Avery Williams has served as the primary kick- and punt-return option for the Falcons over the past two seasons. The team looks likely to need other contributors in these roles in 2023.
An injury sustained during the Falcons’ offseason program is set to sideline Williams — probably for the season. Arthur Smith said Wednesday that Williams will undergo ACL surgery. While the third-year HC did not specify if the ligament was fully torn, ACL surgery obviously threatens Williams’ third NFL season. It is, in fact, an ACL tear, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The noncontact injury occurred during a Falcons OTA practice last week; Williams’ surgery is scheduled for Thursday.
Smith said Josh Ali, offseason addition Mike Hughes and perhaps wide receiver Penny Hart are candidates to take over as Atlanta’s punt returner, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s D. Orlando Ledbetter (on Twitter). Williams logged 38 punt returns over the past two seasons. All-Decade kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson obviously looms as a candidate to handle the kick-return role, especially considering the Falcons’ Bijan Robinson draft choice. But Patterson has been used mostly as a running back in Atlanta.
Williams stepped in as Atlanta’s main kick returner following Patterson’s early-season knee injury last year. The former fifth-round pick has logged 41 kick returns during his two-season run. Williams, whom the Falcons converted from cornerback to running back in 2022, also played a role as a reserve on offense last season. After not seeing time on defense as a rookie, Williams’ position change led to 22 carries (for 109 yards) and 13 receptions (for 61) in 2022. Williams’ 292 punt-return yards ranked 10th last season.
The Falcons are fairly deep at running back, minimizing this injury on that front. The team added Robinson to a group housing 1,000-yard rusher Tyler Allgeier and Caleb Huntley. The return game figures to be more impacted by this offseason setback. It will certainly be interesting if the Falcons utilize Patterson, 32, as a full-time kick returner. While not used much as a punt returner during his 10-year career, the four-time All-Pro is one of the best kick returners in NFL history. He led the NFL with 35 kick returns with the Bears in 2020 but has not topped 18 in either of his Falcons seasons.
The Falcons announced that they’ve signed second-round offensive lineman Matthew Bergeron to his rookie contract. Bergeron was the team’s final draft pick to sign his rookie deal.
The lineman spent four years at Syracuse, culminating in a 2022 campaign where he earned second-team All-ACC honors and a Senior Bowl invite. Scouts lauded his run-blocking ability and versatility, and the Falcons ended up selecting him with the 38th-overall pick in the draft.
While Bergeron exclusively played offensive tackle in college, the Falcons are planning on switching him to offensive guard, where many scouts believed he’d excel. While the rookie has never played the position, the Falcons are confident that he’ll be capable of making the change.
“It’s the way he is built,” head coach Arthur Smith said (via Tori McElhaney of the team’s website). “Everybody has different philosophies in what they’re looking for in offensive linemen. And some people get so rigid on schemes or whatever it is, their cup of tea that they’re looking for with o-linemen. But when a guy is as smart as Matt and the way he has played, really for us (it’s) the vision of the way he is built.”
The Falcons will return much of the same offensive line next season, but it sounds like Bergeron is the front runner for the starting left guard gig.
The team got most of their draft picks signed before OTAs, a group that includes:
Borders worked out for the Falcons on Monday, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 tweets. This will be team No. 11 for Borders, who is moving toward Josh Johnson journeyman territory — at least for volume. A former Raiders UDFA, Borders played in one game last season — with the Bears — after a 12-game 2021 (in Chicago and Arizona). Borders’ most notable NFL stint came when he started five games for the eventual AFC South champion Titans in 2020. Borders has also caught on with Buffalo, Houston, Jacksonville, Washington, Pittsburgh and Miami.
A 2019 UDFA, Crockett had been with the Broncos since 2020. He served as backfield depth in Denver, but all of his playing time came in 2021 — mostly on special teams. Crockett’s career encountered a speedbump during training camp last year; the Missouri alum suffered a torn ACL.
The start of June has served as a key NFL financial period for decades. While teams no longer have to wait until after June 1 to make that cost-splitting cut designation, teams pick up the savings from those transactions today. With a handful of teams making post-June 1 cuts this year, here is how each team’s cap space (courtesy of OverTheCap) looks as of Friday:
The Jets’ number is a bit deceiving. They are still working on a restructure withAaron Rodgers, as the trade acquisition’s cap number — after a Packers restructure — sits at just $1.22MM. In 2024, that number skyrockets to $107.6MM. Rodgers’ cap hit will almost definitely will climb before Week 1, so viewing the Jets along with the other teams north of $20MM in space is not entirely accurate.
