Falcons Sign TE Luke Stocker
The Falcons have signed tight end Luke Stocker, according to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Stocker previously played under Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter with the Buccaneers, so it shouldn’t take long for him to learn the playbook. 
Stocker entered the league as a fourth-round pick of the Bucs in the 2011 draft. Just after Thanksgiving in 2017, the Bucs waived him, but he was quickly scooped up by the Titans. The Titans exercised the 2018 option on his deal and mostly utilized him as a blocker.
Stocker has never caught more than 16 passes in a season, but his blocking acumen has kept him employed over the years. Last year, he graded out as the fifth-best tight end in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus, and ranked among the best pass blockers in the league.
With the Falcons, Stocker may appear in two tight end sets along with Austin Hooper.
Seahawks To Sign G Mike Iupati
The Seahawks are signing guard Mike Iupati, a source tells Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). It’s a one-year deal for the former Cardinals and 49ers lineman. 
Iupati, 32 in May, is now on to his third NFC West team.He’s set to be a free agent again in 2020, so there’s hope for Iupati to complete the rounds by signing with the Rams next year. The Seahawks just lost last year’s 15-game starter at left guard, J.R. Sweezy, to the Cardinals, so Iupati could slide right into the lineup.
It’ll amount to a nice little swap of left guards between division rivals. Iupati appeared in ten games and started all of them in the desert last season. His once promising career has been derailed the past few seasons. He appeared in just one game in 2017 before an elbow injury ended his year.
He agreed to a pay cut to stay with Arizona last offseason but after another injury-plagued season they voided the final year of his deal. Iupati made the Pro Bowl four straight times from 2012 to 2015, and was a second-team All-Pro as recently as 2015, so if he can stay healthy this could prove to be a very nice signing for Seattle’s offensive line.
Giants Interested In WR Chris Hogan
The Giants made the biggest move of the offseason by shockingly trading Odell Beckham Jr. earlier this week, and now they need to replace him in their receiving corp. 
The team is apparently interested in adding Patriots receiver Chris Hogan, according to a Tweet from Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. Leonard writes that the Giants “have talked to” Hogan’s reps recently. The Patriots were apparently interested in re-signing Danny Amendola and are hosting a couple of receivers today, so it certainly sounds like they might be planning on losing Hogan.
Hogan established himself as big-name player thanks to his high-profile work in New England, where he spent the last three seasons. He had his best year in 2016, when he had 680 yards and four touchdowns, with a league-leading 17.9 yards per reception. Hogan struggled with a shoulder injury for most of the 2017 season, and appeared in only nine games with limited production.
He broke back out in the Super Bowl though, catching six passes 128 yards and a touchdown in the Patriots’ loss to the Eagles. He wasn’t utilized as much this past year as New England’s receiving group got pretty crowded, but he’s still a talented and reliable deep threat. With Beckham gone, that’s something the Giants desperately need, so their interest makes some sense. The Giants need as many weapons as they can get as they appear set to roll with Eli Manning under center for at least another year.
Cardinals To Sign Max Garcia
The Cardinals have agreed to sign guard Max Garcia, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). Garcia, 27, spent the previous four years with the Broncos. 
[RELATED: Giants Interested In Cardinals’ Josh Rosen]
Last year, Garcia’s season was cut short in November by a torn ACL. It was a bad blow to a Broncos O-Line that already had lost guard Ronald Leary to an Achilles tear and center Matt Paradis to a broken fibula.
Garcia was a Broncos fourth-round pick in the 2015 draft. Although he started 32 consecutive games from 201-17, Garcia wasn’t a deployed as a starter in 2018 until after Leary got hurt. Indeed, Garcia didn’t play a single offensive snap until Week 6, but he was on the field for every play between Leary’s injury and his own.
Garcia’s 242 snaps were not enough to qualify for Pro Football Focus’ rankings, but he drew a favorable score in 2016 when he started in every game for Denver.
Lions To Host Andrew Adams
The Lions will host former Tampa Bay safety Andrew Adams on a free agent visit on Thursday, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Adams had four interceptions last season, but he did not receive a restricted free agent tender from the Bucs. 
[RELATED: Lions To Re-Sign RB Zach Zenner]
Adams played for Lions defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni at UConn, so he could be a natural fit in Detroit. The addition of Adams could also help replace Glover Quin, who was released in February.
Adams, a former undrafted free agent, compiled nine passes defended and 38 tackles in 2018, giving him his third-straight season with at least 30 tackles. On the flip side, he ultimately ranked 78th in Pro Football Focus‘ safety rankings, and he earned his worst score in three years.
