Broncos To Sign Anthony Harris, Planning Justin Simmons IR Stint
After Anthony Harris sought a release from the Eagles’ practice squad to pursue another opportunity, the veteran safety found one. The Broncos are signing Harris, Ryan O’Halloran of the Denver Post tweets.
This is a practice squad agreement as well, but the Broncos’ current safety situation may prompt a Harris call-up soon. Nathaniel Hackett said Wednesday that top safety Justin Simmons will miss time due to a thigh injury. The team still has Kareem Jackson as a veteran back-line presence, but Simmons is one of the NFL’s premier safeties.
Hackett did not specify how much time Simmons would miss, though 9News’ Mike Klis tweets an IR stint is on tap. A four-game Simmons-less stretch would certainly deal a blow to a Broncos team that has sustained other injuries already. Denver lost Tim Patrick to an ACL tear early in training camp and played without starting linebacker Josey Jewell on Monday night. Right guard Quinn Meinerz sustained a hamstring injury against the Seahawks and is set to miss multiple games. Meinerz remains on Denver’s active roster.
Injury trouble on defense plagued the Broncos throughout Vic Fangio‘s tenure. From 2019-21, the team played only a handful of games with Von Miller and Bradley Chubb in the lineup together. Last season, the Broncos also played without starting linebackers Jewell and Alexander Johnson most of the way. Perhaps the best Broncos investment between the Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson periods, Simmons has been a constant for the team. Monday night marked his 66th straight appearance.
Simmons, 29, has not missed a game since December 2017, when he spent the final three weeks on IR. In the time since, the former third-round pick has ascended to the Pro Bowl level. In 2021, the Boston College alum’s second franchise tag led to a then-safety-record contract. Pro Football Focus rated Simmons as a top-10 safety from 2019-20 and placed him 15th last season. Simmons has intercepted five passes in each of the past two years. The team will turn to second-year safety Caden Sterns alongside Jackson. A fifth-round pick, Sterns saw sub-package work as a rookie and made two starts. He intercepted two passes last season.
Harris, 30, did not make the Eagles’ 53-man roster; the team’s C.J. Gardner-Johnson trade effectively bumped the veteran defender off the team. The Eagles signed Harris to one-year deals in both 2021 and 2022. While Harris spent last season as a Philadelphia starter, he is best known for his Minnesota run. Harris joined Simmons as a 2020 franchise tag recipient. The Vikings tagged the then-Harrison Smith sidekick after he intercepted a league-leading six passes in 2019. Second-year Broncos GM George Paton was in Minnesota throughout Harris’ Vikings stay.
Dolphins To Sign T Brandon Shell
Shortly after veteran starter Oday Aboushi found a practice squad gig, Brandon Shell has landed one as well. The Dolphins are adding the veteran right tackle to their 16-man P-squad, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports.
Shell, 30, spent the past two years with the Seahawks. While the two-year Seattle right tackle starter visited Denver about a Russell Wilson reunion earlier this year, nothing materialized. The Dolphins will bring him aboard as insurance.
Several teams expressed interest in Shell, according to Jackson. He comes to the Dolphins with 61 career starts on his resume, one that began in the AFC East. The Jets drafted Shell in the 2016 fifth round and used him as their primary right tackle from 2017-19.
Shell signed a two-year, $9MM Seahawks deal in 2020 but could not generate similar interest during his second crack at free agency. Pro Football Focus graded Shell fairly well during each of his two Seahawks seasons, viewing his 2020 work slightly better than his 2021 performance.
Neither of the Dolphins’ starting tackles — Terron Armstead and Austin Jackson — are locks to play in Week 2. Jackson is dealing with an ankle injury, one Jackson classifies as a sprain. Armstead is battling an unspecified (for now) malady. Armstead clarity will soon emerge via the Dolphins’ injury report. Neither practiced Wednesday. Armstead signed a big-ticket free agency deal with the Dolphins and played 97% of the team’s offensive snaps in Week 1. But the former Saints Pro Bowler has an extensive injury past. He missed nine games last season and missed a combined 21 contests from 2016-18.
While Shell would profile as veteran insurance, Jackson adds the Dolphins are planning a ramp-up period — similar to the Cowboys’ plan with Jason Peters — for the experienced blocker. Greg Little replaced Jackson against the Patriots; the right-side starter left during the second quarter. The Dolphins also have the option of kicking one of their guards out to tackle. Both Robert Hunt and Liam Eichenberg have experience at tackle, though it is unknown if such emergency switches will be needed.
