Andre Baccellia

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC West

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These 49ersCardinalsRams and Seahawks moves are noted below.

Arizona Cardinals

Signed to practice squad:

Los Angeles Rams

Signed to practice squad:

San Francisco 49ers

Signed: 

Claimed:

Released from IR (via settlement):

Signed to practice squad:

Seattle Seahawks

Signed:

Claimed:

Released:

Signed to practice squad:

Cardinals Waive QB Clayton Tune, 11 Others

The Cardinals took a step towards finalizing their 53-man roster on Monday by waiving 12 players including quarterback Clayton Tune, per a team announcement.

Tune, a 2023 fifth-round pick, began his rookie year as Arizona’s backup quarterback behind Joshua Dobbs with Kyler Murray working his way back from an ACL tear. Dobbs was sent to the Vikings at the trade deadline with Murray still not at 100%, so Tune started in Week 9 and got shut out by the Browns’ top-ranked defense.

The 26-year-old held onto the QB2 job in 2024, but only attempted two passes on the year to bring his career total to 23. This offseason, the Cardinals brought in veteran Jacoby Brissett as a more capable and experienced backup to Murray, and they opted not to carry three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster. However, Tune is a strong candidate to be signed to the team’s practice squad as the third-string quarterback.

Tune’s release will leave $86K of dead money on the Cardinals’ salary cap in 2025 and 2026, per OverTheCap. Here are Arizona’s other 11 cuts:

Mbaeteka is the only other player of note, as the Nigeria native is eligible to be an extra player on the practice squad via an international exemption. Teams can place claims on waived players until Wednesday, when all claims will be processed. Unclaimed players will then be eligible to sign with any team’s practice squad.

NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/6/25

With the regular season having come to an end, many teams have started signing players to reserve/futures contracts. This allows organization to retain (routinely) young, practice squad players. Here are the latest reserve/futures contracts:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC West

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These 49ersCardinalsRams and Seahawks moves are noted below.

Arizona Cardinals

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Los Angeles Rams

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

San Francisco 49ers

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Seattle Seahawks

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Cardinals Get Down To 53

The Cardinals finalized their initial 53-man roster with the following moves:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Placed on IR:

Placed on IR (designated for return):

We’ve already reported on the most notable name, Ridder. The Cardinals instead opted to rely on second-year passer Clayton Tune to back up Kyler Murray behind center. There’s still a chance Ridder could remain on the practice squad as QB3.

Robinson and Jones will miss the first four games of the season, but both have been designated to return from IR eventually. Jones Jr. will miss the 2024 season, though.

Two rookie draft picks failed to make the 53-man. Alabama Birmingham receiver Palmer (sixth-round) and Miami (FL) cornerback Davis (seventh-round) both hit the waiver wire following the preseason. Undrafted receiver Xavier Weaver out of Colorado, does make the roster, though.

Other surprises were the cutting of Carter and Barnes. Carter struggled last year before parting ways with the Jets, who drafted him in the fourth round in 2021. Six games in Arizona last year were not enough to warrant a return in 2024 on the active roster. Carter had been shopped around a bit as of late, but with no buyers, he hits the waiver wire. Barnes started six games for the team last year after three years in Green Bay, where he started 24 games.

NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/8/24

Many teams have started signing players to reserve/futures contracts, allowing organization to retain (routinely) young, practice squad players. Here are the latest reserve/futures contracts:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

  • OL Barry Wesley

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

  • LB Brandon Bouyer-Randle, WR Davion Davis, CB D’Angelo Mandell

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/12/23

Today’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

  • Signed: TE Chris Pierce

Green Bay Packers

  • Signed: WR Thyrick Pitts
  • Released: LB Austin Ajiake

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Signed: CB Matt Hankins

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New York Jets

  • Signed: OT Obinna Eze

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Mason Crosby‘s stint with the Rams has already come to an end. The veteran kicker was added to the practice squad with Lucas Havrisik struggling, and there was speculation that the long-time Packers kicker was going to get the start when he was promoted to the active roster. Crosby ended up being inactive against the Ravens, the first time in his career that he earned that designation.

Crosby will now look to continue his career elsewhere. The Packers moved on from their all-time scoring leader following a 2022 season where Crosby connected on 86.2 percent of his field goal attempts and 37 of his 39 XP tries.

Chase Cota is the son of former NFL safety Chad Cota, and he’s also the cousin of fellow Texans practice squad safety Brady Breeze. The wide receiver spent four years at UCLA before transferring to Oregon for the 2022 campaign. He finished that season with career-highs in receptions (36), receiving yards (497), and touchdowns (three). He spent the preseason with the Lions before catching on with the Chiefs practice squad. He spent the majority of the 2023 season in Kansas City before getting cut from the taxi squad last week.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/11/23

Here are Monday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Green Bay Packers

Miami Dolphins

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

The Packers signed Drake to their practice squad last week, doing so as Aaron Jones continues his rehab from an MCL sprain. The Packers ruled out Jones for a third straight game Monday night. Drake has been with four teams (Colts, Ravens, Browns, Packers) since training camp.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/18/23

This week’s callups and minor moves heading into Sunday:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers:

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Evans had been called up from the practice squad three times by the Cowboys, meaning he needed to be added to the 53-man roster this week to continue suiting up. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports “several teams” attempted to poach the veteran off the taxi squad, but his decision to remain with Dallas has culminated in today’s move. Evans has logged 74 combined defensive and special teams snaps with the Cowboys so far, recording three tackles.

James was out of the lineup for one game after being designated for return, but he will be eligible to suit up for the upcoming Super Bowl rematch against the Eagles. Mentioned as a trade candidate earlier this year, he will be able to add depth to a WR corps which has underperformed to date, and add to his single catch recorded in his two Kansas City games at the start of the campaign.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/8/23

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Minnesota Vikings

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers