Minor NFL Transactions: 3/14/19
Today’s minor moves:
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: OL Eric Kush
New York Giants
- Signed: DB Antonio Hamilton
Giants To Sign Markus Golden
The Giants have agreed to a one-year deal with edge rusher Markus Golden, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Golden will leave the Cardinals to follow former Arizona defensive coordinator James Bettcher to New York. At only 28 years of age, Golden had developed a market in free agency, with the Raiders, Buccaneers, and Chiefs all expressing various levels of interest.
In 2016, Golden notched 12.5 sacks for the Cardinals. Unfortunately, a torn ACL ended his 2017 campaign early and cost him time in 2018. He managed to return for eleven games last year, but he wasn’t the same player – Golden had just 2.5 sacks and 30 tackles and graded out as one of the lowest-ranked edge defenders in the league, per Pro Football Focus.
Golden should get plenty of opportunities to rush the passer in New York. No other Giants player has posted more than 10 career sacks, and Big Blue finished 31st in adjusted sack rate a year ago.
Giants To Re-Sign CB Tony Lippett
The Giants have re-signed cornerback Tony Lippett to a one-year deal, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Lippett, who transformed from a collegiate wideout to an NFL corner, was a 13-game starter for the Dolphins in 2016, but didn’t make it through final cutdowns in 2018 after missing the previous season with a torn Achilles. He worked out for a number of teams last season, and ultimately landed with the Giants in October. Although he appeared in three games, Lippett saw only 12 snaps on defense.
Lippett could potentially be in for more work in 2019, as the Giants don’t have much at cornerback behind Janoris Jenkins, especially now that B.W. Webb departed via free agency. Still only 26 years old, Lippett will fight Sam Beal, Antonio Hamilton, and others for playing time.
Giants To Sign WR Golden Tate
The Giants have agreed to sign former Eagles wide receiver Golden Tate, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Tate will receive a four-year, $37.5MM contract with $23MM fully guaranteed, according to Schefter. 
Tate entered the offseason as one of the top available wide receivers, but many others agreed to deals during the legal tampering period. Alas, Tate has a home, although he’s a bit late in signing during Day 2 of the official free agency period.
The Patriots and Steelers, two teams who explored acquiring Tate from the Lions before last year’s trade deadline, were also said to be considering him. Instead, the Odell Beckham-less Giants have swooped him up in an effort to revamp their receivers group.
Between the Lions and Eagles, Tate caught 74 passes for 795 yards and four touchdowns in 2018. It was the first time he failed to crack 800 yards since the 2012 season, his first year as a starter.
A 1,000 yard receiver as recently as 2017, Tate could be in line for big numbers once again. His ceiling is obviously lower than OBJ’s, but he can help move the chains in New York. Going forward, Eli Manning will rely on Tate, Sterling Shepard, tight end Evan Engram, and running back Saquon Barkley to keep the offense moving.
Tate’s deal carries an average annual value of $9.375MM, putting him just outside of the Top 25 at the position. His AAV is roughly half of OBJ, who leads all receivers at $18MM/year.
Giants To Meet With Mike Remmers
The Giants will meet with offensive tackle/guard Mike Remmers on Thursday, according to agent Brett Tessler (on Twitter).
As Tessler points out, Remmers played under current Giants coach Pat Shurmur in Minnesota, when Shurmur was his offensive coordinator. The Vikings released Remmers a few days ago after a two year stint in Minnesota. He started all 16 games for the Vikings last year, but his salary proved to be too expensive to keep him around. He was cut with an failed physical designation, as he’s apparently dealing with an unknown injury. Remmers had been the Panthers’ starting right tackle in 2016, then signed a five-year $30MM deal with the Vikings in March of 2017.
Offensive line has been a concern for New York for a while now, so it makes sense why they’re interested. The Giants have indicated they plan on rolling with Eli Manning for at least another year, and if they want to get him back to a serviceable level he’ll need to be well-protected.
Remmers transitioned from tackle to guard during the 2017 season, and then played exclusively at right guard last year. He can play either inside or outside, so he’s a nice depth option. He received average marks from Pro Football Focus last year, grading out as their 48th-best guard.
