Minor NFL Transactions: 3/15/23
Today’s minor transactions:
Cincinnati Bengals
- Re-signed: RB Trayveon Williams
Denver Broncos
- Signed: CB Tremon Smith
Green Bay Packers
- Re-signed: TE Tyler Davis
- Signed: LS Matt Orzech
Indianapolis Colts
- Re-signed: CB Tony Brown
Las Vegas Raiders
- Re-signed: S Roderic Teamer
Los Angeles Chargers
- Re-signed: DL Morgan Fox
Los Angeles Rams
- Re-signed: OL Coleman Shelton
Miami Dolphins
- Re-signed: T Kendall Lamm
- Signed: TE Eric Saubert
- Claimed off waivers (from Broncos): WR Freddie Swain
Minnesota Vikings
- Re-signed: TE Ben Ellefson
Washington Commanders
- Re-signed: DE Efe Obada
Smith got a two-year deal from Denver that can max out at $5.5MM, per Mike Klis of 9News in Denver (via Twitter). Smith got a $1.4MM signing bonus to join the Broncos, per Troy Renck of Denver7 (via Twitter). After finishing last in kicker return average in 2022, the Broncos should get a bump from Smith, who averaged 23.9 yards on his 40 kickoff returns for Houston over the past two years.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/14/23
Today’s minor transactions:
Arizona Cardinals
- Re-signed: RB Corey Clement
Baltimore Ravens
- Claimed off waivers (from Raiders): CB Trayvon Mullen
Buffalo Bills
- Re-signed: LB Tyrel Dodson
Denver Broncos
- Signed: FB Michael Burton
- Waived: WR Victor Bolden, WR Freddie Swain
Detroit Lions
- Re-signed: OL Matt Nelson
Houston Texans
- Re-signed: DE Derek Rivers
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: LB Robert Spillane
- Re-signed: FB Jakob Johnson
New England Patriots
- Signed: OT Calvin Anderson
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: G Aaron Stinnie
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: LB Luke Gifford
Broncos To Sign RB Samaje Perine
Seeking Javonte Williams insurance, the Broncos are looking to another team’s backup. Former Bengals running back Samaje Perine is signing a two-year Denver deal, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.
The Broncos are giving the former Joe Mixon backup a two-year, $7.5MM deal that includes an additional $1MM in incentives. Perine will join his fourth NFL team and an offense in transition. With Williams recovering from ACL surgery, an opportunity at a bigger role may exist in Denver.
Backing up Mixon both in Cincinnati and at Oklahoma, Perine effectively filled in for the starter last season. The 240-pound back scored four touchdowns in a two-game starter span last year, helping the Bengals to wins over the Steelers and Chiefs. He totaled 21 carries for 106 yards and a score over the eventual Super Bowl champions.
This pickup is also interesting due to the number of young starters available for the Broncos. While the Dolphins brought back both Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson and the Eagles inked Rashaad Penny, the rest of the starters who were not franchise-tagged remain on the market. Kareem Hunt, Miles Sanders, Devin Singletary, Jamaal Williams, D’Onta Foreman, Damien Harris and David Montgomery are available. It does not appear each will command starter-level money, with a supply-and-demand issue favoring teams, so the Broncos diving in early on Perine either points to some conviction from team brass or an intent not to devote much money to the Williams insurance slot.
That said, Perine only has 401 career carries on his odometer. Although he is headed into an age-28 season, the light workload should benefit him. And the Broncos did operate aggressively on Day 1 of the legal tampering period, giving big deals to Mike McGlinchey, Ben Powers and Zach Allen. Sean Payton favorite Latavius Murray might also be on the docket; 9News’ Mike Klis confirms Murray is still a possibility (Twitter link). The Broncos may still be on the lookout for a back with more pass-catching upside, though Perine did finish with a career-high 38 receptions for 287 yards last season.
Williams suffered a torn ACL in Week 4 of season, and it is not certain he will be back to start next season. Perine, then, moves into position to start in that case. Barring an agreement with one of the other UFA backs, the Broncos should be considered likely to add to their running back room during the middle rounds of the draft.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/13/23
Today’s tender decisions from around the NFL:
RFAs
Tendered:
- Jets: DE Bryce Huff
- Panthers: S Sam Franklin
ERFAs
Tendered:
- Broncos: OL Quinn Bailey, ILB Jonas Griffith, P Corliss Waitman
- Lions: LS Scott Daly, DL Benito Jones, LB Anthony Pittman, TE Brock Wright, TE Shane Zylstra
- Rams: DL Michael Hoecht
Did not tender:
- Broncos: OLB Jonathan Kongbo
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/13/23
Today’s minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Re-signed: CB Cameron Lewis
Cincinnati Bengals
- Re-signed: S Michael Thomas
Cleveland Browns
- Re-signed: CB A.J. Green
Denver Broncos
- Signed: TE Chris Manhertz
Detroit Lions
- Re-signed: RB Craig Reynolds
Green Bay Packers
- Re-signed: CB Keisean Nixon
Kansas City Chiefs
- Re-signed: DE Tershawn Wharton
New York Giants
- Re-signed: OL Wyatt Davis, LS Casey Kreiter
New York Jets
- Released: G Dru Samia
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: OL Brett Toth
Nixon was a first-team All-Pro returner for the Packers this year. He’s signed to a new one-year deal with a maximum value of $6MM, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Wharton’s new one-year deal is reportedly worth $2.03MM, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. The contract has a guaranteed amount of $850,000 consisting of a $500,000 signing bonus and $350,000 of the base salary (worth $1.01MM total).
Broncos To Sign DL Zach Allen
A couple of Vance Joseph’s former Broncos charges are still in place in Denver (Justin Simmons, Josey Jewell), but the new DC will bring one of his Cardinals pieces with him. The Broncos are signing Zach Allen to a three-year deal, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports tweets.
Allen is set to join the Broncos on a contract worth $45.75MM and $32.5MM fully guaranteed, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. This news should lead to Dre’Mont Jones relocating, given what the Broncos have done in free agency Monday. The Broncos have kept in touch with Jones, but with the Browns viewed as the favorites, it is logical for the AFC West team to give Joseph a talented D-lineman he coached in Arizona.
Three of PFR’s top 20 free agents are now pledged to the Broncos, who are signing Allen, Mike McGlinchey and Ben Powers to headline a Denver day dedicated to line fortifications. The Allen addition should bring a seamless transition for the former Cardinals draftee. The Cards drafted Allen in the 2019 third round, months after they hired Joseph as DC, and he became a key contributor — particularly during a contract year alongside J.J. Watt.
Allen, 25, led all defensive linemen with eight pass deflections last season, teaming with Watt to form a strong interior D-line duo for a last-place team. The Boston College product will undoubtedly step into the same position in Joseph’s 3-4 scheme in Denver. Allen finished with 5.5 sacks and 20 QB hits last season. He recovered three fumbles and intercepted a pass in 2021, coming along after taking a bit to break into Arizona’s lineup on a full-time basis.
Shortly after dealing Bradley Chubb to the Dolphins, the Broncos indicated Jones was a priority to re-sign. The team negotiated with Jones up to the franchise tag deadline, but the former third-round pick understandably did not want to re-sign before testing the market. The three-year Denver starter is one of the top players left on the board, and although he said before free agency he wanted to stay in Denver, it looks like the sides will split up after four years. Allen can safely be labeled Denver’s Jones replacement.
The Jones-for-Allen swap will still leave the Broncos with standout D-tackle D.J. Jones returning, and Denver also brought back linebacker Alex Singleton on Monday. The team released Graham Glasgow, Ronald Darby and Chase Edmonds to clear out the cap space necessary to enable this Monday spending spree.
