Dolphins Trade Shaq Lawson To Texans For Benardrick McKinney
The Dolphins and Texans are in agreement on a trade that will send inside linebacker Benardrick McKinney to Miami in exchange for outside linebacker Shaq Lawson, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com was first to report (via Twitter). Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com reports that the Dolphins will send their 2021 sixth-round pick to Houston and will get the Texans’ 2021 seventh-rounder in return (Twitter link).
Lawson is the second player from Miami’s 2020 front-seven spending spree to be jettisoned over the last few days. After the ‘Fins failed to find a trade partner for Kyle Van Noy, they cut him loose after just one season in South Beach. Now, Lawson will try to build on a solid, if unspectacular, 2020 season with his third pro team.
The Texans, who parted ways with franchise icon J.J. Watt this offseason, were in desperate need of pass rush help, and Lawson graded out as Pro Football Focus’ 28th-best edge defender out of 109 qualified players (incidentally, new teammate Whitney Mercilus was at the very bottom of that list). Lawson’s four sacks and 25 QB pressures won’t make headlines, but he will be a welcome addition to the club’s pass rushing corps just the same. He will likely shift back to defensive end in new DC Lovie Smith‘s scheme.
Miami, meanwhile, adds a starting-caliber ILB to line up next to Jerome Baker. McKinney played in just four games in 2020 due to a shoulder injury, but he had been pretty durable up to that point. A full-time starter since he entered the league as a second-round pick in 2015, the Mississippi State product averaged 107.5 tackles per season from 2016-2019 and earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2018. But the Texans recently brought in Christian Kirksey on a one-year pact, and they had given McKinney permission to seek a trade, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).
Per Wolfe, the Dolphins have been eyeing McKinney for awhile, and he gives them a worthy replacement for Van Noy. The team is now expected to pursue pass rush help in free agency to complement Emmanuel Ogbah and Andrew Van Ginkel (Twitter link via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com).
From a salary cap standpoint, the trade is mostly a wash for both clubs. Lawson is due an $8.4MM salary in 2021 and $8.9MM in 2022, while McKinney is under club control through 2023 with salaries of $7MM, $8.75MM, and $9.5MM coming his way over the next three seasons. The Dolphins will have to absorb $2.7MM in dead money as a result of the deal, but all of McKinney’s guarantees have been paid out, so it will be easy for Miami to move on from him prior to the expiration of his current contract if he underperforms.
Now that these two teams have one notable trade in the books, one wonders if another deal involving a quarterback or two could be in the offing.
WFT To Re-Sign K Dustin Hopkins
The Washington Football Team will re-sign kicker Dustin Hopkins, per JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington (via Twitter). NFL Insider Adam Caplan reports that it will be a one-year, $2.5MM pact with $1.9MM guaranteed (Twitter link).
Hopkins had a rocky start to his pro career. After being selected by the Bills in the sixth round of the 2013 draft, the Florida State product won Buffalo’s placekicking job as a rookie but sustained a groin injury before the season got underway. He missed the entire 2013 season and then lost his roster spot the following summer, ultimately catching on with the Saints’ taxi squad towards the end of 2014.
He lost New Orleans’ kicking battle in the summer of 2015, but he finally found a home with Washington. He has served as WFT’s kicker for the last six seasons and just wrapped up a three-year, $6.875MM contract that he signed right before free agency opened in March 2018.
Hopkins, 30, did not disappoint in his first year under the new deal, sinking nearly 89.7% of his field goal tries in 2018 and 96.2% of his PATs (both career-highs). But he regressed a bit in 2019 and cratered in 2020, struggling to a 79.4% field goal percentage last season (25th in the league). That wasn’t an ideal platform campaign, but WFT was willing to bring him back just the same.
Now that one of their own priority FAs is back in the fold, Finlay suggests that Washington could try to lock up CB Ronald Darby before free agency opens on Wednesday (Twitter link).
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/13/21
Teams have until March 17 to extend tender offers to their restricted free agents and exclusive rights free agents. . Some teams are already making their calls in advance of March 17. We’ll keep tabs on the latest here:
RFAs
Non-Tendered:
- Chargers: OL Cole Toner
- Steelers: OLB Olasunkanmi Adeniyi
ERFAs
Tendered:
- Steelers: LB Robert Spillane
Bears Restructure Khalil Mack, Eddie Jackson, Cody Whitehair Contracts
Residing over the cap entering the weekend, the Bears made a few moves to create more than $20MM in cap space and inch under the $182.5MM salary ceiling.
