Sebastian Joseph-Day

AFC South Rumors: Autry, Titans, Jags, Colts

Denico Autry‘s first Texans season did not go according to plan, with the AFC South nomad incurring a six-game PED suspension. Several months later, Autry looks to have taken a bit of a pay cut. Having signed a two-year, $20MM deal in 2024, Autry is now tied to a one-year contract worth $7.5MM, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson notes. This is down from $9MM in 2025 base value. Autry will see his base salary reduced from $8.5MM to $3.5MM, and while $3MM of that has gone into a signing bonus for restructure purposes, the rest shifts to incentives. Overall, Autry’s 2025 cap hit will drop from $10.3MM to $6.6MM. Autry, who will turn 35 this summer, totaled three sacks in a mostly rotational role last season. He is one of four 30-somethings on the Texans’ D-line, joining Danielle Hunter, Sheldon Rankins and Mario Edwards.

Here is the latest from the AFC South:

  • The Titans would appear to have some work to do at wide receiver. Although they added auxiliary pass catcher Van Jefferson as a roster hopeful, the team is bringing in Terrace Marshall for a Wednesday visit, Wilson tweets. Marshall played three seasons with the Panthers and one with the Raiders, moving from Carolina trade candidate to a player eventually cut. The former second-round pick has not lived up to expectations but, after auditioning for the Steelers, has drawn the Titans’ attention. As for Jefferson, Wilson adds his contract is worth just $1.79MM and carries $1.17MM guaranteed.
  • Mike McCoy will change AFC South addresses in 2025. The former Chargers HC will shift from a Jacksonville assistant to a Tennessee staffer. The Titans hired McCoy as a senior offensive assistant, veteran reporter Paul Kuharsky noted earlier this month. McCoy, 52, spent the past three seasons as the Jaguars’ QBs coach under Doug Pederson. McCoy was in place as the Broncos’ offensive coordinator when Brian Callahan broke into the NFL; the two overlapped in Denver from 2009-12.
  • Tank Dell went through a key step during his latest rehab process, undergoing surgery to repair a December ACL tear, per Wilson. The Texans receiver was set to undergo multiple surgeries after suffering immense damage while scoring a touchdown against the Chiefs in Week 16. He had already undergone a previous operation to address his latest significant injury. Dell tore an ACL, MCL, LCL and meniscus on the play, requiring ambulance transportation from Arrowhead Stadium. The 2023 third-round pick, who sustained a broken leg as a rookie, faces an uphill battle to play at any point in 2025. Dell is under contract through the 2026 season.
  • Circling back to some Titans contract matters, the team has one of the most decorated special-teamers in the fold for nearly the veteran minimum. Johnny Hekker, a four-time first-team All-Pro punter, signed a one-year deal worth just $1.42MM ($1.19MM guaranteed), Wilson tweets. A 13-year veteran, Hekker played out a three-year, $7.62MM Panthers pact. Tennessee’s Sebastian Joseph-Day contract checks in at $6.5MM in base value, per Wilson, who adds the Titans’ Brandon Allen accord is worth $1.42MM. This is slightly down from Allen’s 2024 49ers pay ($2MM).
  • The JaguarsChuma Edoga contract is worth $7MM over two years, Wilson adds. The veteran swingman will see $3.2MM guaranteed at signing. Nothing is guaranteed beyond Year 1 for the former Jets, Falcons and Cowboys blocker, who will take his place behind Walker Little and Anton Harrison on Jacksonville’s depth chart. Additionally, the Jags’ two-year, $5MM Hunter Long deal will come with $3MM guaranteed at signing, Wilson adds. That includes a $1MM guarantee in 2026.
  • Wrapping up this contract roundup, Ashton Dulin secured similar Colts terms from his 2023 deal. After playing out a two-year contract worth $7.2MM, the backup wideout recommitted to Indianapolis on a two-year, $6.5MM deal, Wilson tweets. Dulin, who bounced back from a 2023 ACL tear last year, will see $2.94MM guaranteed at signing.

