Latest On Marshawn Lynch
Here we go again. Marshawn Lynch, reportedly, is pondering a comeback and the Raiders are thinking about acquiring him. At the moment, however, the Seahawks are still in control of his rights. 
A few things have to go down before the long-rumored Lynch-to-Oakland rumors can come to fruition, but it all starts with the running back himself. Lynch is in a bit of a holding pattern and is still deciding whether he wants to come back, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. Lynch does in fact have the itch to play though and is already in shape. Interestingly, Garafolo hears (Twitter link) that Lynch stopped by the Seahawks’ facility, but it “was more of a personal visit than anything.”
Lynch’s contract called for him to earn $9MM in 2016 and that would be his default salary for this season if he were to return. The Seahawks won’t have room for him with Eddie Lacy, C.J. Prosise, and Thomas Rawls already on the roster and it’s not clear if the Raiders will be willing to pay that salary. Oakland is looking to extend Derek Carr and Khalil Mack in the near future and that kind of addition could limit them financially.
Photo via Pro Football Rumors on Instagram.
Seahawks Re-Sign CB DeShawn Shead
Cornerback DeShawn Shead has re-signed with the Seahawks, according to Danny O’Neil of ESPN Seattle (on Twitter). It’s a one-year, $1.5MM deal with $1MM fully guaranteed at signing. 
Shead suffered an ACL and meniscus tear in the postseason, which probably explains why he wasn’t tendered an offer by the Seahawks as a restricted free agent. After surveying other options on the open market, Seattle has circled back to the 28-year-old (29 this summer). The lowest tender would have paid him $1.797MM, so he didn’t lose out on a ton of money.
A 15-game starter last season, Shead offers the ability to play outside, inside, or at safety. In his 1,000+ defensive snaps, Shead graded as the league’s No. 38 corner, according to the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus.
Before re-signing with the Seahawks, Shead drew interest from several teams, including the Bills. Dallas Robinson did not place Shead on his most recent list of the league’s top free agent cornerbacks due to uncertainty about his health. If he comes back 100%, however, this should prove to be a great value for Seattle.
Top 2017 Free Agents By Position 3.0: Offense
The initial wave of NFL free agency is now complete, and while many of the league’s top available players are now off the board, there are still plenty of quality options still on the open market.
Listed below are our rankings for the top 15 free agents at each offensive position. These rankings aren’t necessarily determined by the value of the contracts – or the amount of guaranteed money – that each player is expected to land in free agency. These are simply the players we like the most at each position, with both short- and long-term value taken into account.
Restricted and exclusive-rights free agents, as well as players who received the franchise tag, aren’t listed here, since the roadblocks in place to hinder another team from actually acquiring most of those players prevent them from being true free agents.
We’ll almost certainly be higher or lower on some free agents than you are, so feel free to weigh in below in our comments section to let us know which players we’ve got wrong.
Here’s our breakdown of the current top 15 free agents by offensive position for 2017:
Quarterback:
Jay CutlerChase DanielRyan Fitzpatrick- Colin Kaepernick
Josh McCown- Robert Griffin III
Case KeenumMatt McGloinMark Sanchez- Christian Ponder
Blaine GabbertRyan Nassib- Shaun Hill
Kellen MooreAustin Davis
Tony Romo is not a free agent…at least not yet. If the Cowboys do not find a suitable trade and release him, you’ll find him at the top of this list.
Laugh if you must, but Cutler is far and away the best quarterback available on the open market. While most of this year’s QB-needy teams are done with their free agent shopping, the Jets are still searching for their 2017 starter and no one would make more sense for them than Cutler. He’s not all that far removed from playing solid football and he’s a logical transitional option for the Jets until they can isolate a better, younger option for 2018. 
