NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/22/20
Here are Thursday’s practice squad decisions:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: LB Ahmad Gooden
Carolina Panthers
- Released: RB Michael Warren
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: DB Saivion Smith
Denver Broncos
- Signed: RB Damarea Crockett
Detroit Lions
- Signed: RB Dalyn Dawkins
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: DE Will Clarke
George Iloka Suffers Torn ACL In Practice
George Iloka‘s Vikings reunion will not include any more games in 2020. The veteran safety suffered a torn ACL in practice Wednesday, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson (on Twitter).
The Vikings placed Iloka on injured reserve Thursday. The sides reunited just before the season through a practice squad agreement, but Iloka played in Minnesota’s past four games.
Mike Zimmer‘s final Bengals defense featured Iloka as a 16-game starter, and he held that role in Cincinnati through the 2017 season. The Bengals released Iloka in 2018, leading him to a Zimmer reunion in the Twin Cities. The Vikings used Iloka as mostly a depth piece in ’18, with Anthony Harris moving into the starting lineup alongside Harrison Smith. That was Iloka’s role this season as well.
Iloka, who sat out the 2019 season, made six tackles for the Vikes this year. He played 43 defensive snaps in Week 4 but totaled only two in the past two games. Set for free agency, Iloka will turn 31 ahead of the 2021 season.
Eagles Place Zach Ertz On IR
Zach Ertz‘s disappointing season will pause for at least three weeks. The Eagles placed their Pro Bowl tight end on IR Thursday, taking another weapon away from Carson Wentz.
The eighth-year target suffered a high ankle sprain against the Ravens. Philadelphia’s bye falls in Week 9, so Ertz will not be able to return until Week 11. By the time he comes back, the Eagles should have more firepower on offense.
Ertz resided as the lone high-profile pass catcher for Wentz, after the Eagles lost DeSean Jackson, Jalen Reagor and Dallas Goedert earlier this season. Alshon Jeffery has yet to make his 2020 debut and is now dealing with a calf injury in addition to his foot problem. Ertz, however, has not played well. He has turned 45 targets into 24 catches for 178 yards. The soon-to-be 30-year-old tight end was riding a streak of five straight seasons with 800-plus yards. That will almost certainly end in 2020, which is not a good sign for Ertz’s contract aspirations.
The Eagles and Ertz broke off contract talks late this summer, with the veteran and GM Howie Roseman engaging in a shouting match after an early-September practice. Ertz was aiming for an extension on the level of the deals George Kittle and Travis Kelce landed ($15MM and $14.3MM AAV, respectively). His performance and Week 6 injury will interfere with those hopes. Ertz signed a five-year, $42.5MM Eagles extension in January 2016. He is under contract through 2021.
Wentz will have Jackson back Thursday but will be without Ertz, Goedert, Jeffery and Reagor. Goedert is not expected to return until after Philly’s Week 9 bye, per Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). That matches Reagor’s timeline in another injury-plagued Eagles season.
Giants Activate Sterling Shepard From IR
The Giants are on track to have their top three wide receivers available Thursday night. They activated Sterling Shepard from IR ahead of their Week 7 game.
Shepard has been out since Week 2 because of turf toe. Should Darius Slayton be given the green light after getting in two limited practices this week, Daniel Jones‘ starting wideouts — Shepard, Slayton and Golden Tate — will be in uniform together for just the second game this season.
Tate missed Week 1, and Shepard left Big Blue’s Week 2 game. Slayton left the team’s Week 6 win but remains a decent bet to play tonight. Shepard has been the least available of the Giants receivers in the team’s post-Odell Beckham Jr. era. He missed six games last season because of two separate concussions. His return tonight will be a welcome sight for Daniel Jones, who has not played especially well this season.
The second-year quarterback ranks 24th in QBR and has thrown one touchdown pass in the Giants’ past five games. Shepard’s return should help the cause, but the fifth-year wideout (and the Giants’ longest-tenured player) has struggled to stay on the field since signing a four-year, $41MM extension in 2019. In 2018, Shepard established new career-high marks with 66 receptions and 872 yards. The final half of the season will be key for Shepard and Jones’ rapport.
The Giants also promoted wide receiver Alex Bachman and linebacker Trent Harris ahead of their Eagles matchup.
Vikings’ Danielle Hunter Done For Year
In August, the Vikings classified Danielle Hunter‘s neck injury as a tweak. Today, they learned that the defensive end will require season-ending surgery (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). 
[RELATED: Vikings Trade Ngakoue To Ravens]
The news comes on the heels of the Vikings’ big trade, which sent Yannick Ngakoue to the Ravens in exchange for a 2021 third-round pick and a 2022 conditional fifth-round pick. Now, the 1-5 Vikings are moving ahead without their two top pass rushers.
Hunter traveled to New York for a second opinion on his cervical spine disc herniation recently. During the visit, the specialist recommended that Hunter shut it down for the season. The Vikings have been unable to generate consistent pressure without the sixth-year defensive end, and things won’t get any better without Ngakoue in the mix.
Last year, Hunter graded out as the No. 7 ranked edge rusher in the league, ahead of Cameron Jordan, Myles Garrett, Demarcus Lawrence, and a host of other big names. He’s notched 14.5 sacks in each of the last two seasons, bringing his career tally to 54.5. He’ll be tied to the team for years to come, thanks to the five-year, $72MM extension he inked in 2018.