Titans To Re-Sign Sebastian Joseph-Day

Sebastian Joseph-Day spent last season with the Titans, and he will remain in place for 2025. The veteran defensive lineman is re-signing in Tennessee, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Rapoport adds this will be a one-year pact including $5MM guaranteed. The deal can max out at $7.5MM. Joseph-Day started 12 games in 2024 and he will be counted on to remain a key presence up front for the Titans.

Tennessee is bumping Joseph-Day’s base value up by $1MM from his 2024 arrangement. While Joseph-Day’s years of commanding the kind of deals he did from the Chargers (3/24) are probably over, the former Rams cog is coming off a solid season. Joseph-Day, 30 later this month, finished with six tackles for loss — six more than he compiled during a 2023 season that involved an in-season release.

Waived by the Chargers shortly after they fired Brandon Staley and GM Tom Telesco, Joseph-Day resurfaced with the 49ers before making his way to Nashville as a free agent. A role player in two Super Bowls — the first of which because the usual Rams starter was a late-season IR activation — Joseph-Day joined Jeffery Simmons and T’Vondre Sweat on a defensive line that was probably a 3-14 team’s bright spot. The Titans managed to rank 30th in scoring defense and second against the run. Pro Football Focus rated Joseph-Day as a top-10 run defender among interior D-linemen. 

For his career, Joseph-Day now has 80 starts, 13 sacks and 24.5 TFLs. The Titans are changing up their edge-rushing equation, having cut Harold Landry, but they will run it back up front with Joseph-Day and Sweat complementing Simmons.

Adam La Rose contributed to this post

Titans DL Sebastian Joseph-Day Drawing Interest; Arden Key Still A Trade Candidate

The Titans’ offense was altered ahead on the trade front with DeAndre Hopkins being dealt to the Chiefs. As the deadline approaches, the team’s defensive front is worth watching closely.

Defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day is drawing trade interest, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports. That is also the case for defensive end Arden Key, who was recently added to the list of trade candidates. Fowler adds nothing is imminent on either front at this point, but time still remains for negotiations to take place with contending teams.

Joseph-Day began his career with the Rams, and his time with them allowed him to establish himself as a high-end presence against the run. The Chargers inked him to a three-year, $24MM pact in 2022, but that investment did not produce the desired results. Shortly after the Bolts fired head coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco last season, Joseph-Day was waived in a move which allowed him to return to the West Coast.

The 29-year-old quickly caught on with the 49ers to close out the campaign, but he was once again on the move in free agency this spring. Shortly after visiting the Titans, Joseph-Day inked a one-year deal. That pact includes a base salary of only $1.38MM, and paying out the remainder of that figure would be feasible for any number of teams looking to add along the D-line for the second half of the campaign. The former sixth-rounder has collected 21 tackles this season, along with 2.5 sacks.

Key was linked to the Cardinals over the weekend, with Arizona being one of several teams in the market for an addition along the edge. Given yesterday’s acquisition of Baron Browning, though, they are unlikely to make a further move on that front, especially since Key is not a rental. The former Raider, 49er and Jaguar nearly set a new career in sacks last year with six, and he is on his way to a new personal mark in 2024 (four in eight games). Key is on the books through 2025, and he is owed $7MM total that year along with a scheduled cap hit of $9.3MM.

Sitting at 2-6 on the year (despite boasting the league’s No. 1 total defense), the Titans represent obvious sellers for players who are pending free agents in particular. That makes Joseph-Day a strong candidate to be moved in the coming hours, but calls will no doubt continue coming in for Key as well.

Titans Sign DT Sebastian Joseph-Day

Not long after a free agent visit with the Titans, Sebastian Joseph-Day has a deal in place. The veteran defensive tackle is signing with Tennessee on a one-year deal, per an announcement from his agency.

Joseph-Day met with the Titans on Monday, as noted by ESPN’s Field Yates. That, in turn, came shortly after the 28-year-old visited the Bills, per Yates. He has elected to head to Nashville after beginning his career on the West Coast. The Titans will be Joseph-Day’s fourth NFL team.

