Minor NFL Transactions: 7/13/22
Today’s minor transactions:
Chicago Bears
- Waived: LS Antonio Ortiz
The Bears moved on from the long snapper to make room for wide receiver N’Keal Harry, who was acquired from the Patriots. Ortiz spent four season at TCU, earning three Academic All-Big 12 First Team nods and being named a semifinalist for the 2021 Patrick Mannelly Award, which is handed out to the nation’s best long snapper.
After earning minicamp invites from both the Bears and Cowboys, Ortiz joined Chicago as an undrafted free agent back in May. This transaction likely means that veteran Patrick Scales will keep his LS gig with the Bears for an eighth season.
Falcons Sign Round 2 OLB Arnold Ebiketie
A handful of second-round picks have not signed their rookie contracts, with Texans decisions on guarantees believed to be holding up early-second-round draftees’ contract agreements. One of those players, Falcons linebacker Arnold Ebiketie, finalized his deal Wednesday.
The Falcons now have Ebiketie, this year’s No. 38 overall pick, signed through 2025. Desmond Ridder is now the only unsigned Falcons rookie. Fewer than 25 draft choices have yet to sign their rookie deals.
Ebiketie is slated to be an edge rusher for the Falcons, who have retooled on the edge this offseason. Ebiketie and third-rounder DeAngelo Malone join Georgia native Lorenzo Carter — a former Giants third-round pick — as new additions to the group this offseason.
Ebiketie is not a lock to start for the Falcons in Week 1, but his draft slot and the team’s lack of impact players on the edge would make such a reality unsurprising. As the new Falcons regime’s top edge investment thus far, Ebiketie should be a full-time player at some point during his rookie season.
A Temple recruit who later transferred to Penn State, Ebiketie broke out as a senior in 2021. He registered 9.5 sacks (third in the Big Ten) and 18 tackles for loss, helping the Nittany Lions rank seventh in Division I-FBS scoring defense. Ebiketie recorded two sacks against College Football Playoff-bound Michigan and notched at least one TFL in all but one game last season.
TE Matt LaCosse Announces Retirement
Matt LaCosse is calling it a career. The tight end announced on Instagram that he’s retiring from the NFL. In his message, LaCosse thanked the many people who played a role in his career
“I wanted to take a moment and say thank you to those who have helped me follow my dream,” the tight end said. “I am saying goodbye to the game that I love, the game that I have sacrificed so much for and I want to truly say thank you to those who have sacrificed so much for me. This dream wouldn’t have been possible without you.
“Since I was a kid I always dreamed of being a professional athlete. It started off with me just wanting to be like my Dad and it turned into something I wanted to dedicate my life to. There were countless up and downs, but the people above were always there to help me. I truly got to live out my dream.”
LaCosse went undrafted out of Illinois in 2015. He spent most of his first two-plus seasons in the NFL with the Giants, getting into five games between 2015 and 2017. He also had a brief stint with the Jets between two jobs with the Giants. The tight end caught on with the Broncos toward the end of the 2017 campaign before taking on a more significant role in 2018.
During that “breakout” season, LaCosse had 24 receptions for 250 yards and one touchdown. That performance earned him a two-year contract with the Patriots during the 2019 offseason. He ended up spending three seasons with the organization, including a 2020 season that he ultimately opted out of. In 12 games with New England, LaCosse had 13 receptions for 131 yards.
Minor NFL Transactions: 7/12/22
Today’s minor transaction:
Carolina Panthers
- Waived: QB Davis Cheek
Cheek joined the Panthers as an UDFA earlier this offseason, but following the acquisition of Baker Mayfield, the team decided to clear out some extra depth from their quarterbacks room. Cheek threw for 8,548 yards, 51 touchdowns and 21 interceptions in 40 starts at Elon.
Bears To Acquire N’Keal Harry From Patriots
After spending nearly 18 months in trade rumors, N’Keal Harry has a new home. The Patriots are sending the former first-round pick to the Bears, Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com report (on Twitter).
The Bears have added a few new wideouts this offseason, one in which they said goodbye to Allen Robinson after four years. They will take a shot with Harry, who is going into a contract year.
The Bears will send a 2024 seventh-round pick to the Pats, Rapoport tweets. Harry is due a $1.87MM base salary in 2022. The Patriots will save around $1.2MM by dealing him. This will provide a bit of breathing room for the Patriots, who entered Tuesday with the least amount of cap room — under $2MM.
Considering Harry’s status as the highest-drafted wideout in Bill Belichick‘s 23-offseason Patriots tenure, his New England career and this trade return represent a massive disappointment. The Pats had traded for DeVante Parker and traded up for wideout Tyquan Thornton in this year’s second round. Harry had been moved off the radar and, after a recent report that indicated the Pats could excuse the injury-prone receiver from training camp or drop him ahead of that point, the Bears moved in to see if a rebound of some sort can commence.
