NFL Draft Rumors: Bucs, Packers, James
Florida State safety Derwin James spent Wednesday meeting with the Buccaneers and will sit down with the Packers on Thursday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). James, the No. 9 ranked safety in the draft per NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah, offers versatility with experience at both safety spots, nickel cornerback, and even outside linebacker. He arguably performs better when playing closer to the line, so the team that drafts him will likely look to continue using him in multiple roles.
Here’s more NFL Draft news:
- NC State defensive end Bradley Chubb met with the Buccaneers on Wednesday and is visiting the Giants on Thursday, Rapoport tweets. Chubb has another top 5 team visit next week, Rapoport notes, but he did not specify the club.
- Wisconsin linebacker Jack Cichy was with the Vikings on Wednesday, Rapoport tweets. Cichy suffered an ACL tear in the summer that prevented him from seeing the field in 2017. Before the injury, he was considered a first-round prospect and he could still come off the board in Day 2 if he demonstrates that he is healthy.
- Ohio State cornerback Denzel Ward is visiting the 49ers on Thursday, according to Rapoport (on Twitter). The Niners pick No. 9 overall and he could be a possibility for San Francisco there. SF will also meet with Georgia linebacker Lorenzo Carter.
- The Bears met with a pair of top defensive backs in Ward and Minkah Fitzpatrick (Alabama), Rapoport tweets. Fitzpatrick previously visited the Buccaneers. The Bears own the No. 8 pick in the draft, so they could be in range for both players.
- The Vikings met with University of Texas offensive tackle Connor Williams and Notre Dame tackle Mike McGlinchey, Rapoport tweets. Jeremiah has Williams ranked as the No. 21 prospect in this year’s draft while McGlinchey is at No. 35.
- Alabama linebacker Rashaan Evans visited the Dolphins (No. 11) this week, Rapoport tweets. Evans, who played all over in Bama’s front seven, offers strong coverage against both tight ends and running backs.
- Alabama defensive tackle Da’Ron Payne is meeting with the Falcons, according to Rapoport.
- The Buccaneers, who own the No. 7 pick in the first round, had former Notre Dame guard Quenton Nelson in for a visit on Wednesday, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/4/18
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Chicago Bears
- Re-signed: WR Josh Bellamy (RFA)
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: K/P Brett Maher
- Waived: WR Brian Brown
Detroit Lions
- Waived: QB Alek Torgersen
Indianapolis Colts
- Re-signed: OL Jeremy Vujnovich (ERFA)
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: T Roubbens Joseph
- Waived: QB Brandon Doughty
Bears To Meet With Smith, Jackson
- Arguably the top linebacker in this draft, Roquan Smith has visits scheduled with the Colts and Bears, Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. Hill adds the Cowboys are not tabbed to meet with the Georgia linebacker. The Colts and Bears hold picks 6 and 8, respectively, and Smith has been mocked to teams either in that range or shortly after.
- Iowa cornerback Josh Jackson will visit the Bears and Dolphins, with the Chicago trip coming first, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. An expected first-round pick, Jackson will meet with the Bears today.
Bears Expected To Sign Earl Watford
Earl Watford visited the Bears on Monday, and that that summit is expected to lead to a contract agreement. The Bears are expected to sign the UFA offensive lineman, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reports.
A Watford signing would reunite him with former Cardinals line mates Bobby Massie and Bradley Sowell, while supplying depth to the Bears’ offensive front.
With the Bears having released Josh Sitton earlier this offseason, and Kyle Long enduring more three more surgical procedures this offseason (story via Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com), there’s a route to the starting lineup for Watford. The former fourth-round Cardinals pick started nine games for the Cards last season and 11 in 2016. The Jaguars initially signed Watford last March but released him later in the year, and he wound up back in Arizona.
Chicago does not have an obvious replacement for Sitton on its current roster, and Watford would bring the most experience among the candidates to start at left guard opposite Long. Eric Kush and 2017 fifth-rounder Jordan Morgan are also expected to be in that mix, per Biggs, adding that Watford could be a candidate for a swing role if he’s beaten out for a starting spot. Both Kush and Morgan underwent surgery in recent months, and Long will not participate in OTAs, per Biggs.
Pro Football Focus has graded Watford as one of the worst full-time blockers in the game over the past two seasons, however, but the 27-year-old James Madison product has made 22 starts over the past three years.
Bears To Re-Sign Benny Cunningham
Benny Cunningham enjoyed an interesting Monday. The veteran running back made a visit to New Orleans to meet with the Saints, and he reached an agreement. Only not with the Saints.
The Bears agreed to terms to re-sign Cunningham, Joel Erickson of The Advocate reports (on Twitter). Cunningham also visited the Buccaneers during his latest stay in free agency but will come back to Chicago.
