Here are the minor moves made around the league today:
Chicago Bears
Cleveland Browns
Indianapolis Colts
New York Giants
San Francisco 49ers
Adoree’ Jackson served as the Giants‘ No. 1 cornerback last season, his second with the team. Despite coming off injury, Jackson fared well against Justin Jefferson in the Giants’ wild-card win. But the team is experimenting on a potential shift in the veteran’s role during training camp. Jackson has seen extensive time in the slot in camp, and Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News notes the prospect of Jackson in the slot and Deonte Banks and Tre Hawkins outside is viable.
The Titans used Jackson as an outside corner during his Tennessee tenure, and the Giants stationed Darnay Holmes in the slot last year. They also drafted Cor’Dale Flott as a slot option in last year’s third round. But Holmes has struggled during camp, per Leonard. Hawkins, chosen in the sixth round out of Old Dominion, does not have slot experience. Jackson’s willingness as a tackler would benefit the Giants if they followed through on this, though the move is not set in stone. Holmes still operated as the team’s lead slot defender in a joint practice against the Lions on Wednesday, Dan Duggan of The Athletic tweets. Hawkins being in consideration for a regular role would be notable for a Giants team that struggled for CB depth last year.
Here is the latest from NFL secondaries:
The Eagles both signed five-year starter Terrell Edmunds and used a third-round pick on Sydney Brown. Both safeties factor into the team’s plans, but they are not outflanking Reed Blankenship thus far through training camp. Blankenship has been a first-team mainstay, per the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane, who adds Edmunds and Brown have rotated at the other safety spot. Indeed, The Athletic’s Zach Berman notes Blankenship — a 2022 UDFA out of Middle Tennessee State — has been the Eagles’ top safety in camp (subscription required).
This reminds of Marcus Epps‘ rise last year. Despite the Eagles re-signing Anthony Harris and adding Jaquiski Tartt in 2022, Epps earned a starting job — one that eventually led to a two-year, $12MM Raiders payday. The Eagles brought in C.J. Gardner-Johnson via trade just before last season. That transaction could signal none of Philly’s safeties should be too comfortable, but Blankenship — Gardner-Johnson’s injury sub last year who played 291 defensive snaps — looks like the best bet to start among the in-house group.
Here is the latest from the NFC East:
Making two top-10 picks at tackle over the past four years, the Giants have no questions at those positions. They also used a second-round choice on center John Michael Schmitz, and while the Minnesota product is a decent bet to begin his career as a starter, the Giants are not ensuring that route will open up just yet.
More notably, 2022 free agency addition Mark Glowinski does not appear a lock to keep his job, Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post tweets. Swingman Ben Bredeson, who is also in contention for left guard, has mixed in regularly with the first team on the right side, with The Athletic’s Dan Duggan and Charlotte Carroll most recently noting Bredeson’s first-team RG usage (subscription required).
A 2021 trade acquisition from the Ravens, Bredeson has mixed in at all three spots along the Giants’ interior during training camp. He appears the top Schmitz competitor at center, while having begun recent practices (via Duggan) as the first-string left guard. Bredeson mixed in with Glowinski at right guard and 2022 third-round pick Joshua Ezeudu on the left side Tuesday. The former fourth-round pick is going into a contract year.
Bredeson being used at all three spots suggests the Giants have a potential swing role in mind, with Ezeudu also seeing steady first-unit time at left guard. Seeing the Joe Schoen-era Day 2 draftee seize the LG job alongside fellow Schoen pickups Schmitz and Glowinski would probably be the scenario the Giants prefer. Bredeson started eight games last season, playing a career-high 541 offensive snaps. The Giants lost center Jon Feliciano and guard/center Nick Gates in free agency; Bredeson would supply experience and represent insurance alongside Ezeudu (290 rookie-year snaps) and Schmitz.
Glowinski, 31, signed a three-year, $18.3MM deal that came with $11.4MM guaranteed. The longtime Colts starter gave the Giants 16 starts at right guard last season, as a rotation formed at the other guard post. Pro Football Focus graded Glowinski as last year’s No. 29 overall guard. It would be rather odd to see Glowinski benched, but the Giants are going through several options up front. Tyre Phillips, a 2022 waiver claim from the Ravens, has also taken first-team reps at left guard, Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com tweets.
