2021 March - Pro Football Rumors

Browns, CB Troy Hill Agree To Deal

March 18th, 2021 at 4:29pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Browns have now received multiple commitments from ex-Rams secondary starters this week. Following their agreement with safety John Johnson, the Browns are signing cornerback Troy Hill, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

A multiyear starter in Los Angeles, Hill will come to Cleveland on a four-year, $24MM contract. Hill will join Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams as the Browns’ top corners. Assuming the Browns pick up Ward’s fifth-year option, all three will be signed through at least 2022.

Hill, 29, has experience as a boundary and slot corner, giving the Browns options. He also stands to provide insurance after Williams missed all of last season with an injury.

The Browns brought in Kevin Johnson on a one-year deal in 2020, but the former first-round pick has not been re-signed. Born in northeast Ohio but having gone to high school in southern California, Hill will return to his home state after multiple productive seasons with the Rams.

Last season, the Rams used Hill on 95% of their defensive snaps — well up from his 2019 usage — and he graded as a top-30 corner, per Pro Football Focus. Hill intercepted three passes last season and returned two of those picks for touchdowns. In 2019, Hill allowed opposing QBs to collectively amass a 61.3 passer rating and complete just 45% of their passes when targeting him. He stands to help a Browns defense that rated 25th in DVOA last season.

The Rams turned to Hill as a key cog, with the team having traded Marcus Peters to the Ravens during the 2019 season. Hill, however, played five seasons with Los Angeles and started 39 games. He and Johnson will arrive on long-term contracts, which run counter to GM Andrew Berry‘s strategy a year ago. In 2020, Berry supplemented his rookie-deal troops with the likes of Johnson, Andrew Sendejo and Karl Joseph in the secondary. The second-year GM opted to devote more significant resources to the secondary this year.

Titans To Re-Sign T Ty Sambrailo

March 18th, 2021 at 4:27pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Titans have seen their right tackle plans change considerably over the past year. They will retain a veteran with experience at this spot, however.

Ty Sambrailo reached an agreement to stay with Tennessee, according to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo (on Twitter). Sambrailo played in 10 Titans games, making five starts, last season.

The journeyman blocker’s return may be more impactful now. The Titans have traded would-be Jack Conklin successor Isaiah Wilson to the Dolphins, and they released Dennis Kelly — their 16-game right tackle starter last season — earlier this week. Sambrailo has played most of his career at right tackle, but he was called upon to play left tackle last season after Taylor Lewan‘s injury.

A former second-round Broncos pick who was initially tabbed to be their Week 1 left tackle starter in Peyton Manning‘s final season, Sambrailo has spent most of his career with the Falcons. He joined the Titans last year, doing so after he spent four seasons as the Falcons’ swing tackle.

It is not certain the Titans will ask Sambrailo to start, but the 28-year-old blocker may be counted on given the franchise’s developments at right tackle.

Patriots To Re-Sign K Nick Folk

March 18th, 2021 at 4:24pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Patriots have added plenty of free agents from outside the organization this week, but they’re also keeping some of their own guys. New England is re-signing kicker Nick Folk to a one-year deal, a source told Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Yates reports that it comes with $1.225MM guaranteed. Meanwhile, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets that the deal has a $1.625MM base value, comes with a $125K signing bonus, and can be worth up to $2.5MM with incentives. After Stephen Gostkowski missed most of the 2019 season and was then released, the Pats have had a bit of an unstable kicking situation the past couple years.

They cycled through a few options, but now may have solved things with Folk. The former Cowboys and Jets kicker was out of the league for a little bit, and even spent some time with the Arizona Hotshots of the ill-fated AAF. He latched on for a handful of games with New England in 2019, then was signed again last August.

He ended up kicking in all 16 games last year, making 26 of 28 field goal attempts and 30 of 33 extra point attempts. Folk turned 36 in November.

Raiders To Re-Sign Theo Riddick

March 18th, 2021 at 4:22pm CST by Sam Robinson

Despite agreeing to terms with Kenyan Drake, the Raiders are keeping Theo Riddick. They reached an agreement to re-sign the veteran passing-down back, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

It is a one-year deal that does not provide much assurance Riddick will make the Raiders’ 53-man roster, with Yates adding only $50K of the pact is guaranteed. But the Raiders do have Riddick in their plans, for the time being.

Riddick, 30 in May, played a small role in six Raider games last season. The former Lions outlet option totaled 57 yards on 11 touches last season. This came after Riddick spent a year on the Broncos’ IR after suffering an injury during the preseason.

Riddick made a lot of noise with Detroit from 2013-18, mostly as a pass-catching specialist and checkdown artist for Matthew Stafford. He’ll slot in (for now) behind Drake and Josh Jacobs on the depth chart. His best season was in 2015, when he had 697 yards through the air, although he hasn’t made much of an impact since leaving the Motor City.

NFL Investigating Allegations Against Deshaun Watson

March 18th, 2021 at 4:16pm CST by Sam Robinson

Three women are accusing Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual assault, and the NFL is investigating the claims. NFL special counsel for investigations Lisa Friel confirmed to Tony Buzbee, the attorney representing the women who have accused Watson, that the league is investigating this matter.

“I became aware of the lawsuits you filed yesterday, as well as the one you filed this morning, which contain various allegations of misconduct by Houston Texans player Deshaun Watson,” Friel wrote in a letter deemed confidential, which Buzbee shared in a since-deleted Instagram post (via the Houston Chronicle’s Matt Young).

“I am writing to let you know that the League has opened an investigation into these allegations and to request the cooperation of your clients in our investigation. Such cooperation would begin with engaging in Zoom interviews with myself and another League investigator at which, of course, you would be present.”

Three massage therapists have filed suit against the 25-year-old quarterback alleging sexual assault. The third accuser alleges Watson forced her to perform oral sex. Watson denies any wrongdoing and has hired attorney Rusty Hardin to represent him, Young reports. The Texans released a statement indicating they are cooperating with the investigation.

Watson is a three-time Pro Bowler who is already a central component of the NFL offseason. The star quarterback has requested a trade from the Texans, who signed him to a $39MM-per-year extension last summer. The Texans have insisted they will not trade Watson. This investigation may pause the trade rumors attached to Watson.

Latest On Patriots, Stephon Gilmore

March 18th, 2021 at 4:09pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We heard a couple days ago that Stephon Gilmore might be back on the trade block, but don’t count on the Patriots cornerback going anywhere anytime soon.

The Patriots “are not actively shopping” Gilmore, Jeff Howe of The Athletic writes. He acknowledges that Gilmore “has come up in trade conversations over the past year,” but says “nothing has ever come close to materializing.” He added rather firmly “that’s remained the case of late. If Gilmore’s name has come up in any discussions, it hasn’t been a result of the Patriots trying to unload him.”

It sounds like other interested teams might be calling the Patriots, but not the other way around. The 2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year is entering the final season of his contract, which has led many to speculate New England could try to deal him now and cash in with draft picks if they don’t think they’ll be able to re-sign him.

But it shouldn’t be treated as a foregone conclusion that Bill Belichick won’t pay up to lock him up with another long-term deal. To the contrary, Howe thinks the fact that they aren’t actively shopping him might mean “there’s some level of belief the two sides can get something done.”

Needless to say given his recent accolades, Gilmore will be looking for a big payday when he hits the open market at the age of 31 next offseason. Despite playing in only 11 games, the former Bill made the Pro Bowl yet again this past year. New England does usually prefer to get rid of players too early rather than too late, so it certainly wouldn’t be surprising if they trade him before the start of the year or let him walk next March.

Dolphins, Chris Carson Close To Deal?

March 18th, 2021 at 3:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

Shortly after adding Will Fuller to their receiving corps, the Dolphins are believed to be in discussions to make a big splash in their backfield.

They are discussing a deal with Chris Carson, with the Pro Football Network indicating those talks are on the cusp of producing a contract agreement (Twitter link). Carson has played all four seasons of his career with the Seahawks, and despite being a seventh-round pick, he held Seattle’s starting job for most of his rookie contract.

