Panthers Sign LB Frankie Luvu, Re-Sign OL John Miller
The Panthers added players on both sides of the ball today. The team first announced the signing of linebacker Frankie Luvu, and they later announced that they’ve re-signed offensive lineman John Miller.
Luvu, a former undrafted free agent out of Washington State, spent the first three seasons of his career with the Jets organization, appearing in 40 total games. The 24-year-old showed signs of being a solid pass rusher throughout his stint with New York, collecting six sacks and 16 QB hits. He also finished the 2020 campaign with a career-high 25 tackles.
Miller is rejoining the Panthers on a one-year deal. The former third-rounder spent the first four seasons of his career with the Bills, starting each of his 47 appearances. He had a brief stop in Cincinnati during the 2019 campaign before joining Carolina last offseason. He proceeded to start 14 games for the Panthers in 2020 at right guard.
The Panthers have been busy adding to their offensive line this offseason. After franchising left tackle Taylor Moton, the team added a pair of free agents in Cam Erving and Pat Elflein.
Bears To Sign LB Christian Jones
Christian Jones is heading back to Chicago. The free agent linebacker is signing with the Bears, the team announced on Twitter. Terms of the deal haven’t been reported.
The 2014 undrafted free agent out of Florida State spent the first four seasons of his career with the Bears, starting 31 of his 63 appearances. The linebacker eventually evolved into one of Chicago’s most reliable defenders, culminating in a 2017 campaign where he finished with career-highs in tackles (90), QB hits (three), and sacks (two).
That performance earned him a two-year, $6.35MM deal with the Lions in 2018, and he eventually added another year to the pact via an extension. In total, Jones spent three seasons in Detroit, appearing in 45 games (42 starts). He saw time in 16 games (13 starts) this past season, collecting 57 tackles and no sacks.
Now, Jones will be heading back to Chicago, and there should still be some familiar faces. For instance, defensive coordinator Sean Desai was around during Jones’ first stint with the organization, serving as the defensive quality control coach. Jones was also teammates with one of the players he’ll likely be backing up, linebacker Danny Trevathan.
Cowboys Hosting S Jayron Kearse
Malik Hooker and Damontae Kazee won’t be the only two safeties visiting the Cowboys. ESPN’s Todd Archer reports (via Twitter) that Dallas will also be hosting defensive back Jayron Kearse. Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News tweets that the auditions will take place tomorrow.
The 2016 seventh-round pick had spent the first four seasons of his career with the Vikings, missing only a pair of regular season games over that span. He ultimately started five of his 62 games for the organization, compiling 79 tackles, 0.5 sacks, eight passes defended, and one interception.
Kearse signed a one-year, $2.75MM deal with the Lions last offseason. He was later suspended for the first three games of the 2020 campaign for violating the substance-abuse policy, and he ultimately saw time in 11 games (seven starts) for his new squad, compiling a career-high 59 tackles. He was waived by the Lions late in the season and spent the rest of the season on the Ravens practice squad.
Now, the 27-year-old will have an opportunity to catch on with the Cowboys. Watkins notes that the Cowboys interest in Kearse, Hooker, and Kazee (along with the signing of Keanu Neal) doesn’t mean the team is done with Donovan Wilson, who started 10 games for the Cowboys last season. Rather, the team’s just looking to improve their defensive backs corps.
49ers Re-Sign DL Jordan Willis
Jordan Willis is off to San Francisco. The defensive end has signed with the 49ers, reports Matt Barrows of the The Athletic (via Twitter). It’s a one-year deal for the 25-year-old.
The former Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year was a third-round pick of the Bengals in 2017. He spent a pair of seasons with Cincinnati before moving on to the Jets in 2019, where he spent a year-plus. Last October, he was acquired by the 49ers (along with a seventh-rounder) in for a sixth-round pick, and Willis proceeded to appear in seven games for San Francisco.
Serving as defensive line coach Kris Kocurek “bravo” (or, simply, backup) defensive end, Willis finished the season having compiled 13 tackles and a career-high 2.5 sacks.
The 49ers lost some defensive line depth earlier today. After starting a career-high 14 games for the 49ers last season, defensive end Kerry Hyder is set to ink a three-year deal with the Seahawks.
Bengals Re-Sign P Kevin Huber
For the 13th-straight season, Kevin Huber will be punting for the Cincinnati Bengals. The team re-signed the veteran special teamer today, per the NFL’s transaction report.
Huber has established himself as a Cincinnati legend over the years. Following a pair of All-American seasons for the Cincinnati Bearcats, Huber joined the Bengals as a fifth-round pick in 2009. Since that time, the punter has only missed a pair of games for Cincy, earning both a Pro Bowl nod and first-team All-Pro recognition in 2014. Huber owns a number of franchise records, including punts (914) and punting yards (41,362). Huber has also appeared in the fourth-most games (190) in franchise history, and he could break the team record (207, held by defensive back Ken Riley) by playing two more seasons.
Huber had another steady season in 2020. The 35-year-old collected 71 punts for 3,350 yards, with his 47.2 yards per punt serving as a new career-high.
The Bengals special teams units may look a bit different in 2021. The team re-signed long snapper Clark Harris, but they watched as starting kicker Randy Bullock left for the Lions.
Colts To Sign OL Sam Tevi
Following the retirement of Anthony Castonzo, the Colts have been seeking a new left tackle. The organization has added one potential replacement, as NFL.coms’ Tom Pelissero reports (via Twitter) that Indy has signed offensive lineman Sam Tevi.
The 2017 sixth-round pick out of Utah had spent his entire four-year career with the Chargers, including three seasons as a full-time starter. After starting 29 of his 30 games at right tackle between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, Tevi started 14 games at left tackle in 2020. He finished the season having appeared in a career-high 1,025 snaps (87 percent of the Chargers’ offensive possessions).
