RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/7/24
Thursday’s tender decisions from around the NFL:
RFAs
Tendered:
- Lions: TE Brock Wright
Non-tendered:
- Lions: LB Anthony Pittman
ERFAs
Tendered:
- Cardinals: WR Greg Dortch
Non-tendered:
- Lions: DB Chase Lucas
It will cost the Lions $2.99MM to retain Wright, who will receive the right-of-first-refusal tender. That doubles as the lowest number within the three-tiered RFA tender formula. A 2021 UDFA, Wright has been a regular in Detroit; the Notre Dame alum has started 19 games with the team. He played 423 offensive snaps last season, which marked a step back from 2022 (591). The Lions’ tight end plans changed when they chose Sam LaPorta in the 2023 second round, but Wright (13 receptions, 91 yards last year) remains in the team’s 2024 blueprint.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/7/24
Here are Thursday’s minor moves:
Detroit Lions
- Re-signed: RB Zonovan Knight
Miami Dolphins
- Re-signed: DB Elijah Campbell, DT Daviyon Nixon
New England Patriots
- Re-signed: CB Alex Austin
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: FB Zander Horvath
Campbell was set to be a restricted free agent; this deal will bypass the tender process and keep the young defender on the team. The former UDFA has primarily been a Dolphins special-teamer, though he started one game apiece over the past two seasons. Campbell has logged at least a 69% snap share on special teams in each of the past three seasons.
Texans, Bills Host DT Foley Fatukasi
After the Jaguars ditched three defensive starters to create cap space earlier this week, one of them is already generating interest on the market. Foley Fatukasi has made two visits since his Jacksonville exit.
The Texans met with the veteran defensive tackle, according to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo, who adds that meeting took place Wednesday. The Bills brought the ex-Jets draftee to town today, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Other teams have expressed interest, per Garafolo, and it appears a deal could come together before the market opens.
Because the Jags released Fatukasi, he is a street free agent and does not need to wait until next week — as unrestricted free agents do — to speak with teams. Fatukasi, whom the Jags cut on his 29th birthday, has been a regular run-stopping presence in New York and Jacksonville. Pro Football Focus did not view the UConn alum as being worth the deal the Jags authorized (three years, $30MM), grading him as one of the league’s worst DTs in 2022 and 60th at the position last year. But teams appear to disagree with this assessment.
A strong run in New York created a good Fatukasi market in 2022. PFF graded the former sixth-round pick as a top-15 interior D-lineman in 2019 and ’20, making him one of the brightest spots during the grim Adam Gase Jets tenure. Viewed as an elite run defender at that point, Fatukasi is now trying to bounce back after the Jags stripped away some of their 2022 free agency pickups.
The Texans have an interesting opportunity, with not much in the way of funds tied up anywhere but along the offensive line and now at tight end — via Dalton Schultz‘s $12MM-per-year deal. DeMeco Ryans‘ defense ranked sixth against the run last season, and while the team has Maliek Collins signed for 2024, it lost pass-rushing DT Sheldon Rankins. The Bills have a bigger need here, with their Ed Oliver supporting cast almost entirely bound for free agency. DTs DaQuan Jones, Tim Settle, Jordan Phillips and Poona Ford are out of contract. The Bills, who were without Jones for much of the season, ranked 15th against the run last year.
Rams To Re-Sign G Kevin Dotson
After engaging in talks with Kevin Dotson, the Rams have reached an agreement to keep the 2023 trade acquisition away from free agency. Dotson is staying in L.A.
The sides have agreed to a three-year deal, according to Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz, who reports the contract is worth $48MM. Convincing Dotson to steer clear of the open market, the Rams are giving the young guard $32MM guaranteed, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
This marks a big payday for Dotson, whom the Rams acquired in a swap of Day 3 picks from the Steelers just before last season. Dotson proceeded to commandeer Los Angeles’ right guard job, giving the team stability there after Super Bowl LVI starters Austin Corbett and David Edwards had departed. The Rams chose Steve Avila with their top draft choice last year; he and Dotson are now both signed through 2026.
