NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/17/23
Friday’s only practice squad transactions:
Chicago Bears
- Signed: OL Doug Kramer
- Released: G Matt Farniok
Houston Texans
- Signed: WR Jared Wayne
Kramer returns to Chicago after spending a little over a week in Arizona. The Cardinals had claimed Kramer after he was waived in order to make room for left tackle Braxton Jones on the Bears’ active roster. Arizona waived Kramer on Wednesday, and after clearing waivers, Kramer has found his way back to Chicago.
Farniok should find his way onto someone’s roster. The third-year interior lineman started two games for the Cowboys last year and appeared in 19 games over his first two seasons.
Latest On Bears’ Quarterback Plans
Giving up the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, the Bears broke with decades of NFL norms by making that move before free agency. Passing on the chance to draft Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud, Chicago has an interesting long-game route at the position — thanks to the team that acquired the No. 1 pick.
Carolina’s struggles in Young’s rookie year has Chicago positioned atop the 2024 draft order. While we still have two months to go, the Bears are a virtual lock to exit this season with two top-10 picks. Justin Fields still has some time to win this Bears regime — one that did not draft him — over, but early signs may be pointing to the team replacing him in the draft if the cards fall right.
Ahead of Fields’ return from a thumb dislocation, The Athletic’s Adam Jahns notes the third-year QB probably must change some minds within the Bears’ facility (subscription required). Despite GM Ryan Poles selling this year’s top draft pick and basing this season around a Fields evaluation, he and HC Matt Eberflus were not in Chicago when the team traded up for the Ohio State prospect.
Fields has offered a mixed bag thus far as a pro, showing flashes as a passer but deficiencies as well. One of the best running QBs in NFL history, Fields will need to show more as a passer during this seven-game — barring another injury — audition. He should have a better audition opportunity beginning in Week 11. After the Bears placed Braxton Jones and Teven Jenkins on IR in September, both are now back. Chicago’s starting O-line will protect Fields on Sunday. D.J. Moore also obviously represents a much better WR1 compared to Chicago’s 2022 setup.
The Panthers’ eventual draft slot (or the Bears’) could end up mattering more than Fields’ stretch-run performance. After needing to trade up for Fields at No. 11 two years ago, the Bears could become the rare team with two top-five picks. As it stands now, Chicago holds Nos. 1 and 5 in 2024. With this in mind, the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs expressed confidence the Bears will address the QB position in the first round.
Fields carries the NFL’s second-worst sack rate (12.9%) and the league’s fifth-worst INT rate (3.7%) this season; his 61.7% completion rate ranks 27th. Of course, he steamrolled toward Lamar Jackson‘s QB single-season rushing record — despite missing two games — last season. The Bears being asked to punt on Caleb Williams or Drake Maye might be a tough sell, considering Poles had a chance to make a QB draft investment this year and passed. They should be considered more likely to be impressed with one of next year’s top arms compared to this year’s crop, per Jahns.
The Bears have been down this road before, of course, with Pace trading up for Mitch Trubisky in 2017. (Maye also being a North Carolina product would introduce an interesting subplot here.) An early ESPN consensus slots Williams as next year’s top overall prospect and Maye sixth. Then again, the quarterback position’s importance stands to drive next year’s second-best passing prospect up the board.
Barring a considerable Fields turnaround, the Bears having the inside track to one of next year’s top two QBs may well be the direction this process takes. After brief Fields trade rumblings surfaced this year, they would obviously intensify if Chicago indeed commits to a rookie QB in the spring.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/16/23
Here are Thursday’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Elevated: LB Josh Ross
Chicago Bears
- Waived: RB Darrynton Evans
Cincinnati Bengals
- Activated from IR: WR Charlie Jones
- Elevated: WR Shedrick Jackson
Philadelphia Eagles
- Waived from reserve/retired list: LB Myles Jack
- Waived from reserve/suspended list: T Bernard Williams
The Bengals are without Tee Higgins for a second straight game. They added two wideouts to their active roster and are using their first injury activation this season, bringing Jones back after an IR stay. Cincinnati placed Jones on IR in late September due to a thumb injury. A fourth-round rookie who played at three Division I-FBS schools (Buffalo, Iowa, Purdue), Jones worked as the Bengals’ punt returner early this season. The Day 3 rookie made an early impact, already notching a return touchdown in his three-game work sample.
