Titans Sign DT Taylor Stallworth To Active Roster, Waive OL Justin Murray
The Titans reworked the bottom of their roster in anticipation of tomorrow’s game against the Ravens. The team announced that they’ve signed defensive back Shyheim Carter and defensive tackle Taylor Stallworth to the active roster. The team also promoted safety Dane Cruikshank and defensive lineman Jaleel Johnson from the practice squad. To make room, the team waived offensive lineman Justin Murray and cornerback Kindle Vildor.
Defensive lineman Teair Tart missed Week 5 with a toe injury. While he was able to return to practice in a limited fashion on Friday, he’s still a question mark for Sunday. That necessitated the team’s need for some defensive line help. Johnson has already earned a pair of promotions this season, so a full-time contract could be coming next week. The veteran started 16 games for the Vikings back in 2020, and he’s appeared in 76 games across six-plus seasons.
Stallworth also brings experience to the table, having appeared in 57 games since entering the NFL in 2018. After collecting 16 tackles and three sacks in 16 games with the Colts in 2021, the defensive lineman split the 2022 campaign between Houston and Kansas City.
Murray brought some experience to Tennessee’s offensive line when he joined the organization in early August. He ultimately landed on the Titans’ practice squad but still saw time in four games with the big-league club, serving as a backup OL and special teamer. Murray started 19 games for the Cardinals between 2019 and 2020, but he’s bounced around the league since getting released by Arizona in 2022.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/13/23
Friday’s minor moves:
Detroit Lions
- Designated for return from IR: DE Josh Paschal
Kansas City Chiefs
- Granted commissioner roster exemption: DL Charles Omenihu
Paschal has missed the last four games due to a knee injury, but he could be back after sitting the minimum amount of time required by an IR designation. The 2022 third-rounder returned to practice on Friday, opening his 21-day window to be activated. He could be brought back as early as tomorrow, which would allow him to suit up in Week 6. Paschal recorded a pair of sacks as a rookie and will look to carry on in a rotational role as part of Detroit’s deep edge rush contingent. The Lions have seven IR activations remaining.
Omenihu was given a six-week suspension to start the season, his first with the Chiefs. Now that his ban has been served, he has been given a one-week roster exemption to allow Kanas City time to find a permanent roster spot for him. The former third-rounder has 61 appearances with the Texans and 49ers, and he will add at least a depth presence along the defending champions’ D-line.
Bears Place RB Khalil Herbert, WR Equanimeous St. Brown On IR
The Bears will be quite shorthanded in the backfield in Week 6 with Roschon Johnson, Travis Homer and Khalil Herbert unavailable. The latter will be sidelined for an extended stretch, though. 
Herbert was placed on injured reserve Friday, per a team announcement. The news comes as little surprise, as his high ankle sprain suffered during Chicago’s first win of the season was expected to keep him out for multiple games. As a result of the IR move, Herbert will be required to miss at least the next four weeks.
The 25-year-old saw an uptick in usage early in the 2023 season, as was expected after the free agent departure of David Montgomery. Herbert has averaged 12.2 touches per contest, and he has remained efficient on the ground with an average of 5.3 yards per carry. It will be interesting to see how the Bears divvy up their running back snaps now that Herbert will not be in the picture for the foreseeable future. Darrynton Evans was recently signed off the Dolphins’ practice squad to provide needed depth in the backfield.
The Bears also placed Equanimeous St. Brown on IR Friday. The former Packers sixth-rounder has been in Chicago since last season, operating as a rotational option in the passing game. He has seen a dip in playing time this year (49% snap share), but his absence will be felt given that of Chase Claypool, whose highly underwhelming time in the Windy City came to an end less than one calendar year after his arrival. Bringing back Herbert and St. Brown will require two of the Bears’ seven remaining IR activations.
A pair of those will be used on backup offensive lineman Doug Kramer and starting slot cornerback Kyler Gordon. The latter could return in time for Sunday if he is activated using one of the roster spots opened up by today’s moves. The other one has already been occupied by the return of Nathan Peterman. The journeyman quarterback was released earlier this month, but the expectation at the time was that he would be retained via the practice squad. Peterman will now return to the active roster behind undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent on the depth chart.
