Month: November 2024

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/23/21

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Baltimore Ravens

Houston Texans

  • Re-Signed: LS Jon Weeks
  • Released: LS Anthony Kukwa

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Football Team

Giants To Sign Ryan Anderson

The Giants have agreed to sign outside linebacker Ryan Anderson to a one-year deal, according to Art Stapleton of The Record (on Twitter). The deal is worth $1.125MM for the veteran’s salary benefit, so it will count for just ~$988K against the 2021 cap. 

[RELATED: Giants To Sign Adoree’ Jackson]

Anderson, 27 in August, came into the league as a second-round pick out of Alabama. He’s spent much of the last four years as a reserve for Washington, but he showed glimpses of his potential in 2019 as he notched 44 stops and four sacks. He looked especially promising in a late-season game against the Eagles that year, when he came away with two sacks and three forced fumbles. In total, Anderson has 86 tackles and six sacks for his career.

The Giants have been especially active in recent days. On Monday, the Giants agreed a three-year, $39MM deal with free agent cornerback Adoree’ Jackson. And, over the weekend, they inked standout wide receiver Kenny Golladay to a four-year, $72MM pact with $40MM guaranteed.

Packers To Re-Sign Kevin King

The Packers are bringing back Kevin King (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). The cornerback will return on a one-year deal worth $6MM. 

The Packers nabbed King in the second-round of the 2017 draft due to concerns about his health. If not for injuries, King would have been a top-32 choice, so the Packers saw the Washington product as a strong value. Though he’s flashed serious ability at times, Packers fans haven’t been wild about his coverage on the whole. King has shown a knack for clutch interceptions in the past, but the memory of his NFC Championship Game performance is still fresh.

King, who hauled in five interceptions in 2019, will return in 2021 to pair with lead corner Jaire Alexander.

Bills’ Star Lotulelei To Return

In the midst of the initial free agency frenzy, Star Lotulelei informed the Bills that he plans to return in 2021 (Twitter link via Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic). The defensive tackle opted-out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lotulelei inked a five year, $50MM free agent deal with the Bills in 2018. The deal yielded mixed reactions and mixed results. The former first-round pick has largely declined since his strong rookie year in Carolina. Although he started for the Bills in 2018 and 2019, the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus weren’t high on his performance. In ’19, Lotulelei was on the field for 516 snaps and recorded two sacks from the interior.

Still, Lotulelei can help the Bills’ run defense, which was one of their weak spots in 2020.

Josh Gordon Hopes To Return To NFL

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. Currently under an indefinite suspension, wide receiver Josh Gordon says he hopes to eventually return to the NFL (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter).

Gordon was released by the Seahawks earlier this month following his latest ban. That led him to the Fan Controlled Football league, where he teamed up with old pal Johnny Manziel.

Gordon, 29, was activated to the Seahawks’ roster in December. Ultimately, he wasn’t able to take the field in 2020. His last action came in 2019, when he played in eleven total games — six for the Patriots and five for the Seahawks. Despite Gordon’s off-the-field issues, Pete Carroll was taking the patient approach with Gordon, hoping that he’d develop into a high-end weapon for Russell Wilson.

Still, the football world is rooting for Gordon to get his life on track. And, still, every evaluator remembers Gordon’s unbelievable 2013 season with the Browns when he notched 1,646 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

Lions’ Nick Williams Takes Pay Cut

Nick Williams has accepted a pay cut to keep his roster spot with the Lions. The defensive tackle will now earn $1.25MM in base salary this year, down from $4.1MM last year (Twitter link via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press). In exchange, Williams will also get $500K in guaranteed money, though his per-game roster bonus will go down from $400K to $250K.

Williams, a 2013 seventh-round pick, has managed a lengthy pro career. In 2019, he turned in a career year with new watermarks in tackles (42), and sacks (six) for the Bears. He parlayed that into a solid payday with the Lions, but he was less impressive as a full-time starter. Last year, he had 23 tackles and one sack in 14 games (13 starts).

