NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/12/23
Today’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: WR Andre Baccellia
- Released: CB William Hooper
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: TE Chris Pierce
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: WR Thyrick Pitts
- Released: LB Austin Ajiake
Houston Texans
- Signed: WR Chase Cota
- Released: K Matt Ammendola
Kansas City Chiefs
- Activated from IR: LB Cole Christiansen
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: CB Matt Hankins
Los Angeles Rams
- Released: K Mason Crosby
Minnesota Vikings
- Released: WR Daylen Baldwin
New York Jets
- Signed: OT Obinna Eze
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: CB Keenan Isaac
- Released: LB Vi Jones
Mason Crosby‘s stint with the Rams has already come to an end. The veteran kicker was added to the practice squad with Lucas Havrisik struggling, and there was speculation that the long-time Packers kicker was going to get the start when he was promoted to the active roster. Crosby ended up being inactive against the Ravens, the first time in his career that he earned that designation.
Crosby will now look to continue his career elsewhere. The Packers moved on from their all-time scoring leader following a 2022 season where Crosby connected on 86.2 percent of his field goal attempts and 37 of his 39 XP tries.
Chase Cota is the son of former NFL safety Chad Cota, and he’s also the cousin of fellow Texans practice squad safety Brady Breeze. The wide receiver spent four years at UCLA before transferring to Oregon for the 2022 campaign. He finished that season with career-highs in receptions (36), receiving yards (497), and touchdowns (three). He spent the preseason with the Lions before catching on with the Chiefs practice squad. He spent the majority of the 2023 season in Kansas City before getting cut from the taxi squad last week.
Chiefs Place S Bryan Cook On IR
The Chiefs will welcome back a starting linebacker this weekend, but they’ll be down a starting safety for the foreseeable future. The team announced that they’ve placed safety Bryan Cook on injured reserve. The move makes room for linebacker Nick Bolton, who will be returning from IR.
[RELATED: Chiefs Activate Nick Bolton From IR]
Cook suffered an ankle injury last weekend that limited him to a season-low 22 defensive snaps. Coach Andy Reid already ruled out the defensive back for tomorrow’s game against the Bills, but Cook will now be sidelined for at least the next four games. He’ll be eligible to return for the regular season finale.
The 2022 second-round played mostly as a backup during his rookie season, starting only one of his 16 appearances while getting into about 32 percent of his team’s defensive snaps. In 2023, he’s started all 12 games for the Chiefs, collecting 42 tackles, two passes defended, and two fumble recoveries (including one for a score). Pro Football Focus currently has him ranked 40th among 83 qualifying safeties.
With Cook out of the lineup, the team will likely lean more on Mike Edwards opposite Justin Reid. Edwards has already seen a significant defensive role in 2023, and there have been some weeks where he’s out-snapped Cook.
As ESPN’s Field Yates points out, it’s notable that the Chiefs didn’t place running back Isiah Pacheco on IR. The running back is dealing with a shoulder issue that will sideline him for at least Week 14, and Reid admitted this week that he’s uncertain how much time the starter will miss.
Additionally, the Chiefs announced their two standard gameday practice squad elevations. Suiting up with the active roster against the Bills this weekend will be safety Deon Bush and running back Deneric Prince.
Chiefs Activate Nick Bolton From IR
DECEMBER 9: The Chiefs have officially activated Bolton from injured reserve. Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the linebacker is expected to play on Sunday with a small cast that’s intended to protect his wrist.
DECEMBER 8: After seeing its defense sustain multiple injuries in a loss to the Packers, the Chiefs will have their top linebacker available once again. Weeks after wrist surgery, Nick Bolton will come off IR.
The Chiefs are officially activating the third-year defender ahead of their Week 14 game against the Bills, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets. This will only be Kansas City’s second IR activation this season; six more such moves remain available to the defending champions.
