Bears Re-Sign Artie Burns
The Bears have re-signed Artie Burns on a one-year deal, per a club announcement. The cornerback joined Chicago last year, but never made it to the field. 
Burns, 26 in May, spent his first four NFL seasons with the Steelers. Expectations were high for the first-round pick, but his role in the Steelers’ defense dwindled over time. With 32 starts to his credit, he joined the Bears last year, but wound up tearing his ACL in August.
Burns played on just 6% of Pittsburgh’s defensive snaps in 2019, so he’s really two years removed from standard safety play. He’ll look to bounce back this year and add to his career totals of 149 tackles, four interceptions and 27 pass breakups. Playing alongside old University of Miami pal Deon Bush may help as he gets reacquainted.
Raiders Sign Willie Snead
The Raiders have agreed to sign Willie Snead (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). The free agent wide receiver visited Las Vegas earlier this week and landed his deal soon after.
[RELATED: Ravens Express Interest In Sammy Watkins]
The Raiders will add Snead to their new-look WR group, one without Tyrell Williams and Nelson Agholor. Snead will join John Brown and the newly re-signed Zay Jones, but the Raiders will likely continue to scour the market and the draft for more receivers.
The Ravens didn’t show much interest in re-signing Snead. He spent the past three years in Baltimore, but his role has dwindled somewhat over the last two. The former UDFA kicked off his Ravens tenure with 62 grabs for 651 yards and a touchdown in 2018. But, between 2019 and 2020, he has a combined 64 catches and 771 yards. On the other hand, he does have eight touchdowns between the two seasons.
Dolphins Trade No. 3 Pick To 49ers, Send No. 12 To Eagles
The Dolphins have agreed to trade the No. 3 overall pick to the 49ers for the No. 12 pick, a 2021 third-rounder, and first-round picks in 2022 and 2023 (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). The Niners may use the choice to select their next quarterback, though sources tell Schefter that Jimmy Garoppolo will be staying put. 
Meanwhile, the Dolphins quickly pivoted towards another blockbuster of their own, dealing that No. 12 overall choice, No. 123, and a 2022 first-round pick to the Eagles in exchange for Nos. 6 and 156. In effect, the Dolphins secured future first-round ammo in exchange for moving from No. 3 to No. 6. From here, the can use their bevy of picks to build around Tua Tagovailoa — or swing another blockbuster for a veteran QB.
The 49ers are moving to No. 3 with the expectation that the Jaguars will take Trevor Lawrence first overall. At No. 2, many believe the Jets will go QB as well — perhaps BYU’s Zach Wilson or Ohio State’s Justin Fields. After that, the Niners would have their pick of the litter. Even if Garoppolo remains, they could weigh Wilson or Fields (depending on which is still available), North Dakota State’s Trey Lance, or Alabama’s Mac Jones.
At No. 12, the Eagles are unlikely to have most of those QBs on the table. By dropping six spots, it appears that the Eagles are ready to move forward with Jalen Hurts in 2021. They also have a 2022 first-round pick — the Dolphins’ original choice – that they can use to fill other gaps. The Birds have been connected to Wilson for a while. But, as NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport explains (Twitter link), GM Howie Roseman ultimately felt that adding a future first-rounder would be better for the team in the long run.
Buccaneers Re-Sign Leonard Fournette
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: The Buccaneers are keeping the band together. On Friday, GM Jason Licht struck a new one-year deal with running back Leonard Fournette (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Fournette is set to earn $3.25MM with the chance to reach $4MM via incentives. Apparently, that was enough for Fournette to say no to the Seahawks and other suitors.
The former No. 4 overall pick found his way to the Bucs after the Jaguars dropped him last summer. Serving as Ronald Jones‘ backup for much of the year, Fournette shined as the starter from Week 15 onward. In the regular season, Fournette averaged 3.8 yards per carry in 13 games. He also reeled in 36 passes for 233 yards, giving him 600 all-purpose yards for the year. He saved his best for the playoffs, collecting four touchdowns and 448 yards from scrimmage in four games.
The Buccaneers’ high-powered passing offense certainly had something to do with his resurgence. With the Jaguars’, Fournette faced stacked boxes on 39% of his carries from 2017-19. In Tampa, he’s got tons of offensive weapons around him to keep defenses honest.
Some wondered if the Buccaneers would be able to keep their core in tact after their Super Bowl victory. But, in the last month, they’ve held on to Fournette, Chris Godwin, Shaquil Barrett, Lavonte David, Rob Gronkowski, Ndamukong Suh, and other key pieces. Next, the Bucs will look to re-sign wide receiver Antonio Brown.
Giants Sign Zach Fulton
The Giants have signed guard Zach Fulton, per a club announcement. Details of the deal were not disclosed. 
Fulton was cut by the Texans, just before he was set to collect a $1MM bonus on March 22. The veteran was in set to enter the final season of a four-year, $28MM deal. Before his release, Fulton started in at least 13 games across his three Texans seasons. This past year, he was first-string for all 16.
Fulton didn’t set the world on fire in Houston, but the Giants see him as an experienced hand who can help to fortify their offensive line. Last year, Pro Football Focus had him tied as the No. 42 guard in the NFL last year — good enough for a starter. And, in 2019, PFF ranked him as one of the best pass-blocking guards in the league, though his weak run-blocking marks brought down his overall score.
The former Chiefs sixth-round pick should have an opportunity to make an impact in New York that Kevin Zeitler is out the picture.
Cowboys Sign Damontae Kazee
The Cowboys have agreed to terms with free agent safety Damontae Kazee, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (via Twitter). Veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson says it will be a one-year deal (Twitter link).
Kazee visited with Dallas yesterday, and even though he followed through on his plan to visit the Lions today, it didn’t take him long to strike an accord with the Cowboys. Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Cowboys’ medical staff was satisfied with Kazee’s recovery from the Achilles tear he suffered in October, and once he passed that test, Dallas was quick to extend a contract offer.
Dallas has been looking for a true free safety for a long time, and it hopes it has found what it’s looking for in the 27-year-old Kazee, whose 10 interceptions from 2018-19 were tied for the most in the NFL. The fit was a good one, as the Cowboys’ new defensive coordinator, Dan Quinn, was Kazee’s head coach for the first four years of his career in Atlanta, and secondary coach/pass game coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. was his position coach in 2020.
Kazee follows longtime Falcons teammate Keanu Neal from Atlanta to Dallas, so Quinn will have several familiar faces at his disposal. Interestingly, Kazee got his first real chance to start at safety due to Neal’s season-ending injury in early 2018, but Neal is expected to play some linebacker in Dallas, and Kazee clearly feels he will have enough snaps to re-establish himself as a ball-hawking playmaker in the defensive backfield.
In addition to Kazee, the Cowboys auditioned Jayron Kearse and Malik Hooker yesterday. The club ended up signing Kearse, and with Kazee now in the fold as well, Hooker will probably need to look elsewhere for his next opportunity.
On a related note, Ed Werder of ESPN.com says that Neal’s double-duty role as an LB/S hybrid could eat into linebacker Jaylon Smith‘s snaps, but that Smith’s roster spot is not in jeopardy (Twitter link). That jibes with a report that was published late last month.
Seahawks Re-Sign Carlos Dunlap
The Seahawks are putting the money they are about to save from Jarran Reed‘s imminent departure to good use. As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com was among those to report, Seattle is re-signing defensive end Carlos Dunlap to a two-year, $16.6MM contract with $8.5MM in guarantees (Twitter link).
Seattle acquired Dunlap in a trade deadline deal in October in an effort to boost its struggling pass rush. And Dunlap delivered, contributing five sacks and six tackles for loss in his eight games with the ‘Hawks. However, he was due to carry a $14.1 cap charge in 2021, and that was just too much for the team to stomach with the salary cap decreasing by about $16MM.
As such, the Seahawks released the longtime Bengal several weeks ago, but even before the release, we heard that Seattle could look to cut Dunlap and then re-sign him to a less expensive contract. And that’s exactly what happened.
The Dunlap re-up comes on the heels of Benson Mayowa‘s new one-year deal and Kerry Hyder‘s three-year accord. We heard earlier this evening that the club was set to trade or release Reed, and while Seattle certainly would have liked to retain its DT, Pete Carroll & Co. believe Dunlap is more valuable to the Seahawks at this point.
Dunlap, 32, has 87.5 career sacks to his credit, and he will have a good chance to hit the century mark with the Seahawks. There was no reported interest his services after he was released, but as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets, he wanted to return to Seattle all along. So both sides are probably pretty happy this evening.
Rams To Sign DeSean Jackson
Mar. 25: Financial details are in. Per Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic (via Twitter), Jackson’s one-year deal will include a $2.75MM base salary. D-Jax also has significant playing-time incentives, as he will earn $103K for each game that he is on the active gameday roster and an additional $1.25MM if he plays at least 50% of the Rams’ offensive snaps and the team “improves” (presumably, that means that LA wins more than the 10 games it won in 2020).
There are also $1MM in playoff incentives, so Jackson’s deal will max out at roughly $6.75MM. His cap number, though, checks in at $3.26MM.
Mar. 21: Sean McVay’s offense is adding another big name. The Rams are signing free agent receiver DeSean Jackson, a source told Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (Twitter link). It’s a one-year deal.
McVay personally reached out to help recruit Jackson, Garafolo notes in a follow-up tweet. Financial terms weren’t immediately available, and they’ll be interesting to see considering Jackson is now 34 and has only played eight total games over the last two years. As many were quick to point out, this fills a big need for Los Angeles as they had been lacking a speed receiver since trading away Brandin Cooks.
Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods are both very quality options, but neither of them are deep threat field-stretchers. Jackson’s presence, assuming he’s able to stay healthy, should now open up a lot of things underneath for everybody else. Matthew Stafford is going to have a very solid group of receivers to throw to in his first year with the Rams.
Jackson started his career with the Eagles in 2008, then had stops in Washington and Tampa Bay before heading back to Philly for the past two years. The three-time Pro Bowler could be a big addition if he’s got anything left in the tank, and as recently as 2018 with the Bucs he still led the league in yards per reception at 18.9.
The Eagles released him in a cost-saving move last month, and we hadn’t heard of any known interest in Jackson since then. He had 14 catches for 236 yards and a touchdown in five games last year.
The Cal product is certainly nearing the end of his career, but hopefully he can still make a few of his patented splash plays in 2021. With the moves he’s made this offseason, McVay’s offense is trending toward looking more like the exciting and electrifying units we saw in his first couple of years as coach.
Seahawks To Part Ways With DT Jarran Reed
The Seahawks are expected to part ways with defensive tackle Jarran Reed, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). It appears that Reed himself broke the news in a since-deleted tweet.
Per Schefter, Seattle is looking for a trade partner but will release the 28-year-old if it cannot swing a deal. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com is hearing the same thing, and RapSheet adds that Reed was seeking a long-term deal, while the Seahawks were hoping he would convert some of his 2020 salary into a signing bonus in order to reduce his $13.5MM cap number (Twitter link). Although those types of restructures are common and generally not difficult to execute, since they guarantee the player previously un-guaranteed money, Rapoport says the situation went to a “bad spot” when Seattle wouldn’t agree to an extension.
Moving on from Reed will create $8.5MM of cap space, though it will saddle the club with a $5MM dead cap hit. Clearly, however, Seattle values the cap savings more than their 2016 second-rounder at this point.
Reed had a breakout campaign in 2018, piling up 50 tackles and 10.5 sacks. But he was suspended for the first six games of the 2019 season after violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, and he managed just 2.5 sacks that year. His sack total increased to 6.5 last season, and he played a full 16-game slate, but Pro Football Focus was not high on his work. PFF graded him as the 89th-best interior defender out of 125 qualifiers, and he did not receive high marks for either his run defense or his pass rushing abilities.
The Seahawks signed Kerry Hyder several days ago and brought back Benson Mayowa, but Reed’s departure will still leave a pass rushing void (despite his low PFF score). 2020 trade acquisition Carlos Dunlap is still on the market after being released by Seattle several weeks ago, so perhaps the ‘Hawks will circle back to him. They could also ask 2019 first-rounder L.J. Collier to handle more snaps at DT with Reed out of the picture.
Patriots Re-Sign FB Jakob Johnson
The Patriots have re-signed exclusive rights free agent Jakob Johnson, per a team announcement. As an ERFA, Johnson could not negotiate with any other club, so this was mostly a foregone conclusion.
Johnson, a fullback, joined New England via the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program in April 2019. He saw action in four games during the 2019 campaign, but he played in every game in 2020, appearing in 37% of the Patriots’ offensive snaps. He caught eight passes for 35 yards and a score and also served as a significant special teams contributor.
With this re-signing and yesterday’s James White re-up, the Pats will now return most of their 2020 backfield. Damien Harris and Sony Michel are also under contract, but Rex Burkhead — who sustained an ACL tear in November — remains a free agent.