Chicago added Evans in October, doing so just after Khalil Herbert sustained an injury that required an IR stint. With Roschon Johnson also missing two games due to a concussion, Evans saw increased work behind D’Onta Foreman in the Bears’ depleted backfield. With Johnson back, Evans has seen just six offensive snaps in each of the past two games. This cut looks to lay the groundwork for the Bears activating Herbert soon. On IR due to a high ankle sprain, Herbert would represent the Bears’ final injury activation this season. They would be the first team this year to use all eight.
A productive player in Jacksonville, Jack spent last season in Pittsburgh before being released in March. The Eagles took a flier on the former second-round pick during training camp, signing both he and Zach Cunningham. While Cunningham has managed to move from a months-long free agency stay to a Philadelphia starter, Jack opted to retire in August. Were the UCLA alum to continue his career, the Eagles no longer hold his rights.
In a strange bookkeeping transaction, the Eagles also removed their 1994 first-round pick from the reserve/suspended list. Philly used Williams as a 16-game starter in 1994, when he protected QBs Randall Cunningham and Rodney Peete in Rich Kotite‘s final season as HC. A 1995 drug suspension led to Williams’ career ending.
Justin Fields Expected To Return In Week 11
The Bears’ plan of evaluating Justin Fields skidded off track in October. A Week 6 thumb injury sidelined the young quarterback, but the team is on track to resume its Year 3 study soon.
Matt Eberflus confirmed Fields is expected to come back in Week 11, with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport previously indicating the third-year passer was readying to return after four missed games. Fields never landed on IR, but Chicago has been cautious with the 2021 first-round pick.
Since the draft settled in April beginning in 1976, no team had knowingly traded a No. 1 overall pick before April until GM Ryan Poles pulled the trigger on the blockbuster with the Panthers. The second-year GM did so before free agency in March, pledging to see how Fields would look in an improved offense. The young QB’s dislocated thumb put this plan on hold for an extended stretch, leading to four Tyson Bagent starts. The Bears will see how Fields looks coming off this injury — in what figures to be an important stretch for the franchise’s long-term outlook.
Through six games, calling this evaluation incomplete would be the kind way to frame this process. Fields ranks 25th in QBR and has again displayed an issue avoiding sacks. Fields took 24 sacks despite finishing only five games this season. In four-plus games, Bagent has been sacked just five times. While Chicago was missing multiple starting offensive linemen frequently during Fields’ early-season run, the QB’s 2022 sacks-taken number (a league-high 55, despite two missed starts) makes this an area to monitor as the Ohio State product’s 2023 season resumes.
That said, Fields is still on pace to top his career high for passing TDs. The run-oriented quarterback threw 11 before the injury. Fields made a run at Lamar Jackson‘s single-season record for rushing yards by a QB — a mark he may well have hit had the Bears not rested him in Week 18, en route to the No. 1 overall pick — the former No. 11 overall pick finished last year with only 17 touchdown passes. Fields’ midseason pause also came with his yards per attempt (7.4) and completion percentage (61.7) figures north of his 2022 numbers, providing some optimism. But Chicago’s long-term QB situation remains uncertain.
By virtue of the trade with Carolina, Chicago holds 2024’s No. 1 overall draft slot. Its Bagent-directed Week 10 win over the Panthers helped the cause. That status does not mean too much yet, considering two months remain in the season. But the Bears are a near-lock to exit this season with two top-10 picks. That will provide considerable ammo for a team that might be hunting for a quarterback.
