Broncos, Patrick Surtain Agree On Extension
SEPTEMBER 5: Surtain will receive a $15MM signing bonus, as detailed by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. His compensation for 2024 and ’25 is fully locked in at signing, and his earnings for two seasons after that is set to vest one year early. That includes a $10MM option bonus in 2026, his $7.63MM base salary for that season and a $17MM 2027 salary.
Partial guarantees (for injury at signing, and a full guarantee down the road) are in place concerning Surtain’s 2028 base salary, which totals $19.49MM. His compensation beyond that point – including a $23.49 salary in 2029 – is not locked in, but he will have seen considerable cashflow by that point.
SEPTEMBER 4: After two years of gridlock, the NFL’s cornerback market will see substantial movement. The Broncos have a deal in place with Patrick Surtain, according to veteran NFL reporter Jordan Schultz. As could be expected, a sizable gap will soon exist between Denver’s dominant corner and the field.
Surtain agreed to a four-year, $96MM extension. This makes the 2021 top-10 pick the NFL’s highest-paid corner by a $3MM margin — in terms of AAV. This agreement includes $77.5MM guaranteed, Schultz adds. The deal bridges the gap between the CB and WR markets, and even though a sizable gulf still exists, Surtain began the process of narrowing it.
[RELATED: Early Extensions For First-Rounders In Fifth-Year Option Era]
Because the Broncos picked up Surtain’s $19.8MM fifth-year option in April, this deal will tie the All-Pro defender to the team through the 2029 season. Although clubs made offers for Surtain at the 2023 deadline and trade rumors emerged ahead of this draft, the Broncos had viewed the second-generation NFL corner as a building block for the Sean Payton era. They will back up that talk with this extension.
Denver could have kept the former No. 9 overall pick on his rookie deal into 2025; his first-round contract called for a $1.1MM base salary this year. Surtain secured this megadeal early, and it will give the Broncos cost certainty with their top player. Negotiations intensified over the weekend, per Schultz, who adds the deal was finalized Tuesday night.
Considering Surtain’s age (24) and his performance level, this could certainly be viewed as a bargain for the team. It ties Surtain to Denver through his age-29 season, and the AAV still comes in $11MM south of where Justin Jefferson moved the wide receiver market this offseason. Though, Surtain wanting to lock in a veteran contract early makes sense as well. The deal gives him a $3MM lead on the field, with Jaire Alexander having held the title as the NFL’s highest-paid corner since May 2022. Alexander’s deal had stood as the top CB payment long enough the NFL’s highest-paid safety — the Buccaneers’ Antoine Winfield Jr. — eclipsed it this offseason.
In terms of guarantees, Surtain’s number also created separation between he and the cornerback field. Though, perhaps not as much as should have been expected. The Broncos will receive four additional years of control in exchange for moving the CB guarantee ceiling up by $6.5MM from Denzel Ward‘s previous league-leading mark ($71.25MM). Jalen Ramsey‘s Dolphins rework also passed $71MM in total guarantees.
The gap between CBs and WRs has expanded over the past decade. At this point nine years ago, the cornerback ceiling (Patrick Peterson‘s $14MM-per-year number on his Cardinals extension) matched the deals given to Demaryius Thomas and Dez Bryant at the 2015 franchise tag deadline. Since that point, however, teams began valuing wideouts at a higher rate. The 2022 and ’24 offseasons have separated the two positions significantly. While Surtain did well to move CB money north of where it had resided for years, 12 WRs still out-earn the Denver defender.
Denver received criticism for drafting Surtain over Justin Fields in 2021, but GM George Paton was proven right for making that move. Surtain is a two-time Pro Bowler who earned first-team All-Pro acclaim in 2022. A panel of NFL staffers (via ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler) named the fourth-year defender as the NFL’s top corner this offseason. While the Broncos have questions about their No. 2 cornerback spot, they have enjoyed the luxury of an elite stopper anchoring this position group for a bit.
Paton has now signed two members of his first draft class to lucrative extensions, with Surtain following right guard Quinn Meinerz in agreeing to terms on extensions. Meinerz and Surtain join Javonte Williams, Baron Browning and Jonathon Cooper as starters from Denver’s ’21 draft class. This group has given Payton some pieces to build around, but the Broncos’ issues finding a quarterback have continued to interrupt its young position players from making a considerable difference in the win column. As the team is set to begin a Bo Nix-centered plan this season, the long-term vision is coming into focus.
Payton admitted he participated in a smokescreen effort around the Broncos’ first-round pick this offseason. The draft run-up featured rumors about Surtain being used as a trade chip to move the Broncos up the board from No. 12 overall. Surtain, who said he did not expect to be traded, also generated extensive interest at last year’s deadline.
Denver set a two-first-rounder asking price — what Ramsey fetched in 2019 — to start a conversation on Surtain. Although at least three offers came, none were on that level. Surtain helped the team vault from 1-5 into the playoff race following the deadline. He will be the Broncos’ clear DB anchor post-Justin Simmons.
