HEADLINES

Damiere Byrd

Contract Details: Mayo, Patriots, Bailey

March 21st, 2020 at 9:21am CST by Ben Levine

A handful of contract details to pass along:

  • LB David Mayo, Giants: three-year extension. $8.4MM deal, including $3.5MM guaranteed. Salaries: $1.5MM guaranteed (2020), $2.25MM (2021), $2.5MM (2022). Via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle on Twitter.
  • WR Damiere Byrd, Patriots: one year, $2.5MM. $1MM base salary, $350K signing bonus, $900K in receptions incentives. Via ESPN’s Field Yates on Twitter.
  • S Adrian Phillips, Patriots: two years. Deal worth up to $7.5MM, $3MM guaranteed, $1.5MM signing bonus. Can earn up to $4MM in 2020. Via Yates on Twitter.
  • K Dan Bailey, Vikings: re-signed. Three-year deal worth up to $12MM. $5MM guaranteed, $3.15MM signing bonus. Via Yates on Twitter.
  • OL Joe Looney, Cowboys: signed. One-year, $2.4375MM deal. As Mike Garafolo of NFL Network tweets, one of the new CBA’s veteran benefits is that the deal will count $1.25MM less on the cap than it would have last season.
  • OT Shon Coleman, 49ers: one-year extension. Worth $962.5K, including $825K base salary and $137.5K signing bonus. Via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner on Twitter.
  • DB Jaylen Watkins, Texans: signed. Two-year deal worth $3MM, per Wilson.
  • OT Roderick Johnson, Texans: re-signed. One-year deal worth $1.75MM, per Wilson.

Contract Details: Bridgewater, Panthers, Vaitai, Lions, Byrd, Patriots, Brees, Saints

March 18th, 2020 at 1:31pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest notes on all of the contracts being handed out around the league:

  • QB Teddy Bridgewater, Panthers: signed. Bridgewater got a three-year deal worth $63MM and a whopping $40MM of that is guaranteed in the first two years, according to David Newton of ESPN.com. He got a $15MM signing bonus to take over for the start of the Matt Rhule era. Newton’s post has the full breakdown on how it’ll be paid out with various workout and roster bonuses.
  • OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai, Lions: signed. Vaitai’s five-year, $50MM contract includes $20MM guaranteed which will come in the first two years of the deal, Adam Caplan of Sirius XM NFL Radio tweets. Detroit can get out of the pact after that.
  • WR Damiere Byrd, Patriots: signed. Byrd’s one-year deal can be worth up to $2.5MM, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network notes in a tweet.
  • QB Drew Brees, Saints: re-signed. Brees’ two-year, $50MM new deal with New Orleans includes a signing bonus of $23MM and a small base salary of only $2MM in year one, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. That structure as well as two voidable years added on for 2022-2023 help keep his 2020 cap hit very low so the Saints can spend more as they gear up for one more Super Bowl with Brees under center.
  • LB Sean Lee, Cowboys: re-signed. Lee is back for one more ride on a one-year, $4.5MM deal with $2MM guaranteed. He actually could earn up to $6.5MM if he hits some playing time incentives, according to Todd Archer of ESPN.com, although he writes they’re “not-likely-to-be-earned.”
  • S Darian Thompson, Cowboys: re-signed. Thompson is getting a two-year deal worth $2.5MM, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. He’s getting a $200K signing bonus and can earn an extra $250K with playing time escalators.
  • WR Cody Core, Giants: re-signed. New York locked up the special teams ace who barely plays on offense, and he got paid handsomely. Core will be getting $4MM over a two-year deal, Wilson tweets. Only $1MM of it is guaranteed however.
  • S Jordan Poyer, Bills: extension. The full details are in on Poyer’s new pact. Poyer had two new years added on and will now make $22.7MM over the next three years with $13MM of that being guaranteed, Wilson tweets. He also got a $3MM signing bonus. In a separate tweet, Wilson notes that Poyer has an annual $500K interception incentive he can earn.

Patriots Sign WR Damiere Byrd

March 17th, 2020 at 7:42pm CST by Ben Levine

There’s a whole lot of uncertainty surrounding the Patriots offense, but the team has still added a wideout. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports (via Twitter) that New England has signed receiver Damiere Byrd to a one-year deal.

The former undrafted free agent out of South Carolina spent the first four seasons of his career with the Panthers. He signed with the Cardinals for the 2019 season and had a breakout campaign, hauling in 32 receptions for 359 yards and one touchdown.

