We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Arizona Cardinals
- Released: TE/FB Parker Houston
Los Angeles Rams
- Released: WR Greg Dortch, S Jake Gervase, C Nate Trewyn, TE Ethan Wolf
New England Patriots
- Released: CB Lenzy Pipkins
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Arizona Cardinals
Los Angeles Rams
New England Patriots
The Vikings added a group of players on reserve/futures contracts today, and we also missed some of the Rams’ from earlier in the week. For a primer/refresher on what exactly these deals entail, click here.
Los Angeles Rams
Minnesota Vikings
Polite is the most well-known of the bunch. A highly regarded talent, he fell to the Jets with the 68th pick this past draft because of off-field concerns. He was shockingly cut by New York despite being an early third-round pick, and eventually ended up on the Rams’ practice squad.
For the second time in 2019, the Panthers have released kick returner Greg Dortch. The move comes two days after Dortch fumbled a return in the Panthers’ loss to the Falcons.
Dortch, listed as a wide receiver, has yet to catch a pass at the NFL level. With the Panthers, he’s served as the kick and punt return specialist on two separate occasions. His first opportunity came in Week 9, when he returned two kickoffs and two punts against the Titans.
Then, on Sunday, he coughed up the ball on a third quarter kickoff return. The Falcons turned that change of possession into a field goal, en route to a 40-20 win.
The 5-8 Panthers will have someone else fielding kickoffs and punts as they wrap up the year against the Seahawks, Colts, and Saints.
Weeks after claiming Donte Moncrief, the Panthers will send him back to the waiver wire. Carolina cut Moncrief and will replace him with another wide receiver — practice squad promotion Greg Dortch — providing another sign the veteran is running out of chances.
The Panthers became the second team this season to cut bait on the sixth-year receiver, following the Steelers’ lead. Pittsburgh benched the 6-foot-4 talent, despite giving him its No. 2 wideout job after the preseason, early in the year before waiving him in early November.
A former third-round pick, Moncrief did not catch a pass in three outings with the Panthers. He caught four for 18 yards as a Steeler. This represents a steep descent for the former Colts and Jaguars cog, who caught 48 passes for 668 yards and three touchdowns as a Jaguar last year. That prompted the Steelers to give him a two-year, $9MM deal. If no one claims Moncrief by Monday afternoon, he will be a free agent.
A 5-foot-7 rookie UDFA claimed by the Panthers in September, Dortch has played in one game with the Panthers. He served as Carolina’s return man in Week 9 against the Titans.
Today’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Denver Broncos
Indianapolis Colts
Los Angeles Rams
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
Today’s minor moves:
Carolina Panthers
Dallas Cowboys
Philadelphia Eagles
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
We’ll keep track of Monday’s practice squad moves here:
Atlanta Falcons
Arizona Cardinals
Buffalo Bills
Cincinnati Bengals
Dallas Cowboys
Detroit Lions
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Kansas City Chiefs
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
New York Giants
New York Jets
Oakland Raiders
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Washington Redskins
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC East teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Bills, Dolphins, Jets and Patriots are noted below.
Additionally, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads today. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.
Here are Sunday’s AFC East transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.
* = International Pathway Program player
The Jets had a relatively small 2019 draft class with only six selections, but they’ve supplemented those prospects by adding 16 undrafted free agents:
Gil Brandt of NFL.com named Tyler Jones as the fourth-best undrafted free agent interior lineman available, and the Jets don’t exactly have the league’s strongest guard/center situation. If he’s able to play center, Jones could be factor in New York, where only Jonotthan Harrison and Jon Toth are ahead of the NC State product on the depth chart. Lance Zierlein of NFL.com lauded Jones’ pass-blocking acumen and noted his abilities in a zone scheme, which should play well in Adam Gase‘s new system.
As the season has gone on, it’s become clear that Steve Wilks faces increasingly long odds of being retained by the Cardinals for a second season. Wilks drew rave reviews during his one season as Panthers defensive coordinator, but Arizona’s season has been disastrous right from the get-go, and it was reported by Adam Schefter yesterday that the team was planning to move on. Larry Fitzgerald and other players have expressed support for the embattled coach, but it doesn’t look like it’ll be enough. In an interesting piece, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN recently took a look at the arguments both for and against firing Wilks.
Weinfuss lists the concerning lack of progress from Josh Rosen as one compelling reason to make him a one and done, as it doesn’t appear Wilks and his staff have done a good job developing him or putting him in position to succeed. As far as reasons for keeping him, Weinfuss lists some injuries, bad offensive coaching from the fired Mike McCoy, and the summer suspension of GM Steve Keim that kept the two from collaborating on the roster. Mike McCarthy is reportedly interested in the job, and it will be very interesting to see how this all plays out. We should know Wilks’ fate for certain by next Monday.
Here’s more from around the league on Christmas Eve: