Patriots, C David Andrews Finalizing Deal
David Andrews is returning to New England after all. ESPN’s Mike Reiss reports (via Twitter) that the free agent center is finalizing a deal with the Patriots. ESPN’s Field Yates tweets that it’s a four-year deal for the offensive lineman.
While the team captain is beloved in the locker room, it was uncertain if Andrews would end up returning to New England in 2021. We learned Tuesday night that Andrews’ camp was pivoting to other suitors’ offers after negotiating with the Patriots for much of the day. The veteran had made it clear that he wished to return to New England, and it sounded like Bill Belichick was willing to let Andrews test his market before re-signing. At one point, the Patriots didn’t expect to bring Andrews back, per Doug Kyed of NESN (on Twitter), explaining why the team added Ted Karras.
Andrews had at least one suitor outside of New England. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports (via Twitter) that the Dolphins were in on Andrews’ services, even after the team inked Matt Skura to a deal.
Andrews joined the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2015, and he started 57 of his 60 appearances through his first four seasons in the NFL. He ended up missing the entire 2019 campaign after getting diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, but he managed to return in time for the 2020 season. He missed a handful of games with a thumb injury, ultimately appearing in 72-percent of the Patriots’ offensive snaps in 12 games.
There’s going to be a bit of change on the Patriots offensive line next season, as the team traded for offensive tackle Trent Brown before watching starting lineman Joe Thuney sign with the Chiefs. Andrews will certainly be relied on to provide veteran leadership and guidance to the offensive line in 2021.
Bears Give DL Akiem Hicks Permission To Seek Trade
After releasing Kyle Fuller earlier tonight, the Bears are now looking to move on from another veteran defender. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune writes that the Bears have given defensive lineman Akiem Hicks permission to seek a trade.
Hicks is entering the final year of a four-year, $48MM extension he signed with Chicago in 2017. The 31-year-old is set to earn $10.MM in 2021, and Biggs writes that the defensive lineman would want a “substantial raise” if he’s to be traded. Biggs also notes that the requested extension is “unlikely” to materialize.
Hicks spent the first three-plus seasons of his career with the Saints before getting traded to the Patriots in 2015. He joined the Bears on a two-year deal the following offseason, and he quickly established himself as a starter on Chicago’s defensive line. Hicks compiled 23 sacks for the Bears between the 2016 and 2018 seasons, earning a Pro Bowl nod during that latter campaign.
The veteran was limited to only five games in 2019 after suffering an elbow injury, but he managed to start all 15 of his appearances in 2020. He ultimately finished the campaign having collected 49 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and 21 QB hits.
Following the signings of quarterback Andy Dalton and offensive lineman Germain Ifedi (and Allen Robinson‘s decision to opt for the franchise tender), the Bears have been looking for ways to carve out cap space. The team moved on from former All-Pro cornerback Kyle Fuller earlier today.
Dolphins, WR Will Fuller Agree To Terms
Long rumored to be targeting wide receivers in free agency, the Dolphins made a big move Thursday. They are signing former Texans wideout Will Fuller, Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com report (on Twitter).
Fuller agreed to a one-year deal to join the Dolphins, and Rapoport tweets that pact will include more than $10MM. Incentives are present in the deal as well, Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com tweets. While Fuller’s PED suspension will prevent him from playing in Week 1 next season, he represents an upgrade for a Dolphins team that did not have much in the way of receiver depth in 2020.
Although the former first-round pick battled injuries from 2016-19, never eclipsing the 14-game mark in any of those seasons, Fuller stayed healthy during his contract year. One of the NFL’s premier deep threats, Fuller established new career-high marks — 879 receiving yards, 16.6 yards per catch, eight touchdowns — despite only playing in 11 games.
The Dolphins are believed to be targeting both an outside receiver and a slot threat, but Fuller represents a promising start to the team’s 2021 plans at this position. Deshaun Watson‘s QB rating was noticeably higher with Fuller in the lineup than it was without him, and prior to the Pro Bowl passer requesting a trade, was lobbying for the Texans to re-sign the wideout. The Texans opted not to use their franchise tag on Fuller, who will bet on himself via this one-year deal. With Watson on the Miami radar, this Fuller signing should trip some alarms on the trade front.
