NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/3/25

Here are Wednesday’s practice squad transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

  • Signed: WR Joaquin Davis

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Jefferson, Sheppard, and Trammell all found themselves signing to the practice squads of the teams that waived them two days ago. Having cleared waivers, the free agents returned to their lockers as members of the taxi squad.

Indianapolis cut Morrissey today in order to make room for kicker Blake Grupe, whom they signed yesterday. Grupe should be in line to take over kicking duties following the waiving of Michael Badgley yesterday, while Spencer Shrader remains on injured reserve.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/3/25

Here are today’s midweek minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

  • Designated for return from IR: LB Cam Jones

Pittsburgh Steelers

Collier signed with Arizona after injuries and a failure to live up to his first-round draft stock led to his departure from Seattle. He earned a starting role with his new team, but after his first game for the Cardinals, he was placed on season-ending injured reserve with a bicep injury. He worked his way back to health and started 15 of 17 game appearances last year, but his struggles on the line led to a team reunion with Calais Campbell and the drafting of Walter Nolen in the first round. Collier was working as a depth piece before getting placed on IR back in September, and if he can get back to the active roster, he’ll add to the line’s depth, once again.

As a rookie, Verdon was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list to start the season. The undrafted linebacker had been designated to return from the reserve/NFI list, but now that his 21-day practice window has come and gone without an activation, he moves to IR.

Pharaoh in Arizona, Dickerson in Duval, and Pettis in New Orleans all had used up their three standard gameday practice squad elevations. If their respective teams wanted to see them play in any more games this season, a move to the 53-man roster was necessary.

Chiefs To Place LT Josh Simmons On IR

Chiefs left tackle Josh Simmons underwent surgery on his injured left wrist, head coach Andy Reid announced (via Nate Taylor of ESPN). The team will place Simmons on IR. He’ll be eligible to return in Week 18.

Simmons will miss at least four games after dislocating and fracturing his wrist in the Chiefs’ loss to the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. The rookie first-round pick from Ohio State sat out four games earlier this season while dealing with a personal matter. Simmons has otherwise worked as a full-time starter through eight games. Pro Football Focus places Simmons 50th among 80 qualifying tackles.

Former 49er Jaylon Moore, whom the Chiefs added on a two-year, $30MM contract last March, served as Patrick Mahomes blindside protector at left tackle during Simmons’ prior absence. Moore could reprise that role, but it may depend on the health of the Chiefs’ other offensive linemen.

The Chiefs could turn to Moore at right tackle if if an injured left tricep keeps Jawaan Taylor from playing against the Texans on Sunday. Wanya Morris would fill in for Simmons in that case.

Adding to their problems along the offensive line, the Chiefs may also have to go without cornerstone right guard Trey Smith in Week 14. Smith, who’s battling a right ankle injury, didn’t play in Dallas. He’s not expected to practice on Wednesday, Nate Taylor reports.

The timing of the O-line injuries is terrible for the reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs, who dropped to 6-6 last week. Their playoff hopes are hanging by a thread heading into a matchup with 7-5 Houston, which owns the NFL’s top-ranked defense. The Chiefs will have to contain the dominant pass-rushing duo of Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter with a shorthanded group of blockers.

Updated 2026 NFL Draft Order

Week 12 saw the Giants become the first team in the NFL to be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Based on Sunday’s results, another two teams from each conference saw their postseason chances officially come to an end.

The Titans, Saints, Raiders and Cardinals have now been eliminated as well. Attention in the case of those teams will increasingly turn toward the offseason. For some, questions about changes at the quarterback spot will be ongoing through the spring. Free agency is not expected to include many notable options, so the draft will be sought out in several instances as a means of finding a 2026 starter.

Of course, the incoming class of passers has largely underwhelmed this season. That has led to uncertainty regarding the ceiling for many of the top prospects at the quarterback position. Nevertheless, supply often outweighs demand at the top of the Day 1 order in the NFL draft. How things shake out over the closing weeks of the season will be key in determining which QB-needy teams find themselves in the best position to select a new QB1.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order is determined by the inverted 2025 standings plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. Playoff squads are slotted by their postseason outcome and the reverse order of their regular season record.

Here is an early look at the first-round order:

  1. Tennessee Titans (1-11)
  2. New York Giants (2-11)
  3. New Orleans Saints (2-10)
  4. Las Vegas Raiders (2-10)
  5. Cleveland Browns (3-9)
  6. Washington Commanders (3-9)
  7. New York Jets (3-9)
  8. Arizona Cardinals (3-9)
  9. Los Angeles Rams (via Falcons)
  10. Cincinnati Bengals (4-8)
  11. Minnesota Vikings (4-8)
  12. Miami Dolphins (5-7)
  13. Kansas City Chiefs (6-6)
  14. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-6)
  15. Carolina Panthers (7-6)
  16. Dallas Cowboys (6-5-1)
  17. Detroit Lions (7-5)
  18. Houston Texans (7-5)
  19. Baltimore Ravens (6-6)
  20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-5)
  21. Buffalo Bills (8-4)
  22. Philadelphia Eagles (8-4)
  23. New York Jets (via Colts)
  24. San Francisco 49ers (9-4)
  25. Los Angeles Chargers (8-4)
  26. Cleveland Browns (via Jaguars)
  27. Dallas Cowboys (via Packers)
  28. Seattle Seahawks (9-3)
  29. Los Angeles Rams (9-3)
  30. Denver Broncos (10-2)
  31. Chicago Bears (9-3)
  32. New England Patriots (11-2)

Chiefs LT Josh Simmons Suffers Dislocated, Fractured Wrist

An already banged up offensive line in Kansas City may have taken a big hit today as Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that the team’s starting left tackle, Josh Simmons, suffered a dislocated and fractured wrist today and “is out indefinitely.” Simmons was seen leaving the locker room with a cast on his left wrist after today’s game, per ESPN’s Nate Taylor, and he’ll undergo an MRI tomorrow before determinations are made on treatment.

Depending on the resulting prognosis following the testing and treatment, this could be the second extended absence of Simmons’ rookie campaign. Earlier in the year, Simmons sat out the four-game stretch before the Chiefs’ bye week as he dealt with a mysterious personal issue. Disappearing after the first five starts of his career, Simmons finally returned in Week 11 to take his starting job back.

In his first absence, swing tackle Jaylon Moore filled in at left tackle for Kansas City. It’s a role Moore is extremely familiar with after filling in several games for 49ers star left tackle Trent Williams over the course of his rookie contract. The Chiefs paid Moore handsomely over the offseason to come in and do more of the same in Kansas City.

Unfortunately, the Chiefs could be dealing with injuries to multiple tackles. Right tackle Jawaan Taylor was also hurt in today’s game, leaving the contest with an elbow injury and getting ruled out shortly after. There’s been much less information about Taylor’s status since the game ended, so any further inference would only be speculation. That being said, any absence Taylor may be faced with could take things from bad to worse for a team fighting to stay above .500 and in the playoff race.

If Taylor is forced to miss game time and Moore is already subbing in for Simmons, Wanya Morris is the next man up on the depth chart. Morris started 11 games for the Chiefs at left tackle last year, but his struggles at the position were part of what prompted Kansas City to use their Day 1 pick on Simmons this year.

Updates on this situation will follow as the results of testing and treatment unfold in the coming days. The Chiefs closing stretch of the regular season sees their toughest remaining opponents (Texans, Chargers, Broncos) at home with their only remaining road trips coming against the lowly Titans and Raiders. A playoff berth isn’t impossible by any means for a team well experienced in playing a high level of football this late in the season, but they’ll want to find a way to field a healthy offensive line in order to make this push to the postseason a bit more manageable.

NFL Minor Transactions: 11/26/25

Here are Wednesday’s minor moves and some standard gameday practice squad elevations for the annual Thanksgiving slate of games:

Arizona Cardinals

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Kansas City Chiefs

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Green Bay’s regular kicker Brandon McManus was off the injury report with three full practices this week, so Havrisik will take his leave after filling in for three games this year. The team had been keeping Havrisik close even during McManus’ healthy stretches, but after the backup missed two extra point attempts at MetLife this weekend, the Packers relinquished him to the waiver wire.

Jones missed most of his rookie campaign due to a knee injury, and the same has been true for most of his sophomore season. This time, though, he’s coming back with a bit more time left in the season.

O’Connell had already been called up as a gameday elevation three times this year, so if Seattle wanted to see him on the field again, this move was necessary. In his most recent elevation, O’Connell was asked to play a much bigger role, staying in for over half the team’s defensive snaps. In his first extended opportunity, O’Connell finished second on the team with nine tackles and even logged his first career sack.

Chiefs RG Trey Smith To Miss Time; RB Isiah Pacheco Will Return In Week 13

1:20pm: Pacheco will indeed play on Thursday, head coach Andy Reid confirmed (via Fowler’s colleague Nate Taylor). That could provide a boost to Kansas City’s running game against a Cowboys defense which has allowed just 90 yards on the ground across its past two games.

9:53am: The Chiefs are expected to be without Pro Bowl right guard Trey Smith for Thursday’s game against the Cowboys, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Smith is dealing with both high and low ankle sprains and could miss multiple weeks. Thursday would be Smith’s second absence of the season – low back spasms sidelined him in Week 8 – after starting all but one game in the first three years of his career. Though Jaylon Moore is listed as the Chiefs’ backup right guard on their depth chart, Mike Caliendo will be tapped to start at right guard as he did in Week 8.

Meanwhile, running back Isiah Pacheco is hoping to return to the field in Week 13 after a three-game absence due to a knee injury, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Pacheco was off to a rough start in 2025, with only 163 rushing yards on 39 carries across his first five games. He then rushed for 166 yards and his first touchdown of the year in his next three games before getting hurt.

