Latest On Bears QB Andy Dalton
Bears quarterback Andy Dalton was knocked out of yesterday’s win over the Bengals, and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport confirmed (on Twitter) that an MRI confirmed a bone bruise in the veteran’s knee. No official determination has been made about Dalton’s status for next weekend’s game against the Browns.
Dalton wasn’t great during the Bears’ Week 1 loss to the Rams, but he looked a bit better on Sunday. Before exiting with his injury, the veteran completed nine of his 11 passes for 56 yards and one touchdown. Meanwhile, after Justin Fields completed both of his pass attempts and rushed for a touchdown in Week 1, the first-round pick completed only six of his 13 pass attempts for 60 yards yesterday. The rook also threw an interception and had a fumble.
The Bears depth chart seems a bit unpredictable at the moment, and coach Matt Nagy didn’t do much to help the matter this afternoon. When asked to reveal who would start Week 3 if both QBs are healthy, the head coach gave a head-scratching answer.
“That’s something that I’m not going to get into with scheme,” Nagy said (via Andrew Siciliano of NFL Network on Twitter).
Later, a team official clarified that Nagy had misinterpreted the question and that Dalton would remain the starter, if healthy (via ESPN’s Jeff Dickerson).
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/18/21
The customary Saturday minor moves avalanche:
Arizona Cardinals
- Promoted: S Chris Banjo, CB Antonio Hamilton
Baltimore Ravens
- Promoted: CB Kevon Seymour, T Andre Smith
Chicago Bears
- Promoted: DL Margus Hunt, T Alex Taylor
- Placed on IR: T Larry Borom
Cincinnati Bengals
- Promoted: S Sean Davis
Cleveland Browns
- Promoted: LB Elijah Lee
Dallas Cowboys
- Promoted: TE Jeremy Sprinkle
Denver Broncos
- Promoted: RB Damarea Crockett, OL Austin Schlottmann
Houston Texans
- Promoted: TE Antony Auclair, K Joey Slye
Indianapolis Colts
- Promoted: WR DeMichael Harris
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Promoted: WR Laquon Treadwell
Las Vegas Raiders
- Promoted: OL Lester Cotton, RB Trey Ragas
Los Angeles Chargers
- Promoted: DL Joe Gaziano
Los Angeles Rams
- Promoted: LB Micah Kiser, DL Justin Lawler
Miami Dolphins
- Promoted: CB Jamal Perry
Minnesota Vikings
- Promoted: RB Ameer Abdullah, S Myles Dorn, QB Sean Mannion
- Waived: TE Brandon Dillon
New England Patriots
- Promoted: LB Tashawn Bower, K Nick Folk
- Placed on IR: K Quinn Nordin (story)
New Orleans Saints
- Promoted: DE Jalyn Holmes, LB Wynton McManis, DB Jordan Miller, C Austin Reiter (story)
- Placed on IR: LB Chase Hansen
New York Jets
- Promoted: S Adrian Colbert, LB Del’Shawn Phillips
San Francisco 49ers
- Placed on IR: LB Dre Greenlaw (story)
Tennessee Titans
- Promoted: TE Tommy Hudson
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/15/21
We’ll keep track of today’s taxi squad moves here:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: CB Kevon Seymour, OT Andre Smith
Chicago Bears
- Signed: OL Alex Taylor
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: S Sean Davis (story)
Houston Texans
- Signed: DB Grayland Arnold
- Released: DB Antonio Phillips
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: CB Chris Wilcox
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: WR Maurice Ffrench
- Placed on IR: WR Joe Reed
Las Vegas Raiders
- Released: CB Madre Harper
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: DB Jordan Miller, C Austin Reiter
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: WR De’Quan Hampton, TE Michael Jacobson, WR Connor Wedington
Bears To Promote DL Damion Square
It looks like Damion Square will be set for a ninth NFL season. The veteran defensive lineman caught on with the Bears earlier this week, via a practice squad deal, but will be on Chicago’s active roster Sunday night.
The Bears are promoting Square from their taxi squad, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune tweets. Starting nose tackle Eddie Goldman will not make the trip to Los Angeles, having been ruled out for Week 1 with a knee injury, putting Square in position to be a depth piece for his new team.
