Minor NFL Transactions: 8/5/24
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Placed on IR: LB BJ Ojulari (story)
Buffalo Bills
- Reverted to IR: DL David Ugwoegbu
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: TE Jesper Horsted
- Waived: WR Tayvion Robinson
- Waived-injured: WR Devin Carter
Cleveland Browns
- Released from IR: LB Charlie Thomas
Green Bay Packers
- Activated from PUP: TE Tucker Kraft
- Released: QB Jacob Eason
Houston Texans
- Reverted to IR: OT Jaylon Thomas
Indianapolis Colts
- Activated from PUP: CB Chris Lammons
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Reverted to IR: TE Josh Pederson
Las Vegas Raiders
- Activated from PUP: WR Jalen Guyton
New England Patriots
- Signed: LS Tucker Addington
- Placed on IR: OL Jake Andrews
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: LB Mike Rose
New York Giants
- Claimed off waivers (from Commanders): CB Christian Holmes
- Waived-injured: RB Jashaun Corbin
Philadelphia Eagles
- Waived: OL Jason Poe
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: LB Blake Lynch
- Waived: C Mike Novitsky
Connor Williams Visits Ravens
The Connor Williams sweepstakes is getting a bit more interesting. Earlier today, agent Drew Rosenhaus said that a contract between the Seahawks and his client should be finalized soon. Now, it sounds like another suitor has joined the fray.
[RELATED: Seahawks Nearing Deal With Connor Williams]
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the free agent offensive lineman visited with the Ravens today. Williams is considering “proposals” from both Seattle and Baltimore and is expected to “make a decision soon.”
We heard back in June that the rehabbing offensive lineman was receiving interest from multiple teams, and Williams later passed a physical with the Seahawks before zeroing in on financials. While both sides were interested in a contract, Williams was reportedly pushing for more than the Seahawks could offer. It was only earlier today that Rosenhaus hinted that a deal was still imminent, so it’s a bit surprising to see the Ravens make a sudden appearance in the bidding.
Thanks to his ability to play both guard and center, the 27-year-old would be a natural fit for most squads. Former first-round pick Tyler Linderbaum is entrenched as the Ravens’ starting center, and while the third-year player is currently dealing with a soft tissue issue (per the team website), Williams wouldn’t have been available to soak up his training camp and preseason snaps, anyway.
The Ravens would surely be eyeing Williams at guard, where the team is holding a competition for both starting spots. 2023 seventh-round pick Andrew Vorhees is the current favorite for one of those jobs (per Brian Wacker of the Baltimore Sun), but it doesn’t sound like the team’s other options have emerged. That grouping includes the likes of Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu, Ben Cleveland, and Daniel Faalele.
Even if Baltimore is able to swoop in and snag Williams, the team would likely be forced to lean on that depth for the early parts of the season. Williams is only about eight months removed from a torn ACL, and while Rosenhaus said today that the lineman is on track to play in Week 1, that might not be the case a month from now.
Dolphins, Tyreek Hill Agree To Reworked Contract
AUGUST 5: Detailing the structure of the new deal, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talks notes Hill will receive a raise of $11.4MM over 2024 and ’25 compared to the previous arrangement. His up front compensation includes a $7MM signing bonus and guaranteed salaries and roster bonuses for the next two seasons. Hill can receive up $2.8MM in per-game roster bonuses during that span along with annual playing time and team postseason win incentives up to $500K.
2026 calls for $36MM in compensation, though none of it is locked in at signing. $11MM of that total will become guaranteed in 2026, but until then team and player will move forward with a revised short-term pact.
AUGUST 3: After a number of top wideouts earned lucrative extensions this offseason, Tyreek Hill was secured his pay day. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Dolphins have reached an agreement with their star wide receiver on a restructured contract worth $90MM over the next three years. 
The deal includes $65MM in guaranteed money, and the restructuring will only cover the three years that were already remaining on Hill’s contract (so no new years were added). When combined with his 2023 guarantees, Hill’s $106.5MM in guaranteed money is the most by a wideout over a four-year stretch, per Schefter. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport notes that Hill also made NFL history with the “most guaranteed money added to a contract without adding new years,” and that record is likely a reflection of Hill’s unique contract situation.
The Dolphins once established Hill as the league’s highest-paid WR when they signed him to a four-year, $120MM extension. The last few years of that pact signaled that revisions were eventually coming. Hill was already attached to a significant $31MM cap hit in 2024, with that number jumping to $34MM in 2025 and an untenable $56MM in 2026. The front office also had outs in both 2025 and 2026 (via the player’s nonguaranteed $43.9MM salary), so it always seemed likely that the sides would head back to the drawing board.
