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 Bears, Lions, Packers and Vikings moves are noted below.
Chicago Bears
Claimed:
- LB D’Marco Jackson (from Saints), CB Jaylon Jones (from Cardinals)
Released:
- LS Scott Daly, WR Devin Duvernay
Signed to practice squad:
- WR Maurice Alexander, WR Miles Boykin, RB Brittain Brown, TE Stephen Carlson, DL Xavier Carlton, LB Power Echols, LS Luke Elkin, CB Tre Flowers, DL Jonathan Ford, DB Mekhi Garner, DL Tanoh Kpassagnon, DL Jamree Kromah, OL Jordan McFadden, WR JP Richardson, OL Ricky Stromberg
Detroit Lions
Signed:
Claimed:
- DT Tyler Lacy (from Jaguars), DE Tyrus Wheat (from Cowboys)
Signed to practice squad:
- DL Myles Adams, WR Ronnie Bell, C Trystan Colon, DL Keith Cooper, DB Erick Hallett, TE Zach Horton, WR Tom Kennedy, WR Jackson Meeks, OL Mason Miller, OL Michael Niese, LB Anthony Pittman, RB Jacob Saylors, S Loren Strickland, T Dan Skipper, DL Isaac Ukwu
Green Bay Packers
Signed:
- LB Nick Niemann
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
- RB Israel Abanikanda, DL Deslin Alexandre, DB Johnathan Baldwin, T Brant Banks, DL James Ester, WR Mecole Hardman, LB Jamon Johnson, K Mark McNamee, DL Arron Mosby, WR Isaiah Neyor, WR Will Sheppard, DB Jaylin Simpson, LB Kristian Welch
Minnesota Vikings
Signed to practice squad:
- G Henry Byrd, WR Dontae Fleming, S Kahlef Hailassie, DL Jonathan Harris, WR Lucky Jackson, WR Jeshuan Jones, WR Tim Jones, G Vershon Lee, CB Fabian Moreau, OLB Gabriel Murphy, TE Bryson Nesbit, T Max Pircher, DL Taki Taimani, RB Xazavian Valladay, TE Nick Vannett, CB Zemaiah Vaughn
Deuce Vaughn, La’el Collins Among Cowboys’ Cuts; Shavon Revel Lands On NFI List
Here are the Cowboys’ moves to pare their roster down to 53:
Released:
- OL Hakeem Adeniji
- DL Earnest Brown
- T Saahdiq Charles
- T Geron Christian
- OL La’el Collins
- CB C.J. Goodwin
- QB Will Grier
- CB Kemon Hall
- LB Darius Harris
- LB Buddy Johnson
- CB Israel Mukuamu
- CB Michael Ojemudia
- CB Robert Rochell
Waived:
- DT Tommy Akingbesote
- LB Justin Barron
- WR Jalen Brooks
- S Alijah Clark
- WR Jalen Cropper
- RB Malik Davis
- TE Rivaldo Fairweather
- TE Princeton Fant
- WR Traeshon Holden
- CB Troy Pride
- S Mike Smith
- RB Deuce Vaughn
- DE Tyrus Wheat
Placed on IR (return designation):
- DE Payton Turner
- WR Jonathan Mingo
Placed on reserve/PUP list:
Placed on reserve/NFI list:
- CB Shavon Revel
Revel’s timetable has remained murky, but this placement offers some clarity. The third-round rookie cornerback will miss at least four games after being transferred from the active/NFI list to the reserve/NFI list. While the Cowboys had aimed for Revel to play in September, his father’s comment about the ACL rehab effort pointed to a slightly lengthier recovery timetable. Revel suffered the tear in September 2024; he will now be out more than a year since the injury.
Vaughn has been with the Cowboys since they drafted him in the 2023 sixth round, but the team overhauled its backfield this offseason. Dallas signed Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders before drafting two RBs (Jaydon Blue, Phil Mafah). Vaughn could be retained on a practice squad deal, but teams cannot begin assembling their taxi squads until Wednesday.
Overshown is espected to miss most of the season after suffering a major knee injury in Week 14. Turner suffered broken ribs, per ESPN’s Todd Archer. While Turner and Mingo will count against Dallas’ in-season injury activations, dropping the number to six, Mafah will be carried on the active roster and then placed on IR.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/5/25
More teams made tender/non-tender decisions on restricted and exclusive rights free agents today. Here are the latest updates:
RFAs
Non-tendered:
- Broncos: LS Mitchell Fraboni
Fraboni has served as the Broncos’ primary long snapper for each of the past two seasons, playing in all 17 games of each year as well as this year’s playoff contest. Denver will have until next Wednesday to keep him from hitting the market if they intend to retain him.
