HEADLINES

Month: September 2024

Steelers Re-Sign Ramon Foster

March 9th, 2016 at 8:49pm CST by Dallas Robinson

8:49pm: Foster’s three-year deal is worth a modest $9.6MM, according to Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL.com, who tweets that the guarantee is only $2.75MM.

WEDNESDAY, 7:33am: Foster has signed a new three-year contract to remain with the Steelers, tweets Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

TUESDAY, 8:33pm: Foster will in fact be re-signing with the Steelers, according to Rand Getlin of NFL.com (Twitter link).

7:27pm: The Steelers are finalizing a new contract with guard Ramon Foster, reports Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Foster was set to become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday.Ramon Foster

[RELATED: PFR previews the Steelers’ offseason]

Foster has been a mainstay along Pittsburgh’s offensive line during the past five years, averaging 15 starts per season during that time. The 30-year-old Foster is not only durable, but productive, as he graded as the league’s No. 16 guard last season, per Pro Football Focus. Per La Canfora, retaining Foster was a “priority” for the Steelers, who have been quietly negotiating a new contract.

Foster isn’t the only key free agent along the Steelers’ front five, as left tackle Kelvin Beachum is also set to hit the open market tomorrow. Beachum, who is recovering from an ACL tear, could still find a long list of suitors despite having recently suffered a serious injury.

Pittsburgh isn’t usually active in free agency, but if Foster is in fact retained, he’ll mark the fourth Steeler to re-sign in the past two days. He’d join safeties William Gay (link) and Robert Golden (link), and receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey (link).

For his part, Foster was listed among the honorable mentions in PFR’s Top 50 Free Agents list.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

FA Rumors: Hicks, Bears, Vikings, Jets, 49ers

March 9th, 2016 at 8:43pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Let’s check in on the latest free agent rumors on a hectic Wednesday night in the NFL:

  • The Bears could be setting up a visit with defensive lineman Akiem Hicks, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). Bears general manager Ryan Pace and player personnel director Josh Lucas were in the Saints’ front office when they drafted Hicks in 2012. New Orleans traded Hicks to the Patriots last season, and he proved to be a terrific buy-low pickup in his 13 games with the Pats. Hicks amassed three sacks and earned positive marks for his performance from Pro Football Focus. The site (subscription required) ranked Hicks as its 14th-best D-tackle.
  • Even after signing guards Alex Boone and Mike Harris, the Vikings aren’t done addressing their offensive line, Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports reports (on Twitter).
  • Running back Lance Dunbar will visit the 49ers, per ESPN’s Adam Caplan (Twitter link). Dunbar spent the first four years of his career in Dallas, with which he accrued 900-plus total yards. He missed most of last season with a torn ACL.
  • In other Vikings news, cornerback Marcus Sherels – who has spent the first six seasons of his career with Minnesota – will visit the Jets and possibly another team, tweets Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Tomasson doesn’t rule out a Vikings return for Sherels, who has started in six of his 81 regular-season games with the club.

Chargers Sign Brandon Mebane

March 9th, 2016 at 8:37pm CST by Ben Levine

8:47pm: Mebane’s three-year deal is worth $13.5MM, according to Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link).

4:37pm: The Chargers have beefed up their offense over the past two days, resigning lineman Joe Barksdale and tight end Antonio Gates while also adding wideout Travis Benjamin. Now they’re looking to add to their defense, as the team announced that they’ve signed nose tackle Brandon Mebane to a three-year deal.

The longtime Seahawks defensive lineman spent his entire-nine year career in Seattle. Since joining the organization as a third-round pick in 2007, Mebane missed only 13 total games. He made 15 starts this past season, finishing with 24 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Throughout his career, the 31-year-old has compiled 349 tackles and 15.5 sacks.

