Minor NFL Transactions: 9/11/21
With Week 1 games on tap for 28 teams Sunday, here is Saturday’s extensive batch of minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Placed on IR: LB Dennis Gardeck
- Promoted: LB Kylie Fitts, CB Antonio Hamilton
Cleveland Browns
- Promoted: LB Elijah Lee, K Chris Naggar
Denver Broncos
- Promoted: RB Damarea Crockett, CB Nate Hairston
Detroit Lions
- Promoted: T Will Holden, G Tommy Kraemer
Houston Texans
- Promoted: TE Antony Auclair
Indianapolis Colts
- Promoted: S Sean Davis, C Joey Hunt
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Promoted: DB Brandon Rusnak, WR Devin Smith
Los Angeles Rams
- Promoted: DB Tyler Hall, LB Justin Lawler
Miami Dolphins
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: T Austin Jackson; Jackson is the first player to test positive for COVID-19 and be activated the same week, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets, with the second-year offensive lineman’s vaccinated status allowing him to return five days after landing on Miami’s coronavirus list
New Orleans Saints
- Waived: T Caleb Benenoch
New York Giants
- Promoted: WR C.J. Board
New York Jets
- Placed on IR: S Sharrod Neasman
- Promoted: S Adrian Colbert, LB Del’Shawn Phillips
San Francisco 49ers
- Released from IR via injury settlement: T Shon Coleman
Seattle Seahawks
- Promoted: LB Jon Rhattigan
Washington Football Team
- Promoted: LB Jared Norris
Contract Details: Smith, Amendola, Trufant
Here are the latest details on some of the notable contracts recently signed around the NFL:
- Harrison Smith, S (Vikings): Four years, $64MM. The deal includes $14.2MM fully guaranteed, but Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com notes $26.4MM will be guaranteed by March 22 (Twitter link). Smith’s 2021 cap hit only comes in at $6.99MM. However, the veteran safety’s salary spikes from $2.95MM in 2022 to $14.7MM in 2023. His 2024 and ’25 base salaries ($14.45MM, $17MM) are not guaranteed.
- Danny Amendola, WR (Texans): One year, $2.5MM. Deal includes a $1.25MM base salary and a $250K signing bonus, Sports Talk 790’s Aaron Wilson tweets. Amendola’s pact features $300K in per-game roster bonuses, with an additional $700K available through incentives.
- Desmond Trufant, CB (Saints): One year, $1.075MM, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.football tweets. Trufant’s deal qualifies for the minimum-salary benefit, putting his cap hit at just $850K.
Texans To Promote K Joey Slye From Practice Squad
Joey Slye is the Texans starting kicker … at least for the time being. The team will elevate the kicker from their practice squad today, reports Aaron Wilson (via Twitter).
Slye joined Houston’s practice squad earlier this week, and today’s move seemed all but inevitable when starting kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn landed on injured reserve. Per Wilson, Slye secured his spot as the Week 1 starter following a good week at practice, and the 25-year-old established a good rapport with long snapper Jon Weeks and holder Cameron Johnston.
Slye succeeded Graham Gano as the Panthers starting kicker in 2019, and he kept the gig through the 2020 season. The kicker improved a bit during his second full season, connecting on 29 of his 36 field goal attempts and 33 of his 36 extra point tries. After Carolina added Gano’s Giants camp competitor (Ryan Santoso) via trade, Slye landed on the waiver wire in late August and went unclaimed.
While Slye will temporarily hold the starting gig, he doesn’t have a firm grasp on the job. The organization signed Fairbairn to a four-year extension in 2020, and he’ll likely reclaim his gig once he recovers from a pulled muscle. The team also recently worked out ex-Chargers kicker Michael Badgley, so they have at least one backup plan if Slye struggles while Fairbairn is sidelined.
Texans Audition Dre Kirkpatrick
The Texans will work out cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick today (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). If signed, Kirkpatrick will help to fortify Houston’s secondary following the Bradley Roby trade. 
[RELATED: Texans Trade Bradley Roby To Saints]
Kirkpatrick was a longtime Bengals starter but he has yet to find work this year. He spent 2020 with the Cardinals, appearing in 14 games with eleven starts. He finished out with 56 tackles, seven passes defended, three interceptions, and a much softer market than anticipated. He’s since worked out for the Niners, Saints, and Patriots, but left all of those visits without a deal.
Now 31, Kirkpatrick has totaled 358 tackles, three sacks, 72 passes defensed, and 13 interceptions across nine NFL seasons. The Texans could certainly use his help and it stands to reason that the Buccaneers could also give him a call. On Thursday, the Bucs watched starter Sean Murphy-Bunting suffer a gruesome elbow injury that will sideline him for a good chunk of the year.
Texans Trade Bradley Roby To Saints
The Texans are trading cornerback Bradley Roby to the Saints (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The Texans will receive a 2022 third-round pick and a conditional 2023 choice in the swap (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). Meanwhile, as reported on Thursday morning, the Texans will cover $7MM of Roby’s salary this season while the Saints pay the remaining ~$1.8MM.
Roby was hit with a six-game suspension in December for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs. He’s already served five of those games, so he’ll be eligible to play for the Saints in Week 2 when they take on the Panthers.
In ten games (all starts), Roby notched 37 tackles, one interception, a fumble recovery, and seven passes defended. Even though he was briefly deactivated in November, the veteran stood as the Texans’ best corner.
