Chiefs Release Justin Houston
The Chiefs have released edge rusher Justin Houston, the club announced today.
“Over the last eight seasons we’ve had the ability to watch Justin grow into a leader on and off the playing field,” Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said. “His passion helped him become one the most successful pass rushers in franchise history. We appreciate his contributions to our team and community and he’ll always be considered a part of the Chiefs family.”
Kansas City had been attempting to trade Houston, but no club was willing to take on his $15.25MM base salary. By cutting Houston, the Chiefs will $7.1MM in dead money, but will also create $14MM in cap space. That latter figure is critical for Kansas City, as the team had less than $10MM in cap space before moving from Houston.
In addition to trying to move Houston, the Chiefs are also rumored to have put fellow pass rusher Dee Ford on the trade block. Ford was designated as Kansas City’s franchise player and will earn north of $17MM in 2019, and the Chiefs are reportedly searching for a second-round pick in exchange. However, it’s possible Kansas City will be more amenable to retaining Ford now that Houston is out of the picture.
Houston led the NFL with 22 sacks in 2015, but injuries have since taken a toll on his availability. Now entering his age-30 campaign, Houston can still be an effective player, as evidenced by his 18.5 sacks over the past two seasons. Pro Football Focus graded him as the NFL’s 14th-best edge defender last year, and he should have a solid market given that most of this offseason’s best pass-rushers were taken off the market via the franchise tag.
Raiders To Trade Kelechi Osemele To Jets
The Raiders have reached an agreement to trade guard Kelechi Osemele to the Jets, according to Adam Schefter and Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Oakland will receive a 2019 fifth-round pick (No. 140), while New York will acquire Osemele and a 2019 sixth-round pick (No. 196), tweets Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune.
Oakland, of course, acquired superstar wideout Antonio Brown from the Steelers late last night, just months after dealing away their own stars in edge rusher Khalil Mack and receiver Amari Cooper. Now, the club is dealing away arguably its best offensive lineman, so it’s unclear if the Raiders view themselves as contenders or are instead continuing with their rebuild.
Osemele, 29, inked a five-year, $58.5MM deal with Oakland in 2016 after spending the first four years of his career in Baltimore. After missing only one game during his first two years in the Bay Area, Osemele was sidelined by a knee injury for five contests in 2018. It’s fair to wonder if that knee issue bothered Osemele all season, as he finished with the worst Pro Football Focus grade of his career last season.
The Raiders will clear $10.5MM in both cash and cap off their books by moving Osemele, while the Jets will take on the same amount. Both clubs will remain among the top-seven teams in available cap space heading into the new league year on Wednesday. Osemele is under contract through the 2020 season, and will carry an $11.7MM cap charge next year.
The Jets’ fielded one of the NFL’s worst offensive lines last season, and had pursued Osemele when he was a free agent in 2016, so the marriage makes sense on paper. In 2019, New York ranked dead last in adjusted line yards, Football Outsiders’ offensive line metric, and also ranked 32nd in adjusted line yards when running behind the center/guard. James Carpenter, the Jets’ left guard starter entering last season, missed the second half of the year with injury and is now a free agent, leaving a gap that Osemele will now fill.
Steelers To Trade Antonio Brown To Raiders
Hallelujah, the great storm is over. The Steelers have agreed to trade Antonio Brown to the Raiders in exchange for a third- and fifth-round pick in this year’s draft, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links). The news has since been confirmed by other major outlets, but Brown himself was (fittingly) the first to break the story, having posted a Photoshopped picture of himself in a Raiders uniform and a picture of himself and Oakland QB Derek Carr at the Pro Bowl (via Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area on Twitter).
RapSheet also tweets that Brown will get a new deal from the Raiders, which does not add any more time onto the three years he had remaining on his contract with the Steelers, but does make him the highest-paid receiver in the game from an AAV standpoint. Brown’s new pact with Oakland will pay him $50.125MM over the next three seasons, plus $4MM in incentives, for an AAV of $19.8MM. Plus, Brown gets $30.125MM in guarantees, and his contract with Pittsburgh had no guaranteed money left.
New Raiders GM Mike Mayock appears to have come out quite well in his first trade as the (figure)head of the Oakland front office, and the Steelers’ return has been universally panned. But as Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette observes (via Twitter), and as we have expected for some time, Brown’s erratic behavior and demand for a new contract torpedoed the Steelers’ bargaining position. Also, the fact that Pittsburgh was willing to accept such a low return suggests that the club was never going to bring Brown back and that it was more concerned about ridding itself of Brown’s antics, as Dulac tweets.
The Raiders played the long game, per Jerry McDonald of the Bay Area News Group (via Twitter). The Raiders have long coveted Brown but believed they were out of the running for him as of Wednesday. However, they did not get desperate and try to up their offer, and in the end they got their man for their price. And the fact that they did not have to add any years onto Brown’s deal to convince him to sign off on the trade makes it even more of a coup.
