HEADLINES

Month: March 2020

Bills Sign DT Vernon Butler

March 17th, 2020 at 7:45pm CST by Ben Levine

Buffalo’s been busy, and they’ve just added another defensive lineman. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the Bills have signed defensive tackle Vernon Butler.

It’s a two-year deal worth around $16MM, including $9.3MM guaranteed. The deal can be worth up to $18MM via incentives.

The 2016 first-round pick spent his first four years in the NFL with the Panthers, although the organization declined his fifth-year option for 2020. Butler served as mostly a rotational defensive lineman during the first three seasons of his career. In 2019, he started a career-high nine games, finishing with 32 tackles, six sacks, and three forced fumbles.

The Bills have seemingly focused on revamping their defensive line this offseason. The team has already signed both defensive end Quinton Jefferson and defensive end Mario Addison.

Patriots Sign WR Damiere Byrd

March 17th, 2020 at 7:42pm CST by Ben Levine

There’s a whole lot of uncertainty surrounding the Patriots offense, but the team has still added a wideout. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports (via Twitter) that New England has signed receiver Damiere Byrd to a one-year deal.

The former undrafted free agent out of South Carolina spent the first four seasons of his career with the Panthers. He signed with the Cardinals for the 2019 season and had a breakout campaign, hauling in 32 receptions for 359 yards and one touchdown.

Byrd also has some experience on special teams throughout his career. He’s returned 14 kicks and 12 returns through his first five years in the league.

With Tom Brady out of the picture, it’s uncertain who will be throwing to Byrd next season. The only (somewhat) certainty is that the 27-year-old wideout will be joining fellow receivers Julian Edelman, N’Keal Harry, and Mohamed Sanu atop the New England depth chart.

Panthers Notes: Newton, GM, Rebuild

March 17th, 2020 at 7:38pm CST by Marc Delucchi

While the Panthers and Cam Newton are clearly parting ways, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports the team may have been open to a reunion. A source tells Fowler that Carolina was open to bringing Newton back for the 2020 season, but was unwilling to extend his contract, something they expected him to want. Instead, the team signed free-agent quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to a three-year, $60MM contract that gives them a proven starter with long-term flexibility.

Here are some more notes from around the Panthers organization:

  • The assistant general manager hire in Carolina may have higher stakes than usual. Per Joseph Person of The Athletic, whoever is hired will be the successor to current general manager Marty Hurney (who extends back to the Ron Rivera regime). The Panthers, of course, moved on from Rivera this offseason and hired Baylor head coach Matt Rhule. Rhule will obviously have a lot of input on who becomes the assistant general manager as that will soon be his primary partner in player personnel decisions.
  • There does seem to be some uncertainty surrounding the short-term plan in Carolina. Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reports the front office has changed its tune away from a full rebuild towards a “mixed reboot.” Robinson notes that around the scouting combine the team had seemed to suggest that all players were available in trades, but that tone has, at least on the surface, shifted. Granted, Rhule could want to wait until they hire an assistant general manager.

Bills Expected To Sign DE Quinton Jefferson

March 17th, 2020 at 7:28pm CST by Ben Levine

Quinton Jefferson is heading up to Buffalo. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the defensive end is signing with the Bills. It’s a two-year deal for the 26-year-old.

We learned yesterday that the Seahawks were hoping to retain the lineman. However, Jefferson’s market was described as steady, so it’s not a total shock to see him move on. Mike Klis of 9News in Denver reports (via Twitter) that the Broncos made an offer yesterday but ultimately moved on.

The 2016 fifth-round pick joined Seattle during the 2017 season, and he quickly evolved into one of the team’s top pass rushers. Jefferson has started 12 games in each of the past two seasons, combining for 51 tackles and 6.5 sacks through those two years.

The Bills have been active in revamping their defensive line. Earlier today, they agreed to a three-year deal with defensive end Mario Addison. The two new additions should partly help to soften the blow after the Bills lost Shaq Lawson to the Dolphins.

Lions Interested In DB Will Parks

March 17th, 2020 at 7:26pm CST by Ben Levine

We haven’t heard a whole lot from Will Parks‘ camp this week, but Troy Renck of Denver7 reports (via Twitter) that the market has “been consistently strong” for the safety.

Further, Renck notes that the Lions have been “most aggressive” in trying to sign the versatile defensive back. We’ve been hearing throughout the day that Detroit was in the market for a cornerback or safety.

Parks, a 2016 sixth-round pick, has spent his entire four-year career with the Broncos. That includes a 2019 campaign where he compiled 35 tackles, one sack, two passes defended, and one interception in 14 games (seven starts). In total, Parks has appeared in 62 games throughout his career.

We heard earlier this month that Denver could have a tough time retaining Parks. At that time, it was reported that 10 teams could have interest in the 25-year-old.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/17/20

March 17th, 2020 at 6:55pm CST by Zachary Links

We don’t dance now; we make minor moves.

Detroit Lions

  • Waived: QB Kyle Sloter

Jacksonville Jaguars

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Raiders Offered More Money For Byron Jones

March 17th, 2020 at 6:53pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Byron Jones just became the league’s highest-paid cornerback when the Dolphins agreed to pay him $82.5MM over five years, and he actually turned down even more money.

