Minor NFL Transactions: 9/29/22
Today’s minor moves around the NFL:
Baltimore Ravens
- Placed on IR: NT Michael Pierce (story)
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed to active roster: S Matthias Farley
- Waived: S Isaiah Pola-Mao
Miami Dolphins
- Signed to active roster: WR River Cracraft
- Promoted: T Larnel Coleman
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/29/22
Today’s taxi squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: S Chris Banjo
New York Giants
- Signed RB Antonio Williams
- Released: T Roy Mbaeteka
Bengals Place DT D.J. Reader On IR
SEPTEMBER 29: As expected, the team moved Reader to IR. The veteran defensive tackle will be out at least four weeks. It would not surprise if the timetable is pushed beyond that, but the defending AFC champions are expected to have Reader back this season. Reader suffered an MCL injury that will feature an estimated six-week recovery timetable, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets.
SEPTEMBER 27: Tests have revealed D.J. Reader will miss an extended amount of time, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway. While this is not believed to be a season-ending knee injury, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo adds Reader is likely to be shut down for at least a month (Twitter link).
It would seem Reader will be IR-bound. This certainly stings for a Bengals team that had Reader and Larry Ogunjobi during its AFC North title run last season. Ogunjobi is now with the Steelers, leaving B.J. Hill — who re-signed with the Bengals this offseason — as the team’s top defensive tackle.
Although it is a bit early for gleaning too much from advanced metrics, Pro Football Focus has Reader ranked as the NFL’s top interior D-linemen through three games. Reader, 28, left the Bengals’ third contest after early, playing just 18 defensive snaps. But he has been one of the team’s top players since coming over from the Texans two years ago.
As the team began to be active in free agency to supplement Joe Burrow‘s rookie contract, the Bengals gave Reader a four-year, $53MM deal in 2020. The former Texans Day 3 pick has continued his strong play with the Bengals, who have benefited from his top-level run defense. Cincinnati ranked fifth against the run last season; the defending AFC champions are eighth through three games.
Longtime Bengal Josh Tupou, third-round rookie Zach Carter and Jay Tufele round out the team’s D-tackle group. Tupou, who has been with the team since 2017, agreed to a two-year, $3MM deal to stay in Cincinnati this offseason. The Bengals added Tufele, a 2021 fourth-rounder, via waiver claim from the Jaguars just after cutdown day.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/28/22
Here today’s minor moves from around the league:
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed to active roster: S Nazeeh Johnson
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed to active roster: TE Richard Rodgers, WR Jason Moore Jr.
- Placed on IR: OT Rashawn Slater (story)
Miami Dolphins
- Signed to active roster: WR River Cracraft
New Orleans Saints
- Signed to active roster: CB DaMarcus Fields
New York Giants
- Signed to active roster: CB Fabian Moreau
- Placed on IR: WR Sterling Shepard (story)
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed to active roster: CB Xavier Crawford
- Placed on IR: RB Travis Homer
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/28/22
Here are the practice squad signings and releases for today:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: CB Daryl Worley
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: CB Xavier Rhodes (story), DT Prince Emili
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: LB Arron Mosby
Chicago Bears
- Signed: WR Reggie Roberson
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: CB Corey Ballentine
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: DT Cortez Broughton, LB Elijah Lee, K Matthew Wright
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: WR John Hightower
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: WR Keith Kirkwood
New York Giants
- Signed: WR Makai Polk, CB Olaijah Griffin
New York Jets
- Signed: OT Mike Remmers
- Released: WR Diontae Spencer
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: OT Roderick Johnson
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: RB Cullen Gillaspia
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR Kaylon Geiger
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: OLB Gerri Green
Bills To Sign CB Xavier Rhodes
9:04pm: Buffalo will move ahead with a signing. The former Vikings and Colts corner agreed to join the team Tuesday night, Garafolo reports (on Twitter). Rhodes will rejoin Frazier and help out a cornerback corps suddenly in dire need. It is a practice squad agreement.
