Wednesday’s lone minor move in the NFL:
Buffalo Bills
- Re-signed: QB Shane Buechele
Buechele was on track to be a restricted free agent this offseason, but instead he has landed a new one-year Bills commitment. The former undrafted free agent began his career with the Chiefs, but he landed on Buffalo’s practice squad shortly before the 2023 campaign began. He signed a futures contract with the Bills after the season, although he missed all of this past year due to injury. Buechele, 27, has yet to make a regular season appearance in his career.
Today’s reserve/futures contracts:
Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo Bills
- WR Tyrell Shavers, WR Jalen Virgil
Cleveland Browns
Washington Commanders
- RB Kazmeir Allen, DT Viliami Fehoko Jr., G Julian Good-Jones, QB Sam Hartman, TE Tyree Jackson, DE Andre Jones Jr., WR Chris Moore, S Ben Nikkel, TE Cole Turner
Although ill-timed secondary injuries again bit the Bills in a Chiefs playoff matchup, the team has enjoyed good health along its offensive line over the past two seasons. This has kept swing tackle Ryan Van Demark mostly on the bench.
But the Bills still have plans for the backup lineman. Van Demark signed an extension Monday, allowing him to bypass exclusive rights free agency. This is a formality, as the Bills could have tendered Van Demark as an ERFA and retained him without any outside competition. Nevertheless, the young blocker is under contract for 2025.
Van Demark beat out David Quessenberry for the Bills’ swing job in 2023 and held a key backup role again this season. The 26-year-old former UDFA made his first two starts this season. While one of those came in a Week 18 after the Bills had wrapped up the AFC’s No. 2 seed, Van Demark also filled in for Spencer Brown at right tackle against the Chiefs in Week 11. He played 199 offensive snaps this season.
The Bills initially added Van Demark on a practice squad deal in September 2022; the Colts had included the UConn alum in their UDFA class that year but did not carry him onto their 53-man roster. Buffalo is still in good shape at tackle, having extended both Brown and Dion Dawkins in 2024.
In addition to Van Demark, the Bills conducted standard postseason business by handing out reserve/futures contracts. Running back Frank Gore Jr., who joined one of his father’s former teams by signing as a UDFA last May, is among the seven sticking around with the team into the 2025 offseason. Here is that contingent:
- CB Te’Cory Couch
- OL Mike Edwards
- RB Frank Gore Jr.
- OL Richard Gouraige
- WR KJ Hamler
- CB Daequan Hardy
- DT Zion Logue
Micah Hyde flirted with retirement in 2024, eventually confirming he would only return to the Bills if he opted to continue his career. Buffalo kept the door open and eventually called on Hyde as insurance. Though, the team did not opt to turn to that insurance policy when a significant safety injury occurred.
The Bills did not elevate Hyde from their practice squad for the AFC championship game; Sean McDermott confirmed the team would not do so despite Taylor Rapp‘s hip injury in the divisional round. With Hyde spending his final season in Buffalo on the practice squad, he confirmed (via the Buffalo News’ Jay Skurski) he will retire.
Hyde said as much upon rejoining the Bills in early December. The Bills had split up one of the longest-tenured safety tandems of the free agency era in March, cutting Jordan Poyer and not re-signing Hyde. Poyer joined the Dolphins, but Hyde remained in Buffalo as a backup plan. Although the Bills centered their 2024 safety setup around Rapp and Damar Hamlin, they added Hyde to their P-squad for the stretch run. Hyde effectively replaced the seldom-used Mike Edwards — released midseason — but did not log any appearances in his 12th season.
This season obviously does not best encapsulate Hyde’s run in Buffalo. The former Packers draftee played a central role in the team’s McDermott-era rise. Signed to midlevel deals in McDermott’s first offseason in charge, weeks before Brandon Beane came aboard as GM, Hyde and Poyer started together for seven seasons (a 2022 Hyde injury did interfere during that stretch).
Each Buffalo safety earned at least one All-Pro honor, giving the Bills reliable back-line deterrence. The Bills made the playoffs six times during the Hyde-Poyer pair’s seasons together. Although the perennial AFC East champions have run into a rough trend of seeing their top cornerbacks unavailable for Chiefs matchups in the playoffs, the team was regularly able to count on its Hyde-Poyer duo for years.
