Terence Garvin

NFC Notes: Romo, Cowboys, Panthers

The Cowboys should bring an end to the Tony Romo saga by April 17, the first day of their offseason workout program, opines Joel Corry of CBS Sports. If Romo is still on their roster then, it would behoove him to report because of a clause in his contract stating his base salary will decrease by $500K if he doesn’t complete at least 90 percent of offseason workouts. But the Cowboys shouldn’t want Romo to report, observes Corry, who points out that both his $14MM salary and $24.7MM for 2017 would become guaranteed if he were to suffer a serious injury in OTAs. While the Cowboys would like to trade Romo, it’s doubtful Romo would renegotiate his contract to facilitate a deal, according to Corry, noting that his three-year, $54MM pact isn’t unreasonable money for a starting QB.

More from the NFC:

  • Panthers quarterback Cam Newton underwent successful surgery Thursday to repair a partially torn right rotator cuff, according to David Newton of ESPN.com. Newton, who suffered the injury in Week 14 last season, will take 12 weeks off from throwing. Team officials expect he’ll be ready for training camp.
  • Tight end John Phillips‘ one-year contract with the Saints is a minimum salary benefit deal worth $980K, including an $80K signing bonus, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
  • Seahawks linebacker Terence Garvin‘s single-year accord is worth $855K, tweets Wilson. The agreement comes with a $60K signing bonus and a $20K first-game roster bonus.
  • In case you missed it, here’s the latest from Minnesota and Washington (links: 1, 2).

Seahawks To Sign LB Terence Garvin

The Seahawks agreed to terms with linebacker Terence Garvin, a source tells Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). The Seahawks hosted Garvin on a visit Wednesday and, two days later, they have an accord.

Garvin, 27, spent last year with the Redskins and was with the Steelers in the previous three seasons. The veteran has 59 career appearances to his credit, but has only made one start in the NFL. Garvin did the majority of his work on special teams last season. Although he was on the field for all 16 regular season games, he played only 59 defensive snaps.

On Thursday, the Seahawks added another linebacker when they signed former Niner Michael Wilhoite.

FA Notes: Fins, Seahawks, Redskins, Jags

Although the Dolphins and free agent linebacker Zach Brown are fairly far apart in negotiations, the club still believes it has a chance to land him, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). In order for an agreement to happen, though, Brown will have to reduce his asking price, which is in the range of $6MM per annum on a multiyear deal.

More from the open market:

  • The Seahawks hosted linebacker Terence Garvin on a visit Wednesday, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Garvin, 27, spent last year with Washington and was with the Steelers in the previous three seasons. Garvin has 59 career appearances on his resume but just one start.
  • Along with Garvin, the Seahawks met with yet another linebacker, Gerald Hodges, on Wednesday. The two sides “had a good visit,” though there’s no deal yet, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Hodges is coming off a quietly impressive season that saw him tally 80 tackles, three sacks and two interceptions in 15 games (12 starts) with San Francisco. He also graded 21st among Pro Football Focus’ 87 qualified linebackers.
  • The Redskins and running back Tim Hightower had a meeting, but they aren’t moving toward an agreement, reports John Keim of ESPN.com. It doesn’t appear that will change anytime soon, with Keim noting that Washington could circle back to Hightower as an insurance option down the road.
  • The Jaguars worked out free agent kicker Zach Hocker today, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Incumbent Jacksonville kicker Jason Myers‘ field goal conversion rate dipped below 80% last season, and he also missed three extra points, so the Jags may be open to adding competition. Hocker. 25, last appeared in the NFL in 2015 as a member of the Saints and Rams. Jacksonville also auditioned punter Tom Hornsey, adds Wilson.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/17/16

Today’s minor signings, cuts, and other moves:

  • Linebacker Terence Garvin took to Twitter to announce that he has signed with Washington. Up until this point, Garvin had spent his entire career with the Steelers. The former UDFA out of West Virginia has appeared in 43 regular-season games (one start) and amassed 21 special teams tackles since breaking into the league in 2012. Garvin also drew interest from the Titans after he was non-tendered by Pittsburgh. Washington has since confirmed the signing.
  • Washington announced that running back Chris Thompson has been re-signed as an exclusive rights free agent, Tarik El-Bashir of CSN Mid-Atlantic (on Twitter). Thompson, a running back known for his catching ability, appeared in 13 games last season, totaling 240 yards off of 35 receptions with two touchdowns. He also ran the ball 35 times for 216 yards, good for a 6.2 yards-per-carry average.
  • Falcons safety Ricardo Allen signed his exclusive rights tender, according to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Allen will now earn a $525K salary in 2016.

Latest Rumors: Osweiler, Broncos, A. Smith, Titans

Earlier this week, quarterback Brock Osweiler agreed to leave the Broncos for a four-year, $72MM contract with the Texans, but agent Jimmy Sexton never gave Denver a chance to match the offer, reports John McClain of the Houston Chronicle.

Sexton told Osweiler not to return any calls from any Broncos employees until the agent had reached a deal with either Denver or Houston. Osweiler wanted out of the Mile High City after the Broncos went back to Peyton Manning for their playoff run, a source close to Osweiler’s family told Mike Klis of 9News (Twitter link). If true, that obviously helped the Texans win the battle for his services.

“They wanted him in Denver, but (general manager) Rick (Smith) hung in there and got the deal consummated,” Texans "<strongowner Bob McNair said. “I couldn’t be more excited.”

Smith and head coach Bill O’Brien undoubtedly join McNair in his excitement. After watching tape of pending free agent QBs, both came to an agreement that Osweiler was atop their wish list.

