NFC West Notes: Carter, Cards, Rams, 49ers
Closely connected to Jalen Carter ahead of the draft, the Seahawks decided to select Devon Witherspoon at No. 5. The Lions were believed to be targeting the Illinois cornerback at No. 6, and Tyler Dunne of GoLongTD.com notes the Seahawks were pleased rumors circulated they were eyeing Carter at 5. That said, some among the Seahawks did make a late push for the Georgia defensive tackle, per Dunne, who adds some teams viewed the polarizing prospect as “unapologetic” regarding the off-field incident that docked his draft stock. Carter faced misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing — in connection with a fatal crash that killed two members of Georgia’s football program in January — but said he did not encounter extensive questioning from teams about the January scene. The Eagles are not believed to have inquired deeply about the event.
Pete Carroll was believed to be onboard with the Seahawks drafting Carter, but the team passed on one of this draft’s top talents. They were not alone in doing so. The Lions were prepared to draft Jahmyr Gibbs over Carter, before the Cardinals sent them a trade offer for 6, and the Raiders and Falcons passed as well. The Bears, who were eyeing D-line additions in the draft, traded out of No. 9 to allow the Eagles to land this class’ top D-tackle. Here is the latest from the NFC West:
- The Cardinals‘ trade-up to No. 6 completed their Paris Johnson acquisition effort. After being tied to the Ohio State prospect in the days leading up to the draft, Arizona will likely move him into its starting lineup immediately. Johnson earned his high prospect ranking as a tackle, but Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic notes the Cardinals have not determined if the ex-Buckeyes blocker will start his pro career at tackle or guard. Johnson played guard in both 2020 and ’21, being a full-time starter at that position as a sophomore, before sliding to left tackle last season. The Cards have both their top tackles — D.J. Humphries and Kelvin Beachum — under contract and re-signed Will Hernandez this offseason. Josh Jones, a guard who slid to tackle to replace an injured Humphries, remains rostered as well. Regardless of where Johnson starts his career, he is expected to become the Cards’ long-term left tackle, McManaman adds.
- Staying on the topic of Cardinals positional uncertainty, Zaven Collins began working as an edge rusher when the team convened for its offseason work, Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com notes. The 2021 first-round pick spent his first two NFL seasons as an off-ball linebacker, but the Cardinals have Isaiah Simmons and the recently added Kyzir White — who followed HC Jonathan Gannon from Philadelphia — at the ILB spots. While Collins played 785 snaps at linebacker last season, he did line up as a D-lineman on 182 plays.
- With Gannon and Cards DC Nick Rallis departing Philly, the Eagles hired Matt Patricia. Prior to that relocation, Patricia spoke with the Rams about a role on Sean McVay‘s staff, Albert Breer of SI.com writes. Patricia, who interviewed for the Broncos’ DC job and was on the radar for another role on Sean Payton‘s staff, has only previously coached for two teams (the Patriots and Lions) throughout a 19-year NFL career.
- The 49ers added Brandon Allen as their fourth quarterback. While Allen would not be part of San Francisco’s active roster if every other QB on the team was fully healthy, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco notes the team gave the ex-Bengals QB2 $200K guaranteed. Allen spent most of the past three seasons as Joe Burrow‘s backup. While the 49ers have Brock Purdy, Trey Lance and Sam Darnold on their roster, Purdy is not expected to be cleared until potentially September and Lance has been involved in trade rumors to the point John Lynch felt compelled to address those with the former No. 3 overall pick.
Bucs GM Jason Licht On Tristan Wirfs, Luke Goedeke
MAY 10: Lending more to the notion Wirfs will be on the move, Bucs offensive line coach Joe Gilbert said (via Stroud) the left side of the team’s line looks fairly set with the All-Pro on the blind side and free agency pickup Matt Feiler at left guard. After three strong seasons at right tackle, Wirfs appears on the cusp of playing a more lucrative position as a big payday nears.
MAY 7: The Buccaneers have contemplated moving right tackle Tristan Wirfs, who has earned two Pro Bowls bids and one First Team All-Pro selection in his three years in the NFL, to the left side of the line. After the Bucs failed to acquire a left tackle in last month’s draft, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times wrote that Wirfs will officially be moving to LT.
