Bengals Sign Kavon Frazier
The Bengals have signed Kavon Frazier, per a club announcement. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it’s likely a one-year deal for the former Cowboys and Dolphins safety.
Frazier came into the league as a sixth-round pick of the Cowboys. He played in 44 games with Dallas, starting two. The Central Michigan product primarily functioned as a special teams player during his time in Texas — ditto for his 2020 with the Dolphins. Still, Frazier accomplished his No. 1 goal of showing that he can stay healthy for a full season. Most of his 2019 was lost to injury, but Frazier suited up for 15 of the Dolphins’ regular season games.
Now, he’ll look to stick in Cincy and join fellow newcomers in the Bengals’ secondary, including Mike Hilton, Chidobe Awuzie, and Ricardo Allen.
Eagles Hire Ex-Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell
The Eagles announced a host of hires and changes to their personnel department on Thursday. Among the newcomers: Former Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell, who is listed as a “personnel executive.” The Eagles also promoted Catherine Raiche to VP of Football Operations. With the move, the 32-year-old is now the highest-ranking female in NFL personnel history. 
Caldwell got canned by the Jags in November following a loss that knocked them down to 1-10. The decision wasn’t a shocker, but the timing was a surprise — most figured the Jaguars would ride out the lost season and start from scratch in January. Caldwell was in the midst of his eighth season with the team, which was largely bumpy. After his hire of Gus Bradley and drafting of Blake Bortles didn’t work out, he was essentially demoted when the team hired Tom Coughlin to run football ops. Then, Coughlin was kicked out. But, when Caldwell took the helm again, the team was without many of its stars, including Jalen Ramsey.
Before joining the Birds in 2019, Raiche spent five years in the Canadian Football League and served in top roles for the Toronto Argonauts and Montreal Alouettes. Now, she’ll hold a top position encompassing scouting, contracts, and player development.
Cardinals Cut QB Cole McDonald
The Cardinals have released quarterback Cole McDonald, per a club announcement. The former University of Hawaii standout was signed in February to provide offseason depth, but he’s been squeezed out of the crowded QB room. 
McDonald has yet to see live action in the NFL. The Titans snagged him in the seventh-round of the 2020 draft, but dropped him in August to make room for Trevor Siemian.
While with the Rainbow Warriors, McDonald finished third in the nation in passing yards. Most evaluators chalked that up to Hawaii’s highly-aggressive offense, but McDonald surely deserves some of the credit.
Without McDonald, the Cardinals are left with Chris Streveler and Colt McCoy behind Kyler Murray on the depth chart. It’s worth noting that Streveler stumbled in the season finale, so the Cardinals may look to bring in extra competition this summer.
Lions Meet With Todd Gurley
The Lions are set to meet with Todd Gurley today (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). If signed, Gurley will reunite with old pal Jared Goff and pair with fellow Georgia alum D’Andre Swift. 
Gurley was a two-time All-Pro while he was with Goff in Los Angeles. As the anchor of the Rams’ ground game, Gurley managed 40 all-purpose touchdowns between ’17 and ’18 while averaging 4.8 yards per carry. Unfortunately, his knee injury hampered him in 2018 as he averaged just 3.8 yards per tote and just 6.7 yards per catch.
Gurley hooked on with the Falcons in April, following his Rams release. The deal wasn’t finalized for a while though — the pandemic prevented Gurley from taking his physical until June. Fortunately, he was cleared. Gurley went on to start in all 15 of his games for the Falcons, though he was held to just 3.5 yards per tote with 25 grabs for 164 yards — far below his best work.
At this stage, the Lions aren’t expecting the 2017 or 2018 iteration of Gurley. But, if he’s healthy, he could be a solid and low-cost addition to their backfield.
Patriots Cut FB Dan Vitale
The Patriots have released fullback Dan Vitale, as Jim McBride of the Boston Globe tweets. To take his place on the roster, the Pats have added tight end Troy Fumagalli. 
Vitale joined the Patriots last year, but opted out of the 2020 season in the midst of the pandemic. Vitale was one of the first NFL players to take the opt-out, following Chiefs guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Ravens wideout De’Anthony Thomas, Seahawks guard Chance Warmack and Cowboys cornerback Maurice Canady. Before that, Vitale played 170 snaps for the Packers in 2019, catching 12 passes for 97 yards.
Fumagalli came into the league as a 2018 fifth-round pick of the Broncos. After missing his rookie year due to injury, he went on to appear in 19 games for the Broncos between ’19 and ’20. All in all, he’s notched 14 grabs for 118 yards and two scores. He’ll have his work cut out for him as the Patriots’ TE group already includes Jonnu Smith, Hunter Henry, Dalton Keene, Devin Asiasi, and Matt LaCosse.
Jets’ Alex Lewis Agrees To Pay Cut
The Jets and guard Alex Lewis have agreed to a reworked contract (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Field Yates). Now, Lewis will earn a base salary of $3MM in 2021, down from his scheduled $5.8MM. Meanwhile, the final year of his deal in 2022 has been eliminated. Now, Lewis will have the opportunity to win the Jets’ starting right guard job and reach free agency next spring. 
Lewis probably would have been released if he didn’t agree to the new terms. And, if he was cut at this stage of the offseason, he would have entered a fairly weak market, since most teams have filled their interior line needs (and allocated most of their dollars). On the plus side, the salary cap is set to jump to $208.2MM in 2022, so Lewis could land a solid deal next March.
For now, Lewis will focus on vying for a first-string role along with first-round pick Alijah Vera-Tucker and fellow vet Greg Van Roten.
