Seahawks To Extend P Michael Dickson
The Seahawks are locking down their punter long-term. Michael Dickson agreed to a four-year extension to stay in Seattle on Friday, ESPN.com’s Mark Sanchez tweets.
It is a four-year, $14.5MM add-on for the fourth-year punter, with Mike Garafolo of NFL.com confirming the former quarterback’s report (via Twitter). This will tie Dickson to the Seahawks through the 2025 season. The former fifth-round pick will see $10.6MM in the contract’s first two years.
Performance-based incentives could take the contract north of $4MM per year, Garafolo adds (via Twitter). Rams perennial All-Pro Johnny Hekker resides as the NFL’s highest-paid punter, at $3.75MM per year.
The first of three punters drafted in 2018, Dickson quickly became one of the NFL’s best at the position. The strong-legged Australian earned first-team All-Pro recognition as a rookie and in 2020 averaged a career-high 49.6 yards per punt.
Dickson became the rare specialist to leave for the draft after his junior season, doing so after winning the Ray Guy Award in 2017 and finishing as the Big 12’s special teams player of the year as a sophomore. He now looks like the Seahawks’ long-term successor to Jon Ryan, who held this gig from 2006-2017.
Rams Sign Fourth-Round DL Bobby Brown III
The Rams continue to make progress on signing their rookie class. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports (via Twitter) that the team has signed fourth-round nose tackle Bobby Brown III.
The six-foot-four, 321-pound rookie established himself as one of the top defensive tackle prospects in the draft following three standout seasons at Texas A&M. The lineman took it to another level in 2020, finishing with 5.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss, resulting in him being selected with the No. 117 pick in the 2021 draft.
Brown earned high marks from scouts thanks to his size and versatility, although some pundits questioned his energy. He’ll likely find himself behind Aaron Donald, Sebastian Joseph, and A’Shawn Robinson on the depth chart.
The Rams have just about signed their entire draft class. Following today’s move, the team only has two unsigned draft picks remaining: third-round linebacker Ernest Jones (South Carolina) and fourth-round wide receiver Jacob Harris (UCF).
Eagles Sign Three More Draft Picks
DeVonta Smith wasn’t the only member of the Eagles draft class to get a contract today. The team also signed third-round defensive lineman Milton Williams, fourth-round cornerback Zech McPhearson, and fifth-round running back Kenneth Gainwell.
[RELATED: Eagles Sign DeVonta Smith]
Williams had a productive four-year stint (including a redshirt year) at Louisiana Tech, collecting 108 and 10.5 sacks during his collegiate career. After earning first-team All-Conference USA in 2020, the Eagles used the No. 73 pick to take him in the 2021 draft. The rookie is expected to compete for backup reps behind Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave.
McPhearson transferred from Penn State to Texas Tech in 2019, and the move helped put the defensive back on the NFL radar. The 23-year-old earned a number of accolades for his performance in 2020 (including first-team All-Big 12), leading to him being taken with the No. 123 pick.
After serving as a quarterback in high school, Gainwell transitioned to running back while he was at Memphis. He had a breakout campaign in 2019, collecting 2,069 yards from scrimmage to go along with 16 touchdowns. The running back opted out of the 2020 campaign.
Following today’s signings, the Eagles still have a handful of unsigned draft picks:
Round 2: No. 37 Landon Dickerson, C (Alabama)
Round 6: No. 189 Marlon Tuipulotu, DT (USC)
Round 6: No. 191 (from Broncos via Panthers) Tarron Jackson, DE (Coastal Carolina)
Round 6: No. 224 JaCoby Stevens, S (LSU)
Round 7: No. 234 Patrick Johnson, DE (Tulane)
Chiefs Release LB Kamalei Correa
Less than a month after signing with the Chiefs, Kamalei Correa has been handed his walking papers. ESPN’s Field Yates reports (via Twitter) that Kansas City has released the veteran linebacker.
The 27-year-old signed with the Chiefs in May after splitting the 2020 campaign between Tennessee and Jacksonville. He started the season with the Titans, but he was traded to the Jaguars in mid-October. He ultimately finished the season having seen time in nine games (six starts) with nine tackles and a pair of QB hits.
After spending the first two seasons of his career with the Ravens, the former second-round pick was traded to the Titans in 2018. He spent two-plus seasons in Tennessee, collecting 8.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss in 32 games.
Correa joined the Chiefs as a potential depth piece that could bounce around the front seven. Since the start of camp, the team has presumably liked what they’ve seen from their young pass rushers, including second-round pick Nick Bolton. This could also mean that Taco Charlton, who was limited to only seven games in 2020, is on the mend.
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/3/21
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Arizona Cardinals
- Waived/injured: WR Krishawn Hogan
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: WR Devin Gray
Detroit Lions
- Suspended three games (substance-abuse policy): DT Jashon Cornell
- Waived: FB Nick Bawden
Las Vegas Raiders
- Released: OL Erik Magnuson
- Waived: TE Carson Williams
Washington Football Team
- Waived/injured: TE Dylan Cantrell
Titans Sign DT Abry Jones
Abry Jones‘ eight-year Jacksonville stay is over, but he stands to see his former team this season. The veteran defensive tackle agreed to terms with the Titans on Thursday.
Entering last season as the Jaguars’ longest-tenured player, Jones ran into injury trouble and played in just five games. The Titans are shuttling in multiple D-linemen, with Trevon Coley also joining the team. Jones brings a much longer track record as a starter.
Although he was not asked to be a key pass rusher, Jones was part of the Jags’ “Sacksonville” defensive front throughout its brief run. A UDFA out of Georgia in 2013, Jones started 15 games for the AFC South champion Jags team in 2017 and served as a key contributor in Jacksonville from 2014-20. The Jags ranked as a top-five defense in 2017 and ’18 but lost their way in 2019 and fell off a cliff last season. With the franchise changing regimes, Jones will move on as well.
This will be the veteran nose tackle’s age-30 season. Jones and Coley represent competition for Tennessee’s incumbents. An ankle malady sidelined Jones for most of the 2020 season, but he played at least 15 games in each of the previous six years.
To make room on their roster, the Titans cut defensive linemen Jullian Taylor and Daylon Mack. The Titans signed Taylor in February, but the former 49ers defensive tackle missed all of the 2020 season. He suffered a severe knee injury late in the 2019 campaign; the 49ers cut him midway through last season. Mack also did not see any time in 2020 but spent time on multiple practice squads.
Bills Sign First-Round DE Gregory Rousseau
The Bills used first- and second-round picks on defensive ends this year. Both are now under contract. Gregory Rousseau signed his rookie deal Thursday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
Selected 30th overall, Rousseau will receive $11.367MM guaranteed. The Miami alum will be expected to help a Bills team that featured no pass rusher surpass five sacks in 2020. The Rousseau pick preceded Buffalo selecting Wake Forest’s Boogie Basham in Round 2. Basham signed his rookie deal last month. Rousseau’s rookie deal, unlike Basham’s, can run through 2025 (via the fifth-year option).
Both Rousseau and Hurricanes rusher Jaelan Phillips went off the board, to AFC East teams, in Round 1. The Dolphins took Phillips ahead of the Bills’ selection. Rousseau had Phillips one-upped after his most recent college season, 2019, when he posted 15.5 sacks and forced two fumbles. But Rousseau opted out of his junior season and did not generate momentum during the pre-draft process.
Buffalo will bet on his breakout sophomore season being a better indicator of his potential. Rousseau did not record a sack as a freshman in 2018, playing in only one game, and ranked 48th among this year’s prospects, per Scouts Inc. The 6-foot-6 edge defender played in just 14 games at Miami. This certainly increases the risk of the Bills’ pick.
The defending AFC East champions, however, now have a wealth of notable defensive ends on their roster. Rousseau and Basham join 2020 second-round pick A.J. Epenesa and returning starters Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison.
Raiders Sign S Roderic Teamer
New Raiders defensive coordinator Gus Bradley will reunite with another of his former Chargers troops. The Raiders agreed to terms with safety Roderic Teamer on Thursday.
Set to follow ex-Bolts teammate Casey Hayward in Las Vegas, Teamer will join the Raiders after a stint with the Colts. The former UDFA caught on with Indianapolis via reserve/futures contract in January but ended up being waived shortly after the draft. Teamer’s Raiders deal is for one year and $780K, veteran NFL reporter Aaron Wilson tweets.
Teamer was with the Chargers for just one season, with a violation of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy sidetracking his tenure in Los Angeles. The Tulane product, however, worked as a starter for the Bolts as a rookie. Depleted at safety in 2019, the Chargers used Teamer as a six-game starter. He made 40 tackles, registered a sack and intercepted a pass during that stay. The Chargers cut Teamer in August 2020, following the news of his four-game suspension.
The Raiders have been busy in their secondary this offseason. At safety alone, the team has added second-round pick Trevon Moehrig, fourth-rounder Tyree Gillespie and reunited with 2016 first-round pick Karl Joseph. A special teams role may be the Raiders’ objective with Teamer (no pun intended).
Titans To Sign DT Trevon Coley
Former Browns defensive tackle starter Trevon Coley‘s journey around the NFL will continue to a second AFC South team. The Titans agreed to terms with the veteran defender Thursday, according to his agency (via Twitter).
This will be Coley’s seventh NFL team. While the former UDFA has only seen action with three of those squads, he has spent time with the Ravens, Browns, Washington, Colts, Cardinals and Jets in a five-year career.
Coley, 26, likely represents a depth addition at this point of his career. The 6-foot-1 lineman played 68 defensive snaps for the Colts in 2019 and logged 192 for the Cardinals. Arizona, however, deployed Coley as a starter in two games — when the team was battling extensive injury trouble on its defensive front.
In Cleveland, Coley worked alongside Larry Ogunjobi as a D-tackle starter from 2017-18. He registered 2.5 sacks during his Browns stay; one of those was a safety, in 2018. The Browns, who signed Sheldon Richardson in 2019, cut Coley just ahead of the ’19 season.
Tennessee lost longtime starter DaQuan Jones in free agency but added Denico Autry and used a fourth-round pick on Pitt D-lineman Rashad Weaver. Coley will likely attempt to fill in behind the Titans’ first-stringers come training camp.
Giants Sign Kadarius Toney
The Giants have inked first-round receiver Kadarius Toney, per a club announcement. The Florida product will earn $13.7MM on his four-year deal. Of course, as a first-round pick, the Giants will also hold a team option for a fifth season down the road.
The Giants were initially set to pick at No. 11, but they traded their way back to No. 20 to take Toney instead. The move continued the Giants streak of taking an offensive player in the first round – they’ve done so in each of the last five years.
After playing quarterback in high school, it took some time for Toney to find his role on Florida’s offense. He played in mostly a backup role through his first three seasons in college, but he finally had a breakout campaign in 2020. He finished out with 1,145 total yards from scrimmage and eleven touchdowns — mostly through the air, but also with a decent number of carries. With 70 grabs for 984 yards, he averaged an efficient 14.1 yards per catch. That caught the attention of evaluators everywhere, including GM Dave Gettleman.
Toney projects to be a slot receiver in the NFL, but his Swiss Army Knife profile offers him an even greater upside. He’ll have time to learn, too, given the presence of newcomer Kenny Golladay plus John Ross, Darius Slayton, Sterling Shepard, and Dante Pettis.