NFL Draft Pick Signings: 7/22/20
Here are the latest draft pick signings. With rookies set to report to teams’ training camps this week, teams are busy on this front.
- The Vikings were the busiest team in the draft, making 15 picks this year. They have been active signing them Wednesday. Beyond first-rounder Justin Jefferson, Minnesota has agreed to terms with second-round tackle Ezra Cleveland, fourth-round linebacker Troy Dye, fourth-round defensive tackle James Lynch and seventh-round offensive lineman Kyle Hinton. Cleveland, rumored as a possible late-first-round selection, will be groomed to become a near-future starter for the Vikings.
- The Broncos began signing some of their picks, most notably getting third-rounders Michael Ojemudia and McTelvin Agim under contract. A cornerback, Ojemudia is set to compete for a starting job opposite A.J. Bouye; Agim profiles as D-line depth behind established starters this season. Denver also signed fourth-round tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, a Mizzou alum set to rejoin his former quarterback (Drew Lock) in the Mile High City. The Broncos also reached an agreement with seventh-round outside linebacker Derrek Tuszka.
- Despite having T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree under contract, the Steelers used a third-round pick on outside linebacker Alex Highsmith. The Charlotte alum agreed to terms on his four-year rookie deal. Highsmith recorded 15 sacks at the mid-major program last season.
- Packers third-round pick Josiah Deguara also agreed on his four-year rookie contract. Green Bay eschewed its wide receiver need throughout the draft, using Day 2 to add a running back (A.J. Dillon) and Deguara, who profiles as a tight end/fullback. The Cincinnati product surpassed 900 yards between his final two college seasons, totaling 12 touchdown grabs in that span.
- Tennessee third-round running back Darrynton Evans signed his rookie deal as well. Evans looks set to replace Dion Lewis as the Titans‘ Derrick Henry change-of-pace back. The Appalachian State alum rushed for 1,480 yards and 18 touchdowns last season. He added five receiving TDs.
- The Giants used first- and third-round picks on tackles. The latter selection, UConn’s Matt Peart, agreed to the terms of his rookie deal Wednesday. Peart profiles as a developmental lineman, working behind expected starters Nate Solder and Andrew Thomas. He stands to join Cameron Fleming as depth for Big Blue.
- Washington has agreed to terms with third-round running back/wideout Antonio Gibson, fourth-round receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden and fifth-round center Keith Ismael. Gibson and Gandy-Golden figure to be key parts of a Washington offense that is limited, beyond Terry McLaurin, in the passing game. Gibson totaled 1,104 yards from scrimmage at Memphis last season, while Gandy-Golden caught 20 touchdown passes in two years at Liberty.
- Fourth-round Cowboys pick Reggie Robinson agreed to terms as well. The Tulsa cornerback joins a Cowboys team that lost Byron Jones in free agency. Dallas was active in an effort to replace the Pro Bowler, drafting Trevon Diggs in Round 2 and signing Daryl Worley.
- Sixth-round Chargers safety Alohi Gilman, a Notre Dame alum, signed his Chargers contract Wednesday. Gillman joins a deep Bolts safety corps.
- The Buccaneers drafted two running backs this year. On Wednesday, they agreed to terms with the second of those picks — seventh-rounder Raymond Calais. In addition to his work as a running back at Louisiana, Calais was a four-year kick returner for the Rajin’ Cajuns.
Titans Still “Monitoring” Jadeveon Clowney
Will Jadeveon Clowney find a new home in Nashville? Titans GM Jon Robinson continues to play coy on the situation, though he did tell ESPN’s Dianna Russini (Twitter link) that the team is still “monitoring the situation.” 
Robinson added that he “may or may not” have had contact with Clowney’s camp in the last week – a not-so-subtle hint that the two sides have had recent talks. In the past, Robinson has indicated that he wants a thorough and in-person physical performed on Clowney before potentially signing him.
“Anytime you are dealing with whatever the contract is going to command, you want to make sure that the player is healthy, that you are able to allow your doctors to see him, to look at it, to make sure everything is going to be good,” Robinson said.
The Titans put at least one offer on the table for Clowney earlier this year, but the former No. 1 overall pick rejected it. The Seahawks, Raiders, and Browns also saw their offers declined. The Browns reportedly offered Clowney the best multi-year deal of any club this year, but that opportunity has gone out the window. Earlier this month, the Browns reworked Olivier Vernon‘s deal to give him $11MM in guaranteed cash, solidifying his spot as the bookend opposite of star Myles Garrett.
Titans Sign Derrick Henry To Extension
With less than an hour remaining until this year’s deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign extensions, the Titans appear to have a deal done. They have agreed to terms with Derrick Henry on a long-term contract, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Titans announced the extension.
This has been a historically quiet tag deadline, due largely to the financial uncertainty the pandemic has caused. And as recently as Tuesday, the Titans and Henry were believed to be too far apart. But they stayed in contact and have finalized an agreement. It’s a four-year pact, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reports (on Twitter).
The Titans and Henry worked on a deal for months. The final result: a four-year, $50MM agreement, with Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweeting $25.5MM will be guaranteed. This $12.5MM-per-year pact comes in fifth among active backs, but with two years being essentially guaranteed, it will give the reigning rushing champion security at a position that largely lacks it.
Per Field Yates of ESPN.com (via Twitter), the deal includes a $12MM signing bonus and a first-year cash flow of $15MM, a nice increase from the $10.278MM Henry was due to earn on the franchise tender. It also creates over $4MM of cap space this year for the Titans, giving them more than $24MM to spend. Tennessee could opt to roll most of that money over into 2021 to guard against a salary cap drop, but the club clearly has the ability to add more talent (see: Jadeveon Clowney).
The running back market spike from 2018-19, for the most part, did not reward teams who authorized the big-money deals. And the loaded 2017 running back draft class may be set to make the 2021 free agency class a buyer’s market, especially considering the cap implications COVID-19 could cause. But the Titans moved forward anyway and will now have Henry and Ryan Tannehill signed to long-term deals, rewarding the duo most responsible for the team’s first AFC championship game berth in 17 years.
Henry is coming off one of the better contract years in recent memory, following up his rushing title with dominant performances in Titans upset wins over the Patriots and Ravens in the playoffs. The former Heisman winner and second-round pick has been one of the league’s best backs over the past season and change, beginning his breakout late in the 2018 campaign.
Adding to the intrigue behind this deal: Henry’s throwback skill set offers little in the passing game, separating him from the recent group of backs — Todd Gurley, David Johnson, Le’Veon Bell and Ezekiel Elliott — to sign market-reshaping contracts. The most recent recipient of a monster running back extension — Carolina’s Christian McCaffrey — is perhaps the game’s premier dual-threat option. Tennessee, however, has built a run-oriented offense around its top back. And Henry, despite his bulldozing style, has only totaled 804 carries. That ranks eighth among backs since 2016.
Despite 15 players being tagged this offseason, Henry is only the second to sign an extension. He follows the Chiefs’ Chris Jones. The other teams who have used the tag are a half-hour away from carrying the tag salaries on their respective payrolls this season. The NFL moved the start of the league year back multiple times because of the CBA ratification process, but the league keeping the tag deadline in place has likely caused most teams to stand down amid the uncertainty the coronavirus has injected into the NFL’s future.
Poll: How Many Tagged Players Will Land Extensions?
A day away from the deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign extensions, the NFL finally saw a player from this year’s group do so. The Chiefs’ Chris Jones extension represents the outlier move thus far. Discounting Jones’ deal, how many more tagged players will sign by the 3pm CT deadline Wednesday?
The 14 remaining tagged players reside in limbo for various reasons — from uncertainties about their career trajectories to the pandemic clouding the NFL’s financial future. There could be plenty of players going through the 2020 season on guaranteed one-year deals, which would both table key negotiations for several months and add to the 2021 free agent market.
