Minor NFL Transactions: 12/21/23
Today’s minor moves:
New Orleans Saints
- Promoted: OL Cameron Erving, CB Shemar Jean-Charles
New York Giants
- Signed to active roster: DT Timmy Horne
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Waived: RB Anthony McFarland Jr.
San Francisco 49ers
- Promoted: RB Jeremy McNichols
Anthony McFarland Jr.‘s stint with the Steelers has come to an end after three-plus seasons. The former fourth-round pick got an extended look as a rookie, collecting 167 yards from scrimmage on 39 touches. Over the past two-plus seasons, he’s compiled only 66 yards on 14 touches, with the RB being firmly behind Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren on the depth chart. That duo will continue to command the majority of the snaps at the position, with Godwin Igwebuike now serving as Pittsburgh’s RB3.
Steelers To Start Mason Rudolph In Week 16
DECEMBER 21: For a third straight game, the Steelers will be without Pickett. Tomlin confirmed the second-year starter will miss Week 16, bringing Rudolph back to the forefront. After an eight-start 2019 season, the longtime Ben Roethlisberger backup has made two starts since.
DECEMBER 18: As foreshadowed over the weekend, the Steelers will be making a switch under center. Head coach Mike Tomlin announced on Monday that Mason Rudolph will get the start in Week 16 against the Bengals. 
In his post-game remarks after a loss to the Colts on Saturday, Tomlin declined to confirm if Mitch Trubisky would retain the starting role. Tomlin hinted that changes on offense would be coming after Pittsburgh lost a third straight game to drop to 7-7. Now, that has been confirmed.
Rudolph will receive first-team reps in practice this week, although Tomlin did say (via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor) that starter Kenny Pickett has a chance to return to the field in time for the Cincinnati game. With Rudolph already having been named the starter, though, Pickett’s return would only be in a backup capacity as he recovers from ankle surgery.
Trubisky took over for Pickett during the Steelers’ upset loss to the Cardinals. He then started against the Patriots and Colts, games in which the team’s offensive struggles continued. In need of a late-season spark to stay alive in the wild-card race, Pittsburgh will now turn to Rudolph, who made his 2023 debut in the closing moments of Saturday’s game. The 28-year-old did not see the field last year, and the most recent of his 10 career starts came in 2021.
Rudolph was expected to find himself on a new team this offseason by means of a free agent departure. Signing with a new team could have created a clearer path to playing time, but in May he ultimately decided to re-up with the Steelers once again. That one-year pact worth the veteran minimum will now give the former third-rounder another opportunity to earn a role in Pittsburgh or a new team in the offseason.
Unlike Rudolph, Trubisky is on the books through 2025. The former No. 2 pick joined the Steelers on a two-year deal last spring, and he inked an extension this past offseason to continue serving as Pickett’s backup. Trubisky has not fared well during his time on the field this season, however, and today’s move marks a blow to the confidence the team has in him given the importance of their three-game stretch to close out the season.
Tomlin also announced safety Minkah Fitzpatrick will miss the Steelers’ contest against the Bengals. The All-Pro is dealing with a knee injury which forced him to leave the Colts loss. While Fitzpatrick’s’ absence will be felt on defense, plenty of attention will be on Rudolph and the offense as the Steelers look to end their losing streak and keep their playoff chances alive.
Steelers S Damontae Kazee Suspended For Remainder Of Season
DECEMBER 20: Kazee’s appeal of his season-long suspension has been deemed successful, at least partially. According to NFL senior vice president of football & international communications Michael Signora, while James Thrash, the hearing officer jointly appointed to the case by the NFL and the NFL Players Association, upheld Kazee’s suspension for the remainder of the regular season, he also ruled that Kazee would be eligible to return to the active roster if the Steelers were to qualify for the postseason. If Pittsburgh fails to make the playoffs, then we have seen the last of Kazee in the 2023 NFL season.
DECEMBER 18: The Steelers will be without Damontae Kazee for the rest of the 2023 campaign, regardless of if the team makes it to the playoffs. The veteran safety has been suspended for the remainder of the year, as noted by Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. 
Kazee was ejected for a hit on Colts wideout Michael Pittman Jr. on Saturday. Pittman is now in concussion protocol after Kazee’s most recent hit which was penalized for unnecessary roughness. The 30-year-old’s history in that department was noted in the press release detailing the suspension, and his second season with the Steelers is now set to come to a premature end.
Kazee could appeal the ban, one which will see him miss games against the Bengals, Seahawks and Ravens. Having lost three straight games, the Steelers are in a much worse position for the playoffs than they were recently. Pittsburgh could still manage to secure a wild-card berth, though, in which case Kazee’s absence would be acutely felt.
The former Falcons fifth-rounder has seen a much larger workload in 2023 than last season. Kazee’s defensive snap share (81%) is the third-highest of his career, and he has been a productive player on the backend. The San Diego State product has posted 61 tackles, two interceptions, three pass deflections and two fumble recoveries this year. Especially with Minkah Fitzpatrick set to miss at least Week 16, Kazee’s loss will deal a blow to Pittsburgh’s secondary.
Mark Kaboly of The Athletic reports that Kazee will indeed appeal the suspension. Regardless of how much time he misses, he has already lost over $267K in fines overt the course of the season, a figure which will increase unless the ban is rescinded altogether. A best-case scenario for Kazee and the Steelers, realistically, would involve the suspension being reduced to a degree.
Broncos safety Kareem Jackson managed to appeal a four-game suspension down to two earlier in the season, but he has since been hit with another four-game ban. This marks Kazee’s first suspension of the season, but his accumulation of discipline from the league (which includes five fines for unnecessary roughness) will no doubt be a factor in the appeals process. While it will interesting to see if he manages to see the field again in 2023, Kazee figures to be out of the lineup for the time being.
Updated 2024 NFL Draft Order
The Panthers’ Week 15 win over the Falcons brought the Patriots and Cardinals, who each lost, one game closer to the No. 1 overall pick. New England’s weaker strength of schedule provides keeps Arizona in the No. 3 spot, while Washington — weeks away from a likely full-scale reboot — has lost five straight to move into position for its first top-five pick since 2020.
Early reports have the Bears more likely to draft Justin Fields‘ replacement than trading a top pick once again, but the Patriots and Cardinals are still in the running for what could well be the Caleb Williams draft slot. Much less drama would emerge if New England claimed the top pick, as the Patriots would be expected to draft the top QB prize. Arizona landing atop the draft for the second time in six years could produce a derby, with Kyler Murray‘s contract difficult (but not impossible) to move for new GM Monti Ossenfort. QB-needy teams may well be hoping the Cardinals land one of the top two spots, however, providing a potential gateway to a trade-up for Williams or Drake Maye.
The Raiders’ 63-21 demolition of the Chargers slid them down six spots compared to their position last week. The Packers also climbed eight spots from their slot going into Week 15. Green Bay has not held a top-11 draft choice since it drafted B.J. Raji in the 2009 first round; that came on the heels of Aaron Rodgers‘ first season at the helm. Jordan Love‘s QB1 debut season could still produce a playoff berth, however, and the rest of the NFC and AFC wild-card races remain tightly bunched.
Here is how the 2024 draft order looks with three regular-season games to play:
- Chicago Bears (via Panthers)
- New England Patriots: 3-11
- Arizona Cardinals: 3-11
- Washington Commanders: 4-10
- Chicago Bears: 5-9
- New York Giants: 5-9
- New York Jets: 5-9
- Los Angeles Chargers: 5-9
- Tennessee Titans: 5-9
- Atlanta Falcons: 6-8
- Green Bay Packers: 6-8
- Las Vegas Raiders: 6-8
- New Orleans Saints: 7-7
- Denver Broncos: 7-7
- Seattle Seahawks: 7-7
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 7-7
- Arizona Cardinals (via Texans)
- Buffalo Bills: 8-6
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 7-7
- Minnesota Vikings: 7-7
- Los Angeles Rams: 7-7
- Indianapolis Colts: 8-6
- Jacksonville Jaguars: 8-6
- Cincinnati Bengals: 8-6
- Kansas City Chiefs: 9-5
- Houston Texans (via Browns)
- Detroit Lions: 10-4
- Philadelphia Eagles: 10-4
- Miami Dolphins: 10-4
- Dallas Cowboys: 10-4
- Baltimore Ravens: 11-3
- San Francisco 49ers: 11-3
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/19/23
Today’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Released: WR Daniel Arias
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: RB Jake Funk
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: OT Badara Traore
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: DT Chris Williams
Denver Broncos
- Signed: DB Keidron Smith
- Released from IR: S Dallin Leavitt
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: DE Zach McCloud, WR Jaydon Mickens, WR Juwann Winfree
- Released: G Lewis Kidd
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: QB E.J. Perry
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: LB Darius Harris
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: DT Marquan McCall
New England Patriots
- Signed: CB William Hooper, RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn
New York Jets
- Signed: RB Jacques Patrick
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: DB Jalen Elliott
- Designated to return from IR: S Elijah Riley
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: LB Vi Jones
- Released: LS Evan Deckers
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: C James Empey, G Jordan Roos
Washington Commanders
- Signed: LS Tucker Addington
Steelers Release LB Tariq Carpenter Following Arrest
The Steelers woes at linebacker this year will now extend to the practice squad as Tariq Carpenter has been released from the 16-man roster. According to Brooke Pryor of ESPN, Carpenter’s departure is a result of his arrest earlier today for a simple assault charge.