Since inking his initial Miami extension, Hill has since been passed by the likes of Amon-Ra St. Brown, A.J. Brown and Justin Jefferson on the AAV list. Even Hill’s teammate, Jaylen Waddle found himself with a new deal that encroached on the numbers Hill was making. The Dolphins star won’t make any progress on St. Brown, Brown, and Jefferson with this latest deal in AAV, but he will approach Jefferson in terms of guaranteed money. Jefferson’s record-setting deal set the guaranteed money mark at $88.74MM.
It seemed strange that Hill trailed the above names in salary despite leading the league in receiving yards and touchdowns last year and only trailing Cowboys wideout CeeDee Lamb in receptions. Due to the nature of how quickly position salaries have seemed to escalate in recent years, it was no surprise to see Hill’s once record-setting deal pale in comparison to the younger generation.
The Dolphins’ new deal with Hill at least partially rights that wrong. Though Hill didn’t have any years added to his contract, Miami still has him, Waddle, and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa under contract through the 2026 season, with both Waddle and Tagovailoa having one more year than Hill. The team’s offensive corps remains intact and well-paid for the next three years, at least.
Ely Allen contributed to this post.
Panthers Notes: Workouts, Brooks, Quarterbacks
The Panthers continue to be on the lookout for cornerbacks. After taking a look at Jerry Jacobs last month, the team is now hosting Anthony Brown on a workout, per ESPN’s David Newton.
The former sixth-round pick made a name for himself in Dallas, where he started 69 of his 94 appearances across seven seasons with the Cowboys. A torn Achilles tendon ended his 2022 campaign prematurely, and he bounced around the NFL in 2023. Brown had stints with the Steelers, 49ers, and Jets last season, with the cornerback ultimately making a pair of regular-season appearances (both with San Francisco).
Still, the veteran could represent an experienced option at cornerback for the Panthers. With Donte Jackson and Jeremy Chinn no longer in the picture, the team has been hunting for another CB option opposite former first-round pick Jaycee Horn. Dane Jackson is currently penciled in as Carolina’s CB2, but that hasn’t stopped the team from auditioning Jacobs and flirting with former Panthers star Stephon Gilmore.
More notes out of Carolina…
- Second-round running back Jonathon Brooks won’t play this preseason, according to Dave Canales (via NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe). The Longhorns product suffered a torn ACL last November, but his 1,400-yard performance still made him the first RB off the 2024 draft board. Canales said that Week 3 or Week 4 would be a “great” target return date for the rookie, with Joe Person of The Athletic noting that the running back could spend the first part of the season on PUP.
- Canales reiterated to reporters today that the Panthers are still in the hunt for a quarterback (via Person). With Andy Dalton sidelined with a quad injury, the Panthers head coach previously said that the team would be looking for another signal-caller alongside Bryce Young and UDFA Jack Plummer. Canales revealed that the organization will consider both veterans and younger players, with the likes of Ryan Tannehill and Trevor Siemian highlighting the current list of experienced free agent options.
- Dan Morgan made it clear that there aren’t any expectations for this season, with the current focus being on the “long term” (per Person). After the former assistant GM was promoted to the top gig this offseason, the team added a new head coach in Canales. With a new regime in place, it’s not a surprise that the Panthers brass is playing the slow game, although everyone in the organization will surely be aiming for an improvement on the two-win 2023 campaign.
- Person writes that the Panthers will continue to be in the market for OLB help. With both Amare Barno and D.J. Wonnum currently sidelined, the Panthers have leaned on the likes of K’Lavon Chaisson opposite Jadeveon Clowney. Fortunately, Chaisson has shown up during the early parts of training camp, with Person noting the former first-round pick’s “explosion” on the edge.
Dolphins Sign OL Sean Harlow
The Dolphins have added some more experience to their offensive line. The team announced that they’ve signed lineman Sean Harlow. In a corresponding move, the team has waived offensive lineman Ireland Brown.
The journeyman Harlow has seen time in 41 career games (eight starts). Since being selected in the fourth round of the 2017 draft, the Oregon State product has spent time with the Falcons (two stints), Colts, Cardinals, Giants (two stints), and Cowboys.
The 29-year-old lineman is coming off a 2023 campaign where he bounced around the NFC East. He spent the 2023 preseason with the Giants before joining the Cowboys practice squad. The Giants snagged him from Dallas and added him to their active roster, where he proceeded to play a backup role in seven games.
While Harlow has the ability to play around the OL, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald surmises that the veteran will be competing for a backup center gig. The team is currently rostering the likes of Liam Eichenberg and Andrew Meyer behind starter Aaron Brewer.
