The New England Patriots signed safety Mike Brown from their practice squad on Thursday, October 8, 2026. The move was part of a slate of minor NFL transactions reported by Pro Football Rumors, including elevations and a waiver involving the Dallas Cowboys, a signing by the Green Bay Packers, and elevations by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The report placed the moves ahead of the Week 5 Buccaneers-Cowboys opener, giving the day’s transaction list a direct connection to the teams involved in that game.
The transactions covered several different roster actions. Dallas elevated a cornerback and a safety while waiving a running back; Green Bay and New England each signed a player from the practice squad; and Tampa Bay elevated a safety and a quarterback. The report identifies those moves but does not provide additional details about the Patriots’ reason for signing Brown or how any of the players would be used.
Minor NFL transactions from Thursday, October 8
Here is a concise summary of the reported moves:
The table distinguishes the two types of activity in the report. Steward, Thomas, Roberts, and Stick were listed as elevated, while Strong and Brown were signed from their respective practice squads. Demercado’s transaction was a waiver. These are the moves covered in the October 8 roundup; the report does not describe them as trades or provide contract terms.
Patriots sign safety Mike Brown from practice squad
New England’s reported transaction was a signing of Brown from the practice squad. Pro Football Rumors identifies him as a safety; the report does not provide further details about his assignment or playing time. It also does not give a reason for the move, so the confirmed information is limited to his position and the fact that he was signed from the Patriots’ practice squad.
That makes Brown’s move different from the elevations elsewhere in the roundup. The source lists the Patriots transaction as a practice-squad signing, not an elevation, and does not pair it with another New England move. It offers no additional player background or game-specific role for Brown. The transaction is therefore a concise roster update rather than a report about a change to the Patriots’ defensive plan.
Cowboys elevate two players and waive Emari Demercado
Dallas elevated Reddy Steward and Juanyeh Thomas and waived Emari Demercado. The report identifies Steward as a cornerback and Thomas as a safety. Their elevations were listed ahead of the Week 5 opener against Tampa Bay, but Pro Football Rumors does not specify a particular assignment for either player or say how much either would play.
Demercado’s departure came after a short stretch of game action with the Cowboys. According to Pro Football Rumors, he appeared in two games and recorded five carries. He had been claimed off waivers by Dallas on August 31 and was used as one of Javonte Williams’ backups. The report does not state a reason for the waiver, so his limited workload should not be treated as an explanation for the roster decision.
The source also supplies some background on how Demercado arrived in Dallas. He was a former Cardinals draft pick and reunited with Cowboys offensive coordinator Klayton Adams, who had been on Jonathan Gannon’s staff when the team added Demercado as an undrafted free agent in 2023. For the Cowboys’ Week 5 game, Tyler Goodson was in place as the backup running back. These details provide context for the running back change without establishing any further explanation for the waiver.
Packers sign Pierre Strong from practice squad
The Green Bay Packers signed Pierre Strong from their practice squad. Pro Football Rumors notes that Strong had not played in a game since the 2024 season, when he was with the Browns. His practice-squad signing in Green Bay dates to September 2025, and the report says he had been with the Packers for more than a year before this move.
The article also places Strong in the context of Green Bay’s running back group. After his signing, he joined MarShawn Lloyd, Chris Brooks, and Kaleb Johnson as running backs on the Packers’ 53-man roster. Strong was a fourth-round pick by the Patriots in 2022. Those details establish both his draft background and the length of his time with Green Bay, while the source does not say what role he would have with the team or whether he would appear in a game.
Buccaneers elevate J.J. Roberts and Easton Stick
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers elevated J.J. Roberts and Easton Stick. Pro Football Rumors identifies Roberts as a safety and Stick as a quarterback. The report lists both transactions as elevations ahead of the Buccaneers-Cowboys Week 5 opener, but it does not provide more detail about their expected duties or playing time.
Tampa Bay’s two moves, like Dallas’ elevations, were distinct from the practice-squad signings reported for New England and Green Bay. The source gives the players’ positions and the transaction type, but does not describe a broader roster plan. In particular, it does not state whether either elevation was connected to a specific matchup responsibility.
Across the four teams, the roundup records five kinds of roster activity involving seven players: two Cowboys elevations, one Cowboys waiver, one Packers signing, one Patriots signing, and two Buccaneers elevations. The list is a snapshot of reported transactions on October 8, rather than a full account of each team’s roster decisions or the players’ eventual game participation.
For more transaction coverage, see Minor NFL Transactions Depth.
Transaction details and the player context above are attributed to Pro Football Rumors’ October 8, 2026 report.