The Raiders offered more money annually than Miami did, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (Twitter link). However, the Dolphins bested them in one crucial aspect, the front-loaded nature of the contract. Garafolo reports that Vegas’ deal was more spread out, while Miami’s will give Jones $40MM just within the first two years.

As he points out, both teams will be playing in states with no state income tax, putting even more cash in Jones’ pocket. It’s often speculated that Raiders owner Mark Davis doesn’t have quite as much cash on hand as other NFL owners, and it’s worth wondering if that played a role in the team’s reluctance to front-load a deal.

The Raiders have been perhaps the moost aggressive team in free agency overall, signing a whole bunch of guys including Nick Kwiatkoski, Cory Littleton, Marcus Mariota, Jason Witten, Jeff Heath, Maliek Collins, and Carl Nassib. Jones had a very active market, and was the consensus top corner available.

North Notes: Steelers, Ravens, Hurst

March 17th, 2020 at 6:51pm CST by Ben Levine

Steelers tight end Vance McDonald has restructured his contract, reports SiriusXM’s Adam Caplan (via Twitter). The veteran will see his $5.5MM base salary converted into a signing bonus.

The 29-year-old joined the Steelers back in 2017, and he’s turned into a solid receiving threat in Pittsburgh. After finishing with a 50/610/4 receiving line in 2018, he followed that up with 38 receptions for 273 yards and three scores this past year.

McDonald joins a number of Steelers veterans who have reworked their deals to provide the organization with more cap space. That grouping includes quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who restructured his deal earlier today. With all of the Steelers moves (including cut players), they’ve opened up an estimated $35MM in cap space.

Let’s check out some more notes from the league’s northern divisions:

  • Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic looks at the who the Ravens could turn to as they look to replace retired lineman Marshal Yanda. While the team is rostering several internal options, the writer dives into the potential options in the draft and free agency. Zrebiec notes that the organization has had some luck finding starting linemen on Day 2 of the draft, and he passes along that general manager Eric DeCosta “all but guaranteed” that the organization will draft at least a pair of linemen.
  • The fourth-rounder that the Ravens sent the Falcons in the Hayden Hurst deal is their compensatory pick, tweets Jason La Canfora. Baltimore ended up receiving a second- and fifth-round pick in the deal. The Ravens drafted Hurst in the first-round in 2018, but he immediately took a backseat behind Mark Andrews, who Baltimore took in the third round of that same draft. With Austin Hooper leaving Atlanta, the Falcons had a major need at the position.
  • The Bears had interest in lineman Alex Lewis before he re-signed with the Jets, reports Caplan (via Twitter). Chicago has been looking to shake up their offense a bit, as they’re in the market for a quarterback to battle with Mitch Trubisky. The organization has also added veteran tight end Jimmy Graham.

Lions Release LB Devon Kennard

March 17th, 2020 at 6:50pm CST by Zachary Links

6:50pm: These trade efforts evidently failed. The Lions have released Kennard, according to a team announcement.

12:05pm: Hold the phone, because the Lions are on the phone. The club is discussing potential trades involving Kennard, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).

11:51am: The Lions are releasing linebacker Devon Kennard, as Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. It’s not quite a Tom Brady-leaving-the-Patriots-level shocker, but it’s a surprise nonetheless. Kennard is coming off of back-to-back seasons with seven sacks, but the Lions have opted to move on from him.

Kennard came to the Lions in 2018 on a three-year, $18.75MM free agent deal. Since then, he’s tallied those aforementioned 14 sacks with 104 total stops, three fumble recoveries, and one forced fumble with near-perfect attendance. Previous to joining the Lions, Kennard started in 35 games for the Giants and posted four sacks as a non-rush linebacker in his walk year.

The Lions have signed another hybrid-type player, and linebacker-edge defender Jamie Collins now has a contract that eclipses Kennard’s. It is possible the longtime Patriot will move in on Kennard’s role. The Lions also gave an eight-figure-per-year deal to offensive lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai. The Lions will save nearly $6MM by moving on from Kennard.

Giants Interested In LB Leonard Floyd

March 17th, 2020 at 6:36pm CST by Ben Levine

Linebacker Leonard Floyd was cut by the Bears earlier today, but he’s already got several suitors lining up. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo tweets that the Giants are among the teams that are in play for Floyd.

There were high hopes for Floyd when the Bears selected him in the first-round of the 2016 Draft. The Georgia product had a productive rookie campaign, compiling seven sacks.

While the linebacker put up solid numbers in the subsequent three years, his sack numbers have dropped each season. The 27-year-old finished the 2019 campaign with 40 tackles and three sacks.

Floyd was set to earn $13.2MM in what was his fifth-year option year. That would have been tough to juggle after the Bears inked pass-rusher Robert Quinn to a lucrative five-year deal.

The Giants have been active in adding linebackers this week. They signed a pair of former Packers linebackers in Blake Martinez and Kyler Fackrell.

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