Patriots Talking Extension With OLB Matt Judon, DT Christian Barmore
In the summer, the Patriots started discussions with star pass rusher Matt Judon concerning a new contract as he headed into the second-to-last season of his current deal. With talks of a new contract on the horizon, Judon agreed to a restructured deal that included several incentives he would miss out on due to injury this year. Still, the deal was made with the expectation that both sides would return to the table in the offseason. With the first wave of free agency over, those talks have resumed, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss. 
Judon’s biceps injury ended up being a season-ending ailment. Though, it seemed at times there was a possibility for him to return, Judon missed every remaining game after his injury. As a result, Reiss believes that any future extension offer the Patriots may draft up will be incentive-heavy, to protect them in the case of another long-term injury.
While that makes sense for New England, Judon has already experienced the loss of income as a result of a contract that fails to protect him from injury. As a player with star talent who missed extended time for the first time in his career in 2023 and lost money as a result, Judon will likely be seeking a deal high in guarantees. Perhaps a middle ground can be reached on a deal that both delivers a large guaranteed sum to Judon while still leaving a bit of achievable additional income through incentives.
The Patriots are also expected to begin extension talks with defensive tackle Christian Barmore. The former second-round pick out of Alabama is heading into the final year of his rookie contract and had a career year in a breakout season. In six starts in 2023, Barmore led a team missing Judon in sacks with 8.5, more than tripling his previous career high. His exceptional pass rushing metrics graded out seventh in the NFL for interior defenders, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), and he graded out as the eighth-best overall interior defender as a result.
With Barmore showing the promise that helped him get drafted in the second round, the Patriots will try to get a jump on signing him to an extension. They’ll want to avoid a situation in which he continues to excel during a contract year in 2024 and prices himself out of New England.
Dolphins Looking To Add At WR
The Dolphins have been extremely active in free agency, both losing and attaining several players with expired contracts. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, after all their recent developments, wide receiver has become a position of focus. 
The Dolphins are by no means short of talent at the wide receiver position. Between Tyreek Hill‘s incredible season in which he hit over 1,800 total yards and caught 13 touchdown passes and Jaylen Waddle hitting the 1,000-yard receiving mark with four touchdowns of his own, Miami has more receiving talent in those two alone than many other NFL teams have on their roster right now.
Beyond Hill and Waddle, though, the statistics drop off dramatically. After those two, the receivers with the next most yardage were Cedrick Wilson with 296, Braxton Berrios with 238, Robbie Chosen with 126, River Cracraft with 121, and Chase Claypool with 26. All five of those receivers hit free agency when the new league year began. Wilson is headed to New Orleans on a new two-year deal, while Berrios recently re-signed with the Dolphins on a one-year contract. Currently, Hill, Waddle, and Berrios are the only three wideouts on the roster who caught a pass for the Dolphins in 2023.
The team does have interior options on the roster, but they aren’t necessarily experienced and have yet to show they can step up. Erik Ezukanma, a fourth-round pick out of Texas Tech from 2022, is also under contract. Former third-round speedster Anthony Schwartz and undrafted receivers Braylon Sanders and Mathew Sexton all signed reserve/futures contracts with the team, as well.
Still, Miami desires a bit more upside and experience behind its elite duo. One name that Jackson reports they’ve inquired about is former Eagles wide receiver Quez Watkins. Watkins served as WR2 for Philadelphia in the year before they acquired A.J. Brown but has since taken a back seat. 2023 saw his worst season since his rookie year, but in both of those years, he missed several games. He dealt with hamstring issues last year that held him to only nine game appearances.
Whether Watkins is the guy or they continue exploring other options, it’s clear that the Dolphins need more behind Hill and Waddle. They will continue shopping the free agent market and are likely to target the position through the draft, as well. For now, though, Hill, Waddle, and Berrios represent the totality of their experience.
