Minor NFL Transactions: 5/4/22
Today’s minor moves:
Carolina Panthers
- Waived: K Lirim Hajrullahu
Chicago Bears
- Claimed (from Chiefs): WR Chris Finke
Dallas Cowboys
- Waived: FB Sewo Olonilua
Houston Texans
- Signed: QB Kevin Hogan
Los Angeles Rams
- Waived: DB Antoine Brooks, RB Javian Hawkins
Washington Commanders
- Signed: WR/KR Alex Erickson
Bears Release QB Nick Foles
After deciding to move forward with rookie quarterback Justin Fields as their starter behind center, the Bears have agreed to release Nick Foles, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. 
At 33-years-old, Foles will be searching for his sixth NFL team. He was drafted by the Eagles in the 3rd round of the 2012 NFL Draft, starting the last six games of his rookie season when then-starter Michael Vick was injured with a concussion. After an offseason competition with Vick and newly-drafted Matt Barkley, Foles entered his sophomore season as the backup, but soon took over, starting the last 10 games of the season and getting selected to the Pro Bowl after throwing 27 touchdowns versus only 2 interceptions. The following season saw Foles break his collarbone after only eight games.
Foles was traded after that season to the Rams and spent a season in there in St. Louis and the next year with the Chiefs, where he signed after briefly considering retirement. When the Chiefs declined the second-year option on his contract, he returned to Philadelphia to back up second-year quarterback Carson Wentz. Wentz was having an MVP-caliber season before tearing his ACL in a Week 14 game against the Rams. Foles stepped in and led the Eagles to a Super Bowl XXVI victory, being named MVP of the game in the process. Wentz returned to the starting job three weeks into the next season with Foles appearing again late in the year and in the playoffs, but ultimately getting defeated by the Saints.
Foles signed after that as a free agent with the Jaguars. An injury-stricken year in Jacksonville led them to trade him to Chicago. Foles replaced a struggling Mitchell Trubisky as starter during his first year before suffering a rough hip injury that took him out of action. Foles was slotted in as the third-string quarterback for most of the 2021 season behind Fields and back up Andy Dalton. Foles did appear for one start in their absences, though, showing his usual heroics with a late game-winning touchdown to Jimmy Graham to win by one point.
Without Foles the Bears will roster Fields, Trevor Siemian, and Ryan Willis. The Bears had been seeking a trade partner for Foles, but, in a brilliant show of class, the team’s new regime wanted to allow Foles the opportunity to find his next home on his own.
Latest On Bears, Robert Quinn
The Bears are “not currently shopping” Robert Quinn, according to a source who spoke with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (Twitter link). However, teams are reportedly looking into Quinn and the veteran pass-rusher does profile as a logical trade candidate. 
Quinn, 32 in May, registered 18.5 sacks last year to break Richard Dent‘s single-season sack record. Some have wondered whether the Bears could use this opportunity to sell high, especially given Quinn’s two-sack 2020 campaign.
Currently, Quinn is slated to carry a $17.1MM figure on the Bears books — more than any other player in Chicago. Meanwhile, they’ve moved on from many of their other high-priced defenders this offseason. For his part, Quinn says he wants to stay put.
“The only thing I thought of was hopefully my résumé or my production from last year gives me a little weight to keep my foot in the building,” Quinn said earlier this week (via ESPN.com’s Courtney Cronin). “At the end of the day, it’s a business. Again, you see Khalil Mack getting traded. Again, it’s just a business. Don’t dwell on it, too crazy.”
Any team that trades for Quinn would assume his $12.8MM base salary while the Bears would still be responsible for his prorated signing bonus. The Bears would also take on $12MM+ in dead money, so it wouldn’t be a monumental money saver.
The Bears furnished Quinn with a five-year, $70MM extension in 2020, so he remains under contract through 2024. That might not fit in with the Bears’ rebuilding efforts, though Quinn rejects the “rebuild” term altogether.
“I don’t think that’s the right way we should phrase it, because people in — the guys in the building are professionals and I think everyone carries themselves to high expectations,” Quinn said. “I believe, me personally, no player is better than me, and I believe everyone else should carry themselves the same way. So to say, ‘a rebuild’ is, I guess, a funny word. I think it’s just getting guys to believe who they truly are, and perform at their high level of expectations, because everyone’s talented enough, because they’re here. Now you’ve just got to go prove it.”
Teams Looking Into Bears’ Robert Quinn
By trading Khalil Mack, cutting Danny Trevathan and not re-signing Akiem Hicks, the Bears have dismantled much of their front-seven core this offseason. That has made Robert Quinn‘s name jump out.
Even as the Bears go through a rebuild, Quinn does not want to be traded, via ESPN.com’s Courtney Cronin. That said, teams are looking into the veteran edge rusher, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Three years remain on Quinn’s five-year, $70MM contract.
Quinn, 32 in May, makes sense as a trade candidate, given Chicago’s recent moves and his strong 2021 season. Quinn’s second Bears slate ended with him breaking Richard Dent‘s single-season sack record, with 18.5. This, however, came after a two-sack 2020. Quinn’s bounce-back season in Dallas, in 2019, led to Chicago shelling out big money for him. But the Bears have since shed most of their veteran contracts on defense; Quinn is attached to a team-high $17.1MM cap number.
