49ers Had Trade Interest In Connor Barwin
The 49ers discussed a Connor Barwin trade with the Eagles before he was released, tweets Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com. As such, San Francisco could make sense as a landing spot for Barwin.
Barwin was in the midst of a six-year, $36MM contract he signed in 2013. Last year, the 30-year-old totaled 34 tackles, five sacks, and one forced fumble. He appeared in all 16 regular season games for the sixth consecutive season.
Part of the reason for Barwin’s Eagles ouster is his poor fit in a 4-3 scheme. The 49ers are now moving to a 4-3 front under new coordinator Robert Saleh, although his defense is said to have elements of a 3-4 look. Either way, San Francisco clearly has some level of interest in adding Barwin to its roster.
Chargers To Sign Russell Okung
The Chargers will sign offensive tackle Russell Okung to four-year, $53MM deal, per Ian Rapoport (Twitter link). The pact contains $25MM guaranteed, tweets Josina Anderson of ESPN.com.
Los Angeles is stealing away a division rival’s left tackle in Okung, who previously negotiated his own contract last offseason when he left Seattle for Denver. His four-year, $48MM deal with the Broncos came with an escape clause for the team after 2016 that Denver took advantage of. Okung, to his credit, posted the first 16-start season of his seven-year career with the Broncos. The 29-year-old didn’t play at an especially high level, though, as Pro Football Focus ranked his performance a middling 38th among 78 qualified tackles.
In addition to the Chargers and Broncos, Okung had also been linked to the Vikings, Jets, Giants, Rams, and Seahawks. As such, Okung was able to parlay that level of interest into a deal that appears to be larger than his option would have provided. The total value is $5MM greater, and while we’ll have to wait for exact fully guaranteed figures, Okung was only set to earn $20.5MM guaranteed in his remaining Denver years.
The addition of Okung will likely lead to the release of incumbent Chargers left tackle King Dunlap. The 31-year-old is coming off his second straight injury-shortened campaign, having combined for 19 appearances (12 last season) since 2015. A four-year Charger, Dunlap has started in all 46 of his appearances with the club. If done as as a pre-June 1 designation, cutting Dunlap would save the Bolts $4.875MM and leave with $3.25MM in dead money.
Redskins To Sign D.J. Swearinger
The Redskins have agreed to sign safety D.J. Swearinger, according to John Keim of ESPN.com. It’s a three-year deal worth $4.5MM annually, and Swearinger will collect $6MM in 2017, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
Swearinger, a former second-round pick who bounced around before finding a home in Arizona, started 12 games in 2016 and posted 64 tackles, three interceptions, eight passes defensed, and two sacks. Among free agent safeties, Swearinger ranks seventh in PFR’s estimation, just behind Micah Hyde and ahead of Jahleel Addae.
In Washington, Swearinger will join an interesting safety group that already includes Su’a Cravens, Will Blackmon, and DeAngelo Hall. Hall could be released in the coming days, while there’s been some chatter that second-year defensive back Kendall Fuller may also move to safety. The Redskins have been active with defensive signings today, as they’ve also brought in linemen Terrell McClain and Stacy McGee.
For the Cardinals, Swearinger is just the latest key defensive piece to defect, joining Calais Campbell and Tony Jefferson.
Sharrif Floyd’s 2017 Salary Now Guaranteed
Vikings defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd‘s $6.757MM base salary for 2017 is now fully guaranteed, tweets Andrew Krammer of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Floyd, 26 in May, went down in the Vikings’ 2016 season opener and never returned to action. Since joining the team as a first-round pick in 2013, he has appeared in 44 games with 24 starts, missing two games in 2014, three games in 2015, and just about every game in 2016. The Vikings would probably like to get out of their obligation to Floyd, but recent comments by GM Rick Spielman indicated that the team has accepted the inevitable: he probably won’t get the greenlight from doctors and the Vikings will remain on the hook for his salary.
Floyd will earn his salary under the terms of his fifth-year option. Because that option is guaranteed for injury only, the Vikings can’t release him without paying that full charge.
Nick Fairley, Saints Agree To Deal
The Saints have agreed to re-sign defensive tackle Nick Fairley to a four-year deal, per Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com (Twitter link). Financial terms aren’t yet available, but Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweeted earlier Thursday that Fairley was in line for “big money.”
Fairley, 29, hit free agency in each of the past two offseasons, but he settled for one-year deals on each occasion. In 2015, Fairley signed with a pact with the Rams that came with a base value of $5MM, but also included incentives and escalators. Last year, the Saints landed Fairley on a fully guaranteed, $3MM contract that voided 15 days prior to the start of the 2017 league year.
