Today’s minor moves:
Chicago Bears
- Signed: DE Byron Cowart
Green Bay Packers
- Re-signed: CB Robert Rochell
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: LB Troy Dye
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: OL Jack Driscoll
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: G Tremayne Anchrum Jr.
Today’s minor moves:
Chicago Bears
Green Bay Packers
Los Angeles Chargers
Miami Dolphins
Seattle Seahawks
The Packers announced a flurry of roster moves today to take care of some injury business. Green Bay had to send safety Darnell Savage and cornerback Eric Stokes to injured reserve, requiring the signing of two practice squad defensive backs to come up and fill their place.
Savage, the Packers starting free safety of the past five years, is playing in a contract year after having his fifth-year option picked up. Unfortunately, this last season before hitting the open market will include a stint on IR after the Maryland alum suffered a calf injury, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. With Savage expected to need a month or so to heal, former Houston starter Jonathan Owens will likely take his place in the starting lineup next to Rudy Ford.
Stokes is returning to IR after a heart-breaking four days. The young cornerback out of Georgia missed the back half of last season with an ankle injury then underwent both foot and knee surgeries in the offseason. Not fully healed at the start of this year, Stokes has been on Green Bay’s reserve/PUP list all season, up until four days ago.
Green Bay partially activated Stokes out of necessity in order to ensure he would be able to avoid spending the full season on the PUP list, after being designated to return. After only four special teams snaps in Week 7, though, Stokes will land on IR for a second straight season. The injury sending him back to IR is being designated as a hamstring malady.
The Packers decided to fill the two vacant roster spots by signing practice squad players to the active roster, one of whom came from another team’s practice squad. The team decided to add cornerback Robert Rochell off the Panthers’ practice squad and promote cornerback Corey Ballentine from their own. Cornerback Zyon Gilbert will join the Packers’ practice squad, filling the spot vacated by Ballentine.
With Stokes on IR and Jaire Alexander continuing to battle the injury bug, the focus on cornerbacks is completely understandable. With a three-game upcoming stretch that includes games against the Chargers, Lions, and Chiefs, Green Bay will be working hard to get their secondary right.
Wednesday’s practice squad transactions:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
New Orleans Saints
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
Teams continue to tinker with their taxi squads in the aftermath of roster cutdowns. Here are Friday’s updates:
Arizona Cardinals
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Cleveland Browns
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Kansas City Chiefs
Los Angeles Chargers
New England Patriots
New York Giants
Seattle Seahawks
Tennessee Titans
Today’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Chicago Bears
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Kansas City Chiefs
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Rams did a bit of work yesterday in moving towards the 53-man deadline. Here are the additional moves the team made today to get down to the max roster number to start the season:
Waived:
Waived/injured:
Released:
It appears that fourth-round rookie draft pick Stetson Bennett won out in the battle for the backup quarterback job, leading to the expendability of Rypien and Winn. Youth similarly won out at the running back spot as rookie Zach Evans and second year backs Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers beat out the veteran backup in Freeman. On defense, Copeland is bit of a surprise after starting nine games last year for the Rams.
The special teams room is quite intriguing for now. The room was looking to hold three rookies before the above waiver of the undrafted Oklahoma State kicker Brown. Seventh-round rookie punter Ethan Evans and undrafted rookie long snapper Alex Ward remain on the roster, but without Brown, the Rams will need to look into adding a new kicker out of the free agent market. Or they may attempt to follow the recent trends and trade for one.
Here are Saturday’s minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
Los Angeles Rams
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
A long list of players were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. We listed the players who landed on the list today, as well as those who were activated off the list:
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Chicago Bears
Cleveland Browns
Detroit Lions
Houston Texans
Kansas City Chiefs
Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams
Las Vegas Raiders
Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots
New York Giants
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
Seattle Seahawks
Tennessee Titans
Washington Football Team
We are trying our best here at Pro Football Rumors to keep up with all of the updates throughout the league concerning players on the reserve/COVID-19 list. A lot of teams had high hopes during today’s testing as they were trying to get players activated in time for Sunday’s slate of games.
Here are updates as of 8:30 PM ET, Sat 12/18:
Baltimore Ravens
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Los Angeles Rams
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
New York Giants
New York Jets
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Washington Football Team
The Rams have placed cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and Dont’e Deayon , along with tight end Tyler Higbee on the COVID-19 reserve list, per a club announcement. As well, Robert Rochell has been placed on Injured Reserve. With that, all four players will be ineligible for tonight’s marquee matchup against the Cardinals.
The Cardinals can effectively lock up the NFC West crown with a win tonight, leaving the Rams to jockey for Wild Card placement. If Arizona was to complete the season sweep of L.A., they would remain atop the NFC at 11-2, while the loss would drop the Rams to 8-5.
Ramsey’s absence is a huge loss for a secondary that will be facing a Cardinals attack which has recently gotten back to full strength with a healthy Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins. Ramsey has 59 tackles and three interception in 2021. Without him, Darious Williams will be forced into an even heavier workload, as will David Long Jr., as the Rams’ cornerback room is suddenly dangerously thin.
Offensively, the loss of Higbee will be felt in the Rams’ passing attack. He had produced 44 receptions for 395 yards and three touchdowns so far this year. Already without wide receiver Robert Woods for the remainder of 2021, even more snaps and targets will likely be coming the way of recently-acquired Odell Beckham Jr. along with sophomore Van Jefferson.
The Cardinals won the first matchup of the season, 37-20, in Week 4. Even more than initially thought, Beckham along with Von Miller – both of whom were acquired after that game – will be counted on for the Rams.