Eagles Place LB Nakobe Dean On IR, Promote LB Nicholas Morrow
SEPTEMBER 12: Dean’s absence will lead to an IR placement, the team announced. In a corresponding move, the Eagles signed Morrow to their active roster. Morrow signed with the Eagles this offseason but did not land on their 53-man roster. The former Raiders and Bears starter landed on the Eagles’ practice squad; he is now back on the active roster. Dean is not eligible to come back until Week 6.
SEPTEMBER 11: The Eagles came away with a win in Week 1, but their middle linebacking unit suffered a notable blow. Nakobe Dean is set miss multiple weeks with a foot injury, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. 
No surgery will be required to address the issue, but the injury is serious enough that an IR stint is a possibility, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes. An IR designation would require an absence of at least four games and the team using one of its eight in-season activations, so a decision on that front will be worth watching. Geoff Mosher of Inside the Birds reports that the injury is expected to sideline Dean for four weeks.
With Dean not in the picture for the time being, an Eagles LB corps which was already thin will be without a starter. Expectations were high for the Georgia alum after he served in a rotational capacity as a rookie last year and was set up for a first-team role beginning in 2023. Christian Elliss is likely to fill in with the starting lineup for the time being, and the reigning NFC champions also have Nicholas Morrow available on the practice squad.
The team has moved quickly in finding another contributor at the position, though. Fowler’s colleague Adam Schefter reports that Rashaan Evans has been added to the practice squad. The former Titans first-rounder spent his first four seasons in Tennessee before heading to Atlanta last year. He started all 17 games for the Falcons, posting 159 tackles and a pair of sacks. That led to mutual interest in a re-up, but Evans remained on the open market throughout the offseason.
Now, the 27-year-old will join an Eagles team in need of depth at the linebacker spot and likely see time on gamedays in short order. Players can be elevated to the active roster up to three times in a season, but veterans in Evans’ situation often sign from the taxi squad to a full-time position relatively quickly. Evans would be hard-pressed to see action in the Eagles’ upcoming Thursday night contest, but he may be on the field not long after that.
Seahawks To Sign T Jason Peters
12:27pm: The Peters visit has produced a deal, as noted by his agent. Rapoport’s colleague Mike Garafolo notes, to no surprise, that the two-time All-Pro will indeed start out on the practice squad. Depending on the severity of the Cross and Lucas injuries, though, Peters could find himself on the active roster before long.
9:24am: Jason Peters‘ bid to continue his NFL career may see him suiting up in Seattle soon. The veteran tackle is set to visit the Seahawks today, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. 
The news comes as Seattle may be shorthanded on the blindside for the time being. Rapoport notes that 2022 first-rounder Charles Cross is currently week-to-week with a turf toe injury. When speaking to the media on Monday, head coach Pete Carroll indicated (via ESPN’s Brady Henderson) that Cross is day-to-day, as is starting right tackle Abraham Lucas. In any case, a Peters addition would provide depth at both positions.
The 41-year-old indicated last month that he hopes to find a landing spot in 2023 and suit up for a 19th NFL season. Peters spent last year with the Cowboys as a fill-in option following the injury to Tyron Smith. He wound up seeing time at left and right tackle, as well as left guard while Dallas worked through a number of different O-line combinations. The team is heathier up front now, making it no surprise Peters remains on the open market.
The 2010s All-Decade member was recently mentioned as a potential Bills addition, with Buffalo dealing with a number of injuries up front. Peters is still unsigned as of now, though Rapoport adds a plan is in place for the Seahawks to add him to the practice squad and quickly elevate him to the active roster. Presuming today’s visit goes well, then, a deal could be finalized in short order.
Peters earned a 70.3 PFF grade in his limited Cowboys action last year, a far cry from his Eagles-era evaluations. Still, he could represent an experienced stop-gap if either Cross or Lucas were to miss time. Improved play up front will be needed for the Seahawks to rebound from their poor Week 1 showing on offense, and their pair of 2022 draftees at the tackle spots will play a large role in that effort when on the field. A Peters addition would, however, add notable depth to the team’s O-line and allow the nine-time Pro Bowler the opportunity to suit up for a fifth career team.
Chiefs, Chris Jones Agree To Revised Deal
SEPTEMBER 12: Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes the new deal has the same base value of $19.5MM as it did before (minus the $1.1MM Jones lost out on by missing Week 1). Incentives can push its value as high as $25.17MM, though, meaning Jones has the potential to come out slightly ahead of what he would have earned by not holding out and incurring more than $3MM in financial penalties.