Mebane earned an average rating from Pro Football Focus for his 2015 performance, placing him just inside the top-100 of the league’s interior defenders. We had the veteran listed as the 11th-best free agent interior defensive lineman.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/9/16

March 9th, 2016 at 8:28pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Not every move on free agency’s first day is a big splash. Here are today’s minor transactions from around the NFL:

  • The Dolphins have signed offensive tackle Sam Young to a one-year, $760K deal, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). Young, a six-year veteran, is coming off his first 16-game season. He has made nine starts over the last two years, giving him 16 for his career.
  • Although the Rams did not tender offensive lineman Brian Folkerts, they re-signed him, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets. A 26-year-old center/guard hybrid, Folkerts spent 2015 in St. Louis and 2013-14 with the Panthers.
  • The 49ers have signed quarterback Thaddeus Lewis to a one-year deal, Rand Getlin of NFL.com tweets. Lewis, 28, was on the Eagles’ roster when Chip Kelly was their head coach last season. The two are now reunited in San Francisco. Lewis has appeared in seven NFL games, though none since 2014, made six starts, and tossed five touchdowns against four interceptions.
  • The Rams have re-signed safety Cody Davis to a two-year deal, according to the Los Angeles Daily News’ Vincent Bonsignore (Twitter link). Davis joined the team as an undrafted free agent from Texas Tech in 2013 and has since appeared in 43 games (zero starts).
  • The Bears have re-signed running back Jacquizz Rodgers and offensive tackle Nick Becton to one-year contracts, per their Twitter account. Rodgers totaled 41 yards on 14 carries for Chicago last season. He spent 2014 in Atlanta, with which he rushed for over 1,100 yards and five touchdowns. Becton appeared in five games for the Bears last season. His only other appearance came in 2013 with the Chargers.

Washington Re-Signs Colt McCoy

March 9th, 2016 at 8:19pm CST by Zachary Links

8:19pm: It’s a three-year, $9MM deal for McCoy, with a $1.8MM signing bonus, per Master Tefatsion of the Washington Post (on Twitter).

3:33pm: Washington announced that it has re-signed safety Duke Ihenacho. The team also confirmed new deals for McCoy, Golston, and Mason Foster.

7:44am: Washington and quarterback Colt McCoy have agreed on a new deal, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). McCoy, of course, will serve as the backup to Kirk Cousins in 2016. McCoy’s deal is for three years, but can void to two, a source tells John Keim of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The new pact gives him a little more security than he had on his last deal."<strong

For his career, McCoy has appeared in 34 games while making 25 starts for the Browns, 49ers, and Washington. Over the last two years with Washington, the Texas product has taken the field six times and started four games, all of which came in 2014. Late last month, head coach Jay Gruden indicated that he wanted to keep McCoy, and Washington got it done today.

In other Washington news, the club has reached a new deal with nose tackle Kedric Golston, Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle tweets. The deal will be worth $1MM with a $985K base. He’ll get a $20K irst game roster bonus with up to $60K in incentives that are tied to playing time.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Chiefs Working To Re-Sign Sean Smith

March 9th, 2016 at 8:12pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Even after agreeing to new deals with Tamba Hali, Derrick Johnson and Jaye Howard over the last two days, the Chiefs still aren’t finished trying to keep one of the NFL’s premier defenses in place. The club is now making a push to bring back standout free agent cornerback Sean Smith, Terez A. Paylor of The Kansas City Star reports (on Twitter).

Paylor notes (via Twitter) that the Smith sweepstakes is down to three teams. As of earlier today, the Chiefs were competing Sean Smithwith the Raiders and 49ers for his services.

Although relatively young (28), Smith has already amassed 100 NFL starts in 108 appearances since the Dolphins took him in the second round of the 2009 draft. Smith signed with the Chiefs on a three-year, $16.5MM deal in 2013 and has since added five interceptions, giving him 10 for his career, while making 44 starts in 45 appearances. Thirteen of those starts came last season, when the 6-foot-2, 215-pounder finished an outstanding 12th at Pro Football Focus among 111 qualifying cornerbacks (subscription required).

Thanks to his efforts since signing in Kansas City three years ago, Smith is guaranteed to land a significant raise sometime soon, perhaps as much as $12MM annually (Twitter link via Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle). Entering free agency, PFR’s Luke Adams ranked Smith as the ninth-best player available. Among corners, only Janoris Jenkins had a higher ranking (fourth). Jenkins has since agreed to a five-year, $62.5MM contract with the Giants.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Giants, Victor Cruz Agree On Restructure

March 9th, 2016 at 7:51pm CST by Sam Robinson

7:51pm: Cruz’s new base salary will be $1.3MM, according to Art Stapleton of the Bergen Record (via Twitter). This is a drastic drop from the $7.9MM the 6-foot target was set to earn under his previous deal. But Cruz can recoup a sizable amount of this through playing-time incentives ($5.5MM) and production incentives, Bergen reports.

