Minor NFL Transactions: 10/16/20
Here are Friday’s minor moves:
Carolina Panthers
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: OL Tyler Larsen
- Placed on IR: DE Yetur Gross-Matos
Chicago Bears
- Activated from IR: DL John Jenkins
- Released: DL Daniel McCullers
Detroit Lions
- Placed on IR: TE Hunter Bryant
New York Giants
- Activated from IR: LB David Mayo
Philadelphia Eagles
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: OL Matt Pryor; Pryor did not test positive for the coronavirus, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets
Washington Activates Brandon Scherff
Washington will have its top offensive lineman available Sunday against the Giants. The team activated Pro Bowl guard Brandon Scherff, moving him from its IR list to the 53-man roster.
An MCL sprain paused Scherff’s season, but it appears he will only have to miss the three mandated games that come with a 2020 IR placement. While there are obviously other factors at play, Washington is 1-0 with Scherff playing a full game this season and 0-4 without him. Scherff’s absence certainly hurt Washington last week, when Aaron Donald beat both of Washington’s starting guards en route to a career-high four sacks.
Although Washington is not expected to contend for a playoff spot, even out of this year’s woeful NFC East, Scherff has some key games ahead. He has missed 16 games over the past three seasons, after only missing two from 2015-17. Washington slapped its franchise tag on Scherff this year, becoming the first team since the Patriots in 2011 to tag a guard. Scherff staying healthy the rest of the way would put him in position for a massive extension.
In his sixth season, Scherff will turn 29 this December. While the Iowa product has been one of the game’s best guards when healthy since being drafted fifth overall, his next contract will likely cover the remainder of his prime. That will make staying healthy paramount for Scherff to maximize his value — either with Washington or in free agency.
Le’Veon Bell To Sign With Chiefs
The Chiefs have won the Le’Veon Bell sweepstakes. The two-time All-Pro running back agreed to a deal to sign with the defending Super Bowl champions, Tom Pelissero and Jim Trotter of NFL.com report (on Twitter).
Bell considered the Bills and Dolphins as well, and the Dolphins were believed to have offered a two-year deal. But the Chiefs, who were on the verge of an agreement with Bell on Wednesday night, have landed the recently released back.
It is a one-year contract with incentives, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter and SI.com’s Albert Breer (Twitter links). Bell indeed was hoping to catch on with a contender, per Schefter. After spending parts of two seasons with a struggling Jets team, the former Steelers standout will be back in a playoff race.
This will give Clyde Edwards-Helaire an experienced tandem partner, with this Bell agreement putting him on track to take over for Darrel Williams and Darwin Thompson as the rookie’s top backup. But while 2019 late-summer free agency addition LeSean McCoy could not stick as Damien Williams‘ backup, Bell was prioritizing fit in an offense. It seems likely he will see a significant role alongside Edwards-Helaire.
While McCoy had strong track records on two teams, Bell bombed with his second franchise. Adam Gase did not want the running back at the $13.25MM-per-year price, and the Jets fit indeed turned out to be poor. The former Steelers dynamo lumbered for a career-low 3.2 yards per carry in 2019. This season, he suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1 and missed three games. Upon return in Week 5, Bell did average 4.62 yards per tote. That is a small sample size, but the showing may have reignited the Jets’ efforts to deal Bell. No takers emerged, and the team cut its losses with a Tuesday release. Bell will land with a much better offense.
Kansas City’s offense now houses five former first-team All-Pros — Bell, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Mitchell Schwartz and Tyreek Hill. (This number would have been six had ex-Bell teammate Kelechi Osemele not suffered severe knee injuries Sunday.) While this was the case last year with McCoy as well, the 28-year-old Bell brings lower mileage to Kansas City. Aided by his skipping the 2018 season in a franchise tag dispute with the Steelers, Bell has 1,874 career touches. McCoy had over 2,800 when he signed with Kansas City.
Bell will need to prove he still has upper-echelon ability; he did not record a 20-yard run as a Jet. His most recent 100-yard rushing game came in 2017; the former second-round pick never cleared 90 rushing yards in a Jets game. As a Steeler, Bell posted 1,800-plus scrimmage yards three times en route to the 2014 and ’17 All-Pro teams. He added three 75-catch seasons in that span, so seeing how Andy Reid deploys him will be an interesting October NFL storyline.
The earliest Bell could make his Chiefs debut would be Week 7, with COVID-19 protocols requiring free agents to pass nearly a week’s worth of coronavirus tests in order to begin practicing with their new teams. The Chiefs face the Jets in Week 8.
Bengals Place DE Sam Hubbard On IR
After being designated a non-starter for the first time since 2012, Carlos Dunlap appears headed back to the Bengals’ first unit. The Bengals placed defensive end Sam Hubbard on IR Thursday, sidelining the young pass rusher for at least three weeks.
An elbow injury will shelve Hubbard, who joined Carl Lawson as a Cincinnati D-end starter against Baltimore. Hubbard has played at least 60% of the Bengals’ defensive snaps this season, operating as the team’s busiest defensive lineman.
The Bengals have used Hubbard, a 2018 third-round pick, as a starter since last season. The Ohio State product registered a career-high 8.5 sacks last season. This placed second on the team behind Dunlap, who recorded nine.
