Today’s minor transactions:
Baltimore Ravens
Denver Broncos
Los Angeles Chargers
Tight end Tommy Hudson got into five games with the Titans last season, hauling in three catches for 31 yards. He’ll join a relatively deep tight ends group in Denver that includes Greg Dulcich, Chris Manhertz, Adam Trautman, and Albert Okwuegbunam.
DeAndre Hopkins said earlier this offseason he had hired an agent, but it does not appear the former Texans and Cardinals wide receiver made that official until Tuesday.
The veteran is now with Klutch Sports, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, who notes Hopkins will be repped by Kelton Crenshaw (Twitter link). DeVonta Smith, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Chase Young are also aligned with Klutch and Crenshaw. Hopkins had represented himself in the past — including when he signed the two-year, $54.5MM Cardinals extension in 2020 — but as the soon-to-be 31-year-old pass catcher transitions to free agency, he will have representation.
Hopkins had been using financial advisor Saint Omni as his de facto representative, SI.com’s Albert Breer notes, while Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio adds teams were shying away from email communication with the accomplished wideout due to concerns they would be emailing a non-certified agent. That issue will be in the past now, with Hopkins aligned with LeBron James’ Klutch.
As for Hopkins’ potential destination, familiar teams continue to circle. Bills and Chiefs interest remains, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler. During a recent ESPN appearance with Harry Douglas and Jason Fitz, Fowler said he would bet on Hopkins ending up in Buffalo or Kansas City (video link).
Both AFC powerhouses sit at the bottom of the league in terms of cap space. Buffalo holds $1.47MM; Kansas City sits at barely $600K. Hopkins is not looking to take much of a discount, especially considering what Odell Beckham Jr. received from the Ravens. OBJ signed for $15MM guaranteed, and incentives can take the 30-year-old wideout’s payout to $18MM. Hopkins remains unlikely to secure Beckham-level cash at this offseason juncture, and the Chiefs and Bills — during trade talks with the Cardinals — balked at taking on his previous contract. With that contract in the past, more flexibility exists now.
Rumored to be interested in Hopkins back in March, the Chiefs had made progress on a trade with the Cardinals, per Breer. OBJ’s deal scuttled those talks. While Hopkins lobbied the Cardinals to eat some of his contract to facilitate a trade, but the lack of worthwhile trade compensation did not compel Arizona to do so.
Hopkins will probably have to reveal some wiggle room as well, if he wants to end up with either of the two teams he has frequently mentioned as appealing destinations. Other teams still view the Bills as a threat to add Hopkins, per Fowler, who also notes the Chiefs’ belief in Kadarius Toney, despite his concerning injury past, also could impede a Hopkins addition. Kansas City also chose SMU’s Rashee Rice in Round 2. The Bills did not draft a receiver until Round 5 (Florida’s Justin Shorter), but they are planning to use first-round tight end Dalton Kincaid as a slot player frequently.
Although the Ravens signed Beckham and now have Zay Flowers in the fold, Lamar Jackson approached team brass about the potential for adding Hopkins weeks ago. With Jackson’s cap hit dropping from $32.4MM to $22.15MM this year, thanks to his record-setting extension removing the franchise tag from the equation, Baltimore has more than $11MM in cap space. The Ravens did Hopkins homework earlier this year, per The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec (subscription required), and also discussed Courtland Sutton with the Broncos. But they are not believed to have entered serious trade talks with the Cardinals.
The Browns continue to be loosely connected to Hopkins, with Fowler noting the team will likely at least make a call on the 10-year veteran. Klutch is also a Cleveland-based agency that represents several Browns players. No other agency represents more Browns than Klutch, per the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Mary Kay Cabot.
Hopkins played three seasons with Deshaun Watson in Houston and remains close with the second-year Cleveland quarterback. Watson said Tuesday (via Cabot), “Of course, we’d love to have him.” Thanks to designating John Johnson as a post-June 1 cut, the Browns will hold more than $16MM in cap space later this week. That said, Kevin Stefanski has praised the Browns’ current receiving corps and expressed confidence in the group as is. The Browns have Amari Cooper, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Elijah Moore and three recent third-round picks — Cedric Tillman, David Bell, Anthony Schwartz — on their roster.
The Jets pursued Beckham and had set up a visit, but they backed out of the race when the Ravens’ guarantee figure surfaced. The Cowboys also looked into the former All-Pro via trade. New York has since added Randall Cobb, while Dallas traded for Brandin Cooks. These two could loom on the fringes here as well, but Hopkins continues to be tied more closely to the Chiefs and Bills.