A team acquiring Quinn in a trade would have him on a $12.8MM base salary; the guarantees in his contract have been paid out. The Bears would be on the hook for his prorated signing bonus. A draft-weekend trade would tag the Bears with $12MM-plus in dead money.
New GM Ryan Poles said in late March no Quinn trade scenario had surfaced, but if the right offer came for the 11-year veteran, it would certainly make sense for the rebooting Bears to consider it.
NFC Notes: Poles, Eagles, Garoppolo
It has been a slow offseason for the Bears with plenty of losses and misses, but new general manager Ryan Poles isn’t panicking. According to Courtney Cronin of ESPN, Poles is preaching patience to the franchise. Patience is something of which Chicago-fans have likely run plum out, but, with the current state of the Bears’ roster, it’s a wise path to take.
We’ve seen other rebuilding franchises take wild stabs through trades and free agency, making expensive, headline-grabbing moves that leave them little room to work with when addressing other roster holes. The Rams won a Super Bowl making flashy moves, but did so when those moves were the difference between winning or losing a Super Bowl. Teams like the Bears and Jaguars currently have too many holes on their roster for one offseason-worth of moves to elevate them to a Super Bowl-level.
Poles won’t let moving star pass-rusher Khalil Mack or losing defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi to a failed physical or watching the Bills match the offer sheet on guard Ryan Bates force him into desperately grasping at whatever other players are available. He’ll continue to stick to his plan and his assessments. He’ll wait for an appropriate time, like the Draft or the post-June 1 period, to utilize the team’s accumulated cap space. Poles may just have the patience and demeanor to lead Chicago out of the NFC North basement.
Here are a few other notes from around the NFC, starting in the city of brotherly love:
- The Athletic’s Sheil Kapadia enlisted the help of salary cap and contract expert Jason Fitzgerald, who operates OverTheCap.com, to help her analyze confusing offseason moves from each franchise. When they got to the Eagles, Fitzgerald had some interesting things to say. Fitzgerald asserted that Philadelphia is doing something no other NFL team is. The Eagles have been employing void years in contracts to push salary cap charges to future years. Essentially, if a player holds a $10MM cap charge, the team will eventually pay the $10MM cap charge. By using the void years, the team can take part of that $10MM and move it to later years. Say they take $5MM of that cap hit and move it to the following year. They’ll still be applying that $5MM to their cap space, but, after the league raises the salary cap (as they do every year), that $5MM will represent a smaller percentage of the total cap space in the following year than it would in the current year. The Eagles’ manipulation of the constantly inflating salary cap is nothing short of genius and soon other teams will likely catch on and follow their lead.
- Earlier this month, Mike Sando of The Athletic went over some of the moves each franchise made this offseason. His take on the 49ers was centered on their handling of the future of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo’s shoulder rehabilitation, combined with a 2022 base salary of $24.6MM, made it hard for San Francisco to move the former starting quarterback. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Garoppolo and the 49ers mutually agreed to have him rehabilitate his shoulder off-site, away from the team, so, at this point, second-year quarterback Trey Lance has effectively taken over as the team’s first-string passer. Sando asserts that the best solution would be a compromise wherein Garoppolo would stay for the time-being on a guaranteed deal with some “dummy years” added onto it, either until San Francisco knows for a fact that they can move forward with Lance or until they know they can get a better value out of moving Garoppolo than they’re getting right now. This would provide the opportunity for the 49ers to reinsert Garoppolo back into the starting job they know he can handle if it turns out that Lance can’t.
Bears To Sign Julién Davenport
Julién Davenport is heading to Chicago. The veteran offensive tackle is signing with the Bears, reports Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com (via Twitter).
[RELATED: Bears Sign WR David Moore]
The 2017 fourth-round pick out of Bucknell spent the first two seasons of his career with the Texans, including a 2018 campaign where he started 15 games. He was included in the Dolphins/Texans Laremy Tunsil trade in 2019, and he started eight games during his first season in Miami. However, despite dressing for every game, he was limited to only five percent of his team’s offensive snaps in 2020.
The lineman spent the 2021 season in Indy, and he started four of his nine games for the Colts. The 27-year-old also had a part-time role on special teams.
2021 second-round Teven Jenkins currently sits atop the Bears depth chart at left tackle, and he’ll likely get the first shot at the starting gig. Davenport will provide some veteran competition, with 2020 seventh-round pick Lachavious Simmons also vying for a role.
Bears Sign WR David Moore
The Bears have added players on both sides of the ball. The team announced that they’ve added receiver David Moore and cornerback Greg Stroman on one-year contracts.
Moore is a notable name, having appeared in 50 games in time with the Seahawks, Broncos, and Packers. He had a productive stint in Seattle, collecting 1,254 yards from scrimmage and 13 touchdowns between the 2018 and 2020 seasons. He split the 2021 season between Denver and Green Bay, seeing time in only three games.