The Colts have been relatively busy looking for players to protect Carson Wentz‘s blindside. We learned last week that the team was hosting free agent lineman Julie’n Davenport.
As Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com writes, the Chargers will likely turn to Storm Norton to replace Tevi’s spot in the lineup. The 26-year-old joined the organization last summer, and he proceeded to appear in six games (with three starts).
Details On Nate Solder’s Reworked Deal With Giants
When we learned that the Giants were set to rework Nate Solder‘s contract, pretty much everyone expected that the team would save a small chunk of money. However, the veteran lineman’s new deal will actually see him take a significant pay cut.
Dan Duggan of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that Solder’s 2021 salary has been reduced from $10MM to only $3MM, leading to a $9.5MM cap charge (ultimately saving the organization $7MM). Solder’s 2022 deal was also reduced to $3MM, none of which is guaranteed, and his cap hit will drop from $18MM to $7MM. So, at the end of the day, Solder basically committed to a new two-year, $6MM deal with $3MM in guaranteed money.
Solder opted out of last season but had expressed a desire to play in 2021. The 6-foot-8 tackle was previously attached to a $16.5MM cap number after his contract tolled from 2020. Outright releasing the lineman never seemed like a logical option for the Giants, as it would have left the organization with $10.5MM in dead money.
New York signed Solder to a massive four-year, $62MM deal in 2018, and he’s been a pretty big disappointment for that hefty contract. They almost traded him in 2019, but nothing got done. While his production has gone down, Solder still started each of his 32 games between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, playing in at least 95-percent of his team’s offensive snaps per year.
There’s a chance that Solder sees mostly a backup role in 2021. The team’s rostering 2020 No. 4 overall pick Andrew Thomas, and they got some surprising production from third-round pick Matt Peart last season.
Dolphins Host DL Lawrence Guy
Brian Flores is once again trying to recruit one of his former players to Miami. ESPN’s Field Yates reports (via Twitter) that the Dolphins hosted veteran defensive tackle Lawrence Guy on a free agent visit.
Guy bounced around the NFL during his first six seasons in the NFL, spending time with the Packers, Colts, Chargers, and Ravens. He landed in New England in 2017, and he’s been a consistent starter for the organization over the past four years. The former seventh rounder has started 60 of his 62 appearances for the Patriots, compiling 235 tackles, seven tackles, 27 QB hits, and 16 tackles for loss.
He also started seven playoff games for the Patriots, including a 2018 run that saw him earn his lone Super Bowl ring. Thanks to his four-year performance, Guy earned a surprising spot on the team’s 2010s All-Decade Team.
Despite his consistent performance in New England, it seems like Guy’s stint with the organization has come to an end. The organization brought in three defensive linemen in former Dolphin Davon Godchaux, Henry Anderson, Montravius Adams, and they also re-signed Deatrich Wise and Carl Davis.
Bears Release CB Kyle Fuller
SATURDAY: No 11th-hour trade ended up taking place. Fuller’s release became official Saturday. The Bears will save $11MM in cap space by cutting the seven-year veteran while incurring $9MM in dead money.
THURSDAY: An All-Pro cornerback is unexpectedly hitting the open market. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the Bears are releasing veteran Kyle Fuller.
It sounds like the transaction was mostly a financial decision, with Rapoport noting that “this is Chicago’s only cut due to cap space.” ESPN’s Dianna Russini tweets that the Bears wanted Fuller to take a “very significant paycut,” but the player preferred to test the open market. The 29-year-old was due $14MM next season, and he had a pricey cap hit of $20MM.
The 2014 first-round pick became a fan favorite in Chicago, earning a pair of Pro Bowl appearances and one first-team All-Pro nod during his seven-year stint with the organization. Fuller departs the organization ranked fourth on the franchise’s all-time list in passes defended (82), and he’s ranked in the top-20 for tackles (390) and interceptions (19).
After getting his fifth-year option declined for the 2018 season, Fuller was slapped with the transition tag. He ended up inking a four-year, $56MM deal with the Packers, including $18MM guaranteed. The Bears matched the contract, keeping Fuller under contract through the 2021 season. Last offseason, the front office reworked the veteran’s contract. While the move saved the team $6.5MM at the time, it meant Fuller’s 2021 cap hit would jump from $18.5MM to $20MM.
While Fuller failed to earn his third-straight Pro Bowl nod, he still had a productive 2020 campaign. The cornerback started all 16 games for Chicago, compiling 65 tackles, eight passes defended, and one interception. He also started Chicago’s playoff loss to the Saints.
Fuller will surely be a popular target now that he’s hit free agency. William Jackson (Washington, three years, $42MM), Shaquill Griffin (Jaguars, three years, $40MM), and Patrick Peterson (Vikings, one year, $10MM) were among the top free agent cornerbacks heading into free agency. Cornerbacks like Xavier Rhodes and Kevin King remain unsigned.
Jets S Marcus Maye Accepts Franchise Tender
Marcus Maye is sticking around New York via the franchise tag. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports (via Twitter) that the safety has accepted his franchise tender, locking him in to a $10.61MM deal.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to play the 2021 season on that franchise value. Rather, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets that Maye’s camp will continue working with the Jets towards a long-term deal.
Following the the Jamal Adams trade, Maye became the centerpiece of the Jets secondary. The former second-rounder ultimately broke through with the best season of his career; Pro Football Focus graded the former second-round pick as its No. 5 overall safety. Maye also finished the season with career-highs across the board, including 88 tackles, two sacks, two picks, and 11 passes defended.
With this signing, each of the nine players who were slapped with the franchise tag have either accepted the tender or signed an extension.