Surtain’s timeline differs from Marshon Lattimore‘s, as Payton authorized a fifth-year payday for the 2017 Saints first-rounder. But the Broncos will act early with their top performer. This doubles the first time the Broncos have extended a rookie-deal player with two years of control remaining. While Russell Wilson‘s dead money prevents the Broncos from capitalizing fully on Nix’s rookie deal, the team taking on the lion’s share of the penalty in 2024 will start to open up opportunities beginning in 2025. The Surtain and Meinerz extensions reflect that.
Surtain’s price will set a high bar for 2022 draftees Sauce Gardner and Derek Stingley, but it should be expected those defenders will use this as a springboard to move the CB market closer to where WR salaries have gone. Both Gardner and Stingley become extension-eligible in 2025.
49ers, Trent Williams Agree To Rework
Not long after ending Brandon Aiyuk‘s hold-in with an extension, the 49ers have a resolution in place with Trent Williams. The All-Pro left tackle returned to San Francisco on Tuesday to finalize a new agreement, his agency announced.
A few minor details are still to be ironed out, as noted by Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, but once signed this new pact will finish the team’s last major piece of financial business for the offseason. Three years remained on Williams’ contract prior to today’s news, but no guaranteed compensation was in place. To no surprise, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that is now expected to change.
Indeed, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson adds Williams will receive $48MM at signing. Overall, this is a three-year, $82.66MM agreement, with the $48MM serving as a signing bonus. The 49ers will be able to spread that amount into the future, though this deal does not add any years to Williams’ deal, which still runs through 2026.
Among non-quarterbacks beyond age 35, the $48MM guarantee is an NFL-record sum. As a massive talent gap exists between Williams and the rest of San Francisco’s O-line cogs, the team certainly needed him back to open the season. Talks intensified Sunday night, per Fowler, and Williams will have a week of practices with his team to prepare for the 49ers’ opener against the Jets. Williams effectively maximized his leverage, with Wilson adding he will collect $27.65MM in 2024.
Williams was absent from the start of training camp, adding another layer to the financial challenges the 49ers dealt with over the summer. Trade talk persisted in Aiyuk’s case, with a trade agreement being worked out with the Steelers. That wound up being a moot point after the parties agreed to a four-year, $120MM contract which will keep Aiyuk in the Bay Area for the foreseeable future, though. The same will now be true for Williams, whose deal ran through 2026 before the adjustments which will be finalized today.
The 11-time Pro Bowler was due $20.9MM in 2024 under the terms of the previous contract, one which carried an AAV of just over $23MM. Williams’ efforts to land an upgraded pact had come during an offseason in which the top of the tackle market has reached new heights with Tristan Wirfs, Penei Sewell and Christian Darrisaw landing big-ticket extensions. Each of those agreements are for second contracts, though, making them notably different than Williams’ case.
The 36-year-old has previously been linked to retirement, although one year ago he made public his intention of playing until age 40. Williams has landed first-team All-Pro nod in each of the past three years, serving as the anchor of the 49ers’ offensive line during that span. That longevity helped give him leverage to angle for a new arrangement, but it will certainly be interesting to see if the 49ers have added any new years to the pact given Williams’ age.
In 2019, Williams sat out the entire campaign while attempting to land a new deal at the end of his tenure in Washington. That was eventually ended by the trade which sent him to San Francisco the following offseason (and, later, the six-year accord he had been playing on), but it illustrated how willing the Oklahoma product was to extend a holdout into the regular season. A chance of that tactic being repeated loomed throughout the summer, though a recent update pointed to the parties making progress on contract talks. Regardless of what the new deal looks like, today’s news means San Francisco’s offense will be at full strength in time for Week 1.
As a vested veteran, the daily fines Williams accumulated for his training camp holdout cannot be waived. Due to missed camp time ($2.05MM) and three missed preseason games ($3.34MM), Williams incurred $5.39MM in fines to secure this rework, CBS Sports’ Joel Corry tweets. With over $171MM in career earnings, that fact did not dissuade him, but the threat of a regular season absence is no longer in place.
Steelers, DT Cameron Heyward Agree To Extension
The Steelers’ latest extension efforts with Cameron Heyward have produced a deal. The All-Pro defensive lineman has an agreement in place on a another lucrative extension, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports. The move is now official, per an announcement from his agency. 
Heyward is now attached to a three-year, $45MM deal, Fowler adds. The pact includes $29MM in new money along with $16MM in guarantees (nearly $15MM of which is comprised of a signing bonus). These terms will allow Heyward to reach his stated goal of finishing his career as a Steeler.
One year remained on the 35-year-old’s pact, but he made it clear this offseason he was seeking a two-year extension. Today’s news means he will be in place through 2026 as he intended and put to rest the possibility of a free agent departure next spring. Heyward has spent his entire 13 years in the NFL with Pittsburgh, and his decorated tenure will all-but certainly conclude in the city.
Arriving with the Steelers as a first-round pick in 2011, Heyward did not see any starts during his first two seasons with the team. Since then, he has been a stalwart along the defensive line, regularly providing a high-end pass rush presence in the interior. He earned a Pro Bowl nod every year from 2017 to ’22, posting double-digit sacks three times during that span.