GM Jason Licht, however, says that a final decision on Wirfs’ position has not been made just yet. On a recent appearance on 95.3 WDAE, Licht said, “Now we’re still going to remain fluid here in the offseason. We’re going to see how it goes. We certainly feel very comfortable with a person like Tristan, with his skillset and his athleticism and size and intelligence and all that, that [his transition to left tackle] is gonna be pretty seamless, but that hasn’t completely been etched in stone yet” (h/t JoeBucsFan.com).
Licht’s comments notwithstanding, it would seem that Wirfs, as Stroud indicated, is indeed ticketed for the blind side. At this stage of the offseason, the free agent left tackle options are generally uninspiring and include the likes of Eric Fisher (who did not play a snap in 2022), Jason Peters (who turned 41 in January), and Taylor Lewan (who has suffered two ACL tears in the past three years). Unless Wirfs sustains an injury or proves completely incapable of making the transition to LT, those players likely would not represent an upgrade.
Of course, assuming Wirfs does fill the void created when longtime left tackle Donovan Smith was released in March, someone will need to replace Wirfs at right tackle. Per Stroud, the first crack at that position will go to Luke Goedeke, a 2022 second-round choice. In his rookie season, Goedeke — who worked as a right tackle in college — spent the majority of his time at left guard and largely struggled.
The hope is that moving Goedeke back to RT will make him look more like a second-round draftee. He did line up at right tackle for last year’s regular season finale, and he looked much more comfortable there than he did as an interior blocker.
“We are excited about how Luke did for us at (right) tackle there at the end of the year — it’s his natural position,” Licht said.
It is unclear whether Licht made an effort to trade up from his No. 19 selection to land an OT. The Steelers moved up four spots from their No. 18 slot to nab Georgia LT Broderick Jones, and Licht passed on Oklahoma’s Anton Harrison when the Bucs were on the clock. While the Bucs did pick up North Dakota State tackle Cody Mauch on Day 2, Mauch will be converted to guard.
At present, Tampa Bay’s starting OL, from left to right, appears to be Wirfs, Nick Leverett, Ryan Jensen, Mauch, and Goedeke. That unit will be tasked with clearing more space for what was the league’s worst rushing attack in 2022 and affording presumptive QB1 Baker Mayfield sufficient time to throw.
Wirfs is already under club control through 2024 since Licht made the easy decision to exercise his fifth-year option. But if the Iowa product performs as well at left tackle as he has on the right side, his future earning power will get a significant boost.
Steelers To Release CB Arthur Maulet
The Steelers will cut ties with their primary slot cornerback from last season. They informed Arthur Maulet he will be released, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).
This move comes just more than a week after the team agreed to terms with veteran slot defender Chandon Sullivan, who will come to Pittsburgh after a year in Minnesota. Maulet, 29, spent the past two seasons with the Steelers, joining the AFC North team after bouncing around the league early in his career.
Pittsburgh re-signed Maulet to a two-year, $3.83MM contract in March 2022 and used him frequently in the slot last season. Although Pro Football Focus rated Maulet as slightly better than Sullivan in 2022, the rankings difference was negligible (90th and 96th, respectively). The six-year veteran did improve on his coverage numbers in 2022, allowing a 61.5% completion rate (down from 75.9% in 2021) and dropped his passer rating number — as the closest defender — from 119.0 to 105.5. But Sullivan is now in place as the expected Steelers slot player.
Maulet’s signing comprised part of a low-cost Steelers corner corps last season. Neither he nor Cameron Sutton, Levi Wallace and Ahkello Witherspoon made more than $5MM. The team has since made some changes at the position, adding Sullivan, Patrick Peterson and second-round pick Joey Porter Jr. Wallace and Witherspoon remain on the roster, each going into the final year of their respective contracts. Sutton signed with the Lions on Day 1 of the legal tampering period.
A former Saints UDFA, Maulet has played for four teams over the course of his career. The 5-foot-10 cover man spent time with the Colts and Jets prior to his Steelers stay, starting 11 Jets games — at both corner and safety — from 2019-20. He joined the Steelers in May 2021. Last season, Maulet made a career-high 59 tackles, registered two sacks and intercepted a pass. He played a career-high 481 defensive snaps last year. As a vested veteran, Maulet will immediately hit free agency after this release.
