Falcons Restructure Deion Jones’ Deal
For the second time this year, the Falcons turned to Deion Jones‘ contract to create cap space. Atlanta completed its latest Jones restructure Thursday, per Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
This latest adjustment will give the Falcons an additional $2.8MM in cap space. The Falcons’ March Jones restructure generated an extra $4MM in room. Atlanta entered Thursday barely $500K under the cap, slotting in above only the Rams for space.
The Falcons have Jones locked up through 2023 on a four-year, $57MM extension — one authorized by their previous regime. The new Atlanta front office has gone to the restructure well a few times this year. Matt Ryan‘s fourth restructure — a move new GM Terry Fontenot was initially against — headlined this batch of reworkings. Atlanta created more cap space in June by dealing future Hall of Famer Julio Jones to Tennessee.
Prior to Thursday’s restructure, Jones’ cap numbers were set to balloon after this season. The standout linebacker was set to count $18.6MM against Atlanta’s 2022 cap and comprise $17.1MM of the Falcons’ cap in 2023. His 2021 cap hit checks in below the $10MM mark. Thursday’s move will push more money onto future Falcons caps.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/9/21
Here are Thursday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Released from IR via injury settlement: CB Darqueze Dennard (story)
Atlanta Falcons
- Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: TE Parker Hesse
Baltimore Ravens
- Reverted to IR: RB Justice Hill (story)
Dallas Cowboys
- Promoted from practice squad: TE Jeremy Sprinkle, S Darian Thompson
New York Giants
- Released from IR via injury settlement: OL Ted Larsen
Philadelphia Eagles
- Released from IR via injury settlement: DB Blake Countess
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Promoted from practice squad: S Andrew Adams, WR Jaydon Mickens
Tennessee Titans
- Waived: OL Cole Banwart
Ravens To Sign RB Devonta Freeman
The Ravens are moving quickly at running back. After Gus Edwards suffered a potentially serious knee injury in practice Thursday, the Ravens agreed to add Devonta Freeman to their practice squad, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
Freeman joined Le’Veon Bell in working out for the team Monday. The Ravens added Bell to their taxi squad Wednesday, and although the team signed Bell first, Schefter adds Freeman is expected to be the back promoted to Baltimore’s active roster first.
Edwards is feared to have suffered a torn ACL. This setback follows J.K. Dobbins‘ ACL tear and Justice Hill‘s Achilles tear. Each injury occurred within the past three weeks, depleting the run-dependent team’s backfield. Should Freeman be bumped up to Baltimore’s active roster ahead of Week 1, he will join second-year UDFA Ty’Son Williams and recent free agent acquisition Trenton Cannon.
Injuries have affected Freeman’s career as well. After the former Falcons starter missed 14 games due to knee and groin ailments in 2018, an ankle injury limited him to five games last season with the Giants. Last season, Freeman rushed for 172 yards on 54 carries. In 2019, he managed just 656 at 3.6 yards per tote. The two-time Pro Bowler has not submitted much in the way of quality since the 2018 injuries, but the Ravens present an interesting opportunity as a run-centric team in a desperate situation.
Both Ravens practice squad backs have not shown much since 2017, when Bell completed the second of his All-Pro seasons, even though they carry unusually high profiles for P-squad cogs. Freeman’s two 1,000-yard seasons came in 2015 and ’16, and the Falcons rewarded him with a deal that at the time marked the top running back contract. Like Bell, Freeman is 29. Each will aim to join Williams as Baltimore ball carriers in a skeleton-crew backfield.
Steelers, T.J. Watt Agree On Record-Setting Extension
The NFL has a new highest-paid defensive player. Days away from Week 1, the Steelers and T.J. Watt ended their impasse. Watt agreed to terms on a four-year deal worth more than $112MM, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Watt will receive $80MM fully guaranteed on a contract that averages more than $28MM annually, Rapoport adds, taking the younger Watt superstar past Joey Bosa among defenders. This certainly looks like a big win for the All-Pro Steelers edge rusher, after he and the Steelers haggled over guarantees at the 11th hour.
Watt’s fully guaranteed figure also tops Bosa’s $78MM on a deal that saw the Steelers break their precedent of not including guaranteed money beyond the first year of extensions. This will bring the two-time All-Pro defender back into the fold ahead of his fifth season. Watt’s pact also surpasses Ben Roethlisberger‘s for guaranteed money in Steelers history; Big Ben’s 2015 extension included $60.75MM guaranteed at signing. Roethlisberger spent this week lobbying for the team to get a Watt deal done, whatever the cost.
The accomplished outside linebacker resumed practicing in full this week, after he went to the increasingly popular hold-in measure during training camp. While Watt only partially went through with a hold-in, participating in non-team portions during preseason workouts, the Steelers have put this matter to rest by rewarding a homegrown talent.
This will be Watt’s age-27 season. Thursday’s agreement prevents a 2022 franchise tag and will tie him to the Steelers through the 2025 campaign. Pittsburgh prefers to finalize its extensions ahead of the regular season. The team deviating from its usual guarantee structure will surely be of interest to Minkah Fitzpatrick, who will be on track for a market-setting extension next year.
Although Watt led the NFL with 15 sacks last season, his 61 quarterback hits placed him well apart from everyone else. No other player compiled more than 45 (Bosa) in 2020. Watt’s 2017 arrival has coincided with the Steelers leading the NFL in sacks in each of the past four seasons. On a Pittsburgh team that lost a few key starters — including longtime outside linebacker starter Bud Dupree — in free agency, Watt will be counted on to reprise his dominant form.
Texans Trade Bradley Roby To Saints
The Texans are trading cornerback Bradley Roby to the Saints (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The Texans will receive a 2022 third-round pick and a conditional 2023 choice in the swap (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). Meanwhile, as reported on Thursday morning, the Texans will cover $7MM of Roby’s salary this season while the Saints pay the remaining ~$1.8MM.
Roby was hit with a six-game suspension in December for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs. He’s already served five of those games, so he’ll be eligible to play for the Saints in Week 2 when they take on the Panthers.
In ten games (all starts), Roby notched 37 tackles, one interception, a fumble recovery, and seven passes defended. Even though he was briefly deactivated in November, the veteran stood as the Texans’ best corner.
Now, the 29-year-old will jump into a Saints secondary that badly needs reinforcements. Between Roby and newcomer Desmond Trufant, the Saints are in a much better position that they were just last week. Together, they’ll team up with Marshon Lattimore, Ken Crawley, and Paulson Adebo. Meanwhile, free safety P.J. Williams should be able to stick to his natural position.
The Saints will assume the rest of Roby’s three-year, $31.5MM deal, keeping him under club control through 2022. The Texans, meanwhile, will move forward with Terrance Mitchell and Desmond King II as their top corners.
Cardinals DC: Malcolm Butler Could Return
Even after placing him on the reserve/retired list, Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph won’t rule out a Malcolm Butler return (Twitter link via Darren Urban of the team website). Joseph added that he spoke with Butler as recently as last week, a sign that he could retake the field at some point this year.
Butler has not disclosed his reasons for walking away, but Joseph said it has to do with personal matters rather than his on-field play. That checks out, considering the 31-year-old finished 2020 as Pro Football Focus’ No. 15 ranked corner in the NFL. It was a strong comeback after he missed much of 2019. All in all, he finished with four interceptions and 100 total tackles — a new career high — while playing a full 16-game slate. He also wrapped with the lowest yards-per-completion and yards-per-target numbers of his Tennessee tenure.
Butler was expected to play a key role in Arizona’s secondary after inking a fully guaranteed $3.25MM deal with Arizona. Without him, they’ll be leaning more on Byron Murphy, rookie fourth-round pick Marco Wilson, and Robert Alford for coverage.
Seahawks Restructure Quandre Diggs’ Deal
The Seahawks have revised Quandre Diggs’ contract (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com). Now, the safety will have $100K in per game roster bonuses converted into salary with $5.05MM of his salary switched to a signing bonus. 
[RELATED: Seahawks, Duane Brown Reach Agreement]
Diggs refused to practice with the team for a short while in an effort to secure a new contract. He likely didn’t get everything he wanted here, but it was enough to bring him back to the fold along with standout tackle Duane Brown. Diggs’ new deal will now include a void year for salary cap purposes. Meanwhile, the safety will also get additional injury protection in his platform year.
