Minor NFL Transactions: 10/28/20
Here are Wednesday’s minor moves:
Houston Texans
- Activated from IR: WR Isaiah Coulter
Los Angeles Rams
- Placed on IR: S Terrell Burgess
Minnesota Vikings
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: CB Cameron Dantzler
New England Patriots
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: C James Ferentz
- Placed on IR: LB Brandon Copeland
New Orleans Saints
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: CB Ken Crawley
New York Jets
- Activated from IR: LB Jabari Zuniga
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/28/20
Here are Wednesday’s practice squad decisions:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: RB Khalfani Muhammad, DL Daniel Wise
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: LB Deon Lacey
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: G Ben Braden, CB KeiVarae Russell
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: OL Bryan Witzmann
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: DE Jessie Lemonier, WR Jason Moore
- Released: DT Lee Autry
Los Angeles Rams
- Placed on practice squad IR: CB Donte Deayon
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: C Brett Jones
New England Patriots
- Placed on practice squad IR: TE Jake Burt
New York Jets
- Released: QB David Fales
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: DE Alex Barrett, WR Chris Finke, DB Parnell Motley
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: LB Quinton Bell
Washington Football Team
- Signed: WR Trevor Davis
Vikings’ Danielle Hunter Officially Done For Year
Danielle Hunter has been officially ruled out for the season after undergoing successful neck surgery to repair a herniated disc, head coach Mike Zimmer announced (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Courtney Cronin). This was the expected move for Hunter, who has not seen the field in 2020.
Hunter recently got a second opinion from a specialist in New York, who told him to shut it down for the season. On the field, he’s been sorely missed, though the Vikings’ problems have not been limited to the edge rush. The Vikings have struggled to generate consistent pressure without Hunter, and they’re now trying to improve on that front without the services of Yannick Ngakoue, who was shipped to the Ravens earlier this month.
When the Vikings placed Hunter on injured reserve in September, they hoped that Hunter would be able to make his debut either this week or next. Instead, he’ll be shelved for the remainder of the season. Even in a best case scenario, it wouldn’t have been an easy call to activate him. At 1-5, the one-time Super Bowl contenders aren’t playing for much.
Last year, Hunter graded out as the No. 7 ranked edge rusher in the league, ahead of Cameron Jordan, Myles Garrett, Demarcus Lawrence, and a host of other big names. He notched 14.5 sacks in each of the last two seasons, bringing his career tally to 54.5. He’ll still be tied to the team for years to come, thanks to the five-year, $72MM extension he inked in 2018.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/27/20
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Placed on IR: DL Zach Allen, LB Isaiah Irving
- Waived: TE Evan Baylis
Buffalo Bills
- Promoted: LB Andre Smith
- Released from reserve/retired list: DB Isiah Brown
Denver Broncos
- Promoted: DT Sylvester Williams
- Placed on IR: DT Mike Purcell (story), LB Derrek Tuszka
Minnesota Vikings
- Released: C Brett Jones
New York Giants
- Promoted: LB Trent Harris
San Francisco 49ers
- Released from IR: WR Tavon Austin
Seattle Seahawks
- Waived: DT Anthony Rush
Tennessee Titans
- Promoted: LB Daren Bates, OL David Quessenberry
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/27/20
We’ll keep track of the practice squad moves from the past day here:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: CB De’Vante Bausby
Baltimore Ravens
- Released: S Marcus Gilchrist
Carolina Panthers
- Released: CB Josh Hawkins
Chicago Bears
- Signed: WR Dwayne Harris
- Released: DT Terry Beckner
Cincinnati Bengals
- Released: CB Jalen Davis
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: OT Alex Taylor
- Released: DE Jalen Jelks
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: P Hunter Niswander
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Released: T Jared Hilbers
Kansas City Chiefs
- Released: QB Jordan Ta’amu
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: DB Kemah Siverand
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: K Austin MacGinnis
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: CB Marcus Sayles
- Released: LB Cale Garrett
New England Patriots
- Signed: T Jordan Steckler
- Released: G Jordan Roos
New York Giants
- Signed: WR Corey Coleman, DB Montre Hartage, TE Rysen John
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: WR Anthony Johnson
- Released: WR Amara Darboh
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: OL Tony Bergstrom, DL Willie Henry
- Released: CB Brian Allen, OL Cody Conway, DL Adam Shuler
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: OL Paul Adams, LB Will Compton
Washington Football Team
- Released: DE Gerri Green, DB Manny Patterson, LB Donald Payne
Vikings Designate Pat Elflein, Troy Dye To Return
The Vikings are in the midst of an abysmal campaign at 1-5, but they at least have some reinforcements on the way. Minnesota is designating guard Pat Elflein and linebacker Troy Dye to return from injured reserve, they announced Monday.