Heyward landed a five-year extension in 2015, and a four-year re-up in 2020. He has proven to be a sound investment both times from the Steelers’ perspective, but last year saw him miss time due to a groin injury. Heyward was limited to just two sacks in 2023, and while he is now healthy questions were raised in the offseason about his long-term outlook. As Fowler notes, this is believed to be the largest commitment ever made to a defender at age 35 or older. Suffice it to say, the Steelers are banking on Heyward regaining his previous form.
With four All-Pro nods on his resume (three first-team, one second-team), the Ohio State alum could remain a key member of Pittsburgh’s highly-compensated defense if he manages to put together a healthy campaign. He was due $16MM in 2024 under the terms of his old deal, one which will be replaced by this new accord. Heyward’s scheduled cap hit of $22.41MM will be lowered by this agreement Specifically, his 2024 salary has been converted into a signing bonus; that will save the Steelers over $9MM in cap space (h/t Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
It was learned earlier this week that Heyward – who floated the idea of joining a new team in free agency without a deal in place – had recently re-engaged with the Steelers on contract talks. Pittsburgh has a strict policy against negotiating in-season, creating Week 1 as a deadline for both parties to hammer out an agreement. That has now proven to be the case, and general manager Omar Khan has one less piece of business to attend to over the coming days.
Pittsburgh is also eyeing a deal with tight end Pat Freiermuth. 2024 marks the final year of his rookie contract, so getting an extension worked out on that front would prevent the potential of a March 2025 departure on the open market. Regardless of how that process plays out, Heyward will remain in the fold for the foreseeable future.
Jets To Extend CB Michael Carter II
The slot cornerback market saw significant movement this offseason. Both Taron Johnson and Kenny Moore moved the position’s bar past $10MM per year. That pertained to the Jets, who are moving to extend their inside corner.
Michael Carter II will be the league’s third pure slot corner to cross the eight-figure-per-year barrier. The fourth-year CB agreed to terms on a three-year, $30.75MM deal Tuesday, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. Carter will see just more than $19MM guaranteed on this accord, which runs through the 2027 season.
Although the Jets broke up their Michael Carter pair by waiving the 2021 running back draftee late last season, they have been pleased with the other Michael Carter’s work. Lining up alongside Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed, Carter has fared well in Robert Saleh‘s defense since being a 2021 fifth-round pick. The Jets now have he and Reed tied to veteran deals. While this equation might change once Gardner is extension-eligible (2025), today’s deal lays out a future in which the All-Pro and Carter play together beyond their rookie contracts.
Rumors about a Carter extension surfaced early this summer, and the Jets took care of business just before Week 1. Carter, 25, allowed a career-low 51.6% completion rate as the closest defender in 2023. Pro-Football-Reference’s coverage metrics have assessed Carter as yielding QB ratings south of 76.0 in each of the past two seasons. Pro Football Focus also ranked Carter 12th among all corners in 2023. Carter intercepted two passes in 2022 and broke up nine in each of the past two seasons.
The Duke alum’s contract will overlap with at least one Gardner rookie-deal season, and the Jets could certainly aim to keep the standout boundary corner at the rookie rate in 2025 as well. Once the Jets pick up Gardner’s fifth-year option in 2025, he will be tied to the team through the 2026 season. We should expect to hear Gardner extension rumors next year, however, and the team will undoubtedly look to have a deal done by 2026 at the latest. Reed’s deal expires after this season; this Carter pact and the monster deal Gardner will seek stand to complicate the ex-Seahawk’s future in New York.
Moore re-signed with the Colts on a three-year, $30MM deal; Johnson inked his third Bills contract (three years, $30.75MM) soon after. Johnson and Carter are now the NFL’s highest-paid pure slots, with Pelissero adding this Jets contract can reach $33MM. This year has brought an important update to the slot corner market, which had been stagnant for a while leading up to the March accords.
Dolphins, Mike McDaniel Agree On Extension
Back-to-back Dolphins playoff berths will produce the first extension for a 2022 HC hire. The team has agreed to a new deal with Mike McDaniel, according to ESPN.com’s Jeff Darlington.
The third-year HC agreed to a deal that will tie him to the Dolphins through the 2028 season. This comes after the Dolphins booked consecutive postseason appearances for the first time in more than 20 years. McDaniel, 41, has rejuvenated Miami’s offense. The team led the league in total offense for the first time since Dan Marino‘s age-33 season (1994), and Tua Tagovailoa has shown substantial growth since the Dolphins hired the Kyle Shanahan disciple.
This offseason brought a Tagovailoa megadeal and new agreements with Tyreek Hill — a reworking that brought more guarantees the future Hall of Famer’s way — and Jaylen Waddle. As other clubs who hired new HCs in 2022 still determine how to proceed regarding long-term plans, Dolphins ownership is evidently confident in the team’s direction under McDaniel.
