Bills To Sign WR John Brown
The Bills didn’t end up landing Antonio Brown, but they are bringing in a receiver. Buffalo is going to sign John Brown, a source told Peter Schrager of NFL Network (Twitter link). 
Adam Schefter of ESPN.com followed up with a tweet reporting that Brown will get $27MM over three years. Brown comes to the Bills from the Ravens, where he spent the 2018 season after inking a one year deal. Brown will provide an immediate upgrade to the Bills’ weak receiving corp, and will be a great asset for Josh Allen as he continues to develop as a passer. Buffalo’s leading receiver last year was Zay Jones, which wasn’t going to cut it moving forward.
Brown will provide a much-needed deep threat for Buffalo’s offense, and he’s still one of the fastest receivers in the league. Brown was always high on talent, and showed flashes during his years with the Cardinals. He broke out with 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns in 2015, but struggled with injuries and inconsistency the next couple of years.
He got off to a really hot start in Baltimore, and revitalized his career last year. He showed an instant connection with Joe Flacco, and had at least 85 yards in four of his first seven games. His production really dropped off the second half of the season, but only because Lamar Jackson took over at quarterback and the team stopped throwing deep as much. Brown is still only 28, and will immediately slide in as Buffalo’s best receiver.
Le’Veon Bell Deciding Between Five Teams?
Free agents have been flying off the board but perhaps the biggest name, running back Le’Veon Bell, remains unsigned. The market does appear to be narrowing down for Bell’s services, and there’s a “good likelihood” he signs with one of the Jets, Colts, Ravens, Packers, Texans, or Bills, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
However, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com soon tweeted that the Colts are officially out on Bell, which would narrow down the list to five teams. Furthermore, the Packers have already spent a ton of money today on Adrian Amos, Za’Darius Smith, and Preston Smith, so they might not no longer be able to fit the massive contract Bell is seeking into their cap.
The Jets have been the team most heavily linked to Bell for months now. There have been conflicting reports about their level of interest, and rumors they’re concerned about his weight, but they’ve been the one constant when discussing Bell. The Jets are looking to add some excitement, need a running back, and have plenty of cap space, so they still make the most sense on paper.
The Ravens make some sense as well, as they’re looking for weapons for Lamar Jackson and are planning to have a very run-heavy offense. The Texans and Bills are more outside the box options, as both have established running backs. The Texans have Lamar Miller, while the Bills have LeSean McCoy and just added Frank Gore. Both Gore and McCoy are getting up there in age while the Texans could get out of Miller’s contract fairly easily, so they’re both definitely options.
Interestingly, Anderson’s list doesn’t include the Raiders. After trading for Antonio Brown, rumors began swirling that Jon Gruden would attempt to re-pair him with Bell in Oakland. That could still be the case, although they didn’t make Anderson’s shortlist.
Contract Details: Collins, Morse, Graham
Let’s take a look at the details of a few recently-signed contracts from around the NFL:
- Landon Collins, S (Redskins): Six years, $84MM deal, $45MM guaranteed. $15MM signing bonus, $6MM option bonus for 2024 (exercised between first and fifth of 2020). Deal includes $32MM guaranteed over the first two seasons. $5MM of his 2021 salary is guaranteed at signing. Salaries: $1MM (2019), $10MM (2020), $12.5MM (2021), $11.5MM (2022), $12.5MM (2023), $13.5MM (2024). All Twitter links via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, and ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
- Mitch Morse, C (Bills): Four years, $44.5MM, $26.5MM guaranteed (original story). Receives $19.5MM in 2019, $28.375MM in 2020. Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero.
- Brandon Graham, DE (Eagles): Three years, $40MM. $23.5MM guaranteed. $12.5MM signing bonus. Salary: $1MM (2019), $10MM (2020). Team option for 2021: $13MM salary and $3.5MM option bonus. Twitter link via Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic.
- Danny Amendola, WR (Lions): One year, $4.5MM. $4.25MM fully guaranteed. $250K in per-game roster bonuses, $1.25MM in incentives. Twitter link via Ben Volin of the Boston Globe.
- Tyler Kroft, TE (Bills): Three years, $18.75MM. $8.3MM guaranteed, $2.4MM signing bonus. Will earn $1.8MM salary in 2019, $4.45MM in 2020. Roster bonuses include $2.1MM (2019), $750K (2020), $750K (2021). Twitter links via Wilson and ESPN’s Mike Rodak.
Bills To Sign Mitch Morse
The Bills just keep on rolling. After landing Frank Gore, Kevin Johnson, and Tyler Kroft, Buffalo is making another big move. Center Mitch Morse has agreed to terms with the Bills, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
This will come with a major pay raise. Morse is expected to receive a contract that will pay him more than $11MM on average, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). It’s a four-year deal, per Yahoo.com’s Terez Paylor (on Twitter). This coming to fruition would make him the NFL’s highest-paid center.
