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Injured Reserve Return Tracker

September 17th, 2024 at 1:40pm CST by Sam Robinson

No players are yet eligible to be activated from IR, but this 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 IR- or NFI-return designations, however, already count against teams’ regular-season limit of eight. This will introduce more strategy for teams, who will be tasked with determining which players injured in-season will factor into activation puzzles as the year progresses.

All players designated for return in August are eligible to be activated beginning in Week 5. The same holds true for players moved to IR before Week 1, 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. Players who receive return designations beginning in Week 5 will be added to this list.

Here are the players teams already protected via summer return designations:

Arizona Cardinals

Designated for return from IR: 

Activations remaining: 6

Atlanta Falcons

Designated for return from IR: 

Activations remaining: 7

Baltimore Ravens

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 7

Buffalo Bills

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 6

Carolina Panthers

Designated for return from IR: 

Activations remaining: 6

Chicago Bears

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 6

Cincinnati Bengals

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 6

Cleveland Browns

Designated for return from reserve/non-football illness list:

Designated for return from reserve/non-football injury list:

Activations remaining: 6

Dallas Cowboys

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 7

Denver Broncos

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 7

Detroit Lions

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 7

Green Bay Packers

Designated for return from IR:

  • DL Jonathan Ford

Activations remaining: 7

Houston Texans

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 6

Indianapolis Colts

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 6

Jacksonville Jaguars

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 6

Kansas City Chiefs

Activations remaining: 8

Las Vegas Raiders

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 7

Los Angeles Chargers

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 7

Los Angeles Rams

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 6

Miami Dolphins

Designated for return from IR:

Minnesota Vikings

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 6

New England Patriots

Designated for return from IR:

Designated for return from reserve/non-football illness list:

Activations remaining: 6

New Orleans Saints

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 7

New York Giants

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 7

New York Jets

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 6

Philadelphia Eagles

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 6

Pittsburgh Steelers

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 6

San Francisco 49ers

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 7

Seattle Seahawks

Activations remaining: 8

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 7

Tennessee Titans

Activations remaining: 8

Washington Commanders

Designated for return from IR:

Activations remaining: 7

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/14/24

September 14th, 2024 at 8:06pm CST by Ely Allen

Saturday’s minor transactions and gameday practice squad callups:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Patrick was among the Broncos’ final roster cuts after a Saints trade was discussed. The 30-year-old missed the 2022 and ’23 campaigns due to ACL and Achilles tears, respectively. Patrick did not need to wait long to find a new opportunity, though, quickly landing a practice squad deal with the Lions. He is now positioned make his season debut tomorrow as a complementary option in Detroit’s passing attack.

Olszewski is dealing with a groin injury and he was known to be facing a long-term absence. Today’s move thus comes as no surprise, but it ensures at least a four-week absence. The former All-Pro scored a punt return touchdown with Pittsburgh early last season and added another during his 10-game Giants stretch to close out the year. The team will need to rely on other options in the return game for the time being.

Injury Notes: Bears, Walker, Murray, Bosa

September 11th, 2024 at 9:17pm CST by Ben Levine

The Bears got good news surrounding the knee injury that knocked Rome Odunze out of Sunday’s season opener. Per Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz, the rookie wide receiver suffered a Grade 1 knee sprain, the “best-case scenario” for the team and player.

Odunze suffered his MCL injury while blocking for Velus Jones Jr. during a fourth-quarter screen pass. The rookie stayed in the game for one additional play before exiting for good. The wideout is officially considered week-to-week, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, and there’s been no indication that the ninth-overall pick will have a stay on injured reserve. Coach Matt Eberflus said the Bears were “lucky” to avoid a serious injury, and he even kept the door open to Odunze playing in Week 2.

Wednesday’s injury report also showed that fellow receiver Keenan Allen didn’t practice while nursing a heel injury. Eberflus later clarified that the wideout was considered day-to-day, and there’s hope the offseason acquisition can hit the practice field on Thursday and Friday following his day off.

In the unlikely event that both Odunze and Allen are sidelined, the Bears’ deep wide receiver grouping will be down to just D.J. Moore. Rookie QB Caleb Williams is certainly hoping for his full arsenal of wideouts following an NFL debut where he completed only 14 of 29 pass attempts for 93 yards.

