Kareem Jackson has been a key part of every Texans secondary this decade, but in advance of his ninth season, the plan will be for him to line up at a different position.
The Texans are planning to move Jackson from cornerback to safety this season, Bill O’Brien said during an interview on Sports Radio 610 (Twitter link, via John McClain of the Houston Chronicle). Jackson has started 108 games at corner for the Texans since arriving as a first-round pick in 2010.
Houston may be thinner at safety than it expected, with Andre Hal being recently diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The Texans signed Tyrann Mathieu and plan for him to work exclusively at safety, and they used a third-round pick on Justin Reid. But Jackson, who is entering his age-30 season, is now expected to factor into this mix.
Johnathan Joseph re-signed with the Texans this offseason, and the team added slot corner Aaron Colvin as well. They join 2015 first-rounder Kevin Johnson. Working as Houston’s slot cornerback, Jackson started 14 games last season. He rated as Pro Football Focus’ No. 95 cornerback in 2017. He fared much better in 2016, rating as the advanced metrics site’s No. 35 corner (and fifth among full-time slot corners).
Jackson is the Texans’ longest-tenured player. He’s signed through the 2018 season and stands to earn $9MM this year.
Another revelation came out of the Jameis Winston saga on Friday, and it could be viewed as damaging for the Buccaneers quarterback.
Mark Scruggs, attorney for a friend of Winston’s, Brandon Banks, said Winston did get into the car alone with the unnamed Uber driver that night in March 2016, when the accuser said Winston groped her. This came after the then-22-year-old quarterback was directed by friends to the Uber after being “unruly” at a Scottsdale, Ariz., nightclub. Scruggs said Banks saw an “intoxicated” Winston get into the car alone, which contradicts Ronald Darby‘s account that Winston was never alone with the driver, ESPN.com’s Paula Lavigne reports.
Banks, Winston and Darby were at the Scottsdale nightclub that night. This is the first time Banks, a former Vanderbilt football player, has been identified as being at the scene, Lavigne reports. Banks is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence after being found guilty of aggravated rape and aggravated sexual assault in June 2017 for an incident that occurred at Vanderbilt in 2013. Banks was awaiting trial in March of 2016.
Scruggs told ESPN that Winston, Darby and Banks were in a separate Uber that night, but that the driver who made the accusation against Winston was the one who picked him up from the nightclub. Banks did not confirm the driver’s account, though, since he was not in that particular Uber car. The driver said she and Winston were the only passengers.
“It appeared that Winston was trying to lay this on Brandon,” Scruggs said, via Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times, regarding his client’s reason for coming forward. “They were together that night. They took an Uber to a club, the three of them did, and Brandon said nothing whatsoever happened while the three of them were in the Uber. … For whatever reason, they felt they needed to put (Winston), escort him into an Uber so he could go home on his own. There’s two different Uber rides is what we’re talking about.”
Winston’s camp said the Uber driver was confused as to the number of people in the vehicle, and Darby said last year that he and Winston were in the backseat. The NFL is expected to suspend Winston for at least three games and did not view Darby’s account as entirely credible.
Some with the Buccaneers, and some close to Winston outside of the team, are “struggling to fathom” that he groped an Uber driver, Mike Jones of USA Today notes. But considering Winston’s past, most notably the 2012 rape accusation, the new information coming out about the March 2016 night makes it more likely Winston will serve at least a three-game suspension. And it could cloud his future with the Bucs.
Tampa Bay picked up the 24-year-old passer’s fifth-year option in May, but that $20.9MM 2019 salary is guaranteed for injury only. Now that he’s expected to miss the Bucs’ first three games, there will be immense pressure on the former No. 1 overall pick to shake the on-field inconsistency and while obviously avoid any additional off-field trouble.
Jameis Winston‘s suspension is not yet final, but the Buccaneers quarterback is expected to be banned for at least the first three games of this season. And the NFL looks to have determined the Ronald Darby explanation didn’t hold water, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com reports (video link).
Shortly after the unnamed accuser’s account of Winston groping her surfaced last November, Darby, who played with the former Heisman Trophy winner at Florida State, came forward with an explanation to help Winston. The veteran cornerback said he was in the car with Winston, with both Seminoles-turned-NFLers sitting in the backseat the entire time during the ride.
“There were three of us in the car, not just one as has been reported,” Darby said in November. “Myself and Jameis were in the backseat. I am confident that nothing inappropriate in nature happened in the car that evening and Jameis did not have any physical contact with the Uber driver. The accusations are just not true.”
However, the NFL did not ultimately accept Darby’s explanation. The investigation, Garafolo reports, determined Darby was not in the vehicle during the entire trip. It’s not certain when Winston and Darby’s paths crossed that night in Arizona, but Garafolo reports the NFL believes there were multiple legs to this trip and does not believe both Winston and Darby were together in the car the whole time.
The league also examined electronic communications from the parties involved in the alleged incident that night in March 2016, with Garafolo noting this likely played a key role in Winston’s expected suspension.
