Minor NFL Transactions: 11/24/18
Here are Saturday’s minor moves:
San Francisco 49ers
- Promoted from practice squad: RB Jeff Wilson
- Waived: QB Tom Savage
Seattle Seahawks
- Promoted from practice squad: WR Keenan Reynolds
- Waived: TE Darrell Daniels
Packers Place Nick Perry On IR
Nick Perry‘s season will come to an early conclusion. Already ruled out for Week 12, the veteran outside linebacker is now on the Packers’ IR list, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
Perry is dealing with a knee injury, the latest in a recent run of maladies for the well-paid pass rusher. Green Bay promoted defensive end James Looney from its practice squad to fill the roster spot, per ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky (on Twitter).
Injured during the Packers’ Week 10 win over the Dolphins, Perry missed last week’s game and did not practice this week. He’ll finish a season on IR for a second straight year. Various injuries affected Perry last season, and he missed all of Green Bay’s offesason program training camp with an ankle ailment.
The sixth-year edge defender will finish his season with a career-low 1.5 sacks. By the end of this regular season, Perry will have missed 11 games since signing his five-year, $60MM extension.
Kyler Fackrell and Reggie Gilbert will see more time in Perry’s absence. The former, thanks to a three-sack performance in Seattle, now leads the Packers with eight this season.
Although Perry has not lived up to the extension, he may be tethered to the Packers for at least one more season. It would cost Green Bay more than $11MM in dead money if Perry is released next year. Perry finished 2016 with a career-high 11 sacks, but injuries have limited his chances to build on that performance and justify his eight-figure-AAV re-up.
Ravens Activate CB Maurice Canady
Maurice Canady will be returning from the injured reserve for the second consecutive season. Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that the Ravens have activated the cornerback. To make room on the roster, the team has waived offensive lineman Hroniss Grasu.
Canady, a 2016 sixth-round pick out of Virginia, has had a tough time staying healthy during his professional career. In three seasons, the 24-year-old has appeared in only 13 games, including one game this season. He suffered a knee injury during the 2017 offseason, but he was ultimately activated from the IR in early November. He proceeded to appear in eight games that season, compiling 27 tackles and one pass defended. Baltimore will surely be hoping for similar production this time around.
Canady injured his thigh in mid-September, forcing him to sit out more than two months. He’ll be joining a cornerback bench grouping that already includes Tavon Young, Marlon Humphrey, Anthony Averett, and Cyrus Jones.
After being released by the Bears in early September, Grasu subsequently caught on with the Ravens. The 27-year-old only appeared in three games during his stint with Baltimore, but he did start 12 games during his two seasons in Chicago. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets that the lineman could end up getting claimed on waivers by a team that needs some interior offensive linemen depth.
Giants Sign K Marshall Koehn To P-Squad
The Giants signed kicker Marshall Koehn to the practice squad, per a team announcement. To make room, the club cut tight end Garrett Dickerson from the 10-man unit. 
It’s possible that Aldrick Rosas is banged up, but he has not been listed on the injury report in advance of Sunday’s game against the Eagles. The Giants aren’t looking to dump Rosas, who turns 24 next month. Rosas has connected on 95% of his field goal tries this season, which puts him fourth among all qualifying kickers in the NFL, and he has nailed all of his extra point attempts in 2018.
Assuming Rosas is healthy, it’s possible that the Giants are getting an advanced look at Koehn for the offseason. Then again, the Giants can keep Rosas on the cheap in 2019 thanks to his status as an exclusive rights free agent (ERFA), so there’s little need for a Plan B.
Koehn, 26, appeared in his one and only NFL game last year as a member of the Bengals. He spent this past offseason with the Giants and had a three-day stint on their practice squad in October.
Lions Waive S Don Carey
The Lions waived safety Don Carey on Friday, according to a team announcement. The move will create room for cornerback Marcus Cooper, who was claimed off waivers from the Bears on Thanksgiving. 
[RELATED: Lions Claim Marcus Cooper]
Because the Lions played on Thursday, the addition of Cooper was formally delayed until the next day. Carey was active for this week’s game against Chicago and served as a special teams gunner alongside Charles Washington. Carey had just returned to the Lions on Nov. 20, so his latest stint with the team lasted only a few days.
Carey bounced around the league after being selected in the sixth round of the 2009 draft by the Brown. Later on, the Norfolk State product found a home in Detroit. After signing with the Lions in 2011, Carey proceeded to play the next seven years for the organization. The 31-year-old served as mostly a backup and special teamer during his tenure in Detroit, including a 2017 campaign where he compiled nine tackles and one forced fumble in 13 games.
