Saints Want To Add Another WR, Interested In Bryan Edwards
The Saints elected to retain wide receiver Michael Thomas via a one-year, incentive-laden deal, and New Orleans is also rostering 2022 first-rounder Chris Olave and possible UDFA gem Rashid Shaheed, along with longtime contributor Tre’Quan Smith. According to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football, the club wants to add another physical pass catcher to support new quarterback Derek Carr, and Bryan Edwards is on the radar (Twitter link).
Edwards, a third-round selection of the Raiders in 2020, spent two years as Carr’s teammate in Las Vegas, including a 2021 season in which he caught 34 passes for 571 yards and three touchdowns. The 6-3, 212-pounder clearly has the size that the Saints are reportedly seeking, and he also offers serious big-play upside, as evidenced by his career 16.2 yards-per-reception rate. Those assets, as well as his familiarity with Carr, certainly explain New Orleans’ interest.
And it is possible that the Saints could land him fairly cheaply. The Raiders’ new Josh McDaniels/Dave Ziegler regime traded Edwards to the Falcons last May, and he was slowed by a shoulder injury in training camp with Atlanta. He ultimately caught just three passes for 15 yards in seven games with the Falcons before being cut, and he finished out the regular season on the Chiefs’ taxi squad. He recently visited with the Giants, who have been actively attempting to shore up their WR deficiencies this offseason.
The top talents of an underwhelming free agent crop of receivers have already come off the board, though players like Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones, and Rashard Higgins remain available and could have a place in the Saints’ offense. Odell Beckham Jr. is still on the market as well, but there have been no recent reports connecting him to New Orleans.
In related news, we have some details to pass along on Thomas’ new deal. As Underhill tweets, Thomas now carries a cap charge of a little over $14MM for 2023, which is actually a bit of an increase over the ~$13MM figure that he was due to carry under his previous contract. Mike Triplett of NewOrleans.Football adds a bit more context, noting that the deal is officially a two-year pact that automatically voids in 2025 but is for all practical purposes a one-year accord worth between $6.26MM and $15MM, as Thomas would be in line for significant bonuses if he is still on the roster on Day 3 of the 2024 league year (Twitter thread).
As Triplett notes, Thomas will be due a $5MM signing bonus if he passes a physical on or about April 21 of this year, along with a $1.26MM base salary for 2023. He can earn up to $3.74MM in the form of a 2024 guaranteed roster bonus based on games played in 2023, and an additional $5MM in incentives — which Triplett details — are also available.
Commanders OL Nick Gates Expects To Play Center
New Commanders offensive lineman Nick Gates expects to line up at center for the club, as the player himself recently indicated (Twitter link via Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post). Gates signed a three-year, $16.5MM contract with Washington earlier this month.
The former UDFA of the Giants saw his first regular season action in 2019, appearing in 16 games (three starts) before becoming Big Blue’s full-time starter at center in 2020. The advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus were not particularly fond of his performance that year, though New York thought highly enough of him to keep him at center going into the 2021 campaign and name him a team captain. Unfortunately, he suffered a career-threatening leg fracture in Week 2 of the 2021 season — after he was moved to left guard out of necessity — but made it back on the field halfway through the 2022 slate.
Gates’ contract value and length suggests that the Commanders see him as a starter, not as a backup. Which means that Chase Roullier, a former stalwart at center whose strong performance landed him a four-year, $40.5MM extension with Washington in January 2021, could be on the outs (though that is simply my speculation at this point). Due to multiple serious injuries — a fibula fracture in 2021 and an MCL tear in 2022 — Roullier has played in just 10 of a possible 34 regular season contests over the last two years, and his release would create $8.4MM of cap space if he were to be designated as a post-June 1 cut.
In related news, Washington plans to slide Sam Cosmi to right guard, as John Keim of ESPN.com writes. Cosmi, a 2021 second-round pick, has taken most of his pro snaps at right tackle and has played reasonably well there. However, he has dealt with injury issues in each of his first two seasons in the league, and the Commanders recently signed Andrew Wylie to man the RT post.
Per Keim, the club is likely to add more O-line reinforcements in this year’s draft.