$2MM is available via playing time incentives, and Jones will earn that amount with a snap share of at least 50%. An additional $1.75MM is in place if he records 15 sacks, and another $1MM for again receiving a first-team All-Pro nod. A Defensive Player of the Year award and another Super Bowl will yield an extra $2MM.
Notably, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler adds the Chiefs will still have the option of franchise tagging Jones at the end of the season. Doing so would come at a cost of roughly $32.4MM, representing a 120% increase from his 2023 cap hit of $27MM. That would be a pricey endeavor on Kansas City’s part, but it would prevent Jones from hitting the open market in his bid to land another multi-year accord.
SEPTEMBER 11: After a high-profile holdout, Chris Jones is set to return to the field. The All-Pro defensive tackle has agreed to a revised one-year contract with the Chiefs, as his agency announced on Monday. The team has confirmed the news.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that no new years have been added to Jones’ deal, meaning he is still only on the books for 2023. He adds, however, that Jones can earn “considerably more money” than the $19.5MM in salary he was originally due to make given the presence of incentives on this new agreement. 
Jones was absent from the team through training camp, a move which resulted in more than $2MM in fines being racked up. The threat of forfeited weekly game checks did not seem to dissuade his holdout lasting through the start of the regular season, as he hinted at an absence stretching into Week 8. That will no longer be the case, though the 29-year-old added to the compensation he has walked away from by missing a $1.1MM game check in the Chiefs’ season-opening loss.
After seeing a number of young defensive tackles sign lucrative second contracts, Jones made it clear he was aiming to move much closer to Aaron Donald in terms of annual compensation. The latter’s $31.67MM AAV was unmatched in terms of all defensive players until Nick Bosa signed a record-breaking 49ers extension last week. Still, a gap existed between Donald and a pack of other DTs (led by Quinnen Williams) with respect to earnings and guaranteed money. Jones appears to have met his goal of at least moving into second in the position’s market.
The four-time Pro Bowler was connected to an asking price of $28MM per year on a three-year extension, while Kansas City has been reported to be treating Donald’s Rams accord as an outlier. The Chiefs picked up talks with Jones not long before the start of the regular season, but little progress was known to be made before the team’s Thursday night defeat. In the aftermath of that contest, he still appeared as though the sides were not close to working out an agreement.
No long-term deal has been worked out, meaning Jones will still be able to hit the open market in March. That is, of course, unless this new agreement does not include a provision preventing the Chiefs from being able to use the franchise tag to keep Jones in place for 2024. Such a move would be likely if the Mississippi State alum were to continue his high-end production, which included 15.5 sacks last season (matching a career high) en route to helping the Chiefs to another Super Bowl title.
“Chris is an elite player in this league, and over the last seven years, he’s really developed into a leader on our team,” general manager Brett Veach said in a statement. “He’s been instrumental to our success and Super Bowl championship runs and it was a priority for us to keep him in a Chiefs uniform… Through this process two things were obvious, Chris wanted to be a Chief, and the Katz brothers worked diligently on his behalf.”
While further details are yet to emerge, Jones is now set to make his return, something which will pay substantial dividends for the defending champions. It will be interesting to see where he winds up relative to Donald in terms of earning power and the structure of his reworked pact.
Steelers DT Cameron Heyward To Undergo Surgery
5:55pm: Heyward will indeed undergo surgery, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The procedure will take place on Wednesday, and it is expected to keep him sidelined for up to eight weeks. For the second straight season, therefore, the Steelers will exit Week 1 with a foundational member of their defense unavailable for much of the campaign.
3:00pm: The Steelers’ defense will be shorthanded while attempting to rebound from their Week 1 loss. Defensive tackle Cameron Heyward suffered a groin injury during Sunday’s game and he is facing a multi-week absence as a result, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports. 
Garafolo adds that an IR stint is likely, and that surgery is an option being considered at this point. Players put on injured reserve are required to miss at least four weeks, and an absence of that length would deal a major blow to Pittsburgh’s defensive front.
Heyward exited the Steelers’ lopsided loss to the 49ers midway through the contest and a return was quickly ruled out. That signaled an injury of some significance could be revealed not long afterwards, and that has now proven to be the case. This will mark the first notable missed time for the three-time All-Pro since 2016, a testament to his durability during much of his 13-year Pittsburgh tenure.