Eagles Place S Justin Evans On IR, Sign CB Bradley Roby To Active Roster
The Eagles added Justin Evans in free agency as a starting-caliber option at the safety spot, and he has operated as a first-teamer to date. The veteran will be unavailable for an extended stretch, however, as the team announced on Friday that he has been placed on IR. 
Evans made a return to the NFL game action for the first time since 2018 last year, playing 15 games for the Saints. His play in New Orleans earned him a one-year flier from the Eagles worth the veteran minimum. The 28-year-old had a path to notable playing time after both Marcus Epps and C.J. Gardner-Johnson departed in free agency, and he has started each of his four Philadelphia appearances. His absence will thus be felt on the team’s revamped secondary.
Being on injured reserve guarantees Evans will miss at least four weeks, adding further to the Eagles’ injury troubles amongst defensive backs. Reed Blankenship will remain in place at the free safety spot, but he will likely be joined by either veteran Terrell Edmunds or third-round rookie Sydney Brown in the starting lineup moving forward. Of course, the 5-0 Eagles could pursue a trade acquisition in the near future.
Philadelphia currently has just over $4.8MM in cap space, meaning a modest move could be made to address Evans’ absence. The team has already done so at slot corner, something made necessary by Avonte Maddox‘s torn pectoral muscle. That ailment has resulted in surgery and threatens to keep him sidelined for the remainder of the year. Veteran Bradley Roby was brought in as a replacement, and he will now find himself on the active roster.
The latter was promoted from the practice squad to fill the roster spot opened by the Evans IR move. Such a scenario was expected when Roby was first signed to the Eagles’ taxi squad last week. The 31-year-old played 25 snaps in his Philadelphia debut in Week 5 as a gameday elevation, and he will be in line to see a larger workload from the slot through the rest of the campaign.
Broncos To Release OLB Frank Clark
OCTOBER 13: Unlike the Gregory last call, no trade partner emerged here. The Broncos are officially releasing Clark on Friday, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. With the trade deadline still nearly three weeks away, Clark’s vested-veteran status will send him straight to free agency. Inactive for Thursday night’s game, the ninth-year veteran closes his Denver tenure with 36 defensive snaps.
OCTOBER 12: The Broncos opened the season with two 2015 second-rounders residing as their highest-profile edge rushers. By Week 7, both are likely to be out of the picture. After the Broncos dealt Randy Gregory to the 49ers, they are eyeing a separation from Frank Clark.
Rumored to be a trade candidate, Clark will not face the Chiefs tonight due to what the Broncos’ injury report classifies as an illness. The Broncos, however, are preparing to move on from Clark — via trade or release — in the near future, Field Yates of ESPN.com reports.
Clark, 30, restructured his one-year, $5MM contract recently, per Yates, giving up $1.69MM in guaranteed salary. The move trims Clark’s $3.5MM base salary to the prorated veteran minimum ($841K), NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo adds. This restructure will make Clark’s contract easier to move. Clark returned to action last week against the Jets, coming back after sustaining a groin injury in practice. Holding him out of tonight’s game will protect against a reinjury.
The former Seahawks and Chiefs edge rusher has generated some trade interest, and after the Gregory move, had been viewed as available. While Clark notched two double-digit sack seasons in Seattle and made memorable contributions during Kansas City’s playoff runs, he does not have a sack or a QB hit in his limited Denver run.
Although Clark will become an interesting hired gun of sorts moving forward, he spent several weeks in free agency waiting for other edge dominoes to fall. Leonard Floyd‘s one-year, $7MM Bills pact led to the Broncos giving Clark a one-year, $5MM deal shortly after they made Brandon McManus a post-June 1 cut. On that note, the Broncos should not expect too much in trade compensation here. Though, reducing Clark’s salary to the minimum will certainly help on that front. Denver collected a 2024 sixth-rounder from San Francisco for Gregory, whom the team was prepared to cut.
