Today’s minor moves:
Cleveland Browns:
- Signed: CB Donovan Olumba
Denver Broncos
- Re-signed: LB Joseph Jones
Las Vegas Raiders
- Re-signed: RB Rod Smith
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: TE MyCole Pruitt
Andrew Sendejo is going from the NFC North to the AFC North. On Friday, the Vikings agreed to sign the safety to a one-year, $2.25MM deal with the Browns, as Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.
Sendejo spent eight seasons with the Vikings up until March of last year when he hooked on with the Eagles. That union didn’t last long – the Birds dropped him in November, leading him back to Minnesota to close out the season.
Sendejo was a staple in the Vikings’ secondary up until 2018, when a groin injury put him on the sidelines. After that point, the Vikings’ D actually improved with Anthony Harris, George Iloka, and Jayron Kearse taking on a larger share of the workload.
In Cleveland, he’ll play alongside a cornerback group headlined by Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams with support from newcomer Kevin Johnson.
We’ll keep track of today’s “minor” moves here:
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: WR Keith Kirkwood
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: CB Torry McTyer
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: KR/PR Jojo Natson
Dallas Cowboys
- Re-signed: LB Justin March-Lillard
Green Bay Packers
- Re-signed: CB Will Redmond
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: S Adrian Colbert
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Re-signed: WR Bryant Mitchell
Washington Redskins
- Signed: TE Logan Thomas
The Browns are adding another former first-round defensive back on a one year deal. After signing safety Karl Joseph on Wednesday night, they have agreed to terms with former Round 1 cornerback Kevin Johnson.
Johnson and the Browns agreed on a one-year, $3.5MM deal, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Incentives could spike the contract’s value to $6MM, Schefter adds.
The Texans backed out of Johnson’s fifth-year option in 2019, a move the new CBA will no longer allow teams to execute free of charge, and he wound up with the Bills. The 2015 first-round pick played in all 16 games as a role player in Buffalo’s secondary, recording 36 tackles and posting five passes defensed.
Despite being an off-the-bench contributor, Johnson stayed healthy in 2019. That proved to be pivotal for a cornerback that saw injuries derail his time in Houston. Johnson, 27, missed 10 games in 2016 and 15 in 2018. A severe concussion kept him out of action in ’18. He will join a Browns cornerback crew headed by Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams.
The Browns are about to get more of Andrew Billings in their lives. The former Bengals defensive tackle has agreed to sign with Cincy, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
Billings will ink a one-year deal worth $3.5MM fully guaranteed. The structure could be indicative of the current climate and reflective of player concerns during this period of uncertainty. Either way, it’s a solid deal for both sides. The Browns get a former starter on the cheap who can push opposing lineman thanks to his 328-pound frame. Billings, meanwhile, has security and a chance to cash in if he performs.
Billings, 25, has appeared in 47 games with 37 starts for the Bengals over the last three years. He came into the league as a fourth-round pick in 2016, but saw his entire season wiped out by a knee injury.
Former first-round pick Karl Joseph will be heading east. The Browns will add the four-year Raiders safety on a one-year deal, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
The Raiders did not pick up Joseph’s fifth-year option in 2019, making him a 2020 free agent. After suffering a season-ending injury last year, Joseph will attempt to re-establish his value in Cleveland.
While the Raiders were open to a Joseph re-up, that was many months ago. And Las Vegas has been busy on defense this week, with one of those additions being safety Jeff Heath.
The Browns, however, have been active on the market as well. Joseph joins B.J. Goodson, Jack Conklin, Austin Hooper and Case Keenum as Cleveland-bound talents thus far in free agency. The Browns were discussing a potential tag-and-trade deal with the Vikings for Anthony Harris as well. Joseph may not interfere with those talks, but he has extensive starting experience and may be tabbed for one of Cleveland’s first-string spots. The Browns have already lost Eric Murray in free agency, and Damarious Randall is now on the market as well.
The No. 14 overall pick out of West Virginia in 2016, Joseph started 41 games as a Raider. He has never been a prolific ball hawk, intercepting four passes in four seasons, but has fared better in the box. Pro Football Focus has graded Joseph as a top-35 safety in each of the past two seasons, rating him as one of last season’s top run-defending safeties.
The Browns have come to an agreement with linebacker B.J. Goodson, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. Cleveland has already lost linebackers Christian Kirksey and Joe Schobert in free agency so Goodson should immediately slot into the starting lineup.
Still just 26 years old, Goodson has accumulated 160 tackles in 53 games (29 starts) since entering the league in 2016. A fourth-round pick by the Giants, Goodson spent his first three seasons in New York before a trade last September sent him to Green Bay where he immediately entered the team’s rotation.
Last season, Goodson graded similarly to both Schobert and Kirksey, ranking as the 54th highest graded linebacker out of 89 qualified players, per Pro Football Focus.
The Browns are exploring a trade for Vikings safety Anthony Harris, reports Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. It would take at least a third-rounder to get a deal done, “and probably a second.”
The 28-year-old was slapped with the franchise tag on Monday, but there were whispers that the Vikings were going to try to tag-and-trade the defensive back. Harris is set to make $11.44MM next season. As Cabot points out, the Browns have the ammo to get a deal done. The team currently owns one second-rounder (#41) and a pair of thirds (#74, #97).
Harris has a natural connection to Cleveland, as he played under Browns pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach Jeff Howard in Minnesota. Browns head coach (and former Vikings offensive coordinator) Kevin Stefanski is also familiar with the long-time Vikings safety.
The former undrafted free agent has evolved into a starter in Minnesota, as he started a career-high 14 games in 2019. He finished the campaign with 60 tackles, 11 passes defended, and six interceptions.
Day 2 of the tampering period will produce a fullback trade. The Broncos have agreed to trade Andy Janovich to the Browns in exchange for a 2021 seventh-round pick, Mike Klis of 9News reports (on Twitter).
Janovich has been one of the league’s top fullbacks, but many NFL systems do not make use of this diminishing position. New Denver OC Pat Shurmur does not intend to use fullbacks regularly, per Klis, leading to the Broncos shipping Janovich out for little value.
While the Broncos extended Janovich in October of last year, he only played 13% of the team’s offensive snaps. With another new offensive coordinator set to take over, the fifth-year fullback will relocate to Cleveland. Janovich, 26, is under contract through the 2022 season.
Janovich will join Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt in the Browns’ backfield on Kevin Stefanski‘s first Cleveland offense.
The Browns have agreed to a three-year deal worth up to $18MM ($10MM guaranteed) with quarterback Case Keenum, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. While Cleveland is still heavily invested in quarterback Baker Mayfield, the team is making a heavy investment in ensuring they have a strong option behind him.
Keenum appeared set as a career backup after difficult stints as a starter with the Texans and Rams. In 2017 however, Keenum led the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game and seemed to be a resurgent prospect. After struggling with the Broncos and Washington over the past two seasons though, Keenum’s market seems to no longer offer an opportunity to start.
Previous reports tied Keenum to the Browns and it is worth keeping in mind that the Browns new head coach and general manager were not with the organization when Cleveland selected Mayfield with the first overall pick in 2018. Mayfield looked like a franchise quarterback as a rookie, but after a difficult sophomore season, the Browns do have reasonable cause for concern.
Rookie head coach Kevin Stefanski was the quarterbacks’ coach with the Vikings when Keenum excelled in 2017. Keenum immediately becomes one of the league’s highest-paid backups and has a chance to reunite with a coach who helped him reach the peak of his career.