The Rams had expected both Dotson and starting center Coleman Shelton to hit the market, but the team came in with a nice offer — one that will make Dotson among the top 10 highest-paid guards — to prevent him from speaking with other teams during the legal tampering period. Dotson’s deal comes hours after the Jaguars agreed to terms with Ezra Cleveland.
A former fourth-round pick, Dotson is now tied at sixth among guard average annual value; the four-year veteran’s per-year number matches All-Pros Joe Thuney and Joel Bitonio. Dotson’s guarantee number resides south of those AFC blockers, but he also got there on a three-year deal; Thuney is on a five-year pact, Bitonio a four-year accord.
Dotson, who will turn 28 early next season, played a lead role in Kyren Williams showcasing Pro Bowl-caliber ability. Pro Football Focus slotted Dotson as the NFL’s second-best run-blocking guard. As the Rams shifted away from a wide-zone scheme, Dotson dominated at points to help Williams run wild. Dotson had started 30 games for the Steelers from 2020-22, including all 17 of Pittsburgh’s 2022 contests. Inconsistency led the Steelers to bail for a low-end return following the team’s Isaac Seumalo signing last year. Seeing the Steelers give Seumalo and James Daniels midlevel deals, Dotson has agreed to a second contract well north of his former teammates’.
This bodes well for what will still be a crowded guard market. Robert Hunt, Jonah Jackson, Jon Runyan Jr. and Michael Onwenu — if he lands as a guard and not a tackle — headline this year’s crop. Dotson’s payout will help the set the market for this batch of second-contract-seeking interior blockers.
PFF had rated Dotson as a top-30 guard twice during his Pittsburgh tenure (2020, 2022), but he took a big step forward in his contract year. The Rams will bet on the ex-Steelers castoff fortifying their interior O-line as the team aims to build on last year’s wild-card berth.
Eagles, DE Brandon Graham Moving Toward Deal?
One of the Eagles’ “Core Four” linemen has committed to retiring. With Jason Kelce out of the picture, Fletcher Cox has now been tied to walking away. The second-oldest member of this quartet still wants to play, however.
Brandon Graham may well be moving close to another Eagles agreement. The veteran defensive end said during an appearance on WIP SportsRadio the plan is for him to re-sign with the Eagles; the 35-year-old pass rusher added (via PHLY Sports) he is confident a deal will be completed.
[RELATED: Graham Contract May Come Prior To Free Agency]
Graham tied Eagles legend Chuck Bednarik by playing a 14th season with the team last year; a 15th would make the former first-round pick the longest-tenured player in Eagles history. Expressing interest of reaching the 15-season plateau back in 2022, Graham surpassed David Akers‘ franchise record for games played last season. He has played in 195 regular-season games.
Graham no longer serves as the Eagles’ top pass rusher or even a regular starter, with Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat in place as the team’s top edge performers. Both are going into contract years, and Roseman has already given Reddick permission to seek a trade. Tied to a $15MM contract he has outplayed, Reddick has led the Eagles in sacks in each of the past two seasons. Graham, however, has served as an important role player.
Responsible for one of the greatest plays in Eagles history — the fourth-quarter strip of Tom Brady that led to a Super Bowl LII triumph — Graham has reached eight sacks in a season three times since. In 2022, Graham’s career-high 11 sacks helped the Eagles threaten the 1984 Bears’ single-season NFL record. Graham re-signed on a one-year, $5MM accord to stay on in 2023, though he notched only three sacks last season. Even though the salary cap has climbed to $255.4MM, Graham will have a tough time securing more than that $5MM payment to stay with the team.
On a related note, Graham does expect Cox to walk away after 12 seasons. The 2012 first-round pick has been vital to the Eagles’ modern success. Cox retiring would lead to the Eagles losing DT starters in consecutive offseasons, with Javon Hargrave joining the 49ers last year. Of course, the line-obsessed franchise has prepared for this, with Jalen Carter joining ex-college teammate Jordan Davis in last year’s first round.