After calling out Gregory for poor effort in a 70-20 demolition at the Dolphins’ hands in Week 3, the Broncos benched him and moved 2022 second-round pick Nik Bonitto into the lineup. Bonitto is on a tear as a starter, combining for 4.5 sacks over the past two games. The Broncos have used 2021 seventh-round pick Jonathon Cooper (three sacks) as a starter since Week 1, with Clark coming off the bench in the team’s opener. Baron Browning, a 2021 third-rounder whom the team converted from inside linebacker last year, remains on the reserve/PUP list and will not play tonight. But Browning is likely on track to debut in Week 7, Denver7’s Troy Renck adds.
Deteriorating fits notwithstanding, a suddenly woeful Broncos defense could probably use Gregory and Clark — at least while Browning is out. These separations signal more moves are likely coming for a 1-4 team. While Sean Payton stopped short of saying the Broncos were shopping veterans, other clubs believe they are open for business ahead of the Oct. 31 deadline. Trade-rumor mainstays Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton are likely returning to the news cycle, with Renck adding Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson are two other names to monitor.
Clark sits behind only Willie McGinest and Bruce Smith in postseason sacks, with 13.5, but he did not live up to the five-year, $104MM deal the Chiefs gave him following a 2019 tag-and-trade transaction. Clark topped out at eight sacks in a season and has not tallied more than six in a single campaign since 2019. Two arrests on gun charges in 2021 led to a two-game suspension last year, and the Chiefs cut him this offseason. Still, Clark figures to land in a contending team’s pass-rushing rotation soon.
The Broncos picked up the pieces after John Elway‘s 1999 retirement far more quickly than they have post-Peyton Manning, and the years since the latter’s 2016 exit led to Denver becoming this period’s most prolific deadline seller. After dealing Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, Von Miller and Bradley Chubb over the past five years, it appears the Broncos will keep going as Payton attempts to build for the future. Jeudy and Simmons are signed through 2024, with Jeudy’s fifth-year option ($12.99MM) fully guaranteed. Sutton’s four-year, $60MM deal runs through 2025; Jackson is on a one-year contract.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/12/23
Today’s practice squad moves:
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: LB Rashaan Evans (story)
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: LB Brandon Smith
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: QB Holton Ahlers
- Released: S Teez Tabor
The Seahawks are bringing Holton Ahlers back to their squad after the UDFA spent the preseason with the organization. Ahlers had a standout 2022 campaign at East Carolina, completing 67.2 percent of his passes while tossing 28 touchdowns vs. five interceptions. He’ll be taking the taxi-squad spot previously held by Teez Tabor, who already earned one promotion to the active roster in 2023.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/12/23
Today’s minor transactions:
Arizona Cardinals
- Designated to return: LB Myjai Sanders
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed to active roster: TE Sean McKeon
- Placed on IR: TE Peyton Hendershot
- Designated to return: CB Nahshon Wright
Denver Broncos
- Promoted: WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey, NT Tyler Lancaster
Philadelphia Eagles
- Promoted: P Braden Mann
Peyton Hendershot will miss at least the next four games while he continues to recover from an ankle injury. The tight end already missed a pair of contests thanks to the injury, with the second-year player hauling in a single catch before that. Sean McKeon will be taking the open spot on the roster. The 25-year-old has spent the past three-plus seasons in Dallas, hauling in six catches in 38 games.
Broncos To Activate TE Greg Dulcich From IR
OCTOBER 12: Dulcich’s ramp-up period will be short. The Broncos are expected to activate the second-year tight end for tonight’s Week 6 matchup against the Chiefs, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler tweets. While a full workload should not be expected, the 2022 third-round pick represents another weapon coming back for the 1-4 squad. Dulcich’s return timetable resembles his 2022 debut, when he came off IR — after a hamstring injury — in Week 6 against the Chargers, a game in which the UCLA product scored a touchdown.
OCTOBER 10: The Broncos welcomed back a key offensive piece today. The team announced that tight end Greg Dulcich was a limited participant at Tuesday’s walkthrough. Dulcich’s return to practice means the Broncos now have 21 days to activate the player from injured reserve.
Dulcich suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1 that ultimately led to his placement on IR. As Mike Klis of 9News in Denver points out, the Broncos opened Dulcich’s 21-day window for only a single practice. This could be an indication that the Broncos believe he’s ready to go for Thursday’s game against the Chiefs.
