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.
Broncos Sign WR Marquez Callaway
Another former Saint is heading to the Mile High City this offseason to reunite with a familiar face on the sidelines. Wideout Marquez Callaway is signing a deal with the Broncos, per a team announcement.
Denver added Callaway on one-year deal worth $1.14MM, Mike Klis of 9News tweets. The Saints non-tendered Callaway as an RFA, and while the former New Orleans starter agreed to a deal south of the tender price, he will reunion with Sean Payton with the Broncos. Just more than $200K of Callaway’s money is guaranteed.
Callaway joins a growing list of players with experience in New Orleans choosing to join Payton in Denver. Fellow wideout Lil’Jordan Humphrey, along with tight end Chris Manhertz, fullback Michael Burton and running back Tony Jones Jr. have agreed to deals bringing them to Denver as Payton looks to guide the team’s offense to a rebound from last season’s struggles.
Callaway joined the Saints as a UDFA, and flashed potential in his debut season in 2020. The following year, he stepped into a much larger role in New Orleans’ offense, logging a snap share of 76%. The 24-year-old set new career highs across the board, racking up 46 catches for 698 yards and six touchdowns. His 15.2 yards per catch average demonstrated his capabilities as a deep threat, but that figure (among all others) took a sizeable step back last season.
The 2022 campaign marked the first for the Saints under Dennis Allen, rather than Payton. The latter’s decision to step away for a year was not a productive one for Callaway, who will look to regain his 2021 form working under Payton once again. His arrival comes just one day after it was learned KJ Hamler had suffered a torn pec, the latest in a long line of injuries for the slot receiver.
Hamler’s injury could open the door to more playing time for Callaway. In general, Denver’s receiver room is somewhat in flux, with Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy receiving trade interest. The future of the latter two thus remains in the air, but Callaway’s is in place for at least the 2023 season. A reunion with Payton could produce a bounce-back campaign, something which would help the Broncos take an expected step forward in their passing attack.
Browns To Sign WR Marquise Goodwin
The Browns are making another addition to their receiver room, this time via free agency. Veteran Marquise Goodwin is headed to Cleveland on a one-contract, per ESPN’s Field Yates (Twitter link). 
The Browns had been interested in adding a vertical threat to their offense this offseason, and they targeted Goodwin as an option by hosting him on a visit earlier this week. He will add a speed element to the team’s revamped WR room, which lacked a true burner near the top of the depth chart.
Goodwin, 32, will likely have a rotational role behind starting wideouts Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones. The latter two have been joined by former Jets second-rounder Elijah Moore, who was dealt to the Browns amidst his trade request and New York’s efforts to reshape their own receiver stable. The latter will operate in the slot, with Goodwin in place as an experienced option behind him after stints with four different teams.
During the first of those, with the Bills, Goodwin worked as a starter for only one season. After his underwhelming time in Buffalo came to an end, the former third-rounder enjoyed by far the best campaign of his career. In 2017, the first of his three years in San Francisco, Goodwin recorded 962 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 56 receptions. That year marked the only time in which he received more than 100 targets, as he has been used in a less pronounced role since then.
Goodwin took on a complimentary role in the past two years with the Bears and Seahawks, respectively. His yardage totals and catch percentages have fluctuated over the course of his career, but his yards per catch average (16.2 overall) has remained relatively consistent. The 5-9, 180-pounder will look to give the Browns a boost in the downfield passing game in 2023 as the team aims to take a sizable step forward in their offensive efficiency.
Eagles To Add S Terrell Edmunds
Terrell Edmunds will be staying in Pennsylvania, but the former first-round pick will not re-sign with the Steelers. Instead, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports the Eagles are adding the veteran safety (Twitter link). It is a one-year agreement.
After re-signing with the Steelers on a low-cost deal in 2022, Edmunds could be poised for a first-string run with the Eagles. He has started 75 career games. Edmunds’ agreement comes days after the Eagles signed safety Justin Evans.
