Giants Meet With Danny Shelton
The Giants will meet with Danny Shelton on Monday (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). This marks Shelton’s first known visit since he was released by the Lions earlier this month. 
Shelton was set to enter the back half of his two-year, $8MM deal. Instead, the Lions dropped the 28-year-old to save $4MM in cap room. Shelton — who entered the league as the No. 12 pick in 2015 — never lived up to his draft status, but he’s built a solid career as a run-stuffer. The 345-pounder played a key role with the Patriots in 2019 and found a home as the Lions starter this past season. Unfortunately, a knee injury capped his season at 12 games/starts.
Last year, Shelton notched 37 tackles and one sack in the Lions 3-4 scheme. The Giants can use someone like Shelton in the rotation they look to replace Dalvin Tomlinson. After a down year, he probably wouldn’t be too pricey, so the Giants could still entertain the likes of Geno Atkins and Kawann Short as they fill out the defensive line.
Colts To Sign Julien Davenport
The Colts have agreed to sign Julien Davenport to a one-year contract, according to a source who spoke with NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter). Specific terms of the ex-Dolphins tackle’s deal are not yet known.
Davenport spent the first two seasons of his career with the Texans, including the 2018 season in which he started 15 games. He was then traded to the Dolphins as part of the 2019 Laremy Tunsil trade. Between ’19 and ’20, he saw his role in the Dolphins’ offense dip. After starting eight games for Miami in 2019, Davenport appeared in just 5% of the offensive snaps last year, despite dressing for every game.
The 2017 fourth-round pick out of Bucknell will now join up with the Colts, who need support at left tackle. But, of course, Davenport is no Anthony Castonzo. In that aforementioned ’18 season with the Texans, Davenport allowed a league-high 67 total pressures. The Colts’ next starter may come early in the April draft, where the Colts own the No. 21 overall pick.
Saints To Sign Tanoh Kpassagnon
The Saints have agreed to a two-year deal with defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon. Financial terms of the deal are not yet known, but this is likely a low-cost — and potentially high-reward — signing for the Saints
Kpassagnon was a second-round pick of the Chiefs in 2017. Selected in between Patrick Mahomes and Kareem Hunt, the edge rusher has yet to live up his draft billing. Midway through his tenure at Villanova, Kpassagnon switched from tight end to defensive end and put himself on the NFL radar. After notching 9.5 tackles for loss and six sacks in 2015, he turned in an even stronger senior season – 21.5 TFL and eleven sacks, en route to first-team All-America honors.
The 6’7″, 289-pound athlete has spent much of the last four years as a deep reserve, but he started in 15 games for the Chiefs last year. And, in 2019, he notched a career-high four sacks. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are set to move forward with Jarran Reed and Frank Clark on the edges.
Chiefs Re-Sign Daniel Sorensen
The Chiefs have re-signed safety Daniel Sorensen, per a club announcement. The two sides were said to be closing in on a one-year deal last week. On Monday morning, they made it all official. 
Sorensen, one of the longest-tenured members of the team, was a key piece of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl runs. Since joining the team as an undrafted free agent back in 2014, the BYU product has appeared in 94 games with 32 starts. All in all, he has ten interceptions, 25 passes defensed, four forced fumbles, and 3.5 sacks to his credit.
Sorensen spent four years as a reserve before cracking the starting lineup in 2017. This past year, he saw time in 15 games with eleven starts, racking up 91 tackles, five passes defended, two forced fumbles, and three interceptions (including one pick six). And, for the second straight year, the 31-year-old played on 100% of the snaps in the Super Bowl.
In other Chiefs news, Andy Reid & Co. inked ex-Seahawks defensive tackle Jarran Reed over the weekend.
Falcons, Deion Jones Restructure Deal
The Falcons and linebacker Deion Jones have agreed to a reworked contract, as Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The adjustment will give the Falcons an extra $4MM in cap space for the coming year. Meanwhile, Jones now has his 2022 base salary fully guaranteed. 
The Falcons have been fairly quiet in free agency, save for their recent two-year deal with running back Mike Davis. The additional $4MM alone might not lead to a major signing, but it could allow them to build out their bench and get their rookies under contract. The Falcons’ board starts with the No. 4 overall pick – that choice alone carries a $6MM cap hit for Year One.
Jones, 27 in November, is in the midst of the four-year, $57MM extension he signed in the summer of 2019. After missing much of 2018 due to injury, Jones has bounced back with perfect attendance in each of the last two seasons. Last year, the Falcons asked Jones to bring more pressure against the pass and he delivered a career-high 4.5 sacks, plus two interceptions. He took one of those INTs to the house, giving him five career defensive touchdowns.
Jones will be supported, in part, by Barkevious Mingo. The former No. 6 overall pick agreed to join the Falcons last week on a low-cost, one-year deal.
Bengals Re-Sign Jordan Evans
The Bengals have re-signed linebacker Jordan Evans to a one-year deal, per a club announcement. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed. 
[RELATED: Bengals Tried To Sign Joe Thuney]
Evans, a 2017 sixth-round pick, has appeared in 60 games over the last four years. In 2019 and 2020, the Bengals used him mostly on special teams. This year, he may have an opportunity to get back into the defensive rotation, especially if linebacker Josh Bynes isn’t re-signed.
