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T.J. Jones

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/14/18

March 14th, 2018 at 4:06pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Here are today’s restricted free agent and exclusive-rights free agent tender decisions, with the list being updated throughout the day. All links go to Twitter unless otherwise noted:

RFAs

Tendered at the second-round level ($2.914MM):

Tendered at original round level ($1.907MM):

Non-tendered:

ERFAs

Tendered:

Non-tendered:

Lions Won’t Tender WR T.J. Jones

March 1st, 2018 at 10:29am CST by Zachary Links

The Lions don’t plan to tender restricted free agent T.J. Jones, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (on Twitter). However, it’s possible that the team will bring Jones back on a lesser deal. T.J. Jones (vertical)

Jones, 26 in July, first joined the Lions as a sixth round pick in the 2014 draft. He had his best year to date in 2017, catching 30 passes for 399 yards and one touchdown.

The first round tender ($4.1MM+) and second round tender (~$2.9MM) are obviously too pricey for Jones, but it might have made sense to explore the original round tender ($2MM) for him. Per the terms of the original tender, if another team were to sign Jones away, the Lions would collect a sixth-round draft pick to match the round Jones was selected in. Apparently, the Lions are unwilling to commit $2MM to Jones, but they might bring him back for a lesser sum.

The Lions have roughly $27MM of cap space to work with, putting them roughly in the middle of the pack league-wide.

Lions Place WR T.J. Jones On IR

December 19th, 2017 at 3:07pm CST by Zachary Links

The Lions will have to make their playoff push without the services of their No. 4 wide receiver. On Tuesday, the Lions placed T.J. Jones on injured reserve. To take his place on the roster, the Lions signed wide receiver Andy Jones (no relation). T.J. Jones (vertical)

T.J. Jones exited Saturday’s win over the Bears with a shoulder injury. His season ends with 30 catches for 399 yards. Without him, recent pickup Bradley Marquez will move up a spot on the depth chart in support of Marvin Jones, Golden Tate, and third-round pick Kenny Golladay.

Andy Jones, 23, has spent time with the Cowboys, Texans, and Lions since breaking into the league as a UDFA in 2016. After nearly three months on Detroit’s practice squad, he hopes to record his first career reception.

Heading into a Christmas Eve showdown with the Bengals, the Lions have a 13% chance of reaching the postseason, according to the NY Times’ playoff odds calculator. If they lose, they will effectively be out of the running for an NFC Wild Card spot.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/17/17

April 17th, 2017 at 7:12pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The latest minor moves…

  • Raiders defensive end Denico Autry has signed his RFA tender, reports ESPN’s Adam Caplan (Twitter link). The Raiders gave the 2014 undrafted free agent an original-round tender, leading to speculation that he could draw interest from elsewhere. Instead, Autry will return to the Raiders on the heels of back-to-back three-sack seasons. ERFAs Seth Roberts (WR) and Denver Kirkland (G) are also back in the fold, according to Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (on Twitter).
  • The Seahawks have re-signed linebacker Kache Palacio, writes Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. Palacio, a former fullback who went undrafted out of Washington State last year, spent most of 2016 on Seattle’s practice squad.
  • Lions ERFAs Brandon Copeland (DE), Kerry Hyder (DT) and T.J. Jones (WR) have signed their tenders, tweets Birkett. Dolphins ERFAs Mike Hull (LB) and Anthony Steen (C) did the same earlier Monday, per Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald (Twitter link).

Earlier updates:

