Panthers To Sign Chris Smith
The Panthers have agreed to sign defensive lineman Chris Smith, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). It’s a one-year deal that will allow Smith to stay local as he returns to football.
Smith was away from the game in 2019 after the tragic death of his girlfriend. Recently, Smith’s camp reached out to teams to let them know that he was ready to make his NFL return. The Arkansas product met with the Panthers on Tuesday and the Bengals on Wednesday, but ultimately circled back to Charlotte to sign his deal. The 28-year-old hails from North Carolina.
The former fifth-rounder spent the first three seasons of his career with the Jaguars before moving on to the Bengals in 2017. In Cincy, he appeared in a career-high 16 games and compiled 26 tackles and three sacks, earning him a three-year contract with the Browns. He appeared in 16 games for the Browns during the 2018 season, but he was limited to only nine games this past year.
It’s already been a busy day for the Panthers. Earlier, the team made a trade with the Chargers that would send tackle Russell Okung to Carolina and guard Trai Turner to Los Angeles.
Chargers, Panthers Agree To Okung/Turner Swap
6:01pm: Turner wants a new contract, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter. It remains to be seen whether the Chargers would be willing to give him a deal that reflects the current guard market.
4:44pm: The Chargers and Panthers have reached tentative agreement on a trade that would send tackle Russell Okung to Carolina and guard Trai Turner to L.A., according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). It’s a swap of two big-time and big-bodied offensive lineman that addresses areas of need for both teams. 
The deal is not yet official, but it sounds like the core pieces are in place. Once the new league year begins on March 18, the deal can be finalized.
The Panthers started shopping Turner earlier this month and it didn’t take long for a deal to come together. He’s got two years to go on his four-year, $45MM pact, but the Chargers are happy to pick up what’s left of the tab. The contract is not cheap by any stretch, but the guard market has rapidly advanced to the point where interior enforcers are getting ~$15MM year.
Turner, who has made the Pro Bowl for the last five years, has 84 career games and 80 NFL starts to his credit. Last year, he graded out as the No. 31 ranked guard in the league, according to the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus. In 2015 – his coming-out party – he positioned as one of the game’s very best.
Okung was skeptical of his future with the Chargers and vocal about his complaints against the team. His L.A. tenure has been a bit of a mixed bag. In Year One, Okung earned Pro Bowl honors. Unfortunately, he lost much of last season due to blood clots in his lungs and a painful groin injury. All in all, he appeared in just six games for the Chargers.
No one expected Okung to fetch a ton on the trade block – he has one year left on his four-year, $53MM deal and the Bolts seemed likely to cut ties. His contract calls for a sizable $16.7MM cap hit; the Chargers had an escape hatch, however, that would have left them with just $3.5MM on the books.
The Chargers already have more than $50MM in available cap room and shedding Okung’s deal would push them into $60MM+ territory. They can direct those funds towards finding Philip Rivers‘ replacement or stick with Tyrod Taylor as their starter and spread the funds all around.
Okung, who is also looking to lead the NFLPA’s charge in CBA discussions, would probably be happy to rejoin offensive line coach Pat Meyer.
Packers Unlikely To Keep Jimmy Graham
Tight end Jimmy Graham plans to continue playing, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll be back with the Packers in 2020. The Packers plan to move on from him and the final part of his three-year, $30MM deal, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). 
[RELATED: Jared Veldheer To Continue Playing]
As of this writing, Graham is the league’s highest-paid tight end on a per-year basis. And, as of this writing, he’s set to count for an $11.6MM cap figure. The Packers, in all likelihood, will terminate the deal in order to save $8MM against $3.6MM in dead money. A trade may also be possible, though Graham is well past his best years.
Across ten campaigns with the Saints, Seahawks, and Packers, Graham went to the Pro Bowl five times. In 2013, he was also a First-Team All-Pro as he led the league with 16 touchdown catches.