Brown was previously part of that competition but will now be looking to resume his NFL career elsewhere. The Rutgers UDFA earned a deal with the Dolphins following a successful minicamp tryout.
Cardinals OLB BJ Ojulari Suffers Torn ACL
BJ Ojulari‘s second season in the NFL has ended before it even began. The linebacker suffered a torn ACL during practice on Friday, per NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe. The injury will knock the sophomore out for the entire 2024 campaign.
According to Darren Urban of the team’s website, Ojulari suffered the injury during an 11-on-11 drill. Urban notes that the linebacker didn’t need to be carted off the field, although he did require assistance from two trainers.
This is a gut punch for a squad that was counting on Ojulari on the edge. The 2023 second-round pick didn’t start a game as a rookie, but he still managed to get into all 17 games for the Cardinals. He finished the year with 40 tackles and four sacks, appearing in more than a third of Arizona’s defensive snaps. Pro Football Focus ultimately ranked him 65th among 112 qualifying edge defenders.
The Cardinals will now have to dig into OLB depth that was already light behind Ojulari and Zaven Collins. Dennis Gardeck is coming off a six-sack season in Arizona, but the veteran fell behind Ojulari on the depth chart in the second half of the 2023 campaign. Victor Dimukeje also contributed four sacks last year and could see an increase on his career-high 386 defensive snaps from 2023.
Texans To Sign OL Cameron Erving
Weeks after auditioning Cameron Erving, the Texans are set to sign the veteran offensive lineman. Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston reports that Erving is signing with the organization.
[RELATED: Texans Host OL Cameron Erving]
After dealing with their fair share of OL injuries last season, the Texans seemed to be doing their due diligence when they hosted Erving back in July. It didn’t take long for a need to arise. Per Wilson, offensive tackle Charlie Heck is currently nursing a flareup of plantar fasciitis, necessitating some extra depth at the position.
Erving certainly brings experience and versatility to Houston’s offensive line. The former Browns first-round pick bounced around the OL to begin his career, spending a significant amount of time at both offensive guard spots and center. He later started 22 games at left tackle for the Chiefs, Cowboys, and Panthers between 2019 and 2021 before barely seeing the field for Carolina in 2022.
It was a similar story in 2023, as Erving was buried on the practice squad with the Saints. He eventually got a chance to play when Ryan Ramczyk was placed on IR in December, with Erving starting two of his three appearances down the stretch. The 31-year-old didn’t play enough snaps to qualify for Pro Football Focus’ leader boards, although his score would have placed him towards the bottom of the OT pool (continuing a trend of below-average grades from the site).
Heck’s injury doesn’t necessarily open a role for Erving, but the veteran should be able to soak up some snaps during training camp and the regular season. Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard are slotted in as the starting OTs, and the team is also rostering rookie second-round pick Blake Fisher. Erving’s versatility provides him some additional pathways to playing time, which could be notable since the left guard spot is up for grabs during training camp and the preseason.
Bears Sign WR D.J. Moore To Extension
D.J. Moore is sticking with the Bears long-term. The wideout has agreed to a four-year, $110MM extension with the organization, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The deal includes $82.6MM in guaranteed money.
Moore still has two years remaining on the extension he inked with the Panthers back in 2022, although his guaranteed money was about to dry up. Moore’s extension locks in a lot more guaranteed cash, and it also keeps the veteran tied to Chicago through the 2029 campaign.
Moore’s first season with the Bears couldn’t have gone much better. After the wide receiver was dealt from Carolina in the trade involving the top-overall pick, the three-time 1,000-yard receiver put together the most productive season of his career. Despite inconsistent play from Justin Fields (plus four starts of Tyson Bagent), Moore finished the year with career-highs in receptions (96), receiving yards (1,364), and total touchdowns (nine).
With top-overall pick Caleb Williams now under center, the Bears will continue to lean on Moore. Of course, that didn’t stop the organization from adding more talent around their franchise quarterback, with the team bringing in both Keenan Allen and ninth-overall pick Rome Odunze this offseason. Still, Moore is entrenched as the WR1, and Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times passes along that the organization was making sure Moore was satisfied with his contract even before they added Allen’s significant cap hit. ESPN’s Courtney Cronin adds that the front office wasn’t “necessarily going to go in order of who’s up next for contract,” and they decided to push Moore ahead of other extension-eligible players.
The Bears also managed to avoid the $30MM average annual value mark that was exceeded by the likes of Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown, and Amon-Ra St. Brown this offseason. Moore’s $27.5MM AAV will only come in seventh at his position, although that chunk of guaranteed cash will only trail Jefferson and Brown. Moore himself noted that he was not overly interested in putting himself near the top of the heap in terms of AAV but was (wisely) more interested in guaranteed money.
