Bobby Brown III

NFC Contract Details: Mason, Vikings, Wharton, Panthers, Pack, Bears, Cowboys, Giants, Bucs, Brissett

Here are the details on a few of the more notable NFC contracts agreed to in recent days:

  • Tershawn Wharton, DT (Panthers). Three years, $45.1MM. The former Chris Jones Chiefs sidekick will see $30.25MM fully guaranteed, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets. Wharton’s 2025 and ’26 base salaries ($1.17MM, $13.45MM) are locked in. While the $45.1MM base value is less than initially reported, sack-, playoff- and Pro Bowl-based incentives make up a $9MM incentive package.
  • Grady Jarrett, DT (Bears). Three years, $42.75MM. While $27.25MM is guaranteed at signing, the Bears are guaranteeing almost all of the ex-Falcon’s 2026 base salary ahead of time. $13MM of Jarrett’s $14.25MM 2026 paragraph 5 pay is locked in, with Wilson adding the other $1.25MM shifts from an injury guarantee to a full guarantee of Day 3 of the ’26 league year. Jarrett is due a $1MM roster bonus on Day 5 of the 2027 league year, representing the Bears’ first true out on this contract.
  • Ben Bredeson, G (Buccaneers). Three years, $22MM. The Bucs are guaranteeing their 2024 O-line signee $12.5MM at signing. A $5.5MM roster bonus is due on Day 5 of the 2026 league year, per Wilson, who adds a $500K roster bonus is due on Day 5 of the ’27 league year.
  • Bobby Brown, DT (Panthers). Three years, $21MM. Of this total, only $6.8MM is guaranteed at signing, per OverTheCap. Brown will see $9.58MM guaranteed in total, with $2.77MM of Brown’s $5.55MM 2026 base salary shifting from an injury guarantee to a full guarantee on Day 3 of the ’26 league year, Wilson adds. A $6MM incentive package is present in the Panthers’ other notable DT deal.
  • Brandon McManus, K (Packers). Three years, $15MM. The veteran kicker’s $5MM signing bonus represents his only at-signing guarantee, though the deal includes what amounts to a guaranteed $1.4MM 2025 base salary as well. ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky also indicates a $1MM roster bonus is in place for 2026. Nothing is guaranteed beyond 2025, however.
  • KaVontae Turpin, WR (Cowboys). Three years, $13.5MM. This is $4.5MM south of the initially reported value. The Cowboys have guaranteed the All-Pro returner $5MM at signing; that comes from a $3.6MM signing bonus and a $1.4MM 2025 base salary, ESPN.com’s Todd Archer tweets. Nothing is guaranteed beyond 2025. After Turpin totaled 420 receiving yards last season, Dallas included a $250K yearly incentive for a 500-yard season, Archer adds. That jumps to $500K for a 700-yard season.
  • Jacoby Brissett, QB (Cardinals). Two years, $12.5MM. This is a nice bump for Brissett, who has played on one-year deals in each of the past four seasons. The nomadic backup/fill-in starter will see $8MM guaranteed, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets.
  • James Hudson, OL (Giants). Two years, $11MM. Hudson will see $5.8MM guaranteed at signing, per OverTheCap. That comes from a signing bonus and a guaranteed 2025 salary; no 2026 Hudson money is locked in.
  • Jordan Mason, RB (Vikings). Two years, $10.5MM. Minnesota is guaranteeing Mason $7.23MM at signing, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio notes. The former Christian McCaffrey backup will see $2MM of his $4.73MM 2026 base salary fully guaranteed. Incentives on Mason’s deal start at 800 rushing yards in a season, with a $200K bump coming if the former sixth-round pick reaches that number.
  • Roy Robertson-Harris, DL (Giants). Two years, $9MM. Robertson-Harris will see $5.3MM guaranteed at signing, Wilson tweets. The Giants guaranteed the veteran interior D-lineman $1MM of his $3.5MM 2026 base at signing. It would cost the Giants $2.4MM in dead money to move on after one season, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan adds.

