NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/23/26
Friday’s only taxi squad moves:
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: OLB Jihad Ward
- Released: T Tristan Leigh
Ward returns to Minnesota for the second time this year. A former second-round pick for the Raiders out of Illinois, Ward disappointed with zero sacks or tackles for loss as a rookie starting 13 of 16 game appearances in 2016. Offseason foot surgery limited him to five games in Year 2, and after an offseason trade to Dallas, Ward began a journeyman career in which he would flash the talent that got him drafted so highly in small doses.
He logged three sacks and tackles for loss in six games with the Colts in 2018 and tallied three more sacks and four tackles for loss in 10 games with the Ravens two years later. After joining the Giants in 2022, he returned to a more significant part-time starting role hitting a career-high seven tackles for loss in his first year with the G-Men and a career-high five sacks in his second. He spent 2024 with the Vikings and notched five sacks in 12 starts for the Titans last year. He signed back with Minnesota’s practice squad just before the regular season, but the Giants poached him to their active roster three weeks later before releasing him after another three weeks.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/23/26
Here are Friday’s minor moves from around the NFL…
Chicago Bears
- Placed on IR: TE Cole Kmet (story)
- Reinstated from suspension: DE Montez Sweat
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed from practice squad: WR Andrew Armstrong
Minnesota Vikings
- Released: RB DeeJay Dallas
San Francisco 49ers
- Released: DL Ogbonnia Okoronkwo
Former Rams Five-Time Pro Bowl RB Lawrence McCutcheon Passes Away
Longtime Rams running back Lawrence McCutcheon passed away on Friday after a battle with Parkinson’s disease, his family and the team announced. He was 76 years old.
“The Los Angeles Rams are deeply saddened by the passing of Lawrence McCutcheon,” the team said. “His impact on this organization spanned generations, and he embodied what it means to be a Ram.”
After three standout seasons at Colorado State, McCutcheon joined the Rams as a third-round pick (No. 70 overall) in 1972. The Texas native played just three games and went without a carry as a rookie, but he took over as the Rams’ lead back in his second season and posted his first of four 1,000-yard campaigns in their uniform. He set a career high in 1977 with 1,238 yards, trailing only Bears legend Walter Payton and the Raiders’ Mark van Eeghen.
A workhorse, McCutcheon amassed between 210 and 294 carries every year from 1973-77 and earned all five of his Pro Bowl nods during that span. In his best postseason performance, a 35-23 win over the Cardinals in the 1975 divisional round, McCutcheon rushed 37 times for 202 yards. That’s one of only nine 200-yard rushing efforts in playoff history. Four years later, McCutcheon was a member of the first Rams team to make it to the Super Bowl. McCutcheon threw a go-ahead 24-yard touchdown pass to receiver Ron Smith in the third quarter, but the Steelers scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth en route to a 31-19 win.
The Rams’ Super Bowl XIV loss was McCutcheon’s last game in their uniform. McCutcheon divided 1980 between Denver and Seattle and then played for Buffalo the next year. He reunited with Bills head coach Chuck Knox, who held the same job with the Rams during McCutcheon’s ultra-productive 1973-77 stretch, but only played six games.
McCutcheon ended his 10-year career with 6,578 rushing yards, 39 touchdowns (26 on the ground, 13 receiving) and 198 catches in 109 games. He is fourth on the Rams’ all-time rushing list (6,186), sitting behind Steven Jackson and Hall of Famers Eric Dickerson and Marshall Faulk.
After McCutcheon hung up his cleats, he rejoined the Rams in 1982 and began a 32-year run in their front office. He spent his last four years with the team as a national scout and retired in 2016. Daylon McCutcheon, Lawrence’s son, had a successful NFL career as a Browns cornerback from 1999-2005.
Seahawks Release Trevon Diggs, Re-Sign CB To P-Squad
The Seahawks released cornerback Trevon Diggs on Friday, though he is making a quick return to the organization. Diggs, a vested veteran who does not have to go through waivers, will stick around on the Seahawks’ practice squad, according to the team. The Seahawks signed receiver Irv Charles off their p-squad in a corresponding move.
