HEADLINES

Month: September 2024

Saints To Sign Brian Poole

July 25th, 2021 at 8:38am CST by Rory Parks

The Saints are adding a veteran cornerback to their roster. No, it’s not Richard Sherman or Xavien Howard, but it’s still a player who should be expected to make a significant impact. According to veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson, New Orleans will sign Brian Poole to a one-year deal tomorrow (Twitter link).

Poole signed with the division-rival Falcons as a UDFA in 2016, and despite his undrafted status, he served as the club’s primary nickel corner over his three seasons in Atlanta. The Falcons opted not to tender him as a restricted free agent following the 2018 campaign, and the fact that Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics graded him as the No. 81 cornerback in the NFL out of 110 qualified players that season justified the decision. He also ranked as bottom-three corner in success rate, per Football Outsiders’ charting data.

But the Florida product hooked on with the Jets shortly after being non-tendered by the Falcons, and he elevated his game with Gang Green. Operating primarily as a slot defender, just as he did in Atlanta, Poole allowed a 71.6 passer rating in 2019 and a 64.7 rating in 2020. PFF gave him strong coverage grades in both seasons.

The thought has been that the Saints would be looking for an outside corner to line up opposite Marshon Lattimore and to serve as a replacement for cap casualty Janoris Jenkins, but as Poole’s experience has mostly been at nickel, he does not fill that void. If New Orleans does not make any other additions, perhaps Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, who has generally played well in the slot, will be added to the mix for the team’s CB2 role.

Poole’s 2020 season was cut short due to shoulder and knee injuries. Given that, and in light of his extended stay on the open market — this is the first reported interest in him this offseason — his contract with the Saints is almost certainly light on guaranteed dollars. He does have some chops, though, so a strong showing in 2021 may lead to a lucrative multi-year pact.

Details On Fred Warner’s ‘Unique’ 49ers Extension

July 24th, 2021 at 9:35pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Fred Warner agreed to a record-breaking extension with the 49ers on Wednesday. We heard at the time it was for five years and a whopping $95MM, and now we have the full details.

For starters, the contract comes with $40.5MM guaranteed, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports. But beyond that, Rapoport writes that the pact has a “unique structure that essentially makes it two deals in one.” Warner’s contract is for five years, but voids after the first three. He’ll get $54.9MM in new money over those three years, an average of $18.3MM per year.

That’s slightly less than the $19MM per year implied by the 5/95, but it still beats Bobby Wagner‘s 2019 extension ($18MM AAV) to make him the highest-paid inside linebacker in NFL history. Where it gets a bit complicated is that the 49ers can then “buy back” the final two years of the deal after they’ve voided if they choose to, by paying Warner $21.85MM in 2025.

That would mean Warner would get $76.75MM over the first four years, an average of around $19.2MM annually. The way Rapsheet describes it, it’s a “record-breaking short-term extension that’s nearly 70 percent guaranteed” for Warner, that “also gives the 49ers a choice to make a few years down the road.”

Warner was a first-team All-Pro last season and has been an extremely reliable asset for Kyle Shanahan’s defense, playing 95 percent of the snaps the past three years.

Titans Sign Third-Round LB Monty Rice, Wrap Up Draft Class

July 24th, 2021 at 8:44pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Titans became the latest team to finalize their 2021 draft class on Saturday. Tennessee agreed to terms with third-round linebacker Monty Rice, their last remaining unsigned draft pick, the team announced.

Rice was the 92nd pick of this past draft coming out of Georgia. He earned first-team All-SEC honors in 2020 after making second-team the year before. He became a starter in his sophomore season and was a finalist for the Butkus Award this past season.

In nine 2020 games for the Bulldogs he finished with 49 tackles, four for a loss, a sack, and two forced fumbles. The Titans have Jayon Brown, Rashaan Evans, and David Long ahead of him at inside linebacker right now, so they likely won’t be counting on him to play a ton as a rookie. They did recently decline Evans’ fifth-year option, and Brown is entering a contract year as well, so Rice could be looked at as the future.

With Rice under contract, all eight of the Titans’ picks are now wrapped up:

Round 1: No. 22 Caleb Farley, CB (Virginia Tech)
Round 2: No. 53 Dillon Radunz, OT (North Dakota State)
Round 3: No. 92 (from Packers) Monty Rice, LB (Georgia)
Round 3: No. 100 Elijah Molden, CB (Washington)
Round 4: No. 109 (from Texans via Panthers) Dez Fitzpatrick, WR (Louisville)
Round 4: No. 135 (from Packers) Rashad Weaver, DE (Pittsburgh)
Round 6: No. 205 Racey McMath, WR (LSU)
Round 6: No. 215 (from Chiefs) Brady Breeze, S (Oregon)

Bears Trade Anthony Miller To Texans

July 24th, 2021 at 7:54pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The NFL dead period is officially over, and things are heating up as training camps open. The Bears have agreed to trade receiver Anthony Miller to the Texans, sources told Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (Twitter link).

Here are the details of the deal, via ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter):

Texans Receive

Bears Receive

  • 2022 fifth-round pick

A divorce between Miller and Chicago has seemed likely most of this year, and now it’s official. Back in March we heard the team was shopping him, and about a month later it was reported the Bears had held trade talks with a number of teams. The 51st overall pick of the 2018 draft, Miller has flashed lots of potential at times but was a big disappointment in 2020.

The emergence of rookie Darnell Mooney last year made Miller expendable in Chicago. It never really kept him off the field, but Miller dealt with significant shoulder issues in both 2018 and 2019. His rookie season he caught seven touchdowns, and he had 656 yards as a sophomore. But he took a step back last season, only finishing with 49 catches for 485 yards despite playing all 16 games.

From the Texans’ perspective, it makes a lot of sense. They’re almost certainly entering a rebuilding year in 2021, so it can’t hurt to take a look at a young player entering the final season of his rookie deal. Miller has shown some promise in the past, and Houston has a pretty uninspiring receiving group outside of Brandin Cooks after letting Will Fuller walk in free agency.

Buccaneers WR Justin Watson Out 4 Months

July 24th, 2021 at 6:56pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Buccaneers’ group of pass-catchers just got a bit thinner as they look to defend their Super Bowl title. Receiver Justin Watson had surgery on his knee and is expected to miss about four months, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

That would explain why Tampa placed him on the PUP list earlier today. Watson played a real role on last year’s Super Bowl team, playing about 15 percent of the offensive snaps while also contributing on special teams. He only finished with seven catches for 94 yards though. The knee surgery was for a patella tendon injury, Adam Caplan of Sirius XM radio was told (Twitter link).

Meanwhile, Watson was “likely on the bubble already” for a roster spot, Greg Auman of The Athletic tweets. Now, however, “he could return in second half of the season for depth and special teams help.” If Schefter’s four-month timetable is accurate, that would put him on track to return sometime around Week 11.

The Bucs drafted Watson in the fifth-round out of Penn back in 2018. He’s currently set to enter the final year of his rookie deal. His most productive season was in 2019, when he had 15 catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns.

Vikings To Sign Dede Westbrook

July 24th, 2021 at 5:59pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We heard yesterday that free agent receiver Dede Westbrook would be visiting the Seahawks on Sunday. It sounds like that visit has been scrapped. Westbrook will instead be signing a one-year deal with the Vikings on Sunday, a source told veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson (Twitter link).

Westbrook worked out for Minnesota earlier today, and apparently that workout went well. It was reported yesterday that Seattle, the 49ers, and the Bengals were all still on his radar, but the Vikings edged them all out. There’s a connection here, as Vikings receivers coach Keenan McCardell was Westbrook’s position coach in Jacksonville.

A fourth-round pick in 2017, Westbrook spent the first four years of his pro career with the Jaguars. In 2018 and 2019, he had at least 63 catches, 660 yards, and three touchdowns both season. Last year he only played in two games before tearing an ACL in October, finishing with just one catch for four yards.

We don’t have the financial terms yet, but coming off that injury he likely had to settle for something pretty cheap. It certainly took a while for his market to heat up.

The Oklahoma product has also shown plenty of potential as a returner. The Vikings of course have Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson, but not a ton else at receiver beyond them, so this is a decent depth signing. Westbrook says he’s fully recovered from the ACL tear, responding “most definitely” when Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press asked if he’d be ready to roll for the start of training camp on Wednesday (Twitter link).

Latest On Aaron Rodgers, Packers

July 24th, 2021 at 4:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

A big week for Packers news, coming in advance of Monday’s annual franchise shareholders meeting, naturally centers on Aaron Rodgers. The Packers report to training camp Tuesday, and nothing about the reigning MVP’s offseason points to him being on the field.

Rodgers has continued to train as if he will play in 2021, however. Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari shared a photo of he and Rodgers working out this week at Proactive Sports Performance in California (h/t Fox 6’s Lily Zhao). A Proactive Sports Performance representative also said, via ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, that Rodgers is “working and he’s ready” for the season.

[RELATED: No Packers-Rodgers Resolution Expected Until Training Camp]

Rodgers’ desire not to play for the Packers again has become fairly clear. He missed OTAs for the first time in his career and skipped minicamp. The Packers, however, retain his rights and have budged from their stance against a trade. This staring contest is set to push into camp, and Las Vegas has made some interesting adjustments regarding the Packers and NFC North.

The Westgate SuperBook closed its NFC North betting, and two other Vegas sportsbooks revealed to SI.com’s Bill Huber the expectation is Rodgers will announce his retirement before the Packers report to camp. The 37-year-old quarterback was linked to retirement early in this impasse, and the move would remind of Carson Palmer‘s 2011 retirement — a move the then-31-year-old passer made to force the Bengals’ hand. That play ended up working, though Cincinnati kept Palmer in retirement until the trade deadline that October.

Any Rodgers trade package would surpass what the Bengals collected for Palmer — a 2012 first-round pick and a 2013 second-rounder — but the Packers have held firm for months here. So has Rodgers, who turned down a deal that would have (again) made him the NFL’s highest-paid player. Although it is not known how that proposed extension was to be structured, this standoff is not believed to be financially motivated.

The team is winding down its most turbulent offseason since at least 2008, with Davante Adams‘ ending extension talks this week adding to this drama. While Packers teammates believe Rodgers will be with them this season, per Pro Football Focus’ Doug Kyed, his holdout stands to intensify Tuesday.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/24/21

July 24th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Saturday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the day:

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Ray Wilborn
  • Placed on active/PUP list: RB Patrick Taylor

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Titans Place Bud Dupree On PUP List, Caleb Farley On NFI List

July 24th, 2021 at 3:25pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Titans’ top two offseason acquisitions on defense came with injury tags, and each will begin the team’s training camp out of practice. Tennessee placed Bud Dupree on its active/PUP list and parked first-round pick Caleb Farley on its non-football injury list Saturday.

Both can be removed from these respective lists at any point during camp, and each designation was expected. Dupree is coming off a December ACL tear, while Farley missed Tennessee’s minicamp while recovering from offseason back surgery. Were Dupree to land on the Titans’ reserve/PUP list to start the regular season, he would miss the team’s first six games.

Dupree did not offer any clarity on his rehab timetable recently, and given the recovery time for ACL tears, it would not surprise if the ex-Steeler sack artist was held out of camp. Despite the injury and the pandemic-induced salary cap reduction, the Titans gave Dupree a five-year, $82.5MM deal that included $33.8MM fully guaranteed.

Farley has now undergone two back surgeries, with the second coming in March. The first-round cornerback initially encountered lower-back trouble while training ahead of Virginia Tech’s 2019 season, and after he excelled that fall to vault onto the first-round radar, the malady ended his second and final Hokies season early. Farley opted out of the 2020 season, but the Titans — as they did with Jeffery Simmons in 2019 — bet on talent and selected the standout defender 22nd overall. Farley received an NFI designation because his injury occurred before he entered the NFL.

In better Titans news, both A.J. Brown and Taylor Lewan avoided any injury-related designations heading into camp. Brown underwent surgery on both knees this offseason; Lewan is coming back from an ACL tear.

Titans Place DT Abry Jones On Reserve/Retired List

July 24th, 2021 at 3:09pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Titans signed Abry Jones in early June, but it does not look like the longtime Jaguars defensive tackle will suit up for the team. Tennessee placed Jones on its reserve/retired list Saturday.

Jones played eight seasons with the Jaguars and exited the 2020 season as the team’s longest-tenured player. The now-Urban Meyer-led franchise did not re-sign the veteran defensive tackle this offseason, leading him to the Titans.

This transaction follows Kevin Johnson‘s retirement, which came a day after Jones signed with the Titans. Tennessee signed Johnson in March, but the veteran cornerback opted to retire in June. Jones, 29, appears to be following suit.

A 2013 UDFA out of Georgia, Jones started 52 games with the Jags but operated as a regular since his second season. The 318-pound D-lineman was a starter for the top-tier Jacksonville defenses in 2017 and 2018, working as the team’s nose tackle. He played in just five games last season, suffering an ankle injury that led him to IR.

Jones recorded 9.5 sacks and 18 tackles for loss with the Jaguars. Pro Football Focus rated Jones as a top-10 interior D-lineman in 2016; that season led the Jags to give him a four-year, $16MM extension ahead of his free agency. The Titans signed Jones to a one-year, $1.1MM deal, but the pact did not include any fully guaranteed money.

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