NFL Player News

Bourne (lower leg) is on New England's initial 53-man roster Tuesday.

Bourne has been sidelined since Aug. 1 due to an apparent lower- leg injury suffered in practice, and while the veteran wideout seemed a likely cut candidate for the Patriots, it appears he's secured a depth role to begin the 2025 campaign. That said, New England's initial 53-man roster includes a hefty eight wide receivers, so further moves wouldn't be surprising.

Royals (knee) remained sidelined for Tuesday's practice, Charles Goldman of AtoZSports.com reports.

Royals is battling knee tendinitis and missed the Chiefs' final preseason contest. Coach Andy Reid indicated Tuesday that Royals' return isn't imminent, according to Goldman. His availability for Week 1 against the Chargers on Sept. 5 appears to be in question. Royals' early-season role is to be determined behind Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown (ankle) and JuJu Smith-Schuster.

The Patriots placed Polk (shoulder) on injured reserve Tuesday.

The 2024 second-round pick suffered a shoulder injury during the Patriots' preseason opener against Washington that required surgery, and he'll miss his entire sophomore campaign. After he posted a poor 12-87-2 line over 15 regular-season games as a rookie, Polk's future in New England appears very shaky.

The 49ers moved Aiyuk (knee) to the reserve/PUP list Tuesday.

This is merely a procedural move, as coach Kyle Shanahan has circled (in his mind) a Week 6 road matchup with the Buccaneers as a possible date for Aiyuk to make his 2025 debut, per Vic Tafur of The Athletic. With this move from active/PUP to reserve/PUP, though, Aiyuk technically can return to action as early as Thursday, Oct. 2 at the Rams. He remains in recovery mode from the ACL and MCL tears that he sustained in his right knee Week 7 of last season. With Demarcus Robinson suspended for the first three games of the season, Jauan Jennings (calf) and Ricky Pearsall are the top wide receivers on San Francisco's active roster.

The Browns placed Bell (hip) on the reserve/non-football injury list Tuesday, Kelsey Russo of the team's official site reports.

Bell's placement on the reserve/NFI list will force him to miss at least the first four games of the regular season. A dislocated hip suffered mid-September of last year forced him to spend all but one game of the 2024 campaign on IR, but it remains to be seen whether it's the same issue that has held him out of team activities this offseason. A timetable for his expected return remains undisclosed.

Cleveland waived McDonald (undisclosed) with an injury designation Tuesday, Kelsey Russo of the team's official site reports.

It's not immediately clear what type of issue McDonald is dealing with -- he played in all three of the Browns' preseason contests, tallying two receptions on two targets for 11 yards and a touchdown. The 24-year-old signed with Cleveland as an undrafted free agent in May. In the likely case that McDonald clears waivers, he'll revert to injured reserve and miss the 2025 campaign unless he works out an injury settlement with the team.

The Saints released Pettis on Tuesday.

Pettis re-signed with New Orleans back in March after posting a 12-120-1 receiving line on 28 targets across eight regular-season games last season, but he was unable to make the initial 53-man roster behind Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed and newcomer Devaughn Vele this summer.

The Cowboys placed Mingo (knee) on injured reserve Tuesday, a transaction which rules him out for at least the first four games of the regular season.

Mingo is recovering from a right PCL sprain he suffered during a preseason loss to the Ravens. With the fourth-year wideout sidelined until Week 5 against the Jets at the earliest, Ryan Flournoy will fill the No. 5 role for the Cowboys, and Jalen Tolbert and KaVontae Turpin could see a slight uptick in volume behind starters CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens.

The Browns waived Johnson on Tuesday.

Johnson signed with the Browns as an undrafted free agent out of Western Kentucky earlier this year. He appeared in the team's first two preseason contests but failed to secure a catch on one target across 51 offensive snaps.

The Browns waived Cota on Tuesday.

This is Cota's second time being cut by Cleveland in the past month. He played 44 offensive snaps this preseason, producing a 1-7-0 receiving line on three targets.