Chiefs Sign Nick Foles
The Chiefs formally announced that they have reached agreement on a deal with free agent quarterback Nick Foles, Foles is now reunited with Andy Reid, his coach in the early part of his time with the Eagles.
Foles will earn $1.75MM this year, plus incentives, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. He’ll get a team option for the second year, which ranges between $6.75MM-$16MM based on his 2016 performance.
When Chase Daniel left KC to join the Eagles, the Chiefs did not replace him with a veteran this offseason. Instead, Kansas City’s quarterback corps behind Alex Smith consisted of three signal-callers who never attempted an NFL pass. Now, that has changed as the Chiefs have an experienced QB in Foles to hold down the No. 2 job.
Foles, a former third-round pick, had his breakout season in 2013 under Reid replacement Chip Kelly when he threw for 2,891 yards, 27 touchdowns and only two interceptions for the Eagles. A broken collar bone ended his 2014 season, and the 27-year-old finished with 2,163 yards, 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in eight games.
After Kellen Moore suffered a broken ankle, many believed that Foles would be Dallas-bound. The Cowboys and Vikings both made offers to Foles, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter), but the Chiefs jumped into the mix late on Thursday night and surprised everyone by signing the veteran QB.
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Minor NFL Transactions: 8/4/16
Today’s minor moves:
- The Falcons released rookie linebacker Torrey Green, as D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Green, an undrafted free agent linebacker from Utah State, is under investigation after two women accused him of rape.
- The 49ers have claimed defensive back Cleveland Wallace III off waivers from the Texans and waived linebacker Lenny Jones, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Houston cut Wallace on Wednesday.
- The Bears announced that they have waived fullback/tight end Joe Sommers. They’ll also waive offensive lineman Adrian Bellard with an injury settlement, Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle tweets. Bellard suffered a sprained lateral collateral ligament in right knee plus a bone bruise. Defensive lineman Marquis Jackson will join Sommers and Bellard on waivers, per Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
- The Giants waived cornerback Tramain Jacobs, as James Kratch of NJ.com tweets.
- After just one day with the Jets, running back Terry Williams has been released, Darryl Slater of NJ.com tweets. The Jets have replaced Williams with fellow running back Matthew Tucker.
- The Vikings announced the signing of running back Kevin Monangai, bringing their roster back to the 90-player max.
- The Bears will sign linebacker Danny Mason, as Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets.
- The Eagles have waived/injured defensive tackle Connor Wujciak, who is having surgery on his shoulder, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.
- The Browns have signed fullback Robert Hughes and running back Rajion Neal, as Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer tweets. To make room, they waived fullback Patrick Skov.
- The Seahawks have cut long snapper Drew Ferris, tweets Wilson, and signed safety Keenan Lambert and running back Cameron Marshall (via Zac Jackson of Pro Football Talk). Lambert is the half-brother of star Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor.
Steelers, Antonio Brown Discuss Contract
The agent for Antonio Brown and Steelers GM Kevin Colbert have begun discussing the wide receiver’s contract situation, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler writes. Brown still has two years to go on his contract but has been pushing for a pay bump. The Steelers, meanwhile, have a policy not to renegotiate with non-quarterbacks until the final year of a player’s deal. 
[RELATED: Steelers, David DeCastro Resume Contract Talks]
“We believe in our philosophy,” Colbert said recently, with regards to the team’s policy. “I don’t see that changing, but I’ll never address a player individually.”
Brown is slated to earn a guaranteed base of $6.25MM this year and $8.71MM in 2017 before potentially hitting the open market. Widely regarded as one of the very best wide receivers in the NFL, Brown is outside of the top ten at his position in terms of pay. In fact, Brown is No. 18 in terms of average annual value, putting him behind the likes of Pierre Garcon, Michael Crabtree, Allen Hurns, Vincent Jackson, and Doug Baldwin.
Last year, the Steelers restructured Brown’s deal to move $2MM of future salary into 2015. While Brown says that he appreciated that gesture, he is looking for something much more meaningful this time. The Steelers certainly want to keep Brown happy, but so far they have been unwilling to set a precedent by reworking his deal so far out from its expiration.
Brown tied for the league lead in receptions (136), finished second in yards (1,834), and found the end zone 10 times last season.
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New Team Showing Interest In Greg Hardy
Could Greg Hardy be getting closer to finding his next NFL home? A new team has begun to show interest in the troubled defensive end, according to Ed Werder of ESPN.com (on Twitter). 
[RELATED: Cowboys, Travis Frederick Talking Extension]
Werder posits that every free agent defensive end has “moved up” one spot on the board now that Dwight Freeney has joined the Falcons. The Bengals were said to be a finalist for Hardy, so one has to wonder if Cincinnati could be the mystery club expressing interest in the 27-year-old. Recently, the Redskins and the Jaguars both flirted with the idea of signing Hardy before putting the defensive end (and the hellish PR firestorm that he would bring) on the back burner.
Most NFL teams have distanced themselves from the idea of signing Hardy and it sounds like the CFL may have blacklisted him. Hardy played 12 games for the Cowboys last season, tallying 35 tackles, six sacks, an interception, and a forced fumble. In terms of traditional numbers, that was a far cry from Hardy’s production with the Panthers. Between 2011 and 2013, the former sixth-round pick averaged 56 tackles and 10 sacks a season. Still, Hardy ranked as the league’s 28th-best edge defender out of 110 qualified players, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
It remains to be seen whether a team will gamble on the multiple-time Pro Bowler, but there’s at least one more club considering it internally.
Photo courtesy of PFR on Instagram.
Cowboys, C Travis Frederick Talking Extension
The Cowboys have begun discussing an extension with center Travis Frederick, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones says (via Jon Machota of The Dallas Morning News). Frederick is under control through the 2017 season thanks to his recently exercised fifth-year option. Dallas is hoping to lock him down for years beyond that point. 
[RELATED: Cowboys Easing Up On Backup QB Pursuit?]
Frederick has started every game at center since the Cowboys took him in the first round of the 2013 draft. His rookie deal was a four-year, $6.87MM contract, as prescribed by his draft slot. This year, he’ll make $1.34MM before jumping up to $8.821MM in 2017. Dallas will presumably try to smooth out that cap hit in ’17 while giving him more long-term security on a multi-year pact. Two years ago, Dallas inked a team-friendly deal with left tackle Tyron Smith, who shares the same agent with Frederick.
The center has started 48 consecutive games, earning a Pro Bowl nod and a second team All-Pro selection in each of the last two seasons. Frederick is (literally) at the heart of the Cowboys’ stellar offensive line and they are taking every measure possible to keep that core in place.
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Cowboys Easing Up On Backup QB Pursuit?
The Cowboys are no longer rushing to acquire a veteran quarterback, a team source tells Ed Werder of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Cowboys, of course, were heavily linked to free agent Nick Foles before he signed with the Chiefs on Wednesday night. Dallas has also been linked to trade targets like Josh McCown of the Browns and Mike Glennon of the Buccaneers. 
Dallas was anxious to get a veteran backup on the roster following Kellen Moore‘s broken ankle, particularly since they were planning on giving Tony Romo every third day off in practice. However, the team has apparently changed course, believing that they can simply give more reps to rookie Dak Prescott and Jameill Showers.
The Buccaneers say they are not interested in trading Glennon anyway and that makes sense given the lack of experience they have at QB outside of the 6’7″ signal caller. One would imagine that the Browns are open to trading McCown given that they have RGIII under center and are in a rebuilding year. In any event, neither team should expect Dallas to blow up their phones this week.
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Bengals CB William Jackson Suffers Torn Pec
THURSDAY, 11:49am: Bengals coach Marvin Lewis says Jackson could return this season after having surgery to reattach his pec muscle, Albert Breer of The MMQB tweets.
TUESDAY, 12:15pm: Jackson is seeking a second opinion to find out whether he’ll be out for the season or just placed on IR-DTR with the possibility to return, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
11:45am: Bengals first rounder William Jackson III has suffered a torn pectoral muscle, a source tells Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). At minimum, Jackson can be expected to miss a few months as a result of the injury.
Jackson, a University of Houston product, turned heads with a 4.37 second 40-yard-dash time at the NFL combine. Jackson not only came with a great deal of promise, but the Bengals were banking on using him as a key cog in their cornerback rotation this year.
Over the last two years at UH, Jackson allowed just 40% of passes thrown his way to be completed. After watching him perform in college and excel at the combine, scouting guru Dave-Te Thomas was high on his potential and cited his aggressiveness as a positive:
Jackson was considered a “lockdown corner” for the Houston Cougars after he appeared in thirteen games and finished second in the American Athletic Conference with ten pass breakups in 2014. He also picked off two passes and tallied 37 tackles. Last season, the All-American led the nation and set a Houston single-season record with 23 pass deflections. He also led the nation in passes defended with 28, finishing 20th with five interceptions. He concluded his career ranked third on the UH career passes broken up chart with 40, despite only playing three seasons.
Some other “good news” numbers include Jackson recording six turnovers and coming up with 22 third-down stops…Jackson is certainly not going to impress you with being a great physical presence on the field, but he does demonstrate excellent speed and jump- ball timing. He is very consistent in being “getting into the face” of a receiver. He opens his hips well when asked to handle switch-offs on deep patterns and moves well in space, but he certainly lacks any sort of punch and physicality when required to deliver press coverage (recorded ten reps in the 225-pound bench press drill). His leaping ability helps him get to most balls though and he always seems to get his hands on the pigskin, even when he isn’t in great position.
As shown on their depth chart, the Bengals are currently slated to start Dre Kirkpatrick and Adam Jones at the cornerback spots with Darqueze Dennard as the third corner. Without Jackson, 2015 fourth-round pick Josh Shaw could see an increased role in the coming year. The Bengals could also look to the open market for CB help.
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Ravens Rookie Bronson Kaufusi Done For Year
Sadly, Bronson Kaufusi‘s season is over before it could even start. The third-round defensive end is likely done for the year thanks to a broken ankle, coach John Harbaugh told reporters on Thursday morning (via the Ravens on Twitter). 
[RELATED – Impact Rookies: Baltimore Ravens]
Kaufusi, a defensive end out of BYU, went on a Mormon mission before starting college and was one of the oldest player’s in this year’s class at 25 years old. Before he landed on the NFL radar, Kaufusi his split time between football and basketball. Once he zeroed in on football, he attempted to drop down in weight and shift to outside linebacker, but that experiment did not work out. Still, Kaufusi impressed as a bookend and despite projections that he would go in the fourth or fifth round of this year’s draft, he wound up being selected with the seventh pick in the third round.
Kaufusi was expected to be in the rotation at DE for Baltimore this year, supporting Lawrence Guy and Timmy Jernigan. With the rookie sidelined, there should be greater opportunities for 2014 fourth-round pick Brent Urban, fifth-round rookie Matt Judon, and Kapron Lewis-Moore.
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Broncos Waive Marlon Brown
Marlon Brown‘s time in Denver did not last long. On Thursday morning, the Broncos waived Brown to make room for former Colorado State offensive lineman Sam Carlson, as Cameron Wolfe of The Denver Post tweets. 
[RELATED: Broncos Place Phil Taylor On IR]
Brown suffered a back injury during camp a few days ago, according to Wolfe, and the team ostensibly did not want to wait for him to heal up. The former Ravens wide receiver signed on with the Broncos roughly one week ago, but did not get a chance to even hang up his coat. With Brown out of the picture, the Broncos still have ten wide receivers on the 90-man roster. Receivers including Bralon Addison, Jordan Taylor, and DeVier Posey are fighting for a roster spot, as shown on Roster Resource. The Broncos’ receiving group is headlined by Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders with support from Cody Latimer, Bennie Fowler, and Jordan Norwood.
Brown, who turned 25 in April, spent the last three seasons in Baltimore, though he saw his role in the offense decline since making his debut in 2013. In his rookie season, the Georgia product caught 49 balls for 524 yards and seven touchdowns. He has failed to reach the end zone since then, and recorded just 14 receptions and 112 yards in 2015.
While Brown contributed occasionally on special teams, wasn’t a key piece of that unit in Baltimore last year. When taking into account his reduced role on offense, it was no surprise that the team opted not to extend him an RFA tender earlier this offseason. The Ravens re-signed Brown to a lesser salary in mid-March, but dropped him from the roster in May.
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Saints Interested In Cowboys OL Ronald Leary
Back in May, offensive lineman Ronald Leary requested a trade from the Cowboys. Months later, Leary remains in Dallas, but that’s not necessarily for a lack of interest. The Saints have been pursuing a Leary trade for months to no avail, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. 
[RELATED: Nick Foles Signs With Chiefs, Despite Cowboys Offer]
Meanwhile, NFL GMs hear that the Cowboys are thinking about trading La’el Collins somewhere in order to acquire a defensive end, Ed Werder of ESPN.com tweets. However, when Werder asked a Cowboys source about those rumblings, the team official replied, “That’s stupid.”
Leary started at left guard for the Cowboys in 2013 and 2014. In 2015, he started the season in the same role, but Collins – who was graded as a first-round talent before his infamous draft day slide – eventually took the job from him. The Cowboys are planning to start Collins at left guard once again in 2016, but they want all of the help they can get on the offensive line with Tony Romo returning from injury and rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott leading the team’s running back committee.
Leary was on the field for only 137 pass snaps and 84 run snaps in 2015, according to the stats compiled by Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Although he did not qualify to be ranked based on that limited sample size, Leary was given an overall grade of 72.2, which would have placed him among the top 30 guards in the NFL last season.
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