Ben Sauls

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/23/25

As teams enter Week 4, here are the latest practice squad transactions from around the league:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

The Falcons’ kicking rollercoaster took another turn in Week 3 with John Parker Romo missing both of his attempts in Sunday’s loss to the Panthers. Granted, those kicks came from 49 and 55 yards, so Atlanta may have some patience after signing Romo to a two-year contract last week. The Falcons still brought in some potential competition in Sauls, an undrafted rookie who spent training camp with the Steelers and made five of his six field goals in the preseason.

Wright is expected to be out for four to six weeks due to a foot injury, per ESPN’s Brady Henderson.

Watson signed with the Buccaneers after the draft but remained on the non-football injury list as he worked to get his weight to a more manageable level. He was waived during final roster cuts, but the team hosted him for a workout last week, per FOX Sports’ Greg Auman. Watson met the team’s athletic requirements to earn his way back on the practice squad, according to Auman, and will return just in time for the Bucs’ Week 4 matchup with the Eagles. The massive nose tackle does feel like a direct counter to the tush push, but Bowles previously said (via Auman) that Watson wouldn’t be re-signed just for one matchup and would instead need to be ready to contribute to the defense as a whole.

Falcons To Explore K Options

SEPTEMBER 9: The Falcons have indeed added another kicker by signing John Parker Romo to the practice squad, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Romo emerged as the best option out of a tryout group that also included Zane Gonzalez, Michael Badgley, and Ben Sauls, per Pelissero.

SEPTEMBER 8: In the wake of their Week 1 loss, the Browns expressed confidence in kicker Andre Szmyt and indicated no competition would be brought in. The opposite is true in the case of the Falcons.

Atlanta will look into alternative options at the position, head coach Raheem Morris said on Monday. Younghoe Koo narrowly made one of his kicks yesterday, with a deflection off one of the uprights resulting in a successful attempt. At the end of the contest, though, a 44-yard field goal which would have tied the game was missed.

“We have to bring a competitive edge,” Morris said (via The Athletic’s Josh Kendall). “We have to go out there and look. We have to bring in people to compete. It definitely creates that sense of urgency. It’s about the process you have to go through from a physical and mental standpoint.”

Morris added (via Kendall) Koo is the incumbent for the time being but said the team will explore veteran as well as “up and coming” options. With over $8MM in cap space, finances will not be an issue if an addition is to be made. For now, attention will turn to the free agents who choose to visit the Falcons, with Eddy PineiroZane Gonzalez, and Greg Joseph among the most notable names on the market.

Koo enjoyed a strong run with the Falcons beginning in 2019. The 31-year-old South Korean earned a Pro Bowl nod the following year and remained among the league’s most consistent kickers until 2024. Last year, Koo missed nine of his 34 field goal attempts, resulting in a career-low accuracy rate of 73.5%.

A training camp competition took place involving Lenny Krieg, was was waived during roster cuts but retained via a practice squad agreement. Morris said the German-born Krieg, who first signed with Atlanta in March, is considered a developmental player but added he will receive another opportunity to earn the kicking gig. Koo has two years remaining on his contract and is owed a total of $8.5MM over that span.

A parting of ways between he and the Falcons has been speculated about dating back to last season’s struggles, but that has not been the case so far. It will nevertheless be interesting to see how the coming days play out with Atlanta searching out alternatives.

Steelers Cut P Cameron Johnston, 12 Others

The Steelers started moving on from some players late last week, and they continued the process this afternoon. The team announced the following transactions:

Released:

Waived:

Cameron Johnston inked a three-year deal with the Steelers last offseason and was expected to lead the depth chart for the foreseeable future. However, the veteran suffered a knee injury in Week 1 that knocked him out for the rest of the season, allowing Corliss Waitman to secure the punting gig. It appears that Waitman won the competition between the two this preseason, and Johnston will now look to revive his career elsewhere. The team also moved on from kicker Ben Sauls, who always seemed destined to be cut considering Chris Boswell is still kicking around.

Among the team’s other notable cuts are Max Hurleman, who caught a touchdown in Pittsburgh’s preseason opener and was a standout during training camp, and linebackerMark Robinson, who was believed to be competing for a spot on the Steelers defense.

Steelers Announce 7 UDFA Signings

After drafting seven rookies this weekend, the Steelers double their rookie class with their undrafted free agent signings. Here are the seven additions to the team’s rookie class:

A two-year starter for the Tigers, Taylor had a productive last two seasons, catching 135 balls for 2,053 yards and six touchdowns, but he had a bit of an issue with nine drops over that period.

Williams spent six seasons in Duluth, not making an appearance until his third year after redshirting and sitting out the COVID-19 2020 season. In 2022, he took over the starting left tackle position for the Bulldogs, starting 32 games over the next three seasons and earning second-team All-NSIC honors in 2022 and 2023 and first-team honors in 2024.

Castro had some Day 3 buzz, likely due to a stellar 2023 campaign in which he had 11 passes defensed, three interceptions, and eight tackles for loss. His 2024 season was pretty disappointing, though, as his passes defensed dropped to two and his interceptions dropped to one while he allowed five touchdowns in coverage.

Lastly, Sauls gets to stay in his home stadium, after going 52-64 on field goal attempts in the last three years with the Panthers. The left-footed kicker had a long this season of 58 yards. With Chris Boswell under contract for another two years, though, and having just led the NFL with 41 converted field goals (only missing three attempts — as many as he had in 2023, as well), Sauls will likely spend the preseason auditioning for other teams who may need a kicker in 2024.