Today’s minor moves:
Baltimore Ravens
Chicago Bears
New Orleans Saints
New York Jets
Tennessee Titans
Washington Redskins
The Saints have re-signed safety D.J. Swearinger to a one-year deal, as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle was first to report (via Twitter). The club picked up Swearinger towards the end of the 2019 campaign, and he played in New Orleans’ regular season finale.
Of course, the Saints made a more notable safety signing when they inked Malcolm Jenkins to a four-year pact earlier this week, but free agent Vonn Bell appears likely to sign elsewhere, so Swearinger could provide useful veteran depth and special teams work.
The Saints are Swearinger’s sixth team in his seven-year pro career. He has been a starter for most of that time, but he has a reputation for being a difficult locker room presence, which has led to something of a nomadic life for the former second-rounder. Still, he is just 28 years old and is not too far removed from providing solid, starter-level play, so it’s a worthwhile signing for the Saints.
And New Orleans is not taking too much of a financial gamble. Swearinger’s contract is worth $1.1MM, which, as Katherine Terrell of The Athletic tweets, makes him eligible for the veteran salary benefit under the new CBA. That means his cap hit will be just $800K.
The Saints are making a big move. New Orleans has agreed to sign free agent Emmanuel Sanders to a two-year deal, the receiver told Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The deal has a base value of $16MM and can be worth up to $19MM, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
The receiver market has been slow to develop outside of a couple of signings, and this could help get the ball rolling. We heard last week that the 49ers were hoping Sanders would have a poor market so they could re-sign him cheaply, but obviously that didn’t happen. Even after they re-signed Amari Cooper, we heard that Dallas was interested in adding Sanders.
The Jets were also interested in reuniting Sanders with Adam Gase, a source told Mike Klis of Denver 9 News (Twitter link), so it sounds like his market ended up being relatively strong. Schefter also tweeted that he spoke with the Packers as well. It’s a nice pickup for the Saints, who struggled for consistent options behind Michael Thomas last season. Thomas was obviously setting records, but Drew Brees was often throwing to a rotating cast of formerly undrafted guys beyond him.
They now have a consistent number two option, even though Sanders is getting up there in age. The SMU product turned 33 earlier this week, but he remained productive last year. Playing in 17 regular season games because of a mid-season trade from the Broncos to San Francisco, Sanders had 66 receptions for 869 yards and five touchdowns.
He had a couple of huge blowup games with the 49ers, but overall didn’t seem to have the best connection with Jimmy Garoppolo. Sanders put up some gaudy numbers with Peyton Manning, and won Super Bowl 50 with the Broncos. He tore his Achilles late in the 2018 season which many thought would slow him down physically, but he bounced back admirably well.
The Saints are going all in on one last championship run with Brees, so this move makes a lot of sense and shores up one of their few weaknesses. With Sanders off the market, Robby Anderson is probably the top receiver still available. Guys like Breshad Perriman, Phillip Dorsett, Devin Funchess, and Nelson Agholor are also left.
Today’s running list of minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Detroit Lions
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
New Orleans Saints
New York Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers
Chicago Bears
Houston Texans
New York Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers
Andrus Peat isn’t going anywhere. On Friday, the Saints announced a new five-year deal for the guard/tackle. 
The new five-year deal will pay him $57.5MM with $33MM guaranteed, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). That contract will keep the 26-year-old (27 in November) in place through his prime years, helping to secure the Saints’ offensive line for Drew Brees and Taysom Hill.
Peat, the No. 13 overall pick in the 2015 draft, has been a Saints regular for the past five years with appearances at left tackle, left guard, right tackle, and even some snaps as an extra blocker/tight end. All in all, he’s got 60 starts under his belt at every O-Line spot, except for center. In that span, the Saints have ranked No. 1 in the league in points per game while surrendering only 124 sacks.
Peat played well in 2019, too. He earned a Pro Bowl nod for his work in an injury-shortened ten-game season.
