Cowboys Sign LS Jake McQuaide
After a decade with the Rams organization, Jake McQuaide is moving on. The Cowboys announced (on Twitter) that they’ve signed the former Pro Bowl long snapper to a one-year deal.
McQuaide joined the Rams as an undrafted free agent out of Ohio State in 2011, and he proceeded to spend the next 10 years with the Rams organization. The veteran hasn’t missed a single regular season game since joining the Rams, and he’ll leave the organization ranked 16th in franchise history in games played.
Outside of one offensive snap in 2019, the 33-year-old has exclusively appeared on special teams. Besides his long snapping duties, McQuaide has also compiled nine tackles. He earned Pro Bowl nods in both 2016 and 2017.
Vikings Sign CB Patrick Peterson
Patrick Peterson is moving on from Arizona. The Vikings have agreed to a one-year, $10MM deal with the decorated cornerback, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (via Twitter).
Now 30 (31 in July), Peterson is one of the most accomplished defenders in Cardinals history and is a member of the Hall of Fame’s All-Decade team for the 2010s. He is not, however, the player he once was. He was hit with a six-game PED suspension to start the 2019 campaign, and after Pro Football Focus graded Peterson fifth among corners in 2018, he slipped to 41st in ’19 and 83rd in ’20. Quarterbacks throwing in Peterson’s direction last season collectively completed passes at a 67% clip — nearly 10 points higher than they did in 2018.
But he did pick off three passes in 2020, to go along with eight passes defensed. He has also been tremendously durable throughout his 10-year career, as the only games he has missed were due to the aforementioned suspension.
He joins a young CB room that had been fronted by a trio of recent early-round picks. Unlike Peterson, 2018 first-rounder Mike Hughes has not been able to stay healthy and has only suited up for 24 of a possible 48 regular season games in his pro career, while 2020 first-rounder Jeff Gladney struggled a bit in his rookie campaign. Cameron Dantzler, a third-round choice last year, played reasonably well as a rookie, but the group definitely needed a veteran influence like Peterson, an eight-time Pro Bowler and three-time First Team All-Pro.
Minnesota did have an offer out to Mackensie Alexander, but the Peterson signing could foreclose the possibility of an Alexander-Vikings reunion.
Raiders Trade OL Gabe Jackson To Seahawks
Gabe Jackson‘s stint with the Raiders has come to an end. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that the Raiders are trading the offensive lineman to the Seahawks for a 2021 draft pick. NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets that the Raiders will receive a fifth-round pick.
It seemed inevitable that Jackson was on his way out of Vegas; we’ve heard for several months that the team was planning to cut the offensive guard. However, we learned earlier today that the Raiders were still shopping the veteran, and it sounded like the organization had a handful of potential trade partners.
Jackson has two years left on the five-year, $56MM extension he signed with the Raiders in 2017. A third-round pick in 2014, Jackson has spent all seven of his pro seasons with the Raiders. He’s been a full-time starter since his rookie year, and has only missed more than three games once, in 2019 when he missed five.
Jackson has always been a solid but not spectacular starter, but Jon Gruden felt he could no longer justify the double digit million AAV of his contract. They shopped him around this time last year, but nothing got done and he started all 16 games for Gruden in 2020.
The Raiders offensive line has already seen a bit of turnover this offseason. The team ended up trading center Rodney Hudson earlier this week, a move that reportedly “freaked out” Raiders target Kyle Long (who ended up signing with the Chiefs).
The Seahawks had been in the market for some offensive line help this offseason, although they struck out on a pair of targets in Kevin Zeitler and Joe Thuney. This trade leaves Seattle with only three picks in this year’s draft.
Texans Sign CB Tavierre Thomas
Tavierre Thomas is off to Houston. The Texans have signed the cornerback/special teamer to a two-year deal, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter). The deal is worth $4MM, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).
The 25-year-old had spent the majority of his three-year career with the Browns. After serving in mostly a special teams role in 2018 and 2019, Thomas took on more of a defensive role in 2020. The defensive back ultimately appeared in 19 percent of Cleveland’s defensive snaps this past season, finishing with a career-high 30 tackles, one sack, and one forced fumble.
The Texans have been busy adding to their secondary this week. The team signed Terrance Mitchell to a two-year deal, and they also added cornerback Tremon Smith and safety Terrence Brooks. The team has also added a handful of notable special teamers, including Andre Roberts.
Washington To Sign WR Curtis Samuel
Curtis Samuel has found his new home. The free agent wideout and former Panther is signing with Washington, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter was first to report (via Twitter). Samuel received a three-year deal, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), and Joseph Person of The Athletic tweets that Samuel can earn up to $35.25MM, with $24.5MM guaranteed.
Washington has been mentioned as a potential landing spot for Samuel throughout the offseason. After all, WFT head coach and former Panthers HC Ron Rivera has shown a propensity for recruiting players from his old team, and Rapoport notes that Rivera actually tried to trade for Samuel last season (Twitter link). Washington struggled to find a second receiver to pair with top wideout Terry McLaurin in 2020, but now, the offense will feature two of the most dynamic receivers in the NFL, both of whom were members of Ohio State’s 2014 recruiting class.
Samuel, a 2017 second-round pick, has progressively improved his numbers during each of his four NFL seasons. That culminated in a 2020 campaign where he finished with a career-high 1,051 yards from scrimmage to go along with five touchdowns. Samuel also garnered a career-high 41 rushing attempts, showcasing his ability to serve as a Swiss Army Knife-type weapon.