The quarterback market has moved again this offseason. A year after Aaron Rodgers raised the average annual value bar past $50MM, Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson did so on long-term extensions. Overall, four teams have authorized the most lucrative QB deal in their respective histories this offseason. Two more — the Bengals and Chargers — are in talks about record-setting extensions as well.
On that note, here is the richest quarterback contract each team has authorized. Although teams like the Jets and Lions have acquired big-ticket contracts via trade, only teams’ extensions or free agency agreements will qualify here.
In trading this contract to the Jets in April, the Packers restructured the deal. Rodgers’ exit will still tag the Pack with $40.3MM in 2023 dead money.
Carr’s second Raiders deal — agreed to in April 2022 — was worth $40.5MM per year. The full guarantee, thanks to the February escape hatch the team built into the contract, checked in lower than Carr’s initial Raiders extension.
Cousins’ 2020 extension checked in with a higher AAV ($33MM) but did not approach his initial Minnesota pact for guarantees.
The Jets have signed three quarterbacks to deals involving more guaranteed money, but each of those contracts — for Mark Sanchez (2009), Sam Darnold (2018) and Zach Wilson (2021) — was a rookie pact.
Things changed significantly for the Ravens at the safety position during the 2022 offseason. One of the results of their moves made on the backend was veteran Chuck Clark being traded at the start of the 2023 league year. 
Clark, a 2017 sixth-round pick, established himself as a full-time starter midway through the 2019 season, and held onto a first-team role from that point on. His consistent production had him in line for a new Ravens extension heading into the 2022 offseason, but circumstances turned against him quickly. Baltimore signed Marcus Williams in free agency on a five-year, $70MM contract, marking their latest big-money investment at the free safety spot.
More significantly with respect to Clark’s status, the Ravens followed up the Williams deal by selecting Kyle Hamilton in the first round of the draft. That move seemed to leave Clark on the outside looking in beyond the 2022 season, and he requested a trade shortly thereafter. Baltimore, as expected, ultimately moved on this March by dealing him to the Jets in a swap which yielded $3.64MM in cap savings.
When speaking about the trade earlier this week, the 28-year-old indicated that he felt “disrespected” by the Ravens given the way his time with the team came to an end. Clark has one year remaining on his current contract, but he was under the impression that a Ravens extension was a distinct possibility in 2022, as noted by Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic (subscription required). Zrebiec adds, notably, that the team was “open to the idea” as well, before their safety additions made Clark expendable.
The latter – who eclipsed the 100-tackle mark for the first time in his career last year – could have a much clearer path to a starting spot in his new home than he would have had in Baltimore in 2023. The Ravens have Williams and Hamilton in place for the foreseeable future, while Clark could partner with Jordan Whitehead in New York ahead of hitting the open market in 2024. With a cap hit of $4.14MM, Clark could prove to be a cost-effective contributor for the Jets as he and the Ravens go their separate ways.
Baltimore did utilize three-safety packages to a notable extent in 2022, as they looked to integrate Hamilton slowly before what should be a dramatic uptick in usage this year. Continuing those alignments may have left the door open to retaining – or even extending – Clark beyond his current deal, but both parties appear to be well-positioned moving forward. How Clark fares in New York, and the degree to which he is replaced in Baltimore, will be worth monitoring in 2023.
The Ravens will return four starters from last year’s offensive line in right tackle Morgan Moses, right guard Kevin Zeitler, center Tyler Linderbaum, and left tackle Ronnie Stanley. After allowing last season’s starting left guard, Ben Powers, to depart for Denver in free agency, Baltimore has an open spot available on the starting offensive line. 
The Ravens are fairly confident in their options to replace Powers. The favorites for the job are utility lineman Patrick Mekari, guards Ben Cleveland and John Simpson, and tackle Daniel Faalele. The team did draft two linemen in Oregon’s Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu and USC’s Andrew Vorhees, but Aumavae-Laulu is considered a developmental prospect who can play all over the line, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic, while Vorhees’s recent injuries will require him to miss most, if not all, of his rookie season. They also recently added former Bears center Sam Mustipher, but Mustipher is expected to act as an experienced backup center behind Linderbaum.
