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NFL Workouts: Dolphins, Lions, Kindley

October 3rd, 2022 at 8:53pm CST by Ely Allen

In light of the recent injuries to starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and the prospect that he could miss some time, the Dolphins worked out three quarterbacks today, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network. Ben DiNucci, Jake Fromm, and Reid Sinnett all auditioned in Miami for the depth spot.

DiNucci has some experience helping out in a tough spot from his time with the Cowboys two years ago when both starting quarterback Dak Prescott and backup Andy Dalton were injured. He got one opportunity to start against the Eagles before being benched for the winner of a Cooper Rush–Garrett Gilbert battle.

Fromm has had a bit of trouble finding the success he enjoyed in college at the NFL-level. Since being drafted in 2020, Fromm has served as a backup for the Bills and Giants. He got two starts while with the Giants that delivered uninspiring returns.

Sinnett has no regular season in-game experience, but he has spent time previously with the Dolphins. Miami ended going with familiarity, signing Sinnett to their practice squad. This is all a practice in contingencies as the Dolphins can still rely on backup quarterbacks Teddy Bridgewater and Skylar Thompson.

Here are a few other workout notes from across the NFL, starting with a bunch of kickers:

  • The Lions are dealing with a combination of injuries and struggles at kicker. Austin Seibert is dealing with a right groin injury and the kicker brought in to replace him, Dominik Eberle, missed two extra points last weekend. Detroit brought in Lirim Hajrullahu for a tryout today, according to Wilson.
  • The Giants brought in offensive lineman Solomon Kindley for a visit today, according to Wilson. Kindley started much of his rookie season at right guard for the Dolphins, who drafted him in the fourth round in 2020. His workload decreased in Year 2 down to only two starts before he was eventually waived just prior to the 2022 regular season. New York is likely reaching out due to injuries that seventh-overall pick Evan Neal is dealing with. Kindley doesn’t have much experience at tackle, but he can provide the offensive line with a little more depth that can allow for some flexibility.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/3/22

October 3rd, 2022 at 7:16pm CST by Ely Allen

Here’s today’s minor moves from around the league, including a couple practice squad elevations for tonight’s NFC West matchup:

Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Los Angeles Rams

San Francisco 49ers

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/1/22

October 1st, 2022 at 7:20pm CST by Adam La Rose

Today’s minor moves around the league, including practice squad elevations for tomorrow’s action:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

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

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Lions RB D’Andre Swift, WR Amon-Ra St. Brown Ruled Out For Sunday

September 30th, 2022 at 8:38pm CST by Ely Allen

The Lions offense continues to get bitten by injuries as two key offensive players were officially ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Seahawks, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The team will attempt to catch up to the rest of the NFC North without running back D’Andre Swift and second-year wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. 

Swift started off the season with a bang. During the team’s season-opening loss to the Eagles, Swift carried the ball 15 times for 144 yards and a touchdown. Since then, some different ailments seem to have slowed Swift down as he’s only had 12 carries for 87 yards in the past two weeks while playing less than half of the team’s offensive snaps during that time frame. Head coach Dan Campbell has suggested that Swift could be out through the team’s bye week, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Swift would only miss the Lions’ next two games in that scenario.

Luckily for Detroit, they roster one of the league’s more experienced backup running backs in Jamaal Williams. In the past two games which saw a lower usage of Swift, Williams had 32 carries for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Those numbers are also while playing fewer than half of the team’s offensive snaps. With Swift out, Williams should have an opportunity to really take the running game over.

Many called for a breakout sophomore season for St. Brown and, so far, he has delivered. After the first three weeks of the season, St. Brown leads the team in receiving yards with 253. He also ranks in the top-ten of league receivers in receptions (6th with 23), receiving touchdowns (2nd with 3), and receiving yards per game (10th with 84.3). St. Brown has been a dominant favorite target for quarterback Jared Goff and his absence should be a cause for concern.

His absence is even more of a concern since his fellow starting receivers, DJ Chark and Josh Reynolds, were both limited in practice this week with ankle injuries. Both Chark and Reynolds are listed as questionable going into the weekend. With St. Brown out and rookie first-round pick Jameson Williams still awaiting his rookie debut while recovering from a torn ACL, losing Chark and Reynolds would leave Detroit with only Kalif Raymond and Quintez Cephus as healthy pass-catchers. In the unlikely event that Raymond and Cephus are the only two healthy receivers for Week 4, the Lions will likely be forced to use their two practice squad call-ups on any of Tom Kennedy, former USFL-star Maurice Alexander, and undrafted rookie Josh Johnson.

Regardless, of the availability of Chark and Reynolds, the losses of Swift and St. Brown are daunting. The two-game stretch that Detroit could be without Swift consists of two opponents with identical 1-2 records. It’s hard to say that those win-loss totals mean much this early in the season, but the Lions will certainly hope that this is a softer section of their schedule where they’ll potentially be without their lead rusher and receiver.

