Andrew Brown

Bills Place LB Matt Milano, DT DaQuan Jones On IR; Sign LB A.J. Klein From PS

The Bills did some housekeeping today, clearing out some roster spots as a result of recent injuries and preparing to refill them. Losing two defensive starters in London was tough, but Buffalo has no choice but to reset and reload from their existing stock of talent.

After a potentially season-ending injury to veteran linebacker Matt Milano and a pectoral injury to defensive tackle DaQuan Jones that likewise doesn’t look promising, the Bills have placed both players on injured reserve. This now opens up two new spots on the active roster for the staff to fill. To fill Milano’s roster spot, Buffalo is calling up practice squad linebacker A.J. Klein. The veteran, who has become a mainstay in Buffalo over the past few years, will be signed to the active roster.

Klein started 11 games for the Bills during his first year with the team back in 2020 before taking a bit of a smaller role the following season. Buffalo released him two years into his three-year deal. Klein signed to the Giants’ practice squad before getting signed off of it three days later to the Ravens’ active roster. Three weeks later, he was shipped to Chicago with a second- and fifth-round pick in exchange for Roquan Smith. He lasted a couple weeks in Chicago before getting waived and picked up by the Bills, who have kept him close ever since.

Buffalo didn’t immediately fill the second roster spot opened by the two IR moves, but they did set a plan in motion for it. Today, the team designated linebacker Baylon Spector to return from IR. After only appearing in six games as a rookie last year, Spector has spent the first five weeks of the season on IR with a hamstring injury. With Spector returning to practice, he’ll enter the 21-day window in which he can return to the active roster.

While Spector doesn’t replace the position slot of Jones, the Bills did add a defensive tackle to the practice squad. Already a bit of a journeyman in his sixth NFL season, new defensive tackle Andrew Brown will be joining his seventh team since getting drafted in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He only has one start in his career and hasn’t appeared in more than five games for a team in a season since his rookie year in Cincinnati.

Bears Set Initial Roster, Waive DE Trevis Gipson

The Bears have been slowly trimming down their squad over the past few days, and the front office has now officially landed on their initial roster. The Bears announced the following moves, some of which were previously reported:

Placed on IR:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

The moves actually reduce Chicago’s roster to 52 players, so additions are certainly coming.

Trevis Gipson is a bit of a surprise cut after the former fifth-round pick got into 33 games (19 starts) for the Bears over the past two years. The defensive lineman showed some pass-rushing prowess during his rookie season, compiling seven sacks, seven tackles for loss, and seven QB hits. His numbers took a bit of a step back in 2022, with the Tulsa product finishing with only three sacks. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (via Twitter), the Bears worked on a trade for Gipson and had “teams involved” in the bidding but couldn’t come to terms before today’s roster deadline.

Trestan Ebner was another Bears draft pick that got into 17 games last season. The 2022 sixth-round pick ended up getting 26 touches on offense, collecting 62 yards from scrimmage while coughing up two fumbles. Ebner also returned 10 kickoffs for Chicago last season. The running back has been in concussion protocol since the early parts of the preseason, and there’s a chance he reverts to the Bears’ injured reserve if he goes unclaimed.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/17/23

Here are Monday’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

Teams with returning head coaches are now free to begin offseason workouts, leading to this high number of RFA and ERFA tenders being signed. Bryant and Reaves signed the low-end tender, while the Packers gave Nijman a second-round tender. Bryant and Reaves are tied to $2.62MM salaries; Nijman is attached to a $4.3MM number. Nijman has both played left and right tackle, settling in at the latter spot after the Packers moved Elgton Jenkins back to guard last season. ERFAs are two years from unrestricted free agency; RFAs are one year away.

An August shoulder injury cost Williams his 2022 season, but the former second-round pick was trending in the wrong direction with the Patriots. New England chose Williams 45th overall in 2019 but used him as a starter only once. New Vikings DC Brian Flores was no longer with the Pats when they drafted Williams, 25, but the team will take a flier on the Vanderbilt alum.