10:09am: With plenty of injuries in their secondary, the Bills could be adding a veteran in the near future. Buffalo is hosting cornerback Xavier Rhodes on a visit, per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (Twitter link). 
A first-round pick of the Vikings in 2013, Rhodes spent the first seven seasons of his career in Minnesota. That stretch included three Pro Bowl selections, and the 2017 campaign in which he earned First-Team All-Pro honors. Across 104 games with the Vikings, Rhodes racked up 10 interceptions and 73 pass breakups.
His time there ended on a low note, however. Despite having three years remaining on the five-year extension he had signed, the Florida State product was released in a cost-cutting move in 2020. That led him to the Colts, where he was a full-time starter and registered a pair of interceptions. Given his performance, Indianapolis signed him to another one-year deal last March, though Rhodes saw a lower snap share and took a step back in terms of coverage statistics in 2021.
In Buffalo, he would likely have the opportunity to see plenty of playing time in at least the immediate future. No. 1 corner Tre’Davious White began the season on the PUP list, meaning that he will be out for at least one more game as he continues to recover from an ACL tear. Fellow starter Dane Jackson also suffered a neck injury in Week 2, and rookie Christian Benford fractured his hand during Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins (Twitter link via Garafolo’s colleague Ian Rapoport).
Rhodes could also reunite with Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, who was the Vikings’ head coach during his rookie season. Given Buffalo’s current injury situation, a deal could see him take the field right away, and give him the opportunity to boost his free agent stock while stabilizing an important position for one of the AFC’s top contenders.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/27/22
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Promoted: LB Jesse Luketa
- Released: S Deionte Thompson
Baltimore Ravens
- Released: CB Daryl Worley
Carolina Panthers
- Promoted: DT Daviyon Nixon
Cincinnati Bengals
- Released from IR via injury settlement: OL Desmond Noel
Detroit Lions
- Promoted: LB Anthony Pittman
- Placed on IR: S Tracy Walker (story)
Los Angeles Chargers
- Claimed (from Titans): OLB Derrek Tuszka
New York Giants
- Waived: RB Antonio Williams
New York Jets
- Signed off Texans’ practice squad: T Cedric Ogbuehi
Although Ogbuehi is a former first-round pick, he has started five games since the 2018 season. He landed on Houston’s practice squad IR list earlier this month but will be part of the Jets’ scramble to reassemble their tackle depth chart after George Fant‘s IR trip. Ogbuehi’s Bengals audition seasons came back in 2016 and ’17; the Seahawks used him as a fill-in starter in four 2020 games. Ogbuehi, 30, joins Mike Remmers as Jets tackle additions this week.
The Ravens were interested in adding Luketa off the Cardinals’ practice squad, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com tweets. That looks to have prompted the Cards’ decision to move him up to their 53-man roster. The Cards drafted Luketa in this year’s seventh round (256th overall) out of Penn State.
Tennessee’s outside linebacker shuffle included waiving Tuszka, who is now with his third team this year. A former Broncos seventh-round pick, Tuszka spent the offseason with the Steelers. He will move to a Chargers team that has Joey Bosa likely to miss games after suffering what Brandon Staley called a serious groin injury.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/27/22
Here are Tuesday’s practice squad additions and subtractions:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: G Zack Johnson
- Released: WR Makai Polk
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: LB Jermaine Carter, DE Curtis Weaver
Detroit Lions
- Signed: WR Josh Johnson
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: CB Ryan Smith
- Released: LB Forrest Rhyne
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: DT Nick Thurman
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: TE Jacob Hollister
- Released: CB Parry Nickerson
New York Giants
- Released: LB Charles Wiley
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: RB Godwin Igwebuike
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR Kaylon Geiger
- Released: TE David Wells
Carter spent last season as a full-time Panthers starting linebacker, but after signing a one-year deal with the Chiefs, the vested veteran could not make his new team’s 53-man roster. The former fifth-round pick has 30 career starts. The Browns just lost linebacker starter Anthony Walker for the season.
An NFLer since 2017, Hollister signed with the Raiders this offseason. But the team released him from IR via settlement earlier this month. Hollister, who caught six touchdown passes with the Seahawks from 2019-20, spent last season with the Jaguars.
