Latest On Eric Weddle
Negotiations between teams and Eric Weddle‘s camp “went on through the night,” reports Peter Schrager of FOX Sports (via Twitter). According to Schrager, Weddle has narrowed his list of potential destinations to three teams, and will likely reach an agreement with one of those clubs within the next 24 hours.
We heard last week that Weddle was weighing offers from four teams, and while the Raiders, Steelers, Cowboys, and Ravens had been cited as clubs expressing interest in him, it’s not clear whether those were the same four teams that extended contract offers. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote on Sunday, the veteran safety – who has talked about wanting to join a contender – has opted to keep the identity of his suitors private.
Weddle is one of the top free agents still on the board, having chosen to take his time and do homework on the teams and cities in play for him, rather than rushing to sign a contract as soon as the new league year opened. There was speculation that he would take a couple visits before deciding on his new team, but if he intends to make a decision within the next 24 hours, it seems that won’t happen, unless he has already made unreported visits.
Weddle, 31, has spent all nine seasons of his NFL career with the Chargers, capped off by what was perhaps his most unusual year since entering the league. After being told by the team that his contract wouldn’t be extended prior to the season, the three-time Pro Bowler reported to camp and played well during the season, logging 76 tackles and six passes defended in 13 games.
While the contract situation was one point of contention between the two sides, the year ended on an even more acrimonious note, with the Chargers reportedly informing Weddle late in the season that he was being fined $10K for remaining on the field during halftime of a game to watch his daughter perform in a dance ceremony. Weddle and agent David Canter initially declined to go public about the fine, but the agent opened up after the Chargers placed the safety on IR in Week 17, a move that was made against his wishes. Per Canter, the team also informed Weddle that there would be no room for him to travel on the team plane to the regular season finale in Denver.
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Free Agent Visits: McLendon, Coples, Hairston
Free agent nose tackle Steve McLendon is taking a visit today with the Jets, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), citing agent Richard Kopelman of KLASS Sports. New York has a hole at the nose tackle position after Damon Harrison signed a five-year deal with the Giants, and while McLendon could be a nice fit, the Jets don’t have a ton of cap flexibility, so we’ll see if they can make something work.
The Steelers, meanwhile, still have interest in retaining McLendon, who has spent his entire six-year career in Pittsburgh. However, the veteran defensive lineman wants to test the market, tweets Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com.
Here’s more on free agents around the NFL:
- The Rams are hosting Quinton Coples on a visit today, tweets Rand Getlin of the NFL Network (Twitter link). The Rams’ defensive line has been one of the NFL’s best for the last few years, but with Chris Long and Nick Fairley no longer under contract, the team could use some help up front to complement Aaron Donald, Robert Quinn, Michael Brockers, and William Hayes.
- ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported over the weekend that offensive lineman Chris Hairston is scheduled to meet with the Steelers later in the week. However, Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says (via Twitter) that the team doesn’t currently have a meeting set up with Hairston. It’s not clear whether the visit isn’t happening at all, or whether it still needs to be formally scheduled.
- Free agent defensive tackle Brandon Thompson is visiting the Seahawks today, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Thompson has been a solid reserve for the Bengals so far in his career, but suffered a torn ACL in January, so he’s unlikely to be healthy for a few more months.
Where Things Stand In NFL Free Agency
Things move fast in NFL free agency, so it should come as no surprise that just five days after the new league year began, the majority of 2016’s top free agents have come off the board. Olivier Vernon, Malik Jackson, and Brock Osweiler – the first three players on our list of this year’s top 50 free agents – are among those that have signed new mega-deals already.
[RELATED: Full list of available free agents by position]
Our top 50 list was intended – at least in part – to predict which players would sign the biggest contracts of the offseason, and while we did pretty well at the top of our list, there were missteps further down. Our rankings appear to have underestimated the apprehension that teams would have for free agents with health questions. That’s why our No. 7 free agent, Jason Pierre-Paul, only managed a one-year deal, while others in our top 20, such as Russell Okung and Kelvin Beachum, remain unsigned.
Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 biggest deals signed so far, in terms of fully guaranteed money (per Over The Cap):
- Olivier Vernon, DE (Giants): Five years, $85MM. $40MM fully guaranteed.
