- Hunter Renfrow‘s two-year, $32MM Raiders extension comes with a $9.18MM signing bonus that will be spread out through five years (two void years, 2025 and ’26) for cap purposes, Albert Breer of SI.com notes. Renfrow is due a $4.32MM roster bonus on Day 3 of the 2023 league year, with Breer adding that day also will see the slot talent’s $6.5MM 2023 base salary become fully guaranteed. Renfrow is set to earn a nonguaranteed $11.2MM base in 2024.
Today’s minor moves around the league:
Green Bay Packers
- Claimed: K Gabe Brkic (from Minnesota)
- Waived: K Dominik Eberle
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: CB Chris Jones
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: OLB Andre Mintze
New England Patriots
- Reverted to reserve/NFI (after going unclaimed on waivers): K Quinn Nordin
Tennessee Titans
- Released: S Jamal Carter (from IR)
Washington Commanders
- Waived: DB Will Adams, K Brian Johnson
Clelin Ferrell, the No. 4 overall selection of the 2019 draft, was the first draft choice made by then-Raiders GM Mike Mayock. The pick was widely panned at the time, and it did not get better with age, as Ferrell has failed to make much of an impact in his first three years in the Silver-and-Black. 
Mayock was fired in January, and the club’s new regime, fronted by GM Dave Ziegler and HC Josh McDaniels, declined Ferrell’s fifth-year option in May (they also declined the options for the Raiders’ other two first-round picks in 2019, Josh Jacobs and Johnathan Abram). As such, 2022 will be a platform year for Ferrell, who will earn $4.77MM this season.
As Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal writes, Ferrell was seeing significant time at defensive tackle during last week’s minicamp. That would constitute a noteworthy position change for a player who established himself as a defensive end during his college career. Upon his arrival in the NFL, preference was quickly given at that spot to fourth-rounder Maxx Crosby, though, who has emerged as a franchise cornerstone and been signed to a sizeable extension.
The presence of Crosby and other edge rushers – including Yannick Ngakoue in 2021 – has led to serious drops in Ferrell’s playing time; his path to an increase in snaps would be further blocked by Chandler Jones this year. That makes a position switch a logical experiment at this point in the offseason. The Raiders have seen several changes along the interior of their defensive line, and brought in Tyler Lancaster, Vernon Butler, Bilal Nichols, Andrew Billings and Kyle Peko in free agency, while also using Day 3 picks on Neil Farrell Jr. and Matthew Butler in the draft.
At six-foot-four, 265 pounds, Ferrell could have the frame to operate on the inside this season. Given how his career has panned out so far, and the team’s resulting actions, his performance – regardless of where he lines up – will go a long way to determining his future.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Due to a flurry of additions, the 2022 AFC presents a crowded competition for playoff and Super Bowl LVII access. Some of the top-tier teams addressed key weaknesses, and several middle-class squads took big swings in respective aims to improve their chances this season.
The fallout paints a picture in which barely any AFCers can be truly counted out for playoff contention. Future Hall of Famers, potential Canton inductees, and Pro Bowlers moving from the NFC — along with various intra-AFC changes — have made for one of the most captivating offseasons in modern NFL annals. While the offseason is not yet complete, most of the acquisition dominoes ahead of training camp have fallen. Which team did the best work?
With Russell Wilson joining the Broncos, the AFC West’s Wilson-Patrick Mahomes–Derek Carr–Justin Herbert quartet appears of the great quarterback armadas any division has fielded in the five-plus-decade divisional era. The Broncos gave up two first-round selections in a five-pick deal but were able to hang onto their young receivers. Denver, which moved to a younger coaching staff headed by first-time HC Nathaniel Hackett and two rookie coordinators, also added defenders Randy Gregory and D.J. Jones. Going from the Teddy Bridgewater–Drew Lock combo to Wilson represents one of the top gains any team made this offseason, but Denver’s divisional competition will not make improvement easy.
Entering the final year in which Herbert must be tied to his rookie contract, the Chargers addressed several needs. They added defensive help in free agency, via J.C. Jackson and Sebastian Joseph-Day, and traded second- and sixth-round picks for Khalil Mack. The team also extended Mike Williams at $20MM per year — days before the wide receiver market dramatically shifted — and drafted right guard Zion Johnson in Round 1.
The Raiders were partially responsible for the wideout market’s explosion, trading first- and second-round picks for Davante Adams and extending him at $28MM per year. That came shortly after the team’s Chandler Jones addition. Las Vegas’ Josh McDaniels–Dave Ziegler regime has greenlit extensions for Reggie McKenzie– and Jon Gruden-era holdovers — from Carr to Maxx Crosby to Hunter Renfrow. Will a Darren Waller deal follow?
Of last season’s conference kingpins, the Chiefs and Titans endured the biggest losses. Hill and Tyrann Mathieu‘s exits will test the six-time reigning AFC West champs, while last year’s No. 1 seed balked at a monster A.J. Brown extension by trading him to the Eagles for a package headlined by a 2022 first-rounder. Both teams did address some needs early in the draft, but the Bengals and Bills look to have definitively improved their rosters.
Cincinnati augmented its bottom-tier offensive line by signing La’el Collins, Alex Cappa and Ted Karras. The defending AFC champions retained almost their entire defense, though Jessie Bates is not especially happy on the franchise tag. Buffalo reloaded as well, adding Von Miller to a defensive line that has lacked a top-end pass rusher for a while. The team swapped out ex-UDFA Levi Wallace for first-round cornerback Kaiir Elam, and James Cook is the Bills’ highest running back draftee since C.J. Spiller 12 years ago. How significant will the Brian Daboll-for-Ken Dorsey OC swap be?
Although Cincy’s AFC North competition made improvements, some caveats come with them. The Ravens filled their center and right tackle spots, with first-rounder Tyler Linderbaum and veteran Morgan Moses, and are now flush with safeties following the arrivals of Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton. But Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson situation has reached a strange stage, with the top three Ravens power brokers indicating the former MVP has not shown extension interest. Cleveland landed Amari Cooper for Day 3 draft capital and, on paper, rivaled Denver’s QB upgrade. Historic draft compensation and a shocking $230MM guarantee was required for the Browns to pull it off. But their Deshaun Watson trade has generated considerable drama — to the point the ex-Texans Pro Bowler cannot be considered a lock to play in 2022.
Oddsmakers do not expect the Jaguars’ moves to translate to 2022 contention, but the team did hire a former Super Bowl-winning coach in Doug Pederson and spend wildly for lineup upgrades — from Christian Kirk to Brandon Scherff to Foye Oluokun — and used two first-round picks (Travon Walker, Devin Lloyd) to further upgrade its defense. Going from Urban Meyer to Pederson should offer stability to a franchise that has lacked it, never more so than in 2021.
The Jets chased big-name receivers for weeks but came away with Garrett Wilson in a highly praised three-first-rounder draft. New York’s last-ranked defense now has new pieces in first-rounders Sauce Gardner and Jermaine Johnson, along with DBs Jordan Whitehead and D.J. Reed. Miami made a stunning coaching change by firing Brian Flores, which produced a tidal wave of controversy, but the now-Mike McDaniel-led team also paid up for splashy additions in Hill and Terron Armstead while retaining steady edge rusher Emmanuel Ogbah.
Are there other teams that warrant mention here? Vote in PFR’s latest poll and weigh in with your thoughts on the new-look AFC in the comments section.
Recent developments have magnified the bargain the Raiders have in Darren Waller, who is attached to a contract he has outplayed. Tied to the 17th-highest average salary among tight ends, Waller is set to make $6.25MM in 2022.
David Njoku, whose production Waller has lapped despite having less time as a starting tight end, now has a $14.2MM-per-year contract. The Raiders gave Hunter Renfrow a $16MM-per-year extension Friday. Waller, 29, has not indicated he plans to make his $7.6MM-AAV deal an issue this year, having reported to minicamp this week. Given the circumstances, it would not surprise if the two-time 1,100-yard pass catcher did attempt to inject urgency into this situation before Week 1.
[RELATED: Assessing Waller’s Extension Path]
The Raiders view Waller as a key player, and Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal calls a second Waller-Raiders extension imminent. Waller said conversations have occurred this offseason, but Bonsignore adds the team still might be attempting to push true extension talks to 2023. Two seasons remain on the extension Waller signed in 2019. The tight end market is different now, with several players whose work does not compare to Waller’s ahead of him on the salary hierarchy. No guarantees remain on Waller’s deal.
