Robert Nkemdiche

49ers Release DL Robert Nkemdiche

Robert Nkemdiche‘s brief stint in San Francisco has come to an end. The 49ers announced that they have released the veteran defensive lineman.

The former first-round pick somewhat rehabilitated his career with the Seahawks during the 2021 campaign, leading to the 49ers taking a chance on him back in July. There was hope that the veteran could provide some depth during the regular season, but the reality was that he was a healthy body who could fill in for injured defensive linemen Arik Armstead, Hassan Ridgeway, and Maurice Hurst. While Hurst is done for the season, Armstead and Ridgeway sound like they’re close to a return, making Nkemdiche expendable.

Nkemdiche was one of the most highly touted recruits in Ole Miss history, but the end of his tenure saw him getting suspended for the Sugar Bowl after being charged with marijuana possession. Still, the Cardinals took the defensive lineman in the first round of the 2016 draft, but he had a tough time finding a role during his stint in Arizona. In three seasons, Nkemdiche ended up starting only six of his 27 appearances.

He only got into two games with Miami in 2019 after spending much of the season on the PUP, and after getting cut by the Dolphins, he was slapped with a two-game suspension by the NFL. After sitting out the 2020 campaign, he managed to catch on with the Seahawks in 2021. He got into nine games with Seattle, collecting 15 tackles. While he didn’t receive a great grade from Pro Football Focus, the site did suggest the lineman was serviceable in pass-rushing situations. We’ll see if another team is willing to take a chance on Nkemdiche’s untapped potential.

NFL Workouts: 7/25/22

As players are moved to the PUP and NFI lists and rosters are starting to take shape for the start of training camps, many players are searching for opportunities to make a team.

Here’s the list of players who have received workouts or taken visits today and this past weekend:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

New England

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

 

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/28/21

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Los Angeles Rams

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/25/21

The weekly Saturday bunch of minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

  • Promoted: WR Juwan Green

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Seahawks Elevate DT Robert Nkemdiche

Robert Nkemdiche is on track to play in a regular-season game for the first time since November 2019. The Seahawks elevated the veteran defensive lineman from their practice squad Saturday.

The former first-round pick ended up with the Seahawks in April, ending a lengthy stay out of football. Nkemdiche was not with a team in 2020, with the Dolphins having released him in November 2019 after just two games.

A groin injury halted Nkemdiche’s progress in training camp and forced him to miss the Seahawks’ preseason slate. The Seahawks released the Ole Miss alum on cutdown day but re-signed him on a practice squad deal soon after. Evidently, the former Cardinals interior D-lineman has recovered from the groin issue. Nkemdiche will join a Seahawks D-line that fared well in Week 1, a 28-16 road win in which the reassembled front put frequent pressure on Carson Wentz.

The Cardinals cut bait on Nkemdiche in 2019, weeks after he showed up to training camp out of shape. Nkemdiche suffered a torn ACL in 2018 but had not stood out prior to the injury. The former No. 1 recruit in college football has just six career starts and 4.5 sacks — all coming in 2018 — but may well have the opportunity to see game action again and do so on his 27th birthday.

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC 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 BroncosChargersChiefs and Raiders moves will be noted below.

Here are Wednesday’s AFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Denver Broncos

Signed: 

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad: 

Kansas City Chiefs

Signed:

Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list:

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

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 CardinalsRamsSeahawks and 49ers moves are noted below.

Here are Wednesday’s NFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Arizona Cardinals

Signed to practice squad:

Los Angeles Rams

Signed to practice squad:

San Francisco 49ers

Signed:

Placed on IR: 

Signed to practice squad:

Seattle Seahawks

Claimed:

Signed:

Released/Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Seahawks Get Below Roster Limit

The Seahawks got their roster down to 52 players today. The organization made the following moves:

Released

Waived

The extra roster spot is reserved for cornerback Sidney Jones once the team completes their trade with the Jaguars.

Simmons emerged as a potential piece for the Seahawks in 2020. After seeing time in only six games through his first two professional seasons, the offensive lineman started six of his 14 games for Seattle last season while appearing on 56-percent of the team’s offensive snaps.

Seahawks Sign DT Robert Nkemdiche

The Seahawks added some defensive tackle depth in advance of tonight’s draft. Robert Nkemdiche, a first-rounder five years ago, has agreed to join Seattle, per a club announcement. Exact terms of the deal are not yet known.

Nkemdiche, 26, had lots of hype coming out of Mississippi in 2016. The Cardinals snagged him with the No. 29 overall pick, but he was hardly seen in his first two pro seasons. Then, in 2018, things started to look up for the imposing lineman as he registered 4.5 sacks, 36 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and eight quarterback hits in ten games (six starts). Unfortunately, that progress was halted by a knee injury, which led to his release in 2019.

The Dolphins picked Nkemdiche up and deployed him twice in ’19 before putting him back on the curb. After sitting out for the 2020 season, Nkemdiche will now look to revitalize his career with Pete Carroll & Co.

Free Agency Notes: Ansah, Nkemdiche, Webb

While the 49ers opted to sign Dion Jordan, the other top-five 2013 draft pick they hosted on a recent visit received good news. Ziggy Ansah passed his 49ers physical, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The former Lions and Seahawks defensive end has battled injuries in recent years, including a shoulder malady during his 2019 season in Seattle. However, Ansah is currently at 280 pounds and healthy. Although the former Pro Bowler is entering his age-31 season and has not contributed much statistically since his 12-sack 2017, his improved health should generate interest from other teams in the near future.

Here is the latest from the free agent market:

  • Former Cardinals first-round pick Robert Nkemdiche is aiming to return to the league. He has spoken with multiple teams, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo tweets. The one-time No. 1 recruit in the country did not pan out in Arizona or Miami, ballooning to 345 pounds during a thus-far unproductive career. But Garafolo adds Nkemdiche is back down to 315 and has told teams he is healthy. The Dolphins waived Nkemdiche in November.
  • Prior to the Falconsagreement with ex-Bengals cornerback Darqueze Dennard, they were interested in one of his former Cincinnati teammates. Atlanta was monitoring B.W. Webb, per ESPN.com’s Vaughn McClure (on Twitter). Webb started 12 Bengals games last season and was productive as a Giants slot cornerback in 2018. Now 30, Webb has the historically unusual distinction of playing for a different team in each of his six NFL seasons. The former Cowboys fourth-round pick has played with Dallas, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, New Orleans, the Giants and Cincinnati.
  • Free agent tight end Geoff Swaim took a physical for the Texans recently, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com notes (on Twitter). Teams are permitted to give physicals to free agents if they are serious about signing them. Swaim, however, remains unsigned days after this physical occurred. Swaim spent the first five seasons of his career with the Cowboys and Jaguars. He ended the past two seasons on IR.
  • Defensive tackle Darius Kilgo has been fully cleared from the quadriceps injury he suffered last season, Rapoport tweets. A 2015 Broncos draft choice, Kilgo suffered the injury while with the Lions last year. He has not played in a regular-season game since suiting up for the 2018 Titans.