Christian Sam

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/24/22

Today’s minor moves around the league:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos 

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

The biggest storyline of the day for the Giants was the injury to Johnson, but they have been busy at other positions as well. Hand was a fifth-round pick of the Vikings in 2020, making 23 appearances during his time there. He primarily played on special teams, but registered an interception and three pass breakups as a rookie. Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News tweets that Minnesota was interested in re-signing him had he cleared waivers.

The release of Akins is somewhat surprising, given the Giants’ question marks at the tight end position. The former Texans third-rounder signed just before the draft, where New York added Daniel Bellinger in the fourth round. The latter had a brief stint on the PUP list at the start of training camp, but, if healthy, could be the favorite to take on Evan Engram‘s vacated starting spot.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/23/22

Tuesday marked the day teams were forced to cut down from 85 to 80 players. Here are the moves teams made made to reach the new maximum. Players who land on the reserve/PUP or reserve/NFI list must miss at least the first four regular-season games.

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Cowboys Place LB Devante Bond On IR, Sign LB Christian Sam

The rebooted USFL’s inaugural season has produced its first NFL opportunity. Christian Sam, who played for the New Orleans Breakers during the spring and summer, signed with the Cowboys on Friday.

To make room on their 90-man offseason roster, the Cowboys placed Devante Bond on IR. The veteran linebacker sustained a season-ending knee injury during workouts last month. Bond is not expected to play in 2022, but this transaction happening before roster cutdown day ensures he cannot suit up for the Cowboys this season.

A sixth-round Patriots draftee in 2018, Sam did not make it into a regular-season game during his first go-round in the NFL. He bounced from the Patriots, who placed him on IR ahead of their Super Bowl-winning 2018 slate, to the Dolphins to the 49ers to the Lions. Detroit waived Sam during its 2020 training camp.

Now 26, Sam is coming off a season of game work in the latest spring-league effort. The Arizona State product made 54 tackles (eight for loss) and intercepted a pass with the Breakers during the USFL season.

This will probably precede a few other USFL-to-NFL moves this summer. The Alliance of American football and XFL 2.0 folded during their respective winter-spring efforts — in 2019 and ’20, respectively — but the leagues sent some of their standouts to the NFL soon after. AAF alum Mike Purcell landed an extension from the Broncos not long after establishing himself as their starting nose tackle. The Panthers carried XFL quarterback P.J. Walker on their roster over the past two seasons.

Lions Cut Joshua Garnett

The Lions released former first-round pick Joshua Garnett on Sunday morning, per a club announcement. The Lions also dropped defensive back Michael Jackson, linebacker Christian Sam, defensive end Jonathan Wynn, and wide receivers Travis Fulgham and Chris Lacy to reach the 80-man limit for single squad practices. 

The 49ers took Garnett No. 28 overall in 2016, but he never lived up to his pre-draft hype. The Stanford product started in 11 of his 15 games as a rookie, but failed to impress. Then, knee surgery wiped out his 2017 season and he played in just seven games as a reserve in 2018. The Niners cut him before 2019, and his ensuing workout tour didn’t result in a contract. The Lions picked Garnett up in February, but they’ve put him back on the free agent pile as the season draws near.

The Lions’ O-line was not particularly good at run-blocking or pass protection in 2019 and earned below-average DVOA marks in both categories. On the plus side, Russell Bodine was Detroit’s only offensive line opt-out, so they might be able to stand pat with their current group of linemen.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/17/19

We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:

Denver Broncos

  • Signed: S P.J. Locke, DL Jay-Tee Tiuli

Detroit Lions

Jacksonville Jaguars

New York Giants

New York Jets

Tennessee Titans

NFL Workout Updates: 11/5/19

Today’s workout notes:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

  • OL Brandon Hitner

Cincinnati Bengals

Miami Dolphins

San Francisco 49ers

NFL Workout Updates: 10/29/19

Here is an update on workouts around the league:

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

NFL Workout Updates: 10/22/19

Here is Tuesday’s summary from the workout circuit:

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

NFL Workout Updates: 10/1/19

Here’s a look at the latest workouts from around the NFL:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Cleveland Browns

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