The Saints released Square on roster cutdown day. A week later, the Bears brought the former Charger in for a workout and added him to their 16-man practice squad. While Square is not a lock to dress against the Rams, Goldman’s injury and the Bears’ thin defensive line depth chart would seemingly ensure the ninth-year vet plays. Chicago has three backup D-linemen on its roster — Square, Angelo Blackson and seventh-round rookie Khyiris Tonga — but one of them will need to start for Goldman.
Square, 32, played six seasons with the Chargers and started 24 games — including 11 during the Bolts’ 2018 playoff season. He played 252 defensive snaps with Los Angeles last season, tallying a sack two QB hits. The Bears are Square’s third team this year. The Browns signed him in May but cut him in mid-August, leading the Saints to take a flier. But Square’s ninth season will begin with Chicago.
Additionally, the Bears are elevating linebacker Josh Woods from their practice squad. The 2020 CBA allows teams to bump up two players from P-squads on game days and dress 48 instead of 46.
Contract Restructures: Graham, Nassib, Ryan
With the start of Week 1 quickly approaching, NFL front offices are still finding ways to open some cap space. A handful of players restructured their contracts today, and we’ve compiled some of the notable transactions below:
- TE Jimmy Graham, Bears: Converted $5.825MM of salary into signing bonus, opening $4.66MM in cap space while also adding four voidable years to contract (via ESPN’s Field Yates on Twitter). The veteran inked a two-year, $16MM deal with the Bears prior to last season, and he finished his first season in Chicago with 50 receptions for 456 yards and eight touchdowns.
- DE Carl Nassib, Raiders: Converted $2.51MM of salary into a signing bonus, opening $2.008MM in cap space (via ESPN’s Field Yates on Twitter). Nassib inked a three-year, $25MM deal (including $16.75MM guaranteed) with the Raiders last offseason. The 28-year-old got into 14 games (five starts) during his first season in Las Vegas, finishing with 28 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and nine QB hits.
- DB Logan Ryan, Giants: Converted “most of the base salary” into signing bonus (per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport on Twitter). The veteran was set to earn around $5.5MM this upcoming season. After inking a one-year deal with the Giants last offseason, Ryan signed a three-year, $31MM extension (with $20MM guaranteed) in December. After switching from cornerback to safety, Ryan finished his first season in New York with 94 tackles, three forced fumbles, nine passes defended, and one interception.
- OT Duane Brown, Seahawks: Converted $7MM of base salary into signing bonus, saving the team $3.5MM in cap space. After skipping training camp in pursuit of an extension, we learned earlier today that the veteran lineman got an extra year tacked onto his contract. Indeed, as veteran reporter John Clayton points out, Brown got an extra year “with an injury protection benefit for 2022.”
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/7/21
We’ve compiled today’s practice squad moves below:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: RB Qadree Ollison
- Released: C Sam Jones
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: CB John Brannon
Chicago Bears
- Signed: LB Josh Woods
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: QB Jake Browning
- Released: P Drue Chrisman
Denver Broncos
- Signed: CB Saivion Smith
Houston Texans
- Signed: CB Cre’Von LeBlanc
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: OT Bobby Hart
New York Giants
- Signed: WR C.J. Board, OT Korey Cunningham
- Released: DB Jordyn Peters, G Kenny Wiggins
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: DE Henry Mondeaux, LB Delontae Scott, WR Tyler Vaughns
- Moved to IR: WR Rico Bussey
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: CB Gavin Heslop
- Released: TE Mark Vital
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: K Jose Borregales
Washington Football Team
- Signed: OT Evin Ksiezarczyk
- Released: C Jon Toth
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/6/21
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Chicago Bears
- Waived: LB Josh Woods
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Waived: DE Aaron Patrick
