NFL Player News

Maher joined Washington's practice squad Thursday, Ben Standig of The Athletic reports.

Maher stands to provide Washington with emergency depth behind Dustin Hopkins. He appeared in 13 contests with the Cowboys last season, converting 20 of 30 field-goal tries.

Coach Matt Nagy said Wednesday that Santos will serve as Chicago's kicker in Sunday's season opener against Detroit, Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com reports.

The Bears have not yet promoted Santos from the practice squad, but it's only a matter of time before such a move is made. Eddy Pineiro (groin) won the starting job during training camp but is poised to spend a minimum of three weeks on injured reserve, which sets the stage for Santos to begin the season with at least a three-game window to showcase his abilities. Of course, if Santos struggles Week 1, the Bears could explore other options.

The Bears are expected to promote Santos from their practice squad to serve as their kicker in Sunday's season opener versus the Lions, Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Though he lost out in his job battle with Eddy Pineiro (groin) during training camp, Santos is poised to begin the season as Chicago's kicker after Pineiro was placed on injured reserve Tuesday. In accordance with the NFL's new IR rules, Pineiro will be sidelined for at least the Bears' first three games, so Santos should have all of September to stake his claim to keeping the job, or impressing enough to earn another opportunity with another team. The Bears may wait and see if any other kickers hit the open market over the next few days before formally adding Santos to the 53-man roster.

The Bears placed Pineiro (groin) on injured reserve Tuesday.

The NFL's new IR rules for 2020 will allow the Bears to activate Pineiro after he sits out three games, so if he moves past the groin injury by the end of September, he could be ready to step back in as the team's kicker beginning in Week 4 against the Colts. In the interim, the Bears are expected to promote Cairo Santos from the practice squad to handle kicking duties.

The Vikings signed McLaughlin to the practice squad Tuesday, Andrew Krammer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

The Vikings will roll with placekicker Dan Bailey to kick off the 2020 campaign, as expected, with McLaughlin around as an emergency option. McLaughlin filled in admirably for Adam Vinatieri across four appearances with the Colts last season.

Head coach Bill Belichick hasn't named a starting kicker for Week 1, Chris Mason of MassLive.com reports.

The Patriots cut both Nick Folk and rookie Justin Rohrwasser on Saturday, keeping no kickers on their final 53-man roster. Belichick believes both are capable NFL kickers, but Folk should be considered the favorite to begin the year, as he played seven games for the Patriots last season and converted on 14 of 17 field goals (82 percent) and all 12 extra points. The team will promote one to the active roster for Sunday's game versus the Dolphins.

The Patriots signed Rohrwasser and Nick Folk to the practice squad Sunday, Andrew Callahan of The Springfield Republican reports.

Rohrwasser and Folk were both cut Saturday after having spent training camp competing for the starting kicker gig. Now with both back with New England on the practice squad, it's likely that if one is able to impress more over the next week, he'll be activated for Sept. 13's season opener against Miami. Of course, the Patriots could always opt to bring in another kicker before Week 1.

Folk signed to New England's practice squad Sunday, Andrew Callahan of The Springfield Republican reports.

Folk and Justin Rohrwasser both competed for the Patriots' starting kicker gig in training camp, were cut Saturday, and have now joined the team's practice squad. It looks as though competition between the two will resume, and it wouldn't be surprising if one of them was activated ahead of Sept. 13's season-opener against Miami.

Joseph is slated to sign with Tampa Bay's practice squad, NFL agent Brett Tessler reports.

Joseph started 14 games with the Browns in 2018 and had two appearances with the Titans last season. He'll now serve an emergency role on Tampa Bay's practice squad, where he could be called upon for action if Ryan Succop ends up missing any time.

Santos signed with the Bears' practice squad Sunday, Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Santos lost the kicking battle to Eddy Pineiro, but he'll stick with the team as the backup. The Bears have a history of inconsistent kickers, and with the uncertainty of the pandemic, Santos is on standby in case Pineiro can't go. Santos played in five games for the Titans last season and made four of nine field goals and all 12 extra-point attempts.