Giants Have Not Made Saquon Barkley Offer In Offseason
Saquon Barkley-Giants extension talks began in November 2022 and memorably ran up to the July 2023 deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign long-term deals. Not much activity has transpired this offseason.
Although the Giants met with Barkley at the Combine and are believed to be planning to make an offer to retain their Pro Bowl running back, the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy reports the team has not submitted one this offseason. The Giants will lose their exclusive negotiating rights with Barkley at 11am CT on Monday, when the legal tampering period begins.
[RELATED: Darren Waller Considering Retirement]
This year’s legal tampering period will be Barkley’s first chance to negotiate with a team other than the Giants since they drafted him second overall in 2018. The Giants passed on franchise-tagging Barkley a second time, at a rate just more than $12MM, and may be ready to bid farewell to the six-year starter. While this is a crowded free agent running back class, Barkley is expected to draw the most attention. Barkley reaching the tampering period unsigned obviously increases the chances he will play elsewhere in 2024.
The Giants could not resume Barkley negotiations until after the regular season ended, but they have now had nearly two months to make another offer. Not doing so runs in stark contrast to last year, when they frantically attempted to retain both Barkley and Daniel Jones. The team ended up re-signing Jones and tagging Barkley minutes before last March’s tag application deadline. It is worth wondering the alternate reality of what would have played out if the team had reversed those moves, as Jones may be going into his last season as Giant — as persistent rumors about the team drafting a QB emerge.
No signs exist the Giants will ramp up talks at the 11th hour, Dunleavy adds, with the team potentially ready to let Barkley see what kind of offers come on the open market. GM Joe Schoen said a second tag was a consideration, but a rumor also emerged last month that the team was leery of Barkley’s age (27) and making another notable commitment. That said, the Giants are believed to have offered Barkley a deal including $22MM guaranteed last summer. The team reducing the offer’s AAV below $12MM, however, helped influence the former Offensive Rookie of the Year to pass. The Giants passed on trade interest at the deadline, despite a poor start. That sets the stage for this free agency foray.
Many backs will be available for the Giants in free agency. Josh Jacobs, Tony Pollard, Austin Ekeler, Derrick Henry, D’Andre Swift and Gus Edwards are ticketed for free agency in one of the best RB classes in the free agency era. Devin Singletary, who played in Brian Daboll’s offense for three seasons in Buffalo, also could appeal to the Giants at a lower cost. With Barkley likely the most expensive player in this crowded group, the Giants may be ready to add one of the other vets at a reduced rate.
It is possible the Giants will lose both Barkley and Xavier McKinney next week. The team did not use the transition tag on McKinney. Kyle Dugger‘s transition tag may have played a role. With Dugger tagged, McKinney naturally becomes a more attractive piece in free agency. The Giants would not have been entitled to any compensation if McKinney signed an offer sheet they did not match. Had the Giants transition-tagged McKinney, they also would not have been entitled to a 2025 compensatory pick if they did not match an offer sheet, as CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones points out. Transition-tagged players no longer count toward the compensatory formula.
FA Notes: Chiefs, Jones, Evans, Titans, Pats, Giants, Panthers, Falcons, Jags, Bucs, Rams
Buzz about the Chiefs re-signing Chris Jones surfaced last week, and while that trail has gone a bit cold, some optimism still exists the defending champions can keep their top defender off the market. Many around the league do not expect Jones to leave Kansas City, per ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler, but they do not anticipate a discount coming to pass. Jones stuck to his guns last year during a holdout that cost him more than $3MM between fines and a missed game check; that would make it rather shocking if he agreed to a team-friendly deal now.