In Chicago, Moore will likely continue to see a role on special teams. He’ll be joining a receivers room that features Darnell Mooney, Equanimeous St. Brown, Byron Pringle, Isaiah Coulter, Nsimba Webster, and Dazz Newsome.
Stroman was a seventh-round pick by Washington in 2018, and he saw time in 15 games as a rookie. Since that season, the defensive back has only seen the field for five games. He split the 2021 campaign on the Bears and Rams practice squads, and he didn’t end up appearing in a game.
Latest On DL Prospects Jordan Davis, Logan Hall
Quarterbacks have remained central to the storylines leading up to this year’s draft, but the class is dominated by its defensive talent. Two of the top prospects with regard to defensive linemen are Georgia’s Jordan Davis and Houston’s Logan Hall. 
As noted by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter), Davis has had pre-draft visits with a number of teams. Included among those are the Ravens and Eagles, two clubs which could very well find themselves within range of drafting him. Baltimore is set to pick 14th, while Philadelphia owns selections No. 15 and 19.
The Ravens reunited with Michael Pierce this offseason, signing him to occupy the nose tackle position. His addition points to the departure of Brandon Williams, leaving room for at least depth in that role. The Eagles, meanwhile, released, then re-signed Fletcher Cox, an anchor on the team’s defensive line throughout his career. He only inked a one-year deal, though, so the position should be a point of emphasis in the draft.
Davis was a mainstay on the Bulldogs’ defense during his four seasons with Georgia. Playing in a run-stopping role, the six-foot-six, 340 pounder totalled seven sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss. Those numbers, along with eye-popping athletic testing at the combine, leave the door open to his development as a three-down player.
While Davis – who finished top-10 in Heisman voting last season – is viewed as a first-round lock, Hall may join him on Day 1. Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network recently reported that the list of teams to have met with him includes the Giants, Cowboys, Texans, Buccaneers, Bears and Titans (Twitter link). His draft ranking places him in a range from late in the first round to early in the second, so the interest from those teams comes as no surprise.
In four years with the Cougars, Hall put up almost identical numbers to Davis. His potential versatility in terms of where he can line up on the field (at 260 pounds, many view him as a defensive end at the NFL level), and overall pre-draft process have helped his stock. He could find himself at the top of the second tier of d-linemen, behind Davis and Devonte Wyatt.
These two have certainly generated plenty of interest, making their ultimate destination next week one of the many things to keep an eye on at the draft.
Bears Sign TE James O’Shaughnessy
Not long after visiting Chicago, veteran tight end James O’Shaughnessy will make the city his next NFL home. The Bears announced on Monday that they have signed him to a one-year contract.
[RELATED: O’Shaughnessy Visits Bears]
O’Shaughnessy was a fifth-round pick of the Chiefs in 2015, when new Bears general manager Ryan Poles was the team’s scouting director. His two seasons there only saw him make eight catches, however, as he played a limited offensive role. Kansas City traded him to New England in 2017, but by the time that campaign started, he had been claimed off waivers by Jacksonville.
With the Jaguars, O’Shaughnessy saw much more playing time. He never topped 262 yards in a season, but averaged just under 10 yards per catch in his five seasons there. Overall, he has compiled 112 catches for 1,108 yards and three touchdowns across 80 games played.
Availability has been a problem for the 30-year-old in recent years. The 2019 and 2021 campaigns were both cut short by significant injuries. That, along with the addition of Evan Engram in free agency by the Jaguars, left O’Shaughnessy in search of a new team.
By signing with Chicago, he will join a TE room headed by Cole Kmet. The Bears also have Ryan Griffin and Jesper Horsted on the depth chart at the position. O’Shaughnessy will represent a familiar face to the new front office, as well as a veteran presence on a rebuilding offense.
TE James O’Shaughnessy Visits Bears
James O’Shaughnessy may be close to finding his next home in the NFL. The veteran tight end has visited the Bears, per Pro Football Network’s Aaron Wilson (Twitter link). 
O’Shaughnessy, 30, began his career with the Chiefs in 2015. He hardly saw the field in Kansas City, though, and he was traded to New England in 2017. Before that campaign started, the Jaguars claimed him off waivers, beginning a five-year stint in Jacksonville.
O’Shaughnessy took over the starting role with the Jaguars in 2018. The 2020 campaign was his most productive, when he posted 28 catches for 262 yards. The seasons before and after that one, however, saw the former fifth-round pick miss significant time due to injuries. Overall, he played 57 games in Duval County, totalling 104 receptions, 1,022 yards and three touchdowns.
The Jaguars made a notable addition to the tight end room this offseason, signing former Giant Evan Engram. While there is a possibility he could see time as a slot receiver, his addition adds a different element to the position than what the team previously had. The Jaguars also have Chris Manhertz and Dan Arnold under contract for the 2022 season.
In Chicago, O’Shaughnessy would join a rebuilding Bears offense. The team already has Cole Kmet at the top of the depth chart, along with veteran Ryan Griffin. Still, O’Shaughnessy could provide experienced depth at the position as he looks to extend his career.