Lions To Sign TE Orson Charles
SATURDAY, 10:20am: The Lions have official announced the move on their website.
THURSDAY, 1:06pm: The Lions have agreed to sign tight end Orson Charles, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes. Charles was in camp with the team this week on a tryout basis and made a good impression on coaches. 
[RELATED: Darius Slay Wants Top 7 Cornerback Money]
The Lions still have to clear a spot on their 90-man roster for Charles and it’s possible that Stephen Tulloch could be the player jettisoned. The veteran linebacker has been in limbo since February, but there’s reason to believe that his saga will be coming to an end soon. This week, the Lions excused Tulloch from minicamp and that could be a sign that he won’t be with the team much longer. Tulloch, 31, has spent the last five years with the Lions but they would apparently prefer to free up cap space.
As for Charles, he has not appeared in an NFL game since 2013 when he was with the Bengals. In the year prior, he logged six starts for Cincinnati. Currently, the Lions have six other tight ends on the roster: Brandon Pettigrew, Eric Ebron, Adam Fuehne, Matthew Mulligan, Ben McCord, and Cole Wick.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Giants Claim Logan Thomas
SATURDAY, 10:10am: The Giants have announced the deal on Twitter.
FRIDAY, 2:56pm: The Giants have claimed quarterback Logan Thomas off waivers from the Dolphins, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. To make room for Thomas, the Giants waived fellow QB B.J. Daniels, according to Jordan Raanan of NJ.com (Twitter link).
Thomas, whom Miami dropped from its roster earlier this week, will now join his third NFL organization since the Cardinals selected him in the fourth round of the 2014 draft. The former Virginia Tech standout has thrown just nine passes during his pro career and completed only one of those attempts. He made it count, though, connecting on an 81-yard touchdown against the Broncos in October 2014.
Thomas, 24, is now the third quarterback on the Giants’ roster, as Roster Resource shows, joining Eli Manning and Ryan Nassib.
Settlement Reached In Saints Ownership Spat
5:54pm: The settlement still requires NFL approval, tweets CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora. That means at least 24 owners must sign off on it.
2:45pm: The Saints announced that a settlement has been reached in the dispute between owner Tom Benson and his estranged heirs. Terms of the settlement are confidential and therefore unknown at this time. 
The agreement means that it will be “business as usual” for the Saints as well as other key Benson properties, including the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans, a local television station, and a cluster of car dealerships. The settlement comes on the heels of a court decision in June which ruled that Benson, despite the protests of the heirs he was feuding with, is mentally competent and fit to run his businesses.
Years ago, the Saints owner designated granddaughter Rita Benson LeBlanc as his handpicked successor. Then, in January 2016, he announced that he decided to instead transfer ownership of the city’s two major pro sports franchises to his wife, Gayle, when he dies. Meanwhile, LeBlanc’s offices at the teams’ Metairie headquarters were vacated and her company-issued Mercedes-Benz and cell phone was seized. LeBlanc, who was less than thrilled by all of this, filed a lawsuit claiming Benson is mentally incompetent and being manipulated by his wife.
Now, the 88-year-old will presumably remain at the helm of his sports franchises and, down the line, they will be owned and operated by his current spouse.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Breer On Cowboys, Hardy, Jordan, Manning
Last year, the Cowboys added Greg Hardy on a one-year, incentive laden deal. That bold move gave Dallas one of the most feared defensive linemen in the NFL, but also gave them one of the league’s biggest headaches and PR nightmares. Still, after dealing with Hardy’s down year and bad attitude, Jerry Jones says that he isn’t necessarily changing his approach going forward. 
“We’ve taken risks,” Jones told The MMQB’s Albert Breer. “It was a huge risk to take (Charles) Haley back (in the ’90s). Haley was a cancer on the Niners, and that’s why they gave him to us for next to nothing. Dez (Bryant) was a risk. Dez was a Top 5 pick that fell because he was a risk. And in the end, you win on some, you lose on some. That’s a little piece of how you succeed in business. You have to take chances.”
The Cowboys, of course, have publicly ruled out a Hardy reunion. Despite all of his baggage, PFR’s Dallas Robinson ranked Hardy as one of the best defensive free agents to remain on the board at this juncture of the offseason. There has been very little talk about Hardy lately, but we recently ran down some teams that could at least consider signing the defensive end.
Here’s more from Breer’s column:
- Defensive end Dion Jordan insists that he’s drug-free as he looks to return to the Dolphins, but people who were around him over his first two years tell Breer that they’d first be looking to see what condition his shoulder is in. Prior to being taken No. 3 overall in the 2013 draft, Jordan’s shoulder was flagged, so it has been an issue for some time. If things work out well, however, Breer feels that Jordan could be a big part of the team’s future on the defensive line. Cameron Wake is 34 and Mario Williams is 31, so the team will need a youth injection in the coming years.
- Word has it that Peyton Manning will wind up in a John Elway-type executive role at some point in the next few years. Because Manning is hoping to work in someone’s front office, Breer hears that he could be more willing to help the NFL’s investigation into the allegations levied against him in the Al Jazeera report last December. Manning said that he would sue Al Jazeera for what he deemed to be false claims against him, but he recently decided against taking action.
