Following up on a piece he wrote about Jets GM John Idzik‘s deliberate – and perhaps questionable – approach to free agency, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets that, after an initial low-ball offer, the Jets made an “11th hour” pitch to Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. However, the Giants had essentially locked up the free agent cornerback by that point.
Here are a few more Tuesday updates from around the NFL:
- In a series of tweets, Tom Pelissero of USA Today breaks down the details on Zach Miller‘s pay cut with the Seahawks, which will reduce the tight end’s 2014 compensation by $3MM and his 2015 pay by $2MM.
- After missing out on Emmanuel Sanders, the Chiefs continue to target younger wide receivers in free agency, which rules out some of the older veterans on the market, tweets Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star.
- Speaking of Sanders, his agents issued a lengthy statement suggesting that there was never an agreement in place with the Chiefs before the receiver agreed to sign with the Broncos, as Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post details.
- In the wake of the Sanders controversy, former agent Joel Corry points out in a piece for CBSSports.com that both agents and teams can be guilty of reneging on deals.
- Aaron Wilson (Twitter links) passes along the specifics of the Rodger Saffold contract with the Rams, which includes a $5MM signing bonus, a $3MM roster bonus for 2015, and a $3MM guaranteed base salary in 2014. As Joel Corry tweets, the Raiders‘ decision to void their agreement with Saffold will cost the offensive lineman a significant sum.
- Daryl Smith‘s contract with the Ravens includes a $3.5MM signing bonus, and that appears to be the only guaranteed money in the deal, as Aaron Wilson details in a pair of tweets. According to Wilson, the four-year pact can be worth up to $16.1MM, as initially reported, but it has a base value of just $13.6MM.
- Jack Bechta of the National Football Post identifies the Colts‘ signing of Hakeem Nicks and the Buccaneers‘ deal with Alterraun Verner as two of the best bargains in free agency so far. Among our top 25 free agents of 2014, Nicks and Verner are two who will earn markedly less than I anticipated.