Packers Sign K Greg Joseph
Greg Joseph will not be with the Vikings in 2024, but he will remain in the NFC North. The veteran kicker has agreed to a deal with the Packers, agent Brett Tessler announced on Tuesday. 
Joseph will earn up to $1.3MM on this one-year contract, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. As Tessler notes, the 29-year-old drew interest from other teams, but he preferred to join Green Bay. Joseph will serve as veteran competition with Anders Carlson this offseason.
The latter took over from Mason Crosby as a rookie in 2023. Carlson posted a 90.9% success rate in 2020, but his Auburn career ended with two straight seasons of much lower accuracy. In spite of that, the Packers entered the year with confidence in the 25-year-old.
Carlson connected on 27 of 33 field goal attempts in the regular season, good for an accuracy rate of 81.8%. That included four misses from a range of between 40-49 yards, and he also missed five extra points. During the team’s postseason run, the former sixth-rounder went two-for-three on field goals and converted seven of eight extra points.
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst offered public support for Carlson in the summer, but after a full campaign of evaluation the team has added a more experienced option in the kicking game. Joseph handled full-time duties in Minnesota for each of the past three seasons. Over that time, he converted 82.2% of field goal kicks (including a career-best accuracy rate of 86.8% in 2021). Joseph went 112-for-124 on extra point attempts during his Vikings tenure, which is in line with his career average in that respect.
The former UDFA (who previously played for the Browns and Titans) also led the league in touchback percentage during the 2021 season, as Tessler adds. That will become more of a moot point in 2024 compared to past campaigns given the new kickoff rules, but Joseph’s consistency could give him an advantage after Carlson endured an up-and-down rookie campaign. The Packers will be among the teams partaking in a kicking competition this summer.
RB Damien Harris Retires At 27
On Instagram today, former Patriots and Bills running back Damien Harris made the announcement that he would be retiring from the NFL. It’s a short, five-year playing career for the 27-year-old from Kentucky, but it’s one he can look back on with pride. 
Harris entered the NFL after a four-year collegiate career at Alabama. After sitting behind Derrick Henry as a true freshman, Harris took over lead back duties for the Crimson Tide, rushing for 2,040 yards and 13 touchdowns over the next two years. Increased roles from Josh Jacobs and Najee Harris meant decreased production for Damien as a senior, but he still led the team in carries and yards. He left Tuscaloosa with two rings denoting national championships.
As a third-round rookie for the Patriots, Harris saw very little action behind Sony Michel, James White, and Rex Burkhead during Tom Brady‘s final season in New England. An injury to Michel and a new offense led by Cam Newton allowed Harris to take lead back duties in his sophomore season. In his third year, with a rookie Mac Jones, Harris delivered his career-defining season, rushing for 929 yards and an eye-catching 15 touchdowns, all while a rookie Rhamondre Stevenson also got his share with 606 yards and five touchdowns. A bigger role in Stevenson’s sophomore season meant a reduced role for Harris, who was hampered with a hamstring injury early in the season.
His rookie contract over, Harris signed a one-year deal with his first team’s division rival, the Bills. Buffalo brought Harris in to serve the same RB2 role he had played behind Stevenson but with James Cook now taking RB1 snaps in front of him. Unfortunately, in mid-October, Harris suffered an awkward-looking stinger that created a scene immediately reminiscent of Damar Hamlin. While Harris remained conscious, he was ruled out with a neck injury and taken to the hospital for further testing. He was placed on injured reserve and wouldn’t return for the remainder of the season.
It’s unclear whether or not this serious neck injury has anything to do with Harris’ decision to hang up his cleats. Perhaps, in the near future, Harris will disclose the reasons behind his decision, but for now, he used the text in his Instagram post, rightfully, to thank his coaches, trainers, teammates, and family. His post ends with a promising “y’all will be seeing me soon,” perhaps hinting at a future role in coaching or the like.
Texans Sign CB Myles Bryant
After watching three of their top five cornerbacks depart in free agency, the Texans continue to retool the room around Derek Stingley and Desmond King. They’ve brought in a number of players to replace the production lost through the free agency of Steven Nelson, Shaquill Griffin, and Tavierre Thomas, and the latest to join the crew is former Patriots cornerback Myles Bryant. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler tells us that he’ll head to Houston on a one-year deal. 