The Eagles have re-signed a few of their many free agents on defense, bringing back Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox and James Bradberry. Others (Javon Hargrave, Kyzir White, T.J. Edwards and safeties Marcus Epps and C.J. Gardner-Johnson) have left. Edmunds, 26, figures to be an affordable stopgap in the wake of Epps and Gardner-Johnson’s free agency defections.
It cost Pittsburgh just $2.5MM to retain Edmunds last year. Terrell Edmunds, who joins brother Tremaine Edmunds in leaving for an NFC destination this month, served as a five-year Steelers starter. Most of Terrell’s run came alongside Minkah Fitzpatrick. The Steelers have Fitzpatrick attached to a top-market safety deal, which surely limited their interest in spending much to replace Edmunds. Pittsburgh did bring back former starter Damontae Kazee in free agency, giving the veteran a two-year, $6MM deal. Given those terms, it was not difficult to predict Edmunds would need to relocate.
Although Gardner-Johnson joined Justin Simmons in intercepting an NFL-most six passes last season, Pro Football Focus graded Edmunds as a superior safety. PFF graded Edmunds as slightly better in coverage compared to CJGJ and has slotted the former as a top-40 safety twice in the past three seasons. Edmunds graded as the advanced metrics site’s 22nd-ranked safety in 2020.
The Eagles wanted to re-sign Gardner-Johnson and offered him a multiyear deal early in free agency. But the converted cornerback turned down the Birds’ proposal, aiming for more. It turned out, his market was not quite as strong as anticipated. The Lions ended up signing Gardner-Johnson to an incentive-laden deal that checked in at $6.5MM in base value.
Evans may have a chance to push for a starting spot, but it should be expected the Eagles add at least one more starter-caliber safety to the equation. After they waited until roster-cutdown day to do so last year, the team standing pat in the draft will not automatically mean Evans will be ticketed to return to a starting role after several seasons have passed since his last such opportunity. Edmunds, however, will be a better bet to be a Philly first-stringer in 2023.
Panthers To Sign WR DJ Chark
Both the Lions and Panthers continued their DJ Chark pursuits this week. Carolina already bringing in Adam Thielen will not deter the team from adding Chark as well.
Chark agreed to terms on a one-year Panthers deal Friday, The Score’s Jordan Schultz tweets. ESPN’s Field Yates subsequently tweeted that Chark, who will join Thielen and a to-be-determined rookie quarterback in Charlotte, will earn a fully guaranteed $5MM, which is comprised of a $3.92MM signing bonus and a $1.08MM base salary. The deal also includes four void years for cap purposes.
One of the better wideouts to hit the market, Chark joined Mecole Hardman and Nelson Agholor in agreeing to terms during free agency’s second week. While Thielen will provide the Panthers with a possession receiver, Chark stands to sign on as a field-stretching presence. Injuries have interrupted Chark’s progress over the past two seasons, likely leading to the one-year deal. But the Panthers, shortly after including D.J. Moore in their trade for the No. 1 overall pick, hosted both Thielen and Chark on visits.
The Lions expressed interest in re-signing Chark just after the 2022 season ended, and the former second-round pick also indicated a Detroit return would be on his radar. The sides could not come to terms, however, leading to the Panthers adding another starter. This will position Chark to either prove a fit in Carolina ahead of a potential long-term extension or hope for a more lucrative deal on the 2024 free agent market.
Over the past few months, Carolina had lost both its top receivers — Moore and Chosen Anderson — with the latter being traded after a sideline incident before last year’s deadline. Chark and Thielen may not represent long-term pieces for Carolina’s next quarterback to target, but Thielen is signed to a multiyear deal (worth $14MM guaranteed) and Chark is only going into his age-27 season.
Chark broke through back in 2019, totaling 1,008 receiving yards while teaming with Gardner Minshew in Jacksonville. The Jaguars reached their franchise nadir over the next two seasons, earning the No. 1 overall pick in 2021 and ’22, but Chark still contributed 706 yards to their cause in 2020. He suffered a fractured ankle early in the team’s 2021 season, but the Lions thought enough of the 6-foot-4 pass catcher to give him $10MM last year.