Bears Place OL Alex Leatherwood On Reserve/NFI List
Alex Leatherwood‘s NFL career encountered another setback Wednesday. The recent Bears waiver claim will be placed on the team’s reserve/non-football illness list, according to Matt Eberflus.
This will sideline the 2021 first-round pick for at least four games. The Bears are bringing back Michael Schofield, who was with them in training camp, to replace Leatherwood on the 53-man roster, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune tweets. Leatherwood is believed to have contracted mononucleosis, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Eberflus said Leatherwood is not at the team’s facility today. He did not play in the Bears’ Week 1 game. A 17-game Raiders starter last year, Leatherwood caught on with the Bears via waiver claim. The Raiders’ new regime bailed on the Jon Gruden–Mike Mayock-era O-line investment after this year’s training camp.
The Bears exited their camp with some questions on their O-line, and the team is attempting to salvage Leatherwood. The Alabama prospect, who was not expected to go in last year’s first round, has been working at right tackle with the Bears, Biggs adds. Leatherwood began his pro career as the Raiders’ right tackle starter, but the team moved him to guard early in his rookie year. McDaniels’ staff slid Leatherwood back to right tackle this offseason, and while the Raiders have significant questions at that particular position, they could not find a spot for the second-year blocker on their 53-man roster.
As expected, Chicago used fifth-round rookie Braxton Jones and 2021 fifth-rounder Larry Borom as its Week 1 tackle starters. Riley Reiff, 33, remains on the team as a swingman. Leatherwood’s hopes at competing for playing time will have to wait a while now. Three years remain on his rookie contract.
Schofield, 31, initially signed with the Bears just before training camp. The Illinois native has extensive experience at right guard and right tackle, having transitioned to guard after being a right tackle starter for the Broncos’ 2015 Super Bowl-winning team. The Chargers used Schofield as their primary right guard over the past five seasons; he joins Reiff as a 30-something second-stringer on the rebuilding Bears.
Teven Jenkins started at right guard for the Bears on Sunday, rotating with would-be center Lucas Patrick. The latter is poised to be Chicago’s center, but a July hand injury has altered that plan for now. Sam Mustipher started at center for the Bears against the 49ers.
Rams Sign G Oday Aboushi
After losing another interior offensive line starter in their opener, the Rams brought in a veteran reinforcement. Well-traveled veteran Oday Aboushi agreed to terms with the Rams on a practice squad deal Wednesday.
This move comes a day after Aboushi was in Las Vegas for a Raiders workout. Aboushi spent last season with the Chargers, starting five games before an ACL tear ended his first Bolts season early. For the time being, the 10th-year veteran will stay in Los Angeles.
The Rams are set to be without Brian Allen for a bit; the recently re-signed center suffered a knee injury that required surgery. That news came weeks after third-round rookie Logan Bruss, the Rams’ top 2022 draftee, went down with ACL and MCL tears. The defending Super Bowl champions are expected to move Coleman Shelton from guard to center and start Tremayne Anchrum at right guard. Shelton won the right guard gig in training camp. Anchrum, a 2020 seventh-round pick, competed with Shelton and Bruss for that spot in August but has never started an NFL game.
Aboushi, 31, brings 47 games’ worth of starter experience. Used as both a backup and a starter during his nomadic career, Aboushi is one of a handful of players to have been a starter for six teams. The former Jets draftee has spent time as a first-stringer for the Jets, Texans, Seahawks, Cardinals, Lions and Chargers.
He signed a one-year, $1.6MM deal with the Chargers last year and was a Week 1 right guard starter. The Chargers moved on following Aboushi’s knee injury, drafting Zion Johnson in Round 1. Considering the Rams’ interior O-line inexperience at the moment, it would not surprise if the Virginia alum added a seventh team to that list.
Additionally, the Rams promoted offensive lineman Jeremiah Kolone from their practice squad. Kolone, 27, was with the team during training camp but has yet to play in an NFL game.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/13/22
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Promoted: TE Anthony Firkser
Baltimore Ravens
- Placed on IR: CB Kyle Fuller (story), T Ja’Wuan James (story)
Carolina Panthers
- Released from IR via injury settlement: LB Isaiah Graham-Mobley
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: CB Thomas Graham Jr.
Indianapolis Colts
- Promoted: CB Tony Brown
Kansas City Chiefs
- Promoted: LB Jack Cochrane, LB Elijah Lee
Los Angeles Chargers
- Released from IR via injury settlement: CB Tevaughn Campbell
Los Angeles Rams
- Placed on IR: RB Kyren Williams (story)
New England Patriots
- Placed on IR: RB Ty Montgomery
- Promoted: WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey
Philadelphia Eagles
- Placed on IR: DE Derek Barnett (story)
- Signed off Vikings’ practice squad: DE Janarius Robinson
San Francisco 49ers
- Promoted: S Tashaun Gipson
Tennessee Titans
- Placed on IR: DL Da’Shawn Hand, DB A.J. Moore Jr.