While Poles committed to Fields for this year, Ryan Pace drafted him. Poles holding a top-two pick in next year’s draft would likely mean a move for Drake Maye or Caleb Williams, putting Fields in limbo. Fields may already be in an uphill battle to keep the Chicago gig for another season, but that effort is set to resume this week.
Injured Reserve Return Tracker
After a 2022 rule change, teams can activate up to eight players from injured reserve. That has reintroduced some strategy into how franchises proceed with their activations, and teams will again need to be cognizant of their activation counts in 2023.
The NFL had reintroduced IR-return options in the 2010s, after a period in which an IR move meant a player’s season was over. But the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the league to loosen restrictions on IR from 2020-21. Teams were permitted to use unlimited activations to start the decade, but roster math is again a consideration.
Players who land on IR after cutdown day must miss at least four games. Once a team designates a player for return, the activation clock starts. Clubs have 21 days from a player’s return-to-practice date to activate that player. If no activation commences in that window, the player reverts to season-ending IR.
Here is how the NFL’s remaining two IR situations look for Super Bowl LVIII:
Kansas City Chiefs
Activated:
- RB Jerick McKinnon (story)
- WR Skyy Moore (story)
Designated for return:
- OL Prince Tega Wanogho (Jan. 24)
Eligible for activation:
- S Bryan Cook (story)
Activations remaining: 3
San Francisco 49ers
Designated for return:
- DT Kalia Davis (Jan. 24)
Reverted to season-ending IR:
- WR Danny Gray
Eligible for activation:
- TE Ross Dwelley
- DE Drake Jackson
Activations remaining: 4
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/10/23
Today’s practice squad moves heading into the 10th weekend of the NFL season:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: DT Naquan Jones
- Released: DL Eric Banks, OL Vitaliy Gurman
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: WR Rashad Lawrence
- Released: CB Mark Milton
Chicago Bears
- Signed: CB Greg Stroman
Minnesota Vikings
- Released: QB Tanner Morgan
Seattle Seahawks
- Released: NT Matthew Gotel
Morgan was signed on Wednesday to serve as an extra arm in practice amid the season-long loss of Kirk Cousins and with backup quarterback Jaren Hall still in concussion protocol, leaving only Sean Mannion behind recent acquisition Joshua Dobbs at quarterback. The undrafted free agent rookie was originally signed by the Steelers, but after not making the initial 53-man roster or practice squad to start the season in Pittsburgh, Morgan returned to his alma mater at the University of Minnesota in order to serve as an offensive analyst on the Golden Gophers staff.
Updated 2024 NFL Draft Order
Yesterday’s Panthers-Bears game carried signficant draft implications, as many noted in the build-up to the primetime matchup. With Carolina having dealt its 2024 first-round pick to Chicago as part of the deal involving last year’s No. 1 selection, the Bears were able to boost their chances of picking first in April with a win.
Owning the top selection in a draft touted for having multiple high-end options at the quarterback spot would of course add further to the speculation surrounding Justin Fields. The Bears gave the 24-year-old a vote of confidence last spring by trading out of the No. 1 slot, but he has yet to develop as hoped this season. Chicago could opt for a fresh start under center (particularly if they declined Fields’ fifth-year option) this spring while also having the opportunity to add help elsewhere on the roster with their own first-rounder, which seems destined to fall within the top 10 or perhaps even top five selections.
Of course, teams like the Giants, Cardinals and Patriots have experienced signficant troubles of their own this year. A continuation of their first half performances could leave them in pole position for the Caleb Williams–Drake Maye sweepstakes. All three teams face potential uncertainty with respect to their current passers’ futures, despite each having term remaining on their respective contracts.
For non-playoff teams, the draft order will be determined by the inverted 2024 standings — plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule — with playoff squads being slotted by their postseason outcome and regular-season record. With plenty still to be sorted out over the coming months, here is an early look at the current draft order:
- Chicago Bears (via Panthers)
- Arizona Cardinals: 1-8
- New York Giants: 2-7
- New England Patriots: 2-7
- Chicago Bears: 3-7
- Los Angeles Rams: 3-6
- Green Bay Packers: 3-5
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 3-5
- Denver Broncos: 3-5
- Tennessee Titans: 3-5
- Atlanta Falcons: 4-5
- Washington Commanders: 4-5
- Indianapolis Colts: 4-5
- Las Vegas Raiders: 4-5
- Arizona Cardinals (via Texans)
- New York Jets: 4-4
- Los Angeles Chargers: 4-4
- Buffalo Bills: 5-4
- New Orleans Saints: 5-4
- Minnesota Vikings: 5-4
- Dallas Cowboys: 5-3
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 5-3
- Houston Texans (via Browns)
- Cincinnati Bengals: 5-3
- Seattle Seahawks: 5-3
- San Francisco 49ers: 5-3
- Miami Dolphins: 6-3
- Jacksonville Jaguars: 6-2
- Detroit Lions: 6-2
- Baltimore Ravens: 7-2
- Kansas City Chiefs: 7-2
- Philadelphia Eagles: 8-1
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/9/23
Here are Thursday’s minor moves:
Carolina Panthers
- Elevated: LB Eku Leota, WR Mike Strachan
Chicago Bears
- Elevated: LB Micah Baskerville, TE Stephen Carlson
NFC North Notes: Lions, Bears, Poles, Gary
Graham Glasgow became a cap casualty this offseason, seeing the now-Sean Payton-run Broncos dump his four-year, $44MM contract. The veteran interior lineman had taken a pay cut in 2022, after losing his job (to Quinn Meinerz) following an injury absence. Glasgow returned to the Lions, who had drafted him in 2016, on a one-year deal worth $2.75MM deal. Given backup money, Glasgow indeed began the season as a utility man. But the Lions have needed to use the eighth-year veteran at three positions this season, with injuries sidelining Jonah Jackson, Frank Ragnow and Halapoulivaati Vaitai. Glasgow has done enough to remain a starter when the unit is at full strength, Dan Campbell said (via the Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birkett).
Glasgow, 30, has started the past six games and done so at left guard, right guard and center. Moving forward, Glasgow will be Detroit’s RG starter. Vaitai won that job out of training camp but needed time off after an early-season injury. While Vaitai is back after knee and back maladies, the 2020 free agency pickup has not showed top form upon returning. Pro Football Focus grades Glasgow as the No. 5 overall guard. The former third-round pick now has the opportunity to use this season to fetch a nice contract in free agency once again, though the Lions could also have interest in retaining him. The team removed a year from Vaitai’s contract, amid a pay cut that followed his missed 2022, and has Jackson in a contract year. The Lions have some questions at guard moving forward.
Here is the latest from the NFC North:
- Although the Bears have since extended Montez Sweat, executives took issue with GM Ryan Poles‘ pre-deadline strategy. One anonymous GM said (via the Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora) the move of indicating Jaylon Johnson was available barely 12 hours before the deadline did not give teams enough time to gauge his trade value, assess the player’s future or negotiate a contract. A report indicating the Bears would let Johnson’s camp seek a trade — after Bears extension talks were not progressing — came out just after midnight CT on Oct. 31. The Bears ended up keeping Johnson, and Poles has said the team wants to keep the contract-year cornerback. No team has franchise-tagged a corner since the Rams cuffed Trumaine Johnson in 2017, but Chicago does have the tag available with Sweat signed days after that trade.
