Fabian Moreau

Vikings To Sign CB Fabian Moreau

Depleted at cornerback, the Vikings are making an addition. Well-traveled corner Fabian Moreau has a deal in place with Minnesota, according to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo.

Moreau spent the bulk of last season as Patrick Surtain‘s boundary sidekick in Denver. The Broncos moved Moreau into their starting lineup midway through the season, and the veteran helped stabilize the position during the team’s five-game win streak. The Vikings will be team No. 6 for Moreau.

A tragedy began the Vikings’ issues at corner this month. Fourth-round rookie Khyree Jackson died in a car accident. Soon after, the Vikes lost Mekhi Blackmon — a part-time starter last season — to a torn ACL. In need in its Byron Murphy-fronted position group — which was on the radar to be bolstered before the July events — Minnesota will hope Moreau can remain a solid option in his age-30 season.

Moreau has made a habit of moving from late-summer addition to starter, having done so in each of the past two years. The Texans rostered Moreau during the 2022 offseason but cut him before setting their initial 53-man roster. The ex-Washington third-rounder made his way to the Giants, who turned to him as an 11-game starter despite not signing him from the practice squad until late September of that year. The Broncos added Moreau a year ago Thursday, and although the team’s plan was to keep Damarri Mathis in place as the perimeter starter opposite Surtain, Moreau took over during a stretch that revived the team’s playoff chances.

Pro Football Focus assigned Moreau a mid-pack grade (73rd) last season; he intercepted one pass and broke up seven more. After allowing a whopping eight touchdowns as the closest defender with the Falcons in 2021 and five as a Giant, Moreau settled down and yielded only one in Denver. While Moreau has not approached his 34.1 passer rating-allowed number from 2020 since, he has experience as a boundary defender and a slot player.

The Vikes added Shaquill Griffin earlier this offseason; they also used former fourth-round pick Akayleb Evans on 855 defensive snaps last season. Minnesota has seen neither Andrew Booth nor Lewis Cine justify their 2022 draft slots yet; Booth, chosen in Round 2, played just 151 snaps last season. The events of this month have the Vikings heavily reliant on free agent corners, and it will be interesting to see if Moreau can once again join a team late and carve out a regular role.

Broncos Move CB K’Waun Williams To IR; CB Fabian Moreau, DT Mike Purcell Re-Sign

Three Broncos are moving to IR. While it remains to be seen how the team will use its eight allotted activations this season, three options became available Thursday.

Cornerback K’Waun Williams, safety P.J. Locke and tackle Alex Palczewski landed on IR. Each must miss at least four games. To replace them on the 53-man roster, Denver brought back longtime nose tackle Mike Purcell, cornerback Fabian Moreau and tackle Quinn Bailey. Each was on the radar to return, and the Broncos are not deviating from their cutdown-day play.

Purcell agreed to be released to help the Broncos manage their roster. He has joined several veterans in yo-yoing off and then back onto an active roster this week. A regular Broncos contributor since he made the jump from the Alliance of American Football to the NFL in 2019, Purcell was also released and then re-signed ahead of last season. Purcell, 32, will again be expected to be a regular on Denver’s defensive line.

An ankle injury, which will require surgery, will lead to Williams’ IR placement. The longtime 49ers slot corner is going into the second season of a two-year, $5.2MM Broncos deal. Essang Bassey, who intercepted three passes during the preseason, may well be called upon to line up alongside Patrick Surtain and Damarri Mathis in nickel sets to start the season.

Moreau, however, will supply depth for the AFC West team. Moreau spent last season with the Giants, coming over after the Texans released him after the preseason. The Broncos signed the former Washington third-round pick earlier this month.

Bailey has been with the Broncos since 2019, working as a backup. Denver’s injury troubles at tackle last season led to Bailey starting his first career game. The team has Cameron Fleming in place as its swing tackle — behind starters Garett Bolles and Mike McGlinchey — but Bailey is back on the roster to provide additional depth.

Broncos Place Baron Browning On Reserve/PUP List, Trim Roster To 53

The Broncos will join other teams in using short-term IR to create roster spots for veterans they cut Tuesday. The team also needed to use its reserve/PUP list. Here is how Denver moved down to the 53-man limit:

Released:

Waived/injured:

  • OLB Chris Allen

Placed on reserve/PUP list:

Browning suffered a meniscus injury this offseason and underwent surgery in June. This obviously deals a blow to Browning’s development, seeing as the converted off-ball linebacker has yet to play a full season at his second NFL position, and Denver’s edge depth. Randy Gregory and Frank Clark lead the way at the position; both are going into their age-30 seasons. The Broncos have seen Gregory, Von Miller and Bradley Chubb miss substantial time in recent years. They will hope Browning, who showed promise opposite Chubb at points last year, can return when eligible.