Minnesota is moving closer to separating from its $12.6MM-per-year Dalvin Cook contract. The team already created some space by trading Za’Darius Smithto the Browns. Cleveland, which is one of the teams connected toDeAndre Hopkins, added Smith and did so with help from its Deshaun Watsonrestructure. Watson was set to count $54.9MM against the Browns’ 2023 cap. That number is down to $19.1MM, though the Browns’ restructure both ballooned Watson’s mid-2020s cap figures to $63.9MM — which would shatter the NFL record — and added a 2027 void year.
Tampa Bay and Los Angeles sit atop the league in dead money, with the Bucs — largely from their April 2022 Tom Bradyrestructure — checking in at $75.3MM here. That total comprises nearly 33% of the Bucs’ 2023 cap sheet. The Rams, at more than $74MM, are not far behind. Despite the Bills and Chiefs — the teams most frequently tied to Hopkins — joining the Bucs and Rams near the bottom of the league in cap space, both AFC contenders also sit in the bottom five in dead money.
The quarterback market has moved again this offseason. A year after Aaron Rodgers raised the average annual value bar past $50MM, Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson did so on long-term extensions. Overall, four teams have authorized the most lucrative QB deal in their respective histories this offseason. Two more — the Bengals and Chargers — are in talks about record-setting extensions as well.
On that note, here is the richest quarterback contract each team has authorized. Although teams like the Jets and Lions have acquired big-ticket contracts via trade, only teams’ extensions or free agency agreements will qualify here.
In trading this contract to the Jets in April, the Packers restructured the deal. Rodgers’ exit will still tag the Pack with $40.3MM in 2023 dead money.
Carr’s second Raiders deal — agreed to in April 2022 — was worth $40.5MM per year. The full guarantee, thanks to the February escape hatch the team built into the contract, checked in lower than Carr’s initial Raiders extension.
Chad Pennington, September 2004. Seven years, $64MM. $23MM guaranteed.
The Jets have signed three quarterbacks to deals involving more guaranteed money, but each of those contracts — for Mark Sanchez(2009), Sam Darnold (2018) and Zach Wilson (2021) — was a rookie pact.
The Chiefs were reportedly one of the most active teams looking into former Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins this year. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Kansas City had received permission to talk with the now-free agent earlier in the offseason and spoke with him before the draft.
The biggest hurdle for the Chiefs, as it was for any team Arizona spoke to, was having to take on Hopkins’s existing contract. If a trade were going to take place, Kansas City wanted a much lower price, meaning the Cardinals would have to take on some of Hopkins’s contract in the trade.
While adding Hopkins is on anyone’s wish list, except perhaps Arizona’s, Kansas City also doesn’t seem desperate to add any more wide receivers. Despite losing JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman to free agency, the team has real confidence in Kadarius Toney‘s potential. They return Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Skyy Moore and drafted SMU wide receiver Rashee Rice in the second round to compete for snaps with the starters.
Here are a few more rumors surrounding the still young free agency of DHop:
The Chiefs were not the only team that the Cardinals struggled to find equal ground with on a trade. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, who spoke on the Pat McAfee Show, Arizona was working to trade the veteran wideout up until the day before the first round of the NFL draft. The Cardinals hit snags, though, as each discussion required handling of draft pick compensation and salary adjustments that would require Arizona to take on some of Hopkins’s salary. In the end, they opted to take the hit in the salary cap while ultimately saving cash.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler was one of the first to release a list of best fits for Hopkins in his newfound free agency. According to Fowler, the Bills, Chiefs, Jets, Cowboys, and Saints are the teams to watch out for in the initial race. A Stefon Diggs-Hopkins-Gabriel Davis trio could be just what’s needed to put the Bills in a Super Bowl, but the team only has around $2.4MM in cap space. The Jets are a bit better at $6.9MM of cap space (still far under the $19.45MM Hopkins was set to make in Arizona this year), but the team is working to create more cap room by restructuring large contracts like those of linebacker C.J. Mosley and wide receiver Corey Davis. They nearly had Odell Beckham Jr. before the Ravens swept in and nabbed him themselves. The Cowboys are set on defense and have some strong weapons on offense. Adding Hopkins to a receiving corps that contains CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks could be deadly, and they’ve got $9MM of cap space to work with. The Saints have missed having a star wideout as they’ve dealt with the durability issues of Michael Thomas. Hopkins would be a nice veteran mentor for youngsters Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, and New Orleans has the most cap space of the above teams at $13.6MM. Fowler also lists the Browns, Giants, Falcons, and Patriots as wild-card teams to look out for.
