Titans Cut S Da’Norris Searcy
The Titans have released safety Da’Norris Searcy, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Searcy had one year remaining on his Titans contract. 
By cutting Searcy, the Titans will save $3.85MM with $1.125MM in dead money left on the cap. That’s down from his original deal thanks to a restructuring of his contract last year, but it was not enough to keep his spot on the team.
Searcy netted a four-year, $24MM+ deal in free agency from the Titans in 2015, based off the strength of his 2014 campaign with Buffalo. The strong safety performed well in the first year of the deal, but his play dipped in ’16 and ’17.
Last year, Searcy amassed 23 tackles with one interception. He graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 61 ranked safety.
The Titans could explore safety in free agency, but they seem set with Johnathan Cyprien and Kevin Byard as their starters. Byard excelled in 2017, but injuries slowed Cyprien in the first year of his four-year, $25MM contract with Tennessee.
Patriots To Move On From Ricky Jean-Francois?
It sounds like Ricky Jean-Francois won’t be back with the Patriots next season. The defensive tackle released a statement on Friday indicating that he won’t be re-signed by New England. 
“I plan on continuing to play at the highest level,” Jean-Francois said in a statement released through his PF agency (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss). “Hopefully I made a strong case for myself this past season. I did absolutely everything I could to help the Patriots during my short time there, and I learned that playbook immediately. It takes a special type of player and discipline to do that so quickly. My priority right now is to find a stable home where I can step in and make a similar impact for a few more seasons before I ride off into the sunset. … I’d like to thank Robert Kraft, Coach Belichick, Coach Patricia and the Patriots front office for allowing me to be a part of something that not a lot of players get the opportunity to do – play for the New England Patriots. Playing in Foxboro made me appreciate this game a lot more. Thank you to everyone there for giving me a great experience that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
Jean-Francois was cut twice by the Packers last year before hooking on with the Pats in November. New England also released him weeks later, but he was quickly re-signed and stayed with the club through their trip to the Super Bowl. Francois appeared at both defensive end and nose tackle for the Pats in the playoffs as he totaled six tackles and one sack.
Contract Details: Ravens, Redskins, Saints
Some financial details on contracts signed in recent days:
- Safety Deshazor Everett‘s contract with the Redskins is for two years and $2.6MM with a $250K signing bonus that represents the only guaranteed portion of the deal, according to ESPN.com’s John Keim (on Twitter). Evertt can void the 2019 season if he plays 85% of the defensive snaps or intercepts five passes in 2018. He can also receive up to $125K in roster bonuses each season. He’ll carry cap hits of $1.1MM this season and $1.475MM in 2019.
- Defensive end Brent Urban, who was re-signed by the Ravens earlier this week, will have a base salary of $1MM with some incentives on his one-year deal, Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun tweets. Urban missed the bulk of the 2017 season thanks to a Lisfranc injury, so he was facing a not-so-great market on Wednesday.
- George Johnson’s one-year deal with the Saints has a modest base of $915K base with a $483K split, according to Nick Underhill of The Advocate (on Twitter). Johnson will carry a minimum salary benefit cap number of $720K.
Seahawks Set High Price For Earl Thomas
The Seahawks don’t view Earl Thomas as untouchable, but any team looking to acquire him will have to give up a lot of draft capital, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com hears (video link). Garafolo likens the Seahawks’ view on Thomas to the team’s stance on Richard Sherman trade talk in 2017. The team did not shoo away suitors, but instead asked for a first- and third-round pick for him. Ultimately, no one met that asking price. 
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The same can’t be said for Sherman in 2018. The Seahawks are willing to move the cornerback and, at this juncture, they’ll take “whatever they can get for him,” Garafolo hears. While Sherman still performed reasonably well in his injury-shortened season, teams are not eager to pick up his $11MM contract. If the Seahawks cannot find a suitable trade and Sherman does not agree to a pay cut, it seems likely that he’ll be released outright. Other teams are well aware of that and, therefore, are willing to wait things out and see if they can instead sign Sherman as a free agent. Sherman’s health status is also a barrier to a potential trade.
Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times first reported that the Seahawks are seeking a first-round pick in addition to a mid-round selection for Thomas. The safety is set to carry a $10.4MM charge this season and may look for a deal worth $13MM per year beyond his current contract.
Vikings Tender Anthony Harris, Mack Brown
The Vikings have elected to tender exclusive rights free agent safety Anthony Harris and ERFA running back Mack Brown, according to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. Harris is now slated to earn $705K while Brown will make $630K in 2018.
The move to tender Harris was widely expected and largely procedural. A former undrafted free agent, Harris has positioned himself as a valuable reserve and special teamer. Over the last three seasons, he has appeared in 36 games for Minnesota, including eight starts. Last year, he started three times in place of Andrew Sendejo while was either injured or suspended.
Brown only saw time in one game for the Vikings last year after he was brought over on waivers from the Redskins. The decision to tender him was also expected, though not as much of a no-brainer.
Meanwhile, the Vikings will not tender ERFA long snapper Jeff Overbaugh, meaning that he will become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday. Long snapper Kevin McDermott, who suffered a shoulder injury late in the season, will resume his role in 2018.
Falcons’ Brooks Reed Restructures Deal
Falcons defensive end Brooks Reed has agreed to a restructuring of his contract that will keep him in Atlanta, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Originally, he was slated to carry a $5.4M cap hit, but he’ll now count for less. The exact cap number is not yet known. 
