Minor NFL Transactions: 5/1/20
Today’s minor moves:
Cincinnati Bengals
- Re-signed: DT Josh Tupou
New York Giants
- Waived: DE Kevin Wilkins
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: DL Treyvon Hester
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: S Ibraheim Campbell
NFC East Notes: Redskins, Newton, Williams, Cowboys, Eagles, Giants
Things weren’t great down the stretch for the Redskins and Trent Williams, but the new 49ers tackle says he’s not harboring any ill will towards his former team.
“I’m thankful this is over,” Williams told Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). “Thanks to Dan [Snyder] and the organization for all they’ve done for me. Still a lot of love for the fans and that locker room. Now I’m focusing on being the best player I can possibly be for the 49ers.”
Now that his saga with the Redskins is in the rear view mirror, Williams is focused on hashing out a new deal with the defending NFC champs. Right now, Williams is set to play out the 2020 season on a $12.5MM base salary, but the veteran says there’s mutual interest in a fresh pact. Given Williams’ medical history and age, it remains to be seen whether the 49ers would be willing to commit substantial guaranteed cash to him. Then again, he’s a seven-time Pro Bowler at a premium position and the Niners, ideally, want to keep him happy.
Here’s more from the NFC West:
- Were the Redskins ever serious about selecting Tua Tagovailoa instead of stud edge rusher Chase Young? “No, not really,” head coach Ron Rivera said this week (via JP Finlay of NBC Sports). “We just feel about the things we saw from Dwayne Haskins,” Rivera continued. “I feel good enough about him that I’m willing to take that chance, that opportunity.”
- Meanwhile, the longtime Panthers head coach isn’t ruling out a reunion with former MVP Cam Newton (via NFL.com). “You know, the thing about Cam really is the situation,” said Rivera. “We’re in a situation where we’ve got two really young quarterbacks, one that’s been with us, been in the system, understands how we want things done and the other one is a guy who was taken last year in the first round and shows some promise.” For now, Newton is holding out for an opportunity to start.
- The Cowboys coughed up a 2021 fifth-round pick to the Eagles to take Wisconsin lineman Tyler Biadsz last week. The intra-divisional trade wasn’t an easy call, but they were able to stomach it thanks to a wealth of mid-round selections coming their way, The Athletic’s Jon Machota writes. Jerry Jones & Co. will recoup comp picks after losing four starters in free agency: cornerback Byron Jones, edge rusher Robert Quinn, wide receiver Randall Cobb, and defensive tackle Maliek Collins.
- The Giants non-tendered center Jon Halapio earlier this year, but there’s a strong chance he’ll return to the team as he recovers from an Achilles injury, Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com tweets. For now, the Giants have a few options on hand in guard Shane Lemieux – who has never lined up in the middle – Spencer Pulley, and G/T Nick Gates.
Giants Pick Up 2021 Options For Evan Engram, Jabrill Peppers
The Giants will extend the contracts of 2017 first-rounders Evan Engram and Jabrill Peppers through the 2021 season, the team announced.
This marks the final year fifth-year options will be guaranteed for injury only. Beginning in 2018, teams must fully guarantee players fifth-year salaries if they pick up options. The injury component will be key for Engram.
The fourth-year tight end is coming off a second straight injury-marred season. Engram underwent foot surgery in December. While the Giants would obviously prefer he stay healthy and earn the 2021 salary coming to him, they would only be able to cut Engram free of charge if he can pass a physical by the start of the ’21 league year. Engram has missed 13 games between the 2018-19 seasons.
Engram, however, has given Eli Manning and Daniel Jones an intriguing weapon when healthy. He averaged a career-high 58.4 yards per game last season but only played in eight contests. Engram’s 722 yards as a rookie were the most of any rookie tight end during the 2010s.
