Dolphins Activate DE Robert Nkemdiche
Robert Nkemdiche‘s second chance could begin Monday night. The Dolphins activated the former first-round pick from their PUP list.
Nkemdiche suffered an ACL last season and reported to Cardinals camp in less-than-ideal shape. The Cardinals cut him, and the Dolphins took a flier. The interior defender returned to practice earlier this month.
The former No. 1 overall high school recruit will join a Dolphins front that has just seven sacks this season. Nkemdiche recorded 4.5 sacks last season, though it should be noted he did not register any between the 2016-17 slates. The Ole Miss product profiles as a defensive tackle in the Dolphins’ 4-3 scheme.
The Dolphins will now have four first-round picks on their defensive front, with Nkemdiche joining Christian Wilkins and 2017 Round 1 selections Charles Harris and Taco Charlton.
Eagles Acquire Genard Avery From Browns
The Eagles and Browns agreed on a pre-deadline deal, with second-year defensive end/linebacker Genard Avery set to head from Cleveland to Philadelphia. The Eagles announced the trade, which will send a 2021 fourth-round draft pick to the Browns.
Cleveland used a fifth-round pick in 2018 on Avery and gave him five starts last season. The Memphis product also spent time at linebacker during his Ohio stay, potentially providing the Eagles with some versatility. Avery played a more prominent role on the 2018 Browns, registering 4.5 sacks and 40 tackles. This season, he has one solo tackle and has played a combined five defensive snaps.
Avery has only been active in two Browns games this season. He played three snaps against the Patriots. Avery asked the Browns for a trade, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports, adding John Dorsey did not want to part with him so soon. This marks the second in-season trade of a Dorsey 2018 pick, with the Browns having sent second-rounder Austin Corbett to the Rams earlier this month.
Vinny Curry and Josh Sweat reside as the Eagles’ backup defensive ends, with Daeshon Hall and fourth-round rookie Shareef Miller residing on Philadelphia’s 53-man roster. Avery’s rookie deal runs through the 2021 season.
Jets Trade Leonard Williams To Giants
We’ve got another major trade to report. The Jets are sending defensive lineman Leonard Williams to the Giants, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Per Schefter, the Jets are getting a third-round pick in next April’s draft, and a fifth-round pick in the 2021 draft. Fortunately for Williams he won’t have to move far, as the Jets are sending him to their crosstown rivals. Schefter soon added in a separate tweet that the fifth-round pick becomes a fourth-rounder if Williams signs a new deal with the G-Men before the start of the next league year. Schefter also reports that the Jets are paying $4MM of the $6MM that Williams is owed for the rest of 2019.
There have been murmurs about Williams getting traded, and something finally materialized. All the way back in January we heard the Jets were considering moving him, and hoping to get a second-round pick in return. Just yesterday, we passed along word that the Cowboys had been interested in Williams before trading for Michael Bennett, and there were apparently multiple other teams in the mix.
The USC product is in the final year of his deal, and the Jets wanted to get something for him while they still could. The third-rounder they’ll be getting from the Giants will presumably be an early third-rounder given their current record. The Giants being buyers at 2-6 and adding a rental player might seem odd, but they’ll presumably try and sign Williams to an extension now. He’ll slide in next to Dexter Lawrence, the Giants’ first-round rookie, on New York’s defensive line.
The sixth overall pick of the 2015 draft, Williams is still only 25. He made the Pro Bowl in 2016 and has shown that he’s capable of playing at a very high level. As NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano pointed out in a tweet, this is the first time that the Jets and Giants have ever made a trade, so it’s a historic day.
Dolphins To Trade Kenyan Drake To Cardinals
The Cardinals have reached agreement on a trade to acquire Dolphins running back Kenyan Drake, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. In the deal, the Dolphins will acquire a conditional sixth-round pick in 2020 that can become a fifth-rounder. 
Drake will help to reinforce a Cardinals RB group that badly needs the support. Star David Johnson is expected to miss this week’s game due to an ankle injury and Chase Edmonds, a key fill-in, suffered a hamstring injury of his own over the weekend. Drake now figures to see significant work against the 49ers on Thursday night.
Drake gives the Cardinals a clear boost in the near term, but he does not necessarily give them a building block for 2020 and beyond. He’ll be a free agent after the season, so they’ll have some work to do if Drake impresses in the second half of the season. For the here and now: the Cardinals seem to believe in their roster and like their chances of climbing out of a 3-4-1 hole.
The Dolphins, meanwhile, seem to be keeping their eyes on the prize – a top draft pick in 2020. With no hope of contending this year, they’ve bolstered their draft capital and unloaded a player who was unlikely to suit up again in Miami.
Drake did not travel with the Dolphins for tonight’s game against the Steelers, a move that foretold a Drake deal. The Lions and Titans were linked to Drake, but the Cardinals seem to have wanted him more.
