Jets Sign Josh Johnson To Practice Squad
The Jets are set to sign Josh Johnson to their 16-man practice squad, according to Brian Costello of the New York Post (on Twitter). 
Johnson‘s second Jets stint came to an end on Tuesday, leaving Mike White as Zach Wilson‘s primary backup. White has yet to attempt a regular season pass, so it only makes sense for the Jets to keep Johnson around. The journeyman QB hasn’t had consistent playing time throughout his career (to put it mildly), but he has played/practiced with nearly half of the NFL. He’s also got an XFL stint under his belt, for what it’s worth.
The 35-year-old has famously been with nearly half the league’s teams. The 2008 fifth-round draft choice last played with Washington in 2018, and those three starts came five years after his previous game action. He will be back in free agency soon.
Johnson, a 2008 fifth-round draft pick, last played with Washington in 2018. He started in three games for D.C., ending a five-year drought of live action.
Texans Add Lane Taylor To Practice Squad
The Texans are signing offensive guard Lane Taylor to the taxi squad, according to Aaron Wilson of Sports Talk 790 (on Twitter). Taylor missed the big cut on Tuesday, but he’ll have a chance to crack the roster in Houston. 
Taylor, 32 in November, joined the Texans on a one-year deal earlier this year. Reunited with his old Green Bay OL coach, James Campen, he’s hoping to reignite his injury-derailed career.
Taylor has missed 29 games over the past two seasons due to bicep tears and knee trouble. He’s now several months removed from ACL surgery and ready to provide support for Houston’s front five.
Taylor took over as the Packers’ starting left guard when Josh Sitton was released years ago. In 2016, he graded out as the league’s No. 41 guard out of 72 qualifiers. Then, in the fall of 2017, the Packers rewarded him with a three-year, $16.5MM extension. He’s earning a lot less these days, but he has a clear path for playing time if everything goes well.
To date, Taylor has 79 games and 50 starts under his belt. However, he’s only suited up three times in the last two years.
Patriots Add LB Jahlani Tavai To Practice Squad
The Patriots are expected to sign former Lions linebacker Jahlani Tavai to the practice squad (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com). Tavai, a former starter in Detroit, should be a quick study on Matt Patricia‘s playbook.
The Lions couldn’t find a trade for the former Round 2 pick ahead of Tuesday’s roster cutdown deadline, so they waived him. This marked yet another second-round miss for the Lions, who also waived running back Kerryon Johnson earlier this year.
Tavai, the No. 43 overall pick in 2019, started 16 games during his time in Detroit, including ten in 2020. Pro Football Focus graded the University of Hawaii product as one of the worst off-ball ‘backers in the league last season. Still, the Patriots are getting him on the cheap and there’s still ample room for him to grow.
Broncos To Waive RB Royce Freeman
After making multiple waiver additions Wednesday, the Broncos cleared space for the new arrivals by cutting Royce Freeman, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Freeman was set to go into his fourth season with the Broncos, but the team made multiple offseason moves to affect the former third-round pick’s standing. Denver signing Mike Boone and drafting Javonte Williams in Round 2 threatened Freeman’s roster spot, but after Boone suffered a quadriceps injury during training camp, the veteran runner made the team’s initial 53-man roster. But he is now headed for the waiver wire.
The Broncos claimed running back Nate McCrary off waivers from the Ravens on Wednesday and also added cornerback Mike Ford via the wire. McCrary is a rookie UDFA out of Division II Saginaw Valley State. He will be in line to play behind Williams and Melvin Gordon, which was to be Freeman’s role with Boone sidelined. The Lions waived Ford on Monday, doing so after he played three seasons with the team.
Acquired during John Elway‘s GM run, Freeman saw his playing time steadily decrease in Denver. The ex-Oregon Duck lost out to Phillip Lindsay as the Broncos’ primary back early, and after playing the B-side to Lindsay from 2018-19, Freeman was Denver’s third-stringer last season — after the team signed Gordon in free agency.
The between-the-tackles runner did average 4.9 yards per carry in 2020, but that came on just 35 totes. Freeman, 25, totaled just more than 1,000 yards over his first two seasons, rushing for eight touchdowns in that span.
Falcons To Place G Josh Andrews On IR
The Falcons will make an adjustment to their preferred starting lineup come Week 1. The team had planned to use Josh Andrews as one of its starting guards, but a recent injury will force the team to change course.
Andrews suffered a broken hand during practice Tuesday, and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets the Falcons will place him on IR to start the season. While this surgery is not expected to sideline Andrews too long, he must sit until at least Week 4.
Atlanta added Andrews in late March, signing the former Eagles, Colts and Jets blocker to a one-year deal worth the veteran minimum. Andrews and Chris Lindstrom were expected to be the Falcons’ Week 1 guard starters. Andrews, 30, has started just four career games — all coming with the Jets last season.
