Ryan Clady Retires From NFL
Ryan Clady is walking away from football. The offensive tackle took to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon to announce his retirement. 
“Despite having several teams who are currently interested in signing me, I have made a very difficult decision to retire from my NFL playing career. I have deliberated on this decision thoroughly until now because I wanted to see if the beginning of NFL training camps would inspire the passion that I need to perform at the standards that I established for myself during my nine-year NFL career,” Clady wrote. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family, my friends, and my representation for all of their support through the years. I would also like to thank all of my coaches, teammates, and fans for their support throughout my football career at all levels. I would especially like to thank Mr. Pat Bowlen and the Denver Broncos organization for bringing me into the NFL. I was blessed to experience eight great years, four Pro Bowls, and a World Championship with that organization. I am excited about what life holds for me going forward.”
Clady first entered the league as a first round draft pick of the Broncos in 2008. He went on to earn four Pro Bowl nods and two First-Team All-Pro selections. Unfortunately, a torn ACL suffered prior to the 2015 season sidetracked his career. Clady wound up missing the entire campaign and he was traded to the Jets in the spring of 2016. After a so-so season, Clady has opted to begin the next chapter of his professional life.
Clady’s only known offseason visit was a meeting with the Seahawks in March.
Seahawks, Kam Chancellor Agree To Deal
The Seahawks and safety Kam Chancellor have agreed to a sizable extension. It’s a three-year deal worth $36MM, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The pact includes $25MM guaranteed, though his full guarantee will almost certainly be less than that. 
Chancellor was scheduled to earn a base salary of $6.8MM and count for ~$8.125MM against the cap in 2017 before becoming a free agent next spring. The safety has been pushing for a better contract ever since 2015 when he held out until Week 3 of the season, but it took a while for the two sides to find common ground this summer. Just six weeks ago, head coach Pete Carroll said that talks were not active between the two sides:
“We would very much like to work something out,” Carroll said. “We’re working at it. And that’s really all we’ll say. But we are working at it with every intention of taking care of business. It takes awhile. Things take awhile. His frame of mind and our frame of mind are in a really good place. And we’re going to work hard to get something done. We’ll see if we can.”
With an average annual value of $12MM on his new deal, Chancellor is now the third-highest paid player on the team, behind only Russell Wilson ($21.75MM per season) and cornerback Richard Sherman ($14MM per season). The Seahawks have done an impeccable job of keeping their core together over the years and they have now bought themselves at least a year before they have to stress over new deals for Sherman and Earl Thomas. Both players are under contract through 2018.
The 29-year-old Chancellor started 12 games in 2016, playing on roughly two-thirds of Seattle’s defensive snaps while grading as the league’s No. 3 safety, per Pro Football Focus. There’s no doubt that he is an elite player at his position and the new deal reflects his standing in the NFL. The deal will also allow him to retire as a member of the Seahawks, something that he has said is extremely important to him.
AFC Notes: Patriots, Freeney, Bengals, Iloka
Now that defensive end Rob Ninkovich has officially retired, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com wonders if the Patriots might consider signing free agent edge defender Dwight Freeney. Freeney, 37, is arguably the best pass rusher left on the market, and New England doesn’t have a true edge bender on its roster (Trey Flowers earned the highest pass-rushing grade from Pro Football Focus last season with a 76.8 mark). As Reiss notes, the Patriots brought Freeney in for a visit prior to the 2013 campaign, but oddly didn’t discuss a potential deal. Freeney indicated last month that he intends to continue his career in 2017.
Here’s more from the AFC:
- Bengals safety George Iloka is expected to miss three-to-four weeks after suffering a knee sprain Sunday, according to Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The diagnosis could have been worse, as Iloka went down with a non-contract injury (typically indicative of a torn ACL), but the five-year veteran didn’t suffer any ligament tears, a source tells Owczarski. While Iloka will likely be sidelined for the preseason, he should be ready by the time Week 1 rolls around. If not, Derron Smith would step into the starting lineup.
