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Coaching Updates: Cowboys, Bears, Vikings, Steelers, Browns

March 23rd, 2024 at 3:22pm CST by Ely Allen

The Cowboys announced a number of staff updates recently. We’ve tracked many of the initial changes to occur with the departure of Dan Quinn and a few assistants across the division to Washington, but with the staff filled out, head coach Mike McCarthy opted to hand out of few promotions.

Firstly, Al Harris, who serves as the team’s defensive backs coach has had the title of assistant head coach added to his title, per Josina Anderson of CBS Sports. Dallas had blocked Harris from interviewing for a lateral move to follow Quinn and opted to sweeten the deal after keeping him from another opportunity. ESPN’s Todd Archer tells us that, also on defense, assistant defensive backs coach Cannon Matthews has been granted the title of safeties coach for 2024, making him a full position coach.

On offense, wide receivers coach Robert Prince has added the role of pass game coordinator to his position. Likewise, Chase Haslett, previously the assistant tight ends coach, will serve as the pass game specialist next season. Lastly, game management and offensive assistant Ryan Feder has replaced “offensive assistant” in his job title with “assistant quarterbacks coach” for the 2024 season.

Here are a few other staff updates from around the NFL:

  • The Bears made a couple of adjustments to their front office recently. Vice president Corey Ruff was promoted by the organization to senior vice president of strategy and analytics and chief of staff. Chicago also hired Tanya Dreesen as the team’s senior vice president of strategy and global affairs and chief of staff, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2.
  • We’ve tracked a number of Vikings staff changes throughout the offseason, but we have a new promotion and an update to an earlier report. First, 2023’s assistant quarterbacks coach and chief of special projects Grant Udinski earned a promotion, replacing “chief of special projects” in his job title with “assistant offensive coordinator,” according to Kevin Seifer of ESPN. Udinksi will assist new quarterbacks coach Josh McCown. We had originally reported that former quarterbacks coach Chris O’Hara had been moved to pass-game specialist with McCown’s addition, but we now see that Minnesota has him listed as senior offensive assistant.
  • The Steelers will add veteran defensive assistant Anthony Midget to their 2024 staff, according to Brooke Pryor of ESPN. Midget has experience as the Texans former secondary coach and most recently served as the defensive backs coach in Tennessee. After being fired by the Titans following the 2022 NFL season, Midget sat out in 2023. He rejoins the ranks of NFL coaching as the assistant secondary coach in Pittsburgh.
  • Finally, the Browns will add an intriguing young name in Nick Charlton, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Charlton made history at Maine, where he became the youngest head coach in Division I history at 31 years old. Following a three-year stint with the Black Bears, Charlton accepted the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coaching job at UConn. He’ll leave the Huskies to serve as the new offensive assistant and run-game specialist in Cleveland.

Browns To Sign RB D’Onta Foreman

March 20th, 2024 at 1:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

As Nick Chubb goes through ACL rehab, the Browns have Kareem Hunt unsigned. The team will still move to add some veteran insurance as ahead of Chubb’s seventh season.

They are signing D’Onta Foreman, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. Foreman has bounced around the league over the past three years, but the former third-round pick has remained a key backfield cog in that span. The former Titans, Panthers and Bears contributor is now coming to Cleveland. Foreman will rejoin ex-Panthers RBs coach Duce Staley in Cleveland.

This news comes not too long after it was believed the Browns were leaning against making a notable adjustment to their backfield. But the team has brought in two veteran pieces now. Last week, Cleveland added pass-down back and return specialist Nyheim Hines. Jerome Ford and 2023 trade acquisition Pierre Strong remain under contract, crowding Cleveland’s RB corps.

Out of the NFL for a stretch in the late 2010s, Foreman has taken a lead role in a few backfields since re-emerging. Derrick Henry‘s 2021 foot fracture led to the Titans eventually turning to Foreman as his replacement. The Panthers’ trade of Christian McCaffrey moved Foreman from little-used backup to regular starter. Foreman, 27, did not see the same usage with the Bears. But he started eight games, playing a regular role in a three-headed Chicago backfield.

Not much of a passing-down presence, the 235-pound back profiles as a Chubb backup plan. The Browns used Ford in that role alongside Hunt last season; the team ranked 12th in rushing, seeing Ford total 1,132 scrimmage yards. More competition appears on tap here, though the Browns ideally would have Foreman and Ford jockeying for RB2 work. Chubb has undergone two surgeries, but he and the Browns are expected to discuss an extension soon.

