As we prepare for tonight’s season opener, here are Thursday’s minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
Dallas Cowboys
Philadelphia Eagles
San Francisco 49ers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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 Bills, Dolphins, Jets and Patriots moves are noted below.
Signed to practice squad:
Released from IR via injury settlement:
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
Claimed:
Waived:
Signed to practice squad:
Claimed:
Released:
Signed to practice squad:
Amongst a busy day of roster moves, here are some minor transactions outside of final roster cuts:
Arizona Cardinals
Buffalo Bills
Green Bay Packers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Arizona, Buffalo, and Tampa Bay all made decisions to pull players off the active/physically unable to perform list in order to avoid them missing the first four games of the season. They may not be quite ready to start in Week 1, but their teams at least have confidence that they won’t be out for a month.
Franklin wasn’t a free agent for long. The former Panthers safety just finished out camp in Denver and was told that he didn’t make the Broncos’ initial 53-man roster. Hours later, he apparently came to an agreement with Buffalo and will head there to start his 2025 campaign.
Orzech has been the Packers long snapper for the past two years after similarly short stints with the Rams and Jaguars. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Green Bay gave him his first long-term deal. The 30-year-old will be under a three-year, $4.8MM deal that will make him the third highest-paid long snapper in the league.
The Broncos continued their (mostly) ongoing streak of UDFA rookies making the active roster. Linebacker Karene Reid has made the 53-man roster, marking the 21st time in the past 22 years that a college free agent has made the Broncos as a first-year player.
The rest of the team’s moves:
Fullback Michael Burton won’t play for the Broncos this season, as Sean Payton revealed that the veteran suffered a hamstring injury that required surgery (per Chris Tomasson of the Denver Gazette). The 33-year-old appeared in every game for Denver over the past two seasons, garnering reps in about 17 percent of his team’s offensive snaps and 63 percent of his team’s special teams snaps. Over that span, Burton collected 90 yards from scrimmage on 27 touches, and he’s added another 10 special teams stops.
A number of these players could land back on the practice squad. Assuming they pass through waivers, it sounds like the following players are destined for Denver’s practice squad: wideout Michael Bandy (per Mike Klis of 9News in Denver), offensive lineman Joe Michalski (per Klis), offensive lineman Calvin Throckmorton (per Klis), cornerback Jaden Robinson (per Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston), and cornerback Reese Taylor (per Tomasson).
Tuesday’s minor NFL transactions:
Chicago Bears
Cleveland Browns
Denver Broncos
Wright didn’t last long as a free agent. He signs with the Bears after being released by Minnesota yesterday.
Franklin had nine starts in his first four years of his career with the Panthers, but after being relegated to the practice squad in 2024, Franklin didn’t appear until the eighth game of the season and played primarily on special teams, only seeing four defensive snaps on the year. He’ll now bring his secondary and special teams experience to Denver.
Injuries continue to mar the Panthers’ 2024 campaign, particularly on defense. The latest hamstringing of the collective unit comes as Carolina places safety Nick Scott on injured reserve for an actual hamstring injury, per team writer Darin Gantt. 
Scott had been starting at safety for the Panthers since Week 4 after taking over for an injured Jordan Fuller, whom he now joins on IR. Scott was a big free agent signing for the Bengals defense two offseasons ago after playing his first full season as a starter in the final year of his rookie contract with the Rams. Unfortunately, after 10 starts in Cincinnati to start the year, Scott found himself coming off the bench for the remainder of the season.
This offseason, Scott found another opportunity, signing with a Panthers defense that finished 29th in yards allowed last year despite allowing the third-fewest passing yards and tying for the fourth-fewest passing touchdowns allowed. With Vonn Bell leaving for Cincinnati in the offseason, Scott found himself competing with his former Los Angeles teammate, Fuller, for the starting job. Fuller won the job to open the season, before ceding it to Scott due to injury.
Scott joins seven others on IR, including veteran defenders Fuller, Anthony Brown, Derrick Brown, and Shaq Thompson. Three other players remain on the non-football injury and physically unable to perform lists, as well. This also doesn’t include the 16 other players on Carolina’s injury report not currently on an injured list.
Scott’s placement on IR left two open spots on the active roster. To fill those slots, the Panthers activated safety Sam Franklin from IR and signed practice squad safety Russ Yeast to a 53-man roster contract. Franklin, a special teams captain for Carolina, has yet to make his 2024 debut due to a broken foot that he suffered in training camp. He’ll get that opportunity this weekend. Yeast, yet another former Rams safety, will come up to help fill the role left empty by his former Los Angeles teammates.
