Buccaneers Restructure Mike Evans’ Deal
The Buccaneers converted $2MM of Mike Evans‘ base salary into a bonus, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The move creates $1.6MM in cap room for Tampa Bay, giving them some much needed flexibility. 
Prior to the adjustment, the Bucs were pretty much up against the wall. Obviously, all of the hefty spending took place in the offseason, but the Bucs will now have room to make small pickups and salary acquisitions via trade, should they need reinforcements.
As with most adjustments of this nature, the move will have ramifications on future seasons for the Bucs. It’ll tack $400K on to Evans’ cap hits for each remaining season on his deal, which takes him through the 2023 season.
Evans, 26 in August, also reworked his contract back in June to give the Bucs some extra wiggle room. His five-year, $82.5MM extension has no guaranteed dollars left after the 2020 season, but he should continue to remain in the team’s plans. In 2018, he tallied 86 catches with a career-high 1,524 yards.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/4/19
We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:
Detroit Lions
- Signed: WR Marvin Hall, QB Chad Kanoff
- Cut: WR Jonathan Duhart, RB Mark Thompson
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: S Rolan Milligan
- Cut: QB Phillip Walker
New York Jets
- Signed: WR Josh Malone
AFC East Notes: Jets, Q. Williams, Pats
This is interesting – the Jets have listed No. 3 overall pick Quinnen Williams as a second-stringer on their first depth chart of the season. Of course, pre-season depth charts don’t mean a ton in and of themselves, but it is notable that Williams is slated to back up Steve McLendon at defensive tackle in Week 1. Things can also change between now and Sunday when the Jets face the Bills.
As we get set for the season to begin, here’s more from the AFC East:
- The Patriots traded for offensive linemen Korey Cunningham (Cardinals) and Jermaine Eluemunor (Ravens) in part because of early-season retirements from Jared Veldheer and Brian Schwenke. “We lost two guys that probably would have made our roster — Veldheer and Schwenke — they both retired early,” Bill Belichick said in a radio spot (via ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss). The Pats’ OL trading didn’t stop there, either, they also swung a move for Bills center Russell Bodine on Friday.
- Belichick is unsure how the center position will work out with David Andrews on IR (Twitter link via NESN’s Doug Kyed). Kyed expects Ted Karras to man the spot in Week 1, but Russell Bodine could also push for it.
- Jachai Polite was fined more than $100K during his time with the Jets, Mike Florio of PFT hears. Over the weekend, the Jets shocked everyone in the league by cutting Polite, a 2019 third-round pick. Apparently, his behavior and conduct led to the shocking release. Polite will now try to make a mark in Seattle as a member of their practice squad.
Eagles, Chargers Discuss Melvin Gordon
Melvin Gordon could be on the move and the Eagles, for the right price, would be interested in acquiring him. The Eagles offered up a trade in which they would send Jordan Howard to Los Angeles and swap mid-round picks, Albert Breer of The MMQB tweets. In the proposed swap, the Chargers would also eat a portion of Gordon’s salary. Unsurprisingly, the Chargers declined the offer. 
Howard, at one point in time, was a powerful rusher with juke ability for the Bears. However, he eventually lost his footing in Chicago, thanks in part to the emergence of Tarik Cohen. This year, the Bears shipped Howard to the Eagles for a draft choice and went on to add their new starting running back in the first round.
The Chargers are unwilling to extend Gordon this year and are, in theory, willing to trade him. The latest word – with at least one team, they’ve pitched a Gordon trade that would call for a 2020 first-rounder or a 2020 fifth- and 2021 first-rounder in exchange.
Titans Sign Cairo Santos
At the last minute, the Titans have made a kicking change. The Titans will place Ryan Succop on IR and sign Cairo Santos to take his place, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
Schefter hears that both Santos and former Bears kicker Cody Parkey auditioned for Tennessee this week and Santos, apparently, turned in the better performance.
Santos spent the offseason with the Bucs before losing the job to rookie Matt Gay. In seven games for the Bucs in 2018, Santos made 9-of-12 field goals and nailed all 17 of his extra points. Santos also saw time in a pair of games for the Rams.
Falcons Create Room For Julio Jones Deal
The Falcons are “very, very close” to an extension for Julio Jones, owner Arthur Blank tells Jeff Schultz of TheAthletic.com (on Twitter). Of course, this is roughly what we’ve been hearing all summer, but it’s worth noting since we are days away from the start of the season and it is coming directly from the owner’s mouth. 
Furthermore, the Falcons have created some additional breathing room that may give them the cap space necessary to re-up their star wide receiver. The team completed simple contract restructurings with left tackle Jake Matthews and safety Ricardo Allen, according to Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (on Twitter) to carve out another $5MM.
