Chargers Cut Donald Brown, Kavell Conner
The Chargers have issued a press release announcing that the team has cut four players from its roster. In addition to confirming the release of veteran linebacker Donald Butler, the Chargers have also parted ways with running back Donald Brown, linebacker Kavell Conner, and linebacker Chi Chi Ariguzo.
[RELATED: Chargers release Donald Butler]
Brown, who turns 29 next month, had been set to enter the final season of the three-year contract he signed with the Chargers back in 2014. However, he had long been considered a probable cap casualty. If the Chargers had kept Brown on their roster, the team would have owed him a $500K roster bonus next week, plus a $3MM base salary in the fall. By cutting him, they wipe that entire $3.5MM from their cap.
Although he made a handful of starts for the Chargers in his two years in San Diego, particularly when the club’s backfield was hit hard by injuries, Brown never made a significant impact. In total, he accumulated 452 rushing yards on 144 attempts (3.1 ypc), and added 299 receiving yards on 37 catches. With Melvin Gordon, Danny Woodhead, and Branden Oliver in the mix, Brown likely would have been buried on the depth chart if he had returned in 2016.
Conner, who just turned 29, started seven games for the Chargers in 2014, but saw his role cut back in 2015. After picking up 70 tackles and a sack in his first year with the Chargers, Cavell logged just 15 tackles last season. His release will clear his $950K base salary from San Diego’s books.
Ariguzo, who has yet to appear in a regular-season NFL game, spent the 2015 season on IR. He’ll hit waivers and his release won’t create any cap room for the Chargers.
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Restricted Free Agent Tenders: 3/3/16
Over the next several days, there will be a ton of news on NFL teams assigning contract tenders to their restricted free agents and exclusive-rights free agents. Until a player signs his tender, he technically remains a free agent, but the offer ensures that he won’t be able to hit the open market.
For restricted free agents, teams can offer a first-round tender, a second-round tender, an original-round/right-of-first-refusal tender. The majority of RFAs will get that last tender, which allows the player to test the market and potentially sign an offer sheet, while giving his current team the opportunity to match that offer. A higher tender would ensure the player’s team compensation in the form of an early-round draft pick if he signs elsewhere.
Here are today’s updates on RFA tenders:
- The Giants have assigned a low-end RFA tender worth $1.671MM to tight end Larry Donnell, tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today. Donnell’s 2015 campaign came to a premature end when he suffered a neck injury, but it’s not expected to jeopardize his career. As Pelissero adds (via Twitter), Tamika Cheatham, Donnell’s agent, says his client is doing well in rehab and can’t wait to play.
- After tendering safety Tony Jefferson at the low-end level on Wednesday, the Cardinals have assigned the same tender to wide receiver Jaron Brown and safety D.J. Swearinger, per Pelissero (via Twitter). Brown and Swearinger will have the opportunity to explore the market next week, though I don’t expect the duo to draw as much interest as Jefferson will.
- The Colts have extended a qualifying offer to tight end Jack Doyle, the team announced today in a press release. With Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen both eligible for free agency, it looks like the team wants to make sure it retains Doyle, a solid depth piece. He also got the low-end tender, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.
Panthers Cut Dwan Edwards, Nate Chandler
1:13pm: The Panthers have made two more roster moves today, re-signing one offensive lineman and cutting another. According to a pair of team releases, Carolina has let go of Nate Chandler and re-signed Chris Scott.
Chandler, 26, started 19 games up front for the Panthers in 2013 and 2014, but missed the entire 2015 campaign due to a knee injury. His release saves the team $1.5MM in cap room, reducing his cap charge from $1.7Mm to $200K.
As for Scott, he has seen the occasional start for the Panthers in recent years, but primarily acts as a depth piece on the offensive line and a contributor on special teams. He inked a one-year deal to remain in Carolina.
11:03am: The Panthers have made their second defensive line cut of the day, announcing in a press release that they’ve parted ways with veteran defensive tackle Dwan Edwards. Earlier this morning, the club released defensive end Charles Johnson.
[RELATED: Panthers release defensive end Charles Johnson]
Edwards, who will turn 35 in May, joined the Panthers in 2012, and started 14 games for the team, recording 52 tackles and a career-high six sacks. Since then, the former second-round pick has transitioned to more of a situational role, starting just three games in the last three seasons.