Fuller has suffered a broken collarbone, a torn ACL and multiple hamstring injuries as a pro. The ACL tear occurred in 2018, and Fuller’s 2020 would support that he has fully recovered from the severe knee malady. Fuller will join DeVante Parker in Miami, with the Dolphins potentially prepared to add an impact slot player to help Tua Tagovailoa (or Watson) as well.
Kenny Golladay Met With Bears
He didn’t sign in the initial flurry of free agency, but it looks like receiver Kenny Golladay has no shortage of suitors. The former Lion spent Wednesday night meeting with GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy of the Bears, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
It sounds like Golladay staying in the NFC North is now a real possibility. As Schefter notes Golladay will visit the Giants Thursday, and we’ve heard there’s mutual interest between those two sides. The Bengals have also reportedly made Golladay an offer. The receiver market has been by all accounts weak so far, causing many of the big names to still be unsigned. Curtis Samuel got a nice contract from Washington yesterday, but there haven’t been too many other big deals handed out to wideouts yet.
The Bears’ interest is especially notable since they’ve already franchise tagged Allen Robinson. There were rumors earlier this offseason that Robinson could be tagged and traded, so that would seemingly be a possibility if they ink Golladay to a long-term deal. Or Chicago could just be trying to form what would be a truly elite 1-2 duo with Robinson and Golladay together.
It would certainly make life a lot easier for new quarterback signee Andy Dalton. Detroit drafted Golladay in the third-round out of Northern Illinois back in 2017, and he quickly blossomed into a stud.
He had 1,063 yards in 2018, and then 1,190 yards in 2019 to go with a league-leading 11 touchdown catches. Everyone was excited for his 2020 campaign with Matthew Stafford, but unfortunately injuries limited him to only five games.
The Dolphins were also rumored to be interested in his services the week before free agency opened. It’ll be very interesting to see what kind of money he lands, as he’ll definitely be seeking well north of $15MM annually and likely closer to $20MM.
Bills, Mitchell Trubisky Agree To Deal
Mitchell Trubisky found a landing spot, and it will not give him a chance to start in 2021 (barring injury). The former Bears quarterback intends to sign with the Bills, Adam Schefter and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com report (on Twitter). The Bills have announced the signing. It’s a one-year deal worth $2.5MM, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter).
The former No. 2 overall pick will be set to back up Josh Allen in Buffalo. This marks the latest in a slew of bridge- or backup-level quarterback signings this week, and it will end Trubisky’s scrutinized four-year tenure in Chicago. It is a one-year agreement, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.
A Cleveland-area native, Trubisky will return to the shores of Lake Erie in an effort to stabilize his career. While the Bears did advance to the playoffs in two of the maligned passer’s four seasons, Trubisky’s Chicago tenure veered off course quickly. The one-year North Carolina starter showed early in his run he was incapable of playing on the level of fellow 2017 first-round QBs Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. The Bears used Trubisky as a starter for most of his four seasons with the team but have since signed Andy Dalton.
This will put Trubisky ahead of another quarterback who has seen his value drop, with Jake Fromm now having a more difficult path to becoming Allen’s top backup. Once rumored as a first-round pick, the ex-Georgia passer went in the 2020 fifth round. Fromm now projects as Buffalo’s third-stringer again. Previous Bills backup Matt Barkley is a free agent.
The Bears, who traded up for Trubisky four years ago, turned to him as their Week 1 starter again in 2020. But Matt Nagy benched him in Week 3. However, Nagy reinstalled Trubisky as his QB1 after Nick Foles then struggled and suffered an injury. Trubisky helped the Bears beat some sub-.500 opposition down the stretch, but that run was good enough to lift the team to the postseason for the second time in three years. Trubisky, his Nickelodeon MVP award notwithstanding, struggled in a one-sided loss to the Saints. He will attempt to regroup behind Allen in Buffalo.
Mutual Interest Between Giants, Golladay
THURSDAY: Golladay will visit the Giants today, according to veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson (on Twitter). The sides will meet this afternoon, with Anderson noting the summit is expected to take some time. Golladay clashed with the Lions’ Matt Patricia-led coaching staff, per NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo (video link), so it will be interesting to see how ex-Patricia coworker Joe Judge will proceed.