The Saints have exercised their 2021 fifth-year options on cornerback Marshon Lattimore and offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Lattimore and Ramczyk become the first members of the 2017 draft class to have their options picked up, and are also the first to have their options fully guaranteed. Under the terms of the new contractual bargaining agreement, fifth-year options — which are available for all first-round picks and had previously been guaranteed for injury only — are now guaranteed for injury, cap, and skill purposes.
Part of a 2017 Saints draft class that also included Alvin Kamara and Marcus Williams, Lattimore and Ramczyk have quickly become essential cogs for New Orleans. Lattimore has started 43 games and posted eight interceptions over his first three years in the NFL, earning Defensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2017 and Pro Bowl nods in both 2017 and 2019.
Ramcyzk, meanwhile, has only missed one contest since entering the league and is arguably the NFL’s premier right tackle. Indeed, Pro Football Focus graded the former Wisconsin Badger as the league’s No. 1 offensive tackle — even including those that play on the blindside — in 2019. Both he and Lattimore should be in for hefty extensions in the near future.
Saints head coach Sean Payton has tested positive for coronavirus (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). Payton is the first NFL figure, that we know of, to test positive for COVID-19. Unfortunately, given the rapid spread of the virus, he might not be the last.
The longtime coach did not feel well Sunday and took a coronavirus test Monday, Schefter reports. He did not receive the results until Thursday afternoon. Payton said he has no fever or cough, per Schefter, but is resting at home.
Payton says that he is going public with his diagnosis in order to stress the importance of taking proper precautions against the virus. He wants people to stay inside, behave responsibly, and follow government protocols as the world looks to keep a lid on the pandemic.
“This is not just about social distancing,” Payton told ESPN. “It’s shutting down here for a week to two weeks. If people understand the curve, and understand the bump, we can easily work together as a country to reduce it. Take a minute to understand what the experts are saying. It’s not complicated to do what they’re asking of us. Just that type of small investment by every one of us will have a dramatic impact.
“I was fortunate to be in the minority, without the serious side effects that some have. I’m lucky. Younger people feel like they can handle this, but they can be a carrier to someone who can’t handle it. So we all need to do our part. It’s important for every one of us to do our part.”
Payton, 56, is set to enter his 14th season as the Saints’ head coach. A Super Bowl-winning head coach, Payton ranks fifth among active NFL HCs with 131 wins and 27th all time. He has overseen eight of the Saints’ nine playoff victories.
As the NBA, NHL and college basketball halted their seasons — with March Madness being canceled — the NFL opted to proceed with free agency. The league went against several anonymous executives’ wishes on that front. The NFL has, however, nixed pre-draft visits and shut down team facilities. Free agents are not allowed to visit teams. Payton’s positive test may serve as an ominous sign for the league, which has also postponed OTAs.
As of midday Thursday, the United States has seen nearly 12,000 coronavirus cases. That number has multiplied steadily over the past several days. Those days have doubled as some of the strangest in the history of American sports.
It didn’t take long for Malcolm Jenkins to find work. The former Eagles safety is on the cusp of a deal with the Saints, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) hears. Jenkins agreed to terms, and Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets it’s a four-year, $32MM deal with $16.5MM fully guaranteed.
It’s a homecoming for Jenkins, who entered the league as a first-round pick of the Saints back in 2009. Now 32, Jenkins could finish his career with Sean Payton & Co. Last year, Payton expressed regret about letting Jenkins get away in the first place.
“Probably one of the bigger mistakes that we’ve made, and you have to ask yourself how did that happen? Letting him out of the building certainly wasn’t a smart decision,” said Payton (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo).
They replaced Jenkins with Jairus Byrd in 2014, handing him a six-year, $56MM deal with $28MM in guarantees. In 2016, Byrd lost his footing in the starting lineup. In 2017, they released him outright.
Between his first five years in New Orleans and his last six in Philly, Jenkins offers eleven years of high-caliber play on his resume. Along the way, he’s collected three Pro Bowl nods and two Super Bowl rings, one with each team.