Giants Interested In WR Chris Hogan
The Giants made the biggest move of the offseason by shockingly trading Odell Beckham Jr. earlier this week, and now they need to replace him in their receiving corp. 
The team is apparently interested in adding Patriots receiver Chris Hogan, according to a Tweet from Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. Leonard writes that the Giants “have talked to” Hogan’s reps recently. The Patriots were apparently interested in re-signing Danny Amendola and are hosting a couple of receivers today, so it certainly sounds like they might be planning on losing Hogan.
Hogan established himself as big-name player thanks to his high-profile work in New England, where he spent the last three seasons. He had his best year in 2016, when he had 680 yards and four touchdowns, with a league-leading 17.9 yards per reception. Hogan struggled with a shoulder injury for most of the 2017 season, and appeared in only nine games with limited production.
He broke back out in the Super Bowl though, catching six passes 128 yards and a touchdown in the Patriots’ loss to the Eagles. He wasn’t utilized as much this past year as New England’s receiving group got pretty crowded, but he’s still a talented and reliable deep threat. With Beckham gone, that’s something the Giants desperately need, so their interest makes some sense. The Giants need as many weapons as they can get as they appear set to roll with Eli Manning under center for at least another year.
Giants Interested In Josh Rosen; Latest On Eli Manning
The Giants are interested in trading for Cardinals’ QB Josh Rosen, per Dan Graziano of ESPN.com. However, they are unsure as to whether Arizona will actually make him available.
It is unclear exactly how acquiring Rosen would impact the status of Eli Manning, but both Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv and Graziano report that the current plan is to keep Manning in 2019, the last year of his present contract. We had been hearing that for some time, of course, but New York’s decision to trade Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns last night sparked a new wave of speculation that the team could also look to move on from Manning.
That speculation was fueled by the fact that Manning is due a $5MM roster bonus on Saturday — which the Giants could avoid if they cut Manning before that point — and the fact that the team is clearly embracing a full-blown rebuild. But Manning is the best option that New York has, and it’s not as though there is currently a long-term answer on the roster whose development is being hindered by Manning’s presence.
Big Blue did not select one of the best quarterbacks available in a loaded class last year, and the club may not take a first-round signal-caller this year. Although the Giants will do their due diligence on Kyler Murray and Dwayne Haskins, they may have their eye on next year’s more heralded prospects.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, have been heavily linked to Murray, and there have been plenty of rumors that the club would be willing to trade Rosen and make Murray the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft. Indeed, we heard a little over a week ago that Murray to the Cardinals was a “done deal.” That may or may not be true, but we recently learned that multiple teams have inquired on Rosen, and the Giants may be one of those teams.
Final Terms Of Odell Beckham Jr. Trade
The trades of Odell Beckham Jr. and Olivier Vernon were originally reported as separate moves, but the Browns and Giants have have each announced the acquisitions as one large transaction. Additionally, as Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com first reported, the fourth- and fifth-round picks that were originally part of the Vernon/Kevin Zeitler trade are no longer involved in the swap.
Here are the full terms of the stunning trade:
Browns acquire:
- WR Odell Beckham Jr.