Now, the 29-year-old will jump into a Saints secondary that badly needs reinforcements. Between Roby and newcomer Desmond Trufant, the Saints are in a much better position that they were just last week. Together, they’ll team up with Marshon Lattimore, Ken Crawley, and Paulson Adebo. Meanwhile, free safety P.J. Williams should be able to stick to his natural position.
The Saints will assume the rest of Roby’s three-year, $31.5MM deal, keeping him under club control through 2022. The Texans, meanwhile, will move forward with Terrance Mitchell and Desmond King II as their top corners.
Reworked Deal For Saints’ Bradley Roby
On Wednesday, the Texans shipped cornerback Bradley Roby to the Saints. In order to facilitate the trade, the Texans first converted ~$7.6MM of his base salary into a signing bonus (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com).
Now, Roby will have a base salary of $1.86MM, down from his scheduled $9.5MM. In essence, the Texans are absorbing a larger dead money hit so that the Saints can fit his contract under the salary cap. That likely means a better haul of draft picks for the Texans, though the exact return in the trade is not yet known.
Roby won’t be with the Saints for their season opener against the Packers on Sunday, since he’s still serving the final week of his six-game ban. But, after that, he’ll be good to go for September 19, when they travel to Carolina to face the Panthers.
Roby, 29, recorded 37 tackles, one interception, a fumble recovery, and seven passes defended in 2020. In a trying year for the Texans, he stood as Houston’s best cornerback. Now, he’ll join fellow newcomer Desmond Trufant to help New Orleans’ ailing secondary. The veterans will team up with Marshon Lattimore, Ken Crawley, and Paulson Adebo, though Lattimore could face a suspension of his own before the season is through.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/8/21
Here are Wednesday’s practice squad moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: DT Reginald McKenzie
- Released: S Jordan Richards
Houston Texans
- Released: LB Hardy Nickerson
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: LB Nate Gerry
- Released: OL Corbin Kaufusi
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: TE DeShon Williams
Texans Place K Ka’imi Fairbairn On IR
The Texans’ Joey Slye insurance addition will end up being necessary immediately. Ka’imi Fairbairn will land on IR to start the season, Sports Talk 790’s Aaron Wilson tweets.
A pulled groin will sideline Fairbairn for at least three weeks, putting Slye in position to begin the season as Houston’s kicker. The Texans worked out the former Panthers specialist Tuesday and signed him to their practice squad.
These will be Fairbairn’s first missed games since he began his Texans tenure in 2017. The Hawaii alum has been one of the NFL’s better kickers over the past four seasons, and his performance led Houston to greenlight an extension in 2020. Fairbairn, 27, has made at least 80% of his field goal tries in each of his four NFL seasons. Fairbairn, who is set to earn a $3.45MM base salary this season, is signed through 2023.
Slye cleared the 80% barrier as a rookie, barley, and would have done so last season. But the Panthers trotted him out for 65- and 67-yard attempts during games against the Saints and Chiefs, respectively. Carolina cut Slye last month, turning to trade acquisition Ryan Santoso. But Slye will land on his feet to start the season.
Texans GM: “Wouldn’t Expect” Deshaun Watson On Sunday
The Texans will start Tyrod Taylor under center for Sunday’s season opener against the Jaguars. With that in mind, GM Nick Caserio tells Sports Radio 610 that he “wouldn’t expect” embattled star Deshaun Watson to take the field in Week 1 (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). 
There’s no secret that the Texans would like to move on from Watson altogether, For his part, the quarterback also wants out. However, Caserio is unwilling to take pennies on the dollar for the talented quarterback. Before the allegations, the Texans received offers including three first-round picks. Now, there are still offers with picks on the table, but clubs want those picks to be conditional based on Watson’s availability to play. For now, the Texans aren’t willing to accept such contingencies.
Watson would reportedly prefer a trade to the Dolphins but would not veto a deal that sends him to the Panthers. For now, he’s getting neither, and it’s not clear if the Dolphins have much interest in him. Owner Stephen Ross may want Watson in Miami, but other reports say that he is unwilling to impose his will on the front office. Meanwhile, head coach Brian Flores has backed Tua Tagovailoa as his starter.
That all leaves Watson on the bench behind both Taylor and rookie Davis Mills. Unless something changes, the Texans will pay Watson $10.54MM to ride the pine this year.
Texans To Sign WR Danny Amendola
Danny Amendola has found his next gig. After working out for the Texans earlier today, the veteran wideout is signing with the organization, reports NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter). It’s a one-year deal worth $2.5MM.
The move is a bit of a homecoming for the 35-year-old; Amendola grew up in The Woodlands and went to college at Texas Tech. The move also reunited the receiver with general manager Nick Caserio, who was a former executive in New England. Thanks to the New England connection, the Texans are also rostering former ex-Patriots like Rex Burkhead and Marcus Cannon.
Following the departures of Will Fuller, Randall Cobb, and Keke Coutee, Brandin Cooks is the only holdover from last season’s receivers corps. The Texans added Chris Conley and return man Andre Roberts in free agency, traded for Anthony Miller, and drafted Nico Collins in Round 3, and Amendola will be competing with that grouping for reps.
Following a five-year stint with the Patriots that saw him earn a pair of Super Bowl rings, Amendola spent the 2018 season with the Dolphins before spending the past two campaigns with the Lions. The wideout had two solid seasons in Detroit, finishing with 108 receptions for 1,280 yards in 29 games (15 starts).