Tag: Nakia Griffin-Stewart

Colts make practice squad roster move

The Colts added a WR and a TE to the practice squad Monday.

The Indianapolis Colts signed tight end Jalen Wydermyer and wide receiver Vyncent Smith to the practice squad and released tight end Nakia Griffin-Stewart from the practice squad, the team announced Monday.

Wydermyer was a top tight end prospect early in the 2022 NFL draft process but wound up going undrafted mostly due to his extremely subpar testing numbers. The Texas A&M product recorded 118 receptions for 1,468 yards and 16 touchdowns across three seasons.

Smith went undrafted in 2018 out of Limestone, spending two seasons with the Houston Texans. In his career, he has 23 receptions for 329 yards and one touchdown.

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Colts add a pair to the practice squad

The Colts added TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart and G Arlington Hambright to the practice squad.

The Indianapolis Colts signed tight end Nakia Griffin-Stewart and guard Arlington Hambright to the practice squad and released kicker Lucas Havrisik and tight end Jared Scott from the practice squad, the team announced Tuesday.

The notable piece of news here is that Havrisik was released from the practice squad, signifying that Chase McLaughlin will be the kicker moving forward. McLaughlin played just one snap in Week 2, which was the opening kickoff of the second half.

The Colts technically could keep him on the practice squad and elevate him two more times until they need to sign him to the active roster. Whether they’ll do that remains to be seen.

Griffin-Stewart spent time at Rutgers (2015-2018) and Pittsburgh (2019) before entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2020. He’s spent time on the practice squad or offseason roster with the Minnesota Vikings (2020), Green Bay Packers (2020), New York Giants (2020–2021) and Cleveland Browns (2022). He was active for one game with the Kansas City Chiefs (2021).

Hambright had previously been a part of the practice squad before the Colts signed Havrisik and McLaughlin before Week 2.

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Browns waive a tight end, sign a tight end

One in, one out at the tight end position while Harper officially terminated via waivers on Tuesday as the roster churn continues:

Under GM Andrew Berry, the Cleveland Browns are often churning the bottom of the roster for a variety of reasons. We’ve seen the team sign and release Felix Harper. We’ve seen them claim, waive and sign Reggie Robinson in the span of a few days.

Tuesday brought more churning of the roster with the Browns waiving TE Nick Guggemos and signing TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart.

Guggemos was on Cleveland’s practice squad at the end of last season but didn’t see the field. According to every search, Guggemos only played in one game at St. Thomas in Minnesota during his college career where he had one catch for eight yards.

Griffin-Stewart played in two games for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021, his only NFL action. The 25-year-old played in 11 games at Rutgers over three seasons and 11 games in his one year at Pittsburgh. Combined, the tight end caught 32 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns.

Harper was terminated from the roster after passing through waivers on Tuesday as well.

Chiefs bring back TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart on reserve/future contract

The #Chiefs have re-signed former practice squad TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart on a reserve/future contract.

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The Kansas City Chiefs have brought back a former practice squad tight end on a reserve/future contract.

According to the NFL’s official personnel notice for Monday, the Chiefs have re-signed TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart on a reserve/future deal. Griffin-Stewart was on and off the practice squad often in 2021. He was one of four K.C. players released from the practice squad ahead of the divisional round of the playoffs. He originally signed to the practice squad in early November, but he was released a week afterward. Eventually, he re-signed to the practice squad in late November and stuck throughout the month of December.

Listed at 6-5 and 260 pounds, Griffin-Stewart entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Pittsburgh in 2020. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings and has since spent time with the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants.

Griffin-Stewart saw his first regular-season play with the Chiefs in 2021. He was called up to the 53-man roster as a standard elevation in Week 16 against the Steelers when TE Travis Kelce was ruled out of the game due to COVID-19. He played just three offensive snaps during the game and recorded no stats.

Brett Veach has amassed a lot of talent at the tight end position to compete behind Kelce this offseason. They’ve already signed Jordan Franks, Matt Bushman and Mark Vital to reserve/future contracts. Noah Gray is still under contract and the team is expected to bring back exclusive rights free agent Jody Fortson (Achilles). It’s shaping up to be quite the training camp battle at this particular position.

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Chiefs release 4 players from practice squad

The #Chiefs released four players from the practice squad on Tuesday. What does it mean? Info here:

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The Kansas City Chiefs are shaking up some things on the practice squad ahead of the divisional round of the playoffs.

According to the NFL’s personnel notice from Tuesday, the Chiefs have terminated the practice squad contracts of four players. That group includes TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart, DE/LB Shilique Calhoun, DB Josh Jackson and LB Elijah Sullivan. Griffin-Stewart and Jackson have both appeared in games for Kansas City this season.

It’s not uncommon for this to happen this time of year. On Monday, practice squad contracts expired for teams who have been eliminated from playoff contention. When practice squad contracts expired in 2020, the Chiefs snagged Austin Edwards from the Falcons and Prince Tega Wanogho from the Eagles. Fans should expect that they intend to make some similar types of additions with these new vacancies.

A number of the players released from practice squad contracts who are free to sign with other teams includes some veteran players. Adrian Peterson, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Brian Poole, Willie Snead and D.J. Hayden are among the most notable names. There are also some former Chiefs out there like Deon Yelder, Adrian Colbert, Tedric Thompson, Anthony Gordon, Bradley McDougald and Daniel Brown.

This also might not be the end for each of Griffin-Stewart, Calhoun, Jackson and Sullivan with Kansas City. Expect most of those players, if not all, to return on reserve/future contracts themselves.

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Chiefs re-sign TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart to practice squad

The #Chiefs re-signed TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart to the practice squad on Monday.

The Kansas City Chiefs have brought back a familiar face to the practice squad.

According to the NFL’s official personnel notice for Monday, the Chiefs have re-signed TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart to the practice squad. The team had a vacancy on the practice squad after signing QB Shane Buechele to the 53-man roster. With a few recent moves, it made sense to bring Griffin-Stewart back into the fold.

Griffin-Stewart was originally signed to the practice squad by Kansas City back in the first week of November. He was released shortly after the trade in which the Chiefs acquired TE Daniel Brown from the Jets. The team released Brown in order to make room for returning starting RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire last week. That decision had the team looking to reinforce the depth at the position on the practice squad.

The 6-5 and 260-pound tight end entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Pittsburgh in 2020, joining the Minnesota Vikings. He has since spent time with the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants but he hasn’t played in an NFL regular-season game yet.

Griffin-Stewart joins Mike Vital as the two tight ends on the practice squad for Kansas City. They currently have three tight ends on the 53-man roster with Travis Kelce, Blake Bell and rookie Noah Gray. The team also has Jody Fortson, who is currently on injured reserve after suffering an Achilles injury earlier this season.

With this move, the practice squad for the Chiefs now has a full 16 players ahead of Week 13.

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Chiefs make a pair of practice squad transactions on Tuesday

The #Chiefs waived a recently-signed player from the practice squad and brought back a familiar face.

The Kansas City Chiefs made a pair of minor transactions on the practice squad on Tuesday.

The Chiefs added Nakia Griffin-Stewart to the practice squad just last week, but he won’t last long in Kansas City. Griffin-Stewart was released by the team after just six days of practice according to the NFL’s official personnel notice.

Many were confused by the signing initially, especially when the team had just traded for TE Daniel Brown. Kansas City often signs players for brief periods like this when they need an extra body for the scout team offense or defense. It’s possible the Chiefs never truly had an intention of giving Griffin-Stewart a chance to stick with the team.

In a corresponding move, the Chiefs brought back former UDFA C Darryl Williams. He signed with Kansas City following the 2020 NFL draft and has spent time off and on the practice squad ever since. He was released from the practice squad three weeks ago to make room for DE/OLB Shilique Calhoun.

The Chiefs didn’t have any offensive linemen on the practice squad with Prince Tega Wanogho getting called up to the 53-man roster. This move provides them with some depth on the interior offensive line, though they have 10 offensive linemen on the active roster plus Kyle Long returning to practice this week.

These two moves bring the practice squad in Kansas City to a full 16 players.

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Chiefs sign TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart to practice squad

Another one! The #Chiefs have signed TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart to the practice squad.

The Kansas City Chiefs are collecting tight ends this season.

After LB Christian Rozeboom was poached by the Los Angeles Rams, the Chiefs had a free spot on the practice squad. According to the NFL’s official personnel notice for Wednesday, that spot on the practice squad will go to TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart.

Griffin-Stewart will be the second TE to join the practice squad and the sixth TE on the team in general, seventh if you include injured reserve. Griffin-Stewart joins Mark Vital on the practice squad and a TE room that features Travis Kelce, Blake Bell, Noah Gray and recent trade acquisition Daniel Brown.

Griffin-Stewart originally signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Pittsburgh in 2020. He was released ahead of 53-man roster cuts and spent the entire 2020 season on the practice squad with the Green Bay Packers. He spent time on the 90-man roster with the New York Giants this past offseason, but he didn’t make the team there either. He hasn’t played in an NFL regular-season game yet and I’m not sure if he’s any closer to that by joining this team.

Listed at 6-5, 260 pounds, Griffin-Stewart has the size to be an above-the-rim catcher and a powerful in-line blocker. The Chiefs are clearly looking to bolster this position after they lost a talent like Jody Fortson for the season with an Achilles injury. Blake Bell has already missed a game this season with a back injury and Travis Kelce has been battling a neck injury for a few weeks now. It makes sense that the team would prepare for potential attrition as we get into the second half of the season.

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Damion Willis, Blake Martinez were highest-graded Giants vs. Patriots

WR Damion Willis and LB Blake Martinez earned the New York Giants’ highest offensive and defensive grades in a loss to the Patriots.

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The New York Giants dropped their preseason finale to the New England Patriots, 22-20, and there were plenty of reasons to come away concerned. We’ll get to those.

Before we do however, there were also several reasons to feel optimistic. Case in point: linebacker Blake Martinez demonstrating a significant improvement in coverage — if even just for a day.

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Martinez led the Giants defense with a Pro Football Focus grade of 91.7. He was followed by defensive back Julian Love (89.5), and defensive linemen Elijah Qualls (80.7) and Austin Johnson (76.2).

Other notable defensive grades include linebacker Lorenzo Carter (74.3), cornerback Sam Beal (69.7) and cornerback Rodarius Williams (59.8).

The lowest-graded Giants defenders on Sunday were linebackers Trent Harris (29.9) and Niko Lalos (24.3).

On the offensive side of the ball, wide receiver Damion Willis led the way with a PFF grade of 92.5. He was followed by guard Will Hernandez (92.2), offensive tackle Jackson Barton (78.7) and tight end Nakia Griffin-Stewart (74.7).

Fullback Eli Penny earned a 73.7, while quarterback Daniel Jones graded out at 53.8.

The Giants’ lowest-graded offensive players were running back Devontae Booker (42.1) and wide receiver Darius Slayton (41.4).

Offensive tackles Andrew Thomas and Matt Peart earned grades of 53.4 and 48.5, respectively.

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Giants cut Corey Coleman from practice squad

The New York Giants have shuffled their practice squad, cutting WR Corey Coleman and signing TE Nakia Griffin-Stewart.

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For the second time this year, the New York Giants have parted ways with wide receiver Corey Coleman.

The team announced on Tuesday that Coleman had been cut from the practice squad in order to make room for tight end Nakia Griffin-Stewart, who was signed.

Coleman joined the Giants in 2018 under head coach Pat Shurmur and later missed the 2019 season due to a torn ACL. He returned this offseason under head coach Joe Judge and appeared to have a solid camp to the naked eye, but was released in September.

The Giants re-signed Coleman to their practice squad in October but he never managed to make it back to the field on game day.

With Kaden Smith on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, the Giants needed an extra body at tight end, which led to this roster shuffle and the arrival of Griffin-Stewart.

Griffin-Stewart spent three seasons at Rutgers before transferring to Pittsburgh in 2019. The 6-foot-5, 260-pound tight end was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted rookie but released after training camp. He also had a brief cup of coffee with the Green Bay Packers.

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