Titans To Re-Sign OL Josh Kline
The Titans have reached agreement with free agent guard Josh Kline, according to Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Its a four-year, $26MM deal which contains $12MM guaranteed and can max out at $27MM.
Tennessee claimed Kline off waivers prior to the 2016 campaign, and he proceeded to start 30 games for the club over the next two seasons. Kline, who spent the first three years of his career in New England, graded as the NFL’s No. 22 guard among 77 qualifiers in 2017, per Pro Football Focus.
In terms of annual salary, Kline’s $6.5MM won’t reset the market, but it does tie him for the 12th-highest-total among right guards. He’s now alongside the likes of J.R. Sweezy and just behind Jeff Allen — both players signed their free agent deals two offseasons ago.
As a unit, the Titans’ offensive line took a step backward last year, as they slipped from fifth to 23rd in adjusted line yards. Kline will now be re-signed, but fellow starting guard Quinton Spain is a restricted free agent. Tennessee used an original round tender on Spain, so it won’t reap any draft pick compensation if he signs elsewhere on an un-matched offer sheet.
Kline had been scheduled to join a free agent guard class that also includes Andrew Norwell, Josh Sitton, Jack Mewhort, Matt Slauson, Zach Fulton, and Senio Kelemete, among others. PFR’s Zach Links recently ranked Kline as the fourth-best option among free agent interior lineman, behind Norwell (who has already landed a massive deal with the Jaguars), Sitton, and Mewhort.
Dolphins, Reshad Jones Rework Contract
The Dolphins have restructured the contract of safety Reshad Jones in order to create extra cap space, tweets Field Yates of 
ESPN.com.
Jones had been scheduled to earn a base salary of $9.375MM in 2018, but that figure has now been slashed to $970K, per Yates, who adds Jones will take home a signing bonus of $4.05MM. As with most restructures, Jones will earn the same amount of money overall, but Miami will create roughly $6.6MM in cap room for the free agent period.
Even after missing the majority of the 2016 campaign, Jones inked a five-year, $60MM extension with the Dolphins at this time last year. In 2017, Jones stayed healthy for all 16 games and posted 94 tackles, two interceptions, and 1.5 sacks.
Bears To Re-Sign LB Sam Acho
The Bears have agreed to re-sign linebacker Sam Acho to a two-year deal, as his brother (and former NFL player) Emmanuel Acho first reported (Twitter link). The news was later confirmed by Acho’s agents at SportsTrust Advisors (Twitter link).
Acho has typically spent his NFL tenure as a rotational edge rusher and special teams player, and but he garnered the most playing time of his career in 2017. Last year, Acho’s third in Chicago, he started 12 games and played on 60% of the clubs’ defensive snaps. In that time, he posted 27 tackles, three sacks, and one pass defensed.
The 29-year-old Acho played on a minimum salary benefit deal in 2017, but that won’t be the case during the upcoming campaign as such pacts cannot exceed one year.
Eagles To Re-Sign LB Nigel Bradham
The Eagles will re-sign free agent linebacker Nigel Bradham to a five-year, $40MM deal, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Bradham was a key part of Philadelphia’s Super Bowl-winning defense a season ago, but given that the Eagles are extremely pressed for cap space, it wasn’t clear if they’d be able to re-sign the 28-year-old linebacker. They’ve somehow made it work, however, and one resulting move will entail the Eagles (once again) placing linebacker Mychal Kendricks and his $5.85MM 2018 salary on the trade block, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
A former fourth-round pick, Bradham followed defensive play-caller Jim Schwartz from Buffalo to Philadelphia prior to the 2016 campaign. He’s arguably posted the best two seasons of his career during that time, and graded as the league’s 21st-best linebacker in 2017, according to Pro Football Focus.While playing on nearly 90% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps, Bradham posted 61 tackles and one sack.
While the guarantees or structure of Bradham’s new deal have yet to be reported, he’ll now become the 12th-highest-paid off-ball linebacker in terms of annual salary. Given that Eagles’ salary cap problems, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Bradham’s pact contains a hefty signing bonus that will be spread across multiple years, while a back-loaded pact also isn’t out of the question.
Heading into free agency, Bradham ranked as PFR’s No. 1 available linebacker and the No. 22 free agent overall.
[RELATED: Eagles Depth Chart]
49ers To Sign Jerick McKinnon
The 49ers have agreed to sign running back Jerick McKinnon to a four-year deal, $30MM deal, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (all Twitter links). The deal includes $12MM guaranteed, according to Albert Breer of The MMQB (on Twitter), and he’ll get $16MM over the first two years of the deal.
