Latest On Free Agent T Orlando Brown Jr.
Former Chiefs offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. is one of the top remaining unrestricted free agents on the market three days after the negotiating period opened. According to Charean Williams of NBC Sports, there’s a specific reason why Brown remains unsigned, and it’s not a reason unfamiliar to the 26-year-old lineman. Williams references an indication from ESPN’s Adam Schefter that “Brown’s preference to play left tackle, and the league’s view as a whole that Brown is a better right tackle, is what is holding up” any new deals for Brown. 
Brown’s expectation to play left tackle is the reason he’s not still with the team that drafted him, as well. A former third-round selection for the Ravens, Brown worked his way into a starting position at right tackle as a rookie, taking the place of a struggling James Hurst across from the team’s star left tackle Ronnie Stanley. The two excelled on the line together for the next two years, helping with the development of a young Lamar Jackson and earning Brown his first Pro Bowl.
In 2020, the Ravens saw Stanley go down with a season-ending injury. Requiring a strong blocker on the blindside, Baltimore moved Brown to the left side in Stanley’s place. He excelled in the new position for the team, earning his second straight Pro Bowl selection. With the Ravens expected to return a healthy Stanley at left tackle in 2021, Brown was to be reinstalled on the right side of the line.
Instead, Brown requested a trade, quoting his late father as a reason, saying that the senior Orlando Brown always wanted him to be a left tackle. Conveniently, left tackles also happen to make more money on average than right tackles in the NFL. Regardless, the Ravens respected Brown’s request and traded him to Kansas City in an exchange than included a package of picks. The Chiefs gave him the opportunity he desired to start at left tackle, and with the team, Brown earned his third and fourth Pro Bowl selections, making him the only offensive tackle in the league to make each of the last four Pro Bowls, and won a Super Bowl ring.
After Brown played out the last year of his rookie contract in Kansas City, the Chiefs placed the franchise tag on him as the two parties worked towards a potential long-term extension. The relationship turned a bit fraught as the team became frustrated with Brown during negotiations. This led Brown to hold out of training camp as he felt the team’s offer was too light on guarantees. The two sides continued to negotiate as time went on, and after failing to reach an agreement, the Chiefs optioned not to use a second straight tag on Brown. Brown made $16.6MM on the tag in 2022, but a franchise tag in 2023 would cost the Chiefs $19.92MM.
Despite the difference between the way Brown and the rest of the NFL sees his abilities, Brown feels his free agency is “going pretty well.” He refused to get into any specifics, but he called free agency “a weird and long process” and, once again, claimed it was going well. Will Brown find a new franchise willing to pay him the big bucks to protect their passer’s blindside? Or will Brown find himself back on the right side of another team’s offensive line? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Latest On CB Jalen Ramsey, Dolphins
It was expected early after acquiring star cornerback Jalen Ramsey in exchange for tight end Hunter Long and a third-round pick that the Dolphins would be looking for a way to rework Ramsey’s contract. According to Mike Florio of NBC Sports, Miami was able to reach that new deal with Ramsey yesterday, and the changes give the Dolphins a little bit of breathing room in cap space after taking on such a monumental contract. 
As expected, the new contract has reduced the amount that Ramsey will receive in 2023 to assist the Dolphins in creating more cap space. In the original contract that Miami inherited, Ramsey was set to earn $17MM in 2023, $18.5MM in 2024, and $19.5MM in 2025. Those amounts are all reduced as a result of adding new bonuses throughout the deal.
Under the new contract, Ramsey receives an $8.84MM signing bonus and will earn $1.17MM of base salary fully guaranteed in 2023, $14.5MM of base salary fully guaranteed in 2024, and a $15.5MM base salary in 2025. Ramsey will be due a 2024 offseason roster bonus of $11MM, fully guaranteed, and a 2025 offseason roster bonus of $4MM. The new deal also includes $2.5MM escalators for 2024 and 2025.
After the $10MM that Ramsey receives from his signing bonus and base salary this year, the former All-Pro is still giving up $7MM in cash in 2023. In exchange, the $5MM of guarantees Ramsey had remaining on the contract from Los Angeles has increased. He now has $35.5MM in full guarantees to look forward to in his new contract.
