Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC South
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 Colts, Jaguars, Texans and Titans moves are noted below.
Houston Texans
Claimed:
- DB Alex Austin, G Nick Broeker
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
- DT Khalil Davis, T Austin Deculus, CB Cobi Francis, DL Ali Gaye, S Brandon Hill, WR Johnny Johnson, TE Dalton Keene, OL Jimmy Morrissey, DE Adedayo Odeleye, DE Derek Rivers, WR Steven Sims, LB Garret Wallow, P Ty Zentner
Indianapolis Colts
Placed on IR:
- TE Jelani Woods (story)
Signed:
- WR Isaiah McKenzie (story)
Claimed:
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
- LB Liam Anderson, S Henry Black, S Marcel Dabo, RB Jake Funk, S Ronnie Harrison (story), RB Jason Huntley, WR D.J. Montgomery, DE Al-Quadin Muhammad (story), LB Donavan Mutin, WR Amari Rodgers, DT Caleb Sampson, T Dan Skipper, WR Mike Strachan, CB Isaac Taylor-Stuart, CB Kevin Toliver, WR Juwann Winfree
Jacksonville Jaguars
Claimed:
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
- OL Chandler Brewer, OLB D.J. Coleman, OL Coy Cronk, DL De’Shaan Dixon, CB Erick Hallett, LB Dequan Jackson, TE Derek Parish, QB Nathan Rourke, OL Darryl Williams, WR Seth Williams, CB Tevaughn Campbell, RB Snoop Conner, WR Jacob Harris
Tennessee Titans
Claimed:
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
- LB Chance Campbell, DB Shyheim Carter, DB Eric Garror, WR Tre’Shaun Harrison, WR Mason Kinsey, DB Armani Marsh, DE T.K. McLendon, TE Thomas Odukoya, T John Ojukwu, DE Sam Okuayinonu, DT Kyle Peko, T Andrew Rupcich, LB Thomas Rush, DT Michael Dwumfour, TE Kevin Rader, G Jordan Roos
Released:
- OL Corey Levin
Released from IR via injury settlement:
- CB Josh Thompson
- RB Jonathan Ward
Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC 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 Commanders, Cowboys, Eagles and Giants moves are noted below.
Dallas Cowboys
Signed:
- T Chuma Edoga, LS Trent Sieg
Claimed:
Waived:
Placed on IR:
- OL Matt Waletzko, CB Nahshon Wright
Signed to practice squad:
- T Earl Bostick, CB Josh Butler, WR Jalen Cropper, RB Malik Davis, TE Princeton Fant, CB C.J. Goodwin, OL Sean Harlow, C Brock Hoffman, LB Malik Jefferson, DB Durrell Johnson, WR Tyron Johnson, TE Sean McKeon, DB Sheldrick Redwine, T Alex Taylor-Prioleau, DE Tyrus Wheat
New York Giants
Claimed:
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
- DT Ryder Anderson, WR Cole Beasley (story), LB Darrian Beavers, DB Alex Cook, QB Tommy Devito, LB Tomon Fox, DB Gemon Green, LB Dyontae Johnson, TE Ryan Jones, CB Amani Oruwariye (story), OL Tyre Phillips, LB Oshane Ximines
Philadelphia Eagles
Claimed:
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
- WR Devon Allen, WR Britain Covey, CB Mekhi Garner, G Julian Good-Jones, DE Tarron Jackson, LB Kyron Johnson, S Tristin McCollum, WR Joseph Ngata, TE Brady Russell, P Arryn Siposs, T Brett Toth, LB Ben VanSumeren, WR Greg Ward
Washington Commanders
Claimed:
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
- T Alex Akingbulu, WR Kazmeir Allen, FB Alex Armah, DE William Bradley-King, G Mason Brooks, S Terrell Burgess, CB Tariq Castro-Fields, QB Jake Fromm, LB Jabril Cox, RB Derrick Gore, LB De’Jon Harris, T Jaryd Jones-Smith, C Nolan Laufenberg, DT Benning Potoa’e, WR Brycen Tremayne, CB Nick Whiteside
WR Cole Beasley, CB Amani Oruwariye Land On Giants’ Practice Squad
AUGUST 30: Beasley will be staying with the Giants. The expected practice squad addition came to fruition Wednesday, and the team also will retain Oruwariye on a P-squad deal. With Wan’Dale Robinson uncertain to play in Week 1, Beasley profiles as a depth piece familiar with Daboll’s system.
AUGUST 29: Cole Beasley‘s unretirement continued into this year, and the former Bills starter caught on with Brian Daboll‘s team. But the Giants will not keep Beasley on their initial 53-man roster.
