NFC Rookies: Lions, 49ers, Seahawks, Sam
Lions‘ draft picks Nevin Lawson and T.J. Jones have officially signed their rookie deals, reports Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com. Lawson, a cornerback out of Utah State, was a fourth-round selection. Jones, the receiver out of Notre Dame, was taken in the sixth round. That leaves only three players left to be signed, which Twentyman writes is expected soon.
Here are some other notes from around the NFC:
- The 49ers have announced the signing of sixth-round draft pick Kenneth Acker, according to the team’s official website. The SMU cornerback signed a standard four-year deal with the team. He is one of six rookie draft picks to sign his deal.
- The Seahawks have officially announced the signing of defensive tackle Jimmy Staten, reports Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). Staten, a fifth-round pick out of Middle Tennessee State, is the third draft pick to sign with the team.
- While Michael Sam and the Rams have yet to agree on their rookie contract, the player and team already made one big decision together, as the OWN Network’s documentary on Sam has been postponed, reports Chris Mortensen of ESPN (via Twitter). The Rams have said they prefer to treat Sam like any other seventh-round draft pick.
Cardinals Notes: Peterson, Thomas, Draft
Cardinals’ general manager Steve Keim spoke about Patrick Peterson‘s upcoming contract extension, saying “We’re hoping to try to get something done here in the near future,” reports Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Weinfuss notes that Keim knows he has time to get the deal done.
Here are some other notes from the Cardinals organization:
- Cardinals’ fourth-round pick Logan Thomas believes he will sign sometime early next week, according to Weinfuss (via Twitter). The quarterback will likely serve as a backup to Carson Palmer this season, and could ultimately become head coach Bruce Arians’ big armed starter in the future.
- Keim had a favorite quarterback in the draft, but never had a chance to draft him because Blake Bortles was off the board with the third-overall pick, reports Ryan O’Halloran of Jacksonville.com. He had high praise for the quarterback out of Central Florida.“We liked Blake Bortles a lot … when you looked at his size, his athleticism, his ability to improvise. He doesn’t quite have the arm strength that Ben Roethlisberger had, but he has some of the same skill set with his foot speed and [the] athleticism to get out of the pocket and make plays with his feet as well as stand tall in the pocket and make some of the throws down the field,” said Keim. “And he’s a guy, being a junior coming out, he still had some developing to do … but we think his upside is really big.”
- Another player coveted by the Cardinals was linebacker Marcus Smith, according to the Eagles’ Insider Twitter Feed. Smith said he heard rumors that the Cardinals and Redskins were interested in him if the Eagles had let him fall past pick number 26.
Ravens Sign Second Rounder Timmy Jernigan
The Ravens have signed their second-round pick, Florida State defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan, reports Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Jernigan was the 48th overall pick.
The Ravens now have six of their nine draft picks under contract. Jernigan’s contract is the standard for his slot in the draft, as he will be with the Ravens for four years and about $4.382MM. His signing bonus will be worth approximately $1.507MM.
Packers Announce 14 UDFA Signings
FRIDAY, 11:11am: The Packers have announced one more UDFA signing, revealing today that they’ve also signed Iowa safety Tanner Miller.
TUESDAY, 4:18pm: Add one more undrafted free agent to the Packers’ list. Wes Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette tweets that Washington State offensive lineman John Fullington passed his physical and signed with the team, and today’s NFL transaction wire confirmed the move. Fullington received a $5K signing bonus, according to Dougherty.
MONDAY, 7:28pm: The Packers have officially announced that they have signed 12 undrafted free agents, according to the team’s official website.
Here are all of the Packers’ new players:
- Jake Doughty, LB, Utah State ($5K bonus, per Pete Dougherty)
- Jayrone Elliott, LB, Toledo ($5K bonus)
- Carlos Gray, DE, North Carolina State ($4K bonus)
- Adrian Hubbard, LB, Alabama ($5K bonus)
- Jordan McCray, OG, Central Florida ($3.5K bonus)
- Rajion Neal, RB, Tennessee ($2K bonus)
- Mike Pennel, DT, Colorado State-Pueblo ($3.5K bonus)
- Justin Perillo, TE, Maine ($2K bonus)
- LaDarius Perkins, RB, Mississippi State ($3K bonus)
- Chase Rettig, QB, Boston College ($3.5K bonus)
- Joe Thomas, LB, South Carolina ($5K bonus)
- Ryan White, CB, Auburn ($2K bonus)
Dolphins Sign 21 Undrafted Free Agents
THURSDAY, 4:25pm: Add one more player to the Dolphins’ undrafted free agent class, as USC safety Demetrius Wright showed up on today’s transaction wire, per Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter).
WEDNESDAY, 10:44am: The Dolphins have signed two more undrafted free agents, bringing their total to 20. Former Arizona State defensive end Gannon Conway and Tulane running back Orleans Darkwa have also showed up on the league’s transaction wire for the Dolphins, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
MONDAY, 6:06pm: The Dolphins have made their undrafted free agent signings official today announcing their 18 new players via their official Twitter account.
