Minor NFL Transactions: 3/21/22
Today’s minor NFL transactions:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: OL Greg Mancz
Cincinnati Bengals
- Re-signed (two-year deal): WR Stanley Morgan
Denver Broncos
- Signed: S J.R. Reed
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: K Ryan Santoso
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: LB Micah Kiser
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: P JK Scott
Miami Dolphins
- Re-signed: S Sheldrick Redwine
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: S A.J. Moore
- Released: G Corey Levin
Terron Armstead To Visit Dolphins
Linked to one another throughout the offseason, including earlier today, there is more news regarding the Dolphins and left tackle Terron Armstead. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports (on Twitter) that the top free agent is flying to Miami tonight, and he will meet with the team tomorrow. 
[RELATED: Dolphins Pursuing Armstead]
The Dolphins have made it clear they have prioritized upgrading their offensive line this offseason. They’ve already made a move on that front by signing former Cowboy Connor Williams, but the tackle position is widely seen as another area for improvement.
That – along with the Dolphins’ cap situation, putting them in better shape financially than most other teams – has led to them being named as one of the most logical landing spots for the longtime Saint. Given the news from a matter of hours ago that Miami was the first team named as having serious interest in Armstead, it comes as no surprise that he will meet in person with them.
The 30-year-old has been in New Orleans since 2013, and became the team’s starting blindside protector one year later. He was named a Pro Bowler for three consecutive seasons from 2018 to 2020, and followed that up with a PFF grade of 75.9 this past campaign. While offseason knee surgery could be cooling his market, he is likely to earn a sizeable raise from the $13MM-per-season average he made on his most recent contract.
With La’el Collins signing with the Bengals earlier today, another top tackle is off the market. If all goes according to plan tomorrow, Armstead may very well become the next to find a new home.
Dolphins Pursuing LT Terron Armstead
We heard before free agency opened that the Dolphins would be aggressive in their efforts to upgrade their offensive line. The ‘Fins agreed to terms with free agent guard Connor Williams earlier this week, and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald hears from two trusted sources that the club is pursuing free agent LT Terron Armstead (Twitter link).
As the Chiefs elected to place the franchise tag on Orlando Brown, Jr., Armstead is likely the top LT option on the open market (a case could be made for Duane Brown, but he is six years older than Armstead, who will turn 31 in July). Still, despite his three consecutive Pro Bowl bids from 2018-20, and despite a typically strong 75.9 overall score from Pro Football Focus in 2021, there has not been a great deal of reported interest in Armstead at this point.
Indeed, as of the time of this writing, only the Dolphins have been even speculatively linked to the lifelong Saint. Perhaps that is because he missed significant time with a knee injury last year, an injury that will require offseason surgery. Plus, Armstead may have been willing to return to New Orleans on a hometown discount if the Saints had been able to acquire former Texans QB Deshaun Watson via trade.
Now that Watson has been dealt to the Browns, Armstead may be turning his full attention to other suitors. In Spotrac’s estimation, the Arkansas-Pine Bluff product is worth a four-year, $95.8MM contract, and while that would obviously be a hefty investment for the Dolphins, Armstead’s presence should be well-worth such a commitment, assuming there are no complications with his knee surgery.
Just yesterday, Jackson reported that the Dolphins were “monitoring” the recently-released La’el Collins, but the Miami Herald scribe says the club is putting its Collins pursuit on pause while it tries to seal the deal with Armstead. Even if the Dolphins do sign Armstead, Jackson suggests they could subsequently try to acquire Collins to play right tackle.
Latest On La’el Collins’ Market
La’el Collins‘ Bengals visit concluded without the well-regarded right tackle signing, but the defending AFC champions remain interested, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (Twitter links).
The Dolphins are monitoring this situation as well, though it is unclear how serious they are about adding the longtime Cowboys blocker. The Dolphins, per USA Today’s Tyler Dragon (on Twitter), join the Bengals in making a strong push for Collins. No Dolphins visit is scheduled, however, with Jackson adding the AFC East squad appears to be looking through other options.
Connor Williams is Miami-bound, likely set to fill one of the Dolphins’ first-string guard spots. While Collins began his NFL career as a guard, he was working at tackle by the time Williams’ career began. The Dolphins moved 2020 right tackle Robert Hunt to guard last season, leaving them with a bit of a need on the right edge.
Although Joe Burrow‘s sack total became a regular talking point as the season progressed, Pro Football Focus graded Miami’s line as the NFL’s worst last season. Cincinnati and Miami reside within a few hundred thousand dollars of each other in cap space, per OverTheCap, with each holding just more than $16MM in available funds.
The Bengals moved quickly to add two interior O-linemen — Alex Cappa and ex-Dolphin Ted Karras — but Collins would be a bigger coup for the O-line-needy team. Collins, 28, was also linked to the Patriots, who may be set to lose their right tackle in free agency. Trent Brown visited the Seahawks but remains unsigned.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/18/22
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Re-Signed: LB Ezekiel Turner
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: LB Marquel Lee
Dallas Cowboys
- Re-Signed: LB Luke Gifford
Denver Broncos
- Re-Signed: DL DeShawn Williams
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: RB Ameer Abdullah
Miami Dolphins
- Re-Signed: TE Durham Smythe
New York Giants
- Signed: OL Jamil Douglas
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: KR/PR Gunner Olszewski
Seattle Seahawks
- Re-Signed: OL Kyle Fuller
Dolphins Re-Sign LB Brennan Scarlett
Brennan Scarlett is heading back to Miami. The Dolphins are re-signing the linebacker, according to agent Henry Organ (and passed along by Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com).
Scarlett joined the Dolphins last offseason and ended up getting into 13 games (four starts). He finished the season with 19 tackles, and while he got some run on defense, his main impact came on special teams (77 percent of Miami’s ST snaps). A knee injury forced him to miss all of December’s games.
The linebacker spent the first five seasons of his career with the Texans, starting 22 games. His best season came in 2019 when he finished with 51 tackles and 3.5 sacks.
Bengals To Meet With T La’el Collins
La’el Collins‘ first post-Cowboys visit will be in Cincinnati. The Bengals will host the veteran right tackle, according to Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Collins is flying to Ohio tonight, with the visit set for Friday, per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio and The Athletic’s Jeff Howe (Twitter links).
As expected, the Bengals have been active in attempting to repair their beleaguered offensive line this week. They have signed interior blockers Alex Cappa and Ted Karras. Collins checks in with a slightly higher profile than both and would certainly be an upgrade for the defending AFC champions at right tackle.
Bengals offensive line coach Frank Pollack was Collins’ first NFL position coach, being with Dallas from 2015-17. Pollack’s position group has been under siege for multiple seasons, with the Bengals having seen Joe Burrow suffer a torn ACL and lead the NFL in sacks taken last season. The Bengals have Jonah Williams set to return at left tackle, but the team has operated with a purpose this week — after not devoting much in the way of resources to Burrow’s first two O-lines — to upgrade other areas up front.
Collins has been regarded as one of the NFL’s best right tackles for a few years now, but the former high-end prospect-turned-UDFA has not been consistently available during the 2020s. After missing all of the 2020 season due to injury, Collins saw a PED suspension shelve him for five games last year. Still, he came back and regained his job, making 10 starts for the NFC East champion Cowboys. Collins, however, only missed one game from 2017-19.
Dallas cut Collins for financial reasons, with the team’s longtime right tackle following Amari Cooper off the team’s payroll. The Bengals making this signing would nearly complete their O-line overhaul. Burrow, per The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr., is helping recruit Collins, who is also an LSU alum (Twitter link).
If the Bengals cannot close a deal with Collins on his visit, the Patriots and Dolphins have interest, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. The Dolphins have already signed ex-Cowboy guard Connor Williams but have needs across their line. The Patriots lost Karras and traded Shaq Mason, and the team may lose right tackle Trent Brown as well.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/17/22
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Re-signed: LS Aaron Brewer, P Andy Lee
Atlanta Falcons
- Re-signed: OL Colby Gossett, NT Anthony Rush
- Signed: S Teez Tabor, OT Elijah Wilkinson
Chicago Bears
- Released: LS Beau Brinkley
Cincinnati Bengals
- Re-signed: WR Mike Thomas
Detroit Lions
- Re-signed: QB David Blough
- Signed: TE Garrett Griffin
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: P Pat O’Donnell
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: WR Trent Sherfield
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: DE Kentavius Street
New York Giants
- Re-signed: OT Korey Cunningham
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: LB Oren Burks (two-year deal)
Dolphins To Sign RB Raheem Mostert
Raheem Mostert made numerous city changes early in his career but found stability in San Francisco. With former 49ers OC Mike McDaniel now in Miami, Mostert will make another move.
The Dolphins plan to sign the speedy running back, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. After already adding Chase Edmonds, the Dolphins are set to deploy a new-look backfield with an NFC West feel. Mostert agreed to a one-year, $3.125MM deal, per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Though the 49ers discussed a deal to keep Mostert, he will head back to Miami.
This marks a reunion of sorts for Mostert, who was with the Dolphins briefly (three weeks) in 2015. Mostert’s Dolphins stint came during a season in which the team had both Joe Philbin and Dan Campbell as head coaches; some staff turnover has occurred since.
McDaniel was with Mostert for almost the entirety of the running back’s Bay Area stay. Mostert caught on with the 49ers during Chip Kelly‘s season in San Francisco, and Kyle Shanahan kept him around for the next five seasons. While that tenure included extensive special teams work near the beginning, Mostert carved out a backfield role beginning the 49ers’ Super Bowl LIV-qualifying season.
Mostert, 30 in April, led the 2019 49ers with 772 rushing yards but did his most memorable damage in the playoffs, gouging the Packers for 220 rushing yards and four touchdowns in the NFC championship game. That total ranks second in NFL postseason history, behind only an Eric Dickerson 1986 performance. The 49ers agreed to a new deal with Mostert in 2020, after a trade request ensued, but the former journeyman could not recapture his postseason magic. Injuries intervened in both 2020 and ’21, with ankle and knee trouble sidelining him for much of the past two years. Mostert went down in Week 1 of last season with a knee ailment.
The Dolphins were both light in the backfield and understaffed up front last season. Miami ranked 30th in rushing in 2021, limiting an offense already restricted by wide receiver unavailability. The team is working to improve here, and these additions appear set to cut into Myles Gaskin and Duke Johnson‘s opportunities under McDaniel.
Dolphins, FB Alec Ingold Agree To Terms
Mike McDaniel‘s previous team reset the fullback market. His new one is adding a well-regarded blocking back as well.
The Dolphins and Alec Ingold agreed to a deal Wednesday, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. It is a two-year pact worth up to $7.5MM. While precise terms are not yet available, this is a nice fullback contract.
Although Ingold’s deal does not threaten Kyle Juszczyk‘s place atop the fullback salary hierarchy, the latter’s usage in Kyle Shanahan‘s offense points to Ingold being valued well by McDaniel’s team. The Raiders did not tender Ingold as a restricted free agent, but this deal points to him earning more than the low-end RFA tender figures would pay.
Ingold, 25, played between 20% and 23% of the Raiders’ offensive plays during his three-year stay with the team. Juszczyk was on the field for 56% of the 49ers’ snaps last season, making it safe to assume Ingold’s usage rate will increase in Miami.