Minor NFL Transactions: 3/25/23
Today’s minor moves:
Denver Broncos
- Signed: OL Kyle Fuller
Green Bay Packers
- Re-signed: LB Eric Wilson
Cardinals Sign LB Krys Barnes
Arizona has added a young veteran to their defense. The team announced on Saturday that they have signed linebacker Krys Barnes. 
A former UDFA, Barnes spent the first three seasons of his career with the Packers. Even in his rookie campaign, he took on a notable workload, starting 10 games. His 52% snap share in 2020 was matched exactly the following year, making him a key member of Green Bay’s LB corps.
Over the course of his first two seasons, Barnes racked up 161 tackles and a pair of sacks. While his work in pass defense led to an unflattering PFF evaluation, he maintained an important role in a Packers’ second-level group which was bolstered significantly by the arrival of De’Vondre Campbell in 2021. Things took a different turn this past season, however.
Barnes, 24, was limited to just six games played in 2022 due to an ankle injury. He was able to return in November after suffering the injury in Week 1, but his playing time took a noticeable step back. Barnes’ snap share dropped to just 37% on defense, as Campbell and first-round rookie Quay Walker saw the bulk of work for the team. It thus came as little surprise when Green Bay elected not to tender Barnes as a pending restricted free agent.
Now, he will head to Arizona and aim for a return to staring duties in his new home. The Cardinals have been busy at the position so far in free agency, including the addition of Kyzir White. Arizona has also signed Josh Woods and re-upped Ezekiel Turner, though those deals will primarily affect their special teams units. The Cardinals have hybrid defender Isaiah Simmons available as well, depending on how the team’s new coaching staff chooses to use him, along with 2021 first-rounder Zaven Collins and depth option Blake Lynch.
Barnes will look to carve out a role amongst those other ‘backers, as he seeks to boost his own value ahead of next offseason. Arizona has plenty of room for improvement in all aspects of their defense compared to 2022, so a productive season would be beneficial to both player and team in this situation.
AFC West Coaching Updates: Broncos, Chiefs, Chargers
The Broncos announced several additions to their coaching staff today as they attempt to round out Sean Payton‘s first coaching staff in Denver. While we’ve already covered most of the offensive additions, the defensive announcements were new to report.
Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is adding some NFL and college experience to the staff. The team reportedly lured veteran NFL defensive coach Joe Vitt out of retirement to join the Broncos as a senior defensive assistant. On the other end of the spectrum, Denver hired veteran college assistant Jamar Cain as its new pass rush specialist. Cain spent last year as LSU’s defensive run game coordinator/defensive line coach.
Lastly on the defensive side, the Broncos hired Isaac Shewmaker and Addison Lynch as defensive quality control coaches. The only offensive announcement we had yet to cover was another new quality control coach, Favian Upshaw.
Here are some other coaching updates from around the AFC West, starting with the defending Super Bowl champions:
- The Chiefs‘ offensive staff lost some talent in the offseason after another extremely successful campaign, necessitating some updates to the coaching staff. Joe Bleymaier was promoted from wide receivers coach to the title of pass game coordinator. Replacing him at wide receivers coach will be former offensive quality control coach Connor Embree, a large step up. Todd Pinkston joins the team to coach running backs after formerly serving as the wide receivers coach at Austin Peay. Former offensive quality control coach Porter Ellett will join him as assistant running backs coach. Dan Williams, formerly an offensive assistant, has taken one of the offensive quality control positions along with the added title of assistant quarterbacks coach. Filling his old offensive assistant role will be Kevin Saxton, who formerly served as the co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Benedict College.
- The Chargers also went to the college ranks to make a coaching addition, according to Matt Zenitz of On3 Sports. Los Angeles hired former Georgia Southern defensive coordinator Will Harris to serve as assistant secondary coach in 2023. Before his time as a coordinator, Harris had coached a slew of talented future NFL players as the defensive backs coach at the University of Washington.