The Patriots leaned heavily on Bryant last season, using him on 128 more defensive snaps than the next closest cornerback. The team entered 2023 with Jack Jones, Jonathan Jones, and rookie first-round pick Christian Gonzalez leading the position room. They also figured that Marcus Jones could step in if any of those three were forced to miss any time and that Bryant would be relied on after all that.
Jack Jones only appeared in four games, getting placed on injured reserve and ultimately being waived from the team. Gonzalez went down with a season-ending injury, also only playing in four contests. Marcus Jones only appeared in two games before being placed on IR for the remainder of the season. Just like that, Jonathan Jones and Bryant were the top two corners on the team.
Bryant, a former undrafted player out of Washington, availed himself quite well in his first extended action as a starter, grading out as the 54th-best cornerback in the league, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), not a bad showing for someone who was expected to serve the season as CB5 on the depth chart. He had also started six of the final nine games of New England’s 2022 season but really only served time in certain packages. The team had no choice but to deploy him full-time in 2023, and Bryant responded with his strongest season to date. In the last two years, he has two interceptions, 13 passes defensed, 147 total tackles, and seven tackles for loss.
In Houston, Bryant will have an opportunity to compete for a starting role once again. The Texans return Stingley as a starter on the outside and King, who shared a big role in the slot with Thomas. The team brought in Jeff Okudah and C.J. Henderson to compete for the outside corner job opposite Stingley, and while Bryant can play on the outside, he spent most of his time in the slot last year, so he’ll likely fill the role of the departed Thomas, sharing the nickelback job with King while adding depth on the outside.
Bryant arrives as the fourth new cornerback to the roster in a new-look group in Houston. He’ll take his newly acquired starting experience from New England and try to work it into another starting job with the Texans. He also brings in experience as a punt returner, but with a healthy Tank Dell, Houston likely won’t need him there.
Eagles Sign DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson
MARCH 25: The Eagles will guarantee Gardner-Johnson $10MM on this deal, 94WIP.com’s Eliot Shorr-Parks tweets. The team used void years through 2029 to spread out the cap hits.
MARCH 12: C.J. Gardner-Johnson is heading back to Philly. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports that the veteran defensive back is signing with the Eagles.
The veteran is inking a three-year deal worth up to $33MM, according to Pelissero. Following a one-year stop in Detroit, Gardner-Johnson is now back with his former squad.
After getting traded by the Saints to the Eagles prior to the 2022 campaign, Gardner-Johnson proceeded to start 12 games for Philadelphia, missing a chunk of midseason games thanks to a lacerated kidney. Despite the absence, he finished the season with 67 tackles and a league-leading six interceptions. He also started each of the Eagles’ three playoff games, including a Super Bowl loss where he compiled four tackles.
That performance earned him a one-year, $8MM contract from the Lions last offseason. However, his lone season in Detroit was highlighted by injuries. He suffered a non-contact injury during training camp that was expected to wipe out his season, but the MRI provided a brighter outlook. Gardner-Johnson was able to return in time for the start of the regular season, but he suffered a torn pectoral muscle in Week 2 that wiped out most of the campaign.
He got back to the field for the regular season finale, and he subsequently played in at least 50 percent of Detroit’s defensive snaps in each of their three playoff games. The 26-year-old still showed he had something left in the tank during the postseason, collecting 12 tackles and an interception.
The Eagles still have Darius Slay and James Bradberry atop their depth chart, but the team did lose some depth when they cut Avonte Maddox last week. Gardner-Johnson’s experience will likely provide him with a path to plenty of playing time as a backup or nickelback.
Steelers Sign QB Kyle Allen, DL Dean Lowry
Moving on from their entire 2023 quarterback group, the Steelers have an interesting replacement setup on tap. Russell Wilson and Justin Fields comprise the core components of the 2024 QB room, but the team added a third piece Monday.
Kyle Allen is joining the Steelers, per ESPN.com’s Brooke Pryor. The well-traveled passer spent last season with the Bills as Josh Allen‘s backup. As long as both Wilson and Fields are on the Steelers, the former Carolina, Washington and Houston backup stands to hold steady at No. 3 on Pittsburgh’s depth chart.
Additionally, GM Omar Khan said the team is adding defensive lineman Dean Lowry as well. An eight-year veteran, Lowry operated as a Packers D-line starter for several seasons. He signed a two-year Vikings deal in 2023 but found himself a cap casualty earlier this month.