Morse is coming to Buffalo from Kansas City, where he’s spent the past four seasons. The Chiefs took Morse in the second round of the 2015 draft, and he’s been a starter with them ever since. He hasn’t been able to stay healthy the past couple of seasons, which might’ve played into the Chiefs’ decision to let him walk.
Morse appeared in 11 games last year, and just seven the year before that. Morse has dealt with concussion and foot issues the past couple of seasons, but has been an effective player when on the field. In his 11 starts last season, he graded out as the 13th-best center in the league, according to Pro Football Focus’ metrics.
No terms of the deal have been announced at the moment, and it’ll be very interesting to see what Morse gets. The Bills have been very generous with their spending so far, so it’s safe to assume Morse got a fairly big contract. The Chiefs signed Austin Reiter to an extension back in December, and he could become the team’s full-time starting center if they don’t sign or draft anyone else.
Before signing Morse, the Bills were in on Broncos center Matt Paradis, a source told Ralph Vacchiano of SNY (Twitter link). Vacchiano thinks that could help the Jets’ chances of signing Paradis.
Bills To Sign Tyler Kroft
After signing Frank Gore and Kevin Johnson earlier today, the Bills are making another move. Buffalo has agreed on a deal with tight end Tyler Kroft to a three-year deal, his agent Mike McCartney tweeted.
The deal is worth $18.75MM over the three years, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). Rapoport also adds that the value of the contract can increase to $21MM, presumably through incentives. That’s a pretty hefty contract for a player who doesn’t have much of a history of production, and who played in just five games last season.
Kroft comes to the Bills from the Bengals, where he has filled in as Cincinnati’s tight end the past several seasons as Tyler Eifert has dealt with numerous injuries. The Bengals took Kroft in the third round back in the 2015 draft. He broke out in 2017, starting all 16 games and catching 42 passes for 404 yards and seven touchdowns.
But he suffered a foot injury early last year, and ended up missing the rest of the season. The fact that he was able to land this type of contract shows that the limited number of tight ends available in this year’s free agency class are all about to cash in.
Bills To Sign Frank Gore
Frank Gore just won’t quit. On Monday, the ageless running back agreed to sign with the Bills on a one-year, $2MM deal, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. 
Gore, 36 in May, continues to defy the odds with productive season after productive season. Last year, Gore managed 4.6 yards per carry off of 156 attempts and added 12 catches for 124 yards. He no longer profiles as a workhorse back, but he’s still extremely effective when used in the right measure.
In addition to being extremely efficient last year, Gore also graded out as the Dolphins’ best pass-blocker, per Pro Football Focus. Football Outsiders’ metrics lauded Gore as well, as he ranked as a top-20 back in DYAR, DVOA, and success rate.
The Bills already have star LeSean McCoy leading the way with Chris Ivory in reserve, but Gore could be a change-of-pace option as the Bills move forward. The extra insurance can’t hurt, especially since McCoy averaged a career-low 3.2 yards per try in 2018.
Bills To Sign Kevin Johnson
The Bills are expected to add free agent cornerback Kevin Johnson, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The deal is pending a “final review of the contract,” according to Rapoport, but it sounds like the key parts of the deal are in place.
Concussions limited Johnson to just one game last season with the Texans and his physical could be more than just a formality in Buffalo. But, if Johnson gets the medical greenlight, he could prove to be a strong value addition for the Bills.
The former first-round pick has missed 29 out of a possible 64 games over the last four seasons. But, with two quality cornerbacks in Tre’Davious White and Levi Wallace, Johnson could provide valuable support on the outside. Armed with $77MM+ in cap space, the Bills had the room to make the upgrade.
Bills Discussing Trey Flowers
The Bills are internally discussing the idea of pursuing Trey Flowers, according to ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson (on Twitter). Flowers will be one of the most coveted free agents when the market opens on Wednesday, so this would be a costly endeavor for Buffalo. 
Flowers won’t turn 26 until August and profiles as one of the most attractive free agents in this year’s crop. Last year, he set a new career high with 7.5 sacks and continued to generate pressure against opposing QBs. Last year, Flowers graded out as the sixth-best edge rusher in the entire NFL, according to Pro Football Focus, and posted a career-best 88.7 overall score. That mark put him below only Calais Campbell, Khalil Mack, J.J. Watt, Von Miller, and Cameron Jordan.
The Jets have also been heavily connected to Flowers, so it’s quite possible that he’ll remain in the AFC East.
NFC East Notes: Giants, Cowboys, Eagles
The Eagles did their due diligence on Antonio Brown before their in-state rival elected to ship him to Oakland, but Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com believes Philadelphia should “absolutely” pursue Brown’s soon-to-be former teammate, Le’Veon Bell. There have been rumors linking Bell to the Eagles this offseason, and Shorr-Parks sums it up thusly: “[T]he Eagles’ biggest need is running back. Bell is the best one available. They have the money to sign him, and they have a quarterback that needs him.”
The Brown saga appears to be wrapped up, and the Bell story will have a new chapter this week, when the talented back finds a new home. As we look ahead to free agency, let’s round up a few other NFC East items:
- The slot receiver market may be among the interesting to watch when free agency opens on Wednesday, tweets Mike Garafolo of NFL.com. Teams like the Cowboys, Redskins, and Eagles, who are expected to respectively lose Cole Beasley, Jamison Crowder, and Golden Tate, shouldb be in line to target new slot options. Additionally, clubs such as the Colts, Raiders, Lions, Titans, and Bills are also searching for inside weapons, per Garfolo.
- Given all of the needs they have, and their relatively modest amount of cap room, the Giants are likely to make a few ripples in the pool of free agent talent rather than a major splash, as Paul Schwartz of the New York Post opines. The team needs to fortify a few positions (like strong safety and cornerback) so that they do not have to reach for a particular position in the draft.
- Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv lauds the Giants‘ return in the recent Olivier Vernon trade, but he wonders how it will impact the rest of the team’s offseason. For instance, although free agency is loaded with quality pass rushers, Big Blue will not able to afford even a second-tier option if it wants to adequately address all of its needs, and it now becomes more possible that the Giants will take a pass rusher with the No. 6 overall pick (which would certainly upset plenty of Giants fans if Kyler Murray or Dwayne Haskins is still on the board).
Fallout From Antonio Brown Trade
Now that the Raiders have agreed to acquire Antonio Brown from the Steelers, you can be sure that more news about the deal (and the deals that were discussed, but never came to be), will be trickling in. We will monitor the AB fallout here throughout the course of the day, as the football world continues to process the conclusion of the biggest storyline of the offseason:
- The Eagles did discuss Brown with the Steelers, but as ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets, those talks never got serious. Instead, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were simply doing their due diligence.
- Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com suggests it was the new contract that Brown was demanding, rather than the draft picks, that scared the Eagles away (Twitter link).
- Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter) agrees with Shorr-Parks’ theory, saying that plenty of teams were willing to give up the third- and fifth-round picks that ultimately got the job done, but the Raiders were the only team that was willing to tear up Brown’s existing contract and give him a new one.
- Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets that the Bills were willing to swap 2019 first-round picks with the Steelers (No. 9 for No. 20) and trade away two mid-round picks, but it was Brown’s contract demands that proved to be the undoing of that potential deal.
- La Canfora adds in a separate tweet that the Redskins were still engaged with the Steelers after the Bills deal fell through earlier in the week, but it is unclear how serious the Pittsburgh-Washington talks became.
- Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com concedes that the Raiders easily got the better of the Steelers in this trade, but he reviews what Pittsburgh’s options were, and none of them were good (Twitter link). The Steelers could have cut Brown and received no trade compensation — which also would have allowed Brown to sign with any team he wanted, including a major conference rival — or they could have kept him, fined him when he didn’t report to camp, and hoped that he wouldn’t retire because he would have had to pay back $11MM if he did so.
- Fowler also passes along a couple of Raiders-related notes in a separate tweet. A source close to Brown said the wideout was excited about joining the Raiders in part because of the presence of head coach Jon Gruden and quarterback Derek Carr. Brown is also intrigued by the Raiders’ collection of high draft picks and young talent, and Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther — who had to devise many a game plan for Brown when he was the Bengals’ DC — strongly endorsed Brown’s game.
- Plenty of people have been wondering why the Steelers didn’t demand one of the Raiders‘ three first-round draft picks before agreeing to deal Brown to Oakland, and NFL Insider Adam Caplan says the Raiders simply refused to do so (Twitter link). Although the Raiders would of course have preferred to give up one draft choice instead of two, the club was adamant about holding onto its three first-rounders and one second-rounder.
- Although the Steelers‘ $21.12MM cap hit that they will have to absorb for Brown in 2019 is a killer, the trade does save the club $15MM in cash that can now be spent on other players, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk observes.
- Brown’s contract with the Raiders has set a new benchmark for players like Julio Jones, Tyreek Hill, and Michael Thomas, who will all cash in shortly.
- Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com takes an excellent in-depth look at the saga and what it means for both teams.