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Linval Joseph

Cowboys To Sign DT Linval Joseph

August 21st, 2024 at 5:42pm CST by Sam Robinson

Jerry Jones recently hinted at more defensive line additions coming; the Cowboys appear to be following through on that. They are preparing to give Linval Joseph a shot to play a 15th NFL season.

The experienced D-lineman is signing with the Cowboys, veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson tweets. Joseph spent last season with the Bills, playing in seven games. This is earlier than Joseph caught on with teams over the past two years. He signed with Buffalo in November 2023 and joined Philadelphia’s Super Bowl LVII team in November 2022.

[RELATED: Cowboys Acquire DT Jordan Phillips From Giants]

Joseph will do better than he did with Buffalo or Philly, though that should perhaps be understandable since Dallas is giving him a full-season deal rather than a prorated arrangement. According to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo, the Cowboys are signing Joseph to a one-year deal with $2.5MM guaranteed. Joseph can earn up to $4MM on the contract.

This will reunite Joseph with former Vikings HC Mike Zimmer. The Vikings added Joseph in free agency during Zimmer’s first offseason as HC and employed him for six seasons. Joseph started 88 games under Zimmer. While the former second-round pick was part of the Giants’ Super Bowl XLVI-winning team back in 2011, his most notable NFL period came in Minnesota under Zimmer. With the Vikes featuring little QB continuity, Joseph was part of three Zimmer-led playoff teams during that span.

More of a rotational DT-for-hire at this point in his career, Joseph is now on team No. 6. While he worked exclusively as a Bills backup, the former Giants and Vikings regular was a full-time starter during his Eagles stint. Philly’s NFC championship team turned to the big man for eight regular-season starts and three in the playoffs that season, doing so despite not adding him until Nov. 16.

Last season, Joseph played 35% of the Bills’ defensive snaps (during his time with the team). Prior to his two rental years in the northeast, Joseph was attached to notable Chargers and Vikings contracts. The veteran run stuffer inked two Vikings deals — the second a four-year, $50.35MM pact — and landed a two-year, $17MM Chargers accord ahead of his age-32 season. Joseph will turn 36 in October, but the Cowboys will see if he can help their effort.

The Cowboys had been adding defensive ends as of late, with Carl Lawson the latest in the team’s effort to cover for Sam Williams‘ season-ending injury. The team traded for 2023 Joseph-teammate Phillips last week. The 30-somethings join 2023 first-rounder Mazi Smith and contract-year DT Osa Odighizuwa among Dallas’ interior stoppers. The team has certainly prioritized bulk as of late, with Zimmer presumably concerned about his run defense ahead of his first NFL season since being fired as Minnesota’s HC.

Bills Place CB Kaiir Elam On IR, Sign DT Linval Joseph

November 2nd, 2023 at 9:50am CST by Adam La Rose

After coming up in trade rumors, Kaiir Elam will now be sidelined for an extended stretch. The Bills corner has been placed on injured reserve, per a team announcement.

As a result of the move, Elam will be required to miss at least the next four games. An ankle injury is the cause of the former first-rounder’s absence, though he has been a healthy scratch at multiple points this season. That lack of Year 2 development led to a report from last week indicating Elam was on the trade block. However, general manager Brandon Beane made it clear after this week’s trade deadline that no consideration was given to moving on from the 22-year-old.

Buffalo acquired veteran Rasul Douglas from the Packers on Tuesday, accomplishing the team’s goal of finding help in the secondary in the wake of Tre’Davious White‘s Achilles tear. Beane confirmed (via Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic) that White’s injury prompted a search for a CB addition. That included a roughly week-long negotiating period with Green Bay over the Douglas swap, and the latter will no doubt have a large role in Buffalo upon arrival. Bringing back Elam will use up one of the team’s seven remaining IR activations.

To fill the open roster spot created by Elam being sidelined, the Bills have signed defensive tackle Linval Joseph. The 35-year-old signed with the Eagles last November, and he helped the Eagles reach the Super Bowl while serving in a depth capacity (38% snap share). Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports Joseph’s one-year pact has a maximum value of $3.72MM.

The two-time Pro Bowler has logged 179 games across his time with the Giants, Vikings, Chargers and Eagles. He will meet Buffalo’s stated intention of making an addition along the defensive interior while using up a portion of the team’s remaining spending power. The Bills entered Thursday with $3.64MM in cap space, so the base value of Joseph’s deal will drop the figure to an extent. If he can provide a rotational presence for a banged-up defense down the stretch, though, his addition will prove to be worthwhile.

Contract Details On Eagles’ DT Signings

November 19th, 2022 at 3:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following a down stretch against the run — one coming without first-round run-stuffer Jordan Davis — the Eagles made some adjustments. They added interior defensive linemen Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh in a two-day span.

Despite Suh sporting a better resume in terms of stats and accolades, the Eagles gave he and Joseph the same terms to sign. Both deals include a $750K base salary for the rest of the season, with escalators that could bump up the prices to $2.5MM, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (Twitter links).

Each contract contains $250K in per-game roster bonuses, per Yates, and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio details playing-time bumps available to Suh (and presumably available to Joseph). Suh can earn $62.5K for each game in which he plays at least 30% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps. He can collect an additional $31K per each game in which he plays 35% of the Eagles’ snaps, providing a loose indication of the team’s plans for the 12-year veteran.

Should Suh see action on at least 30% of the Eagles’ regular-season defensive snaps, he will collect $125K for each Eagles playoff win. If Suh cannot hit that regular-season snap threshold, Florio adds he will receive $125K for each Philly playoff win in which he plays at least 30% of the team’s defensive snaps.

Both Suh and Joseph displayed tremendous durability during their previous tours of duty. Both 2010 draftees — Suh second overall, Joseph 46th overall — have played at least 170 games (Suh 191, Joseph 171). Suh has never missed a game due to injury. Both reside in the top 30 all time in terms of starts by a defensive tackle.

The Eagles added these two to a D-line that now has Davis and Marlon Tuipulotu on IR. Joseph and Suh will join a healthy group that houses Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave and Milton Williams inside. The Eagles will ask the newcomers to help a run defense that, thanks to the Texans’ 168 rushing yards in Week 9 and the Commanders’ 149 on Monday, has slipped to 20th in Davis’ absence.

Eagles To Sign DT Linval Joseph

November 16th, 2022 at 11:24am CST by Sam Robinson

Linval Joseph will have a chance to see action in a 13th NFL season. The Eagles are signing the veteran defensive tackle, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

The former Giants, Vikings and Chargers interior defender recently visited the Jets. No signing followed, but the Eagles will provide an opportunity. Philadelphia has struggled against the run in each of its past two games; Joseph stands to provide some help for the 8-1 team on this front.

After playing out his two-year Chargers contract, Joseph has spent the past eight months in free agency. He will join an Eagles team that has devoted significant funds to its defensive line. Philly recently dealt for Robert Quinn, adding the veteran edge rusher to a position group that already featured five veteran contracts (Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat, Derek Barnett) and first-round pick Jordan Davis. The team has seen Davis’ recent absence hurt its efforts against the run.

Davis suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 8. In the two games without the mammoth D-tackle, the Eagles have respectively given up 168 and 152 rushing yards. Dameon Pierce did not experience much of a blip in his Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign against then-unbeaten Philly in Week 9, and the Commanders’ Brian Robinson–Antonio Gibson duo steadily wore down an Eagles defense on the field for much of Monday night’s upset loss. The Commanders’ 49 rush attempts were the most by a non-Eagle or Raven squad over the past five years.

At 34, Joseph should not be considered a candidate for an every-down role. After his two-year Chargers contract expired in March, not much free agency interest came the nose tackle’s way. But he has a lengthy history of being a run-game deterrent. His 330-plus-pound frame, as of 2021 at least, stands to help an Eagles team that has run into staffing issues on run downs recently.

The former Giants draftee broke into their starting lineup in his second season — Big Blue’s fourth Super Bowl-winning campaign — and used his New York tenure as a springboard to sign two nice Minnesota contracts and an L.A. accord. The former second-round pick served as a key cog during the Vikings’ run of top-10 defenses under Mike Zimmer in the late 2010s, working as a nose in Zimmer’s 4-3 scheme.

For his career, Joseph has started 162 games. That is in the top 30 all time for pure defensive tackles. With Cox and Hargrave present, Joseph may not have a chance to move into the top 20. But the Eagles are offering an opportunity for the veteran run defender to contribute for a Super Bowl contender.

In a corresponding move, the Eagles are placing Marlon Tuipulotu on IR, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. Tuipulotu has seen more time since Davis went down. The 2021 sixth-round pick has played at least 43% of Philadelphia’s defensive snaps over the past three games. But he will be shut down for at least the next four.

Jets Meet With DT Linval Joseph

October 21st, 2022 at 3:29pm CST by Sam Robinson

Out of football since his Chargers contract expired in March, Linval Joseph may have an opportunity in a familiar locale. The Jets met with the veteran defensive tackle Friday, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.

Although Joseph’s profile rose during his Vikings stay, he began his career with the Giants. The former Big Blue second-round pick is now a 12-year veteran who would be set for his age-34 season, should a team sign him.

A backup as a rookie, Joseph has been a starter for over a decade now. The Giants, Vikings and Bolts have used the interior D-lineman as a first-stringer 162 times collectively. He broke in as a starter on a Giants team housing one of this era’s most memorable pass rushes, serving as a run-stopping cog for the 2011 Super Bowl champions, and was part of Mike Zimmer‘s defensive core responsible for a run of top-10 rankings during the late 2010s.

Missing more than three games in a season just once during that span, Joseph has been one of the league’s most enduring presences since coming into the league out of East Carolina. He also is not likely hard up for cash.

The U.S. Virgin Islands native spent two seasons with the Chargers, signing a two-year, $17MM deal. Joseph has already signed four NFL contracts — his rookie deal (2010), a five-year Vikings pact (2014), a four-year Minnesota extension worth $50.35MM and the Chargers accord — and was one of the league’s top inside run defenders in his prime. Joseph’s level of play dipped some in Los Angeles, but the Jets are interested to see what he has left.

Gang Green has seen significant improvement up front this season. Quinnen Williams has taken another leap, as evidenced by his dominant outing in the Jets’ upset in Green Bay, and the team’s 2021 Carl Lawson signing is paying dividends a year later. D-tackle Sheldon Rankins and edge player John Franklin-Myers also registered sacks of Aaron Rodgers last week. The team, which used a first-round pick on Jermaine Johnson this year, also rosters former top-three pick Solomon Thomas and veteran Vinny Curry as backups. Joseph would add to this emerging D-line stable, should the Jets feel he has another season in the tank.

Minor NFL Transactions:  11/22/21

November 22nd, 2021 at 1:01pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: CB Jordan Brown

Los Angeles Chargers

New York Giants

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Contract Details: JPP, Boston, Waynes

March 18th, 2020 at 9:22pm CST by Ben Levine

A new batch of contract details to pass along, all via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter):

  • LB Jason Pierre-Paul, Buccaneers: two year extension. $25MM, including $20MM guaranteed. Salaries: $6.5MM, guaranteed (2020), $12.5MM, with $7.5MM guaranteed for injury (2021).
  • S Tre Boston, Panthers: three years, $18MM. $8MM signing bonus. Salaries: $1.16MM (2020), $2.25MM (2021), $3.69MM (2022). $1MM third day 2020 roster bonus, $1MM third day 2022 roster bonus.
  • CB Trae Waynes, Bengals: three years, $42MM. $15MM signing bonus. Salaries: $5MM (2020), $8.4MM (2021), $10.4MM (2022).
  • DT Linval Joseph, Chargers: two years, $17MM. $8MM signing bonus. Salaries: $1.5MM (2020), $5.5MM (2021). $1MM annual playtime, sacks, Pro Bowl incentive.
  • OL Wes Schweitzer, Redskins: three years, $13.5MM. $4MM guaranteed, $3MM signing bonus. Salaries: $1MM guaranteed (2020), $3.49MM (2021), $4.49MM (2022).
  • LB A.J. Klein, Bills: three years, $18MM. $9.7MM guaranteed, $1.2MM signing bonus. Salaries: $2.2MM guaranteed (2020), $4.1MM, with $3.2MM guaranteed (2021), $4.2MM (2022).
  • OL Tyler Shatley, Jaguars: signed. One-year, $1.511MM deal with $600K guaranteed. $1.375MM salary for 2020.

Chargers To Sign Linval Joseph

March 18th, 2020 at 12:51pm CST by Zachary Links

After beefing up their offensive line, the Chargers are turning their attention to the other side of the ball. On Wednesday, the Bolts reached agreement on a deal with free agent defensive tackle Linval Joseph (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo). 

It’s a two-year, $17MM deal for the former Vikings standout. He’ll be able to collect an additional $2MM, too, if he hits certain incentives. Joseph will receive $9.5MM guaranteed, per Mike Garafolo of NFL.com, who adds the veteran D-lineman declined a Vikings request for a pay cut (Twitter link).

Earlier this month, the Vikings dropped Joseph after seven seasons with the club. Between his release and the release of cornerback Xavier Rhodes, the Vikes carved out $18MM in cap space. The Chargers, who created room by cutting linebacker Thomas Davis and defensive tackle Brandon Mebane late last week, were happy to bring Joseph into the fold.

Joseph has often been one of the league’s best defensive tackles, and he made the Pro Bowl in back to back seasons from 2016-17. A second-round pick of the Giants way back in 2010, Joseph turned 31 in October and should have at least a couple more years left in the tank.

The East Carolina product should slide in as an immediate starter with Los Angeles, and the Chargers now quietly have one of the most talented defensive fronts in the league. With Joseph in the middle and stud edge rushers Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa on either side of him, the Chargers will be very hard to block.

Vikings Cut Xavier Rhodes, Linval Joseph

March 13th, 2020 at 1:35pm CST by Sam Robinson

Three seasons remained on Xavier Rhodes‘ five-year, $70.1MM contract. Instead, the Vikings will remove that deal from their books in an effort to create cap space.

Minnesota made its expected move Friday, cutting Rhodes, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The Vikings, however, are also releasing defensive tackle Linval Joseph. The former enjoyed a seven-season Twin Cities tenure, while the latter spent six seasons in the middle of Minnesota’s defensive line.

These cuts will create over $18MM in cap space for the Vikings, who entered the day barely $1MM below the projected salary ceiling. This also marks a major shift for the Vikings, who spent years crafting extensions and adding to Mike Zimmer‘s veteran defense. But the team’s payroll, headlined by a fully guaranteed quarterback contract, became flooded with veteran contracts in recent years.

Rhodes’ play had declined considerably, although Joseph remained one of the league’s better interior defenders. The Vikings will need to fill holes at these spots, likely with cheaper and younger cogs. Minnesota has Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander as free agents as well, so the franchise that has drafted three first-round cornerbacks since 2013 will need to have a plan at this priority position.

Joseph, 31, and Rhodes, 29, were two of the best players at their respective positions as recently as 2017. Both made the 2016 and ’17 Pro Bowls, and Joseph graded as one of Pro Football Focus’ top players in both 2015 and ’17. They will head to free agency, with Joseph joining a strong defensive line group.

North Notes: Joseph, Callaway, Dozier, Bears QB

November 11th, 2019 at 6:10pm CST by Marc Delucchi

The Vikings nose tackle Linval Joseph underwent surgery on his meniscus, according to Ben Goessling and Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune. Joseph, who did not play in Minnesota’s 28-24 victory against the Cowboys, has been on the team’s injury report since Week 7 with a knee injury, but had yet to miss any practice until last Thursday.

On a positive note, Joseph has not been placed on injured reserve and Goessling and Krammer cite sources within the organization that are optimistic he will return soon. With their bye coming in Week 12, Goessling and Krammer note the Vikings Week 13 matchup with the Broncos as a possible target date for Joseph’s return.

Here’s more updates from the teams in the AFC and NFC North:

  • Browns wide receiver Antonio Callaway was benched shortly before the team’s game against the Bills for tardiness on Sunday, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Cleveland still managed to pull out the 19-16 victory without Callaway, but the offense surely could have benefited from another dynamic receiver on the field. In Cabot’s report, a source told her that Callaway parked in a different lot than usual and arrived a few minutes late.
  • The Vikings plan to move forward with Dakota Dozier at right guard if starter Josh Kline has to miss more games with a concussion, according to Ben Goessling and Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune. Dozier replaced Kline after he left Sunday’s matchup against the Cowboys with concussion like symptoms. Kline was diagnosed with a concussion and is now in the NFL’s concussion protocol. Dozier has already started three games this season along Minnesota’s offensive front.
  • If the Bears decide to move on from quarterback Mitchell Trubisky this offseason there will be a plethora of strong veteran options, according to Dan Pompei of The Athletic. Pompei details ten signalcallers with varying degrees of past success. While free-agency seems poised to offer more viable options than usual, the play of young quarterbacks around the league has potentially pushed some other established veterans onto the trade market as well. Sitting at 4-5 and in third place in the NFC North, Chicago’s playoff hopes are dwindling by the week. Trubisky, in his third NFL season, has garnered the brunt of the criticism for the team’s underwhelming performance.
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