As a result, the Dolphins are also rewarded with a bit of cap relief. Ramsey was set to count for $17MM against the 2023 salary cap, and now, he’ll only account for $4.11MM. According to OverTheCap.com, the Dolphins are in the middle of the pack in the NFL, functioning with an effective cap space of about $12.76MM.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/13/23
Today’s tender decisions from around the NFL:
RFAs
Tendered:
- Jets: DE Bryce Huff
- Panthers: S Sam Franklin
ERFAs
Tendered:
- Broncos: OL Quinn Bailey, ILB Jonas Griffith, P Corliss Waitman
- Lions: LS Scott Daly, DL Benito Jones, LB Anthony Pittman, TE Brock Wright, TE Shane Zylstra
- Rams: DL Michael Hoecht
Did not tender:
- Broncos: OLB Jonathan Kongbo
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/13/23
Today’s minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Re-signed: CB Cameron Lewis
Cincinnati Bengals
- Re-signed: S Michael Thomas
Cleveland Browns
- Re-signed: CB A.J. Green
Denver Broncos
- Signed: TE Chris Manhertz
Detroit Lions
- Re-signed: RB Craig Reynolds
Green Bay Packers
- Re-signed: CB Keisean Nixon
Kansas City Chiefs
- Re-signed: DE Tershawn Wharton
New York Giants
- Re-signed: OL Wyatt Davis, LS Casey Kreiter
New York Jets
- Released: G Dru Samia
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: OL Brett Toth
Nixon was a first-team All-Pro returner for the Packers this year. He’s signed to a new one-year deal with a maximum value of $6MM, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Wharton’s new one-year deal is reportedly worth $2.03MM, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. The contract has a guaranteed amount of $850,000 consisting of a $500,000 signing bonus and $350,000 of the base salary (worth $1.01MM total).
QB Jacoby Brissett Drawing Interest From Bucs, Eagles
Veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett was signed to a one-year contract in Cleveland a year ago for the sole purpose of filling in until Deshaun Watson was free from his suspension. After doing the job that was asked of him, Brissett is again set to hit free agency and is drawing early interest from both the Buccaneers and Eagles, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. 
The interest from the Buccaneers is fairly straightforward. Having just lost star quarterback Tom Brady to retirement, Tampa Bay doesn’t have a clear plan at quarterback moving forward. With three-year backup Blaine Gabbert headed to free agency, the only remaining passer on the team’s roster is their second-round pick from 2021, Kyle Trask.
The Buccaneers certainly seem to like Trask, but with the 25-year-old only ever having appeared in one game for limited playing time, he certainly doesn’t have the experience to instill confidence as the franchise quarterback. Bringing in Brissett does two things for Tampa Bay: provides them with an experienced, capable backup quarterback if the plan is to move forward with Trask and/or provides them with an experienced, capable starter who can get you through a transition year, much like he did this year in Cleveland.
The Eagles interest in Brissett is even more straightforward. Philadelphia easily has solidified Jalen Hurts as their starting quarterback. After a season that saw Hurts receive MVP votes, receive second-team All-Pro honors, and lead his team to the Super Bowl, there is no doubt in anybody’s mind of who will be leading the Eagles’ offense next season.
In Philadelphia, Brissett would solely be a backup. It’s a role that Brissett is familiar with. and perhaps a bit overqualified for, but it’s not unreasonable for the Eagles to reach out for a backup quarterback of his caliber. Situations such as we saw in San Francisco and Baltimore this year prove just how imperative it is to have a backup quarterback capable of winning football games.
In San Francisco, the 49ers had not only one but two capable backups who went a combined 12-3 when starting quarterback Trey Lance went down after two weeks of play. Not only did they win in the regular season, but they went to the Conference Championship game on the arm of rookie seventh-round pick Brock Purdy. The Ravens, on the other hand, saw their two backups combine for a 2-3 record as they limped across the finish line for a 10-7 finish and an early playoff exit.
These two examples show precisely why a backup quarterback is one of the most important positions on a roster. Injuries happen and, when they do, teams need to be prepared with a contingency plan. The Eagles’ experienced backup, Gardner Minshew, is headed towards free agency, and the only other quarterback on the roster is Ian Book, whose only NFL playing time had disastrous results in 2021. Brissett would easily provide an upgrade over Book and likely an upgrade over Minshew, as well.
