Tag: Lew Nichols

Eagles officially announce the signing of 20 players to Reserve/Futures deals

The Philadelphia Eagles officially announced the signing 20 players to reserve/futures deals ahead of the 2024 NFL offseason and free agency

The Eagles are looking towards significant changes at every level of the organization after a 32-9 loss to the Buccaneers in the wild-card round.

Owner Jeffrey Lurie will likely keep head coach Nick Sirianni.

A Wednesday press conference will be centered around the offensive and defensive coordinators and a roster severely in flux.

All eyes in Philadelphia will now turn towards the Senior Bowl and the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis before the official start of the new league year and the free agent bonanza.

Philadelphia currently has 20 pending free agents and 38 players on the roster under contract, and these 20 players just signed reserve/futures deals courtesy of the team’s official website.

Eagles sign 20 players to Reserve/Futures deals

The Philadelphia Eagles signed 20 players to reserve/futures deals ahead of the 2024 NFL offseason and free agency

The Eagles are out of the playoffs and looking towards significant changes at every level of the organization after a 32-9 loss to the Buccaneers in the wild-card round.

Owner Jeffrey Lurie will likely keep head coach Nick Sirianni.

Still, Friday discussions and decisions will be centered around the offensive and defensive coordinators and a roster severely in flux.

All eyes in Philadelphia will now turn towards the Senior Bowl and the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis before the official start of the new league year and the free agent bonanza.

Philadelphia currently has 20 pending free agents and 38 players on the roster under contract, and these 20 players just signed reserve/futures deals courtesy of NFL Communications.

Packers waive rookie RB Lew Nichols from injured reserve with injury settlement

Rookie RB Lew Nichols won’t spend the season on injured reserve. The Packers waived him with an injury settlement.

Rookie running back Lew Nichols won’t spend the 2023 season on the injured reserve of the Green Bay Packers. The team officially waived Nichols with an injury settlement on Thursday, a transaction that removed him from injured reserve but also opened the door for Nichols — who missed a significant portion of training camp with a shoulder injury — to eventually return.

Nichols, a seventh-round pick in 2023, was waived/injured at final cutdowns, cleared waivers and reverted to injured reserve. The Packers had two paths forward: reach an injury settlement, or let Nichols spend the season on injured reserve. The team picked an injury settlement, which will pay Nichols an agreed upon amount over an agreed upon period of time before he’s then free to sign with another team and play this season.

The Packers could still bring him back. The one caveat: Nichols can’t sign with any team until his injury settlement expires, and even then, he’d have to wait another three weeks before he’s eligible to sign back with the Packers. But the option now exists for Nichols to return, possibly on the practice squad later in the season.

Nichols, who led the FBS in rushing yards in 2021, was the 235th pick in the 2023 draft. He was in competition with the likes of Patrick Taylor andTyler Goodson for the third running back job to open training camp, but both Nichols and Goodson got injured and Emanuel Wilson — who signed with the Packers in May — won the job with a terrific preseason in which he led the NFL in rushing yards. The Packers kept Taylor on the practice squad and eventually waived Goodson, who also received an injury settlement and could return. Nichols did not play during the preseason.

By reaching an injury settlement with Nichols, the Packers have cleared their injured reserve coming out of training camp. Tyler Davis suffered a season-ending injury and will spend the entire season on injured reserve, while Luke Tenuta made the initial 53-man roster before being placed on injured reserve, giving him a chance to return after the minimum of four weeks.

Packers expected to place rookie RB Lew Nichols III on IR, reach injury settlement

The Packers will place seventh-round pick Lew Nichols III on IR and eventually release him with an injury settlement.

Green Bay Packers rookie running back Lew Nichols III won’t make the team’s 53-man roster to start the 2023 season. According to Bill Huber of SI.com, the Packers plan to place Nichols on injured reserve before the initial 53-man roster is settled and eventually release him with an injury settlement.

Nichols, a seventh-round pick out of Central Michigan, has missed most of training camp with a shoulder injury. He did not play in any of the team’s three preseason games.

The injury ruined any chance for Nichols to make the team as the third running back. Patrick Taylor and Emanuel Wilson are now viewed as the favorites entering final cuts.

Any player who is placed on injured reserve before making the 53-man roster must come to an injury settlement to return during the season.

Per injury settlement rules, Nichols would be able to return to the Packers three weeks after the settlement expires, but he’s also free to sign with any other team once he’s over his shoulder injury.

The Packers used the 237th overall pick in the 2023 draft on Nichols. He was the team’s second of four seventh-round draft picks.

Nichols rushed for 3,061 yards at Central Michigan. He led the FBS in rushing yards (1,848) and 100-yard rushing games (10) during the 2021 season.

Predicting Packers rookie impact: Trio of offensive playmakers battling for roster spots

Our predicting rookie impact series begins with Grant DuBose, Lew Nichols and Dontayvion Wicks.

