NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/22/25
Here are Wednesday’s practice squad transactions:
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: CB Zion Childress
- Placed on practice squad/injured list: WR Jalen Brooks
Denver Broncos
- Signed: WR Kyrese Rowan
New York Giants
- Signed: K Jude McAtamney
New York Jets
- Signed: S J.T. Woods
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: G Sua Opeta
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR Brandon Johnson
After getting cut from the roster earlier today, McAtamney returns to his usual post on the practice squad. No corresponding move is necessary to make room for him on the practice squad, since McAtamney hails from Northern Ireland and qualifies for the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program and doesn’t count against the 16-man limit.
Giants Sign Ray-Ray McCloud To Practice Squad
Just one day after his rocky tenure with the Falcons ended, wide receiver/returner Ray-Ray McCloud has already found a new team. He’s signing with the Giants’ practice squad, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
McCloud entered 2025 off a career year with the Falcons, his first season with the team. He set personal bests across the board with 17 games played, 13 starts, 62 catches, 87 targets, and 686 yards.
McCloud was unable to carry last year’s improved production into this season. He caught just six of 14 targets for 64 yards in the Falcons’ first four games, and his role in the offense decreased after the firing of receivers coach Ike Hilliard on Sept. 22.
Head coach Raheem Morris made McCloud a healthy scratch in Week 6; he then dismissed the slot target from practice on Oct. 17. Two days later, the Falcons scratched McCloud for the second week in a row. They officially cut ties with McCloud when they released him Tuesday.
Morris said the Falcons moved on from McCloud over performance-based concerns, per Ledbetter, but the 29-year-old will try to rebound with his sixth NFL franchise. He’ll reunite with Giants head coach Brian Daboll, McCloud’s first offensive coordinator when he entered the league as a sixth-round pick of the Bills in 2018. McCloud caught five passes as a rookie under Daboll. He later spent parts of 2019 and ’20 on the Bills’ practice squad while Daboll was still on their staff.
While McCloud will begin his tenure with the Giants on their practice squad, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him earn an elevation to the active roster sometime soon. The Giants’ receiving corps took a massive hit when they lost No. 1 option Malik Nabers to a season-ending ACL tear in Week 4, and Wan’Dale Robinson and Darius Slayton are their only other wideouts with double-digit catches this season. Slayton missed the Giants’ previous two games with a hamstring injury, but he returned to practice on a limited basis on Wednesday. It’s unclear if he’ll play Sunday against the Eagles as the Giants go for a season sweep of their division rivals.
Giants Designate K Graham Gano For Return
The Giants cut ties with Jude McAtamney after his disastrous two-PAT game Sunday aided a historic collapse in Denver. Some help is coming soon at this position in New York, however.
Graham Gano will return to practice today, per Brian Daboll, who indicated (via the New York Daily News’ Pat Leonard) the team will designate the veteran kicker for return. This starts a 21-day activation clock, which has been quite relevant for the Giants during the Gano era.
[RELATED: Injured Reserve Return Tracker]
Set to be the team’s kicker this week (per Daboll) if healthy, Gano has now missed 20 games since the 2023 season. The Giants placed their longtime kicker on IR in 2023 and ’24, with knee and hamstring injuries leading him off the 53-man roster. A groin malady sustained during pregame warmups in Week 3 sidelined Gano. All of these absences have come since Gano signed a three-year, $16.5MM extension. Despite the trouble staying healthy in 2023 and ’24, the 38-year-old specialist has remained the Giants’ preferred kicker.
McAtamney kicked in all four games during the regular option’s absence, mostly being asked to kick extra points only. That did not go well in the fourth and final game of this stint. The second of McAtamney’s two PAT misses opened the door to the Broncos — who had already completed a historic comeback by erasing an 18-point deficit with less than six minutes remaining — to attempt a game-winning field goal on their final drive. Wil Lutz‘s make keyed a final lead change to stun the Giants in a 33-32 thriller. The team waived McAtamney on Tuesday, cutting ties with the Northern Ireland native after more than a year.