Miami’s bottom-tier offensive line has struggled this season, and Drake is averaging a career-low 3.7 yards per carry. However, the former third-round pick posted 4.8- and 4.5-yard YPC averages in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Drake, 25, has not rushed for 50 yards in a game this season, but he surpassed 1,000 yards from scrimmage in a part-time role last year and has just 333 career carries under his belt.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/26/19
One practice squad move to report today:
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: WR Damion Willis
- Released:CB Anthony Chesley
49ers Cut Jordan Matthews
Veteran receiver Jordan Matthews is looking for a new team yet again. Matthews was released by the 49ers earlier today, the team announced. San Francisco needed the roster spot for LS Kyle Nelson, who they activated from his suspension. 
Matthews signed a one-year, $1.8MM deal with a $300K signing bonus earlier this offseason, but was released at final cuts. After Jalen Hurd was placed on injured reserve a few weeks ago, the 49ers re-signed Matthews. The Vanderbilt product is approaching journeyman status, as he’s been with four team in just the past three years. Originally drafted by Philly in the second-round back in 2014, Matthews had some very productive years with the Eagles. He got traded to the Bills, and then injuries started to pile up.
After getting released by San Fran right before the start of the season he had workouts with the Vikings and Saints, so maybe he can latch on with one of those teams. Still only 27, he should be able to resurface at some point soon and he could get brought back by the 49ers.
After rejoining the Eagles last year, he had 20 catches for 300 yards and two touchdowns in 15 games. Nelson was suspended ten games for PEDs toward the end of last season, but the team clearly never lost confidence in their long-snapper. Back in March, they signed him to a four-year extension.
Falcons To Promote Danny Etling
The Falcons will promote practice squad quarterback Danny Etling, according to Adam Caplan of SiriusXM (on Twitter). The move is significant, because it may be an indicator that Matt Ryan won’t play on Sunday vs. the Seahawks. 
Ryan suffered an ankle injury against the Rams on Sunday and is presently listed as questionable. The Falcons haven’t said much about his status, but the promotion of Etling says a lot.
If Ryan is out, Matt Schaub will start in his stead. Meanwhile, Etling will serve as his top clipboard holder. Etling, a 2018 seventh-round pick by the Patriots, appears to be back at the QB position. Earlier this year, the Pats were experimenting with him as a wide receiver/QB hybrid.
This has been a trying year for Ryan and the Falcons. Through seven games, they’re 1-6, and appear to be in selling mode as the trade deadline approaches. Mohamed Sanu has already been jettisoned to Etling’s former club and edge rusher Vic Beasley could be the next notable to go. Teams are also interested in tight end Austin Hooper, but the Falcons seem set on keeping him for the long haul.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/25/19
We don’t dance now, we make minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: DL Ufomba Kamalu (from Patriots practice squad)
Dallas Cowboys
- Released: DT Justin Hamilton
Philadelphia Eagles
- Promoted: DT Bruce Hector
Patriots Trade Michael Bennett To Cowboys
Michael Bennett got his wish. On Thursday, the Patriots agreed to trade the defensive end to the Cowboys for a seventh-round pick that can turn into a sixth-round choice in 2021, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. 
Bennett clashed with Pats brass earlier this month and led to an argument between him and defensive line coach Bret Bielema. Soon after, the veteran received a one-game suspension for airing his frustrations, which stemmed from a perceived lack of playing time.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has never been one to tolerate shenanigans and isn’t big into sentimentality. The team was high on Bennett after acquiring him from the Eagles in March – and even gave him a pay bump – but they haven’t had much use for him this year. The defensive end appeared in six games, but started just once. In three of those games, he saw less than 20 defensive snaps. In his last time out, against the Giants, he didn’t see the field until the second quarter.
“On Friday, I had a philosophical disagreement with my position coach that has led to my suspension,” Bennett said in a statement. “I apologize to my teammates for any distraction this may have caused.”
Apparently, the distraction was enough to earn him a one-way ticket out of Foxboro. Meanwhile, the Cowboys now have a stronger DE rotation that features Bennett, Demarcus Lawrence, Robert Quinn, Kerry Hyder, and Dorance Armstrong. Losing Tyrone Crawford for the year wasn’t ideal, but the Cowboys have gained back a lot of ground by adding Bennett to the mix.
In 2018, Bennett tallied nine sacks for Philly, marking his highest total since 2015. So far this year, the three-time Pro Bowler has 2.5 sacks on the stat sheet, giving him 65.5 in total across ~9.5 seasons.
The Cowboys are on their bye this week, so Bennett will have plenty of time to get acclimated and learn the new playbook. Then, on Monday Nov. 4, he’ll get to don his new threads for the first time when the Cowboys face the Giants. Fun fact: He faced the Giants twice last year and notched a sack in each game.
Ravens Sign DB Jordan Richards
The Ravens secondary will look much different during the second half of the season than it did during the first. The team traded for Marcus Peters last week and got Jimmy Smith back from injury. Baltimore also released Justin Bethel on Monday.
Today, the Ravens have made another move, adding Jordan Richards to their secondary, as ProFootballTalk relays. Richards waived by the Patriots after New England picked up Bethel earlier this week.
Richards was a second-round pick by New England back in 2015. In between his two stints with the Patriots, he spent time in Oakland and Atlanta.