The Chiefs reaching the $27-$28MM-per-year range should help move this close to the finish line, Fowler adds. That said, Jones could probably — given the cap spike — make a run at Aaron Donald‘s $31.7MM AAV standard and the position’s guarantee record (Quinnen Williams‘ $66MM) if he reaches free agency. The Chiefs were not willing to go near the Donald AAV neighborhood during talks last year, and it will surely take a monster offer to keep Jones from testing free agency now.
With the legal tampering period less than a week away, here is the latest free agency news:
- The Chiefs were also among the teams interested in Mike Evans, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, who details what would have been a big market for the veteran wide receiver. Evans opted to re-sign with the Bucs on a frontloaded deal that included $29MM fully guaranteed. The Falcons, Giants, Jaguars, Panthers, Patriots, Rams and Titans were preparing to see what it could take to lure Evans out of Tampa. High-profile FAs regularly use the Combine to gauge markets before the legal tampering period, and Evans evidently determined this Bucs deal compared favorably to what he could have collected on the market. But with Tee Higgins and Michael Pittman Jr. franchise-tagged, Evans would have been the top WR available. That distinction may now fall to Calvin Ridley.
- Speaking of the Bucs, they are not ruling out a reunion with Shaquil Barrett at a reduced rate, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com notes. Tampa Bay cut Barrett last week, removing an $18MM-per-year contract from their payroll. Barrett stands to generate interest as a street free agent, but the former Super Bowl standout and NFL single-season sack leader is going into an age-32 season and coming off a 4.5-sack showing in 2023.
- Darnell Mooney may be one of the players who could benefit from Evans, Pittman and Higgins being off the market. Despite the Bears target failing to eclipse 500 receiving yards in each of the past two years, he posted a 1,000-yard season in 2021 and has been in a low-volume passing offense. Teams figure to check in on the deep threat, and ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler suggests the Chiefs and Titans as potential players. The Chiefs’ receiver woes were well documented last season, and they recently cut Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The Titans beat out the Chiefs for DeAndre Hopkins last year, but he is going into an age-32 season and signed for just one more year. Treylon Burks has also not shown much consistency yet.
- Barring 11th-hour deals, this year’s safety market will feature Xavier McKinney and Kamren Curl. These two could do quite well without Antoine Winfield Jr. and Kyle Dugger in the mix, with ProFootballNetwork.com’s Adam Caplan noting Curl’s market could come in around $14MM per year. A line of demarcation may emerge after these NFC East starters, with Sportskeeda’s Tony Pauline adding a lucrative second wave should not be expected to transpire at this position. This is how the 2023 market played out, with a gulf forming between Jessie Bates and the field. Though, multiple others (Juan Thornhill, Vonn Bell, Donovan Wilson) collected eight-figure guarantees.
- The Rams have talked terms with Kevin Dotson‘s camp, per GM Les Snead. They expect both he and center Coleman Shelton to hit the market. Dotson delivered a big contract year and should be expected to become one of the top earners on a crowded guard market. The Rams want Shelton back as well.
Commanders To Sign TE Zach Ertz
Zach Ertz will join a third team since November. After landing with the Lions late last season, the veteran tight end came up earlier today as a Commanders target. The NFC East team will follow through on a deal.
Washington has an agreement in place with Ertz, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero, who adds the one-year contract is worth up to $5MM. This move will reunite Ertz with former Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury, who will debut as the Commanders’ play-caller.
Ertz finishing last season on the Lions’ practice squad allows him to sign before the market opens next week. This will position the longtime Eagles pass catcher to be a potential starter again. The Commanders released Logan Thomas late last week. NFL.com’s Peter Schrager reported earlier Ertz was in talks with the Commanders.
A number of teams — the Eagles, Chiefs, Bills and Ravens — were interested in Ertz following his in-season Cardinals exit. Ertz and the Cards reached a financial compromise following the trade deadline, and the team removed Ertz from its IR list. No one claimed the 11-year veteran, and Ertz did not end up playing in a game for another team following that transaction. The Lions did not activate him ahead of the NFC championship game.