Carpenter was originally drafted to Green Bay in the seventh round of the 2022 draft as a safety out of Georgia Tech. As a rookie, Carpenter appeared in 14 games after missing the Packers’ first three. While near the end of the year, Carpenter found a few snaps on defense, he was almost exclusively utilized on special teams. He failed to make the 53-man roster in Green Bay this year and, three days later, signed with the Steelers’ practice squad unit.
This year, Pittsburgh has seen a litany of issues stack up at the linebacker position. They currently have three off-ball linebackers on injured reserve in Kwon Alexander, Chapelle Russell, and Cole Holcomb. The team liked Carpenter as a linebacker and, for three games in the middle of the year, called him up as a standard gameday elevation for depth. During the three games in which he made an appearance, Carpenter only appeared on special teams.
The Steelers recently signed Blake Martinez, who had recently come out of an early retirement, off of the Panthers’ practice squad and have been relying more on practice squad linebacker Kyron Johnson lately, so it seems that Carpenter’s absence won’t cause too much of an issue. Still, in a year with so much attrition at the inside linebacker position, any loss of depth is a hit.
AFC Injury Roundup: Colts, Ivey, Steelers, Wilson
The Colts battled through a number of injuries to beat the Steelers and remain in the playoff hunt for the AFC yesterday. Two key players in wide receiver Michael Pittman and running back Zack Moss were forced to exit the game early with injuries and failed to return.
Pittman was knocked out of the game with a concussion after receiving a hit from Steelers safety Damontae Kazee that resulted in Kazee’s ejection. Without his favorite target by far, quarterback Gardner Minshew was required to spread the ball out, completing passes to eight other players for the rest of the game. Though they were able to find success, Indianapolis will hope that Pittman can work his way through the concussion protocols quickly as Pittman is the target on nearly a third of the team’s pass attempts.
There was serious concern when Moss exited the game with an injury to the same arm that was broken around the start of the season. He was forced to leave the game due to issues with grip. With Jonathan Taylor missing most of the season thus far, Moss has taken the crown as the team’s leading rusher. Luckily, X-rays came back negative on Moss’ arm, so he should be able to return next week.
Here are a few other injury updates from around the AFC this week:
- Joining fellow Bengals defender D.J. Reader, who was announced to be out for the season last night, seventh-round rookie cornerback DJ Ivey left yesterday’s game with a torn ACL that will end his season, as well, per Kelsey Conway of USA Today. The late-round pick out of Miami (FL) will see his rookie season cut short just as he was beginning to earn some more playing time in Cincinnati. He received a game ball last week for making a key pass breakup and recovering a fumble on punt coverage.
- After Kazee was ejected, the Steelers were left with two backups in the game when Minkah Fitzpatrick left the game with a knee injury, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Fitzpatrick was able to walk off the field under his own power, but after a brief evaluation on the sideline, it was determined that he should not return for the second half of the game. Another starter, defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, will be a question mark to make a Week 16 appearance as he is reportedly in concussion protocol, per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor.
- Lastly, from today’s games, the Jets were once again forced to turn to a new passer, this time Trevor Siemian, after starting quarterback Zach Wilson was forced to leave the game with a concussion in the second quarter, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN. If Wilson is unable to come back next week, it’ll likely be Siemian starting for New York against the Commanders.
Steelers Considering Offensive Changes?
The Steelers’ postseason prospects have taken a steep turn for the worse over their past three games. Losses to the Cardinals, Patriots and Colts have Pittsburgh sitting at 7-7, and struggles on offense could produce more changes than the ones already made. 
The Steelers made an extraordinarily rare move in firing offensive coordinator Matt Canada last month. The switch to Mike Sullivan as play-caller appeared to be a shrewd move in the team’s first game, but things have not gone according to plan since then. Starting quarterback Kenny Pickett – who has not made the Year 2 jump which many passers experience – exited the Arizona loss with a high ankle sprain. No firm timeline has been placed on his return, but a four-week absence has been reported as the team’s expectation.
Backup Mitch Trubisky has played in place of Pickett, but his performances have left plenty to be desired. The former No. 2 pick has thrown as many touchdowns (three) as interceptions since taking over for Pickett in Week 13, failing to eclipse 190 passing yards in a contest during that span. Pittsburgh’s offense gave the team a 13-0 lead early against the Colts on Saturday, but came up empty afterwards en route to a 30-13 defeat.