Kaepernick’s reps wisely told the press that he will be standing for the National Anthem this year. Still, Kaepernick is an outspoken guy who wants to use his platform to discuss hot button issues, so there’s no guarantee that the media circus around him will cease. Jets owner Woody Johnson loves seeing his team on the back pages of the New York tabloids, but even he has to have more sense than to entertain Kaepernick. McCown, who has been contact with the team, would be an okay choice if they can’t get something done with Cutler. Chase Daniel could be an option too, but there isn’t much game film on him.
Needless to say, the No. 3 ranked player on this list isn’t an option in New York.
Running back:
Adrian PetersonLeGarrette BlountJamaal Charles- Rashad Jennings
Tim Hightower- DeAngelo Williams
- Chris Johnson
Christine MichaelBenny Cunningham- Bobby Rainey
Brandon Bolden- Denard Robinson
- James Starks
Matt AsiataKenjon Barner
Honorable mention: DuJuan Harris, Antonio Andrews, Khiry Robinson
The Vikings have moved on and Peterson will not be back in Minnesota. Where he goes from here is anyone’s guess. When Peterson’s option was declined by the Vikings earlier this month, there were tons of stories (likely sourced by Peterson’s camp) about interest from a litany of contenders. Since then, each team – through anonymous sources – has denied being in the mix for the veteran. It would be easy to doubt Peterson at this juncture, but he has come back from serious injuries multiple times in his career and he is only one year removed from his stellar 2015 campaign. He gets the top spot over the bruising Blount as well as Charles, who hasn’t been healthy in a long while.
Jennings was brought to New York with the idea that he would be the team’s workhorse. Unfortunately, two of his three seasons with the G-Men were marred by injury. Jennings is currently putting his agility to good use on Dancing With The Stars and it remains to be seen how committed he is to football. After that, we have a trio of vets (Hightower, Williams, CJ2K) who could still advance the ball in limited spurts.
In case you’re wondering – Mike Gillislee is not listed here because he is a restricted free agent.
Rex Ryan Signs Deal With ESPN
Rex Ryan says he still has interest in coaching, but he won’t be on the sidelines in 2017. The former Jets and Bills head coach has signed a multi-year deal to be on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. 
Ryan first auditioned for the gig when he served as a guest analyst on Super Bowl Sunday. As one of the most colorful personalities in the game, he was a natural fit for the job. In January, even as Ryan said that he still had an itch to coach, he admitted that he had interest in a broadcasting career.
“The one thing about (being on TV) is that you don’t lose,” Ryan said. “You’ll remember every damn loss. But the wins? You don’t necessarily remember. So, it takes a lot out of you. I’m tired of getting f—ked. Unless it’s a real situation, there’s no sense of getting into it again.”
In that January interview, Ryan said he is interested “at all” in a defensive coordinator job “at this time.” Of course, after washing out in Buffalo, he wasn’t a viable candidate for any NFL head coaching position. Interestingly, he did not rule out returning to the Jets someday in some capacity.
Giants To Sign Ex-Jets QB Geno Smith
The Giants are expected to sign former Jets quarterback Geno Smith, according to Adam Schefter and Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The deal will reunite Smith and wide receiver Brandon Marshall. It’s a one-year deal worth about $2MM, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
[RELATED: Giants, Jason-Pierre Paul Agree To Multi-Year Deal]
Smith, 26, started one game for the Jets in 2016, but tore his ACL in that October contest and missed the remainder of the season. The former second-round pick has only attempted 56 passes over the past two years.
On Friday morning, the Giants re-signed quarterback Josh Johnson. Right now, it seems like the plan will be for the Giants to have Smith as Eli Manning‘s primary backup with Johnson in the QB3 spot. Of course, a lot can change over the next seven months and Johnson’s place on the roster isn’t a certainty. The Giants could still draft a developmental quarterback to give them another candidate to be Eli’s heir and depending on that QB’s stature, that player could even usurp Smith’s place as the primary understudy.
Smith, of course, has some unpleasant memories in East Rutherford, New Jersey. But, to his credit, he’ll face those nightmares head on and attempt to exorcise those demons in a new uniform.
Smith was PFR’s No. 14 ranked free agent quarterback heading into free agency. Reportedly, the Jets were still open to a reunion if they were unable to find a better option. The Chargers and Browns also had interest.
Giants, Jason Pierre-Paul Agree To Deal
The Giants and star pass-rusher Jason Pierre-Paul have agreed to terms on a four-year deal, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The new deal should give the Giants some extra breathing room against the salary cap for 2017. His agent has since confirmed the deal via social media.
Pierre-Paul will receive about $17MM/year on the deal and he’ll get $54MM guaranteed, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). The deal has a base value of $62MM and can reach up to $66MM through incentives, Rapoport tweets. Rapoport also hears that the deal has $40MM guaranteed, so there is some disparity between the two reports.
[RELATED: Giants To Sign QB Geno Smith]
JPP was slated to be on the books for $16.934MM in 2017, per the terms of the franchise tender. The two sides technically had until July 15 to work out a new contract, but the Giants were eager to get something done sooner so that they could add players in the second wave of free agency. In theory, the Pierre-Paul extension could allow the Giants to retain free agent defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins. Hankins has found a much softer market than he expected and the G-Men might be able to afford him now.
Pierre-Paul played in 12 games before being shut down in December with a core muscle injury. All in all, he had seven sacks and three forced fumbles. Pierre-Paul also ranked 13th among Pro Football Focus’ 109 qualified edge defenders and totaled the league’s 15th-most QB hurries (24).
The veteran did not want to receive the franchise tag this year, but the Giants were unwilling to let him test the open market. Last year, the inflated market for defensive ends led to the Giants giving Olivier Vernon a five-year, $85.5MM deal with $52MM in guarantees. Pierre-Paul is three years older than Vernon, but the bidding still would have gotten out of hand for him. Today, the Giants agreed to give JPP a deal for roughly the same average annual value with potentially equal guaranteed money on a per year basis. We’ll have to wait for additional details before fairly grading the deals against each other.
For his career, JPP has 50 sacks and eleven forced fumbles to his credit. He should add even more to that total as he remains with the Giants for his prime years.
Colts, Seahawks Meeting With Kamar Aiken
Free agent wide receiver Kamar Aiken is visiting the Colts today, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). If he doesn’t sign right away, Aiken will then travel to Seattle to meet with the Seahawks on Monday. 
Aiken, 28 in May, had only 29 receptions for the Ravens in 2016 after putting up 75 catches the year prior. Still, we had Aiken ranked as one of the 15 best available receivers heading into free agency, slotting him ahead of notables like Victor Cruz, Brian Quick, Brandon LaFell, Anquan Boldin, Ted Ginn, and Vincent Jackson. When we update the offensive positional rankings later today, Aiken will be at or near the top of the WR list.
We haven’t heard a lot about Aiken in the last week or so, but it sounds like his market is starting to pick up. Baltimore may or may not be looking to bring him back, but we do know that the team has been looking to fortify its wide receiver group. The Ravens thought they were close to a deal with Torrey Smith until he chose the Eagles instead.
The Colts wouldn’t give Aiken a clear path to playing time with T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief, and Phillip Dorsett already on the roster. The Seahawks, meanwhile, have Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett, Paul Richardson, and Jermaine Kearse in their top four spots. Seattle could give Aiken a better opportunity to occupy a WR3 role.
Raiders To Pursue Marshawn Lynch?
Remember those flirtations between the Raiders and Marshawn Lynch from last year? Sounds like things could be picking up again. The Raiders are giving serious thought to acquiring Lynch, either through trade or by his release, league sources tell ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter and Josina Anderson.
[RELATED: Raiders To Sign Jared Cook]
“It could really happen,” one source familiar with the situation said. One source with knowledge of the situation told Mike Florio of PFT there is a “very good chance” that Lynch will return to football.
The Raiders would have to work out a trade with the Seahawks in order to get Lynch, since they still own his rights. In theory, the Seahawks could also cut Lynch as a courtesy to the tailback. The Seahawks don’t really need Lynch anyway now that they have Eddie Lacy, C.J. Prosise, and Thomas Rawls.