Diggs, a second-round pick in 2020, was a premier ball hawk in Dallas early in his career. He made his first of two straight Pro Bowls and earned his lone All-Pro nod after an 11-interception outburst in 2021. Injuries began piling up a few years ago, though, leading Diggs to miss between eight and 15 games in each season from 2023-25. Diggs’ effectiveness fell off during that span, and after a rough eight-game showing last year, the Cowboys waived him prior to Week 18.
The Packers claimed Diggs and started him in their regular-season finale, but he only played one defensive snap in their wild-card round loss to the Bears. That was Diggs’ last game with Green Bay, which cut him in January.
Although Diggs arrived on the free agent market early, it took him until late August to land a deal with the Seahawks. The 28-year-old did not make the reigning Super Bowl champions’ initial 53-man roster, but he stuck around on their practice squad and received an elevation ahead of their Week 4 win over the Chargers. While Seattle signed Diggs to its roster the next week, he has only combined for 21 defensive snaps in three games. His lone tackle of the year came in a loss to the Broncos in Week 6.
Seahawks starting corners Devon Witherspoon and Josh Jobe have each been on the field for just under 99% of snaps this year, leaving little playing time for Diggs or anyone else on the outside. Nevertheless, he will remain with the organization as a reserve option.
Giants LB Tremaine Edmunds Out For Season
4:07pm: Edmunds has a torn muscle in his chest, a source told ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, who backs Duggan in reporting he is done for the year.
3:08pm: In yet another major blow to the Giants, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds will miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury, Dan Duggan of The Athletic reports. He joins quarterback Jaxson Dart and pass rusher Brian Burns as key Giants who will not return from injuries this season.
Edmunds was a big-ticket offseason signing for the Giants, who brought in the former Bill and Bear on a three-year, $36MM contract to replace the released Bobby Okereke. While playing all 380 of the Giants’ defensive snaps over their first six games, Edmunds piled up 50 tackles (three for loss) and added three quarterback hits, two sacks and a pair of pass breakups. The ninth-year veteran and two-time Pro Bowler has never finished with fewer than 100 tackles in a season, but that streak will come to an end in 2026.
Fortunately for the Giants, their offseason moves to address the off-ball linebacker position went beyond adding Edmunds. They also drafted Arvell Reese fifth overall and re-signed Micah McFadden to a one-year, $3.75MM deal. Reese has held his own alongside Edmunds as a full-time starter, but he will now pair with McFadden. While McFadden suffered a season-ending foot injury in Week 1 in 2025, he was a regular starter in the Giants’ defense over his first four years.
McFadden has played just two snaps on defense in 2026, but he will now have an opportunity to reclaim a significant role in Edmunds’ place. Jack Kelly, Malik Harrison and Zaire Barnes, who are primarily special-teamers, and practice squad member Chandler Martin are the team’s other options at the position. With the Nov. 10 trade deadline coming up, Big Blue could look for help to fill Edmunds’ void. At 3-2-1, the Giants are in first place in an underwhelming NFC East and could end up as buyers. They have just over $8MM in cap space, which ranks 19th in the NFL.
Speaking of cap space, the Giants guaranteed Edmunds $23.7MM, including $11.35MM in base salary in 2027. His cap number will climb from $5.56MM to a far less palatable $16.17MM, though releasing him before June 1 would cost the Giants $2.52MM in space and leave them with $18.69MM in dead money. Designating Edmunds a post-June 1 release would leave New York with $15.02MM in dead cap, but the team would pick up $1.15MM in spending room. That’s not to say the Giants will move on from Edmunds, but they could consider it in the wake of an injury-ruined season.
Seahawks Activate RB Zach Charbonnet, Place TE Elijah Arroyo On IR
OCTOBER 23: Charbonnet isn’t quite ready to return to game action. He will not play Sunday, head coach Mike Macdonald announced (via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times). “I think we’re going along with the plan,” Macdonald said. “The plan was to get a great week’s worth of work and see where we’re at.”
OCTOBER 22: The Seahawks’ run game should receive a boost in Week 7. Zach Charbonnet’s return is a go. The fourth-year running back returned to Seattle’s 53-man roster Thursday via an activation from the reserve/PUP list.
