J.D. McKissic Returning To Washington?
J.D. McKissic is changing course. After agreeing to join the Bills, he is instead re-signing with the Commanders for the same price (Twitter link via ESPN’s Adam Schefter). 
The 28-year-old was reported to be be signing with the Bills earlier this week, on a two-year, $7MM deal. The contract also includes $1MM in incentives. As Schefter notes, the Commanders didn’t need to eclipse that figure – simply match it, as it turns out – to convince him to stay in the nation’s capital.
A former UDFA, McKissic started his career in Seattle, where he registered one start in three years. He then played in Detroit for one campaign, totalling 438 scrimmage yards. He has found much more success in his two seasons in Washington, though.
In 27 games in Landover, McKissic has started 10 of those contests. He’s totalled 133 carries for 577 yards and three touchdowns. In the passing game, he’s added 123 receptions for 986 yards and another four majors. That versatility has made him a valuable piece of Washington’s offense, paired with lead back Antonio Gibson.
Schefter adds that the Commanders initially didn’t offer McKissic a new deal (Twitter link). It was only after the agreement between him and the Bills that the team expressed an interest in retaining him. McKissic’s preference was clearly to stay put, however, and it now appears that he will do just that.
Falcons To Restructure Matt Ryan’s Deal?
MARCH 16, 11:55am: The Falcons have yet to process a restructuring of Matt Ryan‘s deal (Twitter link via Ari Meirov). That could be an indication that they’re serious about their pursuit of Deshaun Watson, who met with the Falcons today.
MARCH 11, 8:35pm: The man who was projected to have the highest cap number in the NFL in 2022 has re-worked his contract. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that the Falcons have restructured Matt Ryan‘s deal (Twitter link). 
As Rapoport details, the move creates $12MM in cap space for the upcoming season. While he was only due to make $23.75MM in 2022, Ryan’s cap number was slated to be over $48.66MM. That was a result of previous financial maneuvering, which contributed in no small part to the team’s current difficult cap situation. Ryan’s pact follows a similar pattern in its two remaining years.
Last month, owner Arthur Blank made it clear the team is putting together a succession plan for their franchise QB. The former third-overall pick will be 37 when the 2022 season starts, and it surprised many when the Falcons chose not to draft an heir apparent with the No. 4 selection last April.
Ryan has been the model of consistency throughout his 14 seasons in Atlanta, including, most notably, his MVP season in 2016 that led to a trip to the Super Bowl. Since then, his individual stats have been essentially on par with his career averages, although the team as a whole hasn’t been able to replicate that previous success. In 2021, the four-time Pro Bowler completed 67% of his passes for 3,968 yards and 20 touchdowns.
With this move, the Falcons will now have roughly $16.2MM to work with heading into free agency next week. One obvious use for the manufactured space would be to re-sign linebacker Foyesade Oluokun, who earned himself a pay raise after leading the NFL in tackles last season. It was recently reported that he could reach the $10MM per year mark on a new deal – a figure which would now be easier for Atlanta to accommodate.
Commanders Cut Ereck Flowers
The Commanders have released offensive lineman Ereck Flowers, according to agent Drew Rosenhaus (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). The move will allow Flowers to sign with any club, starting at 4pm ET/3pm CT today.
[RELATED: Commanders To Cut Matt Ioannidis]
Flowers came to Washington last year via trade with the Dolphins. It was effectively a cap dump for the ‘Fins, as the deal was completed with a simple swap of late-round picks. For Flowers, it was a reunion and an opportunity to reprise some of his best career work in 2019. Playing as Washington’s left guard, Flowers excelled and parlayed his strong showing into a three-year, $30MM contract with Miami.
Flowers earned decent marks from Pro Football Focus while in South Beach. His 65.9 overall score had him tied as the No. 32 guard in the NFL in 2020. This past year, Flowers was up-and-down, allowing six sacks on the year. On the plus side, he ceded only two sacks.
Similar to his last foray into free agency, Flowers has an opportunity to cash in given the dearth of quality interior linemen across the league. While this year’s guard crop was stronger than most, many of this year’s biggest names have already come off of the board.
By cutting Flowers, Washington will clear an additional $10MM from their books.
Commanders To Cut Matt Ioannidis
Defensive tackle Matt Ioannidis will be released by the Commanders today, according to Will Compton and Taylor Lewan of Bussin’ With The Boys (on Twitter). The move will save Washington upwards of $6.8MM against the 2022 books while leaving $1.5MM in dead money. 
This comes on the heels of Tim Settle‘s departure, marking a significant revamp of the Commanders’ defensive line group. Last year, Ioannidis served as the first interior lineman off the bench behind starters Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne. Ioannidis appeared in 16 of 17 possible games, including six starts.
Ioannidis, who just turned 28 in January, was set to enter his walk year. Now, he’ll look for work elsewhere, but he shouldn’t have a hard time finding his next opportunity. Ioannidis might not have been worth the money for Washington, but he still offers ample experience with 73 appearances and 40 starts over the course of his career.
The Commanders are also expected to finalize the release of Landon Collins today, saving a minimum of $13MM between the two moves.
Patriots To Sign Terrance Mitchell
Terrance Mitchell has found a new home. On Wednesday, the Patriots agreed to sign the ex-Texans cornerback to a one-year, $3MM deal, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). 
[RELATED: Pats’ JC Jackson Joins Chargers]
The 29-year-old joined the Texans last offseason, inking a two-year, $7.5MM deal. He started 13 of his 14 games during his lone season in Houston, collecting 60 tackles, ten passes defended, and one interception. He ended up seeing time in 69% of his team’s defensive snaps, and he garnered the second-most defensive snaps (796) in Houston.
Mitchell previously spent three seasons in Cleveland, starting 27 of his 39 games. He’s also had stints with the Bears, Cowboys, and Chiefs.
Now, he’s the Patriots first out-of-house signing of 2022. He might not be a top-tier corner, but he could help to offset the loss of J.C. Jackson, the Pats’ former leading cornerback who joined the Chargers on a five-year, $82.5MM deal this week.
Raiders Release DE Carl Nassib
The Raiders are releasing defensive end Carl Nassib (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). Previously, Nassib has one season to go on his three-year, $25MM deal. 
Nassib made national news last summer when he announced that he was gay, making the 28-year-old the first active NFL player to do so.
“The NFL family is proud of Carl for courageously sharing his truth today,” commissioner Roger Goodell said afterwards. “Representation matters. We share his hope that someday soon statements like his will no longer be newsworthy as we march toward full equality for the LGBTQ+ community. We wish Carl the best of luck this coming season.”
Later that year, following the leak of Jon Gruden‘s emails, Nassib took personal time away from the team. In 2021, Nassib appeared in 13 games as a reserve with 21 tackles and 1.5 sacks. While he was productive in Las Vegas, his numbers didn’t match his previous work. Between 2018 and 2019 with the Bucs, Nassib notched 12.5 sacks. With the Raiders, he had just four across the last two seasons.
The Raiders will designate Nassib as a post-June 1 cut, enabling them to save $8MM against the 2022 cap (Twitter link via Schefter).
Browns To Re-Sign Anthony Walker
The Browns have re-signed Anthony Walker. The linebacker will receive a one-year, $5MM deal, according to agent Drew Rosenhaus (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). 
Walker, 26, came into the league as a fifth-round pick of the Colts in 2017. He joined up with the Browns last year on a one-year, $3.5MM deal and went on to notch 113 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, and a pair of pass deflections. Beyond the traditional stats, the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus graded him as the 17th best linebacker in the NFL.
Clearly, Walker was in line for a sizable pay bump. This new deal roughly doubles his last one (one-year, $2.7MM/year), but this still seems pretty team-friendly given his all-around improvement. Walker will now look to improve his run-defense while maintaining his solid pass coverage.
Walker, 27 in August, has 456 career tackles to his credit across four seasons with the Colts and his first with the Browns.
Chiefs To Re-Sign Chad Henne
The Chiefs will bring Chad Henne back for another season. On Wednesday, the veteran quarterback agreed to a new one-year deal worth $2MM (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo).
For Henne, this will mark his fifth season as Patrick Mahomes‘ backstop, though he did not see a single snap in 2019 due to injury and a lack of need. All in all, he’s made eight appearances for Kansas City with just one start, a 2020 late season loss to the Chargers.
Henne will get a slight pay bump from his previous deal, a two-year, $3.25MM pact signed in March of 2020. He might not see a ton of action, but he’ll look for an opportunity to improve on his career marks of 75 appearances, 13,290 yards, 60 touchdowns, and 63 interceptions.
Browns To Cut TE Austin Hooper
The Browns are releasing tight end Austin Hooper (Twitter link via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com). Using the post-June 1 designation, the Browns will spread his dead money hit across the next two seasons, rather than all at once. 
[RELATED: Browns Place Franchise Tag On Njoku]
The Browns were giving serious thought to keeping Hooper alongside breakout star David Njoku. At least, that was their public position. In reality, there was little sense in keeping both players.
It’s been almost two years since Hooper inked a then record-breaking deal for tight ends, one that was slated to run through 2024. Now, instead of keeping him around as a secondary TE target in their Baker Mayfield-led offense, the Browns will cut Hooper to save $2MM on the 2022 books. Meanwhile, the $11.25MM dead money charge will be split between ’22 and ’23.
Hooper, still only 27, should hold appeal for TE-needy teams elsewhere. While his Cleveland run has been forgettable, it wasn’t long ago that he notched two consecutive Pro Bowl nods with the Falcons.
Jaguars To Sign Darious Williams
The Jaguars are set to sign free agent cornerback Darious Williams (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Once finalized, it’ll be a three-year deal worth $30MM with incentives that could push the overall value to $39MM. Williams also gets $18MM fully guaranteed, so more than half is already locked in.
Williams had a down year in 2021, thanks in part to an early season ankle injury. Before that, in 2020, Pro Football Focus graded Williams as its No. 4 overall corner as he set new personal watermarks in tackles (44), interceptions (four), and passes defended (14). Last offseason, the Rams let Troy Hill walk and prioritized Williams as a restricted free agent. He rewarded their confidence with four interceptions in 2020, but did not record an INT in 2021.
Now, the Rams will have to replace Williams while dealing with a cap crunch. He leaves Los Angeles with 130 tackles, six interceptions, and two fumble recoveries across 46 career appearances.
Williams’ camp tells RapSheet that he had more lucrative offers elsewhere. But, as a Florida native, he chose to take less money to return home.