Hyde, who turned 34 in December, made 95 starts with the Bills. Among Buffalo safeties, that ranks behind only Poyer (107), 1990s bastion Henry Jones (129) and all-time leader Steve Freeman (134). The Iowa alum earned two second-team All-Pro nods — in 2017 and 2021. Each season featured five Hyde interceptions. He added another pick in a 2021 wild-card rout of the Patriots.
A fifth-round Packers pick, Hyde yo-yoed as a starter in Green Bay. The Bills gave him a five-year, $30.5MM deal in March 2017 and later extended him in 2021 (two years, $19.25MM). While Hyde never became a top-market safety, he did well for himself as a pro by crossing the $50MM mark in career earnings during the 2023 season. Overall, Hyde has earned more than $53MM as a pro.
Hyde came back from a season-ending neck injury, one that gave Hamlin his first batch of starts before the latter’s terrifying injury in Cincinnati, to start alongside Poyer in the 2023 season. But the Bills drafted Cole Bishop in the 2024 second round; the Utah product became their No. 3 safety this season. Rapp’s new deal locks him down through the 2026 season, while Bishop could be in line to replace Hamlin as a starter — should the free agent-to-be leave Buffalo in March.
The Lions didn’t waste much time in effecting a succession plan for departed defensive coordinator and new Jets head coach Aaron Glenn. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard has officially been promoted to the role of defensive coordinator. 
A 2011 third-round pick out of LSU, Sheppard spent nearly a decade in the NFL. A few years after his retirement, he joined Detroit’s coaching staff as their outside linebackers coach. After a year in that role, Sheppard transitioned to inside linebackers coach, a title he’s held for the past three seasons.
The coach has earned praise for helping revive the careers of veterans (like Alex Anzalone) and helping guide young draft picks (like Jack Campbell and Malcolm Rodriguez). Per Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports, Sheppard has a “sterling” reputation not only in Detroit, but around the NFL, so while Sheppard’s familiarity with the team proved an asset in the hiring process, his promotion was not solely a result of his Lions connection. The team hired him before he was even offered an opportunity to interview anywhere else.
The only reported competition for the role was the Buccaneers inside linebackers coach, Larry Foote. The former Steelers linebacker, who spent a year each with the Lions and Cardinals as a player, had reportedly interviewed for the position, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, after it was announced that an interview was expected two days ago. Luckily for Tampa Bay, this means the Bucs may yet hold on to their linebackers coach as he has not interviewed elsewhere.
With Glenn’s replacement officially in place, the Lions can now shift their focus to the offensive coordinator role. Though Ben Johnson was hired as the Bears head coach the day before Glenn, no prospects have yet emerged to replace him as the offensive playcaller in Detroit.
Today’s standard gameday practice squad elevations in advance of championship Sunday:
Buffalo Bills
- Elevated: OL Will Clapp, S Kareem Jackson
Kansas City Chiefs
- Elevated: LB Swayze Bozeman, WR Justyn Ross
Philadelphia Eagles
- Elevated: FB Khari Blasingame, LB Nicholas Morrow
Washington Commanders
- Elevated: DT Carl Davis, CB Kevon Seymour
Saturday’s practice squad transactions:
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: DE K.J. Henry
- Released: T Cameron Erving
JANUARY 25: ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted out the news that Mougey’s hiring has been made official. Mougey will team up with Glenn, the new head coach, to establish the next era of Jets football.
JANUARY 24: The Jets made their head coaching hire earlier this week, and their general manager vacancy is now set to be filled. After Lance Newmark appeared to be the top target, though, the team has moved in another direction. 
Bovada’s Josina Anderson reports Broncos assistant GM Darren Mougey will be hired by the Jets. He was among the staffers who lined up a second interview for this week, so it comes as little surprise he is set to get the nod. Still, after Newmark looked to have a deal all but in place on Tuesday, this is a notable pivot on New York’s part.
The Jets were open to bringing in a head coach or a general manager first during the 2025 cycle, and Aaron Glenn wound up being the initial hire in the team’s case. The former Lions defensive coordinator has a history with New York as a player, and Newmark represented a familiar face with Glenn given their time spent together in Detroit. A natural fit was in place, but the Jets opted to conduct follow-up interviews with both Mougey and Bengals senior personnel executive Trey Brown before making a final decision.
Mougey’s meeting took place yesterday, and Troy Renck of the Denver Post notes he returned to the Broncos’ facility to await word on whether or not he received the Jets’ GM job. No subsequent reports have emerged at this point confirming Mougey has won out, and SNY’s Connor Hughes indicates he has not received finality from his sources indicating Mougey has beaten out Newmark and Brown. But provided the team ultimately announces this news he will be set to undertake his first general manager role. The 39-year-old has been with the Broncos throughout his front office career, so this will double as his first posting with any other organization.
Mougey quickly transitioned from his playing career to the scouting world as an intern with the Broncos in 2012. By 2020, he had reached the level of assistant college scouting director while continuing to rise through the ranks. Mougey took over as director of player personnel for 2021, and the following year he was promoted to assistant GM. After working under both John Elway and George Paton, he will now lead a staff of his own.
New York conducted a wide-ranging search for both the head coach and general manager positions, and in a matter of days both vacancies have now been filled. The quarterback position will remain a talking point until clarity emerges on the Aaron Rodgers front, and a number of other key priories – including potential extensions for cornerback Sauce Gardner and wideout Garrett Wilson – are in place. How Mougey and Glenn address them will be key in shaping the organization’s direction moving forward. Paton and the Broncos, meanwhile, will now have a notable front office vacancy to fill.
Via PFR’s GM search tracker, here is a final look at how the Jets’ process played out:
- Mike Borgonzi, assistant general manager (Chiefs): Interviewed 1/8; hired by Titans
- Trey Brown, senior personnel executive (Bengals): Conducted second interview 1/23
- Thomas Dimitroff, former general manager (Falcons): Interviewed 12/16
- Ray Farmer, senior personnel executive (Rams): Interviewed 1/9
- Brian Gaine, assistant general manager (Bills): Interviewed 1/14
- Mike Greenberg, assistant general manager (Buccaneers): Interviewed 1/10
- Ryan Grigson, senior vice president of player personnel (Vikings): Interviewed 1/11
- Alec Halaby, assistant general manager (Eagles): Interviewed 1/8
- Darren Mougey, assistant general manager (Broncos): To be hired
- Jim Nagy, Senior Bowl director: Interviewed 12/19
- Lance Newmark, assistant general manager (Commanders): Conducted second interview 1/21; hire expected; still a candidate
- Louis Riddick, former director of pro personnel (Eagles): Interviewed 1/2
- Jon Robinson, former general manager (Titans): Interviewed 12/17
- Chris Spielman, special assistant to president/CEO (Lions): Interviewed 1/11
- Jon-Eric Sullivan, director of player personnel (Packers): Interviewed 1/14
This week the Texans parted ways with team president Greg Grissom, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. The decision to depart was reportedly an amicable one, as Grissom leaves after 23 years with the franchise.
Grissom has been a part of the Texans’ organization in some capacity since the team’s inaugural season in 2002. He held a number of roles in his time with the franchise, working his way through different positions in business and sponsorship development to senior vice president of corporate development.
In 2021, Grissom took over the team president role, accepting the job in his 20th season with the team. His time as president saw him manage the Texans’ management and business operations. Specifically, he oversaw responsibilities in marketing and communications, digital and social media, community relations, ticket sales and membership services, event management and operations, business analytics, IT, and corporate sponsorships.
Texans owner and chief executive officer Cal McNair said in a statement that, despite only four years in his current role, Grissom had been very productive. He helped “implement numerous initiatives to help (the) organization fearlessly evolve and grow in many ways,” per NFL.com.
In a statement of his own, Grissom cited the chance “to embrace new challenges and opportunities” as the reason for his departure. He expressed his thanks to the McNair family and many other job connections through the team, the corporate and civic leaders, and the community in Houston.
Grissom succeeded longtime president Jamey Rootes in the position in 2021. Rootes retired from the job after 20 years in the position and sadly passed away at the age of 56 the following year. With Grissom now gone, the Texans will be looking for the third team president in their young history.