RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/9/17
Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to restricted and exclusive rights free agents. All RFA tenders listed are original round/right of first refusal (worth $1.797MM), and all links go to Twitter:
RFAs:
Tendered:
- Buccaneers: QB Ryan Griffin (via Adam Caplan of ESPN.com)
- Chargers: WR Dontrelle Inman, ILB Korey Toomer (via Michael Gehlken)
- Dolphins: S Michael Thomas (via Tom Pelissero of USA Today)
- Lions: T Cornelius Lucas (via Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com)
- Ravens: CB Jumal Rolle (via Jamison Hensely of ESPN.com)
- Seahawks: T Garry Gilliam (via Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com)
Non-Tendered:
- Cardinals: K Chandler Catanzaro, TE Darren Fells (via Kyle Odegard of AZCardinals.com)
- Chargers: RB Branden Oliver, DE Tenny Palepoi (Twitter links via Gehlken)
- Jets: TE Brandon Bostick, DT Mike Pennel (via Rich Cimini of ESPN)
- Packers: OLB Jayrone Elliott (via Rob Demovsky of ESPN), LB Jordan Tripp (per Demovsky)
- Seahawks: CB Mohammed Seisay, S Steven Terrell (via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times)
ERFAs:
Tendered:
- Colts: WR Quan Brady (via Stephen Holder of the Indy Star)
- Seahawks: S Dewey McDonald, RB Troymaine Pope (Twitter links via Condotta)
Non-Tendered:
- Packers: RB John Crockett (via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com)
Free Agency Rumors: Titans, Hightower, Rams
Let’s round up some of the latest free agency rumors:
- The talk of the Titans pursuing linebacker Dont’a Hightower might not be at the levels some have reported, Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com tweets. Hightower stands as one of the best free agents left on the board.
- Not a huge surprise, but the Rams are not expected to bring back safety T.J. McDonald, ESPN.com’s Alden Gonzalez writes. I have McDonald ranked as the No. 40 free agent on my Top 50 list, in terms of earning power. He’s not my favorite safety in this year’s free agent crop, but he is young and his hard-hitting style should translate into dollars.
- Despite formally declining his option on Thursday, the Chiefs have expressed interest in retaining quarterback Nick Foles, Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star tweets.
- There are still plenty of teams sorting through the offensive tackle market, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweets. That list includes the Chargers, Jets, Vikings, Giants, and Broncos. It should be noted that JLC’s tweet came before Denver’s acquisition of Ronald Leary. It’s not immediately clear if they’re still looking for high-end linemen.
- Russell Okung probably goofed by not having an agent last offseason, but he has one now, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (Twitter links). Cole does not identify the rap by name, but says that he has talked with teams and is not NFLPA-certified.
- Packers free agent guard T.J. Lang is likely going to have to take some trips before signing, Cole tweets. He had hip surgery in January and teams want to check that out before signing him. This jibes with earlier word that Lang will have to wait a bit before signing elsewhere.
Chargers To Re-Sign Kellen Clemens
The Chargers and quarterback Kellen Clemens are in agreement on a one-year deal, tweets freelance reporter Michael Gehlken.
Clemens, 33, will return for a fourth season as Philip Rivers‘ backup, a job that’s been among the league’s simplest in recent years. During his three-year run with the Chargers, Clemens has attempted all of 10 passes in relief of Rivers. A former second-round pick, Clemens does have 21 career starts to his name, all coming with the Jets and Rams.
Chargers Likely To Pursue Russell Okung
While the Broncos would like to bring back left tackle Russell Okung, an AFC West rival could get in the way. The Chargers are likely to show “strong interest” in Okung when free agency opens Thursday, reports Mike Klis of 9News (Twitter link). Signing Okung would probably lead to the release of the Chargers’ current blindside starter, King Dunlap, tweets Michael Gehlken.
The Chargers are the latest of several teams in the chase for Okung, who can’t talk to clubs during the legal tampering period because he doesn’t have an agent. However, there’s a belief among some teams and agents that the Bolts have been in contact with Okung’s advisor, former agent Jimmy Halsell, writes Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. If true, the Chargers would be in violation of the NFL’s tampering rules.
