Chiefs Working To Re-Sign Sean Smith
Even after agreeing to new deals with Tamba Hali, Derrick Johnson and Jaye Howard over the last two days, the Chiefs still aren’t finished trying to keep one of the NFL’s premier defenses in place. The club is now making a push to bring back standout free agent cornerback Sean Smith, Terez A. Paylor of The Kansas City Star reports (on Twitter).
Paylor notes (via Twitter) that the Smith sweepstakes is down to three teams. As of earlier today, the Chiefs were competing 
with the Raiders and 49ers for his services.
Although relatively young (28), Smith has already amassed 100 NFL starts in 108 appearances since the Dolphins took him in the second round of the 2009 draft. Smith signed with the Chiefs on a three-year, $16.5MM deal in 2013 and has since added five interceptions, giving him 10 for his career, while making 44 starts in 45 appearances. Thirteen of those starts came last season, when the 6-foot-2, 215-pounder finished an outstanding 12th at Pro Football Focus among 111 qualifying cornerbacks (subscription required).
Thanks to his efforts since signing in Kansas City three years ago, Smith is guaranteed to land a significant raise sometime soon, perhaps as much as $12MM annually (Twitter link via Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle). Entering free agency, PFR’s Luke Adams ranked Smith as the ninth-best player available. Among corners, only Janoris Jenkins had a higher ranking (fourth). Jenkins has since agreed to a five-year, $62.5MM contract with the Giants.
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Giants, Victor Cruz Agree On Restructure
7:51pm: Cruz’s new base salary will be $1.3MM, according to Art Stapleton of the Bergen Record (via Twitter). This is a drastic drop from the $7.9MM the 6-foot target was set to earn under his previous deal. But Cruz can recoup a sizable amount of this through playing-time incentives ($5.5MM) and production incentives, Bergen reports.
7:40pm: The Giants and Victor Cruz at long last appear to have agreed on a restructured deal that will keep the slot receiver in 
New York this season, Rand Getlin of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).
Previously set to count $9.9MM against the Giants’ cap in 2016, Cruz’s new number will reduce to a not-yet-released amount. Some of Cruz’s money will be shifted to incentives, Getlin reports. This new arrangement will allow the seventh-year wideout the chance to earn all of the money back that was originally on his contract, per Getlin (on Twitter).
Cruz signed a $45.88MM contract extension prior to the 2013 season, but much has changed since he last played. The star of Kevin Gilbride’s offenses of the early part of this decade, Cruz will now attempt to fully assimilate into Ben McAdoo’s attack in which he operated briefly before suffering a season-ending knee injury against the Eagles in October 2014.
Last season, a persistent calf injury kept the 29-year-old target off the field. Set to turn 30 in November, Cruz has three seasons left on his deal.
So, should Cruz be healthy after missing the past 22 regular-season games, Giants fans may finally get a chance to see the team’s best receiver of the early 2010s and its current No. 1 receiver share the field. That’s only happened in two games, with Cruz and Odell Beckham starting just once together.
Although Cruz arrived emphatically onto the scene with his dominant 2011 slate — 1,536 yards, 18.7 yards per reception, nine TDs — his receiving yardage figures have gone down in each subsequent season. Cruz earned a Pro Bowl nod for his 2012 work (1,092 yards, 10 TDs), it was quite a bit off his torrid pace. Cruz gained 998 air yards in 2013 and scored four touchdowns in Gilbride’s final season as OC.
But should Cruz return to form, Eli Manning, who quietly threw for a career-high 35 touchdown passes last season as he began to thrive in McAdoo’s offense, could have a receiving crew with a higher ceiling than any at his disposal in his 13 seasons. The Giants, who have Rueben Randle remaining as a UFA, have boasted deeper receiving corps but none quite on the level of what Beckham and the version of Cruz that surfaced in the early part of this decade could be capable of reaching.
