Signed off Raiders practice squad: G McClendon Curtis
Signed off Buccaneers practice squad: OT Raiqwon O’Neal
With Jaycee Horn being placed on IR, the Panthers added some cornerback depth by snagging Sam Webb of the Raiders practice squad. The former UDFA got into all 17 games for Las Vegas in 2022, finishing with 36 tackles. He was cut by the Raiders at the end of the preseason before landing back on their practice squad.
Michael Dogbe has found his next gig after getting waived by the Jaguars during final cuts. The former seventh-round pick spent the first four seasons of his career with the Cardinals, appearing in 40 games. He took on a bigger role over the past two years, compiling 55 tackles in 29 appearances. He joined Jacksonville this offseason before earning his walking papers.
Myles Gaskin is back on an active roster following an unceremonious end to his Miami tenure. The running back had 1,818 yards from scrimmage across the 2020 and 2021 seasons, but he saw a limited role with the Dolphins in 2022. He joined the Vikings practice squad at the end of the preseason and was elevated to the active roster for their season opener.
September 12th, 2023 at 1:07pm CST by Adam La Rose
SEPTEMBER 12: Dean’s absence will lead to an IR placement, the team announced. In a corresponding move, the Eagles signed Morrow to their active roster. Morrow signed with the Eagles this offseason but did not land on their 53-man roster. The former Raiders and Bears starter landed on the Eagles’ practice squad; he is now back on the active roster. Dean is not eligible to come back until Week 6.
SEPTEMBER 11: The Eagles came away with a win in Week 1, but their middle linebacking unit suffered a notable blow. Nakobe Deanis set miss multiple weeks with a foot injury, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
No surgery will be required to address the issue, but the injury is serious enough that an IR stint is a possibility, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes. An IR designation would require an absence of at least four games and the team using one of its eight in-season activations, so a decision on that front will be worth watching. Geoff Mosher of Inside the Birds reports that the injury is expected to sideline Dean for four weeks.
With Dean not in the picture for the time being, an Eagles LB corps which was already thin will be without a starter. Expectations were high for the Georgia alum after he served in a rotational capacity as a rookie last year and was set up for a first-team role beginning in 2023. Christian Elliss is likely to fill in with the starting lineup for the time being, and the reigning NFC champions also have Nicholas Morrowavailable on the practice squad.
The team has moved quickly in finding another contributor at the position, though. Fowler’s colleague Adam Schefter reports that Rashaan Evanshas been added to the practice squad. The former Titans first-rounder spent his first four seasons in Tennessee before heading to Atlanta last year. He started all 17 games for the Falcons, posting 159 tackles and a pair of sacks. That led to mutual interest in a re-up, but Evans remained on the open market throughout the offseason.
Now, the 27-year-old will join an Eagles team in need of depth at the linebacker spot and likely see time on gamedays in short order. Players can be elevated to the active roster up to three times in a season, but veterans in Evans’ situation often sign from the taxi squad to a full-time position relatively quickly. Evans would be hard-pressed to see action in the Eagles’ upcoming Thursday night contest, but he may be on the field not long after that.
September 9th, 2023 at 10:59pm CST by Sam Robinson
Quarterback acquisitions generated top headlines this offseason, while the slew of developments affecting the running back market moved that position’s value to a precarious point. On that note, our latest Offseason In Review series is in the books. Here are the PFR staff’s looks at how teams assembled their 2023 rosters:
We have our first flood of pregame transactions of the season today as teams across the league with games tomorrow utilize their two permitted practice squad elevations:
Matt Farniok brings some experience to Chicago’s practice squad. The offensive lineman saw time in 19 games for the Cowboys over the past two seasons, including a pair of starts. The former seventh-round pick also has some special teams experience.
Kyron Johnson got into 16 games for the Eagles in 2022, with the majority of his snaps coming on special teams. He finished the season with eight tackles.
September 7th, 2023 at 11:38am CST by Sam Robinson
Despite multiple seasons as an upper-echelon slot cornerback and tying for the NFL lead with six interceptions in his first year as a full-time safety, C.J. Gardner-Johnson only scored a one-year deal worth $6.5MM this offseason. The Lions have the ex-Aaron Glenn Saints pupil as a rental of sorts.
This season will be about re-establishing value for Gardner-Johnson, and while the fifth-year DB expressed interest in staying in Detroit on a longer-term deal (via the Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birkett), he offered more information on his Philadelphia exit.
When Gardner-Johnson signed with the Lions, a report indicated the Eagles had made him a multiyear offer. Gardner-Johnson, 25, was said to have been angling for more money from the Eagles, who were rumored to be interested in retaining him. During an offseason in which the Eagles rebooted at both safety and linebacker, Gardner-Johnson said he was informed the team was going in a different direction. Rather than accept a Lions offer over an Eagles proposal, CJGJ insisted no firm Philly proposal came his way, Birkett adds.
