Titans Release Shonn Greene
9:12am: The Titans have officially released Greene, the team confirmed today (via Twitter).
8:26am: The Titans intend to release veteran running back Shonn Greene from their roster this morning, reports Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean (via Twitter). Because Greene is a vested veteran, he won’t have to pass through waivers, and will immediately become a free agent when the move is official.
Greene, who will turn 30 in August, joined the Titans in 2013 on the heels of a pair of 1,000-yard seasons with the Jets. However, the former third-round pick never matched the success he had in New York during his two seasons with the Titans. As a part-time contributor, Greene totaled 687 yards and six touchdowns over the course of the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
Heading into the final year of his contract, Greene didn’t report to the Titans’ offseason program until very recently, according to Wyatt (via Twitter). Given his minor role in Tennessee’s offense over the last two years, it’s somewhat surprising Greene was even still on the roster at this point. He had been scheduled to earn a salary of $3.25MM in 2015, and the Titans will reduce his cap hit from about $4.183MM to $833K by cutting him.
With Greene out of the picture, 2014 second-rounder Bishop Sankey appears poised to handle the majority of the load in the Tennessee backfield. David Cobb and Antonio Andrews should also get the opportunity to compete for touches, with Dexter McCluster acting as an all-purpose weapon.
Bills Sign Andre Fluellen
The Bills have added some veteran depth on their defensive line, signing free agent defensive tackle Andre Fluellen, the team announced today in a press release. To make room on the roster for Fluellen, the team waived safety Deon Broomfield with an injured designation.
Fluellen, 30, has spent nearly all of his career with the Lions since being drafted by the team in the third round back in 2008. However, he has never played a significant role in Detroit, acting as a part-time contributor over the course of 77 career games (75 with Detroit). In 2014, Fluellen recorded 10 tackles, two sacks, and a fumble recovery in 183 defensive snaps.
With Rex Ryan in as head coach and Dennis Thurman as defensive coordinator, there’s no real coaching connection for Fluellen in Buffalo. Of course, Thurman replaced Jim Schwartz as DC earlier this year, and Schwartz had coached the veteran defender in Detroit.
As for Broomfield, he appears likely to be placed on the Bills’ injured reserve list if he clears waivers.
Junior Galette Won’t Require Surgery
After suffering a pectoral injury while lifting weights earlier in June, Saints pass rusher Junior Galette won’t require surgery to repair the damage, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. We heard nearly two weeks ago that Galette was considering going under the knife, but after consulting with multiple experts, including Dr. James Andrews, he and the team have determined that won’t be necessary.
Galette, who turned 27 in March, will attempt to recover with rest and rehab rather than surgery, and will aim to be ready for New Orleans’ regular season opener, per Rapoport. While the veteran pass rusher figures to start training camp on the club’s PUP list, he should ultimately be fine, a source tells the NFL.com scribe.
Having transfered some resources from the offensive side of the ball to the defense this offseason, the Saints will be counting on their D to play better in 2015 than it did in 2014, and Galette is a key player on the unit. The edge rusher has recorded 22 sacks and four forced fumbles over the past two seasons, and signed a $41.5MM extension back in September.
Galette’s recovery and his performance in 2015 could play a large part in his future in New Orleans. All of the fully guaranteed money on his new deal has already been paid, but his base salary for 2016 ($5MM) becomes fully guaranteed if he’s still on the roster on the third day of the 2016 league year. Given the significant amount of prorated bonus money on his contract through 2019, Galette looks like a good bet to stick with the Saints for at least a couple more years, barring a disaster on or off the field.
East Notes: Hardy, Manning, Bills, Dolphins
It’s been a busy day of news around the NFL, as most teams around the league prepare to begin their mandatory June minicamps. However, we don’t want to let any odds and ends slip through the cracks, so let’s turn our attention to the two East divisions and round up the latest items….
- As of this morning, arbitrator Harold Henderson had yet to officially make a decision on Greg Hardy‘s appeal of his 10-game suspension, tweets Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The hearing for the Cowboys defensive end took place way back on May 28, so an announcement should come any day now.
- Eli Manning has yet to sign a contract extension with the Giants, but Dan Graziano of ESPN.com believes that a significant injury is the only thing that would creating a parting of ways between the two-time Super Bowl MVP and the team after the 2015 season.
- With the Bills having been mentioned as a potential suitor for free agent guard Evan Mathis, Mike Rodak of ESPN.com takes a look at how much cap room the team could clear by parting ways with guard Chris Williams.
- Stepping in this week for Peter King, Jenny Vrentas of TheMMQB.com examines Mike Tannenbaum‘s first offseason with the Dolphins, writing that the team’s new executive VP of football operations hasn’t been afraid to keep his foot down on the gas pedal.
Panthers Sign Chris Houston
The Panthers added some interesting veteran depth to their secondary today, announcing (via Twitter) that they’ve signed cornerback Chris Houston. To make room on their roster, the Panthers cut another cornerback, Jocquel Skinner.
Houston, 30, sat out the 2014 season, having been released almost a year ago to the day by the Lions. At the time, Houston had recently undergone surgery on his toe, and the team cited his recovery from that “significant medical procedure” as the primary reason why he was let go. The cornerback’s agent said in the wake of his release that he expected his client to return to the field in 2014, but that didn’t happen.
Before he missed the 2014 campaign, Houston was a longtime starter at cornerback in Detroit, having signed a five-year, $25MM contract with the team just a year before he was cut. While the Lions carried a chunk of dead money from that deal on their cap, the Panthers will get Houston at a much cheaper rate. If it turns out he’s not fully healthy, or not as effective as he was before his injury problems, Carolina should be able to cut ties with Houston at little or no cost.
In Carolina, Houston will join a group of cornerbacks that includes Josh Norman, Bene Benwikere, Melvin White, and fellow free agent signee Charles Tillman.
Martellus Bennett Reports To Bears’ Minicamp
Another spring holdout is coming to an end, according to Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune, who reports that Bears tight end Martellus Bennett reported to Halas Hall on Monday for the team’s mandatory June minicamp. Barring an unforeseen twist, Bennett will participate in practice when the Bears’ minicamp begins on Tuesday, tweets Dan Wiederer of the Tribune.
Bennett, 28, is coming off his best season, having racked up 90 receptions, 916 receiving yards, and six touchdowns for the Bears in 2014 — all of those figures were career-highs. The Pro Bowl campaign prompted Bennett to seek a new contract for the coming season, and he had been absent from Chicago’s OTAs while he sought that new deal.
Those OTAs, unlike this week’s minicamp, were voluntary, so Bennett won’t face any fines for not being in attendance. However, he was the only Bear who had missed the team’s offseason program up until this point under the new regime, which includes head coach John Fox and offensive coordinator Adam Gase.
Bennett is slated to earn about $5MM annually in 2015 and 2016, the final two years of his contract. While those are respectable salaries, Bennett presumably took notice of what happened on the free agent market this offseason, as players like Jordan Cameron and Charles Clay signed for $7.5MM per year — between them, Cameron and Clay combined for fewer catches than Bennett had in 2014. Additionally, Bennett’s salaries for the next two years are currently non-guaranteed.
Thomas Davis, Panthers Agree To Extension
2:12pm: Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has the details on Davis’ extension, reporting that the linebacker will get a $9MM signing bonus, and salaries of $1.25MM (2015), $3.5MM (2016), and $4.25MM (2017). This year’s money ($10.5MM) is fully guaranteed, while next year’s salary is partially guaranteed ($1.5MM) for injury only.
1:23pm: The Panthers have officially announced (via Twitter) their two-year extension for Davis, who said in a statement, “I now get to officially end my career as a Carolina Panther and that means the world to me.”
1:11pm: The Panthers have reached an agreement with linebacker Thomas Davis on a deal that will extend his contract by two seasons, reports Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer (all Twitter links). According to Person, Davis’ new contract, which will run from 2015 to 2017, is expected to be worth about $18MM. The Carolina linebacker figures to sign the pact later today.
Davis, 32, had been set to earn a $7.25MM base salary in 2015 before becoming eligible for free agency in 2016. While his old contract technically ran through the 2018 season, as Over The Cap details, that was only to stretch a previous signing bonus out for cap purposes — the deal was set to void following the coming season.
