Falcons Sign RB Damien Williams
Damien Williams is taking his talents to Atlanta. The free agent running back is signing with the Falcons, reports NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter).
Williams is inking a one-year deal with Atlanta. Doug Kyed of PFF tweets that the deal is worth $1.62MM, including a $500K signing bonus. ESPN’s Field Yates tweeted earlier today that the running back was set to meet with the Falcons organization.
The 29-year-old spent the 2021 season with the Bears, but his numbers were a far cry from what he put up during his stint with the Chiefs. After collecting 1,127 yards from scrimmage and 13 touchdowns in two years with Kansas City, Williams finished 2021 with only 267 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns in 12 games (two starts). However, the RB clearly made an impression on former Bears GM Ryan Pace, who is now working in Atlanta’s front office.
Williams spent the first four seasons of his career with the Dolphins. It’s been a while, but the RB also had a stint as a kick returner during his time in Miami.
In Atlanta, Williams will be joining a depth chart that was led by free agent Cordarrelle Patterson last season. At the moment, Atlanta has Mike Davis, Qadree Ollison, and Caleb Huntley under contract.
Ravens Sign DT Michael Pierce
Michael Pierce is returning to Baltimore. The veteran defensive tackle is signing with the Ravens, reports NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter).
Pierce will sign a three-year, $16.5MM deal with Baltimore, per Rapoport.
Pierce earned his walking papers from Minnesota earlier this week. The Vikings tried to convince Pierce to take a “moderate pay cut,” and when that didn’t happen, they tried to trade him. They couldn’t find any takers, so they ended up moving on from the defensive lineman. Pierce signed a three-year, $27MM deal with the Vikings in 2020, and he was set to have a $10.5MM cap hit in 2022. His release left behind $4MM in dead cap.
After opting out of the 2020 campaign, Pierce made his Vikings debut in 2021. He ultimately collected 20 tackles and three sacks in eight starts. He suffered an elbow injury that forced him to miss the middle chunk of the season.
Following his release from Minnesota, there were whispers that Pierce could look towards a reunion with Baltimore (via Josina Anderson on Twitter), but it was uncertain if the return of Za’Darius Smith would price the Ravens out of the sweepstakes. Ultimately, the two sides agreed to terms, and Pierce will now return to the team that took a chance on him as an undrafted free agent in 2016. The Stanford product ended up spending the first four seasons of his career with the Ravens, starting 30 of his 60 games.
Bears Sign WR Equanimeous St. Brown
Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy has recruited another player to Chicago. The Bears are signing wideout Equanimeous St. Brown, according to Jeff Howe of The Athletic (on Twitter). Brown agreed to join the Bears on a one-year deal, Howe tweets.
[RELATED: Bears To Sign OL Lucas Patrick]
The 2018 sixth-round pick had spent his entire career in Green Bay, with Getsy serving as QBs coach during three of those four seasons. The receiver missed the entire 2019 season, but he otherwise appeared in at least 12 games during his three healthy seasons with the Packers. However, St. Brown hasn’t been able to match his rookie numbers (333 yards from scrimmage) in 2020 nor 2021.
This past season, St. Brown saw time in 13 games (two starts), collecting 112 yards from scrimmage on 12 touches. He also appeared in 34% of the Packers’ special teams snaps.
The Bears have been busy adding former Packers players, signing offensive lineman Lucas Patrick earlier this week.
Cowboys Re-Sign DE Dorance Armstrong
Dorance Armstrong has parlayed a breakout season into a new contract. The Cowboys are re-signing the defensive end, reports ESPN’s Todd Archer (on Twitter). Armstrong is signing a two-year pact worth $13MM.
The 2018 fourth-round pick has spent his entire four-year career in Dallas, but he really emerged in 2021. After collecting 2.5 sacks through his first 46 career games, Armstrong finished this past season with five sacks in 13 games (five starts). The defensive lineman also added another 37 tackles and 12 QB hits.
In total, Armstrong has appeared in 59 games (eight starts), collecting 98 tackles, 7.5 sacks, and a pair of forced fumbles.
While Armstrong is back with the Cowboys, the same can’t be said of safety Jayron Kearse. According to Calvin Watkins of Dallas Morning News (on Twitter), the Cowboys aren’t close to a new contract with the free agent defensive back.
Jaguars Re-Sign CB Tre Herndon
Tre Herndon is returning to Jacksonville. The Jaguars have re-signed the cornerback, reports Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com (via Twitter).
Herndon has spent his entire career with the Jaguars, and he’s seen an inconsistent role through his first four years in the league. He started 26 games for the organization between 2019 and 2020, but he only started three of his nine games in 2021. A knee injury delayed his start to last season, and he was also inactive for five of the team’s final 10 games.
Still, Herndon managed to compile 17 tackles while playing a role on special teams. In total, the 26-year-old has collected 161 tackles and three interceptions in 52 career games.
The cornerback will presumably play behind Shaquill Griffin and Rudy Ford in 2022.
Chargers Re-Sign DL Christian Covington
Christian Covington is returning to the Chargers. The team is re-signing the free agent defensive end, reports Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com (on Twitter).
[RELATED: Chargers To Sign DL Austin Johnson]
Following a four-year stint with the Texans to start his career, Covington has bounced around the NFL a bit over the past few years. He had stints with the Cowboys and Bengals before landing in Los Angeles in 2021.
He ended up getting into 16 games (three starts) for the Chargers last season, collecting 52 tackles, one sack, and one forced fumble. He saw time on 48 percent of the Chargers defensive snaps, and he also got some run on special teams.
Defensive linemen Justin Jones and Linval Joseph combined for 23 starts last season, but both players are hitting free agency. As a result, Covington could see a larger role next season.
Panthers Sign LB Damien Wilson
Following a career year in Jacksonville, Damien Wilson is heading elsewhere. The free agent linebacker is signing with the Panthers, reports NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo (via Twitter). Wilson is signing a two-year deal.
Wilson spent his first four seasons as a backup in Dallas, but he got a starting gig with the Chiefs in 2019. He ended up starting all 29 of his games through two seasons with the organization, and he added another six playoff starts (including three during the Chiefs’ run to a Super Bowl championship).
He caught on with the Jaguars last offseason, and he ended up having a career year for his new team. He started 17 games for Jacksonville, collecting a career-high 106 tackles to go along with three sacks, one forced fumble, and one interception.
The Panthers are adding a new player to the linebackers room, but the team has also focused on retaining their depth at the position. The organization previously re-signed Julian Stanford and Marquis Haynes.
Vikings Won’t Re-Sign CB Mackensie Alexander
We’re uncertain where free agent cornerback Mackensie Alexander will play in 2022, but it definitely won’t be in Minnesota. According to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (on Twitter), the Vikings won’t be re-signing the defensive back.
Fortunately for Alexander, he’ll be able to continue his career elsewhere. According to the reporter, there are “several teams interested” in the cornerback.
The 2016 second-round pick spent the first four seasons of his career in Minnesota before moving on to Cincinnati in 2020. He returned to Minnesota for the 2021 campaign and ended up collecting a career-high 51 tackles in 16 games (five starts).
The Vikings could have a completely different looking cornerbacks corps in 2022. Patrick Peterson is also a free agent, and some draft pundits have predicted that the organization will select a cornerback in the first round of the upcoming draft.
Restructured Contracts: Saints, Floyd, Hyde, Barrett
While teams are currently focused on adding free agents, some front offices are looking to carve out some extra cap space. We’ve collected some of today’s restructured deals below:
- The Saints opened up some extra cap space earlier today. According to ESPN’s Field Yates (on Twitter), the team restructured the contracts of defensive tackle David Onyemata and offensive tackle James Hurst. The moves saved the team an extra $7.015MM. Onyemata inked a three-year, $27MM deal with the Saints in 2020, and he already reworked his contract last offseason. A year ago yesterday, Hurst inked a three-year, $9MM extension with New Orleans.
- The Rams opened up $12MM in cap space by reworking Leonard Floyd‘s contract, according to Yates (on Twitter). Floyd signed a four-year, $64MM extension with the organization last year. In two years with the Rams, the edge rusher has collected 20 sacks, and he’s added another four in six playoff games.
- The Bills converted $5.68MM of safety Micah Hyde’s contract into a signing bonus, opening $4.54MM in cap space, per Yates (on Twitter). The veteran signed a two-year, $19.25MM extension with Buffalo last offseason. Hyde has spent the past five seasons in Buffalo, earning a pair of Pro Bowl nods while only missing a pair of regular season games.
- The Buccaneers restructured Shaq Barrett’s contract, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). The move should open up just under $10MM in cap space, according to Greg Auman of The Athletic (on Twitter). After playing the 2020 season under the franchise tag, Barrett inked a four-year, $72MM deal ($36MM guaranteed) with the Buccaneers last offseason.
Buccaneers Sign WR Chris Godwin To Three-Year Extension
Chris Godwin and the Buccaneers have agreed to a long-term deal. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter), the Buccaneers are signing their star receiver to a three-year $60MM deal. The contract includes $40MM in guaranteed money due at signing.
The Buccaneers had to slap the franchise tag on Godwin when the two sides couldn’t agree to an extension by the tag deadline, but there was always optimism that the two sides would eventually agree to a long-term deal. We’ve heard in recent weeks that the two sides were continuing to work towards a new contract.
The franchise tag’s value would have been at $19.2MM, so Godwin ended up passing that total with his AAV. Tampa Bay got to clear up some much-needed space via the multiyear deal; ESPN’s Jenna Laine tweets that Godwin’s first-year cap hit is only $5MM, so the Bucs carved $14MM off their 2022 cap. If the contract looks familiar, it’s actually the exact same terms that Mike Williams got on his new deal with the Chargers.
A third rounder in 2017, Godwin has certainly outperformed his draft status during his time in Tampa Bay. His 2019 Pro Bowl season showcased his ability even without a quarterback the caliber of Tom Brady in the picture. His 2021 season with the future Hall of Famer (98 catches, 1,103 yards, five touchdowns) confirmed his talent level.
Brady is sticking around in 2022, and the Buccaneers offense looks as loaded as ever. Godwin and fellow top wideout Mike Evans will both be back, and Russell Gage was brought in to replace Antonio Brown on the depth chart. The team also re-signed veteran WR Breshad Perriman. We’ll still have to see whether Rob Gronkowski or any of the Buccaneers RBs return (Leonard Fournette, Ronald Jones, and Giovani Bernard are all FAs), but Brady’s main targets will be sticking around Tampa Bay for the foreseeable future.