ERFAs
Tendered:
- Bears: DE Daniel Hardy, G Bill Murray
- Bengals: G Jaxson Kirkland
- Broncos: DT Jordan Jackson, S Devon Key, TE Lucas Krull, CB Ja’Quan McMillian, LB Dondrea Tillman
- Chargers: TE Tucker Fisk
- Cowboys: DE Tyrus Wheat
- Dolphins: LB Cameron Goode, T Kion Smith
- Packers: S Zayne Anderson
- Patriots: CB Alex Austin
The Broncos tendered all five of their exclusive rights free agents today. The Packers made an easy decision to retain Anderson, who started two games this year and recorded his first career interception.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/5/25
Today’s minor moves across the NFL:
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed ERFA tender: G Jaxson Kirkland
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed ERFA tender: DE Tyrus Wheat
Denver Broncos
- Signed ERFA tender: CB Ja’Quan McMillian
Indianapolis Colts
- Waived: C Ryan Coll
Los Angeles Rams
- Waived: CB Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson
New England Patriots
- Signed ERFA tender: CB Alex Austin
New York Giants
- Re-signed: LS Casey Kreiter
Cowboys Eyeing DE Help
With Sam Williams lost for the season thanks to a torn ACL and MCL, the Cowboys are doing their due diligence on potential replacements. According to David Moore of the Dallas Morning News, the team has been “reviewing the tape” on available veteran defensive ends. However, Moore cautions that the team hasn’t lined up any visits/workouts.
[RELATED: Cowboys’ Sam Williams Tears ACL]
While Williams was once buried in the positional pecking order, the Cowboys were going to lean on their depth following the losses of Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler this offseason. Dallas is fortunate that they still have plenty of talent on the edge; Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence will continue to lead the depth chart, and the organization also used a second-round pick on Western Michigan’s Marshawn Kneeland.
Beyond that trio, the options are less than inspiring for new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. 2023 fourth-round pick Viliami Fehoko Jr. is the team’s most significant recent draft investment of the bunch, but any of the back-of-the-depth-chart options (including key special teamer Chauncey Golston, 2023 UDFAs Durrell Johnson and Tyrus Wheat, and 2024 UDFA Byron Vaughns) could step into any leftover snaps. There’s a good chance the Cowboys will be patient and evaluate this grouping before pouncing on any free agent options.
Plus, the free agent market has been pretty much picked through. Yannick Ngakoue likely represents the best option at the position, with the likes of Carl Lawson, Markus Golden, and Shaq Lawson also sitting unsigned. The Cowboys will also have more options at their disposal as rival squads trim down their rosters, so there probably isn’t any urgency to find a Williams replacement right now. Stephen Jones basically acknowledged as much when discussing the position with Moore.
“We’ll just see,” Jones said. “It depends on the guy. Everybody is pouring over the tape and seeing if there is anything. But we’re very pleased with what Kneeland has done so far.
“If the right guy is there, we’ll pull the trigger. If not, we’ll kind of keep playing along, see how our guys do and go from there.”
As for Williams, Moore notes that the defender will undergo surgery in August to repair his torn ACL and partially torn MCL. The earlier we’ll see Williams on the field will likely be a month or two into the 2025 campaign.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/16/23
Here are Monday’s minor moves:
Dallas Cowboys
- Activated from IR: CB Nahshon Wright
- Signed to active roster: LB Tyrus Wheat
- Elevated: RB Malik Davis, LB Malik Jefferson
- Placed on IR: CB C.J. Goodwin (story)
Los Angeles Chargers
- Elevated: WR Keelan Doss
New Orleans Saints
- Activated from reserve/suspended by commissioner: QB Jake Haener
- Waived: QB Jake Luton
New York Giants
- Waived: G Jalen Mayfield
Washington Commanders
- Released from IR: TE Kaden Smith
The Cowboys are bringing in some reinforcements after having to place linebacker Leighton Vander Esch on IR this week. The Chargers are bringing up Doss as a standard gameday elevation, as well, with Mike Williams, Simi Fehoko, and Jalen Guyton all out tonight.
Haener, the Saints’ rookie fourth-round passer, started his NFL career on a six-game suspension due to a violation of the league’s performance-enhancing substance policy. With Haener adding another arm to the bullpen, Luton became expendable but may find a spot on the team’s practice squad.
Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC East
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 Commanders, Cowboys, Eagles and Giants moves are noted below.