The former sixth-rounder spent three seasons with the Rams, serving as a full-time starter throughout that period. His play in Los Angeles landed him a three-year, $24MM Chargers pact, but he found himself on the waiver wire well before that contract had been played out in full. Joseph-Day was waived in December shortly after the firings of head coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco.

The 49ers moved quickly in signing him to finish out the campaign, part of the team’s overall efforts to add along the defensive line in advance of what turned out to be a run to the Super Bowl. Joseph-Day took on a much smaller workload in San Francisco than he did with both L.A. franchises, so it comes as no surprise he has departed in free agency. The Rutgers product has posted 11 sacks in 71 career games while recording between 36 and 56 tackles each season to date.

Joseph-Day will likely take on a starting role alongside Jeffery Simmons on Tennessee’s D-line. The Titans lost Denico Autry to the division-rival Texans in free agency last week, and Jaleel Johnson and Kyle Peko are unsigned. Tennessee ranked 13th against the run in 2023, and Joseph-Day’s arrival should help the team maintain (or improve upon) that success next year. The Titans entered Tuesday with more than $46MM in cap space, and this deal will likely represent a low-cost addition, meaning the team will still have considerable spending power moving forward.

49ers To Sign DT Sebastian Joseph-Day

Sebastian Joseph-Day cleared waivers on Christmas Day, closing the book on the $8MM-per-year Chargers contract he signed in 2022. But the veteran interior defensive lineman will not be out of work for long. He is set to head north.

The 49ers agreed to terms with Joseph-Day on Tuesday, according to NFL.com’s Jason McCourty. CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson indicates Joseph-Day is finalizing a one-year deal with the NFC West champions. Joseph-Day will follow Chase Young and Randy Gregory as high-profile 49ers D-line additions this season. To clear a roster spot, the 49ers are waiving wide receiver Willie Snead, who has bounced on and off the team’s practice squad for two years now.

San Francisco has been without longtime starter Arik Armstead for the past three games. Armstead is not on IR, but he is dealing with foot and knee issues after missing much of last season. Javon Hargrave returned to action against the Ravens but missed Week 16 due to injury. Joseph-Day, who started in his final three seasons with the Rams before trekking across town to sign with the Bolts last year, will add some important depth for the 49ers.

Not long after firing Brandon Staley and GM Tom Telesco, the Chargers moved on from Joseph-Day and D-line coach Jay Rodgers. Staley had made a push for a defensive overhaul last year. That led to Joseph-Day and J.C. Jackson joining the team as free agents and Khalil Mack arriving via trade. As the 2023 season winds down, only Mack remains among those pickups. The Chargers traded Jackson back to the Patriots, as that fit proved poor. Joseph-Day, however, started 30 games for the team over the past two years.

Before signing with the Chargers, Joseph-Day generated free agency interest on the heels of his Rams run. A chest injury sidelined Joseph-Day for much of the Rams’ Super Bowl-winning 2021 season, though he did play a few snaps in Super Bowl LVI. But the former sixth-round pick started throughout the 2019 and 2020 seasons alongside Aaron Donald. Pro Football Focus graded Joseph-Day as a top-20 defender in 2020, as the Rams returned to the playoffs and upset the Seahawks in the wild-card round.

This season, the advanced metrics site slotted Joseph-Day 67th overall among interior D-linemen. In Staley’s scheme, Joseph-Day had performed fairly well pressuring QBs. The 28-year-old defender matched his career high with three sacks, and the 11 QB hits accumulated are nearly double his season-best total. Joseph-Day looks set to become a rotational cog in San Francisco, with Armstead’s injury potentially determining how big a role the newcomer will receive. Javon Kinlaw and Kevin Givens round out San Francisco’s interior D-line group.

While a starter for the Rams, Joseph-Day did not eclipse a 43% snap rate in 2019 or 2020. His usage climbed before the 2021 injury, however, and the Chargers used their free agency addition on 71% of their defensive snaps last season. Joseph-Day’s work rate dropped to 58% in L.A. this year.