Broncos To Re-Sign LB Alex Singleton
During a woeful Broncos season, Alex Singleton became a pleasant surprise. The team’s new coaching staff intends to bring him back. The veteran linebacker is re-signing with the Broncos, Mike Klis of 9News tweets.
Denver is keeping Singleton on a three-year deal worth $18MM, per Klis, who adds $9MM is guaranteed. Singleton will earn $5.49MM in base salary this year, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 tweets, adding that his other $4MM guaranteed comes via signing bonus. This contract is fairly similar to the deal the Broncos gave Josey Jewell to start free agency last year, and the two will stay together as a second-level pair on Denver’s defense.
While Jewell has a history with new Denver DC Vance Joseph, this will be new territory for Singleton, who joined the Broncos on a low-level pact in 2022. The Eagles non-tendered Singleton as an RFA, but he made his 2022 season count. As a result, Singleton will collect a nice payday before he turns 30. Although Singleton debuted in 2019, he will turn 30 in December. That certainly raised the stakes for this particular free agency journey.
The former Eagles regular dropped a 163-tackle season during his Broncos debut. That included two games with at least 20 stops. Little went right for the Broncos last season, but Singleton was one of the key reasons the team’s defense stayed afloat despite a run of injuries and the midseason Bradley Chubb trade.
A former UDFA out of Montana State, Singleton has churned out high tackle totals for years. He put together 120- and 137-tackles seasons in 2020 and ’21 in Philadelphia, respectively, but the Eagles punted on keeping the Division I-FCS product via the low-end RFA tender. Pro Football Focus ended up slotting Singleton 10th among off-ball ‘backers last season. PFF did not view Singleton as a coverage liability and assessed both he and Jewell (128 tackles in 13 games) as top-30 off-ball linebackers last season.
Spending big on their offensive line today and having Russell Wilson tied to the second-most lucrative quarterback contract, the Broncos are keeping costs low at linebacker. Jewell and Singleton are tied to $5.5MM and $6MM in terms of AAV.
Browns Viewed As Frontrunners For DL Dre’Mont Jones
MARCH 13: The Browns are believed to be the favorites for Jones, Troy Renck of Denver7 tweets. The Cleveland native has stayed in touch with the Broncos, per Renck, but they have devoted a chunk of their cap space to fortifying their offensive line. Denver’s big deals for Mike McGlinchey and Ben Powers could end up with Jones in Cleveland.
MARCH 12: Dre’Mont Jones is in line to be one of the top free agents in the 2023 class, meaning he will surely have a number of suitors. A homecoming could be in the cards for the defensive tackle. 
Jones, a Cleveland native, is squarely on the Browns’ radar, per Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. Cabot adds that the Browns were high on him following his college career at Ohio State, one which has translated to consistent production at the NFL level. Jones has racked up 22 sacks in four seasons with the Broncos.
That has, to no surprise, made him a priority for Denver as they look to keep a number of members of their defense in the fold. The 26-year-old has made it clear, however, that he will test the open market, and Denver will face stiff competition from several teams looking to upgrade their defensive fronts. Cleveland certainly qualifies as one such team, after they allowed an average of 135 yards per game on the ground in 2022.
New defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is known for high-end play amongst his defensive linemen, so a deal sending Jones back to Ohio would mark a solid scheme fit as well. Mutual interest appears to exist between both team and player in this situation, given some of Jones’ remarks about his pending decision and Cleveland’s reported desire to sign him.
“It’s really exciting,” the former third-round pick said, via Cabot. “It’s an honor to have your hometown team be interested in you. So that alone, I appreciate it.” Jones added that he has remained a lifelong Browns fan, and would, to little surprise, be enticed by the prospect of playing on a defensive front which already features All-Pro edge rusher Myles Garrett.
The Browns are one of a half-dozen teams still with work to do in the next few days to become cap compliant. That suggests they may not be able to win a bidding war for Jones, something which could very well take place given his status as one of the top free agents at any position, and the spike in the DT market which could be coming after Daron Payne‘s $90MM extension agreed to earlier today. Still, he figures to be one of Cleveland’s top targets as they look to re-tool on defense over the course of the offseason.
Jarrett Stidham, Broncos Agree To Deal
As the Raiders landed Jimmy Garoppolo, another of Josh McDaniels‘ ex-Patriots passers-turned-Raiders options is headed out of Nevada. Jarrett Stidham will trek to Denver.
The Broncos, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter), are giving Stidham a nice backup quarterback contract — two years, $10MM — to step in behind Russell Wilson. The deal includes $5MM guaranteed, giving Stidham a clear runway to be Denver’s QB2 in 2023.
Stidham spent three seasons in New England. For a period in 2020, it looked like the Patriots would give him the keys post-Tom Brady. But they signed Cam Newton to take over instead. Stidham, a former fourth-round pick, sat behind Brian Hoyer in New England as well. McDaniels brought him to Las Vegas in 2022, but Sean Payton will land the Raiders’ end-of-season starter.
Stidham and new Broncos quarterbacks coach Davis Webb have known each other since they were teenagers. Despite becoming Denver’s QBs coach, Webb — at 27 — is just one year older than Stidham. The Dallas-area natives will work together in Denver, though the Sean Payton-Wilson partnership will obviously generate the bulk of the headlines this season.
The Raiders made the surprising move to bench Derek Carr ahead of Week 17, moving Stidham into the starting lineup. Stidham’s first start produced a stunning stat line — 365 yards, three touchdown passes — against the 49ers’ top-ranked defense. The Raiders are giving Garoppolo a midlevel contract, and they have been connected to drafting a quarterback early as well. As such, Stidham is relocating. He had other suitors besides the Broncos, per Rapoport.
Broncos To Sign G Ben Powers
One of the top interior offensive linemen in this year’s class is heading to the Mile High City. Guard Ben Powers is set to join the Broncos on a four-year contract, per Mike Klis of 9News (Twitter link).
Broncos GM George Paton said the team would be focusing on its offensive line, and this contract will bring one of the top interior O-linemen available to Denver. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport adds that the contract is worth $52MM and includes $28.5MM guaranteed (Twitter link).
This marks the third upper-crust contract the Broncos have authorized for a guard since 2017; they have added Ronald Leary (four years, $36MM), Graham Glasgow (four years, $44MM) and now Powers in that time. Neither of the prior two deals ended up panning out for the AFC West team — Denver cut Glasgow after three seasons on Friday — and this one will ensure Dalton Risner finds a home elsewhere. The former second-round pick is now one of the top free agents left on the board.
This agreement will put Powers firmly in the top 10 among guards, and Sirius XM’s Adam Caplan tweets he will earn $15MM in its first year. Powers, 26, has gone from needing to win a competition to lock down a spot as a Ravens starter in 2022 to becoming one of the most sought-after free agents on the market. The Broncos are giving Powers a $13MM signing bonus, and Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets his 2023 and ’24 base salaries will check in at $2MM and $12MM, respectively.
The deal essentially comes in at two years and $27MM, with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk adding most of Powers’ 2025 money does not become guaranteed until Day 5 of the 2025 league year. That gives him two seasons to prove valuable in Denver. Powers’ $27MM through 2024 is fully guaranteed.
This will give the Broncos a guard tandem of Powers and Quinn Meinerz; Pro Football Focus ranked the latter as its No. 6 overall guard in 2022. Powers checked in much lower, just inside the top 40, but the advanced metrics website ranked him as its second-best pass-blocking guard. ESPN’s run block win rate also placed Powers in the top 10 among guards.
For the Ravens, this will continue a trend. Often prioritizing compensatory picks, Baltimore has let the likes of Kelechi Osemele, Ryan Jensen and Bradley Bozeman walk in free agency over the past 10 years. Powers will parlay his 18-start contract year into big dollars, creating a need up front for the Ravens. The AFC North team still has Ben Cleveland and swingman Patrick Mekari under contract.