Panthers To Host Mike Williams, Michael Gallup; Jets To Meet With Ex-Chargers WR
Last year, the Panthers made a number of big moves in order to acquire receiving weapons for their rookie quarterback, Bryce Young, signing wide receivers Adam Thielen and DJ Chark and tight end Hayden Hurst before also drafting Ole Miss wide receiver Jonathan Mingo in the second round.
Carolina continues to strive to build around Young this offseason. After trading for Steelers veteran Diontae Johnson, the team is set to host two more wideouts to add to their corps. 
Newly released wide receiver Michael Gallup didn’t have to wait long to hear from interested teams. He’ll head to Carolina this week for a free agent visit, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The Cowboys cut ties with Gallup yesterday following his third straight season in which he failed to amass 500 receiving yards. Gallup showed promise over the first three years of his career.
After a rookie season in which he caught 33 balls for 507 yards and two touchdowns, he exploded onto the scene with double the receptions, 1,107 yards, and six touchdowns in a successful sophomore campaign. He followed that up with 843 yards and five touchdowns in the 2020 season before entering his current slump.
Last night, Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer informed us that the Panthers would also host former Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams for a visit next Tuesday. Los Angeles released Williams this week in order to clear $20MM of cap space as the team desperately tried to get within salary cap compliance. Williams is coming off a year in which he missed 14 games due to a torn ACL. He’s still 29 years old, though, and is only two years removed from a year in which he had career highs in receptions (76), receiving yards (1,146), and touchdowns (9).
Carolina isn’t the only scheduled visit for Williams. Per Sheena Quick of FOX Sports, the veteran wideout will visit the Jets the day before heading to Carolina.
New York has used the free agency period so far to completely rebuild their offensive line and secure a more reliable backup quarterback behind Aaron Rodgers. Now the team will need to focus on adding to a wide receiving corps that saw only Garrett Wilson surpass running back Breece Hall in receiving yards in 2023. The Jets did reportedly consider trading for Williams’ former teammate, Keenan Allen, but the veteran ultimately found himself in Chicago. Barring any other additions, Williams would be joining Wilson, Allen Lazard, and Xavier Gipson in New York.
In Carolina, Gallup and Williams both represent decent fits for a room with two experienced wideouts already in place. A top-three group of Thielen, Johnson, and Mingo seems like it’d be an adequate corps to roll into the 2024 season with, but adding Gallup or Williams doesn’t necessarily make it a crowded room. Williams is clearly the bigger get of the two and would challenge Thielen or Johnson for a WR1 or WR2 role, but he has plenty of experience sharing the spotlight during his several years with Allen in California. Gallup, too, has worked in crowded rooms before, and would fit more squarely as a WR3 or WR4, allowing Thielen and Johnson to comfortably take the lead.
The Panthers will have a chance to sell a fit to both receivers in the coming week. Despite a league-worst 2-15 record last year, Carolina has made it clear that their strategy from the last offseason hasn’t changed. They intend to build their offense around Young, and they’ll look to bring in Williams or Gallup to assist with that.
Seahawks Sign LB Jerome Baker
The Seattle linebacking corps will look completely different on the inside in 2024. With the departures of Bobby Wagner, Jordyn Brooks, and Devin Bush in free agency and the release of Nick Bellore, the only returning inside linebackers in 2024 are Jon Rhattigan and Drake Thomas, who combined for 26 defensive snaps last season. After bringing in Tyrel Dodson to fill some of these holes this week, the Seahawks secured another experienced starter in former Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. The team has since announced the move.
Funny enough, Brooks and Baker will swap jobs in 2024. The Dolphins released Baker after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on a restructured contract that would lower Baker’s salary cap impact. Miami quickly moved to replace the veteran, signing Brooks to a three-year, $30MM deal. Now, Baker heads to the opposite corner of the country to fill the role that Brooks left vacant in Seattle on a one-year, $7MM contract.
Baker’s release wasn’t necessarily a result of any lack of on-field production. While missing four games did keep Baker from reaching the 100-tackle mark for only the second time in the last five years and he didn’t have quite the same impact on the team’s pass rush as he has in the past, he showed an impressive improvement in coverage, nabbing two interceptions and three passes defensed. Teaming Baker up with Dodson, who excelled as the top-graded linebacker in the league in 2023, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Seattle will be home of one of the league’s top pass-defending duos at linebacker.
Baker is coming off wrist surgery that placed him on injured reserve for four weeks near the end of the regular season. He was able to return from IR in time for the Dolphins’ regular season finale, but Baker reinjured his wrist in that game and sat out of the playoffs. The offseason should give him plenty of time to recover, allowing him to potentially start alongside Dodson in 2024 at full strength.
Return Specialist Braxton Berrios Re-Signs With Dolphins
The Dolphins have re-signed wide receiver and return man Braxton Berrios to another one-year contract. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Berrios is back on a deal that could pay him up to $3MM in 2024. 
Berrios returns to a wide receivers room that was utterly dominated by Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in 2023. While both receivers surpassed the 1,000-yard receiving mark and combined for 17 touchdowns, with Hill absolutely dominating his share of the statistics with 1,799 yards and 13 touchdowns, the next closest receivers on the field didn’t nearly sniff the success of those two.
Despite only catching 27 passes for 238 yards, those numbers were good for third in the receivers room for receptions and fourth in receiving yards, just falling short of Cedrick Wilson‘s 296 yards. Berrios’ bigger impact came in the return game, where he served as the team’s primary option for both punt and kickoff returns. While not quite posting the averages of his first-team All-Pro season with the Jets, Berrios put up the second-best kickoff return average in his career (24.5 yards per return) while still delivering a reliable 10+ yards per return average on punts.
He’ll slide right back into his returner role in 2024 and may even get a chance at more receiving opportunities. Wilson is currently sitting on the free agent market, and Miami signed a pass-catching tight end in Jonnu Smith to supplement the receiving game. Affordable free agents or late-round draft options may join the fray, but Berrios should stand to see more looks from Tua Tagovailoa in 2024. It also helps Berrios that he already has a year of experience working under wide receivers coach Wes Welker, the former Patriots legend whom Berrios changed his number from 83 to 8 in college to avoid being compared to.
Under his new deal, Berrios stays close to his alma mater, playing in his college homefield for another season. He gives the Dolphins security in the return game and a solid WR3 option.
Lions Re-Sign WR Donovan Peoples-Jones
Wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones‘ midseason tryout for his hometown team was enough of a success that the Lions have opted to bring him in on a new one-year deal. According to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report, the former 5-star recruit out of Detroit’s Cass Tech HS is re-signing with the team on a deal that could be worth up to $2MM. 
Peoples-Jones’ career took an unexpected dive in 2023. After being drafted in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Michigan, Peoples-Jones gradually earned more and more of a role with the Browns. As a rookie, he started two games, catching 14 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns. In his sophomore season, he upped those numbers to nine starts, 34 receptions, 597 yards, and three touchdowns. By 2022, he was setting new highs with 14 starts and 61 catches for 839 receiving yards and three touchdowns, functioning as Cleveland’s WR2 behind Amari Cooper.
2023 brought a confusing change of pace. The Browns had traded for Elijah Moore and drafted Tennessee rookie Cedric Tillman in the third round, and all of the sudden, Peoples-Jones’ contributions dwindled. Through seven weeks with the team, five of them starts and six of them games in which he played at least 80 percent of the team’s offensive snaps, Peoples-Jones had only accumulated eight catches for 97 yards.
The lack of production led Cleveland to trade Peoples-Jones to the Lions in exchange for a 2025 sixth-round pick. Detroit opted to ease Peoples-Jones into the offense, relying on their corps of Amon-Ra St. Brown, Josh Reynolds, Kalif Raymond, and Jameson Williams. Up until the final game of the regular season, Peoples-Jones never appeared in more than 21 percent of the team’s offensive snaps, and he hardly saw the field in three playoff games.
