Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC West
Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These 49ers, Cardinals, Rams and Seahawks moves are noted below.
Here are Wednesday’s NFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.
Arizona Cardinals
Claimed:
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
- WR Andre Baccellia, WR Victor Bolden Jr., OL Rashaad Coward, OL Danny Isidora, DL Manny Jones, WR Jontre Kirklin, LB Jesse Luketa, QB Trace McSorley, TE Bernhard Seikovits (international player), CB Jace Whittaker, DL Antwaun Woods, LB Chandler Wooten
Los Angeles Rams
Signed to practice squad:
- T A.J. Arcuri, T Chandler Brewer, DE Earnest Brown IV, TE Roger Carter Jr.., DB TJ Carter, DE T.J. Carter, DT Elijah Garcia, DB Grant Haley, TE Jacob Harris, DB Dan Isom, G Jeremiah Kolone, TE Jared Pinkney, T Max Pircher (international player), RB Trey Ragas, DE Brayden Thomas, WR Austin Trammell, DE Benton Whitley
San Francisco 49ers
Signed:
- TE Tyler Kroft, DL Jordan Willis
Claimed:
- OL Blake Hance (from Browns)
Placed on IR:
- LB Curtis Robinson, DB Jimmie Ward
Released from IR:
Signed to practice squad:
- DL Alex Barrett, S Tashaun Gipson, OL Alfredo Gutierrez, S Tayler Hawkins, CB Qwuantrezz Knight, WR Tay Martin, LB Marcelino McCrary-Ball, OL Jason Poe, WR Willie Snead, DL Akeem Spence, OL Keaton Sutherland, DL Kemoko Turay, WR Malik Turner
Seattle Seahawks
Signed:
Claimed:
- DB Isaiah Dunn (from Jets), DE Daryl Johnson (from Panthers)
Waived:
- LB Joshua Onujiogu
Placed on IR:
- DE L.J. Collier, CB John Reid
Reverted to IR:
- RB Josh Johnson
Signed to practice squad:
- WR JJ Arcega-Whiteside, LB Aaron Donkor (international playear), T Greg Eiland, WR Cade Johnson, LB Vi Jones, TE Tyler Mabry, QB Sean Mannion (story), WR Bo Melton, CB Quandre Mosely, LB Tanner Muse, S Scott Nelson, T Liam Ryan, RB Darwin Thompson
Cardinals Trim Roster To 53 Players
The Cardinals have set their 53-man roster, and the team naturally had to make some tough decisions as they cut down their roster:
Released:
- TE Stephen Anderson
- LS Aaron Brewer
- OL Rashaad Coward
- OL Danny Isidora
- LB Devon Kennard (story)
- OL Justin Murray (injury settlement)
- DL Christian Ringo (injury settlement)
- DL Antwaun Woods
Waived:
- WR Andre Baccellia
- WR Victor Bolden Jr.
- QB Jarrett Guarantano
- DL Manny Jones
- WR Jontre Kirklin
- LB Jesse Luketa
- QB Trace McSorley
- WR JaVonta Payton
- TE Bernhard Seikovits
- CB Jace Whittaker
- S James Wiggins
- LB Chandler Wooten
Waived/injured:
- S Tae Daley
- OL Greg Long
- OL Josh Miles
- TE Chris Pierce Jr.
Placed on IR:
Placed on reserve/suspended:
It sounded like Trace McSorley had an opportunity to stick on the roster as a third QB behind Kyler Murray and Colt McCoy, but the Cardinals decided to carry only a pair of quarterbacks through their first wave of cuts. There’s a chance that McSorley resurfaces on the practice squad. The former sixth-round pick has seen time in three career games, completing three of his 10 pass attempts for 90 yards and one touchdown.
Aaron Brewer is a bit of a surprise cut after serving as the Cardinals full-time long snapper for the past six years. However, there’s a good chance the 32-year-old lands back on the active roster once the Cardinals place players on their respective reserve lists. The same could also probably be said of tight end Stephen Anderson, who caught 24 passes across 33 games with the Chargers over the past two seasons.
Marquis Hayes was a seventh-round pick by the Cardinals in this year’s draft. The Oklahoma product will sit out his rookie campaign while sitting on injured reserve.
Cardinals Add 12 UDFAs
The Cardinals clearly targeted wide receivers and defensive lineman after the draft, with Arizona adding seven players at those positions among their 12 undrafted free agent signings:
- Darrell Baker Jr., CB (Georgia Southern)
- Changa Hodge, WR (Virginia Tech)
- Manny Jones, DL (Colorado State)
- Kekaula Kaniho, S (Boise State)
- Jontre Kirklin, WR (LSU)
- Will Miles, DL (Central Michigan)
- JaVonta Payton, WR (Tennessee)
- Chris Pierce Jr., TE (Vanderbilt)
- Ronnie Rivers, RB (Fresno State)
- Stephan Robinson Jr., WR (Northwestern)
- LaRon Stokes, DL (Oklahoma)
- Chandler Wooten, ILB (Auburn)
The addition of four receivers could partly be attributed to today’s news regarding star wideout DeAndre Hopkins. Among the grouping, Robinson put up the biggest numbers in 2021, finishing with 625 receiving yards. Payton was also plenty productive, finishing with 18 receptions for 413 yards and six scores.
As Darren Urban of the team’s website points out, it’s notable that the organization didn’t bring in a QB among their UDFAs. The Cardinals are currently rostering only three players at the position in Kyler Murray, Colt McCoy, and Trace McSorley.