HEADLINES

Month: September 2024

Bears Sign Nine UDFAs

May 9th, 2024 at 12:28pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Bears kicked off the 2024 draft, and the team also owned the No. 9 pick. Chicago only made three other selections during the weekend, though, leaving room for a number of undrafted players to take part in rookie minicamp. Here are the Bears’ UDFA additions:

Randolph did not enter the draft with nearly as much acclaim as fellow Illinois D-lineman Jer’Zhan Newton, but he received a notable financial commitment from the Bears. Randolph secured $200K in guaranteed salary along with a $20K signing bonus, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 reports. The 6-5, 270-pounder amassed 10 sacks over the past three seasons and he will aim to provide depth along the defensive interior this year.

Chicago’s other lucrative financial investment was made in Benedet. Just like college teammate Giovanni Manu, Benedet put himself on the NFL radar during his time with the Thunderbirds. The latter received $100K in total guarantees, per Wilson. Benedet earned first-team All-Canadian honors in each of the past two seasons, and he was selected by his hometown BC Lions in this year’s CFL draft. If he does not make the Bears’ initial roster, therefore, he will have a path to playing time north of the border.

Reed began his college career at Southern Illinois, redshirting with the team in 2018. That was followed by a transfer to West Florida, with whom he won the Division II championship. Reed sat out the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign before ultimately finishing his college tenure at Western Kentucky. Over two seasons with the Hilltoppers, he amassed 8,086 passing yards while throwing 71 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. Reed added 12 rushing scores over that span, and he will aim to parlay that dual-threat skillset into at least a practice squad spot in 2024.

Lions GM Brad Holmes Addresses Jared Goff Extension Negotiations

May 9th, 2024 at 11:42am CST by Adam La Rose

Jared Goff remains a key financial priority for the Lions, but no new deal is in place for the team’s franchise passer. When speaking about the status of contract talks Thursday, general manager Brad Holmes expressed confidence an agreement will be reached, however.

“First and foremost, he’s earned an extension,” Holmes said during an appearance on WXYT-FM (via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press). “It’s important, it’s a high priority for us and both sides are working really, really hard and these things just take time.”

As Goff confirmed last month, talks on an extension are ongoing. Detroit worked out mega-deals with a pair of offensive cornerstones by inking wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown and right tackle Penei Sewell to extensions. A Goff agreement has not followed, though, and a recent report on the latter front indicated team and player are not close on contract talks. Holmes admitted it would have been ideal to have a Goff deal in place by now, but he added the financial implications of one have been budgeted for.

“The whole process of budgeting and preparation and all that, that kind of goes into it, we’ve been preparing for a while,” Holmes said. “And look, in a perfect world, we’d have had all three of them done, bang, bang, bang, but these things just kind of take a while, especially with the quarterback market. But I do have faith that it’s going to get done.”

Four quarterbacks reached the $50MM-per-year mark last offseason (Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts). Any or all of Dak Prescott, Trevor Lawrence and Tua Tagovailoa could join that group in the near future. At 29, though, Goff’s age represents a complicating factor; his next deal will not be an extension coming off his rookie contract (as is the case for most ascending passers).

As things stand, Goff is due $27.3MM in 2024 and his cap hit stands at $32.3MM. The former figure will be much higher on a new pact, while the latter could be lowered depending on the structure of the agreement. In any case, the former Rams No. 1 pick clearly remains his second team’s projected starter for years to come despite the presence of Hendon Hooker as a potential successor. With the draft in the books and the St. Brown and Sewell extensions finalized, Detroit’s attention for the remainder of the offseason can turn squarely to the Goff front.

Rams To Waive WR Ben Skowronek

May 9th, 2024 at 10:57am CST by Adam La Rose

As teams around the NFL continue to churn out the bottom of their offseason rosters, Ben Skowronek is set to see his time in Los Angeles come to an end. The former seventh-round wide receiver will be waived, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports.

Skowronek joined the team in 2021, and during his rookie campaign he played all-but exclusively on special teams. Things changed the following season with respect to his playing time, however. Skowronek logged an offensive snap share of 82% in 2022, a season in which the Rams dealt with a number of injuries on both sides of the ball. He totaled 376 scoreless yards on 39 receptions.

Los Angeles had Cooper Kupp available for 12 games this past season, and he and standout rookie Puka Nacua formed an effective receiver tandem. That relegated Skowronek back to a rotational role on offense, although his special teams abilities gave him a heavy third phase workload. The 26-year-old was a team captain in 2023, but this move will bring an end to his Rams tenure.

