Ravens Re-Sign Morgan Cox
The Ravens announced that they have re-signed Pro Bowl long snapper Morgan Cox to a five-year contract.
Cox has served as Baltimore’s long snapper since 2010, but missed a good chunk of the 2014 season after being placed on injured reserve with a torn ACL in October. He came back healthy in the 2015 season, however, and resumed long snapping duties. The 29-year-old (30 in April) appeared in all 16 regular season games for Baltimore.
In other Ravens news, the team is reportedly bracing for Kelechi Osemele to leave. The Ravens also reached agreement with cornerback Shareece Wright on a new three-year deal.
Free Agency Rumors: Osweiler, Vernon, Miller
The Texans are expected to make a competitive offer to Brock Osweiler in both guaranteed money and per-year average salary, an NFL source tells Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). Recently, the Broncos reportedly upped their offer to Osweiler, submitting one that’s worth more than $45MM over three years. From the sound of it, Houston might be ready to top that. A source tells Robinson that a $15-$16MM per year average for Osweiler will be a legitimate number for his market (link).
Here are the latest free agency rumors:
- We can expect the market for Olivier Vernon to include the Giants, Raiders, Jaguars, Browns, and Titans, Robinson tweets. Vernon was hit with the transition tag by the Dolphins earlier this month and he currently stands to earn $12.734MM on a one-year contract in 2016. However, if he signs an offer sheet that the Dolphins decline to match, they will lose him for nothing as they did with Charles Clay one year ago.
- Dolphins running back Lamar Miller will hit the open market when free agency opens, a source close to the player tells Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald. Miller, 24, ran for 872 yards off of 184 carries with eight touchdowns in 2015. Miller is hoping to land a deal similar to DeMarco Murray‘s pact, but Dianna Marie Russini of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears his market is in the $4-5MM range rather than $8MM.
- Doug Martin‘s market includes at least six teams, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
- The Ravens are bracing for Kelechi Osemele to leave, a source tells Mike Florio of PFT. Florio adds that while it has been speculated that the offensive lineman could get $11MM/year on the open market, some think the number will be closer to $9MM.
- Chris Long‘s first visit will be to Washington tomorrow, Trey Wingo of ESPN.com tweets.
- There’s mutual interest between Washington and cornerback Will Blackmon about a return in 2016, Tarik El-Bashir of CSN Mid-Atlantic tweets.
- Texans free agent guard Brandon Brooks could be in line for a deal in the range of $8MM per season, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (on Twitter) hears. He adds that multiple teams are interested.
Ravens To Re-Sign Shareece Wright
10:57am: Wright’s three-year deal is worth up to $16MM with a $4MM signing bonus and $5MM guaranteed, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
10:34am: The Ravens have re-signed Shareece Wright to a three-year contract, as Ryan Mink of BaltimoreRavens.com writes. Wright, soon-to-be 29, started six games for Baltimore in 2015. Financial terms of the deal are not yet known. 
Wright signed with the 49ers prior to the 2015 season but wound up being a healthy scratch for the first four games of the year. The cornerback went on to play in 11 games for the Ravens and ranked as the team’s best corner, according to Pro Football Focus. Overall, Wright totaled 40 tackles and five pass deflections.
The Ravens don’t have a ton of salary space heading into the legal tampering period, but Wright’s deal probably won’t wind up being too costly.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Extra Points: Wright, Tampering, Okung
The Ravens and Shareece Wright are nearing a deal to keep the cornerback in Baltimore, Jeff Zreibec of the Baltimore Sun reports (via Twitter).
Wright bounced back from being inactive during the first four games of last season, doing so in San Francisco despite the 49ers signing him in free agency last year. The soon-to-be 29-year-old corner played in 11 games for the Ravens, starting six, and ranked as the team’s best corner, according to Pro Football Focus.
The Ravens keeping Wright may be a matter of Wright arriving in Baltimore to take a physical and sign the deal, according to Zreibec (on Twitter).
Baltimore has Jimmy Smith and Lardarius Webb on its 2016 cap sheet for $9.6MM and $9.5MM, respectively, so a deal for Wright probably won’t be too costly for the Ravens, who have $11.08MM in cap space entering Monday’s legal tampering period.
Here’s more from around the league on the night before said tempering period begins.
