Jordan Akins

Browns Eyeing TE Depth?

The Browns could be on the lookout for tight end depth before the regular season. Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com believes the Browns will keep an eye on tight ends who shake loose during the preseason, including both young options and veterans.

David Njoku will continue to lead the depth chart in 2024. Despite having to deal with Cleveland’s QB carousel last season, Njoku still finished the campaign with one of his strongest statistical seasons, collecting career-highs in receptions (81), receiving yards (882), and touchdowns (six). Njoku also led the position with seven drops, although Cabot attributes that stat to the team’s underwhelming QB play.

The team is also set to return backup Jordan Akins, who will be entering the final season of the two-year pact he inked in 2023. The former Texans third-round pick got into all 17 games during his first season in Cleveland, although he finished the campaign with career-low marks in receptions (15) and receiving yards (132). His familiarity with Deshaun Watson is a plus, but his 2023 performance means he isn’t entirely guaranteed to make the roster.

The team lacks experienced depth behind that duo. As Cabot notes, Kevin Stefanski and Ken Dorsey will still rely a bit on multiple tight-end sets, meaning the team could be eyeing an upgrade over the likes of Giovanni Ricci, Zaire Mitchell-Paden, Treyton Welch, and even Akins. Jimmy Graham and Geoff Swaim lead the remaining crop of free agents, but a number of tight ends will surely join that duo before the end of the summer.

Browns To Sign TE Jordan Akins

Jordan Akins visited the Browns on Friday, and the veteran tight end will not leave Cleveland without a contract. The Browns are signing Deshaun Watson‘s former Texans teammate, according to his agency (on Twitter).

The five-year veteran played with Watson for three seasons and has spent his entire regular-season career in Houston. The Texans reacquired Akins after the Giants cut him before he played a game with the team. Now, he will head to the Browns.

Cleveland is giving Akins a two-year deal worth up to $5.2MM, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 tweets. Even if that is the max value, it still tops the league-minimum accord the Giants gave him during the 2022 offseason. It represents decent money for a tight end who, despite only being a five-year vet, is entering his age-31 season. The Texas Rangers drafted Akins out of high school in 2010, choosing him in the third round, and the future tight end toiled in the minor leagues for four years before picking up football again.

Akins’ failure to make the Giants’ 53-man roster last year still preceded a career-high receiving yardage total upon his Texans return. The sixth-year tight end is coming off a 495-yard, five-touchdown season. Touchdown No. 5 ended up reshaping multiple franchises’ futures. Akins caught a game-winning touchdown on fourth-and-20, giving Lovie Smith a victory over the Colts in his final game as Texans HC. That result gave the Bears the No. 1 overall pick, and it allowed them to receive a monster trade haul from the Panthers for the selection.

Role in that seminal play (for draft purposes) notwithstanding, Akins has three 400-plus-yard seasons on his resume and has been the most productive Texans tight end over the past several seasons. The Browns, of course, have already paid a tight end near-top-market money, and Akins will fill in behind David Njoku. Harrison Bryant is also going into the final season of his rookie contract; Bryant totaled 239 receiving yards and one touchdown last season.

The Browns also added defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. Hurst is coming off a missed 2022 season; he went down with a torn bicep in July. Hurst, who played two seasons with the Raiders and one apiece with the Chargers and 49ers, has mostly worked as a rotational defensive lineman. The second-generation NFLer did start 10 games for a rebuilding Raiders team as a rookie in 2018. Hurst registered 7.5 of his eight career sacks during his first two seasons.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/12/22

Today’s minor NFL transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

  • Waived: CB Thomas Graham Jr.

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/8/22

Here are the roster moves for today, leading into gameday tomorrow. Reminder that gameday elevations will revert to the practice squad after this weekend’s games:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/1/22

Today’s minor moves around the league, including practice squad elevations for tomorrow’s action:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/24/22

Lots of moves leading into gameday. Remember that players promoted from the practice squad for games will revert back to the practice squad after:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC South

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These ColtsJaguars, Texans and Titans moves are noted below.

Here are Wednesday’s AFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Houston Texans

Claimed:

Released:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Indianapolis Colts

Signed:

Claimed:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Jacksonville Jaguars

Claimed:

Released:

Signed to practice squad:

  • QB E.J. Perry

Tennessee Titans

Signed:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/24/22

Today’s minor moves around the league:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos 

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

The biggest storyline of the day for the Giants was the injury to Johnson, but they have been busy at other positions as well. Hand was a fifth-round pick of the Vikings in 2020, making 23 appearances during his time there. He primarily played on special teams, but registered an interception and three pass breakups as a rookie. Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News tweets that Minnesota was interested in re-signing him had he cleared waivers.

The release of Akins is somewhat surprising, given the Giants’ question marks at the tight end position. The former Texans third-rounder signed just before the draft, where New York added Daniel Bellinger in the fourth round. The latter had a brief stint on the PUP list at the start of training camp, but, if healthy, could be the favorite to take on Evan Engram‘s vacated starting spot.

Contract Details: Jarrett, Akins, Green, Verrett, Smith, Trubisky

Here are some details on deals recently reached around the NFL:

  • Grady Jarrett, DT (Falcons): Three-year, $50.47MM. The contract, according to Mike Florio of NBC Sports, includes a guaranteed amount of $34.47MM consisting of a $16.5MM signing bonus and the full amounts of the 2022 and 2023 base salaries worth $1.47MM and $16.5MM, respectively. The deal includes roster bonuses of $1MM each due on the fifth day of the 2024 league year and the 2025 league year. Jarrett’s base salary for the 2024 and 2025 seasons will see an increase of $500,000 each if he makes the Pro Bowl in the 2023 or 2024 seasons, respectively.
  • Jordan Akins, TE (Giants): One-year, $1.09MM. The deal, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network, is composed of a base salary of $1.04MM with a signing bonus $50,000. Under the veteran salary benefit, Akins will only have a salary cap hit of $945,000.
  • Rasheem Green, DE (Texans): One-year, $3.25MM. The contract, according to Wilson, includes a guaranteed amount of $1MM consisting of a $500,000 signing bonus and $500,000 of the base salary worth $1.5MM total. Green will receive a $500,000 workout bonus and a per game active bonus of $44,177 for a potential season total of $750,000.
  • Jason Verrett, CB (49ers): One-year, $1.04MM. Verrett’s deal has an injury waiver which leaves none of the money guaranteed for the 30-year old who has spent his fair share of time on the injured reserve during his career. Under the veteran salary benefit, Verrett will only have a salary cap hit of $895,000.
  • Geno Smith, QB (Seahawks): Refiled one-year, $3.5MM. Original details posted here. The deal, according to Wilson, has a signing bonus of $500,000 and a base salary of $1.26MM. The contract lists a roster bonus of $1.69MM and a workout bonus of $50,000. Additionally there is a Week 1 roster bonus of $585,000 due to Smith on September 15. Smith will receive a per game bonus of $30,000 whether active or inactive with that bonus increasing to $65,000 if Smith is active for a low season total of $510,000 and a potential season total of $1.12MM if Smith spends the entire season on the active roster. We mentioned Smith’s $3.5MM worth of potential incentives in the first post, but Wilson details that those incentives will be based on playtime, playoffs, passing yards, and whether or not Smith is voted to the Pro Bowl.
  • Mitchell Trubisky, QB (Steelers): Incentive details for two-year, $14.29MM contract. Original details posted here. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, the incentives are as follows: in 2022, Trubisky is due $1MM if he hits 60% of the team’s playtime, $1.5MM if he hits 70%, $2MM if he hits 80%, $2.5MM if he hits 70% and the Steelers make the playoffs, and $4MM if he hits 80% and the team makes the playoffs. He’ll earn an additional $250,000 if he makes the Pro Bowl. If Trubisky hits the 60% mark of playtime in 2022, he’ll earn a roster bonus in March of 2023 worth $1MM. That roster bonus elevates to $4MM if he triggers the 70% bonus from 2022. The same playtime, playoff, and Pro Bowl incentives will be in place for the 2023 season, as well, just without the following year roster bonus.

Giants To Sign TE Jordan Akins

The Giants have made another addition to their tight end room. The team is signing Jordan Akins to a one-year contract, per Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network (Twitter link).

Akins, despite being 30, was a free agent for the first time in his career. In four seasons with the Texans, he played a notable role in the team’s offense, staying on the field for over half of their offense snaps in 2019 and 2020. The former campaign saw him make 36 catches for a career-best 418 yards and two touchdowns.

He was included in trade talk this past year, however, as the team looked to move on from a number of veterans. He ultimately stayed in Houston, though he was a healthy scratch on multiple occasions. It comes as no surprise that he is moving on to a new team now.

The former third rounder will now join a Giants team looking to fill out its tight end room. Evan Engram left in free agency, and the most notable offseason addition prior to this one was Ricky Seals-Jones, who also signed a one-year deal. By coming to New York, Akins will also be able to continue working with TEs coach Andy Bischoff, who held the same title in Houston last year.