Brady Cook

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/20/25

Here are today’s minor moves and Week 3’s standard gameday practice squad elevations:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

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

  • Elevated: T Tyler McLellan

Washington Commanders

There were some eyes on whether or not the Browns would add a kicker for the weekend after Andre Szmyt needed to undergo some MRI testing, but no such moves were made and Szmyt heads into the weekend without an injury designation. The team did report a workout with veteran kicker Matthew Wright, though, per Howard Balzer of CardsWire.

The 49ers will lose some additional offensive line depth as they place their intended swing tackle, Burford, on injured reserve. Additionally, with Martinez not getting signed to the active roster, it appears that injured starter Brock Purdy will not be active as an emergency option, as was rumored a bit yesterday. Purdy should be inactive as a result.

Herbig announced his retirement at the end of July after spending a good portion of the offseason with the Commanders. The 27-year-old was coming off a 2024 season in which he missed the entirety of the year with a shoulder injury. Washington’s release of Herbig from the reserve/retired list gives him an opportunity to sign with a new team as a free agent. There’s no guarantee that he’s headed anywhere specific, but he likely initiated the transaction in order to explore his options.

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC East

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 BillsDolphinsJets and Patriots moves are noted below.

Buffalo Bills

Signed to practice squad:

Released from IR via injury settlement:

Miami Dolphins

Waived:

  • S Jordan Colbert

Signed to practice squad:

New England Patriots

Claimed:

Waived: 

Signed to practice squad:

New York Jets

Claimed:

Released:

Signed to practice squad:

Jets Pare Roster To 53

The Jets waived Malachi Corley after one season. Beyond that move, here is how Aaron Glenn‘s first roster moved to 53:

Waived:

Waived/injury settlement:

Placed on IR:

Placed on IR (return designation):

Placed on reserve/PUP list:

The Jets will use one of their IR-return slots on a rookie UDFA. This expresses confidence Weston, who played at Florida for six seasons, will be a contributor. While Weston will drop the Jets’ injury activations number to seven, Cowart heads to season-ending IR. Gang Green has changed up significantly at defensive tackle over the past week, acquiring Jowon Briggs and Harrison Phillips before trading Derrick Nnadi back to the Chiefs and now placing Cowart on IR.

Cook’s release leaves only two quarterbacks on New York’s active roster. While the Missouri product could be kept on a practice squad deal, Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor are the active-roster passers. The Jets do intend to circle back to Jordan Clark — son of ex-Steelers safety-turned-ESPNer Ryan Clark — on a P-squad deal, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. Ditto Skinner, per veteran reporter Jordan Schultz.

Jets Release LB Jamin Davis, Waive Six Others

The Jets are also cracking the seal on roster cuts today. New York released one veteran and waived six other players:

Released:

Waived:

Davis, the 2021 first-round pick for the Commanders out of Kentucky, looked for a second like he may live up to his draft stock with a 104-tackle sophomore campaign as a full-time starter in Washington. After the team declined his fifth-year option last year, though, they attempted to move him to defensive end and eventually cut him. He bounced around a bit in the NFC North, playing four games for the Vikings, before landing with the Jets on New Year’s Eve. After an offseason with New York, it looks like Davis will be back out on the free agent market.

With Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor in place as QB1 & QB2, respectively, Martinez found himself in a battle with undrafted rookie Brady Cook for the QB3 job. Martinez getting cut isn’t much of a surprise, as it was rumored to happen all the way back in May. Oddly enough, the person who made that prediction also believed Cook would fail to make the initial 53-man roster, asserting that the Jets would carry only two quarterbacks on the active roster and that Martinez and Cook were battling for a practice squad slot.

Martinez also spent 2024 as the team’s practice squad quarterback, so the Jets have plenty of experience with him in that role. Waiving him could indicate that Cook has won the QB3 role and will remain on the active roster, but Cook could still be cut, at which point a decision would still need to be made on which young passer would be retained on the practice squad.