Hand suffered a torn quad in the Titans’ opener, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). He is undergoing surgery and is expected to miss the rest of the season. A former fourth-round Lions draftee back in 2018, Hand has been with the Titans since last year. He played two defensive snaps Sunday.
Montgomery had battled a knee injury during the run-up to the regular season, but the veteran passing-down back played in the Patriots’ Week 1 contest. Montgomery caught three passes for 15 yards in New England’s loss. The Pats signed Humphrey, a former Saints wideout, midway through the offseason.
Raiders Sign CB Nickell Robey-Coleman
SEPTEMBER 13: Robey-Coleman is now on the Raiders’ practice squad, Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweets. Las Vegas has both added Robey-Coleman and Javelin Guidry, the latter via a Monday waiver claim. The team’s cornerback situation became an issue in Week 1, when Averett went down. A starter against the Chargers, Averett is now on IR.
SEPTEMBER 12: One day after their season-opening loss to the Chargers, the Raiders are adding some veteran depth to their secondary. Las Vegas is signing cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman, per Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network (Twitter link). 
The 30-year-old spent the first four seasons of his career in Buffalo. He maintained a consistent role in terms of playing time, logging seven starts in 2014. That led to a healthy market for him in the 2017 offseason, which ultimately saw him join the Rams.
In Los Angeles, Robey-Coleman continued to see a sizeable rotational workload, and made the only playoff appearances of his career during his two-year stretch there. That included, of course, his role in briefly making pass interference a foul which could be challenged. In 2020, he signed with the Eagles, with whom he started seven of 15 games but struggled in pass coverage.
That led to another one-year stint last season as he signed in Detroit. His Lions tenure was limited to just one game, however, so it came as little surprise that he remained on the open market through the beginning of the regular season. For his career, Robey-Coleman has racked up 338 tackles, six interceptions and 49 passes defensed. He will add a veteran presence to a young CB group in Vegas.
The Raiders have seen plenty of turnover at the position this offseason. They added Anthony Averett in free agency and traded for Rock Ya-Sin from the Colts in return for Yannick Ngakoue. Days before the start of the regular season, however, they sent Trayvon Mullen to the Cardinals as part of the new front office’s noteworthy decision to move on from recent draftees. That left an opening for an addition, and Robey-Coleman should once again have the opportunity to take on at least a rotational role as the Raiders look to bounce back from last night’s performance in a year filled with significant expectations.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/13/22
Here are Tuesday’s practice squad additions and subtractions:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: OL Koda Martin
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: CB Dylan Mabin
Chicago Bears
- Signed: DB Harrison Hand
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: CB Herb Miller, WR Chester Rogers
Denver Broncos
- Signed: TE Dominique Dafney
- Released: TE Dylan Parham
Houston Texans
- Signed: DB BoPete Keyes
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: CB Darrell Baker Jr., S Henry Black, K Lucas Havrisik, K Chase McLaughlin (story)
- Released: G Arlington Hambright, S Will Redmond, CB Chris Wilcox
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: CB Dicaprio Bootle, WR Corey Coleman
- Released: S James Wiggins
Las Vegas Raiders
- Released: DT Kyle Peko
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: DT Breiden Fehoko
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: LS Matt Overton
- Placed on practice squad injured list: DB Daniel Isom
New Orleans Saints
- Released: WR Dai’Jean Dixon
New York Jets
- Signed: P Ty Long
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: OLB Ryan Anderson (story), TE Rodney Williams
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: OL Keith Ismael, RB Marlon Mack (story)
- Released: OL Keaton Sutherland, WR Connor Wedington
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Released: TE J.J. Howland
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: DB Nate Brooks
Washington Commanders
- Signed: DT Benning Potoa’e
- Released: S Ferrod Gardner
49ers Place RB Elijah Mitchell On IR, Add RB Marlon Mack
Elijah Mitchell‘s run of injuries continued with an MCL sprain. This is viewed as a rather severe MCL issue, with Kyle Shanahan expecting his starter to be out for around two months. As such, Mitchell landed on the 49ers’ IR list Tuesday.