7:40pm: The Giants and Victor Cruz at long last appear to have agreed on a restructured deal that will keep the slot receiver in New York this season, Rand Getlin of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).

Previously set to count $9.9MM against the Giants’ cap in 2016, Cruz’s new number will reduce to a not-yet-released amount. Some of Cruz’s money will be shifted to incentives, Getlin reports. This new arrangement will allow the seventh-year wideout the chance to earn all of the money back that was originally on his contract, per Getlin (on Twitter).

Cruz signed a $45.88MM contract extension prior to the 2013 season, but much has changed since he last played. The star of Kevin Gilbride’s offenses of the early part of this decade, Cruz will now attempt to fully assimilate into Ben McAdoo’s attack in which he operated briefly before suffering a season-ending knee injury against the Eagles in October 2014.

Last season, a persistent calf injury kept the 29-year-old target off the field. Set to turn 30 in November, Cruz has three seasons left on his deal.

So, should Cruz be healthy after missing the past 22 regular-season games, Giants fans may finally get a chance to see the team’s best receiver of the early 2010s and its current No. 1 receiver share the field. That’s only happened in two games, with Cruz and Odell Beckham starting just once together.

Although Cruz arrived emphatically onto the scene with his dominant 2011 slate — 1,536 yards, 18.7 yards per reception, nine TDs — his receiving yardage figures have gone down in each subsequent season. Cruz earned a Pro Bowl nod for his 2012 work (1,092 yards, 10 TDs), it was quite a bit off his torrid pace. Cruz gained 998 air yards in 2013 and scored four touchdowns in Gilbride’s final season as OC.

But should Cruz return to form, Eli Manning, who quietly threw for a career-high 35 touchdown passes last season as he began to thrive in McAdoo’s offense, could have a receiving crew with a higher ceiling than any at his disposal in his 13 seasons. The Giants, who have Rueben Randle remaining as a UFA, have boasted deeper receiving corps but none quite on the level of what Beckham and the version of Cruz that surfaced in the early part of this decade could be capable of reaching.

Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images

ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/9/16

March 9th, 2016 at 7:25pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to exclusive-rights free agents. We’ll round up those decisions here:

Tendered

Non-Tendered

Jets Release Jeremy Kerley

March 9th, 2016 at 7:18pm CST by Dallas Robinson

7:18pm: Kerley’s release is official, as Randy Lange of the Jets’ website writes.

3:07pm: The Jets are releasing Jeremy Kerley, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). Kerley will become an unrestricted free agent and will be free to sign with any team.Jeremy Kerley

New York has already made a few other significant moves today at it looks to reshape its offense — the club has agreed to sign running back Matt Forte, and has also released tight end Jeff Cumberland. Of course, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, perhaps the most significant piece of the the Jets’ offensive unit, is a free agent, as the team did not come to an agreement to re-sign him before free agency began.

Kerley, 27, agreed to an extension about 18 months ago, but it was the previous Jets front office that negotiated that deal. Cutting Kerley will save New York $1.3MM on the salary cap, but they’ll also incur $1.8MM in dead money. Largely written out of the offense in 2015, Kerley posted the worst statistics of his career, hauling in only 16 passes for 152 yards.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Chargers Re-Sign Kellen Clemens

March 9th, 2016 at 7:09pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Chargers have re-signed quarterback Kellen Clemens to a one-year deal, the team announced in a press release. Clemens will serve as Philip Rivers‘ backup for the third straight season.

In his first two seasons in San Diego, Clemens attempted just nine passes in four games. He saw extensive action in 2013 with the Rams, starting nine games and tossing eight touchdowns against seven interceptions. In 44 career appearances (21 starts), the 10-year veteran has 16 TDs and 20 picks. The ex-Oregon Duck entered the league as a second-round pick of the Jets in 2006.

 

 

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