WFT is still on the lookout for a long-term answer at quarterback — the agelessness of new signee Ryan Fitzpatrick notwithstanding — but the club is quietly assembling a strong foundation of skill-position talent. McLaurin, Samuel, and recent draftees Kelvin Harmon and Antonio Gandy-Golden give Washington an intriguing young WR group, while 2020 third-round running back Antonio Gibson demonstrated plenty of promise in his rookie campaign.
The Panthers, meanwhile, have spent the early days of free agency fortifying their offensive and defensive fronts. Carolina remains in hot pursuit of Deshaun Watson, and even with Samuel no longer in the mix, the team still has a fair amount of skill position talent with the likes of Christian McCaffrey, D.J. Moore, and Robby Anderson.
Rory Parks contributed to this post.
49ers Sign C Alex Mack
Trent Williams isn’t the only notable lineman headed to San Francisco. Free agent center Alex Mack also agreed to join the 49ers in the wee hours of Wednesday morning (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport).
Mack’s deal is a one-year pact worth $5.5MM, according to Rapoport (on Twitter). 
It’s a return to sunny California for the UC Berkeley product. The deal also marks a reunion with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. Mack previously played for Shanahan with the Browns and Falcons. Mack, 36 in November, comes with serious credentials — six Pro Bowls and a track record for durability. He’s played in and started in just about every possible game since 2009, save for his injury-plagued 2014.
The 49ers needed a quality middle-man in the worst way. While Williams turned in a stellar season, the interior line struggled to hold the line. That’s part of the reason why the Niners’ offense sagged and the club needed a new solution in the wake of Weston Richburg‘s retirement. Journeyman Ben Garland was given a chance to start, but the journeyman wound up with an injury of his own.
Mack, who made the NFL’s most recent all-decade team, can officially put pen to paper at 4pm ET today.
Bengals To Re-Sign RB Samaje Perine
Samaje Perine is returning to Cincinnati. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports (via Twitter) that the running back is signing a two-year deal with the Bengals.
Perine showed promise as a rookie with Washington in 2017, finishing with 785 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. However, he was limited to only five games in 2018, and he was waived prior to the start of the 2019 season. Perine later had a brief stint with the Bengals, and he ended that season of the Dolphins roster.
Perine ended up rejoining the Bengals last offseason, and he had a bounce-back season in Cincy. With the Bengals dealing with injuries to Joe Mixon, Perine ended up seeing time in all 16 games, including one start. He finished the season having compiled 367 yards from scrimmage and a career-high three touchdowns.
Buccaneers To Re-Sign K Ryan Succop
The Buccaneers’ re-signing binge will spread to their special teams units. The defending Super Bowl champions reached an agreement to keep Ryan Succop.
Succop agreed to a three-year deal worth $12MM, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The veteran kicker will receive $6.25MM in guarantees and $8.25MM over the first two years of the deal, per Stroud.
After cycling through kickers for several seasons, the Bucs found some stability with Succop last year. They signed him late in the offseason and saw him make 28 of 31 field goal tries. The 34-year-old specialist also delivered a perfect postseason, going 13-for-13. This marked a rebound for Succop, who struggled through an injury-plagued campaign with the Titans in 2019.
Tampa Bay’s kicker woes centered around Jason Licht’s Roberto Aguayo miss, but it has been a long time since the team has made it through consecutive seasons with the same kicker. Succop doing so in 2021 would be the first instance of this occurring in Tampa since Connor Barth from 2011-12. Succop’s contract points to him stopping this unusual stretch.
Cowboys Re-Sign Jourdan Lewis
The Cowboys are bringing back cornerback Jourdan Lewis, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). Lewis’ new contract will be for three years and and is worth up to $16.5MM, including $8MM in guarantees.
Lewis started a career-high 13 games in 2020 after struggling a bit for playing time with Kris Richard in charge of the DBs from 2018-19. However, that doesn’t mean that he performed well, as he graded out as one of the worst corners in the league according to Pro Football Focus’ metrics. He was frequently beaten by opposing receivers, and some believe that the Cowboys would do well to shift him over to safety.
After all, he has demonstrated solid ball skills and playmaking ability, with four interceptions, four fumble recoveries, six sacks, and a defensive score over his four-year career. And the one area in which PFF considered him an above-average performer was pass rushing.
Whether or not Dallas serious entertains the notion of changing Lewis’ position remains to be seen, but obviously the club has seen enough upside to keep him around for another several seasons. After losing Chidobe Awuzie to the Bengals, the Cowboys made sure to keep another homegrown DB from the 2017 draft in the building.
Seahawks, TE Gerald Everett Agree To Deal
Gerald Everett will stay in the NFC West. The four-year Rams tight end agreed to terms with the Seahawks on a one-year deal, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The deal is worth $7MM, including $6MM guaranteed (per Rapoport on Twitter).
There were some high hopes for Everett when he was selected in the second round of the 2017 draft, but he’s yet to put together a standout NFL season. 2020 was arguably a career year for the 26-year-old, but he still only finished with 41 receptions for 417 yards and one touchdown (plus the first rushing touchdown of his career).
It seemed clear that his stint with the Rams was coming to a close when the organization inked fellow tight end Tyler Higbee to an extension. Everett was also mentioned as a potential trade candidate towards the beginning of the 2020 season.
He will now join a Seahawks team that has been searching for tight end stability for a bit now. Seattle relied on the trio of Greg Olsen, Jacob Hollister, and Will Dissly in 2020, with that grouping combining for 73 receptions, 709 yards, and six touchdowns. Olsen has since announced his retirement, opening a spot on the depth chart.