Thomas Odukoya

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

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC South

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 ColtsJaguarsTexans and Titans moves are noted below.

Houston Texans

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Indianapolis Colts

Placed on IR:

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad: 

Jacksonville Jaguars

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Tennessee Titans

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Released:

Released from IR via injury settlement:

Titans Trim Roster To 53; RB Hassan Haskins Placed On Commissioner’s Exempt List

The Titans have made a number of moves which have allowed them to set their initial 53-man roster. Here is the full breakdown:

Waived:

Released:

Waived/injured:

Placed on Reserve/PUP list:

Placed on Commissioner’s Exempt List:

Haskins had been placed on IR yesterday, meaning he will be sidelined for the season. The 2022 fourth-rounder’s future with the team is now murkier, however, given today’s placement on the Exempt List. Haskins – who was arrested on an aggravated assault charge in June – will need to apply for reinstatement to be eligible to return when healthy.

McMath has logged 14 appearances in Tennessee across his two seasons with the team. The former sixth-rounder will lose out on a roster spot in the Titans revamped receiving corps, which will of course be led by free agent signing DeAndre Hopkins. McMath would represent a prime practice squad candidate if he goes unclaimed, something which, given his lack of offensive playing time and production, can be expected.

Letting go of Coley, Johnson and Peko (at least for now) will leave the Titans thin along the defensive interior. That trio has combined to play 147 games in the NFL, representing plenty of experience the team will be without to start the season. Plenty of Tennessee’s success will be determined by the play of Jeffery Simmons and his fellow D-line starters, but they will be leaned on heavily in the absence of veteran backups.

AFC South Rumors: Titans, Rader, Perryman

The tight ends room in Tennessee is going to look very different from recent years, according to Titans senior writer/editor Jim Wyatt. In addition to a new instructor, as former running backs coach Tony Dews takes over the position coaching duties, some main contributors from the past few years are no longer present.

With Austin Hooper and Geoff Swaim both hitting the free agent market this past spring, second-year tight end Chig Okonkwo has inherited a massive leading role. Okonkwo already put himself on the map as a rookie, outgaining Hooper with 450 receiving yards, good for second on the team. His three receiving touchdowns led all tight ends in Tennessee last year and were also good for second on the team. Already expected to take a step forward in 2023, he’ll receive a lot more targets with Hooper now in Las Vegas. Swaim, the team’s former primary blocking tight end, was also not re-signed, so the Titans will be looking for Okonkwo to step up as a blocker, as well.

Behind Okonkwo, the team signed Trevon Wesco, who has served as a backup tight end and special teamer for the Jets and Bears, previously. They also drafted Josh Whyle out of Cincinnati in the fifth round this year. Both should provide a bit of depth behind Okonkwo, and while Whyle was a strong redzone target for the Bearcats in college, neither tight end threatens to take many snaps away from Okonkwo.

Here are a few other rumors coming out of the AFC South:

  • The Titans have been known to respect the tight end position and are certainly a candidate to keep four on the roster. With Okonkwo, Wesco, and Whyle likely safely on the 53-man roster, who might end up snagging that last roster spot? The likeliest pick would be Kevin Rader who started two games in 14 appearances for the Titans last year. He didn’t record any offensive stats in 2022, but he was a strong special teams contributor and a solid extra blocker on the line. His competition for the potential roster spot will be former XFL player Alize Mack, Justin Rigg, whom they signed to a reserve/futures contract at the end of last season, and Thomas Odukoya, the team’s International Pathway program addition from the Netherlands.
  • After two strong years with the Raiders, veteran linebacker Denzel Perryman landed with the Texans. Only a year removed from a Pro Bowl season, it was a bit of a surprise to see his newest contract only amount to a $2.6MM base salary. According to Vic Tafur of The Athletic, Perryman expected a much bigger free agent market for himself before settling for his deal in Houston. The Raiders ended up replacing him with Robert Spillane, a former backup in Pittsburgh, paying Spillane with a two-year contract that has a $3.5MM average. So, why the disappointing return for Perryman? Perryman is an all-around better linebacker than Spillane, but he’s older and has missed at least five games in three of the last six years. Perryman’s new contract includes a $900K incentive based on playing time that would end up paying out $3.5MM if he can stay healthy.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/10/23

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

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC South

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 ColtsJaguars, Texans and Titans moves are noted below.

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

Houston Texans

Claimed:

Released:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Indianapolis Colts

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Jacksonville Jaguars

Claimed:

Released:

Signed to practice squad:

  • QB E.J. Perry

Tennessee Titans

Signed:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Titans Set 53-Man Roster

The Titans have trimmed down their roster to 53 players:

Released:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

The Titans will open up at least one roster spot on Wednesday. Terry McCormick of TitansInsider.com writes that wide receiver Racey McMath is expected to land on short-term injured reserve. McMath sustained a hip injury during Tennessee’s preseason finale, and he’ll be sidelined for at least four weeks while sitting on IR. Robert Woods, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Treylon Burks, and Kyle Philips currently make up the Titans’ WR room, so there’s a chance one of the four wide receivers who were waived today (Dez FitzpatrickCody HollisterMason KinseyReggie Roberson) will end up back with the team.

Logan Woodside could also land back on the Titans practice squad after the team opted to keep only two QBs on their active roster (Ryan Tannehill, rookie Malik Willis). Woodside has seen time in 11 games for Tennessee over the past two years, completing one of his three pass attempts (he did break out a sweet 18-yard run, though).

Titans Sign 17 UDFAs & 1 International Allocation

After making a litany of moves on Draft Day, including trading away star wide receiver A.J. Brown, Tennessee added 17 undrafted free agents to their existing nine-man drafted rookie class:

Anenih set career highs this year for the Cougars and made himself a priority for the Titans, signing for a guaranteed $150,000, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Tennessee also saw the Hawkeye kicker as a priority, guaranteeing Shudak an impressive $40,000 at signing, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network.

Odukoya played 40 career games at Eastern Michigan and is one of four players joining the league from the International Player Pathway Program. Odukoya, who hails from the Netherlands, will look to help strengthen the pipeline of international players to the NFL.

Jackrabbits safety Griffin II holds no relation with former Titans safety Michael Griffin.

AFC South Teams Add Players Via International Player Pathway Program

This year was the AFC South’s turn to participate in the International Player Pathway program, which allows teams to carry an additional international player on their practice squads. This year’s players include (via the NFL on Twitter):

  • Colts: DB Marcel Dabo, Germany
  • Texans: DL Adedayo Odeleye, Nigeria/UK
  • Titans: TE Thomas Odukoya, Netherlands
  • Jaguars: DB Ayo Oyelola, UK

Per the league’s website, the “program aims to provide elite international athletes the opportunity to compete at the NFL level, improve their skills, and ultimately earn a spot on an NFL roster.”

These players will sit on their respective team’s roster until the end of training camp, at which time the teams will be granted “an international player practice squad exemption.” Assuming these players land on the practice squad, they’ll be ineligible to be activated during the 2022 campaign.

Patricipants in last year’s program included tight end Bernhard Seikovits (Cardinals), offensive lineman Alfredo Gutierrez (49ers), offensive lineman Max Pircher (Rams), and linebacker Aaron Donkor (Seahawks).