A full-time starter since his third season with the team, Heyward has established himself as a stalwart on the Steelers’ defense. The 34-year-old has earned a Pro Bowl nod in each of the last six seasons, and he has posted double-digit sacks in three of those campaigns. His role in maintaining the team’s dominance in the sack department has been crucial while giving the Steelers an interior rush presence to compliment edge producers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.
With 163 stops and 29 tackles for loss across the 2021 and ’22 seasons, Heyward also proven to be an integral part of the team’s run defense through the latter stages of his career. His absence will be acutely felt moving forward, as was the case last season when Watt was sidelined by a pectoral tear. His return to the lineup helped spark a late-season playoff push for the Steelers, and Pittsburgh will hope a similar situation can play out in 2023 if Heyward does end up missing considerable time.
Along the defensive interior, the Steelers will move forward with Larry Ogunjobi – who re-signed on a three-year, $28.75MM deal this offseason – as a key starter. Aside from the former Brown and Bengal, though, the team is generally lacking in experience up front. Second-round rookie Keeanu Benton and 2022 third-rounder DeMarvin Leal are among the young players who are in line for an increased workload in Heyward’s absence.
Latest On Bengals’ Joe Burrow Extension
Things didn’t go according to plan for the Bengals in Week 1, but the team accomplished its most important offseason goal not long before the campaign started by inking Joe Burrow to a record-breaking extension. Further details have emerged regarding the investment made in the team’s franchise quarterback. 
[RELATED: Owners Proposed Player Salary Limit During CBA Talks]
Burrow’s five-year, $275MM extension gives him the title of the NFL’s highest-paid player in terms of annual compensation (one which has changed hands four times in 2023). The pact is notable not only with respect to its $55MM AAV and the $219.01MM in total guarantees, but also the up front commitment made by the Bengals in a move which bucks the organization’s norms regarding major contracts.
Per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Burrow will see roster and training camp bonuses totaling just over $44.5MM in 2023, along with a league minimum base salary. In 2024, he will receive a combined total of $65.7MM between salary and an option bonus; that total sits at $35.25MM for 2025. All of the 26-year-old’s compensation over the next three years is fully guaranteed at signing.
That makes Burrow’s pact a much more lucrative one in terms of early cash flow ($146.5MM across 2023-25) compared to Justin Herbert‘s Chargers extension, as noted by Over the Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald. It also marks a break from tradition in terms of standard practice for the Bengals, who have typically avoided including injury guarantees beyond Year 1 of an extension. Making an exception to that rule was always going to be necessary given the market for QBs on their second contracts, but this structure is certainly noteworthy.
Burrow’s pact – which runs through 2029 – also includes rolling guarantees which cover much of his compensation in 2026 and ’27. Incentives for victories in the AFC title game and Super Bowl are also present through the final five years of the pact, meaning he will be well-positioned for years to come provided he can remain healthy and play at the level he has demonstrated in previous campaigns (which differs greatly from his performance during his first game after signing the mega-pact).
Questions will be raised about how many core contributors the Bengals can retain with Burrow now on the books at a massive raise. Wideout Tee Higgins is among the players who seems destined to at least test the open market before potentially departing in free agency, but the team has cost certainty with its most important player for the foreseeable future.
Saints DE Payton Turner To Undergo Surgery
The Saints’ edge rushing contingent suffered a blow on Sunday, and it will be shorthanded for some time. Defensive end Payton Turner suffered a turf toe injury and will undergo surgery as a result, per Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.football. 
Turner exited the game early in the second quarter and was unable to return. That led to reports of the turf toe injury, which have now been confirmed to require surgery. The former first-rounder will now miss time in his third season in New Orleans, one in which his future with the organization will likely become clearer.
Ahead of training camp getting underway, it was noted that Turner was not a lock to make the Saints’ 53-man roster. Getting cut would have marked an underwhelming run to his time in New Orleans, but not an entirely surprising one. The 25-year-old made just 13 appearances across the 2021 and ’22 seasons, finding himself a healthy scratch at times. He has yet to start a game, and the free agent departure of Marcus Davenport did not clear a path for a first-team role for Turner.
The Houston alum was pegged for a backup role behind Carl Granderson last month, and it was indeed the latter who lined up opposite Cameron Jordan on Sunday. A rotational workload would have still provided Turner an opportunity to take a step forward in terms of production compared to his first two campaigns (during which he collected just three sacks and 12 QB pressures) and in doing so help his chances of securing a roster spot in 2024 and beyond. Now, his attention will turn to recovery while he is sidelined.
In Turner’s absence, the Saints will still lean heavily on Jordan and Granderson as starters. The team also has Tanoh Kpassagnon, who was re-signed in the offseason, in place as a depth option. New Orleans used a second-round pick this past April on Isaiah Foskey, and he could see a gameday role moving forward if Turner misses considerable time. Foskey was inactive during Week 1.
NFL Owners Attempted To Establish Player Salary Ceiling During CBA Talks
The 2023 offseason saw four quarterbacks – Jalen Hurts (Eagles), Lamar Jackson (Ravens), Justin Herbert (Chargers) and, most recently, Joe Burrow (Bengals) earn the title of the league’s highest-paid player. The position has seen a major uptick in value in recent years, something which has obvious roster-building implications. 
The QB market’s market has grown at a noticeably higher rate than that of the salary cap, leading to mega-contracts for emerging passers and cost-cutting at other positions. NFL owners responded during the most recent round of CBA negotiations by considering the implementation of a maximum player salary, reports ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The idea was quickly shut down by the player’s association, though, leaving no upper limit on the annual compensation players can earn.
With Burrow’s $55MM AAV making him one of seven passers to earn at least $45MM per year on average, the appeal of a player cap is easy to see. The proposed idea would have instituted a system similar to that of supermax deals in the NBA, which dictate the earnings of star players (instead of teams and players individually negotiating monster contracts on a case-by-case basis). With the salary cap set to continue growing at a major rate with the arrival of new media rights deals and gambling revenue, QBs in particular are likely to see their market surge for years to come.
Given the upward trajectory of the cap, it is certainly interesting to wonder how owners wished to structure a leaguewide player ceiling and what figure they were prepared to arrive at as a maximum salary. Quarterbacks would no doubt be the players most affected by the proposal, but other positions – including receiver, edge rusher, cornerback and, as illustrated in recent months, defensive tackle – have seen healthy growth as well. An upper limit on quarterback earnings would likely have a trickle-down effect on the top earners at other positions.
That point would be especially true since the NFL, unlike the NBA, does not have a luxury tax to allow teams to significantly exceed the cap limit when making high-profile additions. In any event, the current CBA runs through the 2030 campaign, so plenty of time remains before the next round of talks between owners and the NFLPA. Where the league and its highest-paid players sit financially speaking at that time will influence how willing the owners are to make a second attempt at instituting a similar proposal to the one already floated.
Ravens RB J.K. Dobbins Suffers Torn Achilles
3:37pm: Head coach John Harbaugh confirmed after the game that Dobbins has indeed suffered an Achilles tear. His season is now over, and questions will be raised about his financial future with his rookie contract set to expire in March. The Ravens ran for 110 yards in a 25-9 win on Sunday, but their ground game has taken a major blow given today’s news.
3:03pm: Expectations were high to start the season for J.K. Dobbins, who is set to hit free agency at the end of the campaign. He may do so coming off of another massive injury. 
The Ravens’ lead running back is feared to have suffered a torn Achilles during the team’s Week 1 contest against the Texans, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. He adds that an MRI is required to confirm a diagnosis, but in such a scenario, the news would mark the second season-ending injury of Dobbins’ brief NFL career.
The former second-rounder suffered a knee injury which included an ACL tear in the 2021 preseason. He missed his second Baltimore campaign in its entirety as a result, and questions lingered about his ability to return to full health last season. Dobbins was eased back into action, and he ultimately underwent a cleanup procedure in October. The decision to do so proved to be effective considering his production upon return.
Dobbins averaged 6.96 yards per carry in the final four games of the regular season, and he recorded 105 scrimmage yards and a touchdown in Baltimore’s postseason loss to the Bengals. With his injury seemingly in the past, Dobbins appeared to be well-positioned for a strong season in 2023, something which would have had considerable financial implications moving forward. The Ohio State alum expressed frustration with his contract status, though the team has indicated on multiple occasions that they want to keep him in the fold.
Extension talks have already taken place, but if the injury does prove to be an Achilles tear, Dobbins’ value will obviously suffer greatly. Running backs as a whole saw their market continue to take a step back this offseason, and essentially a second campaign missed in its entirety would leave the 24-year-old with a weaker negotiating position. For the time being, the Ravens will move forward with a shorthanded RB room.
Backup Gus Edwards and special teamer Justice Hill will be in line for an increased role in Dobbins’ absence, something of significance for the former in particular since he too is headed for free agency in March. Baltimore also retained undrafted rookie Keaton Mitchell on the active roster, and he will likely see game action presuming Dobbins is indeed set to be sidelined for the remainder of the campaign.
