Tryouts
It was a Tuesday workout for WR Cornell Powell (Defenders) with the Pittsburgh Steelers. This was Powell’s fifth tryout, his first since August 18. He attended this workout along with two quarterbacks drafted in the 2024 UFL College Draft (but who did not play in the league in 2025): Jason Bean (Showboats) and Tanner Mordecai (Defenders).
For the second week in a row, K Parker Romo (Brahmas) was invited to work out with a team. He was one of five kickers to try out for the San Francisco 49ers. They ended up signing Matt Gay, who was recently released by Washington.
Transactions
As expected on Tuesday, the 49ers re-signed QB Adrian Martinez (Stallions) to the practice squad after cutting him from the 53-man roster prior to week 11. WR Kaden Davis (Panthers) lasted one game on Cleveland’s roster; he was waived on Tuesday as well. On Thursday, the Browns re-signed him to their practice squad. And DT Perrion Winfrey (Stallions) was activated from injured reserve by Dallas after spending the entire regular season to this point on IR.
The Los Angeles Rams made their kicking change all but permanent on Wednesday by signing K Harrison Mevis (Stallions) to the active roster, even though he had one practice squad elevation left. They still have Joshua Karty, the kicker Mevis replaced, on the roster. After WR Brandin Cooks requested his release from the New Orleans Saints, a spot opened up in their receiver room. The team promoted WR Kevin Austin (Stallions) from the practice squad to take his spot.
The transaction parade continued on Thursday when Houston re-signed CB Damon Arnette (Roughnecks) to their practice squad prior to their weeknight game against Buffalo. Arnette was cut just before week 11 after spending a cup of coffee on the active roster.
XFL
*It was another strong game for Green Bay Packers P Daniel Whelan (Defenders), who pinned Minnesota inside their own 20-yard line on three out of four kicks (with two landing inside the 10). He averaged 47.5 gross and 44.8 net on his punts.
*Back in a reserve role, DT LaCale London (Battlehawks) was active along Atlanta’s defensive line and made one solo stop in playing 21% of the defensive snaps.
*Veteran LS Nick Moore (TB Vipers) snapped on three field goals, two extra points and four punts in Baltimore’s win over the New York Jets.
*The Chicago Bears ran their record to 8-3 with a win on Sunday. LS Scott Daly (NY Guardians) handled all long snapping duties against Pittsburgh on the afternoon.
*Coming out on the losing end of another XFL long snapper duel this year was Pittsburgh’s LS Christian Kuntz (Renegades). He played seven total snaps: Four extra point plays and three punts.
*After several weeks of being a healthy scratch, DT C.J. Brewer (Roughnecks) was active for Tampa Bay on Sunday night. He played just four total snaps, all on defense.
USFL
*On the foot of K Brandon Aubrey (Stallions), Dallas staged a home upset of division-leading Philadelphia in the final seconds. After missing a 51-yarder earlier in the game, Aubrey drilled the game-winner from 42 yards out to break a 21-21 tie. Aubrey also nailed three extra points on three tries.
*Registering his most explosive play on offense thus far this season, WR Kavontae Turpin (Generals) found an open spot for the scrambling Dak Prescott, good for a 48-yard catch-and-run and putting Dallas in field goal range just before halftime. They ended up punching it in the end zone for a score. However, prior to that, Turpin lost a fumble on one of his two rushes (netting four total yards on the day). He saw the third-most snaps of any Dallas receiver, accounting for nearly half (47%) of the offensive snaps. On special teams, Turpin returned one punt for one yard and three kickoffs for 85 yards (28.3 average).
*Despite being on the roster for much of last year, week 12 signaled the first practice squad elevation of the year for New England DT Jeremiah Pharms (Maulers). He was “up” over rookie fourth-round pick Joshua Farmer, who was a healthy scratch. For his part, Pharms had an assisted tackle and a QB hit in playing 31% of snaps on defense, adding eight more on special teams.
*Monday night saw DE LaBryan Ray (Stars) and the Carolina Panthers fall to the San Francisco 49ers. Ray had one of his more active performances of late with three tackles (two solo, one assist) in just 24% of the team’s defensive snaps.
UFL
*One of three overtime games on Sunday saw K Jake Bates (Panthers) tie the game up for Detroit with under a minute remaining by setting a new personal NFL-best long of 59 yards. The ball seemed destined to sail wide right before knuckling back left just inside the right upright. It was one of two field goals on the day for Bates, the other from 37 yards out. He was 4-for-4 on extra points.
*Bringing consistency to the kick return game of the Lions has been RB Jacob Saylors (Battlehawks). His five kickoff returns went for 139 yards, a 27.8 average return with a long of 34. Saylors currently sits in the top 10 in the NFL in kick return average. Special teams was the only unit he saw action, to the tune of 62% of the snaps there.
*Detroit activated two corners off injured reserve this week, bumping CB Nick Whiteside (Battlehawks) to the inactive list on Sunday.
*Minnesota suddenly finds themselves in desperation mode with a record of 4-7. DE Jalen Redmond (Renegades) continues to be a workhorse along the defensive interior (playing 88% of defensive snaps), starting for coordinator Brian Flores’s unit and leading all Viking D-Linemen in tackles against Green Bay with six (four solo, two assists), plus a tackle for loss, QB hit and pass defended. Redmond made his presence known from the first snap, when he penetrated into the backfield to make a stop on a run play for no gain.
*Back from a one-game injury absence, K Brandon McManus was good on all three field goal attempts and two extra points. This might be the end of the line – for real this time – for K Lucas Havrisik (Renegades), who has been kept on the Green Bay roster for weeks even as McManus has been healthy enough to kick. Havrisik was inactive on Sunday.
*Behind rookie QB Shedeur Sanders, Cleveland picked up their third win of the year in beating Las Vegas. K Andre Szmyt (Battlehawks) kicked three extra points and a 53-yard field goal to help Sanders and the Browns.
*The NFL leader in long snapper tackles (one ahead of fellow spring footballer Mitchell Fraboni), LS Rex Sunahara (Brahmas) of Cleveland made no tackles this week.
*The release of WR Brandin Cooks led to a promotion to the 53-man roster for WR Kevin Austin (Stallions) in New Orleans. Austin played but was not targeted in the pass game but did play 10 snaps (12%).
*Dallas made DT Perrion Winfrey (Stallions) inactive after activating him from IR on Tuesday.
*After two games of only attempting extra points for the L.A. Rams, K Harrison Mevis (Stallions) tried the first two field goals of his NFL career and was successful on both, from 40 and 52 yards out, splitting the uprights beautifully each time. He made all four extra points as well. Mevis also kicked off for the first time, since that was handled by punter Ethan Evans the last two weeks. He only allowed two returns on seven kickoffs.
Byes: Denver Broncos LB Dondrea Tillman (Stallions) and LS Mitchell Fraboni (Maulers), Washington Commanders QB Josh Johnson (Wildcats), Miami Dolphins S Elijah Campbell (Defenders)