Today’s minor moves around the league:
Houston Texans
- Released (injury settlement): S Kolby Harvell-Peel
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: DT Caeveon Patton
- Waived: LB Jordan Glasgow, DT McKinley Williams
Miami Dolphins
- Released: CB Javaris Davis
Tight ends have been in plenty of headlines this offseason, as the position continues its recent upward financial trend. Aside from the players who were franchise tagged recently, one of the top candidates for a long-term deal is T.J. Hockenson.
The soon-to-be 25-year-old made a name for himself at Iowa, a college which has become a TE factory in recent years. He put up a modest 24 receptions during his first season there, facing stiff competition for targets in the form of Noah Fant. Still, he averaged over 13 yards per catch, a figure which – like all others – he was able to improve upon the following year.
In 2018, Hockenson turned 49 receptions into 760 yards and six touchdowns. Other than the touchdown total, his statistics outshone those of Fant; he also showcased the blocking ability which made him the most well-rounded TE in the 2019 draft class. To little surprise, he was given the Mackey Award at the end of the campaign.
Widely considered a lock to be a top-10 pick, the 6-foot-5, 248-pounder ended up going eighth overall to the 
Lions. That made him the teams’ intended replacement for Eric Ebron, who had departed one year earlier after four seasons with the team. Hockenson showed promise as a rookie, dropping only two passes on 59 targets. His season came to a premature end, though, due to an ankle injury. Given the potential he flashed, and the central role he began to assume in the team’s offense, expectations were high for his second campaign.
2020 didn’t disappoint. Playing a full season, Hockenson was one of only five tight ends to receive 100 targets, putting up 67 catches (which ranked fourth at the position) for 723 yards (third) and six scores (tied for fifth). His performance backed up his draft pedigree and earned him his lone Pro Bowl nod to date.
Injuries became an issue once again last year, however. Hockenson found himself on season-ending IR in December, this time due to thumb surgery. By that point, he had still posted 583 yards and four touchdowns, cementing his status as Jared Goff’s favorite target. He also registered a career-high 84% snap share, setting up to be a pillar of the team’s offense for at least the next two seasons.
To no surprise, the Lions picked up Hockenson’s fifth-year option in April. That will give him a 2023 salary of $9.39MM, a sizable raise from the earnings of his rookie pact. He is now eligible for further long-term security, though, which should see him join the $10MM-per-year club at the position. Currently, 10 tight ends are at or above that mark (the total rises to 11 if one adds Taysom Hill, whose quarterbacking days with the Saints are believed to be over), including franchise tag recipients Mike Gesicki and Dalton Schultz.
The other TE to be tagged this offseason was David Njoku, whom the Browns have subsequently signed to a four-year, $54.75MM pact. That deal will no doubt loom large in future negotiations, including those between the Lions and Hockenson. Regardless of its weight, though, a sizable new contract could be coming soon for the latter.
Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports that “many around the NFL” believe an extension will get done this summer. There is less urgency due to the option, but Hockenson has expressed a willingness to stay in Detroit long-term, saying “I want to [win] here so bad.” Doing so may become more likely, given the ascendancy of receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown late last season, coupled with the additions of former Pro Bowler DJ Chark in free agency and first-rounder Jameson Williams in the draft. Those three may eat into Hockenson’s target share, but they should help boost the team’s overall passing game.
A lucrative deal for Hockenson would mark the second straight offseason in which Detroit locked up one of its best young players. The team signed center Frank Ragnow to a record-setting deal last May, showing general manager Brad Holmes‘ willingness to make long-term commitments as early as possible. That eagerness seems to be reciprocated by Hockenson himself.
“I don’t really know much, [and] I don’t really care to know much” with respect to contract talks, he said. “When that time comes to sign a piece of paper, I’ll do that.”
The Cowboys have received an unfortunate update on the injury front. Linebacker Devante Bond suffered a knee injury in OTAs which will require season-ending surgery, per ESPN’s Todd Archer (Twitter link). 
Bond, 28, spent time last year on Dallas’ practice squad. He would have been in competition to land on the backend of the Cowboys’ roster, which has seen plenty of changes in the edge rush department. Most notably, the team is looking to replace Randy Gregory, who backed out of an extension to sign in Denver. The team has added Dante Fowler in free agency, and drafted Sam Williams in the second round to try and offset the loss.
A sixth-round pick in 2016, Bond began his career in Tampa Bay. He started six of 29 contests with the Buccaneers, after losing his entire rookie campaign due to a hamstring injury. In 2019, he was released days before it came out that he was being suspended for PED usage. He finished out the season in Chicago.
That offseason, the Bears re-signed him, though it didn’t lead to much in the way of playing time. Bond saw the field for just nine special teams snaps. Over the course of his career, he has totaled 39 tackles and has yet to register a sack. While today’s news leaves a vacancy on the Cowboys’ roster, it may therefore also leave his NFL future in doubt.
Before the draft, Ravens safety Chuck Clark was in line to continue with the starting role he has held for the past three years. As a result, there was little reason to suspect he would be as involved in trade talk as he has been recently. 
That all changed after the first round, however, when the Ravens selected Kyle Hamilton, not only the top safety prospect but one of the highest-rated members of the draft class as a whole. Given the newfound depth at the position, Clark was quickly named as a potential trade candidate.
While head coach John Harbaugh publicly stated the team’s intentions of keeping him, the 27-year-old was reported days later to nevertheless be drawing trade interest from multiple teams. The presence of not only Hamilton, but also top free agent signing Marcus Williams, would threaten to eat into Clark’s playing time significantly.
The most recent update on the matter came when Clark hired a new agent, as noted by Jeff Zrebiec of the Athletic (subscription required). He is now represented by Joel Segal, whose client list also includes Ravens defensive backs Marlon Humphrey and Tony Jefferson. Zrebiec points out that Clark “has done nothing… to fuel the speculation that he wants out of Baltimore,” maintaining the leadership qualities he has become known for as the defense’s signal-caller.
On the other hand, Zrebiec also makes it clear that a parting of ways between the two sides remains a possibility. A trade could provide an acquiring team with a cost-controlled, consistent contributor; Clark is under contract for two more seasons and has totaled 249 tackles and five interceptions over the past three years. From Baltimore’s perspective, a swap would create $2.75MM in cap space — an amount made more significant when considering the team is currently near the bottom of the league in financial wiggle room.
Regardless of what happens next in this situation, this will remain a story worth watching into the summer.
The Seahawks re-worked the contract of one of their newest acquisitions. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the team has agreed to a restructure with defensive linemen Shelby Harris. The move creates $3.26MM in cap space. 
ESPN’s Brady Henderson details that, to create that added space, Seattle converted just over $6.5MM of Harris’ 2022 compensation into a bonus (Twitter link). As a result, his cap hit for the upcoming season is $4.78MM. The move also has an effect on the final year of his deal, however. Henderson’s colleague Field Yates tweets that $2MM (out of a base salary of $8.5MM) has also been converted to a roster bonus for 2023. That year, Harris’ cap hit is scheduled to spike to $12.2MM.
The 30-year-old played sparingly with the Raiders, who drafted him in the seventh round in 2014. He found much more success in Denver, however, becoming a full-time starter with the Broncos in 2019. Expressing his desire to finish his career in the Mile High City on multiple occasions, Harris signed a three-year, $27MM deal last March. He continued to play at a high level in 2021, totaling 49 tackles and six sacks. However, his tenure came to an end this offseason when he was included in the package Denver sent to Seattle for Russell Wilson.
As a result of this restructure, the Seahawks now rank in the top 10 in the league in terms of cap space, with just over $17MM available. Long mentioned as a potential landing spot for Baker Mayfield or, to a lesser extent, Jimmy Garoppolo, Seattle also has the matter of a D.K. Metcalf extension to attend to. The latter task may have become more complicated by the wideout’s current unexcused absence from minicamp. In any event, they have some added flexibility to work with for the remainder of the offseason.
Free agent guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif is once again temporarily putting his NFL career on hold to focus on his other profession. The Canadian offensive lineman is set to enroll in a residency program at a hospital near Montreal this summer and will wait until the onset of the 2022 campaign to decide on his NFL future. 
“I’m going to prioritize medicine… and we’ll see in September if there’s a fit,” the 31-year-old said, via ESPN.com. “After eight years in the NFL, and I don’t want to sound pretentious by saying this, but I think I’ve earned the right to do what’s best for me and not just for football and kind of bet on myself a little bit.”
In 2020, Duvernay-Tardif became the first player in the league to opt out of the season, choosing to devote his time to a local long-term care facility. The decision came after the Chiefs’ second consecutive Super Bowl appearance, and tolled his contract to the point where it expired at the conclusion of the 2021 season.
Upon his return, the former sixth-rounder found that his right guard spot was occupied by Trey Smith, one part of Kansas City’s efforts to completely rebuild its offensive front. Sidelined by a broken bone in his hand, he never played again for the Chiefs. Instead, he waived his no-trade clause and was dealt to the Jets in November. He started seven of eight games in New York.