The four-year Vikings ball-carrier will see $12MM come his way in the first year of this deal, with Tom Pelissero of NFL.com also reporting (via Twitter) a $3.7MM guarantee for 2019 will shift from an injury guarantee to a full guarantee in March of next year. The fourth year of this contract will essentially serve as an option year, per Pelissero.
Although the Buccaneers had reportedly expressed interest in McKinnon, his decision ultimately came down to the Jets and 49ers, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. Gang Green inked former Browns running back Isaiah Crowell to a pact on Tuesday, but it’s unclear if the Jets were deciding between the two players, or had hoped to pair the bruising Crowell with the pass-catching McKinnon.
McKinnon will now surprisingly become the NFL’s fourth-highest-paid running back at $7.5MM annually. Currently, he sits behind only the franchise-tagged Le’Veon Bell, Devonta Freeman, and LeSean McCoy. San Francisco had ample cap space to work with, but it’s still a hefty deal for a (primarily) receiving running back.
But McKinnon’s new contract speaks to the increasing value of pass-catching runners in today’s NFL. While the former Vikings back has never managed 160 carries in a season, he’s put up at least 40 receptions in each of the last two campaigns. In 2017, he set a career-high with 51 catches and 421 yards while grading as the league’s No. 8 pass-blocking back, per Pro Football Focus.
San Francisco lost former starting running back Carlos Hyde to the Browns earlier this morning, so McKinnon will now join a backfield that includes Matt Breida, Raheem Mostert, and Joe Williams.
[RELATED: 49ers Depth Chart]
Browns To Sign TE Darren Fells
The Browns will sign tight end Darren Fells to a three-year, $12MM contact , tweets Mike Garafolo of NFL.com. The deal contains more than $6MM in guarantees.
Cleveland had been on the lookout for a veteran tight end since releasing Gary Barnidge prior to the 2017 campaign. Fells, who turns 32 years old next month, will now team with former first-round pick David Njoku and Seth DeValve to give Cleveland a solid trio of tight ends.
Fells has never been a major part of his club’s passing attack, whether during his tenure in Arizona or his one-season run in Detroit. Last year, Fells collected 17 of 26 targets for 177 yards, but did manage to get into the end zone three times. As a blocker, Fells is roughly league-average in the run game but a top-10 option in the passing game, per Pro Football Focus.
Although they boast the most cap space in the league, the Browns have refrained from adding top-of-the-market players, preferring to sign mid-tier options (at least thus far). In addition to Fells, Cleveland has brought in Carlos Hyde, Donald Stephenson, Chris Hubbard, and Chris Smith.
Jaguars To Sign CB D.J. Hayden
The Jaguars have agreed to terms with cornerback D.J. Hayden, according to Adam Caplan of SiriusXM (Twitter link). He’ll collect a three-year, $19MM deal which contains $9.5MM in guarantees and can max out at $21MM.
Jacksonville has invested heavily in its secondary over the past few years, and has added corners Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye through the draft and free agency, respectively. However, the Jaguars aren’t able to keep everyone in their defensive backfield, and Tuesday they lost slot cornerback Aaron Colvin to the division-rival Texans.
Colvin received $34MM over four years from Houston, so the Jaguars are saving quite a bit of cash and cap space by replacing him with Hayden. However, Jacksonville is also looking at a significant in talent, at least based on prior results. Although he’s a former No. 12 overall pick, Hayden has never lived up to the draft billing, and 2017 was no exception.
Hayden ranked as a the No. 96 cornerback among 121 qualifiers a season ago, per Pro Football Focus. Colvin, meanwhile, finished 47th in the same grades, so Jacksonville should expect a downgrade in its slot performance. Hayden will be flanked by All-Pro caliber outside corners in Ramsey and Bouye, so it’s possible he’ll show improvement, but he’ll need to exceed expectations to do so.
Browns To Sign RB Carlos Hyde
The Browns have agreed to sign free agent running back Carlos Hyde to a three-year, $15MM deal that includes $6MM in 2018, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Hyde, 27, ranked as PFR’s No. 2 available running back and the No. 33 overall free agent. Among our list of the top free agent backs, only Dion Lewis, Isaiah Crowell, and Chris Ivory (who was released early and thus could sign earlier) have landed new contracts. Lewis, whom PFR tabbed as the best back on the market, received four years and $20MM from the Titans, outpacing Hyde in contact length but matching him in annual value.