“You’ve got to follow it,” Moore said of the dizzying heights the WR market has reached with respect to annual averages (via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk). “They’ve all been breaking new heights, going to 35 (million per year), but I wasn’t really in that mindset to go to the top-top. I was just like, What’s a good number? Let’s go from there.”
“Security,” Moore added. “The guaranteed money was awesome. That was the main part I loved out of the whole thing.”
Despite Moore’s focus on the guaranteed cash, his deal does represent the richest contract in franchise history in terms of AAV, as Schefter notes. Montez Sweat and his $24.5MM previously held that honor. Moore was unable to crack Khalil Mack‘s $90MM in guaranteed money, although that was part of a six-year extension.
With Moore’s contract now added to the market, the likes of CeeDee Lamb and Brandon Aiyuk will only have more examples to cite in their pursuit of new contracts.
Patriots’ Matt Judon Staging Hold-In?
JULY 30: After not taking part in Monday’s practice, Judon is absent altogether from New England’s Tuesday session, ESPN’s Mike Reiss notes. It will be interesting to see if his recent conversations with the organization’s decision-makers, coupled with his hold-in effort, produces traction on the negotiation front. In the meantime, it will be surprising if Judon suits up for practices in at least the immediate future.
JULY 29: Matt Judon is still attached to an expiring contract, and the veteran pass rusher isn’t practicing with the Patriots as he pushes for a revised deal. Judon didn’t participate during New England’s first padded practice today, and Karen Guregian writes that the sack artist appears to be in the midst “of a hold-in.”
[RELATED: Latest On Patriots’ Plans With Matt Judon]
That apparent tactic was also accompanied by some theatrics. Guregian passes along a scene from Monday’s practice when Judon and head coach Jerod Mayo “had a lengthy conversation.” The player eventually left the practice field (“by the looks of it, with Mayo’s prompting,” per Guregian), before returning a short time later. This time, Judon was talking with executive VP of player personnel Eliot Wolf and director of player personnel Matt Groh, and the player’s conversation was much more animated.
It’s not too hard to surmise what Judon was discussing with team brass. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo notes that the pass rusher’s patience appears to have “worn thin,” while ESPN’s Mike Reiss writes that the sideline conversations “came close to overshadowing the action on the field.”
This is a sudden turn from Judon. While the player has been very public about his desire for a revamped contract, the talks haven’t seemed to be all that contentious. Judon followed a similar path last year, refusing to fully participate in training camp until his contract was adjusted. However, with Bill Belichick no longer running the show, it’s uncertain if Judon’s hold-in will once again be successful. Interestingly, Judon previously stated during a radio appearance that he didn’t want to be a vocal distraction during training camp.
“You kind of keep throwing tantrums, tantrums, tantrums — and then you don’t come out there and do what you’re supposed to do — it kind of gets old real fast. I ain’t really trying to do that,” Judon said (via Reiss). “I ain’t worried about holding out, sitting out, or sitting in, kind of protesting. I’m just going to come out here and kind of play, because last year, that stuff was trash. I ain’t really like that.”
For what it’s worth, Judon has said he would play on his current contract but would prefer not to. The veteran is set to earn $7.5MM in the final season of his deal, and while most pundits assume the Patriots are reluctant to offer a long-term extension, there’s some belief that the sides could compromise on a 2024 pay raise. A report earlier this month indicated the Patriots and Judon were not close on a new deal.
LB A.J. Klein Announces Retirement
A.J. Klein is calling it a career. The veteran linebacker announced on Instagram that he’s decided to retire.
“Today is the first birthday I’ve celebrated not at a training camp in 15 years and it only seemed fitting to celebrate two milestones on this day,” Klein wrote in part of his statement. “Today, I’m proud to announce that I’m officially retiring from the NFL after 11 seasons.”
A 2013 fifth-round pick out of Iowa State, Klein found a home in Carolina to begin his career. He never emerged as a true full-time starter, but he still started 23 of his 60 appearances while getting into about a third of his team’s defensive snaps. He caught on with the Saints via a three-year, $15MM deal in 2017 and ended up starting 42 of his 43 appearances in New Orleans.
His best statistical season came after he joined the Bills on a three-year pact in 2020. He finished that campaign with career-highs in tackles (70) and sacks (five). He saw a reduced role in 2021, and he bounced between a handful of teams (including the Giants, Ravens, and Bears) before landing back in Buffalo to end the 2022 season. He ended up sticking around with the Bills for the 2023 season while spending the majority of the year on the practice squad.
Klein will finish his career having collected 465 tackles, 15.5 sacks, and eight forced fumbles.