Ravens Interested In Adrian Amos, To Move Brandon Stephens Back To Safety
As the Ravens’ Rock Ya-Sin signing showed, a visit not producing an immediate agreement does not mean no interest exists on the team’s part. The Ravens kept in touch with Ya-Sin after a March meeting and signed him last week, shortly after the compensatory period expired.
The same timeline appears to be in place regarding Adrian Amos, who visited Baltimore in late March. Mutual interest exists between the Ravens and Amos, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic notes (subscription required). Signing Amos would no longer count against the Ravens’ 2024 compensatory formula. Considering the Ravens’ long-held value of comp picks, the early-May deadline has always been an important date for the franchise.
A Baltimore native whom Zrebiec notes grew up idolizing Ed Reed, Amos is also on the radar for a second Packers deal. Green Bay would seem to have a greater need at the position compared to Baltimore, which gave Marcus Williams a $14MM-per-year deal in 2022 and drafted Kyle Hamilton in the first round soon after. Though, the Ravens traded longtime starter Chuck Clark to the Jets this offseason. Still, the Packers did not draft a safety until Round 7 and minimized ex-first-rounder Darnell Savage‘s role down the stretch last season. The Packers did sign Tarvarius Moore but cannot match the Ravens’ Williams-Hamilton duo.
Amos, 30, has 122 starts on his resume and has not missed a game since 2017. The Packers gave the ex-Bears draftee a four-year, $36MM deal in 2019, bringing him over during the same offseason in which they poached Za’Darius Smith from the Ravens. With Amos remaining unsigned until May, he likely does not have an offer in that ballpark. But the veteran starter will undoubtedly have a chance to play a ninth season.
Pro Football Focus did grade Amos as one of the NFL’s worst safety regulars last season, but he drew a top-30 mark at the position in every other year of his career. Amos also made a career-high 102 tackles in 2022, registering a career-most seven tackles for loss as well. Amos joins the likes of John Johnson, Logan Ryan, Lamarcus Joyner, Duron Harmon and Ronnie Harrison as veteran back-liners still available.
The Ravens’ Ya-Sin signing does look to be influencing their secondary makeup overall. They are planning to station Brandon Stephens at safety once they begin on-field work this offseason, John Harbaugh said. A third-year player, Stephens worked as an injury replacement for safety DeShon Elliott as a rookie but played only nine snaps at safety last season (as opposed to 330 as a boundary corner), Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com notes (on Twitter).
Valuing Stephens’ versatility, the Ravens appear prepared to see if the 215-pound defender — a college cornerback and running back — can become an in-house Clark replacement. Stephens’ status, then, could certainly affect Baltimore’s interest in adding Amos.
Chiefs Planning Raise For Patrick Mahomes?
The Chiefs did well to lock down Patrick Mahomes to a contract that does not expire until March 2032. While the summer 2020 extension gave Mahomes a $10MM AAV advantage on his peers, the field caught up less than two years after the deal was finalized.
With Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson moving past the $50MM-per-year barrier on long-term deals in April, Mahomes’ $45MM-AAV pact has fallen to seventh at the position. Accomplishment-wise, Mahomes laps his 20-something peers but has nine seasons left on an extension that has not blazed a trail for others. His rivals have surpassed his average salary and have done so on traditional QB accords.
Chiefs GM Brett Veach said the team would look into Mahomes’ deal after other QB pacts became finalized. This year’s crop is only halfway there, as Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert remain tied to their rookie contracts. But the Chiefs may be looking to avoid a potential standoff down the road. Mahomes should be expected to enter the 2023 season as the league’s highest-paid QB again, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
Kansas City probably should not be expected to relinquish the control (and roster-building advantages) the 2020 extension provided, making a scenario in which the team tears up the through-2031 contract in favor of a traditional — and more player-friendly — structure unlikely. Florio suggests tacking on three years and $156MM to the deal, one that is already north of $450MM in total value due to its length and Mahomes having begun to cash in on incentives. That type of bump would move Mahomes past Jackson’s $52MM-per-year average. A new agreement of any sort would undoubtedly require a guarantee adjustment as well, with the Hurts and Jackson deals serving as relevant source material. But this will be an unusual renegotiation, given the time left on Mahomes’ current pact.
Mahomes, 27, is not believed to have made a push for an adjustment that puts him on par with his peers. But the 2017 first-round pick changed the Chiefs’ trajectory to the point they have won two Super Bowls and appeared in three during his five-year starter tenure. Prior to their Mahomes-led Super Bowl LIV title, the Chiefs had gone 50 years without a Super Bowl berth. His two MVPs are more than any active QB except Aaron Rodgers, who began his starter tenure 10 years before Mahomes. The Texas Tech product’s two Super Bowl MVP honors lead all active NFLers. The Chiefs taking a hardline approach with their transformative player would not exactly be a good look. That said, Mahomes did agree to a 10-year extension. An adjustment so early would be a precedent-breaking transaction. It would also be very interesting if Mahomes lobbies for a shorter-term deal during a renegotiation of sorts.
Only $63.1MM came fully guaranteed in Mahomes’ 2020 deal. Deshaun Watson‘s Browns pact — one the NFL has successfully tabbed an outlier — includes $230MM locked in. Jackson passed Russell Wilson for second in fully guaranteed money by securing $135MM from the Ravens last month. The Chiefs did include guarantee mechanisms that protect Mahomes, giving him year-out security. His 2024 roster bonus ($34.9MM) became guaranteed March 17 of this year; this cycle repeats in the years to follow. But the market has changed considerably since the parties finalized the QB’s second contract.
Kansas City also has a new Chris Jones extension to construct, in all likelihood, with the team’s top pass rusher entering the final season of his four-year, $80MM deal. Mahomes’ unorthodox extension helped the Chiefs extend Jones the first time, though the organization passed on a third Tyreek Hill contract last year.
Should the Chiefs indeed proceed down this path with Mahomes so early in his current deal, it will be one of the most interesting contractual processes in recent NFL history. With Burrow potentially set to take the market to $55MM per year, the Chiefs would have a unique task to complete in the coming months.
Ravens Hoping To Extend LB Patrick Queen
The 2020 first-round contingent collectively brought skepticism from teams over the past week and change. A record-low 12 fifth-year options were exercised. Off-ball linebackers certainly felt this doubt — at least, from a financial perspective — as the teams with linebacker options passed en masse.
Isaiah Simmons, Kenneth Murray, Patrick Queen and Jordyn Brooks saw their options declined, putting each in a contract year. The Seahawks are hoping to regroup with Brooks on an extension, but the Ravens used a third-round pick on Clemson linebacker Trenton Simpson. That selection prompted a Twitter reaction from Queen, who recently saw the Ravens give Roquan Smith a record-setting extension.
Prior to Simpson’s arrival and the Ravens’ decision to decline Queen’s $12.72MM option, a Queen trade rumor emerged. But, even with the $20MM-per-year Smith extension and the team choosing Simpson (Scouts Inc.’s No. 54 overall prospect) 86th overall, Ravens GM Eric DeCosta views Queen as a player the Ravens want beyond his contract year.
“People want to jump to conclusions [and say], ‘Oh [Simpson] is going to replace Patrick,'” DeCosta said during an appearance on The Lounge podcast (via BaltimoreRavens.com’s Ryan Mink). “I can tell you this. Patrick Queen had a hell of a year last year. Patrick Queen is a very talented, in my mind, Pro Bowl-type linebacker. He’s going to have a great year this year.
“We want Patrick Queen on this team; we want to keep him on this team. We will, at some point, try to get him signed, hopefully, to an extension if we can.”
Paying big-ticket contracts to multiple off-ball ‘backers is not exactly a popular roster-building blueprint as of late. The 49ers are the only team with even two ILBs earning at least $8MM on average (Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw). The Bills paid Matt Milano and let Tremaine Edmunds walk. The Colts did not pay up for Shaquille Leonard sidekick Bobby Okereke. The Eagles let both their three-down ‘backers (T.J. Edwards, Kyzir White) walk. Like Philadelphia, Baltimore now has a monster quarterback contract on its payroll. Unless Queen will be amenable to a midlevel extension, the Ravens’ decisions will make it difficult for him to stay beyond 2023.
Queen and Smith formed a top-end ILB duo last season, and the younger defender totaled a career-high 117 tackles and five sacks to help a Ravens team down Lamar Jackson reach the playoffs. Queen, 23, also finished with two interceptions and a forced fumble. Pro Football Focus viewed Queen as making a significant improvement in 2023, slotting him just outside the top 30 among off-ball ‘backers.
