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Month: November 2024

Zach Ertz Won’t Report For Eagles Offseason

May 17th, 2021 at 1:48pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The last update we had on Zach Ertz was a couple of weeks ago, when it looked like things might be headed in the right direction between him and the Eagles. That apparently wasn’t the case.

Philadelphia passed on adding a tight end in the draft, and the chances were starting to look better that he’d stay with the Eagles for 2021. However, Ertz was not among the players who showed up for the start of Phase 2 of Philly’s offseason program, a source told Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).

Further, McLane writes that Ertz “isn’t expected to report for the remainder of the offseason program or until his situation is resolved,” which he says means either being “traded or released.” Ertz was given permission to seek a trade about two months ago, but nothing has materialized.

Although there has reportedly been some interest, no one has been willing to meet GM Howie Roseman’s apparent asking price of a third or fourth-round pick. We’re now in the middle of a stalemate. Ertz, who will turn 31 in November and is coming off a down year, is entering the final year of his contract.

2020 was a big disappointment, but he made three straight Pro Bowls from 2017-19 and has consistently been one of the league’s better tight ends for a while now. We should have another update on him soon, and as of right now it appears unlikely he’ll be catching passes from Jalen Hurts this season.

Cowboys Won’t Sign J.T. Barrett, Brady Davis

May 17th, 2021 at 12:54pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Cowboys brought in a pair of young free agent quarterbacks for tryouts this past week, but it doesn’t sound like either will be getting a contract.

Dallas is not planning on signing either J.T. Barrett or Brady Davis as of right now, veteran beat writer Clarence Hill Jr. tweets. Hill writes they had “less than stellar showings” at the team’s rookie minicamp. Barrett, of course, is well known to college football fans for his long tenure under center at Ohio State. He set many records for the Buckeyes, and was a three-time first-team All-Big Ten honoree.

He’s bounced around practice squads and offseason rosters since going undrafted in 2018. The Cowboys currently don’t have much behind Dak Prescott on the depth chart after Andy Dalton left in free agency, so they may continue kicking the tires on veteran backup options.

As of right now, former AAF star Garrett Gilbert would seem to be the favorite to hold Prescott’s clipboard. Davis is a 2020 UDFA from Illinois State.

Patriots To Sign Alex Redmond, James Ferentz

May 17th, 2021 at 11:49am CST by Zachary Links

The Patriots are set to sign guard Alex Redmond (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). In addition, the Pats have also re-signed center James Ferentz, as ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss tweets. 

Redmond worked out for the Patriots last week, alongside fellow ex-Bengal Dre Kirkpatrick. The cornerback remains a free agent, but Redmond is now in the fold to provide depth on the offensive line. Redmond, 26, first joined Cincy as a UDFA in 2016. In 2018, he found his way to the starting lineup and was first-string for 15 games. Over the last two seasons, he’s made nine starts. Barring an injury, he’ll likely act as a reserve in New England behind Shaq Mason and Michael Onwenu.

Ferentz is the son of Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, a friend of Bill Belichick‘s. Still, the younger Ferentz has earned his playing time, seeing 24 games over the last three years. Previous to that, Ferentz spent time with the Texans and Broncos.

49ers To Sign Marqise Lee

May 17th, 2021 at 10:27am CST by Zachary Links

The 49ers are set to sign former Jags and Pats receiver Marqise Lee (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Barring any snags, the deal should become official before the end of the business day. 

Lee joined the 49ers’ rookie minicamp on a tryout basis over the weekend and quickly earned a contract. It’s a California homecoming for the Long Beach native who made his national mark at USC. His standout career with the Trojans led to him being selected No. 39 overall by the Jaguars in 2014, but he struggled to live up to his draft stock early on.

The wideout compiled only 660 yards from scrimmage and two scores through his first two seasons in the NFL. Then, he managed to carve out a larger role in the offense in 2016 and 2017. During those two years, Lee averaged 59.5 receptions and 776 receiving yards with only three touchdowns per year. Lee went on to land a four-year, $38MM extension from Jacksonville, but he was cut last year after missing most of 2019 with a knee injury.

Lee, 30 in November, caught with the Patriots, but opted out of the 2020 season. New England gave the receiver his walking papers back in March. Now, he’s got a chance to stick behind Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, and Mohamed Sanu.

Minor NFL Transactions: 5/17/21

May 17th, 2021 at 9:42am CST by Zachary Links

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

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Eagles Sign Ryan Kerrigan

May 17th, 2021 at 9:13am CST by Zachary Links

Ryan Kerrigan is staying in the NFC East. On Monday morning, Kerrigan bid farewell to the Washington Football Team. And, minutes later, we learned that he’s agreed to join up with the Eagles (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The Eagles have since confirmed the signing as a one-year deal. 

“I’ll never be able to sum up what these past ten years have meant to me in an Instagram post, but what I can say is that they have been some of the best of my life,” Kerrigan wrote (Instagram link). “I hope you had as much fun watching me as I did playing for you. Thank you, Washington, for everything.”

