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Nick Leverett

Cardinals Activate DT Bilal Nichols

October 4th, 2025 at 8:12pm CST by Adam La Rose

Bilal Nichols returned to practice this week, which marked the earliest point at which he could do so. The veteran defensive tackle will now be available to the Cardinals for Week 5.

Nichols was activated from the reserve/PUP list on Saturday, per a team announcement. That news comes as little surprise, given the fact he had his 21-day activation window opened at the first opportunity. Nichols being back in the fold will be a welcomed development with Arizona having managed a long list of injuries along the defensive front to begin the season.

Justin Jones and L.J. Collier were both lost for the year before the start of the regular season. First-round rookie Walter Nolen, meanwhile, has yet to play in 2025 and remains on the PUP list at this point. Darius Robinson exited the Cardinals’ Week 4 loss with a pectoral injury and he has been ruled out for tomorrow’s game. There should be plenty of snaps available for Nichols during his season debut as a result.

The 29-year-old was limited to just six games last season and missed the first month of the current campaign with a neck injury. Nichols handled a 45% snap share when healthy in 2024, his first season in Arizona. The former Bear and Raider has made 88 starts in his career, and a heavy workload right away in 2025 can be expected given his track record but also the Cardinals’ injury situation up front. Pairing with defensive end Calais Campbell will certainly allow Nichols to provide the team with a highly experienced D-line.

On the books through 2027, Nichols remaining healthy moving forward will be key. None of the former fifth-rounder’s base salary for next season is guaranteed, so a strong run of performances will be needed to ensure he remains in Arizona beyond the current campaign. The Cardinals rank ninth in the NFL against the run; Nichols will look to keep the team among the league’s best in that respect while also aiming to chip in as a pass-rush presence.

On Saturday, Arizona also elevated defensive lineman Zach Carter and offensive lineman Nick Leverett from the practice squad. Carter was added to the taxi squad recently and will make his season debut tomorrow. Leverett was among the team’s cuts after training camp but remained in place on the practice squad; he too will make his first appearance of the season when the Cardinals host the Titans.

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC West

August 27th, 2025 at 6:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These 49ers, Cardinals, Rams and Seahawks moves are noted below.

Arizona Cardinals

Signed to practice squad:

Los Angeles Rams

Signed to practice squad:

San Francisco 49ers

Signed: 

Claimed:

Released from IR (via settlement):

Signed to practice squad:

Seattle Seahawks

Signed:

Claimed:

Released:

Signed to practice squad:

Cardinals Trim Roster To 53

August 26th, 2025 at 9:01pm CST by Ely Allen

The Cardinals announced the following roster moves to get down to their initial 53-man roster:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR (designated to return):

Placed on IR:

Placed on reserve/PUP:

First-round defensive tackle Nolen will miss at least the first four weeks of his rookie year. The Ole Miss product is dealing with a calf injury that forced him to miss most of training camp. Another d-lineman, Barrs will hit waivers but stands a good chance at landing on the practice squad if he clears.

The Cards made some surprise decisions in the running backs rooms, disposing of veterans like Carter and Dallas in favor of Zonovan Knight, who hasn’t appeared in a game since 2023. One of the veterans could end up back on the practice squad, as could wide receiver/special teamer Fehoko.

Russell suffered a concussion in training and will now miss the entire 2025 season on injured reserve. Jones and Conner, though, will be eligible to return after, at least, a four-week absence. The two linemen are dealing with knee injuries but may be able to bolster the line later in the year.

Brewer getting cut means the team does not have a long snapper on the roster. Likely, the team has a handshake deal with Brewer that will allow them to place some players on injured lists, opening a spot for him and others to return.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/31/24

December 31st, 2024 at 6:59pm CST by Ely Allen

The last minor NFL transactions of the 2024 calendar year:

Arizona Cardinals

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/16/24

October 16th, 2024 at 8:59pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

  • Signed: WR Malik Knowles

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Patriots Release OL Nick Leverett

October 14th, 2024 at 12:04pm CST by Adam La Rose

Nick Leverett briefly stepped in as the Patriots’ David Andrews replacement at center. He struggled in that role, however, and the team is set to move on.

New England will release Leverett, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. The move (which is now official) comes after he was charged by PFF with 10 pressures and one sack allowed in Week 5 against the Dolphins. In advance of Sunday’s contest, the Patriots added Ben Brown off the Raiders’ practice squad. It was Brown who got the start at center yesterday, a sign of how Leverett was viewed in the organization.

