Stephen Carlson

NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/8/24

Many teams have started signing players to reserve/futures contracts, allowing organization to retain (routinely) young, practice squad players. Here are the latest reserve/futures contracts:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

  • OL Barry Wesley

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

  • LB Brandon Bouyer-Randle, WR Davion Davis, CB D’Angelo Mandell

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/9/23

We have our first flood of pregame transactions of the season today as teams across the league with games tomorrow utilize their two permitted practice squad elevations:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Promoted from practice squad: LB Brevin Allen

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

  • Promoted from practice squad: RB Myles Gaskin, OLB Benton Whitley

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

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 BearsLionsPackers and Vikings moves are noted below.

Chicago Bears

Placed on IR:

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Detroit Lions

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Green Bay Packers

Claimed:

Released:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Minnesota Vikings

Placed on IR:

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Bears Set Initial Roster, Waive DE Trevis Gipson

The Bears have been slowly trimming down their squad over the past few days, and the front office has now officially landed on their initial roster. The Bears announced the following moves, some of which were previously reported:

Placed on IR:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

The moves actually reduce Chicago’s roster to 52 players, so additions are certainly coming.

Trevis Gipson is a bit of a surprise cut after the former fifth-round pick got into 33 games (19 starts) for the Bears over the past two years. The defensive lineman showed some pass-rushing prowess during his rookie season, compiling seven sacks, seven tackles for loss, and seven QB hits. His numbers took a bit of a step back in 2022, with the Tulsa product finishing with only three sacks. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (via Twitter), the Bears worked on a trade for Gipson and had “teams involved” in the bidding but couldn’t come to terms before today’s roster deadline.

Trestan Ebner was another Bears draft pick that got into 17 games last season. The 2022 sixth-round pick ended up getting 26 touches on offense, collecting 62 yards from scrimmage while coughing up two fumbles. Ebner also returned 10 kickoffs for Chicago last season. The running back has been in concussion protocol since the early parts of the preseason, and there’s a chance he reverts to the Bears’ injured reserve if he goes unclaimed.

Bears To Sign TE Stephen Carlson

The Bears have added to a rather crowded tight ends room today, reportedly signing former Browns tight end Stephen Carlson, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. The 26-year-old is set to join the teams after participating in Chicago’s rookie minicamp this weekend.

Carlson came into the league as an undrafted signee out of Princeton in 2019. He failed to make the initial 53-man roster but was retained on the Browns’ practice squad to start the year. At the turn of the month into November, Carlson was signed to the active roster, making his NFL debut, and his first start, two days later. He remained on the active roster for the remainder of the year, making five starts and catching five passes for 51 yards and a touchdown.

Carlson had found his playing time thanks to the long-term injuries of pass-catching tight end David Njoku and Pharaoh Brown, but he found most of his usefulness in blocking and special teams while in Cleveland. In his sophomore season, Carlson would play in every game, including the team’s two playoff contests but only caught one pass for 11 yards. He tore his ACL just before the 2021 season, after which his contract with the Browns expired. He had reportedly fully recovered, working out with the Giants nearly a year ago, but didn’t sign with any teams in the 2022 season.

Luckily, Carlson won’t be asked to try and be Chicago’s premier receiving tight end. That role will likely continue to be held by Cole Kmet, who led the team in all receiving categories last year with 50 receptions for 544 yards and seven touchdowns. The rest of the tight ends on last year’s roster combined for six catches for 52 yards. The only returners from that group, second-year tight ends Jake Tonges out of Cal and Chase Allen out of Iowa State, failed to record a reception. Former Packers tight end Robert Tonyan will assist Kmet in pass-catching duties after signing with the Bears back in March. The only other tight end on the current roster is the undrafted rookie out of Stony Brook, Damien Caffrey, who caught seven passes for 78 yards in 2022.

It appears that Carlson will add a bit of experience and blocking behind Kmet and Tonyan. None of Tonges, Allen, or Caffrey were prestigious receivers in college or have much NFL experience, so Carlson stands a good chance of entering the year as the team’s TE3. He’ll get his chance to return to the league this summer after not having played in an NFL game since January 2021.

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

 

Browns To Pursue Tight Ends?

The Browns may have committed to David Njoku this offseason, but that won’t stop the organization from seeking additional depth at the position. ESPN.com’s Jake Trotter writes that the Browns are “a good bet” to pursue another tight end.

Despite Njoku’s wavering commitment to the organization, the Browns inked the tight end to a four-year, $56.75MM extension. In recent seasons, the former first-round pick has struggled to put together a year that’s come close to his 2018 campaign (639 receiving yards…he’s collected 729 receiving yards since). Still, he’ll sit atop Cleveland’s depth chart for the foreseeable future.

The Browns also sound like they’re committed to 2020 fourth-round pick Harrison Bryant. In two seasons with the team, the tight end has hauled in 45 receptions for 471 yards and six touchdowns in 31 games (12 starts). Bryant earned PFWA All-Rookie Team honors in 2020.

After those two, the Browns lack experienced depth. The team moved on from both Austin Hooper and Stephen Carlson this offseason, leaving practice squad TE Miller Forristall as the third tight end. The team added Nakia Griffin-Stewart as a free agent, and they signed a pair of UDFAs in Zaire Mitchell-Paden and Marcus Santos.

Jared Cook, Eric Ebron, and Kyle Rudolph are among the notable TEs still available in free agency. However, Trotter implies that the organization could ultimately make their addition following preseason cuts.

TE Stephen Carlson Works Out For Giants

After tearing his ACL in a preseason game last year, former Browns tight end Stephen Carlson has officially been cleared to return to football activities, and, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Carlson worked out today for the Giants in his bid to return to the field. 

Carlson was an undrafted free agent who signed with the Browns in 2019. Injuries to tight ends David Njoku and Pharaoh Brown elevated Carlson to third-string behind Demetrius Harris and Ricky Seals-Jones during his rookie season. Carlson saw most of his action in run-blocking or special teams, but he does have six career receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown, as well as a two-point conversion.

His role in the offense was reduced drastically in 2020 by the additions of free agent Austin Hooper, rookie Harrison Bryant, and the return of a healthy Njoku. After being given an exclusive-rights free agent tender by the Browns, Carlson signed a one-year deal to stay another year in Cleveland, before his ill-timed injury ended his season before it could begin.

Carlson’s attempt to join the Giants could result in a reunion with Seals-Jones. With Seals-Jones and Jordan Akins likely cemented as the top two tight ends on the roster in New York, Carlson would be competing for a TE3 or TE4 job with 2022 fourth-round pick Daniel Bellinger and fellow undrafted free agents Chris Myarick and Austin Allen.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/16/21

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

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

  • Waived: OL Bryce Hargrove, LB George Obinna
  • Reverted to IR: WR J’Mon Moore

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

  • Waived: OL Gage Cervenka, DB Dionte Ruffin, WR Jester Weah

Cincinnati Bengals

  • Waived: WR Reece Horn, WR Riley Lees

Cleveland Browns

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

  • Waived: K Austin MacGinnis, LB Derrick Moncrief, T Ryan Pope, OLB Max Roberts, DL George Silvanic
  • Released from IR: DB Dayan Lake

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

  • Waived/injured: K Riley Patterson, WR Blake Proehl

New York Giants

  • Signed: QB Brian Lewerke
  • Waived/injured: QB Clayton Thorson
  • Placed on IR: LB TJ Brunson, OL Kyle Murphy, S Joshua Kalu

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks