HEADLINES

Kevin Pierre-Louis

Texans To Sign LB Kevin Pierre-Louis

March 15th, 2021 at 9:34pm CST by Ben Levine

Kevin Pierre-Louis is signing a two-year deal with the Texans, reports ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (via Twitter). The deal is worth up to $8MM, per Fowler.

The multiyear offer must have been alluring to the 29-year-old linebacker, who has played for four different teams over the past four years. After spending the first three seasons of his career with the Seahawks, the Boston College product has since spent time with the Chiefs, Jets, Bears, and Washington.

He had one of the better seasons of his career in 2020 with WFT. He started a career-high 11 games, collecting 56 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, and one forced fumble. Ron Rivera was apparently a fan of Pierre-Louis, as the head coach stated that he wanted to retain the veteran linebacker.

“I’d love to get a guy with the skill set of Kevin Pierre-Louis, whether it’s Kevin or someone else,” Rivera said recently (via Sam Fortier of the Washington Post on Twitter). “I’d love to have Kevin back.”

Washington Nabs LB Kevin Pierre-Louis

March 17th, 2020 at 2:26pm CST by Marc Delucchi

Washington has signed linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis to a one-year deal worth up $3.45MM, according to Ian Rapoport. The six-year veteran will be joining his fifth organization.

Pierre-Louis appeared in 57 games from 2014-2018, but made a career-high (3) starts last season with the Bears. In 2019, Pierre-Louis recorded 37 tackles, 3 passes defended, 2 tackles for loss, and an interception.

Washington does not have elite talent at the linebacker position, but Pierre-Louis likely only factors in as a depth piece barring an injury or an exceptional preseason.

Bears Sign LB Kevin Pierre-Louis

May 8th, 2019 at 3:44pm CST by Sam Robinson

The post-May 7 free agency period has begun to move. The Bears made a move to add linebacker depth on Wednesday.

Chicago signed Kevin Pierre-Louis to a one-year deal, the franchise announced. The Jets made Pierre-Louis a free agent after declining his 2019 option.

Pierre-Louis was part of the 2017 Chiefs, who employed Matt Nagy as their offensive coordinator. Bears inside linebackers coach Mark DeLeone also coached Nagy in Kansas City.

Entering his sixth season, the 27-year-old linebacker has played mostly as a backup in his nomadic career. The Seahawks drafted Pierre-Louis in the 2014 sixth round and kept him around through the 2016 season. Pierre-Louis spent 2017 with the Chiefs and 2018 with the Jets, the latter beginning with a one-game suspension. However, the second-level defender played in nine Jets games upon returning. He ended last season on IR.

The Boston College alum will join a Bears linebacking corps that will return Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith as its off-ball starters. The Bears made just five draft picks, none a linebacker, so Pierre-Louis figures to have a decent shot at being on Chicago’s 53-man roster come Week 1.

Jets To Decline Kevin Pierre-Louis’ Option

February 19th, 2019 at 7:04pm CST by Rory Parks

The Jets will not exercise Kevin Pierre-Louis‘ 2019 option, per Brian Costello of the New York Post (via Twitter). The move will create another $2MM in cap space for Gang Green, which is already near the top of the league in that department, with over $100MM to spend in free agency this year.

The 27-year-old Pierre-Louis is a linebacker by trade but has seen his most action as a special teams contributor. In the games in which he suited up in 2018, he appeared in the majority of the Jets’ special teams snaps. He saw a little more burn on the defense towards the end of the season and recorded his only sack on December 12.

He was suspended for Week 1 of the 2018 campaign as a result of a January 2018 arrest that resulted in various marijuana drug and traffic charges. Those charges were dropped several months later, contingent on the completion of one year of probation.

He was something of a sought-after commodity last offseason, having visited multiple teams before agreeing to a two-year, $5.25MM deal with the Jets. His special teams value will almost certainly result in another contract this time around.

Pierre-Louis was drafted by the Seahawks in the fourth round of the 2014 draft and parlayed a strong 2017 season with the Chiefs into his deal with New York. He is the third player whose 2019 option was declined by the Jets today, joining Terrence Brooks and Mike Pennel.

Jets Place Claiborne, Enunwa On IR

December 29th, 2018 at 3:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

While Quincy Enunwa signed an extension to be part of the Jets’ long-term future, Morris Claiborne is again finishing out a one-year contract.

Both will end the season on IR. The Jets placed Enunwa, Claiborne and linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis on IR Saturday. All were declared out going into the team’s season finale in New England. Replacing them on the roster: defensive back Brandon Bryant, wide receiver J.J. Jones and defensive tackle Destiny Vaeao.

Claiborne started 30 Jets games over the past two seasons but is again set for free agency, barring an extension. He signed a one-year, $7MM deal to stay in the Big Apple in March. No extension talks are known to have taken place, and with a new coaching staff set to arrive, Claiborne’s place on the Jets may be less certain exiting this contract year than it was in 2017.

Enunwa’s four-year, $36MM deal makes him the highest-paid skill-position player the Jets have. He bounced back from a season-nullifying injury in 2017 to catch 38 passes for 449 yards this year, doing so despite dealing with more injuries in a 10-game slate.

The Jets acquired Bryant after he went undrafted in this year’s supplemental draft, guaranteeing $70K of his contract. He has spent the season on the practice squad.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/12/18

September 12th, 2018 at 6:30pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s minor moves:

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

  • Waived from injured reserve: OL J.J. Dielman

Detroit Lions

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Oakland Raiders

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Redskins

Jets Cut Thomas Rawls, Charcandick West

September 1st, 2018 at 7:00pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Jets have become the latest team to move to 53 players, and did so by making the following transactions:

Waived:

Released:

Placed on suspended list:

Placed on PUP:

Rawls, 25, first entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2015 with the Seahawks and broke out immediately when Marshawn Lynch was sidelined with an abdomen injury. In his very first start for Seattle, Rawls amassed 104 yards off of 16 carries and later turned in a 209-yard game. Things trailed off after that, however. He missed significant time in 2016 with a fractured fibula and became an afterthought in 2017. Rawls initially seemed to have a good chance at making the Jets’ roster in 2018, but he was unable to find a place behind top RBs Isaiah Crowell and Bilal Powell.

West was also fighting for a supporting RB job, and his limited highlight reel with the Chiefs suggested that he had a puncher’s chance to make the roster. West missed most of KC’s camp this year with a concussion and hooked on with the Jets a little over one week ago. Crowell also missed time with a concussion and reserve Elijah McGuire was dealing with a broken foot, but West still couldn’t make enough of an impression on coaches in such a short period of time.

Jets LB Kevin Pierre-Louis Suspended

August 11th, 2018 at 4:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Jets will be without linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis in their regular-season opener. He incurred a one-game NFL suspension, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

While the nature of the ban is not specified, it’s relatively safe to assume it stems from Pierre-Louis’ arrest in January. The 26-year-old inside linebacker was charged with “misdemeanor possession of marijuana, THC and drug paraphernalia, driving without a valid driver’s license and failure to display a valid license plate or current registration.” Pierre-Louis had the charge dropped in March, contingent on the completion of one year of probation.

Nevertheless, Pierre-Louis visited multiple teams as a free agent and signed with the Jets for two years and $5.25MM, so the team likely had a good idea this was coming. A former Seahawks fourth-round pick, Pierre-Louis played in 14 games with the Chiefs last season, contributing primarily on special teams.

His role on defense will likely be to supply depth behind Avery Williamson and Darron Lee, but that won’t commence until Week 2.

AFC Notes: Bengals, Jefferson, Colts

May 15th, 2018 at 2:22pm CST by Zachary Links

The College Advisory Committee told Malik Jefferson to stay in school for another year. After becoming a third-round pick of the Bengals, Jefferson is glad that he didn’t listen.

“It’s not really good feedback,” Jefferson said, via Max Olson of The Athletic. “If a guy wants to come out early, they have to make a decision on their own. Really, if you’re not like a top-10 guy coming out early, it’s just up in the air from there. You just don’t know. Anything can happen.”

Instead of continuing his education without being compensated for playing, Jefferson will now back up Nick Vigil and Vontaze Burfict with a contract worth $3.4MM over four years.

“You say stay in school, but a kid wants to better himself and his future,” Jefferson said. “So you can be making money for the university, struggling, trying to eat dining hall food, waking up early, having to go through extreme pressures and not getting paid for none of that. Or you can not go to school, just play football all day, study film and get better and work out all day and max yourself out.”

Jefferson may be happy with his choice, but in defense of the CAC, the Texas product probably anticipated going late in the first round or somewhere in the second when he declared for the draft.

Here’s more from the AFC:

  • The Colts met with safeties Tre Boston and Kenny Vaccaro on Monday, but Stephen Holder of the Indy Star (on Twitter) hears that nothing is imminent with either player at this time. Boston and Vaccaro both offer significant starting experience, but the free agent market has been painfully slow to develop for them and other safeties this year.
  • Jets linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis struck an agreement with Kansas prosecutors to have his drug-possession charge dropped if he completes one year of probation, as Rich Cimini of ESPN.com writes. While with the Chiefs in January, Pierre-Louis was charged with several misdemeanors, including marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. The Jets signed him to a two-year, $5.25MM deal this offseason.
  • The Bills are taking a look at former Cowboys and Bucs defensive end Ryan Russell.

AFC East Notes: Dolphins, Jets, Pierre-Louis

March 27th, 2018 at 7:44pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Dolphins are searching for help via the trade market at the league meetings in Orlando, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. Although Miami made several free agent additions over the past two weeks, the club is still hoping to add depth at tight end, linebacker, running back, and defensive tackle, per Salguero. While no trade is imminent, the Dolphins could conceivably trade from their stable of defensive ends. Miami currently has Cameron Wake, Robert Quinn, Charles Harris, William Hayes, and Andre Branch on its depth chart, meaning it could potentially absorb the loss of at least one pass rusher. Branch, who is scheduled to earn a fully guaranteed base salary of $7.9MM in 2018, would be a logical candidate to be moved, per Salguero.

Here’s more from the AFC East:

  • Free agent linebacker Neville Hewitt met with the Jets today, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Hewitt, 24, spent the majority of the 2018 campaign on the Dolphins’ practice squad, but was promoted in time to play the final six games of the regular season. While he played only 11 snaps on defensive snaps, Hewitt saw 66.5% playtime on special teams. Miami opted not to tender Hewitt as a restricted free agent, allowing him to hit the open market two weeks ago. In New York, Hewitt would likely continue with special teams duty, although the Jets’ lack of talent at outside linebacker could enable him to get snaps on the edge.
  • Linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis‘ new two-year deal with the Jets is worth $5.25MM, reports Rich Cimini of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Pierre-Louis had essentially been a linebacker in name only until 2017, as special teams had been his primary area of focus. But the former fourth-round pick saw a career-high 25% playtime on defense, managing 25 tackles during that time. Pierre-Louis will add depth at inside linebacker behind former first-round pick Darron Lee and free agent acquisition Avery Williamson.
  • In case you missed it, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels recently explained his decision not to become the Colts’ head coach.