- DE Olivier Vernon
Giants acquire:
- G Kevin Zeitler
- S Jabrill Peppers
- 2019 first-round pick (No. 17)
- 2019 third-round pick (No. 95)
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/13/19
Here is the latest news involving restricted free agents and exclusive-rights free agents, with updates coming throughout the day:
ERFA
Tendered:
- Bears: DE Roy Robertson-Harris, LB Isaiah Irving, OL Rashaad Coward
- Seahawks: LB Austin Calitro, LB Emmanuel Ellerbee, C Joey Hunt, RB J.D. McKissic, CB Kalan Reed
Non-tendered:
- Bears: S DeAndre Houston-Carson (via Howard Balzer on Twitter)
- Bengals: QB Brad Kaaya (via Balzer)
- Cardinals: LB Gabe Martin, DE Zach Moore, C Daniel Munyer (via Balzer)
- Chiefs: TE Alex Ellis (via Balzer)
- Colts: S Ronald Martin (via Balzer)
- Falcons: WR Marvin Hall (via Balzer)
- Giants: DT Kristjan Sokoli (via Balzer)
- Patriots: WR Cody Hollister (Twitter link via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com)
- Raiders: CB Tevin Mitchel (via Balzer)
- Rams: LB Garrett Sickels (via Balzer)
- Ravens: OT Steven Moore (via Balzer)
- Saints: DB Rickey Jefferson (per NOLA.com’s Josh Katzenstein, on Twitter)
- Seahawks: DE Ricky Ali’ifua, DB T.J. Green, RB Tre Madden, DB T.J. Mutcherson
- Steelers: T Joseph Cheek, S Malik Golden, LB Keith Kelsey, TE Jake McGee (via Balzer)
- Vikings: OT Cedrick Lang, TE Josiah Price (via Balzer)
RFA
Tendered at second-round level:
- Seahawks: T George Fant (per Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times, on Twitter)
Tendered at original-round level:
- Chiefs: S Jordan Lucas
- Saints: CB Ken Crawley (Twitter link via Nick Underhill of The New Orleans Advocate)
- Seahawks: DL Quinton Jefferson (via Tom Pelissero of NFL.com, on Twitter)
Non-tendered:
- Bears: LS Patrick Scales (via Balzer)
- Bengals: TE Matt Lengel (via Balzer)
- Bills: TE Logan Thomas (via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com, on Twitter)
- Broncos: QB Kevin Hogan, LB Deiontrez Mount, WR Jordan Taylor (via Balzer)
- Browns: CB Juston Burris, TE Orson Charles (via Balzer)
- Buccaneers: TE Alan Cross, CB Javien Elliott, T Leonard Wester (via Balzer)
- Cardinals: LB Jeremy Cash, OT John Wetzel (via Balzer)
- Chiefs: LB Terrance Smith (via Balzer)
- Dolphins: WR Leonte Carroo (via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald)
- 49ers: S Tyvis Powell (via Balzer)
- Jaguars: OG Chris Reed (via Balzer)
- Jets: DT Destiny Vaeao (via Balzer)
- Panthers: WR Damiere Byrd (via Balzer)
- Raiders: DE Shilique Calhoun (via Balzer)
- Redskins: WR Maurice Harris (per Mike Garafolo of NFL.com, on Twitter), RB Rob Kelley (via Balzer)
- Saints: WR Tommylee Lewis (via Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com, on Twitter)
NFL Draft Rumors: Murray, Haskins, Giants
Although Kyler Murray threw at Oklahoma’s pro day Wednesday, and fared well during that portion of his workout, he did not go through the full process. The 2018 Heisman Trophy winner did not add any more fuel to the fire regarding his height, not taking part in another measurement. Murray only weighed in, stepping on the scale at 205 pounds, according to NFL.com’s Andrew Groover, on Twitter). This is two pounds down from Murray’s Combine weight. Murray measured at 5-foot-10 in Indianapolis. Additionally, the tantalizing prospect did not run the 40-yard dash at today’s event, per NFL.com’s James Palmer, despite the school planning on him doing so (Twitter links via James Palmer and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). So, teams will not have that figure going into the draft. Murray remains expected to be a top-10 pick, with a No. 1 overall ceiling.
- Tyree Jackson is holding his pro day at the Bills‘ facility, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Buffalo University product is viewed as a rising prospect, with Schefter adding that many believe the 6-foot-7 passer will be a higher-than-expected draft choice.
- The Giants now have two of the 2019 draft’s first 17 selections, which could point to them taking a quarterback with one of them. They have been most closely tied to Dwayne Haskins, but the Ohio State product may not enamor the team to the point of being worth the No. 6 overall pick, Ralph Vacchiano of SNY notes. It’s widely anticipated either Haskins or Murray will be the first quarterback selected, and both are viewed as likely top-10 picks. The Giants have been doing extensive research on Haskins, who burst onto teams’ radars with a dominant 2018.