Kansas City has lost three games without Bolton, who has missed time due to multiple injuries this season. The Chiefs have been without the prolific tackler for the past five games. The team has lost three of those — to the Broncos, Eagles and Packers — to drop to 8-4. Having Bolton active will certainly help the AFC West leaders, who now trail the Dolphins and Ravens in the race for AFC home-field advantage.
While overshadowed by the Chiefs’ two future Hall of Famers on offense and Chris Jones on defense, Bolton has become one of the league’s top young linebackers. The former second-round pick reeled off a 180-tackle season (along with two interceptions and two sacks) in 2022 and scored a touchdown in Super Bowl LVII, coming a split-second away from a second TD in that game. Bolton, however, has only played in four games this season. He missed three earlier this year due to an ankle injury.
This activation will be a timely one for Kansas City, which ruled out Drue Tranquill for Sunday’s game. Tranquill suffered a concussion against Green Bay. Bolton and Willie Gay, however, have operated as the Chiefs’ top linebackers for the past three years. The latter is in a contract year. With Gay’s Missouri future uncertain, Bolton profiles as an extension candidate, joining fellow 2021 second-round pick Creed Humphrey in that regard. Both players will be eligible to discuss new deals in January.
The Mizzou alum will be a pivotal component to the Chiefs’ latest effort to secure a first-round bye. The Chiefs have earned a bye in four of their five playoff runs with Patrick Mahomes at the helm. They have been able to play a record-setting five straight home AFC championship games, two of those due to that year’s No. 1 seed (the Ravens in 2019, Titans in 2021) losing in Round 2. The Chiefs have not flashed top form in a few weeks, but the Super Bowl contenders do not play a team with a winning record the rest of the way.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/8/23
Minor moves heading into the weekend:
Kansas City Chiefs
- Placed on reserve/suspended list: WR Justyn Ross
Tennessee Titans
- Placed on IR: LB Joe Jones, P Ryan Stonehouse
Ross was placed on the Commissioner Exempt List back in October after getting arrested on misdemeanor domestic battery and misdemeanor property damage charges. Adam Schefter of ESPN now reports that the ordeal will result in a six-game suspension by the NFL for violating the league’s Personal Conduct Policy. Since Ross has missed the past five games on the exempt list, those five games will count towards his six-game suspension, meaning that he may rejoin the team after their contest with the Bills this weekend. Unlike his time on the exempt list, though, the six-game suspension is meant to be unpaid, meaning that Ross will be required to pay back the game checks that he received over that five-game period.
We were told recently that Stonehouse would be out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery. Today’s transaction sets that in stone as he’ll find his way to injured reserve alongside the former practice squad linebacker.
Looking Into Chiefs’ 2023 WR Plan
Disbanding a historically potent Travis Kelce–Tyreek Hill duo in March 2022, the Chiefs got by rather well last season. With JuJu Smith-Schuster approaching 1,000 yards and drawing the 2022 season’s defining holding penalty, Kansas City — with aid from a dominant Kelce season — withstood the Hill loss en route to its third Super Bowl title. The team’s second post-Hill receiving corps has been less useful, and the group’s output thus far has held this era’s most explosive offense back.
With Kelce in his age-34 season, the Chiefs entrusted an assortment of unproven options alongside the future first-ballot Hall of Famer. Kansas City’s offense still ranks fourth in DVOA, though it is 11th in scoring (after finishing no worse than sixth in any season during the Patrick Mahomes QB1 period). The Chiefs have also failed to score 20 points on five occasions this season; during Mahomes’ previous five seasons at the controls, the team had combined for just six such outings (h/t NFL.com).
The team attempted to address this issue in free agency, on the trade market and in the draft, but its efforts proved insufficient. The Chiefs have shifted to a roster-building blueprint around Mahomes’ mega-extension, one the club updated in September after this year’s run of QB deals further dropped the two-time MVP’s number within the QB salary hierarchy. But Kansas City did begin negotiations with Hill on a third contract in 2022, only to see Las Vegas’ Davante Adams trade/extension change the complexion of those talks. With Hill in Miami, the Chiefs’ margin for error shrunk.
