NFL Player News

San Francisco cut Pederson on Wednesday, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reports.

Pederson was cut to make room for fellow tight end Joshua Perkins. The undrafted rookie out of Louisiana Monroe will look to find a new home elsewhere in the league.

Waller is absent from a second straight practice Wednesday, Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com reports.

A player of Waller's stature might get a day off just for maintenance, but two absences in a row seemingly hints at an injury or ailment of some sort. The star tight end played all 16 games in 2019 and 2020, topping 1,100 receiving yards both times.

Freiermuth had ice taped to his left shoulder following an early exit from Tuesday's practice, Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com reports.

The timing of the injury, even if it's minor, likely will prevent Freiermuth from making his NFL debut in the Hall of Fame Game against Dallas on Thursday. The rookie second-round pick reportedly has looked good through the first week of training camp, and he'll have three additional chances to suit up in exhibitions before the games begin to count. While unlikely to make a run at the Week 1 starting job, Freiermuth could poach some snaps and targets from fellow tight end Eric Ebron.

The Texans activated Brown (undisclosed) from the non-football injury list Tuesday, NFL reporter Aaron Wilson reports.

Brown spent just under a week on the NFI list. Now healthy, Brown can make his first appearance at training camp and begin competing for reserve reps at the tight end position.

Based on what he's seen early on in training camp, Nick Kosmider of The Athletic suggests that Fant "is likely to be used in more creative ways" during his second campaign working in Pat Shurmur's offense.

Fant, who recorded a team-high 62 catches (on 93 targets) for 673 yards and three TDs in 15 games last season, is going to be a big part of Denver's passing attack, regardless of who the team's QB is, an outcome that's pending an ongoing competition between Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock. Per the report, getting Fant -- who averaged 10.9 yards per reception last season, which was down from his 14.1 mark as a rookie -- "involved deeper down the field appears to be a priority" early in training camp, with the 2019 first-rounder noting that he expects to make an impact on all sorts of routes (deep, intermediate and short) this season. Wideouts Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, KJ Hamler and Tim Patrick no doubt will command their share of targets, but if Fant indeed is utilized in a variety of ways, there should be enough looks for him to maintain steady fantasy utility in 2021.

Seals-Jones (leg) resumed practicing Monday, Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post reports.

Seals-Jones suffered a leg contusion during practice last week, but he's already recovered enough to resume participating in on-field drills. Count on Seals-Jones to resume competing for a depth gig behind top tight end Logan Thomas.

Schultz has received the bulk of first-team reps in training camp as Blake Jarwin gets brought along slowly following last year's knee injury, Jon Machota of The Athletic reports.

The split in reps between the two is likely to change as Jarwin gets fully up to speed, but for his part Schultz is having a good camp and isn't going to give up the top spot on the depth chart easily. The numbers suggest Jarwin is the better receiver of the two, but that doesn't mean he'll see more targets during the season.

Gesicki (undisclosed) was placed on the COVID-19 list Sunday.

Co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach George Godsey tested positive for the virus, per Adam Schefter of ESPN, resulting in Gesicki, Cethan Carter and Adam Shaheen landing on the COVID list as apparent close contacts. Gesicki could make a relatively quick return to the field as long as he continues to test negative for the virus. In the meantime, Durham Smythe and Hunter Long should operate as Miami's top tight ends.

Hill practiced with the second-team offense Saturday, Luke Johnson of The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.

After spending the first two practices of training camp with the starting offense, Hill relegated those duties to Jameis Winston on Saturday. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Hill reportedly was much more impressive with the second stringers, specifically making on-point throws on deep passes. As coach Sean Payton previously has said that Hill and Winston will alternate practices with the top offense during training camp, it will be interesting to see if Hill can continue impressing as a downfield passer when he's back playing against the first-team defense.

Dafney is on the preseason PUP list with a knee injury, Matt Schneidman of The Athletic reports.

Dafney was placed on the PUP list earlier this week, though the nature of the injury was previously undisclosed. The 24-year-old will need to pass a physical before being allowed to take the field for training camp.