This Date In Transactions History News & Rumors

This Date In Transactions History: Rob Gronkowski Signs Record-Breaking Extension

June 8th, 2020 at 9:25am CST by Zachary Links

Eight years ago today, Rob Gronkowski inked the most lucrative deal for a tight end in league history. The Patriots tacked another six years on to the two remaining seasons of his rookie contract at $54MM, locking him down through the 2019 campaign.

The deal made plenty of sense for both sides. With $13MM fully guaranteed and $18MM guaranteed for injury, the 23-year-old scored some serious financial security early in his career. Through his first two NFL seasons, the former second-round pick made less than $2.5MM in total.

Meanwhile, the Patriots locked down a tight end coming off of a First-Team All-Pro selection. Although he impressed as a rookie, Gronk took his game to a new level in 2011 as he caught 90 passes for 1,327 yards and 17 touchdowns with a catch percentage of 72.6%. Even today, those numbers stand as Gronk’s career bests.

A broken forearm sidelined Gronkowski for five games in 2012. Shortly after returning, he re-aggravated the injury in the Pats’ first playoff game and missed out on the AFC Championship game. In the offseason, the forearm became infected, forcing the tight end to undergo the third and fourth surgeries of his career. In June of 2013, he had back surgery. Then, in a late-season contest against the Browns, he suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee. Gronk was undoubtedly grateful for his injury guarantees at that time.

There were more ailments to come, including a less serious knee injury in 2015 and a pulmonary contusion in 2016, but Gronkowski continued to be one of the very best at his position. Meanwhile, the salary cap continued to grow and the tight end market advanced. Over time, Gronk’s record-setting deal started to look more and more team-friendly. In 2014, Jimmy Graham signed a deal that made him the league’s highest-paid tight end with an average annual average value of $10MM and $16.5MM in full guarantees.

Eventually, something had to give. Prior to the 2017 season, the Pats tweaked Gronk’s deal to incentivize his performance while protecting the team against another injury-marred season. The deal gave him a base salary of $5.25MM with incentive packages at three different tiers:

A total salary of $10.75MM with either 90% play time or 80 catches or 1,200‪ receiving yards or an All-Pro nomination.
A total salary $8.75MM with 80% play time or 70 catches or 1,000 receiving yards or 12 touchdowns.
A total salary of $6.75MM with 70% play time or 60 receptions or 800 receiving yards or ten touchdowns.

With 1,084 yards (off of 69 receptions with eight touchdowns), Gronkowski satisfied the middle tier requirement. However, thanks to his First-Team All-Pro selection, the tight end maxed out his 2017 package. After that, Gronk asked the Pats to sweeten the pot once again, and they obliged with a similar incentives package worth up to $3.3MM for the 2018 season. The Patriots also came close to sending Gronk to the Lions, an indication that all was not well between the two sides.

The 2018 wound up being Gronkowski’s final season in a Patriots uniform. At the age of 29, Gronkowski retired. One year later, he pushed the Patriots to trade him to the Bucs, rebooting his bromance with longtime pal Tom Brady.

This Date In Transactions History: 49ers Trade Issac Bruce To The Rams

June 7th, 2020 at 3:12pm CST by Zachary Links

On this date in 2010, the 49ers traded Issac Bruce to the Rams. However, this wasn’t a typical trade. The deal was facilitated in order to allow Bruce, then 37, to retire with his original franchise.

Bruce started his career with the Rams in 1994, the team’s final season in Los Angeles. The second-round pick played sparingly as a rookie, but he broke out as an NFL sophomore in St. Louis with 119 catches, 1,781 yards, and 13 touchdowns, all of which went down as his career bests. In his 14 illustrious years with the Rams, Bruce amassed four Pro Bowl trips and eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving in eight different seasons.

“Sixteen years was enough for me,” Bruce said at his farewell press conference. “I think a lot was done. But that second training camp practice (in two-a-days) may have played a part in it. I was ready to move on and do something else other than playing football.”

After so many productive seasons in the NFL, Bruce had little left to prove. Bruce was the leading wide receiver in the Rams’ “Greatest Show On Turf” Super Bowl-winning season and left the team as its all-time receiving leader with 14,109 yards. His second act with the Niners was not quite as flashy with 835 yards in his first SF season and 264 yards in his 2009 finale.

“The two years I was away, I kept tabs on this organization,” Bruce said. “I played against this organization, I played against its players. The funny thing is I found myself encouraging them when things didn’t look bright for them. I looked down and saw myself in a different colored uniform. It was honestly just to me personally — it just wasn’t right.”

So, with the trade, Bruce returned back to the Rams and became the last member of the Rams’ first Los Angeles run to hang ’em up. Later, his No. 80 jersey was retired by the team. Bruce was denied entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame multiple times, but he was finally enshrined in 2020, after six years of eligibility.

This Date In Transactions History: 49ers’ Anthony Davis Retires

June 5th, 2020 at 11:50am CST by Zachary Links

Five years ago today, 49ers tackle Anthony Davis announced his retirement from the NFL at the age of 25. Davis’ decision came as a surprise to everyone, though he left the door open to returning at some point in the future.

Davis was the Niners’ first-round pick in 2010, coming off the board No. 11 overall. In his first four seasons, he started 71 games at right tackle and played in all 16 regular season contests. Then, in 2014, he was limited to seven games thanks to hamstring, knee, and concussion problems.

Davis was just the latest in a string of 49ers departures that offseason. First, head coach Jim Harbaugh exited. Then, linebackers Chris Borland and Patrick Willis retired, despite still likely having a few good years of production ahead of them. Davis was similarly concerned about the toll the game had taken on him, though he attempted to come back to football the following year in 2016.

Davis and the Niners weren’t quite on the same page. Before the draft, Davis took to Twitter and suggested that the Niners should take an offensive tackle in the Top 10. Then, he took an even more direct shot at the team: “I do not want to work with a front office or anyone else who seemingly doesn’t want to win as bad as I do.”

The Niners, meanwhile, weren’t so thrilled with him either. When asked about Davis’ potential return, 49ers offensive line coach Pat Flaherty said that nothing would be handed to him.

“And he knows this, coming from me, if he wants to play, then he’s got to come back and prove he can play,” Flaherty said. “It’s got to come from within. You can tell him exactly what I just said, ‘Listen, you’ll have an opportunity to play. But that’s all it is. You decided for whatever reason to retire. If you come back in the game, nothing is going to be handed to you. You’re going to have to work your tail off.’ And the conversation that I’ve had back when I first got here, was he was acceptable to that. Now, I don’t see him. I don’t know why. So I can’t answer that one.”

Davis’ return to the Niners lasted only one game. After appearing in the season opener against the Rams, Davis retired for a second time. In May of last year, Davis said he wanted to return to the field and the 49ers released him from his deal. Davis, 31 in October, didn’t sign with another club and remains a free agent today, though it’s not clear if he still has interest in playing.

This Date In Transactions History: Browns Sign Mychal Kendricks

June 4th, 2020 at 5:45pm CST by Zachary Links

Two years ago today, Mychal Kendricks agreed to terms with the Browns. At the time, the one-year, $2.25MM deal looked like a solid value pickup for the Browns in the second wave of free agency. Instead, the linebacker never played a down for Cleveland.

What we didn’t know at the time was that Kendricks was involved in a federal investigation for insider trading. Kendricks were aware of the situation, but they say they weren’t clued in on all of the details. Prosecutors alleged that Kendricks and his co-defendant turned $80K in a brokerage account into $1.2MM inside of five months. The insider trading charges he faced could have imprisoned him for up to 37 months, keeping him off the field for at least three years.

When Kendricks’ charges were announced just before the start of the 2018 season, the Browns dropped him. Days later, on Sept. 6, he pleaded guilty in court. Then, just one week after that, Kendricks inked a one-year deal with the Seahawks. Kendricks still had sentencing and a lengthy NFL suspension ahead of him, but Pete Carroll & Co. didn’t want to pass up the chance to sign him at a bargain basement minimum-salaried rate.

Despite the off-the-field issues, Kendricks offered up an impressive resume from his time in Philly, including 74 career starts, 14 sacks, and a 77-tackle campaign in 2017 en route to a Super Bowl ring. Kendricks spent most of 2018 sidelined as he duked it out with the league office, but he returned to form in 2019 as he started in all 14 of his games, tallied 71 stops, and notched three sacks.

Now, Kendricks finds himself in NFL and legal limbo once again. Kendricks was originally set for sentencing on January 23, 2019, but thanks to multiple postponements and the COVID-19 pandemic, Kendricks won’t face the judge until May 29, at the earliest. And, after suffering an ACL tear in January, the Seahawks found linebacker help elsewhere. Depending on how things go from here, Kendricks may eventually find a market for his services as a free agent. Still, it might be a while before we see him back in the fold.

This Date In Transactions History: Jets Reunite With Demario Davis

June 1st, 2020 at 12:05pm CST by Zachary Links

Three years ago today, the Jets swung a deal with the Browns to reunite with Demario Davis and move on from first-round draft bust Calvin Pryor all in one shot.

Davis didn’t see the field much in his 2012 rookie season with the Jets, but he cracked their starting lineup as an NFL sophomore and remained a Gang Green first-stringer through 2015. After that, he moved on to the Browns in free agency with a two-year, $8MM deal. As the Browns’ starting left inside linebacker, Davis racked up 99 tackles and two sacks, but then-Browns GM Sashi Brown seized an opportunity to trade a dependable veteran for a hard-hitting youngster who had yet to make his mark as a pro.

“Calvin is a young, experienced safety that has upside,” Brown said. “We are pleased to be able to add him to our defensive back room and just like every player we acquire, we expect him to come in with a hard-working mindset ready to compete. DeMario is a guy that we developed the utmost respect for in his time with our team, not only as a professional but also as a person. We appreciate all he did for our organization in his time in Cleveland.”

Pryor, known as the “Louisville Slugger,” didn’t have a clear-cut role in the Jets’ secondary after they used their first two picks in the 2017 draft on Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye. The Browns felt that Pryor could play behind their own rookie safety, Jabrill Peppers, and possibly find steady work in the rotation. Even though Pryor didn’t move the needle much as a pro, there was reason to believe – Pro Football Focus ranked him as a top 50 safety in his first two pro seasons and, even with his ’16 regression, he still ranked ahead of two safeties who were on the Browns’ roster at the time.

Unfortunately for Cleveland, Pryor did not pan out. The Louisville Slugger took a swing at teammate Ricardo Louis, prompting Hue Jackson to cut him before the season opener. Pryor moved on to the Jaguars, suffered an ankle injury in September, and got cut towards the end of the year. Pryor was on the workout circuit in 2018, but he never found his way back to the field.

Davis, meanwhile, exceeded all expectations. He started in all 16 of his games in 2017, per the usual, but delivered a team-high 97 solo tackles and a new career high of 5.0 sacks. And, get this – the Jets even got him to accept less than his scheduled ~$4MM salary for that year, making him an even better value. Fortunately, Davis got his payday the following year. Unfortunately for the Jets, it was with the Saints. After earning First-Team All-Pro honors in 2019, Davis is gearing up for his third season with New Orleans.

This Date In Transactions History: NFL Adopts “Annual Draft Of College Players”

May 19th, 2020 at 11:57am CST by Ben Levine

On this day in 1935, the NFL made a significant decision that didn’t only impact football, but the entire sports world. As Hall of Famer (and NFL.com analyst) Gil Brandt points out on Twitter, the league “adopted an annual draft of college players” on May 19th, 1935.