Here is how everything looks with the tagged group as of Tuesday afternoon:
Already Signed Tag
- LB Shaquil Barrett, Buccaneers: Sides are not believed to be close on terms (7/10)
- RB Kenyan Drake*, Cardinals: Engaged in talks with organization (4/15)
- LB Bud Dupree, Steelers: Sides are not close on terms; Dupree filed grievance (7/10)
- S Anthony Harris, Vikings: No reports, will let agent and Vikings do the work (5/17)
- RB Derrick Henry, Titans: Expected to play season on tag (7/14)
- TE Hunter Henry, Chargers: Sides “were close” to extension (4/29); now not so much (7/11)
- LB Matt Judon, Ravens: Content playing on franchise tag (6/16)
- QB Dak Prescott, Cowboys: After disagreement on deal length, no talks scheduled (7/13)
- OG Brandon Scherff, Washington: No longer expected to sign extension (7/14)
- S Justin Simmons, Broncos: Talks unlikely to produce extension (7/14)
- OG Joe Thuney, Patriots: Engaged in talks with organization (3/17)
- DT Leonard Williams, Giants: Will play 2020 season on franchise tag (7/13)
*Received transition tag (vs. franchise tag)
Hasn’t Signed Tag, Won’t Hold Out
- WR A.J. Green, Bengals: Not much optimism exists for extension (7/12)
Hasn’t Signed Tag, Threatening Holdout
More players were tagged this year than in 2018 and ’19 combined. This represents the largest contingent of tagged performers since 2012, when 19 were tagged. That also came in an era when of salary cap stagnancy. After steady cap growth since 2014, the league’s best hope may be for the 2021 cap to plateau. The coronavirus has threatened to keep fans out of stadiums, with limited capacity being the likely best-case scenario. That will cost the league upwards of $3 billion, and the NFL-NFLPA talks about how to manage this have transpired for several weeks without a resolution.
But deadlines, per the cliche, incite action. Will this year be the exception? Are teams willing to carry big tag salaries on their books? Or will they prefer that to signing off on long-term extensions before the cap reality clears up? Vote in PFR’s latest poll (link for app users) and weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section.
Of the 14 players still attached to tags, how many will sign extensions?
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1-2 45% (238)
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3-5 36% (194)
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4-7 13% (71)
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More than 8 6% (31)
Total votes: 534
Titans’ Derrick Henry Unlikely To Sign Long-Term Deal
The Titans have until Wednesday afternoon to hammer out a long-term deal with Derrick Henry, but it’s not likely to happen, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Unless something changes quickly, Henry will play out the 2020 season with a salary of $10.27MM. After that, the two sides won’t be able to revisit talks until the season wraps, and he’ll be on course for free agency in March of next year. 
[RELATED: Titans Unsure About Jonnu Smith Extension]
Unlike Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, there’s no possibility of a holdout here. Henry has already signed the tender and the two sides are on good terms. When they do get down to brass tacks again, it’ll be a matter of money. Henry is believed to be seeking a deal worth at least $15MM per year and at least $30MM guaranteed – a big commitment for a running back, even one that’s as dominant as Henry.
Henry’s combo of gaudy stats and a low odometer should serve him well in negotiations. He didn’t see a ton of carries in his first three years and he’s coming off an unreal season. Last year, Henry led the NFL in rushing and bolstered the Titans to an AFC Championship Game appearance. All in all, he racked up 1,540 yards on the ground and 16 scores on 303 carries. He also tacked on another 206 yards and two TDs through the air for good measure.
In addition to cap concerns, the Titans’ short-term finances may also be a roadblock to a deal. Recently, Titans GM Jon Robinson said that the current climate has the team skittish about putting too much money on the books.
“I’m a big analogy guy,” Robinson said. “It’s no different than if I was if I was working for Pepsi or Coke, and I knew that we weren’t going to have as many sales. …You wouldn’t go out and buy a new house. I don’t know what that’s going to look like…What you don’t want to do is do something and then you’ve got to undo it or try to unpack it a year, two years from now, given the uncertainty of the salary cap.”
