HEADLINES

Month: March 2020

Broncos Re-Sign DL Shelby Harris

March 28th, 2020 at 8:15am CST by Ben Levine

Shelby Harris is returning to Denver. Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that the Broncos have re-signed the veteran defensive lineman.

Per Jhabvala, it’s a one-year deal worth a max value of $3.25MM, including $2.5MM in guarantees. Mike Klis of 9News in Denver tweets that Harris has $750K in per-game roster bonuses (a bit less than $47K per game).

After bouncing around the NFL for a bit, the former seventh-round pick has found a home in Denver. He’s appeared in every regular season game for the Broncos since 2017, and that includes a 2019 campaign where he started a career-high 16 games. In fact, the 28-year-old set career-highs across the board, including 49 tackles, six sacks, nine passes defended, and one forced fumble.

Despite the career season, Shelby found himself dealing with an underwhelming market, and Klis tweets that the veteran actually switched agents for the second time recently. A return to Denver seemed somewhat inevitable, especially after Shelby expressed interest in sticking with the organization.

Raiders LS Trent Sieg Signs ERFA Tender

March 27th, 2020 at 9:40pm CST by Ben Levine

As expected, Trent Sieg will return to the Raiders next season. The long snapper signed his tender with the organization on Friday. The Raiders had tendered the exclusive rights free agent earlier this month.

The former undrafted free agent out of Colorado State initially joined the Ravens out of college, but he was cut at the end of the 2018 preseason. When Andrew DePaola was injured several weeks later, the Raiders brought on Sieg.

The 24-year-old hasn’t missed a game since that time, as he’s appeared in all 31 of the Raiders regular season contests.

The Raiders also announced that several of their free agent signings are official, including linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski, safety Jeff Heath, and defensive end Carl Nassib.

Contract Details: Anderson, Pennel, Alexander

March 27th, 2020 at 8:56pm CST by Ben Levine

A handful of contract details to pass along:

Vikings Re-Sign OL Dakota Dozier

March 27th, 2020 at 7:44pm CST by Ben Levine

The Vikings are hanging on to another one of their offensive lineman. NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports (via Twitter) that the team has re-signed offensive guard Dakota Dozier. It’s a one-year, $1MM deal.

Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets out some more info, noting that the 28-year-old will earn the veteran minimum of $910K, plus a $90K signing bonus. Dozier is expected to count $840K against the cap.

The 2014 fourth-round pick spent the first five seasons of his career with the Jets. He joined the Vikings last offseason, and he proceeded to appear in a career-high 16 games (including a career-high four starts). During his career, Dozier has appeared in 54 games.

The Vikings had already retained a pair of offensive lineman. Since the start of the offseason, the front office has re-signed center Brett Jones and offensive tackle Rashod Hill.

Eagles Exercise Options On Carson Wentz, Alshon Jeffery, Others

March 27th, 2020 at 5:14pm CST by Ben Levine

The Eagles picked up Zach Ertz‘s 2021 option earlier today, but that wasn’t the front office’s only move. The NFL transactions report shows that the organization exercised the options on quarterback Carson Wentz, wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, defensive end Brandon Graham, offensive guard Isaac Seumalo, and defensive lineman Malik Jackson.

As Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com writes, these moves were merely “procedural,” and similar to the Ertz move, they’re not all that surprising.

Jordan Dajani and Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports provide some helpful insight on these moves. For instance, Wentz’s option had to be exercised by today. Otherwise, his 2020 salary was set to jump to more than $30MM, and the remaining four years of his extension would be void. Instead, the quarterback will earn a $1.38MM base salary with a cap hit of $18.65MM.

The Jeffery move is a bit surprising, as the team was reportedly looking to move on from the wideout. On the flip side, the organization would have been hit with more than $16MM in dead cap by making the veteran a post-June 1st cut. Therefore, it’s not shocking to see the organization make a procedural move until they find a potential trade partner.

Per Dajani and Kerr, Graham will earn a $1.36MM base salary with a $6.28MM cap hit in 2020. Seumalo’s option bonus means the 2022-24 portion of his contract kicks in, while Jackson’s $2.4MM option bonus prevented his base salary from jumping to $10MM.

Michael Bennett Wants To Play In 2020

March 27th, 2020 at 4:50pm CST by Ben Levine

Michael Bennett‘s 2019 season didn’t necessarily go as planned, but the veteran isn’t planning on hanging up his cleats. Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News reports (via Twitter) that Bennett “wants to play in 2020.”

Following a one-season, nine-sack stint with the Eagles, Bennett was traded to the Patriots last offseason. He saw a reduced role during his time in New England, collecting five tackles and 2.5 sacks in six games (one start). The veteran wasn’t particularly happy with his new role, and that culminated in him earning a one-game suspension for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

The defensive end was shipped to the Cowboys shortly after his reinstatement, and he proceeded to appear in nine games for Dallas. In total, Bennett finished the season with 32 tackles and 6.5 sacks in 15 games (one starts).

