NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/23/26
Here is today’s only practice squad transaction:
New England Patriots
- Released: DE Darrell Taylor
A former part-time starter as a second-round pick with the Seahawks, Taylor racked up 21.5 sacks in his first three seasons. He’s struggled to maintain that success ever since in stops at Chicago, Houston, and now New England, where he failed to appear in a game.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/14/26
Here’s are Wednesday’s practice squad transactions:
Houston Texans
- Signed: S Brandon Hill
- Released: T Jaylon Thomas
New England Patriots
- Signed: DE Darrell Taylor
- Released: RB Elijah Mitchell
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: S Darrick Forrest, TE Hayden Rucci
- Released: WR Javon Baker
The Patriots added an experienced pass rusher to their taxi squad today. Taylor, a second-round pick for the Seahawks in 2020, racked up 21.5 sacks in his first three seasons of NFL ball, but he didn’t see the same success in his fourth year after getting traded to the Bears. Injuries would limit him in Chicago and Houston, where he signed following the expiration of his rookie deal, as he only appeared in four games with the Texans this season. He now arrives in New England as Mike Vrabel and Co. are making a strong playoff push after a surprising one-year turnaround.
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/12/26
Today’s minor moves:
Houston Texans
- Activated from IR: S Jaylen Reed
- Elevated: DT Leki Fotu
- Waived: DE Darrell Taylor
New England Patriots
- Waived: RB D’Ernest Johnson
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Elevated: CB Tre Flowers, CB D’Shawn Jamison
The Texans will get some extra reinforcement on their secondary and special teams for tonight’s playoff matchup. A rookie sixth-round pick, Jaylen Reed has spent half of the 2025 season on the sideline. He started the season on PUP thanks to a knee injury, but he managed to make his NFL debut in late October. He ended up getting into seven games (one start) for Houston, collecting 14 tackles (12 of which came in one game) in 73 defensive snaps. He landed on injured reserve in December after suffering a forearm injury that required surgery.
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/6/26
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves from around the NFL:
Carolina Panthers
- Designated for return from IR: G Chandler Zavala
Denver Broncos
- Activated from IR: LB Karene Reid
Green Bay Packers
- Signed from practice squad QB Desmond Ridder
- Waived: QB Clayton Tune
Houston Texans
- Activated from IR: DE Darrell Taylor
- Waived: S K’Von Wallace
Set to host the Rams in the wild-card round on Saturday, the Panthers have opened Zavala’s 21-day practice window. That will at least give Zavala a chance to return this week. Zavala has been on IR twice this year – once for a knee injury, again for a calf problem – which limited him to seven games and five starts during the regular season. He hasn’t played since Week 12.
The Packers rested starting quarterback Jordan Love in their regular-season finale against the Vikings. Backup Malik Willis was unavailable because of shoulder and hamstring issues, which led to Tune receiving his second NFL start. It went poorly for the 26-year-old Tune, who completed 6 of 11 passes for 34 yards in a 16-3 loss. Ridder, who combined for 18 starts with the Falcons and Raiders from 2022-24, will replace Tune on the Packers’ roster as they prepare for a playoff showdown with the rival Bears.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/17/25
Here are Wednesday’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Designated for return from IR: LB Jay Higgins
Buffalo Bills
- Designated for return from IR: WR Mecole Hardman
Carolina Panthers
- Designated for return from IR: WR David Moore
Cleveland Browns
- Designated for return from reserve/PUP: LB Winston Reid
Denver Broncos
- Designated for return from IR: LB Karene Reid
Detroit Lions
- Designated for return from IR: T Giovanni Manu
Green Bay Packers
- Designated for return from reserve/PUP: G John Williams
- Placed on IR: LB Micah Parsons (story)
Houston Texans
- Designated for return from IR: LB Darrell Taylor
Kansas City Chiefs
- Placed on IR: QB Patrick Mahomes (story)
- Opened practice window: TE Jake Briningstool, DB Nazeeh Johnson
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed from practice squad: DE Jahfari Harvey
Miami Dolphins
- Signed off Texans’ practice squad: LB Jackson Woodard
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Activated from IR: S Rashad Wisdom
Tennessee Titans
- Designated for return from IR: LB Ali Gaye, LB Oluwafemi Oladejo, WR Bryce Oliver
Probably the most overqualified transaction we’ve ever listed in this space, Mahomes is heading to IR for the first time. The superstar Chiefs quarterback suffered ACL and LCL tears and has undergone surgery. Generally, Chiefs IR-return moves are impactful at this stage of the season. In the cases of Briningstool and Johnson, they are returning to practice for a 6-8 team. The Chiefs designated both for return in August, meaning both have already counted toward the team’s eight-activation total. As our IR return tracker shows, Kansas City has not used any other injury activations this season.
Given a one-year, $4.75MM deal by the Texans, Taylor worked as a backup in four games before going down with an ankle injury. Despite his contract, the former Seahawks second-rounder played just 64 defensive snaps before hitting IR.
Texans Place Two On IR, Add K Matthew Wright To Practice Squad
A pair of Texans defenders are heading to injured reserve. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston, the team is placing cornerback Jaylin Smith and defensive end Darrell Taylor on IR.
Smith will miss at least the next four games while he nurses an undisclosed injury. The rookie third-round pick has played sparingly in 2025, getting into 31 defensive snaps and 78 special teams snaps in four games. The USC product was serving as a back-of-the-depth-chart boundary corner for Houston, and journeyman Tremon Smith will likely soak up any remaining backup snaps at the position.
Taylor has also barely seen the field during his first season with the franchise. The defensive lineman has gotten into four games, and he’s mostly split his 64 snaps between defense and special teams. The former second-round pick compiled 21.5 sacks in three seasons with Seattle before spending the 2024 campaign in Chicago. An ankle issue will sideline him through November.
Elsewhere in Houston, the team made some adjustments to their practice squad. According to Wilson, the team added kicker Matthew Wright and released tight end Dalton Keene.
Per Wilson, Texans starting kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn is dealing with a lower body injury that will put his status for Week 10 in doubt. Jonathan M Alexander of the Houston Chronicle is a bit more definitive with his report, noting that Fairbairn isn’t expected to play this weekend. The veteran is coming off a Week 9 performance where he connected on five of his six field goal attempts.
Wright is apparently the team’s solution to temporarily fill that spot. The Texans represent the veteran’s 11th NFL team, although he’s mostly been limited to cameos in his previous spots. In total, Wright has appeared in 31 career games, connecting on 87.5 percent of his field goal tries (56 for 64) and 95.6 percent of his XP attempts (43 for 45).
A former Patriots draft pick, Keene has spent parts of the past three seasons in Houston. He’s been limited to a single game during his Texans tenure.
Texans, Darrell Taylor Agree To Deal; Team To Add WR Justin Watson
The Texans already have Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter along the edge, but they are bringing in a short-term veteran for depth. Darrell Taylor has agreed to a one-year, $5.25MM deal, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
Rapoport adds Houston also has an agreement in place with Justin Watson. The veteran wideout has plenty of experience as a special teams contributor but he logged a heavy offensive workload in Kansas City this past year in particular. Watson will be able to serve as a complement to Nico Collins and recent trade addition Christian Kirk.
Taylor comes to Houston after a lengthy Seattle stay and a one-season Chicago stopover. For a player who totaled 24.5 sacks over his first five seasons (one of them erased by injury), Taylor is fairly affordable. Although he only collected three last season, Taylor totaled six sacks in his 2021 debut — after a season-nullifying injury in 2020 — and added 9.5 to help the 2022 Seahawks to the playoffs. Taylor added four forced fumbles that season.
After Taylor finished the 2023 season with 5.5 sacks in a part-time role, the Seahawks traded him to a the Bears in a low-end swap that only brought back a 2025 sixth-round pick. Taylor, 28 later this month, did not start any games for the Bears during a rather turbulent season for the NFC North franchise.
A former Buccaneers backup, Watson is relocating after being a tertiary Patrick Mahomes option for a few seasons. As the Chiefs were trying to force Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore into regular roles, the experiments failed and forced the megastar quarterback to lean on other options. Watson posted a career-high 460 yards and three touchdowns that year. He added six catches for 90 yards in the playoffs. During Kansas City’s injury-plagued 2024 season at receiver, Watson came through with 22 catches for 289 yards.
Watson, 29, joins a Texans team that has Tank Dell almost certain to miss much of the 2025 season — after a brutal knee injury in Week 16 at Arrowhead Stadium — and one that may lose Stefon Diggs. Robert Woods is also a free agent.
Sam Robinson contributed to this post.
Bears Acquire Darrell Taylor From Seahawks
The Bears are set to make a veteran addition along the edge via trade. Darrell Taylor is on his way from Seattle to Chicago, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports. The Seahawks will receive a 2025 sixth-round pick in return per the terms of the trade, which is now official.
On Thursday, Seattle moved on from one veteran defender by dealing cornerback Michael Jackson to the Panthers. That trade netted seventh-round rookie linebacker Michael Barrett, and today’s move has likewise seen an experienced contributor sent elsewhere in the NFC with the future in mind. Taylor has one year remaining on his contract. This deal will see the Bears take on his $3.12MM base salary after the Seahawks already paid out a $20K signing bonus.
The 27-year-old missed his entire rookie campaign but has been a rotational presence off the edge for each of the past three years. Taylor has started 11 games since 2021, logging snap shares between 44% and 46% during that span. His best season came in 2022, when he totaled 9.5 sacks and four forced fumbles. His production took a step back last year (5.5 sacks), but Taylor still found himself in Seattle’s plans via the one-year agreement which took the place of an RFA tender.
With that said, the Seahawks were open to trading the former second-rounder in advance of the 2023 deadline. The season-ending injury suffered by Uchenna Nwosu changed that stance and led to Taylor remaining in place to close out the campaign. Moving forward, Nwosu, along with recent second-round selections Boye Mafe and Derick Hall will be leaned on heavily along the edge by Seattle.
