Texans Pursuing LT Nate Solder
The Texans are making a strong run at left tackle Nate Solder, according to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). The Texans started five different left tackles in 2017, so they are anxious to plug the hole with a capable player like Solder. 
If the Texans are intent on landing Solder, they’ll have to pony up some serious bucks. The veteran ranks fifth on our list of this year’s Top 50 NFL Free Agents.
Solder didn’t have his best season in 2017, but much of that can be attributed to injuries. The incumbent Patriots would like to re-sign him, but the belief is that he’ll garner offers of $12MM/year, which could be too rich for New England’s blood.
The Texans created an opening at left tackle after trading four-time Pro Bowler Duane Brown to the Seahawks last season. That need is compounded by the fact that Chris Clark, who played in 10 games at left tackle last year, starting eight, is set to become an unrestricted free agent. Left guard Xavier Su’a-Filo is also due to become a free agent.
Solder, 29, has consistently rated as an above-average tackle since the Patriots selected him 17th overall in 2011. Pro Football Focus graded him as the No. 32 tackle last season and he was in the top 20 the year prior. Solder has appeared in at least 15 games in six of his first seven seasons in the league and would certainly provide protection to the blindside of Deshaun Watson, who’ll be coming off his ACL injury.
Steelers To Release CB Will Gay
The Steelers plan to release cornerback Will Gay on Wednesday, a source tells ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter). Gay has also confirmed the news via his own Instagram account.
By releasing Gay, the Steelers will save $1.75MM in cap space. The 33-year-old has never missed a game during his eleven years in the league, but the Steelers are opting to spend that money elsewhere rather than retaining the durable veteran. Gay was set to enter the final year of a three-year, $7.5MM deal.
The Steelers don’t have too many key contributors due to become free agents this offseason. But they still need to figure out if they’re going to extend running back Le’Veon Bell, who they placed their franchise tag on for the second straight season. The Steelers return Joe Haden and Artie Burns as their starting cornerbacks, with Keion Adams, Brian Allen, Cameron Sutton and Antonio Crawford on the roster as well.
Gay,33, is set to enter a cornerback free-agent class led by the likes of Trumaine Johnson, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Prince Amukamara, Brent Grimes and Johnathan Joseph, among others. Richard Sherman became the first cornerback to agree to terms this offseason, agreeing to a three-year, $27.15MM deal with the 49ers, with $7MM guaranteed.
Gay was picked in the fifth round by the Steelers back in 2007. Outside of a year with the Cardinals in 2012, he’s spent his entire career in Pittsburgh, including their Super Bowl title run in 2008.
Falcons Place 2nd-Round Tender On Ricardo Allen
The Falcons have placed a second-round tender on restricted free-agent safety Ricardo Allen worth $2.91MM, according to Vaughan McLure of ESPN. McLure notes that the tender doesn’t eliminate the chance of the Falcons still locking up Allen with a multi-year deal.
Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said in February that he believed the team could create the space to strike a multi-year deal with Allen. The 26-year-old made just $615K last year in base salary as an exclusive-rights free agent. He was graded by Pro Football Focus as the No. 31 safety in the league, tied with Tre Boston, Tashaun Gipson and Eric Reid. Allen will have until April 20 to sign an offer sheet with another team. The Falcons also have until June 15 to withdraw the tender.
Allen started 15 games at strong safety last season alongside Keanu Neal. Allen has started at least 14 games the last three seasons after the Falcons took him in the fifth round in 2014. Leon McFadden and Blidi Wreh-Wilson are the only members of the Falcons secondary due to become unrestricted free agents in the offseason. They have Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford locked in as the team’s top cornerbacks after they each signed multi-year extensions last year. The team will also be looking to extend quarterback Matt Ryan, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent after next season.
The Falcons have some precedent in signing a player to a restricted free agent tender and eventually signing them to an extension. They signed right tackle Ryan Schraeder to a second-round tender last March, which was worth $2.55MM. The Falcons ended up signing Schraeder to a five-year, $31.5MM extension in November, with $12.5MM guaranteed.