This batch of blockers looks to have relegated Shane Lemieux to the roster bubble, Duggan adds. The fourth-year lineman has not been among the competitors for the Giants’ LG job. Lemieux has battled significant injury problems over the past two years, seeing a September 2021 patellar tendon tear keep him off the field until November 2022. A toe injury then limited Lemieux to one game all season. With the Giants activating former fifth-rounder Marcus McKethan from the active/PUP list Monday — after an August 2022 ACL tear — Lemieux will need to fight for a job during this year’s preseason. While Lemieux has mixed in as a backup center as well, Jack Anderson is also on the radar for that post.
The Giants chose Schmitz at No. 56 overall, viewing him as the better option compared to consideration Jalin Hyatt, whom they circled back to in Round 3. Just before the Schmitz pick, Brian Daboll said the All-Big Ten blocker could start in Week 1. Schmitz received every first-team center rep Tuesday, per Duggan and Carroll. It would surprise if he were not Big Blue’s starting pivot to open the season.
Here are Monday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
Green Bay Packers
Kansas City Chiefs
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
New York Giants
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Washington Commanders
Streveler is currently dealing with an injury, ESPN’s Dianna Russini tweets. The Jets used Streveler as their top backup QB to close last season, inserting him into a Week 16 game ahead of Joe Flacco. Streveler stuck around via reserve/futures contract in January. But the Jets have since traded for Aaron Rodgers and signed Tim Boyle, marking a new era at quarterback. With Zach Wilson still around, the team does not appear to have any room — potentially even on the practice squad — for Streveler, who has played for the Jets and Cardinals in a three-year NFL career.
Apke has been with Washington since being chosen in the 2018 fourth round. He re-signed with the team in 2022 and stayed via reserve/futures contract in January. A shoulder injury, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, will move Apke to IR, which will end his chances of playing a sixth season with the Commanders this year. Kalu started five games for the Titans last season, playing 494 defensive snaps. Over his first three seasons, Kalu had never cleared the 100-snap barrier on defense.
Schoonmaker suffered a foot injury, a plantar fascia tear, during his final year at Michigan. The Cowboys’ top post-Dalton Schultz tight end investment will aim to make a push for a regular role to begin the season.
The Dolphins made Blackman part of their UDFA class this year. The former Florida State starter spent six years in college, finishing up with Arkansas State. The Dolphins swapped out Teddy Bridgewater for Mike White this offseason, but Skylar Thompson has made a push to be Tua Tagovailoa‘s backup. Regardless of that competition’s outcome, Blackman’s ceiling appeared to be practice squad QB in Miami. But the Dolphins may be looking into outside help for that developmental role — provided the team plans on stashing a fourth passer on its taxi squad.
When the Giants look to repeat their success from last season in 2023, all eyes will understandably be on quarterback Daniel Jones given his sizeable extension signed in March. The team’s new-look receiving corps will be a key determining factor in their offensive improvement, though, meaning training camp developments amongst their pass-catchers are worth watching closely.
New York entered the offseason in need of an established playmaker in the passing game, and they acquired one in the form of Pro Bowl tight end Darren Waller. The former Raven and Raider has impressed since being traded to New York, and he is expected to operate as the focal point of the Giants’ passing game moving forward. At the wide receiver spot, though, plenty is yet to be determined. 
New York declined to make a sizeable splash on the open market, with their biggest moves being the addition of Parris Campbell and re-signing of Darius Slayton. During the draft, they added one of the class’ more intriguing prospects, third-rounder Jalin Hyatt. The latter was one of several WR targets for the Giants in April, and the team was prepared to use its second-round selection on the speedster.
Hyatt found himself on the third-string offense for much of the spring, but things have changed since then. The Tennessee alum is now seeing reps with the starters, as noted by Dan Duggan of The Athletic (subscription required). Hyatt, the 2022 Biletnikoff winner as college football’s top receiver, recorded 1,267 yards and 15 touchdowns in the Volunteers’ high-octane offense, but questions about his ability to transition from that scheme to the NFL had tempered his 2023 expectations. Now, though, signficant playing time appears to be in the cards.
The same cannot be said of the Giants’ longest-tenured player. Sterling Shepard finds himself on the roster bubble, Duggan notes. The 30-year-old suffered an ACL tear in 2022, which limited him to just three games played and added further to his history of signficant injuries. He was brought back on a low-cost deal, but the Giants would incur no financial penalty if they elected to include him among the final roster cuts.