Gardner-Johnson instead said someone in the Eagles’ front office told him the team was moving on. The timing here could be notable. The Eagles had discussed trading Darius Slay, and other teams showed interest in James Bradberry. Days into free agency, however, the Eagles regrouped with Slay — en route to an extension on March 16 — and had agreed to re-sign Bradberry two days earlier. While prioritizing their older corners, the defending NFC champions eventually let Gardner-Johnson walk. Gardner-Johnson’s Lions deal came to pass on March 19.
“[My] DB coach even know why I was pissed off that whole week,” Gardner-Johnson said of his free agency stay. “I got the front office telling me they’re not going to pay me. And I’m not trying to think about money, I’m just trying to think about ball, but when you just throw a subliminal out of nowhere … ‘Play your hardest; we’re not going to pay you.’ … Well, all right, what does that come from?”
Carrying understandable animosity toward the Eagles, Gardner-Johnson also said a Saints staffer told him he would not be in their plans at safety just before the team sent him home ahead of the August 2022 trade to the Eagles. Known as much for his instigation tactics as his play, the brash cover man also drew some level of interest from the Buccaneers and Ravens, Birkett adds. The Ravens hired ex-Eagles DBs coach Dennard Wilson, whom Sean Desai beat out for Philly’s DC gig.
Gardner-Johnson would be open to another Detroit deal but noted the team has other priorities ahead of him. Jared Goff is signed through 2024, but the team has engaged its quarterback in extension talks. Amon-Ra St. Brown‘s contract year also looms in 2024, while guard Jonah Jackson is going into a platform campaign this season. Jackson joins Goff in having talked to the Lions about a deal. Penei Sewell also stands to be in the Lions’ extension plans, though the right tackle can be controlled through 2025 via the fifth-year option, with Birkett adding cornerback Jerry Jacobs may be on the extension radar as well.
This year’s safety market did not take off for anyone except Jessie Bates, who signed a four-year, $64MM Falcons deal. No other safety scored even an $8MM-AAV pact, putting Gardner-Johnson in an interesting place with regards to a 2024 free agency bid. But he will attempt to use this season to command a nice guarantee on his third NFL contract.
It sounds like Chase Daniel is apparently calling it a career. The veteran quarterback announced today that he’s transitioning into broadcasting, seemingly putting an end to his NFL career.
Despite serving as the Chargers backup quarterback last season, Daniel worked as an in-studio analyst with NFL Network. Now, he’ll be co-hosting a show on the same network, along with hosting a podcast via The Athletic and an “upcoming NFL/College football season” on an unknown network
“I’m going to be as real [and] as authentic as possible [and] give you guys insight to what it’s truly like to be in the NFL,” Daniel wrote on Twitter. “What conversations are like inside the locker room, what it’s like in that first team meeting, [and] all my experiences thru 14 years.”
Despite going undrafted out of Missouri in 2009, the quarterback managed to put together a 14-year NFL career. While he spent more than a decade in the league, Daniel only earned five starts throughout his career, going 2-3.
He spent the past two seasons in Los Angeles serving as Justin Herbert‘s backup. In five appearances across two seasons, Daniel completed eight of his 12 pass attempts for 52 yards and one touchdown. The Chargers will be rolling with 2019 fifth-round pick Easton Stick as their primary backup heading into the 2023 campaign.
In total, Daniel got into 74 career games in stints with Washington, the Saints, Chiefs, Eagles, Bears, Lions, and Chargers. He’ll finish his career with 1,746 passing yards, nine touchdowns, and seven interceptions.
The Giants are not certain to have Wan’Dale Robinson available in Week 1. The 2022 second-round pick just came off the team’s active/PUP list, a sign the team believes he can return at some point during the season’s first four weeks. Beasley did not make the Giants’ 53-man roster but resided as a possible P-squad elevation option as Robinson protection. This moves nixes that path, as Beasley cannot play until Week 5.
Morrow has gone from potential Eagles starting linebacker to a player who did not make the defending NFC champions’ active roster. But the team still has the former Raiders and Bears starter in its plans. Morrow, who had signed a one-year deal worth the league minimum this offseason, is now positioned as a depth piece who could be elevated ahead of Week 1. Teams can use two P-squad elevations each week, in addition to standard promotions — which require corresponding roster moves — ahead of the Saturday-afternoon deadline.
Better known as the player chosen with the second-round pick obtained for DeAndre Hopkins, Blacklock moved from Houston to Minnesota via trade in August 2022. But he did not make the Vikings’ 53-man roster this year. The fourth-year D-lineman will be a depth option for the Jaguars.
