HEADLINES

Adrian Amos

Jets To Sign S Adrian Amos

June 13th, 2023 at 1:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

Months after acquiring Chuck Clark via trade, the Jets are adding another safety to the mix. Adrian Amos intends to sign with the team, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets.

Linked to the Ravens after visiting earlier this offseason, the Baltimore native will instead follow Clark to New York. The Jets are set to add the ex-Bears and Packers safety on a one-year deal worth up to $4MM.

Amos continues the chain of ex-Packers to join the Jets, following Aaron Rodgers, Allen Lazard, Billy Turner and Randall Cobb. Amos, 30, spent the past four seasons in Green Bay and has worked exclusively as a starter throughout his eight-year career. Following the draft, the Packers had not closed the door on re-signing Amos. But they will let another free agent join Rodgers in the Big Apple.

Prior to this Jets agreement, The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec notes the Ravens brought in Amos for a second visit (Twitter link) Monday. Amos met with the Ravens in March as well. Despite steady interest from the Ravens, the Baltimore native received a better offer from the Jets during his New York visit.

While a Packers team with a more glaring need at safety did not show urgency to re-sign Amos this offseason, the veteran defender’s only major connections were to teams with two safety starters in place. The Ravens discussed a deal with Amos, but they already have Marcus Williams and 2022 first-round pick Kyle Hamilton on the back line. The Jets added Clark to a safety corps including Jordan Whitehead. The former Buccaneer, a 2022 free agency addition, started 17 Jets games last season.

Pro Football Focus graded Amos as one of the NFL’s worst safety regulars last season, but he drew a top-30 mark at the position in every other year of his career. Amos also made a career-high 102 tackles in 2022, registering a career-most seven tackles for loss as well. This signing gives the Jets interesting depth, at the very least. It will be interesting to see how the Jets use Amos and if he can recapture the form he showed prior to a 2022 step back.

Amos landed a four-year, $36MM Packers deal during the 2019 offseason. This came just after he started for a No. 1-ranked Bears defense, which powered the team to an NFC North title in Vic Fangio‘s final year at the controls. The former Bears fifth-rounder then helped the Packers to three straight division crowns. Green Bay still rosters ex-first-rounder Darnell Savage, but the team reduced his playing time last season. With Amos now gone, the Packers have a host of less proven players — Rudy Ford, Jonathan Owens and Tarvarius Moore among them — vying for the spot alongside Savage.

As for the Ravens, they remain in strong shape at safety even after dealing Clark and missing out on Amos. They moved Brandon Stephens back to safety, after he played cornerback in 2022, and retained Geno Stone via RFA tender this offseason. While Williams missed a chunk of last season due to injury, he and Hamilton are positioned as entrenched starters going forward. Williams is signed through 2026; Hamilton can be kept on his rookie deal through then via the fifth-year option.

Ravens Interested In Adrian Amos, To Move Brandon Stephens Back To Safety

May 10th, 2023 at 9:47am CST by Sam Robinson

As the Ravens’ Rock Ya-Sin signing showed, a visit not producing an immediate agreement does not mean no interest exists on the team’s part. The Ravens kept in touch with Ya-Sin after a March meeting and signed him last week, shortly after the compensatory period expired.

The same timeline appears to be in place regarding Adrian Amos, who visited Baltimore in late March. Mutual interest exists between the Ravens and Amos, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic notes (subscription required). Signing Amos would no longer count against the Ravens’ 2024 compensatory formula. Considering the Ravens’ long-held value of comp picks, the early-May deadline has always been an important date for the franchise.

A Baltimore native whom Zrebiec notes grew up idolizing Ed Reed, Amos is also on the radar for a second Packers deal. Green Bay would seem to have a greater need at the position compared to Baltimore, which gave Marcus Williams a $14MM-per-year deal in 2022 and drafted Kyle Hamilton in the first round soon after. Though, the Ravens traded longtime starter Chuck Clark to the Jets this offseason. Still, the Packers did not draft a safety until Round 7 and minimized ex-first-rounder Darnell Savage‘s role down the stretch last season. The Packers did sign Tarvarius Moore but cannot match the Ravens’ Williams-Hamilton duo.