In free agency, the Chiefs displayed interest in re-signing Smith-Schuster. But Andy Reid confirmed the team’s offer was not close to the Patriots’ three-year, $25.5MM ($16MM fully guaranteed) proposal. Although Smith-Schuster totaled 933 yards last season — by far the most among Chiefs wideouts — he has struggled to fill the Jakobi Meyers void in New England. Part of the reason for the Chiefs’ limited interest in Smith-Schuster: a belief Kadarius Toney could grow into a No. 1-caliber wide receiver with the benefit of a full offseason program. The 2022 trade acquisition has managed to put together his healthiest stretch in the NFL, missing just one game despite summer knee surgery, but the former Giants first-rounder has just 22 receptions for 139 yards while logging a 23% snap rate.
Letting Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman walk in free agency, the Chiefs inquired on Odell Beckham Jr. in March, after pursuing the talented but injury-riddled wideout in 2021 and ’22. But the Ravens’ $15MM guarantee abruptly closed that market. That deal also impacted the Chiefs’ trade talks with the Cardinals on DeAndre Hopkins.
The Chiefs and Bills had discussed terms with the Cards, but the OBJ guarantee nixed Hopkins’ interest in reworking his contract to facilitate a trade. The Chiefs later offered Hopkins an incentive-laden deal in free agency, joining the Patriots in doing so, while the Titans topped these proposals by giving the former All-Pro a $10.98MM guarantee on a two-year pact.
During Hopkins’ summer free agency stay, Kansas City had offered a $4MM base salary while including incentives that would have taken the contract to $10MM. By the time Hopkins became a free agent, the Chiefs had already used a chunk of their cap space to bring in left tackle Donovan Smith after the draft. No cap relief came from a Chris Jones extension — an offseason component Hopkins is believed to have factored into his free agency plan — with the All-Pro defensive tackle still headed toward free agency in 2024. Hopkins (774 yards, five touchdowns) has stayed healthy this season and is on pace for a seventh 1,000-yard year.
Kansas City did re-sign Justin Watson in April (two years, $3.4MM) and reacquired Hardman from the Jets in October. A former Buccaneers backup, Watson sits third in Chiefs receiving yards (332). Former second-round pick Skyy Moore, who had been expected to take a second-year leap, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling — in Year 2 of a three-year, $30MM accord — have joined Toney in offering inconsistency. Neither Moore nor Valdes-Scantling has topped 275 yards entering Week 14. This season represents a step back for MVS, who totaled 687 yards last year and topped 100 in the AFC championship game. Thanks largely to the Valdes-Scantling contract that features an $11MM 2023 cap number, the Chiefs rank 17th in wide receiver cap allocation this season.
The draft both brought failures and the team’s saving grace at receiver. After meeting with each of this class’ top receivers, the Chiefs attempted to trade up in Round 1. They had effectively done this in 2022, leapfrogging the Bills to draft Trent McDuffie. This year, the Chiefs were connected to Zay Flowers and Jordan Addison. Knowing of the Chiefs’ interest, the Ravens chose Flowers 22nd overall. Both Kansas City and New Orleans attempted to trade into Minnesota’s No. 23 slot, with Addison being the target amid the draft’s mid-first-round run on receivers. The Vikings stood pat and drafted Addison, who has shown immediate promise.
While the Chiefs ultimately settled for Rashee Rice at No. 50 overall, the SMU product’s development has been the clear silver lining. Rice’s 591 yards trail only Kelce for the defending champions, and after inconsistent usage during the season’s first half, the 6-foot-2 target has played at least 60% of the team’s offensive snaps in four of the past five games. Rice’s 8.4 yards after catch per reception trails only Deebo Samuel among wideouts this season, per Next Gen Stats.
