Saints Rework Contracts Of DE Cameron Jordan, LB Demario Davis
The Saints have been busy clearing cap space over the past few days, and they’ve once again restructured the contracts of veterans. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that defensive end Cameron Jordan and linebacker Demario Davis have both agreed to rework their contracts. These two moves will save the Saints more than $13MM in cap space.
Jordan was set to have a cap hit of $18.9MM in 2021, which would have been the highest on the team. The 31-year-old has spent his entire career in New Orleans, establishing himself as a consistent force on the defensive line. Remarkably, the former first-rounder hasn’t missed a regular season game since joining the organization, and he earned his fourth-straight Pro Bowl nod (sixth overall) in 2020 after finishing with 51 tackles, 7.5 sacks, and one forced fumble. Jordan inked a three-year, $52.5MM deal with New Orleans back in 2019 that will keep him with the organization through the 2023 season.
Following a pair of stints with the Jets and a one-year cameo with the Browns, Davis joined the Saints back in 2018. He’s since established himself as one of the best linebackers in the game; after earning first-team All-Pro honors in 2019, the 32-year-old followed that up with a second-team nod in 2020. Davis ultimately finished this past season having compiled 119 tackles and four sacks. The veteran inked a three-year, $27MM deal with the Saints last September, and he was set to have a $10.8MM cap hit in 2021.
The Saints have made a handful of moves over the past week. The team reworked the contracts of defensive tackle David Onyemata and kicker Wil Lutz, and they released punter Thomas Morstead and tight end Josh Hill. Prior to today’s moves, Katherine Terrell of The Athletic estimated (on Twitter) that New Orleans had already opened more than $24MM in cap space with their various moves.
Saints Re-Sign Ty Montgomery
Ty Montgomery is heading back to New Orleans. NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports (via Twitter) that the Saints have re-signed the veteran to a one-year pact. Specifically, it’s a “veteran benefit deal” that includes a $137.5K signing bonus.
The 2015 third-round pick spent the first three-plus seasons of his career in Green Bay, including a 2016 campaign where he collected 805 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns. He was traded to the Ravens midway through the 2018 campaign, and he served as Le’Veon Bell‘s backup with the Jets in 2019.
Montgomery signed with the Saints last offseason but spent the beginning of the season sitting on IR. With much of New Orleans’ running back corps sidelined by COVID protocol, Montgomery had a chance to start in Week 17, finishing with 105 rushing yards on 18 carries. He finished the 2020 season having appeared in six games, and he made an additional appearance in the postseason.
The 28-year-old has displayed plenty of versatility throughout his career, serving as a running back, wideout, and return man. He’ll likely serve a similar Swiss Army Knife-type role in 2021, although it’ll be tough for him to surpass Alvin Kamara or Latavius Murray on the running backs depth chart, and he’d be (at best) the team’s fifth wideout heading into the offseason.
Jaguars’ OL Andrew Norwell, Giants’ OL Kevin Zeitler On The Trade Block?
A pair of veteran offensive linemen are apparently on the trade block, but it’s sounding like there may not be any takers. Jason La Canfora is hearing that the Jaguars are shopping offensive guard Andrew Norwell, while the Giants are trying to move offensive guard Kevin Zeitler (Twitter link). The reporter adds that rival teams believe these two linemen will ultimately be released, at which time they’ll “generate significant interest” around the NFL.
Norwell parlayed his first-team All-Pro nod with the Panthers into a five-year, $66.5MM deal with the Jaguars in 2018. While the veteran hasn’t matched his production from that standout campaign, he’s still been a dependable presence on Jacksonville’s line over the past three years. The organization’s decision to shop (and, presumably, eventually move on from) Norwell is mostly financial; the veteran has a cap hit of $15MM in 2021 and $16MM in 2022, and cutting him would leave manageable dead cap hits of $6MM in 2021 and $3MM in 2022.
Zeitler, a former first-round pick, spent the first five seasons of his career with the Bengals, including a 2012 campaign where he earned All-Rookie Team honors from the Pro Football Writers Association. He inked a five-year, $60MM deal with the Browns in 2017, making him the highest-paid guard in the NFL. He spent a pair of seasons in Cleveland before getting dealt to the Giants as a part of the Odell Beckham trade.
The 30-year-old has played the past two seasons in New York, appearing in all but one game. The veteran has a $14.5MM cap hit in the final year of his contract, and the Giants would be left with only $2.5MM in dead cap if they decided to cut him.
P Michael Palardy To Visit Bills
Michael Palardy has secured his first reported visit since getting dumped by the Panthers last month. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that the veteran punter will be visiting the Bills tomorrow.
After bouncing around the league a bit to start his career, Palardy joined the Panthers back in 2016. He took on the full-time role in 2017, and he proceeded to appear in every game for Carolina over the next three years. However, the 28-year-old tore his ACL during the offseason, forcing him to miss the entire 2020 campaign. With one year remaining on his three-year, $7.52MM deal, the Panthers decided to save some cash and move on from the punter back in February.