Seahawks Open To Bringing Back Shelby Harris
The Seahawks released Shelby Harris earlier this month as part of a defensive line purge that also saw the team part ways with Al Woods and Quinton Jefferson. However, the ‘Hawks remain open to a reunion with Harris, as Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times writes.
Harris, 31, was part of the return in last offseason’s blockbuster trade that sent quarterback Russell Wilson from Seattle to Denver. Prior to the deal, Harris worked as a Broncos regular for five seasons, and while he saw a similar snap rate in 2022 as he did during most of his time in Denver, his surface-level stats took a bit of a dip.
Last season, Harris registered just two sacks — his lowest total since 2018 — and six quarterback hits. That said, Pro Football Focus still viewed the former seventh-round pick as a top interior D-lineman. PFF graded Harris 17th overall among D-tackles in 2022, so it stands to reason that the Seahawks would want him back (albeit at a much lower price than the $9MM he was due to earn this year).
But if a reunion does materialize, Harris may see a reduced role. Since his release, the Seahawks splurged on a big-ticket deal for Dre’Mont Jones (who, coincidentally, the team wanted when negotiating the Wilson trade with the Broncos last year, as Condotta tweets). They also brought back defensive tackle Jarran Reed, whom GM John Schneider says eschewed more lucrative deals elsewhere to return to Seattle after spending 2021 with the Chiefs and 2022 with the Packers (Twitter link via Condotta).
The ‘Hawks still have a need at nose tackle, and while Harris would not fill that role, there is not much DL depth behind Jones and Reed. As such, a new contract could be in the cards if player and team can find some financial common ground.
Panthers Will Discuss Brian Burns Extension After Draft
Panthers edge defender Brian Burns is set to play out the 2023 season on the fifth-year option of his rookie contract, which will pay him roughly $16MM. Given Burns’ talent and status as a cornerstone player, Carolina wants to keep him in the fold for the long haul, and GM Scott Fitterer recently said that he will explore an extension for Burns after the draft next month (Twitter link via David Newton of ESPN.com).
Burns, who will turn 25 several days before the draft, has solidified himself as one of the league’s best young pass rushers. Despite appearing in just 43% of the Panthers’ defensive snaps as a rookie in 2019, Burns tallied 7.5 sacks, and with increased playing time came increased production. From 2020-22, the Florida State product recorded nine, nine, and 12.5 sacks, and he has earned Pro Bowl acclaim in each of the past two seasons.
Understandably, Burns drew plenty of interest at the 2022 deadline, as Carolina had already traded star running back Christian McCaffrey and profiled as an obvious seller at the time. The Rams were particularly aggressive, offering 2024 and 2025 first-round picks and a 2023 second-rounder. Although Fitterer reportedly gave serious consideration to Los Angeles’ proposal, he ultimately elected to hold onto Burns, along with other young components of his defensive core like Derrick Brown, Jaycee Horn, and Jeremy Chinn.
The fact that the Panthers turned down such a massive haul will only increase Burns’ already considerable leverage in contract talks. Spotrac has suggested a four-year deal worth about $73MM is a fair estimate of Burns’ worth, but it seems reasonable to expect that Burns will do better than that. Earlier reports indicated that his next contract will top the five-year, $110MM pact that the Dolphins authorized for their deadline acquisition, Bradley Chubb, a deal that features over $63MM in guaranteed money.
Burns has not been as effective against the run as he has been against the pass, as his subpar Pro Football Focus run defense grades of 43.8 and 50.9 over the last two years would suggest. That could limit his earning power to some degree, though his pass-rushing acumen is the skill that will truly drive his asking price. Plus, the Panthers’ shift to a 3-4 front under new DC Ejiro Evero could improve Burns’ all-around performance, and if the team can draft or otherwise acquire a talented playmaker to take some pressure off of him, he could realize another boost in production.
Cowboys Acquire WR Brandin Cooks From Texans
MARCH 20: Upon acquiring the oft-traded wideout, the Cowboys restructured his deal. They moved $8MM of Cooks’ $12MM 2023 base salary into a signing bonus, Todd Archer of ESPN.com tweets. Cooks’ cap number will drop to $6MM in 2023, per Archer. It had resided at $12.4MM. Two void years are now attached to the 10th-year receiver’s deal, Archer adds (on Twitter). Cooks’ 2024 base salary is now $8MM — down from $13MM.
MARCH 19: Wide receiver Brandin Cooks has been traded once again. The Texans have agreed to send the 29-year-old to the Cowboys, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). Schefter’s ESPN colleague, Jeremy Fowler, first reported that the two sides were working on a deal, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com adds that Dallas is giving up a 2023 fifth-round choice (No. 161) and a 2024 sixth-rounder in the swap (Twitter links).
Cooks is under contract through 2024, and he is due a fully-guaranteed $18MM base salary in 2023. That number — along with the Texans’ ask of a second-round pick — became an obstacle in trade talks involving Cooks at last year’s trade deadline, as interested clubs wanted Houston to pay down a significant portion of Cooks’ salary. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2, the Texans will pay $6MM of Cooks’ $18MM salary to facilitate the deal (Twitter link).
Cooks, a first-round pick of the Saints in 2014, was traded to the Patriots in March 2017, to the Rams in April 2018, and to the Texans in April 2020. In six of his nine professional seasons, the Oregon State product has topped 1,000 receiving yards, and his career 13.7 yards-per-reception rate is indicative of his status as a vertical threat. Over his first two seasons with the Texans, Cooks averaged roughly 85 catches and 1,100 yards per year.
However, things began to go south in 2022. Clearly frustrated by the Texans’ lack of competitiveness during his tenure in Houston, Cooks publicly expressed his frustration that he was not dealt to a winning club at the deadline, and he stepped away from the Texans for a week, missing the team’s Week 9 contest against the Eagles. At the time, he also made reference to organizational changes that upset him — which may have included the dismissal of former EVP Jack Easterby — and he said, “I don’t know everything that goes through [GM Nick Caserio’s] head.”
Even though Cooks remained on the Texans through the end of the 2022 campaign, it was reported in January that Houston was expected to accommodate his standing trade request this offseason. And the Cowboys, who made a push for Cooks at the deadline in an effort to supplement a WR corps that was clearly missing Amari Cooper — who was traded himself in March 2022 — finally got their man. ESPN’s Ed Werder says multiple teams were in pursuit of Cooks and appeared close to acquiring him, but Dallas was Cooks’ preferred destination (Twitter link).
Cooks, who has 58 receptions of 25+ yards downfield since he entered the league in 2014 — second only to Tyreek Hill during that span, as Werder tweets — should serve as a quality complement to CeeDee Lamb in a potentially explosive offense in Dallas. Although it appears that the team is parting ways with tight end Dalton Schultz, the Cowboys have 2022 fourth-rounder Jake Ferguson on the roster and could further supplement the position in a TE-rich draft. Lamb, Cooks, and Michael Gallup form a quality WR trio, and franchise-tagged Tony Pollard is a terrific weapon in the backfield.
The Texans, meanwhile, gain additional draft capital to aid in their rebuilding efforts in exchange for a player who wanted out. Houston — which coincidentally signed former Cowboy Noah Brown a few days ago — presently houses Robert Woods, Nico Collins, and 2022 second-rounder John Metchie III atop its WR depth chart.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/19/23
We will keep track of today’s minor moves right here:
Baltimore Ravens
- Re-signed: LB Del’Shawn Phillips
Cleveland Browns
- Re-signed: LB Jordan Kunaszyk
Detroit Lions
- Signed: LS Jake McQuaide
Las Vegas Raiders
- Released: LS Trent Sieg
Washington Commanders
- Retired: TE Eli Wolf
Broncos To Re-Sign CB Essang Bassey
The Broncos have been one of the league’s busiest teams in free agency, authorizing multiple big-money deals to bolster their offensive and defensive fronts (among other areas of need). The club is also finalizing a lower-profile transaction to keep a core special-teamer and key secondary reserve on board.
Per Mike Klis of 9News.com, Denver and cornerback Essang Bassey were putting the finishing touches on a one-year contract last night. Bassey, whom the Broncos signed as a UDFA in 2020, was eligible for restricted free agency after having accrued three years of service time. However, even the lowest-level RFA tender would have cost Denver $2.63MM, which the team deemed too expensive. So the Broncos non-tendered Bassey, thereby allowing him to hit the open market.
