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 to active roster: 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.
Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey Undergoes Finger Surgery
By Thursday of this week, the Ravens knew they would be down two defensive players, and by Friday, they had already placed one of them on injured reserve. 
The Ravens acknowledged a finger injury to first-team All-Pro cornerback Marlon Humphrey last week, even though it didn’t actually keep him from being a full participant in practice. In the team’s win over the Vikings, though, Humphrey only played 45 of the team’s 65 defensive snaps, when he normally only takes a handful of snaps off. This week, the finger injury kept him out of practice all week.
Head coach John Harbaugh acknowledged that Humphrey may require surgery on his finger the day after the game, per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. On Wednesday, Kevin Oestreicher, who writes for USA Today as part of the publication’s NFL Wire Network, quoted Harbaugh’s report that Humphrey had gotten “his finger pinned.” Pins are usually placed in broken fingers with unstable or misaligned fractures to help them heal and set properly. Pins remain in the finger until the bones are healed, then are taken out in a minimally invasive procedure.
This does make Humphrey inactive for today’s game, but he is not the player who was placed on IR. Harbaugh relayed to the media that the 29-year-old quarterback will likely only miss a week or two. The player who was placed on IR yesterday was undrafted rookie linebacker Jay Higgins IV. Not to be confused with the second-round Iowa State wide receiver in Houston, Jayden Higgins, Jay played for the rival Iowa Hawkeyes and signed with the Ravens after falling out of the draft.
While making the initial 53-man roster as an undrafted free agent is an impressive feat, though a common one in Baltimore, Higgins hasn’t actually seen any time on defense, instead working as a core special teamer throughout his young career. Per Zrebiec, Higgins sustained a “notable knee injury” sometime during the team’s trip to Minnesota and left the locker room after the game with a significant brace on his right leg. Harbaugh informed the media on Monday that the injury is not season-ending but that it would take a few weeks for Higgins to come back from.
With Humphrey out, the Ravens head to Cleveland with Nate Wiggins, Chidobe Awuzie, T.J. Tampa, and undrafted rookie Keyon Martin as the only healthy corners on the active roster. Martin is the one listed as the second-string nickelback, the position most frequented by Humphrey. The team did call up veteran cornerback Amani Oruwariye as a standard gameday practice squad elevation for added depth at the position.
The Ravens utilized their other elevation to call up another undrafted rookie linebacker in Chandler Martin out of Memphis. Martin and Higgins were frequently viewed as competitors for a 53-man roster spot throughout the preseason, and Martin ended up on the practice squad while Higgins made the team. Now, Martin will get his chance to fill in for Higgins on special teams today.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/15/25
Here are today’s minor NFL moves and standard gameday practice squad elevations for tomorrow’s slate of games:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed off Giants’ practice squad: DT Elijah Garcia
- Elevated: CB Cobee Bryant, S Jammie Robinson
- Waived: G Andrew Stueber
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed from practice squad: DT Taven Bryan
- Elevated: LB Chandler Martin, CB Amani Oruwariye
- Placed on IR: LB Jay Higgins
Carolina Panthers
- Elevated: LB Krys Barnes, S Israel Mukuamu
Cincinnati Bengals
- Elevated: DE Isaiah Foskey, RB Kendall Milton
Cleveland Browns
- Elevated: DT Sam Kamara, LB Cameron McGrone
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Elevated: DT Matt Dickerson
Los Angeles Chargers
- Elevated: RB Amar Johnson, RB Trayveon Williams
Los Angeles Rams
- Elevated: K Harrison Mevis
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Elevated: CB D’Shawn Jamison, LB Mark Robinson
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed from practice squad: DE Clelin Ferrell
- Elevated: CB Eli Apple
- Waived: QB Adrian Martinez
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Elevated: LB Nick Jackson, OLB Mohamed Kamara
Tennessee Titans
- Activated from IR: S Mike Brown
Washington Commanders
- Elevated: RB Chase Edmonds, CB Tre Hawkins
With the 49ers set to see their starting quarterback return, Martinez’s presence on the 53-man roster is no longer necessary. He’ll likely find his way back to the team’s practice squad.
The Panthers’ two elevations, Barnes and Mukuamu, are direct reflections of injury absences for tomorrow’s game. With Trevin Wallace and Lathan Ransom ruled out for Sunday, Carolina made the decision to call up another player at each position.
Mevis will once again be called upon for kicking duties in Los Angeles. In his NFL debut last week, he was untested in terms of field goal attempts, but he converted all six extra point attempts in a blowout win in San Francisco.