In 2015, Edwards recorded 13 tackles and a sack in 445 defensive snaps, with Pro Football Focus ranking him 113th out of 123 qualified interior defensive linemen. In his preview of the Panthers’ offseason, PFR’s Dallas Robinson suggested Edwards could be on the chopping block if the team wanted to get a little younger on its D-line.
By releasing Edwards, the Panthers trim his cap hit from $2.1MM to $500K in dead money, creating $1.6MM in savings. Taking into account Johnson’s release and Jared Allen‘s retirement, Carolina has now saved more than $20MM in 2016 cap room as the team’s defensive line undergoes an overhaul.
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Chargers Release Donald Butler
Chargers linebacker Donald Butler is the latest veteran player to receive his walking players today, as Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. Butler himself confirmed the move today in a tweet, calling his time in San Diego “an amazing ride.”
“To my teammates and fans who have supported me throughout last 6 years I am forever appreciative and grateful,” Butler said. “Also, to the Spanos family for giving me the opportunity to play in a great city in front of great fans. So excited for what’s next and the opportunities ahead!”
Back in 2014, Butler signed a seven-year contract extension with the Chargers, but that deal could essentially be split into two halves. If San Diego had retained the veteran linebacker for the 2016 season, the club would have been on the hook for a $12MM option bonus due to be paid in 2017. That’s why, when I previewed the Chargers’ offseason last month, I identified Butler as one of the team’s most obvious release candidates.
Butler, 27, started 53 of his 55 games with the Chargers during his first four years with the franchise, from 2011 to 2014. However, he was relegated to a backup role during the 2015 season. For the season, he recorded a career-low 40 tackles to go along with 0.5 sacks and a forced fumble. Pro Football Focus placed him in the bottom 10 of 2015’s 97 qualified linebackers, assigning him a particularly poor grade as a run defender.
Releasing Butler will leave the Chargers with a $6.69MM dead money charge, assuming the team doesn’t designate him as a post-June 1 cut. However, he had been set to count for $9.28MM in 2016, so the move creates $2.59MM in cap savings.
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Texans Cut Garrett Graham, Rahim Moore
11:57am: The Texans have now released safety Rahim Moore in addition to Graham, tweets John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. As noted below, this move was expected, and creates more than $2MM in cap savings.
10:16am: After parting ways with longtime running back Arian Foster this morning, the Texans are continuing to make roster cuts. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), the club has now released tight end Garrett Graham.
[RELATED: Texans cut RB Arian Foster]
Graham, 29, has seen his role in Houston decrease since an impressive 2013 campaign in which he caught 49 passes for 545 yards and five touchdowns. In 2015, he was the Texans’ third tight end behind C.J. Fiedorowicz and Ryan Griffin, recording just four receptions for 30 yards and a TD in eight games.
With the Texans progressively phasing him out of the offense and his cap hit approaching $4MM, Graham looked like a logical release candidate. By cutting him, Houston will clear his $3MM base salary and his per-game roster bonuses from the team’s books, creating $3.125MM in cap savings and leaving $750K in dead money on the cap.
In the wake of the Foster move, several Texans beat writers, including Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link) suggested that Graham and safety Rahim Moore would be next to go. There’s nothing official on Moore yet, but if and when he’s released by the team, that would create another $2MM+ in cap room.
Moore signed a three-year, $12MM contract with the Texans just a year ago, but his first – and likely only – season in Houston was a disappointment, as he lost his starting job to Andre Hal halfway through the year.
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AFC East Rumors: Fitzpatrick, Dolphins, Bills
As negotiations between the two sides continue, the Jets have made it clear to Ryan Fitzpatrick and his representatives that they want Fitzpatrick to be their starting quarterback in 2016, says Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). However, according to Cole, the Jets’ offers to Fitzpatrick so far don’t necessarily reflect the going rate for starting quarterbacks.
Cole adds that while the Jets players like Fitzpatrick, there are some that wouldn’t mind seeing the team bring in another viable option at the position to challenge the incumbent veteran.
As we wait to see whether the Jets can lock up Fitzpatrick to a new deal before free agency gets underway next week, let’s check in on several other items from out of the AFC East….
- The Dolphins have reportedly identified five or six defensive ends in free agency and the draft that they’ll go after if Olivier Vernon signs elsewhere, writes Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. Salguero explores some of the possibilities, suggesting that even if the team brings back Vernon and Derrick Shelby, another addition at the position may be necessary.
- With the outcome of the Philadelphia D.A.’s investigation into LeSean McCoy still unresolved,the Bills have some uncertainty at the running back position as the new league year approaches. However, as Mike Rodak of ESPN.com outlines, McCoy isn’t the only player whose future with the team remains somewhat up in the air to some extent.
- The Bills would like to bring back as many of their restricted free agents as possible, according to general manager Doug Whaley, who says the club is “working on it” (Twitter link via Rodak). That may be easier said than done, since low-end RFA tenders will cost $1.6MM+ each, and Buffalo doesn’t have a ton of cap room to work with.
- After their tight ends combined for just eight receptions in 2015, the Jets could be in the market for a free agent TE this offseason. Rich Cimini of ESPN.com explores that possibility.
- With the NFL and the NFLPA set to return to court to revisit the Deflategate saga and the vacated suspension for Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, SI.com’s Michael McCann provides a primer on what to expect.
Ravens Cut Daryl Smith
The veteran cuts keep on coming, as the Ravens are the latest team to part with a major contributor. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter), Baltimore has released inside linebacker Daryl Smith. As a vested veteran, Smith will immediately be eligible to sign elsewhere without passing through waivers.
[RELATED: Ravens sign Joe Flacco to contract extension]
Smith, who joined the Ravens for the 2013 season after spending nine years in Jacksonville, hasn’t missed a game in his three years in Baltimore, starting the last 48 regular-season games for the club. In 2015, he racked up 121 tackles to go along with three sacks and an interception.
While Smith’s release comes as a bit of a surprise, Pro Football Focus did rank him just 71st out of 97 qualified linebackers in 2015, and he’ll turn 34 later this month, so the Ravens could go younger and cheaper at the position while potentially not taking a major step back in terms of production.
The Ravens also need to create some cap room to complete their offseason business, and don’t have a ton of obvious release or restructure candidates on their roster that would free up significant space. By cutting Smith, the team will trim his 2016 cap charge from $4.375MM to just $1.75MM, creating $2.625MM in cap savings.
That’s not a huge amount of cap room, but every little bit will help the Ravens this offseason, and inside linebacker is a spot that the club can probably address on the cheap. Baltimore will likely be in the market for help at the position either in free agency or the draft as the club explores potential complements for C.J. Mosley in the middle.
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Latest On Peyton Manning
A weekend report from The Denver Post suggested that future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Peyton Manning was expected to announce his retirement soon, but the Broncos and Manning’s camp quickly refuted the notion that the signal-caller had made that decision yet. Agent Tom Condon reiterated that stance during an appearance on 104.3 The Fan in Denver on Wednesday.
“To tell you the truth, I know that Peyton has not decided,” Condon said, per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.
Although Manning may not have announced – or made – his decision, the winning quarterback of Super Bowl 50 made a lengthy speech at a fundraising event in Florida on Wednesday, and Jeff Darlington of NFL Media suggests, during an interview on PFT Live, that Manning sounded like a player who doesn’t want to call it a career quite yet.
“He did talk in present tense when he’s talking about his career,” Darlington said, per Smith. “He sounds like a guy who still wants to play. He does not sound like a guy who is a week away from retirement.”
As Darlington and others try to read between the lines to determine Manning’s outlook, the quarterback himself is “angry” about recent reports on his retirement and on an incident with trainer Jamie Naughright that occurred at the University of Tennessee two decades ago, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). Manning has yet to publicly address the re-emergence of that story, but Cole hears from a source close to the QB that Manning feels as if he’s being pushed into retirement.
If Manning does want to keep playing, or if he postpones his retirement decision beyond next Tuesday, it appears extremely likely that the Broncos will cut him before his $19MM salary for 2016 becomes guaranteed on March 9th. In that case, the former first overall pick would have the freedom to sign elsewhere now or later, though it remains to be seen how aggressively other teams would pursue him.
According to Cole, the Rams, Texans, and Jets are among the clubs that might have interest in Manning if he opts not to retire and becomes available, but Cole classifies that interest as “tepid at best.”
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Panthers Release Charles Johnson
The Panthers have parted ways with one of the franchise’s top all-time pass rushers, according to Max Henson of Panthers.com, who tweets that the club has released Charles Johnson. The veteran defensive end had long been considered a candidate to accept a pay cut or be released this offseason.
[RELATED: PFR previews the Panthers’ offseason]
Johnson, 29, has been the Panthers’ most reliable pass rusher over the last several years, recording at least 8.5 sacks in every season from 2010 to 2014. However, his 2015 campaign was derailed by a hamstring injury, which landed him on the injured reserve list with the designation to return, sidelining him for nearly half the season.
In nine regular-season games in 2015, Johnson recorded just 12 tackles and a single sack, easily making it his least productive year since his rookie campaign. He showed flashes of his old self during the team’s postseason run though, picking up three playoff sacks. Overall, in his nine seasons in Carolina, Johnson racked up 63.5 total sacks, the second-most in franchise history, behind Julius Peppers (81.0).
Prior to his release, Johnson was set to count for more than $15MM against the Panthers’ cap in 2016, with a base salary of $10.75MM. By cutting him, Carolina clears Johnson’s entire salary from the team’s books, along with his $250K workout bonus, creating an even $11MM in cap savings.
According to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter link), the Panthers offered Johnson a pay cut before deciding to release him. Although Pelissero cautions not to rule out the possibility of a reunion between the two sides, I would imagine Johnson will explore the market and likely land elsewhere — if he finds that there’s not as much of a market for his services as he expected, perhaps the door re-opens for a return to Carolina at a reduced rate.
With Johnson no longer in the mix, the Panthers figure to address the defensive end position in free agency and/or the draft. Kony Ealy, who had three sacks during the postseason as well, looks ready to assume a full-time starting role on one side, and the club has some intriguing options behind him, but adding another starting-caliber player would be ideal, with Jared Allen retiring.
As Pro Football Talk notes (via Twitter), one intriguing scenario for the Panthers could be a return to North Carolina for Mario Williams, who was recently cut by the Bills.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Ravens Sign Joe Flacco To Contract Extension
9:07pm: Albert Breer of NFL.com tweets the yearly breakdown of the contract: in addition to the $40MM signing bonus, Flacco will earn base salaries of $4MM, $6MM, $12MM, $18.5MM, $20.25MM, and $24.25MM.
12:05pm: Flacco gets $66.4MM in new money on his three-year extension, according to La Canfora, who notes (via Twitter) that the $22.1MM+ new-money average is a record. For his entire contract, the Ravens quarterback will average just under $21MM per year, says La Canfora, adding (via Twitter) that Flacco’s cap hits will be reduced to about $22.5MM in 2016 and $24MM in 2017.
ESPN’s Adam Caplan reports that $44MM of Flacco’s new deal is fully guaranteed, including the $40MM signing bonus and his $4MM base salary for 2016.
10:47am: Flacco has officially signed his three-year extension, the Ravens announced (via Twitter).
10:27am: With the Ravens set to hold a press conference at 2:00pm eastern today to announce Flacco’s new deal, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that the new contract features a $40MM signing bonus, which would be the largest in NFL history, as Joel Corry of CBSSports.com tweets. Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com adds (via Twitter) that the extension will free up about $6MM in cap space for Baltimore in 2016, and a total of about $13MM for the next two years.
9:55am: The Ravens and quarterback Joe Flacco have agreed to terms on a new contract, a source tells Pro Football Talk (Twitter link). According to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter), the agreement will add three more years to Flacco’s current contract, locking him up through the 2021 season.
Flacco, who signed a six-year deal with the Ravens three years ago, had been projected for a cap hit of $28.55MM in 2016, and that number was set increase to $31MM+ in 2017. General manager Ozzie Newsome insisted at the start of the Ravens’ offseason – and recently reiterated – that the team has a plan to work around Flacco’s massive cap hit, but it always seemed likely that the two sides would rework the contract this offseason. The new deal should lessen Flacco’s impact on Baltimore’s 2016 cap.
Since winning the Super Bowl three years ago and signing his new mega-deal, Flacco has been up and down. After throwing more interceptions (22) than touchdowns (19) in 2013, he was excellent in 2014, setting new career highs in passing yards (3,986) and touchdowns (27).
In 2015, for the first time in his eight-year NFL career, the extremely durable signal-caller failed to start all 16 games for the Ravens, having sustained a torn ACL in November. In 10 games, Flacco completed a career-best 64.4% of his passes, but threw just 14 TDs to 12 INTs, and Baltimore was 3-7 in those games — it was the first time since Flacco became the Ravens’ starter that the team finished below .500.
Still, while his performance in recent years has perhaps not been elite, the terms of Flacco’s contract dictated that something had to give this offseason. Since he and agent Joe Linta held the majority of the leverage in negotiations with the Ravens, it will be interesting to see what kind of terms they secured on the new extension. Heading into the offseason, Flacco’s $20.1MM per-year salary ranked eighth among all quarterbacks, per Over The Cap. The new deal will likely elevate him back into the top five.
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