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Jets, WR Allen Lazard Agree To Restructure

April 10th, 2025 at 8:54am CST by Adam La Rose

Allen Lazard‘s time with the Jets seemed to be coming to an end earlier this offseason. Not long after granting the veteran receiver permission to seek a trade, however, it became clear New York would attempt to keep Lazard in the fold via a restructure.

That effort has now produced an agreement. Team and player have a new arrangement in place, Over the Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald reports. Originally scheduled to earn $11MM this year, Lazard will take an $8.5MM pay cut for 2025. $1.75MM of his new base salary is guaranteed, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter adds $2.5MM in incentives are in place to allow him to earn back some of his previously-owed compensation. The 29-year-old’s cap charge will drop to $4.6MM for this season.

Notably, today’s new deal also sets Lazard up for free agency after the 2025 campaign. The former UDFA originally had two years left on his pact, but he will now hit the open market next spring. Lazard’s debut Jets campaign fell well short of expectations, but he rebounded to an extent in 2024 with 530 yards and six touchdowns on 37 catches. Former Packers teammate Aaron Rodgers is no longer New York’s quarterback, but Lazard will have a role on offense as Justin Fields takes on starting duties.

The Jets’ midseason Davante Adams acquisition did not spark a run to the postseason, and as expected the All-Pro was released last month. That move leaves Garrett Wilson in line to serve as the focal point of the team’s passing attack, and he represents one of New York’s top extension candidates. Free agent addition Josh Reynolds and 2024 third-rounder Malachi Corley will be joined by Lazard in 2025 as secondary receiving options.

Once the latter’s contract voids, his 2026 cap charge will be $4.37MM. A departure next spring would still come as no surprise given the new Jets regime which is in place, but Lazard will have one more year in the Big Apple to help his free agent value.

Cowboys To Sign OL Saahdiq Charles

April 9th, 2025 at 9:39pm CST by Adam La Rose

Saahdiq Charles recently visited the Cowboys, and that meeting has produced a contract. Team and player agreed to terms on Wednesday, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.

[RELATED: Cowboys Line Up Armand Membou Visit]

Charles retired in August (months after inking a Titans contract), but his desire to resume his career after missing the 2024 campaign brought about interest from Dallas. Shortly after his recent visit, the veteran offensive lineman now has an opportunity in place to compete for a roster spot this offseason. The Cowboys could still be in the market for O-line help during the draft, but in any event Charles will aim to provide them with depth up front.

The 25-year-old played out his rookie contract in the nation’s capital. Charles logged only two offensive snaps during his rookie season, but over the following two years he operated on a part-time basis. 2023 was by far his busiest campaign; Charles started 10 of his 11 appearances, working exclusively at left guard. The LSU product was charged with four sacks and 37 pressures allowed by PFF, helping result in an overall grade of just 55.5.

Between that level of performance and the fact he was out of the game last season, Charles’ Dallas pact will no doubt check in at or near the league minimum. ESPN’s Todd Archer adds, to no surprise, this is a one-year agreement. The Cowboys entered Wednesday with $37.66MM in cap space, so this agreement will not have an impact on any other veteran additions being planned before or after the upcoming draft.

As expected, Dallas lost 2010s All-Decade Team member Zack Martin to retirement this offseason. As a result, the team’s right guard position is a question mark for the first time since 2014. Charles will likely receive a look at that spot as the Cowboys aim to find a short- and long-term Martin replacement. At a minimum, he will have the opportunity to restart his career with a strong training camp performance.

NFL Minor Transactions: 4/9/25

April 9th, 2025 at 7:52pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Cincinnati Bengals

Seattle Seahawks

Joe Giles-Harris brings 22 games of experience to Cincinnati, including a 2020 campaign where he collected 20 tackles and one sack in nine games (three starts) with the Jaguars. He split the 2024 campaign between Jacksonville and New England, with 90 of his 107 total snaps coming on special teams.

Brady Russell seemed destined to return to Seattle, partly because of his ERFA tender and partly because of his role. The former UDFA has appeared in 26 games for the Seahawks over the past two years, with the Colorado product collecting 17 tackles in 542 ST snaps. He’s had only brief looks on offense, where he’s garnered a single target.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/8/25

April 8th, 2025 at 6:45pm CST by Ely Allen

Tuesday’s minor NFL transactions:

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Wright didn’t last long as a free agent. He signs with the Bears after being released by Minnesota yesterday.

Franklin had nine starts in his first four years of his career with the Panthers, but after being relegated to the practice squad in 2024, Franklin didn’t appear until the eighth game of the season and played primarily on special teams, only seeing four defensive snaps on the year. He’ll now bring his secondary and special teams experience to Denver.

Cardinals, Trey McBride Agree On Record-Setting TE Extension

April 8th, 2025 at 8:57am CST by Sam Robinson

APRIL 8: McBride’s deal includes $32.5MM locked in at signing, as detailed by Over the Cap. That figure includes a $16.75MM signing bonus as well as his base salaries for 2025 and 2026, along with a ’26 option bonus. A $1.5MM roster bonus will vest if McBride is on the roster for the fifth day of the league year in 2029, the final year of the pact. Annual per-game and roster bonuses are present in the pact.

APRIL 3: Trey McBride loomed as a Cardinals extension candidate, and the team will take care of this important business early. The sides are in agreement on a record-setting deal.

The Cardinals are giving McBride a four-year, $76M extension, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. This deal, which includes $43MM guaranteed, brings the tight end market to $19MM AAV. NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo had reported during an appearance with PHNX Sports a deal was close.

A gargantuan gap still exists between the wide receiver market and tight ends, one that has grown over the past several years, but McBride will become the league’s highest-paid TE by nearly $2MM per year. The Chiefs’ 2024 Travis Kelce raise had elevated the market to $17.1MM AAV; otherwise, no other tight end was attached to a deal that surpassed $16.5MM. While still arguably underpaid, tight ends have at least now approached $20MM-per-year territory. A once-TE-desperate team, which received a long-awaited boost via McBride, is authorizing it.

Between moving to Phoenix in 1988 and acquiring Zach Ertz in 2021, the Cardinals had never seen a tight end eclipse 570 receiving yards in a season. Eventual Cowboys Super Bowl winner Jay Novacek had held the franchise’s top Arizona-years TE yardage number (569) for 33 years prior to Ertz narrowly eclipsing it (574). Taking over for Ertz as the team’s top tight end midway through the 2023 season, McBride smashed through that ceiling by accumulating 825 yards. He became only the second tight end in team history — following St. Louis-years great Jackie Smith — to eclipse 1,000 yards in a season by reaching 1,146 last season.

A second-round pick during Steve Keim‘s final draft at the helm, McBride is 10 years younger than Kelce; the 25-year-old pass catcher represents a central part of the Cardinals’ passing attack, accompanying 2024 top-five pick Marvin Harrison Jr. as the team’s aerial cornerstones. Harrison is tied to a rookie-scale deal through at least 2026; that period will now overlap with the guarantees on McBride’s accord. Though, the Cardinals are likely eyeing a true long-term partnership with their long-awaited TE find.

Though establishing himself as a prolific receiving option in the desert, McBride only totaled five combined touchdowns from 2023-24. Drawing the ire of fantasy GMs, the Cardinals did not see a McBride TD occur until Week 17 last season. He added another in Week 18. The Colorado State alum had posted three 100-yard games, however, and his 111 receptions in 2024 sit second only to DeAndre Hopkins‘ 2020 total (115) in the Cardinals’ 100-plus-year history.

The NFL saw Rob Gronkowski‘s Patriots-friendly extension (six years, $54MM) gridlock the tight end market for most of the 2010s; it took until 2020 for a player at the position (Austin Hooper, interestingly enough) to reach $10.5MM per year. Kelce accepting Chiefs-friendly deals (in 2015 and 2020) also played a role in restricting this market while WR paydays soared.

Even during Gronk’s stranglehold on the market, receivers and tight ends were not nearly as far apart in value as they are today. Ja’Marr Chase‘s new Bengals deal more than doubles McBride’s, leaving the next wave of TEs with work to do. McBride’s contract closed a small portion of this gap, however, and it can still be argued — due to the fourth-year player’s importance in Arizona’s passing attack — this is a Cards-friendly agreement.

The Cards are still waiting for Kyler Murray to show the Pro Bowl-level form he did earlier in his career, but the team has two high-end weapons for the well-compensated passer to target. And Thursday’s agreement ensures no concerns will be in place about the duo’s status as long-term linchpins going into the Cardinals’ offseason program.

Jaguars Exercise DE Travon Walker’s Fifth-Year Option

April 7th, 2025 at 9:34pm CST by Adam La Rose

The No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft will remain in place for at least two more years. The Jaguars announced on Monday that defensive end Travon Walker‘s fifth-year option has been exercised.

As a result of today’s decision, Walker will remain under team control through 2026. The Georgia product qualifies for the playtime (or second-highest) tier regarding fifth-year options, meaning he is now in line to collect $14.75MM during the ’26 campaign. With that said, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 notes an expectation exists a long-term extension will ultimately be worked out in this case.

Over the course of his college career, Walker flashed considerable potential but managed only 9.5 sacks across three seasons. That stood in contrast to the production of Aidan Hutchinson, viewed in advance of the ’22 draft as more of a known commodity and thus a prospect with a higher floor. Jacksonville gambled on Walker’s athletic upside, though, while Hutchinson wound up being selected second overall by the Lions.

Walker operated as a full-time starter during his rookie campaign, one in which he managed 3.5 sacks and 21 quarterback pressures. Since then, the 24-year-old has taken a step forward in terms of production. Walker posted 10 sacks in 2023, and added another 10.5 to his career total last season. Over the past two seasons, his 59 pressures and 23 tackles for loss illustrate his disruptiveness at the NFL level. Continued growth can be expected, and if that proves to take place Jacksonville will have a strong tandem along the edge.

The Jags made Josh Hines-Allen one of several core players who received an extension last offseason. The former first-rounder is attached a $28.25MM-per-year deal which runs through 2028. If a long-term investment is to be made in Walker, Jacksonville will have one of the league’s most expensive pass-rush groups. Especially with quarterback Trevor Lawrence attached to one of the NFL’s most lucrative deals at that position, Walker’s situation will be key in determining the team’s financial outlook for several years.

The edge rush market has already seen both Maxx Crosby and Myles Garrett secure record-breaking deals from their respective teams. The likes of Micah Parsons, Trey Hendrickson, T.J. Watt and Hutchinson are eligible for new contracts this offseason. As a result, the top of the pecking order could move past the $40MM AAV mark it currently stands at. Walker will not approach that figure on a second Jaguars accord, but he could certainly stand to benefit from the upward movement of the market.

Jacksonville has a new coaching and front office staff in place from the end of last year. Liam Coen and James Gladstone will be tasked with helping the team rebound from 2024’s disappointing performance, and Walker will play a role in that effort now and (quite likely) for several years to come.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/7/25

April 7th, 2025 at 7:51pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

Panthers Sign Former College Basketball Player Colin Granger

April 7th, 2025 at 5:54pm CST by Ben Levine

The Panthers are turning to the hardwood for some help at tight end. The team announced today that they’ve signed former Division I college basketball player Colin Granger as a TE.

Granger spent five seasons playing basketball at Ohio, Western Carolina and Coastal Carolina, where he totaled 414 points and 322 rebounds. As ESPN’s David Newton notes, Granger was eligible to sign with any team since he’s five years removed from high school.

Granger hasn’t played football since the eighth grade, but he has the size to compete at the tight end spot. The rookie is listed at 6-foot-8 and 245 pounds, and he’s instantly the tallest player on the Panthers roster. Considering his size, it shouldn’t be a surprise that plenty of teams considered adding Granger as a prospect.

According to Tony Pauline of Sportkeeda.com, there was “legitimate interest in his talents,” and six teams attended Granger’s Pro Day last Friday. In addition to the Panthers (who actually hosted Granger on an official-3o visit), the attendees included the Falcons, Texans, Eagles, Seahawks, and Vikings, per Pauline.

Ultimately, the Panthers’ efforts worked out, and Granger will now join a growing list of former basketball players who are hoping to follow the successful paths laid out by Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, and Jimmy Graham. As Newton points out, Panthers head coach Dave Canales and general manager Dan Morgan had success with a previous project when George Fant made the Seahawks as a tackle/tight end. According to Newton, Fant has worked with Granger and informed the Panthers leadership of his ability.

The Panthers have plenty of depth at tight end, but the team will presumably consider all of their options as they look to squeeze any production out of the position. The team’s current grouping includes the likes of Tommy Tremble, Ja’Tavion Sanders, Jordan Matthews, James Mitchell, and Dominique Dafney.

Steelers Re-Sign T Calvin Anderson

April 7th, 2025 at 3:55pm CST by Adam La Rose

Calvin Anderson debuted with the Steelers in 2024, and he will remain in the fold moving forward. The veteran offensive tackle re-signed with Pittsburgh on a two-year deal Monday, per a team announcement.

Anderson began his career with the Broncos, spending three seasons in Denver. During that stretch, he made 41 appearances and 12 starts. The former undrafted free agent was with the Patriots in 2023, though he was limited to just five games played. As a result, it came as little surprise a lengthy wait in free agency ensued last offseason.

Anderson remained on the open market past the start of the 2025 campaign. After the Steelers saw first-round rookie Troy Fautanu go down with a knee injury (one which led to an IR stint and limited him to just one game), though, depth was needed. That led to an Anderson agreement being worked out in September, and the 29-year-old played in four games shortly upon arrival.

Anderson was placed on injured reserve not long after, however, and he remained unavailable for the rest of the regular season. The Rice and Texas product was activated in time for the playoffs, and he played in the Steelers’ wild-card loss. None of his five total appearances included starting duties, but Anderson clearly made a strong enough impression with Pittsburgh’s staff to remain in place for 2025 and ’26.

The offensive tackle position has been a point of emphasis for the Steelers in recent years. The team used a first-round pick on Broderick Jones in 2023, then added Fautanu during Day 1 last spring. Especially with veteran Dan Moore Jr. no longer in the picture (after he took a lucrative Titans deal in free agency), Jones is in position to move from right to left tackle next season. That will leave Fautanu to occupy the RT spot in the starting lineup, but Anderson will be an option to fill in if required.

Falcons Re-Sign CB Dee Alford

April 7th, 2025 at 2:24pm CST by Adam La Rose

Dee Alford did not receive an RFA tender from the Falcons this offseason. That decision left the former undrafted free agent in line to join a new team, but instead he will remain in Atlanta for 2025.

[RELATED: Falcons Likely To Prioritize Defensive Draft Additions]

The team announced on Monday that Alford has been re-signed. He has spent the past three years with Atlanta, taking on a larger defensive workload with each passing campaign. In 2024, Alford handled a snap share of 69%, a factor which made it somewhat surprising he was non-tendered. The least expensive RFA tender checked in at $3.26MM this offseason, so this pact will likely carry a price tag lower than that figure.

Alford made five starts in 2023 and another 11 this past campaign, operating almost entirely in the slot during that time. The 27-year-old set a new career high with 11 pass breakups in 2024, and his 83 tackles were by the most in his NFL tenure. Alford surrendered eight touchdowns in coverage as the nearest defender, however, and his PFF evaluation for 2024 was worse than that of the previous two campaigns.

As a result, a first-team spot is not assured entering training camp. Atlanta has 2023 fourth-rounder Clark Phillips in place as a candidate to handle starting duties on the inside. His playing time dropped last season compared to his rookie campaign, but a rebound could take place depending on how the summer unfolds. Alford has previously seen return duties, but aside from that he does not have a track record of special teams experience.

The Falcons already have A.J. Terrell on the books as their top perimeter corner, and they re-signed Mike Hughes on a three-year deal last month. Those two will continue to see time as boundary cover men, while Alford could once again find himself occupying a notable role in the slot.

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