Up until now, the former first-round pick had spent his entire career in D.C. Along the way, he collected four Pro Bowl nominations and 95.5 sacks to top Dexter Manley for the franchise record. Kerrigan started every game for his first nine seasons with the club. But, last year, he was mostly relegated to a reserve role and notched just 5.5 sacks for Ron Rivera. As a result, it was widely expected that he would move on.

Now, the 32-year-old (33 in August) will suit up for his longtime rival. The Steelers and Bengals (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter) also showed interest, but he felt that the Eagles would be his best fit. Currently, he profiles as the Birds’ No. 4 DE, likely behind Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, and Josh Sweat.

With Kerrigan off the board, other edge-needy teams can still consider the likes of Melvin Ingram, Justin Houston, Everson Griffen, Olivier Vernon, Ezekiel Ansah, Dion Jordan, and Adrian Clayborn.

Bengals To Sign Trent Taylor

May 17th, 2021 at 8:55am CST by Zachary Links

The Bengals are set to sign Trent Taylor (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo). The slot receiver/punt returner auditioned for the club over the weekend and emerged from rookie minicamp with a deal. 

The Niners selected Taylor in the fifth round of the 2017 draft. As a member of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch‘s first class in San Francisco, he showed early promise as a rookie. Unfortunately, he had to undergo back surgery prior to the 2018 season — Taylor says he never felt fully healthy that year. Then, he missed all of the 2019 season.

Taylor returned last year, but recorded just ten grabs for 86 yards in 12 games. On the plus side, he averaged 12.4 yards on his nine punt returns.

Now, he’ll look to get back to his old form with the Bengals. Both sides will be pleased if Taylor’s able to stick on the roster and reprise his 43 grabs for 430 yards and two TDs.

NFC Notes: Bucs, AB, Parsons, Bears

May 16th, 2021 at 9:28pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Antonio Brown just won a Super Bowl and then inked a new one-year deal worth up to $6.25MM with the Buccaneers last month, but his off-field issues don’t appear to be over just yet. The oft-embattled receiver is dealing with yet another lawsuit, Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times writes. As Baker notes, this stems from an already settled criminal case where a moving truck driver alleged assault and battery.

Brown was arrested for the incident last year, and he pleaded no contest in June, receiving two years of probation. Brown broke the driver’s car key and “proceeded to verbally and physically attack (Tumanov), causing severe personal injuries,” the lawsuit, which is seeking more than $30K in damages, alleges. Brown’s attorney issued a statement decrying the suit and painting it as nothing more than cash-grab. Since the criminal matter was already resolved, this shouldn’t have any impact on Brown’s standing with the league or status with the Buccaneers.

Here’s more from around the NFC as we wrap up the week:

  • The Cowboys just drafted Micah Parsons 12th overall, and it sounds like they’re planning a diverse role for the Penn State linebacker. Parsons has been working at middle linebacker so far during the offseason program, Jon Machota of The Athletic tweets. Parsons told the media that coaches plan on using him in the box as more of a run defender on first and second down, and have him rushing the passer on third down. Parsons opted out of the 2020 season, but he had five sacks in 2019, so he definitely has some pass-rush upside. Dallas hasn’t gotten very much pass-rush help from fellow highly drafted linebackers Leighton Vander Esch (1.5 sacks in 35 career games) or Jaylon Smith (nine sacks in 64 career games), so it sounds like they want to do things a bit differently with Parsons.
  • The Bears announced a significant change to their offseason program on Sunday night. Chicago revealed they will “no longer hold” previously scheduled OTAs from May 25th-27th. They’ll now begin OTAs on June 1st. Since only two sets had been planned, this means the OTAs are getting cut in half. This could be a sort of compromise between the players and the team to ensure that the second set has “strong participation,” Brad Briggs of the Chicago Tribune suggests in a tweet. As you’re surely aware by now, there’s been widespread opposition among players to many of these voluntary workouts, so it’s not surprising to see teams adapting and making gestures like this.

Falcons To Sign Eli Ankou

May 16th, 2021 at 7:33pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Falcons are bringing in some defensive line depth on a quiet Sunday evening. Atlanta has agreed to terms with free agent defensive tackle Eli Ankou, a source told veteran NFL reporter Aaron Wilson (Twitter link).

Ankou just met with the Bills a few days ago, so it appears there was some legit interest in the interior defender. The UCLA product was an UDFA in 2017, and originally signed with the Texans. After getting cut by Houston he was claimed by the Jaguars, and played a real role in Jacksonville as a rookie. In nine games in 2017, he had 15 tackles and a sack and a half as a rotational run defender.

The big fella was a part of the Jags’ organization until the Browns signed him off their practice squad in October of 2019. He ended up making two starts while appearing in nine games for Cleveland that year. Ankou then had a short stint with the Colts, was waived, claimed by the Texans, and then traded to the Cowboys in November of last year.

He finished the 2020 season in Dallas, and played around a third of the defensive snaps in the seven games he was active. He’ll turn 27 next month.

NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/16/21

May 16th, 2021 at 7:21pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Both Los Angeles teams were busy locking up their later-round draft picks as we wrap up the weekend:

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

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