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Cowboys, Dak Prescott Agree To Extension

September 8th, 2024 at 10:25pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Cowboys and quarterback Dak Prescott have finally pushed their negotiations past the finish line. As ESPN’s Adam Schefter was first to report, Dallas and Prescott have agreed to a stunning four-year, $240MM extension that will make Prescott the highest-paid player in NFL history.

Schefter notes that all but $9MM of Prescott’s deal is guaranteed, which speaks to the inordinate amount of leverage that the three-time Pro Bowler wielded in this process. His $231MM in guaranteed money is $1MM more than Deshaun Watson received in his highly controversial deal with the Browns several years ago. And, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com observes, Prescott’s guarantees — which include a record $80MM signing bonus — are $60MM higher than the next highest sum of guaranteed money ever handed out on a four-year contract.

Throughout the offseason, questions lingered about whether or not the Cowboys would be able to work out deals with Prescott, wideout CeeDee Lamb and edge rusher Micah Parsons while saving the cap flexibility to make other moves. An otherwise quiet offseason revolved around negotiations on the Prescott and Lamb fronts in particular. The latter wound up cashing in on a $34MM-per-year extension which (like the former) will keep him in Dallas through 2028. Lamb did not reach the top of the receiver market, but Prescott has taken his position to new financial heights.

A $60MM AAV has long been a possibility, especially given the nature of the quarterback mega-deals worked out over the past two years and the position Prescott found himself in. No-tag and no-trade clauses were included in his previous pact, and Dallas was set to deal with a $55MM cap charge in 2024 in the absence of an extension coming into play. That was also the case for the dead money charge (roughly $40MM) in 2025 which would have been on the team’s cap sheet had Prescott departed in free agency next spring.

Both the 31-year-old himself and owner Jerry Jones made a number of public remarks in the build-up to today’s news. Continuing this relationship well past 2024 was a mutual goal, although Prescott hinted at testing the market on more than one occasion. Jones indicated in the spring he preferred to let the QB and WR markets take further shape before serious negotiations with Prescott and Lamb’s camps took place. That approach has yielded agreements for both, albeit along a less-than-ideal timeline given the missed time from training camp in one case and the run up to an artificial Week 1 deadline in the other.

Jones stated he would be on board with Prescott negotiations continuing into the regular season, but a late push by all parties involved yielded progress. That left the door open to an eleventh-hour agreement, although with Saturday night coming and going it appeared one would no longer be possible. In the end, however, Prescott is now on the books for the foreseeable future as he tries once again to guide the Cowboys to deep playoff run.

Dallas has posted a 12-5 record in each of the past three years, failing to convert that into postseason success in every instance. Head coach Mike McCarthy is entering a lame-duck year in no small part due to the Cowboys’ underwhelming defeat to the Packers during the wild-card round last season. Jones has routinely praised the former Green Bay Super Bowl winner, hinting he could be retained past the coming campaign depending on how things go. Prescott – who led the league in touchdown passes during McCarthy’s first year as offensive play-caller – will be expected to duplicate his success from 2023 for several more seasons.

Parsons (whose resume includes two first-team All-Pro honors, one second-team nod and three Pro Bowl invites) no doubt would have been a higher organizational priority if not for Prescott and Lamb entering the offseason as pending free agents. With both of their pacts now taken care of, attention will turn to Parsons’ level of play in his fourth campaign. The 25-year-old will set himself up for a major payday with another productive campaign in 2024, but Dallas’ cap outlook has of course been considerably altered in recent weeks.

Today’s deal (and, more specifically, the massive guarantee commitment) confirms Prescott will remain a Cowboy for most, if not all, of his career. His legacy remains linked to the franchise’s ongoing Super Bowl drought, but the next several years will offer an opportunity to break through in the postseason. It will be interesting to see, meanwhile, how the quarterback market shakes out in the near future with the top of the pecking order changing once again.

Rory Parks contributed to this post.

Dolphins Extend CB Jalen Ramsey

September 6th, 2024 at 10:54pm CST by Adam La Rose

In advance of his second Dolphins season, Jalen Ramsey has agreed to another big-ticket deal. The All-Pro corner has worked out a three-year, $72.3MM extension, as first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Cameron Wolfe. Head coach Mike McDaniel has since confirmed the news.

This pact will include $55.3MM guaranteed, Rapoport adds. Ramsey and the Dolphins worked out the agreement a few days ago, but the news has now broken in preparation for his return to the practice field. Ramsey is a candidate to suit up for Week 1 on Sunday with the title of the league’s highest-paid corner.