- The Bears obtained Sweat from the Commanders for a second-round pick. The above-referenced GM said the Falcons were on track to land Sweat for a third-round pick before Poles put the Bears’ second-rounder on the table. Atlanta is believed to have increased its offer twice in response. Another anonymous GM told La Canfora the Bears should have been selling at the deadline. While execs did not agree with the Bears giving up a pick likely to land in the 30s for Sweat, the team proceeded this way for Chase Claypool last year and now has an upper-echelon edge defender signed long term.
- Weeks after seeing DC Alan Williams step away, the Bears fired running backs coach David Walker, per The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain and Adam Jahns. Workplace behavior led to Walker’s dismissal, ESPN.com’s Courtney Cronin adds. The Bears’ HR department had previously disciplined Walker, according to Cronin, with the second infraction leading to the firing. Matt Eberflus hired Walker, 53, last year. HR was also involved in Williams’ exit; the two matters are unrelated. Omar Young is now coaching Chicago’s RBs.
- Rashan Gary‘s four-year, $96MM Packers extension calls for a $34.6MM signing bonus, which represents the fifth-year outside linebacker’s guarantee. Additionally, Gary will collect a $6.2MM roster bonus on Day 3 of the 2024 league year, according to OverTheCap. On Day 3 of the 2025 league year, Gary will earn an $8.7MM roster bonus.
- The Lions bumped linebacker Trevor Nowaske up to their active roster due to another team’s effort to poach him off the practice squad, Campbell said. A rookie UDFA out of Saginaw Valley State (Mich.), Nowaske joined Detroit’s active roster last week.
Bears Activate WR Equanimeous St. Brown, CB Josh Blackwell From IR
NOVEMBER 9: Chicago will be the first team this season to push up against the injury activation limit. The Bears are activating St. Brown and Blackwell from IR, though Herbert will not be returned to the 53-man roster just yet. Nevertheless, the team will use its sixth and seventh activations Wednesday, leaving one remaining. That is a bit unusual in Week 10, though we are fairly early into this injury format.
Herbert seemingly is the favorite for that final IR-return activation. Once that happens, any Bear who lands on IR will see his season end. Blackwell and St. Brown join Teven Jenkins, Braxton Jones, Doug Kramer, Khalid Kareem and Kyler Gordon as Chicago’s IR activations thus far.
NOVEMBER 6: The Bears’ backfield could be healthier in the near future. The team announced on Monday that running back Khalil Herbert has been designated for return from injured reserve. 
The news means Herbert’s 21-day practice window has been opened. He must be activated within that span to avoid reverting to season-ending IR. The same is true for cornerback Josh Blackwell and wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, who were also designated for return on Monday.
Herbert suffered a high ankle sprain in October, one which was expected to keep him sidelined for an extended period. As a result, his IR stint came as little surprise. His activation will end his absence while giving the Bears another option at the RB spot. The 25-year-old has logged a career-high 10.2 carries per game in 2023, confirming expectations he would see an uptick in usage with David Montgomery no longer in the picture. Herbert has parlayed that into 272 yards, while adding one touchdown and 83 yards in the passing game.
Chicago has dealt with a number of injuries in the backfield recently, but D’Onta Foreman has emerged as the team’s lead back. The free agent addition has logged at least 15 carries in three of the past four games, including a season-high 20 on Sunday. Foreman has averaged 4.4 yards per carry and scored two touchdowns during the start of his tenure in the Windy City, and it will be interesting to see how his workload is affected once Herbert returns.
Blackwell has made 18 appearances with the Bears, and has played primarily on special teams. St. Brown, by contrast, has seen a notable workload on offense (57% snap share last season, 49% in 2023) since arriving in Chicago after three years in Green Bay. His return will be welcomed on a passing attack which has struggled to find consistent success with either Justin Fields or Tyson Bagent under center.
However, the Bears entered today with only three of their eight IR activations remaining. In other words, bringing back Herbert, Blackmon and St. Brown will leave the team without the ability to put any other player on IR which they believe will be able to return later in the campaign. Still, Chicago will have reinforcements on both sides of the ball once the trio is back on the field.