2022 March - Pro Football Rumors

Commanders Cut Ereck Flowers

March 16th, 2022 at 11:45am CST by Zachary Links

The Commanders have released offensive lineman Ereck Flowers, according to agent Drew Rosenhaus (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). The move will allow Flowers to sign with any club, starting at 4pm ET/3pm CT today.

Flowers came to Washington last year via trade with the Dolphins. It was effectively a cap dump for the ‘Fins, as the deal was completed with a simple swap of late-round picks. For Flowers, it was a reunion and an opportunity to reprise some of his best career work in 2019. Playing as Washington’s left guard, Flowers excelled and parlayed his strong showing into a three-year, $30MM contract with Miami.

Flowers earned decent marks from Pro Football Focus while in South Beach. His 65.9 overall score had him tied as the No. 32 guard in the NFL in 2020. This past year, Flowers was up-and-down, allowing six sacks on the year. On the plus side, he ceded only two sacks.

Similar to his last foray into free agency, Flowers has an opportunity to cash in given the dearth of quality interior linemen across the league. While this year’s guard crop was stronger than most, many of this year’s biggest names have already come off of the board.

By cutting Flowers, Washington will clear an additional $10MM from their books.

Commanders To Cut Matt Ioannidis

March 16th, 2022 at 11:21am CST by Zachary Links

Defensive tackle Matt Ioannidis will be released by the Commanders today, according to Will Compton and Taylor Lewan of Bussin’ With The Boys (on Twitter). The move will save Washington upwards of $6.8MM against the 2022 books while leaving $1.5MM in dead money.

This comes on the heels of Tim Settle‘s departure, marking a significant revamp of the Commanders’ defensive line group. Last year, Ioannidis served as the first interior lineman off the bench behind starters Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne. Ioannidis appeared in 16 of 17 possible games, including six starts.

Ioannidis, who just turned 28 in January, was set to enter his walk year. Now, he’ll look for work elsewhere, but he shouldn’t have a hard time finding his next opportunity. Ioannidis might not have been worth the money for Washington, but he still offers ample experience with 73 appearances and 40 starts over the course of his career.

The Commanders are also expected to finalize the release of Landon Collins today, saving a minimum of $13MM between the two moves.

Patriots To Sign Terrance Mitchell

March 16th, 2022 at 10:50am CST by Zachary Links

Terrance Mitchell has found a new home. On Wednesday, the Patriots agreed to sign the ex-Texans cornerback to a one-year, $3MM deal, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter).

The 29-year-old joined the Texans last offseason, inking a two-year, $7.5MM deal. He started 13 of his 14 games during his lone season in Houston, collecting 60 tackles, ten passes defended, and one interception. He ended up seeing time in 69% of his team’s defensive snaps, and he garnered the second-most defensive snaps (796) in Houston.

Mitchell previously spent three seasons in Cleveland, starting 27 of his 39 games. He’s also had stints with the Bears, Cowboys, and Chiefs.

Now, he’s the Patriots first out-of-house signing of 2022. He might not be a top-tier corner, but he could help to offset the loss of J.C. Jackson, the Pats’ former leading cornerback who joined the Chargers on a five-year, $82.5MM deal this week.

Raiders Release DE Carl Nassib

March 16th, 2022 at 10:39am CST by Zachary Links

The Raiders are releasing defensive end Carl Nassib (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). Previously, Nassib has one season to go on his three-year, $25MM deal.

Nassib made national news last summer when he announced that he was gay, making the 28-year-old the first active NFL player to do so.

“The NFL family is proud of Carl for courageously sharing his truth today,” commissioner Roger Goodell said afterwards. “Representation matters. We share his hope that someday soon statements like his will no longer be newsworthy as we march toward full equality for the LGBTQ+ community. We wish Carl the best of luck this coming season.”

Later that year, following the leak of Jon Gruden‘s emails, Nassib took personal time away from the team. In 2021, Nassib appeared in 13 games as a reserve with 21 tackles and 1.5 sacks. While he was productive in Las Vegas, his numbers didn’t match his previous work. Between 2018 and 2019 with the Bucs, Nassib notched 12.5 sacks. With the Raiders, he had just four across the last two seasons.

The Raiders will designate Nassib as a post-June 1 cut, enabling them to save $8MM against the 2022 cap (Twitter link via Schefter).

Browns To Re-Sign Anthony Walker

March 16th, 2022 at 10:22am CST by Zachary Links

The Browns have re-signed Anthony Walker. The linebacker will receive a one-year, $5MM deal, according to agent Drew Rosenhaus (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com).

Walker, 26, came into the league as a fifth-round pick of the Colts in 2017. He joined up with the Browns last year on a one-year, $3.5MM deal and went on to notch 113 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, and a pair of pass deflections. Beyond the traditional stats, the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus graded him as the 17th best linebacker in the NFL.

Clearly, Walker was in line for a sizable pay bump. This new deal roughly doubles his last one (one-year, $2.7MM/year), but this still seems pretty team-friendly given his all-around improvement. Walker will now look to improve his run-defense while maintaining his solid pass coverage.

Walker, 27 in August, has 456 career tackles to his credit across four seasons with the Colts and his first with the Browns.

Chiefs To Re-Sign Chad Henne

March 16th, 2022 at 9:51am CST by Zachary Links

The Chiefs will bring Chad Henne back for another season. On Wednesday, the veteran quarterback agreed to a new one-year deal worth $2MM (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo).

For Henne, this will mark his fifth season as Patrick Mahomes‘ backstop, though he did not see a single snap in 2019 due to injury and a lack of need. All in all, he’s made eight appearances for Kansas City with just one start, a 2020 late season loss to the Chargers.

Henne will get a slight pay bump from his previous deal, a two-year, $3.25MM pact signed in March of 2020. He might not see a ton of action, but he’ll look for an opportunity to improve on his career marks of 75 appearances, 13,290 yards, 60 touchdowns, and 63 interceptions.

Browns To Cut TE Austin Hooper

March 16th, 2022 at 9:39am CST by Zachary Links

The Browns are releasing tight end Austin Hooper (Twitter link via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com). Using the post-June 1 designation, the Browns will spread his dead money hit across the next two seasons, rather than all at once.

The Browns were giving serious thought to keeping Hooper alongside breakout star David Njoku. At least, that was their public position. In reality, there was little sense in keeping both players.

It’s been almost two years since Hooper inked a then record-breaking deal for tight ends, one that was slated to run through 2024. Now, instead of keeping him around as a secondary TE target in their Baker Mayfield-led offense, the Browns will cut Hooper to save $2MM on the 2022 books. Meanwhile, the $11.25MM dead money charge will be split between ’22 and ’23.

Hooper, still only 27, should hold appeal for TE-needy teams elsewhere. While his Cleveland run has been forgettable, it wasn’t long ago that he notched two consecutive Pro Bowl nods with the Falcons.

Jaguars To Sign Darious Williams

March 16th, 2022 at 9:33am CST by Zachary Links

The Jaguars are set to sign free agent cornerback Darious Williams (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Once finalized, it’ll be a three-year deal worth $30MM with incentives that could push the overall value to $39MM. Williams also gets $18MM fully guaranteed, so more than half is already locked in.

Williams had a down year in 2021, thanks in part to an early season ankle injury. Before that, in 2020, Pro Football Focus graded Williams as its No. 4 overall corner as he set new personal watermarks in tackles (44), interceptions (four), and passes defended (14). Last offseason, the Rams let Troy Hill walk and prioritized Williams as a restricted free agent. He rewarded their confidence with four interceptions in 2020, but did not record an INT in 2021.

Now, the Rams will have to replace Williams while dealing with a cap crunch. He leaves Los Angeles with 130 tackles, six interceptions, and two fumble recoveries across 46 career appearances.

Williams’ camp tells RapSheet that he had more lucrative offers elsewhere. But, as a Florida native, he chose to take less money to return home.

Seahawks To Sign Artie Burns

March 16th, 2022 at 9:08am CST by Zachary Links

Former Chicago cornerback Artie Burns is headed to Seattle. Burns has agreed to sign with the Seahawks on a one-year $2MM deal (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com).

The Bears initially signed Burns in 2020, but the former Steelers first-round pick suffered a torn ACL that led to an IR placement last summer. After a couple more roster moves, he found his way into eleven regular season games last year, including six starts. He finished out 2021 with 23 tackles, one tackle for a loss, and six passes defensed.

The Seahawks have just lost cornerback D.J. Reed to the Jets, marking the second straight year that they’ve lost their No. 1 CB. Seattle did manage to re-sign Sidney Jones, but Jones and Burns won’t be enough to hold down the secondary. The cornerback position still figures to be a priority for the Seahawks over the next few waves of free agency as well as the April draft.

Buccaneers Re-Sign WR Breshad Perriman

March 16th, 2022 at 8:57am CST by Zachary Links

The Buccaneers have agreed to a new deal with Breshad Perriman. It’ll be a one-year contract for the veteran wide receiver. According to Greg Auman of The Athletic (on Twitter), Perirman inked the veteran salary benefit, meaning he’ll get the league-minimum $1.12MM (plus $152K bonus).

Perriman’s first stint with the Bucs came in 2019, when he registered 36 receptions for 645 yards and six touchdowns. That performance earned him a one-year, $8MM deal ($6MM guaranteed) from the Jets. He had a solid season in New York during the 2020 campaign, finishing with 511 yards from scrimmage.

In 2021, he was initially set to play with the Lions, but he was dropped before the final cut. He later joined the Bears, but was released without appearing in a single snap. Upon his return to Tampa, Perriman was jockeyed between the active roster and the practice squad. In six regular season games, he notched eleven catches for 167 yards. He also saw a little bit of playoff action, notching one grab for five yards in his first ever postseason appearance.

In other Bucs news, they’ve also swung a trade for Tom Brady‘s old pal Shaq Mason. The veteran guard graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 4 ranked guard last year but only cost Tampa a fifth-round pick.