Acquired ahead of Tom Brady‘s final Patriots season, Harry missed most of that turbulent year for the Pats’ receiving corps. The Pats had Josh Gordon, Antonio Brown and Mohamed Sanu on their roster at points that season, but the year unfolded with scant Harry involvement. A preseason ankle injury limited Harry to seven games in 2019. He missed five last season, with shoulder and knee maladies sidelining him. A healthier 2020 (33 receptions, 309 yards, two touchdowns) did not stop Harry’s freefall, and the Patriots acquired Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne last year. That preceded a 12-catch Harry 2021 season and persistent trade/cut rumors.
While this wraps another Belichick-era draft miss at the receiver position, the Bears feature a less settled pass-catching corps. Behind Darnell Mooney, uncertainty resides ahead of Luke Getsy‘s first OC season.. Chicago signed Byron Pringle, Equanimeous St. Brown, Dante Pettis, David Moore and Tajae Sharpe this offseason and used a third-round pick on Velus Jones. At 25, Jones is several months older than Harry, who will turn 25 in December.
Beyond Mooney and Jones, the Bears are taking a number of fliers. They will get one of the NFL’s biggest receivers in this trade. Harry goes 6-foot-4, 225 pounds. He ended his Arizona State career with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and became the 32nd overall pick in 2019. Harry was that year’s second wide receiver selected, after only Marquise Brown. His going ahead of Deebo Samuel, A.J. Brown, D.K. Metcalf, Terry McLaurin and Diontae Johnson both reflected poorly on the Patriots and reveals the receiver talent that can be had beyond Round 1. But the fourth-year pass catcher will have a stretch to impress a new Bears regime.
Minor NFL Transactions: 7/11/22
Today’s minor moves:
Las Vegas Raiders
- Waived: CB Stanford Samuels III
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Placed on reserve/retired list: DT Daniel Archibong
Samuels, a 2020 UDFA, spent much of his rookie campaign in the Packers organization. He ended up getting into a pair of games for Green Bay, seeing most of his time on special teams. He had a brief stint on the Bears practice squad in 2021 before joining the Raiders this offseason.
Archibong joined the Bears as an undrafted free agent last offseason. The Temple product eventually made his way to the Steelers organization, and he ended up collecting a pair of tackles in two games. He saw time on 13 defensive snaps and six special teams snaps during the 2021 campaign.
Giants Sign Fourth-Round TE Daniel Bellinger
Another member of the Giants’ rookie class has officially inked his first NFL deal. The team announced on Monday that tight end Daniel Bellinger has signed his rookie contract. 
Bellinger spent five seasons at San Diego State, taking on a significant role starting in his second campaign. He didn’t put up the receiving numbers of other, more highly-touted prospects at his position at any point during his tenure with the Aztecs, though his best production came in his final season. He totalled 357 yards on 31 receptions, while showcasing the athleticism which had many draft analysts noting he was likely underutilized in the team’s offensive system.
Despite the relatively pedestrian production Bellinger put up across his 43 college contests, he could have a path to significant playing time as a rookie. New York no longer has Evan Engram or Kyle Rudolph on the roster, so the six-foot-six, 255-pounder saw reps with the first-team offense during the spring. With a (presumably) healthy Saquon Barkley and a pass-catching corps including Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney and second-round rookie Wan’Dale Robinson, though, Bellinger likely won’t see many targets early on during his time in the Big Apple.
Bellinger will be competing for a starting spot with veterans Ricky Seals-Jones and Jordan Akins, both of whom signed one-year deals this offseason as stopgaps in the absence of Engram and Rudolph. If not immediately, then in the near future at least, he should be able to take on a significant role as the team looks to take some much-needed steps forward on offense.
Given today’s news, nine members of the Giants’ draft class have now been signed. Only Robinson and fourth-round safety Dane Belton have yet to finalize their contracts.
Cowboys Place LB Devante Bond On IR, Sign LB Christian Sam
The rebooted USFL’s inaugural season has produced its first NFL opportunity. Christian Sam, who played for the New Orleans Breakers during the spring and summer, signed with the Cowboys on Friday.
To make room on their 90-man offseason roster, the Cowboys placed Devante Bond on IR. The veteran linebacker sustained a season-ending knee injury during workouts last month. Bond is not expected to play in 2022, but this transaction happening before roster cutdown day ensures he cannot suit up for the Cowboys this season.
A sixth-round Patriots draftee in 2018, Sam did not make it into a regular-season game during his first go-round in the NFL. He bounced from the Patriots, who placed him on IR ahead of their Super Bowl-winning 2018 slate, to the Dolphins to the 49ers to the Lions. Detroit waived Sam during its 2020 training camp.
Now 26, Sam is coming off a season of game work in the latest spring-league effort. The Arizona State product made 54 tackles (eight for loss) and intercepted a pass with the Breakers during the USFL season.