Now a free agent for the first time, given the expiration of the five-year extension he signed in 2017, Duvernay-Tardif (who received his medical doctorate one year later) faces the possibility of being on the move again, should he return to the NFL. The Jets added Laken Tomlinson in free agency, who is in line to pair with 2021 first-rounder Alijah Vera-Tucker at the guard spots. Despite the uncertainty regarding his future, he is making it clear this latest decision is not a retirement.
“I’m really comfortable with the risk, and I’m pretty confident there’s going to be an offer on the table in September if I want it,” he said. “And if I want it I’ll take it. If medicine is going well and I feel like I’ve got to be out there in front of 80,000 people to play the sport I love, well, I’ll go, but I think I want it to be more on my terms.”
The offensive tackle position has been an interesting area of focus for the Jets this offseason. The starters are believed to be in place, but veteran depth could soon be on the way as well. 
The team is hosting Riley Reiff today, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). The 33-year-old is coming off a one-year stint with the Bengals. He started the first 12 games of the season, but landed on IR in December. That kept him out of the remainder of the regular season, as well as the team’s run to the Super Bowl.
Reiff was rated similarly to recent years by PFF in 2021, with an overall grade of 67.3. While that continued his career arc of solid, but never Pro Bowl-caliber play, the team found a replacement in free agency by signing La’el Collins. That left the Iowa product on the move for the third time in his career.
A first round pick of the Lions in 2012, Reiff took over as a full-time starter one season later. His play led to a five-year, $58.75MM deal with the Vikings in 2017. While he started all 58 contests he played in with Minnesota, he never lived up to the expectations which came with such a lucrative deal. After taking a pay cut at the start of the 2020 campaign, Reiff was released last March.
That gave him the chance to build back some value during his time in Cincinnati, though he obviously wasn’t among the most sought-after players during the initial waves of free agency. If he were to sign with the Jets, he would provide experienced depth after the departure of Morgan Moses. The team has made it clear Mekhi Becton and George Fant will start, but it remains to be seen on which side of the unit they will be deployed. Reiff would represent a more experienced alternative to Conor McDermott or Greg Senat, who are currently the team’s top backups.
The Cowboys have officially signed their entire draft class. The team announced today that they’ve signed fourth-round tight end Jake Ferguson to his four-year rookie pact.
Ferguson was relatively consistent during his four years at Wisconsin. In 47 games, the tight end hauled in 145 receptions for 1,618 yards and 13 touchdowns. Thanks to that production, he was the eighth tight end off the board during this year’s draft, going to Dallas with pick No. 129.
Dalton Schultz isn’t participating in OTAs while he looks for a new deal, so Ferguson will have a chance to show what he’s got with increased reps. The rookie will be competing with the likes of Sean McKeon and Jeremy Sprinkle for the second spot on the depth chart.
With the signing, Dallas has signed all nine of their draft picks:
Round 1: No. 24 Tyler Smith, OL (Tulsa) (signed)
Round 2: No. 56 Sam Williams, DE (Ole Miss) (signed)
Round 3: No. 88 Jalen Tolbert, WR (South Alabama) (signed)
Round 4: No. 129 Jake Ferguson, TE (Wisconsin)
Round 5: No. 155 (from Browns) Matt Waletzko, OT (North Dakota) (signed)
Round 5: No. 167 DaRon Bland, CB (Fresno State) (signed)
Round 5: No. 176 Damone Clark, LB (LSU) (signed)
Round 5: No. 178 John Ridgeway, DT (Arkansas) (signed)
Round 6: No. 193 (from Browns) Devin Harper, LB (Oklahoma State) (signed)
Today’s late-round draft pick signings:
Las Vegas Raiders
- RB Zamir White (fourth round, Georgia)
White had productive sophomore and junior seasons at Georgia. Over the past two years, the running back collected 1,747 yards from scrimmage and 22 touchdowns in 25 games. The Raiders have a crowded depth chart at RB, but he could slide in behind Josh Jacobs and Kenyan Drake as the third running back (especially if Brandon Bolden primarily plays special teams).
Today’s minor moves:
Detroit Lions
- Placed on reserve/retired list: CB Jermaine Waller
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: LB Porter Gustin
- Waived: CB Javaris Davis
- Released: DE Daeshon Hall
Free Agents
- Retired: WR Gehrig Dieter
Dieter spent his five NFL seasons with the Chiefs. He didn’t make much of an impact from a statistical standpoint; in 10 regular season games, the receiver hauled in a pair of catches for 32 yards (plus another catch in the postseason). However, he became a popular player on the practice field, including his friendship with quarterback Patrick Mahomes.