Now, with a full offseason in Detroit between now and his next in-game appearance, the Lions are showing a renewed dedication to Peoples-Jones. Schutlz reports that Peoples-Jones was a priority for the franchise, who believe that the 25-year-old is still a rising star in the league despite his struggles last season.
With Reynolds currently sitting on the free agent market, the WR2 job appears to be an open competition. Peoples-Jones will have the opportunity to duke it out with Raymond and Williams to earn Reynolds’ targets in 2024.
49ers Sign CB Isaac Yiadom, Re-Sign LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles
The 49ers continue to secure depth on defense. After losing cornerback Isaiah Oliver to the Jets and potentially watching linebacker Oren Burks depart via free agency, San Francisco has added former Saints cornerback Isaac Yiadom and re-signed reserve linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler brings us the news of Yiadom. Yiadom played a similar role in the Saints’ defense as Oliver did in the 49ers’ last year but to different results. Both graded out extremely well in coverage, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), but Yiadom graded out much better in run defense. Yiadom was also tested more in coverage and delivered by tallying up an impressive 14 passes defensed.
After a season that saw Yiadom grade out as the 10th best cornerback in the league, according to PFF, the 49ers replace one talented corner with another. Fowler tells us that Yiadom explored other options, visiting the Commanders yesterday, but ultimately, the 27-year-old chose to join one of last year’s best defenses instead of helping to rebuild one of last year’s worst.
According to Josh Alper of NBC Sports, Flannigan-Fowles is set to return on a new one-year deal. Flannigan-Fowles has played much the same role in the last four years with the 49ers. Flannigan-Fowles plays mostly on special teams but tends to find his way onto the field around 13 percent of the time. With another season in San Francisco, though, the 27-year-old may be able to carve out a bit more playing time. As of right now, Burks is a free agent, not signed to return for 2024. If that holds true and the 49ers fail to make any other additions, Flannigan-Fowles could find his way into Burks’ role next season.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/15/24
Friday’s minor transactions:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: DT Khyiris Tonga
Chicago Bears
- Released: OL Roy Mbaeteka
Cincinnati Bengals
- Re-signed: WR Trenton Irwin
Detroit Lions
- Re-signed: LS Scott Daly, CB Khalil Dorsey
Green Bay Packers
- Re-signed: T Caleb Jones
Houston Texans
- Re-signed: T Charlie Heck
- Released: WR Jesse Matthews (failed physical)
Los Angeles Rams
- Re-signed: LB Christian Rozeboom
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: TE Joe Fortson
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: G Dan Feeney
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: WR Stanley Morgan
New York Giants
- Signed: TE Chris Manhertz, TE Jack Stoll
Irwin gets a crack at a WR3 role in Cincinnati as Tyler Boyd heads to free agency. Irwin also holds experience as the team’s backup return man, filling in last year when Charlie Jones was injured.
Heck rejoins the Texans on a one-year deal worth up to $3.3MM. He’ll add some key depth at an important position.
Rozeboom was a restricted free agent who wasn’t tendered. Regardless, the two sides work out a fully guaranteed deal for 2024.
Feeney joins the Vikings on a one-year deal. Though far removed from a consistent starting role with the Chargers, Feeney has continued to find starts throughout his career as a valuable body off the bench.
The Giants bring in two tight ends without much receiving experience. Manhertz, a veteran whose played for the Panthers from 2016-20, has extensive starting experience as a blocking tight end with 53 starts in his career.
Cowboys, QB Dak Prescott Begin Extension Talks
Free agency has opened and the draft is rapidly approaching, but the Cowboys have another focus weighing heavily on their plate: a potential extension to the contract of quarterback Dak Prescott. According to a report from Calvin Watkins at Dallas Morning News today, Cowboys executive vice president, CEO, and director of player personnel Stephen Jones claimed that the team has had some talks with Prescott about an extension. 