Brissett has now delivered three strong seasons in a row and, while many may consider it offensive that he’s being considered as a backup plan or for a backup job, the jobs he’s being considered for are a testament to his recent level of play. He is being pursued because he has plenty of starting experience and is capable of good play.
He may not be able to reach the $15MM per year that he got to start in Indianapolis, but Brissett should be due an impressive deal that includes plenty of incentives that are attainable if he earns the starting job. Wherever Brissett ends up, he should take pride in his status as one of the league’s best backup quarterbacks.
DT Shy Tuttle To Sign With Panthers
The Panthers have reportedly decided to pair star defensive tackle Derrick Brown with another young interior defensive lineman, agreeing to a deal with Saints defensive tackle Shy Tuttle, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Tuttle is set to join Carolina under a three-year, $19.5MM contract that includes $13MM guaranteed at signing. 
Tuttle was a nice surprise over the last few years for the Saints, entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Tennessee. Tuttle immediately stood out as a rookie recording two sacks, three tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, four pass deflections, and one interception (which he athletically returned 19 yards).
Over the next three seasons, Tuttle showed more of the same while becoming more disruptive in the running game, as well. Over four years with the team that gave him a chance after going undrafted, Tuttle delivered one outstanding year after another, proving that he deserved to be a starting defensive tackle in the NFL. This past season was Tuttle’s worst, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), but he showed enough in his first three seasons to easily justify the multiyear contract.
With Tuttle and Brown on the interior defensive line in 2023 and Brian Burns and Yetur Gross-Matos on the edges, the Panthers defensive line is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with. New defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero has received some talented pieces today to boost his new unit.
Seahawks Expected To Sign DT Dre’Mont Jones
After parting ways with one former Broncos defensive tackle in Shelby Harris, it looks like Seattle will be replacing him with another former Broncos defensive tackle in Dre’Mont Jones, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The two parties have reportedly agreed on a three-year, $51.53MM deal to bring the standout pass rushing lineman to the Seahawks, according to NFL Network’s James Palmer. 
A 2019 third-round pick out of Ohio State, Jones didn’t take long to live up to his draft stock. In a middling rookie season that saw him occasionally rotate in, Jones still amassed 3.5 sacks and six quarterback hits. Over the next three years, Jones would earn more playing time and do much more with it. In 28 starts since 2020, Jones has tallied 18.5 sacks, 25 tackles for loss, and 32 quarterback hits, averaging about the same number of each statistic every season.
Jones isn’t perfect. He specializes as one of the top pass rushing interior defensive lineman in the NFL but can struggle in run defense. He’s also had issues with injuries over the years, failing to appear in every game of any NFL season he’s played in. Regardless, Seattle will be adding a whole new dynamic to a defense that heavily depended on two linebackers (Uchenna Nwosu and Darrell Taylor, each with 9.5 sacks in 2022) to pressure to the quarterback.
According to Rapoport, Jones is set to earn $23.5MM in the first year of the deal and $35.02MM over the first two years. The deal is a massive upgrade for the young lineman’s rookie contract. At only 26 years old, Jones will provide Seattle with a badly needed pass rusher on the interior.
Cardinals Re-Sign T Kelvin Beachum
After an injury-filled year on their offensive line, the Cardinals have agreed to a new deal that will bring back their most dependable lineman, offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum, according to freelance journalist and former Cardinals staff writer Mike Jurecki. Set to turn 34 in June, the veteran tackle will return to Arizona on a new two-year contract. 
Beachum had to work his way into a starting position in his first two years in the league for the Steelers, but after earning it, Beachum refused to let go. He was Pittsburgh’s starting left tackle every year after his rookie season. The only exception came after a torn ACL cost him the last 10 games of the 2015 season, the last year of his rookie contract.
The ACL injury, the only major injury of his career, hurt his chances of a strong, long-term contract, but after a year as Jacksonville’s left tackle, Beachum signed a three-year, $24MM deal with the Jets. After two years s the starting left tackle in New York, Beachum, once again, found himself on the open market, signing with the Cardinals who would switch him to the right side of the offensive line for the first time since his rookie year.
