Raiders Release LB Germaine Pratt
Germaine Pratt‘s brief tenure with the Raiders has come to an end. The veteran linebacker has been released, head coach Pete Carroll announced on Monday. 
When speaking about the decision, Carroll said (via ESPN’s Ryan McFadden) the team simply decided to move in a different direction. That is a clear indication Pratt was no longer in Vegas’ plans for the year. Indeed, the 29-year-old did not travel with the Raiders for their Week 5 game despite being healthy, as noted by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Pratt was long seen as a cut candidate for the Bengals this offseason, and in June he was let go. That marked an end to the former third-rounder’s Cincinnati stint, one which spanned the first six years of his career. Pratt was not on the open market for long, as he inked a Raiders deal shortly after his release. That one-year pact contained $3.75MM in guarantees, and the team will take on that amount as a dead money charge.
This release will create just over $1MM in cap space, adding to the roughly $7.6MM in funds the Raiders already had prior to this move. It will be interesting to see if Vegas pursues a free agent or trade acquisition at the linebacker position to fill Pratt’s roster spot. Failing that, internal options will be counted on the rest of the way.
Pratt was inactive yesterday but he served as a starter for each of the Raiders’ first four games, logging a snap share of 88% during that time. Replacing a workload of that size could prove to be difficult, although the speed with which this decision has been made demonstrates Vegas’ willingness to move on early in the campaign. Pratt posted 25 tackles and a pair of pass deflections in September.
Given today’s move, the NC State product is once again a free agent. Pratt has 100 appearances and 92 starts to his name. He will thus offer plenty of experience to any interested teams, although a backup gig could be in store provided a deal is worked out allowing him to continue playing in 2025.
Packers Open WR Christian Watson’s Practice Window
Coming off their bye, the Packers could have a key offensive contributor in the fold soon. Wideout Christian Watson has returned to practice, ESPN’s Rob Demovsky notes. 
Last week, head coach Matt LaFleur said (via Demovsky) the team was discussing opening Watson’s practice window right after the bye. Today’s news comes as no surprise as a result. The Packers now have 21 days to activate Watson from the reserve/PUP list.
An ACL tear ended the 26-year-old’s 2024 campaign. Watson has been rehabbing the injury since then, and he expressed optimism last month in his ability to return to practice when first eligible to do so. That would have meant having his window opened last week, but in any event today’s update is an encouraging sign. Watson will be expected to handle a notable role upon activation, especially with Jayden Reed recovering from multiple surgeries.
Injuries have prevented Watson from playing a full season to date in his career. The former second-rounder nevertheless signed an $11MM deal this offseason to ensure he will not depart in free agency during the spring. Watson’s ability to receive a longer commitment from Green Bay will obviously be tied to his health and the extent to which he can duplicate last season’s success. Prior to his Week 18 ACL tear, the North Dakota State alum posted a career-best 620 yards while averaging 21.4 yards per reception.
Much of the Packers’ long-term plans at the receiver spot remains uncertain. Romeo Doubs (who is currently in the final year of his rookie pact) could be playing his way into an extension, while Reed will be eligible for a second contract after this season. Part of the team’s decisions on those fronts will no doubt be influenced by Watson and his role in the passing game upon returning to action this season.
In other injury news, offensive lineman Jacob Monk has also had his 21-day activation window opened (h/t Demovsky). Monk was moved to injured reserve during roster cutdowns while being designated for return. As a result, he (along with running back MarShawn Lloyd) already counts toward Green Bay’s total in terms of IR activations for the year. Monk could join Watson on the Packers’ gameday roster as early as Week 6 depending on how the next few days play out.
Mark Sanchez Charged With Felony Battery
Former NFL quarterback and current Fox Sports analyst Mark Sanchez was formally charged on Sunday for his role in an incident which took place in Indianapolis. Sanchez was initially charged with three misdemeanors, but his case will now include at least one felony count. 
Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears announced Monday morning that Sanchez now faces a felony battery charge involving serious bodily injury (h/t Fox 59’s Angela Ganote). That Level 5 charge carries a prison sentence of one to five years. Mears added the case is still being investigated, so further charges could be forthcoming.
A $300 bond was posted yesterday, as detailed by Mark Maske and Ben Strauss of the Washington Post. An initial court hearing had been scheduled for tomorrow, but Ganote notes Sanchez’s attorneys have now filed a motion to waive that proceeding. Instead, they are seeking a pre-trial conference. The judge overseeing this case has granted the motion, per Ganote. As a result, the first proceeding in this case will be a conference on November 4.
