We will keep you apprised of all minor moves right here over the course of the day:
Detroit Lions
- Signed: S Charles Washington (ERFA)
The Giants have long maintained that they will not select a QB in this month’s draft just for the sake of drafting one, but Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv believes that the team needs to identify and acquire the successor to Eli Manning immediately and cannot put it off for another year. The team has the high-end draft capital to land a top collegiate prospect in 2019, and it could still make a play for the Cardinals’ Josh Rosen. There are too many variables that could prevent New York from landing the highly-touted passers in the 2020 class — namely, Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa — and if the Giants don’t get one of those players, then they will have needlessly delayed their return to contention. Vacchiano’s argument has some flaws (for instance, it assumes that a 2019 draft choice or Rosen is the long-term answer), but his point is well made.
Now for more from the league’s east divisions:
- Not long after the Eagles hired Doug Pederson as their head coach in 2016, club owner Jeffrey Lurie said he wanted to draft a QB every year, or every other year, the way his team used to (a strategy that significantly aided roster building). As Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes, Lurie reiterated those sentiments just last month, and now that Nick Foles is out of the picture, the club may return to that approach. The Eagles appear to be plenty comfortable with Nate Sudfeld as their No. 2 signal-caller, but Sudfeld could leave for a potential starting job in 2020, when the Eagles are expected to be flush with draft picks, so Berman suggests the team could add a UDFA passer this season and draft a QB prospect next year.
- Mike Reiss of ESPN.com sees some similarities between the end of Chris Hogan‘s tenure with the Patriots in 2019 and the end of Wes Welker‘s relationship with the club in 2013. In both cases, Reiss says that the team tried to hammer out extensions well before the players hit free agency, but the financial gap ended up being too wide to bridge. In Hogan’s case, the two sides were indeed working on an extension back in August, and even though Hogan landed a fairly modest deal with the Panthers that New England could have easily matched — and, some would say, should have matched considering the team’s WR situation — Reiss says player and team viewed a fresh start as the best approach.
- Last August, the Patriots traded safety Jordan Richards to the Falcons for a conditional 2020 seventh-round pick. In the same piece linked above, Reiss reports that Richards was on Atlanta’s game-day roster enough times to satisfy the conditions of the swap — indeed, he ended up starting 12 games for the Falcons — so New England will get a 2020 seventh-rounder from the Falcons.
- Rich Cimini of ESPN.com believes the Jets‘ newest QB, former AAF passer Brandon Silvers, will have a legitimate chance to win the club’s backup QB job.
- In the same piece, Cimini expresses his belief that the Jets will select Alabama DT Quinnen Williams with the No. 3 overall selection if they don’t trade the pick. Cimini thinks Kentucky pass rusher Josh Allen fills a bigger need, but GM Mike Maccagnan cannot afford to miss on this pick, and Williams is a safer prospect who, like Allen, offers elite potential.
One of the biggest surprises of free agency this year came when linebacker Anthony Barr, who had agreed to sign with the Jets, suddenly reversed course and opted to re-sign with the Vikings for less money than he would have earned with Gang Green.
At the time the news broke, we knew only that Barr wanted to remain with Minnesota and that the Vikings had sweetened their offer to convince him to return. But in a lengthy and fascinating piece that is worth a full read, Courtney Cronin and Rich Cimini of ESPN.com detail exactly how Barr’s decision played out.
The ESPN scribes write that, when the legal tampering period opened on March 11, Barr had a few suitors, but the Jets quickly rose to the top of the list because of how much money they could offer. Barr had identified the Jets — who planned to capitalize on his athleticism as a blitzer and his ability to drop into coverage — as his top choice if he couldn’t remain with the Vikings. New York, which signed linebacker C.J. Mosley not long before Barr canceled his deal with the Jets, had every intention of bringing Mosley and Barr into the fold.
And as it turns out, New York’s offer was even higher than was initially reported. Per Cronin and Cimini, Barr’s agent, Ryan Williams, could tell that his client was very hesitant to accept the Jets’ pitch — in response to New York’s initial offers, Barr simply said, “where’s Minnesota?” — and Williams convinced the Jets to increase their offer to over $15MM per season, which Barr had indicated he would accept. But when Williams called Barr to tell him the Jets had met his asking price, Barr said, “I feel like I just made the worst mistake of my life.”
Barr did not want to back out of the Jets deal since he had given them his word, but Williams called Gang Green to let them know Barr was having second thoughts. Minnesota, meanwhile, was convinced it could not re-sign Barr because of its shortage of cap space, and rather than extending what it felt would be a disrespectful, low-ball offer, it stayed out of the sweepstakes entirely.