Speaking of the Patriots, Jeff Howe of The Athletic reports that, now that the contract isn’t nearly as much of a hurdle, New England is more likely to pursue Hopkins. Hopkins reportedly had a bit of a rocky relationship with Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien when the two were in Houston together, but adding Hopkins would immediately provide quarterback Mac Jones with a WR1. Hopkins would be teaming up with Smith-Schuster, DeVante Parker, and last year’s second-round pick Tyquan Thornton to try and mount an upgraded New England passing attack.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Smith had previously received a speeding ticket earlier this year. Smith informed the team of the infraction and paid the ticket, believing that to be the end of things.
Smith’s agent, AJ Vaynerchuk, claims that there was a miscommunication with the resolution of the ticket, and though they both thought the situation had been dealt with, Smith’s driver license had been unknowingly suspended. When Smith was pulled over today for an expired registration, the officer saw that his license had been suspended, resulting in Smith’s arrest.
The situation seems to be fairly straightforward. Whether it’s determined that Smith was, in fact, in the dark or that he knowingly drove with a suspended license, his NFL status will likely only be affected by his legal status.
The Falcons have made another depth addition to their receiver room. J.J. Arcega-Whitesidehas signed a deal with Atlanta, the team announced on Monday.
Arcega-Whiteside visited the Falcons recently, and it has now resulted in a contract. This deal will give the former Eagles second-rounder another opportunity to rebuild his value, after his first three seasons in the NFL resulted in underwhelming production. Arcega-Whiteside’s best season to date came as a rookie, with 169 yards and one touchdown on 10 catches.
Since then, the 26-year-old saw his playing time drop considerably in each of the past two seasons. The Eagles experimented with moving him to tight end, but his time in Philadelphia appeared to be numbered regardless of the role he occupied. In August, he was traded to the Seahawks, a move which could have allowed him to find his footing in a new offense.
However, the Stanford product was among Seattle’s final roster cuts, and spent the beginning of the campaign on their practice squad. After failing to make any appearances in the Emerald City, he was released in November. It came as little surprise that Arcega-Whiteside was left on the market deep into the offseason, with a number of other pass-catching options available for teams via the free agent and draft routes.
In Atlanta, he will join a receiving corps which is topped by 2022 first-rounder Drake London, but which has also seen a number of moves this offseason. Atlanta has added veterans Mack Hollins, Scotty Miller and Penny Hartin 2023. They will help fill the void left by the departures of Olamide Zaccheausand Damiere Byrd. Arcega-Whiteside will look to earn a spot near the bottom of the team’s WR depth chart, with his size (6-2, 225) and blocking ability potentially giving him a path to a role on what should be one of the league’s most run-heavy offenses.
In a corresponding move, the Falcons have placed fellow receiver Jared Bernhardton the reserve/retired list. The 25-year-old made just two appearances with Atlanta last season after dealing with injury for much of the campaign.
Although several starter-caliber veterans remain unsigned, NFL teams have largely taken their big swings this offseason. Be it through free agency, the trade market or the draft, franchises have updated their rosters in hopes of improving in 2023.
Any conversation of 2023 improvement efforts probably needs to start with the Jets. Thanks to the Sacramento Kings’ playoff advancement, the Jets hold major North American sports’ longest postseason drought — at 12 years. After missing on a few rookie-contract QBs in the time since their last playoff run, the Jets now haveAaron Rodgers. The six nationally televised games on Gang Green’s docket illustrate Rodgers’ impact on the team’s perception, and although the four-time MVP will turn 40 before year’s end, he has made the Jets a free agency destination of sorts. The team added ex-Rodgers Packer wideouts Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, with those moves coming after the addition of safety Chuck Clark via trade.
As the Jets stands to be a factor in the one of the deepest conferences in recent memory, the Dolphins added Jalen Ramsey via trade and will pay Vic Fangio upwards of $4.5MM to run their defense. Miami will bank on Tua Tagovailoa health and showed faith in the oft-scrutinized passer by picking up his fifth-year option two months early.
Making Nathaniel Hackett just the third HC since the 1970 merger to be fired before his first season ended, the Broncos paid up — both in terms of draft capital and salary — to add Sean Payton. They also spent heavily to better protect Russell Wilson, signing Ben Powers and Mike McGlinchey. The latter will be Denver’s 11th Week 1 right tackle in 11 years. The Raiders added Tyree Wilson in Round 1, but the team’s Derek Carr-to-Jimmy Garoppolo transition injects considerably more injury risk into their equation.
Carolina stopped its QB carousel with the Young move, and Frank Reich will be tasked with developing the atypical prospect. The Panthers also lured Ejiro Evero from the Broncos, despite Denver’s interest in retaining its DC. Though, the team’s receiving situation — now featuring Adam Thielen and DJ Chark — may take multiple years to fix post-Moore. The rest of the NFC South will also include new Week 1 starting QBs. The Saints made the second-most notable veteran quarterback addition this year — in giving Carr what amounts to a three-year, $100MM deal — and will hope this brings the QB stability Drew Brees‘ retirement stripped away two years ago.
