Cam Jones

Jets Activate LB Quincy Williams From IR

Just three days after opening his 21-day practice window, the Jets have opted to activate linebacker Quincy Williams off of injured reserve. To make room on the 53-man roster, two players were placed on IR. Wide receiver Josh Reynolds and linebacker Cam Jones will miss at least the next four games after both suffered recent hip injuries.

Williams should easily fit back into the starting lineup on defense next to Jamien Sherwood. Just a year and a half removed from a first-team All-Pro season, Williams should immediately bring improvement to the Jets’ defensive front seven. Rookie fifth-round pick Kiko Mauigoa has been starting in Williams’ place and will likely revert to the third linebacker role, in which he’ll work on the first-team defense for formations that don’t require extra defensive backs.

Another interesting aspect of this transaction concerns the narrative of the trade deadline arriving in 10 days. Despite spending the last four weeks on IR, Williams has reportedly been monitored by teams looking for linebacker help on the trade market. Despite his recent All-Pro acclaim, Williams saw Sherwood, a former special teamer who developed into a starting role, earn a shiny, new deal as Williams made his way into a contract year. Though the shoulder injury may have dinged his value a bit, if a team comes in with the right price, the winless Jets are certainly in position to sell.

Reynolds has been running as WR2 in the Jets bottom-ranked pass attack this year. In five games, he’s caught 11 passes for 101 yards as the fourth most-targeted pass catcher on the offense, behind rookie tight end Mason Taylor and running back Breece Hall. With Reynolds out, fourth-round rookie Arian Smith and veterans Allen Lazard and Tyler Johnson will need to step up behind WR1 Garrett Wilson.

With Jones joining Reynolds on IR, the Jets had an open spot on the 53-man roster. The team opted to fill that spot by signing practice squad receiver Brandon Smith to the active roster. Smith will add depth to the receiving corps during Reynolds’ extended absence. Additionally, New York announced that it would call up defensive tackle Payton Page as a standard gameday practice squad elevation.

The Jets’ other practice squad elevation will be utilized on undrafted rookie quarterback Brady Cook. The Mizzou product is being called up for the second time this year to serve as the team’s backup quarterback on Sunday. Though it was initially thought that veteran Tyrod Taylor would be replacing Justin Fields as QB1, a knee injury will hold Taylor out, forcing Fields back into the first-team lineup and necessitating the elevation of Cook to back him up.

Failed Waiver Claims Following Roster Cut Deadline

Following every team’s efforts to get down from a 90-man training camp roster to a 53-man active roster for the regular season, waiver wire claims were processed on non-vested players that were cut. There were a few players who drew more interest than others. We’ve already seen the breakdown of claims for former Ravens cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis and former Cardinals cornerback Jaylon Jones, so here’s a look at a couple more.

The Ravens also waived Beau Brade, an undrafted safety out of nearby Maryland who made the team as a rookie last year. Mostly a special teamer throughout his year in Baltimore, Brade fell victim to an influx of unexpected talent from the team’s new undrafted class as rookie free agents as Keyon Martin and Reuben Lowery earned spots over Armour-Davis and himself. Per ESPN’s Field Yates, the Jaguars were interested in bringing Brade to Duval, but the Giants had the higher waiver priority.

Armour-Davis wasn’t the only player the Titans were awarded off waivers. Tennessee also ended up claiming cornerback Samuel Womack fresh off his dismissal from Indianapolis. A fifth-round pick out of Toledo in 2022, Womack started eight games for the Colts last year after getting waived by the 49ers in 2024’s final roster cuts. Tennessee was awarded the 26-year-old this year, although the Browns also put in a claim, according to Garafolo.

Garafolo pointed out one more such instance with former Jaguars defensive tackle Jordan Jefferson. A fourth-round pick out of LSU last year, Jefferson was waived by Jacksonville after being inactive for nine games his rookie year. The Bengals, who desperately need improvement on the defensive line this season, put in a claim for Jefferson to come to Cincinnati, but the 49ers held a higher waiver priority and claimed him for themselves.

Yates also brought up another, noting that linebacker Cam Jones had a claim from the Colts before being awarded to the Jets, while ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that former Eagles offensive guard Trevor Keegan was awarded to the Cowboys due to their waiver priority over the Chargers.

Similarly, when the Giants waived fan favorite backup quarterback Tommy DeVito, they hoped that they would be able to bring him back to their practice squad, per Geoff Magliocchetti of Sports Illustrated. Instead, the Patriots claimed him off waivers, and now Paul Schwartz of The New York Post reports that the Giants will not sign a quarterback to practice squad, as a result. It’s just as well, considering the team is carrying three passers on the active roster.

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:

Chiefs Cut 34 Players, Settle On 53-Man Roster

The defending AFC champs have set their 53-man roster. The Chiefs announced the following moves:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on reserve/NFI:

Placed on injured reserve:

Placed on injured reserve (designated for return):

On the defensive side of the ball, Cam Jones was a somewhat surprising cut after getting into all 34 games for the Chiefs over the past two years. A former UDFA, Jones has seen the majority of his playing time on special teams, but he still got into 161 defensive snaps for Kansas City between 2023 and 2024. Over the span, the linebacker has collected 36 tackles. The team also moved on from veteran defensive tackle Mike Pennel, who started seven of his 17 appearances for Kansas City in 2024.

On the other side of the ball, the team dropped 2024 preseason standout Carson Steele. The UCLA product had a brief chance to show his stuff immediately following Isiah Pacheco‘s injury, but a persistent fumbling issue had him tumbling down the depth chart. Steele ultimately finished his rookie season with 209 yards from scrimmge on 63 touches.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/17/24

Today’s minor moves:

Kansas City Chiefs

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Jones’ rookie season has come to an end, given the requirement for players on injured reserve to miss four weeks. The UDFA was used primarily on special teams this year, but he appeared in all 17 regular season games as well as the Chiefs’ wild-card win. Christiansen last played in Week 17, which marked his fifth appearance of the campaign. Kansas City will need to make another roster move soon to create room for wideout Skyy Moore to come back into the lineup, after he was designated for return earlier today.

Chiefs Sign 15 UDFAs

As the Chiefs prepare for the start of their rookie minicamp this weekend, the team announced the signing of 15 undrafted rookies:

The Chiefs also added Nigerian offensive lineman Chukwuebuka Godrick via the NFL International Player Pathway (IPP) program.

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter), edge rusher Truman Jones got $236K in guaranteed money from the Chiefs. The Harvard product led the Ivy League with 13 tackles for loss last season, although his best bet for making the Chiefs active roster may be on special teams. Jones had a standout 2022 season on ST, finishing with three blocked kicks.

Elsewhere on defense, Indiana’s Cam Jones got a $15K signing bonus and an $135K base salary guarantee from Kansas City, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter). The linebacker finished his college career with 208 tackles and seven sacks, and he was projected to be a late-round pick after leading the Big Ten in tackles per game (10.8) through the first five contests. However, a foot injury ended his season prematurely, and Jones ended up going undrafted as a result.

On the offensive side of the ball, running back Deneric Prince got $231K in guaranteed money, including a $15K signing bonus, per Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com (on Twitter). The Tulane standout averaged more than five yards per carry during his college career, including a 2022 campaign where he compiled a career-high 729 rushing yards. Prince turned heads at the combine when he was fourth at the position in the 40-yard dash and fifth in broad jump.