The Dolphins have their own seventh-round success story, in Myles Gaskin, and made a move to add ex-Rams contributor Malcolm Brown this week. It would then be interesting to see the team add two veterans to its backfield. It is unclear if the Seahawks are engaged in substantial discussions with Carson. They are believed to have an offer out to Leonard Fournette, however.

Carson has two 1,100-yard rushing seasons on his resume, amassing those totals in 2018 and ’19, but is coming off an injury-limited 2020. That stands to affect his market. But the three-year Seattle starter did average 4.8 yards per carry last season. The Seahawks have already lost Carlos Hyde and have Rashaad Penny coming off a season in which he barely played due to a 2019 knee injury.

Lions To Sign Charles Harris

March 18th, 2021 at 3:34pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Lions are adding an interesting piece to their defense. Detroit is signing defensive end Charles Harris, a source told Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Harris is well known for being the 22nd overall pick of the Dolphins in the 2017 draft. He didn’t pan out in Miami from the jump, and was traded to the Falcons in May of last year for a seventh-round pick. He had the highest sack total of his career in Atlanta, registering three in 13 games while playing just under 27 percent of the defensive snaps.

The Lions finished with just 24 sacks as a team last year, tied for sixth-fewest in the league, so they can use all the pass-rushing flyers they can get. Harris was a first-round pick for a reason and just turned 26 earlier this month, so it’s a decent low-risk signing for a rebuilding team that could pay dividends if he ever unlocks his potential.

Detroit just re-signed Romeo Okwara to a big deal to be their top edge rusher, but they don’t have much besides him at the position other than Trey Flowers, who only played in seven games last year. There’s a path to real playing time for Harris if he earns it.

Bears Showed Interest In Ryan Fitzpatrick

March 18th, 2021 at 3:34pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Bears landed their post-Mitchell Trubisky quarterback, with recent acquisition Andy Dalton indicating Thursday he was told he would be the team’s starter next season (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Adam Jahns). But they held discussions with at least one other option as well.

Ryan Fitzpatrick said Thursday more than three teams expressed interest in him this offseason, via Pro Football Talk, and Sirius XM Radio’s Adam Caplan notes the Bears were one of those teams (Twitter link). The Broncos were also connected to Fitz, though reports of the team having conversations with the ex-Dolphins passer before the legal tampering period would indeed constitute tampering. So it is uncertain if any talks between the Broncos and the 16-year veteran passer transpired.

Washington signed Fitzpatrick, agreeing to terms with him a day before Dalton committed to the Bears. Dalton has a key connection with the Bears, with the team employing ex-Bengals offensive coordinator Bill Lazor as its OC. But Fitz has shown over the past three seasons he still has some intriguing capabilities left, despite being 38.

Chicago still has Nick Foles on its roster as well, with his reworked contract now expiring after the 2021 season. While it perhaps should not be ruled out the Bears will load up again for another round of Russell Wilson trade talks, the organization had multiple fallback options this week. Dalton will be the one to suit up for the team next season.

Patriots To Sign Montravius Adams

March 18th, 2021 at 3:09pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Patriots have been the big spenders of the first week of free agency, and they aren’t done yet. New England is signing defensive end Montravius Adams, his agent Drew Rosenhaus tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

It’s a one-year pact worth up to $2.5MM, Schefter reports. As he notes, it’s the fifth deal that Rosenhaus has done with the Pats this week. Adams comes to the Patriots from Green Bay, where he didn’t get much playing time but apparently flashed enough promise. A third-round pick out of Auburn in 2017, Adams appeared in only eight games this past year with no starts, making 11 tackles and no sacks.

He played 12.6 percent of the defensive snaps total, so about 25 percent in the eight games he played. He started two games in 2019 and one the year before. He has just 1.5 sacks in his career. It’s not as splashy as some of their other signings, but the defensive front was a weakness for the Patriots last year and Bill Belicihck is leaving no stone unturned in improving it. Adams is still only 25.