Titans Unsure About Extensions For Jonnu Smith, Others
Historically, the Titans have a point to lock up key players before they can leave via free agency. Taylor Lewan and Kevin Byard both landed extensions well in advance, but the ongoing uncertainty may leave players like tight end Jonnu Smith in limbo, GM Jon Robinson says. 
“I’m a big analogy guy,” Robinson told Paul Kuharsky. “It’s no different than if I was if I was working for Pepsi or Coke, and I knew that we weren’t going to have as many sales. …You wouldn’t go out and buy a new house.
“I don’t know what that’s going to look like. It’s something that we will certainly talk about. You know, we’ve talked to the players and the reps. There’s a lot of uncertainty right now with everything, and I would say certainly with the salary cap too, because we’ve got to be mindful. What you don’t want to do is do something and then you’ve got to undo it or try to unpack it a year, two years from now, given the uncertainty of the salary cap.”
Smith isn’t the only notable player entering his walk year. Linebacker Jayon Brown and nose tackle DaQuan Jones also have one season to go on their respective deals, but they could be left to wait as the Titans try to get a grip on their future finances. The league is facing a potential $4 billion loss in revenue, which would shrink the cap by about 35%. The NFL has pitched the idea of putting a portion of player salaries into escrow to avoid a dramatic drop, but the union is pushing back.
Smith was mostly been as a blocker in his early years, but he flashed his hands last year. The 24-year-old (25 in August) caught 35 passes for 439 yards and three scores, giving the Titans a glimpse of what could come. The former third-round pick is slated to count for just $933K this year and he’s in line for a pay bump in 2021.
Latest On Titans, Derrick Henry
The Titans and star running back Derrick Henry have been negotiating a long-term pact for at least the past six weeks or so, but as Terry McCormick of TitansInsider.com writes, no extension is imminent. If the two sides cannot agree to terms by July 15, Henry will play out the 2020 season on his $10.278MM franchise tender.
[RELATED: Titans Monitoring Two Big-Name Vets]
Henry has already signed the tender, so there won’t be a holdout if nothing gets done by the deadline. But teams have been generally hesitant to authorize large extensions in the uncertain financial climate created by COVID-19, and running backs sometimes have difficulty securing big paydays even under normal circumstances.
On the other hand, Henry is not a normal running back. Thanks to relatively light usage over his first three years in the league, he should have plenty of tread left on his tires, and he is coming off a remarkable campaign in which he led the league in rushing and quite literally carried the Titans to a surprise appearance in the AFC Championship Game. He piled up 1,540 yards and 16 TDs on 303 carries, and he added another 206 yards and two TDs through the air. As such, he is surely shooting for a deal worth at least $15MM per year, with at least $30MM guaranteed at signing.
Given his importance to the team, that doesn’t seem like much of a stretch, but it sounds as if there is still a large gap to bridge between player and team. Nonetheless, McCormick says both sides remain amenable to an extension and plan to continue talking right up to the deadline if necessary.
Titans Monitoring Jadeveon Clowney, Stephen Gostkowski
The Browns may be out of the Jadeveon Clowney sweepstakes, leaving the Seahawks and Raiders as the the arguable frontrunners for his services. But don’t count the Titans out just yet. In a Periscope/Facebook Live conversation with PaulKuharsky.com, GM Jon Robinson talked about what a useful asset Clowney would be to Tennessee’s front seven and how he would complement the talent already on the roster.
But Robinson also reiterated that he wants to have team doctors examine Clowney before he moves forward in his attempts to sign him. While Robinson acknowledged that the former No. 1 overall pick looks good from what he has seen on social media, there is obviously no substitute for an in-person evaluation.
“Anytime you are dealing with whatever the contract is going to command, you want to make sure that the player is healthy, that you are able to allow your doctors to see him, to look at it, to make sure everything is going to be good,” Robinson said.
Those comments are noteworthy in light of the fact that the Titans were previously reported to have made multiple offers to Clowney earlier this offseason. Assuming those reports were accurate, it seems as if Robinson may have been willing to bring Clowney in on a fairly low-risk deal without a medical examination, but if he is going to make a sizable commitment, he needs to be assured that Clowney is in good health.
Robinson also said that the team would consider taking a look at veteran kicker Stephen Gostkowski. The longtime Patriots stalwart was released by New England in March on the heels of a 2019 season that was largely wiped out by a left hip injury. The Titans are currently rostering Greg Joseph, whom they signed off the Panthers’ taxi squad in December, and UDFA Tucker McCann. Robinson conceded that the PK job is Joseph’s to lose, but he would be amenable to bringing in Gostkowski to provide some worthy competition.
Gostkowski, 36, said in April that he has no plans to retire, but this is the first time we’ve heard his name since then. His 87.4% field goal percentage is the fifth-best of all time.
Status Of All 15 Tagged Players Prior to July 15 Extension Deadline
The clock is ticking for tagged players to sign extensions with their teams, per the league calendar.
July 15: At 4:00 p.m., New York time, deadline for any club that designated a Franchise Player to sign such player to a multiyear contract or extension. After this date, the player may sign only a one-year contract with his prior club for the 2020 season, and such contract cannot be extended until after the club’s last regular season game.
With less than nine days remaining until the deadline, let’s take a look at where each of the 15 tagged players stand.
Already Signed Tag
- RB Kenyan Drake*, Cardinals: Engaged in talks with organization (4/15)
- LB Bud Dupree, Steelers: May not receive long-term deal (6/17)
- S Anthony Harris, Vikings: No reports, will let agent and Vikings do the work (5/17)
- RB Derrick Henry, Titans: Engaged in talks with organization (6/11)
- TE Hunter Henry, Chargers: Sides “were close” to an extension (4/29)
- LB Matt Judon, Ravens: Content playing on franchise tag (6/16)
- QB Dak Prescott, Cowboys: Wants four years, Cowboys want five years (6/22)
- OG Brandon Scherff, Redskins: Confident he’ll receive extension (4/11)
- OG Joe Thuney, Patriots: Engaged in talks with organization (3/17)
- DT Leonard Williams, Giants: To file grievance over position, hoping for extension (4/23)
*Received transition tag (vs. franchise tag)
Haven’t Signed Tag, Won’t Hold Out
- LB Shaquil Barrett, Buccaneers: Will sign tag if extension isn’t signed (6/29)
- WR A.J. Green, Bengals: Will sign tag if extension isn’t signed (6/21)
- S Justin Simmons, Broncos: Engaged in talks with organization (4/20)
Haven’t Signed Tag, Threatening Hold Out
- DT Chris Jones, Chiefs: Threatening holdout (7/1)
- DE Yannick Ngakoue, Jaguars: Wants trade, prepared to sit out 2020 season (7/2)
Ex-Titans GM: Manning Pursuit Was Costly
- Peyton Manning has said years ago he was close to signing with the Titans, but the Broncos won out for the future Hall of Fame quarterback. Discussing the fallout from Manning’s 2012 free agency, ex-Titans exec Mike Reinfeldt said the acclaimed passer’s timetable affected the Titans’ plans. “The only thing I wished had happened was that Peyton could have made the decision earlier,” Reinfeldt said, via The Athletic’s Mike Sando. “But I don’t know that he was in position to do so because of his health. … There is no magic way to build a team, but what you can’t do is get caught in between one plan and the other plan. That is what happened to us.” The Titans earmarking Manning money during the first week of free agency, and then waiting on the ex-Colt’s decision, caused them to miss out on pursuits of Mario Williams and Pro Bowl guards Carl Nicks and Ben Grubbs, with Sando adding each was a target of then-GM Ruston Webster. Tennessee finished 6-10 in 2012 and would not post a winning season again until 2016.