On one hand, waiting until 2023 could benefit Waller. He is coming off an injury-limited season and is set to play for Josh McDaniels, whose play calls helped turn Rob Gronkowski into a future first-ballot Hall of Famer. The Raiders’ Waller-Renfrow-Davante Adams setup should open the door for more looks for the two holdovers. Of course, the other side of this is Waller risks suffering another injury that could diminish his value. The late-bloomer’s age (30 in September) also stands to be an issue, with extension talks ahead of an age-31 season slightly different than prioritizing a deal now.
Will the longtime centerpiece of the Raiders’ passing attack be content going into camp with Adams tied to a deal worth nearly four times his own and now Renfrow attached to a contract worth more than double his? With the Raiders having rewarded their top two wideouts, how they proceed with their standout tight end will be one of this summer’s more interesting storylines.
Davante Adams‘ desire to reunite with Derek Carr not only changed the Packers’ wide receiver situation; it directly impacted another Super Bowl contender’s aerial corps. Tyreek Hill went from negotiating a Chiefs extension in early March to being dealt to the Dolphins for five picks three weeks later.
The $30MM-per-year contract Miami authorized came after Kansas City balked at a deal similar to Adams’. Hill’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said on the receiver’s first episode of his It Needed To Be Said podcast the Hill-Chiefs talks changed after Adams inked his $28MM-AAV Raiders deal. Shortly after the Adams extension, Rosenhaus “put pressure on the Chiefs” to hammer out an Adams-style accord, with the agent calling his client a superior player to the two-time Packer All-Pro.
“If they didn’t want to do that type of deal, then we would get them a blockbuster trade,” Rosenhaus said, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “I flat out told them that I felt like I could talk to teams around the league and bring a bunch of — bring great compensation. And I think the Chiefs initially wanted to challenge us and see what we could get from other teams contractually and what we could also get compensation-wise.”
Hill said he told Andy Reid he was not asking the Chiefs to top Adams’ Raiders contract, indicating that a pact in the $25MM- or $26MM-per-year range would be sufficient. Even after the Chiefs gave Rosenhaus permission to talk trades, which led to Jets and Dolphins offers, the high-powered agent asked his client if he wanted to stay in Kansas City. Although Hill said he did, Rosenhaus indicated during the podcast the Chiefs were “millions of dollars” short of the new asking price.
The Chiefs sent Hill to the Dolphins for five picks — including Miami’s first- and second-rounders this year — and the historically dominant deep threat signed a four-year, $120MM extension. That contract is backloaded, and A.J. Brown‘s $56MM fully guaranteed figure soon surpassed Hill’s $52MM. But only Aaron Donald and a handful of quarterbacks top Hill’s $30MM AAV.
“I tried my best,” Hill said of his effort to stay in Kansas City. “I talked to the big man, Andy Reid. I talked to the quarterback. I’m like, ‘Look, can we make something happen? Can we make something happen? Can the guaranteed money make sense to me? Can it make sense to my family, please?”
The ugly off-field baggage Hill carried into the league and the 2019 child-abuse allegation — which did not lead to a suspension — that threatened his place with the Chiefs allowed for an $18MM-per-year extension on a team-friendly structure ahead of the ’19 season. Hill outplayed the contract by playing an essential role on back-to-back Super Bowl-qualifying teams and producing 1,200-yard receiving seasons in 2020 and ’21. The 28-year-old speed merchant will now attempt to stay in top form away from Reid and Patrick Mahomes, while the Chiefs will attempt to replace their star wideout with a group effort involving JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Skyy Moore.
The Raiders announced the signing of fourth-rounder Neil Farrell Jr. on Friday. As a result, they now have each member of their 2022 draft class under contract.
Farrell spent five years at LSU. After playing sparingly as a freshman, he took a step forward the following season with four tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. In 2019, he took on an even larger workload during the team’s undefeated run to the national title, finishing the campaign with 46 stops, three sacks and one forced fumble.
The 6-foot-4, 319-pounder stayed with the Tigers for two more years. Over the course of his 51-game career, he amassed a total of 143 tackles, including 22 for loss, to go along with 7.5 sacks. His final season in particular showed his ability to be a disruptive presence, which led to Las Vegas selecting him in the fourth round.
