Giants Declined Opportunity To Match Xavier McKinney Contract
The Giants took a risk by letting Xavier McKinney hit free agency, and the safety ended up bolting for a lucrative deal from the Packers. Before he committed to joining Green Bay, the Giants had “strong interest” in retaining the defensive back, according to Paul Schwartz of the New York Post.
However, the front office was leery of handing McKinney the $17MM average annual value he ultimately earned from the Packers. That $17MM AAV puts McKinney in the top five of the highest-paid safeties in the NFL.
The Giants decided to not place the transition tag on McKinney, a decision that would have cost the team $13.8MM. As Schwartz writes, the Giants decided to not tag the safety in a “show of good faith,” although it ended up biting them when the Packers backed in with the Brink’s truck.
However, McKinney was still willing to honor the Giants’ handshake deal. As Schwartz passes along, the safety “did circle back” with the Giants and provided them an opportunity to match Green Bay’s offer. The Giants ultimately “deemed the price was too high for a safety.” We heard previously that the Giants were not prepared to go higher than the transition tag value, meaning there was like a $3MM AAV gap between the two sides.
While McKinney does not have a Pro Bowl on his resume, he is going into his age-25 season. That separated the Alabama alum from the lot of recently released safeties. Ranking 14th on PFR’s free agents list, McKinney played every snap for the Giants last season. McKinney intercepted three passes, forced a fumble and recorded a career-high 116 tackles in his contract year. He has run into some injury trouble, suffering a foot injury that delayed the start of his career in 2020 and then sustaining injuries in an ATV accident in 2022. These chunks of missed games did not deter the Packers, who made one of the biggest free agency commitments in team history.
Giants To Sign WR Isaiah McKenzie
A mini-Bills reunion is taking shape with the Giants, who have deep Buffalo ties at present. In addition to Devin Singletary being set to sign with the Giants, they are adding Isaiah McKenzie.
McKenzie will rejoin Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen in the Big Apple, according to his agency. Like Singletary, the return man/slot receiver’s Bills tenure overlapped with Daboll and Schoen’s. McKenzie spent the 2023 season with the Colts.
A fifth-round pick by the Broncos, McKenzie made a name for himself in Buffalo. He spent time as both a receiver and return man, appearing in 68 games during his time with the Bills. That included a career year in 2022 when he finished with 42 catches for 423 yards and four touchdowns.
He was released by the Bills last offseason and ended up catching on with the Colts. He saw an even lesser offensive role than he experienced in Buffalo, hauling in only 11 catches in 13 games in Indy. In December, he was hit with a three-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team.
Now, the Giants will be hoping they can get something out of the veteran. The Giants will return much of their WR depth next season, including Jalin Hyatt, Darius Slayton, and Wan’Dale Robinson, with the likes of Sterling Shepard and Parris Campbell hitting free agency.
The Giants are still waiting for one of their wideouts to emerge as a clear-cut WR1. They can’t expect that from McKenzie, but the veteran should at least provide some reliability towards the bottom of the depth chart.
Saints To Sign LB Willie Gay
After the Chiefs gave Drue Tranquill another contract, Willie Gay will head elsewhere. The longtime Kansas City regular will resurface in New Orleans.
The Saints are adding Gay on a one-year contract worth up to $5MM, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo tweets. Considering the value Tranquill received, the Chiefs made their choice. Gay, a four-year Chiefs starter, will now look to raise his stock with the Saints.
After grading as at least an above-average linebacker through his first three seasons in the NFL, Pro Football Focus ranked Gay only 72nd among 82 qualifying linebackers this past season. The former second-round pick’s snaps declined throughout the year, although that was also due to a shoulder injury.
Still, Gay managed to finish the season with 58 tackles, and he’s only a year removed from a career year in 2022 when he finished with 88 stops and 2.5 sacks. Heading into his age-26 season, there may not be a whole lot of untapped potential, but Gay has shown that he can at least be a dependable option in the linebackers room.
The Saints have been busy working on deals with linebackers during the opening days of free agency. We learned yesterday that the organization was extending Demario Davis despite the LB still having a year left on his contract.