Lions' Williams On Track For Nov. Return?

September 30th, 2022 at 4:48pm CST by Sam Robinson
  • The Lions are being patient with Jameson Williams, who is recovering from an ACL tear sustained during the national championship game. Williams is on Detroit’s reserve/NFI list, and while the first-round wideout could return in Week 5, he will not. The Alabama product is likelier to be back in early November, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press posits. Williams recently posted a video of him running and cutting. A second-half return has always been rumored for Williams, whom the Lions traded up 20 spots to draft. But no setbacks having occurred here obviously represents a good sign for the rebuilding franchise.

2022 NFL Cap Space, By Team

September 30th, 2022 at 1:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

As we exit September, trade rumors will become a steady NFL topic. This year’s deadline falls on Nov. 1. That will return cap-space discussions to the forefront. Here is how every team stacks up financially going into October, via Over The Cap.

  1. Cleveland Browns: $35.94MM
  2. Philadelphia Eagles: $10.89MM
  3. Denver Broncos: $10.67MM
  4. Carolina Panthers: $10.47MM
  5. Las Vegas Raiders: $10.35MM
  6. Dallas Cowboys: $9.25MM
  7. Pittsburgh Steelers: $8.64MM
  8. Green Bay Packers: $8.57MM
  9. Indianapolis Colts: $7.97MM
  10. Atlanta Falcons: $7.92MM
  11. New York Jets: $6.97MM
  12. Chicago Bears: $6.84MM
  13. San Francisco 49ers: $6.75MM
  14. Miami Dolphins: $6.51MM
  15. Arizona Cardinals: $6.25MM
  16. Los Angeles Chargers: $5.83MM
  17. New York Giants: $5.49MM
  18. Jacksonville Jaguars: $5.41MM
  19. Los Angeles Rams: $5.38MM
  20. Baltimore Ravens: $4.51MM
  21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $3.87MM
  22. New England Patriots: $3.5MM
  23. Cincinnati Bengals: $3.16MM
  24. New Orleans Saints: $2.86MM
  25. Detroit Lions: $2.64MM
  26. Washington Commanders: $2.58MM
  27. Buffalo Bills: $2.44MM
  28. Tennessee Titans: $2.41MM
  29. Seattle Seahawks: $2.28MM
  30. Kansas City Chiefs: $2.12MM
  31. Houston Texans: $1.64MM
  32. Minnesota Vikings: $1.47MM

The Eagles’ number is certainly far closer to the Vikings’ last-place figure than what the Browns have stockpiled. Cleveland would stand to have room to augment its 2022 roster, via a patient free agent or a trade. That could depend on where Jacoby Brissett has the team stationed going into the Nov. 1 deadline. But the Browns also appear to be preparing for their Deshaun Watson future. Watson’s unprecedented contract spikes from a $9.4MM cap number (2022) to a record-shattering $54.99MM numbers from 2023-26. As that reality awaits, the Browns rolling over cap space to 2023 would be prudent.

With Sterling Shepard‘s ACL tear moving the veteran wide receiver to IR, the Giants will need to both cover that cost ($6.3MM) and add a contract to fill the roster spot. Every team will go through versions of that issue this season, as injuries pile up. The Giants are prepared to eat a significant chunk of Kenny Golladay‘s 2022 base salary ($13MM) to move him, eyeing an escape from his $4.5MM 2023 guarantee. No takers have emerged, though it will be interesting to see if a market for the former Pro Bowler forms once injuries affect more teams’ receiver situations.

Since their Jimmy Garoppolo restructure, the 49ers agreed to a two-year extension with Dre Greenlaw. The team is not expected to extend Nick Bosa until 2023, however. The Texans, Falcons, Bears and Eagles all sit north of $60MM in dead money, meaning more than a quarter of their respective cap space is tied to players no longer on the roster. Watson, Matt Ryan and Khalil Mack are responsible for massive dead-money hits on the Houston, Atlanta and Chicago payrolls. Philadelphia still has Alshon Jeffery, Malik Jackson and Brandon Brooks dead money on its cap sheet.

Lions G Jonah Jackson Bypasses Surgery, Aims To Return Soon

September 29th, 2022 at 2:07pm CST by Sam Robinson

Jonah Jackson has not played since the Lions’ Week 1 Eagles matchup. The Pro Bowl guard played every Detroit offensive snap in that game, but a finger injury sustained in practice days later has kept him sidelined since.

Rather than go through with a surgery that would have led to an IR stay, Jackson is attempting to rehab this issue — a bone and ligament malady in his right ring finger — in order to return quicker, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press notes. The third-year blocker is aiming to return before the Lions’ Week 6 bye; he is not expected to play against the Seahawks this week. Jackson cannot currently bend the injured finger, per Birkett, who adds this issue is supposed to require a splint for six weeks.