More injury notes from around the NFL…

  • Kenneth Walker left Sunday’s game with an oblique injury and didn’t practice on Wednesday, per the Seahawks‘ injury report. Mike Macdonald said the running back is day-to-day (via ESPN’s Brady Henderson), but another missed practice would obviously put the player’s Week 2 availability in doubt. Walker exited the season opener after compiling 103 rushing yards and one touchdown. Zach Charbonnet finished the game at running back, scoring a 30-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
  • Kyler Murray was a full participant at today’s practice, but the Cardinals QB still showed up on the injury report with a knee injury. Murray, of course, suffered an ACL injury during the 2022 campaign, and 2024 represented his first healthy offseason in a few years. Murray didn’t miss a snap on Sunday, and it seemed like his knee was in good shape after he ran for 57 yards. Clayton Tune is the only other QB currently on the active roster.
  • The Chargers announced that Joey Bosa was a limited participant at Wednesday’s practice while dealing with a back injury. The pass rusher appeared in 60 percent of his team’s defensive snaps in Week 1, collecting a sack and a forced fumble along the way. The long-time Charger has been snake bitten by injuries over the past few years, missing 20 total games.
  • NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport passes along a list of other notable players who didn’t practice on Wednesday, including Bengals receiver Tee Higgins (hamstring), Chiefs receiver Marquise Brown (shoulder), Browns tight end David Njoku (ankle), Packers quarterback Jordan Love (MCL), and Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore (hip/hamstring).

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/11/24

September 11th, 2024 at 8:02pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

  • Signed: WR Kaden Davis

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Chargers

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

  • Signed: LB Jackson Sirmon

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Browns Add LB Khaleke Hudson Off Saints’ Practice Squad

September 10th, 2024 at 9:54pm CST by Ely Allen

Saints practice squad linebacker Khaleke Hudson is heading to Cleveland, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. Hudson will join the Browns‘ active roster after being signed from the practice squad in New Orleans. A gameday elevation this past weekend, Hudson could be one of the first players in the league to play for more than one team this season.

Hudson signed with the Saints in the offseason after playing out his rookie contract as a fifth-round pick in Washington. A solid rotation player through the first three years of his career, Hudson earned a bigger role in 2023, starting eight games for the Commanders and tallying career highs in total tackles (74), tackles for loss (5), sacks (1), quarterback hits (2), and passes defensed (2).

Despite the strong contract year that led to his deal with the Saints, Hudson didn’t end up making the initial 53-man roster, though New Orleans did retain him on the practice squad. Now, though, he’ll get a new opportunity to play in Cleveland, where Brandon Bouyer-Randle sits on injured reserve and Mohamoud Diabate and Tony Fields II take up spots on the injury report. He provides some experienced, starting depth on the defense.

Additionally, with Pro Bowl tight end David Njoku facing a potential absence due to an ankle injury, the Browns added veteran Geoff Swaim to the practice squad, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. Jordan Akins sits on the roster behind Njoku, and Swaim will now add some additional experience and depth from the practice squad, if necessary.

NFC Restructures: Hockenson, Giants, Saints

September 8th, 2024 at 8:15pm CST by Ely Allen

The Vikings were in an uncomfortable position entering the season with less than $1MM in salary cap space. Such a low allowance would restrict the team in making any deadline or practice squad additions, so it was necessary for the team to rework somebody’s contract in order to free up a bit of cap space.

That player happened to be tight end T.J. Hockenson, per Ben Goessling of The Minnesota Star Tribune. While the exact details are unavailable at the moment, the Vikings converted a good amount of Hockenson’s $9.9MM base salary in 2024 into a signing bonus. The move cleared up around $7.92MM of cap space. They avoided utilizing a void year at the end of his contract to stash future cap since he already had one in his previous deal.

Here are a few other restructures from around the NFC:

  • The Giants also looked to restructure a veteran’s contract on the eve of the season, choosing to rework the deal of linebacker Bobby Okereke, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. The team converted $6.78MM of Okereke’s 2024 salary into a signing bonus. The move cleared up $4.51MM of cap space for New York this season.
  • Lastly, we recently mentioned that New Orleans worked to restructure the contract of tight end Juwan Johnson to clear up $3.5MM of cap space. Katherine Terrell of ESPN provided a few more details on the reworked deal, informing that the team converted $4.38MM of Johnson’s 2024 base salary into a signing bonus and added one additional void year to the end of his contract in order to achieve their desired result. In effect, his cap impact with the Saints was reduced from $7.01MM to $3.51MM.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/7/24

September 7th, 2024 at 7:42pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are all the NFL’s minor transactions for Saturday, including the gameday callups leading into the first Sunday of the 2024 season:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

With regular kicker Matt Gay listed as questionable for the season opener after hernia surgery, the Colts will call up Shrader from the practice squad as an emergency option. The 25-year-old has not made a regular season appearance in his career, but that could very well change tomorrow.

Broncos, Saints Discussed Tim Patrick Trade

September 5th, 2024 at 7:37pm CST by Sam Robinson

Tim Patrick regularly saw time with Broncos starters during training camp and the preseason, but it now looks like the team was attempting to showcase the recovered wide receiver for trades. After the Broncos tried to trade Patrick, they ended up releasing him.

This led the veteran wide receiver to the Lions’ practice squad. Patrick is expected to move up to Detroit’s 53-man roster soon, and a role as an auxiliary wide receiver — for a team that saw previous Amon-Ra St. Brown complementary target Josh Reynolds sign with the Broncos — appears on tap. But Patrick was nearly traded to a team that features more questions at receiver.