Kamara in Tampa Bay is being called up for the third time this season. If the Buccaneers intend to play him in another game this year, they’ll need to sign him to the 53-man roster, much as the Ravens did after Bryan exhausted all three of his standard gameday practice squad elevations.
Ravens LB Jake Hummel Underwent Minor Hand Procedure, Will Make 53-Man Roster
The Ravens’ roster picture became even clearer on Monday with head coach John Harbaugh confirming that veteran linebacker and special teams ace Jake Hummel would make the 53-man roster.
“He’s going to be a big part of what we’re doing,” said Harbaugh, who also revealed that Hummel has a minor hand procedure this week. The former Ram missed part of the spring due to the birth of his son and started training camp on the non-football injury list due to an issue with his hand. He returned to practice and played in Baltimore’s first two preseason game before sitting out the third.
Harbaugh also said that he expects Hummel to return to practice next week and be “good to go” for the Ravens’ regular season opener in Buffalo.
Hummel will be the fourth linebacker on Baltimore’s 53-man roster, along with All-Pro Roquan Smith, 2023 third-rounder Trenton Simpson, and rookie Teddye Buchanan. The Ravens could keep a fifth after an impressive preseason from undrafted rookie Jay Higgins. He recorded six tackles, one sack, one bat-down, and one interception on his way to a 90.9 grade from Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked fourth among all linebackers.
Harbaugh also provided some injury updates on wide receiver Xavier Guillory and Dayton Wade. Guillory, an undrafted rookie out of Arizona State, broke his clavicle, while Wade, a second-year UDFA, had chest surgery. Both are candidates to be placed on injured reserve, potentially ending their season, though neither was expected to make the 53-man roster.
Ravens Sign 17 UDFAs
Going stride-for-stride with the Seahawks in competition for the league’s largest rookie crop, the Ravens, much like Seattle, have signed 17 undrafted free agent rookies to join their 11-man draft class. The newest additions to Baltimore’s 28-man rookie class are:
- Jahmal Banks, WR (Nebraska)
- Diwun Black, OLB (Temple)
- Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan, T (Oregon State)
- Xavier Guillory, WR (Arizona State)
- Jay Higgins, LB (Iowa)
- Reid Holskey, G (Miami [OH])
- Ozzie Hutchinson, T (Albany)
- Desmond Igbinosun, S (Rutgers)
- Keondre Jackson, S (Illinois State)
- Jayson Jones, DT (Auburn)
- Reuben Lowery, CB (Tennessee-Chattanooga)
- Marcus Major, RB (Minnesota)
- Chandler Martin, LB (Memphis)
- Sone Ntoh, RB (Monmouth)
- Jared Penning, G (Northern Iowa)
- Sam Pitz, TE (Minnesota-Duluth)
- Marquise Robinson, CB (Arkansas)
The Ravens are notorious for finding undrafted free agents who have potential to make the 53-man roster. That will be a tall task for this year’s group as 17 of them compete with the 11 draft picks. That goes double for the several small school signees like Hutchinson, Jackson, Lowery, Ntoh, Penning, and Pitz, who will have to show what they can do in camp after playing inferior competition in college.
Christian-Lichtenhan certainly stands out as a possible contender for a roster spot. After the Ravens entered the draft needing to add bodies at tackle, Christian-Lichtenhan has volunteered his 6-foot-8, 315-pound frame for the job. After graduating from Colorado with a degree and 19 starts at left tackle to his name, Christian-Lichtenhan transferred to Corvallis, where he started all 12 games as the blindside blocker for the Beavers.
In Higgins and Martin, the team brings in two inside linebackers, a position at which Baltimore usually harbors hard-working UDFAs for their special teams value. Higgins was projected to be a late-Day 3 pick but just slipped out of the draft. In his two years as a starter (out of five total with the Hawkeyes), Higgins notched 295 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, three forced fumbles, 14 passes defensed, and five interceptions. After his only season as a starter at East Tennessee State, Martin leveraged a strong year into a transfer to Memphis. For the Tigers, Martin started two seasons, tallying 206 tackles, 33.0 tackles for loss, 10.0 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, nine passes defensed, and three interceptions. Both are undersized backers who display sideline-to-sideline ability and strong coverage abilities.
Jackson stands, perhaps, the strongest chance to make the roster from the small schools. Jackson started three of his five seasons in Normal. His final two years (172 tackles, 11.0 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, 11 passes defensed, and four interceptions) were his strongest. His versatility earned him first-team All-MVFC honors, and he was recognized at the Senior Bowl as the National team’s Top DB. His versatility gives him a strong chance to compete for a roster spot.