2021 March - Pro Football Rumors

Eagles, Jason Kelce Agree To New Deal

March 5th, 2021 at 10:57am CST by Zachary Links

Jason Kelce isn’t going anywhere. On Friday, the center agreed to a new deal that will keep him with the Birds for 2021 (via Kelce, on Instagram).

The new deal will give Kelce up to $12MM in 2021, with $9MM guaranteed. It’s not immediately clear whether additional years have been added to the pact. Technically speaking, Kelce was already under contract through the 2024 season, though the 22-24 seasons are voidable. This isn’t the first time that Kelce has met the Eagles in the middle. The aforementioned void years were added in 2019, to reduce his cap charge by about $4MM.

Kelce, 34 in November, went from a sixth-round pick to an offensive line staple. Over the years, he’s made 142 starts for the Eagles while earning three first-team All-Pro nods. In 2019, he graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 1 center for his work across 1,227 snaps. Last year, Kelce flirted with retirement, but ultimately decided to come back for another year. That means giving up his brief stint in the world of professional arm wrestling, though he left the sport with a perfect 2-0 record.

Bengals Release B.J. Finney

March 5th, 2021 at 9:24am CST by Zachary Links

The Bengals have released center B.J. Finney, per a club announcement. Finney came over to the Bengals in last year’s Carlos Dunlap trade but only wound up dressing for one game.

The Bengals are looking to remake their offensive line this year after watching rookie quarterback Joe Burrow get battered. Even before the season started, the O-Line was viewed as a major liability. Then, in Week 11, he suffered a torn ACL and MCL. Historically, they haven’t spent big on the front five, but you can expect that to change once free agency opens. Or, they could turn to the trade market, where high-priced veterans like Giants guard Kevin Zeitler and Jaguars guard Andrew Norwell could be up for grabs.

While most clubs are facing a cap crunch, the Bengals are well-positioned to spend. Even before the release of Finney, they were projected to have upwards of $40MM in room, depending on the final cap figure. Now, the center is free to go where ever he wants, and that could lead to a Pittsburgh return.

Washington Releases Alex Smith

March 5th, 2021 at 8:58am CST by Zachary Links

As expected, the Washington Football Team has released Alex Smith. Even after Smith defied the odds in his comeback return, the WFT was unwilling to keep him and his sizable cap hit.

Smith’s return from a horrific 2018 leg injury was one of 2020 feel-good stories. Washington went 5-1 in his starts and managed to win the NFC East with Smith at the helm. Smith worked tirelessly to get back on the field, but Ron Rivera and the rest of the regime didn’t necessarily want him back.

“When I decided to come back, I definitely threw a wrench in the team’s plan,” Smith said recently. “They didn’t see it, didn’t want me there, didn’t want me to be a part of it, didn’t want me to be on the team, the roster, didn’t want to give me a chance.”

“They tried to put me on PUP for two weeks, then they tried to IR me. I felt like I still hadn’t had my fair shake at that point. I wanted to see if I could play quarterback and play football, and I feel like I hadn’t been given that opportunity yet to find that out.”

By releasing Smith, Washington will save $14.7MM this offseason. Meanwhile, they’ll carry $8.6MM in dead money.

In the interest of equal time: Smith’s on-field performance didn’t quite justify his salary. In 2020, he threw for six touchdowns against eight interceptions with a 78.5 QB rating.

Darius Slay Gives Eagles $9MM+ In Cap Room

March 5th, 2021 at 8:50am CST by Zachary Links

The Eagles have an extra $9.14MM to work with this offseason, thanks to Darius Slay. The cornerback has agreed to a simple contract restructure, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter).

Slay inked a three-year, $50MM extension with the Eagles shortly after last year’s blockbuster trade. With today’s move, Slay’s cap hits will grow over the course of the deal, which runs through 2023.

In 15 games last year, the 30-year-old notched 59 tackles, one interception, and six passes defensed. It wasn’t his strongest year, but it wasn’t a banner year for most on the Eagles’ defense either. In his final Lions season, Slay was a Pro Bowler for the third straight time. His best season to date came in 2017 when he came away with a league-high eight interceptions and an eye-popping 26 passes defensed.

The Eagles’ work is far from done — they’re still on track to be well over the 2021 salary cap, which will fall somewhere above $180MM.

Jaguars’ OL Andrew Norwell, Giants’ OL Kevin Zeitler On The Trade Block?