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived: K Jose Borregales
Tennessee Titans
- W
- Waived: CB Chris Jones
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/4/21
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/2/21
Here are Thursday’s practice squad moves, with the list being updated throughout the day:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: WR Devin Gray
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: TE Kahale Warring
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: WR Aaron Parker
- Cut: CB Rashaan Melvin
Chicago Bears
- Signed: WR Rodney Adams
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: WR Trenton Irwin
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: DB Tim Harris, G David Moore, K Chris Naggar, OL Jordan Steckler
Denver Broncos
- Signed: DL Jonathan Harris
Detroit Lions
- Signed: OLB Jessie Lemonier, QB Steven Montez, CB Parnell Motley, TE Jared Pinkney, TE Shane Zylstra
- Cut: OLB Rashod Berry, NT Miles Brown, TE Alize Mack, RB Dedrick Mills
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: LS Steven Wirtel
- Cut: DT Willington Previlon
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: QB Kyle Lauletta, TE Matt Sokol
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: RB B.J. Emmons, DE Gerri Green, T Devery Hamilton, CB Madre Harper, CB Robert Jackson, C Jimmy Morrissey, OL Jeremiah Poutasi, RB Trey Ragas, LB Max Richardson, DT Niles Scott, WR Dillon Stoner, WR DJ Turner, DE Kendal Vickers
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: CB Brandon Facyson
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: G Jared Hocker
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: DB Tino Ellis, WR Brandon Powell, RB Jordan Scarlett, OL Kion Smith, DL Jason Strowbridge, OL Cameron Tom
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: WR Trishton Jackson
New York Giants
- Signed: LB Trent Harris, QB Brian Lewerke, TE Chris Myarick, WR Dante Pettis, RB Dexter Williams
- Cut: OL Jake Burton, TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart, OL Brett Heggie
New York Jets
- RB Josh Adams, DL Ronald Blair, OL Grant Hermanns, CB Lamar Jackson, WR D.J. Montgomery, OL Jimmy Murray, LB Del’Shawn Phillips, DL Hamilcar Rashed, DL Tanzel Smart, WR Vyncint Smith, OL Isaiah Williams, TE Kenny Yeboah, DE Jabari Zuniga
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: TE Nick Eubanks, WR KeeSean Johnson, DT Marvin Wilson
- Cut: S Grayland Arnold
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: CB Michael Jackson
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: S Andrew Adams, OLB Ladarius Hamilton, WR Jaydon Mickens, DB Troy Wagner
Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC North
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 Bears, Lions, Packers and Vikings moves are noted below.
Here are Wednesday’s NFC North transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.
Chicago Bears
Claimed:
- WR Nsimba Webster (from 49ers)
Signed:
Waived:
- WR Rodney Adams
Placed on IR:
Signed to practice squad:
- DL Auzoyah Alufohai, C Dieter Eiselen, CB Thomas Graham Jr., OL Arlington Hambright, WR Isaiah Coulter, K Brian Johnson, WR Jon’Vea Johnson, OLB Sam Kamara, RB Ryan Nall, WR Dazz Newsome, RB Artavis Pierce, OLB Charles Snowden, DB Teez Tabor
Detroit Lions
Released/Waived:
- TE Darren Fells, S Dean Marlowe
Signed to practice squad:
- LB Tanner Beckett, LB Rashod Berry, DT Miles Brown, S Jalen Elliott, K Zane Gonzalez, DL Bruce Hector, G Tommy Kraemer, TE Alize Mack, WR Javon McKinley, RB Dedrick Mills, OT Darrin Paulo, RB Craig Reynolds, CB Nickell Robey-Coleman, WR Sage Surratt, TE Brock Wright, TE Shane Zylstra
Green Bay Packers
Signed to practice squad:
- DL Abdullah Anderson, QB Kurt Benkert, WR Chris Blair, G Ben Braden, OL Jacob Capra, CB Kabion Ento, S Innis Gaines, LB Tipa Galeai, TE Bronson Kaufusi, K J.J. Molson, DL Willington Previlon, WR Equanimeous St. Brown, RB Patrick Taylor, OL Cole Van Lanen, LB Ray Wilborn, WR Juwann Winfree
Minnesota Vikings
Signed:
Claimed:
- TE Ben Ellefson (from Jaguars)
Placed on IR:
- WR Dan Chisena, RB Kene Nwangwu, TE Irv Smith Jr. (story)
Signed to practice squad:
- OT Zack Bailey, FB Jake Bargas, LB Tuf Borland, TE Zach Davidson, S Myles Dorn, G Dakota Dozier, G Kyle Hinton, WR Myron Mitchell, CB Parry Nickerson, WR Whop Philyor, RB A.J. Rose, CB Tye Smith, DE Kenny Willekes