Bucs GM Jason Licht On Baker Mayfield, Other FA Plans
Buccaneers GM Jason Licht recently updated reporters, including Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, on a number of free agency-related topics. One of the key takeaways from Licht’s comments is his confirmation that the Bucs will not be active players in the market, though they will of course try to retain some of their own FAs.
The team started that process when it agreed to a new contract with star wideout Mike Evans. Crossing that item off the list may help the club re-sign quarterback Baker Mayfield, both because it allows Licht & Co. to focus their efforts almost entirely on Mayfield at this point and because keeping Evans in the fold makes Tampa Bay a more attractive destination for 2018’s No. 1 overall pick. That said, Licht was not exactly adamant that a deal would get done.
“I see a link between [Evans and Mayfield], because they like each other, they played well with each other,” Licht said. “But once again, it doesn’t make it automatic. I’m not taking anybody for granted here, so it’s a good start. It’s a good player to throw to. Who wouldn’t want to throw to [Evans]? But Baker is going to make the decision for him, for himself.”
Licht went on to say that he has contingency plans in case Mayfield does not return, one of which could feature Kyle Trask. The 2021 second-rounder has backed up both Tom Brady and Mayfield in Tampa but has thrown a grand total of 10 regular season passes in his three-year career.
“You always have to have — as [former Bucs head coach] Bruce [Arians] would say — to look behind Door 2 and 3 and 4 and 5,” Licht said. “So, yeah, we always feel like we need options. Yeah, we always have to have plans. We also like Door No. 2 that’s right here (meaning Trask).”
Sources from multiple teams have told Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (subscription required) that they expect Mayfield and the Bucs to eventually come to terms on a three- or four-year accord. However, the fact that a deal has not yet been consummated is an indication to Fowler’s colleague, Dan Graziano, that Mayfield realizes the Bucs are not the only team interested in meeting his asking price (which is believed to be $40MM or more per year). Tampa Bay may ultimately pull the trigger, but given the amount of money ownership paid Brady — nearly $100MM over three years — and the fact that the team will need to hand LT Tristan Wirfs a top-of-the-market contract at some point, there are clear budgetary issues at play. The Falcons and Patriots loom as potential Mayfield suitors, and Graziano confirms that Atlanta would indeed be interested if Kirk Cousins chooses to remain in Minnesota.
Speaking of Wirfs, Licht implied that the three-time Pro Bowler’s contract is not a top agenda item at the moment (which makes sense, since Wirfs is under club control through 2024 by virture of the fifth-year option of his rookie deal and can be retained via the franchise tag after that). The GM did say, though, that he has had preliminary talks with Wirfs’ camp.
“For sure, we’ve already had some discussions there,” Licht said. “It’s not that Tristan is not a priority, because he’s one of our best players as well. It’s just something from a time standpoint. He’s already under contract, so we’ve had some beginning discussions with his agent.”
As for linebacker Lavonte David, who recently indicated that he would either re-sign with the Bucs or retire, Licht said, “Once again, we’ve been having good conversations. We know Lavonte wants to be a Buccaneer, and we want Lavonte to be a Buccaneer, so that’s usually a pretty good start.”
Although cornerback Carlton Davis is not eligible for free agency — his contract is up at the end of the 2024 campaign — he is due to count $20.37MM against the Bucs’ cap sheet this year. In a subscribers-only piece published by the Fowler-Graziano tandem last week, Davis was identified as a trade candidate.
Latest On Steelers’ QB Situation, Possible Justin Fields Pursuit
Last week, we heard that the Steelers were interested in re-signing quarterback Mason Rudolph and having him compete with 2022 first-rounder Kenny Pickett to be the club’s starting signal-caller. Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that, even if the Steelers are unsuccessful in their pursuit of a Rudolph re-up, the club will not consider an external addition who is eyeing a QB1 role. Naturally, that would rule out a passer like Justin Fields, who is widely expected to be traded by the Bears.
On the same day that Dulac’s piece was published, however, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (subscription required) wrote that Pittsburgh will, in fact, acquire via trade or free agency a quarterback who can push Pickett for the starting job, and that such a quarterback would be “more than a stopgap.” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is reportedly a fan of Fields, and Fowler said that the rumblings connecting Fields to Pittsburgh are intensifying.
For a team like Pittsburgh that, as Fowler observes, could be just a quarterback away from championship contention, adding a clear upgrade over Pickett would make plenty of sense. But Mark Kaboly of The Athletic is aligned with Dulac, his fellow Steelers beat writer (subscription required). Kaboly confidently avers that the team is not going to go after Fields, and that while there may be a competition between Rudolph and Pickett if Rudolph is re-signed, Pickett will get one last chance to prove his worth before Pittsburgh looks outside the organization.
While these starkly contrasting reports between a national writer and two beats add to the uncertainty of the Steelers’ quarterback situation, it continues to look like there is no uncertainty concerning Fields’ future in Chicago. Though the Ohio State product recently said he would like to remain with the Bears — as relayed by Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times — Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune does not believe there is any internal debate as to whether the club should keep Fields in lieu of using its No. 1 overall draft choice (or a slightly lower choice in the event of a small trade down) on a top collegiate prospect. Rather, the real question is simply which passer in the 2024 draft class the Bears like the best.
Per Biggs, it is at least conceivable that the Bears retain Fields if they do not find a trade offer to their liking, but a trade is their preference. Previous reports have indicated that the team would finalize its QB plan one way or another by the start of the scouting combine (which opens tomorrow), and it sounds as if that plan is indeed to seek a suitor for Fields. Biggs says there is no disconnect on that point between GM Ryan Poles and team president Kevin Warren.
Expect plenty more Chicago-related rumors this week as team brass discusses its incumbent passer — and perhaps the No. 1 selection in the upcoming draft — with rival clubs.
Lions To Prioritize Cornerback Additions
The Lions are expected to address their cornerback position in a significant way this offseason, as Adam Caplan of Pro Football Network writes. GM Brad Holmes has nearly $60MM in cap space to work with — the seventh-highest figure in the league — and while he will have extensions for quarterback Jared Goff and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown as top agenda items this offseason, he should have the wherewithal to add to his CB crop in free agency. It would also not be suprising to see the Lions add a cornerback in the early rounds of the upcoming draft.
At present, the Lions’ only boundary corner who has meaningful starting experience and who is still under contract is Cameron Sutton, who signed a three-year, $33MM deal last March as part of Holmes’ efforts to fortify a defense that finished last in the league in total yardage allowed in 2022 and third-worst in terms of pass yardage. Sutton, however, had an uneven first season in Detroit, allowing a completion rate of 67%, a quarterback rating of 112.3, and generally struggling to cover top wideouts.
Holmes also took a one-year flier on Emmanuel Moseley, but Moseley suffered an ACL tear in October in his first game with the Lions. Ultimately, while Detroit came devastatingly close to a Super Bowl appearance, its success came in spite of its pass defense, which yielded the sixth-most passing yards per game. Indeed, the team relied on Kindle Vildor — who was released from the Eagles’ taxi squad in November — as a starter for the final two games of the regular season and all three playoff contests.
While division rival Jaylon Johnson is the top cornerback eligible for unrestricted free agency, the Bears are likely to put the franchise tag on Johnson to keep him off the market. A tag may also await Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, though if Kansas City allows him to test the FA waters, the Lions would surely be interested. Other notable players who could be available for Holmes include Kendall Fuller, Chidobe Awuzie, Stephon Gilmore — older brother of Steven Gilmore, who signed with the Lions as a UDFA last year and who stuck on the roster throughout the 2023 campaign — and Adoree’ Jackson.
The top cornerback prospects who could pique Holmes’ interest and who may be available when the Lions are on the clock with the No. 30 overall selection include Toledo’s Quinyon Mitchell, Missouri’s Ennis Rakestraw Jr., and Iowa’s Cooper DeJean. Given the current state of Detroit’s depth chart, Holmes may add multiple CBs in the draft while making at least one FA splash at the position.
