Ogbonnia Okoronkwo

Contract Details: Johnson, Penny, White, Okoronkwo, Lewis

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

  • Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, DE (Browns): Three years, $19MM. The deal, according to Wilson, includes a guaranteed amount of $12.49MM, $10.83MM of which is guaranteed at signing. That $10.83MM consists of a $5.5MM signing bonus, Okoronkwo’s 2023 base salary of $1.08MM, and his 2024 option bonus of $4.25MM. The remaining $1.66MM of guaranteed money is Okoronkwo’s 2024 base salary, which becomes fully guaranteed on the third league day of the 2024 league year. He also can receive a 2025 option bonus of $3.23MM. The deal includes a $3MM sack incentive and an All-Pro base salary escalator. The team built a potential out into the deal that allows them to release Okoronkwo after 2024 with $6.7MM of dead money but $17.45MM of cap savings over the following five years, four of which are void years in the contract.
  • Mike White, QB (Dolphins): Two years, $8MM. The contract, according to Doug Kyed of AtoZ Sports, includes a guaranteed amount of $4.5MM consisting of a $3.42MM signing bonus and White’s first year base salary of $1.08MM. His second year base salary is worth $3.5MM. The deal includes up to $4MM apiece in playing time and team achievement incentives that up the contract’s maximum value to $16MM.
  • Danny Johnson, CB (Commanders): Two years, $5MM. The contract, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2, includes a guaranteed amount of $2.75MM consisting of a $1.75MM signing bonus and $1MM of Johnson’s first year base salary (worth $1.25MM total). His second year base salary is worth $1.49MM. The deal includes a $1MM annual playing time incentive and a per game active roster bonus of $15,000 for a potential season total of $255,000.
  • Tyquan Lewis, DE (Colts): One year, $2.1MM. The deal, according to Wilson, includes a guaranteed amount of $500,000 from the base salary worth a total of $1.08MM. The contract includes incentives worth up to $1.25MM for sacks, playing time, and playoffs, as well as a per game active roster bonus of $60,000 for a potential season total of $1.02MM.
  • Rashaad Penny, RB (Eagles): One year, $1.35MM. The deal, according to Wilson, has a guaranteed amount of $600,000 composed of a $100,000 signing bonus and $500,000 of the base salary (worth $1.08MM total). The deal includes a rushing yards incentive worth up to $750,000 and a per game active roster bonus of $10,000 for a potential season total of $170,000.

Browns, OLB Obo Okoronkwo Agree To Deal

The Browns were thought to be in the market for an addition to their pass rush this offseason, and it has reportedly arrived. Cleveland is set to sign Obo Okoronkwo to a three-year deal with a base value of $19MM (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network).

Rapoport adds that the contract includes $12.5MM guaranteed, and can reach up to $22MM in value. That represents a notable payday for the 27-year-old, whose rookie contract is set to expire on Wednesday when the new league year begins.

Okoronkwo progressively took on a larger role in each of his three seasons with the Rams, before spending 2022 in Houston. He topped 500 snaps for the first time in his career with the rebuilding unit, and he responded with a notable increase in production. The Browns are banking on his career ascent continuing in his third NFL home.

The Oklahoma alum set new career highs in sacks (five), tackles (44) and pressures (17), among other stats. He ranked 13th in ESPN’s pass rush win rate (19%), a feat made more notable by the fact that he consistency faced double-teams as Houston’s top pass rusher. PFF has likewise noted him as one of the top available edge defenders; his 81.8 pass rush grade last season ranked 14th at the position.

Myles Garrett remains in place as the anchor of Cleveland’s edge group, but it has long been assumed that fellow veteran Jadeveon Clowney would be headed elsewhere this offseason. This news points to the latter being replaced as a starter, as the Browns add more upside as a pass rusher in particular to their new-look defense.

A deal with highly-touted defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones is considered a strong possibility, something which would further add considerably to the Browns’ defensive line if it were to happen. Even if they are forced to turn elsewhere along the defensive interior, however, the addition of Okoronkwo will represent a notable upgrade for Cleveland on the edge.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/15/22

We’ll keep tabs on today’s minor moves here:

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

Philadelphia Eagles

Tennessee Titans

NFL COVID List Updates: 12/22/21

We’ve compiled a list of players who were placed or activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list today. In some instances (including Christian McCaffrey and Travis Etienne), players activated from the list remain on IR:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Placed on list: T Le’Raven Clark

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Rams Place LB Von Miller, Eight Others On Reserve/COVID-19 List

The Rams have placed nine more players on the reserve/COVID-19 list, including linebacker Von Miller. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter), the following players have been sidelined:

The Rams are now up to 25 players on the reserve/COVID-19 list. While the organization will surely activate some players prior to Sunday’s game against the Seahawks, they’ll still have a long list of absences for the contest. Cornerback Jalen Ramsey and wideout Odell Beckham are among the other Rams players who were already stashed on the list.

