NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/15/21

Today’s taxi squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/13/21

Here are Saturday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

  • Activated from PUP list: DT Trysten Hill
  • Promoted: K Lirim Hajrullahu

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Snacks Harrison Announces Retirement

After nine NFL seasons, Snacks intends to walk away from the game. Damon Harrison announced his retirement on Saturday (via Twitter).

Some interest emerged for the veteran nose tackle in the spring, but Harrison, 32, did not catch on anywhere this year. He will step away after 124 games and 111 starts as a pro.

Although Harrison contemplated retirement at the end of the 2019 season, he returned for one more and played with the Seahawks and Packers last season. Snacks’ seven games in Seattle and Green Bay will be closer to the footnote section of his career, one that included multiple seasons with the Jets, Giants and Lions.

Harrison latched on with the Jets as a UDFA in 2012 out of NAIA William Penn (Iowa) and became a starter during his second season. Snacks’ high-end Jets production, alongside Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson, led to the Giants giving him a five-year, $46.25MM deal in the 2016 offseason — when Big Blue loaded up with vets on defense.

Olivier Vernon and Janoris Jenkins joined Snacks by signing with the Giants that offseason, and that trio played a key part in the Giants advancing to the 2016 playoffs. While Harrison did not receive a Pro Bowl invite during his career, he earned first-team All-Pro recognition for his work that season.

A struggling Giants team traded Harrison to the Lions ahead of the 2018 deadline, when they also unloaded Eli Apple, and Snacks played in Detroit through the end of the 2019 campaign. Harrison finished his career with 494 tackles and 37 tackles for loss.

Seahawks Activate Russell Wilson From IR

Pete Carroll confirmed Russell Wilson will start against the Packers, and the Seahawks made it official Friday evening. Wilson is back on Seattle’s active roster.

On IR since rupturing a right middle finger tendon in Week 5, Wilson will return after missing the minimum three games. The 10th-year Seahawks quarterback underwent two surgeries but beat the six- to eight-week timetable initially floated once the extent of his injuries became public.

Seattle went 1-2 without Wilson and lost to the Rams during the game he suffered the injury — his first notable setback as a pro. Wilson had started 149 straight games prior to this finger issue. His absence led to three Geno Smith starts and the Seahawks tumbling down the NFC standings. They are 3-5 entering Week 10.

Wilson, who will turn 33 later this month, has thrown 10 touchdown passes and just one interception this season. Over his five-game sample, he ranks seventh in QBR. Should Aaron Rodgers clear COVID-19 protocols as the Packers expect, the future Hall of Famers will match up for the ninth time (counting playoff games) Sunday.

Placed on IR the same day as Wilson, Chris Carson will not be activated along with the quarterback. Carroll said his starting running back, who returned to practice this week, will not play against the Packers. Carson is working his way back from a neck injury.

In addition to activating Wilson, the Seahawks also moved rookie wide receiver D’Wayne Eskridge from IR back to the active roster. Chosen in the second round, Eskridge has not played since suffering a concussion in Week 1. Following the concerningly lengthy absence, the Western Michigan product will attempt to salvage the remainder of his rookie year.

OBJ Notes: Rams Pursuit, Contract, Other Suitors

Matthew Stafford and the Rams offense has been cruising, and the team added another weapon today when they signed Odell Beckham Jr. to a one-year deal. Predictably, Stafford is excited to see OBJ join a depth chart that already features Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods.

“I’ve played with a bunch of good (receivers) in my career, and he’s up there,” Stafford said (via Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com). “He’s a talented guy. It’s one of those things where everybody on our team carves out their role. They do a great job of figuring out what that role is going to be and going out there and proving it — both on the practice field and in games — and then getting those opportunities. I know he’ll do the same. There’s a lot of time between now and that. We’ve just got to make sure that we’re on the same page, go out there and play ball.”

While Stafford and the Rams won the Beckham sweepstakes, a few teams were left empty handed. That included the Seahawks and Russell Wilson, who wished the wideout well but noted that his squad already has plenty of capable receivers on the depth chart.

“First of all, with Odell, he’s an unbelievable talent, a world class, generational type of talent,” Wilson said (via Mike Florio of PFT). “For our organization, we are always looking for ways to compete and find ways to win, but we have some great guys already. We have some of the best guys in the world, so to have the possibility of adding another amazing talent would be amazing. If not, we are still ready to go, hopefully all of the way, and that’s been our focus. He’s a tremendous talent.”