“The fifth-year option was something that was more based on business and the salary cap economics than actually Patrick Queen and his performance and what he does as a player,” DeCosta said. “He’s a difference-maker for us. When we had Patrick Queen and Roquan Smith last year over the last half of the season, we had a chance to see how dominant our defense could be.”
Teams’ recent option decisions could lead to an eventful off-ball linebacker market forming next year. Devin White requested a trade ahead of his fifth-year option slate; he is due for 2024 free agency. So are Logan Wilson and Willie Gay. This year’s market did not prove fruitful for many parties, falling off after Edmunds’ $18MM-per-year Bears accord. Okereke ($10MM AAV) was the only other linebacker to sign a deal averaging north of $7MM.
For 2023, the Ravens have a deep linebacking group; Simpson and former third-rounder Malik Harrison are in place behind the starters. DeCosta said other teams’ decisions led the Ravens to Simpson, who was not necessarily the team’s target in Round 3. The best-available pick could lead to a big-picture decision involving Queen in the near future.
Minor NFL Transactions: 5/9/23
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Claimed (from Eagles): DB Andre Chachere
Cleveland Browns
- Waived: WR Marquez Stevenson, DT Ben Stille
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: WR Juwann Winfree
- Waived: DE Guy Thomas
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: OL Sebastian Gutierrez
- Waived: CB Montrae Braswell, OL Blake Haynes
New England Patriots
- Re-signed: CB Tae Hayes
Chachere will rejoin Jonathan Gannon in Arizona. The San Jose State alum played two seasons with the Eagles, working as a regular special-teamer in Philly. He played 322 ST snaps for the Eagles in 2021 and 141 last season. He will accompany linebacker Kyzir White in following Gannon to the desert.
A 2019 Broncos sixth-round pick, Winfree spent the past three seasons with the Packers. He caught nine passes for 75 yards in that span. The Patriots initially picked up Hayes as a practice squad addition in December. Hayes, who played seven games with the Pats and Panthers last season, has been on six teams since being a 2019 UDFA.
Jets, Steelers Address First-Round Decisions
While the past two weeks have brought one of the more notable stretches of positive Jets publicity in recent NFL history, their Aaron Rodgers-driven momentum has experienced a speedbump. The pick-swap component of the Rodgers trade is widely believed to have cost the Jets the offensive lineman they coveted.
Robert Saleh attempted to provide a counterstrike against the notion the Steelers’ three-spot trade-up — for Georgia tackle Broderick Jones — cost the Jets their preferred pick. Part of the Rodgers trade involved the Jets swapping first-round picks with the Packers, dropping from No. 13 to No. 15, and the Steelers’ trade-up maneuver ensured the draft’s top tackles were gone by the time the Jets’ pick arrived. Gang Green took edge rusher Will McDonald at No. 15.
“The difference between 13 and 15 and the way everything shook out made no difference to us,” Saleh said during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show (video link). … We’re always going to take the best player available when it presents itself. I think what surprised everybody is that you could make an argument the best available wasn’t a need. It doesn’t change what you do, but for the last two years, everybody we drafted seemed to be a need.”
The Jets added McDonald to an edge group that includes Carl Lawson, 2022 first-round pick Jermaine Johnson and versatile veteran John Franklin-Myers. Lawson’s contract expires after this season, potentially positioning the Jets to use Johnson and McDonald as their longer-term edge starters. For 2023, however, McDonald may not be a starter.
Pittsburgh did view New York as eyeing Jones at No. 15, and GM Omar Khan said the team was leery about other teams moving ahead of its No. 17 draft slot for Jones. Assistant Steelers GM Andy Weidl worked with Jets GM Joe Douglas with the Ravens and Eagles, and Khan mentioned pro personnel director Sheldon White‘s contributions when it came time for Steelers brass to determine which teams were threats for Jones.
“No, no inside information, but we have Sheldon White, who’s our director of pro, does a really good job of preparing us leading into the draft as to what every team-specific needs are and what he believes their priorities are,” Khan said, via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. “And it wasn’t just the Jets, but there were teams behind us that we had the same concern that they might come up and had a need for an offensive tackle that might come up and trade up to get Broderick.
“Again, when the opportunity was there, we just didn’t want to take the chance of waiting to see if he was there or not. But we had no inside info that’s who the Jets were gonna take. It’s just a hunch.”