March 4th, 2021 at 10:27pm CST by Ben Levine

A pair of veteran offensive linemen are apparently on the trade block, but it’s sounding like there may not be any takers. Jason La Canfora is hearing that the Jaguars are shopping offensive guard Andrew Norwell, while the Giants are trying to move offensive guard Kevin Zeitler (Twitter link). The reporter adds that rival teams believe these two linemen will ultimately be released, at which time they’ll “generate significant interest” around the NFL.

Norwell parlayed his first-team All-Pro nod with the Panthers into a five-year, $66.5MM deal with the Jaguars in 2018. While the veteran hasn’t matched his production from that standout campaign, he’s still been a dependable presence on Jacksonville’s line over the past three years. The organization’s decision to shop (and, presumably, eventually move on from) Norwell is mostly financial; the veteran has a cap hit of $15MM in 2021 and $16MM in 2022, and cutting him would leave manageable dead cap hits of $6MM in 2021 and $3MM in 2022.

Zeitler, a former first-round pick, spent the first five seasons of his career with the Bengals, including a 2012 campaign where he earned All-Rookie Team honors from the Pro Football Writers Association. He inked a five-year, $60MM deal with the Browns in 2017, making him the highest-paid guard in the NFL. He spent a pair of seasons in Cleveland before getting dealt to the Giants as a part of the Odell Beckham trade.

The 30-year-old has played the past two seasons in New York, appearing in all but one game. The veteran has a $14.5MM cap hit in the final year of his contract, and the Giants would be left with only $2.5MM in dead cap if they decided to cut him.

P Michael Palardy To Visit Bills

March 4th, 2021 at 9:56pm CST by Ben Levine

Michael Palardy has secured his first reported visit since getting dumped by the Panthers last month. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that the veteran punter will be visiting the Bills tomorrow.

After bouncing around the league a bit to start his career, Palardy joined the Panthers back in 2016. He took on the full-time role in 2017, and he proceeded to appear in every game for Carolina over the next three years. However, the 28-year-old tore his ACL during the offseason, forcing him to miss the entire 2020 campaign. With one year remaining on his three-year, $7.52MM deal, the Panthers decided to save some cash and move on from the punter back in February.

Schefter notes that the punter is seven months removed from surgery and is expected to be ready for the regular season. Considering Palardy’s pedigree, it’s not a huge surprise that he’s already garnering interest from around the league. Plus, Bills GM Brandon Beane was in Carolina when the team initially signed the punter, so there’s some familiarity from that standpoint.

On the flip side, the Bills seemingly have a solution at punter in Corey Bojorquez. The 2018 undrafted free agent out of New Mexico has appeared in every game for Buffalo over the past two seasons, and despite the Bills finishing with a league-low 41 punters, Bojorquez managed to lead the NFL in average punt yardage (50.8). Bojorquez is set to hit restricted free agency this offseason, so the Bills are likely exploring their options before fully committing to the 24-year-old.

Mike Mayock: Raiders ‘Couldn’t Be Happier’ With Derek Carr

March 4th, 2021 at 6:43pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

There’s been a lot of buzz this offseason, just like the last couple of offseasons, that the Raiders could move on from Derek Carr. That includes a report from about a month ago that a number of teams had called about Carr, and that Las Vegas was at least willing to listen on those calls.

Nothing much has happened since then though, and Raiders GM Mike Mayock recently sought to squash the speculation. “I think Derek Carr has earned a lot of respect around this league from an awful lot of people,” Mayock told reporters this week, via Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com.

“I think Derek Carr had his best year yet, under Jon Gruden. I think he’s one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL and we couldn’t be happier with him,” he continued. “If you’re asking me about Derek, I think Jon and I would both stand shoulder to shoulder and pound the table for Derek Carr.”

If you’ve followed the NFL for long enough you’ve probably gotten pretty good at parsing out what’s GM-speak and what’s real, and Mayock’s comments sounded pretty emphatic and borderline definitive. He definitely didn’t do the kiss of death hedge or the “he’s our quarterback right now” that have become so popular in recent years.

At this point it seems like if a Raiders quarterback is going to get traded it’ll be Marcus Mariota, not Carr. Mariota showed well during his brief appearance in place of an injured Carr late in the season, but although there was some interest at first those talks have reportedly cooled recently as well.

Chiefs’ Anthony Sherman Retires From NFL

March 4th, 2021 at 6:11pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

A big part of these recent Andy Reid era Chiefs teams has been fullback Anthony Sherman, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be back in Kansas City in 2021. Sherman appeared to announce his retirement in a video he posted to Twitter.