Chicago will restructure the contracts of Khalil Mack, Eddie Jackson and Cody Whitehair, according to Adam Schefter, who adds these moves will create more than $23MM in cap space (Twitter link). The Bears previously had the NFL’s second-worst cap situation, residing nearly $20MM over the cap.
The Bears previously restructured Mack’s deal in 2019. He was due to count more than $26MM against Chicago’s 2021 cap. This marks the first restructure of Jackson’s five-year, $58.4MM deal. Ditto for Whitehair’s five-year, $51.3MM pact. The two combined to count just more than $20MM against Chicago’s cap this year.
The team still has work to do in the cap-space department, and the reshufflings will certainly be connected to a potential quarterback salary. In dire need at quarterback, the Bears are planning to pursue a Russell Wilson trade. Were the Bears to pull off a miraculous deal, they would need to account for by far the biggest contract in franchise history. Wilson’s $35MM-per-year accord runs through 2023.
Jets Re-Sign WR Vyncint Smith
The Jets reached an agreement Saturday retain one of their backup wide receivers. Would-be restricted free agent Vyncint Smith re-signed to stay with the Jets, the team announced.
Offering Smith a tender would have cost the Jets more than $2MM. Instead, as Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post reports, the two sides agreed to a “highly-incentivized” one-year pact with some guaranteed cash to give Smith a little security.
A former UDFA out of Division II Limestone College, Smith has been with the Jets since September 2019. Gang Green poached him off the Texans’ practice squad early that season. The Texans added the small-school product as a UDFA in 2018. Smith started four games in 2019, catching 17 passes for 225 yards, but only totaled one reception last season.
Two days away from the legal tampering period, the Jets have most of their 2020 receiving corps under contract. Only Breshad Perriman is a UFA-to-be; Chris Hogan has since returned to lacrosse. Though Jamison Crowder was a rumored cut candidate, thanks to his team-high $11.4MM cap number, he remains with the team.
Chargers Release CB Casey Hayward
One of the better free agent signings in recent years, Casey Hayward will be forced to head back to the market. The Chargers are releasing the veteran cornerback, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The team announced the move.
A former Packer, Hayward spent the past five seasons with the Bolts. The Chargers will save $9.75MM by cutting Hayward in the final year of his contract. They attempted to trade Hayward first.
“I’ve known for a couple of days,” Hayward said (via veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson, on Twitter) of the Bolts’ plans to move on. “I know they were seeing if they could trade me, wanting to keep my salary the same. I’m definitely open to new possibilities now. I want to play at least a couple more years.”
This marks a major change for the Bolts, who saw their initial Hayward contract — three years, $15.3MM — produce two Pro Bowls and a second-team All-Pro honor. Hayward agreed to a three-year, $34.25MM re-up ahead of the 2018 season.
Going into the 2020 slate, the Chargers had three All-Pro corners — Hayward, Desmond King and 2020 signing Chris Harris. Entering free agency, Harris is the only one left for a Bolts defense that will transition to Brandon Staley‘s scheme. While Staley was only with the Broncos for one season and helmed the outside linebackers during his Denver stint, Harris was with the team during Staley’s stay.
Hayward, 31, led the NFL with seven INTs in 2016. He picked off four passes in his second Chargers season, another Pro Bowl slate, and was a key presence for a Chargers defense that ranked third overall in the team’s 2018 playoff campaign. The nine-year veteran’s play tailed off last season, with Pro Football Focus slotting him outside the top 60 players at his position.
With the cuts of Hayward and Trai Turner, the Chargers have moved their cap-space figure north of $45MM. This will help the now-Justin Herbert-centered team in need areas. The offensive line certainly profiles as one. But with Hayward gone and Michael Davis a free agent-to-be, cornerback will be an area to address as well.
Giants, Nate Solder Finalizing Reworked Deal
The Giants are on track to have Nate Solder back for the 2021 season. They are finalizing a reworked deal for the veteran left tackle, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter).
Solder opted out of last season but expressed a desire to play in 2021. The 6-foot-8 tackle is attached to a $16.5MM cap number, after his contract tolled from 2020. That number will be coming down.
This process has been in the works for a bit now. Despite the Giants’ big-ticket free agency deal with Solder not working out to their liking, the former first-round pick would have cost the team $10.5MM in dead money to release. (A post-June 1 cut would have been in play as well, given the circumstances.) The team just used its franchise tag on Leonard Williams for the second straight year, and Dalvin Tomlinson remains in the picture to be re-signed. Carrying a $16.5MM cap figure for a middling tackle would be an impediment to the Giants’ free agency plans.
It will now be interesting to see how the Giants configure their offensive line. They used 2020 No. 4 overall pick Andrew Thomas at Solder’s left tackle position last season. Prior to Solder’s opt-out decision, the tentative Big Blue plan was for Thomas to begin his career at right tackle during what was expected to be Solder’s final year as a Giant. Solder played right tackle as a rookie with the Patriots but has spent the bulk of his career on the left side.
New York worked in third-round pick Matt Peart at right tackle for stretches last season; the UConn product played 15% of the Giants’ offensive snaps in 2020. It is certainly possible Peart continues to be a contributor, but Solder returning would place the second-year blocker on track to be a backup again.
Packers Renegotiate Contracts With S Adrian Amos, OL Billy Turner
Packers GM Brian Gutekunst continues to open up cap space. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that Green Bay reworked the contract of safety Adrian Amos. Meanwhile, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports (via Twitter) that Packers offensive lineman Billy Turner also reworked his deal.
[RELATED: Packers Rework Preston Smith’s Contract]
Amos was set to have a cap hit north of $10.3MM, and Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com estimates that the reworked deal will save the Packers around $3MM in space. Turner’s renegotiated deal should see the Packers save at least $500K by converting the player’s roster bonus into a signing bonus; that total could go up based on how much of Turner’s $5.525MM salary was converted into a signing bonus (per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Twitter). After these two transactions and linebacker Preston Smith’s recent pay cut, Silverstein estimates that the front office managed to get under the cap.
Following four seasons with the Bears, Amos joined the Packers on a four-year, $37MM deal in 2019. He’s started all 32 regular season games for Green Bay over the past two years, averaging 66.5 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and two interceptions per season. Amos also picked off Tom Brady in the Packers’ loss to the Buccaneers in this past year’s NFC Championship Game.
Turner bounced around the NFL a bit before seemingly finding a home with the Packers in 2019. After starting 25 games through his first five seasons in the NFL, Turner has started all 30 of his games for Green Bay over the past two years. The 29-year-old initially signed a four-year, $28MM deal with the Packers in 2019.
49ers C Weston Richburg “Likely” To Retire
Weston Richburg may be calling it a career. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the 49ers center “likely ends up retiring” this offseason. To prepare for the apparent retirement, the 49ers front office restructured Richburg’s contract this morning, saving the team $6.875MM.
We learned last week that the 29-year-old was set to undergo hip surgery. Richburg missed all of 2020 with injuries, including a torn patellar tendon. There was some optimism that the veteran would be able to return late in the season, but he never made it back on the field.
Richburg had a tough time living up to the five-year, $47.5MM deal he signed with the 49ers back in 2018. While he didn’t allow a sack during the 2019 campaign, Pro Football Focus graded him as one of the league’s worst blockers, and he committed eight penalties between the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
The former second-rounder earned that massive contract thanks to a solid four-year stint with the Giants to start his career. The Colorado State product ultimately started 50 of his 51 games with New York, although he was limited to only four contests in 2017.
Lions Sign TE Josh Hill
As expected, new Lions head coach Dan Campbell is already starting to poach players from his former team. The team announced this morning that they’ve signed free agent tight end Josh Hill. It’s a one-year deal, according to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football (on Twitter).
Campbell and Hill spent five years together with the Saints, where Campbell had served as assistant head coach and tight ends coach since 2016. Hill joined New Orleans way back in 2013, appearing in 126 games (regular season and postseason) during his eight years in New Orleans. While his offensive numbers have always been modest (116 career receptions, 15 touchdowns), Hill has made a career as a blocking tight end; Pro Football Focus graded Hill as the No. 4 overall run-blocking tight end in 2020. The veteran also has extensive experience on special teams.
The Saints moved on from Hill earlier this month, saving the team around $2.5MM in space. The 30-year-old was set to enter the final season of a three-year, $8.5MM deal he signed with New Orleans in 2018.
The Lions were in need of some extra tight end depth after releasing Jesse James earlier this week. Hill will likely slide into the depth chart behind starter T.J. Hockenson.