As I noted last week when I examined the top cap hits by defensive position, Davis’ deal was an outlier, as he was the only outside linebacker with a top-10 cap number for 2015 who plays in a 4-3 scheme rather than a 3-4 defense. The veteran linebacker’s new contract should reduce that $9.9MM cap charge for 2015, though the initial figures suggest he’ll still be paid well at a position that typically doesn’t feature many of the league’s top earners.
The 14th overall pick out of Georgia back in 2005, Davis has been a key piece of the Panthers’ defense since entering the league, appearing in 117 games (99 starts) for the team over the last decade. For his career, he has racked up nearly 750 tackles to go along with 17.5 sacks, six interceptions, and 13 forced fumbles.
Having taken care of Davis, the Panthers will likely shift their attention to another linebacker soon, as Luke Kuechly is nearing the end of his rookie contract. Because he was also a first-round pick, Kuechly has a fifth-year option for 2016 on his deal, which the Panthers exercised earlier this spring. However, the club still may explore an extension sometime before the 2015 season rather than waiting until next year to lock up the Pro Bowler.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mike Pollak To Retire
The free agent market for guards continues to thin out. After we heard earlier today that former Falcon Justin Blalock had decided to retire, Jordan Raanan of NJ.com reports (via Twitter) that another unsigned guard, Mike Pollak, is also calling it a career.
While Pollak doesn’t have quite the NFL résumé that Blalock does, he saw plenty of time as a starter during his NFL career. The 30-year-old began his career in 2008 with the Colts before joining the Panthers briefly and then landing in Cincinnati.
In two years with the Bengals, he appeared in 22 games, starting 11 of them. The former second-round pick spent time at both left guard and right guard for the team in 2014, but the Bengals ultimately finished the season with Kevin Zeitler on the right side and Clint Boling on the left, oping to release Pollak back in February.
Like Blalock, Pollak will end his NFL career after a season in which his performance was still reasonably solid — according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), he was an above-average pass blocker and run blocker in 2014, finishing with a +4.6 grade in 456 offensive snaps.
Justin Blalock To Retire
1:04pm: Blalock appears to have confirmed Rapoport’s report, publishing the following statement (TwitLonger link):
“I’d like to sincerely thank the Atlanta Falcons, all my teammates and especially the fans. I’ve had an unbelievable 8 years and only wish I could have helped bring a championship to the ATL.”
12:45pm: After being released by the Falcons earlier in the offseason, veteran guard Justin Blalock has decided to retire, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).
Blalock, 31, had been a mainstay at the left guard spot in Atlanta since entering the league in 2007, having started all 125 games he played during his career with the Falcons. The former second-round pick continued to be viewed an above-average guard by Pro Football Focus right up until his release — Blalock received positive grades from the site for each of the last five seasons (subscription required).
For the Falcons, Blalock’s price tag was too high, but it seemed as though the guard would land elsewhere. He paid a visit to the Lions, and the Rams and Titans reportedly had some level of interest in him as well. It’s possible that the alleged interest from those teams never materialized into a formal offer, though Blalock may have simply decided he preferred not to continue his NFL career with a new team.
With Blalock apparently off the market, players like Rob Sims, Dan Connolly, and perhaps newly-released Sam Baker, who has spent most of his career playing tackle, are among the top veteran guards available. Of course, the prize of the group at this point is Evan Mathis, cut by the Eagles last week.
When Blalock makes his decision official, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him re-sign with the Falcons on a one-day contract before calling it a career.
Jason Campbell Planning To Retire
Veteran quarterback Jason Campbell is set to retire from the NFL, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). According to Rapoport, Campbell has yet to officially make his decision, but with training camps approaching, retirement is the current plan for the 10-year veteran.
Rapoport’s report echoes what we heard back in April, when Campbell remained on the market following the first month of free agency. At the time, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk suggested that Campbell had turned down multiple opportunities to sign contracts, including possible offers from the Ravens and Bengals.
Over the course of his NFL career, Campbell has appeared in 90 games (79 starts) for Washington, Oakland, Chicago, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. He saw his most extensive action in D.C., where he started 52 contests for Washington after being selected by the club in the first round of the 2005 draft. Most recently, he backed up Andy Dalton with the Bengals in 2014.
While Campbell’s 32-47 career record as a starter isn’t overly impressive, his career stats – including a 60.3% completion percentage, an 81.7 passer rating, and 87 touchdowns to 60 interceptions – are respectable.