Vikings QB Kirk Cousins Addresses Future
Plenty of veterans made their way out of Minnesota this offseason, but quarterback Kirk Cousins is still in place for at least one more year. He recently spoke about his future with the Vikings (or another team) as he enters the final year of his contract.
Cousins is set to earn $30MM this season, after it became clear he would not sign another Vikings extension this offseason. Talks on a new contract are expected to take place after the campaign but before his deal expires in March, something which would take him to free agency for the second time in his career. That leaves the 35-year-old with plenty to prove this season, something he is acutely aware of. 
Cousins admitted he is playing for his job when speaking to the media. He added, “that’s kind of the life you live. And I think when you take that seriously, that lends itself to having success more days than not” (h/t ESPN’s Kevin Seifert).
Both team and player have expressed an openness to continuing their relationship, one which has seen Cousins earn $155MM to date in Minnesota. The four-time Pro Bowler will earn another signficant payday on a new deal in 2024 if he continues his strong play from last season, in which he threw for the second-most yards of his career (4,547) and helped lead the team to a 13-4 record. Cousins has cashed in on a number of occasions, and he has done particularly well in securing guaranteed money in his career. Doing so again will require a strong season, as Minnesota could move on if he regresses or suffers an injury.
“Tom [Brady] made the point that there is no entitlement in the NFL,” Cousins added. “And if there is entitlement in the NFL, that organization is probably doing it wrong. I think it’s healthy when players need to go out every day, and nobody is entitled to anything… If it ever isn’t that way here, I would be the first one to complain and say, ‘I sense some entitlement, and let’s change that.”
As Seifert’s colleague Adam Schefter notes, Cousins’ contact – which includes four void years for salary cap purposes – does not expire until after the deadline to apply franchise tags. Minnesota will have likely made a decision on his future by that point, something which will be worth watching given the lack of long-term successors in the organization. Many expected the Vikings to be aggressive in drafting a passer in April, but they did not add one until the fifth round (Jaren Hall).
For that reason, Seifert notably reports that Minnesota was not in on Trey Lance trade talks. The former 49ers top-three pick was dealt to the Cowboys for a fourth-round selection after a quick negotiating process which included a few other teams. The fact the Vikings steered clear of Lance leaves their QB situation beyond 2023 something to monitor.
Extension Talks Between Vikings, Justin Jefferson To Be Tabled To 2024
A push was made by the Vikings to work out an extension with Justin Jefferson, but they have come up short. The reigning Offensive Player of the Year will play the 2023 season without a new deal in place, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter. 
Schefter adds that both the Vikings and the All-Pro wideout made an effort to reach agreement on a mega-contract in time for tomorrow’s season opener, but nothing is expected to be signed in the next few hours. As a result, the parties will press pause on negotiations until after the campaign is over. Jefferson will thus earn $2.39MM in salary this season in anticipation of a dramatic raise in the spring.
The 24-year-old was the subject of a late-summer push on Minnesota’s part to get a deal worked out in time for Week 1. That news followed a lengthy stretch without updates on the status of negotiations, and it confirmed the team’s willingness to make Jefferson a central part of their long-term plans. His personal preference was to have an agreement in place by Sunday, but he will now shift his attention to another hugely productive season in line with the three has had authored so far.
Jefferson comfortably holds the record for most receiving yards in the first three seasons of a player’s career (4,825), meaning his second contract will be enormous. The matter of injury guarantees (and their scheduling within the pact) were mentioned earlier this offseason as a potential issue, but it is unclear at this point what caused the failure for a deal to be reached.
Minnesota’s financial outlook looks much different moving forward after an offseason filled with a number of veteran departures. Jefferson is part of a young core the team will look to invest in – as it did recently with the extension for tight end T.J. Hockenson. Plenty of questions regarding the Vikings’ spending power in 2024 and beyond will be answered when clarity emerges regarding quarterback Kirk Cousins‘ future. The latter is set to hit free agency after the season, and Minnesota does not have a long-term successor in place at the moment.
Waiting until the conclusion of Year 4 to sign a new pact can be a risky proposition for players, but those at the top of their positional markets can ensure a major payday while remaining successful from an individual and team perspective. Nick Bosa‘s record-breaking deal for defensive players was signed just before his fifth season began, providing an example of patience (and in Bosa’s case, a training camp holdout) paying off. The lengths Jefferson will go to next spring if negotiations hit a snag upon resumption will make his situation worth watching closely.