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Jaguars Sign OL Leonard Wester

By | at April 4, 2019 5:10 pm

The Jaguars have signed free agent offensive lineman Leonard Wester, the club announced today.

Wester spent the past three seasons with the Buccaneers before being non-tendered as a restricted free agent, and he’ll reunite with former Tampa Bay offensive line coach George Warhop, who now holds the same title in Jacksonville. While the Jaguars are set at left tackle with Cam Robinson, the club has a wide open slot on the right side following the release of Jermey Parnell, so Wester could compete for a starting job.

Wester, 26, went undrafted out of Missouri Western State in 2016. He’s appeared in 27 NFL games (all with the Buccaneers), but hasn’t been asked to play much of a significant role, as he’s made only one start during his career. In 2018, Wester played 116 offensive snaps, which marked a career-high, but Pro Football Focus assigned him a poor grade of 46.6 for his performance.

Before signing with the Jaguars, Wester also worked out for the Lions, Chiefs, and Falcons, according to Greg Auman of The Athletic (Twitter links).

5 comments Atlanta Falcons Detroit Lions Jacksonville Jaguars Kansas City Chiefs Transactions

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/3/19

By | at April 3, 2019 9:31 pm

Today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Cleveland Browns

Green Bay Packers

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Re-signed (ERFA): WR Marcus Kemp
  • Waived: CB Step Durham

New York Giants

New York Jets

Miami Dolphins

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

1 comment Atlanta Falcons Cleveland Browns Green Bay Packers Kansas City Chiefs Miami Dolphins New York Giants New York Jets Tampa Bay Buccaneers Transactions

Falcons Re-Sign LB Kemal Ishmael

By | at April 3, 2019 8:21 pm

The Falcons have re-signed linebacker Kemal Ishmael to a one-year deal, the club announced Wednesday.

A seventh-round pick in the 2013 draft, Ishmael has spent his entire career in Atlanta. He saw the most action of his pro tenure back in 2014, when he made 10 starts and posted four interceptions. Since then, he’s made only 10 additional starts, but has played in 61 of a possible 64 games.

Originally drafted as a defensive back, Ishmael has since morphed into a linebacker. Last season, Ishmael played only 64 defensive snaps (the fewest of his career), but played a career-high 330 snaps on special teams, registering 21 tackles in the process. For what it’s worth, Atlanta finished 10th in Football Outsiders’ special teams metrics, but that ranking was mostly due to kicker Matt Bryant‘s success.

Last offseason, Ishmael re-signed with the Falcons on a one-year deal worth $1MM. That pact contained $210K in guaranteed money, and Ishmael likely inked a similar contract this time around.

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Falcons To Work Out T Kaleb McGary

By | at April 1, 2019 9:47 pm

Two teams who will be visiting with Devin White soon are also set to have this draft’s other high-profile Devin on their pre-draft itineraries. The Bengals met with Devin Bush on Monday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets, adding the Buccaneers are next up on the Michigan-produced linebacker’s schedule. White is expected to go off draft boards a bit sooner, but Bush is viewed as a solid first-round pick as well. Bush finished out the 2018 season with 66 tackles, including 8.5 for a loss, and 4.5 sacks. In 2017, the versatile linebacker posted 95 tackles, 10 for loss, and 5.5 sacks. He is the son of former Falcons, Rams and Browns safety Devin Bush Sr., a 1995 first-round pick who played in back-to-back Super Bowls in the late 1990s. The Bucs hold the No. 5 pick, while the Bengals’ first pick comes at No. 11.

  • A fellow Washington Huskies product, tackle Kaleb McGary has visits lined up with the Patriots, Rams and Jaguars, per Pauline. The Falcons are also going to work out McGary, who was a three-plus-season starter at right tackle for the Pac-12 program.
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Falcons Owner: Grady Jarrett A "Falcon For Life"

By | at March 27, 2019 7:59 pm

  • Franchise-tagged defensive tackle Grady Jarrett will be a “Falcon for life,” team owner Arthur Blank told D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Atlanta will control Jarrett through at least the 2019 campaign after franchising him, but that will come at a heavy cost: $15.209MM, a figure that makes Jarrett the NFL’s sixth-highest-paid interior defender. Jarrett, who has started 44 games over the past three years, will likely target an average annual value closer to Fletcher Cox‘s $17.1MM and a full guarantee package in excess of $50MM. Atlanta currently has less than $5MM in available cap space; an extension for Jarrett would lower his 2019 cap charge and increase the Falcons’ available funds.
1 comment Atlanta Falcons New Orleans Saints Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Julio Jones, Falcons Nearing Extension

By | at March 22, 2019 6:32 pm

The Falcons signed Matt Ryan to an extension last offseason, and it’s looking like they’ll be locking up their other franchise player. The Falcons are “closing in on” a contract extension with Julio Jones, according to Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report. 