Despite being chosen 126th overall, Farrell was the Raiders’ third-highest selection, owing to the draft capital given up in the Davante Adams trade. He will join a plethora of new faces along the defensive line in Las Vegas; the team brought in Tyler Lancaster, Vernon Butler, Bilal Nichols, Andrew Billings and Kyle Peko during free agency, and doubled up on the position after the Farrell pick with Matthew Butler. While Farrell will face plenty of competition for playing time, he has the opportunity to see the field in at least a rotational role early on in his career.
Here is the complete breakdown of the Raiders’ class:
Round 3: No. 90 (from Titans) Dylan Parham, G (Memphis) (signed)
Round 4: No. 122 (from Vikings through Colts) Zamir White, RB (Georgia) (signed)
Round 4: No. 126 (from Raiders through Vikings): Neil Farrell, DT (LSU) (signed)
Round 5: No. 175 (from Rams): Matthew Butler, DT (Tennessee) (signed)
Round 7: No. 238 (from Dolphins through Rams) Thayer Munford, OT (Ohio State) (signed)
Round 7: No. 250 (from Vikings through 49ers and Broncos) Brittain Brown, RB (UCLA) (signed)
The Packers’ trade of Davante Adams reunited the All-Pro wide receiver with his college quarterback while stripping Aaron Rodgers of his top weapon. The recently dealt wideout confirmed this deal did not come about because of Packers financial stinginess.
Green Bay tagged Adams and presented a more lucrative extension offer than what Adams received from the Raiders, according to the ninth-year receiver. Adams signed a five-year, $141.5MM deal — then a receiver-record figure — to reunite with ex-Fresno State teammate Derek Carr. The eight-year Packer delved into the reasons behind the decision to change teams.
Adams, 29, said last year the uncertainty surrounding Rodgers’ Green Bay future affected his extension talks with the team. The new Raiders playmaker confirmed this week Rodgers’ status status, even after the reigning MVP’s landmark extension, played a role in the trade. Not knowing how much longer Rodgers would play helped lead to Adams heading to Vegas, via The Athletic’s Vic Tafur (on Twitter).
Rodgers, 38, signed a record-setting extension in March — more than a week before the Adams trade — but the deal can be viewed as a one-year, $42MM pact. Rodgers has since said retirement is frequently on his mind, and the contract will allow the four-time MVP to revisit his future with the Packers after the season. For all the drama surrounding Rodgers’ status over the past two offseasons, it appears 2023 will bring more. Those headlines no longer affect Adams, who will play with a recently extended Carr. The fellow ninth-year vet is going into his age-31 season.
“We had some honest conversations about my future here, and how long I wanted to play, and his own thoughts about his future and where he wanted to play, live and raise his family,” Rodgers said, via Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette (via Twitter), of offseason talks between he and Adams. “The team obviously stepped up and made a competitive, or an even more compelling, offer.
“… I’m a little biased, but it’s hard to think of a better player I played with. He had a chance to be the all-time [record-holder] in a lot of categories at receiver for us. I thought that might be a little nugget that would kind of keep him here, but Tae made a decision he thought was best for him and his family, and I can’t fault him for that at all.”
The Packers did well to anticipate Adams’ late-20s surge, signing him to a four-year, $58MM extension late in 2017. That deal came just before the Chiefs’ Sammy Watkins contract caused a shift in the receiver market. Adams made four Pro Bowls on his second Packers pact and is headed to Vegas riding a two-year All-Pro streak. It is unclear what the Packers offered, but the accomplished pass catcher passing on it to team with a less decorated quarterback proved bold. Though, Adams will still rake in considerable cash and play closer to his California home.
“I’ll say it; it was true, OK,” Adams said (via SI.com) of the Packers’ offer being better than the Raiders contract he eventually signed. “But, like I said, there’s more that goes into it. Family is a big part of it for me, so geographically being here it makes it a lot easier for me to stay connected to my family year round. This isn’t Year 2. I’m not necessarily trying to ‘fight for a job’ or anything like that to where you gotta do what you gotta do to stay out there.
“I had the choice, and the choice was for me to come here and raise my family on the West Coast and come out here and have some fun in the sun. It’s hard to explain.”
Derek Carr‘s older brother, David, said during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show that his brother and Adams had been trying to reunite for years, noting “a couple years ago years ago they were really close to making that happen,” via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. Derek Carr pushing for Adams is unsurprising, given the Raiders’ receiver turnover and missteps in recent years. The Raiders will throw out an Adams-Hunter Renfrow–Darren Waller trio, while the Packers are left with questions regarding their pass-catching hierarchy.
Watkins is now one of the players the Packers hope can collectively replace Adams, with second-round pick Christian Watson in this mix as well. Green Bay has not ruled out adding another veteran at the position. Given Rodgers’ year-to-year status, acquiring another vet would make sense for the NFC contenders.
Multiple teams passed on deploying Denzel Perryman in 2021. The Chargers opted not to re-sign the veteran linebacker, and the Panthers traded him just months after adding him as a free agent. Perryman found his footing again with the Raiders.
Playing a career-high 863 defensive snaps, the former second-round pick turned in his most productive season in his first Las Vegas campaign. The Raiders are changing defensive schemes again, replacing longtime Perryman coordinator Gus Bradley with Patrick Graham. But they are interested in another Perryman contract, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter). The sides have discussed a new deal.
[RELATED: Raiders Extend WR Hunter Renfrow]
Tied to the two-year, $6.1MM contract he signed with the Panthers, the 29-year-old linebacker is set to make just $1.1MM in base salary this season. By virtue of their designating Carl Nassib and two-year linebacker starter Cory Littleton as post-June 1 cuts, the Raiders have come into some money. Their $22.5MM in available funds currently ranks third in the NFL.
Perryman made 154 tackles last season, topping his previous career-high total (set during his rookie season in 2015) by a cool 81. The Bolts re-signed Perryman in 2019, giving him a two-year deal worth $12MM. But he mostly worked in a part-time role during that contract. Injuries played a part in Perryman’s stock slipping as a Charger, but he played a career-high 15 games last season. Pro Football Focus did not view Perryman as one of last season’s better linebackers, but the veteran second-level defender earned a Pro Bowl bid as an alternate.
The Raiders added Jayon Brown, Kenny Young and Micah Kiser at inside linebacker this offseason, largely dismantling their 2021 setup outside of Perryman. The team cut Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski and did not re-sign K.J. Wright. Perryman played for Bradley for the past five seasons, with the veteran coordinator moving from Los Angeles to Vegas last year.
The Dave Ziegler–Josh McDaniels regime has not been shy about extensions for holdover players, however. The new Vegas power brokers have authorized extensions for Renfrow, Maxx Crosby and Derek Carr this offseason. Darren Waller may be on the docket, too, with Fowler indicating the Pro Bowl tight end is a priority as well. Waller will certainly cost far more to extend than Perryman.
In an offseason full of big-money deals, the Raiders have taken care of another important piece of business. The team is signing receiver Hunter Renfrow to a two-year, $32MM extension, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link). The deal includes $21MM in guaranteed money. 
Renfrow, 26, was a steady presence in the Raiders’ passing game during his first two seasons with the team. Despite only making 10 starts, he totalled 105 receptions, 1,261 yards and six touchdowns during that span. His ability to return to the form showed in his rookie campaign (which involved a punctured lung) in 2020 was noteworthy, but few would have expected the performance he delivered this past year.
Taking on a larger workload in a passing game dominated by tight end Darren Waller, the Clemson product took a major step forward in 2021. In no small part due to the time missed by the former, Waller comfortably led the team in receptions (103), yards (1,038) and touchdowns (nine). Those numbers helped lead the team to the playoffs, and earned him a Pro Bowl nod.
From a financial perspective, that production also made the former fifth-rounder a logical extension candidate. He has one year remaining on his rookie contract, which will pay him just over $2.5MM. This new pact will represent quite the raise, as well as a willingness from new general manager Dave Ziegler to make significant commitments to the team’s current offensive core. The Raiders have signed quarterback Derek Carr to lucrative new deal, and paired him with Davante Adams on another sizeable contract. Since Renfrow slots in as the No. 3 option in the passing game behind Adams and Waller, $16MM per year is a noteworthy figure, though he demonstrated this year that he can handle a heavy workload if necessary.
With each of their top pass-catchers now under contract for multiple years, the Raiders are in line to build upon last year’s success, and remain competitive in the AFC West for at least the short-term future.