Cooper is expected to step into Carey’s old role, which means that he’ll serve as a cornerback behind Darius Slay, Nevin Lawson, Teez Tabor, DeShawn Shead, and Mike Ford.
Redskins’ Cassanova McKinzy Suffers Injury
Redskins linebacker Cassanova McKinzy suffered a torn pectoral muscle in Thursday’s loss to the Cowboys, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). McKinzy was out of football for two years due to injury, so it’s undoubtedly frustrating for the 26-year-old. 
[RELATED: Latest On Redskins QB Alex Smith]
McKinzy returned to the Thanksgiving contest after exiting with a shoulder injury, but a torn pec is a far more serious injury. The Redskins will be forced to shut McKinzy down for the year and place him on the injured reserve list this week.
McKinzy, an Auburn product, appeared in three games for the Redskins this year. The club has him under control through next season at a $570K cap number with no guarantees.
Bengals Place Adolphus Washington On IR
Another day, another Bengals player sidelined. This time, it’s defensive lineman Adolphus Washington being shut down for the year due to a knee injury. To take his place on the roster, the Bengals signed defensive tackle Christian Ringo off of the Cowboys practice squad. 
Washington was a third-round pick of the Bills in 2016, but didn’t do much during his time in Buffalo. Washington appeared in 15 games (11 starts) as a rookie, compiling 21 tackles and 2.5 sacks. However, the defensive tackle was arrested prior to his sophomore campaign, and the Bills subsequently shopped him for a fifth-round pick. In September, they released him, and he hooked on with the Cowboys practice squad. Soon after, the Bengals inked him to a main roster deal. His Bengals run ends with six tackles and one sack.
With Washington out, the Bengals went back to the Cowboys’ taxi squad once again. Ringo has suited up for 15 games in three NFL seasons and may get a chance to add to his resume in the final games of the 2018 season.
Raiders DT Justin Ellis Designated For Return
Justin Ellis was back at practice yesterday, and the Raiders announced that they’ve designated the defensive lineman to return from the injured reserve. The team will now have 21 days to add the veteran to their active roster. We heard last week that the 27-year-old was nearing a return to practice.
“It was a great feeling [to get back on the field],” Ellis said. “I was smiling inside, I was working trying to knock the rust off. Inside, seeing my guys happy to have me back was a great feeling.”
Ellis originally suffered a foot injury during Oakland’s season-opener against the Rams, and the team subsequently placed him on the injured reserve. It was expected that the 27-year-old would return to practice in late October, but the defensive tackle apparently needed some extra time to recover.
“He looks good, it’ll be great to get him back,” said defensive coordinator Paul Guenther. “We haven’t had him since the first ball game, he’s a big part of what we’re doing here. He practiced yesterday, but he looks good. He feels good, and hopefully he’ll be up and running Sunday.”
The Raiders’ new regime will certainly want to see what they have in Ellis, especially after he inked a three-year, $15MM extension with the team during the offseason. Pro Football Focus graded him as one of the league’s better run stopping tackles last year, and he finished the 2017 campaign with 48 tackles and 0.5 sacks in 16 games (14 starts).
Ellis was one of three Raiders defensive tackles currently sitting on the injured reserve (along with Eddie Vanderdoes and Ahtyba Rubin). When he’s ultimately added to the active roster, he’ll be joining a healthy grouping that includes P.J. Hall, Maurice Hurst, Johnathan Hankins, and Clinton McDonald.
Lions Claim CB Marcus Cooper
Marcus Cooper has not factored into the 2018 season much, but he’ll have a chance to make up for lost time with another NFC North team.
The Lions claimed the veteran cornerback off waivers from the Bears on Thursday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). The claim will be deferred to Friday.
The Bears defeated the Lions in Thanksgiving’s early game, and Cooper will be set for a Chicago-to-Detroit flight soon as well.
He’s played just three snaps this season for the division-leading Bears. A hamstring injury’s intervened, but the Lions are presumably viewing the 28-year-old corner as a better bet to see snaps than the Bears did this year.
Having recently picked up cornerback/special-teamer Don Carey, the Lions may be set to make another move at corner Friday. They have six on the roster prior to Cooper’s arrival. The former Chiefs and Cardinals defender signed a one-year, $1.5MM deal to return to Chicago this year, doing so shortly after the team cut bait on the three-year, $13.5MM pact agreed to in 2017.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/22/18
Thanksgiving practice squad updates will be posted below:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: DE Vontarrius Dora