Amos, 30, has 122 starts on his resume and has not missed a game since 2017. The Packers gave the ex-Bears draftee a four-year, $36MM deal in 2019, bringing him over during the same offseason in which they poached Za’Darius Smith from the Ravens. With Amos remaining unsigned until May, he likely does not have an offer in that ballpark. But the veteran starter will undoubtedly have a chance to play a ninth season.

Pro Football Focus did grade Amos as one of the NFL’s worst safety regulars last season, but he drew a top-30 mark at the position in every other year of his career. Amos also made a career-high 102 tackles in 2022, registering a career-most seven tackles for loss as well. Amos joins the likes of John Johnson, Logan Ryan, Lamarcus Joyner, Duron Harmon and Ronnie Harrison as veteran back-liners still available.

The Ravens’ Ya-Sin signing does look to be influencing their secondary makeup overall. They are planning to station Brandon Stephens at safety once they begin on-field work this offseason, John Harbaugh said. A third-year player, Stephens worked as an injury replacement for safety DeShon Elliott as a rookie but played only nine snaps at safety last season (as opposed to 330 as a boundary corner), Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com notes (on Twitter).

Valuing Stephens’ versatility, the Ravens appear prepared to see if the 215-pound defender — a college cornerback and running back — can become an in-house Clark replacement. Stephens’ status, then, could certainly affect Baltimore’s interest in adding Amos.

Packers Open To Re-Signing K Mason Crosby, S Adrian Amos

April 30th, 2023 at 9:30am CST by Rory Parks

The Packers selected a kicker, Auburn’s Anders Carlson, in the sixth round of this year’s draft. That has led to plenty of justified speculation that Mason Crosby‘s tenure in Green Bay has come to an end, though GM Brian Gutekunst indicated that is not necessarily the case.

Gutekunst told reporters, including Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that he has not ruled out a new contract for Crosby — who is presently a free agent — and that he just “really liked” Carlson (Twitter link). Still, it would seem that only injury to, or underperformance from, Carlson and reserve/futures signee Parker White would open the door to a Crosby return, as Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com suggests.

Carlson, the younger brother of Raiders K Daniel Carlson, is the first kicker Green Bay has drafted since Crosby himself was selected in the sixth round of the 2007 draft. Crosby has operated as the club’s kicker ever since, though he has never received Pro Bowl or All-Pro honors. In 2022, his 86.2% field goal conversion rate was the fourth-highest mark of his career, but it was a middle-of-the-pack showing overall. He also made just one of four attempts from 50+ yards.

Anders Carlson, meanwhile, does not have a particularly notable college resume. Over five seasons with the Tigers, he made just 71.8% of his attempts, which included a 68.4% success rate across his last two collegiate years. He also sustained a torn ACL in November 2021, so he is not necessarily a surefire bet to make the Packers’ roster.

Gutekunst also said that he remains open to a reunion with safety Adrian Amos and that he has stayed in contact with Amos’ camp (Twitter link via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic). We heard last week that Darnell Savage would get the opportunity to reclaim his starting safety job, and even if he is successful in that regard, there is room for another backend defender to compete with the likes of Tarvarius Moore and Anthony Johnson Jr., who was added in the seventh round of the draft yesterday.

Amos garnered interest from the Ravens this offseason, but his free agency stay has otherwise been a quiet one. While he set a career-high with 102 tackles in 2022, he earned a poor 53.4 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, which has generally been high on his work throughout the course of his career.

Ravens Host WR Nelson Agholor, To Meet With S Adrian Amos

March 23rd, 2023 at 12:56pm CST by Sam Robinson

Adrian Amos is considering a homecoming. The Baltimore native who has spent his entire career in the NFC North is visiting the Ravens on Thursday, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets.

The Ravens are fairly set at safety, rostering Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton, but the team rolled out three-safety looks last season. The third man in those sets, Chuck Clark, has since been traded to the Jets.

Additionally, the Ravens have Nelson Agholor on their radar. The free agent wide receiver met with the team this week, Field Yates of ESPN.com adds (on Twitter). Agholor played out his two-year, $22MM Patriots contract. The former first-rounder’s uneven performance in New England will not make him a candidate for a similar deal this time around.