Reed, 31, signed on with the Falcons before the 2015 season on a five-year, $22.5MM deal with nearly $7MM guaranteed at signing. He’s had a bit of an up-and-down tenure in Atlanta, but last year was his best campaign in a Falcons uniform. Reed appeared in every game and started all but two of them as he tallied 39 tackles and four sacks. The advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus ranked Reed as the No. 31 edge defender in the NFL last season with a career best 82.4 mark.
Still, the Falcons are in the bottom ten of the league in cap space, so they were not necessarily in a position to keep Reed at his original number. Now, Reed’s spot on the team is likely secure.
The Falcons still have some work to do on the defensive line, as PFR’s Dallas Robinson recently detailed. That’s partially due to the impending free agency of defensive tackle Dontari Poe, who is unlikely to return.
49ers, Marquise Goodwin Agree To Extension
The 49ers have re-signed wide receiver Marquise Goodwin to a three-year extension, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The deal is worth $20.3MM with $10MM guaranteed. The Niners have also confirmed the deal.
“Marquise earned this extension by coming in every day focused on doing his job and, as a result, he made himself and his teammates better,” GM John Lynch said in a press release.
Goodwin was already under contract for 2018 thanks to the two-year, $6MM free agent deal he inked with SF in 2016. The new pact will keep him in place for longer and reward him for a solid campaign in ’17.
Goodwin was the Niners’ most productive receiver last year, catching 56 passes for 962 yards and two touchdowns. He also jelled well with new quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, which bodes well for his future in San Francisco.
The deal also bodes well for wide receivers as a whole. Although Goodwin is coming off of the best season of his career, his $6.67MM average annual value on the deal is an indicator that the wide receiver market is on the verge of exploding. Take Terrelle Pryor for example – last year, Pryor settled for a one-year, $6MM with the Redskins after topping 1,000 yards on 77 catches in the previous season. Even without testing the open market, Goodwin has bested that in AAV on a multi-year deal.
Charges Against Bengals’ Tyler Boyd Dropped
Drug charges against Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd have been dismissed, as ESPN.com’s Katherine Terrell writes. Boyd was facing charges of possessing a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia after a car crash in July, but he’ll no longer have to worry about legal consequences stemming from the incident. 
Boyd’s wrecked car was found by police after 3 a.m. on a July day with several bottles of alcohol and multiple vape pens that tested positive for THC. However, Boyd said that a friend of his was driving the car and that person later admitted to being behind the wheel.
Had he been convicted in this case, Boyd would have been likely to face league discipline given that he was charged with a DUI in college. Although the league cannot punish players retroactively for pre-NFL incidents, his history would have been a factor. The league can still fine or suspend players for cases that do not result in convictions, but that seems less likely given the circumstances in this instance.
Boyd, 24 in November, missed games due to injury in 2017 and was not targeted all that much when he was on the field. He became more involved in the offense late in the season, however, with ten catches for 130 yards and one touchdown in his final two games.
Le’Veon Bell Won’t Sit Out 2018 Season
Recently, Le’Veon Bell has intimated that he could retire or potential sit out the 2018 season if he doesn’t get a multi-year extension to his liking. In an Instagram live video on Wednesday, Bell indicated that neither scenario is really in play. 
“Honestly, no, I’m not going to sit out. I’m going to be in the facility Week 1,” Bell said (via ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler). “It’s going to be a rerun of last year. I’m not going to [training] camp. I’m not doing nothing else extra, OTAs, none of that. … I’m going to strictly go to what I have to go to. I want to win every game. I want to have the best statistical career that I possibly can, so I want to play in every game that I can possibly play.”
Earlier in week, Bell indicated in an interview with Billboard.com that he might consider sitting out until Week 10 of the season. If Bell were to sit out beyond that point, he would not accrue the necessary year in order to reach free agency in 2019. However, his latest comments are a sign that he is fully intent on playing, despite past threats.
Without threats of retirement or a holdout that extends into the regular season, Bell doesn’t have a ton of leverage. The Steelers want to see Bell in training camp, particularly in light of his early season struggles when he held out in 2017, but that probably won’t give Bell enough juice to move the needle.
For now, the Steelers have Bell under a placeholder on Bell for 2018 at a cost of $14.544MM. The Steelers have the option of rescinding the tag late in the offseason if Bell stalls, which would leave him without a feasible market once most of the league’s cap room is dried up.
Broncos Exercise CB Chris Harris’ Option
The Broncos have exercised the $1.1MM option on cornerback Chris Harris Jr.’s contract for 2018, a league source tells Mike Klis of 9NEWS (on Twitter). Harris is now slated to return with a cap number of $10.36MM for 2018, which presently stands as the sixth-highest charge on the team. 
This was another quality year for Harris as he amassed 40 tackles, two interceptions, seven passes defensed, and graded out as the 29th best corner in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus. He has done even better in the past, however, grading out as a top five corner in both 2014 and 2016.
This year, Harris will be extra important to the Broncos as they are likely to move on from veteran Aqib Talib. It’s rare that a team can lose a high-profile vet like Talib without serious external reinforcements, but that’s more or less what Denver will do with both Harris and Bradley Roby under contract. Denver is also set to return with Brendan Langley, Marcus Rios, and Michael Hunter.
Harris is also under contract for 2019 with a $8.766MM cap hit. However, if the Broncos choose to part ways with him next year, they can get out with just $867K in dead money.