While the 49ers lost another coordinator (DeMeco Ryans) to a head coaching job, they gave new DC Steve Wilks superior D-line talent via Hargrave’s $20MM-AAV deal. With the Colts taking Richardson at No. 4, the Seahawks doubled down on the recently re-signed Geno Smith by beginning this year’s receiver run with Jaxon Smith-Njigba at No. 20. Seattle also zagged from its Pete Carroll–John Schneider M.O. by taking cornerbackDevon Witherspoonat 5. This and the Dre’Mont Jones contract headlined a big year for Seahawks defensive investments.
What other teams deserve mention here? Vote in PFR’s latest poll and weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section.
Although the Ravens gave Lamar Jackson the biggest contract in NFL history — in terms of average annual value — their top two outside investments this offseason have gone to wide receivers. Following their Odell Beckham Jr.signing, the Ravens chose Zay Flowers22nd overall. Baltimore took calls from teams during the first round, and GM Eric DeCosta indicated teams wanted to move up. Leery of losing their chance to add a first-round-caliber wideout, the Ravens passed on offers.
“We had gotten some calls from some teams behind us. It didn’t take a rocket scientist … to tell me that they were coming up for receivers,” DeCosta said during The Lounge podcast (via BaltimoreRavens.com). “We decided to stand pat at that point because we knew there was a legitimate risk that we were going to lose the guys that we coveted. The Giants being one of those teams. The Chiefs were behind us as well.”
Both teams showed interest in wideouts, with the Chiefs being connected to moving up forJordan Addison. The Giants made an effort to trade up for a receiver — with their target believed to be Flowers — but after the Vikings chose Addison at No. 23, Big Blue moved up one spot (to No. 24) for cornerback Deonte Banks. DeCosta also expected the Chargers to pass on Flowers at No. 21, indicating the Bolts generally like “the bigger receivers, the route runners.” The biggest of this year’s first-round receiver lot, 208-pound Quentin Johnston, went to the Chargers. The Ravens have added Beckham, Flowers and Nelson Agholor to their receiver group, one previously headlined by Rashod Bateman and Devin Duvernay. Both holdovers are coming off season-ending foot injuries.
Here is the latest receiver news from around the NFL:
Darnell Mooney missed the final five games of the Bears‘ 3-14 season due to an ankle injury. The three-year starter underwent surgery, with NFL.com reporting he had sustained ligament tears. But Mooney is on track to return to football work fairly soon. The contract-year wideout has a chance to be cleared before the end of Chicago’s offseason program, per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. Should that benchmark not be met, Mooney will be expected to be full-go by training camp. Mooney totaled 1,055 receiving yards in 2021 and will be expected to join D.J. Moore as Justin Fields‘ top targets this season, one that will potentially set him up for a lucrative extension or free agency accord.
The Chargers did not retain DeAndre Carter this offseason; the veteran returner/auxiliary wideout signed with the Raiders. They are expecting the other TCU wideout they drafted — fourth-rounder Derius Davis — to pick up the slack in the return game, Lindsey Thiry of ESPN.com notes. Davis posted the second-fastest wide receiver 40-yard dash time (4.36 seconds) at the Combine and tallied six return touchdowns (five on punts) with the Horned Frogs from 2018-22. While Brandon Staley is not limiting the 5-foot-8 rookie to return duty, the Bolts did draft Johnston and are also still rostering Josh Palmer and Jalen Guyton as Keenan Allen–Mike Williams backups.
The Seahawks created some cap space recently by restructuring Tyler Lockett‘s contract. By converting $8.5MM of Lockett’s base salary into a signing bonus, the Seahawks created $5.7MM in space (per ESPN’s Field Yates). As Lockett’s 2023 cap hit drops to $11MM, his 2024 and ’25 numbers balloon to $26.7MM apiece. Lockett is tied to his third Seahawks contract, a four-year, $69MM deal agreed to in April 2021.
Former Eagles second-round pick JJ Arcega-Whiteside received a tryout opportunity at the Falcons‘ recent rookie minicamp, according to Fox Sports’ Greg Auman (on Twitter). Arcega-Whiteside has been unable to establish himself as a pro, being tried at tight end and then traded to the Seahawks before last season. The Seahawks cut the Stanford product in November. He remains unsigned.
An injury sustained during the Falcons’ offseason program is set to sideline Williams — probably for the season. Arthur Smith said Wednesday that Williams will undergo ACL surgery. While the third-year HC did not specify if the ligament was fully torn, ACL surgery obviously threatens Williams’ third NFL season. It is, in fact, an ACL tear, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The noncontact injury occurred during a Falcons OTA practice last week; Williams’ surgery is scheduled for Thursday.