If Gano is not ready to return this week, the Giants have Younghoe Koo on their practice squad. Koo has been on the team’s P-squad since shortly after Gano’s groin injury, with the team deeming McAtamney a better option. McAtamney only attempted two field goals during the Gano injury hiatus, making both (from inside 40 yards). Koo obviously has far more experience, but the Falcons released him early this season after a rough start. The ninth-year veteran could see his number called if Gano is not ready for Week 8.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/21/25
Today’s practice squad moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: OL Raiqwon O’Neal
- Placed on IR: OL Ryan Hayes
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: LB Jeremiah Moon
- Released: CB Keion Crossen, OT Michael Tarquin
Chicago Bears
- Released: DL Tanoh Kpassagnon
Denver Broncos
- Signed: OL Marques Cox
- Released: OL Karsen Barnhart
Detroit Lions
- Signed: LB Ty Summers
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: DE Seth Coleman
- Released: CB Keenan Garber
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: RB Trayveon Williams
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: RB Audric Estime
New York Giants
- Signed: DT Elijah Garcia
New York Jets
- Signed: DT Fatorma Mulbah
Philadelphia Eagles
- Released: TE Jaheim Bell
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Released: QB Logan Woodside
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: LB Stone Blanton, TE Brayden Willis
- Released: TE Messiah Swinson
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: DE David Ebuka Agoha, LB Ochaun Mathis
- Released: LB Curtis Jacobs
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/21/25
Today’s minor moves:
Cleveland Browns
- Waived from IR: WR Cade McDonald
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed from practice squad: CB Kevin Knowles
- Placed on IR: DT Omarr Norman-Lott
New Orleans Saints
- Signed from practice squad: RB Velus Jones
New York Giants
- Signed off Jets’ practice squad: CB Korie Black
Washington Commanders
- Signed: DE Jalyn Holmes
The Commanders turned to a familiar face to replace DoranceArmstrong, who is done for the season after suffering a knee injury this past weekend. Washington cut Jalyn Holmes just the other day to make room for guard Sam Cosmi on the active roster, but he quickly found his way back to the active roster. The defensive end has seen time in four games this season, and he collected a pair of sacks in 11 appearances with the franchise in 2024.
Giants Cut K Jude McAtamney
After a poor showing in a 33-32 loss to the Broncos on Sunday, the Giants have cut kicker Jude McAtamney, Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post reports. He will head to waivers.
Because the Northern Ireland native has an international exemption, he could return to the Giants’ practice squad without taking up a roster spot. However, it’s unclear if the team will retain him, according to Dunleavy.
With Graham Gano once again needing an injury fill-in (after sustaining a groin injury during a warmup for Big Blue’s Week 3 game), the Giants turned to their practice squad stash. McAtamney has kicked in four games for the Giants this season; these assignments have been quite light on field goal tries. The international signing has only attempted two field goals this season, making both, though neither was beyond 40 yards. Close-range kicks became an issue Sunday.
McAtamney missed two extra points during the Giants’ collapse in Denver, the second of which coming in the final minute. The second miss allowed the Broncos to attempt a game-winning field goal in the final seconds, and Wil Lutz made the walk-off try to sink the visitors in one of the most stunning comebacks in NFL history. McAtamney also missed a PAT in the Giants’ win over the Eagles; he is 9-for-12 on the season.
Teams up by 18 points in the final six minutes of a game had won 1,602 straight games; this became the exception, with the Broncos’ 33-point fourth quarter erasing a 26-8 deficit midway through the stanza. No staff firings have followed this crushing loss, but the Giants will have a new kicker in Week 8. Being placed on IR before Week 4, Gano is eligible for activation from IR. It is unclear if the veteran kicker — a frequently unavailable option in New York — will be ready to go, though. The Giants have Younghoe Koo, whom the Falcons released earlier this season, on their practice squad. He would be the next man up barring another addition.
It is interesting the Giants opted for McAtamney over Koo, given the latter’s experience, but he has been on the team since being signed as part of its 2024 UDFA class. The ex-Irish Gaelic footballer kicked in one game for the Giants last season, making a field goal and a PAT without a miss. But his career may be at a crossroads already after the Sunday debacle.