Known perhaps as much for his eccentricities that have produced numerous interview soundbites, McDaniel displayed an immediate ability to coach up Miami’s offense. While the 2022 Hill trade made a significant impact on Tagovailoa’s trajectory, the league’s lone southpaw QB starter turned a corner once Stephen Ross hired McDaniel.
Amid a concerning concussion-marred 2022, Tua still finished third in QBR while leading the league in passer rating and yards per attempt. The 2020 first-rounder then paced the NFL in passing yards in 2023, staying healthy and guiding the team back to the postseason. The Dolphins had not previously secured consecutive playoff berths since they strung together five in a row during the Jimmy Johnson and Dave Wannstedt years (1997-2001).
Hired in the aftermath of a controversial Brian Flores firing — a move that prompted the former Dolphins HC to file a racial discrimination lawsuit — McDaniel has also gone through three defensive coordinators and seen his team limp to the regular-season finish line in both the 2022 and ’23 seasons. Miami went 9-8 in 2022, a season overshadowed by Tagovailoa’s injuries, and 11-6 last season. The Dolphins wrapped the ’23 campaign with a wild-card no-show on a frigid Kansas City night. This generated more questions about the Super Bowl viability of the nucleus McDaniel and GM Chris Grier have assembled.
That said, the Dolphins nearly upset the No. 2-seeded Bills despite third-string rookie Skylar Thompson starting in the 2022 wild-card round. Grier and McDaniel also have forged a strong relationship, per Darlington; that was certainly not the case with the veteran GM and Flores. Ahead of Grier’s sixth season with roster control, the Dolphins will continue to pair him with his 2022 HC hire. The rest of the 2022 HC additions — Kevin O’Connell, Matt Eberflus, Brian Daboll, Doug Pederson, Dennis Allen and Todd Bowles — are still on their initial deals. One other 2022 HC hire, Josh McDaniels, did not make it out of his second season.
49ers, WR Brandon Aiyuk Agree To Deal
AUGUST 30: Full details on the Aiyuk pact are in, courtesy of Florio. The frontloaded compensation includes a $23MM signing bonus, $11MM of which will be paid out in the next two weeks. His 2025 earnings are made up of $20.88MM in base salary, roster and workout bonuses which are guaranteed at signing. Another $4MM will be locked in on April 1 of that year. Altogether, this deal consists of $45MM fully guaranteed, with the $76MM total guarantee figure set to emerge not long after the 2025 league year begins.
Aiyuk’s 2026 salary ($1.22MM) and per-game roster bonuses ($750K) are guaranteed for injury at signing and will fully vest one year early. Notably, his salaries for 2027 and ’28 – $27.27MM and $29.15MM – are not guaranteed, so the 49ers will be able to get out of the contract in either of those seasons (an unlikely development, given his age and production) barring adjustments being made down the road via restructures. Aiyuk’s 2024 cap number will drop to $5.73MM, per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner.
AUGUST 29: Months of negotiating drama with Brandon Aiyuk, which featured trade talks with a few teams and an eventual trade agreement, defined the 49ers’ offseason. But the saga will end with a peaceful resolution. Aiyuk is not going anywhere, with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reporting an extension is in place.
The 49ers have agreed to terms with Aiyuk on a four-year, $120MM deal, which Garafolo and Rapoport indicate includes $76MM guaranteed. This process will end closer to Aiyuk’s believed price point than San Francisco’s, but the defending NFC champs will have the second-team All-Pro back at work soon.
Aiyuk held in for 38 days, but as the 49ers did with Nick Bosa and Deebo Samuel, a late-summer extension will bring a close to this chapter. Though, this was a more memorable saga than those involving Bosa and Samuel. Aiyuk is now signed through 2028, and this agreement suddenly brings Samuel’s Bay Area future — post-2024, that is — into question.
It looks as though the sides are meeting in the middle. Rather than sign a three-year deal like Samuel did in 2022, Aiyuk will be under 49ers control for four seasons beyond 2024. Instead of the $26-$27MM-per-year price point San Francisco — and would-be trade partner Pittsburgh — initially landed on, Aiyuk will become the NFL’s sixth $30MM-per-year wideout. Long seeking a deal at $30MM per, Aiyuk joins Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, A.J. Brown, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Tyreek Hill in this club, one that expanded from one to six this offseason.
Lamb’s extension may not have driven the 49ers’ talks across the goal line, as he and Jefferson are on a higher plane in terms of AAV and guarantees. But the market is effectively set for 2024, unless the Bengals make an unexpected deal with Ja’Marr Chase before 2025. This 49ers agreement coming to fruition less than two weeks before the season will wrap one of more voluminous sagas in PFR history.
This is a frontloaded deal, per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, who reports the contract includes $90MM over the first three years. This helps cover for Aiyuk not reaching guarantees past $80MM — a long-rumored ask. Although Aiyuk is now contracted through his age-30 season, he should have another chance — should the 2020 first-rounder’s career remain on this trajectory — to cash in on a big-ticket deal in his prime. Aiyuk, 26, will receive $47MM between now and April 1, 2025, Rapoport adds.
