2017 March - Pro Football Rumors

Alshon Jeffery’s Deal Worth $9.5MM

March 10th, 2017 at 4:28pm CST by Ben Levine

Following reports that wideout Alshon Jeffery had signed with the Eagles, we heard that the receiver had signed a one-year deal worth $14MM. Well, we’re now learning that that’s the contract’s peak value.

ESPN’s Jordan Raanan tweets that Jeffery will actually be making $9.5MM on his next contract, and the deal can max out at $14MM. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle adds (via Twitter) that the receiver has a $1MM base salary (guaranteed) and a $7.75MM signing bonus. There’s also a $750K workout bonus and up to $4.5MM in incentive bonuses.

Jeffery was hampered by injures and a suspension over the past two seasons, but he’s still one of the most dynamic wideouts in the NFL. In 2013, Jeffery caught 89 passes for 1,421 yards and seven touchdown, and he followed that up with a campaign where he hauled in 85 catches for 1,133 yards and ten scores.

We learned yesterday that the veteran didn’t even consider the Bears, his former team.

Dolphins Sign Nate Allen

March 10th, 2017 at 4:03pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Dolphins have signed free agent safety Nate Allen, reports Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link).

The 29-year-old Allen figures to help fill the void of fellow safety Isa Abdul-Quddus, whom the Dolphins cut earlier this week. Allen, like Abdul-Quddus, has endured injury troubles recently, having missed 11 games in 2015 on account of a torn MCL. He bounced back last year to appear in 14 games and make four starts as a member of the Raiders, with whom he totaled 26 tackles and two interceptions.

Before landing in Oakland in 2015, Allen spent the first five years of his career with the Eagles, who selected him in the second round of the 2010 draft. Allen has since totaled 93 appearances, 76 starts and 13 picks. He’ll join star Reshad Jones, Walt Aikens and A.J. Hendy as the Dolphins’ current safeties.

Colts To Sign LB/DE Jabaal Sheard

March 10th, 2017 at 3:58pm CST by Zachary Links

The Colts are signing former Patriots linebacker Jabaal Sheard, sources tell Field Yates and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). It’s a three-year, $25.5MM deal with $12.75MM guaranteed, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).

The Colts needed a front seven player like Sheard. Now, he’s projected to start at one bookend with Henry Anderson on the other side. Hassan Ridgeway, Arthur Jones, and Kristjan Sokoli are there in reserve, but one of those last two players could wind up displaced from the roster. The Colts finished with only 33 sacks last season, and the defensive line allowed 1,926 rushing yards (eighth-most in NFL).

The Dolphins were also linked to Sheard, but they probably lost interest after acquiring William Hayes in a trade with the Rams on Thursday. We didn’t hear much about a Patriots reunion for him. Towards the end of the season, the feeling was that Sheard would not be back in New England.

Despite getting benched midway through the season, the defensive end still had a productive year for the Patriots in 2016. The 27-year-old finished the campaign with 33 tackles and five sacks, adding on to the eight sacks he collected with New England in 2015.

Ravens Re-Sign Anthony Levine Sr.

March 10th, 2017 at 3:53pm CST by Ben Levine

The Ravens have re-signed special teams ace Anthony Levine Sr. to a three-year deal, reports Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun.

The former undrafted free agent has turned into one of Baltimore’s most reliable special team players since joining the organization in 2012. The 29-year-old hasn’t missed a game over the past four seasons, and he has 66 career games under his belt. In 2016, he finished with 11 tackles and one pass defended.

The veteran has served mostly as a reserve safety during his tenure in Baltimore, but he also started three games at cornerback in 2014. Defensive coordinator Dean Pees even experimented with playing Levine at linebacker last preseason. Besides his special teams prowess, the team clearly values his versatility.

Levine will presumably continue in this role next season, serving as the primary backup to Eric Weddle and Tony Jefferson.

Patterson Meeting With Redskins, Raiders

March 10th, 2017 at 3:43pm CST by Ben Levine

Wideout Cordarrelle Patterson met with the Redskins today and is set to meet with the Raiders, reports NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter). The Bears were previously said to be interested in the receiver, but nothing indicates that the free agent will be visiting Chicago.

The former first-rounder never defined his place on the Vikings roster during his four seasons with the team, but he did prove his worth as a returner. The two-time Pro Bowler has returned 134 career kickoffs for 4,075 yards (30.4 average) and five touchdowns. On offense, Patterson has 132 career receptions for 1,316 yards and seven touchdowns, and he has another 31 carries for 333 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.

This past season, Patterson caught a career-high 52 passes for 453 yards and two scores.

In Washington, Patterson would be joining a receivers corps that includes recently-signing Terrelle Pryor, Jamison Crowder, and Josh Doctson. In Oakland, he’d presumably compete with Seth Roberts to play behind Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree.

Patterson was listed 12th in our positional free agent rankings.

Vikings To Sign OT Mike Remmers

March 10th, 2017 at 3:29pm CST by Zachary Links

The Vikings are set to sign tackle Mike Remmers, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. It’s a five-year, $30MM deal, according to his agent Brett Tessler (on Twitter). Of course, we still need to wait and see what the guarantees on his deal look like.

Remmers bounced around the NFL over his first few seasons, but he seemingly found a home with the Panthers. After having played only six games during his first three seasons in the league, Remmers started all 32 games for Carolina over the past two years. This uptick in productivity certainly helped the free agent’s case, as PFR ranked the 27-year-old as the 10th-best free agent tackle.

In Minnesota, Remmers joins a tackle corps that includes the newly-acquired Riley Reiff, guard/tackle Jeremiah Sirles, T.J. Clemmings, Rashod Hill, and Willie Beavers. The Vikings’ offensive line has been snakebit by injuries in recent years and as expected they went out-of-house twice to fill their two starting tackle spots.

It remains to be seen how this Vikings O-Line will gel as a unit, but on paper, it’s looking pretty solid. From left to right, they’ll start Reiff, Alex Boone, Joe Berger, Sirles, and Remmers.

Remmers also had interest from the Lions.

Bills Release Corey Graham

March 10th, 2017 at 3:29pm CST by Ben Levine

The Bills announced that they have released safety Corey Graham. Cutting the veteran defensive back will save them team $4.05MM against the cap, and they avoided a $500K roster bonus by cutting him prior to Monday’s deadline.

Graham originally joined the Bills on a four-year, $16MM deal in 2014, and he restrucutured that deal last offseason. The veteran didn’t miss a game during his three years in Buffalo, and he started 16 games in each of the past two seasons. 2016 was another solid season for the former Pro Bowler, compiling 62 tackles, one sack, and nine passes defended.

Following the move, the Bills have three safeties on their roster in Jordan Poyer, Colt Anderson, and Shamiel Gary.

Broncos To Sign RT Menelik Watson

March 10th, 2017 at 3:05pm CST by Zachary Links

The Broncos are signing right tackle Menelik Watson to a three-year deal, Mike Klis of 9NEWS tweets. It’s a three-year deal worth $18.3MM, reports NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter). Watson toured Denver’s facilities today and, apparently, liked what he saw.

The former second-round pick played 27 games for the Raiders after entering the league in 2013, including 17 starts. The 28-year-old ultimately played in 10 games (five starts) this past season. Pro Football Focus only ranked the lineman 56th among 78 tackle candidates, but he did rate positively for his run blocking.

Watson now joins a Broncos offensive line that features tackles Michael Schofield, Donald Stephenson, Ty Sambrailo, and Billy Turner.

PFR ranked Watson as the eleventh-best free agent offensive tackle this year.

Redskins Sign Terrelle Pryor

March 10th, 2017 at 2:57pm CST by Zachary Links

The Redskins have signed Terrelle Pryor, He’ll get a one-year deal worth up to $8MM in 2017, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter) and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The full breakdown is less a little less favorable: he gets a $3MM signing bonus and a $3MM base salary ($6MM in effective guarantees), plus $2MM in bonuses, a source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Florio hears those are “easily attainable” bonuses while Jason La Canfora of CBSSports (on Twitter) hears they are not likely to be earned.

Washington lost both DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon, with their pair of 1,000-yard receivers agreeing to join the Buccaneers and 49ers, respectively. Washington became the first team in NFL history to lose two 1,000-yard wide receivers in the same offseason. Today, they softened the blow by adding another 1,000+ yard receiver.

Pryor emerged as one of 2016’s top breakout players, going for 1,007 yards and four touchdowns on a team with arguably the worst quarterback situation in football.

Heading into free agency, the expectation was that Pryor would cash in on a multi-year deal. Instead, he has settled for a one-year prove-it contract. Agent Drew Rosenhaus tried to push the Browns to pay Pryor like a star, but the Browns held their ground. They instead signed Kenny Britt to a multi-year free agent deal and left Pryor with a softer market.

This week, we’ve seen wide receivers largely fall flat on what was hyped up to be a booming market at the top. Alshon Jeffery signed a one-year, $14MM deal with the Eagles and Kenny Stills re-upped with the Dolphins on a four-year, $32MM pact. Heading into this week, there was buzz of Stills getting $12MM annually and Pryor not being far behind. Instead, this year’s best WRs had to settle for less. The only top receiver that met or perhaps exceeded expectations was Britt.

The agreement was first reported by JP Finlay of CSNWashington (on Twitter).

Panthers Trade DE Kony Ealy To Patriots

March 10th, 2017 at 2:54pm CST by Ben Levine

The Panthers are trading defensive end Kony Ealy and a third-round pick (No. 72) to the Patriots in exchange for New England’s second-round pick (No. 64), reports ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter).

Ealy had played his entire three-year career with the Panthers since being selected in the second-round of the 2014 draft. The 25-year-old has only missed one regular season game during his career, and he’s started a combined 15 games over the past two years. The defensive end has compiled exactly 32 tackles and five sacks in each of the past two seasons, and he’s added another five forced fumbles during that time.

The Patriots could certainly use some help at defensive end as they search for a player to play opposite Trey Flowers. Ealy would presumably slide into the starting lineup over Geneo Grissom, or Rob Ninkovich could theoretically return to the position. New England could also bring back free agent Jabaal Sheard, but those slim chances have seemingly declined following this trade.

On the flip side, the Panthers have plenty of depth at the position after re-signing Charles Johnson. Mario Addison figures to start alongside Johnson, with Wes Horton, Ryan Delaire, and Larry Webster serving as backups.