Here are all the Dolphins’ signings:
- Deion Belue, DB, Alabama
- Steven Clarke, DB, Vanderbilt
- Tariq Edwards, LB, Virginia Tech
- Evan Finkenberg, OL, Arizona State
- Harold Hoskins, TE, Marshall
- David Hurd, OL, Arkansas
- Anthony Johnson, DT, LSU
- Derrell Johnson, LB, East Carolina
- Kamal Johnson, DT, Temple
- Ryan Lankford, WR, Illinois
- Tyler Larsen, OL, Utah St.
- Tevin Mims, DE, South Florida
- Garrison Smith, DT, Georgia
- Marcus Thompson, LB, Rutgers
- Davonte Wallace, OL, New Mexico State
- Damien Williams, RB, Oklahoma
- Andrew Wilson, LB, Missouri
- Rantavious Wooten, WR, Georgia
Extra Points: Gordon, Draft, Cousins
Josh Gordon‘s suspension may have been a surprise to the coaching staff, but the front office was prepared going into the draft that they would be down a receiver in 2014. Browns‘ owner Jimmy Haslam made it clear that they did not draft a receiver because they are still committed to Gordon, reports Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
“All of us have made mistakes when we were that age,” said Haslam. “We’re counting on Josh being a good football player for the Browns for a long time to come.”
Here are some more notes from around the NFL:
- Redskins‘ general manager Bruce Allen said the team did not come close to trading backup quarterback Kirk Cousins during the draft, reports Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com (via Twitter).
- Offensive tackle was an area of need for the Ravens heading into the draft, but based on the way the board fell, the team missed out on some potential tackles and didn’t want to “reach down” just to add one, as general manager Ozzie Newsome tells Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.
- Vikings‘ general manager Rick Spielman had Johnny Manziel and Teddy Bridgewater as the number one and two quarterbacks in the draft, reports Albert Breer of NFL.com. If they were unable to draft either of those two players, they could have targeted Jimmy Garoppolo early in round two or Tom Savage in round three.
Patrick Peterson, Cardinals Talk Extension
The Cardinals and star cornerback Patrick Peterson are discussing a possible extension, according to Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com, in conjunction of the Associated Press.
The team has leverage, owning Peterson’s rights the next two year after exercising his fifth-year option earlier this offseason. The Cardinals can still franchise tag him the following year, limiting Peterson’s negotiating power even further.
Peterson will likely seek an extension rivaling that of his former NFC West coverage expert Richard Sherman. Sherman signed a four-year extension with the Seahawks earlier this offseason, worth $56MM with $40MM in guaranteed money.
Peterson has been selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his three seasons, and been an All-Pro twice already.
When asked if he thinks he is worth more than Sherman, he answered, “I think I am but at the end of the day both sides have to agree to terms and we’ll see what those terms are.” That thinking could mean the Cardinals will have to write a huge check in the near future.
He did state that he is committed to being a Cardinal. “I think I’ll be here for a while,” Peterson said. “That’s a definite guarantee, I’ll be here for a while.”
Bears Agree To Deals With Vereen, Fales
Brock Vereen and David Fales are the first two draft picks to sign their rookie contracts, as both have signed with the Bears according to the team’s official Twitter account.
Both players have agreed to terms on four-year deals.
The safety Vereen was a fourth-round pick, who has a chance to see the field early on a team which had a major weakness in the defensive backfield. Fales was picked in the sixth round, and will likely serve as Jay Cutler‘s backup for the next few years.
49ers Sign Seven UDFAs, Cut Three Players
The 49ers have signed seven rookie free agents to contracts, according to the teams official website. They released three players to make room for the additions.
The three players released were linebacker Darius Fleming, cornerback Dax Swanson, and receiver DeMarco Sampson.
Here’s the full list of the team’s UDFA signings:
- Morgan Breslin, LB, USC ($5K bonus and $2.5K in other guarantees, per Matt Maiocco)
- Asante Cleveland, TE, Miami
- Dillon Farrell, C, New Mexico ($5K bonus)
- Kory Faulkner, QB, Southern Illinois ($3K bonus)
- Fou Fonoti, OT, Michigan State ($5K bonus)
- L.J. McCray, S, Catawba ($6K bonus)
- Shayne Skov, LB, Stanford ($7.5K bonus and $2.5K in other guarantees)
Cardinals Announce 15 UDFA Signings
The Cardinals have signed 15 undrafted free agents, reports Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com.
Here are all of the Cardinals’ signings:
- Zach Bauman, RB, Northern Arizona
- Jonathan Brown, LB, Illinois (9K bonus, per Aaron Wilson)
- Glenn Carson, LB, Penn State
- Chandler Catanzaro, K, Clemson
- Tim Cornett, RB, UNLV
- Bruce Gaston, DT, Purdue
- Kelvin Palmer, OT, Baylor
- Kelsey Pope, WR, Samford
- Justin Renfrow, DT, Miami
- Brandon Sermons, CB, UCLA
- Kevin Smith, WR, Washington
- Anthony Steen, OG, Alabama ($12K bonus, per Wilson)
- Corey Washington, WR, Newberry
- Todd Washington, CB, Southeastern Louisiana
- Kadeem Williams, OT, Albany