2018 March - Pro Football Rumors

Giants To Sign LB Kareem Martin

March 14th, 2018 at 9:22am CST by Zachary Links

The Giants are expected to sign former Cardinals outside linebacker Kareem Martin, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Martin, of course, has history with new Giants defensive coordinator James Bettcher, so he should be a natural fit. It’ll be a three-year deal for the defender worth $21MM ($7.5MM guaranteed), according to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan (via Twitter).

Martin, our 14th ranked edge defender, appeared in all 16 games for the Cardinals last season, including ten starts. He finished out with 22 tackles, one sack, and nabbed his first career interception.

Martin earned a solid 75.2 overall score from Pro Football Focus, the best of his career. He ranked as the 57th best edge defender out of 106 qualified players.

The 26-year-old made a career-high 10 starts last season and recorded a sack and 18 tackles, along with his first career interception. The Cardinals took Martin in the third round of the 2014 draft out of North Carolina.

Martin is likely to work in a backup role with the Giants as they have Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon on the edges. He’ll work in with a group that also includes Ray-Ray Armstrong and Thurston Armbrister. The Giants were going to be thin with their depth at defensive end as Kerry Wynn is an unrestricted free agent this offseason. Martin becomes the Giants’ second free-agent addition over the last two days, with the team agreeing to terms with running back Jonathan Stewart on Monday as well.

Rams To Fill Sammy Watkins Void Internally?

March 14th, 2018 at 9:19am CST by Zachary Links

The Rams are leaning towards addressing the Sammy Watkins void internally, Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com tweets. Without last year’s No. 1 wide receiver, the Rams are eyeing bigger roles for Josh Reynolds and Mike Thomas. However, they’ll continue to monitor the market.

Often times, the second wave of free agency leads to veteran bargains for teams. The Rams are comfortable with what they have, but they’ll be keeping a watchful eye on players who encounter underwhelming markets. Some of the top names still on the market include Jordy Nelson, Terrelle Pryor, Eric Decker and Mike Wallace.

Along with losing Watkins in free agency, the Rams also parted ways with Tavon Austin. They’ll have Cooper Kupp and Pharoh Cooper as well to return with incumbent starter Robert Woods. Kupp led all of the team’s wide receivers last year with 62 catches for 869 yards receiving. Watkins led the team’s receivers with eight touchdown catches.

Reynolds and Thomas played in limited roles last season, combining to catch 16 passes. Reynolds was the only of the two to haul in a touchdown pass. Reynolds was a fourth-round pick in last year’s draft and Thomas was a sixth-round selection by the Rams in 2016. Kupp led the team in targets last year (94) and Woods was targeted 85 times compared to 70 for Watkins, despite playing in three fewer games.

It’s clear the Rams placed a higher priority on addressing their secondary this offseason while trusting in a group of in-house young wide receivers to work with Jared Goff, along with running back Todd Gurley. They’ve already traded for Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib and placed their franchise tag on Lamarcus Joyner rather than Watkins.

Browns To Sign CB Terrance Mitchell

March 14th, 2018 at 9:15am CST by Dallas Robinson

The Browns have agreed to a three-year, $12MM deal with free agent cornerback Terrance Mitchell, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Cleveland has spent the early portion of free agency adding mid-tier free agents, but the club had yet to address their secondary. The Browns reportedly had interest in the top cornerback on the market in Trumaine Johnson, but they’ll instead settle for Mitchell, whom general manager John Dorsey know from the pair’s time in Kansas City.

While the Browns can use all the help they can get after ranking 27th in pass defense DVOA, it’s unclear exactly how much Mitchell can offer. Last season, he ranked as a bottom-20 corner, per Pro Football Focus, while posting the most starts (nine) of his career. Mitchell, 25, did put up four interceptions, but his overall coverage marks left much to be desired.

Mitchell will now join a Browns secondary that also includes Jason McCourty, Jamar Taylor, and Briean Boddy-Calhoun, among others.

Jets To Sign C Spencer Long

March 14th, 2018 at 9:15am CST by Zachary Links

The Jets have their center. Gang Green will sign former Redskins center Spencer Long when the league year officially begins, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). It’s a four-year, $28MM deal, a source tells Rich Cimini of ESPN.com (on Twitter). He can earn another $2MM with play time incentives.

Heading into free agency, the expectation was that the Jets would go hard after Ravens free agent Ryan Jensen. Instead, it’ll be Long manning the middle of the offensive line.

The Jets had a long history of quality play at center thanks to Kevin Mawae and Nick Mangold holding down the position for a combined 19 seasons. Things did not go as smoothly for the Jets at center in 2017, leading them to Long. Long takes over for Wesley Johnson and the Jets believe he’ll do a better job.

Long graded out as just the 19th best center in the NFL last season, according to the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus.

[RELATED: Jets Depth Chart]

Cowboys Use Second-Round Tender On David Irving

March 14th, 2018 at 9:09am CST by Zachary Links

The Cowboys have used a second round tender on restricted free agent defensive tackle David Irving, according to David Moore of the Morning News (on Twitter). The cost will be $2.914 MM for Dallas.

In an effort to retain Irving, the Cowboys were reportedly deciding between first- and second-round tenders for Irving. A first-round tender would have cost Dallas $4.149MM, but also would have offered further protection. Irving is free to sign an offer sheet with another club, and if the Cowboys decide not to match, they would received a second-round pick as compensation.

Last season, Irving managed seven sacks in only eight games, and graded as the league’s No. 29 interior defender, per Pro Football Focus. But Irving missed half the season due to a four-game suspension and a concussion, so the 24-year-old certainly comes with risk.

The Cowboys have already used the franchise tag on defensive end Demarcus Lawrence, so they’re now poised to retain their two best rushers. Dallas isn’t planning to extend Irving this offseason, however, and will likely let him play out the 2018 campaign on the RFA tender.

Titans Re-Sign DL David King

March 14th, 2018 at 9:00am CST by Dallas Robinson

The Titans have agreed to re-sign defensive lineman David King, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link). King had been slated to become an exclusive rights free agent, but he’s now inked a new one-year deal.

Because he was an ERFA, King had no negotiating rights. He’ll earn the minimum salary as he returns to Tennessee for the upcoming campaign.

King, 28, was a seventh-round pick in 2013, and last season marked his most successful campaign to date. Tennessee picked up King just prior to the start of the 2017 campaign, and he went on to play roughly a quarter of the club’s defensive snaps and 16% of the Titans’ special teams snaps.

Jets Likely To Sign Spencer Long, Pushing To Sign DaQuan Jones

March 14th, 2018 at 8:55am CST by Zachary Links

The Jets are “very likely” to sign offensive lineman Spencer Long on Wednesday, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). They are also pushing to land defensive end DaQuan Jones as well, JLC adds.

Last week, we rated Long as the 16th best interior lineman available. The advanced metrics aren’t crazy about Long – he graded out as just the 19th best center in the NFL last year, per Pro Football Focus – but he was well liked in Washington and also offers experience at guard. Meanwhile, we haven’t heard a whole lot about the Jets and Ryan Jensen, who is viewed by many as the best center available in free agency this year.

Jones, 26, enjoyed the best season of his young career in 2017. He totaled 31 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 12 games before suffering a season-ending biceps tear. Prior to that injury, he started 44 consecutive games over three seasons. The Titans would like to re-sign him, but it sounds like the Jets are closing in.

Titans To Re-Sign OL Josh Kline

March 14th, 2018 at 8:49am CST by Dallas Robinson

The Titans have reached agreement with free agent guard Josh Kline, according to Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Its a four-year, $26MM deal which contains $12MM guaranteed and can max out at $27MM.

Tennessee claimed Kline off waivers prior to the 2016 campaign, and he proceeded to start 30 games for the club over the next two seasons. Kline, who spent the first three years of his career in New England, graded as the NFL’s No. 22 guard among 77 qualifiers in 2017, per Pro Football Focus.

In terms of annual salary, Kline’s $6.5MM won’t reset the market, but it does tie him for the 12th-highest-total among right guards. He’s now alongside the likes of J.R. Sweezy and just behind Jeff Allen — both players signed their free agent deals two offseasons ago.

As a unit, the Titans’ offensive line took a step backward last year, as they slipped from fifth to 23rd in adjusted line yards. Kline will now be re-signed, but fellow starting guard Quinton Spain is a restricted free agent. Tennessee used an original round tender on Spain, so it won’t reap any draft pick compensation if he signs elsewhere on an un-matched offer sheet.

Kline had been scheduled to join a free agent guard class that also includes Andrew Norwell, Josh Sitton, Jack Mewhort, Matt Slauson, Zach Fulton, and Senio Kelemete, among others. PFR’s Zach Links recently ranked Kline as the fourth-best option among free agent interior lineman, behind Norwell (who has already landed a massive deal with the Jaguars), Sitton, and Mewhort.

Dolphins, Reshad Jones Rework Contract

March 14th, 2018 at 8:44am CST by Dallas Robinson

The Dolphins have restructured the contract of safety Reshad Jones in order to create extra cap space, tweets Field Yates of ESPN.com.

Jones had been scheduled to earn a base salary of $9.375MM in 2018, but that figure has now been slashed to $970K, per Yates, who adds Jones will take home a signing bonus of $4.05MM. As with most restructures, Jones will earn the same amount of money overall, but Miami will create roughly $6.6MM in cap room for the free agent period.

Even after missing the majority of the 2016 campaign, Jones inked a five-year, $60MM extension with the Dolphins at this time last year. In 2017, Jones stayed healthy for all 16 games and posted 94 tackles, two interceptions, and 1.5 sacks.

Nate Solder Down To Giants Or Texans?

March 14th, 2018 at 8:34am CST by Zachary Links

Patriots left tackle Nate Solder probably won’t be a Patriot for long. It sounds like the free agent will be signing with either the Giants or Texans, based on what Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) has been hearing. There isn’t a “lot of optimism” about him staying put with Bill Belichick & Co., according to Rapoport.

Solder, one PFR’s top ten free agents, also had a serious suitor in the Browns just hours ago. However, after agreeing to terms with Donald Stephenson as well as Chris Hubbard, the Browns are no longer in aggressive pursuit of this year’s No. 1 free agent tackle.

The Giants desperately need to bolster their offensive line, making Solder one of their top targets this March. Ditto for the Texans. Houston agreed to sign Seantrel Henderson on Tuesday, but the former Bill can slide down to right tackle if necessary.

Solder is not expected to take any free agent visits, meaning that he could sign at any time.