Earlier this month, the 34-year-old suggested that he’d welcome a reunion with the Seahawks. Bennett earned three Pro Bowl nods and a Super Bowl ring during his five-year stint with Seattle (the Texas A&M product had a previous stint with the organization to start his career)

Broncos Re-Sign DL Joel Heath

March 27th, 2020 at 4:31pm CST by Ben Levine

Joel Heath is heading back to Denver. ESPN’s Field Yates reports (via Twitter) that the defensive lineman has re-signed with the Broncos.

Heath was claimed off waivers by Denver in late December, but he was non-tendered by the organization earlier this offseason. Ultimately, the front office opted to bring back the 26-year-old.

The former undrafted free agent out of Michigan State spent the first three-plus seasons of his career with the Texans, including a 2017 campaign where he started nine of his 13 games. In total, Heath has compiled 34 tackles and three sacks in 32 career games, although he’s been limited to only seven regular season games over the past two years.

The Broncos have been relatively busy revamping their defense line this offseason. They acquired Pro Bowler Jurrell Casey from the Titans, and they brought back restricted free agent Mike Purcell.

Jets Release CB Darryl Roberts, Won’t Sign S Marqui Christian

March 27th, 2020 at 4:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

Today, 4:05pm: Christian won’t be joining the Jets after all. Brian Costello of the New York Post reports (via Twitter) that the Jets couldn’t agree to “final contract terms” with the free agent safety.

March 21st, 3:30pm: Both of the Jets’ 2019 Week 1 starting cornerbacks are now off the team. The Jets released four-year contributor Darryl Roberts on Saturday.

Roberts is gone despite signing a three-year, $18MM deal in 2019 to stay in New York. The Jets have changed GMs since and saved $6MM by making this move. Roberts would have been guaranteed $2MM of his 2020 salary on Sunday.

The Jets used Roberts on 713 defensive snaps last season — most among their corners — but the 29-year-old defender will need to find a new team to continue his career. Roberts graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 81 full-time corner last season — well behind some younger Jet contributors. While the Jets have not made splash moves at corner this offseason, they did re-sign slot man Brian Poole — PFF’s No. 9 corner in 2019 — and have Bless Austin and Arthur Maulet on the roster.

In addition to dropping Roberts, the Jets will bring in safety Marqui Christian. The former Rams safety and the Jets agreed on a one-year deal, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets.

Since going in the fifth round of the 2016 draft, Christian played in 55 games — all with the Rams — and contributed as a reserve defender and on special teams. The Division II product made 36 tackles in each of the past two seasons. One of this year’s youngest UFAs, Christian will not turn 26 until October.

Cowboys To Sign K Greg Zuerlein

March 27th, 2020 at 3:32pm CST by Zachary Links

Young GZ is headed to Dallas. On Friday, the Cowboys agreed to sign Greg Zuerlein, as Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. 

[RELATED: Dak Prescott To Become NFL’s Highest-Paid Player?]

The kicker will receive a three-year deal with a base value of $7.5MM. That marks a pay bump for Greg The Leg, who averaged about $1.6MM per year on his rookie contract with the Rams, with $2.3MM in base salary in the final year.

Zuerlein will also get to reunite with his old special teams coach, John Fassel. Across eight seasons with the Rams – split evenly between St. Louis and L.A. – Zuerlein connected on 82% of his field goal tries. That number doesn’t quite tell the whole story, however. At his best, Zuerlein is one of the league’s most accurate, as shown by his 95% success rate in 2017. Last year, however, he made only 72.7% of his three-point shots with little luck (5-of-11) from 40-49 yards out.

Last year, Brett Maher and Kai Forbath combined to make 75% of the Cowboys field goals.

NFL To Vote On Expanded Playoffs

March 27th, 2020 at 2:07pm CST by Zachary Links

The NFL Draft will commence on April 23rd as planned, and so will the league’s push towards an expanded postseason. Next week, owners will vote on the proposed 14-team playoff via conference call, as Judy Battista of NFL.com tweets.

[RELATED: 2020 NFL Draft Still On For April 23-25]

On the call, the owners will also hash out some other pending league matters. Potential changes to the in-game rules, however, will likely be held for a later date. That’ll likely take place at the league meeting, which is presently slated for mid-may in Los Angeles.

The proposed postseason would include seven teams from each conference, with only one bye being awarded in the AFC and NFC. The other three divisional winners, meanwhile, would partake in Wild Card weekend with home field advantage.

The new playoff system will almost certainly be ratified for the 2020 season. It’s one of many changes on the way, thanks to the brand new collective bargaining agreement. In the not-too-distant-future (perhaps as early as 2021), the league is also expected to add an extra game to the regular season.

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