Today’s minor moves:
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: CB Amari Henderson
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: WR Travis Toivonen
Tennessee Titans
- Released from injured reserve: OL Anthony McKinney
The Packers are considering adding another quarterback to the mix. Jake Dolegala has been participating at Green Bay minicamp on a tryout basis, reports NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter).
Aaron Rodgers won’t be attending minicamp as his standoff with the organization continues, so Matt LaFleur and co. apparently wanted to add another arm to the mix. It’s not like the Packers had an empty depth chart; the team already brought in Blake Bortles and Kurt Benkert as free agents to pair with 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love. If Rodgers does return, Dolegala would find himself fifth on the depth chart.
Dolegala was a four-year starter at Central Connecticut, and he ultimately became the school’s all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns. During his senior season, he completed 61-percent of his passes for 2,221 yards and 16 touchdowns vs. only six interceptions, and that performance earned him a contract from the Bengals as a 2019 undrafted free agent. He ended up sitting on the team’s 53-man roster for the entirety of the 2019 campaign.
The quarterback was cut by the Bengals at the end of the 2020 preseason, and he spent much of the 2020 season bouncing on and off the Patriots practice squad. He was ultimately waived by New England back in April.
Ryan Neal is officially under contract. The Seahawks safety signed his exclusive rights free agent tender today, the team announced.
The 2018 undrafted free agent out of Southern Illinois bounced between the Eagles and Falcons to begin his career, but he found a home in Seattle in 2019. After appearing in only three games during his first year in Seattle, he took on a significantly larger role in 2020.
The 25-year-old started four games while filling in for Jamal Adams, and he finished the campaign having appeared in 13 games and 34-percent of his team’s defensive snaps. His final stat line included 44 tackles, three tackles for loss, five passes defended, and a pair of interceptions, including one that helped clinch a Week 3 victory over the Cowboys.
The Seahawks will return a similar depth chart in 2021. Neal will likely serve as Adams’ primary backup at strong safety, with Ugo Amadi and LaDarius Wiley waiting in the wings.
The Saints just knocked out a big order of business. New Orleans has signed their entire draft class to their rookie deals, as Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football tweeted.
To create the cap space necessary for these deals, the team restructured cornerback Marshon Lattimore‘s contract, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. They converted his “$10.2M fifth year option to a $990K base salary and the rest in a roster bonus with voidable years,” he reports. Rapsheet adds that the team will “keep working on an extension” with Lattimore.
The six-man draft class includes defensive end Payton Turner (first-round; Houston), linebacker Pete Werner (second-round; Ohio State), cornerback Paulson Adebo (third-round; Stanford), quarterback Ian Book (fourth-round; Notre Dame), offensive tackle Landon Young (sixth-round; Kentucky), and wide receiver Kawaan Baker (seventh-round; South Alabama).
It’s great they got this out of the way as the offseason starts to heat up with mandatory minicamps. The Saints had been in a terrible cap situation at the end of 2020, but GM Mickey Loomis has always been able to work some magic.
The Texans just drafted Davis Mills in the third-round, giving them some quarterback insurance as they wait for the Deshaun Watson saga to play out.
Tyrod Taylor is also on the roster, but if Watson ends up traded or suspended it seems like there’s a good chance the rookie from Stanford makes some starts. New head coach David Culley recently raved about Mills, but as it turns out it sounds like the Texans originally had their eye on a different signal-caller. Houston was planning to take Texas A&M passer Kellen Mond at 67 before the Vikings nabbed him at 66, Mond’s father Kevin told Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
“(There was a) phone call from his agent, text message, and the agent said, ‘Hey, the Houston Texans are getting ready to select (Mond) at pick 67,’” the elder Mond said. “It wasn’t supposed to be Mills,” he added. “It was going to be Kellen.”
Getting drafted by the Texans would’ve meant staying in his home state, but Kevin said that Kellen is happy to be headed to Minnesota.
Mond might’ve had a better path to immediate playing time in Houston, but going to the Vikings might prove to be better long-term. He’ll start his pro career behind Kirk Cousins, but if the Vikings elect to move on from Cousins after this season he’ll definitely be in the mix as a potential successor.
The Falcons are starting mandatory minicamp this week, and they’ll host five new tryout players, a couple of whom have some real NFL experience, the team announced Tuesday.
Atlanta is bringing in defensive tackle Miles Brown, linebackers Sharif Finch and Jeff Holland, offensive lineman Wyatt Miller, and wide receiver Jaleel Scott. Brown is a 2019 UDFA from Wofford, who played nine games for the Cardinals as a rookie in a rotational role as a nose tackle. He spent much of last season on the Titans’ practice squad.
Finsh is a 2018 UDFA from Temple who played a real role with the Titans initially. He appeared in 15 games for Tennessee as a rookie, finishing with 27 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles. He played in eight the following year, making three starts, and adding another two sacks. Waived toward the end of the year, he’s since had short stints with the Bengals, Raiders, Bears and Jets. He appeared in three games for New York last year, and was just cut by them last week.
Holland is a 2018 UDFA from Auburn who played in three games for the Broncos as a rookie and has bounced around offseason rosters and practice squads since. He was out of the league in 2020. Miller is a tackle from UCF who has never appeared in a regular season NFL game. He was on the Seahawks’ practice squad for a bit last year.
Finally, Scott is perhaps the biggest name on this list. The Ravens drafted him in the fourth-round out of New Mexico State back in 2018, but he didn’t pan out. He missed his entire rookie year due to injury, then played sparingly in 2019. He was cut and scooped up by the Jets last season, spending most of the year on the practice squad. He did appear in one game for them, and actually started it, catching one pass for 16 yards. With Julio Jones getting traded, perhaps Scott will be able to stick as the team takes flyers on new receivers.
The Steelers have an uncertain future under center beyond this season. Ben Roethlisberger was almost pushed out after 2020, before a restructure was worked out to bring him back for one more year.
The team hasn’t anointed a clear heir apparent, but Mason Rudolph is making it clear he wants it to be him. “That’s my goal, to be a starting quarterback in this league, and for my team,” Rudolph said Tuesday, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Rudolph hasn’t exactly looked like a franchise quarterback during his pro starts to date, but he does have the advantage of being the only Pittsburgh signal-caller under contract for 2022 at the moment. The Steelers recently gave him a one-year extension through 2022 worth $5MM with a $2MM signing bonus.
That’s not insignificant money, so Rudolph could have a real shot at succeeding Roethlisberger. Most likely, the team just wanted to make sure they had a somewhat competent insurance option.
Rudolph received eight starts in 2019 due to Roethlisberger’s season-ending elbow injury, but was ineffective and benched a couple of times in favor of UDFA Devlin Hodges.
He was better in his lone 2020 start in Week 17 when the Steelers rested starters against the Browns, but still isn’t the most inspiring option as a full-time starter. He’ll turn 26 next month. The Steelers also have Dwayne Haskins and Joshua Dobbs on the roster for 2020.
A potential Tom Brady successor is officially under contract. The Buccaneers have inked second-round pick Kyle Trask to his rookie deal, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times tweets.
It’s a four-year pact worth $5.535MM with a signing bonus of $1.385MM for the Florida product. The move comes right as the Bucs are starting their mandatory minicamp. It’s a welcome development for the most recent 64th pick, as he’ll need to focus on all the practice time he can get as a backup quarterback not likely to see the regular season field anytime soon.
Trask had an unusual path to the pros, as he didn’t start a game in high school after his freshman year while backing up eventual Houston and Miami star D’Eriq King. Trask was recruited by Florida nonetheless, and became the starter in his junior year in 2019 after an injury to Feleipe Franks.
Trask thrived under Dan Mullen, and became a Heisman contender in 2020. He set numerous records for the Gators, throwing for 43 touchdowns in 12 games.
In the early draft process there was some buzz he could sneak into the first-round, but he ultimately almost slipped to the third until Tampa nabbed him with the last pick of the second. The Buccaneers also have Blaine Gabbert and Ryan Griffin on the roster behind Brady, who are likely competing for one backup spot next to Trask.
As expected, Aaron Rodgers did not report for the start of Packers’ minicamp on Tuesday. He’s now officially holding out as the saga continues between him and the Brian Gutekunst-led front office. 
Rodgers has already passed on $500K of bonuses by missing the team’s voluntary work. Now, he could potentially lose $93K for each day of the three-day minicamp. However, the Packers are thinking about waiving the fines in an effort to smooth things over with their franchise star.
Still, Rodgers’ stance has not changed. The reigning MVP wants to take his talents elsewhere, which would leave 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love or Blake Bortles as the No. 1 QB in Green Bay. Gutekunst, president Mark Murphy, and head coach Matt LaFleur say that won’t happen. So, with that, Rodgers has officially begun his holdout.
It’d be a shock to see Rodgers extend his holdout through Week 1. But, if he does, it’ll be costly. If he stays home all year, the 37-year-old will forfeit his $14.7MM salary, $6.8MM roster bonus, and be forced to refund $23MM of his signing bonus.
The 49ers got a double whammy of injuries on Monday. During practice, offensive Justin Skule tore his ACL. And, soon after, safety Tavarius Moore went down with a ruptured Achilles (Twitter link via Matt Barrows of The Athletic).
Skule’s injury will rule him out for 2020. It’s a bad blow for the former sixth-round pick, who was competing to serve as a top backup behind Trent Williams and Mike McGlinchey. With Williams out of practice, Skule was practicing with the first-string team, a promising sign that he’d make the cut and return for his third season. Instead, he’ll go under the knife, rehab, and switch his focus to 2022.
Moore, meanwhile, has at least some chance of returning later in the year. Similar to Skule, Moore had been practicing with the starters while Jaquiski Tartt deals with a toe ailment. Fortunately, the 49ers do have Tony Jefferson on hand. The veteran — who once inked a four-year, $34MM contract in free agency — agreed to a low-cost deal with SF earlier this week. Now, he’s the odds-on favorite to serve as the No. 3 safety on the team, behind Tartt and Jimmie Ward.