HEADLINES

Chuck Filiaga

Saints Officially Set 53-Man Roster

August 29th, 2023 at 7:48pm CST by Ely Allen

The Saints welcomed back some old faces and said goodbye to others on their way towards setting their initial 53-man roster. Here are the moves the team made in their efforts to select the team they will open the season with:

Released:

Waived:

The veteran tight end James will have to continue his recent tour of the NFL. He, Holtz, and Krull fell victim to the reunion of New Orleans and former All-Pro Jimmy Graham.

On defense, Smith failed to make the roster after starting 11 games for the Giants last year. Roby is another player who was initially expected to contribute, but will have to pack up his locker.

With the emergence of rookie third-round pick Kendre Miller and the eventual return of Alvin Kamara, keeping Williams in the running backs room just wasn’t worth the roster spot.

On special teams, the third-year punter Gillikin lost the punting battle with undrafted rookie signee out of Miami (FL) Lou Hedley. The viral, jacked, tatted-up, Australian, 30-year-old rookie punter makes his first NFL roster as part of the Saints’ new-look special teams group.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/2/23

August 2nd, 2023 at 7:07pm CST by Ely Allen

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

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

  • Waived: WR Ed Lee

New Orleans Saints

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tennessee Titans

Moseley reportedly had a small clean-up procedure on his knee the other day as he continues to come back from last year’s ACL tear. According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, it doesn’t appear to be a major setback, and head coach Dan Campbell expects Moseley back on Monday.

The news on Harris’s retirement comes from KPRC 2’s Aaron Wilson, who reports that the two sides “are parting ways as (Harris) plans to retire.” If this is truly the end of the road for Harris, then the transaction puts a cap on a five-year career that saw Harris rack up 11 total tackles, two tackles for loss, and three quarterback hits in the NFL.

Turk was urgently brought on as an undrafted rookie out of Oklahoma to compete with free agent addition Jake Bailey, formerly with the Patriots. The punter competition may be over quickly as Bailey is the only punter on the roster now.

Trice, the Steelers’ first of two seventh-round picks this year, suffered a non-contact injury at camp yesterday. His placement on injured reserve indicates that his rookie season has unfortunately come to an end before it had the chance to begin.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/1/23

August 1st, 2023 at 8:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

  • Signed: RB Toriano Clinton, TE La’Michael Pettway, T Dan Skipper
  • Waived: T Jordan Murray, TE Kaden Smith, DT Jamal Woods

Las Vegas Raiders

New England Patriots

  • Claimed (from Bears): WR Thyrick Pitts
  • Placed on reserve/retired list: WR Jalen Hurd

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Chosen in the third round by the 49ers back in 2019, Hurd never ended up seeing regular-season action. A converted running back who played in front of Alvin Kamara at points while at Tennessee, Hurd transferred to Baylor and became a wide receiver. Two season-ending injuries — a back malady in 2019 and an ACL tear in 2020 — derailed Hurd’s 49ers tenure. The team cut him during the 2021 season. Barely a week after the Patriots signed Hurd, it appears he is throwing in the towel on an injury-plagued career.

Penisini had unretired this offseason, joining the Panthers. The former Lions sixth-rounder played two seasons on his rookie contract but called it quits in June 2022. His unretirement will precede a Panthers exit. The Lions are moving Zylstra off their 90-man roster due to a severe knee injury. If unclaimed, Zylstra would revert to Detroit’s IR list. Zylstra has seen action in 17 games for the Lions over the past two seasons.

Hassenauer will require surgery to repair a triceps injury, and this transaction will shut him down — as far as the Giants are concerned. The only way Hassenauer can play in 2023 would be if the Giants removed him from IR via an injury settlement. Hairston suffered a herniated disk during practice, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson (on Twitter).

Packers Sign 12 UDFAs

May 1st, 2023 at 8:31pm CST by Sam Robinson

With the draft in the rearview mirror, teams’ undrafted free agent contingents are surfacing. The Packers announced theirs, a 12-man class. Here is how that group stacks up:

As was the case last year, 2023 UDFA groups will come in older than the ones in the 2010s. The NCAA’s extraordinary rule change granting players whose careers were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic an additional season of eligibility continues to impact college rosters and the NFL. While players atop the draft are mostly unaffected, late-rounders and the UDFA tier will produce plenty of mid-20-somethings.

Benny Sapp III is the son of former Chiefs, Vikings and Dolphins defensive back Benny Sapp Jr. The Division I-FCS product participated in 19 games in 2021, with the pandemic moving FCS and Division II to the spring, and finished his 2022 senior season as an All-American. A Minnesota transfer, Sapp intercepted four passes and forced two fumbles last season. Filiaga spent five seasons at Michigan before joining the Golden Gophers; he worked as Minnesota’s full-time right guard last season.

Heath also made an intraconference transfer, changing Egg Bowl sides by moving from Mississippi State to Ole Miss. The 6-foot-2, 213-pound wideout produced his best season with the Rebels, catching 60 passes for 971 yards and five touchdowns. Watts joins Heath in following a three-wideout Packers draft class. Watts caught eight touchdown passes for the Green Wave last season, averaging 19.9 yards per catch. Pearson

A Florida transfer, Telfort earned first-team All-Conference USA acclaim as the Blazers’ left tackle. Telfort blocked for UAB running back DeWayne McBride; a Vikings fifth-round pick, McBride led Division I-FBS in rushing yards per game last season. Cox totaled eight sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss for the Gators in 2021 but saw his 2022 season come to an end early due to a dismissal from the team.