Dolphins To Sign S Jordan Poyer
After getting cut by the Bills last week, Jordan Poyer is joining a division rival. The veteran safety is signing with the Dolphins, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. It’ll be a one-year deal for Poyer.
The safety was set to earn $5.5MM in 2024 and was attached to a $7.72MM cap hit. With a roster bonus due later in March, the Bills decided to move on from their defensive mainstay. The move created $5.72MM in cap space for Buffalo while generating a dead money charge of $2MM.
The former seventh-rounder tested his value on the open market last offseason. After failing to receive much in the way of outside interest, he agreed to a two-year, $12.5MM re-up in Buffalo. That was his third contract with the organization, with Poyer having originally signed with the Bills back in 2017 before inking an extension in 2020.
Poyer earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2021, and he received a Pro Bowl invite the following season. After racking up a combined nine interceptions and 17 pass deflections during that span, however, those totals fell to zero and four in 2023. Pro Football Focus graded Poyer 46th among 95 qualifying safeties in 2023, the second-straight year he’s finished near the middle of the pack at his position.
Considering the relatively deep safeties free agent class, Poyer’s declining production, and the veteran’s rising age, he wasn’t expected to garner a long-term commitment from any teams. The Dolphins are a logical landing spot considering both DeShon Elliott and Brandon Jones hit free agency. The team did re-sign Elijah Campbell, but he profiles as more of a backup. The Dolphins can now confidently pencil in Poyer opposite Jevon Holland.
Jets To Sign DT Leki Fotu
Leki Fotu is heading to New York. The Jets are expected to sign the former Cardinals defensive tackle, according to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports.
It’s a one-year deal worth $2.5MM, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The deal can hit $4MM via incentives and/or bonuses.
With Quinton Jefferson, Solomon Thomas, and Al Woods all hitting free agency, the Jets have been hunting for some reinforcement at defensive tackle. The team already agreed to a deal with former 49ers defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw, and now they’re adding another former NFC West option.
Fotu was a fourth-round pick by the Cardinals in 2020 and had spent his entire career in Arizona. He started only 21 of his 56 appearances with the organization but was consistently playing around 40 percent of his team’s defensive snaps. He started nine of his 11 appearances in 2023, finishing with 28 tackles and a career-high 2.5 sacks.
As ESPN’s Rich Cimini passes along, Fotu had a run-stop percentage of 6.7 percent last season, which ranked 22nd among 117 defensive tackles. That number would have ranked second on the Jets behind Quinnen Williams, the team’s lone holdover at the position.
Colts To Sign DT Raekwon Davis
The Dolphins have Zach Sieler locked down via the extension he signed last year, but they are losing their other two defensive line starters. Following Christian Wilkins‘ defection to the Raiders, Raekwon Davis is leaving as well.
Davis is heading to Indianapolis, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting the young D-tackle is signing a two-year deal worth $14MM in base value. A four-year Dolphins cog, Davis started 48 games for the team. Despite the Colts re-signing Grover Stewart on Monday to stay in place alongside DeForest Buckner, the Colts evidently viewed this as a big enough need, and another notable veteran contract became necessary.
Davis only graded as Pro Football Focus’ 79th interior defender among 130 qualifiers, far behind Buckner (12th) and Stewart (22nd). Still, the free agent addition was better than the Colts’ DT3 from last season, as Taven Bryan ranked 99th on that same list.
Bryan is currently a free agent, so Davis will likely slide into his spot in the depth chart. Bryan, Eric Johnson, and Adetomiwa Adebawore accounted for 740 snaps last season, so Davis could see a significant role on Gus Bradley’s defense, even as a backup.
With Wilkins and Davis gone (and Emmanuel Ogbah having been released), the Dolphins are lacking depth on their defensive line. Other than Sieler, former UDFA Brandon Pili is the only other player who played defensive tackle for the Dolphins last season, and he was limited to 30 snaps (all coming in the first four weeks). Miami will surely look to add reinforcement either via free agency or the draft.
Giants To Add DB Jalen Mills
For a second straight offseason, the Giants have lost a starting safety. Xavier McKinney following Julian Love out of New York creates a void. They will bring in Jalen Mills to help fill it.
