HEADLINES

Month: October 2024

Bills’ Tre’Davious White Considering Opt Out

August 5th, 2020 at 11:14am CST by Zachary Links

Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White is giving some thought to opting out of the 2020 season (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Kim Jones). The star of Buffalo’s secondary has until 4pm ET/3pm CT to submit his decision in writing.

Roughly 60 NFL players have opted out of the season so far, including notables like Patriots inside linebacker Dont’a Hightower and Chiefs guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. The Bills have already watched cornerback E.J. Gaines and defensive tackle Star Lotulelei opt out – losing White would be the most devastating of the bunch.

Arriving in the trade that gave the Chiefs Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 draft, White has become one of the NFL’s premier defenders. The 2017 No. 27 overall selection picked off a league-high six passes last season, giving him a dozen interceptions through three seasons.

In April, the Bills picked up White’s fifth-year option, cuffing him through 2021 on a ~$10MM salary. If White backs out of playing this year, his low-cost 2020 salary will toll into 2021. Then, his $10MM salary will apply to 2022. Ultimately, it would be an expensive move for White, one that would delay extension talks and put him another year further from free agency.

When it comes time for White to negotiate his new deal, he’ll likely command something in the neighborhood of Byron Jones‘ $16.5MM average annual value. Right now, he’s got bigger fish to fry, and he only has a few hours to make his big decision.

49ers To Sign Dion Jordan

August 5th, 2020 at 10:53am CST by Zachary Links

The 49ers are expected to sign Dion Jordan, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Terms of the deal are not yet known. 

[RELATED: 49ers Meet With Ziggy Ansah]

Jordan’s NFL career has taken some odd turns, to say the least. After being selected No. 3 overall by the Dolphins, Jordan did little to justify his pre-draft hype. After some underwhelming seasons, missed seasons, and a number of suspensions, Jordan found his way to the Seahawks in 2017. In 2018, he showed some promise as a rotational piece, and he parlayed that into a one-year deal with the Raiders. Now, instead of moving to Vegas, he’ll stay in California and switch conferences.

Jordan met with the Niners on Tuesday and it didn’t take long for a deal to come together. The league has largely discouraged teams from meetings and workouts during the pandemic, so most visits in recent weeks have led to deals.

Jordan, who registered a pair of sacks in seven games last year, will slot behind Arik Armstead and Nick Bosa in SF’s edge rushing corps.

Dolphins’ Albert Wilson Opts Out

August 5th, 2020 at 10:42am CST by Zachary Links

The Dolphins are down another wide receiver. One day after Allen Hurns opted out of the 2020 season, teammate Albert Wilson has made the same call.

[RELATED: 2020 NFL Opt Out Tracker]

“It was a very tough choice,” said Wilson in a statement (Twitter link). “I will stand by my teammates and brothers to support them 100% throughout the season and will be counting the days until I can join them again.”

Wilson joined the Dolphins on a three-year, $24MM deal in 2018. He got off to a good start with his new team, catching 26 passes for 391 yards and four touchdowns in seven games. Two of those touchdown grabs were from at least 70 yards out, and he even threw a 52-yard TD pass. Unfortunately, he was derailed by a serious hip injury in October of that year. He returned in 2019, but couldn’t reprise that performance – he finished out with 43 catches for just 351 yards in 13 games, averaging out to 8.2 yards per catch.

This year, Wilson agreed to drop his base salary to $3MM, plus $1MM in incentives. Now, that deal will be pushed into next year.

49ers’ Travis Benjamin Opts Out

August 5th, 2020 at 8:36am CST by Zachary Links

49ers wide receiver Travis Benjamin will opt out of the 2020 season. Benjamin joined the Niners on a one-year deal earlier this year, but he’ll have to wait until 2021 to make his SF debut.

[RELATED: 2020 NFL Opt Out Tracker]

“First, I would like to thank the 49ers organization for their continued support,” Benjamin wrote in a statement. “After much consideration and discussion with my family I have decided to opt out of the 2020 NFL season as I feel this is the best decision for my family. I will continue to support my teammates and many friends around the league this season. As we continue to navigate this pandemic I wish that everyone stays safe.”

