Jets Trading WR Denzel Mims To Lions
JULY 20: NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero tweets that the pick swap is conditional on Mims making the Lions’ 53-man roster. As a result, the deal is essentially a short-term free trial for the Lions as they look to finalize their WR depth chart in the coming weeks. A strong performance in camp and the preseason will go a long way in determining the former second-rounder’s fate as he enters the final year of his rookie contract.
JULY 19: The Jets have successfully found a trade partner for wide receiver Denzel Mims, according to a report coming initially from Connor Hughes of SNY.
Despite earlier rumors that the team was near waiving the former second-round pick, New York was able to get a return on Mims’s departure, netting a conditional sixth-round pick for Mims and a 2025 seventh-round pick, as confirmed by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. 
The Jets had already made it known that they were planning to move on from the three-year receiver. They went as far as to excuse Mims from reporting to training camp, feeding trade rumors that have been consistent over the past two offseasons. Mims has failed to live up to his draft slot, totaling 42 catches for 676 yards and no touchdowns in his first three years combined. There were reportedly some hints of interest coming from Dallas in Mims’s home state, but ultimately, Mims will remain in the north.
The loss won’t affect the Jets’ depth chart, as they already were planning a roster without him. The team will move forward as planned with Garrett Wilson being joined by newcomers Allen Lazard and Mecole Hardman as targets for new quarterback Aaron Rodgers with Corey Davis and Randall Cobb contributing, as well.
In Detroit, the Lions will hope to see Mims make an impact on the two-deep. The team had been betting on a big step forward in Year 2 of Jameson Williams‘s career, but a six-game suspension will limit Williams’s impact early. Instead, Detroit will rely on a familiar trio of Amon-Ra St. Brown, Josh Reynolds, and Kalif Raymond with Marvin Jones returning to Motown to likely see starting reps in 2023.
During the absence of WIlliams, Mims should have an opportunity to make a strong case for his role in the offense. If he can establish an early rapport with quarterback Jared Goff, the Lions could have another wideout to add to an already quality group.
Steelers Extend OLB Alex Highsmith
The Steelers are authorizing another big-ticket extension on their defense. Alex Highsmith is no longer going into a contract year, with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reporting he and the Steelers have agreed on a four-year extension (Twitter link). The Steelers are working fast here, having announced the contract.
Long rumored to be an extension candidate in Pittsburgh, the young edge rusher agreed to terms on a four-year deal worth $68MM. This will lock down the T.J. Watt sidekick through the 2027 season. Highsmith, who is coming off a career-best season, will collect $27.7MM guaranteed and earn $38MM over the deal’s first two seasons, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Highsmith will turn 26 next month.
Both team and player had conveyed optimism about this deal being done for months. Back in December of last year, an extension for the former third-round pick became a likelihood. The Steelers prefer to hammer out deals with their extension candidates the summer before their contract years, which always made this the likeliest window for the Highsmith accord to transpire.
“I know I am a Pittsburgh Steeler through and through, and just to be a part of this amazing organization for four more years means the world to me, to my wife, to my whole family,” Highsmith said, via Teresa Varley of Steelers.com. “This is where I want to be. This is where I want to play ball.”
Pittsburgh came into the week with Watt’s $28MM-per-year deal topping the edge defender market and Minkah Fitzpatrick tied to the No. 2 safety contract. With Cameron Heyward still on a lucrative extension, the Steelers continue to make major investments in their defense. No longer carrying a franchise-QB contract, the Steelers are taking advantage of Kenny Pickett‘s slot deal. They have agreed to extensions with Highsmith, Fitzpatrick and Diontae Johnson over the past year.
The Steelers franchise-tagged Bud Dupree in 2020, keeping him for a sixth season, but began to develop his successor by using a Day 2 pick on Highsmith that year. Highsmith began his career behind the 2015 first-rounder but replaced him alongside Watt after a November ACL tear. Dupree left for the Titans in 2021, and Highsmith began a steady ascent. That climb crested last year, when the Charlotte alum produced a 14.5-sack season that included an NFL-leading five forced fumbles. Highsmith has 22.5 career sacks.
