Cowboys Transactions: McCray, Swaim, Baggs
The Cowboys signed safety Danny McCray to a one-year deal, as Todd Archer of ESPN.com writes. McCray spent the first four years of his career with the Cowboys before joining the Bears last year to follow special teams coach Joe DeCamillis. The former Cowboys UDFA signing played in 15 games last season and had 10 special teams tackles. Here’s a look at the rest of the moves the Cowboys made today..
- The Cowboys signed seventh-round draft pick Geoff Swaim to a four-year deal, as Rainer Sabin of The Dallas Morning News writes. Swaim’s maximum allowable cap figure in 2015 will be $448K. According to Sabin, the University of Texas product is expected to serve as a blocking tight end. The 6’4″ tight end played in 26 career games for UT, including 22 starts, after transferring from Butte College in California.
- More from Sabin, who writes that the Cowboys also signed UDFA linebacker Donnie Baggs. Baggs, from Texas A&M, was a tryout player last weekend during the team’s rookie minicamp.
- To make room for McCray and Baggs, the Cowboys waived linebackers Keith Smith and Will Smith. Keith Smith appeared in ten games last season while Will Smith had several stints on the practice squad.
NFLPA Appeals Tom Brady’s Suspension
The NFL Players Association has formally filed its appeal on behalf of Tom Brady, in an effort to reduce or eliminate the quarterback’s four-game suspension, the union announced today. The NFLPA’s statement includes a request for a neutral arbitrator, citing the NFL’s “history of inconsistency and arbitrary decisions in disciplinary matters.”
“If Ted Wells and the NFL believe, as their public comments stated, that the evidence in their report is ‘direct’ and ‘inculpatory,’ then they should be confident enough to present their case before someone who is truly independent,” the statement reads.
There was previously some question over whether Brady would enlist the help of the NFLPA in his battle, but it appears that the two sides have joined forces and they’re apparently willing to make things messy. Brady has had a rocky relationship with the union ever since he was listed as the named plaintiff in the lawsuit against the NFL during the 2011 lockout. The quarterback is pulling out all stops as he has also hired Jeffrey Kessler, the attorney whose legal action helped create free agency in the NFL.
Brady’s agent Don Yee went on the offensive and heavily criticized the findings of Wells’ report earlier this week, but Wells fired back the next day against what he felt was an attack on his impartiality. All things considered, it sounds like things could get ugly between Brady’s side and the league office.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Ravens Sign Kyle Arrington
2:33pm: Per Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter links), Arrington’s contract has a base value of $7MM, with a max value of $8.5MM. The deal includes $800K in first-year salary guaranteed, in addition to the cornerback’s $2MM signing bonus.
THURSDAY, 1:15pm: Arrington has passed his physical and officially signed a three-year deal which averages $2.5MM per year and features a $2MM signing bonus, tweets Wilson.
WEDNESDAY, 6:50pm: Arrington’s three-year deal is expected to average about $2.5MM annually, sources tell Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link).
5:47pm: The Ravens have agreed to terms on a three-year contract with former Patriots cornerback Kyle Arrington, the team announced today (via Twitter). Arrington, released by New England on Monday, will officially sign with Baltimore after taking a physical.
A starter for most of his time with the Patriots, Arrington saw his role reduced last year following the arrivals of Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner to New England. Arrington played just 576 defensive snaps in 2014, recording 49 tackles and returning a fumble for a touchdown. Despite the 28-year-old’s relative lack of playing time, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked him second among Patriots cornerbacks, behind only Revis.
A lack of guaranteed money on his $3MM salary for 2015 resulted in Arrington’s release, as the Patriots continue to overhaul the group of cornerbacks that helped them win the Super Bowl mere months ago. Revis and Browner signed as free agents with the Jets and Saints respectively, while Arrington and Alfonzo Dennard were both cut this month.
For the Ravens, the arrival of Arrington allows the team to upgrade a position that had been a weakness in 2014, providing some stability and depth at corner. Jimmy Smith and Lardarius Webb still figure to start on the outside, assuming they stay healthy, but Arrington looks like a good bet to see plenty of action in the slot.
The Ravens had been repeatedly linked to Arrington since he hit the open market on Monday, and the move to Baltimore will reunite him with defensive coordinator Dean Pees, who was still the DC in New England when Arrington first joined the Pats in 2009. Besides Baltimore, the Panthers were also mentioned as a potential suitor for Arrington.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Free Agent Notes: Vick, Barksdale, Spencer
As Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap outlines in his latest piece for The Sporting News, the Ravens are currently projected to earn three compensatory draft picks in 2016, which may not have been possible if the team had been active in free agency. Now that the May 12 deadline has passed though, veteran free agents are no longer tied to the compensatory pick formula, meaning we could see Baltimore and other clubs sign some veterans off the scrap heap in the near future.
In his Sporting News piece, Fitzgerald examines a few noteworthy names still on the market, including wide receivers Reggie Wayne and Wes Welker, running back Chris Johnson, and linebackers Lance Briggs and Brandon Spikes. Fitzgerald also mentions Michael Vick, and we’ve got an update on Vick in our latest round of free agent notes. Let’s dive in…
- Vick has been training with Chris Chambers at Chambers’ fitness center, and the former Dolphins receiver said he encouraged agent Joel Segal to let him work with the quarterback for a few weeks before Vick and Segal entertained offers. “There was a lot of political stuff with him and Geno Smith with the Jets last year,” Chambers said of Vick, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “Last two weeks, he has done phenomenal. There are several teams that want him. He wanted to be on a winning team. He wants to play three years. Eventually, he wants to start again.”
- As Howard Balzer of The SportsXchange observes (via Twitter), with the Falcons opting to sign Tyler Polumbus after working out Joe Barksdale earlier this month, Barksdale’s options may be dwindling. The Rams reportedly still have some interest in bringing back the free agent tackle, but didn’t tender him a contract offer at the May 12 deadline, Balzer tweets. For what it’s worth, as Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com details, Falcons head coach Dan Quinn says his team is still “actively talking to” Barksdale.
- Free agent offensive lineman Chris Spencer, who has 95 career starts on his NFL résumé, tore his Achilles the day before the draft and almost certainly won’t be able in 2015, writes Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean. While Spencer wants to continue his NFL career, he acknowledged that his top priority for now is getting healthy. “Before this happened, I was thinking I might sign back with the Titans at some point,” Spencer said. “But right now, football is on the back burner until I get through this and see where it stands.”
Draft Signings: Eagles, Steelers, Bengals, Jags
Coming into today, fewer than 90 players selected in the 2015 NFL draft remained unsigned, with well over half of this year’s 256 draftees having reached agreements with their respective teams. A few more rookie have struck deals with their clubs today, so let’s round up the latest news, with all contract info coming from Over the Cap:
- The Eagles have finished deals with all six of their draftees, agreeing to terms today with third-round linebacker Jordan Hicks, according to the team (Twitter link). Hicks’ four-year deal will be worth a little under $3MM, including a signing bonus of about $653K.
- The Steelers have signed fifth-round tight end Jesse James to his rookie contract, leaving the team with three unsigned picks, including first-rounder Bud Dupree (Twitter link via the club’s official account).
- The Bengals have signed tight end C.J. Uzomah, their fifth-round pick out of Auburn, the team announced today (via Twitter). The second tight end selected by Cincinnati in the draft, Uzomah will count against the Bengals’ cap for just over $488K in 2015, assuming he makes the regular season roster.
- The Jaguars have now locked up half their draft picks, signing seventh-round tight end Ben Koyack to his contract today, per John Oehser of Jaguars.com (Twitter link). Koyack will receive a signing bonus worth approximately $69K on his first NFL deal.
Bruce Irvin Eyeing Move To Atlanta
Earlier this month, the Seahawks elected not to exercise their fifth-year option on Bruce Irvin for 2016, spurring a series of rumors about the possibility of a trade to Atlanta for the pass rusher. As it turns out, Irvin himself appears to be thinking about joining the Falcons at some point. Asked by Samuel Logan of Black Sports Online about where he’ll be playing once his deal with the Seahawks expires, Irvin referenced his hometown.
“I’m going to be in Atlanta next season. I’m ready,” Irvin said. When Logan asked whether the 27-year-old would remain in Seattle if the Seahawks made a substantial extension offer, Irvin doubled down: “Atlanta is where I want to be. Believe that.”
The Falcons make plenty of sense as an eventual destination for Irvin, an Atlanta native. Former Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is now the head coach in Atlanta, and the team has been desperately seeking pass-rushing help for the last couple years. While the Falcons used their eighth overall pick this year on Vic Beasley, he has yet to play in an NFL game, and a team can never have too many pass rushers.
Interestingly, Michael Bennett, arguably the Seahawks’ best pass rusher, has been linked to the Falcons this offseason as well — while Bennett has denied wanting to be traded, he has essentially admitted that he wouldn’t mind negotiating a new contract, as he enters year two of a four-year deal with the Seahawks.
Although the Seahawks turned down Irvin’s fifth-year option for ’16, that doesn’t necessarily mean the club is already planning to part ways with him. Still, Seattle has invested in long-term extensions for many of its key contributors over the last couple years, and must work something out at some point with Russell Wilson. The defending NFC champions will likely have to make some difficult roster decisions going forward, without the cap flexibility to keep all their productive players.