The defending NFC champs lost Emmanuel Sanders in free agency and picked up Benjamin to help soften the blow. Previously, Benjamin split his eight-year NFL career with the Browns and the Chargers. He missed most of the 2019 season and missed four games in 2018 – by the time he returns next year, he’ll have missed 31 games across three seasons.

The 49ers’ wide receiver group is led by Deebo Samuel, Kendrick Bourne, rookie Brandon Aiyuk, and slot receiver Trent Taylor. However, they’ll likely be without Samuel for a bit while he recovers from a foot fracture.

As of this writing, more than 55 players have opted out of the 2020 season, as shown in our tracker. Players have until 4pm ET/3pm CT today to make the call.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/4/20

August 4th, 2020 at 6:51pm CST by Rory Parks

Here are today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Miami Dolphins

Philadelphia Eagles

Bonus Proration For Opt-Outs Will Not Count Against 2020 Cap

August 4th, 2020 at 6:17pm CST by Rory Parks

An important development on the salary cap front. Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports that signing bonus proration for players who opt out will not count against a team’s 2020 cap (Twitter link). Previously, it was believed that only unearned salary and bonuses would be removed from the cap.

So as Pelissero observes, teams with big-money players who opt out will have considerably more cap room to work with in 2020 than they thought. For instance, Broncos right tackle Ja’Wuan James announced yesterday that he will opt out of the 2020 season, and his $10MM salary was set to toll until 2021. But now, his $3MM signing bonus proration will also toll, leaving Denver with $13MM in additional cap space.

Of course, the Broncos will almost certainly want James back in 2021, just as the Jets will want C.J. Mosley back. And, since the 2021 salary cap is going to drop considerably, teams are unlikely to spend their newfound money and will simply look to roll it over into next season. That is especially true since we’re now in August and there are very few free agents worth signing to expensive deals.

Players have until 4pm ET/3pm CT on Thursday to opt out.

Latest On Joe Mixon, Bengals

August 4th, 2020 at 5:56pm CST by Rory Parks

Back in May, Bengals player personnel director Duke Tobin said that the team was interested in extending RB Joe Mixon, and unsurprisingly, his stance has not changed.

“[Mixon] is an important part of our team,” Tobin said, via Tyler Dragon of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “He’s a piece that we’d like to get extended and have around here a long time. Typically, our extensions have gotten done during camp at some point.”

As Dragon observes, Tobin’s statement that the team usually extends players during training camp is noteworthy, as it suggests that the team could finalize something with Mixon in the coming weeks. Indeed, WR Tyler Boyd signed his extension shortly before camp opened last year, and Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap got new deals in August 2018.

For now, Mixon is set to play out the 2020 season on the final year of his rookie deal, which would pay him a salary of just $1.2MM. Given his importance to the team and his performance to date, that would be a major underpay.

However, the 24-year-old is not necessarily trying to break the bank. Per Dragon’s sources, Mixon is hoping his next deal will land him among the eight highest-paid running backs in the league. That would mean an average annual value of at least $8MM, which seems like a reasonable ask.

At present, the Bengals have about $24MM of cap room, but with the salary cap set to drop significantly in 2021, any rollover money would be helpful. Still, the team’s cap situation shouldn’t be an obstacle to a Mixon extension.

Mixon’s YPC average dropped to 4.1 last season after a very strong 4.9 mark in 2018, but he didn’t have much talent around him. With A.J. Green back in the fold and Joe Burrow under center, Mixon — who has posted back-to-back seasons with over 1,100 rushing yards — could be in for a big year.

NFC West Notes: Adams, Gordon, 49ers

August 4th, 2020 at 5:08pm CST by Rory Parks

New Seahawks safety Jamal Adams has told the team that he is content to play out the 2020 season on his current contract, which is one of the reasons why Seattle felt comfortable sending a king’s ransom to the Jets in exchange for the star defender. And as Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times tweets, Adams says the plan is to spend his entire career with the ‘Hawks. He is confident that his contract situation will work itself out, and it seems likely that the two sides will commence negotiations after the season.