[RELATED: D’Andre Swift Likely To Miss Time]

A Pro Bowl alternate in 2021, Jackson has become a quick study in Detroit. The Lions’ previous regime selected him in Round 3 out of Ohio State (after four years at Rutgers), and the Big Ten-developed lineman did not miss a start for the Lions over his first two seasons. His absence this year has further wounded a Lions line missing multiple bodies.

Lions backups have been needed at both guard spots this season. Right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai underwent back surgery and is going through a lengthy recovery timetable; he has not played this season. Center Frank Ragnow, after a toe injury forced him to miss most of last season, missed Week 2 with turf toe. Backup guard Tommy Kraemer is on IR. Detroit’s starting O-line has not played a snap together this season, and Week 1 marked the only time four of the Lions’ front five have appeared in the same game.

Taylor Decker missed eight games last season with an injury to his left index finger, the longtime Detroit left tackle did undergo surgery, however. Jackson has resumed work on a side field but has not logged an official practice since sustaining the injury. Ragnow missed the Lions’ Wednesday practice with the toe injury but played through that ailment last week. Their interior issues notwithstanding, the Lions will enter Week 4 with both tackles (Decker and Penei Sewell) available.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/27/22

September 27th, 2022 at 8:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Detroit Lions

Los Angeles Chargers

New York Giants

New York Jets

Although Ogbuehi is a former first-round pick, he has started five games since the 2018 season. He landed on Houston’s practice squad IR list earlier this month but will be part of the Jets’ scramble to reassemble their tackle depth chart after George Fant‘s IR trip. Ogbuehi’s Bengals audition seasons came back in 2016 and ’17; the Seahawks used him as a fill-in starter in four 2020 games. Ogbuehi, 30, joins Mike Remmers as Jets tackle additions this week.

The Ravens were interested in adding Luketa off the Cardinals’ practice squad, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com tweets. That looks to have prompted the Cards’ decision to move him up to their 53-man roster. The Cards drafted Luketa in this year’s seventh round (256th overall) out of Penn State.

Tennessee’s outside linebacker shuffle included waiving Tuszka, who is now with his third team this year. A former Broncos seventh-round pick, Tuszka spent the offseason with the Steelers. He will move to a Chargers team that has Joey Bosa likely to miss games after suffering what Brandon Staley called a serious groin injury.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/27/22

September 27th, 2022 at 8:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s practice squad additions and subtractions:

Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

  • Signed: CB Ryan Smith
  • Released: LB Forrest Rhyne

Jacksonville Jaguars

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Carter spent last season as a full-time Panthers starting linebacker, but after signing a one-year deal with the Chiefs, the vested veteran could not make his new team’s 53-man roster. The former fifth-round pick has 30 career starts. The Browns just lost linebacker starter Anthony Walker for the season.

An NFLer since 2017, Hollister signed with the Raiders this offseason. But the team released him from IR via settlement earlier this month. Hollister, who caught six touchdown passes with the Seahawks from 2019-20, spent last season with the Jaguars.

Smith, 29, spent five years with the Buccaneers, ending that run as a backup cornerback and special-teamer for Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl LV-winning team. A starter for the 2017 and ’18 Bucs, Smith played in four Chargers games last season.

Lions RB D’Andre Swift Likely To Miss Time

September 26th, 2022 at 3:37pm CST by Adam La Rose

D’Andre Swift has battled an ankle injury throughout the young season, but a new ailment could keep him sidelined. The Lions’ top running back suffered a shoulder sprain during yesterday’s game, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link). 

[RELATED: Lions S Walker Out For Season With Achilles Tear]

Head coach Dan Campbell indicated that the team may proceed with caution with Swift, resting him for the team’s next two games (Twitter link via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press). Detroit’s bye is in Week 6, so that timetable would seemingly give him ample time to recover. It would, however, represent another instance of availability problems for the 23-year-old.

Swift missed three games as a rookie, then four last season. Of note is the fact that the latter absence was caused by a shoulder injury, though this latest one is considered unrelated. When he has been on the field, the former second-rounder has showcased his dual-threat ability and established himself as Detroit’s top running back. With over 1,000 scrimmage yards in 2021, expectations were high for another productive campaign this year.

Things started well for the Georgia product. Swift has averaged an absurd 8.6 yards per carry in the limited opportunities he has had so far (231 yards on 27 carries), adding eight catches for 77 yards and a touchdown. The lingering ankle issues have led to a reduced workload, with veteran Jamaal Williams seeing significant snaps in his place.

Assuming Swift is shut down until Week 7, Williams will be in line for even more carries than they 43 he has already logged this year – which have resulted in a league-leading four rushing touchdowns. Behind him, the Lions have free agent signing Justin Jackson and journeyman Craig Reynolds available as depth. With a healthy pass-catching corps (save for first-round rookie Jameson Williams), Detroit may need to rely more on their air attack for the next few weeks.

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