Considering the fight Aiyuk put up, it does appear a bit strange his $76MM guarantee number checks in only in a tie for sixth (with Jaylen Waddle, who signed a three-year extension) at the position. But the contract’s full guarantees and full payout structure will reveal the detailed ending to this long-running tale.
San Francisco’s resolution does not appear to have involved an 11th-hour raise, as The Athletic’s Dianna Russini notes these numbers have been in place for weeks. Aiyuk, who has watched practices at points and been absent from practice fields at others, now must return to work ahead of the 49ers’ Monday Night Football debut against the Jets. Providing clarity, Schefter adds this offer has been on the table since August 12.
The 49ers have now dispensed with one half of their disgruntled-player contingent, with Trent Williams‘ holdout now moving toward center stage. Williams’ contract issue has a long way to go to catch Aiyuk in terms of updates, with this back-and-forth producing many twists and turns (featuring a few documented meetings) since the parties began negotiating months ago.
For the 49ers, this keeps an essential piece of the puzzle in place. A trade at this juncture would have made it difficult for the team, Kyle Shanahan‘s play-calling acumen notwithstanding, to produce an offense on the level of 2023’s machine. The 49ers have now extended Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey this year; Samuel and George Kittle are under contract through 2025.
Aiyuk is coming off his second straight 1,000-yard season; the Arizona State alum totaled 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns to help Brock Purdy deliver a historic 9.6 yards per attempt in 2023. Under the hood, Aiyuk’s numbers were even better. He ranked third in yards per route run (3.01) last season; this undoubtedly influenced his asking price, with Team Aiyuk effectively capitalizing on the 49ers needing him for another run in 2024. After falling short of 850 yards during each of his first two years, Aiyuk has put it together.
“We believe his best football is ahead of him,” a 49ers exec told veteran reporter Jordan Schultz. “He’s only 26, he’s still learning the intricacies of the position. This is an ascending player. … There’s no reason why he can’t have a similar career as a Davante Adams, for example.”
Aiyuk being offered $30MM per year on August 12 shows how well his camp did, considering the 49ers were at $26-$27MM per annum before that point. This all came after the 49ers let Aiyuk shop around. Despite a reported Patriots offer north of where this 49ers deal ended up, Aiyuk did not want to be dealt to New England. The Browns put Amari Cooper, along with second- and fifth-round picks, on the table; Aiyuk expressed disappointment in a Cleveland destination. Even the Commanders, who drafted ex-Aiyuk college QB Jayden Daniels, hovered on the Aiyuk periphery.
Playing for Mike Tomlin appealed to Aiyuk, but the Steelers’ offer did not exceed $28MM per year. This prompted the disgruntled receiver to return to the table with 49ers brass, and only minor details remained to be ironed out in recent days. Even though Pittsburgh’s contract offer was not quite what Aiyuk sought, the sides agreed on trade framework. This became a backup plan, though Aiyuk had long viewed San Francisco as his top choice. John Lynch had also continued to convey a desire for Aiyuk to be in the fold long term, and the 49ers’ top-level skill-position crew (now featuring first-round pick Ricky Pearsall) now has at least one more season to play together.
The Steelers falling short for Aiyuk spotlights a thin skill corps post-Diontae Johnson. George Pickens remains the top target for Tomlin’s team, and Pat Freiermuth looms as an extension candidate. Now-starter Russell Wilson, though, does not have much else of consequence to target. The team will need third-round rookie Roman Wilson, who missed training camp time due to injury, to step up early — barring a late-summer or in-season trade, that is.
Even though Pittsburgh’s receiver development has shined for many years, the team’s current setup — which also features ex-Rams and Falcons contributor Van Jefferson — appears thin. This is the ending the Steelers anticipated, however, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac.
A champagne problem is approaching for the 49ers. With Aiyuk now signed and a Brock Purdy extension on the team’s 2025 radar, the prospect of Samuel’s future comes into focus. The 49ers may well be in trade talks again with a high-end wide receiver next year. Samuel will be 29 ahead of his 2025 contract year, and with Pearsall on a rookie deal for a while, he would be a more logical complement to his former Arizona State teammate — assuming Purdy is indeed extended — than Samuel, who joined Aiyuk in draft-weekend trade talks.
That is a down-the-road issue for the 49ers, who have managed to avoid what would have been an odd trade based on their trajectory. The team, which has continued to fall short in Super Bowls and NFC championship games, has retained the nucleus that pushed the Chiefs near double overtime in Super Bowl LVIII. Aiyuk will again be in place to help Purdy and Co. navigate that elusive hurdle this season.
Steelers Name Russell Wilson QB Starter
Russell Wilson faced a challenge from his pole-position spot, but the veteran will hold off Justin Fields. The Steelers will go with the 13th-year passer to open the season, Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reports. The Steelers have since announced it will be Wilson in Week 1.
The Steelers went to some lengths to assure Wilson he would be the starter. This was communicated to the decorated veteran before the Kenny Pickett trade and then after the team acquired Fields. While the latter has made a push that indicates this situation is not resolved from a long-term perspective, Fields will begin his Pittsburgh tenure as a backup.
Fields was believed to have supporters in the building, as the Steelers went about adjusting his footwork from his Bears days. Rather than name a starter before the third preseason game, Mike Tomlin waited until midway through the Steelers’ final week of summer workouts. This does not suggest Wilson will have a firm grip here, despite the early-offseason buzz about this job, but the 35-year-old passer will soon make his 189th career start.
Despite Fields closing the gap, the 25-year-old trade acquisition never emerged as a frontrunner. The Steelers may have been more inclined, after seeing Pickett stumble, to go with a more experienced option early. After trading Pickett, Pittsburgh signed off on a unique arrangement. Wilson and Fields are on low-cost deals that expire at season’s end. The team is not deviating from its policy of not negotiating extensions in-season, and no talks are planned to commence before the campaign. Both passers will head into contract years, and although reports about the Steelers eyeing a post-2024 future with both have come out, this Wilson-Fields setup will almost certainly be a one-and-done situation.
Calling this a “difficult decision,” Tomlin communicated it to both QBs today. This was Wilson’s first time in a quarterback competition since his rookie year, when he beat out Matt Flynn for the Seahawks’ job. The potential Hall of Famer held it for 10 years, but the Seahawks — after Wilson’s first injury-related absence came during a season that brought a step back from his Pro Bowl-level form — dealt his $35MM-per-year contract to the Broncos for an eight-asset package in March 2022. Wilson then signed a $49MM-AAV deal with Denver, going through an infamous tenure with the AFC West franchise.
Wilson’s Broncos run can be classified as a financial disaster, and while Sean Payton made it clear his fit with the off-script maven was poor, the 2023 season went much better for the former third-round pick compared to the shocking 2022 outcome.
Wilson rebounded from his rough season with Nathaniel Hackett, a campaign in which the Broncos allowed the QB to help design the offense and then gave him other perks, by throwing 26 touchdown passes compared to just eight interceptions with Payton at the controls. This still produced a late-season benching — after a behind-the-scenes drama unfolded regarding Wilson’s 2025 guarantee vesting date — but Wilson did show some better form, helping the Broncos to a five-game win streak that moved them into the playoff chase.
Denver took on a record-smashing dead money sum to separate from the embattled quarterback; regardless of offset language, Denver’s cap penalty over the next two years more than doubles any other single-player number. The Steelers swooped in an have the accomplished passer on a one-year, $1.21MM deal. But Wilson, who battled injuries in 2022 to contribute to his stunning regression, missed multiple weeks of training camp with a calf injury and only recently received full clearance. This allowed Fields to catch up a bit, and this situation will be one to monitor early in the season.
In the preseason, Fields went 19-for-27 for 199 yards. Playing in two preseason games, Wilson was 10 of 12 for 73 yards. Both struggled to move the offense in Pittsburgh’s second preseason game, but Wilson led a TD drive in the team’s finale. Fields did not lead any scoring drives against Detroit this past weekend. Fields probably offers more upside at this point, as Wilson will turn 36 in November, but the veteran brings a higher floor.
The Steelers will aim to pair Wilson with a veteran-laden defense, and it remains to be seen if the team will pry Brandon Aiyuk from the 49ers. Though, that scenario appears a longshot right now.
Rams Trade LB Ernest Jones To Titans
Ernest Jones worked as a linebacker regular for the Rams over the past two seasons, emerging as a potential extension candidate. But the Rams had not planned on making such a move this year. After a run of trade rumors, Jones is moving on.
The Rams are dealing Jones to the Titans, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. Tennessee will acquire a proven starter in a contract year, with the Rams losing an experienced option shortly before a season with playoff expectations. This will be a pick-swap trade. The Rams will collect a fifth-round pick from the Titans for Jones and a sixth, per veteran Titans reporter Paul Kuharsky. The exchanged picks are 2026 selections, veteran reporter Jordan Schultz adds.
This comes after Jones delivered an impact performance for the 2023 Rams. The former third-round pick reeled off 145 tackles (14 for loss), 4.5 sacks and six passes defensed. The Rams perennially keep costs low at linebacker, but it is nevertheless interesting they are willing to move on from a productive young defender.
Pro Football Focus rated Jones 13th among off-ball ‘backers last season, viewing the Rams starter as strong as a run defender and a blitzer while lacking in coverage. Jones started all 15 games he played last season and lined up alongside Bobby Wagner for most of the 2022 season. The Rams moved on from Wagner after one year, and they will now be tasked with replacing Jones days before a season.
This swiftly developing storyline escalated this week, when the Rams gave Jones’ camp permission to seek a trade. Jones, 24, then made it clear he did not request to be moved. The Rams communicated with teams Monday, and a deal has come to pass. This will be an interesting addition to a Titans team that lost Azeez Al-Shaair in free agency. That came a year after David Long moved on (to the Dolphins). Jones soon stands to be a key piece in Dennard Wilson‘s defense.