Patriots To Re-Sign Brian Hoyer
The Patriots are set to re-sign Brian Hoyer, according to Albert Breer of The MMQB (Twitter link). Hoyer will be back on the roster before Week 1, providing support to new starter Mac Jones.
The Patriots stunned many by releasing Cam Newton on Tuesday and raised eyebrows further by dropping Hoyer, especially since Jarrett Stidham is on the reserve/PUP list. With Stidham out for the next six weeks (or longer), they had to sign another signal caller to sit behind Jones.
Not counting this latest brief hiatus, Hoyer has had three stints with the Patriots throughout his 12-year career. He earned a Super Bowl ring as Tom Brady‘s backup in 2018 and, following a 2019 stint with the Colts, he re-joined the Patriots when Brady’s left for Tampa. Hoyer started one game for New England, completing 15 of his 24 pass attempts for 130 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and a fumble. The veteran didn’t end up seeing the field again following that Week 4 loss to the Chiefs.
Jets Cut Bless Austin
The Jets have released cornerback Blessuan Austin (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo). Meanwhile, they’ve claimed linebacker Quincy Williams off waivers from the Jaguars, putting him in the same locker room as his brother, Quinnen Williams.
The Jets shopped Austin in recent days but, apparently, they couldn’t find a taker. Austin appeared in eleven games with ten starts last year, registering 63 stops, four passes defensed, one forced fumble, and three tackles for loss along the way. The Rutgers product is still only 25 years of age, but the Jets are moving to even younger options — rookies Brandin Echols, Isaiah Dunn, Jason Pinnock, and Michael Carter III remain on the CB depth chart along with Bryce Hall and Javelin Guidry.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, the Jets dropped quarterbacks Josh Johnson and James Morgan. That leaves Mike White as the team’s QB2 behind rookie Zach Wilson.
Bears To Sign WR Breshad Perriman
Not long after his Lions release, Breshad Perriman landed another deal with an NFC North squad. The Bears agreed to terms with the veteran wide receiver on a one-year deal, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
This will mark Perriman’s sixth team, though his Lions stint did not produce a regular-season cameo. Detroit cut Perriman ahead of Tuesday’s deadline, doing so despite guaranteeing him $2MM earlier this year. The former first-round pick will now try to carve out a role in Chicago.
Although Perriman did not impress the Lions, with a training camp injury impeding his Motor City progress, he has surpassed 500 receiving yards in each of the past two years — doing so with the Buccaneers and Jets.
The former Ravens draftee will join a Bears team looking for targets alongside Allen Robinson and Darnell Mooney. Excepting Mooney, Chicago’s receiver room is filled with veteran presences. The team signed both Marquise Goodwin and Damiere Byrd this year, and both made the Bears’ 53-man roster.
Additionally, the Bears will bring back cornerback Artie Burns, Schefter adds (via Twitter). They created one roster spot by moving Danny Trevathan to IR, and Burns will rejoin the team’s active roster. The Bears initially signed Burns in 2020, but the former Steelers first-round pick suffered a torn ACL that led to an IR placement last summer. They re-signed him in March only to cut him Tuesday. Burns is now back with the team.
Cowboys Claim QB Will Grier
The Cowboys have claimed quarterback Will Grier off waivers (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com). Grier missed the cut in Carolina, but he’s now found a spot on Dallas’ 53-man roster.
The Cowboys now have three QBs on the roster with Dak Prescott, Cooper Rush, and Grier. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Rush and Grier will stick throughout the year, but Rush will at least stay on board while Grier learns the playbook.
Grier isn’t the ex-Panthers QB that some Cowboys fans were hoping for, but he offers plenty of upside in his own right. The Panthers used a third-round choice on him in 2019 — lots of other clubs had their eyes on the West Virginia product too. To date, Grier has two games (both starts) to his credit, but they were pretty lackluster. Those rookie outings saw four interceptions, zero TDs, and a 53.8% completion rate.
Ravens To Sign LB Josh Bynes To Practice Squad
Shortly after the Panthers released Josh Bynes, the veteran linebacker reached an agreement with a familiar team. The Ravens are bringing Bynes back, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic tweets.
Because Bynes is a vested veteran, he did not need to pass through waivers after his Panthers exit. Bynes entered the NFL 10 years ago as a Ravens UDFA and found his way back to Baltimore in 2019. The Ravens will return to this well ahead of Bynes’ age-32 season.
The Ravens kept four inside linebackers — starters Patrick Queen and Malik Harrison and backups Chris Board and Kristian Welch — so Bynes profiles as high-end insurance, at the very least. It would seem likely the veteran off-ball ‘backer will make his way onto Baltimore’s active roster again at some point.
Bynes spent last season with the Bengals, operating as a 16-game starter. He made 99 tackles during his one-season Cincinnati stay. The 2019 Ravens used Bynes as a seven-game starter, after he largely worked as a backup and occasional first-stringer during his initial Baltimore stint from 2011-14.