Minor NFL Transactions: 3/22/19
Today’s minor moves will be posted here:
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: OL Bryan Witzmann
Detroit Lions
- Signed: OL Andrew Donnal
Lions To Sign Rashaan Melvin
The Lions have been active in free agency, and they’re making another move. Detroit is signing cornerback Rashaan Melvin to a one-year deal, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN (Twitter link).
The Lions brought Melvin in for a visit on Wednesday, and apparently liked what they saw. Per Schefter, the deal will pay Melvin $3.5MM. Melvin comes to the Lions after spending the 2018 season with the Raiders. He began the year as a starter, but didn’t play well and was benched. He ended up making 14 appearances for Oakland, with seven starts.
His down year with the Raiders was somewhat surprising, since he was coming off a couple of strong years with the Colts. In 2017 he appeared in ten games, starting all ten, and had three interceptions with 13 passes defended. He got $5.5MM from the Raiders last offseason, so his most recent campaign clearly hurt his market value.
The Northern Illinois product will now get a much-needed fresh start. Overall, it’s a nice low-risk signing for a Lions team that is in the middle of rebuilding their defense in Matt Patricia’s vision. If Melvin can get back to his pre-2018 form, he could be a nice addition to Detroit’s secondary alongside Darius Slay.
Julio Jones, Falcons Nearing Extension
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.
NFC Notes: Bridgewater, Saints, 49ers, Gragg, Buccaneers
Teddy Bridgewater had a dramatic free agency. He appeared all set to return to the Saints, when the Dolphins swooped in with a last second offer to be their starting quarterback. But in the end, he decided to return to New Orleans, potentially setting him up to take over for Drew Brees. In a recent interview with WWL Radio, Bridgewater elaborated on his decision to stay in the Big Easy, per Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. Bridgewater indicated it mostly had to do with how much he enjoyed his time in New Orleans, rather than about potential playing time.
“I told my agents every time that I talked to them that I haven’t stopped smiling since I arrived,” Bridgewater said. They made playing football fun, they made learning the game fun … and that’s something I appreciate. I was able to be part of that for 18 weeks last season, and it was nothing but positive things that occurred,” he continued. It sounds like Bridgewater has bought in to whatever the Saints are promising, and they clearly think very highly of him if they’re giving him $7.25MM to be their backup quarterback.
Here’s more from around the NFC:
- The 49ers brought in tight end Chris Gragg for a workout, a source told Matt Maioccio of NBC Sports (Twitter link). An Arkansas product, Gragg was taken by the Bills in the seventh round of the 2013 draft. He spent the next four years in Buffalo, then was with the Jets during the 2017 offseason. Gragg has struggled with injuries, missing the entire 2016 and 2017 seasons while hurt. He spent all of last year out of the league, and this is the first we’ve heard of him in a while. Gragg had his most productive season in 2015, when he caught 12 passes for 150 yards. He’s unlikely to make much of an impact even if San Francisco does opt to sign him.
- The Buccaneers are making a historic move. Tampa Bay is hiring Maral Javadifar and Lori Locust as the first full-time female assistant coaches in franchise history, the team announced in a release. Locust will be an assistant defensive line coach, while Javadifar will be an assistant strength and conditioning coach. The Bucs are now the first team in NFL history to have two women as full-time coaches. New Bucs coach Bruce Arians has emphasized the need for greater diversity on NFL coaching staffs, and is now practicing what he preaches. Arians had said he would do something like this, so it isn’t surprising.
- The Saints are reportedly close to a deal that would bring Jared Cook to New Orleans, but they might not be done adding to their tight end group. The team is “paying close attention” to LSU tight end Foster Moreau today at his pro day, Larry Holder of The Athletic is told (Twitter link). Moreau caught 22 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns at LSU last year.
Bills To Sign Jake Fisher
The Bills are making another move to help their offense. Buffalo is signing Jake Fisher to a one-year deal, according to his agent (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network).
He worked out as a tight end for the Bills yesterday, and they apparently liked what they saw. Fisher had a workout with the Texans last week, but didn’t sign. Fisher spent the first four years of his career with the Bengals as an offensive tackle, and is now attempting to make the conversion to tight end.
Drafted in the second round out of Oregon back in 2015, Fisher never lived up to his draft status. He struggled in pass protection, and could never cement himself as a full-time starter. He started seven games in 2017, and just one game last year in 11 appearances.
We heard a few weeks ago that Fisher had begun running a few routes with NFL quarterbacks, and that he’d be attempting to reinvent himself as a blocking tight end. He finished last season on injured reserve with a back injury, but appears to be back to full health now.
Patriots Restructure Stephon Gilmore’s Contract
New England is freeing up some cap space. The Patriots are restructuring the contract of cornerback Stephon Gilmore, a source told Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
According to Yates, the Patriots converted $8.5MM of the salary left on Gilmore’s contract into a signing bonus. The move will free up $5.67MM in cap space this year, giving the Pats some extra flexibility in free agency while giving Gilmore more money up front. Gilmore has one of the largest contracts on the team, and this isn’t the first time they’ve re-worked his deal.
The Patriots restructured his contract in October of last year to free up some immediate cap space. Gilmore has three seasons left on the five-year, $65 million pact he signed back in March of 2017. Gilmore’s Patriots tenure got off to a rocky start, but he’s since adapted quite well and has become one of the best players on the team.
He’s come up huge in the playoffs, having the game-sealing pass deflection in the AFC Championship Game two seasons ago as well as the crucial fourth quarter interception of Jared Goff in the most recent Super Bowl.
