4:53pm: Hawley did well on his new two-year deal, getting a fully guaranteed $1.25MM base salary for 2015, per Caplan (Twitter link). The ex-Falcon can earn up to $5.75MM if he plays out the contract.
4:06pm: The Buccaneers have officially announced the signing of Hawley, cutting center Eric Kush to make room on the roster for the veteran.
12:03pm: It’ll be a two-year deal for Hawley, Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com tweets.
10:50am: The Buccaneers are expected to sign center Joe Hawley today, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets. Hawley was a former starter for Atlanta but he was released by the team this offseason.
Hawley, 27 in October, was on his way to returning from the ACL surgery that ended his 2014 season prematurely. However, the Falcons jumped at the chance to add center Gino Gradkowski when he was waived by the Broncos, and Hawley was quickly displaced.
Hawley wasn’t playing exceptionally well in the early going last season, but he appeared in 16 games with seven starts in 2013 and the team was counting on him to start in ’14. This year, Hawley started the first two preseason games for Atlanta but he was moved to the bench for the final two contests.