Two tight ends are now off the board ahead of free agency, with this Ertz deal coming a day after the Texans re-signed Dalton Schultz. Teams will still have options like Hunter Henry and Noah Fant, but the market is thinner after these two agreements. Ertz will be looking to bounce back after a down season on a rebuilding team. The Stanford alum caught just 27 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown in seven Arizona games last season. A quad injury led Ertz to IR, which ended up wrapping his Cardinals tenure. He requested to be cut soon after, and the Cardinals then turned second-year TE Trey McBride loose.
Ertz, 33, spent around a year as a healthy option in Kingsbury’s offense. The Cardinals acquired him via trade from the Eagles during the 2021 season, as the Eagles opted to pay Dallas Goedert over a second Ertz extension, and the NFC West team received promising returns. Ertz totaled 56 catches for 574 yards and three touchdowns in 11 Cardinals games that year. At the time, that doubled as single-season TE yardage record during the Cards’ Arizona years; McBride has since surpassed it. The showing led the Cardinals to re-sign Ertz on a three-year, $31.65MM deal in 2022. That preceded a season-ending knee injury midway through Kingsbury’s woeful Arizona finale.
Ertz’s best years are probably behind him, and it will be interesting to see if the Commanders make a bigger TE splash this offseason. But the former Eagles third-rounder has six seasons with at least 750 receiving yards. Ertz ranks second in Eagles history with 709 receptions. Post-Thomas, Washington rosters John Bates, Armani Rogers and 2022 fifth-rounder Cole Turner. Thomas’ 496 receiving yards led Commanders tight ends by more than 300 last season.
Jets Prefer Alijah Vera-Tucker At G; Team Wants To Re-Sign Greg Zuerlein, Thomas Morstead
This year’s free agency and draft outcomes may dictate where the Jets place Alijah Vera-Tucker, who has shuttled between guard and right tackle over the past two seasons. But the team does have a preference for the former first-round pick.
As injuries have piled up over the past two seasons, the Jets have opted to kick Vera-Tucker to right tackle. Not long after each move, a season-ending injury occurred. Joe Douglas praised Vera-Tucker’s versatility and noted it is a resource the team can use as it assembles its 2024 roster, but the team still wants the 2021 draftee to master one job.
Despite the Jets expressing interest in keeping Vera-Tucker at right tackle on a full-time basis, ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini points to an internal preference of the USC product returning to guard and staying there. The Jets have three starting spots to fill up front. If Vera-Tucker is moved back to guard, that mission will include two new tackles. Mekhi Becton is not expected to be re-signed.
Vera-Tucker has played fewer than 400 career snaps at RT, being moved because of injuries at tackle in the past two seasons. He suffered a torn triceps in 2022 and a torn Achilles last year; both injuries occurred in Denver. The Jets, who recently released Laken Tomlinson, will need AVT to remain upright as they break in a new O-line configuration following years of waiting on Becton to stay healthy.
Elsewhere on the Jets’ roster, they want to bring back both their 2023 specialists. The team would like to re-sign Greg Zuerlein and Thomas Morstead, Cimini adds. Zuerlein has been the Jets’ kicker for the past two seasons; he played out another one-year deal (worth $2.6MM) in 2023. Morstead came over on a one-year deal as well, rejoining the Jets after a season with the Dolphins.
After being a Cowboys cut in 2022, Zuerlein has settled in with the Jets. The former Rams specialist turned in his best season since an All-Pro 2017 campaign, making 35 of 38 field goal tries. The strong-legged kicker out of the Division II ranks is now a 12-year veteran who is now 36, but the Jets are interested in an all-late-30s ST corps. Morstead will turn 38 later this week.
The Jets are also interested in retaining Jordan Whitehead, but Cimini offers that the two-year safety starter does not qualify as a high priority. A six-year veteran, Whitehead is only going into his age-27 season. The former Buccaneers Super Bowl starter intercepted four passes and broke up nine more last season; he has six picks as a Jet. With Kyle Dugger and Antoine Winfield Jr. off the market, players like Whitehead stand to be a bit more appealing. The former Bucs fourth-rounder played out a two-year, $14.5MM deal.