Sam Robinson contributed to this post.
Giants Not Considering Coaching Changes
Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen is under fire after his unit allowed 33 points in the fourth quarter to blow a 19-point lead in Sunday’s loss to the Broncos.
Star edge rusher Brian Burns expressed his frustration with Bowen’s late-game play-calling as he walked into the locker room (via Bleacher Report’s James Palmer), and New York’s defense as a whole has struggled in their first seven games this season. The Giants are among the bottom 10 teams in points, yards, and yards per play allowed, with plenty of trouble against the run and the pass.
However, head coach Brian Daboll said on Monday (via The Athletic’s Charlotte Carroll) that he is not considering any immediate changes to his coaching staff and plans to keep play-calling duties with his coordinators.
“We all got to do a better job,” Daboll said. “Starts with me, and there’s plenty of opportunities to finish that game the way we wanted to. We didn’t get the job done.”
Both Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen were thought to be on the hot seat entering the 2025 season, but the emergence of rookie Jaxson Dart as a potential franchise quarterback may give them a longer leash. The Giants’ ownership (and fans) may still demand accountability if they have a third-straight losing season, especially if their final record resembles last year’s 3-14 debacle. The offense has improved, but the defense seems to have regressed. If that continues, it could be Bowen who finds himself out of a job in 2026, but he is safe for now.
NFL’s Rehearing Request In Brian Flores Suit Denied
The NFL is currently reeling in its active, high-profile legal battles. In a post on X earlier this month, Wigdor LLP – one of the firms representing Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores in his class-action suit against the league and six of its teams – said the NFL’s petition for a rehearing of a recent Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Flores’ favor was denied.
In August, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit affirmed a lower court holding that Flores’ claims against the league and three teams – the Broncos, Giants, and Texans – were allowed to proceed to court rather than remain in arbitration. The appellate court reasoned that Flores never signed contracts containing mandatory arbitration language with those clubs (the basis for his claims against those three outfits is that they allegedly conducted sham head coaching interviews to comply with the Rooney Rule). As such, the Defendants could not force those particular claims to arbitration.
The NFL subsequently sought a rehearing before the Second Circuit’s full 13-judge panel, but as noted by Wigdor LLP, that attempt was unsuccessful. It is unclear whether the league will appeal to the United States Supreme Court, but even if it does, the odds of any party securing a review before the highest court in the nation are quite slim.
So for now, Flores – whose suit includes as co-Plaintiffs current Jets defensive coordinator Steve Wilks and former NFL staffer Ray Horton, who worked as a DC for three different clubs – will have the opportunity to air a portion of his claims in the forum of an open court instead of the sheltered, league-friendly arbitration setting. The motion he recently filed in a renewed effort to remove his and his co-Plaintiffs’ claims against the Dolphins, Cardinals, and Titans from arbitration to open court is still pending.
This decision comes on the heels of another failed arbitration-related attempt on the league’s part. The Nevada Supreme Court recently held that former Bucs and Raiders head coach Jon Gruden’s suit against the NFL could proceed to open court, and the league’s motion to have a rehearing of that ruling was also denied.
Given these recent developments, there soon may be some substantive movement in both matters. Gruden’s suit was filed in November 2021, and Flores filed his action just a few months later, in February 2022. As of yet, however, neither proceeding has moved to a trial on the merits of the disputes.
Bengals Considered Long List Of QBs Before Joe Flacco Trade
After a Week 5 loss to the Lions, their third straight lopsided defeat under backup signal-caller Jake Browning, the Bengals aggressively began searching for a different Joe Burrow fill-in. Led by director of player personnel Duke Tobin, the Bengals put together an extensive list of potential upgrades over Browning, Albert Breer of SI.com details.
Before swinging a trade with the division-rival Browns for Joe Flacco, the Bengals considered Anthony Richardson (Colts); Kirk Cousins (Falcons); the Giants’ backup duo of Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston; the Rams’ Jimmy Garoppolo and Stetson Bennett; Tanner McKee (Eagles); and Josh Johnson (Commanders). They joined the previously reported Derek Carr (Saints), Sam Howell (Eagles), Drew Lock (Seahawks), and Davis Mills (Texans) in Cincinnati’s exhaustive search.
