Dolphins To Sign CB Byron Jones
Just moments after James Bradberry agreed to sign with the Giants, another top cornerback has been taken off the market. Byron Jones has inked a deal with the Dolphins, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter). It’s a five-year, $82.5 million deal, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). The deal includes $57MM guaranteed and $40MM through the first two seasons.
The contract will make Jones the highest-paid player at his position, with the deal paying him $16.5MM annually. We heard last week that the market for the cornerback was expected to “start” at $16-17MM per year. Jones new teammate, Xavien Howard, previously led all cornerbacks with a $15.05MM annual salary.
ESPN’s Josina Anderson tweets that the Dolphins were willing to give Jones more guaranteed money than rival suitors, while Rapoport notes that the Raiders made a competitive offer to the defensive back (via Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area). Further, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo tweets that both Miami and Vegas offered “huge money in tax-free states,” but Miami’s structure of up-front money appealed to Jones.
A number of teams, including the Raiders, Broncos, Lions, Eagles, Giants, and Jets, had been connected to Jones at some point during the offseason. The Cowboys had expressed some optimism in retaining the Pro Bowler. However, the Cowboys had some bigger fish to fry with both Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper, and it’s uncertain if they could afford Jones’ new pact, anyway.
Jones, 27, played safety during his first three years in Dallas but switched to corner in 2018, promptly earning Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors. In 2019, Jones started 14 games for the Cowboys, and ranked 14th in both Pro Football Focus‘ CB grades and Football Outsiders‘ success rate metric.
49ers Trade DeForest Buckner To Colts
The 49ers have agreed to trade All-Pro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the Colts, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. In this stunner of a deal, the Colts will send their first-round pick (No. 13 overall) to San Francisco and sign Buckner to a newly-minted monster contract. 
Buckner’s new pact will pay him $21MM per year and make him the second-highest paid DT in league history. Now, only Aaron Donald ranks higher on the all-time list at the position.
The deal leaves the Niners with a major hole to fill on their world-class defensive front. The deal also gives them additional draft artillery. The 49ers now own two first-round picks (Nos. 13 and 31 overall), which they could quickly parlay into a larger stockpile. As of this writing, they have no picks in Rounds 2, 3, or 4. One of those first-rounders will now likely be traded for better depth in April, Schefter tweets.
Just hours ago, the 49ers struck a deal to keep defensive lineman Arik Armstead in the fold for the long-haul. His five-year deal, potentially worth $85MM, seemed to signal that the Niners would be keeping the band together. Instead, it was one half of a difficult choice the 49ers felt they had to make. With the trade, the Niners will be able to apply their limited cash to other areas and replenish with younger talent in the draft.
The former No. 7 overall pick was exceptional in 2019 and was awarded an All-Pro selection for his performance. The Oregon product tallied 62 tackles, nine for a loss, and 7.5 sacks last year as the 49ers rumbled their way to the Super Bowl. With 28.5 career sacks, he has a proven track record of getting to the quarterback and changing the complexion of any game.
The Colts, meanwhile, entered the offseason with adding pass-rush help high on their to-do list. They were particularly soft on the interior; so the upgrade that Buckner provides cannot be understated.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, things seem to be heating up with Philip Rivers. The Colts just might start free agency with the acquisition of two superstars to address their two biggest areas of need.
Buccaneers To Re-Sign Jason Pierre-Paul
Jason Pierre-Paul will be back for another tour of duty in Tampa. The Buccaneers and the veteran pass rusher agreed to terms on a two-year deal, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
While JPP’s status in Tampa became murky after his scary car accident, and the subsequent restructure of his deal that made him a 2020 free agent, the sides agreed on a two-year, $27MM pact. This comes hours after the Bucs made the expected move to keep Shaquil Barrett around via the franchise tag.
The Bucs traded for Pierre-Paul during the 2018 offseason and saw him deliver 12.5 sacks — his most since his dominant 2011 campaign — that season. Even after sustaining a severe neck injury in the 2019 car accident, JPP returned and registered 8.5 sacks in 10 games.
Although Pierre-Paul will be going into his 11th season, he just turned 31. Bruce Arians indicated earlier this offseason he wanted to retain Barrett, JPP and Ndamukong Suh. The Bucs are two-thirds of the way there. And they remain in the Tom Brady sweepstakes. Big day in Tampa.
Seahawks, Vikings Interested In Stefon Diggs Trade?
Rumored off-and-on as a trade candidate, Stefon Diggs has emerged on this front again. The Seahawks are interested, with Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times tweeting interest has emerged on both sides in a potential Diggs deal. Diggs himself added a lot of fuel to the fire shortly after this report emerged, cryptically tweeting “it’s time for a new beginning.”
Diggs dissatisfaction with his role on Minnesota’s offense led to 2019 trade rumors, but the Vikings squashed that and depended on their well-paid wideout the rest of the season. Adam Thielen‘s injury thrust Diggs to the top of the Vikings’ aerial pecking order. But the Vikings have two receivers making $14MM-plus annually, with Diggs at $14.4MM per year and Thielen now north of $16MM on average.
