Seth Roberts

Raiders Extend WR Seth Roberts

The Raiders have agreed to a new three-year, $12MM with wide receiver Seth Roberts, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Roberts will earn $6.45MM in guarantees and is now under team control through 2019. Oakland has officially announced the transaction.Seth Roberts (Vertical)

Roberts, 26, had been scheduled to become a restricted free agent next offseason after earning just $615K in 2017. The Raiders could have placed the first-round tender on Roberts in 2018 at a cost of roughly $4MM, meaning they’d have controlled him for the next two seasons at a cost ~$4.7MM. Given that his new contract is worth $12MM over three seasons, Oakland is valuing Roberts’ 2019 season at roughly $7.3MM.

The Raiders have used Roberts as a third wide receiver for the past two seasons, during which he’s appeared in all 32 possible games. During that time, Roberts has averaged 35 receptions,, 438 yards, and five touchdowns per year while playing behind Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree. Football Outsiders hasn’t been a fan of Roberts’ work, however, ranking him 83rd and 84th in DVOA and DYAR, respectively, among 94 qualifiers.

Oakland has been extremely willing to lock up its core pieces this offseason, as its agreed to extensions with quarterback Derek Carr and offensive guard Gabe Jackson over the past several months before signing Roberts to a multi-year pact today.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/17/17

The latest minor moves…

  • Raiders defensive end Denico Autry has signed his RFA tender, reports ESPN’s Adam Caplan (Twitter link). The Raiders gave the 2014 undrafted free agent an original-round tender, leading to speculation that he could draw interest from elsewhere. Instead, Autry will return to the Raiders on the heels of back-to-back three-sack seasons. ERFAs Seth Roberts (WR) and Denver Kirkland (G) are also back in the fold, according to Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (on Twitter).
  • The Seahawks have re-signed linebacker Kache Palacio, writes Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. Palacio, a former fullback who went undrafted out of Washington State last year, spent most of 2016 on Seattle’s practice squad.
  • Lions ERFAs Brandon Copeland (DE), Kerry Hyder (DT) and T.J. Jones (WR) have signed their tenders, tweets Birkett. Dolphins ERFAs Mike Hull (LB) and Anthony Steen (C) did the same earlier Monday, per Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald (Twitter link).

Earlier updates:

  • The Panthers have re-upped restricted free agent guard Andrew Norwell and a pair of exclusive rights free agents – center Tyler Larsen and punter Michael Palardy – writes Bryan Strickland of their website. Carolina used a second-round tender on Norwell, who will earn $2.746MM in 2017. Norwell combined for 29 starts over the previous two seasons and ranked 11th in performance among Pro Football Focus’ 72 qualified guards last year.
  • Steelers RFA cornerback Ross Cockrell has inked his original-round tender, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). Cockrell went in the fourth round of the 2014 draft, so the Steelers would have been entitled to a fourth-rounder had Cockrell signed elsewhere and they elected against matching the offer. The 25-year-old caught on with the Steelers in 2015 and has since totaled 31 appearances, 23 starts and two interceptions. Cockrell started in every Steelers game last year, and his performance ranked an improve 28th among 111 qualified corners at PFF.
  • Chiefs RFA kicker Cairo Santos has signed his tender, per Schefter (on Twitter). Santos, undrafted in 2014, received a low tender; as such, Kansas City wouldn’t have been entitled to compensation had he gone elsewhere. The three-year veteran has connected on 84.3 percent of field goal attempts, including 88.6 percent last season (good for fifth in the league).
  • Lions offensive tackle Cornelius Lucas has signed his RFA tender, tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. The Lions assigned Lucas an original-rounder tender last month, so they wouldn’t have gotten a pick had the 2014 undrafted free agent signed elsewhere and they chose not to match. Lucas is now slated to make $1.797MM this year in Detroit, where he has started in six of 35 career appearances.
  • The Buccaneers have re-signed quarterback Ryan Griffin, cornerback Jude Adjei-Barimah, tight end Cameron Brate, linebacker Adarius Glanton, and wide receivers Adam Humphries and Freddie Martino, per Scott Smith of the team’s website. As a restricted free agent, Griffin is the only one of the bunch who could have potentially gone elsewhere (the rest were exclusive rights free agents). The Bucs tendered the 2013 undrafted free agent at an original-round level last month, and he’ll now try to win the No. 2 role behind Jameis Winston. Tampa Bay’s previous second-stringer, Mike Glennon, is now the Bears’ starter.
  • RFA defensive back Marcus Burley and ERFA running back George Atkinson III are returning to the Browns, per a team announcement. Burley, undrafted in 2013, received an original-round tender. The former Seahawk is coming off his first year in Cleveland, where he appeared in 12 games and played just under 40 percent of the Browns’ special teams snaps.
  • Fullback Tommy Bohanon and receiver Larry Pinkard have signed with the Jaguars, tweets the team’s account. Bohanon is the only with NFL experience, having logged 36 appearances and 14 starts as a Jet from 2013-15.
  • Speaking of the Jets, they have re-signed linebacker Julian Stanford (via Randy Lange of the team’s site). The Jets could Stanford on Friday, but both sides knew that was only a procedural move. Last season was the first as a Jet for the 26-year-old Stanford, who appeared in nine games (two starts) and played about a quarter of their defensive snaps and a third of their special teams snaps.

RFA/ERFA Signings: 4/18/16

We’ll round the latest news on restricted and exclusive-rights free agents here…

ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/9/16

Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to exclusive-rights free agents. We’ll round up those decisions here:

Tendered

Non-Tendered

AFC Notes: McCoy, Mathis, Browns

After releasing longtime backfield weapon Fred Jackson earlier this week, the Bills could find themselves without his replacement, LeSean McCoy, for their Week 1 matchup with Indianapolis on Sept. 13. McCoy, the Bills’ big-ticket offseason acquisition, has been dealing with a hamstring injury since last month and was noncommittal about his status for the opener when asked by reporters Friday.

“We’ll wait and see,” he said, according to ESPN.com. “Only thing I can do is control what I can control, and that’s just working hard and getting treatment and getting ready to go get out there.”

Bills head coach Rex Ryan stated he’s “optimistic” McCoy will be ready for Week 1. If McCoy can’t go, Ryan isn’t ready to name a starter for the Indy game.

“I’m not gonna get into those type of scenarios, the what-ifs and all that type of stuff. I know one thing: This football team will be ready. Period,” he said.

More from the AFC:

  • Buffalo’s Week 1 opponent, the Colts, could have pass rusher Robert Mathis back for the opener, according to head coach Chuck Pagano. “There’s a possibility,” Pagano said, per Mike Wells of ESPN.com. “We’ll just evaluate how the week goes. Rob is doing great. He’s making great progress.” Mathis, who had an NFL-high 19.5 sacks in 2013, sat out all of last season after tearing his Achilles.
  • Browns general manager Ray Farmer is suspended four weeks for violating league rules prohibiting certain uses of electronic devices during games last year. Thus, executive chief of staff Bill Kuharich will oversee their player personnel department until Farmer returns, reports Andrew Gribble of the team’s website.
  • The Titans’ starting offensive line is in place, writes Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com. “Pretty much, it’s set,” said head coach Ken Whisenhunt. From left tackle to right tackle, they’ll go with Taylor Lewan, Byron Bell, Brian Schwenke, Chance Warmack and Jeremiah Poutasi.
  • The Raiders are receiving interest from teams regarding receiver Seth Roberts, tweets ESPN’s Adam Caplan. Roberts, who signed with the Raiders as an undrafted free agent out of West Alabama last year, was second in receiving yards (243) during the preseason.

Raiders Sign Nine Players To Reserve Deals

The Raiders announced today in a press release that they have signed nine players to reserve/futures contracts. One of those nine players – running back Terrance Cobb – broke word of his signing earlier in the day, but the other eight are new names. Here are the rest:

Six of the Raiders’ signees finished the 2014 season on the team’s practice squad — Cobb, Gallon, and Schwenke did not.

Raiders Announce Full Practice Squad

The Raiders were one of just a handful of NFL teams that didn’t make any announcements regarding their practice squad yesterday, but the team issued a press release today to formally confirm the previously-reported names on the squad, and to announce the other additions. Here’s the full list of players that will make up Oakland’s initial practice squad:

  • George Atkinson III, RB
  • Denico Autry, DE
  • Ras-I Dowling, CB
  • Bojay Filimoeatu, LB (previously reported)
  • Spencer Hadley, LB
  • Dan Kistler, T
  • Ricky Lumpkin, DT (previously reported)
  • Lamar Mady, G (previously reported)
  • Seth Roberts, WR
  • Scott Simonson, TE (previously reported)

Raiders Release Greg Little, 21 Others

Two (now) former Raiders, defensive end Jack Crawford and tight end Jake Murphy, revealed last night that they didn’t make the 53-man roster. It took up until now to discover the rest of the team’s moves, as the Raiders officially announced their transactions in a press release this evening.

Perhaps the most surprising move was the release of wide receiver Greg Little. The 25-year-old was claimed from the Browns, where he spent his first three seasons, in May. The former second-rounder has seen at least 90 targets per season since entering the league, but has never finished with more than 61 receptions.

The rest of the team’s moves are below:

Released:

Raiders Sign 12 Undrafted Free Agents

SUNDAY, 9:36pm: The Raiders have brought in another undrafted free agent, Utah State LB Bojay Filimoeatu, per Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (on Twitter).

FRIDAY, 12:54pm: The Raiders have become the last of the 32 NFL teams to formally announce their rookie free agent signings, revealing in a press release that they’ve added 11 undrafted players to the roster. Here’s the list of the newest Raiders:

  • George Atkinson III, RB, Notre Dame
  • D.J. Coles, WR, Virginia Tech
  • Mike Davis, WR, Texas
  • Carlos Fields, LB, Winston-Salem State
  • Noel Grigsby, WR, San Jose State
  • Dan Kistler, OT, Montana ($12.5K bonus, per Aaron Wilson)
  • Erle Ladson, OT, Delaware
  • Jake Murphy, TE, Utah
  • Seth Roberts, WR, West Alabama
  • Scott Simonson, TE, Assumption
  • Karl Williams, FB, Utah