HEADLINES

Brady Russell

NFC West Notes: Rams, Kittle, Hawks, Cards

May 14th, 2025 at 10:45am CST by Sam Robinson

Tyler Higbee has been the Rams‘ top tight end for many years, dating back to the team’s separation from Gerald Everett in 2021. Higbee, however, is now in Year 10 and coming off a three-game season. The Rams have attempted to install an heir apparent on multiple occasions, most notably failing in an attempt to trade up for Brock Bowers last year. Los Angeles then was tied to an effort to move up for Colston Loveland last month, and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler indicates the team did discuss trades with teams holding top-10 picks.

Once Loveland went to the Bears at 10, the Rams regrouped and traded down, picking up a 2026 first-rounder (from the Falcons) to do so. Upon leaving Round 1, however, the Rams eyed the next wave of tight ends in this draft. Both Mason Taylor (LSU) and Terrance Ferguson (Oregon) were on the team’s radar, per Fowler, who notes Ferguson was rated higher despite Taylor going to the Jets four spots earlier. The Rams have Ferguson (591 receiving yards in 2024) readying to become the Higbee heir apparent.

Here is the latest from the NFC West:

  • Ferguson is unlikely to unseat George Kittle as the NFC West’s top tight end anytime soon, as the 49ers extended their All-Pro dynamo recently. San Francisco’s four-year, $76.4MM deal includes $35MM guaranteed at signing. Beyond fully guaranteed money in 2025 and ’26, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio notes $2MM of Kittle’s 2027 pay ($17.15MM) is locked in at signing. The 49ers have also dived into the option bonus game, which will help keep Kittle’s cap hits under $19MM until 2029. Kittle can unlock $5MM more in 2027 guarantees by being a 2026 Pro Bowler or landing on the All-Pro first or second team that year; reaching a number of statistical benchmarks that year also could allow Kittle to cash in on that $5MM 2027 bump, Florio adds.
  • Sam Darnold‘s three-year, $100.5MM Seahawks contract became classified as a pay-as-you-go pact, and ESPN’s Brady Henderson provided an important detail here. Seattle gave Darnold a $15MM roster bonus, but it is not due until February 13 — five days after Super Bowl LX. The Seahawks can cut bait during that window, reminding of the Raiders’ 2023 Derek Carr divorce, if the Darnold partnership does not pan out. Seattle would still pick up a $25.6MM dead money hit (due to signing bonus proration) by cutting Darnold after one season.
  • DC Aden Durde pushed for Rylie Mills in Round 5 (via the pick obtained in the Sam Howell trade), but the Seahawks will wait a bit to see the Day 3 D-lineman in action. A torn ACL sustained in December is expected to keep the Notre Dame product out until at least midseason, John Schneider said (via Henderson). A late-season return is also in play for a player who will be more of a long-term option in Seattle.
  • Not rostering a fullback in many years, the Seahawks had planned to add one to work in Klint Kubiak‘s offense. They did so in the draft, as Schneider confirmed (via Henderson) Alabama tight end Robbie Ouzts — a fifth-round pick — will begin his career at fullback. The 274-pound SEC product will compete with Brady Russell, who has played 26 Seahawks games (zero starts) since arriving in September 2023.
  • A former South Carolina defensive back, Landon Grier made an early foray into the NFL scouting ranks. The Cardinals hired him straight out of college to be a scouting assistant. The son of Dolphins GM Chris Grier, Landon is not expected back with the Cards in 2025, with InsidetheLeague.com’s Neil Stratton noting the younger Grier is on track to return to the college ranks for a personnel role.
  • The 49ers are also parting ways with a scouting staffer, with Stratton adding Michael Zyskowski is moving on after three years with the franchise. Late spring regularly serves as a point teams reshuffle scouting staffs, as contracts usually run through the draft in an effort to ensure continuity ahead of the event.

NFL Minor Transactions: 4/9/25

April 9th, 2025 at 7:52pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Cincinnati Bengals

Seattle Seahawks

Joe Giles-Harris brings 22 games of experience to Cincinnati, including a 2020 campaign where he collected 20 tackles and one sack in nine games (three starts) with the Jaguars. He split the 2024 campaign between Jacksonville and New England, with 90 of his 107 total snaps coming on special teams.

Brady Russell seemed destined to return to Seattle, partly because of his ERFA tender and partly because of his role. The former UDFA has appeared in 26 games for the Seahawks over the past two years, with the Colorado product collecting 17 tackles in 542 ST snaps. He’s had only brief looks on offense, where he’s garnered a single target.

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/7/25

March 7th, 2025 at 9:47pm CST by Ely Allen

More teams made tender/non-tender decisions on restricted and exclusive rights free agents today. Here are the latest updates:

RFAs

Tendered:

Non-tendered:

Carolina has tendered Mays with an original-round tender worth $3.26MM. A former sixth-round draft pick, the third-year center will be able field offers from the rest of the league. If an offer comes in, the Panthers would have the chance to match it or let the team sign Mays in exchange for a sixth-round pick. Mays started eight games in 11 appearances last year.

Houston flashed early, particularly when he tallied eight sacks in seven games (only two starts) for the Lions as a rookie. Since then, injuries and inconsistency have kept him from sticking in Detroit or Cleveland.

ERFAs

Tendered:

Non-tendered:

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/2/25

January 2nd, 2025 at 7:25pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Detroit Lions

New England Patriots

  • Waived: DT Haggai Ndubuisi

Seattle Seahawks

The Patriots signed Haggai Ndubuisi off the Commanders practice squad just yesterday, but the team is already waiving the defensive tackle. As ESPN’s Mike Reiss notes, Ndubuisi is being waived with a non-football illness designation, an indication that something popped up during the player’s physical.

