Bills Sign TE Lee Smith
The Bills have signed tight end Lee Smith to a three-year deal, according to a team announcement. The pact is worth $9MM and is heavily frontloaded, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The deal is also front-loaded to give Smith more money in Year One and includes fully guaranteed pay for 2020. 
The deal brings Smith back to Buffalo, where he spent 2011-2014. The blocking specialist spent the last four years in Oakland, but that run ended earlier this month when he was released by the Raiders.
Smith offers almost nothing as a receiver, as he has averaged just 49 receiving yards per season in his eight years in the league. However, he’s long been considered to be one of the league’s best blocking tight ends.
With the Bills, he should continue to do more of the dirty work in a group that also includes Tyler Kroft and third-round pick Dawson Knox. Meanwhile, seventh-round choice Tommy Sweeney is in line to be the team’s No. 4 tight end, but he’ll have to lock down his spot in camp this summer.
Doug Baldwin Bids Farewell To The NFL
Late Sunday night, longtime Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin bid farewell to football with a string of heartfelt tweets. He did not use the word “retirement” at any point, but it’s clear that Baldwin is walking away from the game. 
“The end of one journey sees the beginning of another, ” Baldwin wrote towards the end of a letter to his younger self (link). “And, guess what.. it will be one hell of a journey. You will feel emotional and physical pain you never knew existed. You will fail over and over again. But don’t worry, all of it will be the reason why you succeed.”
The Seahawks signed Baldwin as an undrafted free agent out of Stanford in 2011 and he led the Tarvaris Jackson-quarterbacked team in receiving as a rookie before becoming Wilson’s most trusted target. Baldwin was a key member of both Seattle Super Bowl teams this decade, catching touchdown passes in both the Seahawks’ Super Bowl XLVIII win and crushing loss a year later. However, his momentum stalled last season.
Knee, groin and shoulder injuries — which each required surgery — ended Baldwin’s career. But, when Baldwin was healthy, he was a crucial part of the Seahawks’ offense. Wilson‘s ascent into one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks involved lots of help from Baldwin, and there’s no telling where the Seahawks would have been without him. He didn’t end on a statistical high note, but he proved his toughness yet again by suiting up for 13 games last year, despite all of the maladies.
Baldwin, who was released by Seattle last last week, leaves with the second-most touchdown receptions and third-most catches and receiving yards in franchise history, behind only Steve Largent and Brian Blades.
More Minor NFL Transactions: 5/12/19
Here’s the latest round of minor moves from around the NFL (For this morning’s minor moves, click here.):
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: S Tyler Sigler
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: TE Moral Stephens
Detroit Lions
- Signed: WR Tom Kennedy, WR Jordan Smallwood
- Waived: TE Nate Becker, TE Donald Parham
Houston Texans
- Signed: LB Xavier Woodson-Luster
- Waived: LB Chase Middleton
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: WR Cyril Grayson
Offset Language In The NFL, Explained
Since the NFL’s latest Collective Bargaining Agreement has made rookie contracts fairly regimented, negotiations between teams and draft picks have become smoother than ever, with few – if any – players expected to be unsigned by the time training camp gets underway. Still, a number players have yet to ink their rookie deals, including several first-rounders.
Although we don’t know the inner workings of each negotiation, one factor that continues to play a role in contracts for first-round picks relates to offset language. Over the last several years, only a handful of players in each year have managed to avoid having offsets language written into their deals.
In 2015, Marcus Mariota‘s camp haggled with the Titans until the two sides finally reached an accord with partial offset language, a compromise that was not consummated until late July. In 2016, Joey Bosa’s holdout dominated headlines until the linebacker inked his deal on August 29th. In most cases, a lack of offsets for a player simply relies on which team drafted him — clubs like the Rams and Jaguars traditionally haven’t pushed to include offsets in contracts for their top picks, even in an era where most other teams around the league do. This year, No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray quickly accepted offset language in his deal, but that won’t necessarily be the case for the other stragglers in the first 32.
Offset language relates to what happens to a player’s salary if he’s cut during the first four years of his career, while he’s still playing on his rookie contract. For the top 15 to 20 picks in the draft, those four-year salaries will be fully guaranteed, even if a player is waived at some point during those four seasons. For example, if a player has $4MM in guaranteed money remaining on his contract and is cut, he’ll still be owed that $4MM.