Although Chark ran into more ankle trouble that landed him on IR, he showed promising form upon returning. En route to a 508-yard season for a surprising Lions squad, Chark played a role in Detroit’s late-season surge by producing three 90-plus-yard receiving games in a four-week span in December. Chark reached a season-high 108 yards during a Week 16 loss to the Panthers, and GM Scott Fitterer will bring him aboard to help Frank Reich‘s team.
The Panthers now have two former LSU wideouts on their roster, in Chark and 2021 second-rounder Terrace Marshall. It cannot be ruled out Carolina looks to this position again in the draft, but Thielen and Chark give the team some veteran options in case it prefers to look elsewhere with its early- and mid-round picks.
Ravens, WR Nelson Agholor Agree To Deal
Nelson Agholor‘s Baltimore visit will produce a deal. The former first-round pick is signing with the Ravens, The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec reports (on Twitter).
While the one-year contract could max out at $6.25MM, Zrebiec adds the base value will come in at $3.25MM. The Ravens will be Agholor’s fourth NFL team. Agholor will reunite with Ravens assistant coach Tee Martin. While Martin is now the Ravens’ quarterbacks coach, he was USC’s wide receivers coach throughout Agholor’s time with the Trojans.
As expected, Agholor’s fourth NFL contract will not be worth anywhere near his Patriots pact. During an uncharacteristic 2021 spending spree, the Pats gave Agholor a two-year, $22MM deal. At the time, the 2015 first-rounder was coming off a bounce-back Raiders season that featured career-high receiving yardage (896) and touchdown (eight) numbers. Agholor was unable to replicate that showing in New England.
Agholor, who will turn 30 in May, did not match that 2020 Las Vegas yardage or touchdown total in two Patriots seasons. He topped out at 473 yards and five touchdowns in New England, which had Jakobi Meyers in place as its lone reliable wide receiver over the past two seasons. Meyers has since joined the Raiders on an $11MM-per-year deal, while the Patriots have brought in JuJu Smith-Schuster for slightly less.
This Ravens deal can be categorized as a flier for a team perpetually in search of receiver help. Agholor joins 2021 first-rounder Rashod Bateman as the biggest names in Baltimore’s receiving corps, though last year’s No. 2 wideout — Devin Duvernay — is under contract for one more season. Both Bateman and Duvernay suffered season-ending foot injuries last year. The Ravens added DeSean Jackson last year as well, but the 36-year-old deep threat is no longer under contract.
Agholor has earned the inconsistent label attached to him, but he has done well for himself financially and made impacts for successful squads. The 6-foot wideout combined for 1,504 receiving yards and eight TD catches for the Eagles from 2017-18. He came through during Philadelphia’s Super Bowl LII upset, hauling in nine Nick Foles passes for 84 yards. The time between then and this agreement limits that game’s reference material regarding Agholor’s current form, however.
The Ravens will see what the ninth-year veteran has left in the tank, though everything non-Lamar Jackson looms as a secondary matter until the franchise determines a resolution with its disgruntled quarterback.
Cardinals, WR Zach Pascal Agree To Deal
MARCH 24: Pascal’s two-year contract will be worth $4.5MM, per Sirius XM’s Howard Balzer (on Twitter). The Cardinals will give the former Colts and Eagles auxiliary target $1.5MM guaranteed in the form of a signing bonus.
MARCH 20: The Cardinals have added a new element to their passing attack, albeit one who represents a familiar face to their head coach. Wideout Zach Pascal has agreed to terms on a two-year deal, reports Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (Twitter link). 
Pascal spent the first four seasons of his career with the Colts, then played for the Eagles in 2022. In both of those stops, he was on a team coached (on the defensive side of the ball) by Jonathan Gannon, who is now in place as Arizona’s head coach. Garafolo’s colleague Ian Rapoport tweets that Pascal fielded offers from other teams, but his connection with Gannon was a key factor in his decision.