Now, the the latter will hit the open market. Leverett, 27, began his career with the Buccaneers in 2020. It was one year later that he made his regular season debut, appearing in a pair of games. During the 2022 season, he started 10 of his 11 contests, operating almost exclusively at left guard. The former UDFA signed a one-year deal in March to provide depth on an offensive line which faced plenty of questions ahead of the campaign. Given the low-money nature of New England’s investment, Leverett’s release will produce only $575K in dead money while yielding $1.2MM in cap savings.

Leverett earned a PFF grade of 64 in 2022, but his evaluations through the rest of his career have left plenty to be desired. The extent of his struggles in Week 5 will certainly not help his market value, although teams around the league are often interested in healthy depth up front. The Rice product will look to help his free agent prospects by latching onto a roster in short order, something which could result in new playing time opportunities.

Andrews is out for the year after he underwent shoulder surgery, but he is under contract through next season and will reprise his starting gig once healthy. Brown is now positioned to handle first-team duties moving forward as the 1-5 Patriots look to find a successful combination up front.

Patriots C David Andrews Mulling Season-Ending Surgery

October 2nd, 2024 at 9:56am CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Patriots have struggled to field a healthy offensive line this season, with Cole Strange, Sidy Sow, Vederian Lowe, and Caedan Wallace dealing with various injuries over the first four weeks.

Now, New England will lose starting center and team captain David Andrews for the remainder of the season after he injured his shoulder against the 49ers in Week 4. Andrews will undergo surgery to fix his shoulder, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, after briefly debating if he could play through the injury for the rest of the year. Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo confirmed the season-ending surgery during a press conference on Wednesday, per the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed.

Backup center Nick Leverett is expected to replace Andrews in the Patriots’ starting lineup. The majority of Leverett’s NFL experience has come at guard, but the Patriots gave him plenty of snaps at center in the preseason after projected backup center Jake Andrews suffered an offseason injury that required surgery and ended his season. The Patriots also have undrafted rookie center Bryan Hudson on their practice squad. He could see some gameday elevations or even a promotion to the active roster as New England figures out their center depth.

Known as one of the toughest players in the NFL, Andrews considered delaying his surgery until the offseason, explaining the process to former teammate Brian Hoyer on a recent episode of their co-hosted podcast, The Quick Snap.

“First of all, it’s frustrating. Being hurt is a very frustrating thing, especially when you want to be out there playing,” Andrews said. “As a player, sometimes you have to make decisions if you being out there is the best thing for the team, and if you can perform.”

But Andrews has both the Patriots’ and his own long-term plans to consider. The ninth-year center — in place as a starter since Tom Brady‘s age-38 season — signed a one-year extension with New England in May that keeps him on the team through 2025. Mayo opted to start veteran Jacoby Brissett over third overall pick Drake Maye partially due to the uncertain state of New England’s offensive line.

At 1-3, the Patriots are not expected to make a playoff push as they develop a young roster with a first-time head coach. With Maye expected to take over at quarterback in 2025 (or potentially later this season), Andrews and the Patriots would likely prefer that the veteran center be fully healthy for the prized prospect’s first full season as a starter.

Patriots To Sign DT Armon Watts, G Nick Leverett

March 13th, 2024 at 9:08pm CST by Ben Levine

Armon Watts is heading to New England. The veteran defensive tackle is signing with the Patriots, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

It’s a one-year for Watts, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston. The contract is worth $3MM.

The former sixth-round pick spent the 2023 campaign in Pittsburgh, collecting 15 tackles in 15 games. He had plenty of starting experience in his prior stops, including a career-high 12 starts with the Bears in 2022.

Watts has shown some ability to get after the QB, as he finished the 2021 campaign with a career-high five sacks while playing for the Vikings. The Patriots moved on from Lawrence Guy earlier this offseason, so there could be an opportunity for some snaps on the Patriots defensive line. Still, the 27-year-old Watts probably profiles as more of a backup piece on New England’s depth chart.

The Patriots also added some reinforcement on the offensive line today. Josina Anderson reports that the Patriots are signing offensive lineman Nick Leverett. The guard spent the past three seasons in Tampa Bay, appearing in 16 games. 11 of those appearances came during the 2022 campaign when he started a career-high 10 games.

Leverett will be hard pressed to carve out a starting role in New England, but his ability to play center and both guard spots could afford him a backup spot. He’ll compete with the likes of Jake Andrews, Michael Jordan, and Atonio Mafi for reps.

NFC Rumors: Bucs, Lions, Panthers, Packers

August 25th, 2023 at 11:01pm CST by Ely Allen

The Buccaneers may be considered as a rebuilding squad, but that doesn’t matter much to the players fighting for roster spots in the late preseason. As the regular season inches nearer and nearer, two starting positions are starting to come into focus, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.

