Chris Streveler

49ers Work Out CB Jason Verrett

After 32-year-old cornerback Jason Verrett parted ways with DeMeco Ryans, who served as his defensive coordinator in San Francisco and his head coach in Houston, Verrett looked to return to his home of the past four years. The 49ers hosted Verrett for a workout this week, and according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN, the team is hoping to add the veteran to their practice squad.

Verrett, a former first-round pick for the Chargers back in 2014, has had a career defined by injury. Currently in his tenth season of NFL play, Verrett has never appeared in every game of a season. In fact, he’s only appeared in at least half of a team’s games in any given year twice. Not counting the time he’s spent on the Texans’ practice squad this season, Verrett has only made an appearance in 40 of a possible 146 career games.

In his rookie year, it was a shoulder injury as he would require surgery for three labrum tears and a tear to his rotator cuff, missing 10 contests due to the injuries. In a Pro Bowl sophomore campaign, Verrett missed one game with a foot injury before sitting out of the team’s season finale. In 2016, Verrett started the first four games of the season but is believed to have played through a partially torn ACL for the latter half of that time before being placed on season-ending injured reserve. After a Week 1 start in 2017, continued knee soreness forced Verrett towards another surgery that would hold him out for the remainder of that season. His 2018 season was over before it began after Verrett suffered a torn Achilles tendon on the first day of training camp.

In 2019, San Francisco took a flier on Verrett. Unfortunately, they would only get 14 snaps out of the defensive back before he was placed on season-ending IR with an ankle injury. 2020 finally saw a return to play for Verrett. He started 13 games for the 49ers, broke up seven passes, and intercepted two. His lucky streak would end there, unfortunately, as Verrett would tear his ACL once again in a Week 1 start of the 2021 season. He spent the first two months of the 2022 season on the physically unable to perform list as he continued to recover, but about two weeks after his activation, Verrett would once again tear his Achilles tendon, ending his season early for an appalling seventh time and marking the second season in his career in which he would fail to make a regular season appearance due to injury.

According to David Bonilla of 49ers Web Zone, head coach Kyle Shanahan admitted to keeping track of the updates to Verrett’s recovery from the Achilles injury during his time in Houston. “I heard they were good in Houston,” Shanahan said about the reports on his former player’s injury. “And they’ve been, when we worked him out, everyone said it was good…so it’s amazing that he’s even back and able to do that stuff. So, if we got a chance, we’d love to get him in here.”

It sounds like the team is optimistic about where Verrett’s health is at during this stretch of his career, but there may be a bit of homework left to do. Shanahan told reporters that while they “don’t have him signed yet,” they’ll “work through that over this weekend and see how it ends up for next week.”

Regardless of his injury history, Verrett’s perseverance made him a locker room favorite among 49ers players. His impression on the team over the years was so strong that there were reportedly seven or so of his former teammates watching and supporting him during his tryout. If he gets to rejoin them in the locker room, it sounds like we’ll find out about it sometime after the weekend.

Joining Verrett in a team tryout today was free agent quarterback Chris Streveler, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Streveler, who started a game for the Jets last season, also has in-game experience with the Cardinals. New York waived the 28-year-old during the preseason this year.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/16/23

Here are today’s minor transactions from around the NFL:

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

  • Waived from IR with injury settlement: WR Trey Quinn

Green Bay Packers

  • Waived from IR with injury settlement: WR Jeff Cotton

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Reverted to IR: CB Anthony Witherstone

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Signed: CB Matt Hankins
  • Waived/injured: CB Kemon Hall

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Fry goes unclaimed on the waiver wire after being waived with an injury designation yesterday by the Broncos. This could mean that Brett Maher won’t be able to run away with the job to replace longtime kicker Brandon McManus this year. With Fry remaining on the roster, Maher will need to stay sharp in order to stay the only active kicker on the team’s depth chart.

Guidry is expected to undergo surgery after injuring his knee in a joint practice with the Buccaneers today, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. The Jets will hope he lasts through waivers as he has impressed so far in camp. If he does, New York will likely revert him to injured reserve in order to keep him on the roster.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/8/23

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Chargers

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Signed: WR Johnny King
  • Waived: T Chim Okorafor
  • Activated from active/PUP list: WR Devon Allen

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Signed: S Jalen Elliott
  • Waived/injured: WR Ja’Marcus Bradley

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

  • Waived/injured: CB Andrew Whitaker

Washington Commanders

Flowers, who agreed to terms with the Patriots earlier today after a workout, suffered a foot injury in October of last season. That setback cut short a Dolphins run after four games. Flowers, who will turn 30 next week, last played for the Patriots in 2018.