Each can return to practice, and the team now has a three-week window to activate either player. If they are not activated in that span, they’ll be ineligible to return for the remainder of the year. Those weren’t the only roster moves the Vikings made following their bye week, as they also claimed cornerback Chris Jones off waivers from the Lions and signed cornerback Mark Fields to the active roster from the practice squad. Clearly, the Vikings feel they need help in the secondary, and it’s hard to argue with that given what we’ve seen so far.
Elflein became the Vikings’ starter at center his first two years in the league, then switched to guard last season and started 15 games there. He played every snap in Week 1 but was placed on injured reserve with a knee issue shortly thereafter. Elflein has never been viewed too positively by most evaluators, but it can’t hurt to get a starter back.
Dye is a fourth-round rookie from Oregon who could help with a defense that has been struggling mightily. He started to get defensive snaps in Week 2 after Anthony Barr picked up his season-ending injury, but then promptly went down with a foot injury of his own.
Jones is a 2018 UDFA from Nebraska who appeared in 11 games with three starts for the Cardinals last year. He had 22 tackles and six passes defended. Fields is a 2019 UDFA from Clemson who spent most of last year on Minnesota’s practice squad and has been shuffling back and forth between there and the active roster this season.
Trade Rumors: Giants, Ryan, Fuller
After dealing Markus Golden to the Cardinals, it appears the 1-6 Giants have officially declared themselves sellers at this year’s trade deadline. Though GM Dave Gettleman may be reluctant to trade away veteran talent that could theoretically help Big Blue win a few games — and perhaps save Gettleman’s job in the process — players like Evan Engram, Kevin Zeitler, and Golden Tate could be available, as Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post writes (though Ian Rapoport of NFL.com says the club is unlikely to deal Engram).
2017 second-round DT Dalvin Tomlinson could also be on the move, per Dunleavy. Tomlinson is playing out the last year of his rookie contract, and while he has expressed interest in staying with the Giants long-term, there has been little progress in contract talks.
As we creep closer to the November 3 deadline, let’s round up a few more trade rumors from around the league:
- Big names like Falcons QB Matt Ryan and WR Julio Jones are not going to be moved, as Rapoport writes in the same piece linked above. The same can be said for Jets QB Sam Darnold (though Darnold could be dealt this offseason). Gang Green may be more open to trading DT Quinnen Williams, but thus far interested teams have only offered a single second-round pick. That will not be enough to convince GM Joe Douglas to trade the talented interior defender.
- The 1-5 Vikings look like sellers after they traded Yannick Ngakoue, and Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports says Minnesota is open to dealing S Harrison Smith, TE Kyle Rudolph, and LT Riley Reiff. However, those players are not generating much interest, and the players that rival execs really want — WR Adam Thielen and TE Irv Smith Jr. — seem likely to stay put.
- Another 1-5 outfit, the Texans, also anticipate making a trade or two, per La Canfora. Houston is in desperate need of draft capital, and receivers Brandin Cooks and Will Fuller are coming up in discussions. Sources expect at least one of those players to be moved, and the team is also gauging the market for edge defender Whitney Mercilus.
- One team that could have an eye on the Texans’ receivers is the Patriots, who are once again looking for a pass catcher, as La Canfora writes. One year after the team’s ill-fated trade for Mohamed Sanu, New England wants to get a weapon for QB Cam Newton, and Cooks, Fuller, and Thielen could all be options.
