HEADLINES

Month: October 2024

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/2/22

August 2nd, 2022 at 7:28pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor NFL transactions:

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

  • Reverted to IR: WR Isaiah Weston

Indianapolis Colts

  • Signed: C Alex Mollette
  • Placed on IR: WR John Hurst, G/T Carter O’Donnell

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Waived: OL Chris Glaser

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Cardinals Extend LT D.J. Humphries

August 2nd, 2022 at 6:39pm CST by Ben Levine

After extending quarterback Kyler Murray last month, the Cardinals have now locked up his left tackle. According to Darren Urban of the team’s website, offensive tackle D.J. Humphries has agreed to a contract extension. The lineman inked a new three-year deal that will keep him in Arizona through the 2025 season. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweets that the extension is worth $66.8MM, including $34MM guaranteed.

Humphries was set to hit free agency following the season. The lineman signed a three-year, $45MM deal back in 2020, and he was attached to a $19.3MM cap hit for the 2022 campaign. Per Urban, there’s a good chance the player’s new contract will reduce that cap hit for the upcoming season.

The Cardinals selected Humphries in the first round of the 2015 draft. He’s started each of his 75 games since entering the NFL, and he made his playoff debut this past season. After being inactive for every game of his rookie season, the lineman proceeded to miss 21 games between the 2016 and 2018 seasons. However, over the past three years, Humphries has only missed a single game (last season due to COVID).

The 28-year-old earned his first career Pro Bowl nod in 2021 after starting each of his 16 games. He’s yet to practice during training camp thanks to “a gastrointestinal issue,” leading to the team adding offensive lineman Rashaad Coward earlier today.

As Urban writes, there’s plenty of uncertainty surround the future of the Cardinals offensive line, so it was especially important for GM Steve Keim to extend his LT. Even with Humphries extended, the front office still has to account for the expiring contracts of Justin Pugh, Will Hernandez, and Kelvin Beachum. Plus, as Urban notes, Rodney Hudson could consider retirement when the season is over.

Cardinals Activate WR Marquise Brown

August 2nd, 2022 at 6:35pm CST by Ben Levine

Hollywood made his debut at Cardinals training camp today. The team announced that they activated wide receiver Marquise Brown from the non-football injury list this morning. The Cardinals also signed offensive lineman Rashaad Coward and cut wide receiver Christian Blake.

[RELATED:Extension Candidate: Marquise Brown]

The offseason acquisition injured his hamstring in the middle of July, and he landed on NFI as training camp opened. Coach Kliff Kingsbury told reporters that Brown won’t be a full participant right away. He’ll participate in walk-throughs over the next few days, with the hope that he’ll be able to take part in individual drills by the end of the week and be a full participant next week.

“That’s our timetable,” Kingsbury said (via ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss). “We want him to get the walk-throughs, get those mental reps so he feels comfortable when he’s out there.”

The Cardinals acquired Brown earlier this offseason from the Ravens, teaming him up with his college quarterback, Kyler Murray. With DeAndre Hopkins suspended for the first six games of the 2022 season, Brown will be counted on to lead a receivers room that also includes A.J. Green, Rondale Moore, Andy Isabella, and Antoine Wesley.

Brown’s activation from NFI ultimately cost Blake his job. The wideout spent the first four seasons of his career in Atlanta before joining the Cardinals this offseason. In 41 games (three starts), Blake hauled in 28 receptions for 257 yards. He also collected eight special teams tackles.

Meanwhile, Coward was brought in to provide some depth. D.J. Humphries continues to be sidelined by “a gastrointestinal issue” (per the team website), so Coward will provide the coaching staff with an experienced option. The 27-year-old has started 15 of his 34 career games in stints with the Bears and Steelers.

Cardinals Host DE Takk McKinley

August 2nd, 2022 at 5:34pm CST by Sam Robinson

Takk McKinley has now made two visits since the start of training camp. After trekking to Dallas, the former first-round pick ventured to Arizona for a Cardinals meeting, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com tweets. The Arizona summit commenced Tuesday.

After four seasons in Atlanta, McKinley spent the 2021 campaign in Cleveland. He finished with 2.5 sacks with the Browns, going to northeast Ohio after a complex 2020 season that involved a few waiver claims — stemming from multiple failed physicals.

But the end of McKinley’s Browns season led to a delayed 2022 timetable. McKinley, 26, suffered a torn Achilles late last season. His multiple visits suggest a return to full strength is near. That said, McKinley’s stock has dipped since the Falcons chose him 26th overall back in 2017. Atlanta waived the UCLA product in 2020, doing so after he finished with just 4.5 sacks in his final 18 games with the franchise. Over his first two seasons, however, McKinley combined for 13 sacks.