- Erik Walden‘s one-year. deal with Titans is worth up to $3.25MM, Terry McCormick of Titan Insider tweets. The deal includes a $1.35MM base, a $300K signing bonus, a $1.1MM roster bonus, and $500K in incentives. It’s a decent package for Walden considering the tepid market he was met with this offseason. Meanwhile, the Titans are making only a small investment in a player who recorded 11.0 sacks in 2016.
- You can cross Robert Griffin III off of the Ravens‘ list.
Dallas Robinson contributed to this post.
Giants Sign K Mike Nugent
The Giants signed veteran kicker Mike Nugent, according to a team announcement. Nugent will duke it out with Aldrick Rosas for the team’s kicking job. 
The Giants have been talking up Rosas all offseason, so it’s a bit of a surprise to see them sign a kicker just days into training camp. Rosas has no regular season experience whereas Nugent is a 13-year vet who has appeared in 158 regular season and postseason games. The 35-year-old has the rare distinction of being a kicker who was chosen with a second round pick. Although he was not able to justify his placement in the draft, Nugent has been a reliable leg, by and large.
Nugent, the owner of 22 school records at Ohio State, will now square off with a second-year player for the right to serve as the Giants’ kicker.
Raiders’ Gareon Conley Won’t Face Charges
Raiders rookie Gareon Conley will not face charges stemming from his infamous pre-draft hotel romp, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) has learned. A grand jury convened on Monday to discuss Conley’s case and returned with a “no bill.” 
“He is vindicated. He looks forward to contributing in the National Football League,” attorney Kevin Spellacy said.
Heading into the draft, Conley was considered a potential top ten pick. However, days before the big day in late April, he was accused of sexual misconduct in an Ohio hotel room. Some clubs backed away from drafting Conley as they investigated the situation, but the Raiders felt that he was too good of a value to pass up at No. 24 overall. The cornerback has vigorously maintained his innocence throughout the process and the Raiders drafted Conley with the belief that he would not face charges.
Conley will not face a potential suspension from the NFL since the event in question took place before he was drafted. Barring something unexpected, the Raiders will have Conley in uniform for Week 1.
Redskins Sign RB Kenny Hilliard
The Redskins have signed free agent running back Kenny Hilliard. To make room, fellow running back Keith Marshall has been cut with an injury designation. 
[RELATED: Safety David Bruton Retires]
Hilliard first joined the Texans as a practice squad player in 2015 and circled back to the taxi squad late in the 2016 season. He signed a futures deal to remain with the club in the winter, but he was cut in May as the team added tackle Breno Giacomini and a handful of undrafted free agents. We have yet to see him in a regular season game, but he did post four 100-yard games during his time at LSU.
The speedy Marshall suffered a knee injury during Saturday’s practice, an especially rough break considering that he missed his entire rookie season with an elbow injury. Marshall was said to be having a strong offseason and projected to be the fourth and final running back on the team’s roster.
Marshall’s injury could mean that Hilliard will slide in as the Redskins’ RB4. In theory, this may also give the Redskins an opportunity to work Matt Jones back into the game plan.
AFC North Notes: Ravens, Kaep, Browns
Ravens decision makers aren’t sure about whether to sign Colin Kaepernick, but some of the team’s most vocal veterans say they’d welcome the quarterback, as ESPN.com’s Jamison Hensley writes.
“Hell yeah, if he’s going to help us win,” Suggs said. “We have no issues. Not in the locker room. Hell yeah, we want him.”
Defensive back Lardarius Webb, who is in his ninth season in Baltimore, also says that he’d like to see Kaepernick join the team and spice up the backup quarterback competition. While sponsors and fans of the Ravens might not be crazy about Kaepernick, it doesn’t sound like the players would have any issues with the QB and his political activism.
Here’s more from the AFC North:
- Browns left tackle Joe Thomas isn’t necessarily thinking about retirement, but it’s something he’ll consider after the 2017 season. “It’s hard to say [how much longer I’ll play],” Thomas said (via ESPN.com’s Tony Grossi). “I’m lucky enough to be standing here after completing 10 years in my career, which was longer than I expected to play when I was a rookie. “I’ll re-evaluate things after the season. To me, the questions become do I still love it, am I still good enough to have a spot, and am I still healthy enough. Those are always the things I ask myself and if those are all yes I’ll keep playing, and if for some reason they’re no, then I’ll stop playing.” Thomas is signed through 2018 and due to make non-guaranteed salaries in each of the next two years.
- Browns head coach Hue Jackson says safety Ed Reynolds will miss significant time with a knee injury, though he did say that it is not a torn ACL (Twitter links via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal). Reynolds currently projects as Cleveland’s starting free safety, so the Browns may want to look into signing a defensive back if he has to miss regular season games.
- Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger says he could retire after the 2017 season.
- The Bengals‘ kicking competition is starting to take shape.
Minor NFL Transactions: 7/31/17
A roundup of today’s minor transactions:
- The Cardinals signed cornerback Jarell Carter and waived/injured linebacker Alani Fua (knee) and cornerback Ronald Zamort (knee). Zamort appeared to be ahead of Brandon Williams on the Cardinals’ depth chart at the time of his season-ending ACL tear.
- The Bengals waived kicker Jonathan Brown, which means the team’s kicking competition is down to Jake Elliott and Randy Bullock. To fill his roster spot, the Bengals signed safety Cedric Thompson.
- The Colts claimed former Denver tight end Henry Krieger-Coble on waivers. To make room, the Colts waived tight end Colin Jeter.
- The Eagles signed cornerback Tay Glover-Wright to a one-year contract, per a club announcement. Glover-Wright is an undrafted free agent with Utah State with just two games of NFL experience on his resume.
- Wide receiver K.J. Maye, who played in college at Minnesota, has been signed to the Patriots‘ 90-man roster.
- The 49ers announced that they’ve claimed wide receiver Tim Patrick off waivers from Baltimore and waived/injured fellow wideout B.J. Johnson.
- The Chiefs have signed free agent wide receivers Corey Washington and Rob Wheelwright, and waived wide receiver Antwan Goodley and tight end Emanuel Byrd.
- The Saints have signed former South Carolina linebacker Jonathan Walton, tweets Nick Underhill of the Advocate.
Lions OT Tony Hills Retires; Team Signs Nick Becton
Veteran tackle Tony Hills is retiring, the Lions announced. To take his place, the team has signed free agent tackle Nick Becton.
Hills, 33 in the fall, has moved around the league a bunch since being drafted by the Steelers in 2008. This offseason, the Lions signed him in the wake of Taylor Decker‘s shoulder injury. Of course, Hills was never expected to replace Decker’s production and was only being brought on board as a potential reserve.
Becton is expected to fill a similar role for Detroit. The 27-year-old met with Detroit in late March and the team apparently kept his name in mind for an occasion such as this. He has spent time with the the Chargers, Giants, Saints, and Bears, but we haven’t seen him on the field in the regular season since 2015.
Seahawks Cut Arthur Brown
The Seahawks are releasing linebacker Arthur Brown, according to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times (on Twitter). The move will create room for the newly re-signed Mike Morgan. 
[RELATED: Seahawks Bring Back Mike Morgan]
Brown held lots of promise as a second-round pick of the Ravens in 2013, but the 27-year-old hasn’t done much at the professional level. Last year, he was cut by the Ravens prior Week 1 and didn’t do much in subsequent stints with the Jaguars and Jets. He played primarily on special teams and did not register a single tackle on defense. In fact, his last official tackle came in 2013.
In other Seahawks news, we learned over the weekend that rookie defensive tackle Malik McDowell could miss the entire 2017 season.