The former Patriots and Eagles defender is joining the Giants, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. Mills has experience at safety and cornerback but played more on the back line last season. The Giants need more help at that spot.
The former seventh-round pick quickly burst onto the scene in 2016, but after missing only one game through his first two seasons in Philly, he was limited to 17 games between 2018 and 2019. When he returned in 2020, he was playing safety, and he proceeded to have one of the most productive seasons of his career, finishing with a career-high 74 tackles.
That performance earned him a four-year, $24MM contract from the Patriots in 2021. He started all 26 of his appearances through his first two seasons in New England, mostly playing cornerback. He was cut and re-signed last offseason and transitioned back to safety, where he got into 17 games (eight starts). He only graded 75th among 95 qualifying safeties on Pro Football Focus, although the site did give him one of the highest grades at his position in run defense.
The Giants do have some continuity among their safeties corps with Jason Pinnock. Mills will likely be in the mix for the other safety spot, competing with the likes of former fourth-round pick Dane Belton for reps.
Jaguars To Re-Sign RB D’Ernest Johnson
Plenty of running backs have reached agreements with new teams recently, but D’Ernest Johnson will be staying in place. The depth rusher is re-signing with the Jaguars on a one-year deal, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The former UDFA started his career as Nick Chubb‘s backup in Cleveland. Serving as a RB2 behind a workhorse RB naturally limited Johnson’s snaps, but the RB did get an extended look in 2021. He started two of his 17 appearances that season, finishing with 671 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns.
He caught on with the Jaguars last offseason but started the year as the RB3 behind Travis Etienne and rookie Tank Bigsby. He eventually supplanted his rookie teammate as the RB2, with the bulk of his 194 snaps coming in the second half of the season. Johnson ultimately finished the year with 248 yards from scrimmage, the second-highest total of his career.
The Jaguars will likely return the same RB corps in 2024. After missing his rookie season, Etienne hasn’t missed a game over the past two years. However, an injury could occur at any time, and Johnson may get the first look ahead of Bigsby in such a scenario.
Colts To Re-Sign P Rigoberto Sanchez
Rigoberto Sanchez has spent his entire career with the Colts, and that is set to continue in 2024 and beyond. Indianapolis is finalizing a new deal with the veteran punter, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports.
Sanchez will remain in place on a three-year deal, Joel A. Erickson of the Indy Star adds. The 29-year-old played out a four-year, $11.6MM deal signed in 2019. Instead of testing the market for outside suitors, he will continue in Indianapolis on a deal which Fox59’s Mike Chappell notes is worth $7.5MM.
Sanchez has been a mainstay for the Colts since the 2017 campaign, appearing in 96 games over his seven-year career. After missing the entire 2022 campaign with an Achilles injury, he bounced back and appeared in all 17 games in 2023. He actually set a new career high with 48.3 yards per punt this past year, and he was the only punter in the NFL to not record a touchback.
The 29-year-old watched the punter market unfold over the past 24 hours, as Cameron Johnston and Tommy Townsend joined new squads. Instead of switching cities, Sanchez will be sticking in Indy for the foreseeable future.
Browns To Sign RB Nyheim Hines
Running back moves continue around the NFL as the negotiating window enters its third day. Nyheim Hines has agreed to a one-year deal with the Browns worth up to $3.5MM, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
The former fourth-round pick emerged as a dependable pass-catching back in Indianapolis, where he had 235 receptions in four-plus seasons with the organization. He was traded to the Bills during the 2022 campaign, and he appeared in nine games for his new squad down the stretch.
He didn’t have the same offensive role in Buffalo, collecting only 11 touches. However, he did have a significant role on special teams, returning 19 kickoffs and 16 punts. He returned a pair of kickoffs for touchdowns during the team’s regular season finale against the Patriots.
He missed the entire 2023 campaign while recovering from a leg injury stemming from an offseason watercraft accident. He was cut by the Bills earlier this month.
The Browns had to dip into their RB depth in 2023 following Nick Chubb‘s season-ending injury. The team will return that same depth in 2024, with backups Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong expected to stick around. The team may be looking for some additional bodies at the position as Chubb gets back to full health, although Hines’ pass-catching ability will likely earn him some snaps either way.