Going into his sixth season, Cunningham will turn 28 in July. He only received nine carries last season in playing behind Jordan Howard and alongside Tarik Cohen. But the Bears used Cunningham in the passing game. The former Rams runner caught 20 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns last season, and he’ll continue to provide depth in the Windy City.
New Orleans has former seventh-round pick Daniel Lasco, now-journeyman ball-carrier Jonathan Williams and 2017 UDFA Trey Edmunds representing its depth behind Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara. Cunningham would have a better chance of seeing offensive work with the Bears, but the Saints are clearly looking around the market for reserve options.
Bears In A Trade-Down Spot?
- It’s not outside the realm of possibility that four quarterbacks could go in the top four, should a team trade with the Browns and move into the No. 4 slot, but NFL.com’s Chad Reuter sees one of the passers being available by the time the Bears pick at No. 8. Reuter suggests the Saints as being the team that trades into that draft slot and selects Mayfield, nearly mirroring the move the Chiefs made (from No. 27 to No. 10) last year to take Patrick Mahomes. Mayfield’s 6-foot frame being similar to Drew Brees and his profile as a player who could use some developmental time would line up with the Saints, who would have to almost certainly surrender their 2019 first-rounder and then some to move from 27 to 8.
CB Mike Hughes Generating Interest From Several Teams
Cornerback Mike Hughes is generating a lot of interest headed into the draft. Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.com writes that the UCF product met with the Panthers and Saints yesterday at the school’s pro day. The prospect is also set to visit the Bears, Eagles, Vikings, Packers, Buccaneers, and Chiefs, and he’ll meet again with Carolina.
During the pro day, Hughes ultimately “stood on his combine numbers,” but the defensive back did do several drills (including fielding punts). The general consensus was that the prospect looked better yesterday than he did at the NFL Combine.
Hughes, who is currently ranked 18th in NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah‘s listing of the top-50 free agents, had a breakout campaign in 2017. After playing in only 10 games with North Carolina between 2015 and 2016, Hughes appeared in 13 games with UCF last season. He ultimately finished the campaign with 37 tackles, 0.5 sacks, and four interceptions.
Considering the Panthers met with Hughes yesterday and plan on hosting him for a visit, we can only assume that the organization has serious interest in the prospect. Even with Ross Cockrell now in the mix, the team is apparently still seeking reinforcement at the cornerback position.
Poll: Which Team Has Been The Biggest Winner In Free Agency?
With March drawing to a close and many of the game’s top free agents already inked to deals with their new teams, it’s time to take a look at the winners of free agency so far.
Entering the period, the focus was solely on Kirk Cousins and where the former Redskins signal-caller would sign and likely become the highest-paid player in the league. He expressed interest in wanting to win and followed through with his word, selecting the Vikings over a host of other suitors that included the Jets, Broncos and Cardinals. Landing a top quarterback on the open market is a rarity, which makes Minnesota easily one of the top beneficiaries of the early free-agent period. 
The team wasn’t done there, however, and added an impact defensive tackle in Sheldon Richardson to a defensive unit that was already arguably the best in the league. Coupling Richardson with Linval Joseph in the middle of the front four will make for one of the most impenetrable run defenses in the league. Minnesota also added Trevor Siemian to back up Cousins, re-signed kicker Kai Forbath and tabbed Kendall Wright to replace Jarius Wright, who the team released shortly after free agency opened.
Adding Cousins to an offense that already includes Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook and Kyle Rudolph, and slotting Richardson into the fray on the other side of the ball left the Vikings as one of the top Super Bowl favorites in 2018.
While the Vikings swung for the fences with a pair of big moves, no team has had a more active few weeks than the Rams. Just this week, the team added five-time Pro Bowl selection and 2010 Defensive Player of the Year Ndamukong Suh to a defensive front that already featured arguably the game’s most dominant defender in Aaron Donald. Needless to say, that pairing is sure to cause plenty of chaos for opposing offensive lines.
Despite losing Sammy Watkins to the Chiefs and trading Alec Ogletree to the Giants, the team did retain safety Lamarcus Joyner by placing the franchise tag on him. It also retained center John Sullivan to maintain some continuity up front on offense.
Where the Rams were the most active was not in signing players, but trading for them. In late February, the team traded for Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters and then later dealt for Broncos star cornerback Aqib Talib. The pairing, coupled with the Suh signing, gives the Rams a defense that is just as good on paper as the team’s high-powered offense.