Drafted two spots after Engram three years ago — at No. 25 overall — Peppers came over in last year’s Odell Beckham Jr. trade. The former Browns draftee started 11 Giants games last season before suffering a transverse process fracture in his back. Pro Football Focus graded the Michigan product as a middle-of-the-pack safety in 2019. Peppers registered 76 tackles, which were only three shy of his career-high figure despite an injury-shortened season, and intercepted one pass — which he took back for a touchdown.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/28/20
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Chicago Bears
- Signed: DT John Jenkins
Denver Broncos
- Waived: OT Ka’John Armstrong
Kansas City Chiefs
- Waived: DE Anthony Lanier, RB Marcus Marshall
New York Giants
- Claimed off waivers (Dolphins): S Montre Hartage
- Waived: DB Derrick Baity, TE C.J. Conrad, LS Colin Holba, LS Drew Scott, P Sean Smith, C Tanner Volson
Philadelphia Eagles
- Claimed off waivers (Lions): G Casey Tucker
Seattle Seahawks
- Claimed off waivers (Jaguars): DB Jayson Stanley
Jenkins, 30, spent the 2017 season with the Bears before spending time with the Giants and Dolphins. In Miami last year, he started five times and appeared in all 16 games. He finished out the year with 34 total tackles and his first sack since 2015. The deal also reunites him with old colleague Ryan Pace, the Bears GM who worked in the Saints’ front office when Jenkins was drafted back in 2013.
Giants Place UFA Tender On Markus Golden
The Giants are using a rarely-used tender in an attempt to retain pass rusher Markus Golden. ESPN’s Field Yates reports (via Twitter) that New York has slapped the linebacker/defensive end with a UFA tender.
Thanks to this transaction, Golden will only be eligible to play for the Giants if he remains unsigned past July 22nd (or the first day of training camp, whichever is later). Of course, this means that the 29-year-old still has almost three months to negotiate a contract with a new team, and he will still count towards the 2021 compensatory pick formula.
The former second-rounder showed flashes during his four seasons in Arizona, including a 12.5-sack campaign back in 2016. He caught on with the Giants last offseason, inking a one-year, $3.75MM deal. He proceeded to have one of the best seasons of his career, as he compiled 72 tackles and 10 sacks in a career-high 16 starts.
We heard earlier this month that Golden was unlikely to return to the Giants, with sources indicating the pass rusher was seeking “too much money.”
NFC East Teams Sign Players Via International Player Pathway Program
As part of this year’s International Player Pathway program, each team in the NFC East will be allowed to carry an extra, international player on their practice squad. The four organizations quickly filled these spots (via David Helman of DallasCowboys.com):
- Dallas Cowboys: OT Isaac Alarcon (Mexico)
- New York Giants: RB Sandro Platzgummer (Austria)
- Philadelphia Eagles: DE Matt Leo (Australia)
- Washington Redskins: DE David Bada (Germany)
These players will remain on their teams’ roster through training camp. At that point, each organization can sign the player to their practice squad via the “international player practice squad exemption.” This means NFC East squads can hold 11 practice squad players throughout the 2020 campaign. However, under these circumstances, the international players can’t be activated to the active roster during the 2020 season.
The International Player Pathway program was first introduced in 2017. As Helman notes, three players from last year’s program – fullback Jakob Johnson (Patriots), defensive tackle Durval Queiroz Neto (Dolphins), and running back Christian Wade (Bills) – are still with their original teams.
Giants Sign 15 Undrafted Players
The Giants have agreed to sign 15 undrafted free agents, per a club announcement. They had 80 players on the roster heading into Monday morning, so five players will have to be cut in order to make room for the newcomers. Here’s the full rundown:
- Christian Angulo, DB (Hampton)
- Case Cookus, QB (Northern Arizona)
- Derrick Dillon, WR (LSU)
- Malcolm Elmore, DB (Central Methodist)
- Tyler Haycraft, OL (Louisville)
- Rysen John, WR (Simon Fraser University)
- Niko Lalos, OLB (Dartmouth)
- Jaquarius Landrews, DB (Mississippi State)
- Javon Leake, RB (Maryland)
- Dana Levine, OLB (Temple)
- Austin Mack, WR (Ohio State)
- Kyle Markway, TE (South Carolina)
- Kyle Murphy, OL (Rhode Island)
- Dominique Ross, OLB (North Carolina)
- Binjimen Victor, WR (Ohio State)
Dillon’s deal includes a $40K guarantee, as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. That’s an indication that other clubs were keen on the LSU product. Last year, Dillon finished out with 15 catches for 202 yards and two touchdowns in Joe Burrow‘s offense.