Lions Sign Corey Wootton
11:32am: The Lions have officially signed Wootton, the team announced in a press release.
10:57am: Wootton’s deal with the Lions is a minimum salary benefit contract, with an $80K signing bonus and a portion of the base salary guaranteed, tweets Birkett.
10:18am: The Lions are adding a little more depth to their revamped defensive line, according to agent Mike McCartney, who tweets that his client Corey Wootton is heading to Detroit on a one-year contract. Wootton had worked out for the club earlier this month.
Wootton, who turns 28 next month, spent the first four seasons of his NFL career in Chicago before joining the Vikings for the 2014 season. While he has never been an every-down player, Wootton saw 22 starts and totaled 10 sacks during his final two seasons with the Bears. Last year in Minnesota, he came off the bench and recorded just a single sack.
In Detroit, Wootton will be part of a new-look defensive line for the Lions, who lost Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley, and George Johnson in free agency. C.J. Mosley also remains unsigned. To replace the departed players, the team has brought in Haloti Ngata, Tyrunn Walker, rookie Gabe Wright, and now Wootton.
According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link), Wootton is expected to play primarily at defensive end for the Lions. The veteran lineman also tried out for the Jaguars and Titans earlier in the offseason and visited with the Saints in April before landing in Detroit.
Patriots’ Counsel Rebuts Wells Report
While Patriots owner Robert Kraft initially suggested that fighting the league on its findings and its decision regarding DeflateGate would be a fruitless endeavor, it appears that the organization has elected to respond to Ted Wells’ report after all. It’s not clear yet whether Kraft will be formally fighting the penalties levied against the Pats by the league, but the franchise’s legal counsel published a rebuttal to the Wells Report today that is nearly 20,000 words long.
The response to the Wells Report, which claims to put the league’s investigation into context, suggests that no communication between Patriots’ employees refers to deflating footballs below regulation levels and no evidence that Tom Brady would have known about such activities (or preferred his footballs deflated below regulation levels).
The Pats’ report questions Ted Wells’ and the league’s objectivity, referee Walt Anderson’s actions, and Wells’ dismissal of a scientific explanation for the footballs’ low PSI readings in the AFC championship game. The report also, dubiously, claims that text messages referring to Pats employee Jim McNally as “the deflator” were actually referencing McNally’s attempts to lose weight.
While this report on its own won’t make the NFL reconsider its punishment for the Pats, the information and arguments within it figure to come up frequently during the NFLPA’s appeal of Brady’s suspension, and again if the franchise decides to fight its own penalties (lost draft picks and a $1MM fine).
Steven Jackson Hopes To Join Contender
Veteran running back Steven Jackson has seen his numbers decline over the last several seasons, but he still hopes for the opportunity to continue his NFL career. And, as he tells Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com, Jackson would prefer to join a contending team if possible.
“I don’t want to go to a team that is rebuilding and needs me to come on and teach guys how to be professional,” Jackson said. “I’ve done that. I’ve been more than vocal about wanting to help young guys, but at some point I have to be a little selfish. I want to be part of a winning team because when I do hang up my cleats, I can see a lot of people holding that over my head when a lot of it was out of my control.”
Jackson, who turns 32 in July, earned three Pro Bowl nods during his nine years with the Rams, and for his NFL career, he has racked up 11,388 rushing yards, plus another 3,663 through the air. However, as he alludes to in his conversation with Wagoner, the former first-round pick hasn’t made the postseason since his rookie year in St. Louis, on a Rams team that finished with a .500 record.
“I have all the things I’ve accomplished personally, but I’ve still never been on a team that won more than eight games,” Jackson said. “That would be definitely one of the things that I’m looking for is that opportunity in my next chapter.”
Released by the Falcons in February, Jackson had the opportunity to hit the free agent market early, before a number of other running backs became available. However, that didn’t result in a deal, and there haven’t been any reports suggesting the longtime Ram has even paid a visit to any teams over the last two and a half months. Given his declining production, Jackson wouldn’t necessarily be an upgrade for a contender in need of a running back – such as the Cowboys – so he may have to wait until a team gets hit with an injury or two before he finds an opportunity.
Wherever he ends up this year – whether that’s with a new team or at home – Jackson wants to return to St. Louis at some point to officially end his career as a member of the franchise where he spent the majority of his NFL years.
“I definitely want to retire as a Ram,” Jackson told Wagoner. “It’s definitely something I want and that would be to go back. … I’ll never forget standing in that meeting room and watching Isaac Bruce retire. When I saw that up close and personal, I said I want that for myself whenever I retire.”
