2014 March - Pro Football Rumors

Domenik Hixon, Bears Agree To One-Year Deal

March 13th, 2014 at 11:01am CST by Zachary Links

11:01am: Hixon has agreed to terms with the Bears on a one-year deal, the team announced today (Twitter link).

10:39am: Panthers free agent wide receiver Domenik Hixon is expected to sign with the Bears as soon as today, a source tells Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter). Hixon is in Chicago visiting with the Bears today.

Hixon, 29, had a limited role with the Panthers last season, hauling in just seven catches for 55 yards. He had a more prominent role in years past with the Giants. In 2012 with Big Blue, Hixon caught 39 balls for 567 yards and two scores.

Bears, Willie Young Agree To Three-Year Deal

March 13th, 2014 at 10:47am CST by Luke Adams

The Bears have reached a three-year deal with defensive lineman Willie Young, reports Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter link). According to Pelissero, the contract is worth $9MM, including a $2MM signing bonus and $3.95MM in total guaranteed money. Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun provides the deal’s annual base salaries in a tweet.

Young, 28, was a full-time starter for the Lions for the first time last season, and played very well for the team. While he was only credited with three sacks, he pressured the quarterback a total of 60 times and ranked 16th among 52 qualified 4-3 defensive ends, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

The Bears were forced to make Julius Peppers a cap casualty earlier this week and missed out on signing Michael Bennett, but have retooled their defensive line nicely, adding Young and Lamarr Houston.

Jets Sign Eric Decker To Five-Year Deal

March 13th, 2014 at 10:26am CST by Ben Levine

THURSDAY, 10:26am: The Jets have officially signed Decker, the team announced today (Twitter link). Meanwhile, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has the financial details of the contract, which includes a $7.5MM signing bonus. Decker’s base salaries in 2014 and 2015 are guaranteed, so the deal essentially becomes pay-as-you-go beyond ’15.

WEDNESDAY, 10:44pm: It’s a five-year, $36.25MM deal including $15MM guaranteed, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN (on Twitter).

10:30pm: The Jets have agreed to a contract with free agent wide receiver Eric Decker, tweets Eric Allen of newyorkjets.com. The news was confirmed on the team’s Twitter account.

It was a relatively quiet start to the offseason for Gang Green, but they got in the game in a big way tonight. In Decker, the Jets have nabbed one of the very best wide receivers available on the open market this winter. The Jets and two other clubs reportedly had very serious interest in signing the former Broncos standout, but Decker wanted to give the Jets the first opportunity to sign him. After hosting Decker, Rex Ryan & Co. were quickly able to seal the deal.

Last season, in Peyton Manning‘s pass-happy Denver offense, Decker registered 87 catches for 1,288 yards (career high) and 11 touchdowns. At 6’3″, Decker can give the Jets another tall passing target capable of huge plays. It’s a void that needed to be filled after the Jets said goodbye to Santonio Holmes earlier this week. The Jets reportedly want to come away with two free agent wide receivers, so other targets such as Packers free agent James Jones are still in play.

Contract Details: Howard, Hawley, Carroll

March 13th, 2014 at 10:10am CST by Luke Adams

As more signings become finalized, let’s check in on the specific terms for a few of them:

Rich Cimini of ESPN.com (Twitter link) has the financial details on Austin Howard‘s new five-year, $30MM contract with the Raiders, which includes a $5MM roster bonus due this weekend.
Joe Hawley‘s two-year contract with the Falcons includes a $2MM signing bonus, with base salaries of $1MM (2014) and $3MM (2015), tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today.
While Nolan Carroll‘s deal with the Eagles is worth $5.25MM over two years, it can max out at around $7MM with playing time and performance bonuses, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.
Tony McDaniel inked a two-year, $5.75MM contract with the Seahawks that includes a $1.25MM signing bonus and various other roster and incentives bonuses, says Pelissero (via Twitter).
Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link) and Pelissero (Twitter link) pass on the details for a pair of Chiefs signings from yesterday. Joe Mays‘ deal apparently included a $2MM signing bonus, which is higher than initially reported, and $3MM in guaranteed money. Jeff Linkenbach‘s base salary is $900K, with $250K guaranteed and up to $600K in incentives.
Pelissero also has the details on Leger Douzable‘s one-year pact with the Jets (Twitter link). It’s worth $1MM, with a $150K signing bonus and a $100K bonus if he makes the team’s 53-man roster.
David Johnson‘s two-year deal with the Chargers is worth $1.7MM and features a $220K signing bonus, tweets Wilson.