McNichols joined Duke Johnson, Brian Hill and Jason Huntley at a recent 49ers workout. The 49ers are without Elijah Mitchell for what is expected to be a short stretch. A five-year veteran, McNichols most recently saw action for the Titans in 2021, helping the team as a pass-catching back (28 grabs for 240 yards) while Derrick Henry missed time with a foot fracture.

Allen suffered an injury while competing in the opening rounds of the 110-meter hurdles competition at the USA Track and Field Championships in July. The two-time Olympian owns the sixth-fastest hurdle time this year (13.04 seconds) but missed a key chunk of Eagles camp. This marks his second bid to make Philadelphia’s 53-man roster. Allen, 28, spent last season on the Eagles’ practice squad and stayed with the team via a reserve/futures contract in February.

The Panthers’ regular kicker, Eddy Pineiro, is battling a groin injury. Carolina gave Pineiro, their 2022 kicker, $2.25MM guaranteed earlier this offseason. The Jaguars’ primary kicker in 2021, Wright kicked in four Steelers games and two Chiefs contests last season.

A rookie UDFA, Whittaker suffered a torn patellar tendon in a recent Seahawks practice, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets. Matthews also sustained a season-ending injury — a torn ACL — during a Texans workout, Wilson adds (on Twitter).

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/7/23

Here are Monday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

  • Signed: OL LaColby Tucker
  • Activated from active/PUP list: DL Calais Campbell
  • Waived: DL Matthew Gotel

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

  • Placed on IR: DT Devonnsha Maxwell

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Waived: OL Trevor Reid

Seattle Seahawks

  • Signed: LB Jordan Ferguson

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

Streveler is currently dealing with an injury, ESPN’s Dianna Russini tweets. The Jets used Streveler as their top backup QB to close last season, inserting him into a Week 16 game ahead of Joe Flacco. Streveler stuck around via reserve/futures contract in January. But the Jets have since traded for Aaron Rodgers and signed Tim Boyle, marking a new era at quarterback. With Zach Wilson still around, the team does not appear to have any room — potentially even on the practice squad — for Streveler, who has played for the Jets and Cardinals in a three-year NFL career.

Apke has been with Washington since being chosen in the 2018 fourth round. He re-signed with the team in 2022 and stayed via reserve/futures contract in January. A shoulder injury, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, will move Apke to IR, which will end his chances of playing a sixth season with the Commanders this year. Kalu started five games for the Titans last season, playing 494 defensive snaps. Over his first three seasons, Kalu had never cleared the 100-snap barrier on defense.

Schoonmaker suffered a foot injury, a plantar fascia tear, during his final year at Michigan. The Cowboys’ top post-Dalton Schultz tight end investment will aim to make a push for a regular role to begin the season.

The Dolphins made Blackman part of their UDFA class this year. The former Florida State starter spent six years in college, finishing up with Arkansas State. The Dolphins swapped out Teddy Bridgewater for Mike White this offseason, but Skylar Thompson has made a push to be Tua Tagovailoa‘s backup. Regardless of that competition’s outcome, Blackman’s ceiling appeared to be practice squad QB in Miami. But the Dolphins may be looking into outside help for that developmental role — provided the team plans on stashing a fourth passer on its taxi squad.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/9/23

18 teams had their seasons come to an end yesterday, and their front offices have already turned the page to the 2023 NFL seaon. This started today, as a number of players were signed to reserve/futures contracts, which allows organizations to retain (routinely) young, practice squad players throughout the offseason. Here are today’s reserve/futures contracts:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

  • WR Ty Fryfogle

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Washington Commanders

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/31/22

Today’s roster moves heading into gameday:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

  • Promoted from practice squad: G Kyle Hinton, DL T.J. Smith

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/29/22

Here are the minor moves leading into Sunday’s slate of games:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

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 Bills, Dolphins, Jets and Patriots moves are noted below.

Here are Wednesday’s AFC East transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Buffalo Bills

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Miami Dolphins

Signed to practice squad:

New England Patriots

Signed to practice squad:

New York Jets

Signed to practice squad:

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/29/22

Teams have until 3pm Tuesday to slash their rosters from 80 to 53 players. Here are the Monday moves teams are making en route to doing so. The list will be updated throughout the day.

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/26/22

Today’s minor NFL transactions, including a handful of notable names landing on the physically unable to perform list and the non-football injury list as teams open up camp:

Arizona Cardinals

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

  • Released with NFI designation: WR Cody Core

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

Washington Commanders