NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/27/21
Today’s practice squad moves:
Denver Broncos
- Signed: OL Shaq Calhoun, RB Damarea Crockett, ILB Curtis Robinson, LB Barrington Wade
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: QB Jake Dolegala
New England Patriots
- Signed: DB De’Vante Bausby
New York Giants
- Signed: WR David Sills
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: DT Chris Slayton
- Released: RB Jaylen Samuels
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: C Brad Lundblade
- Released: QB Danny Etling
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: RB Dontrell Hilliard
Washington Football Team
- Signed: LB Anthony Hines III
Giants’ Evan Engram Drawing Trade Interest
One of the few Jerry Reese-era additions still on the Giants, Evan Engram is in a contract year. With the Giants in a position to be sellers ahead of another trade deadline, Engram’s name has come up around the league.
Multiple teams are interested in the fifth-year Giants tight end, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano (ESPN+ link). Engram’s sluggish start to the season notwithstanding, certain teams remain intrigued by the former first-round pick’s skill set.
After missing two games to start the season, Engram has totaled just 171 receiving yards on 20 catches. Although we are less than halfway through the season, Engram’s 8.6-yard average checks in far below his previous career-low mark. Ahead of the Nov. 2 trade deadline, the Giants will be faced with a decision.
New York is deep at wide receiver, though the team is currently dealing with a number of injuries at that spot, but does not have a long-term tight end. No extension talks are known to have taken place this year; Engram was eyeing a bounce-back season to generate a strong 2022 free agency market. The Giants also rejected Engram overtures before last year’s trade deadline. Big Blue has traded several pieces from the Reese era in recent years. In addition to the offseason moves that sent away Jason Pierre-Paul, Odell Beckham Jr. and Olivier Vernon, the Giants dealt Eli Apple and Damon Harrison before the 2018 deadline.
Engram, 27, is playing on a manageable fifth-year option salary that contains a balance of less than $4MM. He was a somewhat surprising Pro Bowl selection last year, after hauling in 63 passes for 654 yards and a touchdown. But the former Ole Miss standout has not quite lived up to his first-round pedigree during his Big Apple stay.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/26/21
Today’s taxi squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: S Javon Hagan, CB Lavert Hill
- Released: DL Jeremiah Ledbetter
Denver Broncos
- Released: C Javon Patterson, DB Saivion Smith
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: S Jahleel Addae, TE Eli Wolf
- Released: G Zack Bailey
Kansas City Chiefs
- Released: DE Demone Harris
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: LB Paddy Fisher
- Released: G Nathan Gilliam, WR Austin Proehl
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: T Timon Parris
New England Patriots
- Released: S Elijah Benton
New York Giants
- Released: DT Woodrow Hamilton
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: S Jared Mayden
- Released: CB Michael Jacquet
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: DL Eli Ankou, RB Mekhi Sargent
- Released: DL Abdullah Anderson, LB Dylan Cole, C James Murray
Giants Place S Jabrill Peppers On IR
Jabrill Peppers is now on the Giants’ IR list, ensuring he will finish the season in New York. The team placed the fifth-year safety on IR due to knee and ankle injuries.
These maladies are set to sideline Peppers for the rest of this season, with the Giants announcing the veteran defender has both a ruptured ACL and a high ankle sprain. Peppers suffered the injuries on a third-quarter punt return. This is a brutal blow for the free agent-to-be.
The Giants acquired Peppers via 2019’s Odell Beckham Jr. trade and picked up his fifth-year option. His rookie contract expires at season’s end, which invited speculation about his availability ahead of next week’s trade deadline. These injuries stonewall the prospect of a Peppers trade out of New York.
[RELATED: Joe Judge Discusses Trade Deadline]
Big Blue has safeties Logan Ryan and Xavier McKinney signed long-term, giving the team one of the NFL’s top back-line groups. Peppers has played 58% of the Giants’ snaps this season, the lowest participation rate out of this group. He has served as the Giants’ primary punt returner this season, however, and did register a sack during New York’s dominant win over Carolina in Week 7.
Pro Football Focus slots Peppers 56th among safeties this season, just behind McKinney. Peppers has made 30 tackles (two for loss) this season. A former first-round pick, Peppers was a full-time player for the 2019 and ’20 Giants squads. While the Michigan product should still have a market come March, his value dropped a bit since being included in the blockbuster trade two years ago and now takes a bigger hit thanks to these injuries.
Giants’ Joe Judge On Trade Deadline
It remains to be seen whether the 2-5 Giants will be buyers or sellers. But, according to head coach Joe Judge, they won’t mortgage the future to try and salvage the season. 
[RELATED: Giants Promote LB Benardrick McKinney]
“I always think long-term,” Judge said (via NFL.com). “Sometimes, long-term can come in a move you can make immediately at this point, but I’m always thinking long-term. I’ve said this from the beginning, I’m not about taking shortcuts into anything. I’ve made it very clear in terms of my vision of the team and where I want to build it. It’s being built for long-term success.”
