Latest On Titans-Vikings COVID-19 Situation
The Titans and Vikings‘ football activities are on hold for the time being due to a Titans coronavirus outbreak. Here is the latest from perhaps the NFL’s defining September story:
- The NFL is keeping open the possibility of moving the Steelers-Titans game to Monday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The league wants to keep the Tennessee home game scheduled for Sunday but views Monday as a contingency plan that would allow more time for testing and contract tracing.
- Some of the players involved in the outbreak have surfaced. The Titans have placed defensive lineman DaQuan Jones, long snapper Beau Brinkley and practice squad tight end Tommy Hudson on the reserve/COVID-19 list, ESPN.com’s Field Yates and NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero report (Twitter links). Three Titans players have tested positive for the virus, though it is not known if these are the three. Eight Titans players and staffers combined are believed to have tested positive. The five non-players who tested positive were all football-side staffers, Albert Breer of SI.com notes. This includes outside linebackers coach Shane Bowen, who received word of his positive test Saturday.
- While the Titans are closing their facility doors until Saturday, the Vikings will not practice until at least Thursday, Breer tweets. The NFL has suspended in-person activities for both teams until further notice. The Vikings are set to play the Texans on Sunday in Houston. Both Minnesota and Tennessee’s games are scheduled for noon CT.
- Family members of Titans and Vikings players and staffers will be tested as well, the league announced. No players and staffers were tested on Sunday, with the COVID-19 protocols stipulating tests occur daily but not on game days.
- Referee Clete Blakeman’s crew, which worked Sunday’s Titans-Vikings game, will not work a Week 4 contest, according to Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The crew will undergo daily testing this week.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/26/20
Here are Saturday’s practice squad decisions:
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: DE Calvin Taylor
- Released: DB Trajan Bandy
Washington Football Team
- Signed: LB Jordan Kunaszyk
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/24/20
Here are Thursday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the day:
Arizona Cardinals
- Placed on practice squad-IR: TE Justin Johnson
Chicago Bears
- Signed (off Steelers’ practice squad): DT Daniel McCullers
- Placed on IR: DL John Jenkins
Denver Broncos
- Promoted: S P.J. Locke
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Promoted: OL KC McDermott
Los Angeles Rams
- Promoted: LB Natrez Patrick
Miami Dolphins
- Promoted: CB Tae Hayes
Minnesota Vikings
- Placed on IR: LB Troy Dye
Tennessee Titans
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: CB Greg Mabin
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/24/20
We’ll keep track of today’s taxi squad moves here:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: OL Willie Beavers
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: G Jeremiah Kolone
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: WR Cody White
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: WR Lance Lenoir
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/19/20
Recent practice squad notes from around the league:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: C Jonotthan Harrison
- Released: T Victor Salako
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: WR Hakeem Butler
- Released: S T.J. Green, T Aaron Monteiro
Chicago Bears
- Signed: LB Devante Bond
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: TE Kyle Markway
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: TE Eric Saubert
- Released: DB Josh Nurse
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: OL Patrick Omameh
- Placed on practice squad IR: WR Marcell Ateman
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: RB Troymaine Pope
Miami Dolphins
- Suspended four additional games: WR Antonio Callaway
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: DE Anthony Zettel
- Released: DB Grant Haley
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: OL Brandon Walton
Of course, the big news here surrounds Callaway. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports (via Twitter) that the wideout has earned an additional four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. This means he’ll be eligible to return to the field in Week 8.
Callaway will continue to sit on the Dolphins’ practice squad suspended list, per Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com. The 23-year-old will still be allowed to attend meetings, but he can’t practice with the squad until his suspension ends.
The talented wideout out of Florida fell to the Browns in the fourth round of the 2018 draft thanks in part to a 2016 four-game suspension from former head coach Jim McElwain. Callaway immediately contributed in Cleveland, hauling in 43 receptions for 586 and five scores during his rookie campaign. However, the receiver was suspended for the first four games of the 2019 season after violating the substance-abuse policy, and he underwhelmed in the four games following his return (eight receptions, 89 yards).
He was slapped with a 10-game ban late last year, and the suspension was supposed to last through the third week of the 2020 season. Thanks to the latest suspension, Callaway won’t see the field through the first seven weeks of the season.
Steelers Place OL Stefen Wisniewski On IR
Entering Week 2, the Steelers remain shorthanded at guard. All-Pro David DeCastro will miss a second straight game, and Stefen Wisniewski looks likely to be out much longer.
The Steelers placed Wisniewski on IR Friday. He will not be able to return to action until at least Week 5. The 10th-year veteran interior lineman is sidelined with a pectoral injury. Wisniewski is expected to return at some point this season, with NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero noting the injury is not expected to require surgery (Twitter link).
Wisniewski signed with the Steelers earlier this offseason, doing so after working as a Chiefs starter in their three playoff games. The two-time Super Bowl starter was set to replace retired left guard Ramon Foster and started in Week 1. But the Steelers have been forced to make other plans at the position to start the Season. Fourth-round rookie Kevin Dotson is expected to replace him at guard against the Broncos, Mike Tomlin said.