This will be Joseph-Day’s first time in a 4-3 defense, though the lines between the two primary NFL base fronts have blurred over the past several years. The 49ers have an expensive D-line in place, having extended Nick Bosa after signing Hargrave to a $21MM-per-year deal in March. Armstead remains on the big-ticket extension he signed in 2020. Joseph-Day figures to slot in alongside Gregory as a low-cost veteran; the Broncos are paying the bulk of Gregory’s base salary.

Chargers Waive DL Sebastian Joseph-Day

Not long after the Chargers fired Tom Telesco and Brandon Staley, one of the duo’s key defensive investments will follow the power duo out the door. The Chargers are waiving defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. The team has since announced the move.

The team gave Joseph-Day, a former Rams regular, a three-year, $24MM deal in 2022. No guaranteed money remained on the contract post-2023. This move will undoubtedly generate interest among contending teams, though Joseph-Day’s vested-veteran status will not keep him off the waiver wire due to the trade deadline having passed. It will cost the Bolts more than $3MM to cut the sixth-year veteran now.

Joseph-Day, 28, has started throughout his Chargers tenure, proving durable along a defensive front that has lost pieces in each of the past two seasons. Joseph-Day has started 30 games as a Charger. This season, the veteran interior D-lineman has matched his career-high with three sacks while establishing a new career-best mark with 11 QB hits. The latter number betters Joseph-Day’s previous top mark by five.

Pro Football Focus grades Joseph-Day as a mid-pack interior D-lineman, slotting him just outside the top 60 at the position. That represents an improvement from his 2021 placement but comes after he played a key role alongside Aaron Donald in Los Angeles. A former sixth-round pick, Joseph-Day boosted his free agent stock by starting for multiple Rams teams. Though, a chest injury kept Joseph-Day out of action for much of their Super Bowl-winning 2021 season. Joseph-Day returned in time to be activated for Super Bowl LVI but only played three defensive snaps that night. That did not blunt his offseason momentum much.

Joseph-Day resided as one of the NFL’s better run defenders prior to his 2021 injury, leading to the Chargers’ investment. Staley had pushed the front office to supply him with defensive upgrades in 2022. A number of regulars came in. Joseph-Day joined Khalil Mack and J.C. Jackson as high-profile additions, while Kyle Van Noy and Bryce Callahan came over and played regularly as well. But it is safe to say the Chargers will be making major changes to their non-Justin Herbert setup going forward.

This move comes shortly after the Chargers fired their defensive line coach. The team axed D-line coach and run-game coordinator Jay Rodgers not long after the Staley and Telesco firings. The Chargers, who have again seen Joey Bosa miss a stretch due to injury, rank 29th defensively. They are better against the run, ranking 18th (as opposed to 30th against the pass), and have seen a rejuvenated Mack notch 15 sacks; that matches the former Defensive Player of the Year’s career-high total. But Staley’s troops could never be relied upon during his tenure, ranking outside the top 20 on the whole in each of his three seasons.

Joseph-Day is due a nonguaranteed $7.5MM in 2024. The Chargers have paid out most of his $6.5MM base salary this season; only $1.15MM remains on the contract for the season’s remainder. While that might give some teams pause, Joseph-Day’s track record and a manageable 2024 salary may not allow him to reach free agency. Joseph-Day joins Justin Houston, Jason Pierre-Paul and Marcus Peters as longtime defensive starters waived recently.

Staley hired Rodgers in 2021, bringing him over from Chicago, where he served as the Bears’ defensive line coach for six years. Rodgers also resided as the D-line coach under John Fox in Denver, coaching in Super Bowl XLVIII. The ex-Fox/Vic Fangio lieutenant will be in search of a new team for the 2024 season.

Chargers DE Joey Bosa Expected To Begin Practicing

The 6-6 Chargers, who are on the outside of the AFC playoff picture as of the time of this writing, may soon welcome back one of their best players. Per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Bolts will evaluate defensive end Joey Bosa early this week with the expectation that he will begin practicing on Wednesday (video link).

