Nate Allen, Eagles Agree To One-Year Deal
9:44am: Updating his earlier report, Schefter tweets that Allen’s new deal is actually worth $2MM, with the chance to max out at $3MM through playing time incentives.
9:06am: It’s a one-year, $1MM contract, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter).
8:59am: Safety Nate Allen will be returning to Philadelphia, according to the Eagles, who announced today (via Twitter) that the two sides have agreed to a one-year contract.
No Eagles safety played more defensive snaps in 2013 than Allen, who saw action in 1,126 regular-season plays. Starting all 16 games for the club, Allen recorded 89 tackles, an interception, and a sack from the strong safety position. For 2014, one of the two starting safety spots in Philadelphia will be filled by new signee Malcolm Jenkins, but Allen, a former second-round pick, could be in the mix for the other spot, depending on what the team does in the draft.
Saints To Re-Sign Zach Strief
9:33am: The deal, which is actually guaranteed for $8.4MM, features a $5.5MM signing bonus, a source tells ESPN.com’s Mike Triplett (Twitter link).
9:09am: According to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter), Strief’s deal is worth $4.1MM per year, which would put it at $20.5MM over five. Wilson adds that it includes $8.5MM in guaranteed money.
8:48am: Offensive lineman Zach Strief will be signing a new contract with the Saints today, agent Ralph Cindrich tells Larry Holder of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. It’s a five-year deal, according to the team (via Twitter). Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com had reported earlier this morning (via Twitter) that the two sides were meeting today and getting close to working out an agreement.
Strief, 30, has spent the first eight years of his NFL career in New Orleans, including the last three as the club’s starting right tackle. According to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required), the former seventh-round pick enjoyed his best season in 2013, ranking as the league’s best right tackle and grading especially well as a pass blocker.
As I suggested on Friday, a new contract for Strief will be a challenge for the Saints to squeeze into their cap space, even after the team traded away Darren Sproles and extended Pierre Thomas. As we saw with their signing of Jairus Byrd though, the Saints have shown a willingness to get creative with the cap numbers on long-term contracts, so it’ll be interesting to see what the numbers on Strief’s deal look like.
The Dolphins reportedly had interest in bringing in Strief for a visit, but the tackle decided not to visit Miami, focusing instead on working out a new deal with the Saints.
Brandon Weeden, Jared Allen Visiting Cowboys
The Cowboys will host multiple notable free agents early this week, with quarterback Brandon Weeden and defensive end Jared Allen set to visit the team. Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com reports Weeden’s meeting, along with Henry Melton‘s visit, will happen Monday, while Adam Schefter of ESPN.com says Allen’s visit will happen on Tuesday.
The Cowboys have been fairly quiet since free agency opened, signing just a pair of defensive lineman, Jeremy Mincey and Terrell McClain. With limited cap flexibility even after cutting DeMarcus Ware and Miles Austin, the club doesn’t have the ability to spend big on free agents this year, but Allen and Melton are arguably among the top players who don’t have contracts at this point. Concerns about Allen’s age or Melton’s health could open the door for Dallas to make a bargain buy or two, but we’ll have to wait to see how their visits go.
As for Weeden, we heard on Friday that the Cowboys would have interest in the former Browns signal-caller, who was released last week. So far, Dallas has been the only team linked to the 30-year-old.
Raiders To Re-Sign Usama Young
The Raiders have agreed to terms on a new contract with safety Usama Young, reports Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (via Twitter). According to Garafolo, it’ll be a two-year deal.
After starting for Cleveland in 2012, Young played a part-time role in his first season with the Raiders, logging 208 defensive snaps. He made the most of his limited action though, recording 2.5 sacks, an interception, and a fumble recovery. The 28-year-old, a former third-round pick, also was a contributor on special teams, racking up seven tacklse for the unit.
According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (via Twitter), the Jets had discussions with Young’s camp before he reached a deal with the Raiders, but New York was never seriously in the mix.
NFC Contract Details: Hatcher, Jennings, Cards
Jason Hatcher told reporters today that the Redskins blew away the competition with their pitch and offer to him, and Tom Pelissero of USA Today brings us the specifics of Hatcher’s deal (via Twitter). The four-year, $27.5MM deal includes $10.5MM in guaranteed money, made up of a $9MM signing bonus and a $1.5MM guaranteed base salary in 2014.
Here are more details on contracts signed for players by NFC teams this week:
- While Rashad Jennings‘ four-year deal with the Giants can apparently max out around $14MM, it only has a base value of $10MM, tweets Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News.
- Matt Shaughnessy‘s two-year contract with the Cardinals includes a $1.4MM signing bonus, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). Pelissero tweets that there’s a “trigger” of sorts including in the deal, in the form of a $500K roster bonus due next March.
- Jonathan Dwyer‘s one-year deal with the Cardinals is a minimum salary benefit contract. Wilson tweets that the base salary of $730K is non-guaranteed, while Dwyer also got a $65K signing bonus.
- Meanwhile, another Cardinals signee, Ted Larsen, gets two years and $2.6MM, with a $470K, tweets Pelissero. The deal also features per-game roster bonuses and additional escalators, as Pelissero explains.
- The Vikings‘ one-year pact with Derek Cox doesn’t include any guarantees, according to Pelissero (via Twitter). It features a $730K base salary, a $50K workout bonus, and $220K in potential playing time incentives, meaning it can max out at $1MM.
- Domenik Hixon‘s one-year contract with the Bears is worth the minimum salary ($730K), but the receiver can earn up to $100K in roster bonus money, tweets Jeff Dickerson of ESPNChicago.com. Dickerson adds (via Twitter) that M.D. Jennings has a similar deal, though the safety’s minimum salary is $645K.
- Ramon Humber received a minimum salary benefit deal from the Saints, with a $65K signing bonus and $300K in overall guaranteed money, tweets Wilson.
Raiders Sign Tarell Brown
Free agent cornerback Tarell Brown will be taking his talents across the bay for the 2014 season. The Raiders have signed the ex-49er to a new contract, the team announced today (via Twitter). According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter), it’ll be a fully guaranteed one-year contract worth $3.5MM.
Cornerback was an area of need for the Raiders this offseason, after all four of their CBs who received significant playing time in 2013 received negative grades from Pro Football Focus (subscription required). According to those PFF rankings, Brown played significantly better than any cornerback on the Raiders’ roster, posting a +4.4 grade in 772 defensive snaps.
Brown, who has played for the Niners since being selected in the fifth round of the 2007 draft, didn’t record an interception last season, but had at least two in four of his previous five seasons. He also recovered a pair of fumbles in 2013. The 29-year-old appears poised to replace Tracy Porter in Oakland, after Porter agreed to sign with the Redskins.
FA Rumors: Weeden, Browner, DRC, Clark
Count the Cowboys among the teams with interest in Brandon Weeden following the signal-caller’s release from the Browns, writes Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com. According to Archer, even though the Cowboys believe Kyle Orton will return next season to back up Tony Romo rather than opting to retire, the team could carry three quarterbacks on its 53-man roster. Here’s more on a few free agents who either remain on the market or recently agreed to deals:
- Albert Breer and Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network hear from Redskins sources that Brandon Browner hadn’t arrived at Redskins Park for his free agent visit as of close of business today (Twitter link). Meanwhile, Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald (Twitter link) hears that Browner remains in New England, attempting to hammer out a deal with the Patriots. We recapped the odd back-and-forth developments in the Browner story in an earlier post.
- Following Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie‘s visit with the Jets, the cornerback will meet with the Giants, assuming he doesn’t yet have a deal in place, reports Conor Orr of The Star-Ledger.
- The Panthers have showed interest in free agent safety Ryan Clark, according to Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer (via Twitter).
- Wide receiver Steve Smith said on a conference call today that before he agreed to sign with the Ravens, the Chargers made him an offer and the Redskins and Seahawks also expressed interest (Twitter link via Joseph Person).
- B.J. Raji received interest from the Raiders and Chiefs before he agreed to re-sign with the Packers, tweets Ian Rapoport. I imagine it’s no coincidence that the general managers in both Oakland and Kansas City have roots in Green Bay.
Packers Re-Sign B.J. Raji
4:55pm: The Packers have officially announced Raji’s new deal.
2:27pm: Defensive lineman B.J. Raji has accepted an offer from the Packers to return to Green Bay, reports Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (via Twitter). It’s a one-year deal worth $4MM, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, who adds that Raji will return to nose tackle (Twitter link).
Raji, a mainstay on the Packers’ defensive line for the last several years, had played nose tackle for the first four seasons of his career before playing primarily at defensive end last season. The 27-year-old failed to record a sack for the second straight season in 2013, and ranked 43rd out of 45 qualified 3-4 defensive ends, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), so a return to his natural position makes sense.
Raji reportedly rejected a contract offer from the Packers during the season that would have been worth $8MM per year, so after seeing his value decline leading up to free agency, his decision to accept a one-year contract likely suggests that he wants to rebuild that value before testing the market again a year from now.
Adam Schefter of ESPN.com originally reported last week that Raji was close to accepting a one-year offer from the Packers, but the big defensive lineman decided to see what else was out there before agreeing to return to Green Bay. At the time of that initial report, it was suggested that the Packers’ offer would have a max value of $6.5MM, so we’ll see if the deal agreed upon this week includes incentives.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Dolphins, Shelley Smith Reach Two-Year Deal
The Dolphins have agreed to sign offensive lineman Shelley Smith to a two-year contract, reports Mike Klis of the Denver Post (via Twitter). The deal will be worth $5.5MM, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter), while Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports notes (via Twitter) there’s a $1.5MM guarantee.
Smith, 26, has been a part-time guard in St. Louis for the last two seasons, playing 360 offensive snaps in 2012 and 371 in 2013, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). He received a +7.0 grade from PFF last season, which placed him 23rd out of 81 qualified guards, despite his lack of playing time. Smith was particularly effective as a run blocker.
The signing represents the next step in a rebuilding process for Miami’s offensive line following last year’s bullying scandal. The team also signed Branden Albert this week to play left tackle, so assuming Smith occupies one of the two guard positions, the Dolphins now have at least three starters in place, with Albert and Smith joining incumbent center Mike Pouncey.
Smith had been visiting Miami today, and we heard earlier today that the club was hoping to lock him up before he left town. The former sixth-round pick also reportedly met with the Giants and Patriots.
Steelers Sign Cam Thomas
4:45pm: Thomas’ two-year contract with the Steelers is worth $4MM overall, with a $1MM signing bonus and base salaries of $1MM (2014) and $2MM (2015), tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today.
12:56pm: The Steelers have signed defensive tackle Cam Thomas to a two-year deal, according to agent David Canter (via Twitter). Thomas, an unrestricted free agent, had spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Chargers.
Making 11 starts for the Chargers in 2013, Thomas played 547 defensive snaps for the Chargers, according to Pro Football Focus. PFF graded his performance as a little below average, but he managed to log 26 tackles and 13 quarterback pressures while playing primarily at nose tackle.
For the Steelers, Thomas will help fill the void on the defensive line left by Ziggy Hood, who signed with the Jaguars earlier this week.