Seattle Seahawks News & Rumors

Injured Reserve Return Tracker

This offseason brought a change in how teams could construct their 53-man rosters while retaining flexibility with injured players. Clubs were permitted to attach return designations to two players (in total) placed on IR or an NFI list before setting their initial rosters.

In prior years, anyone placed on IR before a team set its initial 53-man roster could not be activated in-season. All August 27 IR- or NFI-return designations, however, already count against teams’ regular-season limit of eight. This introduces more strategy for teams, who will be tasked with determining which players injured in-season will factor into activation puzzles as the year progresses.

All players designated for return on August 27 are eligible to be activated beginning in Week 5, though any player placed on IR after a team set its initial 53 has not been designated for return and therefore does not yet count toward a club’s eight-activation limit. Players who receive return designations after Week 5 also appear on this list.

Here is how teams’ activation puzzles look going into Week 15:

Arizona Cardinals

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 5

Atlanta Falcons

Designated for return from IR (August 27): 

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 3

Baltimore Ravens

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 4

Buffalo Bills

Designated for return from IR (August 27):

Designated for return: 

Activated

Activations remaining: 3

Carolina Panthers

Activated:

Activations remaining: 0

Chicago Bears

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 4

Cincinnati Bengals

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 5

Cleveland Browns

Reverted to season-ending IR:

Eligible for activation:

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 1

Dallas Cowboys

Designated for return: 

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 4

Denver Broncos

Reverted to season-ending IR:

Eligible for activation:

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 3

Detroit Lions

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 5

Green Bay Packers

Designated for return: 

Eligible for activation:

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 6

Houston Texans

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 2

Indianapolis Colts

Designated for return from IR (August 27):

Designated for return: 

Activated:

Activations remaining: 4

Jacksonville Jaguars

Eligible for activation:

  • OL Cooper Hughes

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 3

Kansas City Chiefs

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 5

Las Vegas Raiders

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 5

Los Angeles Chargers

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 3

Los Angeles Rams

Reverted to season-ending IR:

  • G KT Leveston (practice window expired Dec. 11)

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 1

Miami Dolphins

Designated for return from reserve/NFI list:

Eligible for activation from IR:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 2

Minnesota Vikings

Designated for return from IR (August 27):

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 3

New England Patriots

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 5

New Orleans Saints

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 2

New York Giants

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 5

New York Jets

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 2

Philadelphia Eagles

Designated for return from IR (August 27):

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 5

Pittsburgh Steelers

Designated for return from IR (August 27):

  • OL Dylan Cook (released Oct. 31)

Eligible for activation:

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 2

San Francisco 49ers

Reverted to season-ending IR: 

Eligible for activation:

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 3

Seattle Seahawks

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 3

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Designated for return: 

Eligible for activation:

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 4

Tennessee Titans

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated: 

Activations remaining: 6

Washington Commanders

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 4

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/14/24

Saturday’s minor moves and standard gameday elevations:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Jacksonville Jaguars

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Demercado has taken a backseat to Florida State third-round rookie Trey Benson, but he has averaged 9.3 yards per carry on 24 carries this year. Palardy will take over punting duties with Gillikin landing on injured reserve.

Jackson signed with Bills in late July, and although he was among the team’s final roster cuts he was immediately retained via a practice squad deal. This elevation means Week 15 will mark his first time spent on the active roster this season. The 36-year-old has started all but 10 of his 203 NFL games, but last season was marred by suspensions which led to his Broncos release. Jackson could suit up for Buffalo down the stretch as a gameday elevation in a bid to rebuild his stock to a degree.

With the playoffs nearly out of reach and quarterback Joe Burrow dealing with a few ailments (wrist and knee), the Bengals don’t seem to be taking any chances. Jake Browning will continue serving as the primary backup, while Woodside’s promotion will allow him to act as the emergency backup.

Adams has seen his biggest NFL roles during his time in Pittsburgh. Though he hasn’t gotten the same number of starts as he had in 2022 and 2023, he’s continued the same level of production. After missing the last four games, he’ll be looking to return to the field as early as tomorrow.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/11/24

Wednesday’s minor roster updates:

Atlanta Falcons

  • Signed to active roster: RB Carlos Washington Jr.
  • Placed on IR: RB Jase McClellan

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Los Angeles Rams

  • Reverted to season-ending IR: G KT Leveston

Miami Dolphins

New York Giants

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

It’s unfortunate news for the rookie second-round safety, Nubin. After starting the first 13 games of his first season in the NFL, the top-drafted safety in the 2024 NFL Draft will end the year on injured reserve with an ankle injury. Nubin had graded out as the 34th-best safety in the league, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), before the injury.

Charles will miss the remainer of the season, as well, and perhaps some of next year. The former undrafted receiver will be undergoing surgery for a torn ACL.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/11/24

Today’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Jacksonville Jaguars

New York Giants

Seattle Seahawks

Arizona is bringing in the left-footed punter as regular punter Blake Gillikin is dealing with an ankle injury on his kicking foot. If Gillikin can’t go on Sunday, Palardy will see his first game action since he finished the back half of the 2022 season in New England.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/10/24

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

  • Signed: LB K.J Cloyd

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins has made just 64.0% of his field goal attempts this season, which includes two misses from inside 40 yards. Patterson kicked for Cleveland when Hopkins was injured at the end of last season, and his addition to the practice squad indicates that head coach Kevin Stefanski is considering a similar change this year.

The Titans signed Narveson as insurance for starter Nick Folk, who is dealing with an injury, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. Narveson began the season as the Packers’ kicker, but after missing five of his 12 field goal attempts, all of which came inside of 50 yards.

Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III Out For Sunday

The Seahawks have a big divisional matchup this week with only a one-game lead in the division and only a two-game lead on the last-place team in the division. Looking to sweep the Cardinals and establish a tiebreaker over them, Seattle will be heading into the game without leading rusher Kenneth Walker, who is set to miss the contest with ankle and calf issues.

Despite missing two games early on in the season, Walker is the team’s leading rusher with 542 yards and seven touchdowns. He also leads the running backs room with 38 receptions and 271 yards through the air. He was questionable just yesterday, but the team opted to officially rule him out today.

Luckily, Seattle has an effective backup in Zach Charbonnet was extremely effective in relief-duty when Walker was out earlier this year. In those two contests, Charbonnet had 129 rushing yards and three touchdowns. On the year, he’s second in the running backs room with 266 rushing yards and five touchdowns, adding 29 catches for 204 yards and a touchdown receiving, as well.

With Walker out, Charbonnet is likely to serve as the lead back for the team’s trip to Arizona. Second-year back Kenny McIntosh will back up Charbonnet and George Holani has been called up from the practice squad as a standard gameday elevation. It’s likely precautionary, but with Charbonnet also on the injury report, the depth could be crucial.

The other practice squad elevation for the week will be punter Ty Zentner. Zentner appeared in a game earlier this season for the Rams. This is likely a precaution, as well, as regular punter Michael Dickson is listed as questionable with a back injury.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/6/24

Today’s minor NFL transactions:

Cincinnati Bengals

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Williams, an undrafted rookie out of Tennessee, had appeared in every game for Seattle so far this year. While he only managed four snaps on defense in that time, Williams was the team’s primary punt returner and was back on kickoffs, as well.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/6/24

Here are Friday’s practice squad moves:

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Minnesota Vikings

  • Signed: T Coy Cronk
  • Placed on practice squad injured list: G Henry Byrd

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Peters has not seen any game action this season, keeping him from an official 21st NFL slate. Peters, 42, would make NFL history by becoming the first O-lineman to be on an active roster in a 21st season. After seeing action in eight games last season in Seattle, making two starts, Peters has not climbed to the team’s 53-man roster yet this year. Despite Abraham Lucas coming back, George Fant is back on IR. And Peters remains on the team’s practice squad. Though, he is running out of time to turn his insurance role into in-game duties.

McGill is not quite on the Josh Johnson journeyman tier, but the 10th-year defensive lineman has been with 10 teams. The Browns are not a new one, as he previously stopped through Cleveland during the 2017 season. McGill, 32, played in one game for the 49ers this season. He had spent three years in San Francisco but is now roster depth back in Cleveland, where he played three games in 2017.

Long-Term Seahawks Commitment Unlikely For Geno Smith

Geno Smith attempted to work out an extension this summer, but it quickly became clear the Seahawks were not interested in doing so. As a result, the veteran quarterback is set to play out the 2025 campaign the final season of his three-year, $75MM deal worked out last spring.

That pact calls for $25MM in compensation for the 2025 campaign, including a $10MM roster bonus set to kick in shortly after the start of the new league year in March. With none of Smith’s base salary for the year guaranteed, a window of opportunity exists for Seattle to move on if the team decides to do so. While that would represent a surprise, another multi-year commitment should also not be expected at this point.

ESPN’s Brady Henderson writes a long-term pact near the top of the QB market is much less likely than another deal aimed at providing more stability in the immediate future. A short-term deal which allows Smith to increase his 2025 earnings with new guarantees would be a reasonable approach given the extent to which he has succeeded in filling a role atop the QB depth chart over the past three years.

Questions surrounded Seattle’s future at the position after the Russell Wilson trade, but Smith has proven to be a capable replacement with a resume now featuring the Comeback Player of the Year award in 2022 and Pro Bowl nods for each of the past two seasons. The West Virginia product has seen a slight downturn in passer rating (88.9) along with an underwhelming touchdown-to-interception ratio (13:12) this year with the Seahawks struggling up front and with respect to the ground game. Still, Seattle sits atop the NFC West with a 7-5 record and a second playoff berth in the past three years is therefore a distinct possibility.

Strong play down the stretch would help Smith’s case to secure at least an upgraded compensation package over the short term. His $25MM AAV ranks 19th amongst quarterbacks, although age is of course a factor working against the 34-year-old on that front. A move toward the top of the market (which is now $60MM per season) would require a massive raise, but an incremental one – via new guarantees and/or incentives – could be feasible but still challenging for a Seahawks team currently projected to be over the cap next season. Former Commanders draftee Sam Howell is under contract for next year, but he will no doubt still be seen as a backup option by Seattle at this point.

Smith said in October he plans on playing 20 seasons in the NFL. Reaching that mark will require multiple new contracts down the road, the first of which could be worked out this winter. How negotiations on that front proceed will be a key storyline for the Seahawks if they look to retain Smith but also leave the door open to a successor in the not-too-distant future.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/5/24

Here are the latest moves from around the league, including game day elevations for Thursday Night football:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Designated to return from injured reserve: CB Elijah Jones

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

  • Elevated to the active roster from the practice squad: CB Kalen King

Houston Texans

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

The Lions signed Adams to their practice squad on Sunday after a slew of injuries on Thanksgiving. The onetime All-Pro played 20 snaps across three games for the Titans this year before he landed on the Non-Football injury list and requested his release. Though he’s still listed as a defensive back, Adams is likely to play in the box after Malcolm Rodriguez joined three other Lions linebacker on injured reserve.