“He’s out here moving around,” coach Sean Payton said today when asked about the tight end’s status for Week 6 (via the team’s website). “… I don’t want to guess relative to this week’s game, but he’s close.”
The 2022 third-round pick had a productive rookie season, hauling in 33 catches for 411 yards and two touchdowns. There was optimism that he could take another step forward in 2022, and he hauled in a pair of catches before exiting the season opener.
Adam Trautman has received the majority of the snaps at tight end this season, hauling in nine catches for 60 yards and one touchdown (although all of that production came in two of his five games). Chris Manhertz has soaked up the rest of the snaps at the position but has mostly served as a blocker, with the 31-year-old hauling in a single catch.
Commanders Designate DE Efe Obada To Return From IR
Almost a third of the way through the regular season, the Commanders have to be happy with the performance of their defensive line so far, with 11.5 sacks coming from their starting-four. Even so, Washington will likely be excited to add another pass rusher to the rotation, something they’re soon to do after designating defensive end Efe Obada to return from injured reserve today. 
Obada has come a long way since joining the Cowboys after a London tryout with the team during an NFL international game trip eight years ago. Obada wouldn’t make his NFL debut until three years later in 2018, during his time with the Panthers. He would take a couple years to adjust before breaking out in 2020 with career-highs in sacks (5.5), tackles for loss (4.0), and quarterback hits (15) while recording a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.
Since then, Obada has continued to impress. He notched 3.5 sacks in only 10 games with the Bills in 2021 before joining the Commanders last year and recording four sacks in his age-30 season. Washington was happy enough with his contributions backing up Montez Sweat and Chase Young that they re-signed him to play for them again at 31 years old.
Unfortunately, though, Obada has spent the first five weeks of the season on IR while dealing with a patella tendon injury. With the Commanders opening the practice window, Obada has three weeks to return to the active roster. If he doesn’t return in that timeframe, he’ll revert to IR and remain there for the rest of the season.
Obada doesn’t present as a game-changing addition coming off the bench in Washington, but he immediately makes an already dangerous Commanders defensive line even more formidable. With 13.0 sacks over his last three campaigns, Obada looks to continue contributing at a high level for a position of strength in DC.
Bills Place LB Matt Milano, DT DaQuan Jones On IR; Sign LB A.J. Klein From PS
The Bills did some housekeeping today, clearing out some roster spots as a result of recent injuries and preparing to refill them. Losing two defensive starters in London was tough, but Buffalo has no choice but to reset and reload from their existing stock of talent. 
After a potentially season-ending injury to veteran linebacker Matt Milano and a pectoral injury to defensive tackle DaQuan Jones that likewise doesn’t look promising, the Bills have placed both players on injured reserve. This now opens up two new spots on the active roster for the staff to fill. To fill Milano’s roster spot, Buffalo is calling up practice squad linebacker A.J. Klein. The veteran, who has become a mainstay in Buffalo over the past few years, will be signed to the active roster.
Klein started 11 games for the Bills during his first year with the team back in 2020 before taking a bit of a smaller role the following season. Buffalo released him two years into his three-year deal. Klein signed to the Giants’ practice squad before getting signed off of it three days later to the Ravens’ active roster. Three weeks later, he was shipped to Chicago with a second- and fifth-round pick in exchange for Roquan Smith. He lasted a couple weeks in Chicago before getting waived and picked up by the Bills, who have kept him close ever since.
Buffalo didn’t immediately fill the second roster spot opened by the two IR moves, but they did set a plan in motion for it. Today, the team designated linebacker Baylon Spector to return from IR. After only appearing in six games as a rookie last year, Spector has spent the first five weeks of the season on IR with a hamstring injury. With Spector returning to practice, he’ll enter the 21-day window in which he can return to the active roster.
While Spector doesn’t replace the position slot of Jones, the Bills did add a defensive tackle to the practice squad. Already a bit of a journeyman in his sixth NFL season, new defensive tackle Andrew Brown will be joining his seventh team since getting drafted in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He only has one start in his career and hasn’t appeared in more than five games for a team in a season since his rookie year in Cincinnati.