Yesterday, commissioner Roger Goodell said the NFL wasn’t planning on postponing or cancelling any upcoming games. The Browns and WFT are among the other teams that are dealing with more than 20 players on the COVID list.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/2/21

Here is Saturday’s batch of minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

  • Promoted: CB Cam Lewis

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

West Notes: Carr, Broncos, Rams, 49ers

Derek Carr left Thursday night’s AFC West matchup early because of what Jon Gruden called a “significant” groin injury. The veteran Raiders quarterback’s rest-of-season status can be considered in doubt. Carr is facing a 10- to 14-day return timetable, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes. This puts his availability for next week’s pivotal Dolphins game in question, though Rapoport adds Carr will push to return for what could be an elimination game against another fringe AFC contender. Carr has not missed a game due to injury since 2017. The former MVP vote-receiving passer has only missed two regular-season games in seven years. Marcus Mariota played well in relief of Carr on Thursday, and Carr’s status going into next weekend stands to give the Dolphins some extra work due to the differences in the Raiders QBs’ skill sets.

Here is the latest from the West divisions, moving first to another team’s quarterback situation.

  • Drew Lock has shown some potential as a long-term answer this season — including last week in Charlotte — but ranks 28th in QBR and has thrown 13 INTs in 10 games. The Broncos sat out this year’s veteran QB market, but Troy Renck of Denver7 notes the team is likely to bring in a veteran to compete with Lock (or potentially replace him) next year. A similar batch of vets — Andy Dalton, Cam Newton, Jameis Winston — on track to be available again would qualify as competition, and the Broncos were also high on Sam Darnold in 2018. A trade for Matthew Stafford, a scenario Renck mentions, would be to replace Lock. The Broncos have used four different Week 1 starting QBs since Peyton Manning‘s retirement, moving from Trevor Siemian to Case Keenum to Joe Flacco to Lock.
  • Sean McVay is not ruling out an Andrew Whitworth regular-season return, and it sounds like the Rams having their left tackle back for the playoffs is realistic. “Andrew is doing great,” McVay said. “He continues to amaze me. He’s somebody we could potentially really push to have him play whether it’s the (Week 17) Cardinals game or next week. If we’re fortunate enough to get an opportunity to play after the regular season, I think that’s the goal, but nothing’s guaranteed for us.” Whitworth suffered MCL and PCL tears Nov. 15 but was believed to be ahead of schedule on his recovery timetable.
  • A Rams positive COVID-19 test resulted in offensive lineman Bobby Evans and safety Nick Scott landing on the reserve/COVID list; they will miss Week 15, McVay said (via ESPN.com’s Lindsey Thiry, Twitter links). The Rams also held starting center Brian Allen and rotational pass rushers Justin Hollins and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo out of practice Friday, though McVay expects the latter trio to play Sunday.
  • The 49ers‘ Arizona arrangement will extend through season’s end. Santa Clara county extended COVID-19 restrictions that have prevented the 49ers from playing at Levi’s Stadium, but the Cardinals will permit their division rival to use the stadium for their Week 17 game against the Seahawks, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com notes. The 49ers will also be in Glendale next week but will do so as the road team against the Cardinals.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/5/20

Here are Saturday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Rams Sign Kai Forbath, Place Ogbonnia Okoronkwo On IR

After rookie Sam Sloman missed another extra point on Sunday Night Football, it looks like the Rams are making a kicking change. Los Angeles is signing veteran Kai Forbath off Chicago’s practice squad, the team announced Tuesday.

In the corresponding roster move the team placed outside linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo on injured reserve, meaning Sloman is still on the roster for now. The Rams will have Forbath compete with Sloman, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network tweets, so it doesn’t sound like he’s going anywhere at the moment. With the Rams contending in the NFC, they clearly felt like they couldn’t wait on a rookie’s development. Forbath, who has extensive experience, was also on the Panthers’ practice squad earlier this year.

The 33-year-old spent the last few games of 2019 as the Cowboys’ kicker, making all ten of his field goal attempts and all ten of his extra points. His last full-time gig was in 2017 when he was the Vikings’ kicker for all 16 games. Before that he had stints with the Saints and Washington. He doesn’t have the strongest leg, but for the most part he’s pretty accurate and dependable. Rams coach Sean McVay was with him in Washington for a few seasons, so there’s familiarity here.

The Rams, of course, let Greg Zuerlein walk in free agency this past offseason after having him as their kicker for the past eight years. Okoronkwo is a 2018 fifth-round pick from Oklahoma who had been playing a real role on defense this season. Through five games he had been playing around 30 percent of the defensive snaps, picking up one sack. McVay said he expects Okoronkwo to miss 4-6 weeks.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/6/18

Today’s minor moves:

Los Angeles Rams

New York Giants

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks