Jets Waive WR Allen Lazard
DECEMBER 17: Lazard cleared waivers Wednesday, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson notes. Unlike Adam Thielen recently, Lazard will have a chance to select his next destination. The Steelers will certainly be a prime candidate here, but as of now, Lazard is unattached after a disappointing Jets tenure.
DECEMBER 16: Allen Lazard‘s Jets tenure is coming to an end. The veteran wideout has made a request to be let go, and New York is willing to grant it. 
The Jets are waiving Lazard, as first reported by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. He will hit the waiver wire once the transaction is processed. Provided Lazard clears, he will become a free agent. To no surprise, Florio adds Lazard aims to land with a contending team for the stretch run. The move is now official, per a team announcement.
After a strong showing in Green Bay while playing with Aaron Rodgers, expectations were high when Lazard signed with the Jets in 2023. Things largely did not go according to plan with New York, however. Last season – when Rodgers was healthy – Lazard managed to score six touchdowns in 12 games, but it came as little surprise when talk of a trade or release took place ahead of the 2025 campaign.
Even though Rodgers was not in the fold any longer, Lazard and the Jets worked out a pay cut agreement allowing him to remain in place. The former UDFA has made just 10 catches so far in 2025 with New York struggling on offense. As the 3-11 team turns to planning for the coming offseason, Lazard will seek out a fresh start. The 30-year-old was a pending 2026 free agent, but he will now reach the open market early.
Developing into a starter over the course of his Green Bay tenure, Lazard scored eight touchdowns in 2021. The following year, he set new career highs in receptions (60) and yards (788). That helped land the Iowa State product a four-year, $44MM pact in free agency. Given his and the Jets’ struggles this season, a trade (including to Rodgers’ Steelers) remained something to watch for leading up to the deadline. Nothing took place on that front, but Lazard will now become available to interested teams.
Pittsburgh has once again been in the market for receiver help this offseason. That has led to the additions of veterans Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Adam Thielen. Bringing in Lazard for the closing stages of the campaign would thus come as a surprise. Other teams in the playoff hunt could look to him as veteran depth, though, so it will be interesting to see if Lazard manages to generate a market in the coming days.
Packers RB MarShawn Lloyd Unlikely To Play In 2025
3:46pm: Green Bay is activating Lloyd off injured reserve today, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein. This is a procedural move, as the team will then place the running back on IR a second time due to the aforementioned hamstring aggravation. This would give the Packers the option to activate Lloyd after four games. Had they not done this, Lloyd’s initial IR-return window would have closed to end his season.
Lloyd already counts toward the team’s eight-activation total since he was designated for return August 26. As it stands, however, the second-year running back — who has proven to be incredibly injury-prone — is unlikely to be part of the Packers’ activation puzzle should they make the playoffs. The Pack still have five injury activations remaining.
11:58am: Packers running back MarShawn Lloyd has been on IR with a hamstring injury all season. The Packers opened his 21-day practice window on Dec. 1, but Lloyd recently suffered another hamstring injury, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Green Bay has just a few more days to activate Lloyd, whose chances of playing in 2025 may have “derailed,” Schefter notes. If so, it will end up as a lost season for Lloyd after he barely factored in as a rookie last year.
Lloyd impressed over three years between South Carolina and USC, leading the Packers to use a third-round pick on him in 2024. The idea was for the 5-foot-9, 220-pounder to immediately complement big-ticket free agent acquisition Josh Jacobs. Instead, multiple injuries and a bout of appendicitis limited Lloyd to one game last season.
With Lloyd largely unavailable a year ago, Emanuel Wilson emerged as a capable backup to Jacobs, who made his third Pro Bowl. That one-two punch remains in place. Jacobs leads the NFC with 13 rushing touchdowns and is just 110 yards away from hitting 1,000 for the fifth time in his career. Wilson has scored three times on the ground after doing so on four occasions last season.
Filling in for an injured Jacobs, Wilson hit the 100-yard mark (107 and two TDs on 28 carries) for the first time in his career in a win over the Vikings in Week 12. He has combined for just nine carries and 27 yards in three games since Jacobs returned, though, and Wilson’s YPC has fallen from 4.9 in 2024 to 3.9 this year.