A recent report identified the Seahawks’ Week 7 Chiefs matchup as the likely Charbonnet return window, and the former second-round pick — coming off an ACL tear sustained in last year’s divisional round — will make his debut to start a contract year. The team needed to activate Charbonnet today since he returned to practice Oct. 1; no activation would have moved him to season-ending IR.
Set to renew acquaintances with Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker on Sunday night, the Seahawks certainly check in behind the Chiefs in run-game effectiveness through six weeks. Walker leads the NFL in rushing (665 yards). While injuries have nagged the 2022 second-round pick in his career, opening the door to additional Charbonnet work in the past, he has become a vital piece for a Kansas City offense missing multiple wide receivers. The Seahawks enter Week 7 ranked 18th in both total rushing yards and yards per carry (3.9).
Charbonnet’s injury and contract status influenced the Seahawks’ draft strategy; the team added Jadarian Price in Round 1 as the likely Charbonnet successor. But Price is on IR with a chest injury. Charbonnet will join a backfield housing free agent pickup Emanuel Wilson and holdover backup George Holani. His return will be welcome from a Seahawks team coming off a shaky offensive performance against the Broncos.
To the chagrin of a sect of Seahawks fans (and all Walker fantasy GMs), Charbonnet ate into the starter’s workload consistently in 2025. The 2023 second-rounder scored 12 touchdowns to Walker’s five, and the two split snaps down the middle under one-year OC Klint Kubiak. Charbonnet lacks the dynamism Walker provides, but the Seahawks trusted him more in pass protection.
Charbonnet had worked more as a Walker backup from 2023-24, but he came through with a career-best 730 rushing yards last season. The ACL tear blunted his third-season momentum, and a shift from the active/PUP list to the reserve/PUP list occurred at the roster-setting deadline. Walker has been soaring ever since the Charbonnet injury.
Walker proved capable of carrying the load after Charbonnet went down in Round 2 last season. His Super Bowl LX performance enticed the Chiefs to make a winning free agency bid; the Seahawks did not make an offer to retain the four-year starter. Charbonnet, 25, will be a free agent in March. Considering the Seahawks used a first-round pick on Price, Charbonnet may be set to follow Walker out of town. For now, though, the ex-Michigan and UCLA back will be asked to help Sam Darnold and Co. — especially while Price is sidelined.
To make room on their 53-man roster, the Seahawks placed tight end Elijah Arroyo on IR. Arroyo suffered a shoulder injury recently, and this does not look to be a short-term IR decision. The second-year pass catcher underwent surgery Thursday and will miss the rest of the season, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Used as an AJ Barner backup last season, Arroyo played in 13 games; he finished with 15 catches for 179 yards and one touchdown. A knee injury sidelined Arroyo late last season, and he did not return until Super Bowl LX. The Seahawks drafted Arroyo 50th overall out of Miami. Two years remain on his rookie contract. This will leave Seattle thinner at the position; Eric Saubert and second-year UDFA Nick Kallerup sit behind Barner on the 53-man roster.
Cowboys Designate P.J. Locke For Return
Cowboys safety P.J. Locke has been on IR with a foot injury since Sept. 26, but he could be back in action as early as Week 7. The Cowboys have designated Locke for return, giving them 21 days to activate him.
Locke spent the previous six years in Denver, where he played for then-Broncos defensive backs coach and current Cowboys D-coordinator Christian Parker from 2021-23. The two reunited when the Cowboys gave Locke a one-year, $4MM deal with $3.5MM in guaranteed money last March.
Locke was one of several offseason acquisitions the Cowboys made in response to a terrible defensive showing in 2025, but he suffered his injury early in Week 2 and has played just 31 snaps. Fellow safety Jalen Thompson, a three-year, $33MM pickup in free agency, went down with a hamstring injury in the same game and has been on IR since Sept. 30.
In addition to going without Locke and Thompson for most of the season, the Cowboys’ safety group didn’t have Malik Hooker for two games in September. Hooker underwent surgery on his wrist, though he returned to the Cowboys’ starting lineup in Week 4. Markquese Bell, Juanyeh Thomas and first-round rookie Caleb Downs comprise the rest of the team’s healthy safety options at the moment. While the versatile Downs mostly lines up at slot corner and in the box, he has logged 92 snaps at free safety to help cover for the Cowboys’ injuries.