Cookus, a quarterback out of Northern Arizona, likely would have heard his name called over the weekend if not for a pair of season-ending shoulder injuries in college. In his final season with the Lumberjacks, Cookus threw for nearly 4,100 yards and 31 touchdowns. Still, making the Giants’ 53-man roster cut will be tough as they already have Colt McCoy and Alex Tanney slotted behind starter Daniel Jones.
Meet Mr. Irrelevant: Giants Select Tae Crowder To Wrap 2020 NFL Draft
The 2020 NFL Draft is in the books. With the final pick – No. 225 overall – the Giants selected Georgia linebacker Tae Crowder to wrap up the weekend.
Crowder – a 6’3″, 245 pound athlete – came to campus as a running back in 2015 and switched to linebacker midway through his redshirt freshman season. As time wore on, he got more and more burn with the Bulldogs. Last year, he set a new single-game career high with 12 stops against South Carolina and also managed a 60-yard fumble return against Tennessee.
All told last season he had 62 tackles, four for a loss, and four passes defended. As this year’s Mr. Irrelevant, Crowder will have his name down as a footnote regardless of how his pro career turns out.
Here’s the complete rundown of the Giants’ draft, courtesy of PFR’s draft results tracker:
1-4: Andrew Thomas, T (Georgia)
2-36: Xavier McKinney, S (Alabama)
3-99: Matt Peart, OT (Connecticut)
4-110: Darnay Holmes, CB (UCLA)
5-150: Shane Lemieux, G (Oregon)
6-183: Cameron Brown, LB (Penn State)
7-218: Carter Coughlin, LB (Minnesota)
7-238: T.J. Brunson LB (South Carolina)
7-247: Chris Williamson, CB (Minnesota)
7-255: Tae Crowder, LB (Georgia)
Dolphins And Chargers Never Tried To Move Up
It took us until the 13th pick to get our first trade, and despite a lot of speculation it looks like the Lions and Giants were never that close to moving down.
Neither the Dolphins nor Chargers ever made offers for the third or fourth picks, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. In hindsight, it looks like the Lions and Giants were trying to trade down and were attempting to inflate the interest. There was a lot of talk that either Miami or Los Angeles would try to leap up to take a passer, but both stood pat and ended up getting their quarterbacks of the future anyway.
Schefter notes that the Dolphins and Chargers were always content to stay where they were. Miami of course took Tua Tagovailoa, while Los Angeles drafted Justin Herbert. The Lions nabbed cornerback Jeff Okudah after being unable to find a trade partner, while the Giants picked Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas. The draft has been quieter than expected so far, and it seems like there was an overwhelming supply of teams looking to move down, with a very limited demand of teams looking to move up.
Jaguars Eyeing Tua Tagovailoa, Talking Trade With Lions
Could Jacksonville move up the board? ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that Jaguars’ general manager Dave Caldwell “just” called Lions’ general manager Bob Quinn about tonight’s pick.
Jacksonville is currently in possession of picks No. 9 and No. 20, although that might not be enough to get Detroit to sacrifice the No. 3 pick. We heard earlier today that the Lions would only surrender the third-overall pick if they received a top-five pick in return.
Regardless of compensation, it appears that the Jaguars’ trade inquiries are part of an effort to select Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Talks of the signal-caller getting selected by the Jaguars continue to “linger,” writes ProFootballTalk.com’s Mike Florio. The reporter notes that Jacksonville has been mentioned as a suitor for the quarterback for several days.
Of course, it’s uncertain if the Jaguars would really select a player at that position before fully evaluating whether Gardner Minshew can be their franchise quarterback. On the flip side, as Florio notes, the organization passed on both Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson because of the presence of Blake Bortles. Ownership may be looking to avoid that mistake a second time.
If the Jaguars have their way, this might not be the only trade they pull off today. The organization has been shopping running back Leonard Fournette or defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, but they’ve yet to find a favorable trade.