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Mike Pennel

Bengals Place G Lucas Patrick On IR

September 9th, 2025 at 2:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although the Bengals signed Dalton Risner in late August, they gave Lucas Patrick the right guard job. Patrick did not make it out of Cincinnati’s Week 1 game, and he will be shut down for a while.

The Bengals placed Patrick on IR today. That will keep the veteran interior O-lineman out until at least Week 6. The Bengals signed defensive tackle Mike Pennel from their practice squad to fill the empty roster spot.

[RELATED: Recapping Bengals’ 2025 Offseason]

Zac Taylor had said the calf injury Patrick suffered would sideline him for a least a couple weeks. The Bengals will not carry him on their 53-man roster while he recovers, and it will be interesting to see if Patrick can regain his starting RG job. The Patrick-Cody Ford competition did not impress, leading to the Risner signing. Risner replaced Patrick in Cincinnati’s lineup following the injury, and the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway notes the seventh-year veteran will start in his place in Week 2.

Patrick signed a one-year, $2.1MM deal. Although the pact came with just $200K guaranteed, Patrick is a vested veteran and saw his full $2.1MM number lock in earlier this month. Risner is on a one-year, $1.34MM deal. The latter has become known for slow-moving free agency markets, having agreed to terms with the Vikings in September 2023 and with the Bengals just before this season. In between, Risner waited until May to rejoin the Vikings.

Risner, 30, has made 81 career starts. Patrick, 32, has started 65 games in a nine-year career that has included time at guard and center. Risner is a pure guard, having started for four seasons in Denver and having lined up as a Vikings first-stringer in 19 games from 2023-24. Making in-season moves to starting lineups in each of the past two seasons, Risner is familiar with this routine. He will have a chance to take Patrick’s job, one neither he nor Ford seized during training camp. The Bengals replaced both their guards this offseason, using Patrick and third-round rookie Dylan Fairchild at the positions in Week 1.

A 12th-year veteran, Pennel joined the Bengals last week and played in Week 1 as a gameday elevation. Spending four of the past six seasons with the Chiefs, Pennel has now seen game action with six teams.

The 25-game starter lined up as a Kansas City first-stringer last season, playing 30% of the team’s defensive snaps. Pennel lined up for 22 Bengals defensive plays Sunday. He serves as experienced depth behind B.J. Hill and Tedarell Slaton, with The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. indicating the team had aimed for depth behind its new nose tackle.

The Bengals also will give Isaiah Foskey a second chance, as veteran insider Jordan Schultz reports the former Saints second-round defensive end is joining Cincinnati’s practice squad. While Foskey registered zero sacks in 27 Saints games before failing to make their 53-man roster this year, he played under new Bengals DC Al Golden at Notre Dame. Golden was the Fighting Irish’s DC in 2022, Foskey’s final season in South Bend.

The Bengals also signed defensive end Myles Cole to their P-squad and released defensive end Isaiah Thomas.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/6/25

September 6th, 2025 at 7:28pm CST by Ely Allen

With our first slate of Sunday games tomorrow, we’ll see our first slew of standard gameday practice squad elevations. Here are today’s minor transactions:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Each NFL team is granted up to two standard gameday practice squad elevations each game, allowing them to call up two members of their practice squad who are able to play in that weekend’s game. After the game is played, the elevated players revert back to the practice squad with no transaction required. This differs from the situation with somebody like Crumedy in Carolina. With Mathis’ placement on injured reserve opening a spot on the 53-man roster, Crumedy has been promoted from the practice squad to the active roster, where he will remain until he is cut or his contract expires.

Practice squad players can be called up a maximum of three times under a single practice squad contract. If a team wants to call up a player who’s been called up three times already, the team will usually sign the player to their active roster for a game, cut them after, and then sign them to a new practice squad contract. Under the new contract, the player would be eligible to be elevated for three more games.

As the Dolphins await Jason Sanders‘ return from IR, Patterson was named the winner of a kicking audition with three other veteran kickers. Miami will be able to elevate him three times but will have to promote him to the active roster for any games between that and Sanders’ activation. Similarly, Prater will likely be on the same plan in Buffalo.

Haener’s stint on the Saints’ active roster was short-lived as the team decides to move forward with only two quarterbacks. Spencer Rattler will handle starting duties to begin the campaign with second-round rookie Tyler Shough serving as his backup.

Bengals Sign DT Mike Pennel

September 1st, 2025 at 9:40am CST by Adam La Rose

Mike Pennel has a deal lined up in time for Week 1 shortly after becoming a free agent. The veteran defensive tackle is set to join the Bengals, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports.

This will be a practice squad arrangement, per Fowler. An elevation to the active roster could be in store in relatively short order, though. Pennel is a veteran of 125 appearances and 25 starts in the NFL. His Cincinnati signing is now official.

Pennel played on a one-year Chiefs pact in 2024, and he was retained by Kansas City in March on a contract of the same length. That appeared to set up the 34-year-old for a third consecutive Chiefs campaign during his second stint with the franchise. Pennel was among the team’s roster cuts last week, however.

Instead of remaining in place on Kansas City’s practice squad, the former UDFA will head to Cincinnati. The Bengals will be Pennel’s sixth career team, with his second Chiefs stint being preceded by time with the Packers, Jets, Falcons and Bears. Never a full-time starter on defense or a known presence in the pass rush department, he set a new career high with three sacks in 2024.

Pennel will look to carve out a role along the defensive interior whenever he finds himself on the active roster. The two-time Super Bowl winner is joining a group featuring returnee B.J. Hill, free agent signing T.J. Slaton and 2024 draftees Kris Jenkins and McKinnley Jackson. Cincinnati ranked 19th against the run last season, and improvement in that department will be a goal under new defensive coordinator Al Golden. 

The Bengals entered Monday with roughly $17MM in cap space, more than enough afford what will be an inexpensive Pennel addition. It will be interesting to see how early he receives a gameday elevation or winds up being promoted to the active roster.

Chiefs Cut 34 Players, Settle On 53-Man Roster

August 26th, 2025 at 9:27pm CST by Ben Levine

The defending AFC champs have set their 53-man roster. The Chiefs announced the following moves:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on reserve/NFI:

Placed on injured reserve:

Placed on injured reserve (designated for return):

On the defensive side of the ball, Cam Jones was a somewhat surprising cut after getting into all 34 games for the Chiefs over the past two years. A former UDFA, Jones has seen the majority of his playing time on special teams, but he still got into 161 defensive snaps for Kansas City between 2023 and 2024. Over the span, the linebacker has collected 36 tackles. The team also moved on from veteran defensive tackle Mike Pennel, who started seven of his 17 appearances for Kansas City in 2024.

On the other side of the ball, the team dropped 2024 preseason standout Carson Steele. The UCLA product had a brief chance to show his stuff immediately following Isiah Pacheco‘s injury, but a persistent fumbling issue had him tumbling down the depth chart. Steele ultimately finished his rookie season with 209 yards from scrimmge on 63 touches.

Chiefs Re-Sign DT Mike Pennel

March 24th, 2025 at 12:56pm CST by Adam La Rose

Last March, Mike Pennel re-signed with the Chiefs on a one-year pact. The veteran defensive tackle will remain in Kansas City for 2025 as well.

[RELATED: Chiefs Re-Sign Charles Omenihu]

Pennel has a new Chiefs deal in place, the team announced on Monday. The 31-year-old’s first stint in Kansas City took place from 2019-20, and he returned in 2023. Pennel was limited to only three games during his first season back with the team, but the decision to keep him in place last spring proved to be a fruitful one.

Logging a full 20-game slate (between the regular season and playoffs), the former UDFA logged a 30% snap share on defense in 2024. In spite of that usage rate, Pennell set a new career high in sacks with three; he added 25 tackles and a forced fumble. Given that level of production, it comes as little surprise Kansas City has again elected to keep him in the fold.

Tershawn Wharton was among the top free agents along the defensive line this spring, and he took a deal with the Panthers on the open market. The Chiefs lost a five-year D-line contributor in the process, one who made 10 starts and handled a career-high 62% snap share last season. Pennel could be in line to help fill the void generated by Wharton’s departure as a low cost Chris Jones partner.

