Browns Sign Rookie Greedy Williams
It’s officially payday for Greedy Williams. On Tuesday, the Browns announced that they have signed the second-round cornerback to his rookie deal. 
Per the terms of Williams’ slot at No. 46 overall, he’ll earn $6.46MM over the course of his four-year deal. Because he was a second-round selection, the Browns will not be able to utilize the fifth-year option to automatically retain his rights following the 2022 season.
Heading into draft season, many pegged Williams as a potential first-round choice. However, the Giants were the only club to select a cornerback in the first-round, and that wasn’t until No. 30 when they tapped Georgia’s Deandre Baker. The cornerback run began in earnest with the second round, but Williams watched Byron Murphy, Rock Ya-Sin, Sean Murphy-Bunting, Trayvon Mullen, and Joejuan Williams all go off the board first.
The Browns, not wanting to let Williams get away, sacrificed a fifth-round choice to move up from No. 49 overall to get him. Williams says he plans to play with a chip on his shoulder and make the rest of the league regret passing on him.
Colts QB Chad Kelly May Face Suspension
The Colts gave Chad Kelly another NFL opportunity, but it’s not a given that he’ll be on the roster for Week 1. For starters, Kelly is hardly guaranteed to make the Colts’ 53-man cut. And, even if he does, Kelly could still face suspension from the NFL, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. 
The league office tells Rapoport that Kelly’s situation is still under review. The professional quarterback/amateur rapper has had several off-the-field missteps and his latest incident in 2018 resulted in a guilty plea to misdemeanor second-degree criminal trespassing and his release from the Broncos.
Before being cut by Denver, Kelly had an opportunity to leapfrog the struggling Case Keenum as the club’s starter. Now, Kelly is hoping to stick as a backup behind Andrew Luck and Jacoby Brissett while avoiding a ban to start the season.
Raiders Work Out TE Erik Swoope
Former Colts and Saints tight end Erik Swoope will work out for the Raiders on Tuesday, a source tells NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). Swoope also worked out for the Redskins and Buccaneers in the past few days and Rapoport expects him to sign somewhere soon. 
Swoope originally signed with the Colts as an undrafted free agent in March of 2014. He made his first real impact in 2016, when he caught 15 passes for 197 yards and one touchdown. After losing his 2017 season to a knee issue, he returned in 2018 to appear in seven games and catch eight passes for 87 yards and three scores. The Colts jockeyed him on and off the roster last year, so Swoope is probably hoping for more in the way of stability on his next deal.
The Raiders are on the lookout for tight end depth after releasing blocking specialist Lee Smith earlier this month. Currently, the Raiders’ tight end group is headlined by recent addition Luke Willson, blocker Derek Carrier, and fourth-round rookie Foster Moreau.
Gerald Hodges To Continue Playing
Cardinals free agent Gerald Hodges had a change of heart. After announcing his retirement in April, the linebacker has decided to play again, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). He could be back to work soon as Schefter hears he is drawing interest from several teams. 
Hodges has bounced around the league since being drafted in the fourth round by the Vikings in 2013. Midway through the 2015 season, Minnesota shipped him to the Niners and he enjoyed a career year in SF in 2016. After tallying career-highs in tackles (83) and sacks (three), Hodges hooked on with the Saints, but did not record an official statistic in his eleven games there. Last year, he joined the Cardinals and had a productive 55-tackle season.
Hodges has earned upwards of $5MM throughout his career, but the 28-year-old isn’t ready to walk away from the game just yet. From the sound of it, Hodges could have a new NFL home before the month is through.
Browns Considering Gerald McCoy
The Buccaneers have moved on from Gerald McCoy, but he might not be out of work for long. The Browns have had “positive” internal discussions about the defensive tackle, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears. 
Fowler also hears that price will be a driving force in the Browns’ interest level, which goes for any free agent. McCoy’s pedigree as a six-time Pro Bowler suggests that he could fetch a high price on the open market, though his recent production complicates matters.
McCoy did not make the Pro Bowl last season, his first snub since 2011. Still, he managed six sacks and graded as one of Pro Football Focus’ upper-echelon interior defenders. He’s also proven to be durable, having played in at least 14 games in each of the past seven campaigns.
At this juncture of the offseason, McCoy stands as one of the top free agents left on the market. Of course, he would have had a stronger market if he was released in March, but there are still dollars to be spent in the NFL. The Browns, for example, have upwards of $33MM to burn. Ten other clubs – the Colts, Texans, 49ers, Titans, Raiders, jets, Bills, Dolphins, Eagles, and Seahawks – have more than $25MM in breathing room.
Patriots’ Jared Veldheer Retires From NFL
Jared Veldheer signed with the Patriots just two weeks ago, but he’s had a change of heart. On Tuesday, the veteran offensive tackle informed the club that he plans to retire (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss). 
Veldheer was set to play out the 2019 season on a one-year, $3.5MM deal with a maximum value of $6.5MM. That’s significant money to leave on the table, so it’s possible that he is retiring for health reasons.
Veldheer started 12 games in Denver last season and graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 58-rated tackle. The veteran, 32 in June, profiled a swing option for the Patriots. Instead, he’ll leave the game after nine seasons with the Raiders, Cardinals, and Broncos.
Meanwhile, the Patriots are expected to scour the offensive line market once again for front five depth.
Bills TE Tyler Kroft Suffers Broken Foot
Bills tight end Tyler Kroft suffered a broken foot during OTAs on Monday, coach Sean McDermott told reporters (Twitter link via Vic Carucci of SiriusXM). The Bills inked Kroft to a three-year deal in March with plans to use him as a starter right off of the bat. Kroft’s timeframe for recovery is 3-4 months, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears, which puts him right up against the start of the season and raises the possibility of beginning the season on the PUP list.
Kroft, 27 in October, injured the same foot early last year and wound up missing the rest of the season with the Bengals. The Bills are hoping he’ll bounce back quickly and provide production similar to his 42/404/7 line in 2017.
If Kroft misses time, the Bills will be left with a tight end group consisting of blocking specialist Lee Smith and rookies Moral Stephens and Tommy Sweeney. Meanwhile, veteran Jermaine Gresham stands as the best remaining free agent tight end.
Patriots, Julian Edelman Agree To Extension
Julian Edelman has agreed to a two-year extension with the Patriots, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The new pact will potentially take the wide receiver through the end of his career and allow him to retire in New England. It also comes with a pay bump – Edelman will receive $18MM in new money over the course of the two-year add on, giving him $21MM throughout his remaining three years, according to Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston.
The deal comes with $8MM signing bonus and $12MM guaranteed, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears. All in all, Edelman will earn an average annual value of $7MM, which is a solid bargain for the Patriots. Even when calculating his extension via the “new money” average, Edelman’s $9MM puts him outside of the league’s top 20 highest-paid receivers.
Edelman, who turns 33 on Wednesday, had another productive season in 2018. After missing the first four games of the season due to a ban for PEDs, the veteran amassed 74 catches for 850 yards and six touchdowns. Had he produced at the same rate over the course of a full 16-game season, Edelman would have registered something close to a 93/1063/8 stat line, which is not far off from his best single season performances.
Edelman has spent his entire career with the Patriots since entering the league as a seventh-round pick (No. 232 overall) in 2009. He was quietly productive in his rookie season, but he truly broke out in 2013 with 105 grabs for 1,056 yards and six TDs. Over the years, Edelman has captured three Super Bowl rings with New England, including February’s 13-3 win over the Rams in which he took SB MVP honors.
Edelman’s career seemed to be in doubt just a couple of years ago – the wide receiver lost the entire 2017 season to a torn ACL and had to sit out the first month of the ’18 season due to his suspension. However, he came back strong and he now has a deal that should allow him to retire with the only NFL franchise he’s ever known.
AFC East Rumors: Jets, Manning, Dolphins
The Jets reportedly want to hire Peyton Manning as their next GM, but it doesn’t sound like the retired quarterback is interested in the job. The latest word on that front comes from Ralph Vacchiano of SNY, who hears from a source close to Manning that the notion of him becoming the Jets’ GM is “unrealistic” and being an NFL GM is “not a job he seems to want.”
Even though the 43-year-old doesn’t have any official front office experience, this isn’t the first time that he has been connected to a top job. In 2017, it was said that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam had interest in hiring Manning to a prominent executive role. He’s also indicated in the past that he would be open to such opportunities.
“I like to listen in on any number of potential chapter two opportunities in my life,” Manning said in July of 2018. “I talked to some TV people and teams on the football side of it. I like listening, and it seems like people are reporting when I’m doing it.”
Meanwhile, there’s conflicting word on whether the Jets have Manning on their radar for the GM job in the first place. Ultimately, it seems unlikely that Manning will be tapped to replace Mike Maccagnan and be the man to remove the interim GM tag from Adam Gase‘s title.
Here’s more from the AFC East:
- Gase says that he only wants to focus on being the Jets‘ head coach, but he fired Jets scout Bill Dekraker on Tuesday and told those around him that he wants to streamline the scouting department, Manish Mehta of the Daily News (on Twitter) hears.
- The cap hits on cornerback Xavien Howard’s new six-year, $76.5MM deal are as follows (via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald): $10.3MM this season, $13.3MM, $13.5MM, $14.4MM, $13.4MM, and $12.2MM. With his new deal, Howard is the only Dolphin under contract past 2022. But, even with that deal, the Dolphins are still in line to have more than $105MM in cap space next offseason.
- Danny Shelton‘s deal with the Patriots is for one-year with a signing bonus of $75K, a base salary of $805K and bonuses/incentives worth up to $150K (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com). All in all, Shelton will carry a modest cap charge of just over $1MM.
Bills To Sign Jerry Hughes To Extension
The Bills have agreed to sign defensive end Jerry Hughes to a two-year extension worth up to $23MM, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Of that sum, the deal includes a healthy $19.5MM guaranteed. 
Hughes disappointed in the early part of his career, but he has been solid for the Bills ever since coming over in a 2013 trade. The defensive end has not missed a single contest for Buffalo and has 47 sacks to his credit over the last six years. Last year, Hughes recorded seven sacks, a showing topped only by the ten sacks he put up in 2013 and 2014.
The Rams made a push to acquire Hughes before the trade deadline last year, but a deal could not be reached. Instead, the Rams pivoted towards Dante Fowler as a backup plan and Hughes finished out the year with Buffalo, where he impressed with seven sacks and three forced fumbles.
Prior to the extension, the former first-round pick was set to hit the open market after carrying a $10.4MM cap number in 2019. The new deal will keep him under contract through the 2021 season.