NFC Minor Moves: 9/3/18
There have been plenty of transactions across the league today. While the big names all garnered headlines of their own, there were tons of more under-the-radar signings and cuts as well. Here are all the additional moves from the NFC so far today:
Detroit Lions
- Waived: WR Trevor Bates
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: RB Darius Jackson
- Waived: CB Herb Waters
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: OL Josh LeRibeus
- Released: LB Nathan Stupar
- Waived: RB Trey Edmunds
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: DB Antone Exum, OL Matt Tobin
- Placed on IR: S Marcell Harris, RB Jerick McKinnon
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: LS Garrison Sanborn
- Placed on IR: DT Mitch Unrein
Washington Redskins
- Signed: DL Caleb Brantley
- Waived: DE Anthony Lanier
Buccaneers Claim DL Carl Nassib
One of the stars of this year’s Hard Knocks has found a home. Carl Nassib was claimed by the Buccaneers off waivers, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN (Twitter link). 
Nassib made the Browns’ initial 53-man roster, but was waived the next day to make room for the Browns’ waiver claims. Nassib was a third round pick in 2016, and never was terrible with the Browns, but the team decided to move on because of their increased depth at the position.
Last year Nassib, appeared in all 16 games for Cleveland, making 12 starts. He had 19 tackles with three sacks and five passes defended. He finished his career in Cleveland with 34 tackles, 5.5 sacks, and nine passes defended total.
He’ll now join a unit in Tampa Bay where he should have the opportunity to make an immediate impact. The Bucs’ pass-rushing group isn’t nearly as deep as Cleveland’s is, so it’s a great landing spot for Nassib. The former Penn State Nittany Lion, who set a school record with 15.5 sacks his senior season, should get a chance to re-invent himself.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link), the Bucs are releasing veteran defensive end Will Clarke to make room for Nassib on the roster.
Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC South
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC South teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Falcons, Panthers, Saints, and Buccaneers are noted below.
Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.
Here are Sunday’s NFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:
Atlanta Falcons
Practice squad:
- QB Kurt Benkert
- OT Daniel Brunskill
- DB Deante Burton
- TE Jaeden Graham
- TE Alex Gray
- WR Devin Gray
- C J.C. Hassenauer
- DB Ryan Neal
- LS Jeff Overbaugh
- DT Jacob Tuioti-Mariner
Carolina Panthers
Placed on injured reserve:
Signed:
- CB Lorenzo Doss
Practice squad:
- QB Kyle Allen
- RB Reggie Bonnafon
- WR Mose Frazier
- TE Jason Vander Laan
- G Taylor Hearn
- OL Dorian Johnson
- DE Kiante Anderson
- DT Kendrick Norton
- CB Cole Luke
- S Dezmen Southward
New Orleans Saints
Signed to practice squad:
- QB J.T. Barrett
- LB Vince Biegel
- TE Garrett Griffin
- DT Woodrow Hamilton
- DE Alex Jenkins
- WR Keith Kirkwood
- T Rick Leonard
- RB Dwayne Washington
- RB Jonathan Williams
- OL Nate Wozniak
- TE Deon Yelder
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Buccaneers Move Roster To 53
The Buccaneers have made the following transactions as they move to 53 players:
Waived:
- QB Austin Allen
- DT Nathan Bazata
- T Cole Boozer
- WR Donteea Dye
- CB Javien Elliott
- LS Drew Ferris
- DE Demone Harris
- LB Nigel Harris
- G Ruben Holcomb
- TE Tanner Hudson
- S Godwin Igwebuike
- TE Austin Johnson
- T Jarron Jones
- DT DaVonte Lambert
- S Josh Liddell
- CB Marko Myers
- LB Eric Nzeocha
- DE Patrick O’Connor
- RB Dare Ogunbowale
- DE Evan Perrizo
- WR Ervin Philips
- T Givens Price
- RB Devine Redding
- WR Bernard Reedy
- DT Adam Reth
- T Brad Seaton
- T Jerry Ugokwe
- TE Matt Weiser
- WR Bobo Wilson
Waived/injured:
- CB Amari Coleman
- T Cole Gardner
Released:
Placed on injured reserve:
- LB Devante Bond
- LB Riley Bullough
Placed on NFI:
Placed on suspended list:
Bucs Unlikely To Make Trade
- The Buccaneers could make a waiver claim for a veteran backup offensive lineman over the weekend, but don’t expect them to orchestrate any trades, tweets Greg Auman of The Athletic. Starting left tackle Donovan Smith is expected to be sidelined for another one-to-three weeks after suffering a knee sprain earlier this month, so Tampa Bay could certainly aim to add bodies to its front five. However, offensive tackle depth is sparse league-wide, so it’s unclear if the Bucs will be able to find any competent options. At present, journeyman Michael Liedtke is set to fill in for Smith if the latter misses regular season action.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/30/18
Today’s minor moves:
Cincinnati Bengals
- Waived: CB Darius Hillary
Seattle Seahawks
- Waived: LB Jason Hall
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived from injured reserve: RB Charles Sims
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/26/18
Here are today’s minor moves:
Denver Broncos
- Waived: LB Bo Bower
New York Jets
- Signed: QB John Wolford
- Waived/injured: WR Lucky Whitehead
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: LB Jaboree Williams
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: FB Daniel Marx
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR Donteea Dye, RB Devine Redding
Washington Redskins
- Signed: QB Connor Jessop, DL JoJo Wicker
- Waived: CB Darius Hillary, WR Allenzae Staggers
- Waived from injured reserve: RB Martez Carter, OL Cameron Jefferson, FB Elijah Wellman
Buccaneers Sign Garrison Sanborn
The Buccaneers have signed LS Garrison Sanborn to a one-year contract, per Greg Auman of The Athletic. Sanborn served as Tampa Bay’s long snapper last season after an eight-year run with the Bills. Since signing with Buffalo as an undrafted free agent in 2009, Sanborn has not missed a single game.