Bosa, 27, exited Los Angeles’ Week 3 loss to the Jaguars early due to a groin injury that ultimately required surgery. The team hoped that offseason acquisition Khalil Mack and Bosa would combine to form one of the NFL’s most fearsome pass-rushing duos, and while Mack has mostly lived up to expectations — seven sacks and a 74.3 overall grade from Pro Football Focus — Bosa’s absence has clearly hurt. The Chargers’ 22 sacks are the fifth-fewest in the league, and the team is near the bottom of the pack in total defense (though the Bolts were not much better in that regard in 2021 either).

Once Bosa begins practicing, the team will have three weeks from that date to activate him off of injured reserve. The most recent reporting on the matter suggested that Bosa’s injury would prevent him from returning to his typical level of performance this year, but a mostly-healthy Bosa should still benefit a struggling defense. As long as the Chargers remain in playoff contention, they will likely give the four-time Pro Bowler every chance to see game action.

Bosa has run into several maladies that have required absences over the course of his career. He missed four games as a rookie in 2016 (hamstring), was shut down for nine during the 2018 season (foot), and missed four more contests in 2020 (two concussions). His 2022 IR stint is part of a long list of health woes that have thus far undermined the fortunes of a club that entered the season with a reloaded defense and championship aspirations.

In what has become a frustrating refrain for Chargers fans, Los Angeles has once again lost key players on both sides of the ball for extended periods of time. Even as the team prepares to bring Bosa back into the fold, it will take on the Dolphins on Sunday without safety Derwin James, defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day, and cornerback Bryce Callahan, as Lindsey Thiry of ESPN.com reports. James, no stranger to lengthy IR stays himself, suffered a quadriceps injury in LA’s Week 12 victory over the Cardinals, and while he played through the injury in last week’s loss to the Raiders, he is not healthy enough to suit up for a pivotal bout with Miami.

Injury Rumors: Ingram, Tagovailoa, Sutton, Joseph-Day

Saints running back Mark Ingram has likely seen his 2022 season come to an end, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The soon-to-be 33-year-old is set to tie a ribbon on his lowest single season of production in 12 seasons of NFL play.

Ingram suffered a slight MCL tear in the team’s Monday night loss to the Buccaneers. The injury usually requires a recovery period of around four to six weeks. With five weeks remaining in the season, it’s extremely unlikely that Ingram will find his way back to the field in the regular season. Despite the Saints currently sitting at last place in the NFC South at 4-9, they are only 2.5 games behind the first-place Buccaneers (6-6). If they can win some games and catch some good luck in the form of losses by their division rivals, New Orleans could still find itself in the playoffs as the NFC South champion. Otherwise, Ingram’s 2022 season is likely concluded.

Ingram returned to his longtime home of New Orleans after two years in Baltimore and half a season in Houston, accepting his No. 2 role in the lineup behind star running back Alvin Kamara. Ingram has served as a reliable second option in the backfield for the Saints, who will now have to turn to Dwayne Washington to fill that role.

Here are a few other injury rumors from around the league, starting with an MVP candidate looking to keep a strong season going:

  • Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa exited the team’s loss to the 49ers last week late in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury. Already down 33-17 at the time of the injury, there was no use in forcing the young quarterback back into play, although, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, he could’ve returned to the game, if necessary. The news is a good sign for the Dolphins and Tagovailoa as the injury is likely not significant. As of today, all signs are pointing to Tagovailoa being able to start Sunday night against the quarterback who was drafted one pick after him in the 2020 NFL Draft, Justin Herbert, and the Chargers.
  • The Broncos can’t seem to catch a break at the wide receiver position. Shortly after seeing starting wideout Jerry Jeudy return to the field against the Ravens last week, Denver saw its other starting wide receiver, Courtland Sutton, leave the game late in the second quarter with a hamstring injury, according to Parker Gabriel of The Denver Post. Sutton would sit out the rest of game with a noticeable limp. He’s also expected to be unavailable for the team’s matchup with the Chiefs this weekend, according to Mike Klis of 9NEWS. With Sutton and KJ Hamler out this week, the Broncos will continue to field a receiving corps that, after Jeudy, boasts the likes of Kendall Hinton, Brandon Johnson, Montrell Washington, and Jalen Virgil.
  • Chargers defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day suffered a knee injury in this weekend’s loss to the division rival Raiders. Luckily, head coach Brandon Staley told the media that Joseph-Day likely avoided major injury and has been diagnosed with an MCL sprain, according to ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry. The team will continue to monitor the situation and will know more about his status in the next few days.