Jerry Jacobs, who finished the 2023 season on IR, is eligible for restricted free agency. He has started 29 games for the Lions since joining the team as a UDFA in 2021 but looms as a non-tender candidate.
Giants Unlikely To Re-Sign Adoree’ Jackson
Giants cornerback Adoree’ Jackson recently reiterated his desire to sign a new contract with Big Blue, but it does not sound as if the interest is mutual. Per Paul Schwartz of The New York Post, the odds are against a re-up, so Jackson will probably be seeking a new employer when free agency opens next month.
Jackson, who will turn 29 shortly after the 2024 regular season begins, just finished the three-year, $39MM deal he signed with the Giants in March 2021. At the time, the 2017 first-rounder was coming off a generally strong four-year run with the Titans, though his platform campaign in 2020 was marred by a knee injury that limited him to three games. While Tennessee cut him before the fifth-year option of his rookie deal became guaranteed — the 2018 class of first-round picks was the first whose fifth-year options became guaranteed immediately upon being exercised — he was still able to land a notable contract thanks to his previous body of work.
In his first year in New York, Jackson reestablished himself as a solid starting cornerback, earning a strong 74.9 overall grade from Pro Football Focus and limiting opposing passers to a 69.0 QB rating (the best mark of his career). He largely replicated that showing in 2022 before muddling through another difficult contract season last year.
Jackson began the 2023 season in the slot to accommodate rookie Tre Hawkins. Hawkins was later benched, allowing Jackson to return to his familiar boundary role. The USC product drew a PFF coverage grade of just 45.9 — by far the lowest of his career — and he allowed a passer rating of 95.5 and a pair of touchdowns as the nearest defender. Between that poor performance, his general lack of play-making — he has just four interceptions in 83 career games — and the fact that he missed 14 contests due to injury over his three-year run with the Giants, New York is understandably prepared to move on.
However, given that he has performed like a quality starter at a premium position for five of his seven years in the NFL, Spotrac believes Jackson could earn a four-year contract worth over $11MM per year on the open market. That still feels a bit optimistic in light of Jackson’s subpar 2023, and PFF projects a much more modest one-year pact worth $7MM (subscription required).
If Jackson is indeed forced to accept a prove-it deal, perhaps he will finally be able to turn in a healthy and productive platform season, which would allow him to hit the open market with more momentum in 2025.
Drew Rosenhaus On Dolphins C Connor Williams’ Free Agency Timeline
As perhaps the best center eligible for unrestricted free agency — aside from the Eagles’ Jason Kelce, who will either retire or return to Philadelphia — the Dolphins’ Connor Williams would ordinarily be one of the first players to put pen to paper on a lucrative contract when the 2024 league year opens on March 13. As agent Drew Rosenhaus notes, however, the ACL tear that Williams suffered in December may have altered that timeline.
“I do think that we’re going to be very methodical and take our time relative to the contract,” Rosenhaus said in a recent appearance on AM 560 Sports WQAM (as relayed by Daniel Oyefusi of the Miami Herald). “A lot of it may be predicated on how Connor is feeling physically. He may not be a player that signs at the very start of free agency. He may take more time based on how he’s feeling physically.”
Williams, who is entering his age-27 season, just finished the two-year, $14MM contract he signed with the Dolphins in March 2022 after spending the first four years of his career as a guard for the Cowboys. Miami shifted him to the pivot, and he immediately took to the change, performing like one of the league’s best centers in his first year in South Beach. He stayed away from minicamp last summer in an effort to leverage his 2022 success into a reworked deal, but the ‘Fins did not oblige.
In the eyes of Pro Football Focus, Williams played even better in 2023 than he did in 2022, earning a stellar 86.5 overall grade that positioned him behind only the Lions’ Frank Ragnow among qualified centers. It sounds as if he is prepared to slow play his second trip to the open market in order to prove to interested clubs that he is on the mend and will be able to return to the level of performance he has established with Miami.