One season — at an $11.78MM base salary — remains on Chubb’s contract, which calls for a $15.8MM cap number. An extension would reduce that figure, but the Browns will presumably want assurances Chubb is on track to full recovery before authorizing such a deal. So far, the perennial Pro Bowler is on course to return. Though, the Browns feeling the need to add Foreman does make this situation one to monitor a bit more closely.

Foreman impressed in Tennessee and Charlotte, helping the Titans stay afloat en route to a No. 1 seed and then nearly pushing a Steve Wilks-led Panthers squad to an unlikely playoff berth. Foreman totaled five 100-yard rushing games as a Panther, despite seeing only 12 carries during McCaffrey’s half-season in Charlotte. He finished with 914 yards that year, which came off a 2021 season in which the Texas alum produced three 100-yard rushing days despite the Titans initially trying Adrian Peterson as their Henry replacement.

Foreman’s effectiveness as a fill-in has not brought much in the way of earnings, but he has continued to generate free agency interest. Accumulating just 29 carries from 2018-20, Foreman has just 552 totes in his career. He should remain fairly fresh as the Browns fortify their Chubb complementary contingent.

Browns, WR Jerry Jeudy Agree On Extension

March 19th, 2024 at 10:40pm CST by Sam Robinson

Barely a week after agreeing to acquire Jerry Jeudy via trade, the Browns are investing in the former Broncos first-round pick. Jeudy and the Browns have an extension in place, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero report.

Jeudy agreed to terms on a three-year deal worth up to $58MM, with NFL.com adding $41MM is guaranteed at signing. While the 2020 first-round pick has not delivered a consistent career to date, the Browns are betting much of that is due to the Broncos’ issues at quarterback. As they are set to pair Jeudy with Amari Cooper, the younger receiver’s deal will now run through 2027.

The Browns already restructured Jeudy’s contract, adding void years to drop his 2024 cap number from $12.99MM to $3.5MM. This extension will help the team on that front, as the void years ran through 2028 on that simple restructure. This deal will check in south of $20MM per year, and it could come in closer to $15MM per year than the $20MM AAV Cooper is tied to. Jeudy is five years younger than the Browns’ other Alabama alum at wide receiver. With Cooper’s Cowboys-constructed contract expiring after the 2024 season, the team has a commitment in place with its WR2.

While it will be worth monitoring if Cooper makes his contract an issue after delivering back-to-back 1,100-yard seasons, the Browns will not make Jeudy prove it in their system before paying him. Jeudy’s next 1,000-yard season will be his first, but the John Elway-era Broncos draftee is now tied to a guarantee that matches what the Colts just gave Michael Pittman Jr. The $41MM fully guarantee is tied for fifth among wideouts, with Deebo Samuel also fetching that at signing on his three-year deal.

Cleveland eyed Jeudy in a trade last year, but Denver’s price was too high. The Browns pivoted to Elijah Moore, who ended up costing far more than Jeudy in a trade despite the ex-Jets second-rounder’s inferior production. It cost the Browns only fifth- and sixth-round picks to obtain a depressed asset from the Broncos, who are set to give Marvin Mims more time in Sean Payton‘s offense. The Broncos picked up Courtland Sutton‘s $2MM injury guarantee Monday and kept Tim Patrick on a substantial pay cut. Jeudy became expendable in Payton’s offense, and given his inconsistency last season, it was not surprising to see the Broncos bail despite the lower-end return.

Jeudy, who will turn 25 next month, has shown himself to be a shifty route runner capable of creating space. He impressed down the stretch of a shockingly poor 2022 Broncos season, closing the campaign with 972 receiving yards. The Broncos then set a first-round pick as their preferred Jeudy return in 2023. Although an offer including third- and fifth-rounders emerged at the deadline, Denver held on amid what became a five-game win streak. But Jeudy did not play a major role in that streak, seeing Sutton re-emerge as the team’s No. 1 target during Russell Wilson‘s second and final season at the controls. Jeudy did finish with 758 yards last season, but he took an undeniable step back.

Moore posted 640 yards last season, while David Njoku delivered a career-best slate (882 yards) alongside Cooper. Joe Flacco enabled much of this production, but the Browns moved on from the reigning Comeback Player of the Year, who is now with the Colts. They will expect Jeudy to form a connection with Deshaun Watson, whose outlier contract runs through 2026.

Jeudy was unable to become the player the Broncos wanted, as they cycled through quarterbacks. The Browns are betting on the former No. 15 overall pick to unlock another level with Watson, who has certainly not shown the form the team envisioned when it traded three first-round picks for him in 2022.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/19/24

March 19th, 2024 at 8:00pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Buffalo Bills

Cleveland Browns

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Philadelphia Eagles

Browns To Sign QB Tyler Huntley

March 17th, 2024 at 2:26pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Ravens retained journeyman quarterback Josh Johnson earlier this week, a move which suggested Tyler Huntley would be headed elsewhere in free agency. The latter is indeed set to make an intra-AFC North move.

Huntley, 26, and the Browns have agreed to terms, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports. The former UDFA had been in Baltimore since entering the league in 2020. Over that span, he made 22 combined regular and postseason appearances, 10 of which were starts. This one-year deal will be worth the veteran’s minimum with incentives also in place, Cabot adds.

The Utah alum saw sparse action in 2020, but over the following two seasons he was counted on several times while filling in for an injured Lamar Jackson. Huntley started four games to close out the campaign in 2021 and ’22, and also served as the Ravens’ quarterback for the team’s wild-card loss in Cincinnati during the latter year. He showcased his mobility with 485 rushing yards over that span, but a 7:8 touchdown-to-interception ratio indicated his limitations as a passer on a long-term basis.

Baltimore has Jackson on the books thanks to the mega-deal he signed last offseason. Johnson and midseason pickup Malik Cunningham will vie for the backup job behind him, a role Huntley previously occupied. With Jackson remaining healthy in 2023, the latter made only a few appearances in mop-up duty before starting a Week 18 game which had no playoff implications for Baltimore. He will now head to Cleveland looking to compete for the QB2 role.

That spot is currently projected to go to Jameis Winston, who inked a one-year deal with a maximum value of $8.7MM. Winston has said he has eyes on a return to starting duties, but his only avenue to reach the top of Cleveland’s QB depth chart would be another injury suffered by Deshaun Watson. The Browns also have 2023 fifth-rounder Dorian Thompson-Robinson in the fold; his play last summer enticed Cleveland to trade away Joshua Dobbs not long before the start of the season.

Thompson-Robinson did not fare well in his three starts, though, and Joe Flacco served as the Browns’ starter late in the year and through the postseason. 2023’s Comeback Player of the Year was not retained, however, and the combination of Winston, Thompson-Robinson and now Huntley will vie for playing time behind Watson. Cleveland’s fully-guaranteed $230MM pact for Watson has left the team in need of inexpensive options down the depth chart, and Huntley will no doubt fit the bill in that regard on this Browns pact.

Named a Pro Bowler in 2022 (a season which featured a slew of AFC quarterback injuries) Huntley played out last season on his RFA tender. That $2.63MM tender represents by far the most lucrative contract of his NFL career. It will be interesting to see the terms of this Cleveland agreement given the investments already made in Watson and Winston. Looking for better depth under center in 2024, the Browns will have several options to choose from when filling out their depth chart.

Browns, S Rodney McLeod Closing In On Deal

March 16th, 2024 at 12:13pm CST by Ben Levine

It sounds like Rodney McLeod will be back in Cleveland next season. According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, the Browns and the free agent safety are closing in on a new contract. It would be a one-year deal for the veteran safety.

McLeod inked a one-year deal with the Browns last offseason. He started five of his 10 appearances in Cleveland, collecting 29 tackles while appearing in about half of his team’s defensive snaps. He tore his biceps in November, ending his season prematurely.

The former UDFA had long stints with the Rams and Eagles to start his career. He landed with the Colts for the 2022 season and had one of the most productive seasons of his career. During his age-32 season, McLeod compiled career-highs in tackles (96) and passes defended (eight). He also had a pair of interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown. The veteran finished that season ranked seventh among 88 qualifying safeties on Pro Football Focus’ positional rankings.

The Browns dealt with a number of absences to their safeties grouping in 2023, with Grant Delpit and Juan Thornhill both missing time. That duo should return to the top of the depth chart in 2024, but McLeod will now have more competition for playing time after Ronnie Hickman and D’Anthony Bell got extended looks down the stretch.

Browns Sign LB Devin Bush

March 15th, 2024 at 6:47pm CST by Ely Allen

Devin Bush is headed back to the AFC North. Bush left Pittsburgh last year to sign with the Seahawks, and after one year on the west coast, Bush is finding his way back east. According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, Bush will return to face his former team twice in 2024 as a member of the Browns.

The signing came shortly after Bush visited Cleveland yesterday, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. In the afternoon following the visit, Bush signed a one-year contract to return to the AFC North. Not only is Bush making a return to his former division, but he also makes a personal return to Cleveland, a city in which his father, Devin Bush Sr., played the final two years of his career.

Formerly the 10th overall pick of the 2019 draft out of Michigan, Bush joined the Steelers, who had been searching for a replacement for former linebacker Ryan Shazier after he suffered a serious spinal injury that would eventually end his NFL career. Bush showed promise as a rookie, starting all but one of his 16 game appearances. In that first season, Bush broke the 100-tackle mark for the only time in his career and delivered other statistics in interceptions (2), passes defensed (4), forced fumbles (1), fumble recoveries (4), and tackles for loss (9) that still stand as career highs. He finished third in votes for the 2019 Defensive Rookie of the Year.

In his sophomore season, Bush suffered a torn ACL in a Week 5 matchup against the Browns. While he was able to bounce back and start 14 games in 2021, the Steelers ultimately decided to decline Bush’s fifth-year option, making that fourth season his final year in Pittsburgh. After a similar season the following year, Bush departed for Seattle on a one-year, $3.5MM deal. In Seattle, Bush played a reserve role behind Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks. He made three starts for the Seahawks while only playing 21 percent of the team’s defensive snaps.

In Cleveland, Bush will have an opportunity to compete and return to another starting job. Former Vikings linebacker Jordan Hicks was signed to fill one of the holes created from the departures of Sione Takitaki and Anthony Walker to the Patriots and Dolphins, respectively. Bush should be given a chance to start alongside Hicks and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.

NFL Restructures: Mahomes, Chiefs, Allen, Bills, Broncos, Browns, Martin, Cowboys

March 15th, 2024 at 6:07pm CST by Sam Robinson

Completing a Marquise Brown signing after franchise-tagging L’Jarius Sneed, the Chiefs were able to find room due to once again taking advantage of Patrick Mahomes‘ unique contract. Kansas City created $21.6MM in cap space by restructuring the three-time Super Bowl MVP’s contract, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. The Chiefs have gone to this well twice before, making the move in 2021 and 2023 to create cap room. The team reworked Mahomes’ deal in September 2023, following the QB market moving well beyond the Missouri-based superstar’s $45MM AAV, by moving guaranteed money around. But the extension still runs through 2031, giving the team room to maneuver here. Even with the Sneed tag on the books — ahead of a potential trade — the Chiefs hold more than $15MM in cap space as of Friday afternoon.

Here is the latest on the restructure front:

  • After the Bills made a few high-profile cuts last week, they restructured their centerpiece player’s deal this week. Buffalo created $16.7MM in cap space by restructuring Josh Allen‘s deal, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. This merely moved Allen’s 2024 cap charge down to $30.4MM. No void years are on Allen’s $43MM-per-year extension, but monster cap numbers in 2026 and ’27 ($63.9MM, $56.9MM) will need to be addressed. Allen’s deal runs through 2028. The Bills also adjusted Dawson Knox‘s contract to create cap space, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
  • The Broncos may be preparing to take the bigger Russell Wilson dead money hit this year as opposed to in 2025. Though, the final number has not yet emerged. The team has created considerable cap space as of late, releasing Justin Simmons and trading Jerry Jeudy. The Broncos also restructured the contracts of 2023 UFA pickups Zach Allen and Ben Powers, per Yates, creating nearly $20MM in cap room.
  • The Cowboys reorganized Zack Martin‘s deal recently, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer, who indicates the move created roughly $13MM in cap space. To end Martin’s holdout last year, Dallas provided considerable guarantees over the final two years of the All-Pro guard’s six-year deal. That contract now features four void years. If the Cowboys do not extend Martin before the 2025 league year, they would be staring at a $24.5MM dead money blow.
  • Jedrick Wills will check in here, even though he is not on a veteran contract. The Browns restructured their left tackle’s fifth-year option, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. The move created more than $10MM in cap space. Cleveland tacked four void years onto Wills’ deal. If the team does not re-sign him before the 2025 league year, it incurs an $11.8MM dead money bill. The Browns also turned to Jerry Jeudy‘s fifth-year option, which the team recently acquired from the Broncos, to create more than $10MM in space, Yates adds. The team likely used the same void years-based structure with the wide receiver’s option.

