We’ll keep tabs on today’s “minor” moves here:
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs
Los Angeles Rams
Philadelphia Eagles
San Francisco 49ers
The top of Washington’s quarterbacks depth chart will look different in 2021, but it sounds like the team will be rolling with the same backups. ESPN’s Field Yates reports (via Twitter) that quarterback Kyle Allen has signed his ERFA tender.
After getting 12 starts for the Panthers in 2019, Allen ended up following his former head coach, Ron Rivera, to Washington after he was traded for a a fifth-rounder. Allen ultimately got four starts for Washington, completing 69-percent of his passes for 610 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception.
However, Allen suffered a dislocated/fractured ankle in early November, and the subsequent surgery ended his season early. That injury paved the way for Alex Smith to take over the full-time starting gig, and the veteran ended up going 5-1 en route the Comeback Player of the Year Award.
In 2021, Allen will be backing up a different veteran, as the organization moved on from Smith and replaced him with Ryan Fitzpatrick. The team is also still rostering Taylor Heinicke.
Now a free agent, Kyle Fuller figures to have some options. One will be in Denver with his former defensive coordinator.
The Broncos are expected to make a “strong push” to sign the veteran cornerback, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. Vic Fangio coached Fuller for four seasons as Chicago’s D-coordinator. New Denver GM George Paton was with the Vikings throughout Fuller’s Bears career.
It should not be ruled out, as the Raiders have shown this week, that the Bears could find a trade partner at the 11th hour. But the team likely discussed Fuller with other teams before cutting him. Fuller was due to make $13MM as part of his 2018 contract, which the Packers constructed after the Bears transition-tagged him.
While the Broncos made a key addition in Ronald Darby, they still have a need at cornerback. They also roster ex-Fuller teammate Bryce Callahan, who is going into his third season with the team. Callahan has shown the ability to play outside and in the slot, his strength, but he has battled significant injury issues that would prevent the Broncos from counting on him. Callahan missed all of the 2019 season and was limited to 10 games last season.
Denver entered free agency targeting more than one cornerback, and Mike Klis of 9News notes the team made an offer to Michael Davis early this week (Twitter link). The Chargers, however, re-signed Davis. Fuller, 28, certainly carries a higher profile. The Broncos not adding another will make corner a logical target at No. 9 overall.
The Bears drafted Fuller before Fangio’s 2015 arrival, taking him in the 2014 first round, but he still broke out during Fangio’s run. The Bears passed on Fuller’s fifth-year option in 2017, but he delivered a first-team All-Pro 2018 season in Fangio’s Chicago finale. Considering the Packers signed Fuller to the offer sheet three years ago, they may be back in the mix for him as well. Other teams figure to inquire too, but Fangio’s presence may be pivotal for the Broncos.
Teams have been quick to add to their quarterback rooms this week. After the Patriots re-signed Cam Newton, the likes of Jameis Winston, Tyrod Taylor, Jacoby Brissett, Andy Dalton, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Mitchell Trubisky are off the board.
The Broncos have long been connected to adding a veteran quarterback to compete with Drew Lock, but they have stood down thus far this week. However, GM George Paton confirmed the team’s plan remains to bring in a veteran this offseason.
“We like Drew Lock. We have a plan in place. There’s free agency, there’s a draft, there’s trades. There’s a lot of ways to acquire a QB,” Paton said, via 9News’ Mike Klis (on Twitter). “Fortunately, we have a QB here. We do want to bring in competition; we’re not going to force it.”
Some notable veterans who would make sense as Lock competition include Sam Darnold, Nick Foles and Gardner Minshew. While Jimmy Garoppolo has also been linked to trades, there would not be a Garoppolo-Lock competition were the Broncos to acquire the 49ers starter. The Jaguars have received calls on Minshew, and given how other teams have filled their QB needs, it would not be surprising if the Broncos were one of the teams to inquire. It would be interesting to see the Broncos bring in a sixth-round QB from the draft in which they used a second-round pick on Lock. A Darnold move would likely cost Denver a Day 2 pick, potentially requiring a package including a second-round choice and change.
As far as free agents go, some notable names remain. But most of the top UFAs are gone, as should be expected. The Lions shopped Chase Daniel before releasing him; he joins A.J. McCarron, Colt McCoy, Blaine Gabbert and Brian Hoyer as veteran UFAs. Though, each has been a backup for several seasons running. It is also not certain if a team will give Alex Smith the chance to continue his career.
Paton said the Broncos will consider a quarterback at No. 9 overall. The Broncos should be in position to land one of the draft’s top five passer prospects at No. 9, but it is possible four QBs go earlier. That scenario’s potential would put Paton to a decision. The Broncos have used first-round picks on QBs — Paxton Lynch, Tim Tebow and Jay Cutler this century — but have never taken one in the top 10.
Matt Prater‘s defection to the Cardinals means the Lions will have a new kicker for the first time in seven years. It appears Randy Bullock will fill that role.
The Lions are finalizing a deal with Bullock, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter). Bullock spent the past four seasons as the Bengals’ kicker.
Bullock, 31, has bounced around the league a bit. But for the most part, he has kicked in Houston and Cincinnati. Bullock spent the first three years of his career with the Texans. However, Houston cut Bullock early in the 2015 season. After he bounced between the workout circuit and gigs with the Giants, Jets and Steelers, the Bengals stabilized his career late in the 2016 season.