Dunlap voiced frustration about his recent demotion, but Hubbard’s injury should lead to the Bengals’ all-time sack leader being back in the starting lineup in Week 6. Dunlap, who has made 115 starts in his 11-year career, played a season-low 46% of Cincinnati’s defensive snaps in Week 5 but did record his first sack of the season.
Titans Activate Jeffery Simmons From Reserve/COVID-19 List
The Titans are steadily seeing key players return to action after the team’s coronavirus outbreak. Top defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons is now back on Tennessee’s active roster after testing positive for COVID-19. This move follows the Titans’ activations of DaQuan Jones, Kristian Fulton and Adam Humphries.
Simmons landed on the Titans’ COVID list Oct. 3 but is now on track to play in Week 6. He will have missed only one game, with the Titans’ scheduled Week 4 contest against the Steelers having been converted to a bye week after the team’s issues with the virus.
Tennessee selected Simmons in the 2019 first round and saw the Mississippi State product bounce back quickly despite tearing his ACL before the ’19 draft. Likely a top-10 pick prior to the injury, Simmons has flashed as an interior defender in his limited time as a pro. In his most recent game, Simmons registered three QB hits and recorded a sack.
However, the Titans will be without one of their backup running backs for at least three weeks. They placed Darrynton Evans on IR to make room for Simmons’ return to the 53-man roster. A hamstring injury will sideline Evans, a rookie third-rounder out of Appalachian State. Drafted after the Titans cut Dion Lewis, Evans has just five carries this season. Jeremy McNichols resides as the only other back on Tennessee’s active roster, making it likely the team will make a move to add another player at this spot by Saturday’s transaction deadline.
Jaguars Release Cassius Marsh
The Jaguars have released linebacker Cassius Marsh, per a club announcement. Marsh was effectively squeezed out of Jacksonville on Wednesday, when the Jags acquired linebacker Kamalei Correa from the Titans.
Marsh, 28, appeared in 84 total games from 2014-2019 since being selected by the Seahawks in the fourth round. Capable of playing a hybrid defensive end/linebacker role, Marsh spent 2019 in Arizona, where he posted 2.5 sacks and five quarterback hits on 428 snaps.
The Jaguars inked him to a one-year deal with a modest guarantee of $600K back in March. He didn’t get a chance to make much of an impact with the Jaguars this year, tallying nine total stops in four games. Marsh’s most notable work came in 2018, when he amassed 5.5 sacks for the 49ers. He also saw action on roughly 50% of the Niners’ special teams plays that year and he’s approached the 80% ST threshold in prior seasons.
As a vested veteran, Marsh is now free to sign with any NFL team.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/14/20
Here are Wednesday’s minor moves:
Chicago Bears
- Promoted: OL Sam Mustipher
- Placed on IR: G James Daniels
Cleveland Browns
- Promoted: CB Robert Jackson
New England Patriots
- Signed off Jaguars’ practice squad: DL Carl Davis
Tennessee Titans
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: WR Cameron Batson, WR Adam Humphries
Washington Football Team
- Claimed (from Eagles): DE Casey Toohill
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/14/20
Here are Wednesday’s practice squad moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: CB Lafayette Pitts
New York Jets
- Signed: K Sergio Castillo, DT Tanzel Smart
- Released: WR Donte Moncrief
Titans Trade LB Kamalei Correa To Jags
The Titans have found a taker for Kamalei Correa. After the linebacker requested a trade, the Titans agreed on a deal that will send him to the Jaguars, Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com report (via Twitter).
As expected, the compensation is minimal. In a pick-swap agreement, the Jags will send the Titans their 2021 sixth-round pick and receive a 2021 seventh-rounder from Tennessee.
Correa has played just 39 defensive snaps this season and, after coming off Tennessee’s reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday, did not play against the Bills. As a result, a rare intra-division trade will commence. The Titans were set to release Correa had they not found a trade partner.
This marks the second trade of Correa’s five-year career. The Ravens dealt the outside linebacker to the Titans just before the 2018 season. The former second-round pick played 32 games with the Titans, making nine starts and tallying 8.5 sacks.
Correa will follow Jabaal Sheard to Jacksonville. The Jaguars gutted their “Sacksonville” defensive line this offseason, cutting Marcell Dareus and trading Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue. Like Sheard, Correa is in line to work as a depth piece behind first-round picks Josh Allen and K’Lavon Chaisson.
Titans To Release Or Trade Kamalei Correa
Titans linebacker Kamalei Correa demanded a trade after being inactive on Tuesday night, according to Mike Garafolo and TomPelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). The Titans will oblige — they try to trade Correa, and they’ll release him if they can’t find a taker.
Correa has seen just 39 defensive snaps and 24 special teams plays this season. After spending time on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, he was eager to get back on the field this week. In 2019, the Boise State product saw the most action of his career, appearing in all 16 games and starting five of them. He played in about 40% of the Titans’ defensive snaps and served as a major special teams contributor. Although Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics considered him an average pass rusher, he did pick up a career-high five sacks.
Lauded for his coverage abilities, the former Ravens second-round pick was a favorite of former Titans defensive coordinator Dean Pees. When Pees retired this year, Correa lost one of his biggest supporters. Still, Correa agreed to a new one-year, $3.5MM deal with the Titans in April, hoping that he’d still be a defensive regular.