Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC North
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 Bears, Lions, Packers and Vikings moves are noted below.
Chicago Bears
Signed:
Claimed:
Placed on IR:
Signed to practice squad:
- LB Micah Baskerville, OL Theo Benedet, TE Stephen Carlson, DL Byron Cowart, OL Jake Curhan, LS Scott Daly, WR Collin Johnson, DB Quindell Johnson, LB Carl Jones, DL Jamree Kromah, DL Dashaun Mallory, DB Tarvarius Moore, QB Austin Reed, DB Reddy Stewart, DB Ro Torrence, WR Samori Toure
Detroit Lions
Signed:
Claimed:
- LB Trevor Nowaske,
Signed to practice squad:
- LB Mitchell Agude, C Kingsley Eguakun, QB Jake Fromm, RB Jermar Jefferson, T Jamarco Jones, WR Tom Kennedy, TE James Mitchell, S C.J. Moore, DL Pat O’Connor, WR Tim Patrick, DL Kyle Peko, WR Allen Robinson, DL Chris Smith, DL Isaac Ukwu, TE Shane Zylstra
Green Bay Packers
Signed:
Claimed:
Signed to practice squad:
- DL Deslin Alexandre, QB Sean Clifford, DL James Ester, K Alex Hale, WR Julian Hicks, OL Donovan Jennings, CB Kalen King, RB Nate McCrary, RB Ellis Merriweather, CB Robert Rochell, G/C Lecitus Smith
Minnesota Vikings
Signed:
Claimed:
Signed to practice squad:
- G Henry Byrd, DE Andre Carter II, RB Myles Gaskin, LB Dallas Grant, TE N’Keal Harry, WR Lucky Jackson, WR Jeshaun Jones, DeWayne McBride, S Bobby McCain, LB Bo Richter, OL Tyrese Robinson, WR Thayer Thomas, TE Robert Tonyan, CB Jaylin Williams, DL Jonah Williams, CB Nahshon Wright
Packers Announce 53-Man Roster
The Packers featured the youngest roster in the NFL last season, and they’re set to return most of that young core in 2024. Still, the team had to move on from a long list of inexperienced players as they pared their roster down to 53 players. The organization announced the following roster moves today:
Released:
Waived:
- DL Deslin Alexandre
- DL Brevin Allen
- DL Keshawn Banks
- K Anders Carlson (story)
- QB Sean Clifford (story)
- WR Grant DuBose
- DL James Ester
- CB Gemon Green
- K Alex Hale
- WR Julian Hicks
- OL Donovan Jennings
- S Anthony Johnson Jr.
- OT Caleb Jones
- CB Kalen King
- RB Nate McCrary
- RB Ellis Merriweather
- DL Zach Morton
- OL Royce Newman (story)
- TE Henry Pearson
- QB Michael Pratt (story)
- CB Robert Rochell
- LB Chris Russell
- S Benny Sapp III
- DL Keonte Schad
- OL Lecitus Smith
- WR Dimitri Stanley
- TE Messiah Swinson
- OT Luke Tenuta
- WR Samori Toure
- DL Spencer Waege
- WR Jalen Wayne
- TE Joel Wilson
- LB Christian Young
Waived/injured:
- CB LJ Davis
- LB Ralen Goforth
Placed on IR:
- TE Tyler Davis
- RB AJ Dillon (story)
- DL Jonathan Ford (designated for return)
Linebacker Kristian Welch brings the most experience of the bunch, with the former UDFA appearing in 57 career games in time with the Ravens and Packers. He spent the 2023 campaign in Green Bay, where he played all 210 of his snaps on special teams. Considering his limited experience on defense, there’s a chance the Packers are tinkering with their roster and intend to bring the veteran back via the practice squad.
Packers Sign Eight UDFAs
After leaving this past weekend with one of the league’s largest draft classes, the Packers are continuing to add rookies to their roster. The team announced that they’ve signed eight undrafted free agents:
- Peter Bowden, LS (Wisconsin)
- James Ester, DL (Northern Illinois)
- Ralen Goforth, LB (Washington)
- Jarveon Howard, RB (Alcorn State)
- Donovan Jennings, OL (South Florida)
- Trente Jones, OL (Michigan)
- Rodney Mathews, DL (Ohio)
- Messiah Swinson, TE (Arizona State)
South Florida offensive lineman Donovan Jennings earned a significant pay day to join the Packers. The rookie got a $10K signing bonus and $100K in guaranteed salary to catch on with Green Bay, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston. As Wilson notes, that signing bonus is higher than any the organization handed out in 2023, and the Packers also didn’t give any of their UDFAs guaranteed money last offseason.
Elsewhere on offense, the team added Arizona State’s Messiah Swinson. The tight end had 15 catches during his first season in Arizona in 2022, but he followed that up with only six receptions in 2023.
On the other side of the ball, the Steelers added a pair of pass rushers in James Ester and Rodney Mathews. Ester compiled eight sacks and 16 tackles for loss during his final three seasons at Northern Illinois, while Mathews collected 14.5 tackles for loss in his final three seasons with the Bobcats.