Minor NFL Transactions: 1/23/26
Here are today’s only minor moves heading into Championship weekend:
Seattle Seahawks
- Activated from IR: TE Elijah Arroyo, RB George Holani
- Placed on IR: G Bryce Cabeldue, RB Zach Charbonnet (story)
The Seahawks are bringing in some reinforcements at the right time. Following the loss of Charbonnet to a torn ACL, Holani returns after months away dealing with a hamstring injury. They’ll also see the return of their third-round rookie Arroyo, who was running as TE2 before getting placed on injured reserve after a Week 14 injury.
Rams Designate RT Rob Havenstein For Return
JANUARY 23: The Rams will continue to go without Havenstein in the NFC Championship Game, Sarah Barshop of ESPN reports. He’ll miss his 10th straight game.
JANUARY 22: Although the coaching carousel has ignited PFR’s search trackers into high gear, our IR Return Tracker is still covering four teams. And a few are making moves ahead of this weekend’s conference championship round.
The Broncos have designated both J.K. Dobbins and Luke Wattenberg for return, while the Patriots saw Mack Hollins return to practice Thursday. The Seahawks designated running back George Holani for return as well. The Rams are now on the board here, as their longest-tenured player — right tackle Rob Havenstein — is back at practice after several weeks off, per the AP’s Greg Beacham.
Havenstein has not played since Week 11, a win over the Seahawks, but could be back in time for the team’s rubber match. Havenstein, who has only played in seven games this season, has missed extensive time due to ankle and knee trouble. The Rams were without their 11th-year right tackle for a three-game stretch in October as well. Although he returned for some November work, he has been on the shelf since the Rams’ home win over the Hawks.
Havenstein, 33, has been the Rams’ RT starter since Nick Foles‘ lone season at the controls. The former St. Louis second-round pick — the only Ram left from their Missouri years — has started 148 games for the team, having signed two extensions to stay in Los Angeles. That ranks seventh among O-linemen in the Rams’ near-90-year history as a franchise. If the two-time Super Bowl starter returns for the 2026 season, he could move past Orlando Pace and into the top five.
But the Rams have seen their once-durable blocker run into persistent injury trouble over the past two seasons. Havenstein missed six games last year, battling ankle trouble in 2024 as well. He also missed three games in 2023. The Wisconsin product was on the field for the Rams’ two playoff games last season, before undergoing surgery on both shoulders, and will have a chance to return for Sunday’s NFC decider. If the Rams do not activate Havenstein and win Sunday, they could activate him for Super Bowl LX.
L.A. has used Warren McClendon as its Havenstein replacement. McClendon, a 2023 fifth-round pick, has started 10 games this season. All 667 of his 2025 snaps have come at right tackle. Pro Football Focus has graded McClendon 15th among all qualified tackles, giving the Rams a potential option in 2026. Havenstein’s three-year, $34.5MM contract expires at season’s end.
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/22/26
Today’s reserve/futures deals:
New York Giants
San Francisco 49ers
- TE Hayden Rucci
Leal spent four seasons with the Steelers, starting six games over his first two. The 2022 third-round pick only saw action in nine Pittsburgh games over the past two campaigns. He has one career sack. Leal has, however, offered some versatility, seeing regular time on the edge and at defensive tackle in Pittsburgh’s 3-4 scheme.
Lions OL Dan Skipper Announces Retirement
Lions offensive lineman Dan Skipper announced his retirement via Instagram on Thursday.
The 31-year-old spent time with seven different teams in his seven-year career, though he is best known for his time in Detroit. He signed with the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent out of Arkansas in 2017, but eventually made his way to Detroit for his NFL debut later that year. Skipper spent time with the Broncos and Patriots over the next two seasons before seeing his next regular-season action with the Texans in 2019.
Skipper returned to Detroit in 2019 where he would spend the rest of his career aside from brief stints with the Raiders and Colts. In 2022, he made his first start at left guard; he would go on to start five games that year, all at guard, a position he had not played in the NFL. Skipper then served as the Lions’ swing tackle from 2023 to 2025 with 10 starts at left tackle in the last two years.
The Lions also introduced Skipper’s now-signature role as the Lions’ sixth offensive linemen in 2022. Then-offensive coordinator Ben Johnson would frequently roll out ‘jumbo’ packages which would typically feature Skipper as an extra blocker. He would occasionally run a route and caught two passes, including a touchdown in 2023. The strategy often confused the defense and sometimes the referees. It also made Skipper beloved among Lions fans.
Injuries were a factor in Skipper’s decision, according to Justin Rogers of the Detroit Football Network. He will now move into coaching and already has his first gig set up as the offensive line and tight ends coach for the East/West Shrine Bowl next week.
At 6-foot-10, Skipper was also the NFL’s tallest active player. That title is now passed to a number of players who all stand at 6-foot-8.
Pats WR Mack Hollins Returns To Practice
Mack Hollins could be available to the Patriots in time for this week’s AFC title game. The veteran receiver has returned to practice, as noted by Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald. 
An abdomen injury suffered in December landed Hollins on injured reserve late in the regular season. That ensured an absence of at least four games stretching into the start of the playoffs. With New England managing to win at home in the wild-card and divisional rounds, though, a return to action is now in play.
Hollins has played for six teams (including three in the AFC East) over the course of his career. He landed a two-year deal in free agency last offseason to join the Patriots, a move which has proved worthwhile. In 15 games during his first New England season, Hollins posted 550 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 46 catches.
Those totals fall short of his career-best Raiders output from 2022, but they demonstrate Hollins’ importance to New England’s passing attack. Having the 32-year-old back in the fold in time Sunday’s game against a strong Broncos defense could prove to be critical. Overall, the Patriots have 21 days to activate Hollins so a win this week would still leave the door open to a Super Bowl return.
New England has Stefon Diggs and Kayshon Boutte – who ranked first and second in regular season receiving yards by wideouts on the team – in place. Diggs topped 1,000 yards during his debut Patriots campaign, while Boutte’s one-handed touchdown against the Texans played a key role in ensuring the team would advance to this week’s AFC championship. Receiving a secondary contribution from Hollins would of course be welcomed.
The former fourth-rounder is one of three players whose practice windows are currently open. The Patriots have six IR activations available with no more than two games remaining in their season.
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/21/26
Wednesday’s minor moves:
New England Patriots
- Designated for return from IR: DT Joshua Farmer
Seattle Seahawks
- Designated for return from IR: RB George Holani
With only four teams remaining in the hunt for the Lombardi Trophy, there are fewer and fewer minor transactions from day-to-day. Today, though, the Patriots and Seahawks opened the 21-day practice windows for backups Farmer and Holani. The Patriots stand to benefit the most from today’s transactions as they look for the fourth-round Florida State rookie to potentially end his first year of play on the field.
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/21/26
Today’s reserve/futures deals:
Atlanta Falcons
- TE Joshua Simon
Chicago Bears
- TE Qadir Ismail
Las Vegas Raiders
- LS Alex Ward
Los Angeles Rams
- S Nate Valcarcel
Miami Dolphins
- LB Seth Coleman
Philadelphia Eagles
- TE Jaheim Bell
San Francisco 49ers
Broncos Designate C Luke Wattenberg For Return From IR
Denver will go without starting quarterback Bo Nix when it hosts New England in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game, but one of the Broncos’ top offensive linemen could return. The Broncos have opened center Luke Wattenberg‘s 21-day practice window, per Chris Tomasson of the Denver Gazette.
A shoulder injury has kept Wattenberg out of three straight games. Under normal circumstances, a player on injured reserve is required to miss four contests. However, because the Broncos clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs, Wattenberg is now eligible to come off IR.
Wattenberg, a fifth-round pick in 2022, spent his first two seasons in Denver as a backup. He became the Broncos’ No. 1 center in 2024 and has since started in all 28 appearances, including 15 this season. Pro Football Focus ranked Wattenberg’s performance 10th among 38 qualifying centers in 2025. He earned solid grades as both a run and pass blocker.
With Wattenberg a few months from free agency, the Broncos awarded him a four-year, $48MM extension on Nov. 25. He now sits fifth at his position in contract value and AAV. Wattenberg’s $27MM in guarantees trails only the Chiefs’ Creed Humphrey ($35MM).
On Christmas Day, a month after the Broncos locked up Wattenberg for the long haul, he landed on IR. Alex Forsyth has filled in at center during Wattenberg’s IR stint, and that will likely continue if the latter is unavailable against the Patriots. Forsyth suffered an injury in a 33-30 divisional round win over the Bills, which led the Broncos to plug in Sam Mustipher for the rest of the game. However, Forsyth participated in practice Wednesday, Tomasson relays.
Despite their injuries at center, the Broncos escaped in overtime against the Bills in an instant classic. Nix sustained a season-ending ankle injury, though, leaving the Broncos as rare home underdogs in the AFC title game. Former Patriot Jarrett Stidham will fill in for Nix as the Broncos vie for their first conference championship in a decade.
While Stidham’s facing an uphill battle this week, the return of Wattenberg would help his cause. The Broncos could also welcome No. 1 RB J.K. Dobbins back after opening his practice window on Monday.
Packers Cut CB Trevon Diggs
JANUARY 21: As expected, Diggs has cleared waivers, per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. He’s now a free agent.
JANUARY 20: Trevon Diggs exited the season still attached to his five-year, $97MM Cowboys-designed extension. But it was unrealistic for the veteran cornerback to expect that to continue much longer, given his play on the deal.
The Packers are indeed moving on. They are cutting Diggs, per a team announcement. This confirms the veteran cornerback’s status as a late-season rental. He will not be eligible to join one of the four remaining teams’ rosters before season’s end.
The six-year veteran will end up in free agency, being given a chance to catch on before unrestricted FAs hit the market on March 9. Technically, Diggs is subject to waivers, but it is extraordinarily unlikely a claim comes in to keep him on this contract after the playoffs conclude.
This will not tag the Packers with any dead money and free up $15MM in cap space for the team ahead of the 2026 offseason. Diggs, 27, was not expected to remain attached to his Dallas terms for much longer. The Cowboys waived him after Week 17, leading to a Packers claim. Although the Packers deployed Diggs as a backup, most of his work came in a meaningless Week 18 game in Minnesota. Diggs played just one defensive snap in the Packers’ wild-card loss to the Bears.
It should not be ruled out Diggs comes back at a far lower rate, per The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman. Packers defensive pass-game coordinator Derrick Ansley coached Diggs at Alabama. Though, Green Bay is set for some defensive staff changes after Jeff Hafley‘s departure for Miami. It is unclear who will be part of the team’s 2026 defensive staff; some degree of turnover will be expected.
Diggs’ 11-interception 2021 season placed him on the radar for a big-ticket extension, and the Cowboys followed through with that move in summer 2023. But an ACL tear in September of that year sidetracked the former second-round pick. Diggs has battled knee trouble since, and a dustup with the Cowboys regarding Christmas Day travel plans preceded his early exit. Had the Cowboys not waived him before Week 18, they would have done so after the season.
Playing in just nine games this season, Diggs ended up missing 29 games since he signed the lucrative second contract. He made it back from another knee surgery by Week 1, but a concussion sustained in his home parked him on IR. A disagreement about the corner’s health between player and team also factored into a turbulent final Diggs Dallas season. As a result of the poor return on investment, Diggs will not be a candidate to sign for anything close to his most recent Cowboys terms.
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/20/26
Today’s reserve/futures deals:
Chicago Bears
- WR Maurice Alexander, RB Brittain Brown, TE Stephen Carlson, LS Luke Elkin, DB Dallis Flowers, DL Jonathan Garvin, LB Dominique Hampton, OL Kyle Hergel, TE Nikola Kalinic, DB Dontae Manning, DL Jeremiah Martin, DB Gervarrius Owens, WR JP Richardson, LB Nephi Sewell
Green Bay Packers
- DL Jaden Crumedy, QB Kyle McCord
Houston Texans
- DE Solomon Byrd, C Eli Cox, WR Josh Kelly, TE Luke Lachey, S Kaevon Merriweather, G Sidy Sow, DT Junior Tafuna, LB Xavier Thomas, WR Jared Wayne
Philadelphia Eagles
- CB Ambry Thomas
Pittsburgh Steelers
- DB Doneiko Slaughter, OL Lorenzo Thompson
San Francisco 49ers
- OL Isaac Alarcon, DL Evan Anderson, CB Eli Apple, WR Junior Bergen, DL William Bradley-King, DB Derrick Canteen, LB Andrew Farmer, S Darrick Forrest, LB Jalen Graham, QB Adrian Martinez, OL Drake Nugent, OL Brandon Parker, WR Malik Turner, DL Sebastian Valdez