So the Vikings were very surprised to get a “frantic” call from Williams asking for the team’s best and final offer. Minnesota extended itself as far as it could go, the Jets offered to fly Barr out to New York to convince him to come to the Big Apple, and the decision was in Barr’s hands. Of course, he ultimately chose to accept Minnesota’s offer, and the excitement he felt when Williams told him he was back with the Vikings proves to him that he made the right choice.
Barr said, “I was trying to convince myself of something I knew that in my heart didn’t feel right, and I think if you follow the heart, I can live with the results.”
It’s been well over a month since we heard that the Seahawks and defensive end Frank Clark were making progress in negotiating a long-term contract. Seattle put the franchise tag on Clark shortly thereafter, which gives the two sides until July 15 to work out a multi-year pact, and Clark said he would not report to training camp without a new deal in place.
DeMarcus Lawrence signed a five-year deal worth over $100MM with the Cowboys last week, and that appeared to provide a benchmark for talks between Seattle and Clark. But still, no news as of yet.
Jay Glazer of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that several teams were interested in trading for Clark at the outset of free agency, but he notes that there has been no trade chatter since then. Glazer adds that the Seahawks love Clark, and that unless the team is overwhelmed by a trade offer, Clark will remain with Seattle. Given Clark’s stance with respect to the franchise tag, it sounds as if he will be getting his big-money, long-term deal before July 15.
Clark, a 2015 second-round pick, has been a fixture in the team’s front seven since the 2016 campaign. In the last three years, he ranks seventh among NFL defensive linemen in sacks (32) and 10th in quarterbacks hits (66). Last season, Pro Football Focus graded Clark as the league’s No. 18 edge defender.
Once the April 15 “deadline” for a new contract with quarterback Russell Wilson passes, perhaps the Seahawks will shift their focus back to Clark.
Tomorrow is tax day, and it’s also Russell Wilson‘s deadline for a new contract with the Seahawks. We have explored the dynamic between Wilson and Seattle at length over the past couple of weeks, but Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has now added a new wrinkle to the conversation.
Florio hears from a league source that the Seahawks believe Wilson wants to play elsewhere, and that Wilson will therefore drive a harder bargain with Seattle than he would with another club. Of course, Wilson is still under contract through the end of the 2019 campaign, and the Seahawks could realistically deploy the franchise tag in 2020 and 2021 if they so choose (and though Wilson could always change his mind, he has indicated he would not hold out if he is hit with the franchise tag).
But as Florio observes, it remains unclear whether Seattle wants to commit to the kind of money that Wilson would earn under the franchise tag or the amount he would demand under a multi-year extension. And if he is willing to take a little less to play with another club — like the Giants, who have been rumored as a potential destination for some time — then it would become easier for the Seahawks to deal Wilson under a tag-and-trade scenario (interestingly, new Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu, whose respect for Wilson is well-known, tweeted a response to Florio’s piece that said, “Russ wants New York”).
This could just be the type of pie-in-the-sky rumor that frequently shrouds negotiations with star players. It is still eminently possible that Wilson and the Seahawks hammer out a third contract, or that the two sides roll with the franchise tag for at least the 2020 season, and maybe 2021 (the franchise tag number for 2022 is much too rich to be feasible).
Nonetheless, it is still interesting to ponder, especially considering the juggernaut that the Seahawks were able to build when Wilson was playing under his rookie contract. If they can land some high-level draft capital for Wilson next offseason, then they may be able to put together that type of roster again in short order.
There’s been a lot of talk about the CBA recently, and the potential for a work stoppage when it expires after the 2020 season. We just heard that the owners and players held their first negotiating meetings, and now we have more details on what exactly went down. A handful of owners and members of the NFLPA’s executive committee met for “roughly five hours,” earlier this week, Albert Breer of SI.com was told. Breer describes it as a big deal and writes that it “shouldn’t have flown under the radar.” As Breer points out, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith had said a couple of years ago that a lockout when the CBA expired was a “virtual certainty,” so the fact that they’re having positive conversations this far out is a huge development.
Breer notes that the owners were the ones who initiated this meeting, which is a big departure from when the owners decided to opt out of the CBA years in advance last time around. Overall, Breer describes the meeting as a “good start.” There’s still a long way to go, and the threat of a work stoppage is still a very real possibility, but things don’t seem nearly as dire as they once did. Breer points to the rapidly increasing cap as one thing that may help pacify players in negotiations.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Eagles cornerback Jalen Mills was arrested for his role in a fight earlier today. The team has now issued their response, saying “the Philadelphia Eagles are aware of the situation involving defensive back Jalen Mills and are continuing to gather more information,” adding that “no further comments will be provided at this time.” It’s a fairly standard statement. Mills was hurt for half of last season, but started all eight games he was active for, so it would be a big loss for Philly if he were to miss any time with a suspension.
- The Texans desperately need offensive line help, as Deshaun Watson was running for his life again last year. To that end, they’re doing their research on this year’s top offensive line prospects. The team brought in Washington offensive tackle Kaleb McGary for a visit today, a source told Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). McGary could go as high as the first round, but could also be a target for the Texans with either of their two second round picks if he slips a little bit.
- DeMarcus Lawrence was able to get over $20MM annually on his contract extension, and that deal could have a ripple effect across the league. In a recent piece, former NFL agent and current CBS Sports analysts Joel Corry took a look at how Lawrence’s new pact will effect the rest of the big name pass-rushers waiting to get paid. Dee Ford recently settled for a little less, but Lawrence’s deal has now reset the market yet again. Lawrence’s deal “undoes any damage Dee Ford’s may have to the market for highly productive pass rushers in line for new contracts, primarily Seahawks defensive end Frank Clark and Texans outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney,” Corry writes. Corry also writes that Yannick Ngakoue of the Jaguars and Chris Jones of the Chiefs could join them as defensive linemen making $20MM+ annually, saying that those four’s agents “will likely view Lawrence’s deal as the salary floor for their clients.”
The first couple of waves of free agency are over, and most teams are now waiting until after the draft has passed to continue digging around the market. But the Falcons are staying active, signing defensive tackle Tyeler Davison earlier today.
They’re also apparently looking for some offensive line help, as the team will host tackle Ulrick John on a visit Monday, a source told Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). John signed with the Patriots last April, but ended up spending the entire season on injured reserve, although he did win a Super Bowl with the team. Before that he spent most of the 2017 season with the Packers, appearing in five games.
He saw the most significant action of his career in 2016 with the Cardinals, when he started three games at right tackle. The Georgia State product entered the league as a seventh round pick of the Colts back in 2014. He also spent parts of the 2015 season with the Dolphins. John has reached full journeyman status, but evaluators keep seeing enough in him to have him stick around.
Ryan Schraeder started most of last season at right tackle for the Falcons, but the team doesn’t seem like they’re planning on re-signing him. Atlanta could start Ty Sambrailo next year, or they could seek to address the position in the draft. If they sign John, it’ll almost certainly be as depth and not to start.
One of the top remaining defenders is off the market. The Falcons are signing defensive tackle Tyeler Davison, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).
It’ll be a one-year deal, Rapoport notes. The Falcons’ run defense struggled mightily last season, and they’re clearly hoping Davison will help with that. The Falcons already have one of the league’s best defensive tackles in Grady Jarrett, so anything Davison provides will be a bonus. Davison comes from the division rival Saints after spending the first four years of his career in New Orleans.
Davison started 43 games for the Saints the past three seasons, so this is a significant move. Last season, Davison had 23 tackle, two sacks, and one forced fumble in 14 games. He played about 41 percent of the defensive snaps. A Fresno State product, Davison was drafted in the fifth round back in 2015. He received average marks from Pro Football Focus, grading out as their 83rd-best defensive lineman. The Saints signed defensive tackle Malcom Brown away from the Patriots at the beginning of free agency, so the writing was on the wall that they’d be moving on from Davison.
Last week, we asked readers who the best available defensive free agent was. Today, we’ll be looking at the best available offensive players. Most of the remaining talent left in the free agent pool is on the defensive side of the ball, but there are still some serviceable options on offense.
All the top quarterbacks are gone, but there are still some decent players left at some skill positions and along the offensive line. This late in the process, many teams will wait until after the draft to see what needs they still have unfilled. Another key date remaining in free agency is May 7th. After that date, signings no longer will count against teams in the compensatory pick formula, so more teams will re-enter the market then for bigger signings.
With that in mind, here are the top remaining offensive free agents:
Demaryius Thomas, WR
Thomas would’ve likely been signed long ago, but his free agency has been complicated by both a devastating injury and an ongoing legal situation. After being traded from the Broncos to the Texans last year, Thomas tore his Achilles. He was then arrested and charged with vehicular assault, which could result in discipline from the league. New England was interested in trading for Thomas at the deadline, and they’re apparently still intrigued. Earlier this week, the Patriots hosted Thomas for a visit. It’s unclear if Thomas will be ready for Week 1, or if he’s facing a suspension. But he’s still only 31, and has remained a very productive receiver when on the field. He had 59 catches for 677 yards and five touchdowns in less than 15 full games last year. The year before that he had 949 yards and five touchdowns, which was his first time not having at least 1,000 yards since the 2011 season. Thomas has been declining, but he could still be a very nice piece for a contending team.
Andy Levitre, G
Levitre is an interesting case. Originally a second round pick of the Bills back in 2009, Levitre was one of the league’s better guards the past handful of seasons. He always received strong marks from Pro Football Focus, but his career was derailed by injuries the past couple of season while playing with the Falcons. Levitre was a 16-game starter each of his first eight seasons in the league, but then went down with a triceps injury after 13 games in 2017. Last season he appeared in just two games before landing on injured reserve with another triceps injury. The Falcons appears set to move on, and we haven’t heard of much interest for him yet. Levitre is 33 now, but indicated recently he isn’t planning on retiring. Levitre has started all 143 games in his career, and should resurface somewhere soon.
Michael Crabtree, WR
Crabtree is another high profile receiver still looking for a new home. Crabtree signed with Baltimore last offseason hoping to revitalize his career, and ended up starting all 16 games. Unfortunately for him, the Ravens transitioned to a very run-heavy offense with Lamar Jackson at quarterback, so he couldn’t play quite as large of a role as he would’ve hoped. He had a solid season given the circumstances, catching 54 passes for 607 yards and three touchdowns. In his previous three seasons in Oakland, he had at least eight touchdowns each year, and had over 1,000 yards in 2016. Crabtree has looked like virtually the same player he has for a while now, so it’s not clear why he hasn’t been scooped up yet. It’s possible he’s demanding too much money, as we haven’t heard much about him since the Ravens cut him in late February.
Donald Penn, OT
Penn is yet another player who had his 2018 season cut short due to injury. The Raiders released Penn on March 16th, ending a five-year run in Oakland. He indicated at the time that he wasn’t going to be retiring. Penn is going to turn 36 later this month, and was making too much money for the Raiders. We heard a few weeks back that the Texans were interested in Penn, but nothing has materialized yet. He was one of the league’s better tackles as recently as 2017, when he made the Pro Bowl, and is presumably still capable of playing at a high level. He only appeared in four games last year because of his groin injury. Penn should be getting plenty of calls from teams still in need of offensive line help after the draft.
Jermon Bushrod, OL
Sensing a trend yet? While many of the top remaining defensive players are defensive linemen, many of the top players left on this side of the ball are offensive linemen. Bushrod was the Dolphins’ starter at right guard in 2016 and 2017, and started six games at tackle for the Saints last season. Bushrod has the versatility to play both inside and out, so it’s a little surprising he’s still on the market. ProFootballTalk rated Bushrod as their 82nd-best free agent heading into the offseason, and he’s one of very few in their top-100 who haven’t been signed yet. Bushrod has been around for a while, and was New Orleans’ starting left tackle for their Super Bowl XLIV win. He’s 34 now, but still capable of playing at a fairly high level at several different spots along the offensive line.
Jay Ajayi, RB
At this time last year, it would’ve been pretty surprising to think that Ajayi still wouldn’t be signed. After being traded from the Dolphins to Eagles in 2017, Ajayi had a great second half of the year for Philly and helped them win a Super Bowl. But his injury issues resurfaced this past season and he ended up appearing in just four games. Even super-agent Drew Rosenhaus hasn’t been able to get him a gig yet, although he has been drawing some interest. The Eagles are apparently still potentially interested in re-signing him, and he also had a visit with the Colts last month, who could still sign him down the line. In seven games with the Eagles in 2017, Ajayi averaged 5.8 yards per carry and was electric. If he can shake the injury bug and keep his knees healthy, he could still start for a team.
So what do you think? Which of these players is the best offensive player still available on the free agent market? If it’s none of the above, let us know in the comments! Other big names like T.J. Yeldon, Jermaine Kearse, and Jared Veldheer are still out there. (Link for app users).
A day after locking up Adam Thielen with a huge extension, the Vikings are making a much more under the radar move at the wide receiver position. Minnesota is signing Jordan Taylor, a source told Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
Per Wilson, it’s a one-year deal for Taylor. Taylor visited with the Vikings on Monday, and they apparently liked what they saw. He comes to Minnesota from Denver, where he spent the first four years of his career. An undrafted free agent from Rice, Taylor signed with the Broncos back in 2015. He spent his entire rookie season on the practice squad, but made a big impact in his second year. In 2016 he appeared in all 16 games, catching 16 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns while also contributing on special teams.
Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times tweeted that the Seahawks “had also shown interest” in the wideout. In 2017 Taylor missed some time with injury, catching 13 passes for 142 yards in ten games and two starts. Nicknamed ‘Sunshine’, Taylor became a fan favorite during his time in Denver. He missed the entire 2018 season while recovering from hip surgery, but is apparently healthy now. He’s likely to be little more than a depth piece in Minnesota, assuming he makes the team.
We heard recently the team wasn’t going to be bringing back Aldrick Robinson and was looking for other options, so perhaps Taylor could fill his role. Robinson had 17 receptions for 231 yards and five scores last year.