Smith, 29, spent five years with the Buccaneers, ending that run as a backup cornerback and special-teamer for Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl LV-winning team. A starter for the 2017 and ’18 Bucs, Smith played in four Chargers games last season.
Bills Sign OL Justin Murray, Place OL Tommy Doyle On IR
One of several Bills to finish Sunday’s game unavailable, Tommy Doyle suffered a season-ending ACL tear. Sean McDermott confirmed the injury, which will remove one of Buffalo’s backup blockers from the equation.
To replace Doyle on the active roster, the Bills signed veteran Justin Murray to a one-year contract. This will be Murray’s seventh team, though the 2016 UDFA has only seen action with the Raiders and Cardinals.
The Cardinals claimed the well-traveled blocker off waivers from the Raiders in 2019 and, after then-right tackle Marcus Gilbert went down, plugged the newcomer into their lineup. Murray, 29, has experience at guard and right tackle. He started 19 games in those roles between the 2019 and ’20 seasons for the Cards, who signed him to a two-year, $5.5MM extension during the latter campaign.
A back injury last season led Murray to IR, and although he returned to practice, the 21-day activation window closed without the Cards moving him to their 53-man roster. That inaction led to Murray’s 2021 season ending after three games. Arizona cut Murray this year. Following a Raiders workout, the former Cincinnati Bearcat will have a chance to be a Bills backup.
Doyle was part of Buffalo’s backup O-line crew, one that became needed extensively in a grueling game in Miami. By game’s end, the Bills had five available offensive linemen. Doyle, whom the Bills drafted in last year’s fifth round, will not have a chance to rejoin his team on the field until next year.
A run of Bills health issues led Doyle to play a career-high 37 offensive snaps in Week 3. Center Mitch Morse was unavailable in Week 3, while right guard Ryan Bates suffered a concussion. Right tackle Spencer Brown left the Miami game due what the team called a heat-related illness, and interior backup Greg Van Roten departed the game as well. The team was already without backup Bobby Hart due to his one-game suspension. It will be interesting to see what the Bills’ O-line looks like against the Ravens, a contest that should involve more comfortable temperatures, in Week 4.
Titans Add LB Joe Schobert, Sign OL Le’Raven Clark Off Eagles’ Practice Squad
Joe Schobert will receive another chance. More than a month after a brief Broncos tenure, the Titans signed the former Pro Bowl linebacker to their practice squad. Tennessee also added Le’Raven Clark off Philadelphia’s P-squad. This will give the former Colts third-rounder another shot to stick on an active roster.
Schobert, who went off the 2016 draft board a round after Clark, is joining a fourth NFL team. The addition comes after the Titans saw starter Zach Cunningham, who was on the team’s injury report with a knee injury going into Week 3, leave Sunday’s contest with an elbow malady.
An ex-Browns regular who bounced to the Jaguars and Steelers during the 2020s, Schobert worked out for the Giants and Seahawks last week. But it will be the Titans who provide an opportunity. Although Schobert spent the first part of the season unsigned, he has been a starter throughout his career. After the Jaguars traded him to the Steelers in September 2021, he started 15 games for his new team. The Steelers, however, released Schobert in March.
Schobert, 28, logged workouts with the Broncos and Saints this summer, but after signing with the former, was back on the street eight days later. Still, the six-year veteran has been productive when on the field. Schobert led the NFL with 144 tackles in 2017, his Pro Bowl slate, and posted 141 stops for the Jaguars in his first season. The Jags gave Schobert a five-year, $53.75MM deal during their Dave Caldwell–Doug Marrone regime’s final offseason. Midway through their short Urban Meyer period, the Jags sent Schobert to Pittsburgh.
The Clark addition comes days after the Titans placed Taylor Lewan on IR. The Pro Bowl left tackle is expected to miss the rest of the season. Tennessee used late-summer trade acquisition Dennis Daley as its left tackle against Las Vegas. Clark has played both tackle and guard as a pro, making 16 starts in six seasons.