AFC Contract Details: Titans, Hawkins, Ravens, Flacco, Bengals, Browns, Broncos, Colts, Patriots
Here are the latest details from contracts agreed to around the AFC, with many coming out of Nashville:
- Daniel Bellinger, TE (Titans). Three years, $24MM. Bellinger secured $14MM guaranteed at signing, according to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. This covers $4.91MM of Bellinger’s $5.94MM 2027 base salary, per OverTheCap.
- Jaylinn Hawkins, S (Ravens). Two years, $10MM. Hawkins landed $5MM guaranteed at signing, per Wilson. None of Hawkins’ 2027 compensation is guaranteed.
- Jacob Martin, DE (Titans). Two years, $9MM. Tennessee authorized $4.5MM fully guaranteed, Wilson tweets. None of Martin’s 2027 compensation is guaranteed.
- Jordan Elliott, DT (Titans). Two years, $8MM. The Titans authorized a $3.24MM guarantee at signing for the former Browns and 49ers D-tackle, Wilson tweets. None of Elliott’s 2027 compensation is guaranteed.
- Austin Schlottmann, OL (Titans). Two years, $7MM. The veteran interior offensive lineman received $2.99MM guaranteed at signing, Wilson tweets. None of Schlottmann’s 2027 compensation is guaranteed.
- Joshua Williams, CB (Titans). Two years, $6.75MM. Like Elliott, Wilson adds Williams secured $3.24MM guaranteed at signing. One of several Chiefs DBs relocating this month, Williams will not see any 2027 guarantees on this deal.
- Joe Flacco, QB (Bengals). One year, $6MM. Flacco’s contract contains $4MM guaranteed, SI.com’s Jay Morrison notes. Generally against void years, the Bengals included two in this contract. Flacco’s cap hit will check in at $3.3MM as a result. Due to the void years, Flacco not being re-signed before the 2027 league year begins will result in a $2.7MM dead money charge. There are $3.5MM in incentives here, Morrison adds. Among the bottom-tier bumps in play, Flacco would see $1MM if he plays 60% of Cincinnati’s offensive snaps in a playoff season. If the Bengals do not make the playoffs and the 19th-year QB plays 60% of the snaps, he would see $250K. More notably, any Bengals win in which Flacco plays at least 60% of the snaps will bring $125K; this incentive has an eight-game cap.
- Durham Smythe, TE (Ravens). One year, $3MM. The former Dolphins and Bears tight end secured $2MM guaranteed at signing, Wilson tweets.
- Daniel Thomas, S (Browns). Two years, $3MM. Thomas landed just more than $1MM fully guaranteed, according to Wilson. No guarantees are in place for 2027.
- Akeem Davis-Gaither, LB (Colts). One year, $2.73MM. This contract includes $1.5MM fully guaranteed, Wilson adds.
- Mo Alie-Cox, TE (Colts). One year, $2.59MM. Like the Lions’ Malcolm Rodriguez deal, this contract is a four-year qualifying offer. It will come with $2.19MM fully guaranteed, Wilson adds. Because this is a four-year qualifying contract, Alie-Cox will count just $1.4MM toward the Colts’ cap.
- Tony Adams, S (Titans). One year, $2.14MM. Among the many former Robert Saleh-era Jets joining the Titans this offseason, Adams will see $1MM fully guaranteed on this deal (via Wilson).
- Kalia Davis, DT (Browns). One year, $2MM. The veteran interior D-lineman secured $1.75MM guaranteed at signing, according to Wilson.
- Corey Bojorquez, P (Browns). One year, $2MM. Bojorquez will see $938K guaranteed at signing on his third Browns contract, according to Wilson.
- Tycen Anderson, S (Broncos). One year, $1.5MM. The only outside Broncos free agent signing thus far, the veteran special-teamer received $650K guaranteed, 9News’ Mike Klis notes.
- James Hudson, T (Patriots). One year, $1.4MM. The Giants jettisoned Hudson’s two-year, $12MM deal months after benching him in Week 2. The New England swing tackle secured $538K guaranteed at signing, ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss tweets.
Colts Sign WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, LB Akeem Davis-Gaither
Continuing a hyphen-heavy transaction week, the Colts are adding some veteran depth on both sides of the ball. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Akeem Davis-Gaither are signing with the team, the Colts announced.