Kansas City ranked eighth against the run last season, and expectations will be high to repeat that success next year. Pennel does not offer the same pass-rushing upside that Wharton does, though, so next month’s draft could be used for the Chiefs to add in that regard along the defensive line.

Chiefs To Re-Sign DL Mike Pennel

March 13th, 2024 at 8:42pm CST by Ben Levine

Currently on his second stint with the organization, Mike Pennel will be sticking with the Chiefs for at least another year. The team announced that they’ve re-signed the veteran defensive lineman. It’ll be a one-year deal for Pennel.

The former UDFA had stints with the Packers, Jets, and Patriots before landing with the Chiefs in 2019. He ended up getting into 22 regular season games during his first two seasons in Kansas City. He also appeared in six playoff games, including a 2019 Super Bowl-winning run when he started two postseason contests.

Pennel spent time with the Bears and the Falcons between 2021 and 2022 before landing back in Kansas City last October. He initially joined the practice squad and only got into three regular season games, but he saw a much larger role in the playoffs, starting three of his four appearances. This included a Super Bowl win where he compiled six tackles.

The Chiefs have been busy retaining their DT depth. Of course, Pennel’s new deal will pale in comparison to the massive contract that fellow DT Chris Jones earned from the organization.

Final Transactions Before Super Bowl LVIII

February 11th, 2024 at 1:30pm CST by Ely Allen

FEBRUARY 11: McKinnon is a game time decision, but NFL Network’s James Palmer reports he is expected to play. Sunday’s contest would represent his first action since Week 14, but it would also mark an impressive recovery in relatively short order from his core muscle surgery. McKinnon is a pending free agent, and a strong performance would help his market on another Chiefs deal or one with a new team.

FEBRUARY 10: With the NFL’s season finale taking place tomorrow night, both participants have made their roster moves in anticipation of the biggest game of the year. The 49ers‘ moves are simple as they choose to promote defensive tackles Alex Barrett and T.Y. McGill as standard gameday elevations, per Matt Barrows of The Athletic. The Chiefs will make an elevation, as well, while also choosing to swap out an active roster player for a player off of injured reserve.

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The Chiefs standard gameday practice squad elevation will once again be nose tackle Mike Pennel, who has been activated for each of Kansas City’s three playoff victories thus far. In the past, Pennel has been joined by practice squad cornerback Keith Taylor or defensive tackle Matt Dickerson, but it appears Pennel will be the lone practice squad defender activated for tomorrow.

As for the active roster addition, the Chiefs have made the move to officially activate running back Jerick McKinnon off of IR. The veteran rusher has mostly been a non-factor in the Chiefs offense this year but has served a role as the team’s backup pass-catching back. Despite the activation, McKinnon is still listed as questionable going into Sunday night’s game. In order to make room for McKinnon on the active roster, the Chiefs placed All-Pro guard Joe Thuney on IR. Thuney’s status was already known, so clearing him from the active roster should have little consequence at this point.

For San Francisco, Barrett and McGill are expected to be among the seven players listed as inactive for the big game. While this may make the elevations seem trivial, it’s the 49ers way of rewarding the reserve defenders. Elevating Barrett and McGill will provide the two with an additional playoff paycheck before the season ends.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/27/24

January 27th, 2024 at 4:24pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are the standard gameday practice squad elevations for Championship Sunday:

Baltimore Ravens

Detroit Lions

Kansas City Chiefs

San Francisco 49ers

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/20/24

January 20th, 2024 at 4:55pm CST by Ely Allen

With three games remaining this weekend, six teams were required to announce their roster moves today:

Buffalo Bills

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Kansas City Chiefs

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bills and Lions move forward with the same pair of standard gameday practice squad elevations as last week. The Packers and Buccaneers, on the other hand, will give Banks and Dzansi a chance to make their NFL debuts in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/13/24

January 13th, 2024 at 4:52pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s transactions and callups for the Saturday night and Sunday games:

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

The three-game limit for practice squad players to be elevated under a single contract is reset in the playoffs, allowing players who weren’t able to be activated anymore by the end of the year to return in the coming weeks.

Packers starting cornerback Jaire Alexander injured his ankle this week in practice, leading to his current questionable status. Long will be elevated to provide some depth in the off chance that Alexander is unable to go versus the Cowboys.

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