Okung previously negotiated his own contract last offseason, when he left Seattle for Denver, but his four-year, $48MM deal with the Broncos came with an escape clause for the team after 2016. The Broncos took advantage of it and will try to bring him back at a lesser cost. Okung, to his credit, posted the first 16-start season of his seven-year career with the Broncos. The 29-year-old didn’t play at an especially high level, though, as Pro Football Focus ranked his performance a middling 38th among 78 qualified tackles.
The site was less kind to Dunlap, whom it rated 53rd. The 31-year-old is coming off his second straight injury-shortened campaign, having combined for 19 appearances (12 last season) since 2015. A four-year Charger, Dunlap has started in all 46 of his appearances with the club. If done as as a pre-June 1 designation, cutting Dunlap would save the Bolts $4.875MM and leave with $3.25MM in dead money.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/8/17
Today’s minor moves:
- Shiloh Keo will re-sign with a team for the second straight offseason. This year, the Saints made a move to re-up the safety, Nick Underhill of The Advocate tweets. A former Texans draft pick, Keo caught on with the eventual 2015 Super Bowl champion Broncos late that season and re-signed in Denver in the subsequent offseason. The Broncos cut Keo while he was serving a two-game suspension for a personal conduct violation, leading to the Saints adding him. The 29-year-old defender played in 10 games for the Broncos and Saints in 2016 and recovered three fumbles while failing to record a tackle.
- The Patriots are planning to re-sign tight end Michael Williams, Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald tweets. Williams saw action for the 2015 Patriots but missed their latest Super Bowl season because of a torn ACL.
- The Bills did not offer an RFA tender to punter Colton Schmidt but instead reached an agreement to re-sign him, Mike Rodak of ESPN.com reports. Rodak estimates Schmidt will be brought back at a lower cost instead of at the RFA low-round tender rate of nearly $2MM. A fourth-year player, Schmidt made $600K last season.
- Another Bills transaction involves the team parting ways with a long-tenured wide receiver. Buffalo cut Marcus Easley, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets. Affiliated with the Bills since they drafted him in the fourth round in 2010, Easley missed the entire 2016 season after suffering a severe knee injury late in the 2015 campaign. He spent several seasons as one of Buffalo’s top special-teamers. Buffalo announced the move as a post-June 1 release.
- The Chargers have agreed to a four-year, $4.41MM extension with long snapper Mike Windt, tweets Michael Gehlken. Windt, who has appeared in 100 games with the Chargers, received a $600K signing bonus.
Chargers To Re-Sign S Jahleel Addae
Safety Jahleel Addae is expected to re-sign with the Chargers on a four-year deal, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Addae was originally scheduled to hit the open market on Thursday.
The deal is for $22.5MM, according to Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune (on Twitter), who adds that $10MM of this amount is guaranteed.
Addae, 27, was ranked as one of our top ten safeties in this year’s class and although he did not make the cut for our Top 50 Free Agents list, he did earn honorable mention. If he had turned in a full season last year, he probably would have been slotted higher.
Addae broke is collarbone in September and wound up appearing in only eight games. For his career, he has 48 appearances and 27 starts on his resume. In his half-season, he finished out with 48 tackles and his first career interception.