Tennessee has now imported two Los Angeles-based starters this year, having already brought in ex-Chargers first-rounder Kenneth Murray. The team also rosters Jack Gibbens, a former UDFA who started 13 games last season. PFF ranked Gibbens 30th among ILBs last season; he made 95 tackles in 14 games. The Titans gave Murray a two-year, $15.5MM deal but structured the contract to make it fairly easy to move on after one season. With Jones in a contract year, the Titans may have some short-term solutions on their defensive second level. This move also comes after the Titans lost Chance Campbell to an ACL tear.
Although the Rams make a habit of generating solid play from lower-level investments, this does appear a bit of a gamble. Unlike when L.A. cut Wagner, it is coming off a postseason berth. Jones led Rams linebackers (by far) with 988 defensive snaps last season; Christian Rozeboom was second (with 579). PFF rated Rozeboom, a former UDFA, 79th at the position in 2023. Another undrafted player, rookie Omar Speights, has impressed to the point he will make Los Angeles’ roster, with The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue connecting this and a willingness to move on from Jones (subscription required).
The Titans will have exclusive negotiating rights with Jones until March, leaving them time to evaluate this fit. The Rams were not eyeing a 2024 deal with Jones, but a team that gave up at least one to-be-determined asset for him may be more inclined to discuss an extension.
Cowboys, CeeDee Lamb Agree On Extension
At long last, the Cowboys have a deal done with one of their contract-year cogs. The team has reached an agreement with CeeDee Lamb, ending his holdout.
Dallas is giving Lamb a four-year, $136MM deal, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports. This gives Lamb a $34MM AAV, which puts him between Justin Jefferson and A.J. Brown. The fifth-year Dallas standout is now the NFL’s second-highest-paid wide receiver. Lamb secured $100MM guaranteed on this deal, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. This gives him considerable separation from Brown in terms of wideout guarantees.
[RELATED: Dak Prescott Not Setting Extension Deadline]
This comes after a Monday report indicated the Cowboys had again upped their offer. Making a few proposals over the past several weeks, Dallas had previously come in with a deal worth just less than $33MM per year. Lamb’s camp moved the team to this $34MM-AAV point, where NFL.com’s Jane Slater notes they have been for a while. Team Lamb did well to capitalize on the 2020 first-rounder’s monster season and the salary cap’s recent spike. The NFL now has five $30MM-per-year receivers, with the market moving many times after the ceiling did not budge in 2023.
The Cowboys were at $32.5MM for a while, per Slater, and then moved to $33MM per year. After an off-an-on stretch for a few weeks, this process gained steam beginning Saturday. Lamb is still finalizing language, per Slater. Barring a Randy Gregory redux, this contract should be done Tuesday. The Cowboys can waive the fines Lamb incurred during his holdout due to the receiver being previously tied to a rookie contract.
Lamb emerged on the Cowboys’ extension radar last year, but the team followed the Vikings in waiting. Jefferson created a gap between himself and the field with his four-year, $140MM pact, and he set the Lamb market in the process. The Eagles had given Brown a three-year, $96MM deal in April, with Lamb’s 2020 draft classmate topping that by a notable margin. The Cowboys were understandably hesitant to give Lamb a deal that make him the NFL’s highest-paid non-QB, and a report soon indicated the Oklahoma alum was not mandating that. Though, he came awfully close on this deal — one that puts Dallas in a new guarantee sector regarding a non-QB payment.
The Cowboys came into camp with one of the more complex contract quandaries in recent NFL history. Dak Prescott remains unsigned, and Micah Parsons fully expects to become the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback when his payday arrives. The Cowboys may well table that to 2025, a prospect Parsons sounded fine with when he addressed the matter earlier this summer. This offseason represented Lamb’s window to cash in, and the Cowboys have their top weapon signed through the 2028 season.
The Cowboys’ previous WR guarantee high-water mark came in at $60MM — Amari Cooper‘s 2020 deal. The Eagles guaranteed Brown $84MM, and the Cowboys have signed off on Lamb bridging the gap to Jefferson’s record-smashing $110MM number.
It will be interesting to see how this contract is structured, as the Cowboys have escaped making good on a guarantee for a receiver in the recent past. But the team bent on its usual term-length preference by agreeing to a four-year Lamb re-up. The Cowboys generally prefer five- or six-year extensions, but the receiver market is flooded with high-end deals for three or four years. This undoubtedly factored into Lamb’s talks.
The Cowboys fully guaranteed Cooper $40MM and escaped needing to pay him the additional $20MM by trading him to the Browns in 2022. Lamb’s future contract factored into that decision, and while the Cowboys have seen the Cooper trade hurt their receiver situation as a whole, their 2020 first-rounder has dominated with Cooper in Cleveland. Lamb, 25, posted 1,359 yards and nine touchdowns in 2022 and then dropped a record-setting Cowboys showing. He led the NFL with 135 receptions last season, totaling 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns in that banner campaign. It is difficult for a receiver to make a better case for a long-term payment, and Lamb’s camp took care of him months later.
Lamb broke Michael Irvin‘s single-season franchise reception record by 24 and eclipsed the Hall of Famer’s yardage record by 146. These new standards, of course, came in a 17-game season during an era that features higher pass-game usage and friendlier rules for offenses. But Lamb still submitted a statement season to prove worthy of a top-market extension. This now shines a brighter light on Prescott.
Dallas could have franchise-tagged Lamb in 2025, cutting into his leverage a bit. But the team’s hands are tied with Dak, who cannot be tagged or traded. Prescott has continued to say the right things regarding a long-term future in Dallas, but he holds leverage — which also includes a whopping cap number ($55.13MM) and 2025 dead money penalty ($40.13MM) if not extended — comparable to what Kirk Cousins possessed back in 2018. The Cowboys will have a difficult time extending Prescott, but less than two weeks before the regular season, they do have one of their pillars signed.
Lamb’s $17.99MM cap number, as Schefter reports a receiver-record $38MM signing bonus (which will spread out the All-Pro’s cap hits) is present in this accord, figures to drop on this deal. Though, the Cowboys now face the prospect of needing to give Prescott an NFL-record contract to pair with Lamb’s big-ticket deal — and Parsons’ future market-setting pact — or face an uncertain future at the game’s premier position.
Jones has encountered criticism for letting the Cowboys’ contract quagmire reach this stage. Lamb would have come cheaper had the Cowboys made an aggressive push to finalize a deal last year, though it is not exactly certain he would have checked in too much cheaper. Tyreek Hill was tied to a $30MM-per-year deal, leading the way entering this offseason. With Jefferson always poised to take the market toward or into the mid-$30MM-AAV range, Lamb — who, like Jefferson, is five years younger than Hill — would have always commanded a contract north of $30MM per year. That said, the Cowboys probably would not have needed to go to this guarantee place had they done a deal in 2023.
Questions also remain about the Cowboys’ auxiliary receivers beyond 2024, but they have their WR1 locked in. This follows the accords for Cooper, Dez Bryant and Miles Austin, keeping the Cowboys’ run of extending cornerstone receivers intact. Prescott, however, continues to test the organization here.
Titans To Trade QB Malik Willis To Packers
Malik Willis‘ Titans tenure will end after his third preseason with the team. Tennessee’s new regime will move on from the former Jon Robinson-era draftee.
The Titans are trading Willis to the Packers, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports. Tennessee will pick up a 2025 seventh-rounder from Green Bay. Two years remain on the former third-rounder’s rookie contract. Willis heads to a Packers team with some uncertainty behind Jordan Love.
Rumored as a potential first-round pick, Willis endured one of the more memorable draft-weekend slides in recent NFL history. As part of a maligned 2022 quarterback class, the Liberty product slid to No. 86. Willis’ performances with the Titans did well to justify the league’s hesitancy, even as high-profile draft gurus viewed him as a player who was bound for a first- or second-round draft destination. The Packers will take what amounts to a flier, given the trade compensation.
Willis competed with free agency addition Mason Rudolph for the Titans’ backup job this summer. Rudolph, who joined the team on a one-year deal worth $2.87MM, was believed to be in the lead. This will leave the Titans with a question regarding their third-string QB, as only Rudolph and Will Levis are now on the roster. But this cuts the cord on Robinson’s QB options — during an offseason in which Ran Carthon has made sweeping changes on offense.
With Levis also developing, Willis did not make too much sense on Tennessee’s roster any longer. Rudolph is in place as a veteran backup, and after Brian Callahan said the team would let the process play out through the preseason, the Titans figure to be in the QB3 market once the waiver wire presents options.
The Titans’ offense ground to a halt when Willis replaced Ryan Tannehill in 2022. The then-rookie completed just 50.8% of his passes, as Mike Vrabel turned to run-heavy game scripts when the former Auburn recruit was taking snaps. Willis went 1-2 as a Tannehill relief option that year and finished with 10- and 16-pass starts. After a 14-for-23 outing in a loss to the then-lowly Texans, Vrabel demoted him for Josh Dobbs, whom the Titans signed off the Lions’ practice squad late that season. Willis threw just five more regular-season passes as a Titan.
Willis, 25, came to Tennessee after two dominant seasons at Liberty. He finished with a 47-18 TD-INT ratio from 2020-21 at the mid-major program, after not beating out Jarrett Stidham at Auburn. Willis also posted 944- and 878-yard rushing seasons with his second program, totaling 27 rushing TDs. He will attempt to restart his development under Matt LaFleur.
LaFleur has not seen strong returns from Love backups Sean Clifford and seventh-round rookie Michael Pratt. Both struggled against the Broncos during the preseason’s second week, with LaFleur expressing disappointment (via The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman) about that effort in a 27-2 loss. Willis will likely back up Love, Schefter adds, though it would stand to be challenging for that setup to commence immediately due to Clifford’s knowledge of LaFleur’s system. But the incumbent is undoubtedly on notice. The Packers used a 2023 fifth-round pick on Clifford and are now guaranteed to cut either he or Pratt — and that is only if the team keeps three passers.