Extra Points: Hawks, Lions, Texans, Giants

The Seahawks had hoped to re-sign Dwight Freeney after cutting him last week, but the Lions claimed him off waivers before they could so, as Freeney explained to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Seattle needed to reinforce its depth at linebacker, and waiving Freeney was simply the easiest move the club could make. That’s not to say there wasn’t a financial component to the Freeney’s release, as Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times noted last week. Nevertheless, Freeney now heads to Detroit, a team that had interest in signing him at several points earlier in the season, tweets Birkett.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

• Linebacker Brian Cushing is now eligible to return to the Texans after serving a 10-game PED suspension, as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle writes. Houston has a one-week roster exemption for Cushing, whom Wilson reports is still in excellent shape. That exemption expires next Monday, and head coach Bill O’Brien didn’t commit to placing Cushing on the Texans’ active roster before the club’s Week 13 contest against the Titans. Cushing did not appeal his most recent PED ban, the second of his NFL career.
• Giants running back Orleans Darkwa earned a $150K bonus by surpassing 500 yards rushing for the season on Sunday, tweets Field Yates of ESPN.com. While New York’s offense has been extremely poor as a unit, Darkwa has been surprisingly effective. In 10 games (seven starts), the 25-year-old Darkwa has averaged 4.6 yards per carry and ranks as a top-15 back in DVOA, DYAR, and success rate, all of which are Football Outsiders metrics. Darkwa is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in the spring after earning $1.1MM in base salary this year.
• The Dolphins have designated offensive lineman Eric Smith to return from injured reserve, reports Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). Smith, a rookie undrafted free agent out of Virginia, earned a spot on Miami’s 53-man roster before going down in October. If activated, he’ll earn something of a multi-game tryout over the rest of the regular season. The Dolphins have already placed three other offensive lineman on IR this year, so Smith could see playing time down the stretch.
• The NFL has agreed in principle to a deal that would donate nearly $100MM to social causes put forth by the league’s players, according to Jim Trotter and Jason Reid of ESPN.com. However, several members of the Players Coalition — a group led by Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins that negotiates with owners — have since departed, citing a lack of communication on the unit’s proceedings. The agreement does not tackle the league’s ongoing debate regarding national anthem protests, per Mark Maske of the Washington Post.