Spotrac estimates that Williams is worth a five-year contract featuring an average annual value of $13.5MM, which would place him alongside Ragnow at the top of the NFL’s center hierarchy. Assuming that his recovery progresses as hoped, it would not be surprising to see teams in need of a high-end starter in the middle of their O-line make that type of offer. While neither Rosenhaus nor Oyefusi explicitly say that the Dolphins will pursue a reunion, they surely would be interested in continuing their relationship with Williams given how he has thrived in head coach Mike McDaniels‘ offense.
But again, it will apparently be some time before more clarity emerges on Williams’ status and market.
“Connor’s situation has a degree of uncertainty that’s going to be tied to how he’s feeling,” Rosenhaus said. “And really, we’ll just take it one day at a time once we get into the offseason. But I’m not sure that that is one that’ll be resolved as quickly as some of the other players that we represent.”
For what it’s worth, PFF is more bearish than Spotrac on Williams’ potential market and predicts that he will ultimately land a three-year, $22.5MM contract (subscription required).
Latest On Jets QB Zach Wilson
It was reported last month that the Jets plan to trade quarterback Zach Wilson, which was not at all surprising given Wilson’s largely disappointing three-year run with the club. Subsequent reports suggesting that the Wilson-Aaron Rodgers relationship was not in a good place, coupled with owner Woody Johnson‘s candid remarks about his team’s quarterback situation, underscored the likelihood of a Wilson exit.
To that end, Wilson himself has begun to evaluate trade options, as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com recently detailed (subscription required). Gang Green selected Wilson in head coach Robert Saleh‘s first draft with the team, which means Wilson has never worked under an offensive-minded HC; per Fowler, the BYU product is interested in a bench boss with more of an offensive background. It is unclear whether the Jets have granted Wilson permission to seek a trade at this point, though the fact that Wilson is likely not near the top of the wishlist for QB-needy clubs means that a deal may not be consummated before the draft anyway.
Wilson, who will turn 25 before the start of the 2024 regular season, was supposed to serve as Rodgers’ backup in 2023. But when Rodgers’ season was cut short just four snaps into the campaign, Wilson was against thrust into the starting lineup. Playing behind an injury-riddled O-line and under an offensive coordinator (Nathaniel Hackett) who has been criticized for his inability to adequately adjust to the Rodgers injury, Wilson did not show much improvement over his prior work, completing 60.1% of his passes for eight TDs and seven interceptions. That amounted to a QBR of 30.6 (worst among primary starters) and a quarterback rating of 77.2 (third-worst). The Jets went 4-7 in his starts.
Rich Cimini of ESPN.com thinks it is unlikely that the Jets will simply cut Wilson — aside from the embarrassment such a move would be for the team, a pre-June 1 cut would yield a dead money charge of over $11MM with no corresponding cap savings — though their trade return will obviously be limited. Cimini’s sources believe that Wilson will fetch a sixth- or seventh-round selection, and that a swap of middle-round picks is also a possibility. One exec also floated the idea of a conditional 2025 selection (with the condition being how many snaps Wilson takes for the acquiring team in 2024).
One way or another, it sounds as if Wilson has played his last snap for the Jets, as Johnson made it abundantly clear that New York will need a new No. 2 passer. Interestingly, Connor Hughes of SNY.tv writes that some within the organization are high on Commanders QB Sam Howell, who just finished a disappointing season of his own.
There is no indication that Washington, which is likely to select a top quarterback prospect with the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, is prepared to deal Howell, who led the league with 21 interceptions in 2023 but who did show flashes of high-end abiltity. The Commanders may prefer to hold on to the 2022 draftee in case their rookie passer is not immediately ready to take the reins, or simply to have a capable backup on hand. But if the team elects to move him, Hughes believes the Jets should pounce.
Raiders To Continue Exploring Hunter Renfrow Trade
The Raiders will continue their efforts to trade wide receiver Hunter Renfrow, as Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal writes. The club tried to deal Renfrow in advance of the 2023 trade deadline, but the guaranteed money that remained on the slot man’s contract proved to be a deterrent for interested teams.
Now, however, the only money left on Renfrow’s deal is his non-guaranteed base salary of $11.15MM. As the Clemson product is coming off of back-to-back disappointing seasons, that number would be just as untenable for an acquiring club as it would be for the Raiders, but the contract should be easy enough to re-work in order to make a trade happen.
And it stands to reason that there will be some degree of interest in Renfrow’s services. In 2021, the Jon Gruden–Mike Mayock draftee posted a 103/1,038/9 line that earned him a Pro Bowl nod and a two-year, $32MM extension in June 2022. While the since-deposed Josh McDaniels–Dave Ziegler partnership signed off on that investment, Renfrow proved to be a poor fit in McDaniels’ offense.
Shortly after Antonio Pierce took over for McDaniels midway through the 2023 season, Renfrow showed some flashes of his former self, including a three-game stretch in which he posted 12 catches for 126 yards. Those totals represented about half of his output for the entire season — he ended the year with 25 catches for 255 yards — but from Weeks 16 through 18, he appeared in just 28 total snaps and was not targeted once.
Still, Renfrow profiles as an intriguing change-of-scenery candidate for a team in need of a slot weapon, especially since he just turned 28 in December and is not too far removed from Pro Bowl-level production.
“[Renfrow is] an NFL-caliber wide receiver,” Pierce said last month (via Heavy.com). “He’s a starting receiver. He’s a really good football player.”
Bonsignore confirms that if the Raiders cannot find a trade partner, they will release Renfrow (assuming the two sides are not interested in coming to terms on a pay reduction). Due to void years in Renfrow’s contract, Las Vegas would be saddled with a $5.5MM dead money charge if he is cut with a pre-June 1 designation, though such a move would also create $8.2MM of cap savings.
Matt Corral Signs With UFL’s Birmingham Stallions
The start of Matt Corral‘s professional football career has not gone according to plan. Though he was a third-round choice in 2022, Corral has yet to play in a regular season contest in the NFL, and he recently signed with the United Football League’s Birmingham Stallions (as relayed by Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk).
Corral was selected by the Matt Rhule-era Panthers, and given the team’s quarterback difficulties in 2022, he likely would have had the opportunity to take regular season snaps at some point. Unfortunately, a preseason Lisfranc injury ended his rookie campaign before it started.
Rhule, of course, was fired in the middle of the 2022 season, and Carolina named Frank Reich its permanent head coach last January before signing veteran QB Andy Dalton in free agency and drafting Bryce Young with the No. 1 overall pick. Corral saw significant action in each of the Panthers’ three preseason games in 2023, and while Reich was reportedly pleased with Corral’s progress, the Ole Miss product was waived at the end of the preseason slate.
The club was interested in retaining Corral via a practice squad deal if he cleared waivers, but the Patriots swooped in with a waiver claim. While Corral’s availability was enough for New England to eschew its previous plans to add a veteran passer to round out the depth chart, something went awry. Corral missed multiple practices leading up to Week 1 and was absent from team meetings, which led to his placement on the exempt/left squad list, and he was subsequently waived from that list. After he cleared waivers, it appeared he would join the Pats’ taxi squad, but that never came to fruition. That was the last we had heard of Corral before the UFL announced he was joining the Stallions.
The UFL, which is the product of the recent USFL-XFL merger, will begin play next month. The Stallions won the USFL championship in 2023 and seem poised to give Corral an opportunity to showcase his talents as he (presumably) seeks to return to the sport’s highest level. If the 25-year-old should impress, it is possible that he will pique the interest of NFL teams, especially given his draft pedigree (even if the 2022 class of collegiate signal-callers was a weak one).
Birmingham is also rostering Adrian Martinez, who played quarterback for Nebraska and Kansas State before signing with the Lions as a UDFA last April. He was waived before the start of the regular season. 2020 UDFAs J’Mar Smith and Jalen Morton are the other two players on the Stallions’ QB depth chart, so Corral certainly appears to have the edge for the starting quarterback job.
Texans WR Tank Dell Expected To Be Ready For OTAs
The Texans were one of the NFL’s biggest surprises in 2023, capturing the AFC South title and advancing to the divisional round of the postseason under the leadership of rookie QB C.J. Stroud and rookie head coach DeMeco Ryans. Another of Houston’s first-year talents, wide receiver Tank Dell, was unavailable for the club’s playoff push thanks to the fractured fibula that he suffered in a Week 13 win over the Broncos.