The Packers gave Amos a four-year, $36MM contract in 2019, and the former Bears draftee played out that deal. Amos, who will turn 30 next month, would provide his next team with plenty of experience. He has started 122 career games. Amos’ role in Vic Fangio‘s No. 1-ranked Bears defense catapulted him into free agency, and the former Day 3 draftee did well to play out a four-year second contract. He joins the likes of John Johnson and Eric Rowe as safeties seeking a third contract this offseason.

Pro Football Focus viewed Amos as declining in 2022, ranking the Penn State alum as a bottom-10 safety after slotting him in the top 20 at the position in each of his first three Packers slates. The advanced metrics site graded Amos as the league’s second-best safety in 2020, behind only Jessie Bates. The new Falcons safety lapped the field in terms of earnings among free agents this offseason, agreeing to a four-year, $64MM deal. Bates’ ex-Bengals teammate, Vonn Bell, landed $7.5MM per year on his third NFL deal. Amos is unlikely to command that at this stage of his career, but the Ravens will see if their terms align with the hometown defender’s hopes during his second free agency stay.

One of the league’s more maligned wideouts, Agholor has still done well financially. He tacked on that $22MM to his first-round rookie contract. The former Eagles and Raiders pass catcher, however, did not top 500 receiving yards in either of his Patriots years. In 2022, the former Super Bowl starter caught just 31 passes for 362 yards and two touchdowns. To be fair, it was not a good year to be a Patriots offensive player; dysfunction on that Matt Patricia-run unit produced steady scrutiny. But Agholor, 29, being unable to build on his 896-yard Raiders contract year has reduced his value.

Perpetually in search of receivers to play in their run-focused offense, the Ravens bottomed out at the position in 2022. Both Rashod Bateman and Devin Duvernay suffered season-ending foot injuries, with Bateman’s coming early in the year. The Ravens, who have Lamar Jackson‘s $32.4MM franchise tag salary clogging their cap, have not made any additions at the position thus far in free agency.

Restructured Deals: Packers, Broncos, Bills, Patriots, Giants

March 21st, 2022 at 10:29pm CST by Ben Levine

As free agency continues, teams will keep finding ways to open up additional cap. We’ve had a handful of reworked contracts in recent days, which we’ve compiled below:

  • The Packers opened $10.15MM in cap space by restructuring the contracts of wideout Randall Cobb (which was previously reported) and safety Adrian Amos, per ESPN’s Field Yates (on Twitter). ESPN’s Rob Demovsky tweets that Green Bay turned $5.88MM of Amos’ $7MM base salary into a signing bonus and added four void years.
  • The Broncos opened up some space via a pair of restructured deals. Wideout Tim Patrick converted $6.9MM of his roster bonus into a signing bonus, creating around $4.6MM in cap space, per Mike Klis of 9News in Denver (on Twitter). The Broncos also converted receiver Courtland Sutton‘s $10.5MM roster bonus into a signing bonus, saving $7.875MM in 2022 cap space, per Klis (on Twitter).
  • The Panthers converted $11.765MM of wideout Robby Anderson’s 2022 pay into a signing bonus, creating $5.88MM in cap space, per Yates (on Twitter). Staying in the NFC, Yates also tweets that the Eagles converted $14.88MM of cornerback Darius Slay’s salary into a signing bonus, creating $11.90MM in 2022 cap space.
  • The Giants converted $2.63MM of kicker Graham Gano’s salary into a bonus, creating $1.753MM in cap space, per ESPN’s Jordan Raanan (on Twitter). The team also added a void year to the contract, something GM Joe Schoen was trying to avoid (per Raanan).
  • After getting traded to the Bills, quarterback Case Keenum agreed to rework his contract. Per Yates (on Twitter), Keenum reduced his base salary to $3.5MM. Another AFC East team, the Patriots, also got into the game, reducing defensive end Henry Anderson‘s base salary from $2.5MM to $1.25MM (per Yates).
  • Yates passes along three more restructures (on Twitter): the Vikings opened $6MM in cap space by reworking safety Harrison Smith‘s contract, the Bills opened $5.172MM via linebacker Matt Milano‘s contract, and the Titans opened $6.45MM via linebacker Zach Cunningham‘s contract.

Packers Renegotiate Contracts With S Adrian Amos, OL Billy Turner

March 13th, 2021 at 12:50pm CST by Ben Levine

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst continues to open up cap space. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that Green Bay reworked the contract of safety Adrian Amos. Meanwhile, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports (via Twitter) that Packers offensive lineman Billy Turner also reworked his deal.

[RELATED: Packers Rework Preston Smith’s Contract]

Amos was set to have a cap hit north of $10.3MM, and Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com estimates that the reworked deal will save the Packers around $3MM in space. Turner’s renegotiated deal should see the Packers save at least $500K by converting the player’s roster bonus into a signing bonus; that total could go up based on how much of Turner’s $5.525MM salary was converted into a signing bonus (per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Twitter). After these two transactions and linebacker Preston Smith’s recent pay cut, Silverstein estimates that the front office managed to get under the cap.

Following four seasons with the Bears, Amos joined the Packers on a four-year, $37MM deal in 2019. He’s started all 32 regular season games for Green Bay over the past two years, averaging 66.5 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and two interceptions per season. Amos also picked off Tom Brady in the Packers’ loss to the Buccaneers in this past year’s NFC Championship Game.

Turner bounced around the NFL a bit before seemingly finding a home with the Packers in 2019. After starting 25 games through his first five seasons in the NFL, Turner has started all 30 of his games for Green Bay over the past two years. The 29-year-old initially signed a four-year, $28MM deal with the Packers in 2019.

North Notes: Ravens, Amos, Steelers

May 28th, 2020 at 7:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

Rumors of the Ravens becoming the latest team to execute a tag-and-trade transaction have not surfaced in months, and Matt Judon is not expecting to be dealt. The franchise-tagged outside linebacker signed his tender Thursday night and expects to be with the Ravens this season, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. Although the Ravens acquired All-Pro defensive lineman Calais Campbell, they did not make a big move at outside linebacker this offseason. They will need their top 2019 edge defender back to anchor their pass rush.

Here is the latest from the North divisions, continuing first with more news out of Baltimore:

  • John Harbaugh said (via Childs Walker of the Baltimore Sun) cornerback Jimmy Smith could see some time at safety. The veteran cornerback re-signed earlier this year and is set to play a 10th season in Baltimore. The Ravens have Earl Thomas and the recently extended Chuck Clark at safety, so it will be interesting to see how they deploy Smith this season.
  • The pectoral injury Adrian Amos battled in the playoffs did not require surgery, and the Packers safety said he is back to 100%, per Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com, on Twitter. Amos played all but four of Green Bay’s defensive snaps during the regular season but was unable to finish the NFC championship game.
  • Two of the league’s most influential decision-makers were against the fourth-and-15 proposal, which the NFL tabled Thursday. Both Steelers owner Art Rooney II and HC Mike Tomlin, the latter a member of the competition committee, came out against the proposal — one that gained steam from last year to the point where ownership was split on it. “We’re open to thinking, ‘Is there something we can do with the kickoff in more of a traditional setting that might allow onside kicks a better chance of happening? But this one was too much of a gimmick,” Rooney said, via Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “(Tomlin) and I didn’t like the idea.” Rooney said interest remains in finding an alternative to the current onside kick setup, which has hindered comeback efforts since a recent rule change prevented kicking-team players from running starts prior to the kick.

North Notes: Green, Bears, Mack, Steelers

June 9th, 2019 at 9:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

A.J. Green is entering the final season of a four-year, $60MM contract. He is also coming off another injury-shortened slate, with a toe malady cutting it short. Bengals owner Mike Brown said earlier this year he would be interested in Green staying in Cincinnati on another deal. Green expressed the same sentiment over the weekend.

“Cincinnati is home for me,” Green said, via FOX 19 in Cincinnati (video link). “I’ve been here nine years. This is home as much as South Carolina. All I know is Cincinnati. I can’t see myself playing anywhere else or playing in a different city. Hopefully I can be here for a couple more years, so we’ll see on that part.”

Green is entering his age-31 season and has missed 13 games over the past three years, but the seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver has proven to be one of the best players in Bengals history. The Bengals extended two other cornerstones last year, in Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap, and Brown called the wideout a “proven commodity” earlier this year. No known talks have commenced between Green and Bengals. The receiver also said, via FOX 19, he has been cleared from the toe surgery he underwent in December. It is not certain if he will participate in Cincinnati’s minicamp next week.

Here is the latest from the North divisions:

  • During the 2018 Khalil Mack pursuit, Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy began calling their Raiders counterparts (Reggie McKenzie and Jon Gruden) about the All-Pro edge defender once training camp began last year. But the Bears’ prevailing thought as of late July 2018 was, in the words of player personnel director Josh Lucas, “What are we doing? They’re not going to trade this guy,” Lucas said (via J.J. Stankevitz of NBC Sports Chicago). But shortly before Chicago’s final preseason game — which occurred a day after the Aaron Donald extension, and as the Raiders’ patience with Mack was running out — Bears brass were told to submit their best offer. That proposal (a package fronted by two first-round picks and a third-rounder) won out. “I think we had an advantage because they wanted him to get out of the AFC, so being an NFC team, I think we had a pretty good chance,” Lucas said. “I don’t think the Raiders thought we were going to be any good last year, so they wanted our first-round pick. So I think that played a part of it.“
  • After Adrian Amos and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix started the 2018 season as Bears and Packers safeties, the respective back-line defenders switched cities this year. Clearly on a roll at the Bears100 Celebration this week, Lucas added (via Stankevitz, on Twitter) the Bears consistently graded Clinton-Dix as superior to Amos. Pro Football Focus would disagree with the Bears’ assessment, particularly in 2017 (when the site gave Amos a 90.9 grade and Clinton-Dix a 71.5 mark). The Bears also landed Clinton-Dix for far cheaper (one year, $3MM) than the deal the Packers gave Amos (four years, $36MM), pointing to other teams sharing PFF’s view.
  • Sean Davis switched agents in advance of his contract year, moving from MBK sports management to Drew Rosenhaus, the safety confirmed (via Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). Davis said no extension talks have occurred between he and the Steelers and noted the safety market’s 2019 explosion as a reason he may bet on himself this season. “I just felt like I needed a change,” Davis said, via Fittipaldo, of switching from Eugene Lee to Rosenhaus. “Drew is a top agent, man. … The safety market went up this year. That puts a little more pressure on me to get the job done and to compete for those contracts.” After faring better as a free safety than he did at the strong safety spot in 2017, Davis will remain there this season.

Contract Details: Amos, Patterson, Carpenter, Brown

March 13th, 2019 at 11:50am CST by Zachary Links

Let’s take a look at the details of a few freshly-signed contracts:

Packers To Sign Adrian Amos, Za’Darius Smith

March 12th, 2019 at 8:13am CST by Zachary Links

This year, the Packers were serious about making noise in free agency. On Tuesday morning, they agreed to sign safety Adrian Amos, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The club also agreed to terms with former Ravens edge rusher Za’Darius Smith, according to Rapoport (Twitter link). 

Amos is getting a four-year deal worth $37MM, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). Rapoport notes that it’ll pay him $21MM over the first two years. He was reported to have been seeking between $9-10MM annually, so he got what he wanted.

Amos, 26 in April, enjoyed the best season of his career at the perfect time. Starting in all 16 games, Amos finished out with 73 tackles, two interceptions, nine passes defensed, a fumble recovery, and a sack in 2018. The advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus positioned Amos as the eighth-best safety in the NFL last year, though he placed even higher in 2017.

Smith has been an object of the Packers’ affection for some time now. A few years ago, they tried to trade for the former fourth-round pick. Years later, they got him, albeit at a bit of a premium. The 26-year-old (27 in September), also timed his breakout season well. Last year, the edge rusher finished out with 8.5 sacks and 45 tackles despite starting in only eight of his 16 games.

With these two signings, the Packers have managed to close the gap between themselves and the Lions, who spent some serious coin on Monday. They also stole Amos away from the rival Bears, who were hoping to retain him. Thanks to his link to new Broncos coach Vic Fangio, Amos had been heavily linked to Denver, but ultimately it was Green Bay who won the bidding. Amos was a bit unheralded coming out of college, and was a fifth round pick out of Penn State back in 2015. He became a near immediate starter, and this is a big loss for the Bears’ elite defense.

With the signing of Buster Skrine and the expected departure of Bryce Callahan, Chicago’s secondary will look quite a bit different next year. Smith is the latest in a series of departures from the Ravens’ defense, with linebackers C.J. Mosley and Terrell Suggs, along with safety Eric Weddle, all finding new homes.

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