Shepard is currently behind Cole Beasley on the depth chart, Duggan adds, which is certainly concerning with respect to the former’s job security. Beasley avoided a second retirement by heading to New York and reuniting with Brian Daboll in the process. The current Giants head coach served as the Bills’ offensive coordinator during Beasley’s most productive seasons, but expectations are still low given the latter’s age (34) and lack of playing time last season.
Preseason will go a long way in settling the WR pecking order in New York. The fact that Hyatt has come a long way toward a starting role, and that Shepard has work to do simply to make the roster, however, are notable storylines to follow as the rest of the summer plays out.
Here are today’s minor moves as we head into the weekend:
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Cleveland Browns
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Houston Texans
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
San Francisco 49ers
Sills was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list back in February when a grand jury indicted him on counts of rape and kidnapping. The charges stem from an event that allegedly took place back in December 2019. Today it was announced that Sills was acquitted of both charges, according to sources at The Athletic. The Eagles released a statement that, with his adjudication, he will return to the team’s active roster.
The 49ers announced that Johnson has been placed on season-ending injured reserve. They didn’t disclose the injury that will sideline the young edge they signed two months ago.
The Vikings are adding the XFL’s 2023 leading rusher in Smith. Smith had 791 rushing yards in 10 games last year.
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Las Vegas Raiders
New England Patriots
New York Giants
Pittsburgh Steelers
Seattle Seahawks
Chosen in the third round by the 49ers back in 2019, Hurd never ended up seeing regular-season action. A converted running back who played in front of Alvin Kamara at points while at Tennessee, Hurd transferred to Baylor and became a wide receiver. Two season-ending injuries — a back malady in 2019 and an ACL tear in 2020 — derailed Hurd’s 49ers tenure. The team cut him during the 2021 season. Barely a week after the Patriots signed Hurd, it appears he is throwing in the towel on an injury-plagued career.
Penisini had unretired this offseason, joining the Panthers. The former Lions sixth-rounder played two seasons on his rookie contract but called it quits in June 2022. His unretirement will precede a Panthers exit. The Lions are moving Zylstra off their 90-man roster due to a severe knee injury. If unclaimed, Zylstra would revert to Detroit’s IR list. Zylstra has seen action in 17 games for the Lions over the past two seasons.
Hassenauer will require surgery to repair a triceps injury, and this transaction will shut him down — as far as the Giants are concerned. The only way Hassenauer can play in 2023 would be if the Giants removed him from IR via an injury settlement. Hairston suffered a herniated disk during practice, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson (on Twitter).
Shane Zylstra will likely miss the upcoming season thanks to a knee injury. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the Lions tight end suffered a “serious and significant” knee injury that will keep him off the field for six months.
Rapoport notes that Zylstra is set to undergo more tests “but there isn’t a lot of optimism.” As Justin Rogers of the Detroit News tweets, the tight end suffered the injury while taking a “low shot” during a red zone drill.
Zylstra emerged as one of Jared Goff‘s favorite red zone targets in 2022. The tight end finished the season with only 11 catches for 60 yards, but four of those receptions were touchdowns. The Minnesota State product had another three catches during his rookie campaign.
Fortunately for Detroit, the team has some depth at tight end. The organization used a second-round pick on Sam LaPorta, and the rookie is expected to slide right into the starting lineup. The team is also rostering the likes of Brock Wright, James Mitchell, and Derrick Deese.
More injury notes from around the NFL…
The Joe Schoen regime’s first offseason did not feature splash moves, with cap issues limiting the GM last year. After a surprise voyage to the NFC’s divisional round, the Giants became far more active this year in making moves that will shape their long-term future. For the most part, the team’s core players are now locked down. Though, more headlines came the team’s way because of the pillar that exited the offseason without an extension.
Faced with one of the more fascinating decisions in the franchise tag era, the Giants made no secret of their stance adjustment on Jones. Schoen passed on the Dave Gettleman-era draftee’s $22.4MM fifth-year option in 2022. Picking that up would have brought an easier route for the Giants, but the former No. 6 overall pick was coming off an injury-limited season and had not justified such an investment at that point. With Jones becoming the first quarterback to re-sign with a team that had declined his fifth-year option, he exerted the leverage the March franchise tag deadline gave him. At the end of that journey: a payday that would have been unimaginable a year ago.
