Angelo Blackson

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/8/20

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

New England Patriots

Seattle Seahawks

Texans’ DL Angelo Blackson Takes Pay Cut

Texans’ DL Angelo Blackson has agreed to a pay cut, as Mark Berman of Fox 26 reports (via Twitter). Blackson was set to earn nearly $4MM this year, but that number will now drop to $2.5MM.

Blackson was selected by the Titans in the fourth round of the 2015 draft and spent the first two years of his career with Tennessee but was waived prior to the start of the 2017 season. He quickly hooked on with the Patriots’ taxi squad and was signed by Houston a few weeks later.

In 2018, his first full year in Houston, the Auburn product saw the most playing time of his career, appearing in all 16 games and 40% of the team’s defensive snaps. Although Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics ranked him near the bottom of the league’s interior defenders that season, Houston re-signed him to a three-year, $12MM pact last March.

In 2019, Blackson again appeared in 40% of the Texans’ defensive snaps, recording 20 tackles in the process. But his overall game was still a bit lackluster, and if he did not accept a pay cut, he may have been released.

As Berman writes, the Texans have saved about $8MM of cap space between Blackson’s pay cut, Senio Kelemete‘s extension, and Zach Fulton‘s restructure. The team now has about $20MM of room, and due to the expected cap reduction in 2021, any rollover money will be valuable. Plus, the team also needs to stash some funds for the inevitable Deshaun Watson extension.

Contract Details: Brown, Boyle, Harrison

Let’s take a look at the details of a few recently-signed contracts from around the NFL:

  • Trent Brown , T (Raiders): Four years, $66MM, $36.75MM guaranteed. As Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network tweets, Brown will earn $15MM in 2019 but $21.5MM in 2020, when the Raiders move to Las Vegas (there’s no income tax in Nevada). That’s a smart move on Brown’s part, obviously. But as Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal observes (via Twitter), there is no guaranteed money left on the deal after 2020, so the Raiders can cut bait with no dead money ramifications at the end of the 2020 season. Essentially, then, it is a two-year, $36.75MM pact.
  • Nick Boyle, TE (Ravens): Three years, $18MM. $10MM fully guaranteed ($7MM signing bonus, $1MM guaranteed salary in 2019, $2MM of $4.5MM guaranteed in 2020). Twitter link via NFL Insider Adam Caplan.
  • Jonotthan Harrison, OL (Jets): Re-signed on March 9. Two years, maximum of $6MM. Twitter link via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.
  • Angelo Blackson, DE (Texans): Three years, $12MM. $3.5MM guaranteed. Salaries of $2MM (guaranteed), $3.5MM, and $3.5MM. $1.5MM 2019 roster bonus. $31,250 per game 46-man roster bonus. Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
  • Ben Braunecker, TE (Bears): Two-year deal. Total value of $2.7MM. $300K signing bonus. $6,250 per game 46-man roster bonus. Twitter links via Wilson.

Texans Re-Sign DE Angelo Blackson

The Texans and defensive end Angelo Blackson agreed to a new three-year, $12MM deal, a source tells Adam Caplan of NFL.com (on Twitter). Blackson played in 40% of the team’s defensive snaps last season and emerged as a pleasant surprise for Houston. 

Blackson first joined the Texans in 2017 after spending the previous two seasons with the Titans. He had just nine tackles across nine games in Year One with Houston, but he took on a larger role last year. Appearing in all 16 games (four starts), Blackson amassed 24 tackles, one sack, and three passes defensed. For what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus graded him as just the 99th ranked interior defender out of 112 qualified players.

The Texans still have lots of work to do on the defensive line. Christian Covington, Brandon Dunn, and Joel Heath (RFA) still need to have their contracts addressed.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/15/18

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Arizona Cardinals

Houston Texans

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/14/18

Here are today’s restricted free agent and exclusive-rights free agent tender decisions, with the list being updated throughout the day. All links go to Twitter unless otherwise noted:

RFAs

Tendered at the second-round level ($2.914MM):

Tendered at original round level ($1.907MM):

Non-tendered:

ERFAs

Tendered:

Non-tendered:

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/31/17

Today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

  • Promoted to active roster: OL Maurquice Shakir
  • Released: WR Griff Whalen

Buffalo Bills

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Miami Dolphins

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Titans Move Roster To 53

The Titans have announced their final 53-man roster, moving from the 90-man limit down to the regular-season standard on Saturday. Here’s who Tennessee cut to get down to 53 (via Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com).

