HEADLINES

Month: January 2025

Bills Release WR Isaiah McKenzie

March 17th, 2023 at 11:04am CST by Sam Robinson

The Bills began the 2022 season with Isaiah McKenzie in place as their primary slot receiver, after having re-signed the slot/gadget player. But they are moving on from a deal they authorized last March.

Buffalo released the veteran wide receiver Friday morning. Removing McKenzie’s two-year, $4.4MM contract from the payroll will create $2.8MM in cap space for the defending AFC East champions.

The early days of the league year annually bring cuts, with guarantees vesting in certain deals. McKenzie’s was one of the smaller guarantees coming, but Sirius XM’s Adam Caplan tweets the six-year veteran did have a $250K bonus due this weekend. McKenzie has been with the Bills for most of Sean McDermott‘s tenure, catching on with the team during the 2018 season. The former Broncos draftee stabilized his career in Buffalo, contributing in various capacities, and he is coming off a career-best receiving season (42 receptions, 423 yards).

Deonte Harty‘s Wednesday commitment to join the Bills likely affected McKenzie’s status. The diminutive ex-Saints wideout agreed to terms with the Bills on a deal that more than doubles what they gave McKenzie in 2022. Buffalo signed Harty to a two-year, $9.5MM accord.

Once a fumble-prone Broncos return man, McKenzie became a regular contributor to the Bills’ McDermott-era ascent. Counting his 2020 punt-return score, the 5-foot-8 performer totaled 16 touchdowns with the Bills. Considering McKenzie’s return prowess and experience in the passing game, he should be able to catch on with a third team soon. Nyheim Hines being in place as the Bills’ return specialist covered another of McKenzie’s former bases as well.

Harty joins Khalil Shakir among Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs– and Gabe Davis-fronted receiving corps. The team has not re-signed Jamison Crowder, either. Crowder’s early-season injury and McKenzie and Davis’ inconsistency prompted the Bills to add former starters John Brown and Cole Beasley. Neither of the 30-somethings are on Buffalo’s offseason roster.

Patriots To Release CB Jalen Mills

March 17th, 2023 at 10:45am CST by Sam Robinson

After working as a full-time starter for the Patriots over the past two seasons, Jalen Mills will return to free agency. The Patriots are releasing the veteran cornerback, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

Mills, who has started 26 games for the Pats since 2021, was tied to a four-year deal worth $24MM. Two years remained on Mills’ contract, and the Patriots moving the veteran off the roster will create $4.9MM in cap space.

Having experience at both corner and safety, Mills should generate interest ahead of what will be his age-29 season. Mills did miss seven games in 2022, however, and Pro Football Focus graded him as one of the league’s worst corners last season — after the ex-Eagle had fared better during his Pats debut in 2021.

New England, which regularly lets veteran corner starters walk in free agency, made the move to give Jonathan Jones a third contract earlier this week. He joins two other Joneses — Marcus and Jack — at cornerback in New England. A groin injury led to Mills missing extensive time down the stretch for the Pats, who used Jonathan Jones — one of the NFL’s better slot corners of recent years — more on the outside in 2022. The veteran excelled in that capacity, and the team now has Jones on a two-year, $19MM deal. He accompanies rookie-contract players at the position, with Mills’ $6MM-AAV contract being moved off the payroll.

A former seventh-round pick, Mills quickly outplayed his draft slot by becoming a starter for the Eagles during their Super Bowl LII-winning season. The Eagles turned to Mills as a starter throughout the 2017 regular season and into the playoffs that year. Injuries plagued Mills over the next two seasons, and the Eagles — after acquiring Darius Slay via trade — shifted him to safety in his contract year. The Pats still gave Mills $9MM guaranteed and paid him for two seasons, but the 6-foot defender will need to find a new team to play an eighth NFL slate.

