Here are the latest minor transactions from around the NFL, including the Chargers practice squad elevations for Thursday Night Football.
Los Angeles Chargers
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
OCTOBER 23: Graham’s one-year pact carries a prorated value of just under $4.9MM, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. He will receive a total of $2.44MM over the remainder of the season; that figure includes a $1.68MM signing bonus.
OCTOBER 20: After a day of speculation, Brandon Graham is indeed returning to Philly. The veteran defensive end will be re-signing with the Eagles, reports Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter has confirmed the news. CBS Sports’ Jeff Kerr reported earlier this evening that Graham was expected to make his announcement tomorrow morning. Graham has since hinted at the impending transaction via X.
A potential Eagles reunion has seemingly been in the cards since the defender announced his retirement this past offseason. After Graham left the door open to a potential return, there appeared to be growing momentum towards a move yesterday, when we learned that the player had discussed a potential deal with the organization. As Florio notes, the main hurdle to overcome was “an acceptable contract,” which the two sides apparently figured out in short order.
While the 2025 campaign will represent Graham’s age-37 season, this reunion is more than needed for the Eagles. The team has only generated 11 sacks this season, and the recent retirement of Za’Darius Smith has only further depleted their pass-rush corps. Besides filling in the leadership gap that Smith left behind, Graham should also help pick up some of the production. James Palmer of The Athletic passes along that the Eagles believe the veteran was the best pass rusher on their squad in 2024.
Of course, expectations have to be somewhat tempered following a 2024 campaign when Graham was getting into less than half of his team’s defensive snaps before he suffered a season-ending triceps injury (he returned in time for the Super Bowl, when he re-tore his triceps). Graham returned for the Super Bowl after a nonsurgical rehab route; as retirement commenced, he underwent surgery following the second tear. Considering that injury and his lack of a training camp/preseason, it seems unlikely that Graham will be able to contribute right away.
However, when Graham is ready to play, the Eagles will surely be plenty reliant on the familiar face. Graham will re-join an EDGE group that consists of Josh Uche, Jalyx Hunt, and (eventually) Nolan Smith, who is currently on IR while dealing with a triceps injury. Besides losing Smith to retirement, the Eagles also lost Ogbo Okoronkwo to a season-ending triceps injury. While that grouping should be enough to get by, Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com believes the Eagles aren’t done adding to the position as they look to make another run to a Super Bowl.
Graham hasn’t been a full-time player since the 2020 season, although that didn’t stop him from compiling 11 sacks during the 2022 campaign. He collected a combined 6.5 sacks between 2023 and 2024, and he appeared in pair of playoff games during that same span. Set to play in his 16th NFL season, Graham — already the longest-tenured player in Eagles history, with this in-season signing set to widen the gap between the popular edge rusher and the field in franchise annals — will now have an opportunity to add to his franchise records (including games player and TFLs).
Here are today’s midweek minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Houston Texans
Miami Dolphins
New Orleans Saints
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
While several players were designated to return from injured reserve today, Norton and Johnson’s designations took place back on 8/26, the roster cut deadline. The Texans are in danger of being without their top three receivers in Week 8. Tank Dell is already on IR, but Nico Collins and Christian Kirk’s statuses for the weekend are up in the air as Collins deals with a concussion and Kirk has been dealing with n hamstring injury.
Not that they’ve needed him, since Aaron Rodgers has looked a bit more effective than he was in his days with the Jets, but Howard is nearing a return to the roster for the remainder of his rookie season. It will be interesting to see where the sixth-rounder slots in on the depth chart as he adds another level of security behind the 41-year-old Rodgers.
Here are Wednesday’s practice squad transactions:
Dallas Cowboys
Denver Broncos
New York Giants
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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.
Today’s practice squad moves:
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Indianapolis Colts
Los Angeles Chargers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
Tennessee Titans
Brandon Graham seemed to shock nobody when he re-joined the Eagles following a very brief retirement. There were some pundits who assumed the Za’Darius Smith‘s sudden retirement accelerated Philly’s pursuit of their franchise leader in games played. While that was likely partly true, Graham revealed to NFL Network’s Good Morning Football that the Eagles actually approached him about a reunion before Smith even signed.
[RELATED: Brandon Graham Re-Signs With Eagles]
“[I] just wasn’t ready at the time,” Smith said (via NFL Media on X). “I wasn’t as confident as I am now because I didn’t think that opportunity would come for real.”
Smith inked a one-year, $9MM deal with the Eagles in early September and was expected to replace Graham’s leadership and pass-rush prowess. However, the free agent acquisition decided to call it a career after only five games with his new squad, at which time the front office approached Graham again. This time, the franchise legend was ready.
Graham left the door open for a potential return immediately following his retirement, and the veteran admitted he “got that itch” to continue playing after attending a training camp practice. It took more than a month for the actual deal to come to fruition, but as expected, Graham will soon be lining up on the edge for the Eagles defense.
While the Eagles added some much-needed pass-rush help to a defense that’s tallied only 11 sacks this season, they may not be done. Even before they added Graham, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported that the front office was sniffing around for some cornerback depth.
Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell have accounted for the majority of the team’s snaps at cornerback this season, with Adoree’ JacksonandKelee Ringo also taking on some leftover reps. Pro Football Focus has DeJean graded as the league’s eight-best cornerback this season, while Mitchell ranks 38th among 112 qualifiers. However, both Jackson and Ringo rank towards the bottom of the position in those same metrics, so the team is logically in the market for some reinforcement.