- Russell Okung will not be permitted to speak with teams during the tampering period even though he acts as his own agent, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports. In a memo circulated to teams earlier this week includes language that prohibits teams from discussing contracts with self-represented players during the two-day tampering period. The seventh-year tackle acts as his own agent. This could cloud the left tackle market, one that Okung is possibly atop entering his age-29 season. Although Okung’s hired a consultant, Florio notes his market may be slow to develop since the bulk of this free agent class’ linemen have agents who are well-connected in league circles and can establish asking prices for their clients. Florio anticipates Okung not hiring an agent will cost him as he enters free agency for the first time.
- The NFL will loosen constraints on the tampering period this year, Florio reports. Despite it being slashed from three days to two, this year’s soft free agency can feature teams discussing specific contract frameworks with agents as opposed to mere negotiating. Although several deals leaked early last season, most notable Ndamukong Suh‘s record Dolphins pact, teams are prohibited from executing or announcing an agreement in principle until 3 p.m. CT Wednesday. Violations of these rules can be construed as a violation of the league’s anti-tampering procedure or conduct detrimental to the league, Florio writes. The PFT reporter, though, adds deals will indeed be negotiated to their completion during the two-day window.
- Vernon Davis told ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson (Twitter link) he wants to play for four or five more seasons. Davis did not factor in much to the Broncos’ Super Bowl championship pursuit after being benched due to drops and a failure to grasp the offense upon midseason arrival. The 32-year-old Davis struggled the past two seasons after scoring 13 touchdowns in a Pro Bowl campaign in 2013. Davis caught 20 passes with the Broncos but none came in the team’s final five games, including its three postseason conquests. He joins Antonio Gates, Coby Fleener and Ben Watson among free agent tight ends.
- Already expressing interest in retaining Brandon Brooks and Ben Jones, the Texans are also interested in keeping swing tackle Chris Clark, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports. Houston traded a seventh-round pick to Denver for the 30-year-old Clark, and the team’s insurance policy to a potential injury to Derek Newton or Duane Brown ended up starting four games after Brown was lost for the season.
Extra Points: Manning, Vikings, Suggs, Jets
Peyton Manning‘s 2016 base salary of $19MM becomes fully guaranteed on March 9, and according to his agent, Manning knows that he needs to make a retirement decision before that date or risk being released by the Broncos. “There’s a time when the contract becomes guaranteed, so they’ll just have to make a move before then,” said Tom Condon on The Mighty 1090 in San Diego (link via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk). “He’s completely aware of the guarantee obligation from the club on a date certain, and he knows that there has to be some accommodation prior to that.”
Here’s a quick look at some news and notes from around the NFL:
- The Vikings are expected to target several Bengals free agents, writes Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, in large part due to head coach Mike Zimmer‘s familiarity with Cincinnati players — Zimmer was the Bengals’ defensive coordinator from 2008-13. According to Tomasson, Minnesota will look hard at safeties George Iloka and Reggie Nelson even after agreeing to re-sign Andrew Sendejo earlier today.
- Ravens edge rusher Terrell Suggs was arrested in Arizona on Friday morning and charged with driving on a suspended license and leaving the scene of an accident, reports Jeff Zriebec of the Baltimore Sun. Both are seemingly minor offenses, but Zriebec notes that both can be tied to jail time in Arizona (though apparently the more common penalty is a fine). In a separate piece, Florio writes that the leaving the scene charge makes the situation appear more “ominous,” and he wonders if the league might look to impose discipline.
- Pending further roster cuts, the Jets will enter the free agent period will less than $7MM to work with, leading Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News to observe that the club won’t be able to target high-priced free agents like it did in 2015. Affordable players like Ladarius Green or Alfred Morris might be more the Jets’ speed this year, opines Mehta.
- This year’s receiver draft class is not expected to be special, leading Albert Breer of NFL.com (Twitter link) to believe that clubs needing pass-catchers could overspend — and potentially, make mistakes — in free agency.
- The Chiefs made a number of changes to their offensive staff following the departure of play-caller Doug Pederson, and head coach Andy Reid told reporters, including Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link), tonight that assistant quarterbacks coach Corey Matthaei will be helping out in coaching the team’s offensive line this season.
Quarterback Notes: Flacco, Brees, Manning
Despite what the Ravens may be saying, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio is convinced that Joe Flacco‘s new contract is simply about saving money. The team’s website published an article earlier this week stating that the extension was about winning, not money.
“We did not do a deal to gain cap room,” Newsome had said (via Florio). “We did a deal so Joe Flacco could be on this football team for the next six years.”