Both Beasley and cornerback Amani Oruwariye will be cut Tuesday, per the New York Daily News’ Pat Leonard. Both players signed one-year deals this offseason. Beasley, however, remains in the Giants’ plans. He is expected to remain with the team — likely on the practice squad — to start the season, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo tweets.
Additionally, the Giants will move Aaron Robinson from the active/PUP list to the reserve/PUP list, Leonard adds. This will shelve the third-year corner for at least four games. One of the Giants’ Week 1 starters last year, Robinson suffered an early-season knee injury in 2022 and has not practiced since. The Giants have made other plans at corner, being prepared to start rookies Deonte Banks and Tre Hawkins alongside veteran Adoree’ Jackson.
Oruwariye is not in those plans, it appears. The former Lions starter has gone from potential Detroit extension recipient to a player that needed to accept a low-level deal this offseason. The Giants did not see enough from the former fifth-round pick. Oruwariye intercepted six passes in 2021 but took a big step back last season, leading to the Lions moving on from the Bob Quinn-era draftee.
The Giants have now axed two members of their slot receiver brigade, though it does not appear Jamison Crowder is in the team’s plans going forward. The team brought in Beasley this summer, completing a reunion with Daboll, Buffalo’s offensive coordinator for most of Beasley’s tenure with the AFC East club. Beasley, 34, sticking around as an emergency option/gameday elevation candidate would ensure some system familiarity — for a team that made a few changes to its group.
The Beasley and Crowder moves leave Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton, Parris Campbell, Isaiah Hodgins, Wan’Dale Robinson and third-round pick Jalin Hyatt on the roster. The Giants are activating Robinson from the active/PUP list. Beasley’s presence also offers insurance, as both Shepard and Robinson are coming off ACL tears.
LB Christian Kirksey To Join Bills’ P-Squad
Joining Desmond King as an experienced defender cut by the Texans this week, Christian Kirksey will also resurface in the AFC. After King agreed to terms with the Steelers, Kirksey will head to Buffalo.
The Bills are adding the veteran linebacker to their practice squad, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Buffalo will be Kirksey’s fourth team. With Tremaine Edmunds departing for a lucrative Bears deal in free agency, Kirksey’s experience could be important for the Bills. But they do have several young linebackers in place alongside Matt Milano.
Buffalo kept eight off-ball linebackers on its active roster, a rather high number. Third-round picks Dorian Williams (2023) and Terrel Bernard (2022) and 2022 seventh-rounder Baylon Specter join fifth-year defender Tyrel Dodson, Travin Howard and veterans A.J. Klein and Tyler Matakevich.
Signing with the Texans during Nick Caserio’s first year running the team, Kirksey started 29 games with the rebuilding squad. His presence was a bit out of place on a rebuilding team, but Caserio has preferred to stock the Texans with midlevel veterans on short-term deals during his early years as GM. But Houston added a few linebackers this offseason, including Denzel Perryman, leading the former Browns third-rounder off the roster.
Kirksey, who will turn 31 on Friday, has 94 starts on his resume. The Browns gave him an eight-figure-per-year extension back in 2017 but cut bait in 2020, leading to a Packers one-off. Kirksey profiles as an insurance option for a Bills team set to rely on inexperienced linebackers alongside Milano.
LB Jaylon Smith Joins Saints’ Practice Squad
AUGUST 30: The veteran linebacker, indeed, will not be leaving New Orleans. His plus preseason cameo will lead to a spot on the Saints’ practice squad, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets.
AUGUST 29: While Jaylon Smith had impressed since signing with the Saints earlier this month, he will not be part of the team’s 53-man roster today. New Orleans will release the veteran linebacker, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.football tweets.
Smith retains practice squad eligibility, with teams having up to six spots to give to vested veterans on those 16-man units. Teams will begin assembling their P-squads soon. It will be interesting to see if Smith winds up back with the Saints ahead of Week 1, but for now, the former Cowboys starter is a free agent again.
Teams also commonly release vested veterans for guarantee purposes, as these players’ salaries become guaranteed days before Week 1, or to protect a younger player from being exposed to waivers. With Alvin Kamara set to be moved off the roster — due to the three-game suspension he recently received — at least one spot will soon be open.
Spending last season with the Giants, Smith worked out for the Raiders earlier this summer. But he landed with the Saints on August 10. A special teams role for Smith appeared on the Saints’ radar, and that may still be the case. Demario Davis and Pete Werner lead New Orleans’ linebacking corps, with 2020 third-rounder Zack Baun still in the mix as well.