Sanchez – whose NFL career lasted from 2009-18 and included time spent with six different franchises – is alleged to have instigated an altercation with a 69-year-old man this past weekend. The alleged victim was sent to hospital with “serious injuries.” Sanchez was stabbed multiple times and also hospitalized. As of Monday morning, the 38-year-old is in stable condition but still in hospital (h/t Ganote).
Sanchez was in Indianapolis to work as FOX’s color analyst for the Raiders-Colts Week 5 game. The network has yet to comment on the situation aside from its statement issued Saturday afternoon following Sanchez’s hospitalization and arrest. Per Maske, Sanchez’s attorneys have no comment at this time.
Saints Expected To Operate As Sellers At Trade Deadline
The Saints managed their first win of the season on Sunday. That milestone for the likes of quarterback Spencer Rattler (who was winless heading into today) and first-year head coach Kellen Moore should not be expected to alter New Orleans’ approach to the trade deadline. 
Now sitting at 1-4 on the year, the team is not in a strong position to compete for the playoffs. As such, it would come as little surprise if the Saints adopted a sellers’ stance on the trade front over the coming weeks. Indeed, Ralph Vacchiano of Fox Sports reports New Orleans is among the teams expected to move on from one or more veterans before the deadline.
Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football confirms the Saints have players which have drawn interest around the league. He adds the team is expected to listen to offers once suitors make inquiries. Given the overhaul witnessed on the sidelines and at a number of positions this offseason, expectations were low entering the campaign in the Saints’ case. A slow start to the season will no doubt influence general manager Mickey Loomis’ willingness to swing one or more trades in the near future.
Running back Alvin Kamara is understandably considered a name to watch closely in that regard. The five-time Pro Bowler has spent his entire career – which is now in its ninth season – with the Saints, but he would provide an acquiring team with a notable addition in the backfield. Kamara, 30, is under contract through 2026. $3MM of his scheduled salary for next season ($11.5MM) is guaranteed, so he would likely not be considered a rental for the stretch run of the current campaign.
Kamara’s base pay for 2025 includes only $2.99MM in salary, a prorated portion of which would be paid out by any team which swung a deal for him. The Saints would take on dead money charges with a trade, though, and Underhill predicts Kamara will not be dealt. There is not a no-trade clause included in this case, which means the possibility of a swap could nevertheless remain a talking point until the deadline.
Wideout Chris Olave has been mentioned as a player the Saints could move on from due to his injury history, but it would still come as a surprise if the team contemplated such a trade after picking up his fifth-year option this spring. In any case, New Orleans will be a team to watch, especially if attention shifts toward next season by the time the deadline is reached.
Jon Gruden’s Lawsuit Against NFL Allowed To Proceed To Open Court
Former NFL head coach Jon Gruden has scored a key victory in his ongoing lawsuit against the league and commissioner Roger Goodell. As relayed by ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr., the Nevada Supreme Court rejected the league’s petition seeking a rehearing of the court’s August decision that the league could not force Gruden into arbitration.
Gruden, 62, filed his suit in 2021, after he resigned as the Raiders’ head coach following a leak of emails containing racist, sexist, and anti-gay comments he sent when he was an on-air analyst for ESPN from 2011-18. He alleges the NFL selectively leaked those emails to force him out of the league, thereby sabotaging his coaching career and endorsement contracts.
When we last wrote about Gruden’s legal battle in July 2024, he had just lost a hearing conducted by the Nevada Supreme Court’s three-judge panel, which determined that the NFL could, in fact, remove Gruden’s case from the public forum of a state courtroom into the league-friendly arbitration setting (in which Goodell himself could serve as the arbitrator).
However, Gruden was ultimately successful in securing a rehearing in front of the court’s full seven-judge panel, which held in a 5-2 decision that the league’s efforts to force a claim against the league filed by a former employee into arbitration proceedings overseen by the league commissioner (and named defendant) was “unconscionable.”
The seven judges were unanimous in their denial of the NFL’s request for a rehearing, and now the league’s only recourse in its quest for arbitration is to note an appeal to the United States Supreme Court. Although the NFL has declined to comment on the matter, Van Natta’s sources have said such an attempt is unlikely.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk details the difficulty that an appealing party in any case has in convincing the nation’s highest court to hear their appeal, and he also observes that Gruden has gained a tremendous amount of leverage. The NFL could try to make Gruden a settlement offer he cannot refuse in order to make the case go away, but Gruden has previously promised to “burn the house down” in pursuing this action.
In other words, he may rebuff any offer the league makes as he seeks to uncover the party or parties who leaked the emails.