Even though he’s just 5’11” and 195 pounds, Addae is a hard-hitter and the Chargers were unwilling to risk losing him. He’s now back in the fold through the 2020 season.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/7/17
Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to restricted and exclusive rights free agents. All RFA tenders listed are original round/right of first refusal (worth $1.797MM), and all links go to Twitter:
RFAs:
Tendered:
- Bengals — G T.J. Johnson (via Jim Owczarski of the Enquirer)
- Bills — C Ryan Groy (via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com)
- Buccaneers — DE Jacquies Smith (via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times)
- Giants — DE Kerry Wynn (via Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com)
- Patriots — T Cameron Fleming (via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com)
- Rams — DT Dominique Easley (via Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com)
- Ravens – S Marqueston Huff (via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com); WR Michael Campanaro, T James Hurst, RB Terrance West (via Jeff Zriebec of the Baltimore Sun)
Non-Tendered:
- Bills — DE IK Enemkpali, P Colton Schmidt
- Broncos — OL Sam Brenner (via Mike Klis of 9NEWS)
- Chargers — WR Jeremy Butler (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk)
- Seahawks — LB Brock Coyle, CB DeShawn Shead (via Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com)
ERFAs:
Tendered:
- Broncos — LB Zaire Anderson, OLB Shaquil Barrett, RB Kapri Bibbs, C James Ferentz, WR Bennie Fowler, LS Casey Kreiter, C Matt Paradis, WR Jordan Taylor (via Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post)
- Cardinals — QB Zac Dysert, DT Olsen Pierre, G/T John Wetzel (via Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com)
- Jaguars — S Peyton Thompson (via Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union)
- Lions — DE Brandon Copeland (via Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com)
- Packers — LB Joe Thomas (via Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
- Panthers — C Tyler Larsen, P Michael Palardy
- Patriots — CB Justin Coleman (via Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald), TE Matt Lengel (via Kevin Duffy of MassLive)
- Saints — WR Brandon Coleman (via Nick Underhill of the Advocate)
Non-Tendered:
- Buccaneers — DE Howard Jones (via Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times)
Chargers Release CB Brandon Flowers
Busy morning for the Chargers. The Bolts are releasing cornerback Brandon Flowers, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). This moves comes on the heels of offensive lineman D.J. Fluker and wide receiver Stevie Johnson getting cut.
Flowers was due $9MM in 2017. By releasing him, the team is saving about $7MM against this year’s cap. Between today’s three cuts, the Chargers have saved roughly $19MM against the cap.
The Chargers signed Flowers to a four-year deal with a $36.4MM base value and $20.5MM guaranteed in 2015. In three seasons with the organization, the defensive back ultimately played in 31 games (30 starts) for the team. His best season came in 2014, when he collected 52 tackles, 10 passes defended, and three interceptions.
In 2016, the 31-year-old only played in six games as he recovered from a concussion. Flowers finished the campaign with 28 tackles, five passes defended, and one interception.
Chargers To Release WR Stevie Johnson
The Chargers are releasing wide receiver Stevie Johnson, according to former U-T San Diego reporter Michael Gehlken (on Twitter). The move will clear about $3.5MM in cap space.
Johnson ultimately played in 10 games for the Chargers after signing a three-year, $12MM deal with organization during the 2015 offseason. That year, the wideout collected 45 receptions for 497 yards and three touchdowns. The veteran ultimately missed the entire 2016 campaign after having surgery on his meniscus.
The 30-year-old has nine NFL seasons under his belt, including six with the Bills. From 2010 through 2012, Johnson averaged 79 receptions for 1041 yards and seven touchdowns.
Gehlken also notes (Twitter link) that tackle King Dunlap is scheduled to earn a $500K bonus if he is on the roster on March 18. Los Angeles is likely to release him or restructure his deal by then. Of course, they have time between now and the 3/18 deadline to make a move in that regard.
Chargers To Release OL D.J. Fluker
The Chargers will release offensive lineman D.J. Fluker, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Fluker was selected No. 11 overall in the 2013 draft. 
The Bolts exercised Fluker’s fifth-year option last spring, but that option is guaranteed for injury only. Rather than pay him $8.821MM this season, the Chargers have decided to cut bait and apply that money elsewhere. Fluker was never able to live up to his potential with the Chargers, but he should draw interest in free agency this week thanks to his ability to play on the inside or outside of the O-Line.
After spending most of his first two years at right tackle, Fluker moved to right guard in 2015 and ’16. Pro Football Focus gave Fluker a so-so 63.7 overall score, ranking him 54th out of 72 qualified guards. According to PFF, he did his best work at tackle as he had a 74.2 average score between his first two NFL seasons. The best fit for Fluker would probably be a scenario where he is slotted in as a reserve tackle but also used on the interior in the event of an injury.