Skowronek had one year remaining on his rookie contract, and a release will save the Rams just over $1MM in cap space. Los Angeles entered Thursday with $11.3MM in breathing space, although a portion of that will be required to sign the team’s rookie class. Moving on from Skowronek will create a bit more flexibility for late offseason additions.

If he clears waivers, the Notre Dame product will now be free to join a new team as many veterans seek out deals in the post-draft wave of free agency. Skowronek’s limited production will hurt his market, but his experience and blocking abilities could lead to interest from teams seeking out WR depth.

Patriots T Calvin Anderson Missed Time In 2023 Due To Malaria

May 9th, 2024 at 10:04am CST by Adam La Rose

The Patriots added Calvin Anderson as insurance at the offensive tackle spots last offseason. However, he wound up missing much of the 2023 campaign after being placed on the NFI list during the preseason.

Through to the opening of the season and into November – when Anderson was placed on injured reserve – it was unclear why he unavailable during the summer. As it turns out, though, the 28-year-old was sidelined as he was recovering from malaria. Anderson contracted the illness during a trip to Nigeria, as detailed by Christopher Price of the Boston Globe.

Upon return from the offseason trip in late July – one which Anderson and his wife (who is of Nigerian descent) have made for years – the former UDFA began experiencing symptoms. Rather than beginning training camp along the same timeline as his teammates, Anderson was briefly hospitalized. While he managed to suit up for five of the first six games of the season, his lack of conditioning hindered his performance.

Anderson then suffered a heart contusion in practice, an issue not believed to be related to his bout with malaria. In all, he sat out the final 11 weeks of the campaign, which marked the first half of the two-year, $7MM deal he signed. Ahead of the 2024 season, an adjustment was made to the remainder of the pact; Anderson agreed to a restructure which lowered his base compensation for the year and reduced his cap hit by $990K (h/t ESPN’s Field Yates).

As a result, Anderson is now due a base salary of $1.26MM in 2024. He is projected to serve in a swing tackle role with free agent signing Chukwuma Okorafor in line to start at left tackle and Michael Onwenu set to continue at the right tackle spot he occupied in Anderson’s absence last season. The latter’s ability to suit up for a full season will be an interesting storyline to follow.

As Price notes, there are no previous recorded cases of NFL players contracting malaria. Anderson thus made history last year by managing to play in a limited capacity upon recovery, and remaining healthy throughout the 2024 season could put him in contention for the Comeback Player of the Year award.

Steelers To Sign WR Scotty Miller

May 8th, 2024 at 10:06pm CST by Sam Robinson

Another former Arthur Smith Falcons charge is coming to Pittsburgh. Following Cordarrelle Patterson, MyCole Pruitt and Van Jefferson‘s Steelers signings, Scotty Miller will be en route to Pennsylvania.

The Steelers and Miller agreed to terms Wednesday, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. It is a one-year deal. Miller played one season under Smith in Atlanta; he remains best known for his contributions in Tampa.

Miller, 26, worked as an auxiliary wideout for a Falcons team that struggled through the air. The former Bucs draftee caught 11 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns last season. That number bettered Jefferson’s Atlanta production, though the latter arrived during the season via trade, but still ranked fourth among Atlanta wide receivers.

It is clear the Steelers are giving Smith input when it comes to acquisitions, as three of his tertiary Falcons targets and a key blocking tight end are in the mix. Granted, only Patterson appears a lock to be on Pittsburgh’s 53-man roster come Week 1. But each will bring scheme familiarity. The 5-foot-9 weapon could offer Pittsburgh another slot option in addition to Calvin Austin.

Miller made steady contributions to the Bucs’ Super Bowl LV-winning team but did not factor into the final two Tom Brady-piloted passing attacks much. In 2020, however, the Bowling Green alum worked alongside Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to give Brady a nice receiving trio in his first Tampa Bay season. Miller caught 33 passes for 501 yards and three touchdowns that year. He eclipsed 70 receiving yards four times from Week 1 to Week 7. The Bucs’ turbulent Antonio Brown partnership led to Miller’s role being reduced, though the latter’s first-half-ending deep TD grab helped Tampa Bay hold off Green Bay in the 2020 NFC championship game.

A 2019 sixth-rounder, Miller has not eclipsed 200 yards in a season since that 2020 campaign. That season doubles as the most recent slate in which Miller topped 275 offensive snaps. A turf toe bout limited him in 2021. The Falcons did use Miller as a kick returner last season, though the Steelers — barring what would be a shocking Justin Fields experiment — are all but set to use Patterson there to take advantage of the recent NFL rule change.