Klis says that the Jaguars and one other team showed serious interest in Bassey’s services, and it appeared as if Jacksonville would land him. The Jags, though, re-signed fellow CB Tre Herndon, which led Bassey to believe that a return to Denver was his best bet.
Bassey was a pleasant surprise for the Broncos in his rookie campaign in 2020, getting into 12 games (three starts) and securing a spot as the team’s top nickelback. Unfortunately, he tore his ACL late that year and missed most of 2021 as a result. He did play in one game apiece for the Broncos and Chargers — who had claimed him off waivers — in December 2021, and he returned to the Broncos last year. He saw action in 14 contests in 2022, participating in 23% of Denver’s defensive plays and 62% of the club’s special teams snaps.
In his career, the 24-year-old has recorded 39 tackles, an interception, and four passes defensed. In 2023, he will likely reprise his roles as a rotational member of the Broncos’ defensive backfield and as a regular third phase contributor.
Texans, LT Laremy Tunsil Agree To Extension
The Texans have signed left tackle Laremy Tunsil to a record-setting extension. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, player and team are in agreement on a three-year deal worth $75MM, including $50MM in fully guaranteed money and $60MM in total guarantees (Twitter link).
Houston acquired Tunsil in a blockbuster deal with the Dolphins in 2019, sending two first-round picks, a second-rounder, and two players to Miami in exchange for the blindside blocker and WR Kenny Stills. In light of that massive haul and the fact that he earned Pro Bowl honors in his first year in Houston, Tunsil — who operates without an agent — had considerable leverage when it came time to talk extension with the Texans. He landed a three-year, $66MM contract in April 2020, and the $22MM annual average on that deal was a record for left tackles at the time.
That AAV has since been surpassed by Trent Williams and David Bakhtiari, but Tunsil’s new $25MM/year rate once again positions him atop the LT hierarchy. In a piece by Jeff Howe and Adam Coleman of The Athletic (subscription required), Coleman notes that Tunsil will have the chance to hit the market in three years, which suggests that the new extension simply scrapped the final year of his previous contract and will run through the 2025 season. As such, Tunsil will be eligible for free agency when he is just 31 years old, thereby giving him a great chance to cash in all over again in fairly short order.
The contract will drop Tunsil’s 2023 cap number down from $35MM to $26.6MM, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 adds. Tunsil’s 2024 cap figure drops to $25.9MM, with Wilson adding the 2025 and ’26 hits check in at $28.9MM apiece. Tunsil’s 2023 and ’24 base salaries are fully guaranteed, and his 2025 base features a partial injury guarantee ($10MM). That $10MM injury guarantee shifts to a full guarantee a year out, as Wilson adds it vests on Day 5 of the 2024 league year.
Though the payout is staggering, it is difficult to argue with the Texans’ decision to authorize it. After Tunsil missed most of the 2021 season with a thumb injury, he bounced back in a big way in 2022, ranking as Pro Football Focus’ 10th-best offensive tackle and boasting the best pass-block grade of any tackle. That grade was supported by the fact that he only allowed three quarterback hits and 17 pressures on the year, and he earned Pro Bowl acclaim for the third time in his four Houston seasons (the only year in which he did not receive that honor as a member of the Texans was his injury-shortened 2021 campaign).
Plus, the Texans are widely expected to select a quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, as Albert Breer of SI.com recently confirmed. So while having an elite left tackle is a top priority for any team, it is especially critical for a rebuilding Houston outfit that could be deploying a rookie under center as soon as Week 1. The club also has Tytus Howard, another extension candidate, at right tackle, giving it an enviable OT situation. The Texans also made a recent move to bolster the interior of their O-line by trading for guard Shaq Mason.
Dolphins Interested In George Fant, Unlikely To Exercise Fifth-Year Options On Austin Jackson, Noah Igbinoghene
Towards the end of February, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald wrote that the Dolphins are unlikely to exercise the fifth-year option on right tackle Austin Jackson. In the ensuing weeks, there has been nothing to suggest that the ‘Fins are reconsidering that stance.