However, if a team has written offset language into the contract, that club can save some money if and when the player signs with a new team. For example, if that player who had $4MM in guaranteed money left on his contract signs with a new club on a $1MM deal, his old team would only be on the hook for $3MM, with the new team making up the difference. If there’s no offset language on that first deal, the old team would continue to be on the hook for the full $4MM, and the player would simply earn an additional $1MM from his new club.
Although the negotiation of offset language might potentially delay a rookie’s signing, the offsets rarely come into play, since few top picks flame out badly enough that they’re released during their first four seasons. And even in those rare instances, if a player has performed poorly enough to be cut in his first few years, he likely won’t sign a lucrative deal elsewhere, so offset language wouldn’t help his old club recover more than perhaps the league minimum.
Note: This is a PFR Glossary entry, modified from an earlier post by PFR editor emeritus Luke Adams. Our glossary posts explain specific rules relating to free agency, trades, or other aspects of the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Information from OverTheCap.com was used in the creation of this post.
49ers Notes: Thomas, Garcon, UDFAs
The 49ers have a bit of a logjam on the defensive line, particularly when it comes to three-technique players, as Matt Barrows of The Athletic writes.
Naturally, DeForest Buckner, Nick Bosa, and Dee Ford are all locks for the roster while Arik Armstead, D.J. Jones, and Kentavius Street have an “excellent chance” at being in SF for Week 1. Meanwhile, Solomon Thomas, Ronald Blair, Jullian Taylor, and Sheldon Day are in the “good shot” tier.
Thomas’ name has popped up in trade rumors, but the Niners flatly deny that he is available and Barrows has only heard from one source –not multiple sources – that Thomas is on the block. Still, given the team’s depth on the D-Line, it’s a story worth monitoring this summer.
Here’s more on the Niners:
- More from Barrows, who writes that Iowa guard Ross Reynolds and Wyoming tight end Tyree Mayfield have the best odds of any 49ers UDFA to make the roster. With Laken Tomlinson and Weston Richburg coming back from injuries, Reynolds should have an opportunity to stick as a depth option with size. Meanwhile, Mayfield’s versatility could allow him to stick as a WR/TE/H-Back type.
- Even more from Barrows, who has not heard of any teams showing interest in former 49ers wide receiver Pierre Garcon. The Niners declined Garcon’s option earlier this offseason, bringing his five-year, $47.5MM contract to a premature end. Unfortunately, injuries slowed Garcon during his time in SF, limiting him to just eight games in each of the last two years. The good news is that Barrows hears he is now fully recovered from the knee surgery he had in December.
- The 49ers had interest in tight end Ben Watson, but he signed with the Patriots before they could get a good look at him.
Less Than 100 NFL Rookies Remain Unsigned
The NFL Draft concluded a little over two weeks ago, but 161 (63%) of the league’s 254 draft picks have already inked their rookie deals, according to PFR’s tracker. That leaves just 93 stragglers left in total.
Unsurprisingly, 18 of this year’s 32 first round draft picks are in limbo, and that’s largely in due to the usual hiccups. Often, first round picks and teams haggle over offset language in contracts. That issue was at the heart of Joey Bosa‘s prolonged negotiations with the Chargers in 2016, but it’s not always a big barrier for top picks. Kyler Murray, selected No. 1 overall by the Cardinals, agreed to a deal last week that includes favorable offset language for the Cardinals in the event that he is released before the conclusion of his four-year pact.
Negotiations for third round picks also tend to take longer due to a relative lack of structure in the bylaws for their deals. That explains why a whopping 29 of this year’s 38 third round choices are unsigned as of this writing.
Between the first and third rounds, there are 47 unsigned rookies, which accounts for more than half of this year’s unsigned players. The overall number of unsigned players should drop significantly from the current total (93) between now and the end of the month, but don’t be surprised if the first and third rounds are disproportionately represented over the next few weeks.
AFC East Notes: Patriots, Jets, Austin
The Patriots have carried at least one undrafted rookie in Week 1 for the past 15 seasons, which brings intrigue to their UDFA class, as Nick Underhill of The Athletic writes.
A quick look at the guaranteed money given to this year’s undrafted rookies would indicate that tight end Andrew Beck ($115K), linebacker Terez Hall ($85K), safety Malik Gant ($85K), wide receiver Jakobi Meyers ($70K), offensive lineman Tyler Gauthier ($70K), and wide receiver Ryan Davis ($70K) have the best odds of making the final cut, but that’s not necessarily the case – UDFA cornerbacks Jonathan Jones ($35K) and Malcolm Butler ($30K) made the Patriots’ 53-man roster with smaller guarantees in the past.
Taking a deeper dive, Underhill writes that only three of last year’s six highest-paid UDFAs made the roster of their respective teams. Bucs safety Godwin Igwebuike ($125K), Vikings corner Holton Hill ($75K) and Jets safety Brandon Bryant ($70,000) made it, but Saints tight end Deon Yelder ($90K), Patriots running back Ralph Webb ($70K), and 49ers corner Tarvarus McFadden ($90K) did not earn a spot on the Week 1 roster.
Moral of the story: Follow the money, but not too closely.
Here’s more from the AFC East:
- The status of Jets rookie cornerback Blessuan Austin is up in the air after he underwent two ACL surgeries on the same knee in back-to-back years, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets. For now, he’ll begin training camp on the PUP list. The Jets are hoping that the Rutgers product will be able to see the field sooner rather than later and, if he does, he could prove to be a strong value as a sixth-round choice.
- The Bills are giving former Auburn wide receiver Duke Williams an opportunity to get his career back on track, as John Wawrow of The Associated Press writes. Williams, a 27-year-old rookie, was on track to be a potential first-round pick in 2016, but went undrafted thanks to a brawl that left his teammate with a broken jaw. After that, he took his talents north of the border and, in 2018, Williams led the CFL with 1,579 yards receiving. Wawrow hears that he has a legitimate chance of making the final cut, despite the offseason additions of Cole Beasley and speedster John Brown in free agency.
- On Sunday afternoon, the Dolphins elected to give running back Mark Walton another chance by signing him to a low-cost deal.
Bucs Shut Down Kendell Beckwith
Kendell Beckwith‘s season ended before it could even start. On Friday, the Buccaneers placed the linebacker on the reserve/non-football injury list. 
Beckwith showed promise as a rookie in 2017 as he notched 73 tackles, one sack, two passes defensed, and a forced fumble. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to build off of that in 2018 thanks to a car accident that mangled his ankle. His surgically-repaired ankle continues to keep him off of the field and it’s not clear whether he’ll be able to resume playing in the future.
Beckwith has overcome adversity in the past – that standout rookie season game on the heels of an ACL tear that ended his final LSU campaign prematurely. Hopefully, he’ll be able to battle through his ankle injury and get on the gridiron again.
Jets Waive Rashard Robinson
On Friday, the Jets waived cornerback Rashard Robinson. Pink slips were also handed to wide receiver Stacy Coley and defensive lineman Charles Tapper. 
[RELATED: Jets Sign 16 Undrafted Free Agents]
The Jets acquired Robinson prior to the trade deadline in 2017 and gave up a 2018 fifth-round choice in the deal. Robinson went on to appear in 16 games for the Jets between ’17 and ’19, but tallied just nine tackles in total.
The Jets still need veteran help at the cornerback position, but they were unwilling to keep Robinson around at a paltry $2MM cap hit. By cutting him, the Jets will take that entire obligation off of the books.
Dolphins Try Out RB Mark Walton
The Bengals dropped Mark Walton after he was arrested for the third time inside of three months. However, another team might be willing to give him another chance. On Friday, the Dolphins auditioned the running back during their rookie minicamp, as Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald writes. 
If signed, it’ll be a homecoming for Walton, who played his football at the University of Miami. The Bengals used a fourth-round pick on him just a year ago, so he could be a high-value pickup for the rebuilding Dolphins.
Thanks to his offseason incidents, Walton might not be available for the start of the season. That probably wouldn’t be a big deterrent for the Dolphins, who seem to have more of an eye on 2020 than 2019.
Walton’s was cuffed in March for reckless driving as well as carrying a concealed weapon and marijuana. In February, he was arrested for battery and, in January, he got nabbed for marijuana.
He tallied just 34 yards off of 14 carries as a rookie, but he rattled off 1,100 yards as a sophomore with the Hurricanes, which shows some promise for what he can do at the pro level.