Presently, McKinley profiles as a rotational rusher. The Cardinals let Chandler Jones walk, but they added third-round edges Myjai Sanders and Cameron Thomas. They also return Markus Golden to a pass rush that seemingly needs J.J. Watt to stay healthy, or close to it, more so than it did in 2021.

Orlando Brown Jr.: Chiefs’ Extension Offer Too Light On Guarantees

August 2nd, 2022 at 5:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

As Yannick Ngakoue and Jadeveon Clowney showed, tag-and-trade sequences can occur well after the extension deadline. But Orlando Brown Jr. is not eyeing a path to a team that will make him a better offer down the line.

After reporting to Chiefs training camp Monday, Brown said he still hopes to sign a long-term deal with the team. But the fifth-year blocker said the deal Kansas City offered ahead of the July 15 deadline included insufficient guarantees.

“I want to be here. I want to finish my career here in Kansas City,” Brown said, via Adam Teicher of ESPN.com. “I’m sure questions are out there, but to me, with the contract situation, it just wasn’t enough guarantees.”

Brown, 26, sought an extension that made him the NFL’s highest-paid left tackle. The Chiefs’ proposal — a six-year, $139MM accord — allowed him to say that. While that deal did have a bloated Year 6 salary ($40MM) that inflated the contract’s overall value, Albert Breer of SI.com notes the Chiefs offered $38MM guaranteed at signing and $52.25MM guaranteed for injury. Those numbers are not out of step with the tackle market.

Only Ronnie Stanley is tied to more total guarantees ($70.9MM). That number is an outlier among tackles, with only two others (Laremy Tunsil and Taylor Lewan) having $50MM guarantees in their respective deals. In terms of full guarantees, Brown’s contract would have placed him behind only Stanley ($64.1MM), Williams ($40.1MM) and Tunsil ($40MM). Williams’ guarantees also are part of a six-year contract; Stanley’s are part of a five-year deal. No other tackle signed for more than $35MM fully guaranteed.

At $95MM through five years, Brown’s contract would have placed him just below Williams ($104.8MM) and Stanley ($98.8MM) in this category. It is, thus, unsurprising his refusal to accept the Chiefs’ offer rankled some in the organization.

Patrick Mahomes led the way in convincing Brown to report shortly after the Chiefs opened camp, per Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com (on Twitter). Although Brown teased the prospect of a holdout into the season, that always seemed unrealistic. The former third-round pick has only earned rookie-deal money to this point. By far his biggest annual salary to date will come from this $16.7MM franchise tender. Now, Bengals safety Jessie Bates remains the only franchise-tagged player not to have signed his tender.

“I just didn’t feel right sitting at home, missing out on this,” Brown said of his early-camp absence. “This is something that I want to be a part of. You know, I was brought here to help with Super Bowls, and this week is very important to our progression.”

The decision to pass on Kansas City’s proposal does come with risk for Brown, whom a host of evaluators who spoke to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler did not rate as a top-10 tackle (ESPN+ link). An injury would hurt the former Ravens right tackle’s value. But the Chiefs gave up quite a bit to acquire Brown last year. He was the centerpiece of Kansas City’s 2021 O-line reconstruction. That project only has one other player — Joe Thuney — tied to a veteran contract. Rookie-year standouts Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith do not become extension-eligible until 2024. The Chiefs are also tied to a low-cost situation at right tackle.

A second franchise tag, which would be worth almost $20MM, is a realistic scenario. Brown journeying to another Pro Bowl, which would be his fourth overall and second as a Chief, would obviously drive up his price. As will the continued salary cap growth. The Chiefs still plan to try and hammer out a long-term solution, however.

Broncos WR Tim Patrick Tears ACL

August 2nd, 2022 at 3:54pm CST by Sam Robinson

3:54pm: The MRI confirmed Patrick suffered a torn ACL, Klis tweets. This news will almost certainly end the veteran pass catcher’s season, and it obviously deals a blow to Denver’s talented but relatively unproven receiving cast.

Injuries continue to interfere with this group’s development. Sutton’s 2020 ACL tear came after a Pro Bowl season, while Hamler’s 2021 tear came a year after the Broncos took him in the second round. Patrick’s comes less than a year after he signed an extension to stay in Denver long-term. His through-2024 deal included $13MM guaranteed at signing and $18.5MM guaranteed for injury.

1:46pm: The Broncos’ receiving corps represented one of the drivers for Russell Wilson to waive his no-trade clause to facilitate a move to Denver. The quarterback’s first Broncos wideout cast may be incomplete.

Tim Patrick went down during practice Tuesday, requiring cart transportation, and Denver7’s Troy Renck tweets the team fears a serious right knee injury. Bad news is expected, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.

A former UDFA the Broncos extended last year, Patrick is going through an MRI. Patrick, 29, went down after making an over-the-shoulder catch. The injury occurred as he started running after the reception, 9News’ Mike Klis notes (via Twitter).