WEDNESDAY: The Giants have one of the top free agents in their sights. They are expected to bring Kenny Golladay in for a visit, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter).
While the Giants were rumored to be Golladay suitors ahead of the franchise tag deadline, Rapoport adds the former Lions standout is also interested in a New York pact.
Golladay’s impending visit reminds of previous NFL eras, when big-ticket free agents would make trips to teams’ facilities before signing. Golladay’s reputation would put him above the current caliber of player who would need to make a visit before seeing a high-end offer, but the four-year Lions wideout saw multiple injuries limit him to just five games last season.
The receiver market has not moved considerably yet, and the players who have made commitments have not received monster offers. Golladay, JuJu Smith-Schuster, T.Y. Hilton and Will Fuller remain unattached. Though street free agents like Emmanuel Sanders and John Brown agreed to terms with teams, as did UFAs Corey Davis, Marvin Jones and A.J. Green, key receiver dominoes have yet to fall. Among wideouts, only Davis has signed for more than $10MM per year thus far this year.
To the surprise of some, the Lions passed on using their franchise tag on Golladay. Given this visit development, perhaps the team was leery about potential compensation for the former third-round pick. The Giants and Dolphins have been the teams linked to Golladay thus far, but not much has emerged on this front this week.
The 6-foot-4 boundary wideout has two 1,000-yard seasons on his resume, and his Pro Bowl year (2019) came when Matthew Stafford missed half the season due to injury. The Giants cut ex-Golladay teammate Golden Tate but still have complementary-type receivers Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton under contract. They also are taking a flier on disappointing Bengals top-10 pick John Ross. If healthy, Golladay would fit as the leader of this corps. But it remains to be seen which other teams will make plays for the 27-year-old target.
Raiders To Sign Kenyan Drake
This one is going to raise some eyebrows. The Raiders are signing running back Kenyan Drake, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
They’re making a significant investment, giving Drake a two-year $11MM pact that can be worth up to $14.5MM. In a follow up tweet, Schefter reports that the $11MM is all guaranteed. Jon Gruden clearly is looking to reinvent his running game this offseason, as most of the offensive line has already been shown the door this month.
The signing, and money they committed, are somewhat surprising given the presence of 2019 first-round pick Josh Jacobs in the backfield. Jacobs had a very promising rookie season but took a step back in 2020 as the O-line struggled in run blocking and he averaged only 3.9 yards per carry. He did still have 12 touchdowns on the ground though.
As for how they’ll complement each other, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets that Gruden views “Drake as a jack-of-all-trades” who will “figure prominently in the passing game.” He also notes that Drake is close with Jacobs, which makes sense considering both went to Alabama, so don’t expect any bad blood in this timeshare.
Drake only had 25 catches for 137 yards in Arizona last year, but he was much more involved in the passing attack his last couple of years in Miami. A third-round pick of the Dolphins back in 2016, Drake showed plenty of promise but clashed with the coaching staff over his role and was eventually traded to Arizona around the 2019 trade deadline.
He caught fire in the second half of that season under Kliff Kingsbury, and expectations were sky-high in 2020. He didn’t quite meet those expectations, averaging a shrug-worthy 4.0 yards per carry and losing playing time to Chase Edmonds at times. He did still rush for 955 yards and 10 touchdowns, and the Raiders will have a very solid one-two punch at running back in 2021. Now they just need an offensive line.
Vikings Sign CB Patrick Peterson
Patrick Peterson is moving on from Arizona. The Vikings have agreed to a one-year, $10MM deal with the decorated cornerback, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (via Twitter).
Now 30 (31 in July), Peterson is one of the most accomplished defenders in Cardinals history and is a member of the Hall of Fame’s All-Decade team for the 2010s. He is not, however, the player he once was. He was hit with a six-game PED suspension to start the 2019 campaign, and after Pro Football Focus graded Peterson fifth among corners in 2018, he slipped to 41st in ’19 and 83rd in ’20. Quarterbacks throwing in Peterson’s direction last season collectively completed passes at a 67% clip — nearly 10 points higher than they did in 2018.
But he did pick off three passes in 2020, to go along with eight passes defensed. He has also been tremendously durable throughout his 10-year career, as the only games he has missed were due to the aforementioned suspension.
He joins a young CB room that had been fronted by a trio of recent early-round picks. Unlike Peterson, 2018 first-rounder Mike Hughes has not been able to stay healthy and has only suited up for 24 of a possible 48 regular season games in his pro career, while 2020 first-rounder Jeff Gladney struggled a bit in his rookie campaign. Cameron Dantzler, a third-round choice last year, played reasonably well as a rookie, but the group definitely needed a veteran influence like Peterson, an eight-time Pro Bowler and three-time First Team All-Pro.
Minnesota did have an offer out to Mackensie Alexander, but the Peterson signing could foreclose the possibility of an Alexander-Vikings reunion.
Raiders Trade OL Gabe Jackson To Seahawks
Gabe Jackson‘s stint with the Raiders has come to an end. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that the Raiders are trading the offensive lineman to the Seahawks for a 2021 draft pick. NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets that the Raiders will receive a fifth-round pick.
It seemed inevitable that Jackson was on his way out of Vegas; we’ve heard for several months that the team was planning to cut the offensive guard. However, we learned earlier today that the Raiders were still shopping the veteran, and it sounded like the organization had a handful of potential trade partners.
Jackson has two years left on the five-year, $56MM extension he signed with the Raiders in 2017. A third-round pick in 2014, Jackson has spent all seven of his pro seasons with the Raiders. He’s been a full-time starter since his rookie year, and has only missed more than three games once, in 2019 when he missed five.
Jackson has always been a solid but not spectacular starter, but Jon Gruden felt he could no longer justify the double digit million AAV of his contract. They shopped him around this time last year, but nothing got done and he started all 16 games for Gruden in 2020.
The Raiders offensive line has already seen a bit of turnover this offseason. The team ended up trading center Rodney Hudson earlier this week, a move that reportedly “freaked out” Raiders target Kyle Long (who ended up signing with the Chiefs).
The Seahawks had been in the market for some offensive line help this offseason, although they struck out on a pair of targets in Kevin Zeitler and Joe Thuney. This trade leaves Seattle with only three picks in this year’s draft.
Washington To Sign WR Curtis Samuel
Curtis Samuel has found his new home. The free agent wideout and former Panther is signing with Washington, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter was first to report (via Twitter). Samuel received a three-year deal, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), and Joseph Person of The Athletic tweets that Samuel can earn up to $35.25MM, with $24.5MM guaranteed.
Washington has been mentioned as a potential landing spot for Samuel throughout the offseason. After all, WFT head coach and former Panthers HC Ron Rivera has shown a propensity for recruiting players from his old team, and Rapoport notes that Rivera actually tried to trade for Samuel last season (Twitter link). Washington struggled to find a second receiver to pair with top wideout Terry McLaurin in 2020, but now, the offense will feature two of the most dynamic receivers in the NFL, both of whom were members of Ohio State’s 2014 recruiting class.
Samuel, a 2017 second-round pick, has progressively improved his numbers during each of his four NFL seasons. That culminated in a 2020 campaign where he finished with a career-high 1,051 yards from scrimmage to go along with five touchdowns. Samuel also garnered a career-high 41 rushing attempts, showcasing his ability to serve as a Swiss Army Knife-type weapon.
WFT is still on the lookout for a long-term answer at quarterback — the agelessness of new signee Ryan Fitzpatrick notwithstanding — but the club is quietly assembling a strong foundation of skill-position talent. McLaurin, Samuel, and recent draftees Kelvin Harmon and Antonio Gandy-Golden give Washington an intriguing young WR group, while 2020 third-round running back Antonio Gibson demonstrated plenty of promise in his rookie campaign.
The Panthers, meanwhile, have spent the early days of free agency fortifying their offensive and defensive fronts. Carolina remains in hot pursuit of Deshaun Watson, and even with Samuel no longer in the mix, the team still has a fair amount of skill position talent with the likes of Christian McCaffrey, D.J. Moore, and Robby Anderson.
Rory Parks contributed to this post.