This likely means the end of the line for Vonn Bell in New Orleans. The free agent safety who the Saints drafted 61st overall back in 2016 is likely to walk now, and we’ve heard that NFC South rival Carolina is interested in his services. Considering the Panthers just cut loose Eric Reid, that would make a lot of sense.
Jenkins has been a leader of the Eagles’ defense and in the locker room, and he will be a nice veteran presence as the Saints gear up for one more Super Bowl run with Drew Brees. He’s remained reliable even at his somewhat advanced age, starting all 16 games in each of his six seasons with Philly.
The Saints are clearing up some cap space. New Orleans has restructured the contracts of receiver Michael Thomas and offensive tackle Terron Armstead, a source told Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football (Twitter link).
Underhill adds that they haven’t restructured Janoris Jenkins‘ deal yet, but that it’s a possibility moving forward. The Saints are clearly going all in on 2020 and one or two last rides with Drew Brees, and they’re trying to maximize this window. We just heard that almost all of the money going to Brees this year is a signing bonus in order to reduce his 2020 cap hit, and now they’re getting even more flexibility.
It’s unclear exactly what financial tweaks were made to Thomas and Armstead’s deals, although it’s likely they just had 2020 salary converted to signing bonus money to spread out the cap hits over the duration of their respective contracts. Thomas signed a massive five-year, $100MM extension last July that made him the highest-paid receiver of all time.
The record-breaking wideout is under contract through the 2024 season, and will be in New Orleans long after Brees finally hangs up his cleats. Armstead signed a five-year, $65MM extension back in 2016, and is signed through the 2021 campaign. He had $10.2MM in salary converted to a signing bonus in November of 2018 to create the cap space to sign Dez Bryant.
The Saints added another veteran player earlier today in safety Malcolm Jenkins, giving them more ammo for their 2020 run. With Tom Brady now in the division, the NFC South is about to get a lot tougher.
A recent report indicated as many as 10 teams were interested in longtime Broncos cornerback Chris Harris, but not much has emerged on this front since the legal tampering period began. But this market may soon accelerate.
Despite having been mentioned as a Harris suitor before last year’s trade deadline and early this offseason, the Eagles were not included among the teams with reported interest entering free agency. That appears to have changed, with Troy Renck of Denver7 reporting (via Twitter) the Eagles are indeed pursuing the four-time Pro Bowler.
So are the Chargers, Renck adds, and Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets the Jets are in the mix as well. Both were mentioned in the previous group of Harris suitors. The Saints, however, were not. But they are now interested, Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News tweets.
The Eagles were mentioned as a Byron Jones suitor, but they watched him choose the Dolphins and a cornerback-record contract. It almost certainly will not take a $17MM-per-year deal to land Harris, who is entering his age-31 season. But given the elite slot work he has delivered for most of his career and his ability to be a high-end boundary corner as well, Harris will not come cheap.
Philadelphia re-signed Jalen Mills but plans to move him to safety. Ronald Darby is a free agent. The Eagles have struggled to find reliable cornerback play for years. Harris has been one of this era’s most reliable cover men, and with Jones and James Bradberry now off the market, this will be a key domino to fall.
The Bolts and Jets each reside in the top 10 in current cap space, each holding nearly $40MM as the official start of free agency looms in minutes. While the Chargers still have Casey Hayward and Desmond King under contract, the Jets possess a greater need after having also been linked to Jones and Bradberry. Gang Green did, however, re-signed Brian Poole. With Harris’ best work coming in the slot, the Jets’ Poole retention may impede them in a Harris pursuit.
New Orleans has well-paid veteran Janoris Jenkins on its payroll, with Marshon Lattimore now extension-eligible, and is up against the cap. The Saints would seemingly have to pitch their roster talent to Harris, who has voiced a desire to return to a winning situation but also to be paid what he’s worth after he took a Broncos-friendly deal late in 2014.