This agreement marks a bit of a throwback move for the Steelers, who are now one of just two teams carrying two top-10 edge rusher contracts (along with the Chargers). Pittsburgh had followed the traditional setup of rostering one highly paid edge in recent years, but the organization does have experience in this territory. Pittsburgh had both James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley on veteran extensions in the early 2010s, with Harrison signing his first extension in 2009 and Woodley joining him in 2011. This arrangement lasted three seasons (2011-13) before the team parted ways with both players (Harrison later returned to the team, while Woodley did not).
Eleven of Highsmith’s 14.5 sacks last season came when Watt was active; the younger pass rusher was slightly less effective during the All-Pro’s time rehabbing a partial pectoral tear. But the Steelers have come to view Highsmith as a core player as well. Watt has also avoided notable injuries aside from his September 2022 setback. This contract, which matches Shaquil Barrett and Chandler Jones for the 10th-most lucrative (AAV-wise) pact among outside rushers, confirms that commitment and could represent value for the team.
Barrett and Jones signed those deals in 2021. Highsmith could have taken his chances with a strong contract year that moved him past the $20MM-AAV barrier as a 2024 free agent. But the Steelers would have had the franchise tag at their disposal as well. With Highsmith committing to the team long term, the Steelers have two prime-years edge rushers locked in for many seasons.
Jets Sign Top Two Draft Picks, Wrap Rookie Contracts
The Jets are among the Saints and Packers as the most recent teams to conclude the signing of their 2023 draft classes. Early this morning Connor Hughes of SNY, reported that Iowa State first-round defensive end Will McDonald had officially signed his rookie contract, while ESPN’s Rich Cimini quickly added that Wisconsin second-round center Joe Tippmann was soon to follow, wrapping up New York’s latest rookie class. 
While McDonald’s deal underwent the usual scrutiny of a first-round selection, Tippmann was drafted in an area of the draft that has seen some stalls in negotiations. Guarantees authorized for Panthers rookie wide receiver Jonathan Mingo has many rookies selected around similar draft slots pushing for similar contract details.
McDonald left Ames not only as the school’s all-time sack record holder but also the holder for the all-time lead in the Big 12, surpassing Von Miller‘s Texas A&M total of 33.0 sacks by one (coincidentally, the one sack earned in the four games of his redshirted true freshman year won him the record). He earned all those accolades despite the fact that he didn’t play football until his junior year of high school. The inexperience tends to show at times. He has all the tools of a strong NFL pass rusher but has yet to put them all together.
McDonald should get plenty of run in a deep rotation of Jets pass rushers. He might not get to start with Carl Lawson and John Franklin-Myers currently penciled in for the first-team defense, but McDonald and last year’s first-round pick, Jermaine Johnson, form a dangerous, young pair of backups that could result in an unrelenting barrage for opposing tackles.
In the second round, New York nabbed the draft’s top center prospect in Tippmann. There are two main differences between Tippmann and last year’s top-drafted center, Tyler Linderbaum of the Ravens. While Linderbaum (6-foot-2) was marked for being undersized, Tippmann (6-foot-6) is gigantic for what is normal at the position. Linderbaum had the ability to overcome his issues through effort and leverage. Tippmann, too, will need to utilize body position and balance in matchups with defensive tackles, but his quickness and strength off the ball were enough to help him succeed in his two years as a starter for the Badgers at center.
The other difference is that Tippmann may not project as an immediate starter, since Connor McGovern ranked as a top-ten center according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required) last year, but he can certainly push for the job or others around it. While nearly 100 percent of Tippmann’s college snaps came at center, he has practiced at guard and tackle. He has the size and intelligence to make the move to another position, if necessary, but he’s likely only a starting-caliber player at an interior position, right now. This early, he really only slots in as talented, young depth for the interior line with the potential for more when given the opportunity.
With equal focus on offense and defense, the Jets had a sense of where they wanted to improve and added some good value at each draft slot. Here is New York’s 2023 draft class:
Round 1, No. 15 (from Packers): Will McDonald, DE (Iowa State) (signed)
Round 2, No. 43: Joe Tippmann, C (Wisconsin) (signed)
Round 4, No. 120 (from Steelers through Patriots): Carter Warren, OT (Pittsburgh) (signed)
Round 5, No. 143: Israel Abanikanda, RB (Pittsburgh) (signed)
Round 6, No. 184 (from Raiders through Patriots): Zaire Barnes, LB (Western Michigan) (signed)
Round 6, No. 204 (from Cowboys through Raiders): Jarrick Bernard-Converse, CB (LSU) (signed)
Round 7, No. 220 (from Cardinals through Raiders): Zack Kuntz, TE (Old Dominion) (signed)
Packers Ink Round 2 WR Jayden Reed, Concluding Rookie Signings
The Packers follow close on the Saints’ heels as the most recent team to wrap up the signing of their 2023 draft class. According to his agent, David Canter of GSE Worldwide, Michigan State second-round wide receiver Jayden Reed has officially signed his rookie contract. 
This area of the second round of the draft has proven to be sticky in concern to contracts. The majority of the remaining unsigned rookies were selected around the early- to mid-second round. If Reed and others around his draft position are able to secure similar guarantees as Panthers’ rookie receiver Jonathan Mingo, it could help set a healthy precedent moving forward.
Reed, fifth-round pick Dontayvion Wicks, and seventh-round selection Grant DuBose will all hope to mirror and build off of some of the success seen from last year’s three rookies, Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Samori Toure. The now veteran leaders had the added benefit of receiving balls off the arm of now-Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers last year, but the new rookies will join with them in an attempt to provide new starter Jordan Love with a bevy of young, talented targets, along with rookie tight end Luke Musgrave, who signed his rookie contract earlier today.
Reed is a slightly undersized target coming off a down year for the Spartans. He transferred to East Lansing after an impressive eight-touchdown, nearly-800-receiving yard-performance at Western Michigan. It took him a couple years to adjust, but by his junior season in 2021, Reed broke out for career-high totals of 59 catches for 1,026 yards and 13 total touchdowns (including one rushing and two on punt returns).
With Watson (6-foot-4) and Doubs (6-foot-2) providing plenty of size, Reed (5-foot-11) provides a versatile new look and ability to the top-end of the receiving corps. If he can overcome the injuries that marred his senior year of college, he has the speed and route-running ability to contribute in the slot, out wide, and in the return game.
It’s no wonder that it took this long for Green Bay to conclude their rookie signings as they had a hefty 13 picks to sign. Here is the Packers’ 2023 draft class:
Round 1, No. 13 (from Jets): Lukas Van Ness, DE (Iowa) (signed)
Round 2, No. 42 (from Browns through Jets): Luke Musgrave, TE (Oregon State) (signed)
Round 2, No. 50 (from Buccaneers): Jayden Reed, WR (Michigan State) (signed)
Round 3, No. 78: Tucker Kraft, TE (South Dakota State) (signed)
Round 4, No. 116: Colby Wooden, DL (Auburn) (signed)
Round 5, No. 149: Sean Clifford, QB (Penn State) (signed)
Round 5, No. 159 (from Falcons through Jaguars and Lions): Dontayvion Wicks, WR (Virginia) (signed)
Round 6, No. 179 (from Texans through Buccaneers): Karl Brooks, DE (Bowling Green) (signed)
Round 6, No. 207 (from 49ers through Texans and Jets): Anders Carlson, K (Auburn) (signed)
Round 7, No. 232: Carrington Valentine, CB (Kentucky) (signed)
Round 7, No. 235 (from Lions through Rams): Lew Nichols III, RB (Central Michigan) (signed)
Round 7, No. 242 (from Jaguars): Anthony Johnson, CB (Virginia) (signed)
Round 7, No. 256: Grant DuBose, WR (Charlotte) (signed)
Minor NFL Transactions: 7/19/23
The roster updates following the opening of camp for rookies continued today:
Baltimore Ravens
- Placed on NFI: G Andrew Vorhees
Green Bay Packers
- Waived: OL DJ Scaife
Kansas City Chiefs
- Placed on PUP: DL Tershawn Wharton
Los Angeles Chargers
- Placed on NFI: WR Pokey Wilson
Minnesota Vikings
- Waived: CB John Reid
Tennessee Titans
- Waived: RB Charles McClelland
The news on Vorhees is no surprise. The lineman’s rookie year will operate as a redshirt season as he continues to work his way back from the torn ACL he suffered at the NFL Combine.