There’s also the matter of convincing Lynch to continue playing football. He was adamant about staying retired last year, but it’s an idea he has considered, sources say. Last September, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported Lynch would consider playing during the 2016 campaign, and while that never happened, any lingering interest in returning to the league could manifest itself in 2017.
Oakland did indeed attempt to wrangle Lynch from the Seahawks via trade in 2016, and a deal nearly came together, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. However, Lynch ultimately decided to stay retired. Now that he’s taken a full year off, Lynch could potentially consider to re-enter the NFL for one more go-round with the Raiders, but those same talks — including the enticement of Lynch himself — will have to take place again.
One issue in negotiations might be the Raiders’ reluctance to send draft compensation to Seattle, as Oakland may only want to sacrifice something like a conditional seventh-rounder, per Rapoport (Twitter link). Additionally, the Raiders are trying to conserve cash and cap space in order to facilitate extensions for Derek Carr and Khalil Mack, so paying Lynch $9MM — the figure he was set to earn under his Seahawks contract — would be problematic.
Lynch wasn’t himself in 2015, as nagging injuries forced him to miss nine games. The year prior, however, Lynch was as productive as ever, as he rushed for 4.7 yards per carry and managed a career-high 13 touchdowns on the ground. Lynch is still only 30 years old.
In other Raiders running back news, Schefter and Anderson hear that Adrian Peterson also remains a possibility for Oakland. That interest still appears to be coming from the Peterson camp, however, as the ESPN scribes report Peterson would like the chance to join a talented Raiders squad.
Giants Re-Sign QB Josh Johnson
The Giants are re-signing quarterback Josh Johnson, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter). It’s a two-year deal, according to his agent.
Johnson, 31 in May, has bounced around since leaving the Buccaneers in 2011. Since 2012, Johnson has spent time with the Ravens, Browns, Bengals, 49ers, Colts, Bills, Jets, and Giants. The last time he took the field was in 2013, when he compiled 20 rushing yards on seven carries for Cincinnati. His last NFL start came in 2011 with the Bucs.
Johnson, for now, will occupy the second QB spot on the Giants’ depth chart. Given Eli Manning‘s major struggles last season, I would expect the Giants to seek out a higher-quality QB2 for 2017.
East Notes: Jets, Eagles, Jenkins, Bills
Muhammad Wilkerson, who inked a monster extension with the Jets last year, appears to be extremely out of shape, according to multiple scouts who saw him at Temple’s Pro Day (via Manish Mehta of the Daily News). Wilkerson’s listed weight last season was 315 pounds and it’s unclear how heavy he is at the moment. The Jets effectively chose Wilkerson over fellow defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson last year by giving him the long-term deal and, so far, it’s not clear if Wilkerson will reward the Jets for their confidence in him. Last year Wilkerson had just 4.5 sacks, the lowest total since his rookie season. This year, he’s set to carry a $18MM cap number with a fully guaranteed $14.75MM base salary, so a trade is probably out of the question. Meanwhile, Brian Costello of the New York Post (on Twitter) posted a picture of Wilkerson from just last week in which he appears to be in the same shape he was last year.
A bit more from the NFL’s East divisions:
- Eagles GM Howie Roseman continues to shoot down rumors that he offered up Malcolm Jenkins in trade talks for Brandin Cooks. His latest denial is the firmest one to date (Twitter link via 97.5 The Fanatic). “The Brandin Cooks, Malcolm Jenkins thing kind of gets under my skin. We were never going to trade Malcolm Jenkins,” Roseman said.
- Initially reported as a four-year deal, kicker Steven Hauschka‘s pact with the Bills is actually a three-year contract, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). It’s worth $8.85MM, nearly half of which ($4MM) is guaranteed.
- In case you missed it, Gang Green agreed to a deal with longtime Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne on Thursday.