HEADLINES

Month: November 2024

Lions Re-Sign Romeo Okwara

March 15th, 2021 at 11:54am CST by Zachary Links

The Lions have re-signed edge rusher Romeo Okwara to a three-year deal worth $39MM (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Okwara’s deal will become official later in the week and will bring him $25MM upon signing. 

Okwara posted a career-high ten sacks last year, setting himself up for a sizable pay day. His profile has been rising since 2018, when he recorded 7.5 sacks in his first year as a starter. He wasn’t able to match that in his 2019 encore, but he rebounded with perfect timing in 2020.

Similar to Shaquil Barrett — who just scored a $72MM deal from the Bucs — Okwara was hardly known just a few years ago. He missed the Giants’ 53-man cut in ’18, but he’s now going to earn eight figures per annum in Detroit.

Okwara may have sacrificed some potential upside by skipping the open market, but he has ample security in a system that works for him. He also gets to continue playing with his little brother, Julian Okwara.

Buccaneers Re-Sign Shaq Barrett

March 15th, 2021 at 11:38am CST by Zachary Links

Piece by piece, Bucs are keeping the band together. Edge rusher Shaquil Barrett has agreed to re-sign on a four-year deal worth as much as $72MM (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The deal includes $36MM fully guaranteed and, remarkably, will carry a minuscule $5.6MM cap hit in 2021. 

As a free agent in 2019, Barrett received tepid interest. Offers came only from the Bucs and Bengals, and Barrett signed a one-year, $4MM Bucs pact. The Bucs tagged him last year, following his franchise-record-setting 19.5-sack season. Barrett will turn 29 later this year and seized his chance to secure a lucrative long-term deal.

Barrett’s rise through the football ranks has been meteoric. He started as a Division II recruit before switching to Colorado State. Then, he turned pro and spent 2014 on the Broncos’ practice squad. By 2015, he found a role in the Broncos’ defense.

After the 2019 tag, Barrett recorded eight 2020 regular season sacks and added four in the playoffs. He also finished on a high note, notching eight pressures in Super Bowl LV.

Barrett’s deal carries a base value of $68MM over the four-year stretch. The other $4MM can be earned off of escalators. If Barrett reached 15 sacks and the Bucs make the playoffs, he’ll add another $1MM to his forthcoming yearly salary. The average value of $18MM/year is solid, though several ticks behind Joey Bosa and Myles Garrett who will have ~$25MM/ year.

The Bucs have been busy this month, re-signing inside linebacker Lavonte David and deploying franchise tag on wide receiver Chris Godwin. They also reached a one-year extension with quarterback Tom Brady to free up additional space — he’ll carry a lighter cap hit in 2021 with voidable years in 2023 and beyond.

Details On Anthony Barr’s New Vikings Deal

March 15th, 2021 at 10:25am CST by Zachary Links

Anthony Barr has agreed to a pay cut in exchange for a shorter contract. Now, the linebacker will make a fully guaranteed $9.4MM in 2021 — a, plus $500K in per-game roster bonuses and a $100K workout bonus (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). 

Originally, Barr was set to make $12.9M this year with a deal running through 2023. Now, he’ll be eligible for free agency in March of 2022. In turn, the Vikings will clear $2.9MM in cap space.

Barr, who turns 29 this week, made the Pro Bowl every year between 2015 and 2018. However, a torn pec limited him to just two games last year and many believed that the Vikings would release him this offseason to gain some much-need cap space. Barr hasn’t been stellar on his five-year, $67.5MM contract, but he has an opportunity to cash in all over again. When healthy and at his best, the former No. 9 overall pick is among the best linebackers in the league.

Roughly two years ago today, Barr flip-flopped on the Jets to stay in Minnesota. The Jets then parlayed that money into an ill-fated deal with Le’Veon Bell.

Vikings Won’t Tender Chad Beebe

March 15th, 2021 at 9:41am CST by Zachary Links

The Vikings will not extend a restricted free agency tender to wide receiver Chad Beebe, as Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press tweets. However, the Vikes are still interested in bringing him back at a lesser rate. 

[RELATED: Vikings’ Barr Takes Pay-Cut, Will Become FA After 2021]

Minnesota could have tendered the former undrafted free agent at $2.133MM, but that wouldn’t have fetched them anything in the event of a signed offer sheet. Now, Beebe is unfettered and free to strike a handshake deal with any team during the legal tampering period.

Beebe had 20 catches 201 yards and two touchdowns in 2020, including a game-winner against the Panthers (to erase his earlier muffed punt). He’s not one of the Vikings’ leading receivers, but he would provide the team with consistency and depth. As it stands, they’re pretty thin at WR beyond Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson.

Meanwhile, the Vikings have some extra coin to work with after Anthony Barr agreed to restructure his deal.

Jets Interested In Corey Linsley, Joe Thuney

March 15th, 2021 at 8:42am CST by Zachary Links

The Jets missed out on Kevin Zeitler and they won’t have an opportunity to speak with Andrew Norwell. However, they have two other interior linemen on their list. The Jets are expected to pursue center Corey Linsley and guard Joe Thuney, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com (Twitter link). 