Pittsburgh already lost right tackle Zach Banner, so the team will be down to just two O-line starters — center Maurkice Pouncey and left tackle Alejandro Villanueva — on Sunday. DeCastro is battling a knee injury.
The Steelers will also promote tackle Derwin Gray, a 2019 seventh-round pick, from the practice squad, the team announced.
2020 NFL Cap Space, By Team
Cap management has been extra complicated in the NFL this year. After ~70 NFL players opted out of the 2020 season, teams were left with holes and plenty of available dollars to fill the gaps. At first, the ongoing uncertainty over next year’s salary cap had teams nervous about large-scale commitments. Now, it seems like we’re getting back to business as usual.
Recent deals for Saints star Alvin Kamara, Vikings running back Dalvin Cook, Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey, and others demonstrate the league’s long-term confidence. In turn, we’ve seen cap figures change dramatically in September.
Here’s the rundown of each team’s estimated cap space for the 2020 season, via Over The Cap:
- Cleveland Browns – $33.4MM
- New York Jets – $28.6MM
- Dallas Cowboys — $27.5MM
- New England Patriots – $26.3MM
- Washington Football Team – $25.8MM
- Denver Broncos – $25.7MM
- Jacksonville Jaguars – $25.2MM
- Philadelphia Eagles – $20MM
- Detroit Lions – $18MM
- Miami Dolphins – $16.7MM
- Baltimore Ravens – $14.2MM
- Los Angeles Chargers – $11.8MM
- Cincinnati Bengals – $11.6MM
- Arizona Cardinals – $11.4MM
- Indianapolis Colts – $11.3MM
- San Francisco 49ers – $11.2MM
- Pittsburgh Steelers – $10.9MM
- Chicago Bears – $9.9MM
- New York Giants – $9.6MM
- Houston Texans – $9.6MM
- Tennessee Titans – $9.4MM
- New Orleans Saints – $8.8MM
- Green Bay Packers – $8.7MM
- Los Angeles Rams – $7.7MM
- Las Vegas Raiders – $7.4MM
- Carolina Panthers – $6.9MM
- Kansas City Chiefs – $6.6MM
- Buffalo Bills – $6.5MM
- Seattle Seahawks – $6.2MM
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers – $3.7MM
- Atlanta Falcons – $3.3MM
- Minnesota Vikings – $2MM
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/16/20
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: S Curtis Riley (off Steelers‘ practice squad)
Cleveland Browns
- Promoted: LB Montrel Meander
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: CB Chris Jones
- Promoted: WR Daurice Fountain
Las Vegas Raiders
- Waived: S Dallin Leavitt
New England Patriots
- Promoted: CB Myles Bryant, K Nick Folk
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: CB Ken Webster
Tennessee Titans
- Promoted: Nick Westbrook-Ikhine
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/15/20
Today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Re-signed: T John Wetzel
- Waived: T Timon Parris
Cincinnati Bengals
- Promoted: DE Amani Bledsoe
- Waived: CB Torry McTyer
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed off Bears’ practice squad: LB Rashad Smith
- Signed off Cardinals’ practice squad: T Alex Light
- Placed on IR: OL Cameron Erving, TE Blake Jarwin
Houston Texans
- Promoted: TE Pharaoh Brown
- Placed on IR: TE Kahale Warring
Los Angeles Chargers
- Promoted: LB Asmar Bilal
- Placed on IR: LB Drue Tranquill
New York Giants
- Promoted: OL Chad Slade, S Sean Chandler
Philadelphia Eagles
- Promoted: G Sua Opeta (story)
- Placed on IR: DE Vinny Curry, CB Craig James (story)
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: OT Jerald Hawkins
Tennessee Titans
- Waived: WR Cody Hollister
Torn ACL For Steelers’ Zach Banner
Steelers right tackle Zach Banner has been diagnosed with a torn ACL in his right knee, according to a source who spoke with NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter). Once confirmed by a second opinion, Banner will be placed on injured reserve and sidelined for the remainder of the season. 
Banner, an absolutely mammoth human being at 6’9″, 360 pounds, was selected by the Colts in the fourth round of the 2017 draft. However, the USC product didn’t make it through final cutdowns in Indianapolis, and became the highest rookie draft choice to be waived that year. Banner later hooked on with the Steelers and went on to flatten the opposition as a reserve in 2019. This year, Banner re-upped on a one-year, $1.75MM deal and won the starting right tackle job. Before the injury, he seemed destined for a big pay day in 2021.
Chukwuma Okorafor – nearly as imposing at 6’6″ and 320 pounds – will likely replace Banner in the starting lineup. Beyond that, the Steelers may survey out-of-house options for depth. After downing the Giants on Monday night, they’ll take on the Broncos in Week 2.