Lions Sign Halapoulivaati Vaitai
A slightly more under the radar name is getting a huge payday. Former Eagles offensive tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai is signing a massive five-year, $50MM contract with the Lions, a source told Adam Caplan of Sirius XM NFL Radio (Twitter link).
It’s a pretty remarkable sum considering Vaitai has only started four games over the past two years. It wasn’t totally unexpected though, as we heard a couple of weeks ago that he would likely command between $8-12MM annually. Vaitai has clearly always had talent, but he was buried on the depth chart due to the Eagles’ abundance of tackles. Philly has announced that Jason Peters will be allowed to hit free agency, and they’ll move forward with Andre Dillard and Lane Johnson as their tackles.
Vaitai was drafted in the fifth-round in 2016, and he ended up starting six games as a rookie. The following year he started ten games, winning Super Bowl LII with the team. As the Eagles got healthy at tackle he took a bit of a backseat, starting only once in 2018 and three times this past season.
The Lions released starting right tackle Ricky Wagner a few days ago, perhaps foreshadowing this move. The Lions are also letting starting right guard Graham Glasgow, who has received very strong marks from Pro Football Focus, walk in free agency, so their offensive line is going to look a lot different next year.
Matthew Stafford missed half of last season due to injury, so obviously protecting him will be a priority in 2020. The unit is getting an overhaul, and they’ll have to build chemistry in a hurry as a result. Vaitai is 26, and together with 26-year-old former first-rounder left tackle Taylor Decker, Detroit is surely hoping they’ve established a long-term tackle pairing.
Browns Sign Jack Conklin
The Browns have made their second huge splash of the day. Hours after signing Austin Hooper and making him the highest-paid tight end in league history, they’ve doled out another big contract. Cleveland has agreed to terms with offensive tackle Jack Conklin on a three-year deal, agent Drew Rosenhaus told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Conklin is getting $42MM over the three years, with $30MM of it being guaranteed. He’ll bring in $20MM just in the first year of the contract. Conklin likely could’ve landed a longer-term deal, but Rosenhaus told Schefter they wanted to keep it short due to projected increases in the salary cap so he can hit free agency again soon. Conklin is very young for a top-flight free agent, and will still only be 28 when this new deal ends.
Just minutes ago we heard the Browns were the favorites with the Jets still in the mix, and things came together quickly. Conklin was the eighth overall pick out of Michigan State in 2016, and he’s been the Titans’ right tackle for the past few seasons. Tennessee declined his fifth-year option following a torn ACL and injury-plagued 2018 campaign, a move which blew up in their face when Conklin returned to playing at a very high level last year.
Conklin was one of the top offensive linemen available, and fills a huge need for Cleveland. The Browns already announced they won’t be re-signing Greg Robinson and there has been speculation they’ll move on from Chris Hubbard, both of their starting tackles from last year.
They now have Conklin locked in at one of those spots, and it’s possible they’ll still pursue veterans Trent Williams or Jason Peters like they’ve reportedly been considering. Baker Mayfield was frequently under duress last season, and his play suffered significantly as a result. He got skittish in the pocket at times, and upgrading his protection was always going to be a priority this offseason. With the additions of Hooper and Conklin today, his job has gotten a whole lot easier.
Browns Favorites For OT Jack Conklin?
The Browns have already made one big splash in free agency by making Austin Hooper the highest-paid tight end in NFL history, and it sounds like they could make another soon. Cleveland is the favorite to land free agent offensive tackle Jack Conklin, Connor Hughes of The Athletic hears (Twitter link). 
Hughes reports that the Jets are still in the mix, but that “there’s a price many believe they will not exceed.” There was a report a few weeks ago that Conklin would likely sign with New York, but that was quickly shot down by Adam Schefter. Conklin has been the Titans’ starter at right tackle for the past four seasons, and is one of the top offensive linemen available. Tennessee declined Conklin’s fifth-year option after an injury-plagued 2018 campaign, a move they likely came to regret as the Michigan State product returned to playing at a high level this past season.
The eighth overall pick of the 2016 draft, Conklin is still only 25. The Browns won’t be re-signing the recently arrested Greg Robinson and there’s been speculation they could move on from Chris Hubbard as well, which would leave them without both of their starting tackles from last season. Obviously, they’ll be doing something to address the position.
We’ve heard that they’ve been considering veteran tackles Trent Williams and Jason Peters, although Conklin is a lot younger than both of those guys and as such is the more appealing long-term option. We heard last month that the Browns were planning to make a big investment in their offensive line this offseason, and it sounds like they’re following through. Whoever Conklin signs with, he should be in for a huge payday.