By not picking up Jones’ option and letting Barkley play out his, the Giants entered March with both unsigned. They ended up navigating this scenario in the same way the 2020 Titans did, re-signing the quarterback and tagging the running back. But the Ryan Tannehill–Derrick Henry situation did not produce half the headlines the Giants’ Jones-Barkley proceedings did.
In the fall, the team first identified Barkley as an extension candidate, beginning bye-week negotiations and offering an extension worth more than $12MM per year. No Jones negotiations took place at that point, with the new Big Blue regime wanting to see more. After Jones piloted a Giants offense stripped of non-Barkley skill-position talent to the franchise’s first playoff win since Super Bowl XLVI, Schoen and Co. changed course. Jones became the priority and was set to receive an expensive franchise tag ($32.4MM). Barkley’s superior talent notwithstanding, the two-time Pro Bowl running back’s positional value dropped him in the team’s queue. This set up a high-stakes stretch leading up to the March 7 deadline to tag players.
Rumored to be aiming for a deal south of $40MM per year, the Giants saw their quarterback change agents and come in with a $47MM-AAV ask once talks heated up in the winter. After a lack of progress in the days leading up to the deadline, the Giants talked Jones down to $40MM per year. Beating the deadline buzzer on this extension allowed them to tag Barkley, completing step one of a seminal offseason itinerary. While that set off another high-profile negotiation that would play out in the coming months, Jones successfully negotiated the same contract parameters Matthew Stafford and Dak Prescott received and did so coming off a season in which he threw only 15 touchdown passes.
The Eli Manning heir apparent transforming his value to this degree made for one of the most interesting contractual sagas in recent memory. Jones, 26, had shown promise as a rookie under Pat Shurmur. His 24 TD passes — in a 12-start season — still rank fifth for a rookie. But Joe Judge‘s tenure, which largely placed Jason Garrett at the controls on offense, ended up setting Jones back. The Duke product combined for 21 TD passes in 25 starts from 2020-21, and his midseason neck injury in the latter season led to one of the worst stretches in Giants history. Although the team’s 9-7-1 response to that benefited Jones more than anyone, the Giants are making a reasonable bet on a player they were seemingly ready to discard at this time last year.
Factoring in rushing impact, QBR viewed Jones as having made tremendous strides under Brian Daboll. Despite increasing receiver limitations and a basement-level tight end situation, Jones ranked sixth in that metric. His 708 rushing yards boosted a team in need of viable non-Barkley help moving the chains, and it will be interesting to see how Jones performs in Daboll’s offense with an improved pass-catching corps.
This contract also gives the Giants a reasonable out after two years. They would be on the hook for barely $9MM in dead money if they designated Jones a post-June 1 cut in 2025. And the subsequent deals for Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert did bump the Jones contract down to 11th at the position. Still, Jones is a bit on this deal is a different than having him on rookie money. While it would have been interesting to see if another team would have been willing to give him $40MM per year on the open market, the Giants did not wish to chance that.
Barkley’s tag became one of many events in a crushing offseason for the running back position. The throughline from Mike Shanahan‘s brigade of post-Terrell Davis 1,000-yard backs to the gridlock atop the market following Christian McCaffrey‘s 2020 agreement has led to an overdue spotlight shining on this position’s place in the modern game. At the end of 2023’s carnage, the RB position is at maybe its most unstable point in history.
The Giants not coming to an agreement with Barkley certainly puts this relationship at risk of falling apart after 2023. But the team will have a chance to use the most talented back in its near-100-year history for at least one more season. The Giants will have a chance to tag Barkley again, at barely $12MM, in 2024. Will the 26-year-old RB remain in the picture by that point?
After shaking off a three-year stretch of injuries, Barkley provided great value on a $7.22MM fifth-year option salary by powering the Giants to the playoffs. While the Giants have not been able to utilize Barkley’s pass-game talents on the level his rookie year brought, he gained a career-high 1,312 rushing yards and was by far the most talented Giants skill player. Barkley stayed healthy throughout the season, but after the fall talks did not come close to producing a deal, the Giants ended up pulling their second offer — worth roughly $13MM per year — after tagging him. Four months later, Barkley will play the season for the $10.1MM tag salary (feat. a small incentive package with lofty benchmarks).