Now that they’ll pair Hyde with a pass-catching back in Duke Johnson, the Browns may be out of the Saquon Barkley sweepstakes. Cleveland had reportedly been considering the Penn State standout with the first overall selection, but with a pair of veteran runners now poised to dominate carries in their backfield, the Browns could use that No. 1 pick — and the No. 4 overall slot they acquired from the Texans — on other positions, namely quarterback.
Hyde spent the first four seasons of his career with the 49ers, and had toted the ball more than 200 times in each of the past two seasons. Last year, Hyde put up 938 yards and a career-high eight touchdowns, but also posted a career-low 3.9 yards per carry. In the pass game, Hyde finished sixth among running backs with 59 receptions, but also graded as the single-worst pass-blocking back in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus.
With Hyde off the board, the best remaining free agent running backs include Jerick McKinnon, Rex Burkhead, Frank Gore, and Orleans Darkwa.
[RELATED: Browns Depth Chart]
Broncos Fielding Calls On QB Trevor Siemian
The Broncos have received calls from several clubs with interest in quarterback Trevor Siemian, according to Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post.
That Denver is hearing from teams with an eye towards acquiring Siemian should come as no surprise, given both that the Broncos signed fellow quarterback Case Keenum to a two-year deal earlier today and the fact that Denver had been openly shopping Siemian. With Keenum now the Broncos’ starter, and former first-round pick Paxton Lynch likely to serve as the club’s backup, Siemian doesn’t have a role in the Mile High City.
Siemian offered league-average production in 14 games as the Broncos’ starter in 2016, as the former seventh-round pick completed 59.5% of his passes for 3,401 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. Last season, however, Siemian struggled mightily, and Denver ultimately turned to Brock Osweiler and Paxton Lynch under center.
Siemian could conceivably attract interest from any number of teams as a backup quarterback, especially given his price tag. He’ll earn just $1.907MM in 2018 (a raise over his scheduled base salary, thanks to the proven performance escalator), an entirely palatable figure for a No. 2 signal-caller.
Extra Points: Vikings, Giants, Norwell, Saints
Remember Zac Stacy? The former Rams and Jets running back is attempting an NFL comeback, according to Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com (Twitter link), who spotted Stacy at Vanderbilt’s Pro Day earlier today. Stacy, who turns 27 next month, hasn’t played since 2015, and announced his retirement at this time last year following an ankle injury. The Rams’ starter as a rookie in 2013, Stacy racked up 973 yards and seven touchdowns during his only campaign as a team’s primary back. New York eventually acquired Stacy for a seventh-round pick, but he managed only 31 total rushes before hanging up his cleats.
Here’s more from around the NFL:
- Now that Kirk Cousins is closing in on a fully guaranteed deal with the Vikings, at least one source tells Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter link) that Minnesota could ask running back Latavius Murray or defensive end Brian Robison to accept a pay cut in 2018. Murray got into the end zone eight times in 2017, but he’s due to count more than $6MM on next year’s cap and isn’t a lock to start given that rookie sensation Dalvin Cook will return from injury. Robison, meanwhile, hasn’t even decided if he’ll play during the upcoming season. If he retires, the Vikings will pick up $3.488MM in cap space, the same total as if he retires.
- Guard Andrew Norwell was considered the Giants‘ primary free agent target this offseason, and while he ultimately landed with the Jaguars, New York’s offer was close if not the same as Jacksonville’s, tweets Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com. Norwell is now the league’s highest-paid after receiving $13MM annually (and $30MM guaranteed) on a five-year deal. New Giants general manager Dave Gettleman originally signed Norwell as an undrafted free agent in Carolina, so the connection made plenty of sense, but Norwell simply chose the Jaguars, per Raanan.
- New details have emerged on veteran safety Kurt Coleman‘s three-year deal with the Saints, as Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com writes. In total, the pact is worth $16.35MM, but Coleman can earn another $2.25MM via incentives. Coleman will collect $6.2MM in full guarantees, $4.5MM of which will come in the form of a signing bonus. However, Coleman’s new contract is heavily back-loaded, as his 2018 cap charge is just $3.3MM. New Orleans will have a decision to make in 2019, as Coleman has a $500K roster bonus on the third day of the league year — he could be released with $3MM in dead money accelerating onto the club’s cap.