Even with Bill Belichick‘s ability to churn out quality cornerback play and his collection of various Joneses at the position, the team should still be considered likely to address this position further in either free agency or the draft. After the Mills cut, the Pats hold more than $26MM in cap space.

CB Rock Ya-Sin To Visit Ravens

March 17th, 2023 at 9:45am CST by Sam Robinson

The top cornerbacks on this year’s market have agreed to deals, but there are a few other higher-end veteran options still available. Rock Ya-Sin is one of them, and he will explore a relocation soon.

Ya-Sin will meet with the Ravens, according to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson (on Twitter). The former second-round pick spent last season with the Raiders, who showed some interest in bringing him back. But the former Colts draftee will look for a job elsewhere.

Marcus Peters is a free agent, and Ya-Sin, at 27, is three years younger. The Ravens have Marlon Humphrey signed to a big-ticket extension but are in need of more help at the spot. Peters, who is going into his age-30 season, was up and down during his return from a summer 2021 ACL tear. The Ravens ranked in the top 10 defensively in 2022, rebounding after a tough start. But Baltimore’s run defense bettered its pass coverage; the playoff-bound team ranked 26th against the pass, seeing the likes of Tua Tagovailoa, Josh Allen and Trevor Lawrence lead fourth-quarter comebacks.

The Colts traded Rock Ya-Sin straight up for ex-Raven Yannick Ngakoue in 2022, sending the three-year starter to Las Vegas ahead of Josh McDaniels‘ first season in the desert. Pro Football Focus slotted Ya-Sin as the league’s No. 50 overall corner during his contract year, one interrupted by a knee injury that ended up sending him to IR. Ya-Sin missed six games last season. He allowed a career-low 82.6 passer rating as the closest defender in 2022, though his completion percentage yielded ballooned from from 53.3% in 2021 to 60.9% last year. PFF graded Ya-Sin as a top-30 player at the position in 2021.

The Raiders brought back Brandon Facyson, who played for the team during Gus Bradley‘s DC season, but seemingly still have a need for at least one starter-caliber outside corner. This year’s cornerback market has featured three of the top names — Jamel Dean, James Bradberry, Jonathan Jones — staying put, while Byron Murphy left for the Vikings and Cameron Sutton defected from the Steelers to the Lions. The rest of the cornerback-seeking teams have undoubtedly looked into Ya-Sin, though this Baltimore trip points to the Temple product’s market not coming in where he hoped it would.

Eagles To Sign QB Marcus Mariota

March 17th, 2023 at 12:10am CST by Sam Robinson

As teams continue to fill out their quarterback depth charts, the Eagles lost Gardner Minshew to their former offensive coordinator’s new team. They will respond to Minshew’s Shane Steichen reunion in Indianapolis by adding another Jalen Hurts backup just after midnight.

The Eagles have agreed to terms with Marcus Mariota to step into that role, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The former No. 2 overall pick agreed to a one-year deal worth $5MM, with Schefter adding it can max out at $8MM.

While Minshew and Hurts’ skillsets differed, the Eagles will now have another dual-threat option to play behind Hurts. This is a similar strategy to the Ravens’ plans of recent years, and Mariota will head to Philadelphia coming off an extended run of starter work in Atlanta. That stretch did not end well, with Mariota leaving the Falcons — ahead of a surprise knee surgery — after his late-season benching for rookie Desmond Ridder. But Mariota started 13 games for the Falcons last season and helped the team rank third in the NFL in rushing.

Hurts has suffered injuries that have required him to miss time in each of his two seasons as Philly’s full-time starter. He battled an ankle injury in 2021, one that necessitated offseason surgery, and missed two games with a shoulder issue last season. This brought in Minshew, who has since followed Steichen to Indianapolis. Mariota does not bring much passing upside, but he is on the backup market for a reason. That has been his primary role in three of the past four seasons.

The Titans drafted Mariota back in 2015, but the Eagles — then led by ex-Oregon coach Chip Kelly — tried to trade up to that No. 2 spot for Kelly’s ex-Ducks pupil. Those efforts were unsuccessful, and Mariota ended up remaining the Titans’ starter until October 2019. Since being benched for Ryan Tannehill, however, Mariota has not finished a season as a team’s starter. He sat behind Derek Carr for two seasons in Las Vegas, mixing in occasionally as a change-of-pace run option, and was M.I.A. following Ridder’s December promotion.

Reuniting Mariota with ex-Titans OC Arthur Smith, the Falcons brought him in as their Matt Ryan replacement. Calls for Mariota’s benching rang out for weeks before Smith made that move, and while Atlanta’s passing attack was inconsistent, QBR slotted the 29-year-old passer 13th last season. Mariota threw 15 touchdown passes compared to nine interceptions but only cleared 200 passing yards in one of his final 10 starts. In one of the most obvious cuts in recent NFL history, the Falcons bailed on Mariota’s two-year, $18.75MM deal in February.

Mariota, who rushed for a career-high 438 yards despite playing 13 games in 2022, has made 74 career starts. He piloted the Titans to the 2017 divisional round, leading an upset over the Chiefs in Alex Smith‘s final Kansas City start, and Tennessee picked up his fifth-year option — despite injuries intervening in 2016 and 2018 — before its seminal Tannehill trade. Mariota will now join a fourth team, representing the latest domino to fall on the crowded stopgap/backup QB market.

Here are the quarterback deals to have been agreed to in free agency thus far:

Packers Still Eyeing First-Round Pick From Jets For Aaron Rodgers

March 16th, 2023 at 10:53pm CST by Sam Robinson

Late last week, the notion the Packers wanted a first-round pick and change from the Jets for Aaron Rodgers emerged. Despite Rodgers declaring his intention to join the Jets, the Packers are not believed to be budging.

While rumblings of the teams having agreed to compensation also surfaced, that certainly does not appear to be the case. The Packers want a first-round pick and then another asset down the road. In the event Rodgers plays in 2024, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio notes the Packers want another draft pick in 2025. Former GM Michael Lombardi brought this asking price to the forefront last week.

Fifteen years ago, the Jets sent the Packers a conditional draft choice — which eventually became a 2009 third-rounder — for Brett Favre. It is clear that will not finalize the next blockbuster Packers-Jets deal involving a future Hall of Fame quarterback. Rodgers attempted to make clear during his latest Pat McAfee Show appearance he is not holding up this trade; the Packers are. The Jets view the Pack’s ask as unreasonable for a player not in their plans any longer, Florio adds.

Rodgers making his Jets intentions clear could up the ante for the Packers, with no other teams on the radar for the 39-year-old passer. It also would cost the Packers more to trade Rodgers than it will for them to keep him on their payroll in 2023. A trade now would saddle Green Bay with $40MM in dead money, which would match the record-setting amount the Falcons ate in last year’s Matt Ryan trade. A Rodgers trade after June 1 would tag the Packers with just $15MM in dead cap. This rather large gap between the two trade timelines could certainly entice the Packers to drag their feet, and while Rodgers said weeks ago he expects a contract adjustment to occur before he is traded, not doing so could lead to a lengthy delay.

The Jets being near-certain they will obtain Rodgers could prompt them to act as though his contract will be on their payroll and operate accordingly throughout free agency. But some doubt would naturally exist the longer this situation drags. The team’s other targets — Derek Carr and Jimmy Garoppolo — are long gone, representing another leverage-boosting factor for the Packers.

Though, the Jets being set to install Nathaniel Hackett‘s offense — the Matt LaFleur-implemented system Rodgers has played in for four seasons — would not make it a requirement for this trade to happen immediately. Rodgers already has a rapport with new Jet Allen Lazard, but he would need to develop timing with Garrett Wilson, Elijah Moore and possibly Corey Davis — should the former top-five pick remains in the team’s 2023 plans.

Same as it was 15 years ago, when the Packers installed Rodgers as their starter following Favre retirement No. 1, Green Bay will turn to a fourth-year passer (Jordan Love). Favre re-emerged from retirement that summer. Rodgers indicating Wednesday he is not planning to retire separates these two situations, but the Jets did not have their 2008 QB starter on the roster until August 6.

It would be shocking if the Rodgers trade saga lasted that long, but with the Jets not wanting to give up a first-round pick, it will probably take some time for the teams to finalize this.

CB Darius Slay Staying With Eagles, Signs Extension

March 16th, 2023 at 10:39pm CST by Ben Levine

Darius Slay is staying in Philadelphia after all. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the Eagles have agreed to a new deal with the cornerback. It’s a two-year extension that will keep Slay in Philly through the 2025 season.

[RELATED: CB Darius Slay Staying In Philadelphia?]

Reports yesterday indicated that Slay was set to be released by the Eagles, mostly due to his lofty $26.1MM cap number. This reported transaction followed negotiations between the two sides on a new contract, and the front office also shopped the cornerback to CB-needy teams. Slay himself tweeted about his impending release, a move that would have opened $17.5MM in cap space but left $13MM in 2024 dead cap.

Not even 12 hours later, we heard the Eagles were having second thoughts about releasing the veteran. Reports indicated that the Eagles were having a “hard time” moving on from Slay and were hoping the two sides could come to some kind of compromise. Soon after, Slay took to Twitter and hinted that he may be returning to the Eagles after all.

Now, the new contract has been agreed to, keeping the defensive back with Philadelphia for the foreseeable future. ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that the three years on Slay’s contract (including the two new extension years) are worth $42MM, including $23MM in guaranteed money.

Philly gave Slay a three-year, $50MM extension upon trading for him three years ago, and Slay has produced during his time with the organization. Pro Football Focus graded Slay as its No. 21 overall corner last season, with the 32-year-old earning his second-straight Pro Bowl nod after compiling 55 tackles, three interceptions, and 14 passes defended.

The Eagles had to invest in the position this offseason when they inked James Bradberry to a sizable extension. This new contract was expected to end Slay’s tenure with the team, but instead, the secondary will only have to deal with the loss of starting safety Marcus Epps.

Raiders To Re-Sign OL Jermaine Eluemunor

March 16th, 2023 at 9:56pm CST by Ben Levine

The Raiders are bringing back Jermaine Eluemunor. The team has reached an agreement with the offensive lineman, according to Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

A former fifth-round pick by Baltimore, Eluemunor bounced around the NFL a bit before landing in Las Vegas, spending time with the Ravens, Patriots, Dolphins, and Jaguars. He got an extended look in New England between 2019 and 2020, starting eight of his 22 appearances with the team.

He caught on with the Raiders for the 2021 campaign, starting three of his 14 games. The lineman then earned the starting right tackle gig heading into the 2022 campaign and proceeded to start all 17 games for the Raiders. Pro Football Focus ended up grading him 21st among 81 qualifying offensive tackles.

The Raiders also re-signed offensive tackle Brandon Parker earlier this offseason, but the two moves won’t preclude the organization from picking an offensive tackle in the draft, per Bonsignore. However, the return of their 2022 start will make that potential draft selection “less urgent.”

Latest On Potential Commanders Sale: Snyder, Owners, Harris

March 16th, 2023 at 9:52pm CST by Ely Allen

The Dan Snyder era in Washington may be on its last legs, according to Mike Florio of NBC Sports. Sources have said that the word being used to describe the sale within the facilities is “imminent,” leading some to speculate about just how soon this all may come.

Assisting in this theory is the rumor that Snyder and his wife, Tanya, have reportedly cleared out of the Commanders’ facility in anticipation of the sale. The departure occurred back in late December, a bit over a month after the couple announced they were considering a sale. The announcement was followed by the process of drawing in bidders, but despite that process, many in league circles have been skeptical that the Snyders seriously intended to sell.