Byrd also has some experience on special teams throughout his career. He’s returned 14 kicks and 12 returns through his first five years in the league.

With Tom Brady out of the picture, it’s uncertain who will be throwing to Byrd next season. The only (somewhat) certainty is that the 27-year-old wideout will be joining fellow receivers Julian Edelman, N’Keal Harry, and Mohamed Sanu atop the New England depth chart.

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/13/19

March 13th, 2019 at 4:05pm CST by Zachary Links

Here is the latest news involving restricted free agents and exclusive-rights free agents, with updates coming throughout the day:

ERFA

Tendered:

Non-tendered:

RFA

Tendered at second-round level: 

Tendered at original-round level:

Non-tendered: 

Panthers To Place Damiere Byrd On IR

November 27th, 2018 at 9:28am CST by Zachary Links

Panthers wide receiver/punt returner Damiere Byrd suffered a broken arm in Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks, sources tell Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). With only five weeks to go in the regular season, the Panthers will place Byrd on injured reserve. 

Byrd, 25, has just one catch to date, but he been a special teams contributor with eleven punt returns for 104 yards on the year. Without him, the Panthers may look to sign another wide receiver, though they have five others already on the roster. Rookie D.J. Moore can also step in to handle punts, so they don’t necessarily have to add a returner.

Byrd isn’t a superstar in Carolina, but the Panthers can ill afford any setbacks as they make their playoff push. The NFC South title is pretty much out of the question and they’ll have to fight their way through a crowded Wild Card picture to make the postseason. Thanks to a three-game losing streak, the 8-4 squad has just a 31% chance of making the postseason, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/17/18

April 17th, 2018 at 5:50pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Green Bay Packers

Los Angeles Rams

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/9/18

March 9th, 2018 at 8:40pm CST by Micah Powell

Here are today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Los Angeles Rams

 

Panthers WR Damiere Byrd Placed On IR

December 26th, 2017 at 10:12am CST by GregGoldstein

The Panthers have clinched a playoff spot after their comeback victory over the Buccaneers in Week 16. However, the team’s receiving corps has taken another hit as Damiere Byrd has been placed on injured reserve due to a lower leg injury, according to Bryan Strickland of Panthers.com (Twitter link). The team will likely activate defensive end Charles Johnson from suspension in a corresponding move, reports Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).

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Byrd, 24, was just starting to cement himself as the Panthers clear number two wide receiver before suffering the injury. In his second season in the NFL, Byrd had caught nine passes in Weeks 14 and 15, including two touchdowns. He had also solidified himself as the team’s primary kickoff return threat, having already returned one kick for a touchdown this season.

Without Byrd, head coach Ron Rivera will likely have to use running back Christian McCaffrey even more in the return game. On the offensive side of the ball, Rivera told Strickland that “it’s tough, but Kaelin Clay has stepped up.” The team also has wideouts Brenton Bersin and Mose Frazier to pick up more snaps in Byrd’s absence. In addition, the team will also get Russell Shepard from a shoulder injury next week.

Person further tweets that the Panthers will not be signing a free agent wideout to replace Byrd, instead opting to go with what the team has now going into the postseason.

The news certainly puts more pressure on the likes of Devin Funchess and Greg Olsen, who will likely see most of the targets when Cam Newton opts to throw the ball down the field. The Panthers have a chance to take the NFC South with a win and a Saints loss in Week 17.

Panthers Activate WR Damiere Byrd

December 1st, 2017 at 11:43am CST by Zachary Links

The Panthers have activated wide receiver Damiere Byrd off of injured reserve. Byrd has been out of action since Week 4 when he broke his arm against the Patriots. Damiere Byrd (vertical)

Byrd was previously designated for return, so it was just a matter of getting him back to full health and finding room on the roster. A spot unexpectedly opened up on Friday when defensive end Charles Johnson was hit with a four-game ban for performance enhancing drugs.

Byrd could be primed for a bigger role than initially projected at the start of the season. Recently, second-round pick Curtis Samuel went down with an ankle injury and Byrd could help replace his speed in the lineup.

“You never know what would happen from Week 4 to Week 12 or 13, so it kind of worked out pretty well,” Byrd recently told the team website when asked about the opportunity ahead of him. “At the end of the day, I just wanted to have a chance to come back and right now it looks like I have that. So I’m happy for it and ready to be back playing.”

Byrd, 24, has appeared in five games for Carolina over the last two seasons. He’ll look to build his stat line when the 8-3 Panthers take on the Saints this Sunday.

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