Contract Details: Watson, Adams, Stafford, Jones, Maye, Reed, Joseph-Day, Bozeman

Here are the latest details from contracts recently agreed to across the league, starting with the Browns’ fully guaranteed deal for their new quarterback.

  • Deshaun Watson, QB (Browns): Five years, fully guaranteed $230MM. Everything else about Watson’s Cleveland arrival is complicated; his contract is not. Following the 2022 season, in which the Browns reduced his salary to $1MM due to the likely forthcoming suspension, Watson is set to make $46MM in base salary from 2023-26, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes.
  • Matthew Stafford, QB (Rams): Four years, $160MM. The Rams are keeping Stafford’s base salaries down in the near future; they reside at $1.5MM for both 2022 and ’23, per OverTheCap. The team gave its quarterback a $60MM signing bonus, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. There are no void years on this deal, which includes $49.5MM, $50.5MM and $49.5MM cap numbers from 2024-26.
  • Davante Adams, WR (Raiders): Five years, $140MM. Adams’ deal surpasses DeAndre Hopkins‘ $27MM-per-year pact, but it is essentially a three-year, $67.5MM accord, Florio notes. Only $22.75MM is guaranteed at signing, but by early 2023, $42.9MM in injury guarantees shift to full guarantees. The Raiders have Adams tied to a $3.5MM 2022 base salary, helping for cap purposes, with a $20MM roster bonus representing part of that $42.9MM guarantee in 2023. Adams’ 2023 salary is set to be $6MM. His 2025 and ’26 salaries — $35.6MM apiece — are nonguaranteed.
  • Chandler Jones, OLB (Raiders): Three years, $51MM. The Raiders guaranteed Jones $32MM, with SI.com’s Howard Balzer noting the deal includes an $8.5MM roster bonus (Twitter link). The Raiders, who have Jones tied to base salaries of $4MM in 2022 and $7.5MM in 2023, tacked on two void years for cap purposes.
  • D.J. Reed, CB (Jets): Three years, $33MM. Reed collected $10.5MM guaranteed at signing and will count just $4.6MM against the Jets’ cap this year, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets. Reed is set to count $14.2MM against the Jets’ 2023 and ’24 caps.
  • Marcus Maye, S (Saints): Three years, $22.5MM. Originally reported as three years and $28.5MM, Maye’s deal does include $14.5MM guaranteed, per Spotrac (on Twitter). Maye’s 2022 cap hit is just $2.6MM, and the Saints included two void years. Maye’s cap hits for 2023 and ’24 are $8.6MM and $8.7MM, respectively.
  • Sebastian Joseph-Day, DT (Chargers). Three years, $24MM. Joseph-Day will receive $16.5MM guaranteed, which is up from initial reporting here. His 2022 and ’23 base salaries — $2.5MM and $6.5MM — are guaranteed, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com tweets.
  • Bradley Bozeman, OL (Panthers): One year, $2.8MM. Bozeman will receive a $1MM signing bonus and a $1MM base salary, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com tweets.

Chargers To Sign DT Sebastian Joseph-Day

Sebastian Joseph-Day is switching teams, but he won’t have to move all that far. The former Rams defensive tackle is signing with the Chargers, reports NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter).

It’s a three-year deal worth $24MM, including $15MM in guaranteed money.

The 2018 sixth-round pick had spent his entire career with the Rams. After being inactive for every game during his rookie campaign, the defensive tackle established himself as a consistent starter between 2019 and 2021. The defensive tackle started 31 games during his sophomore and junior year, and he started another seven games in 2021. He missed the second half of the campaign while dealing with a torn pectoral, but he managed to return in time to play in the Rams’ Super Bowl victory.

In total, he finished last season with 38 tackles, three tackles for loss, and a career-high three sacks.

The Chargers are loading up on defense. The team has been one of the most active teams, adding Khalil Mack, J.C. Jackson, and Austin Johnson.