Largest NFL Free Agent Contracts Of 2015
A year ago, identifying the NFL’s largest free agent contract wasn’t so easy. If you looked at a list of the biggest contracts by overall base value, Denver’s Aqib Talib topped the list at $57MM over six years. However, Talib only ranked third among free agents in per-year salary, and he didn’t even crack the top 10 in fully guaranteed money.
This time around, there’s less ambiguity. A player of Ndamukong Suh‘s stature rarely reaches the open market, so it’s no surprise that his new contracts blows away the field when it comes to overall value, annual average, and fully guaranteed money. After Suh, Darrelle Revis, who opted for a long-term contract this time around rather than settling for another short-term deal, places second on each list.
After those two top-tier free agents though, the lists diverge a little, as you’ll see below. One thing seems certain though, when comparing this year’s data to 2014’s — teams were more willing to pay top dollar for the best players on the market in 2015. A year ago, only Revis and DeMarcus Ware earned eight-digit annual salaries in free agency, and both players were on fairly short contracts. This year, five players signed for $10MM per year or more, and all of those players are on at least four-year contracts.
Similarly, a year ago, Branden Albert‘s $20MM guarantee topped all free agents — the Dolphins’ tackle was the only player to receive at least $20MM in fully guaranteed money. This time? Not only does Suh’s guaranteed money nearly triple Albert’s, but Revis’ almost doubles it, and a total of eight players were guaranteed at least $20MM.
We could point to a number of factors for that increase in spending. Most notably, the top of this year’s free agent class was simply more impressive than 2014’s class; additionally, the cap is in the rise, which means player salaries are too. Whatever the reason, a handful of clubs were willing to roll the dice this offseason on big-time free agent contracts that will be on their books for years.
While the lists below include players who neared free agency before ultimately re-signing with their own teams – think Jerry Hughes or Kareem Jackson – it doesn’t include a number of other big-name free agents. Greg Hardy‘s one-year, $11.312MM deal with the Cowboys isn’t included in the group of contracts with the largest per-year salaries, since most of his money is tied to per-game roster bonuses, which Hardy won’t earn while he’s suspended.
Meanwhile, franchised players like Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas, Justin Houston, and Jason Pierre-Paul would also crack that list of top annual average salaries if they accept their one-year offers. But so far, none of those players has actually signed his franchise tender, as I outlined yesterday.
Without further ado, here are the biggest free agent contracts of 2015:
Largest contracts by overall base value:
- Ndamukong Suh, DT (Dolphins): $114.375MM, six years
- Darrelle Revis, CB (Jets): $70.121MM, five years
- Byron Maxwell, CB (Eagles): $63MM, six years
- Jeremy Maclin, WR (Chiefs): $55MM, five years
- Devin McCourty, S (Patriots): $47.5MM, five years
- Julius Thomas, TE (Jaguars): $46MM, five years
- Jerry Hughes, OLB (Bills): $45MM, five years
- Rodney Hudson, C (Raiders: $44.5MM, five years
- Jared Odrick, DE (Jaguars): $42.5MM, five years
- (tie) Randall Cobb, WR (Packers): $40MM, four years; DeMarco Murray, RB (Eagles): $40MM, five years; Torrey Smith, WR (49ers): $40MM, five years; Mike Iupati, G (Cardinals): $40MM, five years
Largest contracts by annual average:
- Ndamukong Suh, DT (Dolphins): $19.063MM
- Darrelle Revis, CB (Jets): $14.024MM
- Jeremy Maclin, WR (Chiefs): $11MM
- Byron Maxwell, CB (Eagles): $10.5MM
- Randall Cobb, WR (Packers): $10MM
- Devin McCourty, S (Patriots): $9.5MM
- Julius Thomas, TE (Jaguars): $9.2MM
- Brandon Flowers, CB (Chargers): $9.1MM
- Jerry Hughes, OLB (Bills): $9MM
- Rodney Hudson, C (Raiders): $8.9MM
Largest contracts by fully guaranteed money:
- Ndamukong Suh, DT (Dolphins): $59.955MM
- Darrelle Revis, CB (Jets): $39MM
- Charles Clay, TE (Bills): $24.5MM
- Jeremy Maclin, WR (Chiefs): $22.5MM
- (tie) Devin McCourty, S (Patriots); Byron Maxwell, CB (Eagles): $22MM
- Julius Thomas, TE (Jaguars): $21MM
- Kareem Jackson, CB (Texans): $20MM
- (tie) DeMarco Murray, RB (Eagles); Brandon Flowers, CB (Chargers): $18MM
- Jerry Hughes, OLB (Bills): $17.625MM
- Jared Odrick, DE (Jaguars): $17MM
Data from Over The Cap was used in the creation of this post.