Mekari and Faalele may be too valuable in their current roles to force into a starting guard spot, even if they would be strong contributors at the position. Mekari has excelled in recent years as a sort of sixth-man for the Ravens’ offensive line. The former undrafted free agent out of Cal has started games at every position on the line for Baltimore usually as an injury replacement. He has the talent to start for many teams, but Baltimore paid him in 2021 to stay and be one of the league’s most talented backups. Faalele on the other hand has the perfect frame to develop into a top tackle. At 6-foot-8, 380 pounds, Faalele could surely be a force on the interior offensive line, but the Ravens want to keep that length on the outside and will likely continue developing him as a tackle.
The battle likely boils down to Cleveland and Simpson. Cleveland was drafted in the third round two years ago with the expectation that he would develop into a starting guard. He lost the battle last year to Powers, but at 6-foot-6, 357 pounds, Cleveland could be an imposing physical presence on the left side of the line. He’s had five starts over his first two years in the league and dealt with a knee injury his rookie year.
Simpson was a late-season addition to the Ravens’ practice squad last year who was signed to a futures contract at the end of the season. He found his way to Baltimore after being waived by the Raiders but is only a year removed from his role as a full-time starting left guard for Las Vegas.
No battles will be won in May, but the Ravens are well set up to use this summer to determine who will be starting in between Linderbaum and Stanley in Week 1 vs. Houston.
After missing more than two years because of an ACL tear, Tony Jefferson managed to land roles with multiple teams over the past two seasons. But the veteran defender will choose to step away rather than attempting to play a 10th season.
Jefferson intends to retire, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. He has another gig lined up, with Schefter adding the former Ravens safety is expected to join the team’s scouting staff. Jefferson played four seasons with the Ravens, working as a Baltimore starter in three of those. The 31-year-old cover man wraps his career having played for four teams, beginning with the Cardinals and including late-career stops with the 49ers and Giants.
Jefferson will follow punter Sam Koch in retiring and joining Baltimore’s staff. Current Ravens inside linebackers coach Zach Orr did the same in the late 2010s, moving from Ravens defender to coach. Jefferson did not finish his career with the Ravens, closing out his NFL run with the Giants last season, but he will stay close to the game as a member of the franchise. The Ravens announced Jefferson will be working as a scouting intern this summer.
The Ravens have signed several veteran safeties to big-ticket deals over the past several years. Jefferson joined Eric Weddle, Earl Thomas and Marcus Williams in this group. Baltimore teamed Jefferson and Weddle from 2017-18, when the two operated as the team’s starting safeties together. Jefferson signed a four-year, $34MM deal with the Ravens in 2017 and started 35 games over the next three seasons. During Jefferson’s final year as a full-time Ravens starter (2018), the team finished first in total defense.
A Week 5 ACL tear sidelined Jefferson for most of Baltimore’s 14-2 2019 season, and the Ravens released him with a failed physical designation in February 2020. Jefferson spent the 2020 season out of football. He eventually caught on with the 49ers in June 2021 but only played in two games with the team. He circled back to the Ravens in November of that year and ended up rejoining DC Don Martindale in New York just before last season. The Ravens released Jefferson on roster-cutdown day last August, his past with Martindale led to a Giants practice squad agreement. He moved up to the active roster and played nine games for the playoff qualifier.
Jefferson finished his career with 67 starts, lasting nine years despite entering the league as a Cardinals UDFA in 2013. Part of Bruce Arians‘ first batch of UDFAs, Jefferson played a regular role on the 2014 and ’15 playoff-bound Cardinals teams. He teamed with the likes of Patrick Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu in Arizona’s 2015 secondary, which helped form a top-10 defense during a season that ended in the NFC championship game. Jefferson intercepted only four passes as a pro but registered 9.5 sacks and 34 tackles for loss. The future scout earned just more than $32MM as an NFL player.
After two seasons with the Bears, Angelo Blackson is heading to Baltimore. The Ravens announced an agreement with the veteran defensive lineman Wednesday.
Blackson, who has played for four teams during his eight-year career, has spent extensive time as both a starter and a backup. The former Titans draftee has made 42 starts since coming into the league as a fourth-round pick back in 2015.
He will join a Ravens team that cut Calais Campbell earlier this year. Baltimore did not draft a defensive lineman last month. With Campbell out of the mix (and now with the Falcons), the Ravens stand to field a D-line group consisting of rookie-deal players — Justin Madubuike, Broderick Washington and Travis Jones — and veterans Michael Pierce and Brent Urban. Blackson, 30, will join the latter contingent.
Blackson played out a two-year, $5.5MM Bears deal last season. The Auburn alum started 12 games over the past two years. He was more productive in 2021, totaling 43 stops, 2.5 sacks, nine QB hits and his only career interception. Blackson played a career-high 583 defensive snaps in 2021 and totaled 392 under Matt Eberflus last season.
Pro Football Focus also viewed Blackson as a better performer in 2021; last season, the advanced metrics website slotted him as a bottom-10 interior defensive lineman. The Bears moved to a 4-3 base alignment under Eberflus. Blackson had previously spent his career — in Tennessee, Houston and Arizona — on teams using 3-4 schemes. The Ravens have used a 3-4 look for ages. Blackson also spent time with the Patriots in 2017 but did not see any game action, being poached off the Pats’ practice squad by the Texans, who later extended him.
The 315-pound D-lineman has been durable as well, playing at least 15 games in each of the past five seasons. Blackson’s most notable contract came with the Texans, who signed him to a three-year, $12MM deal in 2019. Although Blackson started a career-high 15 games that season, he ended up taking a pay cut in 2020. But Blackson played out that contract, despite Houston going through significant changes in the front office and on the sideline, and has now managed to fetch two more.
Today’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Pittsburgh Steelers
Seattle Seahawks
Max Pircher will be joining the Lions via the league’s International Pathways Program. The team originally signed Austalian tight end Patrick Murtagh, who had to back out of his deal due to a medical issue, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. Pircher played football in Austria and participated on Italy’s National Team before a stint on the Rams’ practice squad in 2021.
Tae Crowder became a popular name after he compiled 130 tackles in 17 starts for the Giants in 2021. He found himself sliding down the depth chart in 2022 before ultimately getting waived. He landed back on New York’s practice squad before being signed by the Steelers, where he didn’t get into a game while sitting on their active roster.
Rashod Bateman‘s 2022 campaign ended in November following season-ending Lisfranc foot surgery. While recovering from foot injuries is especially difficult for skill players, the Ravens wideout sounds like he’ll be ready to go for the start of the 2023 season.
As Clifton Brown of the team’s website passes along, Bateman was on the field Monday for the first day of Baltimore’s OTAs. While the team intends to bring him along the slowly, the wideout will still be attending the optional workouts as he becomes familiar with new OC Todd Monken.
The 2021 first-round pick showed his potential during his rookie campaign. While he missed the first month-plus while recovering from core muscle surgery, he still managed to finish the campaign with 46 receptions for 515 yards and one touchdown. He increased his yards-per-catch average through his first six games in 2022, collecting 285 receiving yards on 15 catches.
While Bateman hasn’t been able to put together top-end production for an entire season, the Ravens still believe the third-year wideout will be a crucial part of their offense.
“He’s going to be ready to roll stronger than ever, healthier than ever,” coach John Harbaugh said (via Brown). “Rashod’s going to have a great season. I’m a big believer in Rashod Bateman.”
Bateman will see a more crowded depth chart when he returns to the field. The Ravens added Odell Beckham Jr. and Nelson Agholor before drafting Boston College’s Zay Flowers in the first round of the draft.
Josh Johnson has once again landed a new deal with a familiar team. The journeyman quarterback is signing with the Ravens for a third time, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). 
Johnson, 37, has been a member of an NFL-record 14 teams over the span of his career, also spending time in the UFL, AAF and XFL along the way. His previous stints in Baltimore came in 2016 and 2021; it was during the latter campaign that he made his only start as a Raven. Given the team’s current depth chart, it would come as a surprise if he were to see any game action this time around.
Baltimore has Lamar Jackson on the books for the next five years after they brought his contract saga to an end earlier this offseason. That will allow the team to move forward with certainty at the top of the depth chart, but the former MVP has been sidelined to close out the season in each of the past two years. That leaves their backup and third-string options a point of interest.
The Ravens tendered restricted free agent Tyler Huntley at the low-round level ($2.63MM). The former UDFA would have been able to head elsewhere on an offer sheet which would not have put Baltimore in line for compensation, but Huntley ultimately signed the one-year deal. The 25-year-old has made four starts in each of the past two regular seasons, and started the team’s wild-card loss to the Bengals in 2022.
Johnson – who began last season on the Broncos’ practice squad before signing with the 49ers amidst their quarterback injuries – will likely be competing for the third-string role in training camp. That spot currently belongs to Anthony Brown, a UDFA who made one start as a rookie last season. The Ravens also included one signal-caller (Nolan Henderson) in this year’s group of undrafted rookie signings. Johnson will look to outperform those two as a means of at least earning a spot on the Ravens’ practice squad.