“I’m looking forward to having the truth come out and I want to make sure what happened to me doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Gruden told ESPN. “What happened wasn’t right, and I’m glad the court didn’t let the NFL cover it up.”
Gruden has gotten back into league circles to some extent. In 2023, he worked as a consultant with the Saints, and he was seen doing work for the Chiefs in the 2024 offseason. It was reported last December that he could garner some NFL coaching interest in the 2025 cycle, but he did not land an interview.
Giants Looking More At Depth Than Impact At WR
After losing star second-year wide receiver Malik Nabers to a season-ending ACL tear, no one would blame the Giants for aggressively pursuing a replacement, but so far, no such efforts have been made. In fact, the team came out earlier this week to say that they are unlikely to pursue any additions at the position. 
Seeming to go against that claim, though, New York hosted a number of pass catchers this week for tryouts, per Pat Leonard of NY Daily News Sports. These were not veteran free agents that were getting their tires kicked. The visitors included Michael Woods, Rakim Jarrett, Brandon Johnson, and Samori Toure, who ended up signing to the Broncos practice squad today.
So, based on the lack of interest in impact veterans available on the free agent market or on other teams’ practice squads and based on the lack of trade talks for impact receivers, it seems clear that the Giants have faith in the abilities of their current receiving corps; they’re more concerned with depth. With Nabers, Da’Quan Felton, and Bryce Ford-Wheaton all on injured reserve, the Giants only have five wideouts on the 53-man roster: Wan’Dale Robinson, Darius Slayton, Jalin Hyatt, Beaux Collins, and Gunner Olszewski. New York also rosters veterans Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Ihmir Smith-Marsette and rookie Dalen Cambre on the practice squad.
Even with the options on the taxi squad, the Giants decided not to utilize one of their two allotted standard gameday practice squad elevations on the position, shocking Dan Duggan of The Athletic, who expected Humphrey’s name to get called. While Robinson and Slayton have shown their ability to be impact players on the offense, this situation is being viewed as an opportunity for the former third-round pick, Hyatt, to step up in a big way. Over his first two seasons, Hyatt has disappointed with only 31 catches for 435 yards and no scores.
Duggan, though, has put forth a theory that Collins, an undrafted rookie out of Notre Dame, will get the majority of looks at WR3. Collins had a couple more snaps than Hyatt in Week 3, while Hyatt just edged out Collins for more snaps last week. Either way, it appears New York is intent on utilizing what it has on hand to run their passing game, while looking to replenish the back end of the group with potential practice squad additions.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/5/25
We have a rare Sunday transaction today:
Denver Broncos
- Signed: WR Samori Toure
Toure’s name came up earlier this week when he was hosted by the Giants following their loss of Malik Nabers. The former seventh-round pick for the Packers hasn’t played in a game since 2023, and in 22 games with Green Bay, he only reeled in 13 catches for 160 yards and a touchdown.
Unless one of them is released to make room for Toure on the practice squad, Toure will join three other receivers on Denver’s taxi squad. The Broncos only carry five receivers on their 53-man roster, so all four pass catchers on the practice squad stand a decent chance of being called up in case of injury.
Reasoning For Shedeur Sanders’ Role As QB3
Opinions ran rampant this week when it was announced that the Browns would allow rookie third-round quarterback Dillon Gabriel his first career start. Nobody was angry about Gabriel getting his shot, but the additional announcement that the demoted veteran, Joe Flacco, would serve as the primary backup to Gabriel with fellow rookie Shedeur Sanders remaining QB3 had people up in arms. 
Opinions have always varied on Sanders. Once considered a candidate to be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, Sanders suffered an unprecedented slide into the fifth round. Ever since arriving in Cleveland, Gabriel has consistently sat above Sanders in the pecking order, while both players were below Flacco and Kenny Pickett as they battled for the starting job. That’s why it made sense that, when Flacco won the job and Pickett was traded away, Gabriel was named QB2 and Sanders QB3.
But, if the Browns are willing to give one rookie quarterback a look over Flacco, why wouldn’t they also extend that courtesy on the depth chart to Sanders and make him QB2? According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, there is a very good reason.
The Browns don’t appear to be a team headed to a championship game this season, and while Flacco may give the franchise its best chance at winning games this year, he doesn’t factor into their long-term prospects, whereas both rookies could. One reason Gabriel could have some success as a rookie, though, comes down to just how different he is from Flacco.
