Former Michigan State football players sign to NFL practice squads

Several former Spartans have signed with NFL teams to play on the practice squad

NFL cut day has come and gone, and NFL teams have cut their rosters from 80 to 53, meaning many players were let go by there respective teams. The next step for these players is to hopefully catch on and get signed to a team’s practice squad.

Several former Spartans were a part of the NFL caualties, but some were lucky enough to catch on and sign with NFLpractice squads.

Check out what NFL teams signed former Spartans to their practice squad:

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Many familiar faces return to practice after initially being cut by Patriots

Multiple preseason fan favorites were back at practice on Wednesday.

There were plenty of familiar faces back at practice after initially being cut by the New England Patriots on Tuesday.

Like the rest of the league, the Patriots went through the tough process of trimming their rosters down to 53 players. On Wednesday, many of the players on the cut list went on waivers with the chance of being claimed by another team.

The Patriots were fortunate that tight end Devin Asiasi was their only former player that got claimed on waivers. So that paved the way for a slew of fan favorites to return, including Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Tre Nixon, J.J. Taylor and LaBryan Ray.

Even veteran cornerback Terrance Mitchell was spotted at practice.

There was also a reported “mystery lineman” wearing a No. 68 jersey. Could it be Drew Desjarlais?

The Patriots will lean on some of their practice squad talent to fill roles at certain points throughout the season for a team that currently has more questions than answers.

At the very least, there are several players within the group that showed they were up for the challenge during the preseason slate.

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Two ex-Lions cut this week get claimed by other NFL teams

The Jaguars claimed Rashod Berry and the Patriots claimed Matt Sokol

The Jacksonville Jaguars hold the top spot in the NFL’s waiver claim priority pecking order. And the Jaguars used their status to claim former Lions OLB Rashod Berry on Wednesday, while the New England Patriots did the same with tight end Matt Sokol.

Berry and Sokol were part of the wave of cuts in Detroit earlier this week. The Jaguars claimed Berry and assumed his $895,000 contract for 2022, releasing the Lions of any obligations. The Patriots did the same with Sokol.

It’s not often when players cut by the Lions at this time of year resurface immediately in another NFL city, especially when there are no prior ties to the player. Berry signed with the Lions last August after spending a season with the New England Patriots. In five games on the Lions’ active roster, Berry played a total of 62 snaps and recorded one QB hit.

Sokol never suited up for the Lions and was signed to a reserve/future contract earlier this offseason.

Ironically enough, Sokol does have time in the past on Jacksonville’s practice squad and Berry came to Detroit from New England. But they were claimed by the unfamiliar teams.

Lions cut 5 players to make room for the UDFA class

Lions cut 5 players to make room for the UDFA class, including waiving one player with an injury settlement

No team carried more players on the 90-man roster than the Detroit Lions did entering the 2022 NFL draft weekend. As a result, the team has been limited in the pursuit of undrafted free agents. That has now been rectified.

The Lions waived five players on Tuesday.

  • LB Tavante Beckett
  • EDGE Rashod Berry
  • CB Parnell Motley
  • TE Matt Sokol
  • TE Jared Pinkney, who was waived with an injury settlement

None of the players who were waived were considered more than longshots to make the final 53-man roster. Beckett did show some ability on special teams as an undrafted rookie in 2021.

Creating those vacancies on the roster places the Lions at 85 players on the roster, counting the spots committed for the draft class.

Lions sign TE Matt Sokol to a reserve/future contract

Sokol has a prior stint with the Lions after playing collegiately at Michigan State

The Detroit Lions signed tight end Matt Sokol to a reserve/future contract on Wednesday afternoon.

This will be Sokol’s second stint with Detroit, as he first joined the team at the conclusion of the 2019 season on another reserve/future contract. He was with Detroit throughout the 2020 offseason and training camp before being released and signed to the practice squad later in the season.

Sokol, a former Michigan State Spartan and Rochester, MI native, originally signed with the Los Angeles Chargers after going undrafted in 2019.

Sokol has appeared in two games for the Chargers in 2020 but never recorded any stats as he is primarily a blocking tight end. He also spent time on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad.

At the tight end position for 2022, the Lions have T.J. Hockenson, Brock Wright, Shane Zylstra, Hunter Bryant, Jared Pinkney, and Charlie Taumoepeau under contract. Sokol may have not impressed the former Detroit front office enough to stick around the first time, but he now has a clean slate with Dan Campbell and his staff.

Jags sign QB Kyle Lauletta, TE Matt Sokol to their practice squad

The Jags have added two more players to their practice squad, including a new QB.

Many fans were hoping that the Jacksonville Jaguars would be able to stash quarterback Jake Luton on their practice squad this week, but that was not the case. Instead, the second-year signal-caller was signed by the Seattle Seahawks after the Jags waived him Tuesday, eliminating a potential reunion if that’s what the team had in mind.

With the need for a No. 3 quarterback, the Jags turned to a familiar face from the preseason in Kyle Lauletta. He’ll be joining the Jags’ practice squad after playing them Week 3 of the preseason with the Cleveland Browns.

Lauletta, 26, was drafted by the New York Giants out of Richmond in the fourth round in 2018. While there, he participated in two games and took 19 offensive snaps (the only regular season snaps of his career). He was 0-of-5 in terms of his completion rate and all five passes were attempted against the Washington Football Team on Dec. 9 of his rookie season.

Lauletta also spent time with the Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles, and, of course, the Browns. All of those stints were as an offseason player (Falcons and Browns) or on their practice squads (Falcons and Eagles). When he took the field against the Jags last month, he was 19-of-27 for 212 yards and two touchdowns.

Also joining the Jags practice squad will be tight end, Matt Sokol. He previously spent time with the Los Angeles Chargers and was waived two days ago. He had been with them since last season (and in 2019, too) and participated in two games with them. He wasn’t able to register a catch in any of those games.

Sokol once was on the Jags’ practice squad in 2019. He’s also been with the Detroit Lions as an offseason player and practice squad player.

With both Lauletta and Sokol joining the Jags’ practice squad, they are now at 15 players. That leaves one available slot on the unit.

Two former Michigan State football players now together in NFL

Two former Spartans are now teammates at the next level

Michigan State football is known as a brotherhood, and is cited as being one of the best family atmospheres in all of the country.

It is always great to see former Spartans move on to the NFL, and more importantly succeed in the NFL, but it is even cooler to see two Spartans link up in the NFL together.

In the case of Michigan State, they are bringing an old TE room straight into the NFL.

Matt Sokol has been a member of the Chargers since 2019 when he signed there as an undrafted free agent. Matt Seybert is now getting his chance to show off what he can do.

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Chargers place EDGE Uchenna Nwosu on injured reserve

Another defensive end was placed on the injured reserve.

The Chargers made a few roster moves ahead of their Week 16 matchup against the Broncos.

Los Angeles placed edge defender Uchenna Nwosu on the injured reserve list. In correspondence, the team signed EDGE Jesse Lemonier to the active roster.

Lemonier has appeared in four games for the Bolts this year after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Liberty.

Nwosu and Joey Bosa were both ruled out for Sunday. Nwosu is dealing with a knee injury while Bosa was diagnosed with a concussion.

L.A. also activated EDGE Joe Gaziano and tight end Matt Sokol from the practice squad.

This will mark the first time that Gaziano and Sokol have appeared in a regular season game.

The activation of Sokol means that the chances of TE Hunter Henry playing are slim. Henry was placed on the COVID-19 list a couple of days ago.

Detroit Lions add OT Dan Skipper and TE Matt Sokol to practice squad, waive P Arryn Siposs

The Detroit Lions announced they have signed offensive tackle Dan Skipper and tight end Matt Sokol to the practice squad, waiving punter Arryn Siposs in a corresponding move.

Recently, the Detroit Lions have been churning over their practice squad. Since just Saturday, the Lions have promoted quarterback David Blough to the active roster, signed defensive tackle Albert Huggins, released wide receiver/quarterback Joe Webb and entered today with an available spot.

This afternoon, the Lions announced they have added offensive tackle Dan Skipper and tight end Matt Sokol to the practice squad, while waiving punter Arryn Siposs in a corresponding move, getting their practice squad roster back to the allotted 16 players.

This is Skipper’s third stint with the Lions, the first came in 2017 when he was signed to the practice squad and eventually promoted to the active roster. The second came last season in November when they claimed him off waivers and he bounced between the active roster and practice squad. This offseason he signed a futures deal and was with the team through training camp when he was released on cut day.

The Lions have been healthy at tackle all season until last week when Hal Vaitai and Tyrell Crosby both exited the game with dehydration issues, leaving Matt Nelson — who filled in admirably at right tackle — as the lone remaining tackle available. Skipper figures to be practice squad insurance at this stage.

Sokol also signed a futures deal with the Lions in January, was with the team throughout training camp, and was released on cut day. With Hunter Bryant landing on injured reserve last week, Sokol gives the Lions four tight ends for practices, with T.J. Hockenson and Jesse James on the active roster, and Isaac Nauta joining Sokol on the practice squad.

Jack Fox is playing at an elite level, and the Lions apparently felt comfortable moving forward with only one punter on the roster, thus moving on from Siposs.

Report: Detroit Lions to waive former Michigan State TE Matt Sokol

According to Michael Rothstein of ESPN, the Detroit Lions will be waiving MSU alum Matt Sokol.

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Former Michigan State tight end Matt Sokol was a solid player in college, and he has at least shown enough to scouts at the pro level to continue finding opportunities, but the former undrafted Spartan has yet to really stick with an NFL team. Sokol spent last year with the Los Angeles Chargers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Lions practice squads, and was in camp with the Lions this summer.

Unfortunately, Sokol will have to continue searching for a home at the next level. On Saturday, Detroit Lions beat reporter Michael Rothstein (ESPN) reported that the Lions were planning to waive Sokol, despite what Rothstein called “a really good camp.”

Hopefully that report of him having a good camp impresses another team enough to give him a closer look.

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