First-Round Pick Offered For Falcons’ Julio Jones
The Falcons have received several trade offers for Julio Jones, including one that includes a first-round draft pick, sources tell Dianna Russini of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Russini adds that there’s a sense around the NFL that a trade could go down as early as next week. 
Plenty of teams figure to have interest in the wide receiver. It’s been said that the Patriots, Titans, and 49ers could be among those in the mix.
“Well, you know I’m not legally allowed to talk about players on other teams, so I can’t answer that exactly the way you want me to,” Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan said earlier this week. “Anyone I’ve coached in the past that I have a relationship with, especially a great dude like Julio, obviously I have a ton of respect for. We’re always interested in improving our team. We’ll never just say, ‘Hey, we’re done. We can’t improve our team.’ You always try to make that happen. But, yeah, it makes it harder when you’ve already given up some stuff to make some moves and things like that.”
Jones would round out an offense that features tight end George Kittle plus young receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel. He could also help the Pats restore some of the firepower they lost when Rob Gronkowski took his talents to Tampa. Meanwhile, A.J. Brown seems to think that he’d look good in Titans blue.
“Trust me, if you want to carry the load, you can carry it,” Brown said to Jones on Instagram (link). “But if you get tired, you know I can carry you.”
Adam Vinatieri To Retire From NFL
3:36pm: The NFL’s all-time scoring leader confirmed he will hang up his cleats. Vinatieri acknowledged during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show (video link) he will not attempt to play a 25th season. An official announcement should follow soon, and the longtime Patriots and Colts kicker should be expected to land in Canton at some point.
9:28am: Ideally, Adam Vinatieri would like to play through his 49th birthday in December. But, at this stage, the longtime NFL kicker doesn’t see it happening.
“I haven’t officially retired, but I’m probably on that way,” Vinatieri said in a recent interview with Morten Andersen (via the Indy Star). “Like I said, I’m continuing to do stuff to try and get there. It’s just not … there might be a time to officially do that here in the near future.”
Vinatieri’s contract with the Colts expired at the end of the 2019 season, making him an unrestricted free agent. The veteran planned on returning to the field in 2020, but quarantine life hampered the rehabilitation of his surgically-repaired knee. Meanwhile, the Colts moved on to undrafted rookie kicker Rodrigo Blankenship.
On the whole, Vinatieri’s career has been legendary. Over the course of 24 seasons, he captured four Super Bowl rings, three First Team All-Pro nods, and countless clutch kicks. His late-year injury resulted in his first missed game since Super Bowl XLIV. And, with the Colts, he had perfect attendance dating back to 2010.
With that said, Vinatieri did show some signs of slowing down in 2019. He made just 17 of his 25 field goal tries and 22 of his 28 extra points. The Colts had issues beyond the special teams unit, of course, but those misses did not help matters as they dropped out of playoff contention.
“When you get to be our age, and you’ve kicked as many balls as we have, things start to wear out a little bit,” Vinatieri said. “Unfortunately, it was a little bit more than we were hoping. We knew we had some stuff in (the knee) that needed to be fixed. But when our surgeon went in there, he said, ‘I’m not giving you the 40,000-mile overhaul; it looked like we gave you the 80,000-mile overhaul.’”
If Vinatieri returns for another NFL season, it’ll be a historic feat. Currently, quarterback/kicker George Blanda holds the league’s all-time record on that front having played at the age of 48 in the 1975 season.
Cowboys Hire Ben McAdoo
The Cowboys have hired former Giants head coach Ben McAdoo as a consultant (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo). Now, McAdoo is set to face his former squad twice in 2021. He’ll also get to reunite with head coach Mike McCarthy — the two last worked together in Green Bay with McAdoo serving as the quarterbacks coach. 
McAdoo climbed up the NFL coaching ranks during his stints with the Saints, 49ers, and Packers. He caught on with the Giants in 2014 as their offensive coordinator, improving the squad from the 28th-highest-scoring offense to the sixth-highest-scoring offense. Ownership and the front office turned to their OC after Tom Coughlin stepped down, making McAdoo their 17th head coach in franchise history.
The Giants went 11-5 during McAdoo’s first season as the helm, although the team lost to the Packers in that year’s Wild Card Game. New York stumbled to a 2-10 record to start the 2017 campaign, and the organization ended up firing both their head coach and general manager Jerry Reese before the end of the year.
Since that time, McAdoo has seemingly been out of football altogether. The coach has worked with the likes of Aaron Rodgers and Eli Manning throughout his career. Now, he’ll be asked to strategize around Dak Prescott.
NFL, Players Agree To $208.2MM Cap For 2022
The NFL and NFLPA have agreed to a $208.2MM salary cap for the 2022 season (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). That number could change somewhat based on a few factors. Still, it sounds as though they’re on track for a significant uptick. Currently, the cap is set at $182.5MM. 
The ultimate number will be determined by the remainder of the league’s revenue projections. That includes money from TV deals, radio contracts, and gambling partnerships. If the ~$208MM figure holds, it’ll set a new all-time watermark for the cap, which previously spiked at $198.2MM in 2019. Of course, last year’s cap was reduced due to the loss of gate revenue and other income for the league.
The two sides will also have to discuss a salary cap floor. As of this writing, there’s no minimum for payroll – that’s surely front of mind for NFLPA leader DeMaurice Smith & Co., who want to shield against teams cheaping out.
As Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link) notes, this is especially welcome for clubs that have significant dollars on the books for 2022. Already, the Packers, Cowboys, Rams, Saints, Giants, and Bills are carrying more than $200MM in committments for ’22. The Packers lead the way with $237MM, per OverTheCap.com, and that might not factor in Dean Lowry’s restructure, which shifts a good chunk of his money into next year.