Now set to enter his fifth pro season, Evans will look to build on his 105 tackles, 3.5 sacks, seven pass defenses, and two interceptions. Even if he doesn’t see an uptick in snaps, he figures to continue in his key role on special teams. Last year, Pro Football Focus assigned him a special teams grade of 77.6, good for No. 3 on the team. Meanwhile, Cethan Carter, Cincy’s top-ranked ST player, is out of the picture after joining the Dolphins.
Kyle Love Retires From NFL
Defensive tackle Kyle Love announced his retirement on Sunday (via Instagram). Love, 34, did not play in 2020 and he will not seek NFL employment for 2021. 
Love entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Mississippi State in 2010. He spent three seasons with the Patriots, appearing in 41 total games before being diagnosed with diabetes and waived with a non-football illness designation. He appeared in only three contests from 2013-14 while playing for the Chiefs, Jaguars, and Panthers, but he eventually reestablished his career with Carolina. From 2017-2019, Love appeared in at least 37% of the Panthers’ defensive snaps. Last year, after six years with the Panthers, he agreed to join the rival Buccaneers.
Love was set to serve as a rotational piece behind of Vita Vea and Ndamukong Suh, but he was released before the final cut in September. We here at PFR wish Love the best in retirement.
This Date In Transactions History: Cowboys Extend Jason Witten
Four years ago today, the Cowboys inked Jason Witten to a brand new deal to take him through the 2021 season. The contract was set to cover four years, but the tight end wound up playing just one year on that pact and two more Dallas years in total — with a retirement sandwiched in between. 
[RELATED: Jason Witten Retires After 17 Seasons]
At the time, Witten was on the verge of his 35th birthday. But, after all of those seasons and crushing blows, he was still productive. The veteran was riding a 13-year streak of perfect attendance — his only missed contest came as a rookie in 2003. In 2016, Witten hauled in 69 passes for 673 yards and three touchdowns — solid work, even if it wasn’t quite as impressive as his past 1,000-yard efforts.
Witten delivered again in 2017, posting 63 grabs for 560 yards and five scores en route to his tenth Pro Bowl selection. But, in May of 2018, he announced that he would “pass the torch to the next generation” and join ESPN’s Monday Night Football booth. Witten’s transition was short-lived – in February of 2019, he surprised everyone by returning to Dallas. His un-retirement was huge for Dallas. Previously, they were looking at a tight end group consisting of Blake Jarwin, Dalton Schultz, Rico Gathers, and Geoff Swaim.
When Witten changed his mind, the Cowboys issued him a new one-year, $4.5MM deal. It was widely assumed that this would be the final contract of Witten’s career, allowing him to retire in Dallas. Still, Witten had more left in the tank and he was willing to go elsewhere after Jason Garrett‘s departure. That led him to the Raiders, where he turned in an uncharacteristically quiet year. In his age-38 season, Witten caught just 13 passes for 69 yards and two touchdowns. Having been leapfrogged by Pro Bowler Darren Waller and TEs around the league, Witten announced his second retirement in January.
Patriots Made Late Push For Joe Thuney
Before Joe Thuney left for the Chiefs, the Patriots made a late push to keep him in New England, according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. In addition, the Bengals and Chargers were also in on the standout guard. 
[RELATED: Chiefs Sign Joe Thuney]
The Patriots shocked everyone by tagging Thuney last year. This time around, they opted against cuffing him again at a 20% increase, but they still tried to keep him with a multi-year offer. Ultimately, the Chiefs won out – they were the first team to put an offer on the table for Thuney and it proved to be the most lucrative of the bunch. The longtime starter is now tied to Kansas City for five years at a whopping $80MM. The first two years are fully guaranteed at $32.5MM. Meanwhile, Year 3 goes from guaranteed-for-injury to 100% guaranteed in 2022, so $48MM of the deal is effectively locked in. Thuney didn’t come cheap, but he’ll help to fortify a line that has lost starting tackles Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz.
When Thuney went elsewhere, the Bengals pivoted towards lower cost moves, such as re-signing guard Quinton Spain. Unless they make a splashier signing like veteran Nick Easton, they’ll probably look to find a starter early on in the draft. Meanwhile, the Chargers managed to ink All-Pro center Corey Linsley and versatile lineman Matt Feiler, so Justin Herbert should be well protected.
In addition to those aforementioned teams, the Jets also tried to land Thuney. He’s long been a target of Gang Green – they were planning to make a big push for him last year, too, up until the Patriots kept him from the open market.
NFL Won’t Mandate Vaccine For NFL Draft Prospects
The NFL won’t mandate vaccines for players attending this year’s draft, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero (Twitter links). Though the league is encouraging COVID-19 vaccinations, they will not bar players, coaches, or team personnel from attending if they have not gotten their shots. 
[RELATED: Dolphins Received Several Offers For No. 3 Pick]
Per a memo from the league office, up to ten fully vaccinated individuals can congregate in the draft room without masks or distancing requirements. Any draft room with non-vaccinated personnel will be capped at a 20-person capacity with protocols in place.
Beyond the draft, Dr. Allen Sills – the NFL’s chief medical officer — plans to encourage prospects and existing players to get vaccines. However, it will not be a must for players in the 2021 season.
This year’s (non-virtual) draft will kick off in Cleveland on Thursday,April 29 and run through Saturday, May 1.