IR/Return Decisions: Panthers, Searcy, Cowboys, Jaguars
With the 2018 campaign nearly in the books, NFL clubs are making their final decisions on players to return (or not return) from injured reserve. Each team is allowed to bring two players back from IR, but said players must have been retained on their respective club’s initial 53-man roster. Once an IR player returns to practice, his club will have three weeks to decide whether to activate him to their 53-man roster; if he’s not activated, the player will remain on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.
Here’s the latest on IR/return players:
- The Panthers have opted not to activate safety Da’Norris Searcy from injured reserve, tweets veteran reporter Howard Balzer. Searcy was designated to return three weeks ago, but once that 21-day window expired without him having been placed on Carolina’s 53-man roster, Searcy was done for the year. It’s entirely possible the Panthers would have activated Searcy if they were anywhere near playoff contention, but most postseason models give Carolina less than a one percent chance of securing a playoff berth, so the club probably didn’t feel the need to risk Searcy’s health. It’s doing the same thing with quarterback Cam Newton, shutting down the veteran signal-caller with two games to go. Searcy inked a two-year deal with the Panthers this offseason, but Carolina would incur just $650K in dead cap by cutting him.
- The Cowboys have designated cornerback C.J. Goodwin to return from injured reserve, according to Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). If he is activated, Goodwin isn’t likely to play a major role on a Dallas defense that ranks as a top-10 unit in DVOA. The Cowboys already have three locked-in nickel package starters in Byron Jones, Chidobe Awuzie, and Anthony Brown, but Goodwin could offer depth and play on special teams, joining fellow reserve defensive back Jourdan Lewis in that regard. Goodwin has only played 188 total defensive snaps over his four-year pro career, but he’s never posted a season in which he played fewer than 45% of his club’s special teams snaps.
- The Jaguars have designated linebacker Donald Payne to return from injured reserve, per Balzer (Twitter link). Payne is a pure special-teamer (he’s played just three defensive snaps since joining Jacksonville in 2017), as the Jaguars deploy Telvin Smith and Myles Jack as their starting linebackers. On the year, the Jaguars rank third in special teams DVOA, per Football Outsiders.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/18/18
We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: CB Jonathan Moxey
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: S Chris Cooper
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: OL Kyle Friend
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: DL Eric Cotton, CB D.J. Killings
- Placed on PS-IR: TE Ethan Wolf
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: LB Tegray Scales
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: FB Dimitri Flowers, WR Jordan Veasy
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: DE Farrington Huguenin
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: OLB Gimel President
Washington Redskins
- Signed: RB Russell Hansbrough
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/18/18
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Promoted from practice squad: CB Chris Jones, CB Deatrick Nichols
- Waived: CB Dontae Johnson, CB Quinten Rollins
Atlanta Falcons
- Promoted from practice squad: RB Jeremy Langford
Buffalo Bills
- Signed off 49ers’ practice squad: WR Victor Bolden
- Placed on IR: RB Marcus Murphy
Cincinnati Bengals
- Promoted from practice squad: LB Chris Worley
- Placed on IR: LB Malik Jefferson
Detroit Lions
- Promoted from practice squad: DT John Atkins
- Placed on IR: DL Da’Shawn Hand
Green Bay Packers
- Signed off Jaguars’ practice squad: WR Allen Lazard
Miami Dolphins
- Signed off Panthers’ practice squad: DT Kendrick Norton
New York Giants
- Placed on IR: CB Antonio Hamilton
New York Jets
- Signed off Patriots’ practice squad: T Eric Smith
Oakland Raiders
- Promoted from practice squad: DB Rico Gafford, DT Gabe Wright
- Waived: LB Emmanuel Lamur
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: DB Tyvis Powell
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed off Jaguars’ practice squad: RB Bo Scarbrough
- Placed on IR: G Jordan Simmons
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Promoted from practice squad: TE Donnie Ernsberger, DL Jeremiah Ledbetter
- Placed on IR: TE Alan Cross, S Justin Evans
Washington Redskins
- Signed: DB Harlan Miller
- Placed on IR: CB Joshua Holsey
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/17/18
Here are Monday’s practice squad decisions:
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: LB Christian Kuntz
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: QB J.T. Barrett
- Cut: RB Martez Carter
New York Jets
- Signed: WR DeAngelo Yancey
NFL Workout Updates: 12/17/18
Here is the latest from the workout circuit, all links going to NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account (unless otherwise noted)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- K Marshall Koehn, LB Christian Kuntz, P Brock Miller, QB Mike Reilly, P Ryan Santoso, Caleb Sturgis, P Shane Tripucka (link)
Minnesota Vikings
- K Ty Long (CFL tryout), LB Alex Singleton (CFL tryout) (link)
New York Jets
- LB Jameer Thurman (CFL tryout), LB James Vaughters (CFL tryout) (link)
Philadelphia Eagles
- T Tyreek Burwell, T Taylor Hart, G Kaleb Johnson, T William Poehls (link)
Jaguars Place Ronnie Harrison On IR
Jaguars safety Ronnie Harrison is being placed on injured reserve with a knee injury, coach Doug Marrone announced. Harrison was injured in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Redskins and tests revealed it to be a serious malady. 