Additionally, the Panthers announced that cornerback Caleb Farley and quarterback Jack Plummer will be called up as standard gameday practice squad elevations for this weekend.
Today’s minor moves:
Carolina Panthers
Los Angeles Rams
Philadelphia Eagles
Washington Commanders
A number of players returned to practice today, designating their return from injured reserve. This means teams will have 21 days to activate the players from IR to the active roster.
Noteboom is the most notable name, as the veteran has spent his entire career in Los Angeles. The former third-round pick has settled into a versatile sixth OL for the Rams, starting 32 of his 68 appearances. The lineman started Week 1 but only played in about one third of his team’s offense snaps before suffering an ankle injury.
The Panthers are among the teams who will give the NFL’s adjusted IR rule a test drive today. They will use both their allotted pre-roster-finalization IR-return designations.
Carolina placed cornerback Dane Jackson and safety Sam Franklin on IR, applying return designations for both DBs. This will mean Carolina’s IR-activation count will drop from eight to six. The Panthers will follow the Colts, Jaguars and others in using both their IR-return moves before setting their 53-man roster.
Both players will still need to sit out four games to open the season, but regardless of each’s return, they will count toward Carolina’s activation number as of today. Jackson sustained a hamstring injury expected to sideline him for around six weeks. With the ex-Bills corner in the running for a starting job opposite Jaycee Horn, the Panthers will prioritize his comeback. Franklin sustained a broken foot days into training camp.
Jackson signed a two-year, $8.5MM deal that comes with $5.1MM guaranteed at signing. The Panthers made this move after they made the Donte Jackson-for-Diontae Johnson trade. Dane Jackson started 28 games for the Bills, including 14 in their 13-3 2022 season. The Panthers retained Franklin on a one-year, $2.6MM deal.
Sam Franklin is set to miss at least some time in 2024. The Panthers safety suffered a broken foot during Saturday’s training camp practice, head coach Dave Canales said on Monday. 
Fortunately, Canales added (via Joe Person of the Athletic) Franklin is expected to be back at some point in the season. The 28-year-old has been in Carolina since 2020, logging nine starts. He has not been a regular first-team option on defense, but he has proven to be a highly effective special teams contributor. Being without Franklin for a portion of the campaign will particularly hinder the Panthers’ third phase performance.
The former UDFA re-signed in Carolina on a one-year deal this offseason, and another strong special teams campaign and/or an uptick in defensive usage would have gone a long way in helping his market value. Instead, he will spend the rest of the summer recovering while aiming to minimize the time he misses in the regular season. The Panthers will move forward with Xavier Woods, Jordan Fuller and Nick Scott in place at the safety position.
When Woods (along with fellow 2023 starter Vonn Bell) missed time through injury last season, Franklin took on a notable defensive role. The latter recorded a career-high 30 tackles in 2023, adding his first interception. Bell was released, but the signings of Fuller and Scott make it likely Franklin will be relegated to special teams duties once he is healthy.
Carolina is near the bottom of the league in terms of cap space at the moment with just over $6MM available. Any moves made to replace Franklin will need to be low-cost investments as a result, but further details on his recovery timeline will no doubt provide clarity on how the team proceeds.
While another Panthers move will steal the headlines, the team also managed to retain one of their special teams aces today. According to Joe Person of The Athletic, the Panthers are re-signing safety/core special teamer Sam Franklin. It’s a one-year deal for the veteran.
[RELATED: Panthers Sign OLB Jadeveon Clowney]
Franklin has spent his entire career in Carolina, joining the organization as an undrafted free agent out of Temple in 2020. He’s had an inconsistent defensive role through his first four seasons in the league, starting only nine of his 64 appearances. However, he’s managed to make an impact on special teams, averaging more than 270 ST snaps during that four-year span.
The 28-year-old actually got into a career-high 289 defensive snaps in 2023, finishing the season with a career-high 30 tackles. He also snagged his first career interception, returning it 99 yards for a touchdown.
While Franklin will continue to see a significant special teams role in 2024, he may not have the same opportunity on defense. The safety’s snaps last season mostly came when Xavier Woods and Vonn Bell were out of the lineup. While Bell is gone, the team has brought in Jordan Fuller and Nick Scott via free agency, pushing Franklin back towards the bottom of the depth chart.