Bucs, Anthony Collins Agree To Five-Year Deal

March 13th, 2014 at 9:50am CST by Zachary Links

9:50am: Collins’ five-year contract with the Bucs is worth $6MM annually, for a total of $30MM, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. $15MM of that total is guaranteed, says Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter).

9:39am: The Buccaneers have agreed to sign Anthony Collins, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Tom Pelissero of USA Today reports (via Twitter) that it’s a five-year contract. We heard yesterday that Tampa Bay was pushing hard to land the left tackle, while another report suggested that Collins had narrowed his choices down to the Bucs, Bengals, and Panthers.

Having spent his first six NFL seasons in Cincinnati, Collins has never had an extended run as a full-time player, starting no more than seven games in any season for the Bengals. However, he was excellent in his 673 offensive snaps last season, never recording a negative grade in a game, according to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required). If he can maintain that type of performance in full-time action, he could be one of the steals in this year’s tackle market.

It has been an incredibly busy couple days for the Buccaneers, who have also signed defensive end Michael Johnson, cornerback Alterraun Verner, and former Bears quarterback Josh McCown, among others. With Collins expected to play left tackle for the team, expect the Bucs to try to move Donald Penn, according to Stroud (via Twitter).

FA Rumors: Sanders, Tillman, Britt, Osgood

March 13th, 2014 at 9:26am CST by Zachary Links

Emmanuel Sanders is a hot commodity and he has a full docket for the first week of free agency. After his visit with the Jaguars, he’s headed over to Tampa Bay to visit the Buccaneers, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Here are the latest free agent rumors..

Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears that Charles Tillman is unlikely to sign with the Buccaneers. There has been a great deal of talk over the last 24 hours about Tampa Bay pairing the former Bears corner with new acquisition Alterraun Verner.
Four or five teams have interest in free agent wide receiver Kenny Britt, writes Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. The Redskins have been linked to the troubled athlete and Florio speculates that the Patriots could be interested as well.
The 49ers want to bring back wide receiver Kassim Osgood, but they might not do so until they sign a cornerback and determine how much cap space they have left, tweets Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee.
Quarterback Charlie Whitehurst is visiting the Titans on Thursday and there’s a real scenario where he could be team’s No. 2 quarterback this fall, Jim Wyatt of The Tennesseean tweets.
Cornerback Walter Thurmond completed his visit with the Jaguars and he’s now spending time with Seahawks officials. His next stops will be Washington to visit the Redskins and Tampa Bay to visit the Buccaneers, tweets Jason LaCanfora of CBSSports.com.
Agent Eugene Parker tells Roy Cummings of the Tampa Bay Times (on Twitter) that Bears free agent return man Devin Hester doesn’t have any visits scheduled yet.

Eagles Acquire Darren Sproles From Saints

March 13th, 2014 at 9:23am CST by Luke Adams

9:23am: The Eagles have officially announced the transaction (Twitter link).

8:14am: The Eagles will send a fifth-round pick to the Saints in the deal, according to Pro Football Talk (via Twitter). According to Field Yates of ESPNBoston.com (via Twitter), it’s the pick Philadelphia had acquired from New England for Isaac Sopoaga.

7:55am: Having already re-signed Jeremy Maclin and Riley Cooper this offseason, Chip Kelly‘s offense in Philadelphia is adding another intriguing offensive weapon. The Eagles have reached an agreement with the Saints to acquire running back Darren Sproles in a trade, reports Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter).