The extra coin could allow the Lions to pursue other free agents still on the board, including slot specialist K’Waun Williams.

Falcons To Sign Barkevious Mingo

The Falcons have agreed to sign linebacker Barkevious Mingo (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). His one-year deal is worth $1.25MM with $1.1MM guaranteed, according to ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein

[RELATED: Falcons To Sign Mike Davis]

Mingo, a 6’5″, 235-pound ‘backer, spent last year with the Bears. He appeared in 36% of the team’s snaps but played a much larger role on special teams. On defense, he finished with a total of 35 stops and 2.5 sacks while appearing in all 16 games.

The LSU product entered the league with lofty expectations as the No. 6 overall pick in the 2013 draft. That pick didn’t exactly work out for the Browns, but Mingo has enjoyed a solid career over the last eight years. His 2016 stop in New England yielded a Super Bowl ring and he’s now signed for his ninth season in the league.

Mingo will be joined by lots of fellow fresh faces in Atlanta, including the newly-signed Mike Davis.

Falcons To Sign Mike Davis

The Falcons are set to sign running back Mike Davis to a two-year contract, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The former Falcons running back will earn $5.5MM in the deal with $3MM fully guaranteed in the first year.

Davis filled-in for Christian McCaffrey last year and turned in a solid year with 1,015 all-purpose yards and eight total touchdowns. Even though his averages of 3.9 yards per carry and 6.3 yards per grab weren’t quite CMC numbers, Davis demonstrated his value as a reliable and durable veteran.

Before that, the 28-year-old joined the Panthers as a waiver wire claim. Although he’s bounced around, Davis isn’t just a one-hit wonder. He averaged 4.6 yards per carry with the Seahawks in 2018 to go along with four rushing touchdowns.

Now, Davis will stay in the division as he joins Ito Smith and Qadree Ollison on Atlanta’s RB depth chart.

Bengals Re-Sign P Kevin Huber

For the 13th-straight season, Kevin Huber will be punting for the Cincinnati Bengals. The team re-signed the veteran special teamer today, per the NFL’s transaction report.

Huber has established himself as a Cincinnati legend over the years. Following a pair of All-American seasons for the Cincinnati Bearcats, Huber joined the Bengals as a fifth-round pick in 2009. Since that time, the punter has only missed a pair of games for Cincy, earning both a Pro Bowl nod and first-team All-Pro recognition in 2014. Huber owns a number of franchise records, including punts (914) and punting yards (41,362). Huber has also appeared in the fourth-most games (190) in franchise history, and he could break the team record (207, held by defensive back Ken Riley) by playing two more seasons.

Huber had another steady season in 2020. The 35-year-old collected 71 punts for 3,350 yards, with his 47.2 yards per punt serving as a new career-high.

The Bengals special teams units may look a bit different in 2021. The team re-signed long snapper Clark Harris, but they watched as starting kicker Randy Bullock left for the Lions.

Colts To Sign OL Sam Tevi

Following the retirement of Anthony Castonzo, the Colts have been seeking a new left tackle. The organization has added one potential replacement, as NFL.coms’ Tom Pelissero reports (via Twitter) that Indy has signed offensive lineman Sam Tevi.

The 2017 sixth-round pick out of Utah had spent his entire four-year career with the Chargers, including three seasons as a full-time starter. After starting 29 of his 30 games at right tackle between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, Tevi started 14 games at left tackle in 2020. He finished the season having appeared in a career-high 1,025 snaps (87 percent of the Chargers’ offensive possessions).

The Colts have been relatively busy looking for players to protect Carson Wentz‘s blindside. We learned last week that the team was hosting free agent lineman Julie’n Davenport.

As Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com writes, the Chargers will likely turn to Storm Norton to replace Tevi’s spot in the lineup. The 26-year-old joined the organization last summer, and he proceeded to appear in six games (with three starts).