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ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/9/16
Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to exclusive-rights free agents. We’ll round up those decisions here:
Tendered
- Buccaneers – Jeremiah George, LB; Jacquies Smith, DE (Twitter link via Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times)
- Chargers – Dontrelle Inman, WR; Kenny Wiggins, OL (Twitter link via Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune)
- Raiders – Denico Autry, DL; Seth Roberts, WR (Twitter link via Seth Bair of CSNBayArea.com)
Non-Tendered
- Bills – Cierre Wood, RB (Twitter links via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com)
- Patriots – Josh Boyce, WR (Twitter link via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com)
- Saints – Austin Brown, DT; Ryan Seymour, OL; Lawrence Virgil, DT (Twitter link via Evan Woodbery of NOLa.com.
Jets Release Jeremy Kerley
7:18pm: Kerley’s release is official, as Randy Lange of the Jets’ website writes.
3:07pm: The Jets are releasing Jeremy Kerley, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). Kerley will become an unrestricted free agent and will be free to sign with any team.
New York has already made a few other significant moves today at it looks to reshape its offense — the club has agreed to sign running back Matt Forte, and has also released tight end Jeff Cumberland. Of course, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, perhaps the most significant piece of the the Jets’ offensive unit, is a free agent, as the team did not come to an agreement to re-sign him before free agency began.
Kerley, 27, agreed to an extension about 18 months ago, but it was the previous Jets front office that negotiated that deal. Cutting Kerley will save New York $1.3MM on the salary cap, but they’ll also incur $1.8MM in dead money. Largely written out of the offense in 2015, Kerley posted the worst statistics of his career, hauling in only 16 passes for 152 yards.
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Chargers Re-Sign Kellen Clemens
The Chargers have re-signed quarterback Kellen Clemens to a one-year deal, the team announced in a press release. Clemens will serve as Philip Rivers‘ backup for the third straight season.
In his first two seasons in San Diego, Clemens attempted just nine passes in four games. He saw extensive action in 2013 with the Rams, starting nine games and tossing eight touchdowns against seven interceptions. In 44 career appearances (21 starts), the 10-year veteran has 16 TDs and 20 picks. The ex-Oregon Duck entered the league as a second-round pick of the Jets in 2006.
Dwight Freeney Eyes One More Season
Dwight Freeney wants to play one more season, preferably with the Cardinals, Alex Marvez of Fox Sports reports (on Twitter).
An unrestricted free agent, Freeney not ruling out a landing with another team but made it clear Arizona’s his ideal destination. The now-36-year-old defensive end told Marvez (Twitter link) he was one week away from retiring last year before they contacted him and signed the three-time first-team All-Pro pass-rusher.
Freeney turned out to be a vital addition after he posted eight sacks in 11 games despite playing for just $970K. That total represented the most for Freeney since his age-31 season in 2011 with the Colts.
After an injury-marred an unmemorable stint with the Chargers, Freeney went on to lead the NFC West champions with eight sacks, registering three more than the next-best Cardinals rusher. He did so despite starting no games.
Serving in pass-rush situations, Freeney delivered, particularly against the Packers. After a three-sack game in the teams’ regular-season clash, Freeney brought down Aaron Rodgers once in the playoff encounter.
It doesn’t look like Freeney will be in a rush to sign with anyone, so the Cardinals can be patient with the Syracuse alumnus and seven-time Pro Bowler.
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Chiefs, Frank Zombo Agree To Three-Year Deal
Shortly after agreeing to a three-year deal with linebacker Derrick Johnson, the Chiefs have reached a three-year pact with fellow LB Frank Zombo, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter link). Zombo’s deal is worth $3.6MM and includes another possible $750K in incentives, per Pelissero.
Zombo, 29, began his career with the Packers as an undrafted free agent from Central Michigan in 2010. After a three-year stint in Green Bay, he joined the Chiefs in 2013 and has since appeared in 48 straight regular-season games. Zombo logged two starts last season and amassed three sacks, the second-highest total of his career. He also played an impressive 80.9 percent of special teams plays for Kansas City and racked up nine ST tackles.
Eagles, Ron Brooks Agree To Terms
The Bills-to-Eagles pipeline continues to flow on Day 1 of free agency, with cornerback Ron Brooks agreeing to terms to head to Philadelphia on a three-year deal, the Eagles announced via Twitter.