- Washington QB Dwayne Haskins might be on the trade market, but the club hasn’t received much interest. According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, Haskins could be had for anything more than a sixth-round pick, but Washington hasn’t even gotten an offer that good yet. Although pass rusher Ryan Kerrigan has been the most-discussed Washington trade chip outside of Haskins, Rapoport says Ryan Anderson is more likely to be traded.
Teams Calling Vikings On Kyle Rudolph
The Vikings greenlit this season’s biggest trade thus far by sending Yannick Ngakoue to the Ravens for third- and fifth-round picks. While GM Rick Spielman said the team is not waving a white flag on its 2020 season, Albert Breer of SI.com notes the Vikings are willing to make more seller’s trades. Teams have contacted them about Kyle Rudolph, their 10th-year tight end who is in the first season of his latest Minnesota extension. The Vikings signed Rudolph to a four-year, $36MM extension but did so shortly after drafting Irv Smith Jr. in the second round. While Breer notes the Vikes are open for business on contract-year players, the soon-to-be 31-year-old Rudolph would make sense as a trade chip as well. He was a trade candidate before he signed his extension. Guard Pat Elflein and franchise-tagged safety Anthony Harris are the Vikings’ highest-profile contract-year players.
George Iloka Suffers Torn ACL In Practice
George Iloka‘s Vikings reunion will not include any more games in 2020. The veteran safety suffered a torn ACL in practice Wednesday, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson (on Twitter).
The Vikings placed Iloka on injured reserve Thursday. The sides reunited just before the season through a practice squad agreement, but Iloka played in Minnesota’s past four games.
Mike Zimmer‘s final Bengals defense featured Iloka as a 16-game starter, and he held that role in Cincinnati through the 2017 season. The Bengals released Iloka in 2018, leading him to a Zimmer reunion in the Twin Cities. The Vikings used Iloka as mostly a depth piece in ’18, with Anthony Harris moving into the starting lineup alongside Harrison Smith. That was Iloka’s role this season as well.
Iloka, who sat out the 2019 season, made six tackles for the Vikes this year. He played 43 defensive snaps in Week 4 but totaled only two in the past two games. Set for free agency, Iloka will turn 31 ahead of the 2021 season.
Vikings GM: Team Not Giving Up On Season
The Vikings have dismantled their never-deployed defensive end tandem of Danielle Hunter and Yannick Ngakoue on Thursday. Ngakoue is Baltimore-bound, and Hunter will undergo surgery that will push his return back to 2021.
At 1-5 and having made a seller’s trade, Minnesota is staring at its worst season of the Mike Zimmer era. The Vikings have not finished under .500 since 2014 — Zimmer’s first year — and have not lost double-digit games since they went 5-10-1 in Leslie Frazier‘s 2013 finale.
Thursday’s developments coming after the team endured a blowout loss to a previously winless Falcons squad dealing with COVID-19 limitations certainly point to Vikings management conceding this year’s team will not be a contender. Rick Spielman, however, said otherwise. “No one thinks the season’s over now,” the veteran GM said Thursday (Twitter link via the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Ben Goessling). While Spielman’s stance should not be surprising, the Vikings do appear to be set for a rare year out of the playoff picture.
Spielman referenced the team’s 15-player draft class when addressing the decision to trade Ngakoue for a package highlighted by a 2021 third-round pick.
“You want to win as many games as we can, and that’s going to be our objective for the year,” Spielman said (via Goessling, on Twitter). “But also, when you have an opportunity to continue to add, with the 15 draft picks, you’re seeing most of them having to play right now.”
The Vikings, of course, began this year by extending quarterback Kirk Cousins. They then reached an extension agreement with Dalvin Cook. Minnesota, which had spent years building its nucleus through the draft and subsequent extensions, cut veterans Xavier Rhodes and Linval Joseph and traded Stefon Diggs. The team also let cornerbacks Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander walk in free agency. While Justin Jefferson leads all rookie receivers with 537 receiving yards, the Vikings rank 31st in scoring offense and 26th in points allowed.
Of its rookie class, Minnesota has used Jefferson, first-round corner Jeff Gladney and third-round corner Cameron Dantzler as starters, and second-round offensive lineman Ezra Cleveland made his debut in Week 6. The Vikings are one of 10 teams with zero or one wins through six weeks, complicating a potential run at a high 2021 draft pick.