Schefter notes that the punter is seven months removed from surgery and is expected to be ready for the regular season. Considering Palardy’s pedigree, it’s not a huge surprise that he’s already garnering interest from around the league. Plus, Bills GM Brandon Beane was in Carolina when the team initially signed the punter, so there’s some familiarity from that standpoint.
On the flip side, the Bills seemingly have a solution at punter in Corey Bojorquez. The 2018 undrafted free agent out of New Mexico has appeared in every game for Buffalo over the past two seasons, and despite the Bills finishing with a league-low 41 punters, Bojorquez managed to lead the NFL in average punt yardage (50.8). Bojorquez is set to hit restricted free agency this offseason, so the Bills are likely exploring their options before fully committing to the 24-year-old.
Bears GM Ryan Pace Discusses QB Plans
Nick Foles is the only Bears quarterback under contract in 2021, so there’s a good chance the organization will see at least a few changes at the position in 2021. GM Ryan Pace acknowledged as much during a conference call today, noting that the front office would literally explore every avenue as they determine who will be under center next season.
“Everything is on the table in regard to the quarterback situation,” Pace said (via the team’s website). “And, honestly, that includes players on our current roster, that includes free agency, trade, the draft and a combination of all those. We have a plan in place, and now it’s about executing that plan.”
As Pace noted, it won’t just be himself and head coach Matt Nagy making the decisions at quarterback. Rather, the front office will also be relying on input from offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, quarterbacks coach/pass game coordinator John DeFilippo, and offensive analyst Tom Herman, who the team hired yesterday.
We’ve already seen a pair of major quarterback trades this offseason, with the Bears seemingly being connected to every major trade option. However, Pace acknowledged that the team could find themselves setting an unofficial trade deadline if they don’t eventually reach an agreement with another team.
“You obviously have a lot of different things planned out with free agency and the draft, and the last thing you want to do is put yourself or the team in a bad position where you get kind of stuck,” Pace said. “So you have internal timelines based on the calendar year with free agency and the draft, and you operate from that.”
Pace seems to be willing to explore every option, but he wouldn’t give any clues as to whether the organization will retain former second-overall pick Mitch Trubisky. When asked if Trubisky could be back in 2021, the GM noted that “everything is on the table.”
“We’re not going to lay all that out right now,” Pace said. “Those are all internal discussions we’ve had. I would say, again, everything is on the table with all the quarterbacks.”
Raiders Re-Sign DE Kendal Vickers
In an unsurprising move, the Raiders are committing to one of their notable exclusive rights free agents. The team announced this evening that they’ve re-signed defensive end Kendal Vickers. The lineman will earn $780K next season.
Vickers was a bit of a revelation for the Raiders in 2020. The former undrafted free agent out of Tennessee was unable to crack an active roster during his rookie campaign in 2018, and he pivoted to the Canadian Football League for the 2019 season. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Raiders towards the end of the 2019 campaign, and he ended up making the team at the end of the 2020 preseason.
At 25 years old, Vickers ended up making his NFL debut in Week 1. He missed a game due to a brief stint on the reserve/COVID-19 list, but he otherwise appeared in every game for the Raiders in 2020. He finished the campaign having compiled 10 tackles, three QB hits, and a pair of sacks, appearing in 29 percent of his team’s defensive snaps. As Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com implied, Vickers could be in line for a bigger role in 2021 considering the uncertain statuses of impending free agents Johnathan Hankins and Takk McKinley.
The Raiders will still have a decision to make on another exclusive rights free agent. Safety Dallin Leavitt is also an impending ERFA.
Texans Cut DBs Brandon Williams, Mark Fields
The Texans managed to open a chunk of cap space today. ESPN’s Field Yates reports (via Twitter) that the team has released defensive back Brandon Williams and waived defensive back Mark Fields. The move will save the organization around $1.5MM.
Williams was a highly-touted third-round pick out of Texas A&M back in 2016. He spent the first four seasons of his career with the Cardinals, including a rookie campaign where he compiled 26 tackles and three passes defended in 13 games (three starts). He appeared in 32 games for Arizona between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, but he was limited to only 12 total tackles. He spent his entire final seasons with the Cardinals sitting on injured reserve.
The 28-year-old caught on with the Giants last offseason, and he spent much of the 2020 campaign jumping on and off their active roster. He compiled one tackle in six games for New York before getting waived one final time in December. He later joined the Texans practice squad, and he was inked to a reserve/future contract following the regular season.
Fields, a former Clemson standout, started the 2020 season with the Vikings, getting into a pair of games. He was cut by Minnesota in December, but he was quickly claimed by the Texans. He saw time in two games for Houston, compiling a single tackle.
Jets Release DL Henry Anderson
Henry Anderson‘s stint with the Jets has come to an end. The team announced this evening (via Twitter) that they’ve released the veteran defensive lineman.