In his sixth NFL season, Fairley appeared in all 16 games for New Orleans and racked up 6.5 sacks, grading out as the league’s No. 34 interior defender, per Pro Football Focus. Fairley, a former first-round pick, earned exceptionally high marks for his pass rushing acumen (13th among defensive tackles), and quarterback pursuits have always been Fairley’s strong point.
Fairle was expected to test free agency in order to gauge his market value, and now it remains to be seen if he was able to secure the $10MM annual salary he was targeting. Fairley ranked as PFR’s No. 7 free agent interior defender.
Manti Te’o Visiting Saints
Linebacker Manti Te’o will visit the Saints today and tomorrow, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
Te’o, the 38th overall pick in the 2013 draft, has been hindered by injuries throughout his career. As a rookie in 2013, Te’o suffered a foot injury in the preseason which sidelined him for the first part of the regular season. In the following year, the linebacker missed six games due to a foot fracture. In 2015, Te’o missed four games as the result of an ankle injury.
All told, Te’o has managed only 30 starts in four years with the Chargers, and he hasn’t been especially productive. Still, he ranks as the No. 13 free agent linebacker on PFR’s list, mostly based on perceived upside.
Lions To Sign Akeem Spence, Cornelius Washington
The Lions have agreed to sign defensive lineman Akeem Spence to a three-year, $10.5MM deal, tweets Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Detroit has also inked fellow DL Cornelius Washington, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It’s a two-year, $6MM deal for Washington, with a max value of $8MM, reports Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Spence, 25, has spent the past four seasons in Tampa Bay after being selected in the fourth round of the 2013 draft. He’s started 30 games during that time, but most of those starts came during his rookie campaign. Since then, Spence has become more of a rotational piece. In 2016, Spence appeared in all 16 games, managing 10 tackles and a half sack.
Washington, meanwhile, has been with the Bears for four years. The former sixth-round pick has followed a career path similar to that of Spence, as Washington has mostly served as a depth option in Chicago. Last year, he appeared in 15 games (two starts), and posted 14 tackles and two sacks.
Aldon Smith Detained By Police
Aldon Smith is in more legal trouble. The Raiders pass-rusher was detained after crashing into a police cruiser, according to TMZ (Twitter link). Smith was reportedly drunk at the time of the incident.
This situation is merely the latest in a long line of episodes that have derailed Smith’s once promising career. A series of incidents led to Smith’s release in San Francisco despite excellent production, and while the Raiders have since given him another chance, this may be the end of the road for Smith. Thought to be nearing reinstatement by the NFL, Smith is reportedly also under investigation for an alleged domestic assault.
Smith posted 3.5 sacks for Oakland in nine games during the 2015 season before being hit with a one-year suspension (he also served a nine-game ban in 2013 for violating the league’s personal conduct and substance abuse policies). Despite that, Oakland handed Smith a two-year, $11.5MM deal last spring, and GM Reggie McKenzie has repeatedly expressed support for the troubled young talent.
Redskins To Sign Stacy McGee
The Redskins have agreed to sign defensive tackle Stacy McGee to a five-year, $25MM contract, reports Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Washington lost defensive lineman Chris Baker to the Buccaneers today, but it’s replaced him by adding both McGee and Terrell McClain. Defensive line was a clear need area for the Redskins this offseason, and they’ve now signed two solid — if unspectacular — veterans to fill roles up front. McGee and McClain will team up with Anthony Lanier, RickyJean-Francois, and Matt Ioannidis along the line.
McGee, who ranked as PFR’s No. 12 free agent interior defender, appeared in nine games for the Raiders last season, starting each of those contests. The 27-year-old posted 14 tackles. 2.5 sacks, and two fumble recoveries during that time, earning strong grades against both the run and pass from Pro Football Focus.
Ravens RB Kenneth Dixon Suspended
The NFL has suspended Ravens running back Kenneth Dixon four games for violating the league’s policy on PEDS, tweets Jeff Zriebec of the Baltimore Sun.
Dixon, a fourth-round pick in last year’s draft, was part of a committee backfield employed by the Ravens in 2016. Dixon was the less-used part of that rotation, however, as he managed only 88 carries on the season. The 23-year-old put up 4.3 yards per carry on those touches, and also added 30 receptions.
Baltimore agreed to sign running back Danny Woodhead to a three-year deal today, and he’ll presumably handle much of that work that would’ve been assigned to Dixon.