Patriots Host Ellington, Harris, LaCosse
The Patriots will meet with wide receivers Bruce Ellington and Maurice Harris on Thursday, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The club will also meet with tight end Matt LaCosse, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
Ellington and Harris aren’t exactly start players, but they both profile as quality depth options. Last year, Ellington had 23 catches for 132 yards in just four games for the Lions, showing what he could do when healthy. Earlier in the season he caught eight balls for 92 yards and a touchdown in less than three full games with the Texans, before Houston waived him with an injury settlement.
He latched on in Detroit, but unfortunately the hamstring injury that hampered him in Houston re-emerged while he was with the Lions, landing Ellington on IR in December. Harris, meanwhile, had 28 grabs for 304 yards in 12 games for the Redskins.
The Patriots are clearly focused on filling out their receiving corp, re-signing Phillip Dorsett on a one-year deal last night. LaCosse had 24 catches and 250 yards while filling in as the Broncos’ starting tight end for a period last year, but Denver non-tendered him this offseason. With Rob Gronkowski‘s status for next year still up in the air, it makes sense why New England is digging into the free agent tight ends. LaCaosse appears to have legit interest on the open market.
Eagles To Sign L.J. Fort
Steelers inside linebacker L.J. Fort has agreed to sign a three-year deal with the Eagles, as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. Fort can earn up to $10MM in the deal through playing time incentives and will receive a guarantee of $1.9MM. 
The Steelers made efforts to re-sign Fort, Fowler hears, but they were unable to retain him. Instead, he joins a revised front seven that added Malik Jackson after losing Michael Bennett via trade.
We heard as of yesterday that Pittsburgh was looking to re-sign Fort, but their efforts were unsuccessful and it sounds like the Eagles were able to beat their offer. Fort played in 15 games and made two starts last season, racking up 48 tackles, three for loss, and adding one sack.
Before settling in Pittsburgh for the last four seasons, Fort had bounced between Cleveland, Seattle, and Cincinnati, but had never been able to establish himself anywhere. It’s a significant chunk of change for a player who played less than 30% of the defensive snaps last season, but Fort is also a major contributor on special teams.
Jets Release RB Isaiah Crowell
The Jets have released running back Isaiah Crowell, according to a team announcement. This was the expected move after the club inked Le’Veon Bell to be the new lead back.
We heard this was the plan back in February, and now the Jets are following through. Crowell, 26, matched a career watermark with 4.8 yards per carry last season. He also had six touchdowns on the ground plus 21 catches for 152 yards. While his season was fine on paper, it was a relative disappointment after the Jets signed him to a three-year, $12MM deal last offseason.
His numbers were somewhat inflated by one standout game, as 219 of Crowell’s 685 yards came against the Broncos in a brilliant Week 5 performance. New York ended up placing him on injured reserve with a few weeks to go last season, as he battled a toe injury.
Crowell will now enter a market without too many big-name running backs on it, and he should be able to find a new home relatively easily, although he likely won’t be receiving the $4MM per year he got from the Jets.
An undrafted free agent from Alabama State, Crowell started his career with the Browns and spent his first four years in Cleveland. He was always pretty productive, rushing for at least 600 yards in all four seasons, but for whatever reason the Browns never wanted to commit to him as their full-time running back.
Jets Re-Sign DT Steve McLendon
The Jets have re-signed defensive tackle Steve McLendon, according to a team announcement. It’s a one-year deal with a base value of $2.5MM, according to Manish Mehta of the Daily News (on Twitter). McLendon can earn up to $1MM with incentives, bringing the maximum value of the contract to $3.5MM. 
McLendon, 33, did not record a sack last year, though he did appear in all 16 games (including 14 starts). He logged 34 tackles in total and graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 29 ranked interior defender. That score, buoyed by his strong run defense, actually put him one slot ahead of teammate Leonard Williams and several places above Henry Anderson. All three players are set to return to the Jets following Anderson’s reported three-year, $25.2MM agreement.
The Jets’ D-Line went from sixth in adjusted line yards in 2017 to 13th in 2018. In 2019, they’ll have to reverse that trend if they want to get back on track.
Patriots To Meet With Allen Bailey
The Patriots are set to meet with defensive end Allen Bailey on Thursday, according to Mike Florio of PFT. Bailey, a 2011 third-round pick, has spent his entire career with the Chiefs. 
Bailey cracked the starting lineup in 2014 and has started in virtually all of his games over the last five years. Last year, he registered six sacks, 38 tackles, and two forced fumbles across 16 games. The advanced metrics weren’t high on Bailey (No. 91 ranked interior defender out of 112 players), but the sacks and game film show that he is an effective lineman.
Bailey’s season ended in the AFC title game when the Patriots topped the Chiefs. After he couldn’t beat ’em, he just might join ’em.
The Patriots’ defensive line has been overhauled significantly in the past week. Standout Trey Flowers agreed to a colossal deal with the Lions, though they’ve added defensive end Michael Bennett and re-signed linebacker John Simon.