DeJean has seen the majority of his snaps as a slot CB this season, while Jackson and Ringo have mostly played out wide. DeJean’s versatility means the team doesn’t necessarily have to settle on an outside CB, but that would be the presumed target as they inch towards the trade deadline.
Russini also noted that the Eagles were seeking some help on the edge, although her report came out before news of Graham’s signing. For what it’s worth, Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com hinted last night that the Eagles weren’t done adding to the position, even with Graham back on the roster.
A.J. Brown-Eagles drama has quieted a bit, as the mercurial wide receiver came up big in the defending champions’ win in Minnesota, but his role in the offense remains a regular talking point despite the team’s success.
Other clubs have been monitoring this situation, and the Eagles are certainly not shy about wading into the trade market. Brown’s importance to this year’s team is obvious, but the Eagles also could fetch a big haul for one of the NFL’s best receivers. That is almost certain not to happen this year, with The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reporting Philadelphia has no plans to move Brown before the November 4 deadline.
Teams have called the Eagles, as they did in the offseason, continuing this as a talking point. Considering Philly’s standing and commitment to 2025 success — based on another active offseason — moving Brown before the deadline would be one of the most surprising deals in recent NFL history.
But the seventh-year player’s issues with his role — which cropped up before the team’s Week 5 game, seemingly keying a pass-heavy gameplan against Denver — are not likely to cease. If the Eagles continue down this path and hold onto their No. 1 target throughout the season, this storyline will undoubtedly produce more trade rumors entering the 2026 offseason.
At 51 targets through seven games, Brown is on pace for more than he drew last season (97). But a 123-target season (or something in that vicinity) would still check in far south of where the number was during the wideout’s more impressive 2022 and ’23 slates. Brown drew 145 looks in 2022 and 158 in ’23. A three-game injury absence and being rested in Week 18 reduced Brown’s 2024 total, making this season’s 123-target pace more in line with where he was on a per-game basis last season. The Eagles, though, have not seen Saquon Barkley closely approach his 2024 work yet. They have needed more from their passing attack than they did in 2024.
In Week 7, Philly saw Brown catch four passes for 121 yards and two scores. This came on a day when DeVonta Smith exploded for a nine-reception, 183-yard game. This remains a top-tier NFL receiving duo, albeit one that saw Barkley’s 2024 resurgence reduce its relevance. Barkley is averaging just 3.3 yards per carry this season, sitting at 369 yards after ripping off 2,005 in 16 games last year. If the Eagles’ run-game struggles — after making Barkley the NFL’s first $20MM-per-year RB — persist, more will be needed from Brown and Smith.
Brown’s three-year, $96MM extension runs through the 2029 season. As this is the Eagles, it is filled with option bonuses and void years. Brown’s 2026 compensation locked in after he remained on Philly’s roster this past March, but this rolling guarantee structure only includes a $4MM 2027 trigger if he is on the Eagles’ roster by Day 3 of the ’26 league year. That could extend this partnership for at least one more season, but the Eagles would certainly receive more value trading Brown ahead of an age-29 season in 2026 than when he turns 30 in ’27.
A WR-needy team likely would not be too intimidated by Brown’s near-$30MM guarantee in 2026, especially if he keeps proving himself as an upper-crust wideout. For now, the Eagles and Brown will need to keep working together. The Eagles’ losses to the Broncos and Giants notwithstanding, this remains one of the NFL’s best rosters. It can certainly improve before the November 4 deadline as well.
OCTOBER 20: Graham is expected to be back in the fold “soon,” per CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones. He adds thoughts about a return to action in this case predate Za’Darius Smith’s retirement. As such, a trade for pass rush help could certainly still be in store regardless of the role Graham plays in 2025.
OCTOBER 19: Retired defensive end and Eagles icon Brandon Graham is mulling a return to the team. Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network were the first to report the news, and they confirm Graham and Philadelphia brass have had conversations about a comeback.
This is not a terribly surprising development. Less than a month after announcing his retirement in March, Graham left the door open to a possible return, saying he was “90 percent retired.” While he did clarify that he intended to keep his cleats in the closet, there was speculation at the time that the 2010 first-rounder could rejoin the only club he has ever known to aid in another championship push.
Now 37, Graham is the longest-tenured Eagle in franchise history, having played for the team for 15 seasons. He was part of both of Philadelphia’s Super Bowl-winning outfits, and his strip-sack of then-Patriots QB Tom Brady in Super Bowl LII has become an enduring image in Eagles lore.
Nostalgia aside, the Eagles would welcome Graham’s on- and off-field presence. After a 4-0 start to the 2025 season, the team has lost two in a row, and Rapoport and Garafolo characterize the team’s locker room as “splintered.” Graham has long been respected as a steadying influence and leader among both defensive and offensive players, which the club could use at the moment.
This offseason, Graham retired, Josh Sweat left in free agency, and Bryce Huff was traded to the 49ers. That left the Eagles with a number of question marks in the pass rush department, and as of the time of this writing, the team’s nine sacks are the eighth-fewest in the NFL. Those troubles have been exacerbated by Za’Darius Smith’s surprise retirement and the fact that both Nolan Smith and Ogbo Okoronkwo are on injured reserve.
From a raw statistics perspective, Graham was never a dominant pass rusher, as he reached double-digit sacks just once in his lengthy career. He could nonetheless stabilize the team’s play along the edge, but even if he returns, it would be fair to expect GM Howie Roseman to continue exploring the trade market for pass rush help.
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.
Here are today’s minor moves and practice squad elevations as we head to the seventh Sunday of the regular season:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Chicago Bears
Green Bay Packers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Rams
Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
San Francisco 49ers
Tennessee Titans
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.