Here are the latest minor transactions from around the NFL, including the Chargers practice squad elevations for Thursday Night Football.
Los Angeles Chargers
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
Today’s practice squad moves:
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Cleveland Browns
Denver Broncos
Green Bay Packers
Indianapolis Colts
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
New England Patriots
Philadelphia Eagles
San Francisco 49ers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Washington Commanders
With Anthony Richardson heading to injured reserve with an eye injury, the Colts are set to add some QB depth in veteran Brett Rypien, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The 29-year-old brings four games of starting experience to Indy, with his most recent start coming with the Rams in 2023. In total, Rypien has completed 58.3 percent of his career passes for 950 yards, four touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Riley Leonard will temporarily be the QB2 behind Daniel Jones, but there’s a chance Rypien eventually works his way up to the active roster.
The Chargers moved on from a notable edge defender today in Clelin Ferrell. The former Raiders first-round pick started all 17 games for the 49ers just two years ago, with the edge rusher finishing that campaign with 3.5 sacks and 13 QB hits. He started 10 of his 14 appearances with the Commanders in 2024, adding another 3.5 sacks to his resume. After being among Washington’s final preseason cuts, Ferrell caught on with the Chargers practice squad and ended up getting into one game with the big-league club.
The Eagles moved on from a pair of skill players today. Audric Estime was a fifth-round pick by the Broncos last year, with the running back compiling 337 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns on 81 touches. He was waived by Denver back in August and landed on Philly’s practice squad. Javon Baker was a fourth-round pick by the Patriots in last year’s draft, but he was limited to a single catch in 11 games.
The Chargers placed a key defender on season-ending IR and made a quarterback decision. Here are the Bolts’ moves to reach the 53-man roster limit:
It is not known what injury Colson suffered — teams do not have to disclose injuries until Week 1 — but this is a significant setback for the former Jim Harbaugh Michigan pupil. Colson entered training camp with a chance to earn the starting linebacker job alongside Daiyan Henley; instead, he will miss the season. Harris and Leonard will be eligible to return from IR after four games; their IR-return placements drop the Bolts’ injury activation count from eight to six.
It is possible the Chargers circle back to Heinicke, who is a vested veteran. A practice squad stashing could make sense, but Trey Lance is also a vested veteran now. The Bolts are keeping the former No. 3 overall pick on their 53-man roster, while Heinicke’s status is uncertain. The Chargers re-signed Heinicke to a one-year, $2.5MM deal. They are positioned to eat $2MM in dead money due to the guarantees given to their 2024 backup.
Many teams have started signing players to reserve/futures contracts, allowing the organization to retain (routinely) young, practice squad players through the offseason. Here are the latest reserve/futures contracts:
Arizona Cardinals
Cleveland Browns
Denver Broncos
Green Bay Packers
Los Angeles Chargers
Pittsburgh Steelers
Today’s minor moves and a few standard gameday practice squad elevations for the first games of the playoffs:
Chicago Bears
Kansas City Chiefs
Los Angeles Chargers
Philadelphia Eagles
McFadden’s waiver claim has been accepted, but since the Bears have no more games this year, it has been deferred until the first business day after the Super Bowl, February 10.
Saturday’s minor transactions, including gameday practice squad elevations:
Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Jacksonville Jaguars
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
Eagles starting tight end Dallas Goedert has been placed on injured reserve, so Jenkins will come up from the practice squad for a little added depth.
Many teams used Friday to make further adjustments to their practice squads. Here is the full breakdown:
Baltimore Ravens
Carolina Panthers
Denver Broncos
Green Bay Packers
Jacksonville Jaguars
Kansas City Chiefs
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams
Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots
New York Giants
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
Seattle Seahawks
Wolford’s seven regular season appearances to date have all come with the Rams. The 28-year-old spent last season with the Buccaneers, though, working with then-offensive coordinator Dave Canales. Canales is now the head coach in Carolina, and Wolford has followed him in a bid to earn a 53-man roster spot at some point during the season. The Panthers already had Jack Plummer on their taxi squad, but Wolford will offer Canales and Co. a more familiar option behind Bryce Young and Andy Dalton.
Here are Thursday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Carolina Panthers
Cincinnati Bengals
Dallas Cowboys
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams
Miami Dolphins
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
Washington Commanders
Schlottmann suffered what Brian Daboll called a long-term injury. Elaborating on the injury Schlottmann suffered in practice Wednesday, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan notes the veteran backup O-lineman will rehab a broken fibula. The injury is expected to shut down the free agency addition for at least two months. No surgery is on tap for Schlottmann. The Giants considering him for activation may depend on their injury situation, as teams only have eight regular-season IR activations. The Giants have seven presently, as they used a summer IR designation on linebacker Matthew Adams on Tuesday.
