Jets To Release Trumaine Johnson
The Jets will officially cut Trumaine Johnson when the league year opens this afternoon, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. This has been a long expected move as the Jets look to move on from an absolute disaster of a free agent signing. 
Since-fired GM Mike Maccagnan signed Johnson to a five-year, $72.5MM in 2018 after striking out on quarterback Kirk Cousins and other top targets. What seemed like an over-pay at the time went in a much worse direction than anyone could have anticipated. Injuries hampered Johnson and Jets officials were sometimes left with the impression that his effort was lacking.
The move will not free up lots of cap room for Gang Green – they’ll be saddled with $12MM in dead money versus just $3MM in cap savings. The silver lining, however, is that the Jets can spread his $12MM dead money cap hit by marking him as a post-June 1 release.
The Jets tried to scare up interest in Johnson before the trade deadline last year, but there were no takers. Predictably, there was no market for Johnson in March.
Between the Jets and the Rams, Johnson has earned $70M as an NFL pro.
Buccaneers’ Tom Brady Wants To Play With Antonio Brown
Teams that have spoke with Tom Brady in recent days believe that the new Buccaneers quarterback wants to reunite with Antonio Brown, according to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo (on Twitter). It’s not immediately clear whether the Bucs are willing to sign Brown, whose status with the league is still up in the air.
We also heard chatter that Brady wanted to play with Brown in the lead-up to free agency, though those were sourced from anonymous people “close” to the wide receiver. Now, we’re getting word of Brady’s desire to play with Brown directly from the teams that were courting him.
From a football perspective, it would be a huge win for the Buccaneers. With Brown, Mike Evans, and Chris Godwin at wide receiver, they’d be impossible to guard for opposing defenses.
Still, the NFL says Brown’s status remains under review. Even if he’s cleared to play, the Bucs might have reservations about bringing him into the locker room. Remember, even before all of the ugly accusations and disturbing social media videos, Brown was perceived to be unstable for his behavior in Pittsburgh and the drama that nixed his Oakland tenure before it even began.
Brown has caught 841 passes for 11,253 yards over the course of his ten-year career, which includes seven Pro Bowl appearances. Brady, meanwhile, has thrown for 74,751 yards and 541 touchdowns en route to 14 Pro Bowl selections.
Cowboys To Sign Gerald McCoy
The Cowboys have agreed to terms with defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, a source tells ESPN.com’s Todd Archer (on Twitter). The pact, which is still pending a physical, is slated to be a three-year contract. 
Once finalized, it’ll be a three-deal deal worth roughly $20MM, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. His average annual value should land north of $6MM, Garafolo adds, so it sounds like the base value of the deal will be no less than $18MM. That’s a lot less than McCoy earned on his massive deal with the Bucs, but still a solid payday for a vet who is eager to win on the backend of his career.
McCoy hooked on with the Panthers last year after spending his previous nine pro seasons with the Buccaneers. He started in every game for Carolina and was still effective on the interior – he finished out with five sacks, bringing his career total to 59.5.
McCoy, 32, will join forces with DeMarcus Lawrence and Tyrone Crawford on Dallas’ D-Line. There, he’ll help to try and fill the void left by the departures of Robert Quinn and Maliek Collins. Quinn cashed in on Tuesday by agreeing to a five-year, $70MM deal with the Bears. Collins, meanwhile, hooked on with the Raiders.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/17/20
We don’t dance now; we make minor moves.
Detroit Lions
- Waived: QB Kyle Sloter
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Released: TE Geoff Swaim
New England Patriots
- Re-signed: LB Keionta Davis
Philadelphia Eagles
- Re-signed: DT Hassan Ridgeway
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Re-signed: LS Kameron Canaday
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: TE Antony Auclair
Lions Release LB Devon Kennard
6:50pm: These trade efforts evidently failed. The Lions have released Kennard, according to a team announcement.
12:05pm: Hold the phone, because the Lions are on the phone. The club is discussing potential trades involving Kennard, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
11:51am: The Lions are releasing linebacker Devon Kennard, as Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. It’s not quite a Tom Brady-leaving-the-Patriots-level shocker, but it’s a surprise nonetheless. Kennard is coming off of back-to-back seasons with seven sacks, but the Lions have opted to move on from him.
Kennard came to the Lions in 2018 on a three-year, $18.75MM free agent deal. Since then, he’s tallied those aforementioned 14 sacks with 104 total stops, three fumble recoveries, and one forced fumble with near-perfect attendance. Previous to joining the Lions, Kennard started in 35 games for the Giants and posted four sacks as a non-rush linebacker in his walk year.
The Lions have signed another hybrid-type player, and linebacker-edge defender Jamie Collins now has a contract that eclipses Kennard’s. It is possible the longtime Patriot will move in on Kennard’s role. The Lions also gave an eight-figure-per-year deal to offensive lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai. The Lions will save nearly $6MM by moving on from Kennard.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/17/20
Tuesday’s restricted free agent and exclusive rights free agent tender decisions will be posted below. Deals will be updated throughout the day.
RFAs
Tendered at second-round level:
- Chargers: DB Michael Davis
Tendered at original-round level:
- Falcons: RB Brian Hill
- Raiders: OT David Sharpe
- Seahawks: C Joey Hunt, DL Branden Jackson
- Steelers: OT Zach Banner
ERFAs
Tendered:
- Chargers: DL Isaac Rochell, T Trent Scott
- Jaguars: LB Austin Calitro
- Packers: WR Jake Kumerow, WR Allen Lazard
- Panthers: OL Jordan Roos
- Rams: TE Johnny Mundt, C Coleman Shelton
- Seahawks: DT Bryan Mone, DB Ryan Neal, WR Malik Turner
Non-tendered:
Ravens To Bring Back Justin Ellis
The Ravens will re-sign Justin Ellis on a one-year deal, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). A late-season addition, Ellis made a good impression on the team in a short sample.
[RELATED: Ravens To Decline Carr’s Option]
Ellis found a nice free agent payday in 2018 when he signed a three-year, $15MM with the Raiders. Unfortunately, injuries kept him out of action and his Oakland tenure ended with an injury settlement/release. In November of last year, the Ravens picked him up and he rewarded them with solid run defense in a handful of games.
To date, Ellis has appeared in 70 career games with 42 starts.
Bengals To Sign D.J. Reader
The Bengals have reached agreement on a deal with Texans free agent defensive tackle D.J. Reader, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Reader is set to collect $53MM on his new four-year deal with Cincy.
The Broncos, Bills, and Titans were among the clubs connected to Reader in recent weeks. Just last night, we heard that Denver was in discussions with the Clemson product. The Texans, meanwhile, wanted to keep him, but the two sides were unable to come to terms on compensation. Reader was relatively unheralded coming out of college, slipping to the fifth-round in 2016. He’s certainly not unheralded anymore.
Reader was exceptional against the run last year. He’s also made strides as a pass rusher – he didn’t register a ton of sacks, but that doesn’t quite tell the whole story. He was often able to generate some pressure up the middle, and disrupt the pocket. Now, he’ll pair with Geno Atkins to form one of the most intimidating interior duos in the NFL. The Bengals will now have an imposing defensive front, but they still have some work to do at linebacker and in the secondary.
Cincinnati usually wasn’t a big spender in free agency during the Marvin Lewis era, but they’ve clearly changed their approach with new head coach Zac Taylor. They’ve particularly been going after guys on defense, as we heard they tried aggressively for linebackers Joe Schobert and Nick Kwatikoski before those two guys landed their huge deals.
The Bengals’ defense was atrocious last year, and obviously they’re willing to spend big to revamp it. They’re hoping Reader and an improved defense will make life easier for a rookie quarterback, presumably LSU’s Joe Burrow, in 2020.
Eagles Re-Sign Rodney McLeod
The Eagles have re-signed Rodney McLeod to a two-year contract, per a club announcement. The new deal will be worth $12MM in total, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter) hears. 
McLeod has been a starter since the 2013 season, when he was still with the (St. Louis) Rams. That streak continued in 2016 when he hooked on with the Eagles, though he was interrupted by a knee injury in 2018 that limited him to just three games. After that, the Eagles asked him to adjust his deal and he obliged.
Last year, he was able to return and start in all 16 of the Eagles’ regular season games. He came away with two interceptions – bringing his career tally to 13 picks – along with six passes defensed, two forced fumbles, one sack, and 76 total stops.
McLeod is currently slated to return to his starting position. This time around, he’ll be paired with Jalen Mills on the first-string unit. Earlier today, the Birds re-upped Mills on a one-year deal and declined their option on locker room leader Malcolm Jenkins.
Jets Re-Sign Alex Lewis
The Jets have agreed to terms on a new three-year, $18.6MM deal with Alex Lewis, according to Manish Mehta of the Daily News (on Twitter). This, of course, comes after the Jets failed to sign their preferred OL targets this week. 
In fairness to Gang Green, the Jets had designs on keeping Lewis before the legal tampering period got underway. New Jets GM Joe Douglas acquired him in August of last year (a few months into his tenure) and wanted to hang on to him after he gave the team 15 appearances and 12 starts.
The former fourth-round Ravens pick graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 57 overall guard last season. Given the massive rise in the interior line market and Lewis’ relative youth – he won’t turn 28 until just before the draft – it’s hard to totally pan the deal.