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Ben Sims

Broncos Audition Marcedes Lewis, Miss On Two TE Waiver Claims

October 28th, 2025 at 5:21pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Broncos are certainly showing their hand when it comes to tight ends. After reports of trade interest in the position, the team made multiple waiver claims and has now gone through with a Marcedes Lewis workout.

Attempting to play a 20th NFL season, Lewis met with the Broncos about a gig (per NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo). Lewis spent the past two seasons with the Bears, being used regularly as a blocker despite his advanced age. At 41, Lewis is attempting to make history on multiple fronts.

[RELATED: Broncos Going Week-To-Week With Patrick Surtain’s Injury]

Lewis already the oldest pure tight end in NFL history. In terms of skill positions, only Jerry Rice has played beyond his age-39 season. Rice played his age-41 season in Oakland in 2003 and kept going at 42, being traded to Seattle midseason. Being in a conversation with the greatest skill player in NFL history is certainly notable for Lewis, even if he does not end up catching on with Denver (where Rice held his retirement presser after a summer 2005 attempt to catch on with the Broncos).

The Broncos are eyeing Lewis for a role complementing Evan Engram and Adam Trautman. Rather than seek a pass-catching tight end to give Engram some help after a sluggish start, Denver is believed to want depth help. Lucas Krull‘s foot surgery will put his return from IR in doubt, and fullback/TE Nate Adkins suffered a knee injury Sunday. Engram and Trautman reside as Denver’s top two tight ends, but another could join the duo soon.

A 2006 first-round pick, Lewis has proven an incredibly durable player even into his 40s. He has not missed a game since the 2021 season. After a 12-year Jaguars tenure, Lewis played five Packers seasons. Primarily working as a blocker in Green Bay and Chicago, Lewis played more than 40% of the Packers’ offensive snaps from 2019-22. With Chicago, his usage dipped toward the 20% threshold.

Last season, Lewis played 19% of the Bears’ snaps. He started eight games and caught five passes as a Bear but was mostly used in the run game. Lewis has played in 285 career games, starting 229. He would be more than 10 years older than every Broncos offensive player save for Garett Bolles (33). But Lewis recently held a role as a third tight end, complementing Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett in Chicago last year.

In addition to Lewis, the Broncos telegraphed their interest in TE help by submitting two waiver claims Monday. The team attempted to add tight ends Brenden Bates and Ben Sims, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Teams with better waiver priorities (Browns, Vikings) were awarded the players. The Texans waived Bates, while the Packers cut Sims. Adkins remains on Denver’s active roster, but a move for another option here appears imminent.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/27/25

October 27th, 2025 at 7:17pm CST by Connor Byrne

Here are Monday’s minor moves from around the NFL:

Arizona Cardinals

Cleveland Browns

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

  • Claimed off waivers (from Packers): TE Ben Sims

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

With James Conner done for the year after suffering a season-ending ankle injury in Week 3 and Trey Benson on IR with a knee malady since Oct. 1, Carter leads the Cardinals with 35 carries. He has rushed for an inefficient 97 yards (2.8 per attempt), though, and could only muster 11 on seven carries in a Week 7 loss to the Packers.

The Cardinals, who will come off their bye in Week 9 to face the Cowboys, are now down to two RBs in Emari Demercado and Zonovan Knight. They also have D’Ernest Johnson and Jermar Jefferson on their practice squad. Benson will be eligible to return in Week 10.

Packers Activate WR Christian Watson From Reserve/PUP

October 25th, 2025 at 2:14pm CST by Ely Allen

It’s been almost 300 days since Packers wide receiver Christian Watson tore his ACL, ending his 2024 season, but a return could be on the horizon. Watson will have a chance to make his 2025 debut tomorrow as Green Bay has activated him off the reserve/physically unable to perform list. He makes his way off the injury list with just two days to spare in his 21-day practice window.

With the injury occurring so late in the season, there were immediate expectations that Green Bay would be without one of their top receivers to start the 2025 campaign. What’s worse, this season was supposed to be a contract year for Watson, which would’ve given him a chance to earn a big, new contract. The Packers made sure that Watson would avoid having to prove himself in half a season by giving him a one-year, $11MM extension.