Patrick said Thursday (via the Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birkett) the Broncos informed him of talks with the Saints before cutdown day. A Saints-to-Broncos pipeline has certainly formed since Sean Payton‘s Denver arrival, but this would have sent a player the other way. Patrick, 30, does have a tie in New Orleans; new Saints OC Klint Kubiak was in Denver for multiple stints during Patrick’s career. Kubiak served as an offensive assistant from 2016-18, overlapping with Patrick’s Denver P-squad time and 2018 move onto the active roster, and returned as QBs coach in 2022.

The Saints have an established top two of Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed; questions exist beyond this duo, however. New Orleans considered Marquez Valdes-Scantling in free agency and ended up with recent Dolphins WR3 Cedrick Wilson Jr. on their roster. The team drafted A.T. Perry in the 2023 sixth round, as part of a trade that sent tight end Adam Trautman to Denver, and used a fifth-round pick on Bub Means this year.

Although Payton has touted the Broncos’ newfound receiving depth, the team is attempting to elevate Marvin Mims to a regular role post-Jerry Jeudy and may need to rely on Reynolds alongside Courtland Sutton as well. The Broncos drafted two Day 3 wideouts (fourth-rounder Troy Franklin, seventh-rounder Devaughn Vele), only keeping five on their 53-man roster. Denver memorably turned down a third-round offer for Sutton (from the 49ers, in what would have effectively been a three-team trade that sent Brandon Aiyuk to the Steelers), despite trading Jeudy to the Browns for fifth- and sixth-round picks in March.

With the team since the final days of its Demaryius Thomas–Emmanuel Sanders duo, Patrick excelled as an auxiliary receiver for the Broncos from 2020-21. Denver gave the former UDFA a three-year, $30MM extension but saw him suffer ACL (2022) and Achilles (2023) tears during training camp. Patrick has made it back, playing in Denver’s first two preseason games and catching a touchdown pass from Bo Nix against the Packers.

The Lions will attempt to get him up to speed, as a role alongside St. Brown and Jameson Williams could await despite Detroit not needing to part with any trade compensation.

2024 Offseason In Review Series

September 4th, 2024 at 9:43pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are PFR’s examinations of the 32 NFL teams’ 2024 offseasons:

AFC East

AFC North

AFC South

AFC West

NFC East

NFC North

NFC South

NFC West

Contract Details: Ravens, 49ers, Sutton, Bates

September 4th, 2024 at 9:32pm CST by Ben Levine

The Ravens reworked a handful of contracts this week. Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the team restructured linebacker Roquan Smith‘s contract. ESPN’s Field Yates adds that defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike and kicker Justin Tucker also reworked their pacts.

Smith’s restructuring helped create $4.875MM in cap space, per Rapoport. Smith is playing on the second year of a five-year, $100MM extension he signed with the Ravens in 2023. In total, the three recent contract restructurings will total $9.3MM in savings, per Yates.

GM Eric DeCosta recently hinted that the team may be over the cap after adding a long list of practice squad players (via Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic). The executive was confident the organization would quickly get cap compliant, and it sounds like the front office also managed to squeeze out some extra financial wiggle room heading into the regular season.

More cap restructurings from around the NFL…

  • Deebo Samuel provided the 49ers with some cap space the other day, with the wideout’s restructuring providing the team with a whopping $16.4MM in cap space (via Yates). Samuel is still playing on the three-year, $73.5MM extension he inked with San Francisco in 2022. Defensive tackle Maliek Collins also recently reworked his contract, saving the 49ers $5.43MM against the cap, per Yates. The team specifically converted $6.79MM of Collins’ upcoming salary into a signing bonus, adding three void years in the process (per Michael Ginnitti of Spotrac).
  • The Broncos continue to commit to wideout Courtland Sutton, at least for the entirety of the 2024 campaign. The team restructured the receiver’s contract, helping open $9.5MM in cap space, per Yates. Specifically, the team converted $11.875MM of Sutton’s $13MM salary into a bonus, per Mike Klis of 9News in Denver. The reduced financial flexibility reduces the chances of a Sutton trade during the upcoming season.
  • The Falcons opened up about $7.5MM in cap space by reworking Jessie Bates‘ contract, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston. The team converted $11.25MM of his 2024 base salary into a signing bonus, increasing his 2025 ($22.25MM) and 2026 ($22.27MM) cap hits in the process.
  • The Panthers reworked a pair of contracts, according to Yates. Both offensive tackle Taylor Moton and defensive tackle Shy Tuttle helped provide the Panthers with some breathing room, as the duo’s restructurings created $10.7MM in cap room.
  • The Saints opened $3.5MM in cap space by reworking Juwan Johnson‘s deal, per Yates. The tight end inked a two-year extension with the team ahead of the 2023 campaign, with $11.5MM of his $12MM earnings guaranteed.
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