Now for more out of the NFC West:

  • The Seahawks are said to be interested in a reunion with WR Josh Gordon, and apparently the interest is mutual. Gordon recently posted a picture of the Seattle skyline to social media, saying, “Ima [j]uss leave this here and be quiet” (h/t Field Yates of ESPN.com on Twitter). The club is also monitoring Antonio Brown.
  • The Ravens and Patriots are reportedly interested in TE Delanie Walker, and Matt Barrows of The Athletic thinks the 49ers — who drafted Walker in 2006 and employed him through 2012 — would also be a great fit. However, Barrows has not heard anything on that front lately.
  • In the same piece linked above, Barrows says there is a good chance the 49ers use their first-round pick in 2021 on a CB and that the team could also invest some free agent dollars into the position. That could mean re-signing Richard Sherman or bringing in an outside FA.
  • The 49ers recently worked out DL Damontre Moore, per veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer (via Twitter). Moore has bounced around quite a bit since he entered the league as a third-round pick of the Giants in 2013, and he appeared in two games for San Francisco last year before landing on IR.
  • In case you missed it, Cardinals OT Marcus Gilbert has opted out of the 2020 season.

Raiders Waive P.J. Hall After Trade To Vikings Falls Through

August 4th, 2020 at 4:23pm CST by Zachary Links

TUESDAY, 4:23pm CT: Hall has indeed been waived, per today’s transactions wire.

TUESDAY, 3:57pm CT: Hold the phone. The trade was nullified after Hall failed his physical with Minnesota. He’ll now revert to the Raiders, who are expected to waive him.

MONDAY, 2:59pm CT: The Raiders are trading defensive tackle P.J. Hall to the Vikings, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. In exchange, the Vikings will send a conditional seventh-round choice to the Raiders.

Hall was supposed to be waived before the end of the business day. Instead, the Vikings swooped in with a trade offer. Instead of crossing their fingers and waiting to see if Hall slipped on the waiver wire, they pulled off a deal. The pick will only change hands if Hall is on the roster for a certain number of games, so it’s essentially a low-cost, no-risk pickup for the Vikes.

Hall, a 2018 second-round pick, was pushed out of the starting lineup by the addition of Maliek Collins. Then, he lost his spot on the team, despite his reasonable rookie contract.

Hall started in 12 of his 16 games last year, finishing out with 26 tackles and 1.5 sacks from the interior. The Vikings will assume the remainder of his contract and have him under club control through 2021.

Lions Place Matthew Stafford, Kenny Golladay On Reserve/COVID-19 List

August 4th, 2020 at 4:12pm CST by Sam Robinson

TODAY: Good news for the Lions. Stafford has been removed from the COVID-19 list and has been placed back on the active roster, per a team statement. Apparently, the third test that he was required to take before entering team facilities resulted in what turned out to be a false positive, but his next three tests were all negative. Neither Stafford nor any members of his household have (or had) COVID-19.

AUGUST 1: The Lions placed Matthew Stafford on their reserve/COVID-19 list Saturday. He joins Kenny Golladay, T.J. Hockenson and Justin Coleman on Detroit’s list.

Placement on this list does not mean these players tested positive for the coronavirus. The list also includes players who are quarantining because they came in contact with someone who has tested positive. Stafford will join Golladay, Hockenson and Coleman in being away from the bulk of Lions teammates for the time being.

Thus far, Stafford is the NFL’s highest-profile player to land on the COVID list. He is, however, believed to be asymptomatic at this time, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter).

Cornerback Amani Oruwariye, punter Arryn Siposs, safety Jalen Elliott and tight end Isaac Nauta are also on Detroit’s reserve/COVID list. Among the Lions’ group, as of Saturday, it is known Coleman tested positive, though NFL.com reported the veteran slot corner is asymptomatic.

If Stafford tested positive, he will be required to miss at least five days. This waiting period is only for asymptomatic players. Players who test positive and have symptoms for the virus must miss at least 10 days. That number is fluid; it depends on symptoms players experience. Players who land in either category must test negative twice before rejoining the team.

In this altered training camp format, practices do not begin until Aug. 12. Full practices do not start until Aug. 17, so the Lions have a bit of time for their group of starters to return. Teams begin their strength and conditioning-based acclimation periods Monday. Of course, this all depends on the players’ issues with the virus.

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