As of now, Winston would be in line to miss a difficult part of Tampa Bay’s schedule. The Saints, Eagles and Steelers are the first three teams on the Bucs’ docket. Garafolo confirmed a Thursday-night report that more games could be tacked onto this based on certain conditions. The Bucs will face the Bears, Falcons and Browns from Weeks 4-6.
Tre Boston‘s recent visit to the Cardinals yielded a contract offer. However, it was a “very, very disrespectful” one, according to the safety (Twitter links via SiriusXM). 
The Cardinals “rolled out the red carpet” for Boston late last month, but the end result was a deal that he found insulting. Meanwhile, his visit with the Colts might not have been serious at all.
“I didn’t meet with the GM, head coach or defensive coordinator,” Boston said of his visit to Indy. “I was in the lunch room for two hours. I even got to play basketball.”
Like several other veteran safeties, Boston finds himself in limbo this summer. He finds the situation frustrating, to say the least.
“It’s kinda rough man, they got us where they think they want us,” Boston said. “For us, we have to communicate with each other so we don’t take this minimum wage.”
The longer things drag on, the more likely it is that Boston and his fellow safeties will have to accept minimum wage deals. Tyvon Branch, Ron Parker, Eric Reid, and Kenny Vaccaro are also among the safeties without contracts as we head into July.
The Patriots have signed top draft pick Isaiah Wynn, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Wynn will receive $11.44MM over the course of his four-year rookie contract, in accordance with his slot at No. 23 overall. 
The Patriots were drawn to Wynn, in part, because of his versatility. The Georgia product has the ability to play both guard and tackle, but he has been lining up primarily at left guard this offseason. Wynn, it seems, will battle with Trent Brown for a spot on the starting lineup. The loser of that competition will head to the bench to serve as a swing backup.
Wynn is said to be a technically-sound blocker with above-average athleticism. At 6’2″ (or 6’3″, depending on who you ask), he may be a bit undersized for tackle at the pro level, but time will tell whether he can handle both positions.
With Wynn locked up, the Pats have only one unsigned draft pick remaining – fellow Georgia product Sony Michel.
The 49ers agree to three-year extension with offensive lineman Laken Tomlinson, a source tells Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). The deal is worth a maximum of $18MM with $10MM in guarantees. 
Earlier this year, the Niners declined Tomlinson’s fifth-year option for 2019, which would have cost the team $9.6MM (guaranteed for injury only). Instead, the Niners have opted to extend their period of control over Tomlinson while giving him a guarantee that is roughly in the same range.
The new deal is an indication that Tomlinson has performed well in practice this spring. In all likelihood, he’ll be starting at left guard in September, between left tackle Joe Staley and high-priced center Weston Richburg. First-round pick Mike McGlinchey will hold down the right tackle job while Joshua Garnett, Jonathan Cooper, and Mike Person battle for the top right guard spot.
Tomlinson, 26, was made the No. 28 overall pick in the 2015 draft by the Lions. He started the first two years of his career at left guard for the Lions and served in the same capacity for the Niners after coming over in a trade last summer. Tomlinson missed the 2017 season opener, but played in the next 15 games.
Last year, Tomlinson earned the best marks of his career from Pro Football Focus. He graded out as the league’s No. 32 ranked guard, per PFF, which shows that he is clearly a starting caliber player. Still, the Niners opted to turn down his fifth-year option in order to lock him up at a lesser rate going forward.
Even as June winds down, there are a surprising number of quality running backs still available on the open market. The current free agent crop of backfield options includes some notable names, such as: 
- Jamaal Charles (31)
- Orleans Darkwa (26)
- Tim Hightower (32)
- Eddie Lacy (27)
- Alfred Morris (29)
- DeMarco Murray (30)
- Adrian Peterson (33)
- Shane Vereen (29)
Charles, Hightower, Vereen, and Murray were all on the Saints’ radar recently as they canvassed the free agent market for running back support. Ultimately, they signed Terrance West to help fill in during Mark Ingram‘s four-game suspension, leaving the other vets in limbo. While Charles, Hightower, and Vereen all showed their stuff for coach Sean Payton, Murray declined his invite, preferring not to participate in a giant cattle call.
When considering only past accomplishments, the names of Peterson, Charles, and Murray obviously stand out. But, unfortunately, father time is cruel to NFL running backs and these players are on the back nines of their careers, to put it mildly. Out of this trio, Murray has the best 2017 to show teams. Even though his job as the Titans’ top rusher was usurped by Derrick Henry, he had 39 catches for 266 yards and occasionally showed the powerful rushing that made him a force to be reckoned with in Dallas. Charles, he of several 1,000-yard seasons, had only 296 rushing yards in total and found himself at the bottom of Denver’s depth chart to close out the season. Peterson, meanwhile, forced his way out of New Orleans due to a lack of playing time and had only two performances of note in his run with the Cardinals.
Lacy signed with the Seahawks last year and hoped to put concerns about his health and conditioning to rest. Unfortunately, those questions persist after he averaged just 2.6 yards per carry in nine games. Lacy was a bulldozer in his early days with the Packers, but his last season of note came in 2015 when he averaged 4.1 yards per carry. Even then, ball security was a problem as he fumbled the ball four times.