The rookie third-round pick replaced Barry Church in the starting lineup on Dec. 2, influencing the club’s decision to release the veteran last week. Unfortunately, the 21-year-old will have to wait until next year to see the field again and build off of his performance.
Harrison’s rookie season ends with 32 tackles, one sack, one interception, and three passes defensed in 14 games (eight starts). Pro Football Focus ranks him as the 66th best safety in the NFL, but his limited sample size of 328 snaps makes the metrics a bit hard to read.
In any event, Harrison figures to be a key part of the Jags’ secondary in 2019. For now, they’ll soldier on without him in the final two games against the Dolphins and Texans.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/16/18
Today’s minor moves:
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Promoted from practice squad: DE Lyndon Johnson
- Placed on injured reserve: LB Leon Jacobs
Jaguars Place OL Josh Walker On IR
As part of yesterday’s roster shuffle, the Jaguars also lost an offensive lineman for the season. The team announced that they’ve placed offensive guard Josh Walker on the injured reserve with an ankle injury.
The 27-year-old Walker had missed that Jaguars last four games, but his placement on the IR was still a bit surprising. The lineman was a full participant at practice on both Wednesday and Thursday, and there was some optimism that he’d be able to play in this weekend’s contest against the Redskins. Ultimately, the team decided to open the extra roster spot.
The 2014 undrafted free agent out of Middle Tennessee State had started four of his five games this season. Pro Football Focus wasn’t particularly fond of his performance in 2018. Walker, who’s listed as an offensive tackle, ranked dead last among the 78 eligible players at the position.
While Jacksonville is losing one lineman, they’ll be welcoming another one back. As part of yesterday’s moves, the team activated lineman Josh Wells. The 27-year-old could easily slide back into the starting lineup alongside Chris Reed, Tyler Shatley, A.J. Cann, and Jermey Parnell.
The Jaguars made two additional moves yesterday, as they waived safety Barry Church and tight end Niles Paul.
Jaguars To Waive S Barry Church
The Jaguars will waive safety Barry Church, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). In related moves, the Jags also waived tight end Niles Paul from the NFI list and activated offensive lineman Josh Wells from injured reserve. 
[RELATED: Jaguars’ Malik Jackson Expects To Be Cut]
Church, 30, joined the Jaguars prior to the 2017 offseason on a four-year, $21.6MM deal. His guarantees have already been paid out, so the move will have no impact on the Jaguars’ 2019 cap. Church’s release will free up $6.25MM in 2019 and its expected that there will be more cap-clearing cuts in the coming months.
The veteran was a healthy scratch last week, but the move to release him before the end of the season is a tad surprising. In any case, Church will hit the waiver wire, giving teams 24 hours to claim him.
In theory, a team could be on board with paying him game checks of $368K for the rest of the year before releasing him from his deal in the offseason. However, the more likely scenario is that Church will go unclaimed and then sign with a contender for the rest of the way.
In eleven games this year (all starts), Church has tallied 38 tackles, one sack, and one interception. However, he has been generally poor in coverage and ranks as Pro Football Focus’ No. 79 safety out of 83 qualified players. He was far sharper in 2016, his final year with the Cowboys, and 2017, his first with the Jags.
Jaguars To Sign K Kai Forbath
Jaguars have signed free agent kicker Kai Forbath, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Forbath will serve as insurance for Josh Lambo, who is questionable for Sunday’s game with a groin injury. 
Forbath has been busy lately. Earlier this week, he auditioned for the Steelers and was asked to stay overnight as the team mulled its options. Ultimately, the Steelers decided to stick it out with Chris Boswell, but Forbath quickly found a job after his audition with the Jaguars. Forbath worked out alongside fellow free agents Caleb Sturgis and Marshall Koehn, according to Rapoport, and had the best showing of the group.
Forbath, 31, spent part of 2016 and all of 2017 with the Vikings, but he was released in August after losing the kicking competition to Daniel Carlson. Forbath connected on 88.7% of his field goal tries in Minnesota, but his 84.9% extra point conversion rate left much to be desired.
If Lambo isn’t cleared in time, Forbath will have an opportunity to make his first kick of 2018 against the Redskins.