Last year, Graham stayed healthy – it was his fourth-straight season with 16 games played – but he wasn’t able to play up to his contract. After he registered just 38 catches for 447 yards and three scores, the Packers are ready to move on.
Latest On Tom Brady, 49ers
The Tom Brady rumor mill has been buzzing with drips of news and gobs of speculation. Some of that theorizing has led some to connect the dots between the Patriots’ legendary passer and the NFC champs. However, at this time, there are no indications that the 49ers are interested in replacing Jimmy Garoppolo with Brady, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). 
Fresh off of a Super Bowl appearance, the 49ers are pretty happy with Jimmy G, as Rapoport notes. RapSheet doesn’t feel that the possibility can be ruled out, but at this point, there hasn’t been much to substantiate the talk.
Brady has done an excellent job of keeping things on the hush so far, given the circumstances. That’s one of the many traits that he’s learned from longtime coach Bill Belichick (the Pats, predictably, have also kept things quiet, outside of recent word that they are still in regular contact with the quarterback). At this point, it’s tough to predict how things might play out. The Chargers, Titans, and Raiders all profile as logical destinations for the league’s biggest star. The Colts and Giants, it seems, are not in the mix. Right now, it sounds like we can put the Niners into that second group.
On the surface, it’d be a logical match. If the Niners had Brady under center in February, it’s possible that they would be the champs. For Brady, signing with the Niners would put him in a major market with a ready-to-win defense. The Niners pondered the possibility of luring Brady away from the Patriots two years ago, too – when that didn’t happen, they traded for his backup instead.
Right now, it just doesn’t seem to be in the cards. Based on what we’re hearing (or, the lack of what insiders are hearing, concretely), the 49ers seem comfortable enough with Garoppolo as their quarterback moving forward.
Muhammad Wilkerson Arrested For DUI
Defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson has been arrested for driving while intoxicated, as Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. New Jersey police say he was found with marijuana and drug paraphernalia as well, and he’s facing charges for all of it. 
This, unfortunately, isn’t Wilkerson’s first DUI. He was arrested for DUI last offseason too and he never wound up signing with a team. This latest arrest will likely result in a suspension from the NFL and could prove to keep him out of the league once again.
Wilkerson last played with the Packers in 2018 in a season that was shortened by an ankle injury. Despite that, teams had interest in the defensive lineman from a football perspective.
Before that, Wilkerson spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Jets. On his rookie deal, Wilkerson played at a high level. The Jets inked him to a whopping five-year, $86MM extension in 2016, but he never lived up to that deal. The Temple product clashed with coaches and team officials on a routine basis, leading Gang Green to cut ties.
Between the injuries, incidents, and drama, Wilkerson never got back to his old form. In 2015, he tallied 12 sacks and earned a spot in the Pro Bowl. Now, it’s not clear if he’ll ever get a shot at redemption in the NFL.
Jared Veldheer To Continue Playing
Jared Veldheer already retired from the NFL once. His next retirement can wait. The Packers free agent plans to continue playing in 2020, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). 
Veldheer’s first exit from the game didn’t stick. In May of last year, he walked away from the NFL shortly after signing with the Patriots. But, in late November, the Pats granted his request to be released from the retired list. The Packers swooped in to claim him, and he went on to suit up for them in a pair of games.
Multiple teams inquired about Veldheer at the combine, Schefter hears, so it sounds like he’ll have a decent market waiting for him in a couple of weeks. Interested clubs will want to take a close look at his hip, however – he cited that lingering injury as the main reason for his abrupt and short-lived retirement last year.
Veldheer may be past his prime, but he did start 12 games for the Broncos in 2018. And, up until last year, he was a starter for almost every season since 2010.
Veldheer has appeared in 120 career games with 113 starts throughout his career. After starting out with the Raiders for his first four years, the third-round pick suited up for the Cardinals and Broncos before hooking on with the Packers in 2019.
Bucs Monitoring Ryan Tannehill
The Buccaneers are monitoring soon-to-be free agent Ryan Tannehill, according to Jenna Laine of ESPN.com. Teams are not permitted to talk to pending FAs until the legal tampering period begins, but Tannehill is among the quarterbacks on their radar. 
“March 16, we’ll have a lot more clarity,” general manager Jason Licht said recently. “You hear things on the street, but you just wait for the dominoes to fall a little bit and you’re prepared for every scenario.”
A refresher on the 2020 NFL offseason calendar: March 16 is the start of the “legal tampering” period in which teams are allowed to engage in conversations with free agents before they officially become available on March 18, when the league year begins (Of course, teams tend to chat with agents well before those dates to get a sense for where the market stands).
The March 12th deadline to franchise tag players will also be a factor for the Bucs as they consider Tannehill as a potential replacement for Jameis Winston. The Titans are aiming to lock up Tannehill before that date and use the tag on running back Derrick Henry. There’s mutual interest in a new deal between Tannehill and Tennessee, but nothing is certain around this time of year.
As previously reported, Laine also notes that the Bucs are also keeping tabs on Tom Brady, Philip Rivers, and Teddy Bridgewater. Few expect Brady to land in Tampa and there’s increasing chatter about Rivers going to the Colts. Even if those two aren’t on the table, Bridgewater would be an intriguing pickup for the Bucs, should they choose to part with Winston.
Bills Promote Leslie Frazier
On Wednesday morning, the Bills promoted Leslie Frazier from defensive coordinator to defensive coordinator/assistant head coach. The new title likely comes with a pay bump for the veteran coach, who has guided a very effective defense in recent years. 
“Upon taking the job in Buffalo, it was important to me to add a coach with previous head coaching experience like Leslie,” head coach Sean McDermott said in a press release. “His fingerprints are all over our operation and I’m extremely grateful for all the years we have worked together. Leslie’s impact on our team is felt every day through his guidance, wisdom, and his genuine care for people. He is a great example to everyone within our organization.”
The Bills’ D has ranked top 5 in the league for the past two seasons. Last year, they placed third in the league overall and second in points surrendered. They were also top 10 in first downs allowed, third down defense, sacks, and total takeaways, something they had not done as a franchise since 1999. For his part, Frazier says he’s excited about the new title.
“It definitely highlights that my role here goes beyond just being the defensive coordinator,” said Frazier. “What message it sends to owners I’m not all together sure, but it helps illuminate what my role is here in Buffalo.”
Texans To Re-Sign LS Jon Weeks
In a couple of weeks (get it?), the Texans will re-sign their longtime long snapper. The team has agreed to a new deal with Jon Weeks that will be formalized at the start of the league year, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter).
Weeks holds the Texans’ consecutive game streak with 160 straight appearances – he hasn’t missed work since joining the club in 2010. The Baylor product was not selected when he declared for the 2008 NFL Draft, but he kept with it and, eventually, found his home.
The 34-year-old is coming off of a four-year, $3.9MM extension he signed back in 2015. Terms of the new deal are not yet known, but the new pact might be long enough to secure him through the rest of his playing days.
Mike Adams Retires From NFL
Mike Adams is calling it a career. On Wednesday morning, the former Pro Bowl safety announced his retirement on NFL Network (Twitter link via Tom Pelissero). 
Adams leaves the sport after 16 seasons and 228 games played. The 38-year-old suited up for the 49ers, Browns, Broncos, Colts, Panthers, and, most recently, the Texans, over the course of his career. In 2014 and 2015, his first two seasons in Indy, he stepped into the limelight with back-to-back Pro Bowl nods. Remarkably, he did it in his age 33 and 34 seasons.
Eventually, Father Time caught up with Adams. After spending two seasons as a Panthers starter with snaps at both safety spots, the Panthers allowed him to walk following the 2018 season.
Adams’ 228 games played ranks him third all-time among NFL safeties, slotting him ahead of John Lynch, Brian Dawkins, and other football legends. We here at PFR wish Adams the best in retirement.