In his post-game remarks, head coach Mike Tomlin indicated (via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor) the Steelers are “going to do things differently next week.” While adjustments on defense could be included in the coming days, the team’s offense will be a unit to watch. Tomlin declined to confirm Trubisky as the Steelers’ Week 16 starter. That could be due to the fact Pickett’s availability is uncertain, but it could also mean third-stringer Mason Rudolph could be in play to get the nod next week.
The latter finished Saturday’s loss, his first appearance in the 2023 season. Rudolph did not see the field last year, and he has made just two starts since the beginning of the 2020 campaign. Giving the nod to the 28-year-old would come as a surprise given his lack of game action, but it would likewise not come as a shock to see Pittsburgh make a notable switch in another bid to produce a spark on offense. Inconsistencies in the passing game in particular have been an ongoing source of frustration for the team, one which is still in the mix for an AFC wild-card spot.
Tomlin’s streak of never posting a losing season is once again under threat, but the way in which this year ends is not expected to have an effect on his job security. The way in which he and the rest of the team’s staff proceeds in the near future will nevertheless be a key storyline to watch as Pittsburgh aims to rebound from the current skid.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/15/23
Here are today’s minor transactions, including some practice squad callups for the Saturday games:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed from Seahawks’ practice squad: OLB Tyreke Smith
Carolina Panthers
- Signed to active roster: DE Chris Wormley
- Placed on IR: G Justin McCray
Denver Broncos
- Signed to active roster: TE Lucas Krull
Indianapolis Colts
- Elevated: WR Ethan Fernea, RB Tyler Goodson
Minnesota Vikings
- Elevated: RB Myles Gaskin, WR Trishton Jackson
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Elevated: LB Kyron Johnson
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed to active roster: DT Deadrin Senat
Washington Commanders
- Activated from IR: G Saahdiq Charles
- Placed on IR: TE Curtis Hodges
Getting Charles back should provide a bit of a boost for a Commanders’ offensive line that has allowed quarterback Sam Howell to be sacked an NFL-leading 58 times. That being said, they led the league in that category when Charles was healthy, as well. Still, as Charles attempts to come back from the calf injury that sidelined him for six games, he’ll have to overcome second-year guard Chris Paul, who has been starting in his place since the injury. While Charles had been struggling in a contract year, his replacement has ranked as the fourth-worst guard in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
Wormley, Krull, and Senat all make their way up to the active roster for two reasons: first, injuries, and second, they’ve already appeared as standard gameday elevations off of the practice squad the maximum three times. In order to appear in any other games this year, all three needed to be signed to new contracts. If the players they are replacing come back from injury before the end of the season, any of them can be waived, re-signed to the practice squad, and elevated an additional three times.
Steelers’ T.J. Watt Placed In Concussion Protocol
DECEMBER 13: Watt has been officially cleared by an independent neurological consultant and is no longer in concussion protocol, per the team’s senior director of communications Burt Lauten. There is still the matter of the NFL and the NFL Players Association’s review of the Steelers’ handling of his concussion check in the team’s Week 14 contest with the Patriots, but Watt’s removal from the protocol likely hints at no issue.
After Watt took a knee to the head from Elliott and returned after a brief check-in on the sideline, he reported concussion like-symptoms the next day. Obviously a potentially dangerous situation, the league decided it would investigate how the team handled Watt’s potential head injury. We’ve seen lots of seemingly concussed players come out of protocol within a week, so despite his clearance, Watt still may have suffered a concussion and returned to play. The league and the NFLPA has set out to determine whether or not that is the case.
DECEMBER 9: The Steelers’ depth on the edge could be tested next weekend. Following news that pass-rusher Alex Highsmith was placed in concussion protocol, the Steelers have announced that T.J. Watt has also been placed in protocol (via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com).
The Highsmith news didn’t come as a huge surprise. The linebacker exited Thursday’s loss to the Patriots with a neck injury and didn’t end up returning to the game.
The Watt development is a bit more unexpected. The star defender briefly exited Thursday’s game after taking a knee to the face from Ezekiel Elliott on the first play from scrimmage. Florio writes that Watt was briefly checked for a concussion before being cleared to return on the same drive. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo notes that the medical staff also took an extended look at Watt’s jaw/mouth, and Florio says Watt was spotted wearing a tinted visor at one point.
Mark Kaboly of The Athletic passes along that Watt arrived at the team facility yesterday with symptoms, necessitating his placement into concussion protocol. Both Watt and Highsmith will now need to be cleared by an independent neurologist before returning to practice.
Fortunately, the Steelers have time on their side. Kaboly notes that the Steelers are off the next three days. They’ll resume practices on Tuesday in preparation for their Week 15 game against the Colts next Saturday night.