The 49ers brought in several backs for auditions Tuesday. Old friend Tevin Coleman, Devonta Freeman, ex-Jet La’Mical Perine and ex-Lion Godwin Igwebuike came in for workouts, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Marlon Mack visited with the team, and this appears to be the direction it will go. The 49ers are signing Mack to their practice squad, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
This will be Mack’s first move out of the AFC South; the former fourth-round pick has spent his career with the Colts and Texans. Houston, however, did not keep the former 1,000-yard rusher on its 53-man roster out of training camp. The Texans cut Mack, in moving their roster to 53, and then released him from their practice squad.
Mack, 26, saw a September 2020 Achilles tear throw his career off track. The Colts turned to 2020 second-rounder Jonathan Taylor, and although they re-signed Mack in 2021, the latter did not see much action last season. The Colts discussed possible trades ahead of last year’s deadline, and the 49ers were one of the teams to express interest. But Mack played out his second Colts contract, residing behind Taylor and Nyheim Hines on the depth chart.
Mack signed his second straight one-year, $2MM deal this offseason, joining the Texans, but will come to San Francisco for P-squad money. Mack, who rushed for 55 yards against the 49ers in this year’s Texans preseason finale, totaled 2,099 rushing yards from 2018-19.
Freeman and Coleman, of course, teamed up as part of potent Falcons backfields during the 2010s. They split up in 2019, with Coleman signing with the 49ers. Freeman also played for Shanahan in Atlanta, being the team’s starting back during both of Shanahan’s OC seasons. Coleman signed a two-year 49ers deal in 2019 and played with ex-49ers assistant Mike LaFleur in New York last season. Perine’s Jets stint also overlapped with LaFleur’s.
For now, Mack is the 49ers’ choice. The sixth-year veteran joins a team rostering Jeff Wilson, third-round pick Tyrion Davis-Price and rookie Jordan Mason at running back. Wilson is expected to be the 49ers’ starter during Mitchell’s absence, and the 49ers played Mason — a UDFA out of Georgia Tech — over Davis-Price in their opener.
Saints To Bring Back RB Latavius Murray
Latavius Murray is back with the Saints. The former Alvin Kamara backup agreed to return to the team, via a practice squad agreement, on Tuesday.
The veteran running back spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons in New Orleans, working alongside Kamara for playoff-bound Saints squads. The Saints released Murray just before last season started, leading him to the Ravens. Murray, 32, did not spend training camp with a team this year.
Kamara is now battling a rib injury, and the Saints spent the offseason with their backup running back position on the radar. Despite being connected to veterans, most notably David Johnson, the team moved into the regular season with its incumbent backups. Mark Ingram, 3297, resides as Kamara’s top understudy. Dwayne Washington and Tony Jones are the other running backs on New Orleans’ active roster.
A former Raiders starter who has made a nice career out of backup/1-B running back duty in his post-Oakland years, Murray was productive for the Saints during his first stint. He totaled 1,293 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in two New Orleans seasons. The Saints missed Murray last year, with Kamara missing a handful of midseason games due to injury. With the Ravens, Murray amassed 501 rushing yards (4.2 per carry) and six touchdowns.
If Murray is bumped up to New Orleans’ active roster, the Saints will be the rare team to roster two 30-something backs. Murray, whom the Raiders chose in the 2014 sixth round, has made 69 career starts. Ingram has 97 starts on his resume. Kamara already entered the season as a candidate to miss time, due to a February assault charge, but it is unclear if a suspension will come in 2022 or 2023. Kamara’s injury issue has moved the Saints to make preparations.
Panthers Move Andre Roberts To IR
Andre Roberts‘ 13th NFL season will be delayed. The Panthers moved the veteran return specialist to their IR list Tuesday.
Signed as a free agent this offseason, Roberts was available for three returns in his Carolina debut. But a PCL sprain will halt his season, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Although Roberts would be eligible to return after four games, he is likely looking at a longer absence.
The former Cardinals third-round pick has become a return-man hired gun as his career has progressed. The Panthers are Roberts’ ninth team. He has moved from the Cardinals to Washington to the Lions to the Falcons to the Jets to the Bills to the Texans to the Chargers to his current team.
Roberts, 34, has made a considerable impact as a special-teamer over the past several years, having been named to three Pro Bowl squads and having been named a first- or second-team All-Pro three times as well. That attracted free agency interest. Carolina added Roberts on a one-year, $1.75MM deal this offseason.
Roberts led the league in kick-return yardage (1,010) last season and notched his sixth career return score. Shortly after signing with the Chargers during the 2021 campaign, Roberts returned a kick for a touchdown. He has three punt-return TDs and three kick-return scores as a pro. All of those plays have come since the 2015 season. The Panthers used Roberts in both return spots Sunday.