Since the Cowboys cut bait on Smith’s six-year extension in 2021, he has bounced around. He spent the ’21 season with three teams — the Cowboys, Packers and Giants — but found some footing in New York. The Giants circled back to Smith, via a September 2022 signing, and used him as an 11-game starter. The Giants did not feature especially good inside linebacker play last season, and they have since added Bobby Okereke and Isaiah Simmons.
The Saints have been busy with veterans today. They informed Bradley Roby of a release and traded longtime kicker Wil Lutz to the Broncos, reuniting him with Sean Payton.
K Cade York To Land On Titans’ P-Squad
The Titans have shaken up their kicker situation this week. Following a trade for veteran Nick Folk, Tennessee will take a flier on a former top kicker prospect.
Cade York is joining the Titans’ practice squad, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The Browns waived York after preseason struggles. No one claimed the LSU alum, leading him to a P-squad destination.
Recent seasons have brought some injury trouble for the Titans, but they released their primary option — Randy Bullock — in a February salary purge. The Titans then cut Caleb Shudak, Trey Wolff and Michael Badgley during the preseason. York is now in place as an emergency option behind Folk, who is going into his age-39 season.
The first kicker chosen in 2022, York did not impress in Cleveland. He did make a 58-yard game-winner to lift the Browns past the Panthers in his first NFL outing, but the decorated college kicker ended his rookie year just 24 of 32. During the preseason, York missed three field goals — one in each Browns game — and the AFC North team decided to bring in more experience by trading for Dustin Hopkins.
The 2020 season, when Stephen Gostkowski‘s injury led to the Titans using several kickers, showed the value an emergency in-house option can provide. As Folk begins his 17th NFL season, Tennessee will attempt to rebuild York’s stock.
Browns, OL Alex Leatherwood Agree To Practice Squad Deal
Barely two years after becoming a surprise first-round pick, Alex Leatherwood has been waived by two teams. The Bears joined the Raiders in bailing on the Alabama alum, dropping him earlier this week.
The Browns will attempt to salvage the former No. 17 overall pick. Leatherwood is joining Cleveland’s practice squad, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. This will be Leatherwood’s third team in three seasons, though he is no longer attached to the first-round contract that went from Las Vegas to Chicago.
Despite his extensive struggles to translate his game to the NFL, Leatherwood started all 17 games — at right tackle and right guard — for a playoff-bound Raiders team as a rookie. After Jon Gruden’s staff moved Leatherwood from tackle to guard quickly, Josh McDaniels’ group shifted him back to tackle during his second NFL offseason. Leatherwood did not show enough to impress the McDaniels-Dave Ziegler regime, which waived him after failed trade efforts.
A mononucleosis bout began Leatherwood’s Bears tenure on a down note, and he only ended up playing in four games (32 offensive snaps). The Browns have a set offensive line, one of the game’s best, and employ top-line O-line coach Bill Callahan. The former Raiders HC has settled back into a role as an O-line instructor. Callahan turned down the chance to interview for the Jets’ OC position this offseason, and the longtime assistant will attempt what could be a difficult reclamation project with Leatherwood.
Colts To Add S Ronnie Harrison, DE Al-Quadin Muhammad To Practice Squad
Two of the veterans the Colts released Tuesday remain in the team’s plans. Ronnie Harrison and Al-Quadin Muhammad are staying with the team on practice squad agreements, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
Each a vested veteran who avoided a crowded waiver wire, Harrison and Muhammad could be back on Indianapolis’ active roster soon. These agreements may represent preludes for the safety and defensive end, respectively, to rejoin Gus Bradley’s defense.
Teams can roster up to six vested vets on their 16-man P-squads, but since the league expanded its taxi squads in 2020, they have served as frequent way stations for veterans. Harrison would make sense as a ramp-up player, having only signed with the Colts in mid-August. A former Colts starting defensive end, Muhammad rejoined the team during the offseason.
Muhammad, 28, registered six sacks as a Colts starter in 2021. The team used first- and second-round picks on defensive ends that year — Kwity Paye, Dayo Odeyingbo — and needed veteran support after not re-signing Justin Houston. Muhammad parlayed that performance into a Bears agreement, rejoining Matt Eberflus. Chicago cut bait on that contract this offseason, however. Muhammad made nine starts with the Bears last year but totaled just one sack in 16 games.
Using three-safety sets frequently, the Browns deployed Harrison often. The five-year veteran made 23 starts in Cleveland, coming to Ohio after a 22-start run in Jacksonville. The Browns added Rodney McLeod this offseason, bringing over a 2022 Colts starter. Indy has Julian Blackmon going into a contract year and has 2022 draftees Nick Cross and Rodney Thomas as options to succeed McLeod.