Reports of drama with Diggs percolated throughout 2019. The wide receiver wasn’t happy with his role early on in the season and even after he eased up on some of his comments, many still believed that he wanted out. The Vikings, meanwhile, said they’d smooth things out. Right now, it looks like he could be on his way to another NFC contender.
Diggs, on the verge of his age-27 season, is signed through 2023 thanks to his five-year, $72MM extension. Last year, he caught 63 passes for 1,130 yards and six touchdowns. He was targeted just 94 times – down from his 149 targets in 2018 – but he was more efficient than ever as he averaged 17.9 yards per catch.
Ravens Trade TE Hayden Hurst To Falcons
The Falcons’ tight ends room might be the busiest place in the NFL on an already wild day. After letting Austin Hooper walk and releasing Luke Stocker, the team is now making a splash trade. The Ravens have shipped tight end Hayden Hurst to Atlanta, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Baltimore is getting back an impressive haul, as they’re receiving second and fifth round picks in the 2020 draft while sending back a fourth-round selection to Atlanta. The Ravens drafted Hurst in the first-round in 2018, but he immediately took a backseat behind Mark Andrews, who Baltimore took in the third round of that same draft. Hurst missed the first handful of weeks of his rookie season after suffering a stress fracture in his foot, and he said the injury nagged him the whole year.
He ended up catching only 13 passes for 163 yards that year. While he took a step forward this past season with 30 receptions for 349 yards and two touchdowns, he was still expendable as Andrews emerged into one of the top tight ends in the league. There was a report a couple of weeks ago that while teams were calling the Ravens weren’t necessarily inclined to trade the South Carolina product, so clearly they were blown away by the offer.
As for the Falcons, they’ve now got their guy to replace Hooper. A second-round pick is a hefty price to give up for a player who hasn’t topped 350 yards in two years, but Hurst has shown plenty of flashes and had the misfortune of getting stuck behind Andrews. Hurst is already 26 though thanks to a couple of years spent playing minor league baseball after high school, and he’s actually more than a year older than Hooper is.
Atlanta will definitely be questioned for the decision to let Hooper walk and then give up this pick for a less-proven and older player, but Hooper landed a massive deal they weren’t willing to match and they had to do something to address the position.
Dolphins To Sign Shaq Lawson
The Dolphins’ interest in Shaq Lawson looks like it will lead to a deal early on Day 1 of the tampering period. The former first-round edge defender is expected to sign with the Dolphins, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
A Bills 2016 draft choice, Lawson recorded a career-high 6.5 sacks last season. He will become the fourth first-round pick currently on the Dolphins’ defensive line. It’s a three-year deal worth $30MM, Rapoport adds (via Twitter). The deal also includes $21MM fully guaranteed at signing and, through incentives, can reach as much as $36MM, Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com tweets.
Miami entered Monday with $80MM-plus in cap space — most in the league — and a roster needy at most areas. The Dolphins surprised the NFL-following world by winning five games last season but are still deficient in many areas, one being in the pass-rushing department. Miami featured one player — waiver claim Taco Charlton — record more than four sacks in 2019.
Lawson loomed as a Bills trade candidate for a while, but Buffalo held onto the Clemson product. He will join Christian Wilkins, also an ex-Clemson defensive lineman, Charlton and Charles Harris as first-round picks on Miami’s D-line.
Texans To Trade DeAndre Hopkins To Cardinals
Minutes after their David Johnson trade surfaced, the Texans and Cardinals will top that deal. The Texans have agreed to send All-Pro wideout DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
Hopkins will be included in the Johnson trade, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The seven-year veteran now becomes the centerpiece of said trade. Not only are the Texans taking all of Johnson’s contract, but it appears they are dealing Hopkins without getting a first-round pick back.
Interestingly, this deal thus far does not include any first-round picks. The Texans will trade Hopkins and a fourth-round pick for Johnson, a 2020 second-rounder and a 2021 fourth-rounder, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports (via Twitter).
This marks one of the biggest skill-position trades in recent memory, and the Cardinals will now have a Hopkins-Larry Fitzgerald–Christian Kirk receiver trio. A rumor surfaced earlier Monday about Hopkins being available, and SI.com’s Albert Breer adds (on Twitter) that the dominant receiver came up in trade rumors in August and October. Bill O’Brien took over personnel duties last May.
Hopkins, who will turn 28 this summer, has been a first-team All-Pro in each of the past three seasons. He’s made four of the past five Pro Bowls. One of the top contested-catch players in modern NFL history, the former first-round pick will now be tasked with helping the Kyler Murray-centered Arizona offense take steps forward. Cardinals GM Steve Keim interestingly got off the Johnson contract and acquired Hopkins without having to give up a first-round pick. The Cardinals hold this year’s No. 8 overall pick. The second-rounder they are giving up is the No. 40 overall selection.
Hopkins signed a five-year, $81MM extension in 2017. Three seasons remain on that deal. While it is certainly possible the Cardinals will redo his contract, as the Raiders did upon acquiring Antonio Brown last March, Hopkins is set to make just $12.5MM in 2020 base salary.