Sproles, 30, was initially expected to be cut by New Orleans this month, but when they received strong interest in trade talks for the versatile veteran, the Saints decided to trade him instead. The Redskins had reportedly been making a push to acquire Sproles, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweeted this morning, but according to the Washington Post (via Twitter), the team was reluctant to part with draft picks. In the end, the Redskins lost out on Sproles to their division rivals.

Although Sproles is technically a running back, he did most of his damage in recent years through the passing game. During his three seasons with New Orleans, the former fourth-round pick recorded 1,067 rushing yards on 188 carries, and 1,981 receiving yards on 232 receptions, with 21 total offensive TDs (five rushing, 16 receiving).

While rumors of a Sproles trade swirled this week, the running back himself expressed some frustration about learning of the talks through Twitter updates, and said yesterday that he’d prefer to be cut instead of traded, so he could control his own future. Still, despite the presence of No. 1 back LeSean McCoy in Philadelphia, it’s hard to imagine he’ll be upset with his landing spot, since he should have a great opportunity to shine in Kelly’s offense during a contract year.

The Saints will be on the hook for $750K in dead money, the amount of the prorated bonus money remaining on Sproles’ deal. For the Eagles, the running back will be owed a $3.4MM base salary, plus a $100K workout bonus, in the final year of his contract.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Packers Re-Sign Mike Neal

March 13th, 2014 at 9:18am CST by Zachary Links

THURSDAY, 9:18am: Neal’s two-year deal is worth $8MM and includes a $2.5MM signing bonus, tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today. The contract also features $1.6MM in total roster bonuses — $300K per year in per-game bonuses, and a $1MM roster bonus due next year (Twitter link).

WEDNESDAY, 4:40pm: Mike Neal took to Twitter to announce that he has a new two-year deal with the Packers.

“Hi Green Bay!!! I’ll enjoy your winters for two more years!!,” the left outside linebacker tweeted.

Neal, a four-year Packers veteran, will be under contract with Green Bay through the 2015 season. Last year was Neal’s breakout campaign as he recorded 39 tackles, five sacks, one forced fumble, and one interception. The 26-year-old had some buzz as a second round selection for Green Bay in 2010 and in 2013 he made it clear that he’s ready to realize his potential. Other teams had interest in Neal, including the Cardinals and Eagles.

Seahawks Re-Sign Tarvaris Jackson

March 13th, 2014 at 9:12am CST by Luke Adams

9:12am: Jackson has re-signed with the Seahawks on a one-year deal worth a fully guaranteed $1.25MM, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today, who tweets that another $750K are available in incentives if Jackson plays.

7:43am: Nothing has been officially announced yet, but backup signal-caller Tarvaris Jackson appears to have re-signed with the Seahawks, according to tweets from the quarterback himself. Late last night, Jackson tweeted, “12’s one more year?! Let’s go!” in reference to Seattle’s 12th man, and added, in a second tweet, “Looking forward to our next journey!”

Jackson, 30, saw action in three regular-season games for the Seahawks in 2013, and even played a few snaps in the team’s Super Bowl win. The former Viking was Seattle’s full-time starter as recently as 2011, before the arrival of Russell Wilson, but has since settled into a backup role, and should be fairly inexpensive again in 2014. Last season, Jackson played on an $840K salary.

With Wilson in place as the starter and B.J. Daniels also on the roster, the Seahawks appear to be set at the quarterback position assuming Jackson’s deal gets finalized.

Lions To Sign Vaughn Martin

March 13th, 2014 at 9:07am CST by Luke Adams

The Lions have agreed to a contract with free agent defensive lineman Vaughn Martin, according to agent Chad Speck (via Twitter). Terms of the deal aren’t yet known.

Martin, 27, signed a two-year, $4MM deal with the Dolphins last March, but underwent surgery for a sports hernia and was released by the team early in the 2013 season. Before signing with Miami, the London, Ontario native spent four seasons with the Chargers, starting 27 total games for the team in 2011 and 2012. For his career, the former fourth-round pick has 79 tackles and three sacks.

Given his relatively poor Pro Football Focus grades and his 2013 health issues, Martin likely won’t be a significant investment for the Lions, but it could turn into a nice depth signing for the team’s defensive line.