2018 March - Pro Football Rumors

Buccaneers Re-Sign Ryan Fitzpatrick

March 8th, 2018 at 4:27pm CST by Sam Robinson

It looks like the Buccaneers are going to go with their 2017 setup at quarterback for at least one more season. Tampa Bay is expected to re-sign Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). It’s a one-year deal worth $3.3MM and up to $5.55MM through bonuses, according to Adam Caplan of SiriusXM (on Twitter). The deal includes $1.3MM in fully guaranteed money.

Fitzpatrick will return for a 14th season and a second with the Bucs.

A UFA for the third straight offseason, Fitzpatrick served as Jameis Winston‘s backup last season and made three starts. The Bucs could be forced to turn to their backup early in 2018, should the NFL opt to suspend Winston, who is under investigation because of an Uber driver’s accusation he groped her. So, this is a critical move for a Bucs power structure that could well be on the hot seat.

Tampa Bay was thought to be interested in bringing previous Winston backup Mike Glennon back to Florida, but the 35-year-old Fitzpatrick coming back would seem to call off any prospective reunion.

Fitzpatrick went 2-1 as a starter for a Bucs team that disappointed against reasonably high expectations. He completed just more than 58 percent of his passes and threw seven touchdowns compared to three interceptions.

Titans Release DeMarco Murray

March 8th, 2018 at 4:17pm CST by Sam Robinson

DeMarco Murray will not be part of a third Titans team. Tennessee made the decision to release the veteran running back on Thursday.

No additional guaranteed money remained on Murray’s Eagles-constructed deal, and he will venture into free agency again — this time as a street free agent.

The Titans will save $6.5MM by releasing their two-year starter, who did not perform as well in 2017 as he had during a Pro Bowl 2016 slate. The team will now turn to Derrick Henry, who ate into a bigger portion of Murray’s workload in his second season.

With free agency less than a week away, Tennessee is now projected to hold more than $53MM in cap space.

A three-time Pro Bowler, Murray turned 30 last month and has now averaged 3.6 yards per carry in two of his past three seasons. While his previous two even years — a first-team All-Pro appearance with the Cowboys in 2014 and amassing 1,664 yards from scrimmage two years later — have been superb, his work with the 2015 Eagles and ’17 Titans don’t paint a portrait of reliability.

Although, this free agent running back class is not particularly strong. Murray could generate a market, albeit one at a much lower rate than what he commanded from the then-Chip Kelly-run Eagles three years ago.

Seahawks Set High Price For Earl Thomas

March 8th, 2018 at 3:46pm CST by Zachary Links

The Seahawks don’t view Earl Thomas as untouchable, but any team looking to acquire him will have to give up a lot of draft capital, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com hears (video link). Garafolo likens the Seahawks’ view on Thomas to the team’s stance on Richard Sherman trade talk in 2017. The team did not shoo away suitors, but instead asked for a first- and third-round pick for him. Ultimately, no one met that asking price.

The same can’t be said for Sherman in 2018. The Seahawks are willing to move the cornerback and, at this juncture, they’ll take “whatever they can get for him,” Garafolo hears. While Sherman still performed reasonably well in his injury-shortened season, teams are not eager to pick up his $11MM contract. If the Seahawks cannot find a suitable trade and Sherman does not agree to a pay cut, it seems likely that he’ll be released outright. Other teams are well aware of that and, therefore, are willing to wait things out and see if they can instead sign Sherman as a free agent. Sherman’s health status is also a barrier to a potential trade.

Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times first reported that the Seahawks are seeking a first-round pick in addition to a mid-round selection for Thomas. The safety is set to carry a $10.4MM charge this season and may look for a deal worth $13MM per year beyond his current contract.

Vikings Tender Anthony Harris, Mack Brown

March 8th, 2018 at 3:14pm CST by Zachary Links

The Vikings have elected to tender exclusive rights free agent safety Anthony Harris and ERFA running back Mack Brown, according to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. Harris is now slated to earn $705K while Brown will make $630K in 2018.

The move to tender Harris was widely expected and largely procedural. A former undrafted free agent, Harris has positioned himself as a valuable reserve and special teamer. Over the last three seasons, he has appeared in 36 games for Minnesota, including eight starts. Last year, he started three times in place of Andrew Sendejo while was either injured or suspended.

Brown only saw time in one game for the Vikings last year after he was brought over on waivers from the Redskins. The decision to tender him was also expected, though not as much of a no-brainer.

Meanwhile, the Vikings will not tender ERFA long snapper Jeff Overbaugh, meaning that he will become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday. Long snapper Kevin McDermott, who suffered a shoulder injury late in the season, will resume his role in 2018.

Falcons’ Brooks Reed Restructures Deal

March 8th, 2018 at 2:24pm CST by Zachary Links

Falcons defensive end Brooks Reed has agreed to a restructuring of his contract that will keep him in Atlanta, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Originally, he was slated to carry a $5.4M cap hit, but he’ll now count for less. The exact cap number is not yet known.

Reed, 31, signed on with the Falcons before the 2015 season on a five-year, $22.5MM deal with nearly $7MM guaranteed at signing. He’s had a bit of an up-and-down tenure in Atlanta, but last year was his best campaign in a Falcons uniform. Reed appeared in every game and started all but two of them as he tallied 39 tackles and four sacks. The advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus ranked Reed as the No. 31 edge defender in the NFL last season with a career best 82.4 mark.

Still, the Falcons are in the bottom ten of the league in cap space, so they were not necessarily in a position to keep Reed at his original number. Now, Reed’s spot on the team is likely secure.

The Falcons still have some work to do on the defensive line, as PFR’s Dallas Robinson recently detailed. That’s partially due to the impending free agency of defensive tackle Dontari Poe, who is unlikely to return.

49ers, Marquise Goodwin Agree To Extension

March 8th, 2018 at 1:11pm CST by Zachary Links

The 49ers have re-signed wide receiver Marquise Goodwin to a three-year extension, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The deal is worth $20.3MM with $10MM guaranteed. The Niners have also confirmed the deal.

“Marquise earned this extension by coming in every day focused on doing his job and, as a result, he made himself and his teammates better,” GM John Lynch said in a press release.

Goodwin was already under contract for 2018 thanks to the two-year, $6MM free agent deal he inked with SF in 2016. The new pact will keep him in place for longer and reward him for a solid campaign in ’17.

Goodwin was the Niners’ most productive receiver last year, catching 56 passes for 962 yards and two touchdowns. He also jelled well with new quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, which bodes well for his future in San Francisco.

The deal also bodes well for wide receivers as a whole. Although Goodwin is coming off of the best season of his career, his $6.67MM average annual value on the deal is an indicator that the wide receiver market is on the verge of exploding. Take Terrelle Pryor for example – last year, Pryor settled for a one-year, $6MM with the Redskins after topping 1,000 yards on 77 catches in the previous season. Even without testing the open market, Goodwin has bested that in AAV on a multi-year deal.

Charges Against Bengals’ Tyler Boyd Dropped

March 8th, 2018 at 12:41pm CST by Zachary Links

Drug charges against Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd have been dismissed, as ESPN.com’s Katherine Terrell writes. Boyd was facing charges of possessing a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia after a car crash in July, but he’ll no longer have to worry about legal consequences stemming from the incident.

Boyd’s wrecked car was found by police after 3 a.m. on a July day with several bottles of alcohol and multiple vape pens that tested positive for THC. However, Boyd said that a friend of his was driving the car and that person later admitted to being behind the wheel.

Had he been convicted in this case, Boyd would have been likely to face league discipline given that he was charged with a DUI in college. Although the league cannot punish players retroactively for pre-NFL incidents, his history would have been a factor. The league can still fine or suspend players for cases that do not result in convictions, but that seems less likely given the circumstances in this instance.

Boyd, 24 in November, missed games due to injury in 2017 and was not targeted all that much when he was on the field. He became more involved in the offense late in the season, however, with ten catches for 130 yards and one touchdown in his final two games.

Le’Veon Bell Won’t Sit Out 2018 Season

March 8th, 2018 at 12:23pm CST by Zachary Links

Recently, Le’Veon Bell has intimated that he could retire or potential sit out the 2018 season if he doesn’t get a multi-year extension to his liking. In an Instagram live video on Wednesday, Bell indicated that neither scenario is really in play.

“Honestly, no, I’m not going to sit out. I’m going to be in the facility Week 1,” Bell said (via ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler). “It’s going to be a rerun of last year. I’m not going to [training] camp. I’m not doing nothing else extra, OTAs, none of that. … I’m going to strictly go to what I have to go to. I want to win every game. I want to have the best statistical career that I possibly can, so I want to play in every game that I can possibly play.”

Earlier in week, Bell indicated in an interview with Billboard.com that he might consider sitting out until Week 10 of the season. If Bell were to sit out beyond that point, he would not accrue the necessary year in order to reach free agency in 2019. However, his latest comments are a sign that he is fully intent on playing, despite past threats.

Without threats of retirement or a holdout that extends into the regular season, Bell doesn’t have a ton of leverage. The Steelers want to see Bell in training camp, particularly in light of his early season struggles when he held out in 2017, but that probably won’t give Bell enough juice to move the needle.

For now, the Steelers have Bell under a placeholder on Bell for 2018 at a cost of $14.544MM. The Steelers have the option of rescinding the tag late in the offseason if Bell stalls, which would leave him without a feasible market once most of the league’s cap room is dried up.

Broncos Exercise CB Chris Harris’ Option

March 8th, 2018 at 11:33am CST by Zachary Links

The Broncos have exercised the $1.1MM option on cornerback Chris Harris Jr.’s contract for 2018, a league source tells Mike Klis of 9NEWS (on Twitter). Harris is now slated to return with a cap number of $10.36MM for 2018, which presently stands as the sixth-highest charge on the team.

This was another quality year for Harris as he amassed 40 tackles, two interceptions, seven passes defensed, and graded out as the 29th best corner in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus. He has done even better in the past, however, grading out as a top five corner in both 2014 and 2016.

This year, Harris will be extra important to the Broncos as they are likely to move on from veteran Aqib Talib. It’s rare that a team can lose a high-profile vet like Talib without serious external reinforcements, but that’s more or less what Denver will do with both Harris and Bradley Roby under contract. Denver is also set to return with Brendan Langley, Marcus Rios, and Michael Hunter.

Harris is also under contract for 2019 with a $8.766MM cap hit. However, if the Broncos choose to part ways with him next year, they can get out with just $867K in dead money.

Texans Re-Sign P Shane Lechler

March 8th, 2018 at 10:50am CST by Zachary Links

The Texans have re-signed punter Shane Lechler, according to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). It’s a one-year, $2MM deal, according to Mark Berman of FOX 26 (on Twitter).

Lechler, who was ranked fourth on PFR’s list of free agent punters, is entering his 19th year in the NFL. After spending the first 13 years of his career with the Raiders, Lechler joined up with the Texans in 2013 and has not missed a game in Houston. Last year, Lechler led the league in punting yards with 4,507 and put his boot to the ball 92 times. This year, the Texans hope to use him a little less often.

In other Texans news, the team also re-signed a pair of exclusive rights free agents in safety Corey Moore and defensive end Ufomba Kamalu.