The Browns entered the free-agent period with tons of cap space and they didn’t wait long to get to work. In one day, the team traded for Tyrod Taylor from the Bills, dealt DeShone Kizer to the Packers for Damarious Randall and used another trade to snatch up Jarvis Landry. All those moves were accomplished with the team still holding onto a majority of their stockpiled draft assets. The move of Taylor provided the team with a more than capable quarterback who can serve as a bridge to the signal-caller the team is expected to draft with either the No. 1 or No. 4 pick in the upcoming draft.
Though the team did lose Joe Thomas to retirement and a big contributor in Isaiah Crowell, Cleveland did also secure the services of Carlos Hyde to serve as the team’s workhorse. After addressing the offense in free agency, the team is set up to pursue top defensive talent in the draft after it nabs its quarterback of the future. 
The Bears made it a point to surround 2017 first-round pick Mitch Trubisky with plenty of weapons in his second season under center. They did just that by tabbing Allen Robinson, Super Bowl-hero Trey Burton and Taylor Gabriel, giving the team a steady group of pass catchers for new head coach Matt Nagy’s dynamic offense. On defense, it retained the services of breakout cornerback Kyle Fuller, who the team had to match an offer for from the Packers.
One under-the-radar signing was the deal to bring in veteran quarterback Chase Daniel. A longtime backup in New Orleans, Kansas City and Philadelphia, the former Missouri gunslinger should help Trubisky in the film room while also serving as a capable fill-in if need be.
The Buccaneers invested heavily in their offense early in free agency, re-signing wide receiver Mike Evans and tight end Cameron Brate to long-term deals. Where they made the biggest splash, however, was the signing of center Ryan Jensen from the Ravens. After just one season at the position, Jensen signed the largest deal for a center in NFL history, a four-year deal for $42MM with $22M in guaranteed money.
Tampa Bay didn’t ignore the defense, however, bringing in the likes of Jason Pierre-Paul in a trade and signing Vinny Curry. If things fall right, the Buccaneers could even add the top defensive end in the draft in Bradley Chubb, should a run on quarterbacks happen early in the first round.
Among the other teams with notable additions include: The Texans (Tyrann Mathieu), 49ers (Richard Sherman), Raiders (Jordy Nelson), Jaguars (Andrew Norwell) and Giants (Nate Solder).
So who has had the best offseason so far? Is it a team that made a flurry of moves or one who made one notable addition? Take PFR’s latest poll and weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section.
Vikings To Sign WR Kendall Wright
The Vikings are signing wide receiver Kendall Wright, sources tell Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). Wright visited with Minnesota earlier this week and a deal quickly materialized. 
[RELATED: Vikings Re-Sign CB/PR Marcus Sherels]
Wright had 59 catches for 614 yards and a touchdown with the Bears last year. Now, he’ll join up with their divisional rival as one of Kirk Cousins‘ receiving targets.
Wright will join Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs, and former first-round pick Laquon Treadwell on the wide receiver depth chart. With Michael Floyd out of the picture, Wright will have an opportunity to get involved in the passing game, though he may not match the 91 targets he saw in 2017. The Vikings also have Stacy Coley, Cayleb Jones and Brandon Zylstra at wide receiver.
The veteran also met with the Chiefs during free agency, but it’s not clear if he received an offer or how high their level of interest was.
Bears GM Ryan Pace On Fuller, Draft
Bears GM Ryan Pace touched on a wide range of topics in an exclusive interview with Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune on Thursday. Here’s a look at the highlights: 
On matching cornerback Kyle Fuller’s offer sheet:
We didn’t have a lot of heads up on it. We found out very close to receiving the offer sheet that he was in Green Bay. When he was coming back from that trip he was connecting in Chicago on a layover and he stayed in Chicago.
On announcing the plan to match the sheet hours later:
We could have waited and dragged it out. Hey, we know we like the player. Once we understood the contract and we knew it was a fair contract, let’s just be decisive and go.
On whether he wanted Fuller to sign an offer sheet elsewhere so that another team would work out the long-term deal for him:
We talked about that and the difficulty of negotiating off the franchise tag. So with the transition tag it allowed us a greater possibility (he would sign an offer sheet) and it allowed us the flexibility with the transition tag you can negotiate all the way through the season.
On his ideal scenario for the top seven picks in the draft:
Four quarterbacks go…I don’t know [if that’s realistic]. I think three might be realistic but you never know. We have to prepare for all of those scenarios. We’ll prepare for best case and we’ll prepare for worst case. That’s what is fun this time of year. You have all of your evaluations in. Now we prepare for all of those different things that can transpire.
On whether teams have called about the No. 8 pick:
We haven’t [received inquiries] yet. I’m not surprised. I think that will heat up as you get a little closer. When the Jets came up (from No. 6 to No. 3), they were putting themselves in a position where they know they can (get a player they want) where maybe No. 8 is a little too far back for that. It’s hard to predict.