Beyond Hardman, the Chiefs passed on bolstering their offense at the deadline. Results have remained choppy since, though Rice’s increased involvement has been a notable plot point. The team is expecting improvement from its young targets, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. While questions regarding wideout viability will persist into the 2024 offseason, the Chiefs have at least one long-term box checked via Rice. With Kelce on the back nine of his remarkable career, the Chiefs’ 2024 receiver plan will become more important than what transpired this offseason.
After a number of what-ifs defined the Chiefs’ offseason at the position, it appears a certainty the perennial AFC West champions will make a more concerted effort to add aerial weaponry in 2024. But how this Chiefs contingent fares down the stretch this season will be a key AFC storyline.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/5/23
Here are Tuesday’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: WR Dan Chisena
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: QB Jake Luton
- Released: WR Matt Landers, OLB Jordan Thomas
Detroit Lions
- Signed: DL Tyson Alualu (story), OL Matt Farniok
- Released: LB Raymond Johnson
Houston Texans
- Signed: WR Davion Davis
- Placed on practice squad injured list: WR Jared Wayne
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: S Tyree Gillespie
- Released: WR Chase Cota
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: LB Charles Snowden
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: RB Elijah Dotson
Los Angeles Rams
- Released: TE Miller Forristall
New York Jets
- Signed: OL Xavier Newman
- Placed on practice squad injured list: DT Tanzel Smart
Philadelphia Eagles
- Released: WR Cam Sims
Zach Ertz Clears Waivers; Eagles Expected To Pursue Reunion
DECEMBER 3: Schefter says Ertz is likely to have a new home within the next couple of days. He does not handicap the sweepstakes and merely reiterates that Baltimore, Buffalo, Kansas City, and Philadelphia have all expressed varying degrees of interest.
DECEMBER 1: No one claimed Zach Ertz‘s Cardinals-constructed contract on waivers before Friday’s deadline, per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter, leading the veteran tight end to free agency. Ertz can now resume his goal of landing with a contender.
A familiar team is expected to be interested. The Eagles are believed to be prepared to pursue an Ertz reunion, Schefter adds. Ertz spent nine seasons in Philadelphia, being dealt to Arizona during the 2021 campaign. With Dallas Goedert still out after arm surgery, the Eagles do not have much in the way of depth behind their starter.
With Ertz spending months in Nick Sirianni‘s offensive system, the Eagles make sense as a landing spot. So do the Ravens, who lost Mark Andrews to what is likely a season-ending ankle injury. The Ravens, Chiefs and Bills also loom as possible Ertz options, according to Schefter. Extensive interest exists, per Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz, who adds Ertz should have a new team soon.
Ertz’s Eagles ending involved a contract dispute. The veteran had aimed for a deal in the range of the pacts given to Travis Kelce and George Kittle, who each signed extensions in 2020. The Eagles refused to move Ertz into that NFL salary bracket but then gave Goedert a deal in that range. Goedert’s four-year, $59MM extension came to pass barely a month after the Eagles sent Ertz to the Cardinals in exchange for a fifth-round pick and cornerback Tay Gowan.
This value gap between Ertz and the Eagles came about in 2020, and the team gave the disgruntled tight end permission to find a trade partner during the 2021 offseason. Ertz did not show for Philly’s offseason program. Given the turbulence that emerged toward the end of Ertz’s Eagles stay, it would certainly be interesting if the sides huddled up about a reunion two years later.
Philadelphia drafted Ertz in the 2013 third round, the team’s first draft under Chip Kelly. GM Howie Roseman was in place when the team drafted the Stanford product and, after a 2015 demotion as Kelly enjoyed an eventful year calling the personnel shots, when the team extended ascending tight end during the 2016 offseason. The Eagles gave Ertz a five-year, $42.5MM extension in January 2016. That deal was in line with upper-echelon TE contracts at the time, with the Patriots’ 2012 Rob Gronkowski extension effectively freezing the market for several years. With Kelce and Kittle moving the AAV bar past $14MM per year in 2020, Ertz became dissatisfied with his terms.
The Eagles have listed Goedert as doubtful for their Week 13 49ers matchup. They rolled out an imposing Ertz-Goedert duo for three-plus seasons, but the younger player has become one of the NFL’s top tight ends since the Eagles made the Ertz trade. Behind Goedert, however, the 10-1 team has little of note. Jack Stoll‘s 27 receiving yards sit second among Philly tight ends. The Eagles have not used August trade acquisition Albert Okwuegbunam much.
While an Ertz Pennsylvania comeback would fill a need for the Super Bowl contender, the Eagles have only $2.7MM in cap space. An Ertz pact likely would not cost much, given his recent run of injuries and the calendar flipping to December. Fit may play the lead role here. Cap space-wise, however, the Chiefs also check in at $2.7MM. The Bills hold $1.5MM, while the Ravens are at $6.4MM.
The Eagles fired Andy Reid three months before drafting Ertz, but with the Chiefs’ receiving corps not moving the needle much this season, a veteran to work alongside Kelce would make sense. A Baltimore fit would be more logical, with Andrews undergoing ankle surgery to address his recent injury. Andrews looms as a long shot to return in the event of a deep Ravens playoff run. Once a presumptive Ertz suitor, the Bills have Dawson Knox moving closer to a return. Since the 2021 offseason when Ertz was available, Buffalo extended Knox and drafted Dalton Kincaid in this year’s first round.
Ertz suffered a torn ACL in November 2022, and while he was back on the field for Week 1 of this season, the Cardinals’ shift to a rebuild made him one of the veterans who did not seem to fit any longer. He ended up on Arizona’s IR due to a quad injury, missing the past five weeks. For the season, Ertz has just 27 receptions for 187 yards and one touchdown. He does hold the Cardinals’ Arizona-years record for yards in a season by a tight end, with 574, and posted five straight 800-plus-yard seasons from 2015-19 in Philly. Ertz’s 579 receptions as an Eagle are also just 10 shy of Hall of Famer Harold Carmichael‘s franchise record.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/2/23
Today’s gameday callups and minor moves heading into Sunday:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed to active roster: WR Dan Chisena
- Elevated: DT Phil Hoskins, CB Divaad Wilson
Atlanta Falcons
- Elevated: LB Milo Eifler, TE Parker Hesse
Cleveland Browns
- Elevated: QB Joe Flacco (story), CB A.J. Green
Denver Broncos
- Activated from IR: WR Brandon Johnson
- Elevated: QB Ben DiNucci, TE Lucas Krull
Detroit Lions
- Elevated: DT Quinton Bohanna, LB Bruce Irvin
Houston Texans
- Elevated: K Matt Ammendola
Indianapolis Colts
- Elevated: RB Tyler Goodson, WR D.J. Montgomery
Kansas City Chiefs
- Elevated: RB Deneric Prince
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed to active roster: WR Alex Erickson
- Elevated: TE Stephen Anderson
- Waived: RB Elijah Dotson
Miami Dolphins
- Elevated: TE Tanner Conner
New England Patriots
- Elevated: QB Malik Cunningham
New Orleans Saints
- Elevated: WR Marquez Callaway, FB Adam Prentice
New York Jets
- Activated from IR: CB Justin Hardee, G Wes Schweitzer
- Elevated: OL Jake Hanson, DT Perrion Winfrey
- Waived: OL Xavier Newman
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Elevated: LB Kyron Johnson
San Francisco 49ers
- Elevated: WR Chris Conley, S Erik Harris
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Elevated: WR Ryan Miller, WR David Moore
Tennessee Titans
- Signed to active roster: LB Joe Jones
Washington Commanders
- Elevated: DE Joshua Pryor
The Chiefs have ruled out running back Jerick McKinnon for tomorrow’s game against the Packers, necessitating some extra depth at the position. The team will turn to Prince, an undrafted free agent who has spent the entire season on Kansas City’s practice squad. Prince had a breakout season at Tulsa in 2022, finishing with 813 yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns.