Darkwa is back on the NFL radar after doctors cleared him to workout. Darkwa won’t win this poll on name value, but unlike everyone else on this list, he’s coming off of the best season of his career.The 26-year-old (did we mention that he’s also the youngest running back here?) ran for 751 yards off of 171 carries, good for a strong 4.4 yards per carry average. It was an ugly year for the Giants on the whole, but Darkwa excelled on a personal level.
Vereen, another ex-Giant, can’t say the same for his 2017 season. However, his second act with the Giants has been respectable on the whole. Acting as a secondary ball carrier, he has averaged 4.2 yards per carry over the last three seasons. He also showed that he can still be a worthwhile pass catcher out of the backfield with 44 grabs for 253 yards last season, though he averaged a career-low 5.8 yards per catch.
Last but not least is Morris, though you can be forgiven for forgetting about this three-time 1,000-yard rusher. Morris was a force to be reckoned with from 2012-2014, but he has been riding the pine for the Cowboys over the last two years. What you might not realize is that Morris was tremendous in a small sample last year as Ezekiel Elliott‘s early-season backup and later-season fill-in. Morris averaged 4.76 yards per carry off of 115 attempts, which makes one wonder why we haven’t heard his name mentioned in recent months.
Out of the running backs listed here, which player do you feel can contribute the most in 2018? Click below to cast your vote and defend your choice in the comments section.
Free agent running back Orleans Darkwa has been given the medical greenlight from doctors, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Darkwa will now be able to work out for teams, which will make him an interesting summer pickup for teams in need of backfield reinforcements. 
Darkwa had several offers in free agency, but did not find any deals to his liking. Those clubs were encouraged by his decision to have a plate removed from his leg in May and he should draw plenty of interest after healing up from the procedure.The signing of unrestricted free agents no longer counts against the 2019 compensatory draft pick formula at this stage of the offseason, so a team won’t have much to lose by signing Darkwa to a relatively inexpensive one-year deal.
Darkwa visited the Patriots in April, but they’re already overloaded at running back with first-round pick Sony Michel, James White, Jeremy Hill, Rex Burkhead, Mike Gillislee, and Brandon Bolden under contract (not to mention fullback James Develin). The Giants reportedly had some level of interest in re-signing him, but they’ve since drafted Penn State standout Saquon Barkley with the No. 2 overall pick and signed veteran Jonathan Stewart . The crosstown Jets were also eyeing Darkwa at one point, but they signed Isaiah Crowell and Thomas Rawls.
Darkwa had the best year of his NFL career in 2017 with career-highs in starts (11), rushes (171), yards (751), and touchdowns (five). The 26-year-old managed 4.4 yards per carry, and also added 19 receptions for 116 yards in the passing game. Overall, Darkwa was roughly a league-average running back, as he finished 22nd among 45 qualifiers in DVOA, Football Outsiders’ efficiency metric.
When an NFL team finds itself short on cap flexibility and in need of some space, one of the most effective short-term fixes is to restructure a player’s long-term contract. While cutting or trading players can often be solutions as well, a contract restructure allows the team to keep its roster intact while also providing immediate cap relief.
The base salaries of NFL contracts typically aren’t guaranteed, but players can receive guaranteed money in the form of signing bonuses. While those bonuses are considered to be up-front payments, for cap purposes they can be spread out over up to five years of the contract. For instance, if a player were to sign a four-year deal with a $12MM signing bonus, that figure would prorate equally over the four years of the contract, amounting to a $3MM cap hit per year. If a team were to release that player one season into the deal, the club could avoid paying most of the player’s annual base salaries, but would still be on the hook for the remaining bonus money, along with the cap total for that money.
As such, the most common form of contract restructuring involves converting a portion of a player’s base salary for a given year into a new signing bonus. That bonus can then be spread out over several years, moving it away from the current season.
This is exactly the sort of agreement the Ravens and Tony Jefferson reached this offseason. In 2017, the Ravens signed Tony Jefferson to a four-year deal worth up to $37MM. This year, the Ravens moved some of that cash around to give themselves breathing room under the cap. Baltimore converted $5MM of Jefferson’s $6MM base salary into a signing bonus, creating $3.3MM in space for 2018. Meanwhile, Jefferson’s 2019 and 2020 cap numbers increased by $1.67MM.
Restructuring a contract by converting base salary to a signing bonus creates immediate relief, but also creates problems in future years. A year from now, the Ravens may have to make another move with Jefferson, which will likely mean restructuring his deal once again, to reduce a $12.657MM cap number for 2019.
There are ways a player can remain under contract with a team while also helping to create or maintain both short-term and long-term cap flexibility. A player agreeing to take a pay cut, for instance, could allow a team to reduce his current cap number without necessarily moving that money further down the line in the contract. However, that generally happens in situations in which the team’s leverage outweighs the player’s leverage.
In most cases then, a restructured contract that sees base salary converted into bonus money is the simplest short-term fix for a club. The bill will come due eventually, but restructuring a deal allows a team to put off a more significant decision for at least one more year.
Note: This is a PFR Glossary entry. Our glossary posts explain specific rules relating to free agency, trades, or other aspects of the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Information from Joel Corry and Over the Cap was used in the creation of this post.