Daniel Ekuale

Patriots Place DT Daniel Ekuale On IR

After suffering an injury during Sunday’s win over the Jets, Patriots defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale will miss at least a month. The team announced that they’ve placed the defensive lineman on injured reserve. According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Ekuale tore his biceps, an injury that will keep him off the field for at least four games.

After bouncing between the Browns and Jaguars to begin his career, Ekuale has found a home in New England in recent years. After getting into seven games with the Patriots in 2021, Ekuale appeared in 15 games for the team in 2022, getting into about one third of the team’s defensive snaps. The defensive tackle ultimately finished last season with 14 tackles and a pair of sacks.

Through the first three games of the 2023 season, Ekuale was seeing a similar role as he did in 2022. Pro Football Focus currently has the defensive tackle graded 50th among 128 qualifying interior defenders, although the site did give him a top-20 grade for his run defense.

Fortunately for the Patriots, the team isn’t in desperate need for defensive line help. Davon Godchaux and Lawrence Guy will continue to soak up most of the snaps in the middle of the defensive line, and the team could get creative with Christian Barmore. Sam Roberts also saw a bump in snaps once Ekuale exited Sunday’s game.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/17/23

Here are today’s minor moves from around the league:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Green Bay Packers

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Washington Commanders

 

Board is a strong special teamer, signing a two-year, $5MM deal with New England, according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. The contract reportedly includes incentives that can push the deal to a maximum value of $6.7MM.

Colon-Castillo reportedly visited the Falcons today, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. Despite the visit, he decided to sign with the Jets.

NFL Suspends Patriots DT Daniel Ekuale

Patriots defensive lineman Daniel Ekuale‘s season is now set to begin late. The NFL gave the young interior defender a two-game suspension Monday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

Ekuale frequently earned late-week promotions onto the Patriots’ active roster, bouncing between their practice squad and 55-man game-day contingent last season. The Pats gave the former Washington State D-lineman a reserve/futures contract in January.

After starting five games with the Jaguars in 2020, Ekuale did not last into the team’s Urban Meyer-led regular season. The Jags waived him ahead of last season, but Ekuale landed on the Patriots’ taxi squad soon after. In seven Pats games featuring just 99 defensive snaps, Ekuale registered two sacks.

This will be the American Samoa native’s age-28 season. He is set to make $965K in base salary. This suspension stands to hurt Ekuale’s chances with the Patriots, though his practice squad performance last season obviously works in his favor ahead of his second year with the team.

 

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/25/22

Here are Tuesday’s reserve/futures deals:

Arizona Cardinals

  • P Nolan Cooney

Green Bay Packers

Miami Dolphins

  • DB D’Angelo Ross

New England Patriots 

Tennessee Titans

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/14/22

Here are Friday’s minor moves:

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Las Vegas Raiders

New England Patriots

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/8/22

Here are Saturday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

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 Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/1/22

The first minor moves of 2022:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texas

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

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

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/25-12/26/21

Here are the NFL moves from Christmas and today:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/18/21

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Patriots Activate LB Jamie Collins

The Patriots defense will be getting some reinforcement for tonight’s showdown with the Bills. The team has activated linebacker Jamie Collins off injured reserve, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss (via Twitter).

After beginning the season with the Lions, Collins made his way back to the Pats for a third stint. Collins played in five games since re-signing with the Pats, registering a sack and seven tackles in addition to an INT. The 32-year-old suffered an ankle injury in November that ultimately led to his placement on injured reserve. The linebacker returned to practice earlier this week.

Collins was mostly playing as a backup for New England when healthy; Collins played around 20 percent of his team’s defensive snaps in his five games. Barring an injury to one of his teammates, Collins will likely continue in that role for the rest of the season.

The Patriots also promoted two players in anticipation of tonight’s game: safety Sean Davis and defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale (per Reiss on Twitter). Ekuale has gotten into two games with the Patriots this season, compiling a sack. The former undrafted free agent has also seen time with the Browns and Jaguars. Davis, a former second-round pick, has spent time on both the Colts and Bengals active rosters this season. He’s started 42 of his 68 career games.