Brian Gutekunst made 13 selections in the 2023 NFL Draft. Last season the Green Bay Packers received an impact from a handful of rookies. Quay Walker started opposite De’Vondre Campbell. When healthy, Christian Watson proved to be a dynamic playmaker. Romeo Doubs finished his rookie season with 42 receptions for 425 yards and three touchdowns. Zach Tom logged over 450 snaps along the offensive line, playing left tackle, right tackle, and left guard. Kingsley Enagbare recorded three sacks and Tariq Carpenter made a splash on special teams. 

How much of an impact will the Packers receive from their incoming draft class? Let’s take a look in part one of a five-part series taking a look at how much impact the Packers will get from each rookie.

13. Grant DuBose, WR

DuBose, a wide receiver out of Charlotte, was the final Gutekunst pick and started training camp on the non-football injury list with a back injury. The 256th overall pick also missed the entire offseason workout program with the lingering back injury. 

Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Jayden Reed are locks to make the roster. With how much praise he’s received thus far this offseason, it would appear that Samori Toure is a mere lock to make the roster. Barring a terrible training camp and preseason, last year’s seventh-round pick is a safe bet to be the No. 4 wide receiver.

That leaves one or two roster spots for DuBose, fellow rookie wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks, undrafted free agent Malik Heath and Bo Melton battling for one or two roster spots. 

If the Packers opt to only keep five wide receivers, DuBose could be the odd man out. If they opt to keep six, one would think DuBose is safe given his upside and age (21). 

Regardless, given the players in front of him on the depth chart, there doesn’t figure to be much room for DuBose to make a significant impact during his rookie season.

12. Lew Nichols, RB

Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon are locked in atop the running back depth chart. Tyler Goodson, Patrick Taylor, and Lew Nichols will battle it out for the third running back spot. Nichols led the NCAA in rushing in 2021 and has the highest upside of those three. However, the third running back spot could come down to special teams, an area where Nichols has limited experience. Nichols logged just two special teams snaps during his time at Central Michigan.

As the team’s third running back last season, Taylor logged just 34 snaps on offense. Even if Nichols beats out Taylor and Goodson for the third running back spot behind Jones and Dillon, his impact will likely be minimal.

11. Dontayvion Wicks, WR

With an impressive training camp and preseason, Wicks could carve out a role behind Watson, Doubs, and Reed. The former Virginia wide receiver checks the boxes with his size, athleticism, and big-play ability. Wicks isn’t higher on this list due to the fact that Watson, Doubs, and Reed figure to see the majority of targets from Jordan Love. Barring an injury, Wicks’ play-time may mirror Samori Toure’s snap count during his rookie campaign last season. 

16 running backs Broncos could target in 2023 NFL draft

The Broncos should consider these 16 running backs during the NFL draft this week.

The Denver Broncos will have a great running back duo in Javonte Williams and Samaje Perine when Williams recovers from the ACL/LCL injury he suffered last season.

Williams is facing an uncertain recovery timeline, though, putting his early-season availability in doubt. Perhine proved with the Cincinnati Bengals that he is a capable fill-in starter, but the Broncos will need another running back to pair with him if Williams is sidelined early in the season.

With the possibility of Williams missing time in 2023, Denver seems likely to draft a running back this week. Here’s a quick list of 16 names to watch for during the NFL draft.

Broncos host RB Lew Nichols III on pre-draft visit

The Broncos recently brought in Central Michigan RB Lew Nichols III for a pre-draft visit. He led the NCAA with 1,848 rushing yards in 2021.

The Denver Broncos recently hosted Central Michigan (FBS) running back Lew Nichols III on a pre-draft visit, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.

Nichols (5-11, 222 pounds) had a huge breakout season in 2021, leading the NCAA in rushing yards (1,848) and scoring 16 touchdowns. Nichols also totaled 40 receptions for 338 yards and two receiving touchdowns that year.

After playing 13 games as a junior, Nichols was available for nine games as a senior in 2022 as he battled various injuries. He rushed for 601 yards and six touchdowns last fall, seeing his yards-per-carry average drop from 5.4 in 2021 down to 3.4 in 2022.

Nichols is now projected to be a late-round prospect or undrafted free agent candidate later this month. Barring a trade down, the Broncos’ latest pick in the draft is set to be No. 195 overall in the sixth round. Denver seems more likely to target Nichols as a UDFA than to draft him in the sixth round.

The 2023 NFL draft will be held in Kansas City from April 27-29.

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Bengals to host Central Michigan RB Lew Nichols III on draft visit

Yet another RB of note for the Bengals.

The Cincinnati Bengals will meet with one of the most productive runners in college football of the last few years.

According to Dave Birkett, the Bengals will host Central Michigan’s Lew Nichols III on a visit soon.

In 2021, Nichols led the NCAA in rushing with 1,848 yards and 16 touchdowns on a 5.4 average and caught 40 passes for good measure, too.

Nichols didn’t get as many chances in 2022, but it’s not hard to see why the Bengals like nearly everything about his game, especially if he comes off the board in the mid-rounds.

While Nichols doesn’t feel as versatile as some of the other prospects the Bengals have been linked to during this draft process, there’s no doubt his productivity will have him in the conversation if the team hasn’t added a back over the first two or three rounds.

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