Barkley blasted the Giants for leaks that made him look greedy, when the fall and winter offers included low guarantees. Once the team finally moved up to the $22MM guarantee level that represented the cost of two franchise tags, the backfield staple was annoyed that increase came with an AAV decrease south of $12MM. Despite the parties being close to a deal, the Giants making the late move to reduce the AAV led to Barkley passing. Barkley’s No. 2 overall draft slot and fifth-year option money moved his career earnings past $38MM, which would have given him interesting leverage to use a Le’Veon Bell-like absence as evidence — on a Giants team still bereft of dependable skill players elsewhere — of RB value while preserving his body for what could be a last-chance free agency run in 2024. Barkley’s bluff on this front did not translate to even a training camp holdout, illustrating the power the tag gave the Giants.
With the Giants free to use Barkley as they please, this tag season could tank his stock — through either an injury or a third 350-plus-touch year — and leave him in a tough spot on what looks like another crowded free agent market. That is, if the Giants let Barkley reach free agency in 2024. With Miles Sanders receiving $13MM guaranteed from the Panthers, Barkley will bet on himself this year in hopes a reasonable guarantee figure will await him on the market in 2024.
Shepard is the Giants’ longest-tenured player, but his injury history and having re-signed for no guaranteed money makes the Slayton transaction more pertinent for the 2023 Giants. Although Jones and Barkley zoomed into this regime’s good graces after down 2021 offerings, Slayton’s turnaround with the organization may have been more surprising.
The Giants buried Slayton on their depth chart going into his contract year and then slashed his pay, stripping away the proven performance escalator money he earned, before the season. But the slew of issues to affect the team’s receiver cadre — Shepard and Wan’Dale Robinson‘s ACL tears, Kadarius Toney‘s repeat injuries and then a give-up trade, and Kenny Golladay cementing himself as a historic free agency bust — led to Slayton climbing back into a starting role and leading the team in receiving (724 yards). The Giants are deeper at wide receiver this year, but with Robinson not a lock to begin the season on time, Slayton (three 700-yard years) could still find himself opening the season as Jones’ top wideout.
In betting Jones will grow with better pass catchers, the Giants are wagering Waller will shake off the injury trouble that plagued him in Las Vegas. Waller, who will turn 31 in September, missed 14 games over the past two years. The Pro Bowl tight end’s injuries eventually caused the Raiders to cut bait. For a Giants team that has not employed a difference-making tight end in maybe 16 years (Jeremy Shockey?), this is a bet worth making. The pick obtained for Toney is a reasonable price to pay for a dynamic player like Waller.
Unlike Shockey, Waller has delivered a 1,000-yard season. In fact, the ex-Ravens wide receiver is one of just eight tight ends with two 1,100-yard years. Waller saved the Raiders when their Antonio Brown trade preceded a spectacular combustion, going from Jon Gruden-era flier to cornerstone piece in Derek Carr‘s final stretch with the franchise. In his most recent healthy season, Waller ripped off 107-catch, 1,196-yard, nine-TD performance.
Of course, that came three years ago. Since, Waller has dealt with ankle, IT band and hamstring problems. Waller missing eight games due to a hamstring issue — weeks after the Raiders made him the NFL’s highest-paid tight end, at $17MM per year — last year frustrated some in the organization. But he has a clear opportunity in New York. The Raiders had transitioned to a Davante Adams-centered aerial attack. While the Giants took a quantity-based approach at receiver, no No. 1-type wideout — at least, no known commodity — exists on this depth chart. Waller will enter the year as the most likely passing-game centerpiece.
Waller’s 2022 extension did not feature lofty guarantees, which gave the Raiders an easy out. The Giants will only be tagged with $2.5MM in dead money if they designate Waller a post-June 1 cut in 2024. This is a relatively low-risk proposition for Big Blue. Waller did show flashes after coming back from his hamstring issue in December; when healthy, he presents the capability to give the Giants a weapon that would accelerate Jones’ development.
In an offseason that has placed Barkley in a late-’90s George Costanza-like position, when the Susan Ross Foundation continued to unveil other financial plans regarding her estate, Thomas and Lawrence have joined Jones in receiving windfalls. How the Giants proceeded this year doubles as a decent encapsulation for positional value in the NFL. Beyond the reality of the Giants taking care of higher-value players and letting their running back stay on the tag, two more Gettleman-years breakthrough players are under contract for at least five more seasons. Thomas’ deal, in particular, could age very well for the team.
