Dolphins Sign OT Jermon Bushrod
The Dolphins have signed free agent tackle Jermon Bushrod to a one-year deal, tweets Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. Bushrod himself broke the news, posting a photo on Instagram of himself signing his new contract.
Bushrod, 31, was cut by the Bears last month with a failed physical designation. After suffering a concussion early in the 2015 season, Bushrod was later sidelined by a shoulder injury, which was reportedly the cause of his failed physical designation.
Although injuries woes limited him to 12 games (and four starts) last season, Bushrod had previously been a stalwart at left tackle for the Bears and the Saints. The former fourth-round pick started 62 games for the Saints from 2009 to 2012, earning two Pro Bowl nods. He then started 30 games for Chicago in 2013 and 2014.
The Dolphins believe Bushrod will be back to 100% health in time for training camp, according to Salguero, but given the veteran’s injury issues, it seems unlikely that the Dolphins are penciling him in as a starter. Still, Bushrod figures to push for playing time on a line that currently features tackles Branden Albert, Ja’Wuan James, and Sam Young. Both Albert and James were solid in 2015, so if they remain in the starting lineup for 2016, Bushrod will likely compete for either a starting guard job or the swing tackle role.
In other Dolphins news, the team signed another offensive lineman, guard Jacques McClendon (Twitter link). McClendon spent time in Miami in 2015, but didn’t see much action. The 28-year-old made three starts for the Jaguars in 2014. According to Salguero, the Dolphins may not make a bigger splash than McClendon on the free agent guard market, preferring to address the position in the draft.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins also confirmed (via Twitter) that they’ve officially restructured Byron Maxwell‘s contract, a move that was expected as part of the trade that sent the cornerback to Miami. Maxwell’s deal is expected to remained relatively unchanged for 2016, with alterations starting in 2017.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jets To Re-Sign Bilal Powell
7:11pm: Powell’s new contract with the Jets is a three-year pact worth $11.25MM, with $6MM in fully guaranteed money, tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today.
11:28am: The Jets lost one key running back to free agency, but they refused to lose another. Gang Green and Bilal Powell have reached agreement on a new deal, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). 
Powell will now join free agent acquisition Matt Forte in what is shaping up to be a formidable backfield. Chris Ivory, of course, has moved on to the Jaguars, but Forte and Powell should give the Jets two different running styles to throw at opposing defenses. The Jets still have one more free agent tailback to address in Stevan Ridley, though he is considered to be less pivotal to the Jets’ offense than Powell.
Powell averaged a career-high 4.5 yards per carry on 70 attempts last season and added a personal-best 47 receptions. Jets head coach Todd Bowles has been a vocal supporter of the running back and is undoubtedly happy to have him back in the fold.
“He’s been more of a complete back than even I thought he was coming in. He can block. He can run. He’s not just a pass catcher. He does a bunch of things for us,” Bowles said in January.
The 27-year-old has spent all five of his career NFL seasons with the Jets. In terms of overall yards and usage, his best season came in 2013 when he carried the ball 176 times for 697 yards and one touchdown. Last season, Powell had 70 rushing attempts for 313 yards, giving him a 4.5 yards-per-attempt average.
The Cowboys, Patriots, Ravens, and Broncos also showed varying degrees of interest in Powell this week.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jets To Sign Khiry Robinson
7:10pm: Robinson gets a one-year, $1.175MM deal with $80K in guaranteed money, per Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter link).
11:52am: Having entered the offeason with their top three running backs eligible for free agency, the Jets didn’t waste much time in replenishing their backfield. Having already struck deals with Matt Forte and Bilal Powell, New York has now agreed to sign former Saints running back Khiry Robinson, reports Albert Breer of the NFL Network (Twitter link).
[RELATED: Jets to re-sign Bilal Powell]
Robinson, 26, saw his 2015 campaign come to an early end when he suffered a broken leg in November, but he has been a steady contributor in New Orleans’ backfield since 2013, averaging 4.1 yards per carry on 186 total attempts. Nonetheless, the Saints opted not to tender him a contract prior to the new league year getting underway, making him an unrestricted free agent rather than an RFA.