Wilson has been less efficient in 2025, but he’ll continue as second in the Green Bay backfield pecking order as the 9-4-1 team gears up for a potential playoff run. Meanwhile, already almost halfway through his four-year rookie contract, Lloyd has tallied a meager 15 yards on six carries.
Vikings S Josh Metellus To Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery
The Vikings lost outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard to a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 15. Safety Josh Metellus will join Greenard on the shelf for the rest of the year. Metellus will also undergo shoulder surgery, head coach Kevin O’Connell announced (via Kevin Seifert of ESPN). The team plans to place him and Greenard on IR.
Now in his sixth season (all with the Vikings), Metellus worked as a full-time starter for the third straight year. After signing a three-year, $36MM extension last July, he notched 86 tackles, two interceptions, six passes defensed, and a half-sack in 14 games this season.
Metellus currently ranks second among Vikings defenders in snap share (96.5%), trailing only cornerback Byron Murphy. Pro Football Focus hasn’t been enamored of Metellus’ play this year, though, ranking him 78th among 98 qualifying safeties.
Metellus was on the field for 69 of 70 defensive snaps in a win over the Cowboys in Week 15. Fellow safety Harrison Smith played all 70. The 6-8 Vikings will have to plug someone else in alongside Smith over the final three weeks of their season. Jay Ward, Theo Jackson, and Tavierre Thomas are the remaining options on their roster.
Along with the Metellus news, the Vikings announced that they’ve opened tight end Gavin Bartholomew‘s 21-day practice window. Bartholomew hasn’t played this season after landing on the reserve/PUP list at the end of August. The Vikings selected the former Pitt Panther in the sixth round of last spring’s draft.
Dolphins Cut Matt Judon
The Dolphins are shaking things up ahead of Week 16. Along with making a change at quarterback, the team has cut pass rusher Matt Judon, veteran insider Jordan Schultz reports. He’ll go through waivers before potentially reaching free agency.
Now in his 10th NFL season, Judon hit free agency after a 17-game, 15-start, 5.5-sack campaign with the Falcons in 2024. The four-time Pro Bowler went without a contract until August.
The Dolphins added Judon a one-year deal worth up to $6MM just a couple of weeks before the start of the regular season. The pact came with a $1.5MM base salary. A claiming team would assume the prorated portion of that figure.
Also a former Raven and Patriot, Judon joined the Dolphins with 72 sacks on his resume. Surprisingly, that number has not changed this year. Judon has never finished a season with fewer than four sacks, but he’sin danger of going without one in 2025. The 33-year-old appeared in 13 of the Dolphins’ games, made three starts, and recorded 19 tackles and three quarterback hits. Pro Football Focus ranks Judon dead last (112th) among qualifying edge defenders.
Despite his immense struggles this year, Judon could close out the season with a contender if one claims him on waivers or he lands a deal (likely a practice squad arrangement) in free agency. The Dolphins, eliminated from playoff contention, will finish out 2025 with Bradley Chubb and Chop Robinson as their top edge rushers.
Judon and Jaelan Phillips have been prominent members of the Dolphins’ pass-rushing group this season, but they’ve now moved on from the two of them during a disappointing year. While Miami was able to reel in a third-round pick from the Eagles in a Phillips trade before the Nov. 4 deadline, the Judon pickup will go down as a swing and a miss.
Jets, TE Jeremy Ruckert Agree To Extension
The Jets and tight end Jeremy Ruckert have agreed to a two-year, $10MM contract extension, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. The deal could max out at $11MM.
The Ruckert extension is the second one general manager Darren Mougey has doled out since last week. The team previously reached a two-year, $11MM agreement with center Josh Myers on Dec. 12.
Unlike Myers, who joined the Jets as a free agent, Ruckert is a homegrown product. With prior GM Joe Douglas at the helm, the Jets used a third-round pick on Ruckert in 2022. The former Ohio State Buckeye caught just one pass in nine games as a rookie, but his usage and production have increased since then.
After combining for 34 catches and 256 yards in 32 games from 2023-24, Ruckert has racked up career highs in receptions (20) and yards (163) in 14 contests this season. He hauled in his first career touchdown in Week 2.
Ruckert spent the previous couple of seasons working as a complementary piece behind starting tight end Tyler Conklin. While Conklin left for the Chargers in free agency last March, Ruckert has again served as the Jets’ No. 2 TE this year. Rookie Mason Taylor, a second-round pick, has established himself as one of the only real threats in the Jets’ offense. Taylor ranks first among Jets skill players in snap share (75%).
Despite Taylor’s presence, Ruckert has still seen a good amount of playing time in first-year coordinator Tanner Engstrand‘s run-first offense. The 25-year-old has played a career-high 43.2% of snaps. Ruckert has also been on the field for 26.9% of special teams plays.
Ruckert was just a few months from hitting the open market for the first time. Keeping him in the fold takes a little bit off Mougey’s plate ahead of the offseason. Running back Breece Hall, quarterback Tyrod Taylor, guards John Simpson and Alijah Vera-Tucker, and linebacker Quincy Williams are among notable Jets still on track to reach free agency in March.
Commanders Place WR Noah Brown On IR
Noah Brown‘s injury-marred season has come to an end. The veteran receiver has once again landed on injured reserve, the Commanders announced on Tuesday. 
Brown managed to play in Week 15, but that represented just his fourth appearance of the season. It would also prove to be his last. The move back to IR ensures at least a four-week absence. Having already been eliminated from the playoffs, the Commanders’ three remaining regular season games will be the last of their 2025 campaign.
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In his second season with the Commanders, Brown started the first two weeks of the season, drawing a healthy seven targets but only reeling in three catches for 36 yards. A groin injury would sideline him for the next 11 weeks. Injuries are nothing new for Brown, who hasn’t appeared in every game of a single season since 2020. Even that full campaign came on the heels of his 2018 season, in which he missed the first half of the year, and his 2019 season, in which he sat the entire year on the reserve/physically unable to perform list due to multiple knee surgeries.
This hasn’t only been a Brown problem, though. Injuries have been so rampant in Washington that, at one point, the team fielded a starting lineup that featured veteran Chris Moore and fourth-round rookie Jaylin Lane at wideout with Luke McCaffrey and Robbie Chosen coming off the bench. While stars Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel eventually returned, McCaffrey found his way to IR, where he would join running back Austin Ekeler and eventually be joined by tight end Zach Ertz. To really drive the point home, the team shut down starting quarterback Jayden Daniels today with three games left in the season as he recovers from an elbow dislocation on his non-throwing arm.
To fill Browns’ spot on the 53-man roster, the Commanders signed Moore back from the practice squad. Moore was initially signed off the practice squad to fill Ekeler’s spot on the active roster following his season-ending injury. Moore was waived to make room when Brown was activated just 10 days ago, but he’ll make a quick return to the 53-man roster.
Ely Allen contributed to this post.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/16/25
Today’s practice squad transactions:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: OL Marques Cox, S Patrick McMorris
- Released: T Trey Wedig
Buffalo Bills
- Released: CB M.J. Devonshire
Chicago Bears
- Signed: LB Dominique Hampton
- Released: LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin
Denver Broncos
- Released: RB Sincere McCormick
Detroit Lions
- Signed: CB Keenan Garber
Houston Texans
- Signed: S Brandon Hill
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: G LaDarius Henderson, G Bill Murray, T Zachary Thomas
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: G Nick Broeker, S Tanner McCalister
New York Giants
- Signed: CB Jarrick Bernard-Converse
New York Jets
- Signed: S Jaylen Mahoney, LB Ochaun Mathis
- Released: QB Adrian Martinez
San Francisco 49ers
- Released: CB Isaiah Bolden
Washington Commanders
- Signed: WR River Cracraft, WR Gee Scott Jr.
- Placed on practice squad/injured list: CB Darius Rush
NFL Minor Transactions: 12/16/25
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed to active roster: WR Jalen Brooks
Cincinnati Bengals
- Claimed off waivers (from Steelers): WR Ke’Shawn Williams
Houston Texans
- Signed to active roster: RB Jawhar Jordan
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed off Panthers’ practice squad: RB DeeJay Dallas
- Opened practice window: LB Jalen McLeod
- Placed on IR: LB Jack Kiser
Las Vegas Raiders
- Waived: DT Leki Fotu
New England Patriots
- Signed off Colts’ practice squad: LB Chad Muma
New York Jets
- Signed to active roster: S Jarius Monroe
Seattle Seahawks
- Waived: S D’Anthony Bell
Tennessee Titans
- Claimed off waivers (from Browns): G Garrett Dellinger
A steady presence in Arizona a couple years ago, Fotu started four of six game appearances for the Raiders this year. The occasional starts were not indicative of his true usage, though, as he hasn’t gotten consistent time on the field for Las Vegas in 2025. The Raiders will move on from the veteran as they shift focus in a lost season towards evaluating young talent with more gametime.