On offense, center Ryan Jensen has not returned to practice as he continues to recover from three knee ligament tears that he opted not to have surgery on. In his absence, Robert Hainsey and Nick Leverett have been competing for the starting job. Hainsey likely has a bit of an edge after playing the position in college and starting all 17 games last season for Tampa Bay, but Leverett has meshed well in new offensive coordinator Dave Canales‘ new zone-blocking scheme. Even if Hainsey can’t hold onto the job, Leverett may keep the position competitive.

On defense, Dee Delaney has really stepped up at nickelback after the team opted to move Antoine Winfield Jr. back to free safety full-time. Delaney, who spent four years at The Citadel before transferring to Miami (FL) and going undrafted, has stuck in Tampa Bay, playing 32 games over the past two seasons while starting three of them. Delaney has had a great camp as reflected in a stellar performance in last week’s preseason game against the Jets. Undrafted rookie Christian Izien has also impressed with physical play throughout the preseason, while rookie sixth-round pick Josh Hayes has fallen a bit behind in the position battle.

Here are a few more roster battles to watch heading into the final weekend of preseason games this season:

  • Nate Sudfeld was viewed as a solid backup option at quarterback for the Lions last season. Coming into 2023, though, he may be struggling to retain a roster spot, according to Justin Rogers of The Detroit News. Obviously, Jared Goff has the starting job locked up, but recently signed veteran Teddy Bridgewater has made a strong case for the QB2 role behind him. Sudfeld still has value to the team, but head coach Dan Campbell made it clear that his roster status depends on if he adds more value to the team than depth at other positions on the roster. If CB5 or CB6 end up adding more value than Sudfeld as QB3, he may find himself missing out on the initial 53-man roster.
  • As starting guard Austin Corbett waits to be cleared following ACL surgery, the Panthers‘ situation at guard is feeling a bit precarious. A tweet from Joseph Person of The Athletic tells that a decision on the starting right guard job in Corbett’s absence has been delayed until the returns from injury of rookie fourth-round pick Chandler Zavala and undrafted rookie Nash Jensen. Head coach Frank Reich wanted both rookies to have a chance for the spot before making the decision. Zavala was recently activated from the physically unable to perform list and hasn’t seen much action. Jensen was impressing early in the offseason before a back injury slowed his progress. They’ll compete with Cade Mays and Justin McCray for the position, but Person believes that Carolina may pursue some added competition at roster cutdowns.
  • Last week, the Packers‘ seventh-round pick from last year, Rasheed Walker, got the starting call at left tackle ahead of usual backup Yosh Nijman, according to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. Nijman has been the usual go-to at tackle when starter David Bakhtiari isn’t available, but Schneidman thinks that Walker may have worked his way past Nijman on the depth chart as of late.

Buccaneers C Ryan Jensen Not Likely To Be Ready For Regular Season?

August 14th, 2023 at 4:42pm CST by Adam La Rose

Earlier this month, Ryan Jensen indicated he has healed in full after missing the entire 2022 regular season with a trio of ligament tears in his knee. The Buccaneers center has resumed individual work since then, but he has yet to take part in team drills.

Jensen – who declined to undergo surgery and returned in time for the postseason – has kept a part-time schedule so far as he slowly makes his way back to a full workload. Since he has been absent from regular practices, however, head coach Todd Bowles acknowledged that the Pro Bowler is not in consideration for Week 1 usage at this point.

“When we go into the season, I don’t think we’re going to have anybody if they haven’t practiced,” Bowles said (via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, on Twitter). “You always prepare if somebody gets hurt or somebody’s gonna stay hurt, so we prepare that way every day so that hasn’t changed.”

When at full health, Jensen will be a critical member of the Buccaneers’ O-line, a unit which has seen a number of changes this offseason. The 32-year-old has been a dependable full-time starter since his arrival in free agency in 2018. A lengthy ramp-up period could be needed for Jensen to receive enough practice reps to be green-lit for a return to game action. With two years remaining on his contract at cap hits of $5.9MM and $17.3MM, a cautious approach from the team would come as no surprise.

With Jensen not in the picture (for the time being), Stroud notes that the Week 1 starting center competition will come down to Robert Hainsey and Nick Leverett (Twitter link). The former started all 17 regular season games at center in Jensen’s absence last season, while the latter logged 10 starts at left guard. Bowles said a final decision on the matter will likely not be made until after the preseason has ended. By that point, it will be interesting to see how much progress Jensen will have made in his ongoing recovery process.

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