Diggs is entering his platform year, and we heard back in July that the 28-year-old DB was seeking a new deal. No reports on negotiations between the two sides have surfaced, and Henderson says its unclear if the Seahawks want to give Diggs a new contract at this point. The club is taking a similar stance with respect to Brown, though the ‘Hawks are now said to be exploring some sort of compromise that allows Brown to increase his 2021 compensation without adding years onto his existing deal.
Diggs, 28, came to the Seattle in a pre-deadline deal with the Detroit in 2019. He quickly proved his worth, collecting three interceptions in five games that year. Last year, he enjoyed perfect attendance with five INTs and 64 tackles en route to his ever career Pro Bowl nod. For what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus assigned him a middling 63.1 overall grade, good for 52nd out of 94 qualified players.
Even after the revision, Diggs is still playing on a $6.2MM AAV deal. That puts him just 19th among all safeties, but he could double that figure with a strong showing this year.
Vikings’ Stephen Weatherly Takes Pay Cut
Stephen Weatherly took a pay cut in order to stick with the Vikings (Twitter link via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press). Instead of earning $2.5MM, the defensive end will make $2MM in 2020. On the plus side, that sum is now fully guaranteed since he is a vested veteran.
The Vikings considered cutting Weatherly after he lost his first-string spot to D.J. Wonnum. That would have left the club with $500K in dead money, so this was a much more logical compromise.
The 27-year-old started his career in Minnesota and came back to where it all began in March. He started out as a seventh-round pick in 2016 and went on to record six sacks between 2018 and ’19 for the Vikings. Last year, he moved on to the Panthers and began the year as a starter. Then, when finger injury derailed his season, second-rounder Yetur Gross-Matos stepped into his role.
Weatherly recorded zero sacks in Carolina, so he’ll aim for a more productive 2021. It all starts on Sunday when the Vikings face the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium.
Reworked Deal For Saints’ Bradley Roby
On Wednesday, the Texans shipped cornerback Bradley Roby to the Saints. In order to facilitate the trade, the Texans first converted ~$7.6MM of his base salary into a signing bonus (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com).
Now, Roby will have a base salary of $1.86MM, down from his scheduled $9.5MM. In essence, the Texans are absorbing a larger dead money hit so that the Saints can fit his contract under the salary cap. That likely means a better haul of draft picks for the Texans, though the exact return in the trade is not yet known.
Roby won’t be with the Saints for their season opener against the Packers on Sunday, since he’s still serving the final week of his six-game ban. But, after that, he’ll be good to go for September 19, when they travel to Carolina to face the Panthers.
Roby, 29, recorded 37 tackles, one interception, a fumble recovery, and seven passes defended in 2020. In a trying year for the Texans, he stood as Houston’s best cornerback. Now, he’ll join fellow newcomer Desmond Trufant to help New Orleans’ ailing secondary. The veterans will team up with Marshon Lattimore, Ken Crawley, and Paulson Adebo, though Lattimore could face a suspension of his own before the season is through.
QB Baker Mayfield, Browns Haven’t Had “Substantive Extension Talks”
The Browns’ season opener is only days away, but it doesn’t sound like the organization is any closer to extending Baker Mayfield. Cleveland’s front office and Mayfield’s reps still haven’t engaged in “substantive extension talks,” per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
This isn’t a huge surprise, as Cabot notes that “this has been the plan all along” and both sides are “cool” with the timing. On the flip side, it’s a bit surprising that the two sides haven’t at least swapped different variations of an extension. It was assumed that the two sides would be able to proceed on negotiations after Josh Allen inked his new deal with the Bills, but there haven’t been any developments in Cleveland since early August.
From Mayfield’s perspective, it makes some sense to wait on a new deal. After all, the former first-overall pick is already locked into his $18.85MM salary for 2022. If Mayfield takes another step this upcoming season, he could command a new contract that pays north of $40MM per season. His track record probably doesn’t warrant that demand at the moment.
The former No. 1 overall pick finished second in the 2018 Offensive Rookie of the Year voting but regressed in 2019. After the Oklahoma product bounced back in 2020, the Browns may be willing to see if he can keep that momentum going to start this season before committing. For what it’s worth, Mayfield recently made it clear that he didn’t mind negotiating during the upcoming season, so one of the sides could end up blinking in the upcoming weeks.