There were several events that led up to this decision. For starters, collegiate players were initially allowed to sign with any NFL team, leading to a free-for-all that’s not too different than modern free agency. Specifically, Eagles co-owner Bert Bell found that these prospects were simply opting for the most lucrative deal, and if money was equal, the player would land with the more accomplished, competitive franchise. As a result, teams like the Bears and Packers generally recruited the top collegiate players.

There was also the matter of Stan Kostka, who had a standout campaign for the Minnesota Gophers during the 1934 season. The running back ended up waiting for the highest-possible offer, and after a nine-month “holdout” (which also included an unsuccessful campaign to be the mayor of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota), Kostka ended up landing a league-leading $5,000 deal (we swear, that’s not a typo) with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

This move infuriated Bell, who believed the NFL would ultimately fail if teams were allowed to simply buy the best prospects. So, on May 18th, 1935, the Eagles co-owner proposed a rookie draft. Bell touted that a draft would help increase parity, and he believed this would have a vicarious impact on the league’s financials. The next day, the league unanimously voted to adopt a draft starting with the 1936 season.

Of course, NFL teams didn’t have the scouting resources that they do now; in fact, NFL teams didn’t even have scouting departments. Organizations were required to randomly submit the names of college seniors, and these players would then be inserted into the draft pool. If a team selected a player, they were allowed to exclusively negotiate with the prospect. If a deal couldn’t be reached, the organization had the ability to trade the rookie. If neither a contract nor a trade materialized, the NFL was allowed to step in and arbitrate a settlement between the two sides. This ended up being relevant for the 1936 Draft, as only 24 of the 81 selections proceeded to play in the NFL that season.

In a not-so-ironic twist, the Eagles (and Bell, the architect of the draft) landed the first-overall selection of the inaugural event. The organization selected halfback Jay Berwanger, but after unsuccessfully negotiating with the prospect, Philadelphia traded his rights to the Bears. Berwanger didn’t sign with Chicago, either, and the first pick of the first draft ultimately never played a snap in the NFL.

Of course, who knows if Berwanger would have followed this same path had he been allowed to sign with any NFL team. There were surely some pundits who pointed to Berwanger and criticized the draft for alienating prospects. However, without the decision made 85 years ago today, the NFL (and sports as a whole) would look a whole lot different.

This Date In Transactions History: Steelers Sign JuJu Smith-Schuster

May 17th, 2020 at 3:43pm CST by Zachary Links

Three years ago today, JuJu Smith-Schuster officially joined the Steelers by signing his rookie deal. The USC product had considerable buzz heading into the 2017 NFL Draft, but the Steelers managed to snag him in the second round, at No. 62 overall. All in all, the Steelers secured four years of his services for just $4.2MM, including a $1.2MM signing bonus.

Their investment paid dividends immediately. As a rookie, Smith-Schuster caught 58 passes for 917 yards and seven touchdowns in just 14 games. In his last regular season game as an NFL frosh, he took a 96-yard kickoff all the way to the house and became the youngest player in NFL history to record more than 1,o00 all-purpose yards in a season. He celebrated his 21st birthday in November, so, yes, Smith-Schuster could drink to that.

In 2018, Smith-Schuster took things to a whole ‘nother level, recording 111 catches for 1,426 yards and seven scores en route to his first ever Pro Bowl performance. With Le’Veon Bell staying home, Smith-Schuster was the talk of the town and the focal point of the Steelers’ offense, which didn’t exactly thrill longtime star Antonio Brown.

When Brown was shipped to the Raiders before the start of the ’19 season, Smith-Schuster became the Steelers’ unquestioned offensive superstar. Unfortunately, the Steelers were without Ben Roethlisberger for much of the year and Smith-Schuster’s year was marred by a knee injury, plus a concussion suffered in their now infamous Week 11 game against the Browns. It was a year that everyone in Pittsburgh would rather not think about.

What’s next for Smith-Schuster is anyone’s guess. He’s now set to enter the final year of that rookie pact with a modest cap number of $1.335MM. Last year, we expected the Steelers to be gearing up for a massive contract extension that would put him at or near the top of the market. Right now, Smith-Schuster’s best bet would probably be to wait things out so that he can restore his value. The Steelers might not be in a huge rush either – they’ll want to see how Smith-Schuster does before making a monster commitment and, even if he reprises his ’18 season, they’ll have the franchise tag at their disposal.

This Date In Transactions History: Cardinals Cut Daryl Washington

May 11th, 2020 at 7:14pm CST by Zachary Links

On this date in 2017, the Cardinals released linebacker Daryl Washington. This wasn’t the first time a player with a Pro Bowl pedigree was released, and it won’t be the last, but this transaction was notable for a different reason. At this point, Washington had not played a single down of football since the final week of the 2013 season.

Washington racked up an eye-popping 134 tackles in 2012, including nine sacks. And, in 2013, he was still reasonably productive with 75 tackles and three sacks in 12 games. Unfortunately, he made more headlines for his repeated bans and mishaps. Washington was suspended for four games in 2013, then was banned for all of 2014 after yet another substance abuse violation. He was also arrested in the ’13 offseason on two counts of aggravated assault against his one-time spouse.

A few years later, when Washington was finally reinstated by the league, the Cardinals were not interested in a reunion, even though he was still only 30 years old at the time. When Arizona rejected the TCU product, he went on a public campaign to stir up interest from the Cowboys.

“Why not be a Cowboy?” Washington said. “I’m settled in here. It’s home. Let’s try to get one this year. Come on Mr. [Jerry] Jones, you’ll be glad you took a chance on me. We’ll hold up that Lombardi Trophy together.”

Mr. Jones has taken his fair share of gambles before, but he wasn’t interested in Mr. Washington. We haven’t heard much from Washington since, and it’s unlikely that we’ll see him on the field again.

This Date In Transactions History: Cardinals Sign Josh Rosen

May 10th, 2020 at 10:05pm CST by Zachary Links

Two years ago, the Cardinals inked their quarterback of the future. At least, they hoped they were getting their quarterback of the future when they signed No. 10 overall pick Josh Rosen.

The Cardinals’ quarterback search was an open secret, one that dragged for years. In 2017, they tried and failed to trade up for Patrick Mahomes – who went No. 10 overall to the Chiefs – leading them to settle for Haason Reddick at No. 13. This time around, they didn’t want to walk out of the 2018 draft with “what-ifs,” so they traded up from No. 15 to the No. 10 pick for Rosen, a promising young passer out of UCLA. .

Most evaluators viewed Rosen as the most polished and most NFL-ready passer in the entire class. There was a lot to like, especially after Rosen threw for 59 touchdowns over the course of three college seasons and saved his best for last. As a junior, Rosen turned in the best TD/INT ratio of his career (26/10) and his best completion rate (62.5%).

Rosen’s talent was apparent – he didn’t have a cannon for an arm, but his technique and footwork were virtually flawless. He was also an all around bright kid, though some evaluators wondered if he was too brainy for his own good. Curiously, his own head coach was among the nay-sayers.

“Because of fit, I would take Sam Darnold if I were the Cleveland Browns,” said Jim Mora, advocating for another QB over his own pupil. “I think that blue collar, gritty attitude, I think his teammates will love him, I think the city will love him. He’ll say the right things. He will come in and he will represent well. I think he kind of represents what Cleveland is. And if I was one of the New York teams, I would take Josh *snap* just like that. I think they will both be great in the pros.”

Later on, Mora backtracked, but only slightly.

“He needs to be challenged intellectually so he doesn’t get bored,” Mora said a few weeks before the draft. “He’s a millennial. He wants to know why. Millennials, once they know why, they’re good. Josh has a lot of interests in life. If you can hold his concentration level and focus only on football for a few years, he will set the world on fire. He has so much ability, and he’s a really good kid.”

