Minor NFL Transactions: 8/8/23
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: K Matthew Wright
- Waived: OL B.J. Wilson
- Waived/failed physical: DE Jalen Redmond
Chicago Bears
- Signed: TE Lachlan Pitts, LB Barrington Wade
- Waived: K Andre Szmyt
- Waived/injured: TE Jake Tonges
Houston Texans
- Placed on IR: WR Jesse Matthews
Indianapolis Colts
- Activated from active/PUP list: DE Tyquan Lewis
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: T Matt Kaskey
New England Patriots
- Placed on active/PUP list: DE Trey Flowers
New Orleans Saints
- Re-signed: TE J.P. Holtz
New York Jets
- Claimed (from Buccaneers): T Grant Hermanns
- Signed: DE Pita Taumoepenu
- Released: DT Isaiah Mack
- Waived/injured: T Yodny Cajuste
- Reverted to IR: QB Chris Streveler
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: WR Johnny King
- Waived: T Chim Okorafor
- Activated from active/PUP list: WR Devon Allen
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: S Jalen Elliott
- Waived/injured: WR Ja’Marcus Bradley
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: RB Jeremy McNichols
- Waived: RB Ronald Awatt
Seattle Seahawks
- Waived/injured: CB Andrew Whitaker
Washington Commanders
- Signed: P Colby Wadman
- Placed on IR: DT Curtis Brooks
Flowers, who agreed to terms with the Patriots earlier today after a workout, suffered a foot injury in October of last season. That setback cut short a Dolphins run after four games. Flowers, who will turn 30 next week, last played for the Patriots in 2018.
McNichols joined Duke Johnson, Brian Hill and Jason Huntley at a recent 49ers workout. The 49ers are without Elijah Mitchell for what is expected to be a short stretch. A five-year veteran, McNichols most recently saw action for the Titans in 2021, helping the team as a pass-catching back (28 grabs for 240 yards) while Derrick Henry missed time with a foot fracture.
Allen suffered an injury while competing in the opening rounds of the 110-meter hurdles competition at the USA Track and Field Championships in July. The two-time Olympian owns the sixth-fastest hurdle time this year (13.04 seconds) but missed a key chunk of Eagles camp. This marks his second bid to make Philadelphia’s 53-man roster. Allen, 28, spent last season on the Eagles’ practice squad and stayed with the team via a reserve/futures contract in February.
The Panthers’ regular kicker, Eddy Pineiro, is battling a groin injury. Carolina gave Pineiro, their 2022 kicker, $2.25MM guaranteed earlier this offseason. The Jaguars’ primary kicker in 2021, Wright kicked in four Steelers games and two Chiefs contests last season.
A rookie UDFA, Whittaker suffered a torn patellar tendon in a recent Seahawks practice, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets. Matthews also sustained a season-ending injury — a torn ACL — during a Texans workout, Wilson adds (on Twitter).
49ers Sign 12 UDFAs
The 49ers are the latest team to announce their undrafted free agent class. Here are the 12 signees now on San Francisco’s 90-man roster:
- RB Ronald Awatt (UTEP)
- FB Jack Colletto (Oregon State)
- OL Joey Fisher (Shepherd)
- CB D’Shawn Jamison (Texas)
- RB Khalan Laborn (Marshall)
- OL Corey Luciano (Washington)
- OL Ilm Manning (Hawaii)
- LB Mariano Sori-Marin (Minnesota)
- DL Spencer Waege (North Dakota State)
- WR Isaiah Winstead (East Carolina)
- WR Shae Wyatt (Tulane)
- S Avery Young (Rutgers)
The 49ers signed Winstead not long after he tweeted no team had extended him a UDFA offer or invited him to a rookie minicamp. After transferring from Toledo, Winstead posted a 1,085-yard season at East Carolina last year. That total more than doubled the 6-foot-3 receiver’s previous single-season best mark. He will attempt to stick with the 49ers. While the NFL has not revealed if the 16-man practice squad limit will remain in place for a fourth season, it represents a good bet teams will still have 69 spots (53 active roster, 16 P-squad) to use in 2023.
Fisher received a $130K guarantee to sign, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 tweets. The 6-foot-4 lineman lined up at right tackle at Division II Shepherd from 2019-22, earning All-American acclaim. He also impressed at his pro day, performing 40 bench-press reps of 225 pounds. That bettered this year’s top O-lineman Combine mark (38). Fisher is also coming off a broken hand sustained during the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.
A Florida State transfer, Laborn is coming off a 1,513-yard rushing season at Marshall. Manning made a whopping 60 starts at Hawaii. Working as a tackle, Manning earned first-team All-Mountain West Conference honors last season. Young started 54 games for the Scarlet Knights; Jamison made 40 starts for the Longhorns. Spencer finished last season as a first-team Division I-FCS All-American, tallying nine sacks, 17.5 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles for the FCS powerhouse program.
Awatt and Laborn join a 49ers team that did not draft a running back but still carries their top backups — Elijah Mitchell, Jordan Mason and Tyrion Davis-Price — from last season. Christian McCaffrey‘s Panthers-constructed extension runs through 2025.
Every member of San Francisco’s UDFA class was born in the 1990s. Teams’ UDFA classes are flooded with players who used the additional eligibility year that came about because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but five members of this contingent will be at least 25 by year’s end. Awatt and Fisher will turn 26 as rookies.