The Broncos and Vikings agreed on a trade Saturday, one that will send Stephen Weatherly to Denver. The Vikings are trading the veteran edge defender to the Broncos in a deal that will see the teams swap seventh-round picks, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.
Weatherly and a 2023 seventh-rounder will go to Denver, which is sending a 2022 seventh to Minnesota. This will reunite Weatherly with new Broncos GM George Paton, who was with the Vikings when they drafted the sixth-year vet back in 2016. Weatherly sought a trade, according to Pelissero (on Twitter), and the Vikings obliged for low-level compensation.
This move will give the Broncos some much-needed depth. Denver finished its Thursday game without all four of its starting linebackers. Von Miller avoided serious injury, but the team is still without Bradley Chubb for an extended stretch. Malik Reed and seventh-round rookie Jonathon Cooper served as the Broncos’ primary edge rushers in Thursday’s 17-14 loss to the Browns.
Weatherly, 27, has played less than 20% of the Vikings’ defensive snaps in each of their past four games. He has served as a key special-teamer for the Vikings and started nine games for the Panthers in 2020. The Broncos are decimated at linebacker, having lost both starters and special-teamers, so Weatherly will likely be plugged in on special teams soon with his new squad.
The Panthers signed Weatherly to a two-year, $12.5MM deal in March 2020 but cut bait after one season. The Vikings brought him back this year. Less than $1MM remains on Weatherly’s contract, which runs through season’s end. The Broncos are not exactly up against the cap, however, holding more than $15MM in space.
To clear a roster spot, the Broncos moved linebacker Micah Kiser to IR. The former Rams ILB starter suffered a groin injury during the Broncos’ Thursday tilt. Vic Fangio said the Broncos are looking for help at this position as well.
September 22nd, 2021 at 3:59pm CST by Zachary Links
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Dallas Cowboys
Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Keanu Neal; as a high-risk close contact, per The Athletic’s Jon Machota (on Twitter), Neal can return after a five-day isolation period
September 22nd, 2021 at 10:04am CST by Zachary Links
The Broncos have signed linebacker Micah Kiser off of the Rams’ practice squad (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Kiser will help fill in for starter Josey Jewell, who is done for the year with a torn pectoral muscle.
Kiser has agreed to a one-year, fully-guaranteed $600K deal with Denver, according to Rapoport. He’ll get a chance to see his first significant work of the season — to date, he’s got just 17 special teams snaps from Week 2 when the Rams faced the Colts. Last year, Kiser notched 77 total tackles, three passes defensed, and a forced fumble in nine starts for the Rams.
Kiser & Co. will look to go 3-0 on Sunday when they take on the Jets. Unfortunately, they’ll also be without fourth-year linebacker Bradley Chubb, who is recovering from ankle surgery. There’s no exact word on Chubb’s timetable just yet, but he’s expected to be out for six-to-eight weeks.
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 Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks and 49ers moves are noted below.
Here are Wednesday’s NFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.