Cut:

Waived/injured:

Placed on IR:

Draft Signings: Chiefs, Cards, Titans, Jags

Teams around the NFL continue to lock up their 2015 draft picks, and while we’ll dedicate full posts when first- or second-rounders sign their rookie contracts, we’ll pass along mid-to-late-round signings in round-up posts like this one. Here are the latest draft pick signings from around the league, with all salary info via Over The Cap:

  • The Chiefs have signed third-round receiver Chris Conley, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). Conley, the 76th overall pick earlier this month, is one of two key additions – along with Jeremy Maclin – to Kansas City’s new-look receiving corps, which will look to reach the end zone at least once in 2015.
  • Mr. Irrelevant, 256th overall pick Gerald Christian, has signed his rookie contract with the Cardinals, per Wilson (via Twitter). Even as the final seventh-rounder to come off the board, the former Louisville tight end did significantly better than he would have as an undrafted free agent, securing a signing bonus worth about $53K.
  • The Titans have agreed to terms with three more of their draft picks, locking up fourth-round defensive tackle Angelo Blackson, sixth-round center Andy Gallik, and seventh-round receiver Tre McBride, tweets Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean. The club still has to sign five of its nine draftees, including second overall pick Marcus Mariota.
  • The Jaguars have signed a pair of draftees to their rookie deals today, according to John Oehser of Jaguars.com, who reports (via Twitter) that fourth-round safety James Sample and seventh-round wideout Neal Sterling are now under contract. Sample and Sterling will receive respective signing bonuses worth about $549K and $78K.
  • The Raiders announced (on Twitter) that they have signed a pair of seventh-round draft picks in wide receiver Andre Debose and tackle Anthony Morris.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

AFC Notes: Manziel, Talib, Draft, Parker

Following his release from rehab, Johnny Manziel issued a statement through the Browns today, thanking the organization, his teammates, and fans for their patience and understanding over the last several weeks.

“I take full responsibility for my actions and it’s my intention to work very hard to regain everyone’s trust and respect,” Manziel said in his statement. “I understand that will take time and will only happen through what I do and not what I say. … I look forward to seeing my teammates next week and focusing on football and my desire to be the best possible player, teammate, and man that I can be.”

While we wait to see if Manziel’s sophomore year as an NFL player goes any better than his rookie season did, let’s check out a few more items from across the AFC….

  • The Dallas police department has suspended its investigation into an alleged aggravated assault involving Aqib Talib due to a lack of evidence, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Assuming no new evidence arises, the Broncos cornerback won’t face charges and should avoid discipline from the NFL for the coming season.
  • There’s little doubt that Kevin White and Amari Cooper, the top two wideouts in the draft, will be long gone by the time the Dolphins‘ No. 14 overall pick arrives. However, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (Twitter link) continues to hear that a third receiver, Louisville’s DeVante Parker, will be off the board by that point as well.
  • Arizona State wide receiver Jaelen Strong is paying a visit to Pittsburgh today to meet with the Steelers, tweets ESPN.com’s Scott Brown.
  • Running back C.J. Spiller will suit up for the Saints in 2015, but he’ll “always be a Buffalo Bill at heart,” he tells Tim Graham of The Buffalo News.
  • The Broncos, who will be looking to add some depth on the defensive line after losing Terrance Knighton in free agency, brought in Auburn defensive tackle Angelo Blackson for a visit, writes Mike Klis of the Denver Post. Blackson isn’t projected to be selected until the late rounds, if he’s drafted at all, but he had an impressive Pro Day showing and could be a fit for new Denver defensive coordinator Wade Phillips.