To close last season, the Bills’ two-Allen plan comprised the depth chart on the AFC East champions’ active roster. The team dressed only the Allens at QB against Pittsburgh in the wild-card round. With Mitch Trubisky moving from a Steelers cut back into a role as the Bills’ QB2, Kyle Allen is on the move. The six-year veteran, as of now, has a clear path to becoming the Steelers’ QB3.
A former UDFA, Allen has 19 starts on his resume. Most of them came for the 2019 Panthers, who lost Cam Newton to a season-ending foot injury early that year. Allen then followed Ron Rivera to Washington, factoring into a QB room housing Dwayne Haskins and Alex Smith. Both 2020 Washington passers were out of the picture by 2021, with Haskins a backup in Pittsburgh and Smith retiring. Allen stood as Taylor Heinicke‘s backup for most of the ’21 season. He overtook Davis Mills as a Texans starter for two games in 2022 but ceded the job back to the former third-round pick soon after, ultimately relocating as the team signed Case Keenum last year.
Over his career, Allen is a 62.6% passer who is 7-12 as a starter. He has thrown 26 touchdown passes, a number that notably tops Kenny Pickett‘s total amassed in 24 career starts, compared to 21 INTs. Unless the Steelers part with Wilson or Fields this year, Allen would seem positioned as a third-stringer. The Steelers also may look to the draft to round out this position, but considering they have expressed interest in having both Wilson and Fields come back for 2025 — a setup that would seem untenable — a rookie arm may not be in the cards next month.
Lowry, 29, made 80 starts for the Packers from 2017-22. The former fourth-round pick was one of the more durable players during much of this stretch, not missing a game from 2017-21. Lowry played opposite Kenny Clark in the Packers’ 3-4 scheme and was brought in to start in Minnesota. But Lowry’s two-year, $8.5MM contract only produced four starts. The Vikings benched the veteran interior D-lineman, who needed an IR stint for a second straight season.
The longtime Green Bay starter needed pectoral surgery while in Minnesota, but Jonathan Bullard had seen more time up front last year. Lowry’s ironman run ended late in the 2022 season, when he sustained a calf injury. During his most recent full season (2021), Lowry totaled five sacks and four pass deflections. He started for three straight Packers teams that secured playoff byes.
The Steelers still have stalwart Cameron Heyward under contract, ahead of what would be a 14th NFL season, and re-signed Larry Ogunjobi last year. A rotational role seems likely for Lowry at this point.
Commanders Sign OL Michael Deiter
Michael Deiter‘s Texans contract ended up producing more starts than expected, as the AFC South champions needed the ex-Dolphins draftee due to injuries along their front. But the sides will part ways.
The Commanders reached an agreement to bring in Deiter, according to the team. The five-year veteran interior O-lineman is coming off a 10-start season. The former third-round pick has worked at center and guard as a pro.
Washington released starting center Nick Gates but added Tyler Biadasz early in free agency, giving the team a clear-cut favorite to become the starting snapper. Guard Nick Allegretti also signed with Washington. However, guard starter Saahdiq Charles left to join the Titans recently. Deiter stands to at least provide swing depth for the rebuilding team.
The Commanders’ O-line will look different next season; Charles, Gates and left tackle Charles Leno are no longer on the roster. The team still has a need on the blind side, and while right tackle Andrew Wylie and right guard Sam Cosmi remain under contract, Biadasz and Allegretti are on track to start. Deiter provided important depth for a resurgent Texans team that employed a rookie quarterback chosen second overall; his Washington role could be eerily similar.
Deiter played on a one-year, $1.23MM deal in Houston but ended up being needed extensively at center. The team lost its primary 2022 starting pivot, Scott Quessenberry, to a season-ending injury last summer and then saw guards Kenyon Green and Kendrick Green go down for the year. Second-round pick Juice Scruggs, who had been tapped to play center coming out of Penn State, debuted well into the season due a significant hamstring setback sustained during the preseason. This turn of events moved Deiter into a starting job, and the team kept him there when Scruggs recovered. With Scruggs potentially set to take over at center in Houston, Deiter is moving on.
Pro Football Focus graded Deiter 26th among centers last season. The Dolphins demoted him following a 15-start rookie year, one that came for a Miami team beginning a rebuild, but used him as an eight-game starter in 2021. The Wisconsin alum’s starter experience — particularly for rebuilding teams — should be key for a Commanders team breaking in some new faces up front.