The 2015 third-round pick out of Stanford spent the first three seasons of his professional career with the Colts, including a 2017 campaign where he started a then-career-high eight games (in nine appearances). Following that season, he was traded to New York for a future seventh-rounder that was originally owned by the Seahawks (a pick that eventually turned into linebacker Zaire Franklin).
Anderson had a breakout campaign during his first season in New York. Despite only starting three games, the defensive lineman compiled a career-high seven sacks in 16 games. That performance ultimately earned the player a lucrative three-year, $25MM extension from the organization.
Anderson took on more of a starting role in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, but he only averaged 16.5 tackles and fewer than one sack per game during those two campaigns. Thanks in part to the reduced production, it always seemed unlikely that Anderson would stick around for the entirety of his contract. ESPN’s Rich Cimini hinted back in December that Anderson could be on his way out of New York, noting that the Jets would save $8.2MM by making the move.
This Date In Transactions History: Lions Re-Sign Romeo Okwara
Two years ago today, the Lions agreed to a two-year deal with Romeo Okwara. At the time, the move flew under the radar a bit (it got only three brief paragraphs on the team’s website). Fast forward to today, and the new Lions brass is probably disappointed that their predecessors hadn’t made a longer commitment.
The 2016 undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame spent the first two seasons of his career with the Giants, appearing in 22 total games. After getting waived prior to the 2018 campaign, he caught on with the Lions, and he proceeded to have a career year for his new team. Okwara appeared in 15 games (14 starts), compiling 39 tackles, 7.5 sacks, and one forced fumble. The defensive lineman was one of the few standouts for a lowly Lions squad, but the team still had some hurdles to overcome in order to retain the player.
Okwara was set to become a restricted free agent following that 2018 campaign. Instead of placing a second-round (or even first-round) tender on the player, the team paid him a bit more in order to retain his services without any competition. The front office ultimately gave the defensive end a two-year deal worth $6.8MM, including $3.4MM in guaranteed money. It was a bit of gamble for the team, as Okwara was solely getting paid off of one productive season.
The defensive lineman didn’t necessarily live up to that deal in 2019, as he was relegated to a rotational role and finished with only 1.5 sacks. However, he rebounded with a career year in 2020, finishing with career-highs in tackles (44), sacks (10.0), and forced fumbles (three). The 25-year-old was especially productive down the stretch; per Pro Football Focus, Okwara finished with the third-highest pass-rush grade from Week 12 on, and he posted the ninth-highest grade for the entire season.
As a result of this production, Okwara is expected to be a popular name in unrestricted free agency this offseason. Detroit would certainly be a suitor…he’ll already account for $900K on their books thanks to previous signing bonus machinations. It sounds like new defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is also a fan of the defensive lineman.
“Romeo had 10 sacks (last year),” Glenn said (via Kyle Meinke of MLive.com). “So, he’s a pressure player. Every team in this league, every coach in this league, wants a pressure player. So if he’s back with us, which we hope we get the chance to get him back, we’re going to have him rushing the quarterback. That’s what he does best. Again, we’re going to put him in position to do what he do best and that’s to get after the quarterback.”
Hindsight is obviously 20/20, and the Lions may have raised some eyebrows had they originally signed Okwara for more than two years back in 2019. However, exactly two years after that contract was signed, we’re sure GM Brad Holmes and his staff are wishing they had another year to evaluate the young defensive lineman.
Dolphins Want To Retain C Ted Karras, DT Davon Godchaux
Besides Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Dolphins really don’t have any big-name impending free agents. However, the organization is still focused on retaining at least a couple of those players. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes that the Dolphins are interested in re-signing center Ted Karras and defensive tackle Davon Godchaux.
According to Jackson, the Dolphins have told Karras that they want him back next season. The offensive lineman joined the Dolphins last offseason, and he proceeded to start all 16 games for Miami, playing on all 1,067 of their offensive snaps. The 27-year-old had spent the previous four years with the Patriots, winning a pair of Super Bowls. After starting only five games through his first three seasons in the NFL, Karras started 15 games for New England in 2019.
Godchaux was limited to only five games in 2020 thanks to a biceps injury, but the former fifth-rounder started all 32 games for Miami between the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Jackson notes that the organization would like to retain the 26-year-old, but financials could complicate the negotiations. Jackson passed along a quote from agent Drew Rosenhaus, who acknowledged that the Dolphins may not be able to afford his client after they “invested” in the likes of Christian Wilkins, Raekwon Davis, and Zach Sieler.
“Davon is one of the most talented defensive tackles, I believe, and the Dolphins would have to be able to compensate him in that capacity,” Rosenhaus said (via Jackson). “I’m not sure that they will, given the talent they have on the team. We’ll see if the Dolphins are able to step up and be competitive with other teams that may not have as much talent at the defensive tackle position.”