Zuerlein and Morstead will certainly be much cheaper to retain, but if the Jets let Whitehead walk, they will need to fill a starting role. Tony Adams, who usurped Adrian Amos for the other starting role last year, remains under contract. Ashtyn Davis and Chuck Clark, a 2023 trade acquisition who missed the season due to injury, are also due for free agency.
Cowboys To Classify Micah Parsons As DE On Fifth-Year Option
11:19am: The Cowboys may not have made a final decision on Parsons’ positional designation, but the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Clarence Hill indicates a D-end classification will draw a grievance from the defender’s camp. This may end up being a footnote, with Hill adding a Parsons extension is expected to come together over the next year. In the long-running saga of edge rusher positions factoring into salaries, a Parsons grievance would be a notable development.
8:46am: Many instances have come about during the franchise tag era of teams classifying edge rushers as linebackers as opposed to defensive ends, as the former designation saves a bit of money under the tag formula. Grievances have stemmed from these decisions, with compromises being reached on some occasions. The script may flip in Dallas.
This year’s franchise tag and fifth-year option numbers produced a higher linebacker salary compared to defensive ends. The LB tag comes in at $24MM, while the D-end number is $21.32MM. This will pertain to the Cowboys, who have refused in the past to label Micah Parsons a full-on defensive end despite the team regularly lining up the star defender at that spot.
While the Cowboys will make one of the easiest fifth-year option calls in history by exercising Parsons’ 2025 guarantee, the Dallas Morning News’ Michael Gehlken notes the team will classify Parsons as a defensive end when picking up the option.
Drafted as a linebacker, Parsons made the move to regular edge rusher fairly early in his career. But the Cowboys had previously pushed back on labeling the 2021 No. 11 overall pick a DE. The team would, however, stand to have a clear runway to label Parsons a DE due to the fast-rising star playing the bulk of his snaps at the position. Parsons played 87.8% of his defensive snaps on the D-line last season. With the Cowboys using a 4-3 scheme, this would not fall under the typical 4-3/3-4 dispute that commonly comes up regarding edge rushers’ tag or option numbers. Because Parsons has three original-ballot Pro Bowl nods on his resume, his fifth-year option doubles as the franchise tag number.
As of now, it would be unlikely Parsons plays the 2025 season on his option. The Cowboys found a dominant defender with that No. 11 pick three years ago, and the Penn State product is on a clear path toward the Hall of Fame. He will command a top-market extension. The option number could play a part in the team’s extension approach, which would introduce a new wrinkle in a process that usually plays out with teams preferring to label an edge rusher as a linebacker for financial purposes.
Since the 2011 draft began the option era, the Cowboys have extended four players (Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, Zack Martin, Ezekiel Elliott) before they played a season on the fifth-year number. Smith, Frederick and Elliott signed new deals before their fourth seasons. Morris Claiborne and Byron Jones are the only Cowboys to play out a fifth-year option, doing so when it was guaranteed for injury only. Both left in free agency the following offseason. The Cowboys would surely use the franchise tag on Parsons in 2026 if his extension talks were to encounter a snag.
It will be interesting to see if Parsons follows Elliott’s playbook and forces the issue this offseason, though his February stance would not indicate as such yet. Players had more options regarding holdouts before the 2020 CBA changed the service-time requirement in an effort to prevent holdouts, leading to the hold-in tactic as a regular option during negotiations. The Cowboys would have Parsons attached to just a $2.99MM base salary if he is not extended this season.
While most teams wait until Year 5 to extend first-round picks, the Cowboys have made exceptions in the past. However, the team has a big-ticket CeeDee Lamb extension to negotiate this offseason, along with a potential Dak Prescott re-up. It is possible a Parsons move will be tabled to 2025, which would put the ball in the dominant sack artist’s court.