As a practice squad elevation this weekend, Jordan became the first Texans running back to eclipse the century mark in a game this year. Houston wasted little time in returning him to the active roster
Giants Waive K Younghoe Koo, Claim LB Caleb Murphy
The Giants made a flurry of roster moves on Tuesday, including the release of kicker Younghoe Koo and the addition of linebacker Caleb Murphy via waivers, per NFL insider Jordan Schultz and KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson.
Koo, 31, took over the Giants’ kicking job after Graham Gano suffered a herniated disk that forced him onto injured reserve for the second time this season. Gano previously missed Weeks 4 though 7 with a groin injury, during which time Jude McAtamney kicked in his place. He made both of his field goals but only nine of his 12 extra point tries. McAtamney returned to the practice squad when Gano came back in Week 8 and was later released altogether.
When Gano’s neck injury popped up in early November, the Giants signed Koo and undrafted free agent Ben Sauls to their practice squad. Koo won the starting job and made his first 12 kicks across four games, but failed to convert his two field goal attempts in Week 15. Though both misses came from outside of 50 yards, New York opted to waive the veteran and give Sauls a chance.
The rookie out of Pitt signed, fittingly, with the Steelers after the draft. Though he had virtually no chance of overtaking longtime starter Chris Boswell, he performed well in the preseason with a five-for-six mark on field goals and a perfect six-for-six showing on extra points. Sauls is now in line to make his NFL debut on Sunday against the Vikings.
Murphy, 26, will join his third team of the season after stints with the Chargers and the Patriots. He primarily featured on special teams and will likely continue in a similar role in New York.
The Giants also designated fourth-year offensive lineman Evan Neal to return from injured reserve. The former first-rounder’s mid-November hamstring injury and subsequent IR placement seemed to signify the end of his time in New York, but Neal may come back this season after all. The Giants do not necessarily need reinforcements along their offensive line, though, and Joshua Ezeudu returned to practice last week. If he is activated to the 53-man roster, there may not be room for Neal, so today’s move could have been a formality to give him some more practice reps before the year’s end.
Bills Sign Michael Badgley After Workout
The Bills are down to their third kicking option as Tyler Bass‘ replacement kicker, Matt Prater, is reportedly week-to-week with a quad injury, per Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News. As a result, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network announced today that Buffalo has turned to the free agent market, signing veteran kicker Michael Badgley. 
Badgley is coming to Buffalo on a practice squad deal, as he’s unlikely to stay long if Prater is legitimately week-to-week. Per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2, the Bills hosted the Miami alum today alongside fellow free agent kicker Matthew Wright; Badgley emerged from the tryout with the deal.
Badgley recently had a seven-game stint with the Colts as an injury replacement for Spencer Shrader before getting cut and replaced by Blake Grupe. Badgley was mostly reliable kicking field goals with Indianapolis, converting 10 of 11 attempts with his only miss coming from over 50 yards. The Colts cut Badgley the week after he had a third missed extra point attempt in just seven games.
The Bills become Badgley’s seventh NFL team. It was the Colts that signed him out of college as an undrafted free agent, but he made his NFL debut with the Chargers, playing three years in Los Angeles. His 2021 and 2022 campaigns were eerily similar, seeing him play one game with the Titans (2021) and Bears (2022) before spending 12 games with division rivals Indianapolis (2021) and Detroit (2022).
He spent parts of the offseason in 2023 with the Commanders and Titans before ultimately returning to the Lions and stepping up late during the team’s run to the NFC Championship game. Staying with Detroit last year, Badgley suffered a torn hamstring that would keep him out until he returned to play in Indianapolis this year.
The Bills are headed to Cleveland this weekend in what’s sure to be a cold game. The teams Badgley’s spent most of his career with have mostly played in indoor stadiums, so Cleveland will be a good test, in case Badgley needs to stick around for more than one game in Buffalo during this closing stretch of the season.