Here are Wednesday’s minor moves:
Houston Texans
Los Angeles Rams
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
New Orleans Saints
New York Jets
The Patriots got steamrolled on Sunday when they lost 33-6 to the 49ers, and now they’ll be without a key depth piece moving forward. Linebacker Brandon Copeland has told teammates he has a torn pec and is done for the season, a source told Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com (Twitter link).
Copeland, signed to a cheap one-year deal back in March, is a core special teamer but has also been playing a real role on defense this year. He’s played a decent chunk of the defensive snaps in a few games, and is credited with four starts. His 2020 season will conclude with 12 tackles, one for a loss.
The Penn product signed with the Ravens as an UDFA back in 2013, but he didn’t make his regular season debut until 2015 with the Lions. After two years in Detroit as a special teamer he tore a pec in the 2017 preseason, and signed with the Jets the following year where he earned a big role on defense. In 16 games and 10 starts with New York in 2018, he racked up five sacks, two passes defended, and eight tackles for loss.
Linebacker Brandon Copeland has come to an agreement with the Patriots on a one-year deal, per Jim McBride of the Boston Globe. Copeland can receive up to $1.1MM in the deal, according to NFL Insider Adam Caplan.
Over his four-year career, Copeland has split his time with the Lions and Jets. While he has only started 14 games over his four-year career (10 of which came in 2018), he has appeared in 60 games accruing 107 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, and 7 sacks.
In 2019, with the Jets, Copeland received a 58.6 player grade from Pro Football Focus, which was the 49th highest grade of 89 qualified linebackers.
Luke Falk‘s tenure with the Jets has come to an end. The team waived the quarterback this morning. Taking his spot on the roster is linebacker Brandon Copeland, who had been suspended for the first four games of the season.
With both Sam Darnold and Trevor Siemian out of the lineup, the Jets were forced to turn to the 24-year-old Falk, who had previously been sitting on the organization’s practice squad. He ended up getting into three games for New York, completing 64.4-percent of his passes for 416 yards, three interceptions, and zero scores. The Jets were outscored 20-61 in his two starts.
With Darnold set to return tomorrow vs. the Cowboys, Falk’s days as a starter were clearly over. However, the Jets won’t even keep him around as a backup, instead turning to David Fales. Falk, a 2018 sixth-round pick out of Washington State, will now be looking to join his fourth team in less than two seasons. There’s always a chance he could land back on the Jets practice squad.
Copeland joined the Jets last season and ended up having a career year, compiling 35 tackles and five sacks in 16 games (10 starts). In August, he was slapped with a four-game ban for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.
The Jaylon Smith extension tethers the emerging linebacker to the Cowboys through the 2025 season, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes the deal will give 24-year-old standout $19MM fully guaranteed at signing. Both this figure and Smith’s AAV ($12.5MM) place him sixth among off-ball linebackers, giving this pact a win-win feel for the Cowboys and a player who recovered from a serious injury to move into lucrative extension position.
Smith will be 30 by the time this contract expires but will only be 27 by the time the guarantees stop in 2022. The deal contains a $5.17MM base salary for 2020, which is fully guaranteed, and a $7.2MM base for 2021. This contract includes injury guarantees for both Smith’s 2021 and 2022 base salaries — $7.2MM and $9.2MM, respectively — and those become full guarantees on the fifth day of each year. Additionally, the deal contains a $500K de-escalator, Florio adds. This will take effect if Smith fails to show for 90% of Dallas’ offseason workouts.
The Cowboys still have the same four key UFAs-to-be as they did to start the week — Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper, Byron Jones and La’el Collins — and Ezekiel Elliott remains a holdout. But the team checked off a key piece of its complicated contract checklist in locking down Smith, who would have been a 2020 RFA.
Here is the latest from the East divisions:
Another linebacker down for the Jets. On Wednesday, Brandon Copeland was suspended four games by the NFL for performance-enchanting substances. 
Copeland’s suspension comes on the heels of Avery Williamson‘s season-ending ACL tear, leaving the Jets even thinner in the LB group. The club already signed former Saints and Dolphins ‘backer Stephone Anthony to help fill the gap, but they could go shopping once again for depth.
Copeland is eligible to participate in the Jets’ two remaining preseason contests as well as their remaining preseason practices, but he’ll be barred from playing until Oct. 7, thanks to the Jets’ Week 4 bye.
In 2018, his first year with the Jets, Copeland managed 35 tackles and five sacks. He played the full 16-game slate, including ten starts.
While previous reports have indicated the Buccaneers plan to retain Gerald McCoy, the veteran defensive tackle may actually not be safe, especially given head coach Bruce Arians‘ most recent comments to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “He’s not as disruptive as he was four years ago,” Arians said. “But he’s still pretty disruptive. He’s still a good player….I got to evaluate him. I mean, guys at a certain age, it’s different. Usually, the age they get paid the most and production (doesn’t) match. We’ve got to find that out.” McCoy, 31, ranked fourth among defensive tackles with 21 quarterback hits in 2018 and finished as the NFL’s No. 28 interior defender, per Pro Football Focus. He’s signed through 2021, but Tampa Bay won’t incur any dead money by releasing McCoy (and would save $13MM against the cap).
Here’s more from the NFC South:
Here are the latest contract details from around the league:
The Jets have re-signed outside linebacker Brandon Copeland, according to a team announcement. The club also retained tight end Neal Sterling, per the press release.
Copeland, who had a career-high five sacks in 2018, also drew interest from the Patriots, Redskins, and Lions during the free agent period. Ultimately, he decided to return to the Jets, where he enjoyed the most productive season of his career.
After going undrafted out of Penn in 2015, Copeland spent three seasons with the Lions as a special-teamer, topping 300 ST snaps in both 2015 and 2016. He suffered a torn pectoral the following year and missed all of the 2017 campaign, and subsequently signed a one-year deal with Gang Green in 2018. Last year was a breakout season for Copeland, as he saw action on a career-high 611 defensive snaps and tied for the third-highest sack total on the Jets’ roster.
The Jets may still be in the market for edge rush help, but Copeland’s return will go a long way towards addressing that void. They’re also still in the hunt for cornerback and center help, so the re-signing of Copeland could allow them to prioritize those needs moving forward.
The Lions met with free agent edge rusher Brandon Copeland on Wednesday, according to NFL reporter Howard Balzer (Twitter link).
Copeland, 27, already has experience with Detroit, as he played for the club from 2015-17 under former head coach Jim Caldwell. While the Lions visit marked the first official meeting of Copeland’s free agent period, he has drawn interest from the Patriots and Redskins, although neither team has scheduled a sit-down.
After going undrafted out of Penn in 2015, Copeland spent three seasons with the Lions as a special-teamer, topping 300 ST snaps in both 2015 and 2016. He suffered a torn pectoral the following year and missed all of the 2017 campaign, and subsequently signed a one-year deal with Gang Green in 2018. Last year was a breakout season for Copeland, as he saw action on a career-high 611 defensive snaps and posted five sacks, tied for third-best on the Jets’ roster.