The Broncos did not place Jerry Jeudy on IR, keeping their No. 1 receiver available once his hamstring heals. This points to the team viewing Jeudy as likely to come back during the season’s first four weeks. Jeudy suffered a hamstring injury late last week; the malady is expected to sideline him for “several weeks.” The team is expected to re-sign Humphrey once it reorganizes its roster, 9News’ Mike Klis notes.

Although Purcell joined Humphrey as a cut, Klis adds the veteran nose tackle is set to come back. Ditto Moreau, as K’Waun Williams is set to head to IR — a designation that will cost the veteran slot cornerback at least four games — upon undergoing ankle surgery. The Broncos kept UDFAs Elijah Garcia, a defensive lineman, and Jaleel McLaughlin, a running back, after strong preseason outings. McLaughlin is the NCAA all-levels rushing kingpin, having amassed 8,161 yards while at Notre Dame College and Youngstown State — Division II and Division I-FCS programs, respectively, in Ohio. He will be the team’s third-string running back — behind Javonte Williams and Samaje Perine.

Broncos To Sign CB Fabian Moreau

Making Ronald Darby a cap casualty earlier this year, the Broncos had stood pat on the veteran front at cornerback. They are making a mid-training camp addition, however.

Fabian Moreau will join the team on a one-year deal, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. Moreau has experience as a boundary and slot corner. He will join a group anchored by Patrick Surtain but one featuring some questions at the other spots.

The Dolphins worked out Moreau recently, but they signed Eli Apple in the wake of Jalen Ramsey‘s knee surgery. The Broncos will take a look at the former Washington, Falcons and Giants corner, who is going into his age-29 season. The former third-round pick has made 45 career starts, including 11 last season for the Giants.

Qualifying as a journeyman at this point, Moreau spent last year with two teams. The Texans signed the UCLA alum but released him before the regular season. Moreau caught on with the Giants but did not debut for the playoff-bound team until Week 2. The Giants lost one of their starting corners (Aaron Robinson) for the season and another (Adoree’ Jackson) for a sizable chunk of it, depleting Don Martindale‘s depth chart. Moreau moved from the practice squad into the lineup, and while his coverage metrics rated slightly better compared to a rough 2021 opposite AJ Terrell in Atlanta, Pro Football Focus still rated him 90th at the position.

Moreau, whom Pro-Football-Reference charged with allowing five touchdown passes (after ceding eight in 2021), saw time in the slot in Washington but was not re-signed following the expiration of his rookie contract. Moreau intercepted six passes from 2018-20 and was credited with 21 passes defensed over the past two seasons.

The 6-foot cover man will be given a chance to earn a spot in a Broncos CB corps that features Damarri Mathis and K’Waun Williams as its expected starters alongside Surtain. The team did, however, trade up for Iowa’s Riley Moss in Round 3. Moreau would represent a veteran option on the outside in the Surtain-fronted group, with Mathis — Darby’s injury replacement last year — going into his second season.

Dolphins To Sign CB Eli Apple

Former Bengals cornerback Eli Apple‘s long wait on the free agent market has come to an end. Days after star cornerback acquisition Jalen Ramsey underwent surgery for a knee injury, the Dolphins have reached out for veteran starting experience, signing Apple to a one-year deal, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

Miami lost Ramsey this week to a knee injury that required a full meniscus repair. It was originally reported that Ramsey may just miss the start of the season, but more recent reports have delineated a timeline that doesn’t see Ramsey return until December. Ramsey was obviously a big part of the team’s plan in the secondary moving forward. The Dolphins immediately started looking for options to attempt to negate his absence, also working out veteran cornerback Fabian Moreau and Anthony Averett before ultimately signing Apple.

It looked like a starting duo of Ramsey and Xavien Howard would shape up to be one of the league’s best, with strong young talent like Kader Kohou, Keion Crossen, and rookie second-round pick Cam Smith rotating in. New defensive coordinator Vic Fangio also had plans of working Ramsey at nickel more often, based on his recent success in that role with the Rams. In this situation, Kohou, Crossen, Smith, or Nik Needham would come on when the team needed extra defensive backs on the field and play on the outside while Ramsey shifted in. Apple’s consistent presence on the outside changes that plan.

First, let’s start with what Apple does bring to the table. A former first-round selection taken five picks after Ramsey in 2016, Apple has been a consistent starter over his career, starting 78 of the 88 games he’s appeared in. He’s struggled with injuries in the past, having never played every game of a given season, but in every season but two, he’s been available for at least 14 games. Not only does he have starting experience, but he’s got playoff experience, as well.

With that being said, Apple has never been considered a top player at the position. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Apple has never ranked higher than 61st in the league. Last year, the site credited Apple with allowing a 99.8 passer rating in his coverage area. So, while Apple provides them with the starting experience, Miami may be hoping that they will still get some of their best play out of their incumbent corners.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald suggests that Apple’s experience will make him a top candidate to start outside opposite Howard. Apple’s main competition should be Kohou, who started 13 games as an undrafted rookie last year out of Texas A&M-Commerce. Jackson foresees a situation in which Kohou could take the role that Fangio envisioned for Ramsey, starting on the outside then shifting in to the slot when the team needs three cornerbacks on the field. If Apple can earn the starting spot on the outside, though, Kohou would become the immediate primary nickel cornerback.

Past that, much of the plan remains the same. A healthy Needham becomes a strong rotational piece as Crossen and Smith continue to develop in the early years of their careers. Thanks to the injuries that forced Kohou and Crossen into starting time last year, the Dolphins have a relatively deep group at cornerback that should absorb the temporary loss of Ramsey well. That’s not to say that this group won’t be significantly better once Ramsey returns, but while he’s gone, the addition of Apple combined with the capabilities of Miami’s younger defensive backs should hold the team over until Ramsey’s back.

Giants S Xavier McKinney Expects To Return This Season

The Giants have been without safety Xavier McKinney for the last three games due to a broken hand that he suffered in an ATV accident during a bye-week vacation. As Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com reports, McKinney is expected to miss at least several more weeks, but he does plan to return this season.

New York is 7-4 and currently holds the sixth playoff spot in the NFC. However, the club has lost two in a row and takes on the division-rival Commanders — who presently hold the seventh and final postseason spot — two times within the next three weeks. As such, Big Blue’s postseason fortunes could be largely decided before McKinney gets back on the field.

McKinney, 23, was selected in the second round of the 2020 draft, and while a broken foot limited him to just six games in his rookie season, he emerged as a foundational player for the Giants in 2021, when he appeared in all 17 games (16 starts) and notched five interceptions. He also pulled down an excellent 75.4 grade from Pro Football Focus, which was especially bullish on his coverage abilities.

His PFF grade slipped to 56.3 over the first eight games of the current season, though his presence is still missed. A team captain, McKinney is also the defensive signal-caller for a unit that was ranked eighth in the league in scoring defense at the time of his injury and which is now ranked 14th in that regard.

The secondary as a whole has been hit hard by injury. In the Giants’ Thanksgiving Day loss to the Cowboys, they were without starters Adoree’ Jackson, Fabian Moreau, and McKinney, and while Moreau is active for the team today, Jackson is expected to miss several more weeks. As Dan Duggan of The Athletic tweets, New York is deploying Nick McCloud and Moreau on the boundaries today, while UDFA rookie Zyon Gilbert — who is making his pro debut — will work as the primary slot corner.

In McKinney’s stead, the Giants first turned to fourth-round rookie Dane Belton for two games before pivoting to Jason Pinnock, a 2021 fifth-round choice of the Jets whom Big Blue claimed off waivers during final cutdowns in August.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/28/22

Here today’s minor moves from around the league:

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Seattle Seahawks

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/26/22

Today’s minor moves:

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

New York Giants

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/17/22

Today’s minor moves around the league, including practice squad elevations for tomorrow’s action:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

  • Promoted from practice squad: CB Daryl WorleyWR Raleigh Webb

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New York Giants

New York Jets

New Orleans Saints

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/5/22

As Week 1 practices begin, here are the latest updates to teams’ 16-man practice squads:

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers:

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

A former Washington starter and the primary Atlanta cornerback opposite A.J. Terrell last season, Moreau has experience playing both the slot and outside. The former third-round pick signed with the Texans earlier this offseason but did not make their 53-man roster.

The Lions attempted to keep David Blough by offering the Hard Knocks cast member a spot on their practice squad, but the three-year Detroit backup opted to head to Minnesota. He is currently on the Vikings’ 16-man taxi squad. A previous Aaron Rodgers backup, Boyle signed with the Lions last year.

Despite being a former second-round pick, Blair did not make the Seahawks’ 53-man roster this year. Knee injuries have sidelined him for most of the past two seasons. Seattle had stopped using Blair as a nickel, his primary role when on the field with the team that drafted him, during training camp.

Included as part of a 2019 trade that sent Marcus Peters to Baltimore, Young was also traded from the Rams to the Broncos last year. He started all 13 games he played in 2021 — seven as a Ram, six as a Bronco — and helped Denver fill the void created by Alexander Johnson and Josey Jewell‘s season-ending injuries. Young spent most of this offseason with the Raiders but did not make their roster.