Browns To Add Mike Vrabel To Staff

March 15th, 2024 at 12:39pm CST by Sam Robinson

Mike Vrabel did not land a head coaching job and was not closely tied to any coordinator opening. While this profiles as a gap year for the former Titans HC, he has a gig lined up.

The Browns are hiring Vrabel as a coaching and personnel consultant, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Field Yates report. This will bring Vrabel back to Ohio, where he played and coached previously. The Ohio State alum is also an Akron native.

Vrabel has been working for the Browns since the Combine, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero. He will work with the AFC North team this season. This reminds of Vic Fangio‘s gap-year setup with the Eagles in 2022, but word of that partnership did not come out until the season was nearly finished. The Browns look to be set to involve Vrabel in their offseason plan.

Vrabel, 48, interviewed for for the Chargers, Falcons and Panthers’ HC jobs this offseason. Seahawks connections emerged at multiple points, but no interview transpired. As was the case with his former mentor, Bill Belichick, Vrabel found himself out of the mix despite being a well-regarded leader. The former NFL Coach of the Year figures to be a better bet to be coveted in 2025 compared to Belichick, whose age (72 in April) will work against him. While no Belichick connections to a team have emerged, Vrabel is jumping back in as he presumably prepares for his next move.

Fangio spent the 2022 season as an Eagles consultant, and the team had hoped to keep him on as its defensive coordinator. That came to fruition a year later, but Vrabel’s situation should differ. Fangio’s age and middling work as Broncos HC moved him off the radar for a top job, as he had committed to hopping back on the DC carousel. Vrabel should be expected to be an HC candidate again soon, and he will take what could well be a part-time position in Cleveland in the meantime.

Prior to becoming a Texans assistant, Vrabel began his coaching career at his alma mater. He coached under Urban Meyer at Ohio State from 2011-13. Going to high school in the Cleveland area (Cuyahoga Falls), Vrabel makes for an interesting fit close to his hometown. He will work alongside Kevin Stefanski and DC Jim Schwartz.

Browns To Add DL Quinton Jefferson

March 14th, 2024 at 8:25am CST by Sam Robinson

Losing Jordan Elliott to the 49ers this week, the Browns are adding a piece to their defensive line. In addition to bringing back Shelby Harris, Cleveland will add an outside hire to its D-line equation.

Quinton Jefferson will come over from the Jets on a one-year deal, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Mary Kay Cabot. A veteran who has largely worked as a defensive tackle, Jefferson has enjoyed his two most productive years as a pass rusher since 2022. The eight-year veteran has combined for 11.5 sacks in that span.

[RELATED: Browns Re-Sign DT Shelby Harris]

This will be Jefferson’s fifth NFL destination in the 2020s. The former Seahawks draftee has ventured from Buffalo to Las Vegas to Seattle to New York since the decade dawned. He will now join Jim Schwartz‘s Cleveland defense, which led the league against the pass in 2023. Jefferson is set to team with the likes of Harris and high-priced DT Dalvin Tomlinson.

The Jets brought in former Robert Saleh 49ers charge Javon Kinlaw early in free agency, and Jefferson — as he is accustomed to doing — will take his routine to another city. Vacillating from starter to rotational player during this nomadic period, Jefferson has produced consistently. After notching 16 quarterback hits as a Raider in 2021, the former fifth-round pick totaled 13 in each of the past two seasons. Jefferson, 31 this month, also forced a fumble with the Jets last year; the six sacks he notched in New York represent a career high.

Jefferson has extensive experience contributing on playoff-bound D-lines. While the Jets fell well short of expectations, Jefferson was on a postseason-bound team from 2018-22. He sacked Joe Burrow in the Raiders’ narrow wild-card loss to the Bengals in 2021 and totaled two sacks during the 2019 playoffs as a Seahawk.

While Jefferson has traveled the league following the expiration of his rookie contract, he has not signed exclusively one-year deals like Jadeveon Clowney has. The Seahawks released Jefferson from a two-year pact last year, leading him to the Jets. His work in Saleh’s defense caught the Browns’ eye, bringing in an interesting piece for Schwartz’s pass rush.

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