- Breer believes that Von Miller and Eric Berry will wind up getting multi-year deals done with their respective teams. Unsurprisingly, he does not see a deal happening for Jets defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Pigskin Links: Draft, Bears, Buccaneers
Here at Pro Football Rumors, we deliver up-to-the-minute news on NFL transactions and high-quality original analysis. Each week, we also feature some of the best blog articles from around the web in our regular feature, Pigskin Links.
We’re looking for interesting reads on all things football from blogs of all sizes. While PFR is dedicated to player movement, Pigskin Links is open to pieces on all areas of the game. If you would like to suggest your blog post (or someone else’s) for Pigskin Links, send us an email with the link and a brief synopsis at PigskinLinks@gmail.com.
Here’s this week’s look around the football blogosphere:
- NFL Draft Report gave us an early look at RBs in the 2017 draft class.
- Bear Down Blog ran down 3 TEs the Bears should target in the 2017 draft.
- Wayniac Nation says the Bucs are playoff bound.
- Last Word On Sports crafted an all NFC West fantasy football.
- The Sooksite gave us some early AFC predictions.
- NFL Spin Zone discussed the Browns’ fanbase.
Got a great football blog post that you want to see featured in next week’s Pigskin Links? Email it to Zach or tweet it to him: @ZachLinks.
Panthers, Michael Oher Agree To Extension
Panthers tackle Michael Oher signed a three-year contract extension worth $21.6MM in new money, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The deal works out to averages of $7.2MM per year with $9.5MM guaranteed. 
[RELATED: Panthers Extend Ron Rivera]
Earlier this month, the Panthers locked up center Ryan Kalil and the team didn’t take long to turn their attention to the left tackle position. Oher, for his part, had an excellent campaign in his first year with Carolina, rebounding from a down 2014 with the Titans to grade as a top-30 offensive tackle, according to Pro Football Focus. Helping block for one of the best running games in the league (as well as protect league MVP Cam Newton), Oher was a key factor in the Panthers ranking 12th in adjusted line yards, up from 21st in 2014.
Having recently hired Drew Rosenhaus for representation, Oher made it known that he was interested in a new deal:
“It would show that the organization believes in me,” Oher said of what a new deal would mean. “I still have to prove myself. I’m still just trying to prove myself to them and just make sure I’m one of these guys because they do it right.”
Oher was originally scheduled to count for $4.5MM on Carolina’s cap in 2016. Now that he and Kalil have secured pay raises, it’s clear that the Panthers are reallocating the money saved when the team pulled the $13.952MM franchise tag from cornerback Josh Norman. More extensions for team vets are likely on the way.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/16/16
The Vikings waived linebacker Travis Lewis and defensive tackle Bruce Gaston, the club announced. Lewis was with Detroit from 2012 through 2015 before signing with Minnesota this offseason. He actually started four games last season, but for the most part he’s been a backup, appearing in 42 contests during his four-year career. Lewis was a key member of Detroit’s special teams unit, playing on more than 70% of Detroit’s ST snaps, and that’s the role he was expected to play in Minnesota. Instead, the Vikings will carry $50K in dead money on their 2016 salary cap as a result of having given Lewis a signing bonus.
The latest minor moves on this palindromic day:
- Former fourth-round quarterback Logan Thomas has been waived by his second organization, as the Dolphins cut him loose earlier today, along with defensive tackle Charles Tuaau, Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald tweets. Thomas spent the 2014 season with the Cardinals before they too deemed Thomas too raw for the NFL.
- The Jaguars signed punter Ryan Quigley and wide receiver Shane Wynn while waiving safety Craig Loston, cornerback Rashaad Reynolds, and defensive end Quanterus Smith, according to Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Quigley was on the Eagles’ offseason roster for a little over a month earlier this offseason.
- The Bears are expected to sign defensive lineman Marquis Jackson, the twin brother of Malik Jackson, reports Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). Chicago has also waived defensive lineman Kenton Adeyemi and linebacker Don Cherry, Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com tweets.
- After a tryout yesterday, the Chiefs have signed wide receiver Seantavius Jones, per Evan Woodbery of NOLA.com (Twitter link), adding that Kansas City also inked defensive Akeem Davis.
- Defensive lineman James DeLoach has been cut by the Lions, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link).
- The Bengals have waived undrafted linebacker Gionni Paul, Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets.
Panthers Extend Ron Rivera
5:28pm: Rivera has actually signed a completely new three-year deal worth $19.5MM, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, who adds that the Panthers head coach can earn an extra $3MM via incentives. Additionally, Carolina bumped up the pay of the rest of the football staff (Twitter links).
3:13pm: The Panthers have given Ron Rivera a one-year contract extension that will pay him more than $6MM a year, a league source tells Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer. Rivera is now under contract through the 2018 season and is now among the league’s highest-paid coaches. The team has since confirmed the extension via press release. 
Rivera’s extension was actually completed earlier this offseason but the team did not announce it, Person hears. Rivera, who succeeded John Fox as the Panthers’ head coach in 2011, has posted a sub-.500 record in three of his five seasons with the team. However, his overall regular-season mark in Carolina is 47-32-1, and the team has won the NFC South three times in a row, earning the division title in 2014 despite a 7-8-1 record.
“It was an easy decision,” GM Dave Gettleman said in a statement. “Ron has worked extremely hard and we are thrilled with our current direction. Mr. Richardson has established a great culture here and Ron is a big part of that.”
Following a 2013 campaign that saw the Panthers finish 12-4 and earned Rivera AP Coach of the Year honors, Carolina locked up the coach to a three-year extension believed to be worth north of $4MM per season. The deal keeps Rivera under contract through 2017, but after this year’s NFC championship, the Panthers have extended the relationship beyond that with a pay bump.
Rivera’s contract puts him in the top 10 of the NFL’s highest-paid coaches. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll ($8MM+), Saints coach Sean Payton ($8MM), and Patriots coach Bill Belichick ($7.5MM) are the league’s highest earners. Rivera’s new salary puts him in the same ~$6MM/year group as Packers coach Mike McCarthy, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians, and Cowboys coach Jason Garrett.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NFC East Notes: Cowboys, Giants, Monroe
Is Cowboys owner Jerry Jones undermining coach Jason Garrett? There’s a pattern of Jones making Garrett look bad and the latest example is the team’s handling of linebacker Rolando McClain, ESPN.com’s Jean-Jacques Taylor opines. 
When asked about McClain’s absence from practice, Garrett seemed annoyed as he explained that McClain was dealing with a family matter for the third consecutive week. Jones, meanwhile, gave some the impression that McClain is getting preferential treatment from ownership:
“It’s fair to everybody to understand that Rolando’s boys — his family lives in Alabama and he doesn’t live with them. His former significant other is where they are. His offseason is spent with those boys, and that’s an understanding we have when he came through the door,” Jones said recently. “He has to be there to spend time with them, and we expect him to compensate for that. If you look at how his impact when he’s there with us on the field, what he can do for our team. If you look at his background in the NFL, how he’s evolved, I’m glad he’s a Cowboy.”
While you mull that over, here’s more from the NFC East:
- The Ravens may have been irked by Eugene Monroe‘s stance on medical marijuana, but Giants coach Ben McAdoo has no problem with it, as Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News writes. “I think everyone’s entitled to their own opinion,” McAdoo said. “Myself, I haven’t done any research. I don’t have a great answer for you there. That’s probably more of a political question, something that I’m not necessarily willing to jump into at this point — or ever. But every player, every coach, every person has their own opinion and is entitled to it.” This week we ran down the Giants and seven other teams that could sign Monroe.
- The Redskins paid a hefty price to sign Josh Norman and, so far, GM Scot McCloughan says he’s happy with the investment. “To see the pro he has become is incredible,” McCloughan told Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports. “To be an All Pro is unique. It doesn’t happen very often. If he is who I think he is, seeing him out here on the practice field and talking to him face to face, he’s a quality person and a really good football player. That’s huge. That’s what you want to surround yourself with. When I walk in here every morning, I want a football team, not just a football player. We’re going to win as a team, not just as a player.”
- On Monday night, the Eagles announced that they got a multi-year deal done with standout defensive tackle Fletcher Cox. Afterwards, we rounded up some reactions to the deal including takes on how it could affect other defensive tackles.
- Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins is reportedly content to play this season under the $19.95MM franchise tag if he and the club don’t reach a long-term agreement by the July 15 deadline.
- Earlier today the Giants signed fourth-round linebacker B.J. Goodson, wrapping up their draft class.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Giants Sign B.J. Goodson, Wrap Draft Class
The Giants have signed fourth-round pick B.J. Goodson, as Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News tweets. Now that the linebacker has inked his contract, the Giants’ entire 2016 draft class is now formally in the fold. 
Goodson, a Clemson product, was selected with the No. 109 overall pick. Goodson reportedly met with 15 teams in total prior to the draft and he apparently made a strong impression on Giants brass. In his senior season, Goodson lead his team with 108 tackles to go along with 14 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks, and 2 interceptions. At the combine, Goodson boosted his stock even further when he recorded a combine high 30 bench press reps at 225 pounds per clip.
Heading into the draft, the Giants were heavily connected to Michigan State tackle Jack Conklin and Georgia linebacker Leonard Floyd. Unfortunately for the G-Men, those players came off the board at No. 8 and 9, respectively, but one of the draft’s top corners was still available for them at No. 10. Eli Apple boasts some serious upside and the early reports on him out of Giants camp are positive.
Here is the full rundown of the Giants’ draft:
- 1-10: Eli Apple, CB (Ohio State)
- 2-40: Sterling Shepard, WR (Oklahoma)
- 3-71: Darian Thompson, S (Boise State)
- 4-109: B.J. Goodson, LB (Clemson)
- 5-149: Paul Perkins, RB (UCLA)
- 6-184: Jerell Adams, TE (South Carolina)
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.