Steelers To Sign WR Quez Watkins
The Steelers entered the second phase of free agency in need of a wide receiver addition, and the team is now set to make one. Quez Watkins has agreed to a deal with Pittsburgh, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports. 
Watkins played out his rookie contract with the Eagles, and his tenure with the team included flashes of potential as a vertical threat. He recorded 43 catches for 647 yards in 2021, but since then his role has diminished. With both A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith in place atop the WR depth chart, it comes as little surprise Philadelphia allowed Watkins to depart in free agency.
The 25-year-old was on the Dolphins’ radar as part of Miami’s efforts to add a No. 3 option in the passing game. Instead of heading to South Beach, Watkins will join a Steelers’ offense which has undergone plenty of changes recently. Diontae Johnson was traded to the Panthers not long after Allen Robinson was released, creating a pair of notable vacancies at the receiver spot in advance of the draft.
Head coach Mike Tomlin said at the annual league meetings (via Mark Kaboly of The Athletic) wide receiver and center were high on the team’s list of remaining priorities. That comment has now been quickly followed up by an agreement with Watkins, who has averaged 12.7 yards per catch in his career but only drew 72 targets across the past two seasons. He will aim to carve out a larger role in Pittsburgh than he had in recent years in Philadelphia.
The former sixth-rounder will join a WR room led by George Pickens and Calvin Austin, both of whom are on their rookie contracts. The former led the league with an average of 18.1 yards per catch last season, one in which he totaled 1,140 yards and five touchdowns. He will aim to duplicate that success in an offense which now features Russell Wilson and Justin Fields at quarterback and which saw the arrival of Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator.
Watkins has 25 starts to his name, 12 of which came in his career-best 2021 season. He could hold down first-team duties with the Steelers in 2024, although the draft will provide Pittsburgh (a team with a well-earned reputation for developing talent at the position) with plenty of opportunities to add a rookie receiver. Even if the team is active on that front next month, Watkins will be able to provide experienced depth on his new Pennsylvania-based team.
Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown To Land $26MM-$28MM AAV On New Contract?
We heard at the end of last month that the Lions and star wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown would begin working on an extension at the Scouting Combine. ESPN’s Dan Graziano confirms that contract negotiations are indeed underway (subscription required).
Per Graziano, St. Brown’s new deal could feature an average annual value of $26MM-$28MM, which would position the former fourth-rounder near the top of the WR market as it currently stands. At present, Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill‘s $30MM AAV is tops among his peers, though that number is artificially inflated by an exorbitant ~$44MM salary in 2026 that Hill will almost certainly never see. Raiders wideout Davante Adams is next on the list with a $28MM AAV, while the Rams’ Cooper Kupp enjoys a $26.7MM AAV and also secured a WR-record $75MM in total guarantees when he signed his extension with Los Angeles in June 2022.
St. Brown, who is entering his age-25 season, clearly has an argument to be the highest-paid player at his position. The USC product has improved his production over each of his first three years in the league, and in 2023, he posted a stellar 119/1,515/10 slash line. Those totals earned him First-Team All-Pro acclaim along with the second Pro Bowl bid of his young career, and he has been one of the driving forces behind Detroit’s hugely successful rebuild.
Plus, as a non-first-round draft choice in 2021, St. Brown does not have a fifth-year option on his rookie contract, and he is therefore eligible for free agency in 2025. The Lions could of course deploy the franchise tag next offseason if they cannot work out a multiyear accord between now and then, but the tag for receivers is projected to be in the $25MM ballpark (h/t OverTheCap.com), and St. Brown’s is not the only contract that needs to be addressed. Quarterback Jared Goff is also entering the final year of his current deal and is due for a significant raise of his own, and GM Brad Holmes may also want to explore extensions for OT Penei Sewell and DT Alim McNeill.
Sewell, a 2021 first-round choice, could be retained via the fifth-year option in 2025, though McNeill was a 2021 third-rounder and will be out of contract at the end of the 2024 campaign. Nonetheless, St. Brown will clearly be a top priority, and there is seemingly no chance that Holmes will allow him to sniff the open market, even if he has to pony up an historic contract to keep him in Honolulu blue.
In order to create some salary cap breathing room, at least in the short-term, the Lions restructured the contract of recently-acquired cornerback Carlton Davis, as Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com reports. The move frees up $4.5MM of cap space in 2024, though as Justin Rogers of the Detroit News observes, that additional flexibility was created via three void years. Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 passes along the full details.
Of course, the Lions could also recoup additional spending power as a result of the unfortunate Cameron Sutton situation.
Dolphins Restructures: Ramsey, Armstead, Sieler, Ingold, Smythe
The Dolphins were in a dangerous situation working with quite a precarious cap number. In an effort to get within compliance, Miami reworked the deals of several players in order to lessen their respective salary cap impacts.
One of the biggest deals to get done was the restructure of star cornerback Jalen Ramsey. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the team converted $13.89MM of Ramsey’s 2024 base salary (now only $1.21MM) and an $11MM roster bonus into a signing bonus while adding an additional void year to the two already in existence at the end of his contract.
The work put in by both sides resulted in a cap clearance of $19.91MM.
Here are a few other restructured deals the Dolphins utilized to increase their available cap space:
- We mentioned after the re-signing of offensive guard Robert Jones that an adjusted contract was on the way for left tackle Terron Armstead. Lo and behold, per Daniel Oyefusi of the Miami Herald, Armstead will accept a $4.25MM pay cut in 2024 while bringing in $10MM of guaranteed salary. His new deal includes a $7.29MM signing bonus, as well. The adjustments cleared another $10.29MM of cap space for the Dolphins.
- It was Michael Ginnitti at Spotrac.com who informed us of the remaining adjustments. Defensive lineman Zach Sieler contributed by agreeing to convert $7.01MM of his 2024 base salary (now only $1.13MM) into a signing bonus while adding two void years to the end of his deal, resulting in the clearance of $5.6MM of cap space. Fullback Alec Ingold chipped in by agreeing to convert $2.08MM of his 2024 salary (now also $1.13MM) into a signing bonus while adding two void years to the end of his contract, as well, resulting in $1.66MM of cap space clearance. Finally, tight end Durham Smythe agreed to convert $2MM of his 2024 base salary (now also $1.13MM) into a signing bonus while adding three void years to the end of his current deal, resulting in $1.6MM of new cap space. Oyefusi points out that the addition of all those void years speaks to the dire nature of the team’s salary cap position. They ended up finding cap compliance in time for the new league year, but the cap hits of those void years will find them eventually.
NFC Restructures: 49ers, Smith, Eskridge
The 49ers recently restructured the contracts of two offensive mainstays that cleared up a heap of cap space. According to ESPN’s Field Yates and Adam Schefter, both tight end George Kittle and fullback Kyle Juszczyk agreed to restructured contracts to help lessen their impact on the salary cap.
Charean Williams of NBC Sports provided us with some details on Kittle’s newly redone deal. The veteran tight end was set to have a base salary of $13.4MM with a cap hit of $21.96MM in 2024. Instead, the team converted $12.19MM of his base salary for 2024 into a signing bonus while adding one voidable year to the existing two already at the tail end of his contract. The move cleared up $9.75MM of space in the team’s salary cap.
While Schefter’s initial report claimed that the restructure for Juszczyk would free up approximately $1.75MM of cap space, a later report from Tom Pelissero of NFL Network laid out some details that would clear almost $4MM of cap space. The restructured deal will reportedly reduce his base salary in both 2024 and 2025, forming what is essentially now a two-year, $9.1MM contract. In exchange for the reduced pay, San Francisco gave Juszczyk $4MM of new guarantees.
Here are some details on other recent restructures from around the conference:
- We reported a restructured deal for Vikings safety Harrison Smith about a week and a half ago, and thanks to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune, we have some details on the new contract. The restructure addressed the final two years of Smith’s contract, essentially giving him a two-year, $10.25MM deal with three void years at the end of the contract. Smith received $7MM of guaranteed money in the form of a signing bonus and will receive a per game active bonus of $30K for a potential season-total of $510K. The new contract reduces Smith’s cap number in 2024 by $11.9MM and reduces his 2025 cap impact by $15.5MM.
- The Seahawks cleared up some cap space by restructuring the contract of wide receiver D’Wayne Eskridge, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. It’s just a slight tweak for a player who was only slotted to make $1.47MM in the final year of his rookie deal. The restructure will open up about $500K of cap space for Seattle.