New DC Jim Schwartz has already added Nigel Bradham and Leodis McKelvin and now will bring Brooks aboard. The 27-year-old Brooks’ deal is for $6MM, with the potential to rise to $8.7MM in playing-time incentives, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).
Brooks has started just three games in his career but played under Schwartz in Buffalo in 2014. The 2012 fourth-round pick has played in 46 games the past four seasons.
The Eagles have added two former Bills corners over the past two days while shipping out Byron Maxwell. Nolan Carroll remains a free agent.
Extra Points: Cruz, Hoyer, Glennon, Falcons
On a day where the Giants are making aggressive efforts to improve their team in free agency, some clarity on one of their holdovers could be coming soon.
Victor Cruz is working out details in order to stay on the Giants, Art Stapleton of the Bergen Record reports (on Twitter). The former Pro Bowl slot stalwart has been M.I.A. with the Giants over the past 1 1/2 years due to knee and calf injuries. The Giants intended to release Cruz if the sides were unable to work out a restructure that would lower the receiver’s cap number, which currently sits at $9.90MM. But the sides have been optimistic this week about a resolution that keeps Cruz with the Giants.
Cruz and Odell Beckham have only started one game together, leaving a what-if factor looming around the Giants’ passing game. Cruz will be 30 in November.
Here’s the latest from around the league.
- Buccaneers backup Mike Glennon could be a trade chip but will cost teams at least a third-round pick due to a potential compensatory draft selection’s involvement down the line, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets. Glennon has one more season left on his rookie deal after which he can become an unrestricted free agent. The Bucs started No. 1 pick Jameis Winston in all 16 games last season. Glennon, who’s completed 58.8% of his passes in 18 starts and has thrown 29 touchdown passes compared to 15 interceptions, has been competent during previous stints and could be an attractive option for a quarterback-needy team. The Texans no longer reside in that group, but several other teams do, including the defending Super Bowl champions.
- Fresh off making Brock Osweiler their quarterback of the future earlier today, the Texans now could include Brian Hoyer in trade scenarios, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle writes. Despite committing five turnovers in the wild card playoff loss to the Chiefs, Hoyer threw 19 TD passes compared to seven INTs last season in just nine starts. The 30-year-old signal-caller has one season left on the two-year, $10.5MM deal he signed last year with the Texans and is due to make $4MM in base salary this season.
- The Falcons were interested in bringing aboard Mark Barron before he signed to stay with the Rams, Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). McClure notes the Falcons were “very high” on Barron to perhaps return to strong safety. The Rams re-signed him with the intent to keep him at weakside linebacker.
Eagles Sign Rodney McLeod
6:19pm: The Eagles have announced that they’ve officially signed McLeod.
11:45am: The Eagles and free agent safety Rodney McLeod have agreed to terms on a five-year, $37MM contract, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). The deal, which averages more than $7MM annually, will feature $17MM in guarantees, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It can be made official after 3:00pm central time today.
McLeod, 25, has started all 48 regular season games in the Rams’ secondary over the last three seasons, picking up five career interceptions and six fumble recoveries during that time. Pro Football Focus has been fond of McLeod’s play, ranking him 10th among safeties in 2015, grading him as both a solid run defender and coverage man.
In Philadelphia, McLeod will be the most recent addition to an Eagles’ defensive backfield that’s seen turnover already this offseason. Cornerback Byron Maxwell, signed to a massive free agent deal just last year, will be shipped to the Dolphins, while fellow CB Nolan Carroll is a free agent. The Eagles did agree to an extension with safety Malcolm Jenkins last month, but the signing of McLeod likely means that Walter Thurmond, who played well in his first season after transitioning to safety, will head elsewhere on the open market.
The Rams, meanwhile, will lose the second key member of their secondary, as McLeod will follow corner Janoris Jenkins — who earlier today agreed to sign with the Giants — out the door. Los Angeles did place the franchise tag on CB Trumaine Johnson, so they still have at least one solid option in the defensive backfield, but with a lot of cap space in reserve, the secondary might be an area the club targets in the coming days.
McLeod was ranked as PFR’s No. 14 free agent. He becomes the second high-profile safety to agree to terms today, as George Iloka has reportedly agreed to return to the Bengals.
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