Dean Marlowe

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/30/23

Saturday’s gameday elevations and other minor moves ahead of tomorrow’s slate of Week 4 games:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

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 Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Walker’s elevation comes amidst a degree of uncertainty regarding Deshaun Watson‘s Sunday availability. The latter is dealing with a shoulder injury, but he has expressed confidence he will be able to suit up. In the event he is unable to play, though, Walker will provide insurance under center. NFL Network’s James Palmer reports Watson will be a game-time decision.

Chosen, formerly Robbie Anderson, made his Dolphins debut in Week 3, scoring a 68-yard touchdown on his only catch. His performance – along with other depth wideouts currently being sidelined for Miami – will give the 30-year-old a longer look with his new team.

Gore’s elevation will give him the chance to see regular season game action for the first time since 2021. The former UDFA recorded 361 scrimmage yards with the Chiefs that season, but a subsequent IR stint marked the end of his time in Kansas City. Gore has since spent time on the Saints’, and now Commanders’, taxi squads. Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post notes that fellow depth back Chris Rodriguez has bee ruled out with an illness, opening the door to Gore seeing limited snaps.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/23/23

Here are the various practice squad elevations and other minor moves from around the league:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

  • Signed to active roster: LB Sam Eguaveon
  • Elevated: OL Chris Glaser

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Chargers Rule Out RB Austin Ekeler For Week 2

It is now official that Chargers running back Austin Ekeler will miss his first game since 2020, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN, due to an ankle injury that has been bothering him since the team’s loss to the Dolphins last weekend. Schefter also reports that defenders Eric Kendricks and Chris Rumph have been ruled out for tomorrow’s matchup in Tennessee, as well.

The loss of Ekeler is obviously the most significant, but last week’s game showed that Los Angeles may be set up well for his absence. While Ekeler showed his usual dual-threat impressiveness, rushing for 117 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown while adding 47 yards on four receptions through the air, backup running back Joshua Kelley was nearly as productive.

Kelley matched Ekeler’s 16 rushing attempts, amassing a still impressive 91 yards as a result and also scoring a touchdown. While Kelley hasn’t necessarily shown a similar aptitude for receiving out of the backfield in his career, backup running back and undrafted rookie Elijah Dotson was known for his versatility during his time with the Bears of Northern Colorado. In his final year of college football, Dotson caught 48 balls for 300 yards and two touchdowns. If the Chargers don’t want to shoulder Kelley with receiving back duties, Dotson should be more than capable of stepping in.

Highlighting the loss of Ekeler is not meant to minimize at all the loss of Kendricks. Kendricks is half of the team’s starting inside linebacker duo alongside Kenneth Murray. In last week’s loss to the high-powered Miami offense, Kendricks was one of only four defenders who played every defensive snap, the others being safeties Derwin James and Alohi Gilman and cornerback Michael Davis.

The Chargers didn’t see much action from backup off-ball linebackers in Week 1 at all. They do have depth at that spot on the roster, though. The three healthy options on the active roster (Tanner Muse, Nick Niemann, and Amen Ogbongbemiga) are all primarily special teamers who have played on defense sparingly throughout their respective careers. Los Angeles did use a third-round pick this year to acquire former Washington State linebacker Daiyan Henley, but after failing to play in Week 1, Henley is listed as doubtful to make his NFL debut tomorrow.

As for Rumph, the third-year rotation edge rusher will have to wait at least one more week to make his season debut. The team will likely hope to be seeing the return of Ekeler and Kendricks by that time, as well, but for now, they’ll have to make do without two of their more talented starters. To help fill in this week, the Chargers promoted outside linebacker Brevin Allen and safety Dean Marlowe from the practice squad as standard gameday elevations.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 8/31/23

Today’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Signed: WR Kaden Davis, OL Marquis Hayes

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Bills Reduce Roster To 53 Players

The Bills have been busy today, releasing a pair of offensive linemen, trading defensive end Boogie Basham to the Giants, and shifting Von Miller to the reserve/PUP list. The team eventually finalized their roster, cutting down their squad to 53 players:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Dean Marlowe was traded to the Bills last November, and the safety began his second stint with the organization after spending three-plus seasons with the organization between 2017 and 2020. The veteran ended up starting a pair of playoff games for Buffalo, collecting seven tackles and an interception. The 31-year-old re-signed with the Bills back in May.

A.J. Klein was another former Bills player added midway through the 2022 season. It was a whirlwind season for the veteran LB. Klein was released by Buffalo in March, and he ended up spending time with the Giants, Ravens, and Bears before returning to the Bills in November. He collected 11 tackles in six games before putting up zeros in a pair of playoff games.

Bills Re-Sign S Dean Marlowe

The Bills’ safety retention effort continues. Dean Marlowe, who returned to Buffalo via trade at last year’s deadline, agreed to terms to stay. He signed a one-year deal Monday, according to the team.

Marlowe came back to the Bills just more than a month after Micah Hyde‘s season-ending injury and became a starter following Damar Hamlin‘s terrifying January injury. The Bills are running it back with Hyde, the recently re-signed Jordan Poyer, Hamlin and Marlowe in 2023.