The Jets were said to be keenly interested in Thuney last week with plans to call him bright and early on Monday morning. The Patriots declined to tag him again, making him an unfettered free agent. A second-team All-Pro in 2019 and a key part of the Patriots’ most recent Super Bowl wins, Thuney is regarded as one of the better guards in the NFL.

Linsley, meanwhile, was a First-Team All-Pro for his work with the Packers last season. It’s expected that he’ll approach or best Ryan Kelly‘s $12.4MM per-year average, so either player would be mighty costly for the Jets. Still, the offensive line is a long-standing need for Gang Green, so they’re willing to spend the big bucks.

Jaguars’ Andrew Norwell Takes Pay Cut

March 15th, 2021 at 8:27am CST by Zachary Links

Andrew Norwell is staying put. On Monday, the veteran guard agreed to restructure his existing contract into a one-year deal with $9MM fully guaranteed (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). Through bonuses, Norwell can earn up to $12MM in 2021. 

Norwell earned first-team All-Pro honors with the Panthers, paving the way to a five-year, $66.5MM Jaguars deal in 2018. At the time, the deal made him the highest paid guard in the league.

He hasn’t reprised that performance yet, leading the Jaguars to shop him this offseason. There were no takers for the remainder of that deal, so the two sides went to the bargaining table. Norwell will give the Jaguars some relief and, in exchange, he’ll get to hit the open market one year earlier.

Norwell was limited to eleven games in 2018 as he dealt with an ankle injury. On the plus side, he’s been mostly healthy over the last two years. He played/started 16 games in 2019 and missed only three games last year.

The restructuring takes one item off of the Jaguars’ to-do list, freeing them to shop for other needs, including running back.

Ravens To Sign Kevin Zeitler

March 15th, 2021 at 8:16am CST by Zachary Links

The Ravens have agreed to sign former Giants guard Kevin Zeitler (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). Once official, it’ll be a three-year, $22.5MM pact with $16MM in guaranteed money. 

[RELATED: Ravens Re-Sign Pernell McPhee]

The Giants dropped Zeitler last week to save about $9.6MM in cap space. The Giants shopped Zeitler before releasing him, but interested teams like the Ravens stayed patient because they expected him to get cut.

Zeitler was the Giants’ best offensive lineman, so the move was more about finances than football. The Ravens, meanwhile, get to fill the longstanding void left by Marshal Yanda‘s 2020 retirement. Tyre Phillips, Patrick Mekari, and Ben Powers all tried their hand at right guard, but no one in that trio was able to replace Yanda’s protection.

The Ravens said they’d prioritize blocking for Lamar Jackson this offseason and Zeitler goes a long way towards addressing that need. Over the last three years, Pro Football Focus has Zeitler ranked as the 17th best guard in the NFL. He’s also been reliable with at least 15 starts in each of the past six seasons.

Kyle Long To Visit Raiders, Chiefs

March 14th, 2021 at 9:59pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We heard recently that Kyle Long was planning on playing in 2021, and now we know he’s serious about it. The recently un-retired offensive lineman will visit the Raiders and then Chiefs this week, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Schefter reports that Long will be in Las Vegas on Monday before heading to Kansas City. As he points out Long’s father, Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long, played his entire 13-year career with the Raiders, so this would be a cool continuation of a family legacy. Long retired in January of 2020, but one season away from the game was enough to satisfy his body.

Drafted 20th overall by the Bears in 2013, Long made the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons before injuries quickly derailed his career. Over the past four seasons he never appeared in more than 10 games for Chicago, and played only four most recently in 2019.

Now apparently fully healthy, he’s ready to get back on the gridiron, and both of these teams make sense as potential suitors. The Raiders just traded tackle Trent Brown, and cut guards Richie Incognito and Gabe Jackson in the past couple weeks, although Incognito may return on a cheaper deal. The Chiefs have made revamping Patrick Mahomes‘ offensive line a priority this offseason, and they’ve already cut both of their starting tackles and are expected to let their starting center walk.

Long has mostly played guard in the NFL, but did make the Pro Bowl while filling in as the Bears’ right tackle in 2015. It sounds like he could have numerous options to choose from during his first taste of free agency.

Jets To Make ‘Waves’ In Free Agency?

March 14th, 2021 at 9:45pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Free agency is right around the corner, and tonight is like Christmas Eve for NFL fans. The real action will start in the morning, but we’re already starting to get reports about what’s to come. The more we hear, the more it sounds like the Jets are going to be big players in what will be a very interesting market due to the lowering of the salary cap.

We already heard the Jets will pursue Patriots guard Joe Thuney, and that apparently isn’t the only big target they’re interested in. The expectation from sources around the league is that the Jets will “make waves” in free agency, Connor Hughes of The Athletic tweets. GM Joe Douglas is apparently ready to be a big spender, and “there is absolutely no financial restriction on Douglas this offseason,” Hughes writes.

Hughes goes on to say Douglas “has means & green light to build team however he wants. That means pursuing top-tier FAs and giving them top-tier $, if he wants.” In a separate tweet, Hughes says one source told him the Jets “want the big guys.” When asked whether that meant size or money, he replied “both.”

Thuney would certainly fit both of those criteria. Finally, Hughes tweets that while Douglas will be “aggressive,” he won’t be reckless, and that he’ll have “his walk-away numbers.” One source told Hughes that “Joe doesn’t do desperate.”

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