Beachum has only ever missed two games in Arizona due to injury, but his durability was best put on display this past year after starting every game of the season for the Cardinals. Beachum was the only Arizona offensive lineman to account for over 72-percent of the team’s offensive snaps in 2022, playing nearly 98-percent of them.
Beachum has played for three years in Arizona now and finishing out this new deal will make the Cardinals the team Beachum has played for the longest in his career. He’s been the team’s starting right tackle since 2020, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t continue that role for the next two years.
The news of his return is certainly heralded and welcomed after last year’s endurance, but it’s slightly unexpected that the team chose to go this route. Within its many injuries on the offensive line last season, the Cardinals were able to see that it had two capable starting tackles in D.J. Humphries and Josh Jones. Both players graded out better than Beachum, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), and with Jones still on his rookie contract and Humphries still five years younger than Beachum, many thought youth and affordability would prevail. Not only that, but Beachum, who clearly has good ball left in the tank, was thought to have priced himself out of Arizona, especially since moving forward with Jones and Humphries would be the more affordable play.
Regardless, the Cardinals rewarded Beachum for his endurance and veteran leadership. After showing last year that age is just a number, Beachum will continue to show how durable he can be for the next two years in Arizona.
Dolphins Re-Signing LB Duke Riley
After two years in Miami, linebacker Duke Riley has agreed to a two-year deal to return to the Dolphins, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. The 28-year-old linebacker is a veteran who rotates in on defense and anchors on special teams. 
Riley entered the league as third-round draft pick out of LSU for the Falcons. While he failed to reach his draft potential, Riley’s been able to produce in limited time for whatever defense he’s been a part of. After losing playing time, and eventually his starting job, in Atlanta to Foyesade Oluokun in 2018, Riley was traded to the Eagles.
In Philidelphia, Riley once again got an opportunity to carve out some starting time while still helping on special teams. He dealt with some injuries here and there in 2020, ending the season on injured reserve. When his contract expired, the Eagles allowed him to hit free agency and he found his way to South Beach.
In Miami, Riley continued his role as a rotational linebacker and special teamer, starting three games in his first season with the team. He earned a second one-year contract with the Dolphins to play through the 2022 season and appeared in every game, starting two. Riley hasn’t provided the top production numbers of other free agent linebackers who will sign massive deals, but he is reliable and consistent in what he does provide.
With fellow inside linebackers Elandon Roberts and Sam Eguavoen also headed towards free agency in Miami, Riley becomes the primary backup for the inside linebacker position behind Jerome Baker and the newly acquired former Titan, David Long. The two-year contract will be the first multiyear contract for Riley since his entry level draft contract. It’s a fitting reward for a grinder who gives his all on special teams and fills in well when needed on defense.
49ers Re-Sign DT Kevin Givens To One-Year Deal
Despite the star power the 49ers are planning to bring over from Philadelphia in Javon Hargrave, San Francisco has no plans of allowing its depth at the position to suffer. One of those moves to secure depth was re-signing defensive tackle Kevin Givens.
An undrafted free agent out of Penn State from 2019, Givens has slowly earned the trust and confidence of the coaching staff in San Francisco. After factoring into the team’s defense as a rotation piece off the bench for much of his first three years, Givens was given plenty of starting opportunities in 2022.
With injuries plaguing the position room and holding players like Javon Kinlaw and Arik Armstead to a combined 15 total games this past year, Givens heard his named called. Givens started 11 games for the 49ers this season in their absence. He could’ve started a few more if not for a few games missed with a sprained MCL. He matched or tallied career-highs in total tackles (20), tackles for loss (7), quarterback hits (3), and sacks (2.0). Givens struggled in run defense, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), but graded out much better as a pass rusher.
Givens doesn’t provide the 49ers with a top-level of play on the defensive line, but the team isn’t asking him to give that. They expect that high-level of play from their top draft picks and acquisitions like Hargrave, and Givens is expected to fill in as an injury or rotation replacement without missing a beat. Givens provides that for San Francisco, and his success when called into action this season has been rewarded with another one-year deal.