  • The Panthers have re-upped restricted free agent guard Andrew Norwell and a pair of exclusive rights free agents – center Tyler Larsen and punter Michael Palardy – writes Bryan Strickland of their website. Carolina used a second-round tender on Norwell, who will earn $2.746MM in 2017. Norwell combined for 29 starts over the previous two seasons and ranked 11th in performance among Pro Football Focus’ 72 qualified guards last year.
  • Steelers RFA cornerback Ross Cockrell has inked his original-round tender, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). Cockrell went in the fourth round of the 2014 draft, so the Steelers would have been entitled to a fourth-rounder had Cockrell signed elsewhere and they elected against matching the offer. The 25-year-old caught on with the Steelers in 2015 and has since totaled 31 appearances, 23 starts and two interceptions. Cockrell started in every Steelers game last year, and his performance ranked an improve 28th among 111 qualified corners at PFF.
  • Chiefs RFA kicker Cairo Santos has signed his tender, per Schefter (on Twitter). Santos, undrafted in 2014, received a low tender; as such, Kansas City wouldn’t have been entitled to compensation had he gone elsewhere. The three-year veteran has connected on 84.3 percent of field goal attempts, including 88.6 percent last season (good for fifth in the league).
  • Lions offensive tackle Cornelius Lucas has signed his RFA tender, tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. The Lions assigned Lucas an original-rounder tender last month, so they wouldn’t have gotten a pick had the 2014 undrafted free agent signed elsewhere and they chose not to match. Lucas is now slated to make $1.797MM this year in Detroit, where he has started in six of 35 career appearances.
  • The Buccaneers have re-signed quarterback Ryan Griffin, cornerback Jude Adjei-Barimah, tight end Cameron Brate, linebacker Adarius Glanton, and wide receivers Adam Humphries and Freddie Martino, per Scott Smith of the team’s website. As a restricted free agent, Griffin is the only one of the bunch who could have potentially gone elsewhere (the rest were exclusive rights free agents). The Bucs tendered the 2013 undrafted free agent at an original-round level last month, and he’ll now try to win the No. 2 role behind Jameis Winston. Tampa Bay’s previous second-stringer, Mike Glennon, is now the Bears’ starter.
  • RFA defensive back Marcus Burley and ERFA running back George Atkinson III are returning to the Browns, per a team announcement. Burley, undrafted in 2013, received an original-round tender. The former Seahawk is coming off his first year in Cleveland, where he appeared in 12 games and played just under 40 percent of the Browns’ special teams snaps.
  • Fullback Tommy Bohanon and receiver Larry Pinkard have signed with the Jaguars, tweets the team’s account. Bohanon is the only with NFL experience, having logged 36 appearances and 14 starts as a Jet from 2013-15.
  • Speaking of the Jets, they have re-signed linebacker Julian Stanford (via Randy Lange of the team’s site). The Jets could Stanford on Friday, but both sides knew that was only a procedural move. Last season was the first as a Jet for the 26-year-old Stanford, who appeared in nine games (two starts) and played about a quarter of their defensive snaps and a third of their special teams snaps.

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/8/17

March 8th, 2017 at 12:43pm CST by Sam Robinson

Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to restricted and exclusive rights free agents. All RFA tenders listed are original round/right of first refusal (worth $1.797MM), and all links go to Twitter:

RFAs:

Tendered:

Non-Tendered: 

ERFAs:

Tendered:

Lions Cut Justin Forsett, Activate Armonty Bryant

December 3rd, 2016 at 3:36pm CST by Sam Robinson

Justin Forsett‘s tenure with the Lions looks to be over after the team did not keep the veteran on its roster upon making multiple moves Saturday. The Lions cut Forsett and cornerback Johnthan Banks to make room for the activation of defensive end Armonty Bryant and wide receiver T.J. Jones, James Palmer of NFL.com reports (Twitter links).

This will send the 31-year-old Forsett to the waiver wire, where the ninth-year veteran could be viewed as a depth option for teams in need of ball-carriers. Prior to the trade deadline, Forsett’s vested-veteran status applied and he did not have to pass through waivers upon being released from the Ravens.

Forsett had not played in a game since October and has just 136 rushing yards (on 3.1 per carry) this season. This move doesn’t necessarily point to an Ameer Abdullah return, though, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (on Twitter). Abdullah remains on IR, with Theo Riddick being the top backfield option.

The Lions claimed Banks on waivers from the Buccaneers last month and used the cornerback in two games. However, the former Bucs starter who saw his star fall in Tampa Bay could not make enough of a case to stay on the team. He, too, will be subject to the waiver process.