For the Jets, Chris Ivory has signed with the Jaguars and Stevan Ridley may not be back, but the team has replaced them with Forte and Robinson, re-signing Powell. All three backs are capable of catching the ball out of the backfield in addition to carrying it, giving the team plenty of versatility in 2016.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
C.J. Anderson Signs Dolphins’ Offer Sheet
7:06pm: The Dolphins have confirmed Anderson has signed the offer sheet the organization extended to him, according to the team’s Twitter account.
Anderson told Klis he only sought a second-round tender from the Broncos, a protection measure that would have probably kept him in Denver.
“I’m super humbled,” Anderson told Klis. “All I was asking for was a second-round tender. That’s all I was expecting. And now I’m going to make way more than a second-round tender.”
The only running back left on the Broncos’ roster who was with the team as an active-roster player last season is Juwan Thompson. with 2015’s leading rusher, Ronnie Hillman, residing as a UFA. Anderson supplanted Hillman in the playoffs, however, as the Broncos’ primary ball-carrier and gained 234 rushing yards to Hillman’s 54.
4:30pm: The offer sheet is “pretty vanilla,” a source tells Mike Florio of PFT, which would infer that does not have a creative or tricky structure.
4:26pm: Anderson’s offer sheet with the Dolphins features a $5.25MM signing bonus, according to Klis. Klis’ report adds that the deal includes a total payout of $6MM in 2016 and a guaranteed $3.5MM base salary for 2017.
While those terms are somewhat front-loaded, it sounds like the cap hit for 2016 should be fairly modest, so the Broncos may not be out of the running quite yet.
3:50pm: Restricted free agent running back C.J. Anderson has signed an offer sheet from the Dolphins, reports Mike Klis of 9NEWS (via Twitter). It’s a four-year deal, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com adds (via Twitter) that it’s worth $18MM, and the structure is expected to make it hard on Denver to match it.
The Broncos have the right of first refusal on Anderson, so they’ll have five days to match the Dolphins’ offer and bring back their free agent running back. If Denver opts not to match the offer sheet, the Broncos won’t receive any compensation for losing Anderson, who received only the low-end RFA tender.
An undrafted free agent out of California in 2013, Anderson burst onto the scene during his sophomore season. He compiled 849 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns in 2014, and he added another 324 receiving yards and two touchdowns through the air. Anderson only started six games in 2015, finishing with 720 yards and five scores on 152 attempts. Despite the up-and-down season, Anderson played a major part in Denver’s Super Bowl win, rushing for 90 yards and a touchdown in the championship game.
The Dolphins, whose new head coach Adam Gase was Anderson’s old offensive coordinator in Denver, are in the market for running back help after Lamar Miller agreed to sign with the Texans. If Miami ultimately lands Anderson, he’ll likely share the workload with Jay Ajayi in the Dolphins’ backfield.
The 49ers, Bears, and Patriots were also rumored to have interest in Anderson, once the Broncos decided not to give him a second-round tender.
Early indications were that the Broncos would likely match any offer sheet Anderson signed, but if Denver was unwilling to go from $1.671MM to $2.553MM on its tender to the running back, it seems feasible that a four-year, $18MM wouldn’t appeal to the team. If Anderson ultimately leaves the Broncos, he’ll be the latest in a string of departures this week. Brock Osweiler, Malik Jackson, and Danny Trevathan have all signed elsewhere.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Dolphins Sign Isa Abdul-Quddus
THURSDAY, 7:06pm: The Dolphins have officially signed Abdul-Quddus, according to the team (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 3:45pm: The Dolphins defensive back depth is set to get a bit deeper, as the team is expected to sign safety Isa Abdul-Quddus, reports Peter Schrager of FoxSports.com (via Twitter). NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets that it’s a three-year deal worth $12.75MM.
The 26-year-old has been a solid backup safety throughout his five-year career. The former undrafted free agent spent the past two seasons with the Lions, where he appeared in all 32 games (12 starts). Abdul-Quddus had arguably the best season of his career in 2015, compiling 57 tackles, one sack, six passes defended, and a forced fumble. Prior to his tenure in Detroit, the defensive back spent three seasons with the Saints.
Abdul-Quddus placed ninth on PFR’s list of the top free agent safeties. Pro Football Focus rated him as above-average at his position (albeit his limited snaps), and he would have ranked among the top-30 safeties had he earned enough playing time.
Free Agent Rumors: Freeman, Neal, Osemele
Here is the latest on some of the top free agents still available and some of the talents who have already landed with new teams.
- After the Packers decided to re-sign Nick Perry at a lower rate than what his fifth-year option would’ve paid him, he could still be joined by Mike Neal next season, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com tweets. The Packers’ 2010 second-round pick started 15 games last season, and the team hasn’t ruled out bringing him back as well to join Perry and Julius Peppers.
- The Colts and Jerrell Freeman aren’t close on a new contract, Chris Hagan of FOX 59 tweets. Mike Chappell of IndySportsCentral.com adds the Colts’ offer for the inside linebacker could be a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. Freeman finished last season as Pro Football Focus’ No. 4-ranked linebacker and as PFR’s No. 23-rated UFA resides as one of the best players still on the market.
- Vikings free agent cornerback Josh Robinson is visiting the Dolphins, a source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (on Twitter).
- New Raiders addition Kelechi Osemele says that his position is not set in stone, as Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. Osemele indicated that he will play either tackle or guard depending on what happens for Oakland in free agency and in the draft.
- “I would love to come back [to the Falcons] and revive the feeling we had at the [Georgia] Dome, and revive my career,” free agent linebacker Sean Weatherspoon told Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. He’ll be meeting with Atlanta brass this evening, per Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
- New Broncos tackle Donald Stephenson told media (including Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post, Twitter link) that 13-15 teams were interested in him.
Sam Robinson contributed to this report
Saints Re-Sign Luke McCown
The Saints are bringing back Drew Brees‘ backup for the 2016 season, according to agent Mike McCartney, who tweets that his client, Luke McCown, has agreed to a two-year deal with New Orleans. According to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter link), the two-year pact is worth $3MM, with a $500K signing bonus.
McCown, 34, has been the No. 2 signal-caller in New Orleans for the last three seasons. After throwing just one pass in 2013 and 2014, McCown saw some action last season, making a spot start for Drew Brees. For the season, he completed 32 of 39 passes for 335 yards and an interception, then was sidelined in November with a back injury.
Coming off a minimum salary benefit contract, McCown will get a bit of a raise this year — perhaps due to that performance in place of Brees last season. The veteran signal-caller also paid a visit to the Colts today, so it’s possible that interest from Indianapolis forced the Saints to give their backup QB a bit of a raise.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Lions Sign Stefan Charles
The Lions are signing defensive tackle Stefan Charles, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The team has since confirmed the move (Twitter link).
Charles, 28 in June, appeared in 13 games for the Bills last season, collecting 13 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble. However, he was non-tendered by Buffalo earlier this month. For his career, Charles has appeared in 37 games across three years.
As Charles signs elsewhere, the Bills could lose a restricted free agent in wide receiver Chris Hogan.
Bears To Re-Sign Sherrick McManis
The Bears are set to re-sign special teams ace Sherrick McManis, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune tweets. McManis will get a new two-year deal from Chicago. Financial terms of the deal are not yet known.
The cornerback was also picking up interest from the Patriots and Jaguars. McManis doesn’t see a ton of time on defense, but he led the Bears with 17 special teams tackles and he carries a ton of value in that facet of the game.
In other Bears news, the team agreed to sign free agent tackle Bobby Massie to a three-year, $18MM deal with $6.5MM guaranteed on Wednesday. A starter in Arizona during the 2012, 2014 and 2015 seasons, Massie started 16 total games for the Cardinals last season, including both playoff contests, at right tackle.
Lions To Sign Johnson Bademosi
6:05pm: Bademosi’s deal ranks as one of the highest accords for special-teamers, with the Lions agreeing to pay the fifth-year defender $4.5MM over two years, with unspecified incentives potentially escalating that to $6MM, Schefter tweets.
5:31pm: Another player will be departing Cleveland in a fast-paced week for Browns exits, with the Lions reaching an agreement with Johnson Bademosi, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
A defensive back and top special-teamer for the Browns, Bademosi agreed to terms with Detroit on a two-year deal. After arriving from Stanford as a UDFA, Bademosi played in 62 games for the Browns from 2012-15, starting none.
The Browns have now lost Mitchell Schwartz, Alex Mack, Tashaun Gipson, Travis Benjamin and Bademosi in barely a day.