It required only a fourth-round pick for the Steelers to move up three spots, via the Patriots, in Round 1. It took the Eagles a fourth to move up one spot in the first round (for Jalen Carter), and the Bills a fourth to climb two positions (for Dalton Kincaid). Some have labeled the Patriots as being eager to allow a team to leapfrog the Jets for Jones — who received high marks from Gang Green during his “30” visit. Khan said he did not discuss the Jets component during trade talks with the Patriots.
The Steelers, who had made just one first-round trade-up (for Devin Bush, in 2019) over the past 15 drafts, added Jones to likely replace two-year starter Dan Moore at left tackle. Georgia’s 2022 left-side starter, via The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo, is more likely to supplant Moore than right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor, who may be a better bet to remain a starter once Jones is up to speed (subscription required). Pro Football Focus rated Moore and Okorafor outside the top 50 at tackle last season. Okorafor has operated as Pittsburgh’s starting right tackle for the past three seasons.
NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/9/23
Teams are moving quickly on inking their Day 3 draftees to their four-year rookie deals, with this process involving a slot system that does not feature many complications for late-round players. Here are the latest such agreements to commence:
Cincinnati Bengals
- RB Chase Brown (fifth round, Illinois)
Denver Broncos
- C Alex Forsyth (seventh round, Oregon)
Detroit Lions
- OL Colby Sorsdal (fifth round, William & Mary)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- OLB Yasir Abdullah (fifth round, Louisville)
New England Patriots
- G Atonio Mafi (fifth round, UCLA)
Seattle Seahawks
- DE Mike Morris, (fifth round, Michigan)
An additional quintet of fifth-round picks is now under contract. Last year, the slot system pegged Round 5’s contracts between $4.1MM and $3.9MM over four years, with full guarantees ranging from $361K to $243K.
Brown finished his Fighting Illini tenure with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, including a 1,643-yard slate as a senior. He joins a Bengals team that did not outbid the Broncos for Samaje Perine and had been expected to ask Joe Mixon for a pay cut. Post-draft, Zac Taylor issued a vote of confidence for Mixon to be back. Abdullah combined to tally 19.5 sacks and 31 tackles for loss during his final two seasons at Louisville.
Buccaneers Aiming To Add Running Back
Coming off a season in which they ranked last in rushing, the Buccaneers did not bolster their backfield in the draft. Rachaad White remains on track to be Tampa Bay’s starter.
The Bucs are aiming to add a veteran to their backfield equation, per ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler, who indicated during a recent SportsCenter appearance (h/t Bleacher Report’s Erin Walsh) the team is seeking “an RB2” to work behind White. A 2022 third-round pick, White totaled 481 rushing yards (3.7 per carry) last season and minimized Leonard Fournette‘s role as the campaign progressed. The Bucs still 76.9 yards per game.
Tampa Bay released Fournette, a mutual separation, despite signing the former top-five pick to a three-year deal worth $21MM in 2022. Fournette remains unsigned. The Bucs were mentioned as an Ezekiel Elliott suitor in March; Elliott remains unsigned. While Fowler mentioned Elliott as a candidate to fill this role, a Cowboys return also remains on the table. That said, the Bucs did hire ex-Cowboys running backs coach Skip Peete this offseason. Peete worked with Elliott from 2020-22.
Chase Edmonds signed with the Bucs in March, coming over after the Broncos released their 2022 trade acquisition. But the team does not appear confident in the ex-Cardinal as its locked-in backup. Beyond Elliott and Fournette, the most obvious free agent to fit this job description is Kareem Hunt, a former rushing champion who spent three-plus seasons as Nick Chubb‘s top backup. Mark Ingram is also available, and the two-stint Saint is hoping to play a 13th NFL season.
If the Bucs ventured into the trade market, Dalvin Cook becomes an obvious name to monitor. The Vikings are open to trading their six-year starter, having re-signed backup Alexander Mattison. Cook is due a $10.4MM base salary, which would be a tough sell for a Bucs team that spent much of the offseason clearing cap space. The Bucs would need to make payroll adjustments with any backfield addition, considering they sit last in cap space (barely $600K) as of Tuesday. Going into his age-28 season, Cook would also be a clear candidate to start for his next team.
Bengals and Titans trade rumors — involving Joe Mixon and Derrick Henry, respectively — have died down, and they never took off after Austin Ekeler requested to be moved. Few teams are in the market for this position, but the Bucs appear prepared to make a move fairly soon.