This marks an unusual move for the Texans, who have used Hopkins as their offensive centerpiece since Andre Johnson vacated that role several years ago. Hopkins has five 1,100-yard seasons since 2014, the last year he and Johnson were on the same team, and has 54 career touchdowns. His 504 receptions, 6,590 yards and 46 TDs each rank second in the league over the past five years (h/t Field Yates of ESPN.com). Both Kenny Stills and Will Fuller are under contract for 2020, but neither is signed beyond next season.
The Texans have been active traders since O’Brien took over as de facto GM (and now actual GM). They dealt two first-round picks and a second for Laremy Tunsil and unloaded third-rounders for Duke Johnson and Gareon Conley. This Hopkins-Johnson deal will give the Texans a second-rounder back, but the team obviously is not as strong offensively after making the move.
49ers, Arik Armstead Agree To Deal
The 49ers are taking care of a major piece of offseason business. The defending NFC champions agreed to terms with Arik Armstead on a five-year extension, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). 
News emerged earlier on Monday the sides were closing in on a deal, and after the 49ers did not use their franchise tag on Armstead, they finalized an extension. Armstead will receive up to $85MM on this five-year contract, per Rapoport.
Many labeled Armstead as a bust early on, but he silenced critics with his performance in 2019. Pro Football Focus pegged the former first-rounder as the sixth-best edge defender out of 107 qualified players in the category. Meanwhile, Jadeveon Clowney ranked 20th, Shaquil Barrett ranked 25th, and Yannick Ngakoue ranked 36th. Barrett led the league with 19.5 sacks while Armstead recorded “just” ten sacks, but he had more quarterback hurries, which is perhaps a better indicator of sacks to come.
Some may say that Armstead is something of a one-hit wonder, dismissing his 2019 season as a well-timed burst before free agency. However, the talent has been there all along, and the Niners are confident that he’ll continue to build on that performance. It’s worth noting that Armstead has generated a hurry on over 9.2% of his pass-rush snaps over his career – none of the aforementioned players have topped 7.8%.
Along with Nick Bosa and Dee Ford, Armstead has helped to turn one of the Niners’ biggest weaknesses into the team’s greatest strength. With a new deal, SF will aim to keep that momentum going.
Cardinals Trade David Johnson To Texans
The Cardinals and Texans have agreed to a trade that will send David Johnson to Houston, sources tell ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). The deal, in effect, amounts to a salary dump for Arizona. The Texans will take on his entire salary, Schefter adds (on Twitter).
Exact terms of the exchange are not yet known, but the Texans probably didn’t give up much to facilitate the deal.
The Cardinals said that releasing Johnson was “not an option” this year. Due $13MM/year on his monster deal, and releasing him would have saddled the team with a $16.2MM dead money hit. Instead, they’ve escaped some of that obligation with the trade.
Johnson’s was once one of the league’s very best running backs. But, thanks to ankle and back injuries, he’s been a shell of his former self. Last year, the Cardinals limited his carries and pushed him further down the pecking order by trading for Kenyan Drake in the middle of the season. Drake, meanwhile, will remain tied to the club thanks to the transition tag.
Last year, Johnson missed time and averaged just 3.7 yards on 94 totes. His last big year came in 2016, when he earned Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro nods as he ran for 1,239 yards. Before that, he put his name on the map as a rookie by averaging 4.6 yards per carry.
This won’t be the only blockbuster move made by the Texans this week. Shockingly, we heard earlier today that the Texans could even entertain trade offers for DeAndre Hopkins.
Browns To Sign Austin Hooper
The Browns have reached agreement with Austin Hooper, as NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. The deal will make Hooper the league’s highest paid tight end of all time. Hooper has also personally confirmed that the Browns are likely to land him (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). 
“I’m definitely leaning Cleveland. Unless something comes up unexpected, then no question Cleveland is the leader,” Hooper said.
Once finalized, the deal will pay Hooper $42MM over four years, as Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com tweets. The pact includes $18.5MM fully guaranteed at signing with $23MM locked in through the first two years. The average annual value of $10.5MM makes Hooper the league’s best compensated TE in NFL history, putting him ahead of Jimmy Graham. Graham, before he was cut, was on a deal that paid him $10MM per annum.
Hooper has drawn interest from just about everyone in recent weeks and, unlike the incumbent Falcons, they had enough available cap room to swing a deal. The deal, for now, is a (teleconferenced) handshake. On Wednesday, the two sides can make things official when the 2020 league year officially begins.
In 13 games for Atlanta in 2019, the two-time Pro Bowler set career-highs in catches (75), receiving yards (787), and touchdowns (six). In Cleveland, Hooper would provide Baker Mayfield with yet another explosive offensive weapon. Last year, despite all of their immense talent, the Browns were unable to capitalize.
This year, things could be different under their new regime, and their aerial attack could be more dangerous than ever. Meanwhile, the Browns will keep their fingers crossed for the swift and full recoveries of Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry, both of whom are coming off of surgery. If they’re good to go, opposing defenses will have their hands full with Hooper, OBJ, Landry, and David Njoku, who would likely line up in two tight end sets with the team’s new high-priced addition.