- Brock Osweiler, QB (Texans): Four years, $72MM. $37MM fully guaranteed.
- Malik Jackson, DE (Jaguars): Six years, $85.5MM, $31.5MM fully guaranteed.
- Janoris Jenkins, CB (Giants): Five years, $62.5MM. $28.8MM fully guaranteed.
- Kelechi Osemele, G/T (Raiders): Five years, $58.5MM. $25.4MM fully guaranteed.
- Damon Harrison, DT (Giants): Five years, $46.2MM. $20MM fully guaranteed.
- Alex Mack, C (Falcons): Five years, $45MM. $20MM fully guaranteed.
- Brandon Brooks, G (Eagles): Five years, $40MM. $17MM fully guaranteed.
- Mark Barron, LB (Rams): Five years, $45MM. $15MM fully guaranteed.
- (tie) Sean Smith, CB (Raiders): Four years, $38MM. $15MM fully guaranteed.
(tie) Doug Martin, RB (Buccaneers): Five years, $35.7MM. $15MM fully guaranteed.
The Giants and Raiders dominate that list, combining for five players, and those two teams, plus the Jaguars, have been among the biggest free agent spenders so far.
In addition to their three signings noted above, the Giants also re-signed Pierre-Paul ($8.5MM fully guaranteed). The Raiders complemented their Osemele and Smith signings by adding Bruce Irvin ($14.5MM fully guaranteed). And the Jaguars landed Jackson, plus Tashaun Gipson ($12MM fully guaranteed), Chris Ivory ($10MM fully guaranteed), and Prince Amukamara ($3MM fully guaranteed).
Additional big spenders have included the Eagles (Brooks, Rodney McLeod, Chase Daniel), Texans (Osweiler, Lamar Miller, Jeff Allen), and Falcons (Mack, Mohamed Sanu).
While many of the big-name players have signed, there are still many players in our top 50 without deals. Some of these players, such as Eric Weddle, appear to be simply taking their time to weigh all their options, and could still land fairly lucrative deals. Others may not be generating as much interest as expected. Here’s a breakdown of those players:
- Russell Okung, T (11)
- Kelvin Beachum, T (15)
- Eric Weddle, S (17)
- Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB (19)
- Greg Hardy, DE (21)
- Donald Penn, T (26)
- Andre Smith, T (38)
- Reggie Nelson, S (41)
- Nick Fairley, DT (43)
- Rueben Randle, WR (49)
As our list of notable remaining free agents shows, the tackle market has been somewhat slow to develop. Okung and Beachum are both coming off injuries, Penn will turn 33 next month, and Smith isn’t a left tackle, so it makes some sense that there hasn’t been a ton of action on them, but I expect that will be one position that gains steam this week.
We should also see more movement at cornerback – which features players like Brandon Boykin, Leon Hall, and Patrick Robinson – and inside linebacker, where Zach Brown and James Laurinaitis are among the veterans available. You can find our complete, up-to-date list of available free agents right here.
This week’s action won’t be quite as fast-paced as last week’s, but things will still be busy, with teams continuing to focus on the second and third waves of free agency. After next week’s owner’s meetings, draft coverage steadily begins to dominate the NFL news cycle, but we’ve still got plenty of free agent signings to track before then, so check PFR frequently for the latest.
Kelvin Beachum To Visit Jets, Seahawks, Jaguars
SATURDAY, 2:03pm: Beachum will also make a trip to Jacksonville on Monday to meet with the Jaguars, Josina Anderson of ESPN.com tweets.
The Steelers are hosting Okung on a visit as well, with the possibility of Pittsburgh and Seattle exchanging tackles still existing.
FRIDAY, 12:22pm: In addition to visiting the Jets, Beachum has a visit with the Seahawks scheduled for Monday, tweets Rapoport. Seattle’s starting left tackle, Russell Okung, is currently set to take free agent visits with the Giants and Lions, so the Seahawks are considering alternatives.
FRIDAY, 11:23am: The Jets are bringing in veteran offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum for a visit, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). According to Rapoport, the Steelers are still hoping to re-sign Beachum, but now face some competition from the team they beat out for a playoff spot last season.