Winfrey, a 2022 fourth-round pick, was cut by the Browns last July after being investigated for pulling a gun on a woman. He joined the Jets practice squad in early November and will finally earn his first promotion of the season. Winfrey got into 13 games for Cleveland last year, collecting 22 tackles and 0.5 sacks.
At age 36, Irvin will be making his debut for a sixth NFL team. The veteran pass rusher signed with Detroit midway through November and will finally have a chance to extend his streak of regular season appearances to 12 straight years. The only absence on the Lions’ front-seven will be linebacker Alex Anzalone, so Detroit may be looking to stand Irvin up to help the team’s depth at linebacker.
Updated 2024 NFL Draft Order
With Week 13 underway, the picture at the top of the NFL draft board continues to become clearer. Plenty is yet to be determined with respect to the top of the order, however.
The Panthers’ ongoing struggles led to Frank Reich‘s firing, but the Bears own Carolina’s top pick this year due to the 2023 swap which landed Bryce Young via the No. 1 selection. Chicago being able to have the top pick once again – coupled with their own selection landing in the top-10 – would make the Bears a team to watch closely come April. The race for the top two or three slots (and, as such, the ability to draft QBs Caleb Williams and Drake Maye, along with wideout Marvin Harrison Jr.) will also be a key late-season storyline for the Cardinals and Patriots.
The Commanders have lost three straight games, overshadowing a promising season from first-year starter Sam Howell. After deciding to move on from defensive ends Chase Young and Montez Sweat at the trade deadline, the team’s defense has continued to struggle. DC Jack Del Rio is out as a result, and head coach Ron Rivera‘s position is not believed to be on strong footing. A top-five pick could make the job in Washington more attractive presuming a opening arises this offseason.
For non-playoff teams, the draft order will be determined by the inverted 2024 standings — plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule — with playoff squads being slotted by their postseason outcome and regular-season record. Here is an updated look at the current draft order:
- Chicago Bears (via Panthers)
- Arizona Cardinals: 2-10
- New England Patriots: 2-9
- Chicago Bears: 4-8
- Washington Commanders: 4-8
- New York Giants: 4-8
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 4-7
- New York Jets: 4-7
- Los Angeles Chargers: 4-7
- Tennessee Titans: 4-7
- Las Vegas Raiders: 5-7
- New Orleans Saints: 5-6
- Green Bay Packers: 5-6
- Los Angeles Rams: 5-6
- Cincinnati Bengals: 5-6
- Buffalo Bills: 6-6
- Arizona Cardinals (via Texans)
- Denver Broncos: 6-5
- Atlanta Falcons: 5-6
- Minnesota Vikings: 6-6
- Seattle Seahawks: 6-6
- Indianapolis Colts: 6-5
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 7-4
- Houston Texans (via Browns)
- Miami Dolphins: 8-3
- Detroit Lions: 8-3
- Jacksonville Jaguars: 8-3
- Dallas Cowboys: 9-3
- Kansas City Chiefs: 8-3
- San Francisco 49ers: 8-3
- Baltimore Ravens: 9-3
- Philadelphia Eagles: 10-1
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/30/23
Today’s practice squad transactions:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: DL Ben Stille
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: G Deonte Brown
- Released: QB Jake Luton
Houston Texans
- Signed: DT Rashard Lawrence
- Released: RB Gerrid Doaks, DT Bruce Hector
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: RB Keaontay Ingram
New England Patriots
- Released: WR Mathew Sexton
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: S Johnathan Abram
New York Giants
- Signed: WR Dylan Drummond
- Released: LB Oshane Ximines
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: CB Josiah Scott, WR Cam Sims
- Released: WR Greg Ward