However, the quarterback basically admitted that the new contract was intended to create more cap flexibility.
“We’ve got a bunch of good players and we’ve got a great foundation already but with the way the deal was before I mean it might not have been this year but at some point there was gonna be a strain on what we could do and what kind of guys we could bring in,” Flacco said on PFT Live. “You don’t wanna see any of the guys on your team have to be let go because of some issue with the cap and I wanted to play here. I wanted to play here, I want to play here, continue to play here for a long time.”
Let’s check out some other notes regarding several of the league’s top signal callers…
- Considering the extra flexibility, Flacco would like to see the Ravens bring in some reinforcement on the offensive line. When appearing on PFT Live, the quarterback also seemed to hint that he’d prefer the team re-sign Kelechi Osemele. “The one thing is I would say we need to get our O-line solidified, see who’s going to be there for sure,” Flacco said (via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com). “We’ve got a couple guys, at least one guy who’s out in the open there, whether we’re going to get a contract done with him or not. So once we get those guys nailed down and see who they’re going to be, I think that’s the biggest part of a championship, as far as the offensive side of the ball.”
- Drew Brees‘ 2016 cap number will balloon to $30MM in the next several days, and Florio wonders if the 37-year-old will break the recent monetary records set by Flacco. A new deal may benefit each side, especially since the Saints will owe the quarterback $43.2MM if they tag him in 2017.
- Even if Brock Osweiler ends up leaving Denver, Mike Klis of 9 News can’t envision the Broncos bringing back Peyton Manning. Despite a successful four years with the franchise, the writer is convinced that it’s time to begin the “post-Manning era.”
Justin Tucker Signs Franchise Tender
Ravens kicker Justin Tucker has signed the franchise tender assigned to him last week, the team confirmed today (via Twitter). The move guarantees Tucker a base salary of $4.572MM for the 2016 season.
[RELATED: Ravens place franchise tag on Justin Tucker]
Technically, Tucker had been a free agent while his franchise tender remained unsigned. But signing a franchised player requires parting with two first-round picks, so obviously the league’s other 31 teams would have stayed away from Tucker, making it logical that he wouldn’t waste much time signing the tender.
Although signing the franchise tender secures Tucker for the 2016 season, he and the Ravens could still reach a longer-term agreement anytime between now and July 15th. A year ago, we saw the Patriots use their franchise tag on Stephen Gostkowski, who signed the tender days later, then agreed to a multiyear contract on July 15th. The long-term extension reduced Gostkowski’s present-day cap hit while giving him a more significant guarantee up front. I’d expect the Ravens to explore a similar scenario for Tucker, who may be looking to exceed Gostkowski’s four-year, $17.2MM deal.
For his career, Tucker has connected on 130 of 148 field-goal attempts (87.8%), with 12 of those 18 overall misses coming from 50 yards or longer. He has also nailed an impressive 10 game-winning field goals, including three in 2015.
[RELATED: 2016 NFL franchise/transition tag recap]
Tucker and Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins have now signed their franchise tenders. The other eight players who received franchise or transition tags earlier this week have yet to sign them.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Trent Richardson Visits Ravens
MARCH 4: According to Zenitz, Richardson visited the Ravens on Wednesday. Although the running back left Baltimore without a deal, he could still be signed at a later date.
MARCH 2: It sounds like a potential Richardson signing has been moved to the back burner, as Jeff Zriebec of the Baltimore Sun reports (via Twitter) that no agreement agreement is “imminent” between the Ravens and Richardson. Baltimore could still sign Richardson, per Zriebec, but the club has too many other matters to deal with currently.
FEBRUARY 26: Following up on his Thursday report, Zenitz tweets that Richardson will be in Baltimore early next week to take his physical and to meet with Ravens officials. As long as there are no hiccups, it sounds like a signing will follow.
FEBRUARY 25: The Ravens are expected to sign running back Trent Richardson to a contract, sources tell Matt Zenitz of AL.com. According to Zenitz, the contract agreement is currently pending a physical.
Richardson, the third overall selection in the 2012 draft, lasted just over a year with the Browns, having been dealt to the Colts for a first-round pick early in the 2013 campaign. Richardson was underwhelming, to say the least, during his time in Indianapolis, recording 977 yards and six touchdowns on 316 rushing attempts across two seasons, while adding 55 receptions for 494 yards and a TD in 29 games (20 starts). During his time wearing blue and white, the Alabama product averaged just 3.1 yards per carry.
Richardson’s time in Indianapolis came to an unceremonious end when the Colts waived him after hitting him with a two-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team at the end of the 2014 season. Less than a week after he was let go, the Raiders swooped in and signed him, but Oakland ultimately cut Richardson prior to the 2015 season. The running back hasn’t been on an NFL roster since then, which means he can sign a deal now, before 2016’s free agent period officially gets underway.
Assuming the Ravens finalize a deal with Richardson, he’ll join a group of Baltimore running backs that currently includes Justin Forsett, Javorius Allen, and Lorenzo Taliaferro. It’s possible the Ravens could cut Forsett for cap purposes at some point, but if the team keeps those three players, it’s hard to envision Richardson finding a spot on the regular season roster.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Ravens Won’t Pick Up Chris Canty’s Option
The Ravens have let veteran defensive end Chris Canty know that they won’t be exercising their option to pick up the second year of his contract, according to the team’s official website. The move will ensure that Canty becomes an unrestricted free agent.
[RELATED: Ravens cut LB Daryl Smith]
“I called Chris to thank him for what he has done for the Ravens,” general manager Ozzie Newsome said in a statement. “He has been an impactful player for us on and off the field.”
By parting ways with Canty, the Ravens avoid paying him a $150K roster bonus next week, and will clear his $2MM base salary for 2016 from their books. In total, the move creates $2.15MM in cap savings, reducing his cap charge from $2.915MM to $765K. Having reworked Joe Flacco‘s contract and released linebacker Daryl Smith, Baltimore continues to carve out small chunks of cap room.
Canty, a 10-year veteran, joined the Ravens prior to the 2013 season, after spending his first eight years in the NFC East with the Cowboys and Giants. In three years with Baltimore, Canty started 23 of 35 games he played, registering 84 total tackles and 3.5 sacks. While his impact on the field wasn’t necessarily significant, the 33-year-old was a solid rotation player and a good presence in the locker room.
While Canty appears likely to sign elsewhere, it’s worth noting that last offseason, the Ravens cut the defensive lineman in February, only to re-sign him a few weeks later in March. As Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun tweets, Canty isn’t ready for retirement and wants to continue his career, so we’ll see what his market looks like.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
North Rumors: Harris, Newman, D. Smith, Ravens
Vikings guard Mike Harris is eligible to hit the open market next week, but he would prefer to get something done before Monday’s legal tampering period begins so that he can remain in Minnesota, as he tells Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
“My agent is working really hard right now, and I’m hoping I can get a deal before Monday,” Harris said. “I see myself in Minnesota for the rest of my career. That’s where I want to be. So hopefully we get the contract ready this weekend. I’m excited. It’s going to be a great season for the Vikings, and I want to be a part of it.”
Harris expects the Vikings to put a formal offer on the table soon, and a source tells Tomasson that it will likely be a two-year contract worth in the ballpark of $5MM. If Minnesota can get a deal like that finalized, it would be a great value for the team — Harris shifted over from tackle last season to become a full-time guard for the Vikes, and was ranked 23rd out of 81 qualified players by Pro Football Focus.
Here’s more out of the NFL’s North divisions, including one more Vikings-related item:
- Terence Newman is set to become the NFL’s oldest defensive back. Newman, who will turn 38 this year, wants to play another season, and all signs points to there being mutual interest between the veteran cornerback and the Vikings, Tomasson writes for the Pioneer Press.
- Although the Ravens released linebacker Daryl Smith today, the team hasn’t ruled out the possibility of bringing him back after he gauges his value on the open market, GM Ozzie Newsome said in a statement. “We are not closing the door on the possibility of him returning to the Ravens,” Newsome said. “He deserves an opportunity to see his market value at this time.”
- As Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com details, safety Sean Richardson‘s future with the Packers – and in the NFL – remains unclear due to his neck injury. While Richardson is scheduled to become a free agent next week, his situation is unlikely to be resolved, since he still hasn’t been medically cleared to return.
- Whlie it would be great for the Browns if they can re-sign center Alex Mack, who opted out of his contract this week, the team shouldn’t devote a ton of resources to Mack if it means losing right tackle Mitchell Schwartz, writes Tom Reed of Cleveland.com. Of course, Reed notes that the ideal scenario would involve retaining both players.