Thanks in part to health issues, the Cowboys’ defense hasn’t made much progress since it finished 30th in yards and dead last in both pass ‘D’ and scoring last year. The group has improved to 23rd against the pass and 25th in scoring, but it’s 30th in total yards. Regardless of whether the Cowboys get Locke back this week, they should be able to contain a struggling, banged-up Philadelphia offense that will start backup quarterback Tanner McKee on Monday night. The winner of that game will improve to 3-4 and wake up on Tuesday morning in second place in the mediocre NFC East.
Pro Football Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat: 10/23/26
Pro Football Rumors’ Sam Robinson will be holding a live chat at 2pm Central today, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers!
Bears TE Cole Kmet Suffers Season-Ending Knee Injury
1:08pm: Kmet has a “serious” knee injury and will go on injured reserve, head coach Ben Johnson announced (via Courtney Cronin of ESPN). He will not return this season, Cronin reports.
11:28am: The Bears hung on for a 30-24 win over the Patriots on Thursday, but they may have lost tight end Cole Kmet to a season-ending knee injury. Kmet, who is undergoing testing to determine the severity, is “likely” done for the year, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
The 27-year-old Kmet exited on a cart in the fourth quarter in Week 7 after catching a season-high three passes. Although Kmet has put up modest numbers (10 receptions, 87 yards and a touchdown), he has continued to play a significant role in the Bears’ offense this year. Among Bears pass catchers, he trails only tight end Colston Loveland and wide receiver Rome Odunze in offensive snap share (62.19%).
Kmet, an Illinois native whom the Bears took in the second round of the 2020 draft, caught between 47 and 73 passes in each season from 2021-24. The Bears gave the Notre Dame product a four-year, $50MM extension in 2023, but his receiving production has gone downhill since they drafted Loveland 10th overall in 2025.
After Kmet finished with 30 grabs, 347 yards and two scores in 16 games last year, he came up as a potential cap casualty during the offseason. The Bears ultimately kept him around on a restructured contract that reduced his 2026 cap hit by $3.8MM. It also raised Kmet’s cap charge by $3.8MM for 2027, the last season of his deal. Releasing or trading Kmet next year would save the Bears $10MM at the cost of $5.43MM in dead money.
If this injury does indeed end Kmet’s season, he may have played his last down with Chicago. In his absence, the Bears could rely more on rookie third-rounder Sam Roush behind Loveland. Roush has posted a 21.55% offensive snap share and caught three of five targets for 33 yards this year. Loveland and Roush are the only healthy tight ends on the Bears’ roster, but they also have practice squad options in Stephen Carlson and Qadir Ismail.
Ravens OLB Tavius Robinson Suffers Season-Ending Pectoral Injury
Ravens outside linebacker Tavius Robinson leads the team with 3.5 sacks, but he will not add any more this year. Head coach Jesse Minter announced that Robinson suffered a season-ending pectoral injury in the Ravens’ Week 6 loss to the Browns (via Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic).
Robinson put together back-to-back full seasons after the Ravens took him in the fourth round of the 2023 draft, but this will go down as his second straight injury-marred year. Week 6 was also one to forget last season for Robinson, who broke his foot in a loss to the Rams and missed two months. Despite sitting out seven games, Robinson totaled 10 quarterback hits and a personal-best 4.5 sacks.
Had Robinson stayed healthy this year, he likely would have posted career numbers in sacks and multiple other categories. While playing over 72% of defensive snaps in the Ravens’ first six games, Robinson was on pace for approximately 51 tackles, 23 QB hits and nine tackles for loss. All of those figures easily would have been new high-water marks. Staying on that track in a contract year may have led to a significant raise for Robinson, but thanks to this injury, he could hit free agency with less momentum next March.
The Ravens have gone two games this year without prized free agent addition Trey Hendrickson, but the star OLB returned from a finger injury in Week 6 and picked up a sack. Hendrickson and Mike Green are atop the Ravens’ pecking order at the position, while a pair of rookies – second-rounder Zion Young and UDFA Ethan Burke – could see more playing time in the wake of Robinson’s injury. Baltimore could also seek outside reinforcements in advance of the Nov. 10 trade deadline, but acquiring anyone of note might be tricky for a team with just over $2.16MM in cap space.