December will mark Dave Gettleman‘s four-year anniversary as the Giants GM, if he makes it that far. The G-Men have won four, five, and six games in each of Gettleman’s seasons at the helm and 2021 is not shaping up to be a major improvement. A big trade could conceivably save his job — as well as Judge’s — but the head coach insists that they won’t sacrifice future draft ammo for a few extra wins this year.
“Whether you’re going through free agency, trades, draft, whatever it may be, to me, you’re always looking down the road in terms of…not where you are immediately, but where do you have to get to,” Judge said. “That’s my perspective on that.”
The trade deadline falls on Nov. 2, leaving seven days for the Giants to make a mid-season deal.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/25/21
Today’s practice squad moves:
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: C Hroniss Grasu
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix
New York Giants
- Signed: TE Jake Hausmann
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: S Tony Jefferson
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/23/21
Here is the run of Week 7 Saturday minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Promoted: OL Danny Isidora, DL Josh Mauro, TE Ross Travis, LB Joe Walker; Chandler Jones remains on team’s reserve/COVID-19 list
Atlanta Falcons
- Promoted: LB Daren Bates, LB James Vaughters, CB Chris Williamson
Baltimore Ravens
- Promoted: T David Sharpe
Carolina Panthers
- Promoted: WR Keith Kirkwood, WR Aaron Parker
Chicago Bears
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: RB Damien Williams
- Promoted: G Dieter Eiselen, DL Margus Hunt
Cincinnati Bengals
- Promoted: LB Joe Bachie
Detroit Lions
- Promoted: S Jalen Elliott, TE Brock Wright
Houston Texans
- Activated from IR: LB Kevin Pierre-Louis
- Promoted: OL Cole Toner
Kansas City Chiefs
- Promoted: LB Darius Harris, LB Christian Rozeboom
- Placed on IR: TE Jody Fortson
Las Vegas Raiders
- Promoted: TE Matt Bushman, LB Marquel Lee
- Placed on IR: TE Nick Bowers
Los Angeles Rams
- Promoted: TE Kendall Blanton
Miami Dolphins
- Promoted: WR Isaiah Ford, C Cameron Tom
- Waived: QB Reid Sinnett
New York Giants
- Promoted: DT David Moa, WR David Sills
New York Jets
- Promoted: LB Noah Dawkins
San Francisco 49ers
- Activated from IR: RB JaMycal Hasty
- Promoted: LB Tyrell Adams, TE Tanner Hudson, QB Nate Sudfeld
- Released: LB Mychal Kendricks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Promoted: WR Cyril Grayson, TE Deon Yelder
Tennessee Titans
- Activated from IR: RB Darrynton Evans, DL Larrell Murchison
- Promoted: DB Chris Jones, WR Mason Kinsey
- Waived: RB Mekhi Sargent
Washington Football Team
- Promoted: WR Antonio Gandy-Golden, C Keith Ismael, DE Bunmi Rotimi
Giants Promote LB Benardrick McKinney
Days after joining the Giants’ practice squad, Benardrick McKinney has been promoted to the game-day roster. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the veteran linebacker has been elevated to the active roster and will play on Sunday.
McKinney was traded from the Texans to the Dolphins back in March, but he didn’t end up making it to the 53-man roster. It took a few months, but McKinney finally found his next gig in mid-October when he joined the Giants practice squad.
Now, he’ll have a chance to play after spending less than a week with the organization. Linebacker Tae Crowder, who has started each of New York’s first six games this season, landed on the injury report with a thigh issue. At the very least, McKinney will provide the squad with another option at the position.
When McKinney was at his best, he formed one of the league’s best run-stuffing tandems with Zach Cunningham. He earned Pro Bowl nod in 2018 and racked up 100+ tackles again in 2019. Last year, however, a shoulder injury limited him to just four games.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/21/21
Today’s taxi squad moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: C Adam Redmond
New York Giants
- Signed: DT Woodrow Hamilton
Giants Place OL Andrew Thomas On IR
The Giants’ left tackle is out for at least the next three weeks. New York placed offensive lineman Andrew Thomas on injured reserve today, reports ESPN’s Field Yates (via Twitter).
Thomas suffered an ankle injury during Sunday’s loss to the Rams, but ESPN’s Jordan Raanan notes that the lineman isn’t believed to have suffered a high ankle sprain. While Thomas was lucky to avoid that significant injury, the Giants are still being cautious with the second-year pro, especially after he missed Week 5 with a foot injury.
The left tackle was the fourth-overall pick in the 2020 draft, and he started 15 of his 16 games in 2020. He’s started each of his five appearances in 2021, and he appeared in 100 percent of his team’s offensive snaps through the first four weeks. He was limited to only 29 snaps this past weekend before exiting due to his injury.
The Giants have already scrambling to fill spots on their offensive line, as center Nick Gates and guard Shane Lemieux have already been ruled out for the season. Per Raanan, Matt Peart is expected to fill in for Thomas.