Falcons Sign Duron Harmon
The Falcons have officially signed safety Duron Harmon to a one-year deal, per a club announcement. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. In related news, the Falcons also confirmed their signing of veteran wide receiver/kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson. 
[RELATED: Falcons To Sign Cordarrelle Patterson]
Harmon, 30, spent his first seven NFL seasons with the Patriots, providing reliable play with near-perfect attendance. Last year, old friend Matt Patricia brought him to Detroit in an exchange of late-round picks. Harmon went on to start in all 16 of the Falcons’ games, tallying 73 tackles, two interceptions, and five passes defensed along the way. Last year, Harmon earned a base salary of $3.5MM – this time around, he’ll likely earn less with the Falcons.
Harmon may not be an All-Pro, but he is a durable defender who can give the Falcons some badly needed depth at safety. Unless the Falcons score an impact rookie in the draft, he may be tapped to start at free safety opposite of Erik Harris.
For his career, the Rutgers product has 248 tackles, two tackles for loss, 19 interceptions, and 33 passes defensed to his credit. He’s also a three-time Super Bowl champion (including Super Bowl LI).
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/15/21
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Re-signed: LB Dennis Gardeck (RFA), LB Kylie Fitts (ERFA)
- Signed: WR Andre Baccellia, DL Ryan Bee, RB Tavien Feaster, LB Jamell Garcia-Williams, WR Darece Roberson
Cleveland Browns
- Re-signed: DE Porter Gustin
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Re-signed: LB Dakota Allen (ERFA)
Las Vegas Raiders
- Cut: QB Kyle Sloter
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: WR Jalen McCleskey
Falcons To Sign Cordarrelle Patterson
The Falcons have agreed to terms with Cordarrelle Patterson (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo). The veteran wide receiver/kick returner will head to Atlanta on a one-year, $3MM deal. 
Patterson, 30, entered the league as a first-round round pick of the Vikings in 2013. Expectations were sky-high — especially since mock drafts had the Tennessee product going much higher than No. 29 overall. Unfortunately, Patterson never developed into the superstar receiver he was made out to be. By 2015, the 6’2″ athlete barely factored into the Vikings’ offense, playing in 16 games and gaining just 25 yards from scrimmage.
However, he did earn first-team All-Pro honors in 2013, ’16, ’19, and ’20 on the strength of his kick returns. The Vikings didn’t get everything they hoped for, but the Raiders, Patriots, and Bears were mostly happy with the human highlight reel.
Over the last two seasons with the Bears, Patterson turned two kickoffs into touchdowns for Chicago with an overall average of 29.2 yards per return. He also logged 32 catches for 215 yards, plus 81 carries out of the backfield for 335 yards and a touchdown.
Seahawks To Sign Aldon Smith
The Seahawks have agreed to a one-year deal with Aldon Smith (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport). The deal came together pretty quickly, following the edge rusher’s Wednesday visit. 
[RELATED: Lockett Wants To Finish Career With Seahawks]
Smith’s multitude of suspensions and off-the-field incidents kept him out of the league for years. He was pretty much off of everyone’s radar, up until last year when the Cowboys signed him to a low-cost one-year deal. Smith managed to shake off the rust, tallying five sacks, two fumble recoveries, and 14 quarterback hits on 73% of Dallas’ defensive snaps.
All of Smith’s sacks came in the first half of the season. Around that time, the Seahawks took notice and tried to pry the veteran away from the Cowboys just before the deadline. Even though they were rebuffed, they managed to get their man a few months later.
After recording 46 sacks last year to finish seventh in the league, the Seahawks have done their best to keep the band together. Carlos Dunlap — the Seahawks’ Plan B when the Smith talks fell through — was re-signed to a two-year deal in late March. Smith will be joined up front by Benson Mayowa, who has a fresh one-year contract, and fellow newcomer Kerry Hyder, who joined on a three-year, $16.5MM accord.
Hue Jackson Hired As Tennessee State OC
Hue Jackson is back in football. The former Browns and Raiders head coach will serve as the offensive coordinator for Eddie George‘s Tennessee State staff, as Mike Organ of The Tennessean writes. 
Jackson, 55, has been away from the game since infamous tenure with the Browns. After his Cleveland teams went 3-36-1 across two-and-a-half seasons, Jackson has hardly been able to get an interview for an NFL job. Recently, he went public to try and set the record straight.
“There is no doubt I was lied to by ownership and the executive team,” Jackson said. “They were going to be football plus analytics, but they intentionally made it football versus analytics. They were going to take two years and they were going to find a way to use us as an experiment to make sure that they got the data that they needed for it to get better — at the expense of whoever — and that’s not right.”
Now, Jackson will try to rebuild his stock at the NCAA level. For what it’s worth, he was in the running for the Steelers’ OC position just a few months ago, so it’s still possible that he could mount an NFL return — just not in Cleveland.
Steelers Re-Sign Vince Williams
The Steelers have agreed to re-sign Vince Williams (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler). The linebacker had other offers, Fowler hears, but he ultimately chose to stay in Pittsburgh. 
The Steelers cut Williams earlier this year to save $4MM against the salary cap. It wasn’t an easy call for Kevin Colbert & Co., as Williams had spent his entire eight-year career in black and gold.
After entering the league as a sixth-round pick in 2013, Williams spent the early part of his career as a part-timer. But, for the last four years, he’s served as a starter. In 2020 ,he appeared in 14 games (all starts), racking up 70 tackles, 14 for a loss, and three sacks. His most noteworthy season came in 2017, when he notched eight sacks despite lining up as an inside linebacker.
The remainder of Williams’ last deal — a three-year extension worth $18.6MM — was too rich for the Steelers’ blood, but he managed to find middle ground with management. Now, he’ll look to add to his career tallies of 479 tackles and 20.5 sacks while staying with the only team he’s ever known.
Vikings Promote Andre Patterson To Assistant Head Coach
The Vikings have promoted Andre Patterson to assistant head coach, per a club announcement. This marks Patterson’s second promotion of the year after the defensive line coach was crowned as a co-defensive coordinator.
Patterson is on his second stint with the Vikes. He first joined in the late 1990s and circled back to the club in 2014. Since then, he’s taken on more and more responsibilities. Patterson has also helped the Vikings place ninth in in sacks (283), third in rushing touchdowns allowed (76), and fifth in opponent yards per game (332.0) since 2014. Now, he’ll share the headset with Adam Zimmer while working even closer with head coach Mike Zimmer.
In related news, the Vikings also hired former player Robert Steeples as an assistant special teams coach.
Falcons Meet With Cordarrelle Patterson
Veteran wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson visited with the Falcons on Wednesday (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo). If all goes well, the accomplished kick returner is expected to sign fairly quickly. 
“I’m going to miss my boys in Chicago,” Patterson tweeted, an indication that he’s on the verge of signing with Atlanta.
If signed, Patterson will provide new special teams coordinator Marquice Williams with a dynamic return man capable of breaking games wide open. Patterson’s done the bulk of his work on kickoffs, but he could also factor into punt returns.
Patterson, a former first-round pick of the Vikings, has spent the last two seasons with the Bears. In that span, he’s recorded 32 catches for 215 yards, plus ran 81 carries out of the backfield for 335 yards and a touchdown. On special teams, he turned two kickoffs into touchdowns for Chicago with an overall average of 29.2 yards per return, just a tick behind his previous 30.0 ypr.
Last time around in free agency, Patterson scored a two-year, $10MM deal from the Bears that included $5MM fully guaranteed. This time, the 30-year-old will likely sign for less.
Buccaneers Re-Sign Steve McLendon
The Buccaneers have re-signed defensive tackle Steve McLendon, as Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The veteran returns on a one-year deal, setting himself up for his first full season in Tampa.
The Jets traded McLendon and a 2023 seventh-rounder to the Bucs last October, in exchange for a 2022 sixth-round choice. It amounted to a virtually no-cost pickup for Jason Licht & Co., providing them with an accomplished run-stuffer to fill in for Vita Vea.
After reuniting with Todd Bowles, McLendon notched 17 tackles and two tackles for loss in the regular season. In the playoffs, he tallied five tackles and three quarterback hits en route to a Super Bowl ring. Not bad for a player who started the year with one of the league’s worst teams.
McLendon started at least 14 games in each season between 2017 and 2019. Last year, he was first-string with the Jets for six games, but came off of the bench for the Bucs in the latter half of the year. Now, he’ll reprise his role in the rotation, providing steady support on the interior.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/14/21
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: TE Stephen Carlson, DT Sheldon Day
New York Giants
- Waived: DB Ryan Lewis