Beachum, 26, was on his way to becoming one of the more reliable left tackles in the NFL before a torn ACL wiped out most of his 2015 season. The fact that he hasn’t fully recovered from that injury could put a damper on his market, but if teams are confident he’ll get back to 100% health, he’s an intriguing target. Few offensive linemen on the market have as much upside as Beachum, who didn’t miss a game in 2014 as the Steelers’ left tackle.
As Rapoport notes (via Twitter), if the Jets are serious about making a run at Beachum, it’s a situation worth monitoring for the Jets’ current left tackle, D’Brickashaw Ferguson. The 32-year-old has a cap hit exceeding $14MM for 2016, and the Jets could create $9MM+ in cap savings by releasing him.
Ferguson has still been pretty solid in recent years, so it would be a little surprising if New York moved on from him. But bringing in Beachum for a visit could help provide the Jets with some leverage if they want to encourage Ferguson to take a pay cut, as Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap observes (via Twitter).
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Titans, Al Woods Agree To Three-Year Deal
SATURDAY, 10:45am: The three-year deal is worth $10.5MM with $5MM in guaranteed money, tweets NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. There’s another $2.25MM worth of incentive money, boosting the potential value to $12.75MM.
FRIDAY, 10:50pm: After spending the last two seasons in Tennessee, defensive tackle Al Woods will continue his career with the Titans in 2016. Woods’ agency, SportTrust Advisors, announced today (via Twitter) that the veteran defender has agreed to terms on a new three-year contract with the Titans.
Woods, who turns 29 later this month, picked up 22 tackles in 14 games (nine starts) for the Titans in 2015. With fellow nose tackle Sammie Lee Hill recovering from a knee injury to open the season, Woods saw most of the playing time at the position, earning 362 defensive snaps to Hill’s 190 for the season. While Pro Football Focus ranked Woods just 88th out of 123 interior defenders, PFF gave him a solid grade as a run defender, and he’s primarily used on early downs.
With a new deal in place to keep him in Tennessee, Woods has a leg up on the Titans’ starting nose tackle job for the 2016 season, at least for the time being. John Glennon of The Tennessean indicated near the end of the 2015 campaign that it wouldn’t be surprising to see the team retain Woods rather than Hill, who is also a free agent.
While financial terms of Woods’ deal aren’t yet known, he’s coming off a two-year, $4MM pact, and I’d expect him to match or exceed that per-year salary. Before agreeing to terms with the Titans, Woods reportedly paid a visit to Seattle to meet with the Seahawks.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Brandon Weeden Visiting Dolphins
With Matt Moore lining up free agent visits elsewhere, Miami is exploring the market for a new backup for Ryan Tannehill. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter), the Dolphins’ search has led them to Brandon Weeden, who will be visiting the team tonight.
Weeden, 32, began the 2015 season with the Cowboys, stepping in and making three starts when Tony Romo went down with an injury. While Weeden lost all three of those starts, he was hardly a disaster — he completed 72.4% of his passes, throwing for 739 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Later in the season, having been cut by Dallas, Weeden got an opportunity to start again in Houston, and helped the Texans make the playoffs by completing 26 of 42 passes for 305 yards and three TDs over the span of two games (one start).
Weeden won’t live up to the billing of being a first-round pick back in 2012, but there are probably worse No. 2 options in the NFL, so it will be interesting to see if the Dolphins attempt to sign him to back up Tannehill.
Moore never got the opportunity to play much in Miami, but Tannehill’s up-and-down performance in 2015 means the backup job isn’t a spot that can be overlooked. Still, we heard earlier this week that the Dolphins aren’t looking to invest too heavily in a backup signal-caller.
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Cowboys, James Hanna Agree To Deal
The Cowboys have locked up another one of their own free agents, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the club has agreed to a three-year deal with tight end James Hanna. It’s worth $8.25MM, per Caplan, and features $3.25MM in guaranteed money, according to Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter link).
Hanna, 26, has never been a focal point of the Cowboys’ offense since joining the team in 2012, but he has played well behind starter Jason Witten, catching the occasional pass but serving primarily as a blocker. For his four-year career, he has 33 receptions for 286 yards, with no touchdowns.
Despite his modest pass-catching numbers, Hanna had received interest from multiple teams since free agency began this week. He was cited as a potential target for the Vikings if Minnesota fails to re-sign Rhett Ellison, and also had a visit lined up with the Chargers today. It’s not clear if the agreement with the Cowboys came before that visit started, after it ended, or sometime in the middle.