Some more notes following OBJ’s decision to join the Rams:

  • NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport has details on OBJ’s contract (on Twitter). Beckham Jr. got a one-year, $4.25MM deal that includes a $500K signing bonus and $750K for the rest of the season. The other $3MM is based on team-based incentives, so the wideout will get a nice payout if the team makes a Super Bowl run. This also means that OBJ could end up earning more with his new team than he was due from the Browns.
  • The Rams came in late to the bidding process, and OBJ was ultimately enticed by the team’s passing attack. “We came in a bit late —but we gave him best shot,” a team source told ESPN’s Dianna Russini (Twitter link). “Sold great QB. 65% pass. Single coverage.” Another Rams source told Russini that the team believed they “needed to add one more piece” to their receivers depth chart, with the OBJ signing allowing them to basically rotate four players for three spots.
  • Albert Breer tweets more details on the Rams pursuit, noting that the Rams initially told the wideout that they didn’t have a lot to spend. However, the player’s camp “encouraged” the organization to stay involved. Meanwhile, Yahoo’s Charles Robinson tweets that the Rams had interest in acquiring OBJ in 2018 when the Giants put him on the trade block.
  • For failed pursuits: Chiefs coach Andy Reid made a pitch to Beckham Jr., per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter). The 49ers also failed in their pursuit, with GM John Lynch acknowledging that the team’s underwhelming record probably didn’t make them a legit suitor…although OBJ apparently did have past interest in joining San Francisco. “I don’t think close,” Lynch responded when asked how close the organization came to signing OBJ (via Can Inman of the San Jose Mercury on Twitter). “To be blunt some of that, you have to earn the right … He’s been fond of our place. He came up to me in [2018] pregame and said “get me here, get me here.”

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/10/21

Here are Wednesday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the day:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals 

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

  • Signed: K Lirim Hajrullahu

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Patriots, Seahawks Still In OBJ Mix; Saints Frontrunners?

On his first full day as a free agent, Odell Beckham Jr. is dominating the NFL news cycle. Offers are coming in, and several teams remain in the mix.

The Saints emerged as a team on Beckham’s radar, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk tweets a belief in certain league circles exists that OBJ will end up in New Orleans. This is not a done deal, and New Orleans’ quarterback situation will affect its viability here. Beckham is a New Orleans native.

While some around the league view the wide receiver-needy Saints as having a leg up, the Seahawks have indeed reached out since Beckham became a free agent, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. Seattle, which was linked to Antonio Brown last year and kept Josh Gordon in their plans for multiple years, was viewed as a suitor — and a frontrunner as recently as Sunday — for the eighth-year wideout.

The Patriots also “definitely” remain in the mix, according to Florio (on Twitter), though a previous report did not list them as a team Beckham was considering. New England also has a history of big-ticket receiver moves under Bill Belichick, and with the Browns covering $4.25MM of his salary, money is not the significant factor it usually is in high-end free agent pursuits. Beckham’s recent struggles notwithstanding, the Pats are not dismissing the notion he would be an interesting addition, NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran notes, and the team believes the mutual respect between Belichick and Beckham provides a genuine opportunity for a partnership, per Mike Giardi of NFL.com (Twitter links).

New Orleans lost Jameis Winston for the season and went with Trevor Siemian as its starter in Week 9, keeping Taysom Hill in his gadget role. The Saints, however, have a major receiver need and attempted to trade for OBJ before the deadline. Beckham’s high salary certainly affected that potential deal, but he has since cleared waivers, making an addition much more palatable to teams. The Saints, who cut Emmanuel Sanders earlier this year, will not have Michael Thomas this season and have felt the effects of their thin receiver depth chart.

With the Packers and Chiefs listed among teams to attract OBJ interest, it remains to be seen if the 29-year-old target — who is hoping to bounce back potentially ahead of a 2022 free agency run — will choose a Saints team with a far less appealing quarterback situation. Green Bay has offered Beckham a veteran-minimum deal, and it is unlikely another team will come in with a far more lucrative proposal. A sixth team is also in the mix, The Athletic’s Jeff Howe tweets. While the 49ers were mentioned as Beckham suitors before his Browns exit, it is not known if they are still pursuing him.

NFL Practice Squad Updates:  11/8/21

Today’s taxi squad moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

  • Suspension lifted: DE Frank Herron (will remain on PS injured list)

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/8/21

Today’s minor moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Seattle Seahawks

Seahawks’ Russell Wilson Cleared To Play

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has been given the green light to return (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). Wilson, who has been sidelined since undergoing finger surgery in October, could suit up as soon as this Sunday against the Packers.

[RELATED: Latest On Seahawks, OBJ]

Wilson has been gunning for a Week 10 return all along, but it all hinged on the healing process. Fortunately, there were no hiccups as Dr. Steve Shin removed the pin from his fractured middle finger.

The surgery forced Wilson to miss three games between Weeks 6 and 8, before the team’s Week 9 bye. It marked the first absence of his NFL career, breaking an ironman streak of 149 straight regular season starts.

Geno Smith took over in his stead with the Seahawks going 1-2 in his three starts. Wilson should provide a big boost as the Seahawks look to rebound from their Week 8 loss to the Rams.

The Seahawks are now down to 3-5 in the competitive NFC West. Fortunately for them, they’re still within striking distance of a Wild Card spot. Barring any setbacks, they’ll have Wilson under center as they prepare for the Packers and Cardinals in back-to-back games.

Show all