In the brief video, Sherman thanked Kansas City and said it was “on to the next chapter,” using the hashtag ‘retirement.’ A fifth-round pick of the Cardinals back in 2011, Sherman spent his first two years in Arizona before getting traded to the Chiefs prior to the 2013 season. He spent the next eight years as Kansas City’s fullback, and only missed three total games in that span.

He never played a huge role on offense, usually only getting a handful of receptions and rushing attempts per season. But he was solid as a lead blocker and played a big role on special teams, even making the Pro Bowl in 2018.

He’ll wrap up his impressive ten-year career with 66 catches for 552 yards and four touchdowns, and 28 carries for 73 yards and another score. He of course won Super Bowl LIV with the team, and all of us here at PFR wish Sherman the best in retirement.

Broncos GM On Von Miller, Drew Lock, Phillip Lindsay

March 4th, 2021 at 5:34pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

George Paton is the Broncos’ new GM, and he’s got his work cut out for him during his first offseason at the helm. Several big decisions loom, including what to do with Von Miller and at quarterback. Speaking to the media Thursday, Paton got into all that and more.

We’ve heard that the Broncos are preparing to franchise tag safety Justin Simmons for the second year in a row, but it sounds like they really want to get an extension done. “Justin is one of our core guys. Our goal is to sign him to a long-term deal,” Paton said, via a tweet from Troy Renck of ABC Denver 7. Simmons seems to be on the same page, reiterating in a recent interview with Sirius XM NFL radio (Twitter link) that he wants to be with the Broncos for the future. “It seems like Denver wants me back, and I want to be there,” Simmons said in part.

As for Miller, he’s got an option that guarantees him significant money that needs to be picked up by March 16th. We’ve heard the team wants him to take a bit of a pay-cut to return in 2021, and Paton said that he’s still working through the details of the option with his agent. “We want to bring Von back. Obviously the legal process, it’s a serious situation. I don’t know all the details. But respect what’s going on. But we do want Von back.” Paton was referring of course to the legal investigation that stems from allegations made by his ex-fiancee. Even with that looming, it sounds like Paton wants to keep the franchise icon in the fold if the financials can work.

Phillip Lindsay is a restricted free agent since he’s a former UDFA, and Paton said the team wants him back as well. “Phillip’s a good player, very passionate. Obviously had some injuries last year. He’s a good player, brings energy, brings juice. He’s a restricted free agent, we do plan on tendering him. I’m not sure what level but we want Phillip here,” he said, via Mike Klis of Denver 9 News (Twitter link).

Meanwhile, Klis writes that fellow restricted free agent receiver Tim Patrick is expected to get a second-round tender from the Broncos. That would pay him around $3.4MM in 2021. Patrick is coming off a career year where he had 746 yards and six touchdowns. If the team decides $3.4MM is too steep for Lindsay as a split-time running back, they’d tender him at the original-round level, which would mean a team signing him to an offer sheet wouldn’t have to give up any draft pick.

Finally, Paton also talked about the elephant in the room, Drew Lock and his job security. “Obviously did a deep dive with Drew. Very talented, was inconsistent at times. Has a lot to work on. I’ve spoken with Drew, he’s here every day. He’s here early. He really wants to be great,” Paton said, before adding “we’re always going to try and bring in competition at every position and quarterback as well. But I like the track that Drew is on,” Klis tweets.

Those certainly don’t sound like the words of someone who’s committed to Lock as his 2021 starter. Things are up in the air, but we should continue to expect Denver to sniff around potential upgrades while having Lock as the fall-back option if nothing falls into their laps.

Eagles Won’t Tender P Cameron Johnston

March 4th, 2021 at 4:27pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We’re going to see a lot of tough decisions being made over the next week, and the Eagles in particular have their hands tied due to a terrible cap situation. Because of their cap issues, Philly isn’t tendering restricted free agent punter Cameron Johnston, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). It’s a busy day for punters, as this news comes on the heels of the Saints releasing Thomas Morstead.

Johnston will now become an unrestricted free agent that’s free to sign anywhere without the Eagles having the chance to match an offer sheet. Rapoport says that Johnston “should have an active market.” A native of Australia, Johnston came to the United States to go to school at Ohio State after failing to make it as an Aussie Football player.

After getting cut in 2017 he made the roster in 2018, and has been the Eagles’ punter in each of the past three seasons. This move doesn’t mean that Philadelphia won’t still end up bringing him back for 2021, Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com tweets.

The Eagles can get their cap space under control and then re-sign Johnston, although now they’ll have to bid against an open market. Johnston has been very solid but not spectacular, so it’s not like he’s going to land an eye-popping deal in a tight free agent market.