Cam Thomas (CB)

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/18/16

We’ve rounded up today’s RFA and ERFA tender signings in another post, so we’ll focus on the rest of the minor NFL transactions here…

  • The Rams have agreed to terms with running back Chase Reynolds on a one-year deal, reports Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). Reynolds has never received a carry, but as Thomas notes, he’s a core special-teamer, having played on more than 46% of the Rams’ ST snaps.
  • Another special teams ace, linebacker Lerentee McCray, has signed with the Packers, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. The 25-year-old McCray had appeared in 24 games over the past two seasons with the Broncos.
  • Washington announced that it has signed offensive lineman Cody Booth, a former undrafted free agent who has spent time with both the Jaguars and Bears. Booth has yet to appear in a regular season NFL game.
  • The Bills announced (via Twitter) that they’ve released defensive back Cam Thomas (not to be confused with the defensive tackle of the same name). This Cam Thomas — a Western Kentucky product — has never appeared in an NFL contest.
  • The Texans released quarterback B.J. Daniels, according to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Daniels, a quarterback at South Florida, made the switch to receiver with the Seahawks before moving back to QB with Houston.

PUP, NFI Players Soon Eligible To Practice

Week 6 of the NFL season will come to an end after Monday night’s game between the Giants and Eagles, and when teams begin preparing for Week 7, many clubs could be welcoming injured players back to practice. Six weeks into the NFL season, players who were placed on the physically unable to perform list or the non-football injury list prior to Week 1’s games will be eligible to return to the practice field.

Of course, just because those players are able to return to practice doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be healthy enough to do so. Players on the PUP list have a five-week window to begin practicing. Once they return to practice, they have three weeks to be added to their respective teams’ active rosters. In other words, a player currently on the PUP list could return to the field for his team’s Week 7 game, or could return as late as for his team’s Week 15 contest.

The rules for NFI players are similar to those for PUP players. If a player on either reserve list doesn’t return to practice or game action in time, his 2015 season will officially be over.

Here are the players currently on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list who can begin practicing as soon as this Tuesday:

And here are the players currently on their teams’ non-football injury or illness lists, who are also eligible to begin practicing this Tuesday:

  • Arizona Cardinals: WR Damond Powell
  • Buffalo Bills: CB Leodis McKelvin
  • Cincinnati Bengals: T Cedric Ogbuehi
  • Cleveland Browns: DB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, TE Randall Telfer, RB Glenn Winston
  • Dallas Cowboys: LB Mark Nzeocha
  • Houston Texans: T David Quessenberry
  • Kansas City Chiefs: QB Tyler Bray
  • San Francisco 49ers: WR DeAndre Smelter
  • Seattle Seahawks: DT Jesse Williams

In addition to monitoring players on the PUP and NFI lists, it’s worth keeping an eye on players who have been placed on the injured reserve list with the designation to return. Teams can use this IR-DTR spot on one player per season, placing him on the injured reserve list without necessarily ruling him out for the season. As we explained in an earlier post, players given this designation can begin practicing after six weeks and can return after eight weeks.

That means that a player who was placed on IR-DTR prior to Week 1 can begin practicing on Tuesday, though he won’t be eligible to return to game action until Week 9. A player who was placed on IR-DTR after Week 1 will have to wait until next Tuesday – October 27 – to return to practice, while other IR-DTR players will have to wait until November to practice.

Here’s the list of players currently on IR-DTR who can begin practicing as soon as Tuesday:

Bills Sign 12 Undrafted Free Agents

FRIDAY, 12:49pm: The Bills’ deal with Barton fell through, leaving the club with one empty roster spot, according to Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

MONDAY, 3:17pm: The Bills have officially announced their UDFA signings, confirming the 11 players listed below and adding defensive end Erik Williams (Bethune-Cookman) and offensive tackle Jermaine Barton (Illinois State)

SUNDAY, 11:38am: Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News provides a list of the 11 undrafted free agents who have agreed to sign with the Bills (all Twitter links). There are no quarterbacks in the group:

  • Clay Burton, TE, Florida
  • Tyson Chandler, OT, N.C. State ($7,500 signing bonus, per Aaron Wilson)
  • Andre Davis, WR, Southern Florida
  • Justin Hamilton, DL, Louisiana Lafayette
  • Andrew Hudson, DE, Washington
  • B.J. Larsen, LB, Utah State
  • Merrill Noel, DB, Wake Forest
  • Cedric Reed, DE, Texas
  • Spencer Roth, P, Baylor
  • A.J. Tarpley, LB, Stanford
  • Cam Thomas, CB, Western Kentucky