Tony Jefferson survived the Chargers’ initial roster cuts, but he is set to quickly hit the open market. The veteran safety is being released, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. The move is now official, per a team announcement. 
[RELATED: Chargers Acquire Taylor Heinicke From Falcons]
Rapoport notes, to little surprise, that Jefferson is expected to remain in the organization by signing a practice squad deal. The 32-year-old retired last May, but he spent the spring attempting an NFL comeback. That process included a free agent visit with the Chargers in June, and it resulted in a contract later that month.
Jefferson began his career with the Cardinals, and he landed a big-ticket free agent deal with the Ravens in 2017. The former UDFA spent three seasons in Baltimore, serving as a full-time starter until an ACL tear ended his 2019 campaign. Jefferson followed defensive coordinator Don Martindale to the Giants in 2022, making nine appearances. That was a positive sign after he had missed 2020 altogether and bounced on and off the Ravens’ and 49ers’ rosters the following year.
Presuming Jefferson is retained on the taxi squad, he will provide depth to the Chargers – a team which features a familiar face in defensive coordinator Jesse Minter – in the secondary. Given the time which has elapsed since his last game action, expectations will be relatively low if/when he is signed back to the active roster. Still, Jefferson could prove to be an effective pickup as the Bolts aim to find low-cost contributors on defense and special teams.
In another roster move, the Chargers waived running back Jaret Patterson. The former Commander played two seasons in Washington, but did not make any regular season appearances last season. He signed a futures deal with Los Angeles in January, and he managed to remain on the roster until today. Patterson will now hit the waiver wire, and if he clears he will be free to re-sign with the Bolts on the practice squad or join a new team in advance of Week 1.
The top end of the Chargers’ depth chart at running back is set to look extremely different in 2024. After rolling with Austin Ekeler and Joshua Kelley for the last four seasons, new head coach Jim Harbaugh and new offensive coordinator Greg Roman will be utilizing a new pair of backs this season. 
While the pair is new to Los Angeles, they are no strangers to Roman. Roman was on staff in Baltimore from 2017-2022, spending the last four years of that tenure as offensive coordinator. Roman was in Baltimore when both Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins entered the NFL as Ravens, helping the team field a top rushing offense in the league during their time together.
For much of his career, Edwards has never really received the billing as RB1. Sharing a roster with such players as the late Alex Collins, Mark Ingram, and Dobbins, Edwards has always entered the season as RB2. Injuries to those players constantly put the Ravens offense in a position in which they needed to rely on Edwards. Even functioning in a dual-back rushing attack, Edwards has been extremely consistent, reaching at least 700 rushing yards in each healthy season.
Dobbins has not had the same consistency as Edwards. While he has been dynamic in stretches, averaging 5.8 yards per carry in his career and being seen as the Ravens RB1 when healthy, health has been a gigantic hurdle for the Ohio State product thus far. Since appearing in 15 games as a rookie, Dobbins has only appeared in nine of a possible 51 games since. He missed the entirety of the 2021 season, nine games in 2022, and suffered a season-ending injury in last year’s season-opener.
Now, Roman, Edwards, and Dobbins all enter their first years as Chargers. According to Daniel Popper of The Athletic, Edwards is looking set to enter his first ever season as RB1. Popper claims that Edwards so far looks to be “the clear lead back.” Likely a cautious approach to Dobbins’ injury-history, Los Angeles will depend on Edwards’ consistency. Edwards also displayed true RB1 potential last year, recording a career-high 810 rushing yards while finishing third for NFL running backs with 13 touchdowns behind only Raheem Mostert and Christian McCaffrey.
Behind Edwards, Popper believes that there is an open competition for touches, though he notes that Dobbins should be the clear winner, if healthy. Pushing Dobbins for snaps with be rookie sixth-round pick Kimani Vidal, Isaiah Spiller, Elijah Dotson, and Jaret Patterson, likely in that order. Vidal, out of Troy, rushed for 2,793 yards and 24 touchdowns in his final two years of college ball, and his fresh slate in Los Angeles should favor his opportunities if he has a good camp. Spiller and Dotson have seen minimal opportunities in their three-combined years with the team, and that doesn’t seem likely to change now, while Patterson hasn’t seen much action since his rookie year with Washington in 2021.
Chargers fans looking for a glimpse at what they can expect out of their rushing offense should have little research to do other than watching the Ravens’ offensive film of the last five years. If Popper’s perception is correct, 2024 should feature a healthy dose of Edwards as the lead back with as much Dobbins as his body will allow. Vidal will likely get some work, too, should Dobbins not be up for it, while Spiller, Dotson, and Patterson could all earn some time with strong camps.