Following their Diontae Johnson trade, the Steelers have George Pickens anchoring their receiver group and third-round pick Roman Wilson having a clear path to becoming his top sidekick. Beyond that, the team has taken a quantity-based approach. In addition to ex-Falcons, the likes of Quez Watkins, Denzel Mims and Marquez Callaway are on the Steelers’ 90-man offseason roster. This will create an interesting competition for roster spots, as this setup will require a few veterans to be denied roster spots come September.

Patriots Interview Samir Suleiman

May 8th, 2024 at 10:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

A fifth confirmed candidate for the Patriots’ lead front office executive position has emerged. While three of the first four options declined an audience with the team, former Panthers staffer Samir Suleiman will meet about the job.

The Pats are interviewing Suleiman — most recently the Panthers’ VP of football administration — on Wednesday, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter. Suleiman was part of this year’s January GM interview cycle, meeting about the Panthers’ position. While this is effectively for a GM role, SI.com’s Albert Breer indicates the Patriots are labeling the position their executive vice president of football operations. This is similar to how the Commanders themed their search this offseason.

[RELATED: 2024 NFL General Manager Search Tracker]

Carolina parted ways with Suleiman after promoting assistant GM Dan Morgan to the GM post. This interview represented Suleiman’s second meeting about a GM position. He also met about the Panthers’ 2021 GM vacancy, but while the team retained the salary cap expert after Scott Fitterer landed the gig three years ago, the sides parted ways once Morgan stepped in as Fitterer’s replacement.

Three execs — Trey Brown, Terrance Gray, Quentin Harris — turned down the Patriots, who are still viewed as likely to give this position to Eliot Wolf, who has been in charge of the team’s roster for several weeks post-Bill Belichick. The two staffers who have not rejected interviews worked together in Pittsburgh. Brandon Hunt, who is currently an Eagles exec, worked alongside Suleiman from 2013-19 with the Steelers. As Hunt served as the team’s director of pro scouting, Suleiman was in place as the AFC North franchise’s football administration coordinator.

Suleiman debuted on NFL staffs in the late 1990s, beginning his run with the Jaguars. He then spent the 2000s with the Rams, operating as the director of football administration for the then-St. Louis-based franchise. The Panthers hired Suleiman in 2020, and he became the team’s primary contract negotiator.

Hunt is continuing his interview today, Schefter adds. Once Suleiman completes his interview, the Patriots would stand to have satisfied their Rooney Rule requirements. Like Hunt, Suleiman is a minority exec. Teams are required to interview at least two external minority candidates to comply with the updated Rooney Rule.

49ers Notes: Cousins, Deebo, Gipson, Green

May 8th, 2024 at 10:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

No matter how successful the 49ers become, we cannot seem to move past “what if?” scenarios involving bigger-name QBs. Although Tom Brady is retired (for the time being, at least), Kirk Cousins made a second free agency defection. The former Kyle Shanahan Washington pupil received a $100MM practical guarantee from the Falcons, tying him to the team for at least two seasons. Atlanta’s Michael Penix Jr. pick raised the most eyebrows of any in the draft (and stunned Cousins), and one GM said (via the Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora) the Falcons do not choose Penix at No. 8 if they do not believe a Cousins trade destination will emerge. Another GM viewed the Penix pick as a path for Cousins to, at long last, reunite with Shanahan in San Francisco.

It would cost the Falcons $37.5MM in dead money to trade Cousins before June 1 next year, and while one of the GMs who spoke to La Canfora the NFC South team would likely be willing to eat dead money to move the high-priced starter (presuming Penix is ready), the 49ers passing on a Brock Purdy extension to bring in a QB ahead of his age-37 season would be quite the development. Jed York has spoken of a Purdy extension, though La Canfora posits the former Mr. Irrelevant’s asking price could point Shanahan back to Cousins.

The 49ers made early preparations to sign Cousins in 2018, before their Jimmy Garoppolo extension, but Shanahan has long been a fan — to the point the 49ers were willing to offer No. 2 overall for the then-Washington QB in 2017. While dot connecting makes sense after the surprising Penix pick, several hurdles appear in the path to Cousins joining the 49ers this late in the game. Here is the latest out of San Francisco:

NFL Workouts: Jones, Ward, Summers, Tagovailoa

May 8th, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Ely Allen

Veteran wide receiver Zay Jones continues to make the rounds after getting released by the Jaguars last week. Since then, the 29-year-old pass catcher has taken visits with the Titans, Cardinals, and Cowboys. The newest report has Jones scheduling a visit with the Chiefs tomorrow, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

An impressive 2022 campaign that saw Jones catch 82 balls for 823 yards and five touchdowns, all career highs except for the touchdowns, was virtually erased by a disappointing 2023 campaign in which the receiver missed eight games due to a PCL issue and femur damage. The Jaguars opted not to finish out Jones’ final season of a three-year contract, for which Jones would have represented a $6.57MM cap charge.

In Kansas City, Jones could be a part of a completely new-look wide receiving corps for Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs have added Marquise Brown in free agency and Texas first-round rookie Xavier Worthy in the draft. They also return Rashee Rice, Justin Watson, Skyy Moore, and Noah Gray from last year, but Rice could be facing some legal trouble, and if healthy, Jones would be an improvement over the other three while playing alongside Brown and Worthy.

Here are a few other workouts happening around the NFL:

  • Career depth running back Jonathan Ward is participating in the Steelers rookie minicamp, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. Over four years with the Cardinals and Titans, Ward only has 69 career rushing yards on 17 carries. He’s proven to be an active special teams contributor during that time, though.
  • The Broncos took a look at veteran linebacker Ty Summers at their rookie minicamp this past weekend, according to Mike Klis of 9NEWS. Summers only has one career start over five years with the Packers, Jaguars, and Saints but has appeared in 71 games over that span. A linebacker with some speed, Summers is a productive special teamer, as well.
  • After agreeing to participate in the Seahawks’ rookie minicamp, undrafted Maryland quarterback, and brother of the Dolphins’ starting passer, Taulia Tagovailoa will attend the Cardinals‘ rookie minicamp this week, per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. The rookie will audition to join last year’s fifth-round pick Clayton Tune and 2022’s third-round pick for Atlanta Desmond Ridder as potential backup arms for Kyler Murray in 2024.
  • An undrafted linebacker who graduated from Harvard before playing as a graduate transfer at Villanova, Daniel Abraham has been invited to minicamps for both the Falcons and the Seahawks, per Wilson. The speedy linebacker obviously poses some interest due to both his athleticism and his intellect.

Cowboys Expected To Sign 12-Man UDFA Class

May 8th, 2024 at 8:34pm CST by Ely Allen

The Cowboys were able to address some big needs in the 2024 NFL Draft, adding to both the offensive and defensive fronts with an eight-man draft class. Thanks to 12 undrafted free agents expected to sign with Dallas on Thursday, the Cowboys anticipate heading into the summer with a rookie class of 20 players. Here are the undrafted additions:

On offense, Peat brings some serious speed to the table. After three years at Stanford and a season at Missouri, the son of two college track athletes posted a 4.37-second 40-yard dash at his pro day.

Two receivers join on offense, as well. Johnson finally found the best place for his production with the Wildcats after four years at Vanderbilt and one at Arizona State, catching for 715 yards and six touchdowns in Evanston. Crooms transferred to Minnesota after two impressive years at Western Michigan, in which he combined for 1,582 yards and 11 touchdowns, but he failed to match that production with the Golden Gophers.

Croom’s teammate, Spann-Ford, comes out of free agency as one of the top run-blocking tight ends in the draft class. The Cowboys had to spend a bit to ink him, promising a $20K signing bonus and fully guaranteeing his base salary of $225K, per Aaron Williams of KPRC 2. He didn’t add much to the receiving game in Minneapolis, though. Neither did Holler in Orlando, but he did have some circus catches here and there to go along with his strong blocking profile.

Some productive players could contribute on defense, as well. Vaughns didn’t get a chance to shine at Texas but showed how disruptive he could be at Utah State and Baylor, combining for 27.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks in three seasons at the two schools. At linebacker, Johnson was a tackling machine, recording three straight 100-plus-tackle seasons at Eastern Illinois in 2021 and UCF the past two years. He was one of the top undrafted linebacker options following the draft. Mogensen contributed back-to-back 100-plus-tackle seasons himself for the Coyotes.

The team also adds three capable safety options. DeBerry was one of the top secondary players in the ACC at Boston College before transferring to College Station. Johnson spent six years at Nevada but only got to start in 2023 for the Wolf Pack. He made the most of the opportunity with 99 tackles, three picks, and four passes defensed. Lastly, Wood was a menace for the Pirates in two years as a starter, delivering bone-crunching hits and showing a strong nose for the football at East Carolina.

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