Indeed, as Barry Jackson tweeted on Friday, Miami has shown interest in free agent tackle George Fant, lending credence to previous reports that the club is expected to bring in competition for Austin Jackson. That also represents the first reported interest in Fant since free agency opened several days ago.
Austin Jackson, the No. 18 overall pick of the 2020 draft, has yet to live up to his first-round billing. Miami hoped that the USC product would become its long-term answer at left tackle, but in 13 games (12 starts) at the position in his rookie year, Jackson largely struggled. While he got some run at LT in his second professional season, most of his snaps came at left guard, with similarly mediocre results. He then opened the 2022 campaign as the Dolphins’ starting right tackle before suffering an ankle injury in Week 1 that essentially wiped out his season (he wound up playing in just two contests and 84 total snaps).
It comes as little surprise, then, that Miami would decline to exercise Jackson’s fifth-year option, which would lock in a fully-guaranteed $14.2MM salary for 2024. It is equally unsurprising that the team would seek to bring in competition for the RT job.
Fant, who is entering his age-31 season, signed a three-year contract with the Jets in 2020. He spent most of his first year in New York at right tackle, with generally uninspiring results. However, when he was moved to left tackle out of necessity in 2021, Fant blossomed, and his performance even led to extension talks with Gang Green last year. Unfortunately, he was limited to just eight games in 2022 due to knee trouble, and even when he was on the field, his work was not as strong as it was the season before.
The Dolphins used Greg Little and Brandon Shell as Jackson replacements last year, but both players are also out of contract. It seems Miami wants to see what else is out there, and Fant is someone who can at least provide depth at both tackle spots and who would stand a good chance of opening the season as the club’s starting right tackle.
In related news, it would be “unfathomable” if the Dolphins were to exercise cornerback Noah Igbinoghene‘s fifth-year option (worth $11.5MM) for 2024, per Barry Jackson. Igbinoghene, who was selected twelve picks after Austin Jackson in 2020, is clearly not well-regarded by head coach Mike McDaniel & Co., as he was a healthy scratch for eight games in 2022 even though the Dolphins were without their No. 2 and No. 3 corners (Byron Jones and Nik Needham).
Jones has been released and Needham re-signed over the last week, and the Dolphins of course made a big splash to acquire Jalen Ramsey from the Rams. As it stands, Ramsey and Xavien Howard will operate as Miami’s starting boundary corners, with Kader Kohou and Needham both above Igbinoghene on the depth chart.
Bills, LB Matt Milano Agree To Extension
The Bills have inked linebacker Matt Milano to a two-year extension that will keep Milano under club control through 2026, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). The transaction will create $6MM of salary cap relief for cap-strapped Buffalo, with Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 reporting that Milano is due to earn $14MM per year over the 2025-26 seasons (Twitter link).
Milano, whom the Bills signed to a four-year, $44MM contract in March 2021, has given the club a good return on its investment. He and Tremaine Edmunds have combined to form one of the league’s top ILB duos, with Milano racking up 86 tackles and three sacks in 2021 en route to a solid 70.1 overall grade from Pro Football Focus.
The 2017 fifth-rounder hit another gear in 2022, notching 99 total tackles and three interceptions — including one pick-six — and earning First-Team All-Pro acclaim for his efforts. He bumped up his PFF grade to 73.2, thanks in large part to his improved work in pass coverage.
Edmunds, whom PFR recently ranked as the ninth-best free agent in this year’s class, is reportedly set to hit the open market despite some discussions about a new contract with the Bills. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com hears that, even in a crowded linebacker market, Edmunds could be in line for a $20MM/year contract, and he confirms that Edmunds is unlikely to remain in upstate New York even if he does not quite hit his asking price (subscription required).
Buffalo, which already restructured Milano’s contract last offseason for cap purposes, views the 28-year-old as a star at his position, and his presence is one reason why the club is comfortable with letting Edmunds walk. In addition to Edmunds, though, the Bills’ could lose another key member of its top-six defense in safety Jordan Poyer, who should find a robust market for his services.
Milano, at least, will be around for the foreseeable future as GM Brandon Beane tries to retool around him.