Panthers, DL Bobby Brown Agree To Deal

The Panthers made it a priority to upgrade along the defensive interior early in the lead-in to free agency. A Milton Williams agreement did not come to pass, but the team has managed to pivot quickly.

Bobby Brown has a deal in place, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. The former Ram will not offer the impact against the pass that Williams would have, but he will provide a run-stopping presence for his new team. The 24-year-old handled starting duties with Los Angeles for each of the past two seasons.

Providing further details, Rapoport notes Brown will collect $21MM on a three-year pact. With a maximum value of $27MM (thanks to incentives), this deal marks quite the raise from his rookie contract. Brown slotted in at No. 48 on PFR’s Top 50 Free Agent List, and he has not needed to wait long to secure a significant pact.

Pro Football Focus graded Brown as a top-30 run-defending DT during Aaron Donald‘s final season and last year, after the all-time great retired. The Panthers, whose defense spiraled to a last-place finish in 2024, will bet on Brown to help their run defense. Brown’s deal checks in south of where the Broncos went to retain nose tackle D.J. Jones late last night. With Brown not turning 25 until August, the Panthers have some upside here.

Brown is also familiar with Panthers DC Ejiro Evero, though perhaps somewhat indirectly. Evero was in place as Rams DBs coach during Brown’s rookie season, which doubled as the Rams’ Super Bowl LVI-winning campaign. Carolina will pair Bobby Brown with the recovering Derrick Brown in 2025. While the Panthers need to revamp their outside linebacker contingent, the two Browns figure to matter plenty up front.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/18/23

This week’s callups and minor moves heading into Sunday:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers:

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Evans had been called up from the practice squad three times by the Cowboys, meaning he needed to be added to the 53-man roster this week to continue suiting up. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports “several teams” attempted to poach the veteran off the taxi squad, but his decision to remain with Dallas has culminated in today’s move. Evans has logged 74 combined defensive and special teams snaps with the Cowboys so far, recording three tackles.

James was out of the lineup for one game after being designated for return, but he will be eligible to suit up for the upcoming Super Bowl rematch against the Eagles. Mentioned as a trade candidate earlier this year, he will be able to add depth to a WR corps which has underperformed to date, and add to his single catch recorded in his two Kansas City games at the start of the campaign.

Rams Designate NT Bobby Brown III For Return

While much of the injury focus in Los Angeles is surrounding Matthew Stafford‘s return, the Rams will also be getting some reinforcement on defense. The team announced that nose tackle Bobby Brown III has returned to practice and has been designated for return from injured reserve.

Brown suffered a knee injury in early October that ultimately required a stint on IR. The defensive lineman was expected to be sidelined for five to seven weeks, so Brown is currently in the middle of that recovery timeline.

The Rams will now have 21 days to activate Brown to the active roster. There’s no guarantee that the player will be in the lineup for Week 11, but Sean McVay didn’t completely dismiss the DL’s availability for Sunday.

“He looked good,” the coach said (via the team’s website). “It was good to get him back. He was another guy who we’ve missed.”

After starting only one of his 19 appearances through his first two seasons in the NFL, the former fourth-round pick had a more significant role to start the 2023 campaign. Brown started each of his five appearances this season, compiling 13 tackles while getting into about 40 percent of his team’s defensive snaps.

Kobie Turner will continue to soak up a lot of the snaps at nose tackle next to DT Aaron Donald. Brown will be able to fill in for both of those starters, a role that practice-squad defensive lineman Cory Durden has held since Week 6.

Rams To Place DL Bobby Brown On IR

Sporting a retooled defense around Aaron Donald this season, the Rams will need to look deeper into their young nucleus. Bobby Brown‘s season will hit pause soon.

The Rams are expected to place Brown on IR, Sean McVay said Monday (via The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue). The third-year defensive lineman suffered a grade 3 MCL sprain. This actually represents one of the best possible scenarios for Brown, who will be a candidate to come off IR when eligible.

Last season, the Rams used IR to the point they ran out of activations late in the season. Of course, the season was lost by that point. McVay’s latest Rams team has authored an interesting first quarter this season, going 2-3 and submitting quality efforts against the unbeaten 49ers and Eagles.

After seeing the Rams let multiyear starters Greg Gaines and A’Shawn Robinson walk in free agency (to the Buccaneers and Giants, respectively), Brown moved into a regular starting role for the first time as a pro. The former fourth-round pick has lined up alongside Donald as a first-stringer in all five Los Angeles games, coming after he started one contest over his first two seasons. Brown has already topped his season-high tackles number, registering 13 in five games, and Pro Football Focus rates him as a top-35 interior D-lineman.

Brown is one of several rookie-contract players making his debut as a Rams starter this year. In addition to Puka Nacua on offense, L.A.’s defense is rookie-deal-laden to the point it only trots out only two vested veterans — Donald and Ahkello Witherspoon — as starters. The team has third-round rookie Kobie Turner looming as a backup D-lineman. Former Titans draftee Larrell Murchison and 2021 Rams fifth-rounder Earnest Brown are also in place as D-line reserves.

The Rams have already used two of their eight allotted activations, bringing Cooper Kupp and rookie outside linebacker Ochaun Mathis off IR on Saturday. Brown will be eligible to return in Week 11, as the Rams’ bye arrives in Week 10.

Rams Reduce Roster To 53 Players

As the Rams look to defend their Super Bowl title, the team reduced their roster to the 53-man limit today:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Placed on reserve/NFI:

Placed on reserve/PUP:

Placed on reserve/suspended:

Jacob Harris getting cut came as a bit of a surprise after the 2021 fourth-round pick got into nine games as a rookie. However, he rarely got a look on offense in 2021, and despite the Rams only rostering two tight ends at the end of the day (Tyler Higbee, Brycen Hopkins), Harris was let go. Chris Garrett was also a 2021 draft pick, being selected by the Rams in the seventh round. He only got into one game as a rook.

AJ Arcuri was a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft, but the rookie didn’t show enough to crack the 53-man roster. There’s a good chance the Michigan State product lands back on the Rams practice squad.

Rams DT Bobby Brown Draws Six-Game PED Suspension

The Rams stand to lose one of their defensive linemen for a chunk of the season. The NFL hit second-year defender Bobby Brown with a six-game suspension Monday for violating its performance-enhancing substance policy, Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com tweets.

A 2021 fourth-round pick, Brown played in 10 games for the Rams as a rookie. The team lost Sebastian Joseph-Day in free agency, pointing to a better opportunity for Brown in 2022. The chance for the Texas A&M product to carve out a bigger role will likely be on hold for a while.

Brown played just 22 defensive snaps last season and was inactive for Super Bowl LVI, but the Rams did not draft any defensive linemen this year and did not make any notable pickups to address the position. A’Shawn Robinson and Greg Gaines are expected to start alongside Aaron Donald up front for the defending Super Bowl champions, but Brown is positioned as depth. The Rams, who were without Joseph-Day for much of last season, will have to adjust again — though, the adjustment will not have to be as significant.

Brown, 22 in August, used a solid 2020 junior season in College Station to improve his draft stock. He registered 5.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss in 2020. Rams took Brown 117th overall last year; his rookie contract runs through the 2024 season.

Rams Sign Fourth-Round DL Bobby Brown III

The Rams continue to make progress on signing their rookie class. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports (via Twitter) that the team has signed fourth-round nose tackle Bobby Brown III.

The six-foot-four, 321-pound rookie established himself as one of the top defensive tackle prospects in the draft following three standout seasons at Texas A&M. The lineman took it to another level in 2020, finishing with 5.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss, resulting in him being selected with the No. 117 pick in the 2021 draft.

Brown earned high marks from scouts thanks to his size and versatility, although some pundits questioned his energy. He’ll likely find himself behind Aaron Donald, Sebastian Joseph, and A’Shawn Robinson on the depth chart.

The Rams have just about signed their entire draft class. Following today’s move, the team only has two unsigned draft picks remaining: third-round linebacker Ernest Jones (South Carolina) and fourth-round wide receiver Jacob Harris (UCF).