The Bengals signed Bullock to an extension in 2018, and he played out that deal. Bullock made at least 80% of his field goals in each of his four Cincy seasons, though his make rate dropped to 81% last season. While Bullock may not have Prater’s range, he was more accurate last season and has held a steady role for several years now.
Prater kicked with the Lions from 2014-20, making one Pro Bowl. But he committed to rejoin one of his former special teams coordinators in Arizona on Wednesday night.
It sounds like Tarell Basham is heading to Dallas. Agent Aaron Henderson tweets that the free agent edge defender is signing with the Cowboys (Twitter link). It’s a two-year deal worth up to $6.5MM, according to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter).
Basham spent the past two-plus seasons with the Jets, starting 12 games for the organization. He had a career year in 2020, finishing with 36 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and three forced fumbles in 16 games (nine starts).
The 2017 third-round pick out of Ohio spent the first year-plus of his career with the Colts. In total, he’s appeared in 58 career games, collecting 7.5 sacks, nine tackles for loss, and 23 QB hits.
The Cowboys have been busy adding to their defensive line today, inking a pair of free agents in Brent Urban and Carlos Watkins.
After trading their center of the past six years, the Raiders appear to have settled on a replacement. They are signing former Texans snapper Nick Martin, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Martin’s work will not remind most of Rodney Hudson‘s, with the since-traded center being a three-time Pro Bowler. Still, the Raiders figure to save substantially by replacing Hudson with Martin.
Transitioning to their Nick Caserio regime, the Texans cut Martin after he spent the past four seasons as their starting center. While he did not fare as well as Hudson did in this span, Martin did receive an $11MM-per-year extension from the previous Texans regime. Martin will attempt to rebound in Las Vegas.
The Raiders have made some interesting decisions this week. Their three highest-paid O-linemen — Hudson, right tackle Trent Brown and longtime right guard Gabe Jackson — are gone. The team has since re-signed Richie Incognito after cutting him, and brought back the player who replaced Incognito post-injury last season, Denzelle Good. Las Vegas appears to still have a hole at right tackle, but the other four spots along its offensive line may be set.
However, third-year blocker Andre James may factor into the equation at center. This should be considered James’ job to lose, Vic Tafur of The Athletic tweets. While Martin has a massive experience edge (62 starts to one), he might not be a lock to start in Vegas.
The Seahawks reached an agreement to retain their starting center. Ethan Pocic will stay in Seattle on a one-year deal worth $3MM, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
A former second-round pick, Pocic has seen action at both guard and center as a pro. He opened the 2019 season as a Seattle starter but saw a back injury derail his season. The veteran blocker bounced back in 2020 and now has a deal to return in 2021.
Pocic started 14 games at center for the Seahawks last season. This re-signing is bringing Seattle’s 2021 O-line picture into focus. They have acquired experienced guard Gabe Jackson via trade from the Raiders and now have Pocic back. Tackles Duane Brown and Brandon Shell are under contract for 2021, and Jackson guard mate Damien Lewis is entrenched as a starter after a solid rookie season.
Pocic’s return, after a season in which Pro Football Focus graded him 26th overall among centers, may not move the needle for Russell Wilson. But it remains to be seen if the quarterback, who let it be known he wanted the Seahawks to do better to bolster their O-line, will be satisfied with Jackson being added to the mix.
Josh Allen is now eligible for an extension, but it doesn’t sound like the Bills are currently prioritizing a long-term pact for the franchise quarterback. During an appearance on The Cris Collinsworth Podcast, general manager Brandon Beane admitted that his team was focused on free agency and the draft.
“Yeah, [Allen] said he was going to give us a nice hometown discount, and hopefully we’ll get him done,” Beane joked (via Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com). “No, in all seriousness, we’ll talk to Josh and his people later in the spring, get through the draft where we can just focus on that. That’s obviously a big financial commitment that you have to make. That will probably be sometime May through the summer. I don’t know.”
In other words, the Bills are obviously going to explore an extension with their star quarterback, but there are more pressing matters at the moment. We heard similarly earlier this year, when NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reported that the Bills would likely approach Allen’s camp about an extension in the spring or summer.
Allen had a breakout campaign in 2020, transforming into an MVP candidate and guiding the Bills to 13 wins. He finished the year having completed 69.2-percent of his passes for 4,544 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, and he added another 421 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. He also helped lead the Bills to the AFC Championship Game, the organization’s first appearance in the game since 1993.
With the 24-year-old passer under team control through 2022 — via the fifth-year option the Bills will exercise by May — the team will have some time to complete this process. Considering some of the recent quarterback deals that have been handed out, Allen will certainly be eyeing a lucrative pay day when he inevitably puts pen to paper.
The Bills are locking up a key special teamer. Buffalo has re-signed running back Taiwan Jones to a one-year deal, the team announced on Twitter.
It’s fair to assume that the contract is for pretty close to the league minimum. Jones played only four total snaps on offense last year, but played around 40 percent of the total special teams snaps. Jones will turn 33 in July, and the veteran has done a nice job of sticking around in the league for what will be his 11th pro season in the fall.
He entered the league as a fourth-round pick all the way back in 2011, and managed to carve out a career despite never carrying the ball more than 16 times in a season. He also was the Raiders’ kick returner for a couple of years, and had 829 return yards in 2015, which was the most in the AFC.
After his first six seasons with the Raiders he was with the Bills from 2017-18, then spent a year with the Texans, before returning to Buffalo last season.