Bo Richter

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/28/24

Minor transactions and practice squad callups for the Week 4 weekend:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

  • Elevated: G Kyle Hergel

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/21/24

Today’s minor NFL transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Players like Hollman, Vigil, Webb, and Quarterman will now be getting called up for the third time this season. The NFL rules limit a practice squad player to three standard gameday elevations per contract. If their teams want to get them into more games in the future, the normal route is for them to be signed to the active roster after this weekend then released/waived and signed to new practice squad deals, starting their three-game count over.

Shy Tuttle‘s foot injury will keep him off the field for Week 3, as the Panthers announced that the defensive tackle has been downgraded from doubtful to out. The Panthers called up Williams to temporarily take the open roster spot. The defensive end started 10 of his 16 appearances for the Panthers last season, and he landed back on Carolina’s practice squad last month after spending the preseason with the Bills.

The Browns announced a handful of moves ahead of their game with the Giants tomorrow. Notably, the team didn’t promote any offensive tackles, which provided some optimism surrounding the availability of their injured tackles. While Jedrick Wills Jr. is expected to play (per Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal), Jack Conklin will not (per Tony Grossi of 850 ESPN Cleveland). Conklin hasn’t played since Week 1 of the 2023 season while recovering from a torn ACL and MCL. He practiced this week and was initially listed as questionable for tomorrow’s game, but it sounds like a new hamstring injury is the culprit for his Week 3 absence.

With both Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce set to miss Sunday’s trip to Minnesota, the Texans are bringing up Taylor off the practice squad. Taylor will back up Cam Akers and Dare Ogunbowale against the Vikings this weekend.

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC North

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

Signed:

Claimed:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Detroit Lions

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Green Bay Packers

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Minnesota Vikings

Signed:

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Vikings Cut Robert Tonyan, Kene Nwangwu To Move Down To 53

The Vikings will begin the season without T.J. Hockenson. In addition to the standout tight end, Minnesota will be without some other notable names. Here is how the Vikings trimmed their roster to 53:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

  • WR Malik Knowles

Placed on season-ending IR:

Placed on IR/return designation:

The Vikings were taking calls on both Nwangwu and Roy, according to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero. Minnesota gave Roy’s agent a change to find a trade partner. Neither effort came to fruition, and the duo ventured to waivers. Nwangwu is an interesting cut, as he is the rare kick returner who thrived under the old kickoff setup in its final years. The former fourth-round pick totaled three kick-return TDs from 2021-22. The Vikings could not find room for him, with the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling noting his issues catching on as a pure running back mattered. He has only totaled 27 carries over the past two seasons. A 2023 fifth-rounder, Roy played 96 defensive snaps last season.
Despite Hockenson heading to the reserve/PUP list, the Vikings moved Tonyan off their roster. The rare player to complete a full division sweep, the NFC North veteran signed with the Vikings this offseason. Minnesota only gave the ex-Green Bay, Chicago and Detroit tight end $150K guaranteed. The team still has Johnny Mundt and blocking specialist Josh Oliver at the position. Best known for his 11-touchdown 2020 season, Tonyan also caught 53 passes in 2022. He was not used often in Chicago, however, and Minnesota does not look to have the veteran in its plans.
Wright arrived recently in a trade from the Cowboys. Minnesota sent Dallas former second-round pick Andrew Booth in exchange for Wright, who had one season left on his rookie contract. This has been a rough month for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah‘s first draft; the team waived the player it landed for Booth and cut 2022 first-rounder Lewis Cine as well.
Risner and Murphy can return after four games. The Vikings will move their injury-activation count from eight to six, however, as both players already count toward Minnesota’s regular-season limit. Risner started 11 games with the Vikes last season and re-signed this offseason.

Vikings Sign 17 UDFAs

With the draft in the rearview mirror, teams are bringing in undrafted free agents. The Vikings added 17 players to their offseason roster via the UDFA route; here is Minnesota’s class:

Not exactly a hotbed for NFL talent, Mercer will send two wide receivers to the same team. These two pass catchers are the second and third Mercer products to land an NFL opportunity in the past decade. James is the Division I-FCS program’s all-time receiving leader; he earned first-team All-American honors in 2023. The former Georgia recruit surpassed 1,100 receiving yards in each of the past two seasons, adding 20 receiving TDs. Operating as an all-purpose player, Harper combined for four return scores for the Bears. Harper set a school record with 78 grabs alongside James last season.

ESPN’s Scouts Inc. ranked Knox as this draft class’ No. 205 overall prospect; he is heading to Minneapolis after five college seasons (the recent norm for UDFAs due to the COVID-19 waiver). After four seasons at Arkansas, Knox transferred to South Carolina. He caught 37 passes for 312 yards and two TDs last season. Murphy was part of UCLA’s Laiatu Latu-led edge-rushing contingent. After a 7.5-sack 2021 season, he registered eight — along with 16 tackles for loss — last year. Murphy will attempt to make a Vikings team that is revamping on the edge, bringing in Jonathan Greenard and first-rounder Dallas Turner after losing Danielle Hunter, D.J. Wonnum and Marcus Davenport.

Gant is a former four-star recruit who transferred from Ohio State, earning first-team All-MAC honors after heading north to Toledo. Rolland — a Harvard transfer — started as one of Drake Maye‘s pass protectors for the past two seasons, while Cindric started 17 games at center and 17 more at guard at Cal.