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/10/23

Today’s tender decisions from around the NFL:

RFAs

Tendered:

Not tendered:

ERFAs

Tendered:

Not tendered:

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/7/23

While teams have some bigger-picture decisions to make this month, this is also the point on the calendar they need to make calls on restricted free agents and exclusive rights free agents. Here is a look at the latest tender decisions from around the NFL:

ERFAs

Tendered:

Bears Add QB Tim Boyle

The Bears could be down their top two QBs when they take on the Packers on Sunday, so the team has added some reinforcement at the position. ESPN’s Courtney Cronin reports (via Twitter) that the Bears have signed quarterback Tim Boyle off the Lions’ practice squad.

Starting quarterback Justin Fields is currently dealing with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder that forced him to miss Sunday’s game against the Jets. Trevor Siemian gutted through an oblique injury to play in that loss to New York, and it’s uncertain if he’ll be able to suit up this weekend. That would leave Nathan Peterman as the only healthy quarterback on the roster, so the team ended up snagging Boyle off Detroit’s taxi squad.

Boyle served as a backup to Aaron Rodgers to begin his career before catching on with the Lions in 2021. He ended up getting three starts for Detroit last year, completing 61 of his 94 pass attempts for 526 yards, three touchdowns, and six interceptions. The 28-year-old re-signed with the Lions this past offseason, and after getting cut at the end of the preseason, he caught on with the organization’s practice squad.

He’ll likely be a temporary piece in Chicago once the team’s QB corps is completely healthy. However, Boyle wasn’t just a random fill-in. Cronin notes that the Bears signed him because of his familiarity with offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, who was the Packers’ QBs coach when the two were in Green Bay.

The Bears made two more moves today, placing defensive back Dane Cruikshank on injured reserve and signing defensive lineman Andrew Brown off the Cardinals practice squad. Cruikshank has gotten into eight games for Chicago this season, but a hamstring injury will sideline him for at least the next four games. Brown has 23 games of NFL experience, with the former fifth-round pick having collected 18 tackles and one sack in time with the Bengals, Texans, and Chargers.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/2/22

Teams are still constructing their initial 16-man practice squads. Here is the latest on how those are shaping up:

Arizona Cardinals

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

  • Signed: LB De’Jon Harris

Chargers Trim Roster To 53

As final cuts continue to be announced, the Chargers have unveiled their list of departing players. Here is the final tally:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Covington represents by far the most experienced player being let go. He spent just one season in Los Angeles, starting three of his 16 appearances. While the 28-year-old Canadian set a new career-high in tackles with 52, he was part of the league’s third-worst run defense. That, coupled with Covington’s small roster bonus, made him a logical cut candidate.

The Chargers have a crowded backfield to work with, and one main training camp storyline has been the competition to establish the pecking order behind Austin Ekeler. By waiving Nabers, however, the team can keep one more back on the 53-man roster. Given their passing efficiency, eliminating the fullback position from the offense would allow them to keep the former UDFA on the practice squad (if at all); if not, Nabers will need to find one of the few remaining teams with a spot for his skillset.

Surratt carries the most upside amongst the TE departures. The converted WR didn’t play during his rookie season, but demonstrated his talent in college, including a 1,000-yerd season at Wake Forest. Given his absence from the 2020 college season, as well as the 2021 NFL campaign, though, keeping the six-foot-three, 215-pounder as a depth option behind Gerald Everett could better be done via the practice squad.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/11/22

A number of players continue to sign reserve/futures contracts, which allows organizations to retain (mostly) young, practice squad players throughout the offseason. We’ve compiled today’s reserve/futures contracts below:

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

NFL COVID-19 List Updates: 1/3/22

Here are Monday’s activations from and placements on the reserve/COVID-19 lists:

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: OT Mike Remmers (remains on IR)

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: RB Raymond Calais (remains on IR)

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team