HEADLINES

Month: September 2024

Saints Sign G J.R. Sweezy

August 2nd, 2021 at 12:15pm CST by Zachary Links

The Saints have signed guard J.R. Sweezy, per a club announcement. Meanwhile, the club has waived defensive lineman Lorenzo Neal and defensive back Lawrence Woods. The Saints also placed tight end Dylan Soehner on injured reserve, opening up roster spots for Sweezy and their new cornerbacks, Prince Amukamara and KeiVarae Russell.

[RELATED: Saints Sign CBs Prince Amukamara, KeiVarae Russell]

Sweezy offers 117 games of NFL experience, including 104 starts. He spent the first four years of his career with the Seahawks before moving to the Bucs in 2016. Unfortunately, he missed his first would-be season in Tampa and was clearly hampered in 2017 – they terminated the rest of his five-year deal, $32.5MM pact. He returned to the Seahawks in ’18 before joining up with the Cardinals, where he’s spent the last two seasons.

In addition to all of that regular season time, the 6’5″, 310-pound lineman has started in eleven Seattle playoff games. Not bad for a former seventh-round pick. His more recent run with Arizona wasn’t his best work, but he still profiles as an intriguing option for the Saints’ offensive line. The bulk of his work has come at right guard, but he can also pitch in on the left side if needed.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/2/21

August 2nd, 2021 at 12:06pm CST by Zachary Links

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

Carolina Panthers

Houston Texans

  • Signed: LS Mitchell Fraboni
  • Waived: LB Nate Hall

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

  • Signed: QB Case Cookus
  • Claimed off waivers (from Seahawks): QB Danny Etling

New Orleans Saints

Washington Football Team

Titans’ Caleb Farley Cleared To Practice

August 2nd, 2021 at 9:46am CST by Zachary Links

Titans rookie Caleb Farley passed his physical, clearing the way for him to return to the practice field (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The Titans took a bit of a risk by taking Farley in Round 1, but the cornerback is on track with his pre-draft medical timeline. 

Farley has undergone two back surgeries, with the most recent one coming in March. It all started in 2019, when he suffered a herniated disk in the gym. Somehow, he played through the pain in ten games for Virginia Tech that year. His first surgery did not completely address the issue, leading to a second one earlier this year. And, before all of that, Farley missed his true frosh season with an ACL tear. If not for all of that, Farley could have been a top 10 pick. Instead, the Titans snagged him at No. 22 overall.

As expected, Farley missed Tennessee’s on-field drills during June minicamp. Then, in late July, the Titans parked him on the PUP list. Now, he’ll have plenty of time to get acclimated in advance of the season opener. When he retakes the field in September, it’ll mark his first action since ’19, due to his 2020 opt out.

Farley is just one piece of the Titans’ revamped CB corps, joining tenth-year veteran Janoris Jenkins and 2020 second-round pick Kristian Fulton atop the depth chart.

Eagles’ DeVonta Smith Week-To-Week

August 2nd, 2021 at 9:38am CST by Zachary Links

The Eagles have listed wide receiver DeVonta Smith as week-t0-week with a knee sprain. However, (Twitter link) NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport hears that it’s just a minor sprain, which means that Smith should only be out for a couple of weeks. 

[Poll: Which Rookie WR Will Finish With Most Receiving Yards?]

The first-round pick is set to reunite quarterback Jalen Hurts, his old college pal at Alabama. The stage is set for a big rookie year — the Heisman trophy winner may stand as the Birds’ top outside option as he joins Jalen Reagor, Travis Fulgham, and Greg Ward Jr. on the depth chart. Fortunately, he should be good to go in time for the season opener against the Falcons on September 12.

Smith broke onto the scene following a standout junior campaign, but he took it to another level in 2020. The wideout finished the year with 24 touchdowns, 1,862 yards from scrimmage, and the aforementioned Heisman (plus many more awards). He was universally viewed as one of the three best WRs in this year’s class — somewhere behind Ja’Marr Chase and neck-and-neck with teammate Jaylen Waddle. While those two were taken ahead of Smith, the Eagles rook offers plenty of upside thanks to his soft hands, intangibles, and ability to win 50/50 balls.

Giants Sign Alfred Morris

August 2nd, 2021 at 9:31am CST by Zachary Links

It’s official. On Monday morning, the Giants formally welcomed Alfred Morris back to the team. It’s likely a low-cost, one-year deal for the veteran running back.

Morris is now one contract shy of completing the NFC East cycle — perhaps he can hook on with the Eagles next year. For now, he’ll provide the Giants with some much-needed insurance as they monitor Saquon Barkley‘s availability. Barkley’s still working his way back from a torn ACL, leaving the Giants with Morris, Devontae Booker, Elijhaa Penny, Gary Brightwell, Corey Clement, Sandro Platzgummer, and Mike Weber as their active RBs.

In 2020, Morris totaled 238 yards on 55 carries for the Giants. His most notable game came against Washington in November — 67 yards off of nine-totes.

All in all, Morris has 6,000+ yards to his credit over nine seasons with the Giants, Cowboys, Washington, 49ers, and Cardinals.

Extra Points: Maye, Covid, Vikings, Raiders

August 1st, 2021 at 9:31pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Marcus Maye and the Jets didn’t come to an agreement before the deadline for franchise-tagged players, meaning the safety will play the 2021 season under the $10.6MM tag. We heard recently that the two sides never came close, and Rich Cimini of ESPN.com opined that they would be heading for divorce this next offseason since another tag would cost the team $12.7MM in 2022. Yesterday Maye “expressed frustration” about the situation and “hinted he hasn’t ruled out asking for a trade if he’s tagged again in 2022,” Cimini writes. “I’ve got 17 weeks to be the best that I can be — and once we get to that point, we’ll cross that line again,” Maye said cryptically when asked if he’d approached the Jets about a potential trade.

When asked if he felt treated fairly throughout the process this summer, Maye said “to say fair, unfair … I’d say somewhere in the middle,” before adding “from my end, I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t satisfied.” New York insisted all offseason that locking Maye up was high on their agenda, but the Florida product clearly doesn’t feel like they were being truthful with that sentiment. The Jets, of course, went through a similar situation with fellow safety Jamal Adams before ultimately trading him to Seattle. For what it’s worth, Maye didn’t sound intent on playing elsewhere, saying he just wants to play “wherever I’m welcome. I was drafted here. I’d love to be here.” This will be a situation to keep an eye on throughout the season.

Here’s more from around the league as we wrap up Sunday evening:

  • The NFL adopted strict COVID-19 protocols for unvaccinated players this offseason, and it’s now clear they’re going to be serious about enforcing them. Unvaccinated players will automatically be fined $14,650 for every violation of the protocols, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com writes. That might not be a fortune for the league’s stars, but it’s almost half a game check for younger and cheaper players. Potential violations of the protocol include not wearing a mask when required to or not adhering to the strict rules about socializing. There’s already been a fair amount of drama surrounding the protocols even as training camps just start to get underway, so we’ll likely see a whole lot more before the season is done.
  • Speaking of those COVID-19 protocols, the Vikings are now very shorthanded at quarterback because of them. With Kellen Mond testing positive for the virus, fellow passers Kirk Cousins and Nate Stanley had to be placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list as close contacts. That left former Washington quarterback Jake Browning as the only active signal-caller they have. As such, Minnesota is looking to add a veteran free agent quarterback, Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets. Tomasson reports 2020 UDFA from North Arizona Case Cookus is a “strong possible option” to be signed. He later tweeted that a source told him Cookus would workout for the team on Monday. Former St. John’s (MN) quarterback Jackson Erdmann will also be present at that workout, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets. Erdmann recently played in the Johnny Manziel-affiliated Fan Controlled Football League. Presumably, somebody will be signed from this workout.
  • Raiders running backs coach Kirby Wilson abruptly retired a couple weeks ago, and now we know who will be replacing him. Las Vegas will have offensive quality control coach Tim Berbenich coach the running backs this year (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Other coaches will also assist, Rapsheet hears, but Berbenich will be the one in charge. Wilson had been a running backs coach in the NFL since 1997 with the Patriots, and had coached under Jon Gruden in Tampa before re-joining him with the Raiders in 2019. Berbenich also was on Gruden’s staff for a few years with the Bucs, and has been with the Raiders since 2018. He was previously an offensive quality control coach. He’ll now lead a new-look backfield after the offseason signing of Kenyan Drake to pair with Josh Jacobs.

Saints To Sign CBs Prince Amukamara, KeiVarae Russell

August 1st, 2021 at 8:15pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

All offseason, we’ve been hearing about how the Saints would likely add some veteran cornerback help. Now finally on August 1st, it appears they’re signing two.

New Orleans plans to sign both Prince Amukamara and KeiVarae Russell pending the passing of physicals, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com tweets. We heard last night that the team was hosting Amukamara on a visit. The 19th overall pick of the 2011 draft was a full-time starter with the Bears from 2017-19, but spent 2020 on the Cardinals’ practice squad. The Super Bowl XLVI champ has 99 career starts under his belt, so he’s got plenty of experience. He turned 32 in June.

Russell was a third-round pick of the Chiefs back in 2016. He was surprisingly cut in September of that year, getting waived shockingly early for a 74th overall pick. Russell latched on with the Bengals for the next three seasons, but was mostly a special teamer. He was on the Packers’ practice squad for most of last season, and was elevated to the active roster for a couple playoff games.

In addition to top corner Marshon Lattimore, the Saints also have longtime vet Patrick Robinson and 23-year-old Chauncey Gardner-Johnson on the depth chart. With these two vets soon to be in the fold, New Orleans will now have pretty solid depth at the position after cutting starter Janoris Jenkins this offseason.

Contract Details: Chubb, Thomas, Allen, Wilson

August 1st, 2021 at 6:42pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Let’s catch up on the details of some of the big contracts recently signed around the NFL:

  • We heard last night that Browns running back Nick Chubb was signing a big three-year extension worth $36MM with $20MM guaranteed. We’ve got the full equation now, thanks to what a league source told Jason Fitzgerald of Overthecap.com. For starters, Chubb is getting a $12MM signing bonus. It also turns out that not *quite* $20MM is fully guaranteed. The actual guarantee is only $17.133MM. However, it’s almost effectively $20MM, since the other $2.87MM in guarantees vests in 2022 and it’s incredibly unlikely Chubb would be off the roster by then. Chubb will have low salaries and low cap hits in 2021 and 2022. In 2023, he’ll have a cap hit of $14.85MM. He’ll have a $10.85MM salary but only the $2.87MM of that will be guaranteed. In 2024, he’ll have a non-guaranteed salary of $11.775MM and a cap hit of $16.2MM for his final year.
  • Washington just made Logan Thomas the seventh highest-paid tight end in the game, and now we have new figures on his deal. His three-year, $24MM extension will give him a cap hit of $6.465MM in 2022, $8.75MM in 2023, and $8.315MM in 2024, John Keim of EPSN.com reports. The dead cap hits for those three years will be $7.465MM, $3.5MM, and $1.75MM respectively. In other words it won’t be too hard for the team to get out of the contract after 2022 if they wanted to. Thomas will receive a $300K roster bonus each season, and is due a $500K roster bonus on the fifth day of the 2024 league year, so that will be an important date in the final season of his new pact.
  • Thomas wasn’t the only player to get an extension from Washington this past week. The Football Team also gave defensive tackle Jonathan Allen a big four-year, $72MM deal. We didn’t previously know the full guaranteed amount, but it’s apparently $35.6MM. Allen’s cap hits for those four new seasons will be $9.5MM, $21.5MM, $21.5MM, and $23MM, Keim writes. As such, he won’t start really weighing down Washington’s books until 2023. He has a $14MM salary for that season which becomes guaranteed on the third day of that league year. His dead cap charges will be $26MM, $18MM, $12MM, $6MM for 2022-2025.
  • Zach Wilson and the Jets avoided potential disaster by agreeing to terms on his rookie deal right before training camp started, and now we have more context on the holdup. We knew there was an issue about potential signing bonus money deferment, and it turns out New York wanted the rookie quarterback to wait to get a significant amount of cash. The Jets “only opened negotiations last week,” and wanted Wilson to defer a whopping $6MM of his signing bonus to 2022, a source told Jeff Howe of The Athletic (Twitter link). After the team relented and agreed to pay the whole signing bonus upfront, Wilson hopped on a plane to New York. In return, the Jets did get some of the offset language they were seeking.

Titans Claim K Sam Ficken Off Waivers

August 1st, 2021 at 4:48pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

It didn’t take long for Sam Ficken to find a new home. Just a day after getting cut by the Jets, the kicker has been claimed by the Titans, the team announced Sunday.

Tennessee cut fellow kicker Blake Haubeil in a corresponding roster move, and also announced they’ve placed tight end Briley Moore on injured reserve. A Penn State product, Ficken went undrafted in 2015. He didn’t even sign his first NFL contract until 2016, and didn’t make a regular season roster until December of 2017 with the Rams. He kicked in a few games with Los Angeles between 2017-18, both times as a fill-in for an injured Greg Zuerlein.

After quick stints with the Seahawks and Packers, Ficken eventually landed with the Jets in September of 2019, where he found his first real home. He’s been New York’s kicker for most of the last two seasons, with mixed results. Injuries limited him to only nine games last year, in which he made 13 of 15 field goals and 12 of 15 extra points.

In 2019 he was shakier, making only 19 of 27 field goal attempts across 15 games. He’ll now battle it out with Tucker McCann to be the Titans’ next permanent kicker after they elected not to re-sign Stephen Gostkowski this offseason.

Haubeil is an undrafted rookie from Ohio State. Moore is an undrafted rookie from Kansas State who suffered a knee injury.

Bills Mulling Move To Austin?

August 1st, 2021 at 2:44pm CST by Zachary Links

The Bills are currently pushing New York officials to approve a $1.5 billion plan to build a brand new stadium and renovate the Buffalo Sabres’ arena. At the same time, they’re looking to ramp up the pressure. One owner of the Bills tells Seth Wickersham of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that Austin, Texas is a possible destination if things don’t work out. Beyond Austin, the Bills could ponder “other cities elsewhere that desire an NFL franchise and would pay handsomely for it.”

Of course, this is standard operating procedure for professional sports teams seeking taxpayer dollars. Even the Yankees threatened to move to New Jersey before the new Yankee Stadium was built in the Bronx. However, Austin would hold lots of appeal for an NFL franchise. For starters, the lack of state tax in Texas would enable the Bills to keep more of their money. That would also be a huge selling point for free agents, who could save seven figures per year.

The Bills aren’t the first team to threaten a Texas move. Before the Raiders got their shiny new stadium in Las Vegas, they told Oakland that they were considering San Antonio. But, if the Bills actually want to move to Austin, they’ll have to duke it out with the Cowboys and Texans. Those clubs may have the right to veto — getting them to waive it would probably require sizable checks to both teams.

The Bills’ most recent proposal asks New York State and Erie County to pay the entire $1.5 billion cost.

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