Ultimately, the Browns chose the brash confidence of Baker Mayfield over the “gritty attitude” of Sam Darnold. So far, both QBs have greatly outperformed Rosen at the pro level (though, nothing like the No. 32 overall pick, Lamar Jackson).

Rosen went 3-10 as the Cardinals’ starter as a rookie, completing just 55.2% of his throws with 11 touchdowns against 14 interceptions. A deeper look at Rosen’s rookie stats and metrics don’t do him any favors, either. Rosen completed 55% of his throws and averaged just 5.8 yards per attempt. He also finished with a league-worst 26.1 Total QBR and Football Outsiders listed him as the league’s worst full-time quarterback.

Midway through the year, offensive coordinator Mike McCoy got the heave-ho. After the season, head coach Steve Wilks was sent packing. Ditto for Rosen – just one year after the Cardinals selected him, they drafted his replacement in Kyler Murray. All three men would probably point to the Cardinals’ abysmal offensive line as a major factor, but that didn’t save any of their jobs.

Rosen hoped for a fresh start after he was traded to the Dolphins, but he floundered in his three starts and finished the year with one touchdown vs. five picks. Now, with Tua Tagovailoa and Ryan Fitzpatrick firmly entrenched on the roster, Rosen is once again in NFL limbo.

This Date In Transactions History: Panthers Sign Christian McCaffrey

May 4th, 2020 at 12:53pm CST by Zachary Links

Three years ago today, the Panthers signed their new franchise face. Christian McCaffrey, the No. 8 overall pick, inked his first deal and became the first player in the 2017 class to finalize his rookie deal.

McCaffrey, per one NFL GM who spoke with ESPN’s Adam Schefter, had “the best combine workout” he’s ever seen. “Ever.” The Panthers more or less agreed, selecting him to bolster an offense that badly needed his blend of running ability and pass-catching acumen. In 2016, the Panthers ranked just 25th in DVOA. With McCaffrey to take the torch from established veteran Jonathan Stewart, they were off and running.

Heading into the draft, McCaffrey was a wanted man. The Broncos tried to make a legacy pick for Ed McCaffrey’s son with an offer to move up from No. 20. The Eagles, at No. 14, also wanted him. Ditto for several other clubs. Too bad, GM Marty Hurney said.

McCaffrey made his mark as a receiver immediately. As a rookie, he hauled in 80 catches for 651 yards, including a ten-catch game against the Eagles, just to rub it in (though, the Eagles won 28-23 thanks to two Zach Ertz touchdowns). As an NFL sophomore, the Stanford product stepped up his game to a whole new level – nearly 1,110 yards rushing, 107 catches for 867 yards, and 13 total touchdowns. And, last year, he was just flat out ridiculous: 1,387 yards on the ground, 116 catches for 1,005 yards, and 19 TDs all together. Similar to Le’Veon Bell in his prime years, McCaffrey has solidified himself as an elite RB1 and a top-level WR2, all rolled into one.

McCaffrey’s first contract paid him roughly $17.2MM over four years with a signing bonus of ~$10.7MM. This year, the Panthers rewarded him by effectively bypassing the fifth-year option process. CMC is now the highest-paid running back in NFL history thanks to his four-year, $64MM deal. That’s good for an average annual value of $16MM and a commitment through the 2025 season. (And, to the Panthers credit, they’ll be reasonably well protected against any unforeseen snags. The deal has $30MM fully guaranteed with $38MM in practical guarantees.)

The Eagles (Derek Barnett) and Broncos (Garett Bolles) wish they could go back in time and make a Godfather offer for CMC, but hindsight is 20/20 and rocket ships don’t have rear views. Today, the Panthers’ new head coach is pretty happy with how it all turned out.

“To label him a running back, that’s not respectful to him,” Matt Rhule said earlier this year. “He’s a tailback/wideout. He can do it all. I’m anxious to get him out there and to continue to build this thing around him.”

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