Luckily, it seems that the injury will have no long-term ramifications. Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 recently posted a video of Dell moving with apparent ease at a charity softball game, and Wilson notes that Dell is expected to be on the field when OTAs begin in the spring.
Dell, a third-round pick in the 2023 draft, was in the midst of a terrific rookie season, posting 47 catches for 709 yards and seven TDs in just 11 games (eight starts). In the run-up to his injury, Dell firmly established himself as a trusted weapon for Stroud, drawing double-digit targets every game from Weeks 9 through 11 and another eight chances in Week 12. He also saw some return work over the course of the season, taking back 11 punts for 100 yards and two kickoffs for 44 yards.
Houston’s receiving corps boasts a fair amount of young talent, with Dell entering his second pro season and breakout player Nico Collins just now eligible for an extension after finishing his third year in the league. A new deal for Collins, as well as a potential re-up for tight end Dalton Schultz and any number of other extensions or acquisitions will be made much easier by the fact that the Texans have their starting quarterback on a rookie contract for at least the next two seasons.
2022 second-rounder John Metchie finally got his first taste of NFL action in 2023 after his professional debut was delayed first by the ACL tear he suffered in the SEC title game in 2021, and then by Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia, and then by a hamstring strain that prevented him from getting much OTA work and sidelined him for Week 1 of the 2023 campaign. He ultimately played in every game from Week 2 forward, catching 16 balls for 158 yards. The hope is that he will be able to enjoy a fully-healthy offseason and hit the ground running when the regular season opens in September.
The elder statesman of the group, Robert Woods, is under contract through 2024 after inking a two-year deal with Houston last March. Another 2023 FA signing, Noah Brown, is out of contract, though the Texans may consider a new deal for him. While Brown battled injury trouble of his own last season, he managed to catch 33 balls for 572 yards (good for a career-high 17.2 yards-per-reception rate) and two TDs in 10 games (seven starts).
Jason Kelce Exploring Media Opportunities
It is presently unclear whether Jason Kelce will return to the Eagles for another season. In the wake of the team’s playoff loss in January, we heard that Kelce would call it a career, but several weeks later, the future Hall of Famer himself suggested he was still undecided on his future.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen for me,” Kelce said. “But I do know I still want to be involved in the organization and still want to be a part of it, regardless of what the decision is.”
Now 36, the six-time First Team All-Pro center is at least exploring his post-playing career, as Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports details. Per McCarthy, Kelce recently met with ESPN and Fox to discuss the possibility of some sort of on-air role, though those talks were described as preliminary in nature. McCarthy adds that Kelce has met with Amazon Prime Video about a spot on its Thursday Night Football crew.
McCarthy’s sources say that NBC and CBS are also expected to have interest when Kelce officially hangs up the cleats, so it sounds as if he will have no shortage of television options if he chooses to go that route. Although he has long been one of the best pivots in the game, the relentless media coverage of brother Travis Kelce‘s relationship with Taylor Swift, along with Jason’s memeable antics during the Chiefs’ divisional round victory over the Bills this year, have made Jason a recognizable face among the public at large. And the New Heights podcast that Jason and Travis co-host is, as McCarthy observes, one of the most popular sports podcasts in the country.
Jason, who has contemplated retirement for several years now, is out of contract, having just finished the one-year, $14.25MM deal he signed last March (one day after he announced he would return to the Eagles). If he decides to continue playing in 2024, he and the Eagles will need to work out a new pact, but negotations between the two sides would likely be quick and painless.
If he instead opts to leverage his newfound visibility into a full-time media career, Philadelphia would presumably shift 2022 draftee Cam Jurgens to center (Jurgens was the club’s starting right guard in 2023, though he missed some time due to a foot injury). Of course, Jason’s acceptance of a broadcaster/analyst post could impact his stated desire to remain with the Eagles in a front office or coaching capacity.