We’ve been here many times before, but this time, it feels real. In all likelihood, Jones will have a brand new deal by the end of the week that will put him at or near the top of the WR heap in the NFL.
Cowboys Sign Ezekiel Elliott To Extension
It’s a done deal for the Cowboys and Ezekiel Elliott. At long last, America’s Team has ended America’s biggest ongoing football saga by inking a brand new extension with the star running back. 
Elliott’s new deal will give him $90MM over the course of a six-year add-on. The deal includes a whopping $50MM in guarantees, David Moore of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter) hears, though it’s unclear how much is fully guaranteed at signing.
More importantly, perhaps, the deal will bring an end to his 40-day holdout. With that, Elliott will take the field on Sunday against the Giants for the club’s 2019 season opener.
It remains to be seen how Elliott will adjust to the quick turnaround, as well as the plays of new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. On the plus side, Moore’s offensive game plan is not believed to be a radical departure from the playbook of last year. Also, head coach Jason Garrett seems to think that Elliott will be able to pick up where he left off.
“Zeke is as capable as anybody I know,” Garrett said. “He’s an experienced player, he’s been a really good player for us, he knows our system of football. I don’t think they’ll be a lot of learning there. He’s a smart guy, an instinctive guy.”
In theory, the new deal ties Elliott to the Cowboys for the next eight seasons, though the exact breakdown of the deal may reveal that it’s something more akin to a four or five-year commitment for Dallas. Either way – it’s a lengthy add-on with enough cash to satisfy Zeke.
Here’s what we do know: Elliott’s “new money,” on average, gives him $15MM per season. That’s enough to match the league-high AAV for running backs, a mantle that used to belong solely to Rams star Todd Gurley.
Next up for the Cowboys – new deals for quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver Amari Cooper. If they ink both players to long-term deals, they’ll likely have Top 5 AAVs at the QB, RB, and WR position.
Patriots Work Out Su’a Cravens
The Patriots worked out safety Su’a Cravens on Tuesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The former second-round pick most recently played for the Broncos, who released him late last month.
Cravens entered the league as a second-round choice of the Redskins. He had tons of hype, particularly due to his ability to handle multiple positions in the secondary as well as linebacker. However, injuries, and general weirdness, sidetracked his career.
The versatility and potential is still there, so he would be a very interesting pickup for the Patriots, or any other potentially interested team. A motivated and healthy Cravens could be a difference-maker, as evidenced by flashes during his rookie season.
Here are the other players that New England has worked out today, via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (via Twitter):
- CB Chris Campbell,
- CB Tevaughn Campbell
- CB Lenzy Pipkins
- CB KeiVarae Russell
- CB Arrion Springs
- TE Jason Vander Laan
Bills To Meet With Laquon Treadwell
The Bills will meet with wide receiver Laquon Treadwell and outside linebacker Noah Spence on Tuesday, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). Given their draft pedigrees, both could be intriguing low-risk pickups for Buffalo.
Treadwell is a former first-round pick of the Vikings who entered the NFL with lots of fanfare. Unfortunately, he hasn’t done a whole lot at the NFL level.
Spence, meanwhile, washed out of Ohio State’s program in college before transferring over to Eastern Kentucky University. He did well for the Ohio Valley Conference school, and parlayed that success into a second-round selection from the Bucs. He racked up 5.5 sacks as a rookie, but his sophomore season was largely lost to injury and he didn’t really produce in 12 games last year.
In addition to Treadwell and Spence, here are the other players that Buffalo has recently worked out, a list that includes a number of safeties (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle):
- S Andrew Adams
- S Kentrell Brice
- S Deiondre’ Hall
- OLB Chuck Harris
- WR Keon Hatcher
- S Josh Jones (story)
- DE Carroll Phillips
- S C.J. Reavis
- S Maurice Smith
- WR Jordan Veasy
- QB Mike White
Bengals, Giovani Bernard Agree To Extension
The Bengals are signing Giovani Bernard to a two-year, $10.3MM extension, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The deal will give him a raise to $5.9MM this year and $11MM over both years, including a $600K guaranteed bonus due in March. 
Bernard is no longer the go-to running back in Cincinnati – that’s the role filled by Joe Mixon – but Bernard is still a locker room leader and an important part of the game plan. With the new deal, he’s locked down through 2021.
The 27-year-old (28 in November) was limited to only 12 games in 2018, compiling 211 rushing yards and three scores on 56 carries. He also added another 35 receptions for 218 yards.
Mixon may be the man, for now, but Bernard is always one play away from resuming top billing. Years ago, everyone thought Jeremy Hill would leave Bernard in the dust, and we all saw how that turned out.