Benning Potoa’e

Commanders Place CB Benjamin St-Juste, OL Saahdiq Charles On IR

Washington made some quick adjustments to its active roster just prior to its season finale against Dallas this weekend, placing cornerback Benjamin St-Juste and offensive lineman Saahdiq Charles on injured reserve, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. To fill their spots on the 53-man roster, the Commanders signed practice squad tackle Alex Akingbulu and practice squad defensive end Benning Potoa’e to the active roster.

The biggest name here is obviously St-Juste, who has become a full-time starter in the slot during his sophomore season with the Commanders. As a rookie third-round pick last year, St-Juste was able to earn some serious playing time, starting three of nine appearances, but concussion issues led to an early end to his rookie year on IR. This season, St-Juste moved from outside corner to play more of a nickel role in the slot. St-Juste started every game of the season alongside cornerbacks Kendall Fuller and Bobby McCain before beginning to deal with an ankle injury in a Week 11 win over the Texans. St-Juste has missed four of the five games since then and will now end his second season in a row on IR. In his absence, the Commanders have utilized rookie seventh-round pick Christian Holmes and veteran Danny Johnson in the slot.

Since being drafted in the fourth-round in 2020, Charles has been a dependable backup lineman for the Commanders, filling in as a starter for at least one game each season. Charles started three games earlier this season after coming in for injured right guard Trai Turner in a Week 4 loss to the Cowboys. Charles has been inactive since the team’s Week 14 bye while dealing with a concussion. Placing him on IR ensures he will be inactive for his fourth straight game to end the season.

Akingbulu is an undrafted rookie out of Fresno State. The first-team All-Mountain West offensive tackle from last year will provide some depth to the offensive line after the loss of Charles to IR. Potoa’e went undrafted out of the University of Washington in 2020, initially signing with the Buccaneers. After two seasons on Tampa Bay’s practice squad, Potoa’e was released in final roster cuts this preseason and decided to sign to the Commanders’ practice squad this season. Potoa’e is looking for his second in-game appearance this season, while an appearance by Akingbulu would mark his NFL debut.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/24/22

Lots of moves leading into gameday. Remember that players promoted from the practice squad for games will revert back to the practice squad after:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/13/22

Here are Tuesday’s practice squad additions and subtractions:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

  • Signed: DB BoPete Keyes

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

  • Released: WR Dai’Jean Dixon

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Buccaneers Set 53-Man Roster

Here is how the Buccaneers moved their roster down to the 53-man max Tuesday:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

  • OLB Elijah Ponder

Placed on IR:

Ryan is expected to return soon, Greg Auman of The Athletic tweets. His release — from a contract containing no fully guaranteed money — is likely connected to Ryan Jensen‘s impending IR trip.

The Bucs should also be expected to retain Griffin on their 16-man practice squad, which can include up to six vested vets. Griffin has gone through a lengthy career without much actual usage. A 2013 Saints UDFA, Griffin has been with the Bucs since September 2015. Odds are, after he re-signed to stay in Tampa again this offseason, the veteran QB is part of the initial 2022 Bucs P-squad. Griffin, 32, has played in two career games. He would be the Bucs’ fourth passer — behind Tom Brady, Blaine Gabbert and Kyle Trask — if kept. So, the same arrangement as 2021.

The Bucs signed Avery last week. Avery spent the offseason with the Steelers but did not make their cut to 80; the Steelers have since traded for Broncos backup OLB Malik Reed. Borregales’ exit will give Ryan Succop the kicker job for a third straight year. After the Bucs went through several years of kicker instability, Succop has done well to inject reliability into the equation. Succop’s extension runs through 2023.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/24/22

Here are Monday’s reserve/futures deals:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

New Orleans Saints

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC South

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 moves for the BuccaneersFalconsPanthers and Saints are noted below.

Here are Wednesday’s NFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Atlanta Falcons

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Carolina Panthers

Release from IR:

Signed to practice squad:

New Orleans Saints

Released: 

  • K Aldrick Rosas; Rosas is expected to re-sign later this week, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Signed to practice squad:

Buccaneers Reduce Roster To 53

The defending Super Bowl champs made a long list of moves today to get down to the 53-man roster limit. The Buccaneers made the following transactions:

Waived

Waived/Injured

  • T Brad Seaton

Released

Placed on reserve/PUP list

Griffin had been with the Buccaneers organization since the 2015 season, but he’s only seen time in a pair of games. After winning a ring last season, the veteran re-signed with the organization this offseason. For the time being, Blaine Gabbert and rookie Kyle Trask will serve as Tom Brady‘s backups.

Mickens is another notable cut, as the 27-year-old served as one of Tampa Bay’s primary return men in 2020. Mickens finished the campaign with 16 punt returns for 99 yards and 14 kick returns for 340 yards.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/8/21

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves right here:

Buffalo Bills

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/2/21

Here are Saturday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

  • Signed off Jets’ practice squad: G Blake Hance
  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: S Karl Joseph
  • Promoted: G Cordell Iwuagwu, LB Montrel Meander, T Alex Taylor

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Promoted: DB John Brannon

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Bucs Sign Josh Rosen To Practice Squad

Josh Rosen has found a new home. The highly drafted quarterback will be signing with the Buccaneers’ practice squad, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link).

Rosen will now get to learn from Tom Brady in the quarterbacks room. The UCLA product has had a tough time in the pros, and was just recently cut by the Dolphins after Miami failed to find a trade partner. Heavily hyped coming out of college, Rosen was drafted 10th overall by the Cardinals in 2018. His rookie season was a disaster, as Arizona went 3-13 and head coach Steve Wilks was fired after just one year.

The Cards elected to start fresh the following offseason, drafting Kyler Murray with the first pick and making Rosen expendable. He was quickly dealt to the Dolphins in exchange for a second-round pick. He started three games in Miami but didn’t play well and failed to beat out Ryan Fitzpatrick for playing time.

Obviously Rosen’s circumstances have been far from ideal, and he’s had to deal with things that are extremely rare for such a highly drafted quarterback. Now he’ll be not just learning from Brady, but reuniting with Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich as well. Leftwich was quarterbacks coach and interim offensive coordinator during Rosen’s season in Arizona, when he started 13 games.

This seems like an ideal situation for Rosen to land, and a chance to jumpstart his career. For the Bucs it’s a nice low-risk signing, as they don’t currently have anyone waiting in the wings for whenever the 43-year-old Brady decides to hang up his cleats. Through 16 career NFL starts Rosen has averaged 5.7 yards per attempt with 12 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.

Here is the Buccaneers full practice squad: