Cowboys Re-Sign Kyle Wilber, Charles Brown
3:05pm: Wilber’s two-year deal has a $3.25MM base value, and can be worth up to $5.25MM, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
1:40pm: The Cowboys retained UFAs Kyle Wilber and Charles Brown today (Twitter links via the Cowboys’ official account and Todd Archer or ESPN.com).
It’s a two-year deal for Wilber, agent Jordan Woy tweets. Brown returns to Dallas on a one-year accord, per Archer.
A former second-round pick of the Saints’ in 2010, Brown started one game with the Cowboys last season, serving as a swing tackle. Wilber trotted out with Dallas’ first unit in six games in 2015.
Although Wilber has started 15 games at linebacker since the Cowboys took him in the fourth round in 2012, his primary contributions to the team have come on special teams. Wilber’s most notable contribution came when he notched an interception in the Cowboys’ wild card playoff victory over the Lions during the 2014 playoffs.
Dallas is set to return each of its three starting linebackers after coming to an agreement with Rolando McClain this week on a one-year, $5MM deal.
Chiefs To Re-Sign Jamell Fleming
The Chiefs’ cornerback corps sustained a tough blow Thursday, when Sean Smith bolted to join the Raiders. Kansas City, however, will keep the player it used to help compensate for Smith’s suspension, with Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter) reporting the Chiefs re-signed the veteran cornerback.
One of the Chiefs’ key special-teamers, Fleming has spent the past two seasons in Kansas City after initially being selected by the Cardinals in the third round of the 2012 draft.
Fleming, 26, played in all 16 games for the first time last season. He’ll re-join a cornerback stable now fronted by reigning defensive rookie of the year Marcus Peters. The team’s third-rounders the past two years, Steven Nelson and Phillip Gaines, represent Kansas City’s other in-house options opposite Peters.
Fleming did play a part in shaping the Chiefs’ season despite not starting any games after lining up with the first unit during four contests in 2014. During’s Smith’s three-game hiatus, Fleming struggled to cover Emmanuel Sanders and yielded a game-tying touchdown pass from Peyton Manning to Sanders in the Chiefs’ Week 2 loss to the Broncos.
Washington Re-Signs Logan Paulsen
3:28pm: Washington has officially confirmed the signing of Paulsen.
2:13pm: Logan Paulsen‘s injury last year helped deplete Washington’s tight end corps, but the team will bring its blocking presence back on a one-year deal, per ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan (Twitter links).
The seventh-year veteran has spent his entire career in Washington, originally catching on as a UDFA. But Paulsen has the most starts of any current tight end on the team, with 45.
Injuries to Paulsen and Niles Paul put the position in the oft-injured Jordan Reed‘s hands, and Reed responded with a breakout season to change the outlook of Washington’s tight end corps. Paulsen should still see time complementing the team’s primary pass-catching tight end in Jay Gruden‘s offense.
Toe surgery shelved Paulsen for 2015 after he suffered an injury during practice in August.
Between 2012-13, when Paulsen became a full-time starter, the now-29-year-old tight end caught 53 passes for nearly 600 yards and four touchdowns.
Patriots Sign Chris Hogan; Bills Decline To Match Offer Sheet
Wide receiver Chris Hogan will be a Patriot, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the Bills have declined their right of first refusal. That means Hogan will head to New England under the terms of the three-year, $12MM offer sheet he signed with the club.
The Bills had five days to decide whether or not to match the Patriots’ offer to Hogan, but the team didn’t even take one full day before making its decision.
Having tendered Hogan with a low-end tender worth $1.671MM, the cap-strapped Bills weren’t expected to be able to go much higher for him, and won’t receive any compensation for losing him. The offer sheet the wideout signed with the Patriots reportedly carries a $5.5MM first-year cap hit, which made it even more difficult for Buffalo to match.
In 2015, Hogan hauled in 36 catches for 450 yards and two touchdowns. The New Jersey native had a similar season in 2014 for the Bills when he caught 41 passes for 426 yards and four scores.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has done serious research on Hogan, so much so that he knows the 27-year-old could serve as a backup (left-footed!) punter should the need ever arise. While Hogan likely won’t be pressed into action as a punter, he’s capable of contributing on special teams as well as on offense.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Lions Retain Crezdon Butler, Don Muhlbach
The Lions opted to keep reserve cornerback Crezdon Butler and long snapper Don Muhlbach, according to the team’s website. Contract terms were not disclosed.
Butler’s ventured to several NFL destinations since arriving in the NFL as a Steelers fifth-rounder in 2010. The 29-year-old corner served as secondary depth for Detroit, which lost now-retired Rashean Mathis, for the season. He’s played for eight teams and suited up in 45 games, making three starts — all for the Buccaneers in 2014.
Butler spent training camp with the Lions in 2015 before rejoining the team midseason after spending time with the Seahawks.
Muhlbach has been the Lions’ specialty snapper since 2004. Only the seventh player to play in 180 games for the Lions, Muhlbach is the team’s longest-tenured player by a wide margin now that Calvin Johnson announced his retirement.
FA Rumors: Cards, Hall, Ayers, Jets, Jenkins
With starting cornerback Jerraud Powers eligible for free agency, the Cardinals are considering their options at the position, and have veteran corner Leon Hall scheduled to come in on Monday for a visit, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Hall, 31, started just four of his 14 games for the Bengals last season, but still played in 735 defensive snaps, ranking 33rd among qualified cornerbacks, per Pro Football Focus. Cincinnati has already retained free agent defensive backs Adam Jones and George Iloka, so it will be interesting to see whether the team can also re-sign Hall (and Reggie Nelson), or whether the veteran cornerback may land in Arizona, where the Cards could pair him with Patrick Peterson.
Let’s round up a few more free agent rumors from around the league…
- The Jaguars will make a strong effort to close on a deal with Robert Ayers during the defensive end’s visit to Jacksonville, per Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). However, the Buccaneers and Dolphins will be in play if Ayers leaves his Jags visit without a deal, Robinson notes.
- The Jets are examining free agent defensive linemen, and will bring in Jarvis Jenkins for a visit, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. Jenkins, 27, established new career highs with 32 tackles and four sacks last season for the Bears.
- Veteran defensive end Chris Long tells SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter link via Alex Marvez of FOX Sports) that he wants to sign with a “playoff” team, adding that he really enjoyed his visits with Washington and the Falcons.
- Linebacker Chad Greenway tells Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that, while he wants to return to the Vikings, he would consider signing – and finishing his career – with another team. Greenway, who says he has been “laying low” in free agency so far, doesn’t sound close to a deal anywhere.
Broncos Acquire Mark Sanchez From Eagles
1:43pm: The Broncos aren’t done at quarterback yet, and plan to bring in another player to compete with Sanchez for the starting job, Schefter confirms (via Twitter).
12:41pm: The conditional 2017 pick acquired by the Eagles in the swap is a seventh-rounder, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. The conditions aren’t yet known, but I would imagine they’ll hinge on Sanchez’s playing time in Denver.
12:29pm: The Broncos have begun to address their hole at quarterback, according to Mike Klis of 9NEWS, who reports (via Twitter) that Denver is acquiring Mark Sanchez from the Eagles. Philadelphia will get a conditional draft pick in exchange for the veteran signal-caller, per Klis. The pick is a 2017 selection, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
The Broncos lost the top two quarterbacks on their depth chart this week, as Peyton Manning officially announced his retirement and Brock Osweiler signed with the Texans on a four-year, $72MM deal. While it remains to be seen if he’ll start for the Broncos, Sanchez is an affordable fallback option for the team. He’ll count for just $4.5MM against the 2016 cap – with another $3MM+ available in incentives – and the 2017 pick the Broncos are giving up is unlikely to be more than a late-rounder.
Sanchez a former fifth overall pick, served primarily as the backup during his two-year stint in Philadelphia, but did start 10 games for the Eagles. Overall, the 29-year-old completed 64.3% of his passes, with 3,034 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
With just Sanchez and Trevor Siemian on their depth chart, the Broncos will remain in the market for quarterback help, and that includes the possibility of trading for someone else, such as Colin Kaepernick — Peter Schrager of FOX Sports tweets that the Sanchez deal doesn’t take Kaepernick off the table for Denver.
As for the Eagles, Sanchez became expendable for them when the team re-signed Sam Bradford and added Chase Daniel in free agency. By trading him instead of releasing him, the Eagles create $4.5MM in cap savings instead of $3.5MM, since the club will no longer be on the hook for the $1MM guarantee on his 2016 base salary.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Eagles Cut DL Brandon Bair
The Eagles continue to purge their roster of Chip Kelly acquisitions, announcing today (via Twitter) that they’ve cut defensive lineman Brandon Bair. While Bair was technically added to the roster before Kelly gained personnel control, Philadelphia’s former head coach presumably played a part in bringing in the Oregon product, not to mention extending his contract last fall.
Bair, 31, had 17 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 2014 for the Eagles. However, he was limited to five games (two starts) in 2015, and picked up just 11 tackles. As Geoff Schwartz of 97.5 The Fanatic tweets, Bair is no longer a scheme fit under new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.
Bair’s release will leave $50K in dead money on Philadelphia’s cap for the 2016 season. Although the Eagles are no longer on the hook for his $675K base salary or $50K workout bonus, they won’t create a full $725K in cap room, since Bair will be replaced in the team’s top 51 by a minimum-salary player.
Seahawks Re-Sign Jon Ryan
1:24pm: It’s a four-year deal worth $10MM, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Ryan gets a $2.4MM signing bonus.
12:50pm: Punter Jon Ryan took to Twitter to announce that he has a new four-year pact with the Seahawks. 
“Found out this morning that I will have the honor of playing in front of the greatest fans in the world for 4 more years,” Ryan tweeted.
Ryan, 34, has been with the Seahawks since the 2008 season. With the exception of ’08, Ryan has appeared in all 16 regular season games for the Seahawks in all of his Seattle seasons. For his career, which also includes two seasons with the Packers, Ryan owns a 44.8 yard-per-attempt average on his punts. Ryan turns 35 in November, so this new four-year deal could potentially take him through his age-39 season.
In other Seahawks news, the team re-signed receiver Jermaine Kearse this wek.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Compensatory Picks For 2016 NFL Draft
The NFL has officially announced the 33 compensatory picks for the 2016 NFL draft. These picks are awarded to the teams that suffered the most significant free agent losses during the 2015 offseason. So, for instance, the Lions, who lost Ndamukong Suh, get the top compensatory pick this year.
The comp pick formula assigns picks who suffered the largest net losses, so teams that signed multiple free agents have a lesser chance of receiving picks. These selections can’t be traded.
Here’s the full breakdown, by round and by team:
By Round:
Round 3:
- Detroit Lions
- New England Patriots
- Seattle Seahawks
- Denver Broncos
Round 4:
- Green Bay Packers
- Baltimore Ravens
- San Francisco 49ers
- Baltimore Ravens
- Dallas Cowboys
- Denver Broncos
- Green Bay Packers
- Cleveland Browns
- Buffalo Bills
Round 5:
- Arizona Cardinals
- Seattle Seahawks
- Cleveland Browns
- Cleveland Browns
- San Francisco 49ers
- San Diego Chargers
Round 6:
- New England Patriots
- Baltimore Ravens
- Detroit Lions
- San Francisco 49ers
- Dallas Cowboys
- San Francisco 49ers
- New England Patriots
- Seattle Seahawks
- Dallas Cowboys
- Dallas Cowboys
- Buffalo Bills
- Denver Broncos
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- New England Patriots
By Team:
- Dallas Cowboys (4)
- New England Patriots (4)
- San Francisco 49ers (4)
- Baltimore Ravens (3)
- Cleveland Browns (3)
- Denver Broncos (3)
- Seattle Seahawks (3)
- Buffalo Bills (2)
- Detroit Lions (2)
- Green Bay Packers (2)
- Arizona Cardinals (1)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (1)
- San Diego Chargers (1)