Despite Sanborn’s experience, the Bucs appeared content to go into the 2018 campaign with Drew Ferris — who has no regular season NFL experience — at long snapper. However, Ferris had a bad snap in the team’s Friday night preseason loss to Detroit, which led to a missed extra point. That was apparently all the Bucs needed to see to bring back Sanborn and to create a roster battle.
Tampa Bay head coach Dirk Koetter suggested as much yesterday when discussing Ferris’ error. Koetter said, “It was a low snap, and (holder) Bryan Anger was trying to get it down and it was just bang-bang. When (kicker) Chandler (Catanzaro) was there to kick it, the ball wasn’t quite down, so he hit it kind of funny. Of course, any time you’re having that, that’s a concern and that’s something we’re going to have to address.”
Presumably, both Sanborn and Ferris will get an opportunity to prove their worth during Tampa Bay’s preseason finale on Thursday. The Bucs had three openings on their roster, so they do not need to make a corresponding move.
Sanborn is a Tampa native and played his collegiate ball at Florida State.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/25/18
Atlanta Falcons
- Waived from injured reserve: WR Colby Pearson
Detroit Lions
- Waived from injured reserve: S Stefan McClure
Philadelphia Eagles
- Waived: S Stephen Roberts
Seattle Seahawks
- Waived: WR Tanner McEvoy
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Placed on IR: WR Sergio Bailey
- Waived/injured: WR Jake Lampman
Extra Points: XFL, Helmet Rule, Bucs, Bears
Although fewer details are known about the XFL’s relaunch compared to the Alliance of American Football’s debut, XFL 2.0 have an edge on the AAF when it comes to adding talent. The previous figure that’s surfaced regarding XFL salaries has been $75K, but league commissioner Oliver Luck said recently (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk) that exceptional players could earn more than $200K per season. (The NFL’s 2018 league minimum is $480K for rookies.) The AAF plans to structure three-year, $250K contracts. Both the XFL and AAF plan to have outs in deals in order to allow for players to try and make NFL rosters. Length of these contracts will vary from player to player, per Luck.
Additionally, the XFL plans to move forward with its location unveilings later this year. The AAF will station teams in Atlanta, Birmingham (Ala.), Memphis, Orlando, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Antonio and San Diego. It would stand to reason the XFL will choose other markets, but that’s not certain at this point. But this will also be an eight-team league. Both the XFL and AAF will feature 10-game seasons.
Shifting back to the NFL, here’s the latest:
- The NFL’s helmet rule has probably been the most discussed topic during the preseason slate, and the competition committee convened this week to discuss the radical change. However, the committee determined the rule will not be tweaked at this time, despite the rule enduring scrutiny from all sides. NFL executive VP Troy Vincent added (Twitter link) instant replay will not be permitted to review these calls, but the committee did review feedback from players, coaches and referees. Additional video tutorials will be provided for what may be the defining component for the 2018 season.
- Perhaps the 2016 and ’17 seasons’ defining sequences, the racial inequality-themed protests continue to spur meetings. Some NFLPA executive committee members will meet with a few owners Monday at the Giants’ facility to discuss the anthem controversy, Josina Anderson of ESPN.com tweets.
- Buccaneers offensive coordinator Todd Monken has called plays during Tampa Bay’s preseason, but Dirk Koetter will take back the reins once the regular season starts, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Koetter enters the season on one of the hottest seats in the league, and his play-calling will go a long way toward determining if the Bucs can improve and if he’ll be given a fourth season as head coach. The Bucs have ranked 18th in scoring in each of Koetter’s two HC seasons.
- Vic Fangio‘s coached pro football long enough he has USFL experience, and he had options to leave Chicago as new Bears coach Matt Nagy formed his staff. However, he returned in part because the Bears’ front office “badly” wanted him to stay, NFL reporter Adam Caplan tweets. Despite not having many household names on its 2017 unit, the Bears’ defense ranked as a top-10 group in both total and scoring defense. While Nagy and Ryan Pace made wholesale changes on offense, Fangio’s defense remains largely the same — albeit with Roquan Smith in the picture now.