The short-term delay of free agency acts as a prove-it deal. After seeing the 26-year-old miss time with hamstring issues throughout his first two years, teams will want to see him have a fully healthy season before signing him to a big contract. The extension will allow Watson to ease back into the game over the remainder of this season and hit the ground running in 2026, his new contract year. The team also built three effective voidable years into the deal which will allow them to circumvent the 12-month renegotiation waiting period usually required to sign him to another potential extension after the season.

As the season drew near, it became clear that Watson would start the year on the reserve/PUP list, and eventually, he did. He returns to a Packers team that has gotten off to a hot 4-1-1 start and currently sits atop the NFC North. The offense and passing attack haven’t appeared to be quite as successful as last year’s offensive unit, but perhaps Watson’s return can contribute to some improvements on that front.

Also lacking Jayden Reed since Week 2, quarterback Jordan Love has continued to spread the ball evenly between his targets with tight end Tucker Kraft and receivers Romeo Doubs and first-round rookie Matthew Golden proving to be the main benefactors. While Reed remains on injured reserve for now, the addition of Watson back into the offense may mean a small change in role for Golden or Dontayvion Wicks.

We’ll see just how much of a leash the Packers give Watson, if they do in fact let him play in his first game of the season. They’ve been cautious in his return from injury thus far, so it’d be a surprise if he came out tomorrow with zero restrictions. Either way, adding Watson back into the mix should only help the Packers in what looks like it might be the league’s most contentious division race.

To make room for Watson on the 53-man roster, the Packers waived tight end Ben Sims. They also announced they would elevate defensive end Arron Mosby for the second time this year as a standard gameday practice squad elevation.

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC North

August 30th, 2023 at 2:35pm CST by Sam Robinson

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 Bears, Lions, Packers and Vikings moves are noted below.

Chicago Bears

Placed on IR:

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Detroit Lions

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Green Bay Packers

Claimed:

Released:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Minnesota Vikings

Placed on IR:

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Vikings Make Cuts To Reach 53-Man Roster

August 29th, 2023 at 8:25pm CST by Ely Allen

Most of the Vikings’ roster moves were done ahead of the deadline, but today they did the rest of the work to get down to the 53-man roster. Here are the moves made today to reach the deadline:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

  • LB Abraham Beauplan

Released:

A strong preseason performance by backup running back Ty Chandler and the returning prowess of Kene Nwangwu led to the disappointing cut of the seventh-round pick McBride. Besides that, there weren’t many surprises on the offensive side of the ball as the Vikings continually value consistency on the offensive line.

Minnesota needed to work out how to replace the production lost in the departure of pass rusher Za’Darius Smith. The opportunity led to a nice surprise as undrafted rookie Andre Carter II makes the initial 53. Carter is joined on the defensive side by undrafted linebacker Ivan Pace, who got plenty of run in camp as Brian Asamoah recovered from injury. Safety NaJee Thompson is the last undrafted rookie to find his way onto the roster thanks to his contributions on special teams.

Vikings Sign 15 UDFAs

April 30th, 2023 at 7:56pm CST by Ely Allen

The Vikings have officially added to their six-man draft class, announcing the signing of 15 undrafted free agents last night. Here is the list of undrafted rookies who will be given an opportunity in Minnesota this summer:

The team has also invited Ouachita Baptist running back T.J. Cole to rookie minicamp, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. The former-Tiger was also invited to go to Philadelphia for the Eagles’ rookie minicamp, as well.

Minnesota was able to nab the 2022 AAC Defensive Player of the Year and a consensus first-team All-American linebacker in Cincinnati’s Pace. He’ll have the opportunity to continue working alongside his former teammate, Huber, in rookie minicamp.

The Vikings brought in some strong pass catchers in Knowles, Thomas, and Sims. Johnson will look to continue developing as a receiver. He spent time at Southeastern Louisiana as both a backup quarterback and wide receiver, although he only had three catches in college. They also added a few defensive backs with ball skills in Coldon, Thompson, and Williams. Thompson didn’t have the interception totals of Coldon and Williams, but after playing both sides of the ball, he should have the hands to start turning deflections into picks.

Podlesny is an intriguing addition for Minnesota. The Vikings re-signed incumbent kicker Greg Joseph after a season that saw him miss seven field goals attempts, six of which were attempts over 50 yards. Joseph’s new deal is only for one year, though, leaving an opportunity for a potential kicking competition. Podlesny provides Minnesota with a second kicking option, but after not attempting a field goal over 50 yards in all of 2022, it’s to be determined if Podlesny represents a potential improvement.