Redskins Re-Sign LB Jon Bostic
As the free agency frenzy continues, the Redskins are re-upping one of their own. Washington is re-signing linebacker Jon Bostic on a two-year deal, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Yates reports the deal with have a base value of $5MM, and that Bostic will get $1.75MM guaranteed. The full details of the contract are base salaries of $960K and $1.69MM, a $500k first-day 2020 roster bonus, and $200K in per-game roster bonuses for 2020, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. There will then be $400K in 2021 per-game active roster bonuses, and $800K annually in playing-time incentives. Considering Bostic signed a one-year deal worth only $895K last offseason, this is a pretty nice pay bump for the Florida product. Bostic originally entered the league as a second-round pick of the Bears back in 2013.
He never lived up to his draft status in Chicago and although he started 17 games across his first two years, he was made a healthy scratch for the first few games of 2015. He was soon shipped off to the Patriots for a sixth-round pick, and barely played in New England. He missed the entire 2016 season with a foot injury, but then resurfaced with the Colts in 2017 and became a starter. He started 14 games with the Steelers in 2018, with middling results.
He landed with the Redskins last year and ended up starting all 16 games, playing reasonably well.The inside linebacker finished with 105 tackles, a sack, and an interception. He’s reached true journeyman status in recent years, but it sounds like he might’ve finally found a more permanent home in Washington.
Latest On Bears’ QB Search
The Bears are seemingly casting a wide net and while who they add is still up in the air, it seems clear they are targeting a middle-tier veteran quarterback to push Mitchell Trubisky. They’ve been connected to both the Jaguars’ Nick Foles and the Bengals’ Andy Dalton, and earlier today we heard they’ve had talks with free agent Teddy Bridgewater.
But while they’ve had exploratory discussions with Bridgewater, Chicago is “focused” on landing either Foles or Dalton, a source told Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Unsurprisingly, Werder passes along that the organization wants Trubisky to have to compete for the starting job. He also notes that both Foles and Dalton have either played for Bears head coach Matt Nagy or a member of his staff.
Nagy was an assistant in Philadelphia under Andy Reid during Foles’ rookie season with the Eagles, and then was the offensive coordinator in Kansas City when Foles spent 2016 with the Chiefs. Chicago just hired Bill Lazor to be their new offensive coordinator this offseason, who has extensive ties to Dalton. Lazor was the Bengals’ quarterbacks coach in 2016, and their offensive coordinator in 2017 and 2018.
It looks like the Jaguars are leaning toward going with Gardner Minshew as their starter, and as such would like to move Foles and get rid of his hefty contract. However we’ve also heard that the Jags aren’t desperate to move Foles, and want real compensation in return. The Bengals are widely assumed to be taking a quarterback first overall in next month’s draft, and don’t really have much need for Dalton any more. Dalton is due a very reasonable $17.5MM in the final year of his contract, which has led to plenty of trade speculation.
Both Dalton and Foles would make for very expensive backups, and while the Bears are posturing as if they just want to push Trubisky, it’s likely whoever they trade for would be a heavy favorite to start. According to Werder, it sounds like Chicago is intent on acquiring one of those two.
Vikings Place Second-Round Tender On LB Eric Wilson
The Vikings aren’t going to let Eric Wilson get poached in free agency. Minnesota has tendered the restricted free agent at the second-round level, according to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter link).
As Tomasson notes, the second-round tender is going to be worth a little bit over $3.1MM for 2020. The move ensures that if any team signs Wilson to an offer sheet and the Vikings decline to match, they’d get that team’s second-round pick in return. Wilson has been a solid contributor the past two seasons, but it’s extremely unlikely any team would give up that kind of pick for him, so he’ll almost certainly be back in Minnesota next season.
The Cincinnati product signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent back in 2017, and mostly played on special teams as a rookie. He has since become a nice diamond in the rough find, starting ten games over the past two years and playing a big role on defense.
This past year he played around 35 percent of the defensive snaps while still playing a lot on special teams. He made six starts and racked up 62 tackles and three sacks. The original-round tender is projected to be a little over $2.1MM but since he was undrafted the Vikings wouldn’t have gotten any compensation had he left in that scenario, so they decided to pony up and pay the extra $1MM to make sure he stays put.
Steelers’ Ramon Foster Retires
On a day with a seemingly endless stream of players finding new homes, one player has elected to step away from the game on his own. Steelers guard Ramon Foster is retiring from the NFL, he announced in a release on the team’s website.
“When the time comes, you just know and now is the time for me to take a bow,” Foster in a statement. “I’ve made some friends for a lifetime, had some moments that I’ll never forget, and seen some things I never thought I would because of this game. First and foremost, I would like to thank my wife and sons. I also want to thank the Steelers organization – Coach (Mike) Tomlin, Mr. Art Rooney II, the late Ambassador (Dan) Rooney, and Kevin Colbert for making Pittsburgh feel like a family. There are so many more people I need to thank, including everyone on staff with the Steelers. I would also like to thank my teammates who made this journey something very special to me and my family – you guys were amazing.”