So the Raiders get a dynamic wideout to assist in their rebuild and their transition to Las Vegas in 2020, but what about the Steelers? The trade adds some legitimacy to the speculation that the team is trying to appease quarterback Ben Roethlisberger at all costs — perhaps to stop him from retiring — and that the relationship between Brown and Big Ben had become truly untenable. Of course, the club has an excellent track record of finding top-tier receiver talent all over the draft, and they now add a second third-round choice to their 2019 draft capital along with a fifth-rounder to replace the one they sent to Oakland last season to acquire Ryan Switzer.
However, the trade is devastating from a salary cap perspective. As ESPN’s Field Yates tweets, Brown will now count for more against the Steelers’ cap in 2019 ($21.12MM) than any other WR will count for his own team. It is a tough pill to swallow, but as with every transaction of this magnitude, the passage of time may ultimately change everyone’s perspective.
Chiefs Sign RB Carlos Hyde
Carlos Hyde‘s Saturday visit to Kansas City will land him a deal. One of the Jaguars’ Friday cap casualties, the running back will sign with the three-time defending AFC West champions, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The Chiefs announced the move.
It’s a one-year deal for Hyde, who will be on his third AFC team in the past six months. The 28-year-old back’s contract is worth $2.8MM, Terez Paylor of Yahoo.com tweets.
Despite the Chiefs having accomplished far more than Hyde’s previous teams, he will have a better chance of earning a starting job in Kansas City.
The Browns traded Hyde last season to allow for Nick Chubb to commandeer their top backfield role, and the Jaguars have Leonard Fournette in tow. The Chiefs cut Kareem Hunt midway through last season, and previous third-stringer Damien Williams ended up as the No. 1-seeded team’s top running back in the playoffs.
Williams signed a two-year, $5.1MM extension and will play on a $1.7MM cap number in 2019. The Chiefs may well end up drafting another back, but a Williams-Hyde partnership may be the 2019 team’s primary tandem. Kansas City, of course, has plenty of defensive needs it may want to address in the draft. It appears the Justin Houston–Dee Ford pairing will break up, creating an immediate need that didn’t exist entering last year’s draft.
This does double as a fairly steep downgrade for Hyde, who signed a three-year, $15MM contract with the Browns last year. However, he may be a bargain for Chiefs. Hyde is relatively fresh for a running back entering his age-29 season.
Since being a 49ers second-round pick in 2014, he has only taken 827 handoffs. Injuries posed a problem earlier in Hyde’s career, but he was a 16-game San Francisco starter in 2017 and suited up for 14 contests last year. Hyde, however, averaged just 3.3 yards per carry with the Browns and Jags in 2018. His 2017 season featured a 3.9 yards-per-carry figure. Although Hyde was barely used as a receiver last season (10 catches, 33 yards), he totaled 59 receptions and 350 yards for the ’17 49ers, adding a potential auxiliary weapon to a Chiefs offense that likes to involve its backs as outlet options.
Rams Sign Eric Weddle
A fast-moving Friday will include Eric Weddle landing with a third NFL team. The veteran safety will sign with the Rams, according to The Athletic’s Jeff Zreibec (on Twitter).
With a “Fear the beard” tweet, the Rams appeared to confirm this transaction.
Weddle will join the defending NFC champions, who may now be set to let Lamarcus Joyner walk as a free agent. This is a two-year pact worth $10.5MM and one that could be worth up to $12.5MM, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). He will receive $5.25MM fully guaranteed, per RapSheet (on Twitter).
Weddle had a visit scheduled with the Rams and received 11 offers since the Ravens released him earlier this week, and Albert Breer of SI.com tweets Weddle was at the Rams’ facility on Friday. The 34-year-old safety will be the latest addition to a star-studded roster, albeit one that could take some hits in free agency. Joiner is a free agent after playing 2018 on the franchise tag.
A three-time Pro Bowler with the Ravens and a player with six Pro Bowls on his 12-season resume, Weddle will join John Johnson on Los Angeles’ back line. The longtime San Diego Charger is back in southern California. The Panthers and Giants were two of the teams interested in Weddle, according to Joe Person of The Athletic and Matt Lombardo of NJ.com (Twitter links).
The two-time first-team All-Pro initially said he would retire if the Ravens released him but later backtracked on that. Weddle worked against the Rams in scrimmages last summer and will now attempt to be an integral figure on another defense.
Chargers, Denzel Perryman Agree To Deal
Despite Denzel Perryman‘s injury trouble over the past two seasons, the Chargers plan to give him another chance. They are re-signing the inside linebacker to a two-year contract, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
A former second-round pick, Perryman has had stretches of quality play but has also been known for the time he’s missed. The Bolts’ top middle linebacker has been unavailable for 22 games during his career, 32 of which coming in the past two seasons.
But when he was healthy in 2018, Perryman was productive. Pro Football Focus graded the second-level defender as its No. 32 linebacker. The Chargers had to get creative at linebacker in the playoffs, using defensive backs in that role against the Ravens and Patriots. The strategy had mixed results, but the Bolts are hoping Perryman’s return can help stabilize the unit.