AFC East Notes: Jets, QBs, McDonald, Pats

With Aaron Rodgers out of New York, the new quarterback on the block is Justin Fields. Fields will be backed up by veteran Tyrod Taylor, who hasn’t held a full-time starting role since his time in Buffalo in 2017. Past that, though, the Jets have two inexperienced options to compete for that QB3 role.

Adrian Martinez and undrafted rookie Brady Cook will be the two competing for that job. Martinez spent time at Nebraska and Kansas State before going undrafted in 2023. He spent an offseason as a rookie with the Lions but failed to stick around for the regular season. He did play in the United Football League in 2024 for the Birmingham Stallions, leading the team to a championship victory while earning the league’s MVP award and leading the league in rushing yards.

Cook was a three-year starter at Missouri, compiling a 20-5 record in his last two seasons with the Tigers. He’s efficient at limiting turnovers and displayed some decent mobility as a rusher in college.

What’s interesting is that, according to Brian Costello of the New York Post, neither player is likely to make the 53-man roster to start the season. Costello predicts that the team will only hold two quarterbacks (Fields and Taylor) on the roster, and the winner of the Martinez-Cook battle will likely be assigned to the practice squad.

Here are a couple of other rumors coming out of the AFC East:

  • Staying in the realm of quarterbacks, after trading away Joe Milton to Dallas, the Patriots were in need of a QB3 of their own to work behind Drake Maye and Joshua Dobbs. Enter undrafted rookie Ben Wooldridge. Wooldridge will be an older rookie at 25 years old after spending three years at Fresno State and four at Louisiana. One reason for the extra years was injury; he suffered a Lisfranc injury one season and dealt with a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder last year. According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, the toughness and determination that kept him going through those injuries to earn the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year is exactly what landed him an NFL opportunity and could keep him in the league for years to come.
  • The Jets liked what they saw out of defensive end Will McDonald in his sophomore campaign as he notched 10.5 sacks. They will hope to see him improve another part of his game in 2025 after he reportedly gained 15 pounds in order to help him set the edge, according to Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post. Jermaine Johnson is coming off an Achilles tendon tear and was seen at Organized Team Activities this week working with trainers off to the side, according to the staff at NFL.com. With a training camp return for Johnson still up in the air, New York may need to lean on McDonald early in the upcoming season.

Jets Sign 15 UDFA Rookies

The Jets announced the completion of their 22-man rookie class this weekend. Joining the seven drafted players will be the following 15 undrafted free agent signings:

The Jets spent a ton on undrafted free agent guarantees in order to get the guys they wanted this year, according to multiple reports from Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. The largest of these deals went to Wiegand, who Wilson reports got $249K in guarantees comprised of $234K in base salary and a $15K signing bonus. Weston was next with $200K in guarantees. Skinner received $185K in guaranteed money, Edwards received $170K, (Dean) Clark received $160K ($140K in base salary, $20K in signing bonus), and Mulbah received $100K.

After spending a year at UCF in 2021, Wiegand went to Germany and played in the European League of Football. Most recently, he played for the Munich Ravens, whose offensive line coach just happens to be Browns Hall of Fame legend Joe Thomas. Wiegand caught the eyes of several scouts when he churned out 38 bench press reps of 225 pounds at his pro day, five more than the combine’s best participant. Coming from overseas, Wiegand was granted a roster exemption as a member of the International Player Pathway program.

Despite all the money getting thrown around for priority free agents, Edwards was really the only one projected to be selected late in Day 3. He didn’t take over as a starter for the Wolverines until his senior season and never broke 1,000 rushing yards. His best season came in 2022, when he was the “two” in the one-two punch with Blake Corum. He totaled 991 rushing yards and seven touchdowns that year while averaging an incredible 7.1 yards per carry. His abilities as a receiver could help him continue his role as a change-of-pace back in the NFL.

Miller arrived in Piscataway as an FCS star, having just earned first-team All-American and first-team All-CAA honors as a team captain for Monmouth with 90 catches for 1,293 yards and nine touchdowns. His final collegiate season was plagued by drops (10), but his 59 catches for 757 yards still led the Scarlet Knights in both categories.