The 28-year-old’s best seasons came in 2019 and 2020, where he averaged 43 catches, 618 yards and five touchdowns per campaign. That demonstrated his abilities as a complimentary wideout, though the Colts’ recent investments at the position left him to head to Philadelphia last offseason. Playing on a one-year, $1.5MM deal, he saw a much smaller workload than he had in any of his Colts seasons.
The former UDFA made just 15 catches last season, buried on the Eagles’ depth chart behind the likes of A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Quez Watkins. Pascal will now head to the desert with an eye on an increase in playing time while the Eagles aim to repeat the success they had in the passing game in 2022.
Pascal will give the Cardinals some size in their receiver room, given his 6-2, 214-pound stature. Arizona has diminutive wideouts Marquise Brown and Rondale Moore on its depth chart, and veteran DeAndre Hopkins‘ future remains very much up in the air. Especially if the latter is traded, Pascal will be able to provide the team with a low-cost replacement as a big-bodied pass-catching option. Whatever his role, Pascal will have a familiar face on the sidelines as he looks to return to his production of years past in a new home.
Chiefs To Bring Back TE Blake Bell
The Chiefs have lost several offensive contributors this offseason, but they will bring back one of their backup tight ends. Blake Bell agreed to terms to stay in Kansas City on Friday.
Bell and the Chiefs agreed on a one-year deal, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Bell, who is going into his ninth NFL season, is now in position to play a fourth season with the Chiefs.
Although Bell’s Chiefs tenure has been split up into two stints, he was on both the team’s recent Super Bowl-winning teams. The former 49ers draftee caught on with the Chiefs in 2019 but signed with the Cowboys in 2020. He wound up back in Kansas City a year later and has now agreed to remain in place as a Travis Kelce backup.
The Chiefs have used Bell, 31, as a starter in 13 games. He was unable to make much of a contribution last season due to a preseason hip injury. Bell landed on IR before the start of last season and missed 13 regular-season games. The eventual Super Bowl champions, however, used one of their injury activations on Bell once he was ready to return. The 6-foot-6 tight end re-emerged to catch his first career touchdown pass — a 17-yarder against the Broncos on New Year’s Day — and play in each of the Chiefs’ three playoff games. During Bell’s most recent full season (2021), he played 322 offensive snaps.
Bell’s career has also included stops with the Vikings and Jaguars — from 2017-18 — but he is best known for being one of Kelce’s sidekicks. The Chiefs have a younger player in that role now, in 2021 fifth-round pick Noah Gray. The second-year player emerged as an interesting receiving option in the Patrick Mahomes-piloted offense last season, catching 28 passes for 299 yards, but the Chiefs are still freeing up a spot for Bell to come back.
Lions Re-Sign QB Nate Sudfeld
The Lions picked up Nate Sudfeld after he failed to beat out Brock Purdy for the 49ers’ third-string job last summer, and the NFC North team will stay the course behind Jared Goff.
Detroit agreed to terms to bring back Sudfeld for a second season, the team announced Friday. Sudfeld is back in position to be Goff’s primary backup.
Sudfeld losing a job to Purdy no longer looks strange, given the rise of last year’s Mr. Irrelevant, and the ex-Eagles third-stringer backed into some job security after missing out on a 49ers third-string gig. The Lions cut David Blough to make room for Sudfeld last summer, and both Tim Boyle finished last season with the Bears. The Lions also brought in Josh Dobbs for a bit but let the Titans poach him off their practice squad. Dobbs is now back in Cleveland, while Boyle is unsigned.
Goff has missed just four games due to injury over his seven-year career. Three of those came during the 2021 season. Boyle replaced Goff for those games — all losses — but the resurgent starter played all 17 Lions contests last season. Sudfeld, however, remained on the roster throughout the year.