Initially signed during Brandon Beane‘s first free agency period as GM, in 2018, Marlowe spent three years in Buffalo. He left for a Detroit free agency deal in 2021 and signed with Atlanta last year. But the Falcons traded Marlowe back to the Bills on deadline day, when the AFC East champions also acquired Nyheim Hines.

Marlowe, 30, played one defensive snap during his first two months back in Buffalo. But the Bills needed him following Hamlin’s cardiac arrest scene. The Bills turned to Marlowe as a full-time starter against the Patriots in Week 18 and in both their playoff contests. Marlowe intercepted a pass in Buffalo’s narrow wild-card win over Miami.

The Bills have employed their Hyde-Poyer safety tandem for six seasons now, and Poyer’s two-year, $12.5MM deal will bring a seventh season of this pair working together. Marlowe served as a top backup for the Bills from 2018-20, starting seven games during that span. Hamlin’s progress will obviously be worth monitoring as the season approaches, but the inspirational defender has received full clearance. If Hamlin indeed returns to game action as expected, he is expected to be the Bills’ top safety reserve — as he was last season. Marlowe, however, provides additional depth for an injury-plagued unit and a seasoned special teams presence. Marlowe saw action on 75% of the Falcons’ ST snaps before being traded.

Although the Bills let Tremaine Edmunds walk in free agency — via a Bears pact for top-five off-ball linebacker money — they have brought back several pieces on defense this offseason. Poyer, Marlowe, Jordan Phillips and Shaq Lawson signed deals to stay in Western New York. The Bills ranked second in points allowed last season.

Bills To Acquire Dean Marlowe From Falcons

The Bills’ Nyheim Hines trade was not their only buzzer-beating move ahead of Tuesday’s deadline. Prior to the since-passed endpoint for NFL 2022 trading, the Bills acquired a familiar name to bolster their safety position.

They are trading for Falcons safety Dean Marlowe, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). The Bills are sending the Falcons a seventh-round pick for Marlowe, a New York native who spent three seasons with the Bills.

Marlowe, 30, played in Buffalo from 2018-20 but has been with the Lions and Falcons over the past two seasons. With Micah Hyde out for the season and Jordan Poyer suffering an injury in Week 8, the Bills will reunite with a player that should not have much trouble moving back into Sean McDermott‘s scheme.

Previously serving as a reserve behind Buffalo’s top-tier Hyde-Poyer tandem, Marlowe played in 26 games with McDermott’s team and started seven. Marlowe, who caught on with the Bills via a practice squad agreement in December 2017, returns to Buffalo as a higher-profile player capable of fortifying the team’s uncertain safety spot. He has 17 career starts during his NFL career, which began when he spent his rookie season as a Panthers reserve on their Super Bowl-bound 2015 squad.

It is not known how much time, if any, Poyer will miss. The veteran safety said he felt a pop in his elbow during the Bills’ win over the Packers on Sunday night. Poyer went through an MRI on Monday. If the Bills were forced to play without Poyer and Hyde, it would represent new territory for a team that has extracted considerable value since pairing the veterans in 2017. The Bills have used 2021 sixth-rounder Damar Hamlin as Hyde’s primary replacement, with fourth-year man Jaquan Johnson mixing in. Marlowe and Johnson represent the team’s top insurance options against a Poyer absence.

In the minutes before the deadline, the Falcons both received and sent out seventh-round picks. They traded a seventh for Chiefs cornerback Rashad Fenton, having seen injuries alter their corner situation, and recouped that value via Marlowe minutes later. Young talent Richie Grant and Jaylinn Hawkins are Atlanta’s starting safeties; Marlowe and Erik Harris served as depth pieces for the NFC South-leading team.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/1/22

Teams continue to tinker with their rosters after hundreds of players were cut earlier this week. We’ve tracked all of today’s minor moves below:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

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

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC South

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 BuccaneersFalcons, Panthers and Saints moves are noted below.

Here are Wednesday’s NFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Atlanta Falcons

Claimed:

Released:

Signed to practice squad:

Carolina Panthers

Signed to practice squad:

New Orleans Saints

Claimed:

  • T Tanner Owen (from Bills)

Released:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Signed to practice squad:

Falcons Sign S Dean Marlowe

The Falcons have added another veteran to their secondary. The team announced on Thursday that they have signed safety Dean Marlowe on a one-year deal. 

The 29-year-old has spent six seasons in the NFL to date. He was in Carolina for two years after joining the team as a UDFA. It was after he followed many other ex-Panthers to Buffalo, however, that he took on a significant defensive role. His most productive campaign in Western New York came in 2020, where he totalled 22 tackles, 1.5 sacks and his only two career interceptions.

That led to a one-year pact in Detroit last offseason. In his lone season in the Motor City, Marlowe made a career-high nine starts and 16 total appearances. 2021 marked the only time he played over half of a team’s defensive snaps, staying on the field for 70% of Detroit’s plays. He made 67 tackles and registered two pass deflections.

In Atlanta, Marlowe will join a secondary which has already added Casey Hayward. The team’s pass defense was the strongest element of that unit, ranking 18th in the league last season. The James Madison alum will join a safety group already featuring Erik Harris, but also recent draftees Jaylinn Hawkins and Richie Grant. His special teams experience should at least make him a third phase contributor, though he has shown an ability to be a role player on defense as well.