Patrick Surtain moved the top of the position’s market forward earlier this week when he agreed to a Broncos extension averaging $24MM per season. Ramsey’s deal checks in at $24.1MM annually. The 31-year-old had two years remaining on his existing pact (the five-year, $100MM extension he inked in 2020), one which was restructured this spring to clear 2024 cap space. No guaranteed salary was in place for 2025, but that will no doubt change in the wake of today’s news.

Acquired via trade with the Rams last offseason, Ramsey was limited to 10 games in his debut Miami campaign due to a knee injury. He recorded three interceptions and five pass deflections during that span, though, and returned in time for the team’s wild-card game. The former No. 6 pick earned his seventh consecutive Pro Bowl nod in 2023, setting himself up another notable payday. Ramsey rose to the top of the pecking order on his 2020 deal, and he has now managed to replicate that feat four years later.

The Dolphins moved on from Xavien Howard this offseason, one in which Kendall Fuller was added in free agency. The Ramsey-Fuller tandem will be counted on to anchor the team’s secondary as Miami has a number of inexperienced options on the depth chart, although it remains to be seen if they will both be on the field for Week 1. McDaniel- who himself recently landed a multi-year extension – noted during his Thursday press availability that he is unsure if Ramsey will get enough practice time in between now and the season opener to be able to play (h/t Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald).

Miami has qualified for the postseason in each of the past two years, bowing out in the wild-card round both times. The team will be expected to improve in that regard in 2024, with many key players on offense (quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in particular) landing sizable new contracts to remain in place for the foreseeable future. The Dolphins ranked 15th against the pass last year, so taking a step forward in that regard will be a goal for the coming campaign. Ramsey is positioned to handle a central role in that effort through the 2028 campaign.

Just like the Surtain deal, this pact will represent a target for extension-eligible corners next offseason. The likes of Sauce Gardner, Derek Stingley and Jaycee Horn will be in line for new deals in the spring. The previous high point for the position in terms of AAV was $21MM, but a new benchmark has been established. It will be interesting to see how the market takes shape once the next wave of monster extensions comes about in 2025.

Steelers, Pat Freiermuth Agree To Extension

September 6th, 2024 at 12:34pm CST by Adam La Rose

To little surprise, a deal is now in place for Pat Freiermuth. The Steelers’ push for an extension in time for the start of the season has resulted in a long-term accord.

Team and player reached agreement on a four-year extension Friday, per his agency (via Tom Pelissero of NFL Network). Freiermuth will collect $48.4MM on his new deal. He was attached to the final year of his rookie contract for the coming campaign, so he will now be on the books through 2028. Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette adds the pact includes $23.38MM guaranteed.

A report from earlier Friday pointed to the sides making progress toward a deal. As a result, this news comes as little surprise. Freiermuth played a key role in the Steelers’ offense during his first two seasons in the league, notching back-to-back years with 60 receptions. He scored nine touchdowns during that span, though his production took a step back in an injury-shortened 2023 campaign. At the age of 25, however, Freiermuth has emerged as a key figure in Pittsburgh’s long-term offensive planning.

The former second-rounder’s $12.1MM AAV ranks ninth at the position, in between Cole Kmet and Dalton Schultz. The top of the position’s market remains set with Travis Kelce, T.J. Hockenson and George Kittle leading the way, but Freiermuth was never expected to reach those heights on his second contract. He will nevertheless become one of the team’s top earners on the offensive side of the ball.

The Steelers have Russell Wilson and Justin Fields in place as an inexpensive quarterback tandem. Running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren are on their rookie contracts, as are three starters on the offensive line. With Diontae Johnson no longer in the fold, George Pickens (who will not be eligible for an extension until next year) is in place as the team’s top receiver. Freiermuth’s cap charge will likely not spike to a cumbersome figure with this extension, but he will take up a larger piece of the allocated resources when general manager Omar Khan evaluates the offense in the future.

Questions linger entering the season about Pittsburgh’s depth in the receiving corps. Van Jefferson, Calvin Austin, Scotty Miller and third-round rookie Roman Wilson will be counted on to complement Pickens after a trade agreement with the 49ers over Brandon Aiyuk did not result in a swap taking place. Aiyuk inked a San Francisco extension, leaving future cap resources available to Freiermuth and others. He will be expected to deliver a rebound in 2024 and beyond while playing out a lucrative new contract.

Broncos, Patrick Surtain Agree On Extension

September 5th, 2024 at 11:15am CST by Sam Robinson

SEPTEMBER 5: Surtain will receive a $15MM signing bonus, as detailed by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. His compensation for 2024 and ’25 is fully locked in at signing, and his earnings for two seasons after that is set to vest one year early. That includes a $10MM option bonus in 2026, his $7.63MM base salary for that season and a $17MM 2027 salary.

Partial guarantees (for injury at signing, and a full guarantee down the road) are in place concerning Surtain’s 2028 base salary, which totals $19.49MM. His compensation beyond that point – including a $23.49 salary in 2029 – is not locked in, but he will have seen considerable cashflow by that point.

SEPTEMBER 4: After two years of gridlock, the NFL’s cornerback market will see substantial movement. The Broncos have a deal in place with Patrick Surtain, according to veteran NFL reporter Jordan Schultz. As could be expected, a sizable gap will soon exist between Denver’s dominant corner and the field.

Surtain agreed to a four-year, $96MM extension. This makes the 2021 top-10 pick the NFL’s highest-paid corner by a $3MM margin — in terms of AAV. This agreement includes $77.5MM guaranteed, Schultz adds. The deal bridges the gap between the CB and WR markets, and even though a sizable gulf still exists, Surtain began the process of narrowing it.

Because the Broncos picked up Surtain’s $19.8MM fifth-year option in April, this deal will tie the All-Pro defender to the team through the 2029 season. Although clubs made offers for Surtain at the 2023 deadline and trade rumors emerged ahead of this draft, the Broncos had viewed the second-generation NFL corner as a building block for the Sean Payton era. They will back up that talk with this extension.

Denver could have kept the former No. 9 overall pick on his rookie deal into 2025; his first-round contract called for a $1.1MM base salary this year. Surtain secured this megadeal early, and it will give the Broncos cost certainty with their top player. Negotiations intensified over the weekend, per Schultz, who adds the deal was finalized Tuesday night.

Considering Surtain’s age (24) and his performance level, this could certainly be viewed as a bargain for the team. It ties Surtain to Denver through his age-29 season, and the AAV still comes in $11MM south of where Justin Jefferson moved the wide receiver market this offseason. Though, Surtain wanting to lock in a veteran contract early makes sense as well. The deal gives him a $3MM lead on the field, with Jaire Alexander having held the title as the NFL’s highest-paid corner since May 2022. Alexander’s deal had stood as the top CB payment long enough the NFL’s highest-paid safety — the Buccaneers’ Antoine Winfield Jr. — eclipsed it this offseason.

In terms of guarantees, Surtain’s number also created separation between he and the cornerback field. Though, perhaps not as much as should have been expected. The Broncos will receive four additional years of control in exchange for moving the CB guarantee ceiling up by $6.5MM from Denzel Ward‘s previous league-leading mark ($71.25MM). Jalen Ramsey‘s Dolphins rework also passed $71MM in total guarantees.

The gap between CBs and WRs has expanded over the past decade. At this point nine years ago, the cornerback ceiling (Patrick Peterson‘s $14MM-per-year number on his Cardinals extension) matched the deals given to Demaryius Thomas and Dez Bryant at the 2015 franchise tag deadline. Since that point, however, teams began valuing wideouts at a higher rate. The 2022 and ’24 offseasons have separated the two positions significantly. While Surtain did well to move CB money north of where it had resided for years, 12 WRs still out-earn the Denver defender.

Denver received criticism for drafting Surtain over Justin Fields in 2021, but GM George Paton was proven right for making that move. Surtain is a two-time Pro Bowler who earned first-team All-Pro acclaim in 2022. A panel of NFL staffers (via ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler) named the fourth-year defender as the NFL’s top corner this offseason. While the Broncos have questions about their No. 2 cornerback spot, they have enjoyed the luxury of an elite stopper anchoring this position group for a bit.

Paton has now signed two members of his first draft class to lucrative extensions, with Surtain following right guard Quinn Meinerz in agreeing to terms on extensions. Meinerz and Surtain join Javonte Williams, Baron Browning and Jonathon Cooper as starters from Denver’s ’21 draft class. This group has given Payton some pieces to build around, but the Broncos’ issues finding a quarterback have continued to interrupt its young position players from making a considerable difference in the win column. As the team is set to begin a Bo Nix-centered plan this season, the long-term vision is coming into focus.

Payton admitted he participated in a smokescreen effort around the Broncos’ first-round pick this offseason. The draft run-up featured rumors about Surtain being used as a trade chip to move the Broncos up the board from No. 12 overall. Surtain, who said he did not expect to be traded, also generated extensive interest at last year’s deadline.

Denver set a two-first-rounder asking price — what Ramsey fetched in 2019 — to start a conversation on Surtain. Although at least three offers came, none were on that level. Surtain helped the team vault from 1-5 into the playoff race following the deadline. He will be the Broncos’ clear DB anchor post-Justin Simmons.

Surtain’s timeline differs from Marshon Lattimore‘s, as Payton authorized a fifth-year payday for the 2017 Saints first-rounder. But the Broncos will act early with their top performer. This doubles the first time the Broncos have extended a rookie-deal player with two years of control remaining. While Russell Wilson‘s dead money prevents the Broncos from capitalizing fully on Nix’s rookie deal, the team taking on the lion’s share of the penalty in 2024 will start to open up opportunities beginning in 2025. The Surtain and Meinerz extensions reflect that.

Surtain’s price will set a high bar for 2022 draftees Sauce Gardner and Derek Stingley, but it should be expected those defenders will use this as a springboard to move the CB market closer to where WR salaries have gone. Both Gardner and Stingley become extension-eligible in 2025.

49ers, Trent Williams Agree To Rework

September 3rd, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Adam La Rose

Not long after ending Brandon Aiyuk‘s hold-in with an extension, the 49ers have a resolution in place with Trent Williams. The All-Pro left tackle returned to San Francisco on Tuesday to finalize a new agreement, his agency announced.

A few minor details are still to be ironed out, as noted by Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, but once signed this new pact will finish the team’s last major piece of financial business for the offseason. Three years remained on Williams’ contract prior to today’s news, but no guaranteed compensation was in place. To no surprise, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that is now expected to change.

Indeed, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson adds Williams will receive $48MM at signing. Overall, this is a three-year, $82.66MM agreement, with the $48MM serving as a signing bonus. The 49ers will be able to spread that amount into the future, though this deal does not add any years to Williams’ deal, which still runs through 2026.

Among non-quarterbacks beyond age 35, the $48MM guarantee is an NFL-record sum. As a massive talent gap exists between Williams and the rest of San Francisco’s O-line cogs, the team certainly needed him back to open the season. Talks intensified Sunday night, per Fowler, and Williams will have a week of practices with his team to prepare for the 49ers’ opener against the Jets. Williams effectively maximized his leverage, with Wilson adding he will collect $27.65MM in 2024.

Williams was absent from the start of training camp, adding another layer to the financial challenges the 49ers dealt with over the summer. Trade talk persisted in Aiyuk’s case, with a trade agreement being worked out with the Steelers. That wound up being a moot point after the parties agreed to a four-year, $120MM contract which will keep Aiyuk in the Bay Area for the foreseeable future, though. The same will now be true for Williams, whose deal ran through 2026 before the adjustments which will be finalized today.

The 11-time Pro Bowler was due $20.9MM in 2024 under the terms of the previous contract, one which carried an AAV of just over $23MM. Williams’ efforts to land an upgraded pact had come during an offseason in which the top of the tackle market has reached new heights with Tristan Wirfs, Penei Sewell and Christian Darrisaw landing big-ticket extensions. Each of those agreements are for second contracts, though, making them notably different than Williams’ case.

The 36-year-old has previously been linked to retirement, although one year ago he made public his intention of playing until age 40. Williams has landed first-team All-Pro nod in each of the past three years, serving as the anchor of the 49ers’ offensive line during that span. That longevity helped give him leverage to angle for a new arrangement, but it will certainly be interesting to see if the 49ers have added any new years to the pact given Williams’ age.

In 2019, Williams sat out the entire campaign while attempting to land a new deal at the end of his tenure in Washington. That was eventually ended by the trade which sent him to San Francisco the following offseason (and, later, the six-year accord he had been playing on), but it illustrated how willing the Oklahoma product was to extend a holdout into the regular season. A chance of that tactic being repeated loomed throughout the summer, though a recent update pointed to the parties making progress on contract talks. Regardless of what the new deal looks like, today’s news means San Francisco’s offense will be at full strength in time for Week 1.

As a vested veteran, the daily fines Williams accumulated for his training camp holdout cannot be waived. Due to missed camp time ($2.05MM) and three missed preseason games ($3.34MM), Williams incurred $5.39MM in fines to secure this rework, CBS Sports’ Joel Corry tweets. With over $171MM in career earnings, that fact did not dissuade him, but the threat of a regular season absence is no longer in place.

Steelers, DT Cameron Heyward Agree To Extension

September 3rd, 2024 at 9:40pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Steelers’ latest extension efforts with Cameron Heyward have produced a deal. The All-Pro defensive lineman has an agreement in place on a another lucrative extension, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports. The move is now official, per an announcement from his agency.

Heyward is now attached to a three-year, $45MM deal, Fowler adds. The pact includes $29MM in new money along with $16MM in guarantees (nearly $15MM of which is comprised of a signing bonus). These terms will allow Heyward to reach his stated goal of finishing his career as a Steeler.

One year remained on the 35-year-old’s pact, but he made it clear this offseason he was seeking a two-year extension. Today’s news means he will be in place through 2026 as he intended and put to rest the possibility of a free agent departure next spring. Heyward has spent his entire 13 years in the NFL with Pittsburgh, and his decorated tenure will all-but certainly conclude in the city.

Arriving with the Steelers as a first-round pick in 2011, Heyward did not see any starts during his first two seasons with the team. Since then, he has been a stalwart along the defensive line, regularly providing a high-end pass rush presence in the interior. He earned a Pro Bowl nod every year from 2017 to ’22, posting double-digit sacks three times during that span.

Heyward landed a five-year extension in 2015, and a four-year re-up in 2020. He has proven to be a sound investment both times from the Steelers’ perspective, but last year saw him miss time due to a groin injury. Heyward was limited to just two sacks in 2023, and while he is now healthy questions were raised in the offseason about his long-term outlook. As Fowler notes, this is believed to be the largest commitment ever made to a defender at age 35 or older. Suffice it to say, the Steelers are banking on Heyward regaining his previous form.

With four All-Pro nods on his resume (three first-team, one second-team), the Ohio State alum could remain a key member of Pittsburgh’s highly-compensated defense if he manages to put together a healthy campaign. He was due $16MM in 2024 under the terms of his old deal, one which will be replaced by this new accord. Heyward’s scheduled cap hit of $22.41MM will be lowered by this agreement Specifically, his 2024 salary has been converted into a signing bonus; that will save the Steelers over $9MM in cap space (h/t Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

It was learned earlier this week that Heyward – who floated the idea of joining a new team in free agency without a deal in place – had recently re-engaged with the Steelers on contract talks. Pittsburgh has a strict policy against negotiating in-season, creating Week 1 as a deadline for both parties to hammer out an agreement. That has now proven to be the case, and general manager Omar Khan has one less piece of business to attend to over the coming days.

Pittsburgh is also eyeing a deal with tight end Pat Freiermuth. 2024 marks the final year of his rookie contract, so getting an extension worked out on that front would prevent the potential of a March 2025 departure on the open market. Regardless of how that process plays out, Heyward will remain in the fold for the foreseeable future.

Jets To Extend CB Michael Carter II

September 3rd, 2024 at 9:38pm CST by Sam Robinson

The slot cornerback market saw significant movement this offseason. Both Taron Johnson and Kenny Moore moved the position’s bar past $10MM per year. That pertained to the Jets, who are moving to extend their inside corner.

Michael Carter II will be the league’s third pure slot corner to cross the eight-figure-per-year barrier. The fourth-year CB agreed to terms on a three-year, $30.75MM deal Tuesday, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. Carter will see just more than $19MM guaranteed on this accord, which runs through the 2027 season.

Although the Jets broke up their Michael Carter pair by waiving the 2021 running back draftee late last season, they have been pleased with the other Michael Carter’s work. Lining up alongside Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed, Carter has fared well in Robert Saleh‘s defense since being a 2021 fifth-round pick. The Jets now have he and Reed tied to veteran deals. While this equation might change once Gardner is extension-eligible (2025), today’s deal lays out a future in which the All-Pro and Carter play together beyond their rookie contracts.

Rumors about a Carter extension surfaced early this summer, and the Jets took care of business just before Week 1. Carter, 25, allowed a career-low 51.6% completion rate as the closest defender in 2023. Pro-Football-Reference’s coverage metrics have assessed Carter as yielding QB ratings south of 76.0 in each of the past two seasons. Pro Football Focus also ranked Carter 12th among all corners in 2023. Carter intercepted two passes in 2022 and broke up nine in each of the past two seasons.

The Duke alum’s contract will overlap with at least one Gardner rookie-deal season, and the Jets could certainly aim to keep the standout boundary corner at the rookie rate in 2025 as well. Once the Jets pick up Gardner’s fifth-year option in 2025, he will be tied to the team through the 2026 season. We should expect to hear Gardner extension rumors next year, however, and the team will undoubtedly look to have a deal done by 2026 at the latest. Reed’s deal expires after this season; this Carter pact and the monster deal Gardner will seek stand to complicate the ex-Seahawk’s future in New York.

Moore re-signed with the Colts on a three-year, $30MM deal; Johnson inked his third Bills contract (three years, $30.75MM) soon after. Johnson and Carter are now the NFL’s highest-paid pure slots, with Pelissero adding this Jets contract can reach $33MM. This year has brought an important update to the slot corner market, which had been stagnant for a while leading up to the March accords.

Dolphins, Mike McDaniel Agree On Extension

August 30th, 2024 at 11:18pm CST by Sam Robinson

Back-to-back Dolphins playoff berths will produce the first extension for a 2022 HC hire. The team has agreed to a new deal with Mike McDaniel, according to ESPN.com’s Jeff Darlington.

The third-year HC agreed to a deal that will tie him to the Dolphins through the 2028 season. This comes after the Dolphins booked consecutive postseason appearances for the first time in more than 20 years. McDaniel, 41, has rejuvenated Miami’s offense. The team led the league in total offense for the first time since Dan Marino‘s age-33 season (1994), and Tua Tagovailoa has shown substantial growth since the Dolphins hired the Kyle Shanahan disciple.

This offseason brought a Tagovailoa megadeal and new agreements with Tyreek Hill — a reworking that brought more guarantees the future Hall of Famer’s way — and Jaylen Waddle. As other clubs who hired new HCs in 2022 still determine how to proceed regarding long-term plans, Dolphins ownership is evidently confident in the team’s direction under McDaniel.

Known perhaps as much for his eccentricities that have produced numerous interview soundbites, McDaniel displayed an immediate ability to coach up Miami’s offense. While the 2022 Hill trade made a significant impact on Tagovailoa’s trajectory, the league’s lone southpaw QB starter turned a corner once Stephen Ross hired McDaniel.

Amid a concerning concussion-marred 2022, Tua still finished third in QBR while leading the league in passer rating and yards per attempt. The 2020 first-rounder then paced the NFL in passing yards in 2023, staying healthy and guiding the team back to the postseason. The Dolphins had not previously secured consecutive playoff berths since they strung together five in a row during the Jimmy Johnson and Dave Wannstedt years (1997-2001).

Hired in the aftermath of a controversial Brian Flores firing — a move that prompted the former Dolphins HC to file a racial discrimination lawsuit — McDaniel has also gone through three defensive coordinators and seen his team limp to the regular-season finish line in both the 2022 and ’23 seasons. Miami went 9-8 in 2022, a season overshadowed by Tagovailoa’s injuries, and 11-6 last season. The Dolphins wrapped the ’23 campaign with a wild-card no-show on a frigid Kansas City night. This generated more questions about the Super Bowl viability of the nucleus McDaniel and GM Chris Grier have assembled.

That said, the Dolphins nearly upset the No. 2-seeded Bills despite third-string rookie Skylar Thompson starting in the 2022 wild-card round. Grier and McDaniel also have forged a strong relationship, per Darlington; that was certainly not the case with the veteran GM and Flores. Ahead of Grier’s sixth season with roster control, the Dolphins will continue to pair him with his 2022 HC hire. The rest of the 2022 HC additions — Kevin O’Connell, Matt Eberflus, Brian Daboll, Doug Pederson, Dennis Allen and Todd Bowles — are still on their initial deals. One other 2022 HC hire, Josh McDaniels, did not make it out of his second season.

49ers, WR Brandon Aiyuk Agree To Deal

August 30th, 2024 at 7:36pm CST by Sam Robinson

AUGUST 30: Full details on the Aiyuk pact are in, courtesy of Florio. The frontloaded compensation includes a $23MM signing bonus, $11MM of which will be paid out in the next two weeks. His 2025 earnings are made up of $20.88MM in base salary, roster and workout bonuses which are guaranteed at signing. Another $4MM will be locked in on April 1 of that year. Altogether, this deal consists of $45MM fully guaranteed, with the $76MM total guarantee figure set to emerge not long after the 2025 league year begins.

Aiyuk’s 2026 salary ($1.22MM) and per-game roster bonuses ($750K) are guaranteed for injury at signing and will fully vest one year early. Notably, his salaries for 2027 and ’28 – $27.27MM and $29.15MM – are not guaranteed, so the 49ers will be able to get out of the contract in either of those seasons (an unlikely development, given his age and production) barring adjustments being made down the road via restructures. Aiyuk’s 2024 cap number will drop to $5.73MM, per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner.

AUGUST 29: Months of negotiating drama with Brandon Aiyuk, which featured trade talks with a few teams and an eventual trade agreement, defined the 49ers’ offseason. But the saga will end with a peaceful resolution. Aiyuk is not going anywhere, with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reporting an extension is in place.

The 49ers have agreed to terms with Aiyuk on a four-year, $120MM deal, which Garafolo and Rapoport indicate includes $76MM guaranteed. This process will end closer to Aiyuk’s believed price point than San Francisco’s, but the defending NFC champs will have the second-team All-Pro back at work soon.

Aiyuk held in for 38 days, but as the 49ers did with Nick Bosa and Deebo Samuel, a late-summer extension will bring a close to this chapter. Though, this was a more memorable saga than those involving Bosa and Samuel. Aiyuk is now signed through 2028, and this agreement suddenly brings Samuel’s Bay Area future — post-2024, that is — into question.

It looks as though the sides are meeting in the middle. Rather than sign a three-year deal like Samuel did in 2022, Aiyuk will be under 49ers control for four seasons beyond 2024. Instead of the $26-$27MM-per-year price point San Francisco — and would-be trade partner Pittsburgh — initially landed on, Aiyuk will become the NFL’s sixth $30MM-per-year wideout. Long seeking a deal at $30MM per, Aiyuk joins Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, A.J. Brown, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Tyreek Hill in this club, one that expanded from one to six this offseason.

Lamb’s extension may not have driven the 49ers’ talks across the goal line, as he and Jefferson are on a higher plane in terms of AAV and guarantees. But the market is effectively set for 2024, unless the Bengals make an unexpected deal with Ja’Marr Chase before 2025. This 49ers agreement coming to fruition less than two weeks before the season will wrap one of more voluminous sagas in PFR history.

This is a frontloaded deal, per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, who reports the contract includes $90MM over the first three years. This helps cover for Aiyuk not reaching guarantees past $80MM — a long-rumored ask. Although Aiyuk is now contracted through his age-30 season, he should have another chance — should the 2020 first-rounder’s career remain on this trajectory — to cash in on a big-ticket deal in his prime. Aiyuk, 26, will receive $47MM between now and April 1, 2025, Rapoport adds.

Considering the fight Aiyuk put up, it does appear a bit strange his $76MM guarantee number checks in only in a tie for sixth (with Jaylen Waddle, who signed a three-year extension) at the position. But the contract’s full guarantees and full payout structure will reveal the detailed ending to this long-running tale.

San Francisco’s resolution does not appear to have involved an 11th-hour raise, as The Athletic’s Dianna Russini notes these numbers have been in place for weeks. Aiyuk, who has watched practices at points and been absent from practice fields at others, now must return to work ahead of the 49ers’ Monday Night Football debut against the Jets. Providing clarity, Schefter adds this offer has been on the table since August 12.

The 49ers have now dispensed with one half of their disgruntled-player contingent, with Trent Williams‘ holdout now moving toward center stage. Williams’ contract issue has a long way to go to catch Aiyuk in terms of updates, with this back-and-forth producing many twists and turns (featuring a few documented meetings) since the parties began negotiating months ago.

For the 49ers, this keeps an essential piece of the puzzle in place. A trade at this juncture would have made it difficult for the team, Kyle Shanahan‘s play-calling acumen notwithstanding, to produce an offense on the level of 2023’s machine. The 49ers have now extended Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey this year; Samuel and George Kittle are under contract through 2025.

Aiyuk is coming off his second straight 1,000-yard season; the Arizona State alum totaled 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns to help Brock Purdy deliver a historic 9.6 yards per attempt in 2023. Under the hood, Aiyuk’s numbers were even better. He ranked third in yards per route run (3.01) last season; this undoubtedly influenced his asking price, with Team Aiyuk effectively capitalizing on the 49ers needing him for another run in 2024. After falling short of 850 yards during each of his first two years, Aiyuk has put it together.

“We believe his best football is ahead of him,” a 49ers exec told veteran reporter Jordan Schultz. “He’s only 26, he’s still learning the intricacies of the position. This is an ascending player. … There’s no reason why he can’t have a similar career as a Davante Adams, for example.”

Aiyuk being offered $30MM per year on August 12 shows how well his camp did, considering the 49ers were at $26-$27MM per annum before that point. This all came after the 49ers let Aiyuk shop around. Despite a reported Patriots offer north of where this 49ers deal ended up, Aiyuk did not want to be dealt to New England. The Browns put Amari Cooper, along with second- and fifth-round picks, on the table; Aiyuk expressed disappointment in a Cleveland destination. Even the Commanders, who drafted ex-Aiyuk college QB Jayden Daniels, hovered on the Aiyuk periphery.

Playing for Mike Tomlin appealed to Aiyuk, but the Steelers’ offer did not exceed $28MM per year. This prompted the disgruntled receiver to return to the table with 49ers brass, and only minor details remained to be ironed out in recent days. Even though Pittsburgh’s contract offer was not quite what Aiyuk sought, the sides agreed on trade framework. This became a backup plan, though Aiyuk had long viewed San Francisco as his top choice. John Lynch had also continued to convey a desire for Aiyuk to be in the fold long term, and the 49ers’ top-level skill-position crew (now featuring first-round pick Ricky Pearsall) now has at least one more season to play together.

The Steelers falling short for Aiyuk spotlights a thin skill corps post-Diontae Johnson. George Pickens remains the top target for Tomlin’s team, and Pat Freiermuth looms as an extension candidate. Now-starter Russell Wilson, though, does not have much else of consequence to target. The team will need third-round rookie Roman Wilson, who missed training camp time due to injury, to step up early — barring a late-summer or in-season trade, that is.

Even though Pittsburgh’s receiver development has shined for many years, the team’s current setup — which also features ex-Rams and Falcons contributor Van Jefferson — appears thin. This is the ending the Steelers anticipated, however, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac.

A champagne problem is approaching for the 49ers. With Aiyuk now signed and a Brock Purdy extension on the team’s 2025 radar, the prospect of Samuel’s future comes into focus. The 49ers may well be in trade talks again with a high-end wide receiver next year. Samuel will be 29 ahead of his 2025 contract year, and with Pearsall on a rookie deal for a while, he would be a more logical complement to his former Arizona State teammate — assuming Purdy is indeed extended — than Samuel, who joined Aiyuk in draft-weekend trade talks.

That is a down-the-road issue for the 49ers, who have managed to avoid what would have been an odd trade based on their trajectory. The team, which has continued to fall short in Super Bowls and NFC championship games, has retained the nucleus that pushed the Chiefs near double overtime in Super Bowl LVIII. Aiyuk will again be in place to help Purdy and Co. navigate that elusive hurdle this season.

Steelers Name Russell Wilson QB Starter

August 28th, 2024 at 11:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

Russell Wilson faced a challenge from his pole-position spot, but the veteran will hold off Justin Fields. The Steelers will go with the 13th-year passer to open the season, Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reports. The Steelers have since announced it will be Wilson in Week 1.

The Steelers went to some lengths to assure Wilson he would be the starter. This was communicated to the decorated veteran before the Kenny Pickett trade and then after the team acquired Fields. While the latter has made a push that indicates this situation is not resolved from a long-term perspective, Fields will begin his Pittsburgh tenure as a backup.

Fields was believed to have supporters in the building, as the Steelers went about adjusting his footwork from his Bears days. Rather than name a starter before the third preseason game, Mike Tomlin waited until midway through the Steelers’ final week of summer workouts. This does not suggest Wilson will have a firm grip here, despite the early-offseason buzz about this job, but the 35-year-old passer will soon make his 189th career start.

Despite Fields closing the gap, the 25-year-old trade acquisition never emerged as a frontrunner. The Steelers may have been more inclined, after seeing Pickett stumble, to go with a more experienced option early. After trading Pickett, Pittsburgh signed off on a unique arrangement. Wilson and Fields are on low-cost deals that expire at season’s end. The team is not deviating from its policy of not negotiating extensions in-season, and no talks are planned to commence before the campaign. Both passers will head into contract years, and although reports about the Steelers eyeing a post-2024 future with both have come out, this Wilson-Fields setup will almost certainly be a one-and-done situation.

Calling this a “difficult decision,” Tomlin communicated it to both QBs today. This was Wilson’s first time in a quarterback competition since his rookie year, when he beat out Matt Flynn for the Seahawks’ job. The potential Hall of Famer held it for 10 years, but the Seahawks — after Wilson’s first injury-related absence came during a season that brought a step back from his Pro Bowl-level form — dealt his $35MM-per-year contract to the Broncos for an eight-asset package in March 2022. Wilson then signed a $49MM-AAV deal with Denver, going through an infamous tenure with the AFC West franchise.

Wilson’s Broncos run can be classified as a financial disaster, and while Sean Payton made it clear his fit with the off-script maven was poor, the 2023 season went much better for the former third-round pick compared to the shocking 2022 outcome.

Wilson rebounded from his rough season with Nathaniel Hackett, a campaign in which the Broncos allowed the QB to help design the offense and then gave him other perks, by throwing 26 touchdown passes compared to just eight interceptions with Payton at the controls. This still produced a late-season benching — after a behind-the-scenes drama unfolded regarding Wilson’s 2025 guarantee vesting date — but Wilson did show some better form, helping the Broncos to a five-game win streak that moved them into the playoff chase.

Denver took on a record-smashing dead money sum to separate from the embattled quarterback; regardless of offset language, Denver’s cap penalty over the next two years more than doubles any other single-player number. The Steelers swooped in an have the accomplished passer on a one-year, $1.21MM deal. But Wilson, who battled injuries in 2022 to contribute to his stunning regression, missed multiple weeks of training camp with a calf injury and only recently received full clearance. This allowed Fields to catch up a bit, and this situation will be one to monitor early in the season.

In the preseason, Fields went 19-for-27 for 199 yards. Playing in two preseason games, Wilson was 10 of 12 for 73 yards. Both struggled to move the offense in Pittsburgh’s second preseason game, but Wilson led a TD drive in the team’s finale. Fields did not lead any scoring drives against Detroit this past weekend. Fields probably offers more upside at this point, as Wilson will turn 36 in November, but the veteran brings a higher floor.

The Steelers will aim to pair Wilson with a veteran-laden defense, and it remains to be seen if the team will pry Brandon Aiyuk from the 49ers. Though, that scenario appears a longshot right now.

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