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Saints To Sign QB Jameis Winston

April 26th, 2020 at 8:05am CST by Rory Parks

Jameis Winston is staying in the NFC South. Hours after the 2020 NFL Draft came to an end, the Saints agreed to sign the former Bucs passer, per Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, it will be a one-year deal for Winston, who had more lucrative offers elsewhere but who saw a better opportunity in New Orleans (Twitter link).

Indeed, Winston will now have the chance to further develop his game under one of the best to ever play, Drew Brees, who may be hanging up the cleats after the 2020 campaign. The Saints have long indicated that they expect Taysom Hill to take over when Brees does decide to retire, and they tendered Hill, a restricted free agent, at the first-round level this offseason.

On the other hand, Hill will be 30 in August and has thrown all of 13 passes in his professional career, so New Orleans’ commitment to him has drawn some public skepticism. But Hill is undeniably a valuable gadget player, and having Winston on board will allow the club to continue deploying Hill in various roles without worrying too much about an injury.

Robinson’s sources indicated that Winston will not be guaranteed the backup job behind Brees. After all, head coach Sean Payton said just last month that Hill had earned that opportunity, but he also said the Saints would add another QB to be active on game days so that Hill could continue contributing as a passer and receiver.

So it seems now that Winston and Hill may be battling not just to be the Saints’ QB2 in 2020, but to be the team’s quarterback of the future in 2021 and beyond. That will create an interesting dynamic in the locker room, as Hill said earlier this year that he is open to leaving New Orleans if the club does not view him as the long-term answer under center.

From the Saints’ perspective, adding Winston on a one-year pact puts both him and Hill on track to be unrestricted free agents in 2021. They will have the entire 2020 season to evaluate the viability of both players as Brees’ successor, and they can re-sign or tag the winner of the year-long battle, or they can go in a completely different direction.

Just yesterday, the club traded back into the seventh round of the draft to select Mississippi State quarterback Tommy Stevens, but Stevens clearly profiles as a taxi squad candidate at this point.

Rams Sign 20 UDFAs

April 25th, 2020 at 10:13pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Rams announced their undrafted free agent class Saturday night, and it’s a big one.

The biggest name on the list is Perkins the former Virginia quarterback, and we wrote about his signing in more detail here. The Rams previously only had John Wolford on the roster behind Jared Goff, so it makes sense they signed Perkins as well as Love the former San Jose State passer.

Los Angeles signed five receivers, with three of them coming from the FCS level. After previously having a career-high of 143 yards Jackson exploded out of nowhere to put up 1,023 yards and 11 touchdowns with Syracuse last year. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein had him pegged as a fifth-rounder and most analysts had him getting drafted, so this could be a nice pickup for Sean McVay.

Steelers Sign 10 UDFAs

April 25th, 2020 at 9:52pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The same night the draft ended, the Steelers officially announced their initial 10-man undrafted free agent class:

Pittsburgh went very heavy on defense. None of these guys are huge name, although a few are notable. Lewis was a four-year starter in the SEC which is always impressive, and Houston was a team captain at USC.

Rams Sign Virginia QB Bryce Perkins As UDFA

April 25th, 2020 at 8:02pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We’ll be bringing you most of the undrafted free agent signings in batches when they’re officially announced, but for now we’re covering a few of the biggest names. Another one familiar to college football fans is Virginia quarterback Bryce Perkins, who just agreed to sign with the Rams, via Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link).

Perkins started his college career at Arizona State in 2015, before transferring to Virginia. He started for the Cavaliers the past two seasons, and was electric at times. As a junior in 2018 he passed for 2,680 yards, 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions. An elite dual-threat, he added another 923 yards and nine touchdowns rushing.

After that campaign he was the subject of a lot of offseason hype, and there was even some darkhorse Heisman buzz going around. He wasn’t able to fully deliver on that hype unfortunately, and was less efficient in 2019. Still his mobility is well-suited for today’s NFL, and the Rams have virtually nothing at quarterback behind Jared Goff.

Los Angeles hasn’t yet re-signed Blake Bortles, Goff’s 2019 backup, and the only other passer on the roster is 2018 UDFA John Wolford. If the Rams don’t add a veteran, Perkins should have a good chance at the backup job.

Patriots Sign Louisiana Tech QB J’Mar Smith

April 25th, 2020 at 7:04pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Patriots finally added a quarterback. After surprisingly opting not to pick a passer during the draft, New England has signed former Louisiana Tech quarterback J’Mar Smith as an undrafted free agent, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link).

It was widely reported that the Patriots would be drafting a quarterback at some point, but that never materialized. It’s still unclear what exactly Bill Belichick is planning on doing to replace Tom Brady, and Smith certainly isn’t going to be the solution. As a redshirt senior and three-year starter at Louisiana Tech, he’ll at least bring plenty of experience. Smith had his best statistical campaign this past season, when he passed for 2,977 yards with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions.

A pretty mobile quarterback, he added 264 yards and another four scores on the ground. Smith is now only the third signal-caller on the Pats’ offseason roster behind Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer. If they don’t add another veteran, he should have a decent chance of making the team or practice squad. The real question now is whether Belichick will go after a high-profile free agent vet like Cam Newton, trade for one like Andy Dalton, or stick with the in-house options.

Redskins Sign Thaddeus Moss As UDFA

April 25th, 2020 at 6:45pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

One of the biggest-name players to go undrafted is off the market. The Redskins have signed former LSU tight end Thaddeus Moss, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Moss, of course, is the son of Hall of Famer Randy Moss. The younger Moss declared early for the draft back in January, and for a while it looked like he had a chance to be a middle-round pick. He apparently was dealing with an unfortunate medical situation, as Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets that a Jones fracture in his right foot was discovered at the combine.

That fracture required surgery, and since Moss wasn’t able to visit with teams due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there were lingering questions about his health that caused him to fall out of the draft. Assuming everything is alright with his foot, this could prove to be a nice no-risk flyer for the Redskins.

Moss has some physical tools and showed plenty of flashes in his one year with LSU, catching 47 passes for 570 yards and four touchdowns. Washington hasn’t had anything consistent at the position since Jordan Reed was last healthy years ago, and their tight end depth chart is pretty thin. Jeremy Sprinkle, Logan Thomas, and Richard Rodgers aren’t the most inspiring options, so Moss should have the chance to compete for playing time right away if he makes the team.

Saints Trade Up For QB Tommy Stevens

April 25th, 2020 at 5:34pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

As the draft comes to a close, the Saints are making an interesting selection. New Orleans traded back up into the seventh-round to take Mississippi State quarterback Tommy Stevens with the 240th pick.

The Saints gave the Texans a sixth-rounder in the 2021 draft to get the pick. The Saints are reportedly planning on having Taysom Hill take over for Drew Brees, and Stevens could take over for Hill. He’s a similar type of swiss army knife player who reportedly impressed scouts in workouts earlier this offseason. Stevens entered Penn State as a highly-recruited passer, but got blocked on the depth chart behind Trace McSorely.

While serving as McSorely’s backup he also played a large role on offense, as Penn State had a package of plays where he’d line up in the backfield or as a receiver. In the 2017 season, he had 250 yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns. Before last season he transferred to MSU, and initially became their starting quarterback.

He struggled with injuries and was benched at times, finishing the season with 1,155 yards and 11 touchdowns with five interceptions. It’ll be interesting to see if he can carve out a Hill-like role in the pros.

49ers’ Joe Staley To Retire From NFL

April 25th, 2020 at 11:50am CST by Zachary Links

Now, the Trent Williams trade makes even more sense for the 49ers. Six-time Pro Bowler Joe Staley informed the club that he will retire due to “health concerns”, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter) reports. Specifically, it was Staley’s neck injury that forced him to make the decision, as Matt Barrows of The Athletic tweets. The ailment become especially painful in San Francisco’s playoff run, and doctors informed him that it had become quite serious.

[RELATED: 49ers Trade For Trent Williams]

Staley, 35, has been one of the league’s best offensive tackles for years. And, out of loyalty to the team, he gave the Niners a quiet heads up on his plans so that they could replace him. 49ers GM John Lynch, in turn, swung a deal for seven-time Pro Bowler Trent Williams.

Staley has reportedly been pondering retirement for a while now, despite repeated denials. In January, Staley insisted that he would continue playing despite a slew of injuries, including a broken fibula suffered in Week 2 of the 2019 season.