Contract Details: Tunsil, Ogunjobi, Thompson, Tomlinson, Bradbury
Here are some details on contracts signed since the start of free agency:
- Laremy Tunsil, T (Texans): Three years, $75MM. The extension, according to Mike Florio of NBC Sports, includes a guaranteed amount of $60MM, $50MM of which is guaranteed at signing. The $50MM amount in composed of a $30MM signing bonus, Tunsil’s 2023 base salary of $2MM, and his 2024 base salary of $18MM. The remaining $10MM, which comes out of his 2025 base salary (worth a total of $20.95MM), is guaranteed for injury at signing and becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2024 league year. His 2026 base salary is worth $20.95MM. The contract also includes annual workout bonuses of $150,000 and annual per game active roster bonuses that can potentially total $250,000 each season.
- Dalvin Tomlinson, DT (Browns): Four years, $57MM. The contract, according to Florio, includes a guaranteed amount of $26.29MM consisting of a $15.09MM signing bonus, Tomlinson’s first year base salary of $1.08MM, and his 2024 option bonus of $10.13MM. Of the 2024 option bonus, $8.84MM is guaranteed at signing with the rest fully guaranteeing on the third day of the 2024 league year. His 2024 base salary of $1.21MM is guaranteed for injury at signing and will fully guarantee along with the second part of the 2024 option bonus. His 2025 and 2026 base salaries are both worth $13MM, and both have roster bonuses of $750,000 due on the third day of their respective league years. In the first two years of the contract, Tomlinson will receive a per game active roster of bonus of $14,705 worth a potential season total of $250,000. The following two years see the per game active roster bonus rise to $44,117 for a potential season total of $750,000. The deal includes a potential out, allowing the Browns to cut Tomlinson after 2025 with $12.11MM in dead money but $14.5MM of cap savings over the next three years, including two voidable years.
- Larry Ogunjobi, DT (Steelers): Three years, $28.75MM. The new deal, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2, includes a guaranteed amount of $12MM at signing consisting of a $10.6MM signing bonus and Ogunjobi’s first year base salary of $1.4MM. His second year base salary of $5MM is guaranteed for injury and his 2025 base salary is worth $4MM. The contract includes roster bonuses of $4.75MM (guaranteed on the third league day of 2024) and $3MM (guaranteed on the third league day of 2025). Pittsburgh also put a potential out in the contract that would allow them to cut Ogunjobi after 2023 with $7.07MM of dead money but with $16.75MM in cap savings over the next two years.
- Garrett Bradbury, C (Vikings): Three years, $15.75MM. The new contract, according to Wilson, includes a guaranteed amount of $9.8MM, $4.9MM of which is guaranteed at signing. The initial $4.9MM is composed of a $3.82MM signing bonus and Bradbury’s first year base salary of $1.08MM. The remaining $4.9MM consists of his second year base salary which fully guarantees on the third day of the 2024 league year. The deal includes an annual workout bonus of $100,000 and a per game active roster bonus of $14,705 for a potential season total of $250,000. The deal also includes a potential out that allows the Vikings to release Bradbury after 2023 with zero dead cap, resulting in $13.05MM in cap savings over the next two years.
- Shaq Thompson, LB (Panthers): Two years, $12.6MM. The reworked deal, according to Joe Person of The Athletic, includes a guaranteed amount of $8.5MM consisting of a $5.3MM signing bonus, Thompson’s first year base salary of $1.2MM, and $2MM of his 2024 base salary (worth a total of $3.8MM). He’ll receive a $1MM roster bonus guaranteed in March of 2024 and a per game active roster bonus of $29,411 for a potential season total of $500,000. There are also possible incentives concerning a Pro Bowl selection and playoff wins. The deal includes three void years to reduce his current cap hit. His cap number in 2023 was reduced from $24.5MM to $14.06MM.
Steelers Re-Sign TE Zach Gentry
The Steelers are bringing back one of their top tight ends. Zach Gentry is re-signing with Pittsburgh, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter). Gentry is signing a one-year deal, per Ray Fittipaldo and Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The 2019 fifth-round pick has spent his entire career with the Steelers. He was limited to only six games through his first two seasons in the NFL thanks in part to a knee injury, but he hasn’t missed a game for Pittsburgh over the past two years.