“Last but definitely not least, thank you to the best fans in all of sports. I’m glad to say I was a Steeler for life, and there is no other organization I would have rather played for in my career,” he finished. Foster signed with Pittsburgh as an undrafted free agent all the way back in 2009, and never left. He made the team as a rookie, and it wasn’t long before he became a full-time starter.
He was an incredibly reliable presence on the interior of Pittsburgh’s offensive line, starting at least 14 games in each of the past nine seasons. Foster signed a two-year extension worth $8.25MM last offseason, but elected to hang up his cleats a year early. The Tennessee product turned 34 in January. It’s yet another reminder that the old era of Steelers football we’ve been accustomed to is slowly coming to an end. Ben Roethlisberger is insistent he’s going to come back from his elbow injury and play at least a couple of more years, but things are starting to change around him.
Ravens Trade TE Hayden Hurst To Falcons
The Falcons’ tight ends room might be the busiest place in the NFL on an already wild day. After letting Austin Hooper walk and releasing Luke Stocker, the team is now making a splash trade. The Ravens have shipped tight end Hayden Hurst to Atlanta, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Baltimore is getting back an impressive haul, as they’re receiving second and fifth round picks in the 2020 draft while sending back a fourth-round selection to Atlanta. The Ravens drafted Hurst in the first-round in 2018, but he immediately took a backseat behind Mark Andrews, who Baltimore took in the third round of that same draft. Hurst missed the first handful of weeks of his rookie season after suffering a stress fracture in his foot, and he said the injury nagged him the whole year.
He ended up catching only 13 passes for 163 yards that year. While he took a step forward this past season with 30 receptions for 349 yards and two touchdowns, he was still expendable as Andrews emerged into one of the top tight ends in the league. There was a report a couple of weeks ago that while teams were calling the Ravens weren’t necessarily inclined to trade the South Carolina product, so clearly they were blown away by the offer.
As for the Falcons, they’ve now got their guy to replace Hooper. A second-round pick is a hefty price to give up for a player who hasn’t topped 350 yards in two years, but Hurst has shown plenty of flashes and had the misfortune of getting stuck behind Andrews. Hurst is already 26 though thanks to a couple of years spent playing minor league baseball after high school, and he’s actually more than a year older than Hooper is.
Atlanta will definitely be questioned for the decision to let Hooper walk and then give up this pick for a less-proven and older player, but Hooper landed a massive deal they weren’t willing to match and they had to do something to address the position.
Falcons Release TE Luke Stocker
The Falcons’ tight ends room is getting a major overhaul Monday. First Atlanta let Austin Hooper walk in free agency as he signed with the Browns, and now they’re letting go of another one.
The team is releasing veteran tight end Luke Stocker according to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Stocker signed with the team around this time last year, and ended up only lasting one season in Atlanta. Originally a fourth-round pick of the Buccaneers back in 2011, he spent the first seven years of his career in Tampa. During that time he played under Dirk Koetter, the former Bucs head coach who is now the Falcons’ offensive coordinator, which is probably what brought him to Atlanta.
Stocker has always been more of a blocker than a receiver, and he has also spent time at fullback. The 31-year-old Tennessee product had only eight catches for 53 yards last year. He played a bigger role in the passing game the year before with the Titans, racking up 165 yards and two touchdowns. Overall he played about 37 percent of the offensive snaps for the Falcons last year in addition to contributing on special teams.
Contract Details: Trevathan, Slater, Smith
A bunch of teams have been locking up their own impending free agents with contract extensions before the new league year opens, and now we have the financial details we were missing on some of those deals. Linebacker Danny Trevathan signed a new three-year contract with the Bears, and he got a nice payday. The pact has a base value of $21.75MM that can grow to $24MM if he hits some incentives, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter video link).
He’s getting $14MM in guaranteed money, essentially meaning the first two years of the deal are mostly guaranteed. Rapoport also reports that the extension was a “priority” for them, and confirms this likely means the Bears will be letting fellow linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski walk in free agency, something we heard earlier this weekend. Trevathan is a full-time starter when healthy, but he has missed 18 games across his four years with Chicago.
Here’s the latest on the new salaries:
- Special teams ace and locker room leader Matthew Slater signed a new two-year deal with the Patriots on Friday, and now we have his terms. He’s getting $5.3MM over the two years, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets. He’ll have base salaries of $1.6MM in 2020 and $1.75MM in 2021, with the rest coming in the form of roster and per-game bonuses. That’s a pretty impressive figure for a player who only contributes on special teams these days. Of course, Slater’s importance to the team goes well beyond his on-field contributions, as he is a team captain and staple of Bill Belichick’s program. He’s also made the Pro Bowl eight times.
- Speaking of guys playing unheralded positions getting paid, Falcons fullback Keith Smith also signed an extension yesterday. His new three-year contract will pay him a solid $4.3MM, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link). The San Jose State product, who was in his first year with Atlanta in 2019, will get $1.95MM in guaranteed money. Smith played about 17 percent of the offensive snaps last year as a lead-blocker, while also contributing heavily on special teams.