Now, we’ve reported plenty on mutual interest between the two parties in an extension and the seeming inevitability of a new deal in the spring, but lately, more and more sources seem to be of the opinion that an extension isn’t certain. ESPN’s Dan Graziano claimed two weeks ago that he was not convinced it was a sure thing.
While it certainly makes the most sense for the organization as it attempts to avoid a $59.46MM cap hit (the second-largest for the 2024 season), Prescott has more leverage than the team would like to admit. Prescott heads into a contract year and also holds a clause in his contract that prohibits the Cowboys from applying the franchise tag on him when his deal is up. Graziano points out that Prescott hasn’t been an easy sell in the past, either, so it’s not likely that we’ll see him waive that clause for the ease of the deal.
Team owner/president/general manager Jerry Jones spoke on the topic to the media at the NFL scouting combine, as well. “We don’t need to (extend Prescott),” Jones said, “but we can if everybody wants to solve (our cap space issue). You can get in and get on the same page and see if you can come to an agreement. If you can’t, what we have in place works. And so obviously, if you do it one way, you’ll be working through some of the other areas on the team in a different way, but you can’t really plan on that until you see when you’re there.”
Jones made sure to clarify that, should an extension not come to fruition, he doesn’t believe it changes to team’s long-term future plans. He still believes that Prescott can be the future in Dallas, but his comments seem to put a lot of responsibility on Prescott to be a team player, or else that money will have to come from elsewhere.
If a deal can’t get done, Graziano speculates that Dallas could convert some of Prescott’s 2024 base salary into a signing bonus in a restructured contract in order to save about $18.5MM. The team would have to be able to do that, though, without adding any additional void years to the three already on the tail-end of his current deal. Doing this could result in a potential $55MM cap hit in 2025, even though Prescott would not be under contract for that season and could possibly be playing elsewhere.
With all this in the forefront, another factor to keep in mind is the recent allegations of sexual assault involving Prescott. According to Watkins and his colleague, Lana Ferguson, Dallas police are investigating claims that Prescott raped a woman in the parking lot of a Dallas strip club in 2017. Nearby, Prosper police are reportedly looking into claims from Prescott that he is being extorted by that same woman for $100MM. Investigations are likely to follow, but for now, both the NFL and the Cowboys have declined to comment on the situation.
LB Cody Barton Signs With Broncos
The Broncos will have a new man to patrol the middle of their defense, as David Canter, president at Football GSE Worldwide, announces that his client Cody Barton has agreed to terms on a contract that will bring him to Denver. Barton will arrive and attempt to earn a starting job for his third team in as many seasons. 
Barton was a third-round pick for the Seahawks in 2019. He didn’t get many chances to contribute over the course of his rookie deal, starting only five games in his first three seasons. During a contract year in Seattle, though, Barton exploded onto the scene. In eleven starts, Barton reached 136 total tackles while tallying two sacks and two interceptions, as well.
Barton’s efforts earned him a one-year, $3.5MM contract with the Commanders. In Washington, he would start 13 games, once again eclipsing the 100-tackle mark with 121 total. While he doesn’t grade out phenomenally, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), he shows good marks in coverage and remains a reliable starter. Mike Klis of 9NEWS tells us that Barton’s contract with the Broncos will also be for one year and $3.5MM.
A Barton re-signing became unnecessary in Washington after the team signed Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu to start alongside Jamin Davis on the Commanders defense. In Denver, Barton will likely be stepping into the shoes of Josey Jewell, who agreed to a deal with the Panthers on Tuesday. Barton completes the linebacker shuffle as Jewell heads to Carolina, Luvu heads to Washington, and Barton goes to Denver. Barton should step in alongside Alex Singleton, who finished 2023 third in the NFL with 177 total tackles, solidifying the middle of the Broncos defense.