This marks Bryant’s second activation of the season — both by the Lions — with this latest transaction coming as a result of a three-game suspension the defensive end served. He served a four-game ban while a member of the Browns before Cleveland cut him, re-routing him to Detroit via waiver claim. Bryant has three sacks this season in four games as an off-the-bench cog for the first-place Lions.

T.J. Jones‘ promotion coincides with Marvin Jones‘ potential unavailability for Sunday’s game against the Saints. A thigh injury limited the Lions’ leading receiver in practice this week.

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC North

September 4th, 2016 at 6:55pm CST by Dallas Robinson

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:

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

Lions Trim Roster To 53

September 3rd, 2016 at 3:28pm CST by Zachary Links

The Lions have released offensive lineman Brandon Thomas, as Rand Getlin of NFL.com tweets. Thomas came to Detroit in the Jeremy Kerley trade earlier this week. Brandon Thomas (vertical)

Thomas, a former third-round pick, has never taken a snap in the NFL. He missed his entire rookie season in 2014 while recovering from a torn ACL suffered in college, and didn’t appear in a game during his sophomore campaign. Thomas wasn’t need in the Bay Area given that Anthony Davis has come out of retirement and shifted to guard and he apparently wasn’t wanted in Detroit either.

Thomas obviously wasn’t the Lions’ only victim of cut day. Cuts include:

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NFC North Notes: Tillman, Tate, Lions, Bears

December 9th, 2014 at 5:58pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Veteran Bears corner Charles Tillman has been on injured reserve since mid-September after tearing his triceps in Week 2, but the time off hasn’t lessened his urge to return to game action in 2015. “I would like to continue to play,” Tillman told ESPN 1000 today (link via Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com). “Right now, all I want to do is get healthy before I make a decision to retire or to continue to play. I have every intent of coming back and playing.” Additionally, the 12-year veteran won’t limit himself to only playing for Chicago. “I’m willing to play for all 32 organizations, whoever is interested,” said Tillman. “That’s the business side. Do I love Chicago? Yeah, but at the end of the day, if Chicago didn’t want me back and that team wanted me, or this team wanted me, or that team, yeah, I’ve got to go. They’re going to pay my bills. So, sorry.” Here’s more from the NFC North.

  • With Jerick McKinnon now on injured reserve, Vikings running back Ben Tate could be in line for more carries, writes Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Tate, whom Minnesota claimed from the Browns earlier this season, is due more than $46K per game in roster bonuses for each contest he’s active, so he has financial incentive to perform and remain a part of the club’s plans for the remaining three games.
  • Lions rookie receiver T.J. Jones will remain on the PUP list, ending his season, according to Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com. Jones, a sixth-round pick out of Notre Dame, began practicing three weeks ago after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery. However, Detroit obviously doesn’t believe he’s healthy enough to play, and as Rothstein notes, the Lions have a bevy of receiver talent, meaning little playing time for Jones.
  • Defensive back Loucheiz Purifoy, whose failed physical voided his waiver claim by the Seahawks earlier this month, worked out for the Bears today, per Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link).

NFC Mailbags: Panthers, Cards, Lions

December 6th, 2014 at 10:35am CST by Ben Levine

We took a look at ESPN’s AFC mailbags earlier this morning. Let’s now focus on notes from the NFC…

  • If the Panthers get a top-10 pick, David Newton believes the team will use their selection on an offensive tackle, a defensive back or a defensive lineman. When asked if the team would trade back for multiple assets, Newton says that “quality will be more important than quantity.”
  • Josh Weinfuss isn’t convinced the Cardinals will re-sign linebacker Sam Acho, stating that the team should be able to find an adequate replacement. Meanwhile, the writer believes the team should try to retain Antonio Cromartie for a reasonable price.
  • If Lions wideout T.J. Jones continues to prove that he’s capable of a bigger role, Ryan Broyles could ultimately find himself without a job, writes Michael Rothstein.
  • Ben Goessling is under the impression that Adrian Peterson will not be playing for the Vikings next season. Instead, he believes the team will go with Jerick McKinnon as their primary running back while pursuing a running back later in the draft.
  • John Keim says the league’s new CBA, which limits the interaction between players and coaches during the offseason, hurts the development of any young quarterback (including Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III).
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