Here are Friday’s minor moves:
Detroit Lions
Houston Texans
Los Angeles Chargers
New England Patriots
Tennessee Titans
James White received bad injury news Wednesday. The longtime Patriots passing-down back is expected to miss the rest of the season, according to Field Yates and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
The veteran outlet option suffered a hip injury during the Pats’ Week 3 loss to the Saints and was set to be out indefinitely. The timetable clarity will knock him out until 2022, when he is no longer under contract with New England. White, 29, is set for unrestricted free agency in March.
Part of the three 2010s Patriots Super Bowl-winning teams, White has been an essential part of the Pats’ offense for most of his career. Succeeding the likes of Kevin Faulk, Danny Woodhead and Shane Vereen as Bill Belichick-era passing-down backs, White signed a one-year, $2.5MM deal to stay with the team this offseason. The veteran’s hip injury stands to cloud his future, though given his value in New England, a fourth White-Pats agreement would not surprise.
Cam Newton‘s year at the helm resulted in a production dip for White, who emerged on the Buccaneers’ radar before they brought in Giovani Bernard to be Tom Brady‘s third-down option. But this is still a big loss for the Pats, who have used White in this role since 2015. White totaled 908 scrimmage yards in 2019, helping the Patriots compensate for a depleted receiving corps, and is obviously best known for scoring three TDs to aid the 2016 squad’s historic comeback in Super Bowl LI.
The team has second-year backs Rhamondre Stevenson and J.J. Taylor, along with longtime special-teamer Brandon Bolden on its roster. The Patriots have not used starter Damien Harris (10 career catches) much in the passing game and allowed veteran Rex Burkhead to defect to the Texans earlier this year.
With James White sidelined indefinitely, the Patriots are eyeing some free agent running backs. The team worked out Ito Smith, Ryquell Armstead, Dontrell Hilliard, and Artavis Pierce today, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter).
[RELATED: Patriots’ James White Out Indefinitely]
Smith has the most experience among the four, seeing time in 35 games in three seasons with the Falcons. This included a 2020 campaign where he finished with 343 yards from scrimmage and one touchdown. The 26-year-old caught on with the Vikings this offseason but was let go before the regular season.
Armstead got into 16 games as a rookie with the Jaguars in 2019, finishing with 252 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. He sat out the 2020 season while dealing with issues from COVID-19, and after getting claimed by the Giants in May, he was waived by his new team in June. Pierce, a 2020 undrafted free agent out of Oregon State, saw time in five games with the Bears last season, rushing for 34 yards and one touchdown on six carries. Hilliard, 26, saw time in 30 games for the Browns in two-plus seasons with the organization.
White suffered a hip injury during Sunday’s loss to the Saints, and the veteran will be sidelined for the foreseeable future. The team is already rostering four other RBs in Damien Harris, J.J. Taylor, rookie Rhamondre Stevenson, and special teamer Brandon Bolden.
The Patriots didn’t only audition running backs today. The team also took a look at defensive backs D.J. Daniel and Stephen Denmark and wideout Anthony Johnson.
Raekwon McMillan won’t see the field this season, but the Patriots linebacker still got a deal for next year. New England has signed McMillan to a one-year extension, keeping the player with the team through at least the 2022 campaign, per ESPN’s Field Yates (via Twitter).
McMillan joined the Patriots this offseason, and it sounded like he was going to carve out a role on the team’s defense (per ESPN’s Mike Reiss on Twitter). However, he suffered a torn ACL during training camp that knocked him out of action for the entire 2021 season. The 25-year-old will still have a year to pick up the team’s playbook, and he’ll be able to compete for a spot on next year’s roster.
McMillan was a second-round pick back in 2017, but his rookie season was wiped out thanks to a torn ACL. He was relatively productive in two healthy seasons with the Dolphins, collecting 177 tackles, eight tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles.
He was traded to the Raiders prior to the 2020 season, and he finished his lone season in Vegas with 27 tackles and one forced fumble in 16 games (four starts).
Patriots running back James White has been diagnosed with a subluxation of the hip (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The injury will shelve him indefinitely so, at minimum, he’ll be placed on the short-term injured reserve list.
White, 29, was quickly forced out of Sunday’s loss to the Saints. Through three games (really, two games), the veteran has 12 catches for 94 yards plus ten carries for 38 yards and one score. After registering 25 touchdown catches for New England between 2014-2020, White was expected to see an increase in touches throughout the year. Now, everything’s up in the air for the pass-catching back.
White has only taken the field for the Patriots since entering the league as a fourth-round pick. More than just a valuable third-down tailback, he’s also a longstanding team captain. After tallying 994 all-purpose yards in 2019, he saw less time in 2020. Still, White had 49 grabs for 375 yards and a touchdown to lead all Pats RBs in receiving.
The Pats are now left with four running backs on the 53-man roster: Damien Harris, J.J. Taylor, rookie Rhamondre Stevenson, and Brandon Bolden.
Here are today’s practice squad decisions:
Baltimore Ravens
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
New England Patriots
Seattle Seahawks
The weekly Saturday bunch of minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Detroit Lions
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
New York Giants
New York Jets
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
After a three-year reunion, the McCourty brothers again went their separate ways this season. As Devin McCourty remains in the same role he has occupied for the past 12 years, Jason is with a fourth NFL team.
The 13th-year cornerback signed a veteran-minimum deal with the Dolphins, doing so after meeting with the Giants. While a lower-level market formed for Jason McCourty, the Patriots were not overly interested in bringing him back. New England did not submit an offer to keep Jason, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com notes.
With McCourty accepting a vet-minimum contract, his market was certainly not robust. But he has remained a viable secondary cog despite his age. The last active corner from the 2009 draft, the Rutgers product has continued to deliver for his various teams (Titans, Browns, Patriots, Dolphins).
The Pats used the veteran cover man as a 33-game starter, and he added three playoff starts during the team’s Super Bowl-winning 2018 season. New England is currently playing without top corner Stephon Gilmore, who is on the team’s PUP list. While the Pats moved offseason signing Jalen Mills back to corner and still have J.C. Jackson and slot man Jonathan Jones, it is interesting they did not make much of an effort to retain McCourty given the minimal cost.
McCourty has started both Miami’s games this season and, at 34, played 94% of the team’s defensive snaps. While Pro Football Focus slotted him outside its top 75 at corner last season, he grades as a top-20 safety thus far in his second tour of duty with Brian Flores.
Keeping tabs on today’s taxi squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Dallas Cowboys
Denver Broncos
New England Patriots
New York Giants
San Francisco 49ers
Tennessee Titans
Today’s taxi squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Los Angeles Rams
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers