Chiefs To Release RB Damien Williams
Damien Williams opted out of the 2020 season; he will now be looking for a new team for the 2021 slate. The Chiefs are cutting the veteran running back, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter).
The Chiefs, who have since established Clyde Edwards-Helaire as their centerpiece back, will save $2.7MM in cap space by releasing Williams. Barely a year after making a case for Super Bowl LIV MVP honors, the soon-to-be 29-year-old is now on the market.
After the Chiefs’ ugly Kareem Hunt situation led to his release midway through the 2018 season, Williams emerged as a key player. He held the team’s starting running back job throughout the 2019 season, holding off LeSean McCoy for the position. Williams also scored 10 total playoff touchdowns as a Chief, doing so in just five postseason games.
A former Dolphins backup, Williams signed with the Chiefs in 2018. Shortly after the team cut Hunt, it moved to extend Williams on a two-year, $5.1MM deal. Because of Williams’ COVID-19 opt-out choice, that deal tolled to 2021. But after the team once was set to deploy a backfield featuring both Williams and Edwards-Helaire, the latter will continue to operate as the featured cog.
Steelers To Re-Sign Zach Banner
Maurkice Pouncey has retired, Matt Feiler just signed with the Chargers, and the Steelers might be looking to move on from Alejandro Villanueva, so Pittsburgh’s offensive line is going to look a lot different next year no matter what.
But not everybody is walking out the door, as the team has agreed to terms on a deal to retain tackle Zach Banner, Aditi Kinkhabwala of ESPN.com tweets. It’s a two-year, $9.5MM deal with a $3.25MM signing bonus, she reports. Not too shabby for a player with only two career starts under his belt.
A fourth-round pick of the Colts back in 2017, Banner was cut before ever playing in a game for Indy. He then had brief stints with the Browns and Panthers before landing with the Steelers. He only started one game in 2019, but played in 14 and played 22 percent of the offensive snaps.
Last offseason he won the job to be the Steelers’ new starting right tackle, but tore an ACL during their Week 1 win over the Giants. The team clearly believes in him, and it seems like they envision him winning the starting job again. Since his ACL tear came so early in the year, the USC product should be ready to go for the start of the 2021 season.
Titans Release Adoree’ Jackson, Dennis Kelly
After this year, players attached to fifth-year options will be protected from free-of-charge releases. But the Titans will take advantage of that opportunity in its final year. They are set to release former first-round pick Adoree’ Jackson.
The Titans are cutting both Jackson and starting right tackle Dennis Kelly, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Jackson’s option season was set to cost the Titans $10.2MM. They will turn that entire amount into cap space, a luxury that will not be available to teams beginning next year.
This is certainly not a surprise, however. Jackson played in only three games last season; a knee injury cost the 2017 first-round pick most of his season. The Titans shelved Jackson on IR ahead of Week 1, and although they activated him off the injured list in early November, Jackson continued to miss time. He will be entering free agency at a bad time, coming off his worst season and doing so after the salary cap dropped by $16MM. Some interest figures to come Jackson’s way, however. He graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 8 overall corner in 2019 and landed in the advanced metrics site’s top 40 corners in ’17 and ’18.
Tennessee will unveil a new group of corners next year. The Titans have now cut Jackson and Malcolm Butler. They will also have a new right tackle.
After the Titans passed on Jack Conklin‘s fifth-year option, they drafted Isaiah Wilson in the 2020 first round. After a disastrous rookie year, Wilson is now with the Dolphins. The Titans used Kelly at right tackle throughout last season, elevating him from the swing role he previously held. Kelly’s most recent extension ran through the 2022 season.
Overall, the Titans will create more than $17MM in cap space by making these moves. That will bump the team’s total to nearly $30MM, per OverTheCap. They also will have to replace two key cogs.
Giants To Sign John Ross
The Giants were rumored to be looking for another receiver this offseason, and now they’ve found one. New York has agreed to terms on a deal with receiver John Ross, a source told Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (Twitter link).
It’s a one-year, $2.5MM deal that includes $1MM in guaranteed money, Garafolo reports. The move isn’t necessarily the big splash many Giants fans have been waiting for, but it’s a nice low-risk flyer with significant upside. Ross is well known for being the ninth overall pick in 2017, as well as his legendary NFL Combine 40-time of 4.22.
Things didn’t go as planned with the Bengals nearly immediately, and his four years in Cincinnati were an abject disaster. He struggled with injuries, playing in three, 13, eight, and three games during his four seasons there. He finished his run with 51 catches for 733 yards and ten touchdowns, a pitiful sum for a top ten pick.
Needless to say, the team didn’t exercise his fifth-year option and returning to Cincy was never in the cards. He’s obviously got game-breaking speed, and showed plenty of flashes during the 2019 season when he had 506 yards in only eight games, so the potential is there.
After releasing Golden Tate the Giants don’t have much at all at receiver beyond Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard, as Ross has a realistic path to some playing time in 2021. Keep an eye on this one.
Cowboys To Sign Ty Nsekhe
The Cowboys just lost last year’s swing tackle when Cameron Erving signed with the Panthers yesterday, and they’re wasting no time in replacing him.
Dallas has agreed to terms on a one-year deal with veteran lineman Ty Nsekhe, his agency Elite Loyalty Sports announced on Twitter. Nsekhe will now slide into Erving’s role and fill in for either Tyron Smith or La’el Collins if necessary. Erving ended up starting a handful of games for the Cowboys last year due to injuries.
Nsekhe has had a remarkable path, as he entered the pro ranks as an UDFA back in 2009. He started off in the AF2 and after a few years in the ill-fated AFL, finally got his first taste of the NFL in 2012. He didn’t stick on a roster until 2015, when he finally found his footing with Washington.
He would go on to start a handful of games for Washington in each season from 2016-18, always filling in solidly when the team was in a pinch. Regarded as one of the better reserve tackles out there, he signed a two-year, $14.5MM deal with Buffalo in March of 2019.
That turned out to be a pretty sweet gig for him, as he only started one game for the Bills the past two seasons. He’s 35 now, but will give the Cowboys very solid depth on the O-line.
Giants, Leonard Williams Agree To Extension
The Giants will free up some cap space and lock down one of their top players. Given the franchise tag for the second straight year, Leonard Williams reached an agreement on an extension Tuesday.
Williams will sign a three-year, $63MM accord to stay with the Giants, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. While Dalvin Tomlinson departed for Minnesota, the Giants will retain their top defensive line playmaker. Williams did incredibly well on this $21MM-per-year deal; $45MM of the pact is fully guaranteed, per Rapoport.
GM Dave Gettleman confused most by acquiring Williams at the 2019 trade deadline, and the former Jets first-round pick did not impress in his first half-season as a Giant. After a sackless first eight games, however, Williams broke through after being tagged last year. The former top-10 draftee produced his best season, registering 11.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss and 30 quarterback hits.
This deal both locks Williams into a price he was not especially close to as a Jet and will allow him a chance to approach free agency again while in his prime. The Giants and Williams were not close on a deal last year, and he played the season at the $16.1MM defensive tackle tag price. Going into last year’s franchise tag deadline, the Giants were not ready to give Williams an extension that averaged what that tag paid. A year later, the 26-year-old defender acquired tremendous leverage and used it to cash in.
Although the Giants did a few Eli Manning deals and constructed Odell Beckham Jr.‘s current contract, Joel Corry of CBS Sports notes this is the most fully guaranteed money they have handed out (Twitter link). Tuesday’s agreement will vault Williams onto the top tier of D-line contracts. After his breakthrough Giants contract year, the USC alum matches DeForest Buckner as the second-highest-paid interior defender. Only Aaron Donald ($22.5MM AAV) comes in above Williams now. And Williams’ $45MM full guarantee surpasses Buckner’s mark.
The Giants entered the tampering period with Williams tethered to a $19.4MM tag, so this should free up some much-needed cap space for the team to pursue free agents. Despite losing Tomlinson, the Giants have a talented defensive line core still in place. Both Dexter Lawrence and B.J. Hill remain on their rookie deals, with Austin Johnson agreeing to return on a low-cost accord Monday.
Colts To Tender WR Zach Pascal
The Colts will be hanging onto Zach Pascal. The veteran wide receiver received a second-round RFA tender from the team, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets.
This will tether Pascal to a $3.4MM salary, should no extension be reached by mid-June, in 2021. Teams have until Wednesday afternoon to tender their restricted free agents.
A 2018 UDFA out of Old Dominion, Pascal has played a key role in Indianapolis’ passing attack. Injuries to T.Y. Hilton and Parris Campbell thrust Pascal into increased action, and he has become a nice auxiliary playmaker in Frank Reich‘s attack. Pascal has delivered back-to-back seasons of 600-plus yards. Despite the Colts shuffling quarterbacks over the course of Pascal’s career, he totaled five TD catches in each of the past two years and has 12 as a pro.
It is not certain if Hilton will rejoin Pascal. The UFA wide receiver market has moved slowly. While the Colts are open to bringing Hilton back, they intend to allow the market to determine whether that will happen.
Browns To Sign Takk McKinley
The Browns are getting some of the edge rushing help they’ve been seeking. Cleveland has agreed to terms on a deal with defensive end Takkarist McKinley, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports tweets.
It’s a one-year pact with a base value of $4.25MM that can be worth up to $6MM, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Sounds like the deal is rich on incentives, which makes plenty of sense for a player in McKinley’s circumstances. The UCLA product was the 27th overall pick in 2017, but things never worked out for him in Atlanta. By the end he was butting heads with management and blasting the team on social media, which ultimately led to him getting waived.
A bizarre saga then ensued, with a number of teams trying to claim him to cash in on his potential. He was claimed by the Bengals and then 49ers, but failed physicals with both teams and reverted to waivers each time. He was then finally claimed and cleared by the Raiders, but spent the rest of last season on Las Vegas’ injured reserve.
McKinley has shown plenty of flashes and most metrics graded him very positively when on the field recently, so it’s a nice low-risk signing for Cleveland. The story all offseason was that the Browns were looking for a big-name pass-rusher to pair next to Myles Garrett, and they expressed interest in J.J. Watt, Bud Dupree, and Trey Hendrickson before they signed with different teams.
This McKinley signing isn’t as splashy as one of those other guys would’ve been, but he’s got significant upside. Still only 25, he’s got plenty of time to turn around his career narrative.
Tramon Williams Retires From NFL
Free agency is plowing full steam ahead, but signings and cuts aren’t the only thing going on. We’ve also got news of a significant retirement to pass along.
Veteran cornerback Tramon Williams is hanging up his cleats, he declared in a text to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Williams entered the league as an UDFA all the way back in 2006, and improbably defied all expectations and then some to stick in the NFL for a whopping 15 seasons. For a player at his position especially, it was a run that’s nothing short of incredible in hindsight.
Today is Williams’ 38th birthday. After initially signing with the Texans he was quickly cut and then signed to the Packers’ practice squad. He would go on to spend nine seasons in Green Bay, winning Super Bowl XLV with the team. The Louisiana Tech product then went to Cleveland, Arizona, back to Green Bay again, and then Baltimore.
The Ravens waived him back on January 18th, and he signed with the Packers one last time on January 21st just in time to suit up for the NFC Championship Game, although he didn’t end up playing in the contest.
Never a star but a quality starter for many years, Williams made one Pro Bowl in 2010. He’ll finish his legendary career having appeared in a whopping 205 games with 153 starts. He’ll go down with 153 passes defended, and 34 interceptions. There was a four-year stretch from 2008-11 where he had at least four interceptions in each season.
All of us here at PFR wish Williams the best in retirement, and a happy birthday as well!
Bengals To Sign Mike Hilton
The Bengals are continuing to add to the defense. Cincinnati has agreed to terms on a deal with free agent cornerback Mike Hilton, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). It’s a four-year pact for Hilton, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (tweet via Ben Baby of ESPN).
The four-year deal is worth $24MM with $8.5MM coming to Hilton in the first year, Rapoport tweets. The Bengals signed fellow corner Chidobe Awuzie to a three-year deal earlier this morning, and added defensive end Trey Hendrickson on a massive four-year, $60MM deal last night. With Hilton and Awuzie now in tow and William Jackson III looking likely to depart in free agency, Cincy’s secondary is going to look completely different in 2021.
Hilton entered the league as an UDFA out of Ole Miss in 2016. He initially spent time with the Jaguars and Patriots but was cut in both places before landing on Pittsburgh’s practice squad. He quickly carved out a role with the Steelers, and was a big part of their secondary the past few years. He’ll likely be the Bengals’ new slot corner.
This past season he appeared in 12 games, starting six, and playing around 45 percent of the defensive snaps in total. Despite only being on the field half the time he managed to rack up three sacks, eight tackles for loss, seven passes defended, three interceptions, and two fumble recoveries. That’s a lot of playmaking.