Vikings Trade Yannick Ngakoue To Ravens
The Vikings are finalizing a trade to send defensive end Yannick Ngakoue to the Ravens, as ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. In exchange, the Vikings will receive a 2021 third-round pick and a 2022 conditional fifth-round pick. 
The Vikings acquired Ngakoue from the Jaguars earlier this year for a 2021 second-round pick and 2022 conditional fifth-round pick to Jags. They weren’t able to recoup everything they gave up, but they did manage to get a decent amount of draft capital for the mercurial edge rusher.
After COVID testing, Ngakoue will be able to join the Ravens in practice during their bye week. His first game with Baltimore will come next Sunday, against the Steelers. The Ravens have been chasing Ngakoue for the last few months, and the interest has been mutual. Ngakoue, a Maryland native and a Terrapin alum, will debut with his third pro team in familiar surroundings. The deal also reunites Ngakoue with Calais Campbell, who played together and started together in the Jaguars’ 2017 AFC Championship Game.
“We are excited to add Yannick Ngakoue to our football team,” Ravens GM Eric DeCosta said in a statement. “Yannick is someone who we are very familiar with going back to the draft process years ago. He is an exciting player and a dangerous pass rusher who makes us better. Yannick grew up here. He’s the type of person we welcome in our building. Finally, we are not finished building this team, as we continue to chase our ultimate goals.”
The Ravens and Jags were deep in talks at one point, but the Ravens’ salary cap situation ultimately prevented a deal from happening. Ultimately, Ngakoue agreed to reduce his 2020 salary from ~$18MM to $12MM in order to facilitate a trade to the Vikings. The Maryland product likely would have been willing to make a similar concession to make a Ravens trade work, but even a $12MM salary would have forced Baltimore to create cap space elsewhere via restructure or extension. Today, they had more room to work with, thanks to help from Brandon Williams and other reworked deals.
Ngakoue figures to provide a major boost for the 5-1 Ravens. Meanwhile, the trade reads as something of a white flag for the Vikings, who are 1-5 and quickly falling out of playoff contention.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/21/20
Here are Wednesday’s practice squad decisions:
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: DL Walter Palmore
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: G Ben Braden
Las Vegas Raiders
- Reinstated from practice squad IR: WR Marcell Ateman
- Released: WR De’Mornay Pierson-El
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: TE Daniel Helm
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: LB Ray-Ray Armstrong
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR John Hurst
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/21/20
Here are Wednesday’s minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Promoted: DT Justin Zimmer
Carolina Panthers
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: OL Trent Scott, K Joey Slye
Detroit Lions
- Promoted: CB Chris Jones
- Placed on IR: DE Julian Okwara
New England Patriots
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: DT Byron Cowart, G Shaq Mason, DE Derek Rivers
- Placed on IR: T Jermaine Eluemunor
Philadelphia Eagles
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: OL Matt Pryor
San Francisco 49ers
- Promoted: LB Joe Walker
Seattle Seahawks
- Placed on IR: DB Delano Hill
Washington Football Team
- Signed off Packers’ practice squad: WR Robert Foster
Jets To Trade Jordan Willis To 49ers
After dealing starter Steve McLendon, the Jets are trading another defender. The 49ers will acquire edge defender Jordan Willis from the Jets, per Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter).
This is a low-profile move ahead of the Nov. 3 deadline. The 49ers will send the Jets a 2022 sixth-round pick and get back a 2021 seventh in this swap, per Pelissero (on Twitter). Willis’ profile has lowered considerably over the past two seasons, but he will have another chance at raising it soon.
The former Bengals third-round pick has worked as a backup with the Jets. He has played 46 defensive snaps this season and was a nine-game backup in 2019, after the Jets claimed him off waivers from the Bengals. Willis, who was a regular rotational cog in 2017 and ’18 in Cincinnati, has not played since Week 3.
The 49ers have seen injuries deplete their once-vaunted defensive line this season. Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas are out for the season, and Dee Ford has no return date in sight. Willis has just three career sacks, but the 49ers will have some extra depth after Willis clears the lengthy COVID-19 protocols.
Seahawks Re-Sign LB Mychal Kendricks
Mychal Kendricks will be on track to play a ninth NFL season. The Seahawks will provide another opportunity, signing the veteran linebacker to their practice squad.
Kendricks will take the place of Damarious Randall, whom the Seahawks promoted to their active roster Wednesday. The Seahawks hosted Kendricks on a visit earlier this month. He will join a practice squad that now has two high-profile players, with Damon Harrison still part of that 16-man unit (despite poaching attempts from two Florida teams).
This will be a third season for the Kendricks-Seahawks partnership. The former Eagles starter landed with the Seahawks in 2018, shortly after the Browns released him when his insider trading scandal surfaced. But sentencing in that case has been delayed many times over the past two years, with the pandemic tabling it again in 2020. Kendricks has also recovered from the torn ACL he suffered in December, prompting the Raiders to take a look. But Kendricks will return to Seattle.
The Seahawks used Kendricks as a starter in 14 games last season, playing him extensively alongside Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright in base sets. Kendricks, 30, made 71 tackles (eight for loss) and recorded three sacks. His extensive usage last season points to a near-future promotion from Seattle’s taxi squad.