We’ll keep track of today’s draft signings here:
New York Giants
- DB Aaron Robinson (third-round, Central Florida)
The Bengals worked out undrafted rookie quarterback Peyton Ramsey on Thursday, according to Eric Edholm of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Many thought Ramsey would hear his name called last month, but there were surprisingly few QBs taken in the later rounds of the draft.
Ramsey played the bulk of his football at Indiana and captured the starting job in 2018. In 2019, he completed 68% of his throws for 2,454 yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions. Then, he moved on to Northwestern and helped the program throttle Auburn in the Citrus Bowl. He wasn’t as accurate with the Wildcats (61% completion rate) but still managed to keep himself on the pro radar.
As it stands, the Bengals have a full house under center. Their QB room currently features starter Joe Burrow plus Brandon Allen, Kyle Shurmur, Collin Hill, and Eric Dungey.
The 49ers auditioned Brandon Marshall on Thursday (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). The former Broncos linebacker (not to be confused with the longtime NFL receiver) is looking to return to the field after a few years out of the league.
Marshall, 32 in September, was a key player for one of this century’s defining defenses. He started all 19 games the 2015 Super Bowl champion Broncos played and was a five-season first-stringer in Denver. In the 2016 offseason, Marshall inked an $8MM-per-year extension to stay in Denver. However, injuries plagued the veteran linebacker for much of that deal. The Broncos released Marshall in 2019. He then hooked on with the Raiders, but that didn’t last long thanks to an injury.
The veteran made the rounds last year, including a tryout with the Texans. To date, he has 418 tackles, 28 tackles for a loss, nine quarterback hits, 6.5 sacks, 21 passes defensed, two interceptions, and four forced fumbles to his credit.
The Bengals have signed Kavon Frazier, per a club announcement. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it’s likely a one-year deal for the former Cowboys and Dolphins safety.
Frazier came into the league as a sixth-round pick of the Cowboys. He played in 44 games with Dallas, starting two. The Central Michigan product primarily functioned as a special teams player during his time in Texas — ditto for his 2020 with the Dolphins. Still, Frazier accomplished his No. 1 goal of showing that he can stay healthy for a full season. Most of his 2019 was lost to injury, but Frazier suited up for 15 of the Dolphins’ regular season games.
Now, he’ll look to stick in Cincy and join fellow newcomers in the Bengals’ secondary, including Mike Hilton, Chidobe Awuzie, and Ricardo Allen.
The Eagles announced a host of hires and changes to their personnel department on Thursday. Among the newcomers: Former Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell, who is listed as a “personnel executive.” The Eagles also promoted Catherine Raiche to VP of Football Operations. With the move, the 32-year-old is now the highest-ranking female in NFL personnel history. 
Caldwell got canned by the Jags in November following a loss that knocked them down to 1-10. The decision wasn’t a shocker, but the timing was a surprise — most figured the Jaguars would ride out the lost season and start from scratch in January. Caldwell was in the midst of his eighth season with the team, which was largely bumpy. After his hire of Gus Bradley and drafting of Blake Bortles didn’t work out, he was essentially demoted when the team hired Tom Coughlin to run football ops. Then, Coughlin was kicked out. But, when Caldwell took the helm again, the team was without many of its stars, including Jalen Ramsey.
Before joining the Birds in 2019, Raiche spent five years in the Canadian Football League and served in top roles for the Toronto Argonauts and Montreal Alouettes. Now, she’ll hold a top position encompassing scouting, contracts, and player development.
The Cardinals have released quarterback Cole McDonald, per a club announcement. The former University of Hawaii standout was signed in February to provide offseason depth, but he’s been squeezed out of the crowded QB room. 
McDonald has yet to see live action in the NFL. The Titans snagged him in the seventh-round of the 2020 draft, but dropped him in August to make room for Trevor Siemian.
While with the Rainbow Warriors, McDonald finished third in the nation in passing yards. Most evaluators chalked that up to Hawaii’s highly-aggressive offense, but McDonald surely deserves some of the credit.
Without McDonald, the Cardinals are left with Chris Streveler and Colt McCoy behind Kyler Murray on the depth chart. It’s worth noting that Streveler stumbled in the season finale, so the Cardinals may look to bring in extra competition this summer.
The Lions are set to meet with Todd Gurley today (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). If signed, Gurley will reunite with old pal Jared Goff and pair with fellow Georgia alum D’Andre Swift. 
Gurley was a two-time All-Pro while he was with Goff in Los Angeles. As the anchor of the Rams’ ground game, Gurley managed 40 all-purpose touchdowns between ’17 and ’18 while averaging 4.8 yards per carry. Unfortunately, his knee injury hampered him in 2018 as he averaged just 3.8 yards per tote and just 6.7 yards per catch.
Gurley hooked on with the Falcons in April, following his Rams release. The deal wasn’t finalized for a while though — the pandemic prevented Gurley from taking his physical until June. Fortunately, he was cleared. Gurley went on to start in all 15 of his games for the Falcons, though he was held to just 3.5 yards per tote with 25 grabs for 164 yards — far below his best work.
At this stage, the Lions aren’t expecting the 2017 or 2018 iteration of Gurley. But, if he’s healthy, he could be a solid and low-cost addition to their backfield.
The Patriots have released fullback Dan Vitale, as Jim McBride of the Boston Globe tweets. To take his place on the roster, the Pats have added tight end Troy Fumagalli. 
Vitale joined the Patriots last year, but opted out of the 2020 season in the midst of the pandemic. Vitale was one of the first NFL players to take the opt-out, following Chiefs guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Ravens wideout De’Anthony Thomas, Seahawks guard Chance Warmack and Cowboys cornerback Maurice Canady. Before that, Vitale played 170 snaps for the Packers in 2019, catching 12 passes for 97 yards.
Fumagalli came into the league as a 2018 fifth-round pick of the Broncos. After missing his rookie year due to injury, he went on to appear in 19 games for the Broncos between ’19 and ’20. All in all, he’s notched 14 grabs for 118 yards and two scores. He’ll have his work cut out for him as the Patriots’ TE group already includes Jonnu Smith, Hunter Henry, Dalton Keene, Devin Asiasi, and Matt LaCosse.
The Jets and guard Alex Lewis have agreed to a reworked contract (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Field Yates). Now, Lewis will earn a base salary of $3MM in 2021, down from his scheduled $5.8MM. Meanwhile, the final year of his deal in 2022 has been eliminated. Now, Lewis will have the opportunity to win the Jets’ starting right guard job and reach free agency next spring. 
Lewis probably would have been released if he didn’t agree to the new terms. And, if he was cut at this stage of the offseason, he would have entered a fairly weak market, since most teams have filled their interior line needs (and allocated most of their dollars). On the plus side, the salary cap is set to jump to $208.2MM in 2022, so Lewis could land a solid deal next March.
For now, Lewis will focus on vying for a first-string role along with first-round pick Alijah Vera-Tucker and fellow vet Greg Van Roten.
The Falcons have received several trade offers for Julio Jones, including one that includes a first-round draft pick, sources tell Dianna Russini of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Russini adds that there’s a sense around the NFL that a trade could go down as early as next week. 
Plenty of teams figure to have interest in the wide receiver. It’s been said that the Patriots, Titans, and 49ers could be among those in the mix.
“Well, you know I’m not legally allowed to talk about players on other teams, so I can’t answer that exactly the way you want me to,” Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan said earlier this week. “Anyone I’ve coached in the past that I have a relationship with, especially a great dude like Julio, obviously I have a ton of respect for. We’re always interested in improving our team. We’ll never just say, ‘Hey, we’re done. We can’t improve our team.’ You always try to make that happen. But, yeah, it makes it harder when you’ve already given up some stuff to make some moves and things like that.”
Jones would round out an offense that features tight end George Kittle plus young receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel. He could also help the Pats restore some of the firepower they lost when Rob Gronkowski took his talents to Tampa. Meanwhile, A.J. Brown seems to think that he’d look good in Titans blue.
“Trust me, if you want to carry the load, you can carry it,” Brown said to Jones on Instagram (link). “But if you get tired, you know I can carry you.”