Here are the minor moves and standard gameday practice squad elevations before the first NFL Sunday of the season:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Placed on IR: T Cameron Williams
Elevated: OLB Bralen Trice, TE Nick Muse
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Elevated: OLB Jeremiah Moon, S Isaiah Simmons
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
Elevated: LB Joe Giles-Harris, TE Tanner Hudson
Cleveland Browns
Elevated: CB D’Angelo Ross, LB Nathaniel Watson
Dallas Cowboys
Signed from practice squad: RB Israel Abanikanda
Detroit Lions
Elevated: DT Ben Stille
Green Bay Packers
Elevated: WR Bo Melton, LB Kristian Welch
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Las Vegas Raiders
Elevated: TE Chris Myarick, WR Cody White
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
Elevated: RB DeeJay Dallas, OLB Kyle Van Noy
New Orleans Saints
Signed from practice squad: TE Treyton Welch
Elevated: WR Kevin Austin Jr., RB CJ Donaldson
Placed on IR: RB Audric Estime
New York Giants
Signed from practice squad: WR Dalen Cambre
Elevations: WR Braxton Berrios, LB Malik Harrison
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
Elevated: LB Mohamoud Diabate, CB Erick Hallett
Washington Commanders
A quick reminder as we open the season: ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL allows each team to elevate two practice squad players for each game. Those players are added to the active roster for that game, though each team can still only have 48 out of their 53-55 players active. Each practice squad player may be elevated a maximum of three times, at which point they must be signed to the 53-man roster in order to appear in a fourth game. If a team is confident the player will clear waivers, they will often then waive the player and sign them to a new practice squad contract, resetting the player’s three-game elevation limit. The elevation limits also reset for the postseason.
After spending the offseason with the Bears as an undrafted free agent, Moss must’ve stayed near Chicago after getting waived at the roster cut deadline. Today, the day before the team’s season opener, it was announced that Moss would both sign to the Bears’ practice squad and be elevated to the active roster for tomorrow’s game.
Bears backup quarterback Tyson Bagent is listed as questionable this week with a back injury, so Moss would become the QB3 behind starter Caleb Williams and backup Case Keenum. It will be curious to see how they plan to assign Keenum and Moss, though, considering an emergency third QB can only be designated as such if they are on the 53-man roster. In order for Moss to be active, the Bears might need to name Keenum as the emergency third option, but that would mean Keenum could only enter the game if both Williams and Moss are injured or disqualified.
Similarly, the Jaguars are elevating Mullens, despite Quinn Ewers sitting on the depth chart as QB2 behind starter Trevor Lawrence. Ewers, though, has only been in Duval for two weeks, so it would make sense for him to serve as the emergency third passer, letting Mullens take primary backup duties.
With no word coming out of Pittsburgh on the status of cornerback Joey Porter Jr., we may just have to examine their actions. The Steelers’ elevation of Slaughter may be a depth move, in case Porter doesn’t play. Whether Porter’s status depends on his contract status or his injury situation remains unclear.