Earlier today, the Cowboys re-signed some of their other free agents, including cornerback Morris Claiborne and linebacker Kyle Wilber. The club also secured linebacker Rolando McClain earlier in the week.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Raiders Release Curtis Lofton
The Raiders have released veteran linebacker Curtis Lofton, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (via Twitter). As a vested veteran, Lofton will immediately become a free agent without having to first pass through waivers.
Lofton, 29, joined the Raiders for the 2015 season after spending his previous seven NFL seasons in Atlanta and New Orleans. After inking a three-year, $18MM deal with Oakland, Lofton failed to make a real impact for the team, starting just nine games and struggling to produce. Pro Football Focus ranked him 94th out of 97 qualified linebackers.
Lofton’s contract stipulated that $3.5MM of his $5.35MM base salary for 2016 would become guaranteed last month, less than a week after the Super Bowl. Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle indicated earlier this week that the Raiders couldn’t cut the linebacker prior to that date because he was unable to pass a physical due to an arm injury. Indeed, Evan Woodbery of the New Orleans Times-Picayune tweets that Lofton was cut with a failed physical designation today.
While there has been some speculation that Lofton moved his guarantee date back, it appears for now that his $3.5MM guarantee will indeed count against the Raiders’ 2016 cap. If any new info surfaces, we’ll pass it along. Even with that dead money on the cap, Oakland creates $2MM in cap savings with the move.
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Jermaine Gresham, Shea McClellin Visiting Jets
The Jets are hosting tight end Jermaine Gresham and linebacker Shea McClellin on visits, according to multiple reports. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reports (via Twitter) that McClellin is visiting Gang Green today, while ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that Gresham also met with the team.
Gresham, 27, signed with the Cardinals last season after spending five seasons with the Bengals. His role was reduced in Arizona, and he caught a career-low 18 balls for 223 yards and a touchdown. During his time in Cincinnati, Gresham earned two Pro Bowl nods, averaging 56 receptions per season.
The Jets, meanwhile, got little to no production from their tight ends in 2015. Gresham’s 18 receptions would have easily ranked first for New York, as the team’s TEs combined to catch just eight balls last season.
As for McClellin, the 26-year-old was the Bears’ first-round pick in 2012, and according to Biggs, Chicago would still like to re-sign him. However, the Jets figure to take a hard look at McClellin, since they have a need at inside linebacker, with both Demario Davis and Erin Henderson now on the free agent market.
The Jets are also hosting quarterback Robert Griffin and offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum on visits.
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Buccaneers Sign Brent Grimes
4:14pm: The Buccaneers have formally announced their deal with Grimes.
12:25pm: Grimes’ two-year deal has a base value of $13.5MM, and can be worth up to $16.5MM with playing-time and Pro Bowl incentives, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
11:51am: Brent Grimes will head over to the NFC for the 2016 season, but he’ll be staying in Florida. According to Rand Getlin of the NFL Network (via Twitter), Grimes has agreed to terms with the Buccaneers on a two-year deal worth $16.5MM.
Grimes, 32, is coming off his third straight Pro Bowl season, having picked off at least four passes in each of his three years in Miami. In 2015, he intercepted four passes to go along with 49 tackles, and was ranked 41st out of 111 qualified cornerbacks by Pro Football Focus.
Despite his solid performance in Miami, the Dolphins decided to move on from him earlier this week, releasing him with two years left on his contract after acquiring Byron Maxwell from the Eagles. If Grimes plays out his new deal, he should earn more over the next two seasons than he would have had he stayed with the Fins.
The veteran corner had been on track to earn $15MM in salary in 2016 and 2017 in Miami. Of course, that money was non-guaranteed, and he’ll presumably get a decent portion of his new deal guaranteed, so he’s in better financial shape going forward.
By joining the Buccaneers, Grimes will reunite with his old head coach — he played under Mike Smith, Tampa Bay’s new defensive coordinator, during his years as a Falcon. With Tampa Bay corners Sterling Moore and Mike Jenkins eligible for free agency, and Moore not expected back, the Bucs had been in the market for some help at the position.
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