Wharton is also making his way back from a torn ACL. The rotation lineman suffered the season-ending injury in Week 5 of last season. He’s been working out with the team, but Wharton is not yet ready to be a full participant in practice.
Reid has started at least one game for each of the three teams for which he’s played in his three seasons of play. He’ll now look to find his seventh NFL team going into his fourth season.
Eagles To Sign T Dennis Kelly
The Eagles have added some true, quality depth to their offensive line, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, signing veteran free agent offensive tackle Dennis Kelly. After seven seasons between Tennessee, Green Bay, and Indianapolis, Kelly returns to the team that drafted him eleven years ago. 
Kelly was originally a fifth-round selection for Philadelphia in 2012 out of Purdue, starting 10 of 13 appearances as a rookie. The following season, Kelly didn’t make any appearances, while 2014 only saw him make three appearances, all starts. Despite the lack of playing time, the team signed Kelly to a one-year extension of his rookie contract prior to the 2015 season, keeping him under contract through the 2016 season. He started two games in 14 appearances that year, subsequently earning a second one-year extension through the 2017 season.
Before either of those extensions could be played out, the Eagles traded Kelly to Tennessee for wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham. Kelly made an immediate impact in Nashville, starting six games while playing in all 16. He often was used as a sixth-man on the offensive line during rushing situations. His useful role on the Titans earned him yet another extension, this one a two-year deal.
Kelly continued in a swing tackle role over the next few years for the Titans, notably backing up tackles Taylor Lewan and Jack Conklin, who consistently provided Kelly starting opportunities here and there for various reasons. When Conklin signed a big-money deal with the Browns, Tennessee made sure to lock up his replacement, inking Kelly to a new three-year, $17.25MM deal. This provided the then-eight-year veteran with his first opportunity as a full-time starter. Unfortunately, despite the new deal that was meant to keep him under contract through 2022, the Titans released Kelly shortly after his first season starting every game of the year.
A free agent for the first time in his career, Kelly signed with the Packers. After playing in 10 games, and starting four in place of an injured Billy Turner, Kelly signed with the Colts to end his second free agent stint. After failing to make the initial 53-man roster and being signed to the practice squad, Kelly still appeared in all but one game for the Colts last year, starting three.
His third stint in free agency will take him back to Philadelphia, where he will now add tackle depth for the team that drafted him. The Eagles’ starting tackles are in place with Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata, but past them, there isn’t a ton of experienced, qualified depth. Kelly immediately provides just that for the 2023 season. He should be able to continue his career-role as a swing tackle with spot starting and special teams abilities.
Jets Seeking Denzel Mims Trade Partner
4:47pm: The Mims-Jets saga persists. The team has not waived the fourth-year receiver yet, keeping open the possibility of a trade. The Cowboys previously discussed the Dangerfield, Texas, native with the Jets, CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson tweets, noting the talks were exploratory in nature.
11:07am: Another summer of Denzel Mims trade rumors is upon us, but the team does not sound like it intends to keep the former second-round pick if no deal materializes this time around.
The Jets are looking for a trade partner for Mims, per the New York Post’s Brian Costello, who adds the fourth-year receiver will be cut if no trade takes place. This looks to be a last-call announcement from the Jets, with Costello adding they plan to part ways with Mims on Wednesday.
The team excused Mims from reporting to training camp today, providing further indicating a long-rumored separation will take place soon. The 6-foot-3 pass catcher has been in trade rumors since 2021, when buzz about his roster spot began to emerge. Despite the steady rumors about Mims being a departure candidate, the Jets kept him throughout the past two seasons.
Chosen 59th overall in 2020, Mims has not delivered on his draft slot. And the Jets have remade their receiving corps this offseason. New York traded Elijah Moore and released Braxton Berrios, doing so during an offseason that saw Mecole Hardman, Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb sign as free agents. Corey Davis remains on the Jets’ roster, but the team is eyeing a pay cut. A Mims departure comes after years of trade rumblings.
Mims, 25, became a trade topic ahead of the 2021 trade deadline and before last season. He requested to be moved in August 2022, and the Jets engaged in more trade talks following that ask. The Cowboys, Panthers, Seahawks and Vikings are believed to have reached out last year, but with the Jets wanting at least a fourth-round pick in return, no deal commenced. Much has changed in Carolina since the then-Matt Rhule-led team called the Jets on Mims as well. It will almost certainly not take a fourth-rounder to acquire Mims today, but if a team lower on the waiver priority list wants to take a flier, the Jets might be able to fetch a late-round pick for the ex-Baylor cog. Some optimism exists this will end in a trade, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets.
During Sam Darnold‘s final season in New York (2020), Mims caught 23 passes for 357 yards. The Zach Wilson–Mike White–Joe Flacco seasons did not lead to an improvement from the young wide receiver, who combined for just 19 receptions over the past two seasons. One season, at a $1.35MM base salary, remains on Mims’ rookie contract. The Jets would pick up that $1.35MM in cap savings by waiving Mims.
While still looking for his first NFL touchdown, Mims totaled 28 while in college during a career that included two 1,000-yard seasons. He followed that up with a 4.38-second 40-yard dash clocking at the 2020 Combine. It seems he will have a chance at a fresh start soon.
Saquon Barkley Addresses Giants Negotiations, Prospect Of Missing Games
After the Giants and Saquon Barkley spent the past eight months in sporadic extension talks, the Pro Bowl running back will be forced to play this season on a $10.1MM franchise tag. Barkley joins Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard in this boat during a turbulent stretch for the running back position.
The Giants and Barkley came within approximately $2MM — both in AAV and guarantees — of hammering out a deal. As RB value dropped this offseason, Barkley and Jacobs are not expected to report to their respective training camps. Barkley has now referenced the prospect of sitting out regular-season games on multiple occasions.
During a podcast appearance days before the Monday’s tag deadline, the Giants back outlined his thought process regarding his absence lasting into the regular season.
“I have no worry about going on a football field and knowing that I’m not playing for my worth or saying if I have to play, because this is my leverage: my leverage is I could say f*** you to the Giants,” Barkley said during an appearance on The Money Matters Podcast with Jack Mallers (via the New York Daily News’ Pat Leonard). “I could say f*** you to my teammates and be like, ‘You want me to show you my worth? You want me to show how valuable I am to the team? I won’t show up. I won’t play a down. And that’s a play I can use.
“Anybody [who] knows me knows that’s not something I want to do. But is that something that’s crossed my mind? I never thought I would ever do that, but now I’m at a point where it’s like ‘Jesus, like, I might have to take it to this level.’ Am I willing and prepared to take it to the level? I don’t know.”
None of Barkley’s options at this point include money beyond 2023. He has not signed the $10.1MM franchise tender, allowing for a camp no-show without a fine. He addressed the subject of a Le’Veon Bell-like move earlier this summer, and a recent report reintroduced the prospect of skipping at least Week 1. Barkley would lose out on $561K for each game missed, but seeing as the former No. 2 overall pick resides in a different NFL tax bracket compared to Jacobs or Pollard due to banking $38MM-plus from 2018-22, missing games to punish the Giants and remove the risk of injury and wear and tear is more realistic in this case.
“[Missing games is] something I gotta sit down and talk to my family [about],” Barkley said. “I gotta sit down and talk to my team, gotta really strategize about this. I can’t just go off of emotions … But I am at a place where if I do go on the field and have to play and prove again, I’m fine with that.”
