Here are Friday’s minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Miami Dolphins
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Deals are coming in quickly, so we’ve compiled some important contract details below:
Defensive end Stephen Weatherly has signed a two-year, $12.5MM deal with the Panthers, agent Blake Baratz announced on Twitter.
Weatherly had spent his entire career with the Vikings after being selected in the seventh round of the 2016 draft. The 25-year-old appeared in all 32 regular season games for Minnesota over the past two years, collecting three sacks each season. Weatherly also had a sack during the Vikings Divisional Round loss to the 49ers this past year.
It’s been a relatively quiet day in Carolina. The Panthers only other move came when they released special teams captain Colin Jones earlier this afternoon.
A former seventh-rounder could be eyeing a significant pay raise. Chris Tomasson of TwinCities.com reports that the Vikings and defensive end Stephen Weatherly have started to discuss a contract extension.
The 25-year-old is set to make $720K in the final year of his contract, but both sides are hoping this won’t be Weatherly’s final season in Minnesota.
“There’s only one more year left,’’ Weatherly told Tomasson. “If that’s what they want, by all means I’ll be down for (an extension). If they think I’m good enough to keep around, then that would be amazing. I was drafted in the seventh round and worked my way up. That would be a pretty good story to tell my kids one day.’’
Agent Blake Baratz acknowledged that the two sides have discussed a possible extension, but he also noted that there are some hurdles to overcome.
“We’ve had some discussions,’’ Baratz said. “He definitely would like to be here. I know the Vikings want him here. They don’t have the most cap room in the league, so who knows if it will happen before this season, during this season, after this season? I don’t think there’s a timetable on it, but I think it makes sense for both parties. A lot of things have got to play out first, but I think it’s a desire on both parties.’’
As the agent notes, the Viking aren’t working with a whole lot of cap space, as they’re currently sitting with around $612K in room. Further complicating matters are impending extensions for cornerbacks Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander. As Tomasson notes, moving tight end Kyle Rudolph and his $7.625MM cap number should provide the Vikings with some wiggle room.
The Vikings selected Weatherly in the seventh round of the 2016 draft, although the Vanderbilt product rarely played during his rookie campaign. The defensive end saw more playing time during the 2017 campaign, and that led to him having a breakout season in 2018. Weatherly finished last season establishing career-highs across the board, compiling 35 tackles, three sacks, and one forced fumble in 16 games (six starts).
Ronnie Hillman‘s time in Minnesota is through. The Vikings announced that Hillman has been waived. To fill his spot on the roster, defensive end Stephen Weatherly has been signed from the practice squad. 
Hillman signed with the Vikings in September after Adrian Peterson was placed on injured reserve. Since then, he has posted a grand total of 50 yards off of 18 carries plus four catches for 43 yards. On Sunday, he had only two rushing attempts, the latest sign that he was being pushed further down in the pecking order.
Hillman‘s deal with the Vikings was a one-year pact worth the prorated league minimum of $760K with no guaranteed money, so the Vikings won’t be on the hook for anything going forward. The Broncos had offset language on the $400K in guaranteed salary owed to Hillman, so they have now been relieved of most or all of that debt.
Weatherly, a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft, signed with the Vikings’ taxi squad after missing the final cut. The Vanderbilt product will slot behind Danielle Hunter and Justin Trattou as reserve bookends behind Brian Robison and Everson Griffen. He could also contribute as an outside linebacker.
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC North teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Bears, Lions, Packers, and Vikings are noted below.
Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.
Here are Sunday’s NFC North transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day. All links go to Twitter unless otherwise noted:
The Vikings have trimmed their roster down to 53 by making the following moves:
Placed on IR:
Placed On NFI:
Moore, who turns 26 next week, appeared in eight games for the Pats in 2014 after being taken with a sixth-round pick. In 2015, he found his way to Minnesota where he appeared in one regular season contest.
Boehringer, a native of Germany, became the first international player to go straight from a European league to the NFL when the Vikings chose him in the sixth round. He ultimately failed to earn a roster spot, though he could land on the Vikings’ practice squad, per Rapoport.
The Vikings have been the most active team so far when it comes to locking up their draft picks. After officially announcing the signing of German wideout Moritz Boehringer earlier this week, the team has now reached agreements with four other draftees, including second-round cornerback Mackensie Alexander, writes Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
In addition to Alexander, the Vikings have agreed to terms with sixth-round tight end David Morgan, seventh-round linebacker Stephen Weatherly, and seventh-round safety Jayron Kearse. All four players are expected to formally sign their rookie contracts on Thursday. Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News first reported word of Morgan’s agreement (via Twitter), while Tomasson had the rest.
Contract negotiations with rookie draftees are easy than they used to be, since the total value of a rookie contract, along with the signing bonus, is essentially predetermined by where a player is drafted. For the Vikings, Alexander will get a signing bonus worth about $1.4MM on his four-year contract. Morgan, Weatherly, and Kearse are in line for bonuses of about $135K, $81K, and $64K, respectively, per Over the Cap.
With five members of their eight-man draft class having agreed to terms, the Vikes will just have to get first-round wide receiver Laquon Treadwell, fourth-round offensive lineman Willie Beavers, and fifth-round linebacker Kentrell Brothers under contract. That’s expected to happen very soon.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net is back with another round of draft-related updates and rumors at WalterFootball.com, so let’s see what he has for us, with less than two weeks until draft day….
The one-year contract for new Eagles offensive lineman Stefen Wisniewski is worth slightly more than the $2.5MM he earned from Jacksonville last season, a source tells Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News. Still, Wisniewski was somewhat disappointed that he couldn’t land a longer-term deal this offseason.
“It’s been tough,” Wisniewski said. “I certainly was hoping to sign a long-term deal for some good money. I thought I’d played well enough to deserve that – a lot of people did. It just kind of didn’t work out, with circumstances and whatnot.”
Wisniewski, who said the Jaguars were “kind of lowballing me, to be honest,” is hoping to parlay his one-year pact with the Eagles into a multiyear agreement in Philadelphia or elsewhere in 2017, tweets Alex Marvez of FOX Sports. In order to have a chance to do that, Wisniewski will probably have to win the starting left guard job — otherwise, his playing time could depend on the health of center Jason Kelce.
Here are a few more Tuesday odds and ends from around the NFL…
Zach Links contributed to this post.