“We came out of the film room agreeing that Brock Osweiler was the quarterback to lead us where we want to go,” Smith said.

However, the Texans didn’t know whether they’d have a chance to land Osweiler, as McNair stated.

“He could have signed (with Denver) and not been available. We really didn’t know, but we were still looking at him and hoping he would be available,” said McNair.

More on the Broncos and a couple other NFL teams:

  • With Manning and Osweiler gone, the Broncos are “exercising patience” in their search for a signal-caller, tweets The Denver Post’s Troy Renck, who lists Colin Kaepernick, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brian Hoyer, and draft prospects as their targets. They aren’t yet considering Robert Griffin III, per Renck.
  • Offensive tackle Andre Smith – who visited the Vikings on Sunday – doesn’t have any more meetings currently lined up, but his agent told him this morning there are other teams that could be interested in him (Twitter link via Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). Smith spent 2009-15 with the Bengals after they selected him sixth overall and made 73 regular-season starts in 82 appearances. If Smith signs with the Vikings, he’d be the third starting-caliber O-lineman to do so this offseason, joining guards Alex Boone and Mike Harris.
  • Linebacker Terence Garvin will visit the Titans on Monday, according to Rand Getlin of NFL.com (Twitter link). Garvin has been with the Steelers since they signed him as an undrafted free agent from West Virginia in 2012. The 25-year-old has appeared in 43 regular-season games (one start) and amassed 21 special teams tackles. Garvin met with Washington earlier this week.

NFC FA Rumors: Vikings, Cowboys, Long, Conte

Andre Smith is expected to visit the Vikings on Sunday, Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweets. The 38th-ranked player in PFR’s top 50 free agents list, Smith’s market has been slower to materialize than Mitchell Schwartz, the other top right tackle in this year’s class. The veteran right-edge player rated as Pro Football Focus’ No. 58 tackle last season and doesn’t have much left tackle experience.

The Vikings restructured the recently injury-prone Phil Loadholt‘s contract earlier this week, seemingly clearing up some of their uncertainty up front. But Loadholt’s sustained two season-ending injuries over the past two seasons and has just one year left on his contract, so it makes sense that Minnesota would have interest in adding some insurance.

Here’s more on free agents from around the NFC:

  • Chris Long‘s previously-reported visit with the Cowboys is now expected to happen next week, writes David Moore of the Dallas Morning News. According to Moore, no firm date has been set yet, but Dallas has interest in the veteran defensive end.
  • It’s a three-team race for free agent safety Chris Conte, according to Rand Getlin of the NFL Network, who tweets that the Buccaneers, Saints, and Giants are in the hunt. Having played for the Bucs last season, it sounds like Conte is drawing interest from his former team even though Lovie Smith is no longer the head coach — the safety played under Smith in Chicago as well.
  • The Vikings aren’t looking to bring back linebacker Jason Trusnik, Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports (on Twitter). A 32-year-old edge player, Trusnik played in eight games for the Vikings last season and in order to continue his nine-year career, Trusnik, who started six games for the Dolphins in 2014, will have to search for a fifth NFL destination.
  • Linebacker Terence Garvin will visit Washington, Rand Getlin of NFL.com tweets. The Steelers backup sat behind the myriad ex-first-rounders in Pittsburgh, starting one game in three seasons. Garvin totaled 21 special teams tackles during his time with the Steelers. Washington recently lost Keenan Robinson to the Giants, creating a need for additional cogs on its second level.
  • Previously reported to have visited Washington, Andre Branch has additional meetings lined up and won’t make his decision yet, John Keim of ESPN.com tweets.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

RFA Tender Decisions: 3/9/16

Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to restricted free agents. We’ll round up those decisions here:

Tendered

Non-Tendered

Minor Moves: Friday

Here are Friday’s minor transactions from around the NFL, including a new deal for a would-be exclusive right free agent, a few reserve/futures signings, and a practice squad change….

  • Washington has signed fullback Jordan Campbell to a reserve/futures contract, tweets Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com. Campbell spent some time on the Chiefs’ practice squad earlier in the season and worked out for Washington last month.

Earlier updates:

  • The Bengals have re-signed tight end Kevin Brock to a new contract, the team announced today (via Twitter). Brock, who joined the team in September after injuries to Tyler Eifert and Alex Smith, had been on track to become an exclusive rights free agent.
  • Since being eliminated from the postseason, the Steelers have been adding to their offseason roster, inking seven players to reserve/futures contracts on Monday and signing a couple more yesterday. Pittsburgh continued to bring players aboard today, per PR man Burt Lauten, who tweets that the team has signed linebacker Terence Garvin, wide receiver Brelan Chancellor, defensive end Matt Conrath, safety Alden Darby, tight end Michael Egnew, and linebacker Roosevelt Nix.
  • The 49ers are re-signing linebacker Shayne Skov, who finished the season on the team’s practice squad, to a reserve/futures deal, a source tells Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee (Twitter link). The team has now locked up everyone who finished the season on the taxi squad.
  • The Lions signed defensive tackle Jermelle Cudjo to a futures contract today, tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. When it appeared last week that Detroit might be without Ndamukong Suh for Sunday’s playoff game, the team brought Cudjo in for a workout.
  • The Seahawks made a small change to their taxi squad today, re-signing defensive tackle Jimmy Staten and releasing linebacker Mike Zimmer, per Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). As Condotta points out in a second tweet, Seattle had signed Zimmer and cut Staten just yesterday, so the club is frequently shuffling the two players on and off the unit at this point.