Hercules Mata’afa

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/22/21

Today’s taxi squad moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Cleveland Browns

  • Activated from COVID-19 list: WR JoJo Natson

Cincinnati Bengals

Detroit Lions

  • Placed on COVID-19 list: CB Chris Williamson

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Washington Football Team

  • Released: DE Hercules Mata’afa

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/14/21

Today’s taxi squad moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Green Bay Packers

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Football Team

  • Signed: DT Hercules Mata’afa

Vikings Cut Everson Griffen, Get Down To 53

Everson Griffen‘s reunion with the Vikings has already come to an end. The veteran defensive end was among the team’s cuts today.

Griffen spent his entire career with the Vikings up until 2020. Splitting time between the Cowboys and Lions, Griffen finished out with six sacks in total. Meanwhile, no Vikings edge rusher finished with more than five. His ten-year run with the Vikes saw four Pro Bowl appearances and 74.5 total sacks.

Running back Ameer Abdullah was among the other players to earn their walking papers today. The veteran spent the past two-plus seasons with the Vikings, collecting 313 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns on 55 carries.

The Vikings made the following moves to get down to 53 players:

Released

Waived

Waived/Injured

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/6/20

Here are Friday’s minor moves:

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

San Francisco 49ers

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/31/20

Here is the league’s avalanche of Halloween minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Jacksonville Jaguars

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

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/13/20

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves. While the Titans are moving some players off their reserve/COVID-19 list, other teams have placed players on their respective coronavirus lists.

Atlanta Falcons

  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: DT Marlon Davidson; the rookie defensive lineman tested positive for the coronavirus, Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com tweets.
  • Promoted: CB Tyler Hall

Buffalo Bills

  • Promoted: CB Dane Jackson, LB Andre Smith

Dallas Cowboys

  • Signed off Browns’ practice squad: QB Garrett Gilbert 

Green Bay Packers

  • Placed on IR: TE Josiah Deguara, C Jake Hanson

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: FB Anthony Sherman; the 10th-year veteran did not test positive for the coronavirus, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter).

Los Angeles Rams

  • Promoted: S JuJu Hughes
  • Placed on IR: S Jordan Fuller

Minnesota Vikings

  • Waived: Hercules Mata’afa

New York Jets

  • Promoted: CB Lamar Jackson

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Waived: DB Grayland Arnold, DE Casey Toohill

San Francisco 49ers

  • Claimed off waivers from Buccaneers: CB Parnell Motley

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Promoted: CB Ross Cockrell, LB Chapelle Russell

Tennessee Titans

  • Activated off reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Kamalei Correa, CB Kristian Fulton
  • Promoted: LB Darren Bates, WR Cody Hollister, CB Kareem Orr, OL David Quessenberry

North Rumors: Steelers, Vikings, Browns

Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier will not play in 2018 after suffering a devastating spinal injury in 2017, but he today reiterated his desire to resume his career at some point, per Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). Meeting with the media for the first time since his injury, Shazier took an optimistic tone, but it’s unclear if he’ll ever realistically have the chance to step on the field as a player again. Pittsburgh has already placed him on the physically unable to perform list, meaning he’s now ineligible to play during the upcoming campaign. In something of a goodwill gesture, the Steelers also converted the majority of Shazier’s 2018 base salary into a signing bonus, allowing the former first-round pick to collect his entire paycheck immediately.

Here’s more from the NFL’s two North divisions:

  • The Vikings have lost undrafted free agent edge rusher Hercules Mata’afa for the season after he suffered a torn ACL today, reports Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.com (Twitter link). While he ultimately wasn’t selected in the draft, Mata’afa was labeled as a potential fifth-rounder by Lance Zierlein of NFL.com, who lauded Mata’afa’s toughness and motor. Mata’afa, a Washington State product, would have had to make the Minnesota roster on special teams, but he’ll now have to wait until his second NFL season for another opportunity. He’ll be waived/injured and removed from the Vikings’ active roster, and then placed on injured reserve if he’s not claimed.
  • Mychal Kendricksone-year, $3.5MM deal with the Browns contains a $500K signing bonus and a $1.4MM base salary, tweets Field Yates of ESPN.com. As such, it appears Kendricks is due either a roster bonus or a significant total in per-game roster bonuses. Either way, his new pact doesn’t appear to guarantee him a roster spot in Cleveland, especially given the Browns’ depth at the position. Cleveland believes Kendricks can play all three linebacker positions, but the club already boasts Jamie Collins, Christian Kirksey, and Joe Schobert at the second level, meaning snaps could be sparse for Kendricks.
  • The NFL announced it has fined the Ravens and head coach John Harbaugh, and docked the club its final two organized team activity sessions, following a “violation of offseason workout rules.” While the infraction is unclear, it’s possible — based both on Baltimore’s history and the club’s statement — that players were either asked to hit or practice for too long a duration, violating the collective bargaining agreement.

Vikings Sign 17 Undrafted Free Agents

The Vikings have agreed to terms with 17 undrafted free agents. Here’s the complete rundown:

Hill received $75K guaranteed in the form of a $15K signing bonus and $60K in base salary, which is the most money received by UDFA since Mike Zimmer became the team’s head coach in 2014, writes Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune.

Robertson received $50K guaranteed with his deal, Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press tweets. The wide receiver caught 76 passes for 1,106 yards for Southern Mississippi last season.

Wieneke, a native of Maple Grove, Minnesota, said this week that he is ecstatic about the opportunity to play for the Vikings.

It’s the best feeling in the world,’’ said Wieneke (via Tomasson). “I get to stay with the team I grew up loving and I get to stay in Minnesota. It can’t be anything better than this.’’

Dooley received $41K in guaranteed money with an $11K signing bonus and $30K in base salary.

Hill may be the most intriguing prospect of the bunch. The cornerback was suspended by Texas for the last month of the season for reasons that are still unknown. In terms of talent, he was regarded as a draftable player.

Meanwhile, running backs Thomas and Boone and fullback/running back Pettway have a reach chance at making the roster after the Vikings declined to select a running back over the weekend. After the departure of Jerick McKinnon, there are no other running backs to support Dalvin Cook and Latavius Murray.