Kareem Hunt has saw a significant uptick in offensive involvement during Pacheco’s stint on the sidelines with 54 carries in his last three games, including a career-high 30 attempts in Week 12. Pacheco will eat into that workload, especially since he was trending upwards before his injury. The Chiefs will be hoping that he can quickly return to, if not surpass that level of play.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/24/25

Today’s practice squad moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

  • Signed: OT Marques Cox

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Released: WR Jimmy Holiday

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Chiefs Unlikely To Retain CB Jaylen Watson

Chiefs cornerback Jaylen Watson is not a household name, but he has established himself as a quality starter and has become an important piece of Kansas City’s stout defense. Watson’s success with the AFC powerhouse may lead the impending free agent elsewhere in the offseason, according to ESPN’s Nate Taylor.

The Chiefs selected Watson in the seventh round of the 2022 draft, and he operated in a rotational capacity during his first two years in the pros. The club’s trade of L’Jarius Sneed in March 2024 opened up more playing time for Watson, who started the first six games of the 2024 slate before a fractured fibula and tibia put a premature end to his regular season (though he did return in time for KC’s playoff run). This season, he has remained an every-down corner along with Trent McDuffie, and he presently ranks as Pro Football Focus’ 11th-best CB out of 108 qualified players (just five spots behind McDuffie).

Kansas City moved Sneed in a tag-and-trade maneuver rather than authorize a lucrative extension for him – a wise decision, in hindsight – and Taylor believes the team will allow Watson to simply hit the open market. That is not reflective of the Chiefs’ view of Watson; it is simply a matter of resource allocation. Taylor reports the club will prioritize an extension for McDuffie, a 2023 First Team All-Pro who is reportedly seeking a market-topping contract, and a mega-deal for McDuffie may preclude a Watson re-up.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler likewise suggests McDuffie’s contract situation could force Watson out of Missouri. Watson, who checks in at No. 15 on ESPN’s most recent list of the league’s top 25 players slated for free agency in 2026, has generated some buzz around the league, per Fowler. One AFC executive told the ESPN scribe that Watson will “have a nice market” and “could surprise some people.”

Watson, 27, likely will not come close to the top of the cornerback market, which now includes two players at or above the $30MM/year threshold (McDuffie could join that group in short order). However, the Ventura College and Washington State product should land a deal featuring an eight-figure annual average, and his earning power will be bolstered by his ability to succeed both in press coverage and in zone.

One of GM Brett Veach’s Day 3 success stories, Watson has compiled 42 total tackles, four passes defensed, an interception, and a sack through ten games in 2025.

2025 Injured Reserve Return Tracker

The 2024 offseason brought a change in how teams could construct their 53-man rosters while retaining flexibility with injured players. Clubs were permitted to attach return designations to two players (in total) placed on IR or an NFI list before setting their initial rosters.

In prior years, anyone placed on IR before a team set its initial 53-man roster could not be activated in-season. All August 26 IR- or NFI-return designations, however, already count against teams’ regular-season limit of eight. Teams will be tasked with determining which players injured in-season will factor into activation puzzles as the year progresses.

All players designated for return on August 26 became eligible to be activated beginning in Week 5, though any player placed on IR after a team set its initial 53 has not been designated for return and therefore does not yet count toward a club’s eight-activation limit. Playoff teams will receive two additional injury activations once the postseason begins.

Here is how the 32 teams’ activation puzzles look for Week 17:

Arizona Cardinals

Reverted to season-ending IR:

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 5

Atlanta Falcons

Reverted to season-ending IR:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 4

Baltimore Ravens

Designated for return (Aug. 26):

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 5

Buffalo Bills

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 4

Carolina Panthers

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 4

Chicago Bears

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 2

Cincinnati Bengals

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 1

Cleveland Browns

Designated for return (Aug. 26):

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 6

Dallas Cowboys

Designated for return (Aug. 26):

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 1

Denver Broncos

Designated for return (Aug. 26):

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 3

Detroit Lions

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 2

Green Bay Packers

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 4

Houston Texans

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 3

Indianapolis Colts

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 4

Jacksonville Jaguars

Designated for return (Aug. 26):

Activated:

Activations remaining: 5

Kansas City Chiefs

Designated for return (Aug. 26):

Activations remaining: 6

Las Vegas Raiders

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 6

Los Angeles Chargers

Activated:

Activations remaining: 0

Los Angeles Rams

Eligible for activation:

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 6

Miami Dolphins

Designated for return (Aug. 26):

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 3

Minnesota Vikings

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 3

New England Patriots

Eligible for activation:

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 7

New Orleans Saints

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 6

New York Giants

Designated for return (Aug. 26):

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 3

New York Jets

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 4

Philadelphia Eagles

Reverted to season-ending IR:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 2

Pittsburgh Steelers

Reverted to season-ending IR:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 5

San Francisco 49ers

Activated:

Activations remaining: 3

Seattle Seahawks

Eligible for activation:

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 1

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 4

Tennessee Titans

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 4

Washington Commanders

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 4

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