Dallas Cowboys
Signed:
- T Chuma Edoga, LS Trent Sieg
Claimed:
Waived:
Placed on IR:
- OL Matt Waletzko, CB Nahshon Wright
Signed to practice squad:
- T Earl Bostick, CB Josh Butler, WR Jalen Cropper, RB Malik Davis, TE Princeton Fant, CB C.J. Goodwin, OL Sean Harlow, C Brock Hoffman, LB Malik Jefferson, DB Durrell Johnson, WR Tyron Johnson, TE Sean McKeon, DB Sheldrick Redwine, T Alex Taylor-Prioleau, DE Tyrus Wheat
New York Giants
Claimed:
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
- DT Ryder Anderson, WR Cole Beasley (story), LB Darrian Beavers, DB Alex Cook, QB Tommy Devito, LB Tomon Fox, DB Gemon Green, LB Dyontae Johnson, TE Ryan Jones, CB Amani Oruwariye (story), OL Tyre Phillips, LB Oshane Ximines
Philadelphia Eagles
Claimed:
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
- WR Devon Allen, WR Britain Covey, CB Mekhi Garner, G Julian Good-Jones, DE Tarron Jackson, LB Kyron Johnson, S Tristin McCollum, WR Joseph Ngata, TE Brady Russell, P Arryn Siposs, T Brett Toth, LB Ben VanSumeren, WR Greg Ward
Washington Commanders
Claimed:
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
- T Alex Akingbulu, WR Kazmeir Allen, FB Alex Armah, DE William Bradley-King, G Mason Brooks, S Terrell Burgess, CB Tariq Castro-Fields, QB Jake Fromm, LB Jabril Cox, RB Derrick Gore, LB De’Jon Harris, T Jaryd Jones-Smith, C Nolan Laufenberg, DT Benning Potoa’e, WR Brycen Tremayne, CB Nick Whiteside
Cowboys Set 53-Man Roster
The Cowboys were busy today, with the organization announcing 36 roster moves as they reduced their team to 53 players:
Released:
- DE Ben Banogu
- OT Chuma Edoga
- CB C.J. Goodwin
- QB Will Grier
- LB Malik Jefferson
- WR Tyron Johnson
- LS Trent Sieg
Waived:
- DL Isaac Alarcon
- WR Jose Barbon
- DT Quinton Bohanna
- OT Earl Bostick
- CB Myles Brooks
- CB Josh Butler
- LB Jabril Cox
- S Tyler Coyle
- WR Jalen Cropper
- RB Malik Davis
- WR Dontario Drummond
- TE Princeton Fant
- C Matt Farniok
- WR Simi Fehoko
- TE Seth Green
- OL Brock Hoffman
- WR Dennis Houston
- DE Durrell Johnson
- DE Isaiah Land
- C Alec Lindstrom
- CB D’Angelo Mandell
- TE Sean McKeon
- S Sheldrick Redwine
- OT Alex Taylor-Prioleau
- DE Tyrus Wheat
Placed on IR:
- OT Josh Ball
- WR David Durden
- LB DeMarvion Overshown
- TE John Stephens Jr.
According to Nick Harris of the team website, both long snapper Trent Sieg and cornerback C.J. Goodwin are expected to rejoin the active roster once the dust settles from this initial round of cuts.
Quinton Bohanna spent the past two years in Dallas after being selected in the sixth round of the 2021 draft. He got into 27 games (10 starts) over the past two years, collecting 29 tackles while playing both on defense and special teams. The Cowboys added first-round defensive tackle Mazi Smith this offseason, making Bohanna expendable.
Cowboys Sign 13 UDFAs
The Cowboys didn’t release a statement on their undrafted free agent signings like most teams, but they did release a list of 29 rookie minicamp participants and their statuses with the organization. Removing their eight draft picks, two UDFA tryouts, and previously acquired youngsters, we were able to determine this list of undrafted signees:
- WR Jose Barbon (Temple)
- T T.J. Bass (Oregon)
- T Earl Bostick (Kansas)
- CB Myles Brooks (Louisiana Tech)
- WR Jalen Moreno-Cropper (Fresno State)
- WR David Durden (West Florida)
- TE Princeton Fant (Tennessee)
- DE Durrell Johnson (Liberty)
- LB Isaiah Land (Florida A&M)
- FB Hunter Luepke (North Dakota State)
- CB D’Angelo Mandell (BYU)
- TE John Stephens (Louisiana)
- DE Tyrus Wheat (Mississippi State)
Dallas addressed the tight end position in the second round this year with a bit of project in Michigan’s Luke Schoonmaker. They decided to bring in a couple more options in Fant and Stephens. Fant provides a unique versatility as a potential H-back. In addition to his career 579 receiving yards and five touchdowns, Fant rushed for five more scores and threw one as a sixth-year senior. Stephens was rostered as a receiver for the Ragin’ Cajuns, but his 6-foot-6, 232-pound frame should assist him in converting to tight end at the next level.
The Cowboys barely addressed wide receiver in the draft, so they’ve nabbed a few here, as well. Durden was a monster during his time with the Argonauts. A former draft pick for the Boston Red Sox, Durden left baseball for West Florida and dominated, catching 88 passes for 1,915 yards and 23 touchdowns with only three drops in his final two years of school. Over his entire college career, he averaged nearly 20 yards per catch. He’ll need to adjust to the NFL-caliber of opponents, but his raw athleticism and special teams ability could help cement him a spot on the roster.
Moreno-Cropper had a strong final two season with the Bulldogs, as well, with 1,985 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns. He’s had a bit of trouble with surehandedness and he’s a bit undersized, but the Cowboys haven’t minded smaller receivers like Brandin Cooks and KaVontae Turpin in recent history.
The team also added two strong depth pieces at defensive end. Johnson had a down 2021 but combined for 17.5 sacks and 38.0 tackles for loss in his 2020 and 2022 seasons. Wheat finished his three-year career with the Bulldogs with 17.0 sacks and 25.5 tackles for loss. They have some strong competition for potential snaps, but they provide solid depth at the position regardless.