Gentry has started 26 of his 34 appearances over the past two seasons, hauling in 38 receptions for 299 yards. More than half of his 577 offensive snaps during the 2022 campaign came on running plays, and while Pro Football Focus has never been particularly fond of his blocking ability, he’s likely earned his latest contract thanks to that role. Gentry got into a career-high 139 special teams snaps during the 2021 season, but he was limited to only 72 ST snaps in 2022.
Pat Freiermuth will continue to soak up the majority of the tight end targets on offense, with Gentry likely sliding in as the TE2/extra blocker. The Steelers are also rostering 2022 sixth-round pick Connor Heyward and 2022 UDFA Rodney Williams, so there could be some competition at the bottom of the depth chart.
Dolphins Re-Sign CB Justin Bethel
The Dolphins are bringing back some secondary depth and a key special teamer in cornerback Justin Bethel, according to the team’s official Twitter account. The veteran defensive back had largely been relegated to special teams but found new life on defense with the Dolphins last year. 
After a long opening tenure in Arizona, Bethel has bounced around from the Falcons to the Ravens to the Patriots before finally landing with the Dolphins last year. Although he used to get many more defensive playing opportunities early in his career, Bethel was always known as a special teams savant. In his second, third, and fourth seasons, Bethel made three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances as a special-teamer.
As he moved on from the Cardinals, and as time went on, Bethel’s snap count on defense grew smaller and smaller. 2022 saw a resurgence for the 32-year-old as the Dolphins allowed Bethel more playing time on defense than he had seen in the previous four years combined, since his time in Arizona. Bethel wasn’t the team’s best defender but delivered as a depth option, totaling one interception and four passes defensed.
Miami now boasts two stars at the cornerback position and retained many of their talented backup pieces, as well. Bethel’s role projects to be similar in 2023 as it was last year. With the added talent at the position, he may not be required as much on defense, but he provides the Dolphins with veteran depth and his usual stellar special teams play.
Texans Add WR/KR Steven Sims
The Texans continue to be one of the most active teams in free agency this offseason, signing wide receiver and return specialist Steven Sims, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. Sims is, at the very least, poised to take over the kick return duties in Houston for 2023. 
A former undrafted free agent out of Kansas in 2019, Sims signed with Washington and made the initial 53-man roster as a rookie. His first year in the league was his strongest offensively as he caught 34 passes for 310 yards and four touchdowns. The versatile weapon added nine rush attempts for 85 yards and a touchdown. He also showed off his proficiency in the return game, fielding 32 kickoffs for 819 yards and a touchdown on a 91-yard return. In 2020, his offensive and kick return production diminished a bit, but he shouldered an increased workload returning punts.
Sims was released just prior to the 2021 season and spent six days with the Bills before getting released in final roster cuts. He was eventually signed to the Steelers’ practice squad but only appeared in one game that season. Sims would find his way back to the field in 2022, appearing in 12 games for Pittsburgh and starting two. Last year, his versatility was on full display. He only had 104 receiving yards but added 70 on the ground. He also spent equal time returning both punts and kicks for the first time last season, totaling 19 punt returns and 17 kickoff returns.
Sims projects as a depth piece offensively in Houston. The Texans receiving group should be led by Robert Woods, Nico Collins, and Noah Brown, with John Metchie, Amari Rodgers, and others competing for snaps behind them. With cornerback Tremon Smith signing a new deal with the Broncos, the Texans needed a new kick returner. That’s where Sims comes into play. Houston used cornerback Desmond King to return punts last season, but if the Texans can rely on Sims for punt returns, too, it would free up King to focus more on defense.
Sims probably won’t have fans chanting “MVP,” but he fills a need on the Texans roster. With his versatile abilities, Sims is low-risk, high-reward signing. He provides Houston with a needed who has the potential to be a Swiss Army knife on offense.
Panthers Trade K Zane Gonzalez To 49ers
After allowing kicker Robbie Gould to walk in free agency, the 49ers have figured out Plan No. 1 for the position for next season. According to Panthers staff writer Darin Gantt, Carolina has traded kicker Zane Gonzalez to San Francisco in exchange for a conditional late-round 2025 draft pick. Some reports describe the deal as a conditional swap of late-round picks. 
Gonzalez has not kicked in the NFL since 2021. A former seventh-round pick for the Browns in 2017 out of Arizona State, Gonzalez spent just over a year in Cleveland, getting waived after 18 games with a 68% field goal conversation rate and having missed three of 31 extra point attempts. He would rebound with the Cardinals, with whom he’d spend the next three years of his career.
In Arizona, Gonzalez was signed to the practice squad and elevated to fill in for an injured Phil Dawson. Gonzalez’s performance in substitute duty was rewarded with a new contract to stay with the team. He remained the Cardinals’ kicker in 2019 and going into 2020. Late into the 2020 season, though, Gonzalez found the injury bug, was placed on injured reserve for the remainder of the season, and was released at the end of the league year.
Gonzalez spent three weeks in Detroit during the 2021 preseason before getting waived and signed to the practice squad. After letting go of Ryan Santoso, who kicked for Carolina in Week 1, the Panthers signed Gonzalez off the Lions’ practice squad. Gonzalez would kick for the Panthers until suffering a quad injury during warmups in a Week 15 game in Buffalo. The team was forced to play without a kicker for the game and depended on Lirim Hajrullahu for the remainder of the year.
Gonzalez was ready to retake his spot as the team’s placekicker when his injury woes continued. In the team’s final game of the 2022 preseason, Gonzalez once again injured his quad in warmups, forcing him to miss the entire season. The next day, Carolina signed kicker Eddy Pineiro to fill in for the season. Pineiro went 33-for-35 in field goal attempts and 30 for 32 in extra points and was rewarded with a two-year contract extension to remain the Panthers’ kicker, effectively marking the end of Gonzalez’s tenure in Carolina.
Instead of just releasing Gonzalez, the Panthers have been able to get some value for the superfluous special teamer in the form of San Francisco’s late draft pick. The 49ers were in need of a solution at placekicker after Gould’s departure. The longtime Bears kicker had just concluded his sixth year as a 49er. Gould had excited early in the Bay Area, converting 72 of 75 field goal attempts in his first two seasons with the team. He missed eight field goals the following year and struggled to repeat his early success with the 49ers.
Enter Gonzalez. The 27-year-old is coming off his strongest season, making 20 of 22 field goals in 2021, but is also coming off of a severe injury that held him out of the entire 2022 season. If Gonzalez can shake off the injury bug, he has promise to become the next franchise kicker in San Francisco.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/24/23
Friday’s minor moves in the NFL:
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: DT Byron Cowart
- Re-signed: DT Phil Hoskins
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: T Le’Raven Clark
Raiders Sign DT John Jenkins
The Raiders have made an outside addition to their defensive line for the first time so far in free agency. The team announced on Friday that they have signed defensive tackle John Jenkins. 
This deal sets Jenkins up for a sixth career NFL franchise, having bounced around the league after being drafted in 2013 by the Saints. He most recently spent the past two seasons in Miami, working in a rotational capacity behind entrenched starters Raekwon Davis and Christian Wilkins. Jenkins’ departure will leave the Dolphins in need of a depth replacement at nose tackle.
The 33-year-old has seen a snap share of 50% only once in his career, the 2015 season. Since then, his playing time has fluctuated, but it dropped in 2022 compared to the year prior, which itself represented his second stint with Miami. Jenkins totaled 20 tackles last season, adding one stop in the team’s wild card loss. A new depth role likely awaits him in Vegas.
The Raiders have made a number of moves on defense this offseason, aiming to bolster a unit which made a habit of blowing double-digit leads in 2022. That effort had yielded little along the defensive line to date, however. Vegas has lost Andrew Billings to the Bears, while re-signing midseason waiver claim Jerry Tillery. Jenkins will look to carve out a rotational role behind the latter, along with the likes of Bilal Nichols and Neil Farrell Jr.
More moves could be coming on the Raiders’ part along the defensive interior, since Isaac Rochelle and Kyle Peko are still on the open market. With Jenkins in place, the unit will have at least one new member, however, as the team aims to take a step forward on defense in 2023.