“I don’t know why everyone’s been asking me that question,” Staley said. “Because I got injured, everyone’s like, ‘Oh, you’re going to be retiring now.’” He added,“I signed a contract here. I still love playing football. It’s like the ninth time someone’s asked me that, and I’m starting to wonder why.”

Staley first entered the league as the No. 28 overall pick in the 2007 draft. Despite the medical hiccups, he played hard right through the end. In the season finale against the Seahawks, he turned in his best performance of the year to help SF lock down the top seed in the NFC. And, with Staley up front, the 49ers reached the Super Bowl to cap the campaign.

Before all of that, Staley was able to stay relatively healthy and play through the pain. He missed just four games from 2011-18 and was named to five Pro Bowls in that span. Despite being in his 12th pro season in 2018, Staley graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 6 overall tackle – and that was actually a slight drop from his performances for most of the decade.

Staley leaves the sport after 181 games played, good for eleventh on the 49ers’ all-time list. As of last year, Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald was the only active non-quarterback to start more games for the team that drafted him than Staley.

Staley indicated he wants to remain in football in some capacity and has discussions with the 49ers in that regard (Twitter link via Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com). He also has media options to consider, but he will spend 2020 with his family before entering the next chapter of his football life.

We here at PFR wish Staley the best in retirement.

Redskins Trade Trent Williams To 49ers

April 25th, 2020 at 11:08am CST by Ben Levine

Trent Williams is heading to San Francisco. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the Redskins are trading the lineman to the 49ers. Washington will receive a fifth-rounder in this year’s draft and a third-rounder in next year’s draft. ESPN’s Josina Anderson previously reported (via Twitter) that the Redskins had a “deal in place” for the lineman. 

Mike Garafolo of NFL Network notes (on Twitter) that a contract extension isn’t in place. Williams has been seeking a new contract that would make him one of the highest-paid lineman in the NFL. Those contract demands ended up influencing the Redskins’ return in a trade; while plenty of teams were reportedly interested in trading for Williams, they were wary of signing him to a long-term deal. Williams has one year and a $12.5MM base salary remaining on his current contract.

Interestingly, a new deal for Williams is not part of the deal with the Niners, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. Had Williams gone to the Vikings, he would have received a fresh pact to reposition the tackle market. The Vikes deal fell through, however, because Williams did not want to go to Minnesota, Rapoport hears. The Browns also were in the mix – and long believed to be the frontrunners – but the 49ers and Vikings were the last teams left in the sweepstakes (Twitter link).

The Buccaneers and Jets were also connected to Williams in recent weeks, but they opted for younger (and cheaper) offensive line help in the first round of the draft instead. At No. 11, the Jets landed Mekhi Becton, who shoves defensive linemen and trucks with ease. At No. 13, the Buccaneers got Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs, who offers four position potential and ridiculous athleticism for his size.

We heard earlier today that the 49ers could emerge as a suitor. For starters, it’s uncertain if Joe Staley will come back next year, as the veteran lineman has flirted with retirement. Furthermore, Williams has a relationship with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who was Washington’s offensive coordinator between 2010 and 2013. Considering the seven-time Pro Bowler’s familiarity with the system, he’s a logical fit for San Francisco.

Vikings Trade No. 105 To Saints

April 25th, 2020 at 8:28am CST by Ben Levine

Another late-night trade to pass along. ESPN’s Field Yates reported (via Twitter) that the Vikings and Saints made the following swap:

Saints acquire:

  • No. 105

Vikings acquire

  • No. 130
  • No. 169
  • No. 203
  • No. 244

New Orleans used the third round’s penultimate pick on Dayton tight end Adam Trautman.

Barring a trade, that could be the Saints’ final pick of the weekend; after drafting three players through the first three rounds, New Orleans is now tapped out of picks. As NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets, this could be the first time the Saints come away with three or fewer draft picks since 1999, when they traded that infamous haul for Ricky Williams.

On the flip side, after making four selections through the first three rounds, the Vikings still have 13 picks remaining. The team could certainly make a handful of trades, but Pelissero tweets that Minny is approaching history. The most picks by a team in the seven-round draft era is 14 by the 1997 Jets and 2016 Browns. The 1968 Bengals selected 17 players in the first seven rounds of the 17-round draft.

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