This will probably precede a few other USFL-to-NFL moves this summer. The Alliance of American football and XFL 2.0 folded during their respective winter-spring efforts — in 2019 and ’20, respectively — but the leagues sent some of their standouts to the NFL soon after. AAF alum Mike Purcell landed an extension from the Broncos not long after establishing himself as their starting nose tackle. The Panthers carried XFL quarterback P.J. Walker on their roster over the past two seasons.
Ravens Re-Sign OLB Justin Houston
Justin Houston will stay in Baltimore. The Ravens reached an agreement to bring back the veteran edge rusher. The team announced the one-year deal Thursday.
The Ravens had placed a seldom-used UFA tender on Houston, giving them exclusive negotiating rights after training camps began later this month. Despite Houston being free to talk to other teams until then, he will rejoin the Ravens, who have been linked to edge rushers for weeks.
This marks the second of 2022’s UFA tender recipients to reach an agreement before the late-July deadline changed negotiation equations. Melvin Ingram, given a UFA tender by the Chiefs earlier this offseason, signed with the Dolphins. Houston, 33, will help a Ravens team that was looking into edge players before Jaylon Ferguson‘s tragic death.
After two seasons with the Colts, the former Chiefs All-Pro outside linebacker signed a one-year $2.28MM deal to join a Ravens team that had lost Matt Judon and Yannick Ngakoue in free agency. No similar defections occurred this year, but the team’s main offseason addition at the spot — second-rounder David Ojabo — is rehabbing a torn Achilles sustained during pre-draft workouts. It will be a while before Ojabo’s NFL debut happens, if it occurs in 2022. Auxiliary edge Tyus Bowser is also rehabbing from Achilles surgery, a procedure he underwent after suffering a tear in January. These issues had left Baltimore shorthanded on the outside.
Last season, Houston accumulated just 4.5 sacks. The only season in which the four-time Pro Bowler tallied fewer came in 2016, an injury-shortened campaign. Houston’s 24 pressures ranked outside the top 50 last season. But the Ravens, who drafted Odafe Oweh in the 2021 first round, are seeking a complementary pass rusher alongside their top OLB investment. They visited with Jason Pierre-Paul earlier this offseason but are circling back to a Houston-Oweh tandem. This move also comes after Baltimore changed defensive coordinators. Its new DC, Mike Macdonald, was not with the team in 2021. Houston’s first Ravens season came during Macdonald’s year at Michigan.
While Houston is well past his peak years, which once secured him a six-year deal worth $101MM contract at the 2015 franchise tag deadline, he has managed to shake the injury trouble that plagued him during the second half of his Kansas City stay. The Chiefs cut Houston after the 2018 season, and the former third-round pick did not miss a game in two Colts campaigns. Houston totaled 19 sacks with Indianapolis. He played 15 games for an otherwise injury-ravaged Ravens team last season.
Falcons Sign DT Eddie Goldman
One of a handful of Bears front-seven departures this offseason, Eddie Goldman found a new home Wednesday. The Falcons signed the veteran defensive tackle to a one-year contract. The team announced this transaction and the waiving of safety Brad Hawkins.
A six-year veteran, Goldman started for nearly his entire Chicago tenure. The Falcons brought in ex-Bears GM Ryan Pace this offseason, making this a reunion for Goldman. Pace was in his first months as Bears GM when the team drafted Goldman in the 2015 second round. The veteran executive authorized a four-year, $42MM Goldman extension three years later and may well be behind the Falcons giving him another opportunity.
The Bears released their longtime nose tackle in March. That move came during a stretch in which the team parted ways with front-seven veterans Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks and Danny Trevathan. Goldman, 28, joins Hicks to have found a new home in free agency. Hicks signed with the Buccaneers last month.
While not on the Pro Bowl level like Mack and Hicks, Goldman contributed to the Bears fielding top-tier defenses — including 2018’s No. 1-ranked unit. Pro Football Focus ranked Goldman as a top-15 interior D-lineman in 2018 and had him as a top-40 player here in 2019. The accomplished run-stopper opted out of the 2020 season, and PFF graded him near the bottom at the position last season. With the Falcons, the Florida State alum should receive another chance at substantial playing time.
Atlanta will pair Goldman and longtime cornerstone Grady Jarrett, who signed an extension this offseason. The team also has some draft capital invested in its D-line, with ex-second-rounder Marlon Davidson going into his third season. Anthony Rush had slotted as Atlanta’s top nose tackle this offseason. Goldman (73 starts) figures to push the incumbent.
Goldman’s addition certainly shows Pace has some personnel sway. The Falcons have signed several ex-Bears (offensive lineman Germain Ifedi, wideout Damiere Byrd, tackle Elijah Wilkinson and running back Damien Williams) this offseason. After the Bears fired both Pace and Matt Nagy, second-year Falcons GM Terry Fontenot hired Pace in February.