Chiefs To Release Tamba Hali
The Chiefs are going to follow through with a move expected for a while. They will release Tamba Hali, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
This comes after a season in which Hali did not play much and began it on the PUP list. Hali played in just five games, starting none, and did not record a sack. Kansas City re-signed both Hali and Derrick Johnson in 2016 to three-year, $21MM deals. Both will be gone by the time the franchise reconvenes for OTAs.
A release of the longtime franchise cornerstone will save the Chiefs more than $7MM. It will come with a dead-money hit of $1.7MM, but that is far less than it would have cost the team a year ago.
If Hali is indeed finished with the Chiefs, he will exit as the team’s No. 2 all-time sacker — behind only Derrick Thomas. The former 2006 first-round pick re-signed twice with the Chiefs and earned five straight Pro Bowl invites, from 2011-15, recording 89.5 sacks after his 11th season. Hali finished with three double-digit sack seasons — the last of which coming in 2013. Hali, though, has dealt with injuries for a number of years now and has not been in top form for a while.
The Chiefs still have Justin Houston under contract, and Dee Ford‘s injury guarantee will trigger is fifth-year option.
Broncos Not Expected To Cut C.J. Anderson
Many Broncos were rumored cut or trade candidates due to the team’s potential pursuit of Kirk Cousins, but John Elway confirmed most of them will stay put.
However, he wasn’t as definitive regarding C.J. Anderson or Aqib Talib. While the Broncos recently agreed to trade Talib to the Rams, they are not ready to part ways with their starting running back just yet.
Denver is not expected to release Anderson, James Palmer of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). However, Palmer adds the team may listen to trade offers for the sixth-year running back. The Broncos aren’t exactly stacked in the backfield, but they do have third-year player Devontae Booker and intriguing second-year cog De’Angelo Henderson.
An Anderson release would save the Broncos $4MM, but he enjoyed his first 1,000-yard season in 2017 after tearing a meniscus in 2016. And the Broncos could possibly fetch a return for the 26-year-old back in a trade. Mike Klis of 9News reports (on Twitter) the Broncos will listen to offers for the running back.
The Broncos applied an original-round tender to Anderson in 2016 and saw the Dolphins sign him to a four-year, $18MM offer sheet. The Broncos matched it, and Anderson has become Denver’s longest-tenured starting running back since Terrell Davis.
But the Dolphins, led by former Broncos OC Adam Gase and having recently hired longtime Denver RBs coach Eric Studesville, would be interested in Anderson if available. So, the sides could potentially do business. Miami traded Jay Ajayi last season for a fourth-round pick. Two years remain on the contract the Dolphins originally designed.
Ravens Release Lardarius Webb
For the second straight March, the Ravens made the decision to release their longest-tenured defensive back.
The franchise cut Lardarius Webb again on Monday, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter), and there might not be an immediate path back onto the roster for the nine-year Ravens starter.
Webb was used mostly off the bench last season, but he’s made 85 starts with Baltimore and suited up for 127 regular-season games. The Ravens, who are up against the cap, will save $1.75MM by making this move.
The Ravens brought Webb back last year at a reduced rate but may not do the same for what will be the defender’s age-33 season.
He saw action in six playoff games, starting four, for the franchise. Although, an injury prevented him from suiting up during the Ravens’ four 2012 playoff contests. However, in Baltimore’s near-Super Bowl run during 2011, Webb intercepted eight passes (five in the regular season, three in those playoffs).
Ravens Re-Sign OL James Hurst
The Ravens and James Hurst have agreed to a four-year deal to keep the offensive lineman in Baltimore, according to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley. Hurst’s deal will be worth $17MM in total and he’ll receive $8MM guaranteed, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (on Twitter) opines that the money in Hurst’s deal signals that the Ravens plan on transitioning him into a starting role. He also speculates as to what the deal could mean for right tackle Austin Howard, who the Ravens signed to a three-year deal last offseason and started all 16 games this past year.