Aside from the obvious age difference, Gabriel is quite a bit more mobile than Flacco, quite a bit smaller than Flacco, and quite a bit more left-handed than Flacco. Additionally, his consistency in avoiding turnovers in college gave the team some hope that they could put an end to the poor early-season trends. Through the first four weeks of the season, Flacco threw at least one interception in each game, totaling six picks and two lost fumbles. Today’s start with Gabriel under center was the Browns’ first this season without a turnover.
While these attributes differ Gabriel from Flacco a good deal, they also fail to align much with Sanders. Because Cleveland is now running an offense specifically catered to Gabriel, it would be difficult for either Flacco or Sanders to step into the offense if Gabriel is hurt or struggling. If this were to happen, though, Flacco’s experience and leadership as a captain of the team make him the best option to find success in an unfamiliar offense.
Putting Sanders into that position for his first ever NFL action would do him a disservice. It would be difficult for Sanders to thrive in Gabriel’s offense, and per Rapoport, “the Browns want Sanders to be successful when he’s out there.” When Cleveland finally makes the call to give Sanders a shot at the QB1 role, they want him to do so in an offense catered to him instead of one catered to the shorter, shifty, left-handed Hawaiian. So, unless multiple injuries take place, Sanders won’t be making a surprise debut; it should be announced in advance giving the team a week (or more) to develop a gameplan.
In the meantime, Sanders has continued to improve while out of the spotlight. He’s had to make up a lot of ground on Gabriel ever since they were drafted, and though he holds the official QB3 designation, there’s reason to believe he may also get an opportunity to take the reins of the offense at some point this season. Whenever that occurs, though, it’ll be after the Browns are able to design and practice a gameplan just for him.
NFL Planning To Launch Professional Flag Football Leagues
NFL players will take part in the 2028 Summer Olympics when flag football makes its debut in that event. The NFL played a leading role in the effort to have flag football included in the Olympics, but the league is making other efforts to expand that version of the game. 
When speaking at the Leaders in Sport conference in London recently, commissioner Roger Goodell announced the NFL plans to launch professional flag football leagues in the near future. That confirms previous comments made on the subject. Presumably, the leagues will be in place prior to the Olympics.
“We’re committed to creating a women’s professional league, and a men’s professional flag league,” Goodell said (via the Associated Press). “We’ve had a great deal of interest in that and I expect that we’ll be able to do that, launch that, in the next couple of years. The demand is there. We’re seeing colleges in the [United States] and universities internationally also that want to make it a part of their program.”
Indeed, participation in flag football at the youth level along with high school and college players has surged in recent years. That is is true in the United States but also internationally, including many of the markets the NFL has targeted with its overseas games. To no surprise, then, the league will be heavily involved with setting up professional leagues in anticipation of flag football being showcased in 2028.
It will be interesting to see how the pro leagues take shape once plans are finalized. Needless to say, the NFL is envisioning further expansion of the flag game through the Olympics and its aftermath. That will take place outside the United States but also on a domestic scale.
Chiefs Did Not Consider Trading For WR Tyreek Hill
Early in the campaign, speculation surrounded Tyreek Hill‘s future in Miami. A trade allowing him to finish the 2025 campaign on a different team was the subject of constant discussion. 
That of course came to an end with Hill’s massive knee injured suffered in Week 4. An ACL tear as well as a dislocated knee has ended Hill’s season and now resulted in the expectation he will be released ahead of the final year of his contract. A trade is no longer on the table, but even if the opposite were true a Chiefs reunion would not have taken place.
Kanas City was named as a potential suitor for Hill in September, joining the Steelers in that regard. A Dolphins-Chiefs swap would have allowed the five-time All-Pro to return to his original team after spending his first six years in Kansas City. Despite that, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports (subscription required) Hill was “never considered a real option” for the Chiefs in terms of an in-season trade.
The receiver position was a sore spot early this year for Kansas City with Xavier Worthy suffering an injury in Week 1. That – coupled with Rashee Rice‘s six-game suspension – left the team short on pass-catching options. Worthy has since returned, though, and Rice is expected to make an immediate impact once he is back in the fold. The latter topped 900 yards as a rookie and was averaging 72 yards per game before suffering a season-ending knee injury last year.
Rice and Worthy, along with the likes of Marquise Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster, will be tasked with handling the bulk of the workload when the WR room is at full strength. The Chiefs struggled on offense while starting 0-2, but the past two weeks have produced stronger outputs along with a pair of wins. That will be expected to continue moving forward.
Hill posted four seasons with 1,000 or more yards during his Kansas City tenure, and he would have been in position to serve as a key figure on offense in the event a trade had been worked out. Instead, the Chiefs will carry on with their in-house options at the receiver spot.