From the Bears’ perspective, this move comes as little surprise. Montez Sweat is in place as the anchor of the team’s edge rush, but adding a proven complementary option has long been mentioned as an offseason priority. Talks with Yannick Ngakoue – who played on a one-year Bears pact in 2023 – have taken place. Chicago was also a finalist in the Matt Judon trade, offering a third-round pick for the four-time Pro Bowler. That matched the value of the Falcons’ offer, and Judon was reportedly given the choice between Atlanta and Chicago. After coming up short on those fronts, Taylor will head to the Windy City set up for at least a part-time role.
Chicago also has the likes of DeMarcus Walker, Dominique Robinson, Khalid Kareem and fifth-round rookie Austin Booker in place behind Sweat on the depth chart. Taylor – who has 50 combined regular and postseason games and 21.5 sacks to his name – represents an intriguing addition to that group. Questions may remain about the long-term future of the Bears’ non-Sweat edge rushers, but for 2024 Taylor will be a contributor to their front seven. Seattle entered Friday with less than $9MM in cap space, but today’s move will increase that total by more than $3MM. Chicago’s available space will take a hit, though the team will still have over $18MM in available funds with Taylor in the fold.
Seahawks Extend OLB Darrell Taylor
After missing his rookie season, Darrell Taylor has proven to be a productive secondary contributor to the Seahawks’ edge contingent. Set to be an RFA, he will not have the opportunity to test the market with the new league year having begun.
Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times reports the Seahawks are believed to have worked out an extension with Taylor. Rather than tendering the former second-rounder, therefore, a more permanent agreement appears to be in place for a player once in danger of being traded.
Seattle lost Uchenna Nwosu early in the 2023 campaign to a pectoral injury. That left the team without a starting edge rusher, and Taylor saw a 44% defensive snap share for the second straight season. Prior to the former’s injury, however, the latter was on the trade block. The Seahawks were prepared to deal Taylor ahead of the trade deadline, but they ultimately elected to retain him.
Taylor has struggled against the run during his career, but he has maintained a notable role due to his pass-rush production. The 26-year-old posted 6.5 sacks in 2021, then upped that total to 9.5 the following season. Logging five starts in 2023, Taylor produced 5.5 sacks while adding 17 pressures and eight QB hits. While those figures will likely be insufficient to land him a full-time starting opportunity, they have resulted in a second Seattle contract.
The Seahawks could have placed the right of first refusal tag on Taylor, valued at $2.99MM. An unmatched offer sheet would not have yielded any compensation in that case, however. The second-round tender would have guaranteed a draft pick in that round in the event Taylor departed, but it would have come at a cost of $4.89MM. Instead of working with either of those one-year tenders, the Tennessee alum will remain in place on a re-up.
Seattle still has Nwosu on the books for three more seasons. Boye Mafe and Derick Hall are also on their respective rookie deals, so this Taylor agreement will ensure stability for the Seahawks along the edge. The team posted a top-10 finish in sacks last season, and the chances of repeating that success will be high with continuity at the OLB spot.
Seahawks Were Prepared To Trade LB Darrell Taylor Prior To Uchenna Nwosu Injury
Before Uchenna Nwosu sustained a pectoral injury that will require season-ending surgery, the Seahawks were prepared to trade fellow outside linebacker Darrell Taylor, as Albert Breer of SI.com reports. Now, however, Taylor will be called upon to fill Nwosu’s shoes as the 4-2 Seahawks compete for NFC West supremacy.
Taylor, a 2020 second-round pick, missed the entirety of his rookie season due to a shin surgery that he underwent following his senior year at Tennessee, though he rebounded nicely to post 6.5 sacks in 16 games of work (five starts) in 2021. He opened the 2022 campaign as a starting OLB opposite Nwosu, but he struggled mightily against the run, and 2022 second-rounder Boye Mafe eventually saw more action on early downs.
Although he was not on the field as frequently, Taylor did excel as a situational pass rusher and recorded 6.5 sacks in the final six games of the 2022 season. He ended the year with 9.5 sacks and earned a strong 74.0 pass rush grade from Pro Football Focus (which also assigned him an abysmal 40.7 run defense grade consistent with his disappointing film).
Taylor, 26, has again been utilized in a rotational capacity this year (aside from Week 2, when he earned a start in place of an injured Mafe). He did post 1.5 sacks in Seattle’s victory over the Cardinals last week in relief of Nwosu, and rather than trade him, the ‘Hawks will count on him to continue getting after opposing QBs while demonstrating improvement in run support.
Such an improvement may be a tall order given his track record, and to offset a possible downturn in that regard, the Seahawks seem prepared to turn up the pass rushing heat. According to Breer, who published his piece after Seattle reunited with Frank Clark, the team is still interested in adding edge help. The Commanders’ Montez Sweat, who is strong against the run and pass, certainly qualifies as a good fit, but the Falcons have already offered Washington a third-round pick for Sweat.
Taylor is earning roughly $1.5MM in 2023, the final year of his rookie contract, and a strong performance down the stretch could help him land a multiyear deal in the offseason.