We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: OT Chaz Green
- Released: OT Jarron Jones, LB Calvin Bundage
Vikings defensive tackle Michael Pierce suffered a calf injury while working out this week (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). He could miss the start of training camp, but doctors believe that he’ll be good to go for the season opener. 
The Vikings inked Pierce a three-year, $27MM deal last March. Then he opted out, so they haven’t seen him in live action.
In 2019, his last time out on the field, Pierce logged 35 tackles (two for loss) in 14 starts for the Ravens. Previous to that, he graded as one of the top interior defenders in football in 2017 and ’18, per Pro Football Focus. The advanced metrics pegged him as a middle-of-the-pack defender in his contract year, but he still managed a decently-sized deal in free agency — a pandemic-altered offseason no less.
Barring any setbacks, Pierce projects to start at nose tackle with Dalvin Thompson, Danielle Hunter, and Stephen Weatherly joining him up front. Of course, the recently-signed Sheldon Richardson also figures to get into the mix.
Longtime Raiders president Marc Badain has resigned, per a club announcement. On Monday, owner Mark Davis issued a statement to thank Badain for his time with the team.
“Today I have accepted Marc Badain’s resignation as President of the Las Vegas Raiders,” Davis said. “Marc has been an integral part of the Raider Family for 30 years. Rising from a training camp driver to president of the entire organization. His efforts in helping to build the most magnificent stadium in the sports and entertainment capital of the world will never be forgotten. I wish Marc, his wife Amy, daughter Ali, and sons Bernie and Zach all the best in whatever the future holds. Once a Raider always a Raider.”
Badain has been with the Raiders in some capacity since 1991. In 2013, after Amy Trask resigned, he was named interim president. Then, in 2015, the interim label was removed. Badain mostly served the business side where he helped orchestrate the team’s move to Las Vegas.
Given the Raiders’ history of internal drama, there could be more to the story. For now, all we know is that Badain is out, with team EVP Dan Ventrelle replacing him in an interim capacity.
Well, that was fast. Soon after meeting with the Steelers, defensive end Melvin Ingram inked a one-year deal to play in Pittsburgh (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). 
Ingram has had an unexpectedly long stay in free agency, likely due to health concerns. Last year, a knee issue held him to just seven games for the Chargers. But, before that, he notched 49 career sacks en route to three straight Pro Bowls from 2017-19. He had exactly zero sacks in 2020, but Pro Football Focus gave him a solid 76.3 pass-rushing score, good for top-20 among all OLBs/DEs.
Ingram, 32, met with the Dolphins and Chiefs earlier this year, but left both visits without deals. Fortunately for them and other teams in need of edge help, Justin Houston, Everson Griffen, Olivier Vernon, and Bruce Irvin are still on the board.
Now, instead of Joey Bosa, he’ll have two-time All-Pro T.J. Watt as his opposite end counterpart. Beyond those two, the Steelers also have rookie Quincy Roche, youngster Alex Highsmith, and veteran Cassius Marsh in the mix.
The Jaguars have agreed to terms with first-round running back Travis Etienne (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). As the No. 25 overall pick, he’ll earn $12.9MM on his four-year deal. Etienne doesn’t have any offset language in his contract, just like No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence. 
With Etienne, Lawrence, and new head coach Urban Meyer in the fold, things are looking up for the Jaguars after last year’s freefall. Considered a top prospect in the 2020 class, the Clemson product surprised many by returning for his senior season. His yards-per-carry figure dropped from 7.8 to 5.4, which probably helped the Jaguars secure him towards the end of the first round.
Despite the dropoff, he’s got two 1,600-yard seasons and 70 career rushing TDs to his credit. Even though he was outshined by Alabama’s Najee Harris, the Jaguars are still high on his potential. Some scouts say that Etienne even improved in certain parts of the game, like receiving and pass blocking.
At 5-foot-10 and 215 pounds, the rookie has the strength, speed, versatility, and elusiveness to become a three-down back. Now, he’ll fight for time in an RB group that also includes rising star James Robinson and veteran Carlos Hyde.
It’s all systems go for Geno Atkins. The free agent defensive tackle has been cleared for football activity by Cowboys team doctor Dan Cooper (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Now, Atkins is expected to start taking visits and weighing interest from a handful of clubs.
Although Cooper works for the Cowboys, it’s not clear if Atkins has met with team brass yet. Either way, he should hold appeal for plenty of other teams as a low-risk, high-reward type of signing. Even the Bengals previously indicated that they’d be interested in a reunion after cutting him in March.
“Geno is one of the greatest players in franchise history and one of the best defensive tackles of the last decade,” exec Duke Tobin said in April. “He gave us what he had last year…We’ll see if there are things that can be worked out. If it is, great. If not, I think we’ve got other guys that can fill the role.”
Atkins fought through a shoulder injury throughout 2020. He suited up for just eight games in total, and, even when he was healthy, he wasn’t happy about his playing time. His final tally: zero sacks and zero starts. It was a sharp drop from his pre-extension season in 2017, when he finished out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 2 ranked interior defender.
Before all of that, he was a perennial Pro Bowler. Once he’s healthy, Atkins could be a difference-maker for contenders in need.
The Steelers are hosting edge rusher Melvin Ingram on a visit today, (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Ingram, who visited with the Chiefs and Dolphins earlier this year, would help the Steelers fill a lingering mid-summer need.
Ingram is one of several big-name pass rushers left on the board, along with Justin Houston, Everson Griffen, Olivier Vernon, and Bruce Irvin. Like Houston, Ingram is 32 years of age. But, unlike Houston, he comes with some health concerns about his knee. We haven’t heard much about his status, but one has to imagine that he’d be off the board by now if he was 100% healthy.
The longtime Charger earned three consecutive Pro Bowl nods from 2017-19. Last year, however, Ingram was limited to just seven games. In those contests, he failed to record a single sack, though he did manage a 76.3 pass-rushing score from Pro Football Focus in that limited sample. That was good for top-20 status among all NFL edge rushers.
The Steelers have two-time All-Pro T.J. Watt to lead the pack, but former first-round pick Bud Dupree is out of the picture. Beyond him, they’ve got rookie Quincy Roche, youngster Alex Highsmith, and veteran Cassius March on the depth chart.
The Patriots and cornerback Stephon Gilmore haven’t made any recent progress on their extension talks, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. Gilmore told reporters recently that he’s not happy with his current contract, but also said that he wouldn’t demand a trade.
“I just want what I’m worth, however that plays out,” Gilmore said earlier this month. “Every player should be paid what they’re worth. That’s just how it is. Hopefully we can find some common ground and get it situated. I just know what I bring to the table and my style of play.”
Gilmore, 31 in September, is set to make just $7MM in base salary this season after a chunk of his money was advanced in 2020. In terms of average annual value ($13MM), the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year ranks as just the 13th highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. At the time of signing, his five-year, $65MM deal was plenty. Since then, the former Bills first-round pick has performed as one of the game’s premier cover men.
There’s mutual interest in a longer arrangement, since Gilmore was a first-team All-Pro in 2018 and ’19.However, questions persist about last year’s torn quad. Some believe that they can smooth things out with incentives for the current year, like they’ve done in the past for Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady. But, Breer hears that there hasn’t been much progress on that front either.
As training camps rapidly approach, issues related to the COVID-19 vaccine continue to be omnipresent in the NFL landscape. Ever since the league and NFLPA agreed to protocols for the 2021 season that will make life much easier for vaccinated players, the vaccination rate has steadily been ticking up.
That continues to be the case. 13 teams now have at least 85 percent of their players vaccinated, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets. Things are clearly moving at a brisk pace, since just a couple of days before a source had told Ben Volin of the Boston Globe that it was nine teams (Twitter link). As of Pelissero’s tweet, 73.8 percent of players league-wide had gotten at least one shot.
Two teams remained below 50 percent. Players who aren’t vaccinated will face heavy restrictions for this season, including having to travel separately to road games and not being allowed to do virtually anything while out of town. As Pelissero put it at the time, road games will essentially boil down to “fly by yourself and sit in your room until kickoff” for unvaccinated players.
Meanwhile, while many players have declined to share their status, they might not be able to keep their decisions to themselves much longer. That’s because a source told Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com that the league and union are “working out the details” for a system of “identifying vaccinated players during practices and games.”
The source told Florio that it’s a “core concern.” As Florio notes, if that system includes visible identification during games, it won’t be hard for the media and fans to figure out. This one could certainly spark some drama, and we’ll let you know once we hear more.