Bailey Zappe, Malik Cunningham To Join Pats’ Practice Squad
AUGUST 30: The Patriots will retain Zappe, per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter, who reports the second-year passer will be part of New England’s practice squad. Ditto Cunningham, who will make this a rare two-quarterback P-squad, Schefter adds. Though, Cunningham could certainly be used in myriad capacities. While the Pats are still on the hunt for a veteran option, they will attempt to continue developing the former record-setting Western Kentucky QB.
AUGUST 29: For the second straight day, the Patriots have parted with a depth quarterback. Bailey Zappe has been waived, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The same is true of rookie UDFA Malik Cunningham, notes colleague Tom Pelissero. 
These moves certainly constitute more of a surprise than New England’s decision to cut Trace McSorley yesterday. The latter was in line to sit no higher than third on the QB depth chart, and the Patriots – like many other teams around the league – appeared set to carry only two passers on their active roster. They will do so, but for at least the time being it remains to be seen who their backup will be come Week 1.
With McSorley, Zappe and Cunningham all off the roster, New England’s QB room currently begins and ends with Mac Jones. The latter is in place as the undisputed starter – after head coach Bill Belichick notably declined to confirm that over the course of an offseason in which tension between the two was widely publicized. Any further moves at the position will now be worth watching closely.
Jones regressed in 2022 after New England entrusted Matt Patricia and Joe Judge with leading the team’s offense. That pair has been replaced by Bill O’Brien, whose return to the organization has led to expectations for improvement from Jones individually and the passing game as a whole. Zappe would have been expected to remain a part of that process, though that could still be the case if he goes unclaimed and resorts to the practice squad.
The 2022 fourth-rounder made four appearances (and a pair of starts) during his rookie campaign, drawing praise for his performances and posting a 2-0 record. A controversy briefly appeared to exist between Zappe and Jones, a 2021 first-rounder. The latter finished out the campaign, though, and he will carry on in the starter’s role to begin an important campaign which will go a long way in determining his future in the organization.
Cunningham played quarterback at Louisville, producing sizeable numbers in the run game in particular. He went undrafted, but secured a notable guarantee from the Patriots to head to New England as a developmental prospect. The 24-year-old spent time as a receiver in training camp, and his success in the summer seemed to assure him of a roster spot in some capacity. The decision to move on from McSorley pointed toward Cunningham having a better chance at the QB3 spot, but that is now in question.
The Patriots will likely be aiming to sneak Zappe through waivers, but such a strategy with a recent draftee carries a notable degree of risk. An outside addition could be coming as well – one would become necessary if both Zappe and Cunningham were to be claimed – so New England will remain a team to watch at quarterback position. On that point, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated notes that the Patriots hope to retain Zappe, while Colt McCoy (who was surprisingly released by the Cardinals yesterday) is a veteran on their radar.
Broncos Plan To Sign WR Phillip Dorsett
11:06am: This will instead be a practice squad agreement, Mike Klis of 9News tweets. Waivers processed at 11am CT; teams can now begin assembling their taxi squads.
10:08am: The Broncos will again enter a season without their optimal receiving corps available. Tim Patrick will miss a second straight season, while KJ Hamler is off the roster. Denver’s top target, Jerry Jeudy, is likely to miss early-season time due to a hamstring injury.
While the team does not plan to move Jeudy to IR on Wednesday, it will reinforce its receiving corps with a depth piece. The Broncos intend to sign Phillip Dorsett, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. Dorsett did not make the Raiders’ 53-man roster, being released Tuesday.
This Denver receiving nucleus has struggled to stay healthy since its inception in 2020. While Jeudy could return as early as September, Courtland Sutton represents the Broncos’ top receiver. The team will likely need to give substantial playing time to rookie Marvin Mims, who began training camp as a likely backup behind a Jeudy-Sutton-Patrick trio. The Broncos had been expected to re-sign Lil’Jordan Humphrey after cutting him Tuesday. It is unclear if the team plans to add both he and Dorsett.
A former first-round Colts pick, Dorsett never lived up to his draft slot. After making next to no impact from 2020-21, Dorsett did resurface as part of the Texans’ receiving corps last season. He caught 20 passes for 257 yards and a touchdown. The Broncos are surely targeting the 30-year-old wideout as a depth piece, but with Mims a rookie and no clear No. 3 target in place while Jeudy is down, Dorsett could conceivably play a role on offense for Sean Payton‘s team.
Dorsett and Russell Wilson were teammates with the Seahawks in 2021, but the former played in just two games with Seattle and caught one pass.