Brady Russell landed on IR today after the tight end dealt with a foot injury for much of the season. The special teamer got into 11 games with the Seahawks in 2024. In his place, the team signed John Rhys Plumlee from the practice squad. The rookie was listed by the Seahawks as a WR, but the former UCF QB served as an occasional signal-caller on Seattle’s scout team.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/8/24

April 8th, 2024 at 7:41pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Seattle Seahawks

The long list of Seahawks signings are mostly formalities. Each of the players were previously tied to the organization either via restricted free agency or exclusive right free agency.

Among the players who officially re-signed, Jackson had the most significant role in 2023, starting four of his 17 appearances. The former fifth-round pick started all 17 games for the Seahawks in 2022, finishing with 75 tackles and one interception.

Seahawks DL Mike Morris Out For Season; CB Riq Woolen Likely To Miss Time

September 20th, 2023 at 2:57pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Seahawks will be without one of their rookies the rest of the way. They placed Mike Morris on IR today, and while that is no longer an automatic season-ending transaction, it will be in the rookie defensive lineman’s case.

Morris will need season-ending shoulder surgery, Pete Carroll said (via ESPN’s Brady Henderson). A fifth-round pick out of Michigan, Morris played 26 defensive snaps in Seattle’s Week 1 game. He was inactive in Week 2. Brought in as part of a D-line overhaul, Morris made three tackles against the Rams. Last season at Michigan, the 6-foot-6 pass rusher totaled 7.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss.

Of the six defensive linemen who began the day on the Seahawks’ active roster, only one — backup Myles Adams — was with the team last season. Seattle brought in Dre’Mont Jones and Mario Edwards and reunited with Jarran Reed this offseason. A round before selecting Morris, the Seahawks chose Mississippi State’s Cameron Young. Bryan Mone remains with the Seahawks, but the veteran D-lineman is on the team’s reserve/PUP list.

Seattle won last week despite playing without both its starting tackles, but the team also squeaked past Detroit with top cornerback Riq Woolen leaving the game due to a chest injury. The issue will likely sideline Woolen for Week 3, Carroll added, though the 14th-year coach indicated the second-year starter’s issue is likely not serious enough for an IR move to enter the equation. The Seahawks, who also began the season without No. 5 overall pick Devon Witherspoon, promoted veteran cornerback Artie Burns from their practice squad Tuesday.

Additionally, the Seahawks waived linebacker Tyreke Smith on Wednesday. A 2022 fifth-rounder out of Ohio State, Smith has played in one regular-season game. He missed last season due to injury. The team also plans to sign tight end Brady Russell off the Eagles’ practice squad, The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar tweets. Russell is a rookie UDFA out of Colorado. Will Dissly is battling a shoulder injury, leading to the expected P-squad poaching. Because the Seahawks plan to sign Russell from the Eagles’ practice squad, he must remain on their active roster for three weeks.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/7/23

September 7th, 2023 at 8:20pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s practice squad moves:

Chicago Bears

Philadelphia Eagles

Matt Farniok brings some experience to Chicago’s practice squad. The offensive lineman saw time in 19 games for the Cowboys over the past two seasons, including a pair of starts. The former seventh-round pick also has some special teams experience.

Kyron Johnson got into 16 games for the Eagles in 2022, with the majority of his snaps coming on special teams. He finished the season with eight tackles.

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC East

August 30th, 2023 at 2:28pm 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 Commanders, Cowboys, Eagles and Giants moves are noted below.

Dallas Cowboys

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

New York Giants

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Philadelphia Eagles

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Washington Commanders

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Eagles Set 53-Man Roster

August 29th, 2023 at 7:41pm CST by Ben Levine

The Eagles released linebacker Nicholas Morrow and waived running back Trey Sermon today, and they’ve now cut a number of young players to get down to the 53-man roster limit:

Waived:

Released from IR:

Devon Allen is two-time Olympian hurdler, and after having played college football for Oregon between 2013 and 2016, he caught on with the Eagles last offseason. He spent most of the 2022 campaign on Philly’s practice squad, and there’s a chance he’s destined for the same gig again in 2023.

Britain Covey is another subtraction from the WRs room, although the 26-year-old played only 19 snaps on offense for the Eagles in 2022. He had a much larger role on special teams, where he returned 10 kicks for 206 yards and 33 punts for 308 yards.

Eagles Add Nine UDFAs

May 6th, 2023 at 8:39am CST by Ben Levine

Before kicking off rookie minicamp yesterday, the Eagles announced the signing of nine undrafted first-year players:

After not adding any skill players during the draft, the Eagles signed a pair of wide receivers in Jadon Haselwood and Joseph Ngata. After transferring to Arkansas, Haselwood led the team with 59 receptions during the 2022 campaign. Ngata got into 45 games during his four seasons at Clemson, hauling in 1,287 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

Tight end Brady Russell has a personal connection to the Eagles, as his uncle, Matt Russell, is the team’s senior personnel director/advisor to the general manager. A team captain at Colorado, the UDFA finished his collegiate career having caught 67 passes and six touchdowns.

Chim Okorafor and Ty Zentner both took unusual paths to get on an NFL roster. He played two seasons of collegiate basketball before bouncing around football programs at Riverside City Community College, Missouri Southern, Pitt State, and finally Benedictine. Zentner only started playing football during his senior year of high school, and after starting his college career at Butler Community College, he caught on with Kansas State University. He served as both a punter and kicker during his time at the school.