Following the New England defeat, Tom Telesco said he would make a point to address the team’s linebacker situation this offseason.
Perryman started 11 games during the 2016 season but underwent ankle surgery during the 2017 offseason before suffering a hamstring injury after returning late that season. Perryman’s 2018 campaign ended early because of an LCL injury. He will return to a promising Chargers team, albeit one that has experienced persistent injury trouble on both sides of the ball in recent years.
Eagles To Trade Michael Bennett To Patriots
The Eagles are trading defensive end Michael Bennett to the Patriots, according to Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (on Twitter). Philadelphia will acquire a 2020 fifth-round pick while New England will receive Bennett and a 2020 seventh-rounder, tweets McLane.
Philadelphia acquired Bennett for a fifth-round pick last year. The Pats attempted to land Bennett from the Seahawks last year; they will make the move a year later, in advance of the versatile defensive lineman’s age-34 season.
Lately, we’ve heard that the Eagles were planning to trade or release Bennett to improve their cap situation. Usually, when a talented player is involved, teams will ask that player to accept a pay cut. On Friday morning, Bennett went on national television to explain that he would not entertain such an offer. In fact, he made it known that he is expecting a raise from his $7.2MM salary for 2019.
It’s not immediately clear whether the Patriots will accommodate his request. Given their track record, it seems unlikely.
In any event, the Patriots have successfully safeguarded themselves against the potential loss of Trey Flowers. Flowers projects as one of the most highly-coveted free agents when the market opens up on Thursday and the Pats are not expected to outbid the competition.
In Bennett, the Patriots acquired a skilled sack artist, albeit one who is several years older than Flowers. Last year, Bennett amassed nine sacks for Philly, giving him his highest total since 2015. The three-time Pro Bowler has 63 career sacks to his name across nine NFL seasons.
Jaguars Release Tashaun Gipson
It’s a bloodbath in Jacksonville. On Friday, the Jaguars released safety Tashaun Gipson, according to ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano (Twitter link). 
[RELATED: Jaguars Release Malik Jackson]
Word of Gipson’s release comes moments after the club dropped defensive tackle Malik Jackson and running back Carlos Hyde. Between the three transactions, the Jags have saved a total of $23.2MM in salary cap space for the coming year.
Heading into Friday, the Jaguars had less than $3MM in breathing room, so the trio of cuts will make a world of difference for the Jags. By the same token, the Jaguars will have to find someone to replace Gipson – a reliable starter – in the secondary.
Gipson was due upwards of $8MM in 2019 but teams still called on him prior to his release, so he figures to find a healthy market in the coming days. The 28-year-old (29 in August) started in every possible game for the Jaguars since joining the squad in 2016. In 2018, he racked up 54 tackles, one interception, and seven passes defensed playing primarily at free safety. For Gipson’s efforts last year, Pro Football Focus ranked him as the No. 37 safety in the NFL, placing him ahead of notables like T.J. McDonald, Landon Collins, and Duron Harmon.
Lions Release T.J. Lang
On Friday, the Lions announced the release of guard T.J. Lang. The move will save the Lions $8.84MM against the cap and leave them with $2.67MM in dead money. By releasing him before March 16, they’ve also avoided having to pay him a $500K roster bonus. 
“We would like to personally thank T.J. Lang for his two seasons with the Lions. He represented everything you could want from a football player and team captain,” Lions GM Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia said in a joint statement. “We all publicly saw him perform on the field at a very high level, but what was seen in the building every day was a player who had great leadership, professionalism and passion for the game of football. It meant a lot for T.J. to play in his home city and we have the utmost respect for him as a man. We wish T.J. and his family all the best in the future.”
Indeed, Lang is regarded as one of the nicer guys in the NFL. He was also a heck of a lineman during his best years.
Lang spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Packers and started in all of his games from 2011-2016. He earned a Pro Bowl nod in his final year with the club and did the same in Year One with the Lions after signing a three-year, $28.5MM deal with the club. Unfortunately, a neck injury landed him on IR in November of 2018 and his football future remains murky.
Jaguars To Release Carlos Hyde
The Jaguars showed Malik Jackson the door, and Carlos Hyde will follow him out. The running back will be released by the Jaguars on Friday, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). 
The Jaguars tried to trade Jackson and Hyde, but couldn’t find a worthwhile deal. Hyde, who joined the Jaguars in a midseason trade with the Browns, had two years left on his deal but nothing in the way of guarantees. Understandably, clubs passed on trading for Hyde and taking on a $4.7MM cap hold. Hyde will now get an early crack at free agency before the market formally opens on Thursday.
Last year, Hyde ran for 189 yards and zero touchdowns in his eight games (two starts) with Jacksonville. In theory, Hyde could have returned on a lesser deal to help stopgap Leonard Fournette, but the Jags will instead look in another direction. Fournette could be backed up by T.J. Yeldon, but that would require re-signing the impending free agent.
The Jags have opened up significant cap room by dismissing Hyde and Jackson – by our calculation, they’ve gone from having $2.6MM in space to roughly $20MM by virtue of the two cuts.