Lou Anarumo‘s reunions with hyphenated ex-Bengals already included a Tuesday Cam Taylor-Britt agreement. Davis-Gaither, who played for Cincinnati from 2020-24 under Indianapolis’ current DC, will join the Colts after a season with the Cardinals.
Westbrook-Ikhine comes over after a season in Miami, but he is certainly better known to Colts fans as a longtime Titans auxiliary wideout. The former Ryan Tannehill target spent five years in Tennessee before moving to Miami last year. Westbrook-Ikhine posted two 400-plus-yard seasons, including a 476-yard, four-TD campaign for a Titans team that claimed the AFC’s No. 1 seed in 2021.
Three years later, Westbrook-Ikhine managed nine touchdown grabs on just 32 receptions — including a 98-yard score. Two of those nine TDs came against the Colts. The 6-foot-2 pass catcher, 29 on Saturday, signed a two-year, $5.99MM Dolphins deal in 2025 but caught only 11 passes as a Jaylen Waddle complementary option. Miami’s new regime, which is prepared to smash a single-season dead money record, released Westbrook-Ikhine recently (the seventh-year vet only counts $1.6MM toward Miami’s astonishing dead cap total — above $170MM when Tua Tagovailoa‘s release is factored in).
The Colts came into last season with a receiver surplus but dealt into it over the past five months, sending Adonai Mitchell to the Jets in the Sauce Gardner trade and Michael Pittman Jr. to the Steelers in a salary-dump move as payments for Alec Pierce and Daniel Jones loomed. Those moves could clear a path for Westbrook-Ikhine to be a low-cost WR3 alongside Pierce and Josh Downs.
Davis-Gaither, 28, made a career-high 13 starts for the Cardinals but received a pink slip earlier this month. He had previously been a role player under Anarumo, serving as a Logan Wilson–Germaine Pratt wingman at linebacker. This included three seasons with a snap rate of 30% or higher. Pratt and Wilson were the lead options, though, during Anarumo’s tenure. The Colts rostered Pratt last season, picking him up after a Raiders release, but have not brought him back just yet.
Intercepting a Tyler Huntley pass in the 2022 wild-card round, Davis-Gaither took on a bigger role with the Cardinals in 2025 but struggled. Pro Football Focus graded him in the bottom quartile among off-ball linebackers last season, though he did smash a career high with 117 tackles while adding an interception and five passes defensed.
The Colts have steadily dismantled their linebacking corps, moving on from Shaquille Leonard, E.J. Speed and Zaire Franklin over the past two-plus years. They sent Franklin to Green Bay for defensive tackle Colby Wooden. Jaylon Carlies currently serves as the top Indianapolis holdover LB, giving Davis-Gaither a path to a prominent role as it currently stands.
Cardinals Release Akeem Davis-Gaither, Bilal Nichols
The Cardinals have released linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither and defensive tackle Bilal Nichols, per Field Yates of ESPN. They cut Nichols with a failed physical designation.
Davis-Gaither worked as a backup during his first five seasons in Cincinnati, which chose him in Round 4 of the 2020 draft. He became a starter for the Cardinals after they handed him a two-year, $11MM deal last March.
During his second 17-game season in a row, Davis-Gaither notched career highs in tackles (117), starts (13) and passes defensed (five). He led all Cardinals linebackers in snap share (68.15%) and pulled in the third interception of his career along the way. Pro Football Focus was unimpressed, though, as the outlet ranked the 28-year-old’s performance 71st among 88 qualifying LBs.
A former Bear and Raider, Nichols signed a three-year, $21MM contract with the Cardinals in March 2024. Nichols was coming off three straight 17-game seasons at that point, but health eluded him in Arizona. The 300-pounder totaled 10 tackles in six games (five starts) before a stinger forced him to season-ending injured reserve in October 2024.
When assembling their roster at the end of August last year, the Cardinals placed Nichols on the reserve/PUP list with a neck injury. They activated Nichols before Week 5, but the 29-year-old wound up totaling just four appearances and three tackles in 2025. Arizona sent Nichols to IR with knee injury in mid-December, ending his second and last season in its uniform. He made 13 tackles in 10 games as a Cardinal.
In moving on from Davis-Gaither and Nichols, the Cardinals will save around $11MM in cap space. They now have approximately $39.7MM available as the new league year approaches.