Perhaps best known for being the player at the heart of the Eagles’ much-discussed decision that may well have decided the 2020 NFC East title, Sudfeld is now heading into his eighth NFL season. Since Doug Pederson benched Jalen Hurts for Sudfeld in that Week 17 game two seasons ago, Sudfeld spent a year in San Francisco and a year in Detroit. Sudfeld played behind Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance in 2021.
Sudfeld, 29, operated as Nick Foles‘ backup during the Eagles’ 2017 Super Bowl LII run and in the following playoffs, after the team lost Carson Wentz to injury in both years. The Indiana alum spent four years in Philadelphia. The former Washington sixth-round pick has thrown just 37 regular-season passes, completing 25, in his pro career. He has one career touchdown pass.
Long thought to be preparing to draft a quarterback in 2022 or this year, the Lions are no longer believed to be strongly considering using one of their two first-round picks on a passer. This does not mean Detroit will punt on the position throughout the draft, but even if the team does select a later-round QB, Sudfeld would seemingly be in position as a mentor-type player in that scenario.
Vikings S Harrison Smith Accepts Pay Cut
MARCH 24: Although Smith accepted a pay cut to stay, Goessling notes he received $6.25MM of his 2023 base salary guaranteed. That is up $1.25MM from his previous arrangement (Twitter link). Overall, Smith’s 2023 base checks in at $7.5MM; $500K in incentives are available as well.
MARCH 16: Harrison Smith will be back for a 12th season with the Vikings. The sides agreed to a reworked contract Thursday, Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports (on Twitter).
The Pro Bowl safety was set to count $19.1MM against Minnesota’s cap in 2023. Smith signed a four-year, $64MM extension before the 2021 season; that deal runs through 2025. Thursday’s new agreement looks to be a pay cut. Smith was set to earn $14.7MM in base salary, and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport notes he will now make $8MM and have the opportunity to collect an additional $2MM via incentives (Twitter link). The restructure will save the Vikings $6.7MM, Goessling tweets.
Rather than testing the market in his mid-30s, Smith agreed to a salary trim will keep him in Minneapolis for his age-34 season. Strong interest did come from elsewhere, per Rapoport, but Smith prefers to stay in Minnesota (Twitter link). A 2012 first-round pick, Smith has only played for the Vikings.
Drafted during Leslie Frazier‘s HC stay, Smith is among the last of the team’s Mike Zimmer-era defensive cornerstones. The Vikings have moved on from almost everyone else from their late-2010s defensive units, including a recent release of Eric Kendricks. Only Smith and Danielle Hunter remain in place from those defenses that helped the Vikes to three playoff berths — with three different starting QBs — from 2015-19.
The Vikings are transitioning to Brian Flores‘ defensive scheme, moving on after Ed Donatell struggled in his lone season in the position, and they want Smith a part of it. It can be assumed Smith will be on a year-to-year relationship with the Vikings going forward, given his extension’s terms for 2024 and ’25. He is set to make $14.5MM in 2024 and $17MM in 2025. It is unlikely the six-time Pro Bowler will be attached to either base salary, but after letting Patrick Peterson defect to the Steelers, the Vikings are hanging onto their other veteran piece in the secondary.
Helping a struggling Vikes defense hang on for the NFC’s No. 3 seed, Smith intercepted five passes last season to move his career total to 34. Pro Football Focus slotted Smith just inside the top 40 at safety last season. Given the way the market has developed for non-Jessie Bates safeties this offseason, the Vikings asking Smith for a pay reduction makes sense.
Barring injury, Smith will still move into rare territory among Vikings defenders this season. Smith (158 career starts) will have a chance to pass Kevin Williams (170) for the third-most starts by a Minnesota defender. Catching Purple People Eaters Jim Marshall (270) or Carl Eller (201) appears unrealistic (definitely in Marshall’s case), but Smith has a chance to be the longest-tenured Vikings defensive piece in nearly 45 years.