Hurst, 26, has served in mostly a backup role during his first four seasons with the Ravens but started all 16 games last season at left guard due to injuries on the team’s line. Zrebiec wonders whether the team will opt to keep Hurst at left tackle and shift former fourth-round pick Alex Lewis, who missed all of his sophomore season due to a shoulder injury, to right tackle rather than starting Howard.
The Ravens signed Hurst as an undrafted free agent in 2014 out of North Carolina. They’re set with Ronnie Stanley at left tackle and Marshal Yanda at right guard but have several other question marks remaining in regards to how their line will shake out.
Hurst, Lewis and Howard are all under contract but center Ryan Jensen and backup Luke Bowanko are both due to hit unrestricted free agency this offseason. The Ravens also have Nico Siragusa back at guard after taking him in the fourth round last year and missing the entire season with a torn ACL.
Chiefs To Release Ron Parker
The Chiefs are officially cutting Ron Parker on Monday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (Twitter link). This news was expected and won’t cost the franchise too much in dead money.
Kansas City turned to Parker as a four-season starter at safety, with the second, third and fourth seasons coming on a second Chiefs contract the defensive back signed in March of 2015. Parker has been one of the most durable players at his position since becoming a perennial K.C. starter, suiting up for 64 of the past 65 games — all starts for a near-annual playoff entrant.
Parker will tag the Chiefs with a $2MM dead-money charge, but the franchise will save $5MM after this move.
Initially taking over as a first-string safety after Eric Berry was diagnosed with cancer in 2014, Parker signed a five-year, $30MM deal and was Berry’s running mate on three Chiefs playoff teams over the past three years. The 30-year-old former UDFA notched 40 pass breakups and intercepted nine passes as a Chief, with the team often using the former cornerback’s skills as a slot corner to help its defense.
However, Parker’s 2017 play was not on par with his usual work. And the retooling defense will move on after five seasons.
Broncos Place Second-Round RFA Tender On Matt Paradis
Although the Broncos have regressed since their Super Bowl season, Matt Paradis has become one of the franchise’s best players over the past two seasons. And the Broncos are treating the restricted free agent center as such.
Denver plans to place a second-round tender on its three-year center starter, James Palmer of NFL.com tweets. A second-round tender will cost the Broncos $2.914MM after Paradis represented merely a $615K cap hit for Denver last year.
Since earning the center job at the outset of Denver’s 2015 Super Bowl campaign, the former sixth-round pick has not missed a snap. Paradis managed to accomplish this despite playing in 2016 on two hips that eventually needed surgery. Despite undergoing procedures on both during the 2017 offseason, he was back in action in Week 1 and anchored the ’17 Broncos’ line.
The 28-year-old snapper profiles as an extension candidate for the Broncos, who have not enjoyed much non-Paradis continuity on their line over the past three years. Paradis is one season from UFA status, joining key re-up possibility Bradley Roby in that regard.
The Broncos also have to make a tender call on outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett, who joins Paradis in profiling as a top-tier RFA this offseason.
Rams To Release Tavon Austin
Tavon Austin‘s two-year Rams extension did not end up working out to the franchise’s liking, and less than two years after authorizing it, the Rams are moving on from the wideout.
The Rams plan to release Austin, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports (on Twitter).
While the Ravens would seem like a logical landing spot, given their pursuit of now-Browns wideout Jarvis Landry and the fact Austin is from Baltimore, La Canfora reports an Austin/Ravens agreement isn’t likely.
Despite the Rams reigniting their offense under Sean McVay after finishing as the league’s worst passing attack a year earlier, Austin managed just 13 receptions for 47 yards last season. However, the gadget weapon did rush for 270 yards and a score.
Austin will hit the Rams with a $5MM dead-money charge thanks to a fully guaranteed roster bonus — due whether he’s on the team or not — but no additional dead money remains on the 26-year-old’s deal. And by cutting him before March 16, the Rams save $3MM against their 2018 cap.
Austin signed a four-year, $42MM deal in the summer of 2016. That contract does contain offset language, so the Rams would potentially be off the hook for some of that dead money. But given what’s happened in the former No. 8 overall pick’s career, it’s hard to see a team adding Austin for much more than the league minimum.