Freeman reports that the deal will pay Jones “$20 million a year over a four- or five-year” pact, with “anywhere from $50 million to $60 million in new guarantees.” Jones’ contract situation has caused a lot of headaches for the team recently, so this would be a huge development. Jones still has two years left on his current contract, but is grossly underpaid. Jones signed a very team-friendly deal a few years back, and decided last year that he wanted to be more fairly compensated.

He launched a brief holdout during training camp when he announced he wouldn’t report. The Falcons were reluctant to renegotiate his deal with three years left, but eventually convinced him to return when they threw in some extra incentives as sweeteners. Freeman writes that the money Jones gets will likely surpass what Odell Beckham Jr. got on his extension “by a lot.”

If Freeman is right, Jones will soon pass Beckham Jr. and Antonio Brown to become the highest paid receiver in football. Jones had another elite season last year, and led the league in receiving yards. He reeled in 113 passes for 1677 yards and eight touchdowns.

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Contract Details: Vaccaro, Callahan, Okafor

By | at March 21, 2019 10:20 pm

Let’s take a look at the details of a few recently-signed NFL contracts, with all links going to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle’s Twitter account:

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Minor NFL Transactions: 3/21/19

By | at March 21, 2019 9:04 pm

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Detroit Lions

Miami Dolphins

Oakland Raiders

0 comments Arizona Cardinals Atlanta Falcons Carolina Panthers Cincinnati Bengals Detroit Lions Las Vegas Raiders Miami Dolphins Transactions

Contract Details: Jackson, Verrett, Roberts, Williams, Paulsen

By | at March 16, 2019 8:47 pm

Some assorted contract details from around the NFL:

  • Malik Jackson, DT (Eagles): Five years, $50MM, $17MM guaranteed. $9MM signing bonus, $1MM 2019 salary guaranteed. $7.6MM salary in 2020, $4.6MM of which is guaranteed. Base salaries of $9MM, $10MM, and $11MM in 2021-2023. Twitter link via Dan Graziano of ESPN.com.
  • Jason Verrett, CB (49ers): One year, cap charge of $1.5MM. $1.1MM salary of which $600K is guaranteed, plus $400K signing bonus. Verrett “can earn up to $3 million for the season if he is active for all 16 games. It’s $31,250 per game on 53-man roster (up to $500k) and an additional Roster Bonus of $62,500 per game on 46-man game day roster (up to $1 million)”. Twitter links via Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com.
  • Darryl Roberts, CB (Jets): Re-signed. Three years, $18MM max value, but essentially only a one year deal according to Darryl Slater of NJ.com. There’s $6MM in guaranteed money, with another $2MM of his 2020 salary guaranteed for injury only. $5MM salary in 2020, $6.5MM salary in 2021, and zero dead money in either year if they want to cut him.
  • Tyrell Williams, WR (Raiders): Four years, $44MM. There was originally reported to be $22MM in guaranteed money, but that’s apparently not true. There’s only $10MM in guaranteed money in the contract, according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic (Twitter link).
  • Logan Paulsen, TE (Falcons): Re-signed. Paulsen’s one year deal will have a base salary of $930K. Twitter link via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com.
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Falcons Re-Sign TE Logan Paulsen

By | at March 16, 2019 9:15 am

Logan Paulsen is signing another one-year pact with the Falcons. The team announced that they’ve re-signed the veteran tight end.

The 32-year-old joined the Falcons last offseason and proceeded to appear in 15 games (10 starts). The tight end didn’t contribute much in the passing game, finishing with nine catches for 91 yards and one touchdown. However, Paulsen did contribute as a blocker, with Pro Football Focus giving him solid grades for his pass-blocking. Ultimately, the site ranked the veteran 39th among 70 eligible tight ends.

Paulsen has had previous stints with the Redskins, Bears, and 49ers. His best season came in 2013 with Washington when he hauled in 28 receptions for 267 yards and three touchdowns.

Paulsen will be rejoining a Falcons tight end corps that already includes Austin Hooper and free agent addition Luke Stocker. The team is also currently rostering Eric Saubert, Alex Gray, and Jaeden Graham.

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