The only upside of a Barkley in-season absence would be limiting mileage and better positioning himself for a free agency bid in 2024. Barkley logged 352 touches in 2018 and 2022, and injury- and talent-based questions about the Giants’ receiving corps positions the sixth-year running back as a cornerstone player in 2023 as well. While Bell took considerable heat for passing on a $14.5MM franchise tag in 2018, the Jets gave him a four-year, $52.5MM deal ($27MM guaranteed) in 2019. The current RB market does not suggest a windfall would await Barkley next year, and the Giants could tag him again at barely $12MM. But the Penn State product is running out of time to score a lucrative veteran contract.
Barkley, 26, can also attempt to use the threat of missed games to entice the Giants to add a clause that prohibits a second tag in 2024. This staring contest may last a bit, with Sportskeeda’s Tony Pauline adding Barkley feels disrespected and will be ready to stay away from his team for a “significant” time period.
Barkley assessed the contract negotiations — at least those that occurred before last weekend — and indicated a conversation with John Mara prompted him to intervene during the sides’ winter talks. But after the Giants franchise-tagged Barkley, they pulled a contract offer. The sides’ talks before this week’s deadline brought the guarantee total toward $22MM but dropped the AAV below $12MM. Although the Mara talks did not produce a deal, Pauline adds second-year GM Joe Schoen communicated to Barkley and Daniel Jones of a likelihood of the player not extended in March would have a real chance of playing on the tag. The Giants made Jones their top offseason priority and extended him (four years, $160MM) minutes before the March deadline to tag players.
“That was the only time I really got involved in the negotiation process,” Barkley said. “I sat down with the owner. The owner told me what it was, told me how they care about me. And this is when we were still going tit for tat [with offers] … The owner opened up to me, and I respected that.
“’I let you [Mara] know how much I feel about this place, how much I feel about your family, … how much I feel about [Steve] Tisch’s family.’ That’s when I picked up the phone and I called my agent and I was like, ‘I don’t care; let’s get it done. Like boom, this is where I want to be, this is the number I’m fine with, boom, let’s get there.’ … When you get tagged, now they have the tag, now it’s like, ‘You know what Saquon? If we really want to, we don’t have to offer you anything.'”
Previously accusing the Giants of providing dishonest information about his contract desires via leaks, Barkley also accused the team of comparing him to backs with inferior receiving skillsets. To be fair, the Giants have not used Barkley’s receiving chops too much since Pat Shurmur‘s exit; his last 400-plus-yard aerial season came in 2019.
“I’m not even asking for what I’m worth,” Barkley said of his goal before the deadline. “Because I just told you I’m the best running back in the NFL. But I’m not going to war for that. In the negotiation process, I’m not going to war for that.
“For me, I was like, you know what, I can go there, I can go to war, try to get as much money as I can, but at the end of the day, what really matters is winning, and winning a championship. And I know if I’m able to help bring a championship to New York, that’s going to go miles more ahead than this contract.”
Due to tag rules, Barkley contract talks cannot commence again until January 2024. The New Jersey native’s comments just before the tag deadline indicated he wanted to stay with the Giants for the rest of his career. It will be interesting to see how this saga plays out now that the extension talks have ceased.
Jets Place Chuck Clark On IR, Stash Breece Hall On Active/PUP List
Chuck Clark will not make a late-season comeback for the Jets. After suffering an ACL tear in June, Clark landed on the Jets’ injured reserve list Wednesday.
Since the Jets are not carrying Clark over to their 53-man roster, this IR move will end his season. It would have represented a long shot for the veteran safety to return this year anyway, and this transaction buries that notion. The Jets also placed receiver/returner hopeful Diontae Spencer on IR.
The Jets traded for Clark, 28, in March and were preparing to use him as a full-time player alongside Jordan Whitehead. Clark’s knee injury prompted the team to bring in yet another ex-Packer, Adrian Amos, to fill that role. Amos had received interest from the Ravens, visiting his hometown team twice. But the Jets suddenly having a clear need helped them land the eight-year starter.
Upon acquiring Clark, the Jets took on his three-year, $15.3MM Ravens contract. Only one season remained on the deal, and rather than the former Baltimore starter playing his way into a nice Jets extension, a trip to free agency coming off a severe injury may be in the cards.