Chiefs To Re-Sign FB Anthony Sherman
The Chiefs are bringing back their lead blocker. Fullback Anthony Sherman is re-signing with Kansas City on a one-year deal, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Sherman made the Pro Bowl last year, and is one of the better fullbacks in the league. Many teams are going away from fullbacks, but many of the most successful offenses like the Patriots and Chiefs still use them. 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is also a huge proponent of the fullback and has invested heavily there with Kyle Juszczyk, so the position certainly isn’t on the verge of going extinct.
Sherman signed a one-year deal last offseason, and the team apparently prefers to go year-to-year with him. Sherman caught eight passes for 96 yards and a touchdown last year. He only carried the ball once last year, but in 2017 he carried it 14 times.
His most notable action cam in the Pro Bowl this past year, when he racked up several big plays. With Kareem Hunt no longer in the fold, the Chiefs’ backfield will be a bit more uncertain next year, but Sherman will be out there paving the way for whoever the lead back is.
Extra Points: Bell, Steelers, Tannehill
There was a lot of confusion surrounding Le’Veon Bell and the Steelers last season. It was widely reported during the early part of the season that Bell planned on playing for the Steelers in 2018. The timeline varied but it was consistently reported that Bell planned on showing up sometime after Pittsburgh’s Week 7 bye week. Then he never did, and we never knew what happened, until now. Bell had previously thought he needed to play six games to earn an accrued season and avoid his franchise tag from tolling over to 2019, but then realized that wasn’t the case, he explained in a recent interview with Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com.
Bell had “absolutely intended” to report after Week 7, “but shortly before then, Bell learned that he didn’t need to play any games to hit free agency. Before then, he thought he needed to play six games for an accrued season, but turns out he was free as long as the Steelers didn’t tag him again,” Fowler writes. Bell apparently learned on social media that he wouldn’t have to play, and took the plan to his agent. Bell also revealed that he came close to returning once more, in Week 11.
“‘I was so close to doing it,’ he said. ‘At the same time, I was so torn. Do I go through that? Will they embrace me or will they not? I eventually decided I sat out 10 games, I can sit six more. At the time, the team was malfunctioning, having problems, a lot of blame on me. I didn’t want to come back and not feel welcome,'” Bell said. It won’t change anything, but it’s nice to finally have some clarity on what went down with Bell and the Steelers as he prepares for his new life with the Jets.
Here’s more from around the league as the free agency frenzy is finally starting to quiet down:
- Ryan Tannehill is no longer a Dolphin, after he was traded yesterday to the Titans. But he’s leaving behind a significant impact, as Tannehill will leave the Dolphins with $18.423MM in dead cap, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. As Florio points out, it only would’ve been $13.423MM in dead cap had they designated him a post-June 1 cut and released him outright. Essentially the Dolphins ate an additional $5MM in dead cap to get back a fourth and seventh round pick, the compensation they got from the Titans in the trade. They also gave up a sixth round pick of their own.
- Panthers offensive lineman Taylor Hearn was caught on camera getting into a fight outside of a bar and getting knocked out, according to TMZ Sports. Jourdan Rodrigue of The Charlotte Observer tweeted out the Panthers’ statement on the incident, which reads “we are aware of the video, and have been in contact with Taylor and the league about the incident. We will have no further comment at this time.” Hearn, a rookie undrafted free agent from Clemson, appeared in just four games for the Panthers this past season. Already a bottom of the roster type player, this could effect his status with the team.
- Our friends over at Overthecap.com are out with a great new page to track free agency spending this offseason, keeping track of each team’s signings, how much money they’ve doled out, and how much in guarantees they’ve pledged. So far the Jets have guaranteed by far the most money, as they’re on the hook for at least $115.5MM with the contracts they’ve signed so far. The Lions, Raiders, 49ers, and Bills round out the top five in terms of new money guaranteed. In terms of total spending, including non-guaranteed money, the Packers have been the biggest spenders, dishing out contracts worth a total of $184.1MM.
Contract Details: Jackson, Verrett, Roberts, Williams, Paulsen
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.
Johnny Manziel Signs With AAF
UPDATE, 8:48PM: Manziel will officially be heading to the Memphis Express, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com (Twitter link). He’ll be playing for former 49ers coach Mike Singletary in Memphis.
7:14pm: Johnny Football is back. Johnny Manziel has signed a contract with the new upstart league the Alliance of American Football, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
This news comes a little over two weeks after Manziel was released by his CFL team. Schefter writes Manziel has “signed the Alliance of American Football Standard Player Agreement.” The AAF gives every player the same contract, for three years and $250K. It pays $70K in the first year, $80K in the second, and $100K in the third.
In a follow-up tweet Schefter writes that the San Antonio Commanders, the team who held Manziel’s rights based on where he played college ball, passed on signing him. Manziel will now enter the league’s waiver system, which will allow the team with the lowest winning percentage to submit a claim first and so on. The team currently with the lowest winning percentage is the Memphis Express, who currently has former NFLer’s Christian Hackenberg and Zach Mettenberger on the roster.
Manziel was a first round pick of the Browns back in 2014, but flamed out after just two seasons in the NFL. The former Heisman Trophy winner spent a while out of football, but has since been working on a comeback. His time in Canada didn’t go particularly smoothly, and now he’s looking to prove he can still play stateside.
The AAF offered him a workout shortly after he was cut by the CFL, and an arrangement between the two sides always made a ton of sense. Manziel will get a platform to showcase his abilities alongside a bunch of former NFL players as he tries to get back to the league, and the AAF will get a huge boost in visibility and interest.