks.