HEADLINES

Matt Barkley

Panthers Sign QB Matt Barkley

November 9th, 2021 at 5:01pm CST by Ben Levine

With Sam Darnold dealing with a shoulder injury, the Panthers have brought in some reinforcement at quarterback. The team has signed veteran Matt Barkley, reports NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo (via Twitter).

This offseason, Barkley got $1.1MM on a one-year deal to be Ryan Tannehill‘s backup with the Titans. He didn’t end up making it to the regular season with his new squad, and he’s remained a free agent since early September. Now, with Darnold dealing with a shoulder injury and P.J. Walker as the only healthy QB on Carolina’s roster, Barkley will have another chance to show what he’s got.

The 31-year-old has made the rounds since being drafted by the Eagles in 2013. The former fourth-rounder out of USC has made stops with the Cardinals, Bears, 49ers, Bengals, and Bills, with two tours in Arizona and Buffalo.

Barkley has just seven starts to his credit in total with a 2-5 record in those games. For his career, he’s completed 58.8% of his throws with eleven touchdowns against 22 interceptions. His last start came in 2018, a solid showing and victory over the Jets. Over the past two years, he’s popped in for seven Bills games, lobbing four INTs with just one TD.

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC South

September 1st, 2021 at 4:57pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These Colts, Jaguars, Texans and Titans moves are noted below.

Here are Wednesday’s AFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Houston Texans

Signed to practice squad: 

Indianapolis Colts

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Jacksonville Jaguars

Claimed:

Signed to practice squad:

Tennessee Titans

Claimed:

Released:

Signed to practice squad: 

Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list:

Contract Details: Allen, Alexander, McCoy, Barkley

August 11th, 2021 at 6:47pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Let’s catch up on the details of some of the high-profile contracts given out recently:

  • Josh Allen grabbed all the headlines by inking his mega-extension with the Bills. In an interesting piece, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com breaks down how it compares to the huge deal Patrick Mahomes recently signed with the Chiefs. For starters, Allen got a $16.5MM signing bonus, while Mahomes only got $10MM. Further, “the early cash flow for Allen is vastly superior to the Mahomes contract,” Florio writes. That’s because Mahomes’ deal is more back-loaded, while Allen is for example due $47MM in the second year of the pact. Mahomes’ contract is still worth more annually, but only because of the extra years at the end that his has. Through the first eight seasons of their respective deals, the compensation is nearly identical. Allen will clear $284.55MM through eight years, while Mahomes will get $285.33MM through the first eight years of his.
  • Last week the Saints agreed to terms on a one-year deal with linebacker Kwon Alexander, and now we have all the financials. We heard at the time it was worth “up to” $3MM. It turns out to have a base value of only $1.127MM, not too much above the minimum for a player with his service time, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football tweets. He got $387.5K in guaranteed money. Alexander will get another $200K if he plays 50% of the snaps in 13 games, another $300K for 15 games, and another $400K for 17 games. He also has another $972K in other unspecified playing time incentives. New Orleans cut him back in March to save $13MM in cap space, so even if Alexander hits all his incentives he’ll have taken a fairly hefty pay-cut. That’s unfortunately what happens when you’re coming off an Achilles tear like Alexander is. He started all seven games that he played for the Saints last year before going down.
  • Alexander wasn’t the only big name defensive player to sign last week, as defensive tackle Gerald McCoy also latched on with the Raiders. His one-year deal with Las Vegas is worth up to $2MM, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. He got a signing bonus of $150K and also has incentives worth $750K. The six-time Pro Bowler missed all of 2020 with a torn quad. Once one of the best interior linemen in the league, he turned 33 back in February.
  • Matt Barkley resurfaced with the Titans to give them some insurance behind Ryan Tannehill, and he got $1.1MM on a one-year deal, Rapoport notes in the same tweet. Rapsheet didn’t specify, but it seems unlikely that much if any of it was guaranteed. Tennessee apparently wasn’t happy with only having Logan Woodside behind Tannehill. Shortly after signing Barkley, they released Deshone Kizer. Woodside and Barkley will now battle it out for clipboard-holding duties.

Titans Sign QB Matt Barkley

August 5th, 2021 at 1:00pm CST by Zachary Links

On Thursday, Matt Barkley announced that he’s signed with the Titans (Twitter link). The quarterback will now vie for a spot on the Week 1 roster to support starter Ryan Tannehill.

Barkley, 31 in September, has made the rounds since being drafted by the Eagles in 2013. The former fourth-rounder out of USC has made stops with the Cardinals, Bears, 49ers, Bengals, and Bills, with two tours in Arizona and Buffalo.

Barkley has just seven starts to his credit in total with a 2-5 record in those games. For his career, he’s completed 58.8% of his throwns with eleven touchdowns against 22 interceptions. His last start came in 2018, a solid showing and victory over the Jets. Over the past two years, he’s popped in for seven Bills games, lobbing four INTs with just one TD.

Still, the Titans present a decent opportunity for Barkley to get back into the mix. Before Barkley, the Titans were evaluating Logan Woodside and DeShone Kizer as their QB2 options.

Bills To Stick With Matt Barkley As QB2?

June 20th, 2020 at 2:00pm CST by Zachary Links

Since debuting in 2013, Matt Barkley has just seven starts to his credit. Although he’s largely unproven, Bills head coach Sean McDermott says he’s “very confident” in the quarterback “for a lot of reasons,” as Sal Maiorana of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle writes.

[RELATED: Owner Says There’s No “Financial Pressure” On Bills]

Some have wondered whether Barkley is a reliable safety net for Josh Allen, in the event that the Buffalo starter gets injured or contracts COVID-19. Injuries and illnesses aside, there are plenty of question marks about Allen as well. The former first-rounder won ten games for the Bills last year and took them to the playoffs, but his career 56.3% completion rate leaves a lot to be desired.

Barkley, meanwhile, has gone 2-5 in his starts. For his career, he has a 58.8% success rate on throws with ten touchdowns against 21 interceptions. His last start came in 2018, a solid showing and victory over the Jets. Last year, he popped in for two games and lobbed three INTs with zero TDs.

In addition to Barkley, the Bills also have Jake Fromm on hand. The fifth-round pick out of Georgia was once viewed as a high-caliber prospect, but his performance slipped over time and tanked his stock. Fromm completed just 60.8% of his passes in 2019, which doesn’t inspire much confidence either. Davis Webb, the former Giants third-rounder who has never appeared in a game, is also on the offseason roster.

East Rumors: Foles, Woods, Jets, Bills

January 9th, 2019 at 3:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

Nick Foles played a major role in ensuring the Super Bowl champions could attempt to defend their title in this year’s playoffs, and the Eagles want to compensate him accordingly. The veteran quarterback came four plays short of a $1MM bonus in Week 17, and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com notes the Eagles are trying to find a solution to pay him that bonus. The Eagles sweetened Foles’ deal this past offseason, after he’d led the franchise to its first Super Bowl title. One of these incentives would have triggered had the Eagles made the playoffs with Foles playing 33 percent of the snaps. With Carson Wentz‘s backup being required to start and finish the season, that became attainable. But Foles went down during the Eagles’ Week 17 win over the Redskins.

Here is the latest from the Eastern front:

  • Jay Gruden will remain in Washington, but one of his assistants will not. The Redskins are letting secondary coach Torrian Gray go, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. Washington appears to have two-year Denver defensive coordinator Joe Woods in mind for this job, but the Jaguars are also eyeing Woods, per Mike Klis of 9News (on Twitter). The Broncos’ hiring of Vic Fangio would appear to point to Woods being free to seek work elsewhere. Gray coached Washington’s DBs the past two years.
  • The Bills extended in-season quarterback acquisitions Derek Anderson and Matt Barkley recently, and the Buffalo backups’ salaries are now known. Barkley signed a two-year extension that will produce non-guaranteed base salaries of $1.25MM in 2019 and $1.5MM in 2020, Mike Rodak of ESPN.com notes, adding Barkley will receive a $600K signing bonus ($200K of which counts against Buffalo’s 2018 cap). Near-$1MM incentives exist in each season of this deal, too. Anderson signed a one-year extension for the veteran minimum ($1.03MM), per Rodak (on Twitter). He received a $90K signing bonus.
  • Jets tight end Chris Herndon pleaded guilty to a New Jersey DWI charge, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets. This comes from a June 2018 arrest following a car accident. This will likely result in a 2019 suspension for the Jets’ top tight end.

Extra Points: Ravens, Cowboys, Rams, Bills, Falcons

January 5th, 2019 at 9:22pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We’ve been hearing mixed things about John Harbaugh for a while now. The Ravens announced they hope to keep the coach longterm with an extension, but rumors have continued to swirl that Harbaugh isn’t willing to commit to Baltimore and that he may want to explore his options elsewhere. Numerous teams have been reported to be interested in trading for the coach, including the Broncos and Dolphins.

We have a new update on Harbaugh today, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports the Ravens have “yet to have any dialogue” with Harbaugh about a new contract. La Canfora writes that the “situation is being watched closely” by other front offices, and that several teams still have hopes of trading for him after the year. If the Ravens have a quick playoff exit, it could increase the chances that the two sides part ways this offseason. It’ll be one of the biggest stories to monitor the next few weeks, and we should know a lot more after the team’s game against the Chargers tomorrow.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • The Cowboys have a bunch of young players they’ll need to pay soon, and Ezekiel Elliott would like to be first in line. The third year running back has one more year left on his deal after this season plus his 2020 fifth-year team option, but he’d like to be extended this offseason, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). While Rapsheet notes that it “makes sense given his workload”, it’s unclear at what price the team values him. We heard back in November that the team might not be in any rush to extend Elliott, so it will be very interesting to see what the team does here.
  • By gaining more than 1,200 rushing yards, Todd Gurley got a $1MM bonus this season, Rapoport tweets. It brings the total value of Gurley’s extension with the Rams to four years and $58.5MM. Gurley got off to a red hot start to the year and was on pace to break the single season touchdowns record for a while, and while he cooled off a little bit during the second half of the season, he still had another dominant year. He’s been dealing with some knee soreness recently, but should be a full go for the Rams’ playoff run.
  • We also got details on Matt Barkley‘s recent extension with the Bills, that Mike Rodak of ESPN tweeted out. Barkley’s two year deal will pay him $1.25MM in 2019 and $1.5MM in 2020. Interestingly, Rodak notes that the team gave Barkley a $600K signing bonus. Getting that large of an amount of guaranteed money would suggest he has a significant leg up on Derek Anderson in the race to be Josh Allen‘s backup next year. Buffalo signed Anderson to a one year deal earlier this week. The deal also includes active roster and playing time bonuses for Barkley, who showed very well in his one spot start this season.
  • Locking defensive tackle Grady Jarrett up longterm is a priority for the Falcons this offseason, according to GM Thomas Dimitroff, per Darin Gantt of ProFootballTalk.com. “We would like to have Grady back for many years to come”, Dimitroff said. Jarrett was one of the few bright spots on a Falcons defense that regressed mightily this season, and he received elite grades from Pro Football Focus. Jarrett, a fifth round pick in 2015, is set to be a free agent this offseason and should be in for a huge payday.

Bills Sign Matt Barkley To Extension

December 21st, 2018 at 2:27pm CST by Zachary Links

The Bills and Matt Barkley agreed to an extension on Friday, according to a team announcement. The new deal will keep the quarterback in place through the 2020 season. 

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The Bills signed Barkley on Halloween after rookie Josh Allen went down with an elbow injury and veteran Derek Anderson suffered a concussion. Barkley started against the Jets in Week 10 and it was a resounding success – the Bills blew out the Jets 41-10 as Barkley threw for 232 yards, two scores, and zero interceptions.

With the new deal, Barkley is poised to take over as Allen’s primary backup in 2019. Anderson, who turns 36 in June, is scheduled for free agency. If Allen suffers further injury, Barkley may have an opportunity to improve on his career 2-5 record as a starter in the NFL.

East Notes: Bills, Barkley, McCoy, Giants, Dolphins, Herbert

November 10th, 2018 at 5:44pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

It’s been a crazy season for the Bills. While the defense has been promising, the offense has been an absolute train-wreck. They’ve cycled through quarterbacks, and will now get their fourth new starting signal caller of the season this Sunday. Recently signed Matt Barkley will get the start for Buffalo over Nathan Peterman, according to a release from the team (Twitter link).

There was some hope that rookie Josh Allen would be able to return this week, but the Bills ruled him out with his elbow injury. Derek Anderson has still been unable to clear the concussion protocol, so he won’t be able to play either. That left Barkley, who was only signed ten days ago, and Peterman as the only healthy options. It’s been reported before that coach Sean McDermott risked losing the locker room if he started Peterman again, so it makes sense why the team is turning to Barkley here. Barkley hasn’t appeared in a regular season game since 2016, when he started a few games with Chicago down the stretch. In those starts Barkley was up and down, looking awful at times and competent at others.

Here’s more from the league’s Eastern divisions:

  • Top brass from both the Giants and Dolphins are at the Oregon-Utah game today to scout quarterback Justin Herbert, according to Albert Breer of SI.com (Twitter link). Eli Manning and Ryan Tannehill both have uncertain futures with their respective teams, so it makes sense why they’d be taking a look. Herbert is widely considered the best quarterback prospect who’s draft eligible, but is reportedly considered unlikely to enter the draft after this year.
  • The Bills’ season might be circling the drain, but star running back LeSean McCoy insists he is happy in Buffalo, according to Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (Twitter link). McCoy said that while “a lot of teams” wanted to trade for him at this year’s deadline, he is in the Bills’ longterm plans and is happy where he is. McCoy is getting up there in age, but still has his same burst and trademarked cutting ability. He’s hardly responsible for the Bills’ offensive woes, as opposing defenses completely sellout to stop the run.
  • In case you missed it, former Jets draft bust Christian Hackenberg signed with the upstart football league the AAF yesterday.

Bills Sign QB Matt Barkley

October 31st, 2018 at 11:03am CST by Zachary Links

The Bills signed quarterback Matt Barkley and Colton Schmidt to one-year deals, according to a team announcement. In related moves, punter Corey Bojorquez shoulder and RB Taiwan Jones neck were placed on injured reserve. 

With Josh Allen still sidelined by an elbow injury and Derek Anderson in concussion protocol, the Bills are expected to turn to embattled QB Nathan Peterman as their starter against the Bears. Barkley joins the club as Peterman’s likely backup for Sunday.

Barkley, 28, was most recently with the Bengals. He signed a two-year contract with the club back in March, but landed on IR after suffering a knee injury in the preseason. He was released by the Bengals on Sept. 12th with an injury settlement. The five-year pro has appeared in 11 games in his NFL career and made a season-high six starts in 2016 for the Bears, but he hasn’t done much of note on the field.

Colin Kaepernick remains available, and would represent a more accomplished alternative to Peterman or Barkley, but the Bills apparently did not want to go down that road.

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