The Bengals narrowed the list down to five before choosing Flacco as the best option, according to Breer. It’s unclear who joined the 40-year-old in the group of finalists or whether the Bengals even made calls on all of those QBs.
In the end, Flacco won out as a result of a few factors. Flacco is affordable ($1.26MM base salary) and only cost a fifth-round pick. The well-traveled Super Bowl XLVII MVP also has plenty of AFC North experience, and coordinator Dan Pitcher identified him as a clear fit based on similarities between Cincinnati’s offense and Cleveland’s in terms of “spacing the field and progressing pass concepts,” Breer writes.
Two weeks into what will be a short-lived run as the Bengals’ starter, Flacco has looked like a shrewd acquisition. The Bengals lost his first start to the Packers, but they bounced back with an upset over the division-rival Steelers on Thursday.
Flacco outdueled fellow 40-something Aaron Rodgers in Week 7, going 31 for 47 for 342 yards and three touchdowns in a 33-31 thriller. He made superstar wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase the focal point of the offense, targeting him on a jaw-dropping 23 throws and hitting him 16 times for 161 yards and a score. Chase has already hauled in 26 passes and two of Flacco’s five TDs as a Bengal. Flacco has yet to throw a pick with the team after tossing six in four games with the Browns.
The goal in acquiring Flacco was to hang around long enough to make a potential Burrow return worthwhile in 2025. Burrow, who underwent toe surgery on Sept. 19, is expected to miss at least three months. That means the Bengals will have to stay in the race into December under Flacco. At 3-4, they trail the division-leading Steelers (4-2) and sit in ninth place in the AFC. While the Bengals are still facing an uphill climb, Flacco has at least given them a more credible option than Browning under center.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/18/25
Here are today’s minor moves and practice squad elevations as we head to the seventh Sunday of the regular season:
Arizona Cardinals
- Elevated: RB D’Ernest Johnson
Atlanta Falcons
- Activated from IR: DL Ta’Quon Graham
- Placed on IR: CB Clark Phillips
Chicago Bears
- Activated from IR: RB Travis Homer
- Elevated: DT Jonathan Ford, K Jake Moody
Green Bay Packers
- Activated from IR: G Jacob Monk
- Elevated: DE Arron Mosby, RB Pierre Strong
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Elevated: LB Branson Combs
Las Vegas Raiders
- Elevated: WR Shedrick Jackson
Los Angeles Rams
- Elevated: RB Ronnie Rivers
Miami Dolphins
- Elevated: LB Quinton Bell, CB Kendall Sheffield
New England Patriots
- Elevated: CB Miles Battle, RB Terrell Jennings
New Orleans Saints
- Elevated: LB Nephi Sewell
New York Giants
- Activated from reserve/PUP list: OLB Victor Dimukeje
- Waived: DL Elijah Garcia
- Elevated: WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey, LB Zaire Barnes
New York Jets
- Activated from IR: LB Ja’Markis Weston
- Signed from practice squad: WR Isaiah Williams
- Elevated: CB Korie Black, LB Jackson Sirmon
- Waived: LB Mark Robinson
Philadelphia Eagles
- Elevated: TE E.J. Jenkins
San Francisco 49ers
- Released (with injury settlement): WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Tennessee Titans
- Elevated: LB Curtis Jacobs, WR Mason Kinsey
As injured reserve activations start to dominate the headlines, a couple teams are making minor additions off their injured lists. In Homer, the Bears are getting a veteran special teamer and some running back depth. Monk adds depth to Green Bay’s offensive line. And Weston will do the same for a linebacking corps in New York that has seen rookie fifth-round pick Francisco Mauigoa starting in place of an injured Quincy Williams.
Ford in Chicago, Sewell in New Orleans, and Jacobs in Tennessee are all being called up as standard gameday practice squad elevations for the third time this year. In order to appear in any more games after this weekend, their respective teams will need to sign them to the 53-man roster.