This new evidence may bring a bit more validity to Snyder’s claims of consideration. That being said, there is no confirmed purchasing group at this time. As many as three different prospective buyers have toured the facility and stadium, but the organization refuses to comment on the potential sale.

Here are a few other rumors surrounding the potential sale of the Commanders:

  • A committee meeting took place recently including some of the league’s owners. According to Mark Maske of The Washington Post, a decision still has not been made concerning the prospect of taking a vote to remove Snyder from ownership should he refuse to sell the team. Snyder’s wife continues to represent the Commanders in league meetings, an arrangement put in place following attorney Beth Wilkinson’s investigation into Snyder and the team. There’s been no reports that she has addressed the owners, and members of the owners’ finance committee claim that they have heard no specifics on a potential transaction.
  • One of the potential bidders rumored to be in the running to buy is Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Harris’s bid was recently bolstered by the addition of DC billionaire Mitchell Rales. Rales is the co-founder of the Danaher Corporation, the largest company in Washington.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/16/23

March 16th, 2023 at 9:39pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor NFL transactions:

Baltimore Ravens

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

San Francisco 49ers

There’s some long snapper news to pass along! Cardona will be returning to New England for his ninth season with the organization, making him the Patriots’ second-longest tenured player (behind Matthew Slater). Per ESPN’s Mike Reiss (on Twitter), Cardona got a four-year deal with a $1MM signing bonus, with that latter value being “an important marker” for the veteran to clear.

Meanwhile, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic tweets that Moore will be getting a two-year, $2.5MM deal. The long snapper was non-tendered by Baltimore yesterday but ultimately re-upped with the team on a multiyear deal. Per Zrebiec, Moore received interest from other teams but wanted to stick around Baltimore. The 30-year-old has been with the Ravens since 2020 and earned a second-team All-Pro nod in 2022.

Dolphins, OL Dan Feeney Agree To Deal

March 16th, 2023 at 9:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

After two seasons with the Jets, Dan Feeney has agreed to a deal that will keep him in the AFC East. Rather than reach a third agreement with the Jets, Feeney is signing with the Dolphins.

Miami will bring in the veteran offensive lineman on a one-year deal, Peter Schrager of Fox Sports tweets. The former third-round pick has 64 starts on his resume and stands to give the Dolphins some options along their interior O-line.

This agreement will give Feeney an opportunity to play a seventh NFL season. The former Chargers starting center and guard did not earn the same opportunity with the Jets, starting seven games in two seasons. His Bolts tenure also did not overlap with Dolphins OC Frank Smith, who spent the 2021 season with the team. But Feeney has proven durable and will supply depth, at the very least, for Mike McDaniel’s team.

Feeney, 28, went three straight seasons as a Chargers starter — at either guard or center — and did not miss a game in that span, finishing out Philip Rivers‘ tenure and snapping to Justin Herbert in 2020. Pro Football Focus has never been especially fond of the Indiana alum’s work, save for a positive review as a Jets swingman in 2021, but the Dolphins probably are not planning for this agreement to lead to a surefire first-string gig.

The Dolphins have Connor Williams in place as their starting center, along with Robert Hunt and Liam Eichenberg at guard. Those positions did not plague Miami as much as its tackle spots did in 2022. But Eichenberg, who has moved between guard and tackle, did miss seven games last season. Former third-round pick Michael Deiter, a starter-turned-backup in Miami, played out his rookie contract last season.

The Dolphins aren’t done adding linemen. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets that Miami is re-signing Geron Christian. The offensive lineman will be inking a new one-year pact, per Jackson. Christian started 16 games for Washington and Houston between 2019 and 2021. He appeared in 10 games for the Chiefs last season before getting waived. He was scooped up by the Dolphins and was on their roster for the season finale and Miami’s lone playoff game.

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