Denver did well to beat the 2022 receiver market’s frenzy, signing both Patrick and Courtland Sutton to extensions — at $10MM per year and $15MM AAV, respectively — and the former has not dealt with the kind of injury trouble that has plagued Sutton and Jerry Jeudy since the Broncos formed their intriguing-but-unproven receiving corps. Patrick did miss some time in 2019 due to a broken hand, but since he became a starter in Denver a year later, the Utah product has only missed two games. One of those came because of a COVID-19 contraction last year.

The Broncos moved Patrick into a full-time player in 2020, when Sutton went down with an ACL tear in Week 2. Despite four quarterbacks (technically, three quarterbacks and one non-QB) making starts for the Broncos that season, Patrick totaled 742 receiving yards and six touchdowns. Last season, Jeudy suffered a Week 1 high ankle sprain and K.J. Hamler went down with an ACL tear in Week 3. Patrick posted 734 yards and five TDs, signing his extension midway through the 2021 campaign.

Hamler has returned from his severe knee injury, but Patrick offers security the former Penn State second-round pick has yet to provide. Should the Broncos receive bad news on Patrick, they may be a team to monitor for a veteran wideout — considering Jeudy and Sutton’s recent injury histories. The team was linked to needing to give up one of its receivers in hypothetical deals for Aaron Rodgers, but Noah Fant was the pass catcher included in the Wilson swap. The Broncos have Kendall Hinton — their emergency QB in 2020 — along with 2021 sixth-round pick Seth Williams and ex-Eagle Travis Fulgham on their roster behind their top four receivers.

Dolphins Release DT Adam Butler

August 2nd, 2022 at 3:34pm CST by Sam Robinson

Signed in the wake of the Patriots poaching Davon Godchaux, Adam Butler is no longer with the Dolphins. The former Patriot received his walking papers Tuesday.

A failed physical designation came with the release. The Dolphins signed Butler to a two-year, $7.5MM deal in 2021. With no money being guaranteed in Year 2, the team will save $4.15MM with this transaction.

Butler logged a career-high 53% snap rate last season. Despite being used mostly as a rotational player, Butler’s 591 snaps marked a 100-plus-play increase on his single-season Patriots usage. Although Butler played in all 17 games, his production dipped in Miami.

Butler, 28, tallied two sacks and a career-low 17 tackles. His two tackles for loss also matched a career-low figure. Pro Football Focus rated Butler outside the top 70 among interior D-linemen. The Dolphins did not use any draft choices on their defensive line but did sign veteran John Jenkins this offseason.

A former UDFA, Butler recorded 10 sacks in his final two New England seasons. Prior to that, he worked as a regular up front for two Super Bowl-bound New England teams. He registered sacks against the Titans and Jaguars as a rookie during the Pats’ AFC playoff run. Butler worked under Brian Flores during his Patriots tenure. Although the Dolphins did not change defensive coordinators upon firing Flores, with Josh Boyer staying in place, one of Flores’ two-city charges is out of the picture.

Saints To Sign TE Chris Herndon

August 2nd, 2022 at 3:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

Chris Herndon will make his way to a third NFL team. The former Jets starter and Vikings contributor will join the Saints, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).

This will be another new start for Herndon, whose market was quiet after his lone Minnesota season. The Jets shipped Herndon to the Vikings, who had recently lost Irv Smith Jr. for the season, prior to Week 1 last year. Herndon, 26, caught just four passes for 40 yards in 2021, seeing Tyler Conklin — whom the Jets signed this year — take over as the team’s top tight end.

A former fourth-round pick, Herndon is best known for his productive rookie season with the Jets. The Miami alum caught 39 passes for 502 yards and four touchdowns, helping fellow rookie Sam Darnold in 2018. But Herndon has not been able to follow that up.

The 6-foot-4 pass catcher began the 2019 season suspended for a personal conduct policy violation and suffered a hamstring injury while preparing for that truncated slate. In Herndon’s one 2019 game, he suffered a fractured rib. In 2020, Herndon struggled to find the form of his rookie year, totaling just 287 receiving yards.

The Saints have ex-third-rounder Adam Trautman (263 receiving yards in 2021, most among Saints tight ends) going into his third season and have moved Taysom Hill out of the quarterback conversation. The ex-starter is still expected to factor in on gadget plays as a QB, but his primary position will be tight end. Juwan Johnson, who led Saints tight ends in TDs last year with four, is also on the roster.

New Orleans also considered another former Viking, MyCole Pruitt, with Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com noting the veteran tight end worked out for the team (Twitter link). Pruitt’s Minnesota days came back in the mid-2010s, however. He spent the past four seasons with the Titans, working more as a blocking tight end.

Steelers CB Cameron Sutton Expects To Test Free Agency In 2023

August 2nd, 2022 at 2:38pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Steelers gave Cameron Sutton a two-year, $9MM deal to retain him in 2021, but the veteran cornerback is not expected to sign an extension ahead of the 2023 league year.

No negotiations between Sutton and the Steelers have taken place, according to the sixth-year defender (via The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly, on Twitter). Sutton said he will test free agency in 2023. With the Steelers not doing in-season negotiations, they would only — absent a deal over the next five weeks — have the period between the season’s conclusion and the mid-March legal tampering period to keep Sutton off the market.

[RELATED: WR Market Complicating Diontae Johnson Extension]

With T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick topping their respective markets, and Cameron Heyward signed to a big-ticket deal, the Steelers have kept costs low at cornerback. They have Sutton, Ahkello Witherspoon and Levi Wallace all tied to deals averaging between $4-$5MM per year. While select teams have cornerback groups consisting entirely of rookie-deal players, the Steelers managing this cost setup with three veteran-contract corners is interesting.

A 2017 third-round pick, Sutton is going into his age-27 season. With Joe Haden out of the picture, Sutton will be positioned as an even more important coverage player for the Steelers. Sutton intercepted a career-high two passes last year but saw his coverage numbers spike, as he played a career-high 1,153 defensive snaps (seventh-most among corners). He allowed a 104.9 passer rating as the closest defender and 8.6 yards per target — both numbers well north of his 2019 and ’20 marks — and graded outside Pro Football Focus’ top 75 at the position. PFF slotted Sutton inside its top 30 at corner in 2020.

Pittsburgh has Wallace and Witherspoon under control for two years, re-signing Witherspoon and picking up Wallace from the Bills. Haden’s departure — after lobbying for an extension ahead of last season — and Sutton’s potential 2023 exit would certainly point to corner being a draft priority next year.

Steelers GM: WR Market Complicating Diontae Johnson Talks

August 2nd, 2022 at 1:30pm CST by Sam Robinson

A.J. Brown, Terry McLaurin, D.K. Metcalf and Deebo Samuel have finalized extensions, spotlighting the Steelers’ situation with their contract-year wide receiver. New GM Omar Khan shed some light on those talks, but Diontae Johnson‘s “hold-in” measure is ongoing.

Each member of the aforementioned quartet is now tied to a deal worth at least $23MM per year. Brown’s $25MM AAV and $56MM fully guaranteed headline that list, but the top wideouts in Philadelphia, Washington, Seattle and San Francisco each agreed to three- or four-year deals with considerable guaranteed money. Pittsburgh’s general receiver approach differs, leaving Johnson in limbo.

Khan did indicate the team wants to re-sign Johnson, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac noted negotiations have begun (on Twitter). But given the Steelers’ past caution with second receiver contracts and 2022’s exploding market at this position, it is far from certain the former third-round pick will join his 2019 draft classmates in cashing in before the season. Indeed, Dulac adds a wide financial gap between Johnson and the Steelers exists and indicates the prospect of an extension coming together is slim.

“We don’t discuss that publicly, but we have been in conversations,” Khan said, via The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly, of Johnson extension talks. “We want Diontae and we are excited to have Diontae a part of this team. We hope he is going to be a Steeler for a long time.

“… When things happen, it adds to the conversation; let’s put it that way. It is the function of the times and the system that we are in. It is part of the process. Regardless of the position, I assume those [markets] will keep growing. As the CBA grows, the contracts grow.”

Johnson is surely targeting a deal north of $20MM annually. Although the Toledo product dropped a career-high 1,161-yard season in 2021 — a number that topped Metcalf and McLaurin’s 17-game 2021 showings — the Steelers are not believed to be eyeing Johnson at a price similar to his peers. That would point to Johnson playing out his rookie contract this season and preparing to hit the 2023 market.

The Steelers would have the option of the franchise tag, and they have extended two other 2023 walk-year players — Minkah Fitzpatrick and Chris Boswell — this summer. While the modern Steelers have only given long-term receiver extensions to Hines Ward and Antonio Brown, they have made competitive offers to wideouts in the past. Mike Wallace received a five-year offer worth $50MM before the 2012 season; he passed and signed with the Dolphins for five years and $60MM in free agency the following year. The Steelers are expected to make Johnson an offer, but if he wants to maximize his value and secure a deal in the Brown-McLaurin-Metcalf-Samuel ballpark, free agency would seemingly be a better bet than taking a Steelers deal now.

Khan plans to continue the Kevin Colbert-era policy of no in-season negotiations, giving these negotiations a firm deadline. The Steelers, as they often do, used a second-round pick on a wideout (George Pickens) and then added Calvin Austin III in Round 4 this year.

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