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 Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs and Raiders moves are noted below.
We are less than 24 hours from the deadline for NFL teams to trim their rosters to 53 players. Here are the latest moves teams have made as they pare their squads down toward the in-season limit:
The Steelers will have quite a different look at inside linebacker in 2023 than they had in 2022. Free agency took a toll on the room in the offseason but still helped them to reload a bit at the position. In a mailbag Q&A this week, Mark Kaboly of The Athletic addressed the question of whether or not Pittsburgh did enough to address the position this spring.
First, let’s address the losses. All three of the team’s top contributors at inside linebacker departed in free agency in the offseason. Myles Jack was heading into the second year of the two-year contract he had signed to join the Steelers last year, but the team, instead, decided to release the veteran linebacker to open up about $8MM of cap space. After being allowed to test his market in free agency, Devin Bushsigned a one-year contract in Seattle. Lastly, Robert Spillane, who served as a spot starter and factored heavily into the defensive rotation last year, also found his way to free agency, departing for Las Vegas.
That left three holes atop the roster at inside linebacker, including two starting spots. For one spot, the team signed former Commanders linebackerCole Holcomb. A fifth-round pick for Washington back in 2019, Holcomb was an immediate starter as a rookie. This wasn’t the first time that Holcomb had surpassed expectations as, in college, he earned a scholarship after initially walking on at North Carolina. He’s now started 48 of the 50 games he’s appeared in, but injuries have kept him from appearing in a possible 16 additional games. Most crucially, he missed 10 games in 2022 due to a knee injury in November and foot surgery that ended his season in December. If healthy, though, Holcomb can certainly perform as the team’s top linebacker. His best season saw him rank as the league’s 23rd best linebacker, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), in 2020, and despite his injuries, he ranked 35th in 2022.
Another spot was filled by former Patriots and Dolphins linebackerElandon Roberts. An eighth-year veteran, Roberts had a bit of a breakout year in 2022. After seeing his role diminish over his final years with the Patriots, Roberts found a way to improve over each season in Miami. Finally starting in every game of the season in 2022, Roberts recorded career-highs in total tackles (107), tackles for loss (10), and sacks (4.5) and tied a career-high in quarterback hits (6). He’s never graded out highly by PFF standards as a full-service linebacker, but last year, Roberts topped all NFL linebackers with an 89.2 pass rushing grade.
Pittsburgh is planning on filling the third hole internally by putting more responsibility on the shoulders of Mark Robinson to fill Spillane’s role from last year. A seventh-round pick for the team in 2022, Robinson only appeared in four games last season, making two starts in the final two games of the year. The Steelers have taken their time with Robinson, who had only played one season at linebacker in college after switching from running back. The team seems confident in Robinson’s ability to step up in Year 2. They relied on him last year in the team’s last two games against the Ravens and Browns, two run-heavy teams, and he may play a similar role this year.
For depth at inside linebacker, the team brought inNick Kwiatkoski and Tanner Muse. Kwiatkoski has past experience as a full-time starter but hasn’t started a game since the 2020 season. Muse is primarily a special teamer.
So, did the Steelers do enough to address the losses at the position? It may be too soon to say whether they’ve successfully filled the holes in the roster. They did a lot, and the holes are filled, but whether they’ve been filled effectively has yet to be determined. Kaboly does think that the team has done enough to at least satisfy the demands of the roster. He doesn’t believe that the team will continue to pursue Kwon Alexander or other free agents, barring injury to the three players above. Unless Holcomb, Roberts, and Robinson make it clear that they can’t handle the duties of the position, Kaboly believes that “the 90 they have is the 90 they will bring to camp.”
Here are a few details on contracts that have been signed in the last several weeks:
Richie James, WR (Chiefs): One year. $1.08MM (veteran minimum for a player with four to six years of service time). $400K guaranteed, including $152.5K signing bonus. Despite a career year in 2022 as part of the Giants’ depleted WR corps, James had to settle for a veteran minimum accord (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of KPRC2).
Shaq Lawson, DE (Bills): One year. $1.165MM (veteran minimum for a player with seven or more years of service time). $300K guaranteed, including $152.5K signing bonus (Twitter link via Wilson). Lawson was unable to parlay his increased role in the second half of the 2022 season — which included two playoff starts — into anything more than a veteran minimum deal.
Tanner Muse, LB (Steelers): One year. $1.01MM (veteran minimum for a player with three years of service time). Twitter link via Wilson. Muse worked primarily on special teams for the Seahawks in 2022, but he saw the first defensive snaps of his career towards the end of the season and will look to carve out a rotational/ST role for Pittsburgh. Seattle non-tendered him in March.
Muse’s career was in doubt early when the former third-round pick was waived by the Raiders just before his second year without him ever having played a snap for the team that drafted him. After joining the Seahawks practice squad in 2021, Muse worked to get back on track after an injury-riddled rookie season.
After working his way onto the active roster late into his first season in Seattle, Muse played in every game for the Seahawks in 2022. Serving primarily as a core special teamer, Muse even began to earn some playing time on defense late in the year.
Robinson has been mostly a rotational defensive end with the Seahawks, but the Syracuse product has five sacks in his two seasons. Robinson suffered a knee injury in Seattle’s preseason finale. He can return after four games, though teams only have eight IR-return slots — way up from the pre-COVID NFL but down from the 2020 and ’21 unlimited IR-return setup — this season.
The Seahawks will be without their primary long snapper, Tyler Ott, on Monday night. Ott is out with a shoulder injury. Tinker has been an NFL snapper since 2013, and the veteran specialist has experience with Seahawks kicker Jason Myers. The duo played together in Jacksonville during the mid-2010s.
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 49ers, Cardinals, Rams and Seahawks moves are noted below.
Here are Wednesday’s NFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.
After agreeing to return to Seattle this offseason, Coleman worked as the team’s starting nickel during the preseason. The veteran slot’s second Seattle stint may not be through, despite being released. Pete Carroll pointed to Coleman being brought back. Roster moves after trims to 53 frequently result in vested vets returning; Coleman certainly appears in the team’s plans.
“Justin is a really good football player and hopefully this isn’t where we’re done with him,” Carroll said, via the Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta.
Coleman, who played for the Seahawks in 2017-18, returned to the Pacific Northwest on a one-year deal with just $153K guaranteed. He has been expected to man the slot alongside starters Sidney Jones and Artie Burns. Jones, however, has run into more injury trouble. The former Washington Huskies standout did not play in the Seahawks’ preseason slate, and Carroll confirmed the team’s top corner is still dealing with the effects of a concussion sustained Aug. 3. The team has not ruled out Jones playing in its opener, but a short-term IR stint may also be on tap.
A former first-round talent who suffered a pre-draft injury that dropped him to Round 2 in 2017, Jones found his footing again after being traded to Seattle in 2021. He started 11 games for the Seahawks, who then lost a starting corner in free agency for the second straight offseason (D.J. Reed, Jets). In addition to Jones, Carroll said cornerback John Reid is dealing with an injury. After aggravating a groin injury in the Seahawks’ preseason finale, the third-year defender may also be a short-term IR candidate
While Coleman was in Detroit and Miami, Blair spent some time at nickel. But the former second-round pick saw knee injuries end his past two seasons. He was unable to gain traction as a safety during camp, with Condotta adding the Seahawks had stopped using him in the slot. The Seahawks kept rookie UDFA Joey Blountas a fifth safety instead. The Seahawks listed Arcega-Whiteside, obtained in a trade for DB Ugo Amadi this month, as a receiver. The Eagles had tried the disappointing draftee at tight end this offseason.