Gang Green also placed Breece Hall on its active/PUP list. Unlike the reserve/PUP list, this is a training camp-only designation. Players can be removed from the active/PUP list at any point during camp. The Jets also placed Randall Cobb, C.J. Uzomah and defensive back Jarrick Bernard-Converse on the active/PUP list.
Hall suffered a torn ACL in October of last year, but the Jets have maintained the second-year running back will be ready for Week 1. A delayed start to camp will be part of the former second-rounder’s ramp-up period. New York has been connected to Dalvin Cook for an extended stretch, with Hall’s recovery likely a factor in the team’s pursuit of the accomplished ex-Viking. The Dolphins and Patriots are also interested in Cook, though New England worked out two more affordable options — Leonard Fournette and Darrell Henderson — on Wednesday.
Patriots Work Out RB Leonard Fournette, Darrell Henderson
3:56pm: Darrell Henderson also took part in this workout, Pelissero adds (on Twitter). The former Ram’s market has been just as quiet as Fournette’s this offseason. The Jaguars waived Henderson shortly after claiming him late last year. Henderson does have two 600-plus-yard rushing seasons on his resume and operated as the Rams’ starting back for much of their Super Bowl LVI-winning season.
But the former third-round pick is coming off a down contract year, one in which he gained just 385 scrimmage yards and did not see action after being claimed by the Jags.
11:54am: The Patriots met with Leonard Fournette during his 2022 free agency stay. Nearly 18 months later, the sides will huddle up again. Fournette is set to work out for the Pats on Wednesday, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.
New England has been kicking the tires on running back depth, per the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed, and has been in the Dalvin Cook mix for a bit now. Fournette’s market is not expected to reach the Cook level, opening the door to a lower-cost Pats addition at the position.
Fournette, 28, met with the Patriots in March 2022 but ended up back with the Buccaneers on a three-year, $21MM deal. Fournette and the Bucs mutually parted ways in March of this year, but not much has come out regarding the former top-five pick’s market since. Fournette joins the likes of Cook, Ezekiel Elliott and Kareem Hunt as notable RBs in free agency.
A former No. 4 overall Jaguars pick, Fournette served as the centerpiece of an offense that faced the Patriots in the 2017 AFC championship game. Three years later, Fournette came on late to make major contributions in the Bucs’ Super Bowl LV-winning season. Tampa Bay rewarded Fournette with contracts in 2021 and ’22. The latter deal included $12MM guaranteed. That contract was in line with what the Cardinals gave James Conner last spring, but this offseason brought a market crash at running back. This market sits in a strange place after numerous cost-cutting measures — and Monday’s lack of extensions for three franchise-tagged players — reduced the position’s standing further.
Adding Fournette would seemingly remove the Pats from the Cook market. It is worth wondering if recent events will impact Cook offers as well. But Fournette will be in Foxborough today, exploring a possible partnership with a third NFL team.
The Bucs ranked last in rushing in 2022; Fournette’s yards per carry dropped by a full yard. The LSU product had averaged 4.5 per tote in 2021, but as just about everything on the Bucs’ offense worsened last year, the team’s starting back averaged a 3.5 yards per handoff. Fournette totaled 1,191 scrimmage yards, however, contributing a career-high 523 through the air. Earning the “Playoff Lenny” alias for his work during the Bucs’ Super Bowl march, Fournette finished with 448 scrimmage yards in the team’s four 2020 playoff games. Prior to a hamstring injury that shut Fournette down in Week 15 of the 2021 season, he totaled 1,266 scrimmage yards as the Bucs’ lead back.
Rhamondre Stevenson resides as the Pats’ starter, with Kyed adding Pierre Strong has a chance to solidify the No. 2 role. But the team being connected to multiple big-name backs could impede the second-year player’s RB2 quest. Stevenson’s status as the team’s starter, especially after Damien Harris‘ free agency exit, should not be considered in jeopardy at this point. But the team may be set to bring in a proven back to complement him soon.