Buccaneers Re-Sign Kevin Minter
The Buccaneers have agreed to a new one-year deal with Kevin Minter. The linebacker was due to hit free agency next week, but he’ll instead stay with the defending champions. 
Minter joined the Bucs during the 2018 season, helping to replace Kwon Alexander and Jack Cichy after ACL tears. The deal reunited him with GM Jason Licht, who was in Arizona when Minter was drafted in 2013. Then, in January of 2019, old pal Bruce Arians signed on as head coach. Arians pushed to re-sign Minter, a move that paid off.
In 2020, Minter stepped up while former first-round pick Devin White was relegated to the COVID list. Between his steady support as a reserve and his quality work on special teams, the Buccaneers wouldn’t let Minter get away.
Ravens Re-Sign Pernell McPhee
The Ravens have re-signed outside linebacker Pernell McPhee (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). Exact terms of the deal are not yet known. 
[RELATED: Ravens Restructure Marcus Peters’ Deal]
It’s likely another low-cost, short-term contract for the veteran. McPhee, 32, was one of several Ravens edge rushers due for free agency, along with Matthew Judon, Yannick Ngakoue, Jihad Ward, and Tyus Bowser. Judon and Ngakoue may be the biggest names of the group, but McPhee has been one of the club’s locker room leaders and will ensure at least some consistency heading into 2021.
McPhee appeared in 15 games with 13 starts last season. He notched 34 tackles with three sacks and wound up as the team’s best outside linebacker in 2020, per Pro Football Focus. For his career, McPhee has 246 tackles and 37 sacks to his credit, including time with the Bears and the Washington Football Team.
Patriots Re-Sign Justin Bethel
The Patriots have agreed to a brand new deal with special teams standout Justin Bethel (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss). The new three-year, $6MM deal will tie Bethel to the Pats through 2023.
[RELATED: Patriots Re-Sign QB Cam Newton]
Early in his career, Bethel made a name for himself with the Cardinals. He made the Pro Bowl every year from 2013-2015 and stayed with the club through ’17. Then, he moved around a bit, spending time with the Falcons and Ravens before finding his place with the Patriots.
Roughly one year ago today, Bethel had surgery to repair a shoulder issue that had been hindering him. Fortunately, he was able to bounce back for the start of the season and appear in all 16 games for New England in 2020.
Cardinals Re-Sign Robert Alford
The Cardinals are bringing back Robert Alford (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Alford was released by the team earlier this week, but he’s agreed to return on a cheaper contract. 
Alford signed a three-year, $22.5MM deal with the Cardinals in 2019, but never suited up for them. First, he fractured a tibia in August of 2019, leaving him on injured reserve for the season. Then, in August of 2020, he suffered a season-ending pec tear. As Rapoport says, he has “unfinished business” in the desert.
Alford entered the league as a second-round pick of the Falcons in 2013 and spent his first six pro seasons with Atlanta. The 32-year-old (33 in October) is now a few years removed from his best work. Alford started 15 games in 2018 but it the worst campaign of his pro career. Pro Football Focus graded him as a bottom-10 cornerback league-wide that year. He also ranked dead last in Football Outsiders’ yards per pass allowed and success rate in 2018.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/12/21
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Atlanta Falcons
- Re-signed: TE Jaeden Graham
Green Bay Packers
- Waived: FB John Lovett
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Re-signed: OL Tyler Shatley
Los Angeles Chargers
- Released: LB Malik Jefferson
New York Giants
- Re-signed: WR C.J. Board
Buccaneers, Tom Brady Agree To Extension
The Buccaneers will sign Tom Brady to a one-year extension (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The new deal will keep Brady in place through 2022. 
Technically speaking, the new add-on is actually a four-year contract extension, as ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. However, those final years are voidable, making this a one-year extension that ties him to Tampa for just one additional year.
Exact terms of the contract are not yet known. But, the revised deal will provide the Bucs with approximately $19MM in cap room this year (Twitter link via Schefter). As of last week, the Bucs were said to have only $11MM available. Meanwhile, Brady’s presence should help the Super Bowl champs keep the band together. In the coming days, the Buccaneers will work to keep top free agents such as tight end Rob Gronkowski, edge rusher Shaquil Barrett, and wide receiver Antonio Brown.
The future Hall of Famer was initially on the books for $28.4MM in 2021. Coming off a rather successful age-43 season, Brady says he’s open to playing past age 45. Brady will turn 44 in August, so the two sides could be talking extension again in March of 2022.
The Bucs’ bid to keep the band together is already off to a solid start. In recent days, they’ve assigned the franchise tag to Chris Godwin and re-upped linebacker Lavonte David ahead of free agency.
Saints To Release Malcom Brown
The Saints plan to release defensive tackle Malcom Brown, according t0 Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The former Patriots first-round pick was set to enter the third season of his three-year deal.
[RELATED: Saints Release Janoris Jenkins]
By cutting Brown, the Saints will save nearly $5MM in cap space with about $1.5MM in dead money. It’s just the latest move to get under the limit, following this week’s cuts of cornerback Janoris Jenkins, wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, linebacker Kwon Alexander, and other veterans.
Brown, 27, served as a starter in each of his two Saints seasons, often ahead of ex-first-rounder Sheldon Rankins. Last year, he notched 27 tackles and a sack.
Falcons Re-Sign K Younghoe Koo
Today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Re-signed: WR Christian Blake, CB Tyler Hall, K Younghoe Koo, DT Jacob Tuioti-Mariner
Koo is obviously the most notable name on the list, especially after the 26-year-old earned his first Pro Bowl nod in 2020. The kicker was an exclusive rights free agent. Koo joined the Falcons for the second-half of the 2019 campaign, and he retained the starting gig in 2020. He ultimately finished the 
year having appeared in 15 games, connecting on a league-leading and franchise-record 37 field goals (on 39 attempts). Koo also became the first player in Falcons history to connect on at least eight field goals of 50 yards or more without a miss.
Blake joined the Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2018, and after not seeing the field during his rookie campaign, he’s appeared in 25 games for the Falcons over the past two years. The 24-year-old has hauled in 24 career receptions for 232 yards.
Tuioti-Mariner also joined the Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2018, and he didn’t get into a game until the 2019 campaign. The 24-year-old appeared in all 16 games this past season, compiling 31 tackles, one sack, and one forced fumble.
Hall went undrafted during last year’s draft, and he proceeded to spend the majority of the 2020 season with the Falcons organization. He finished the game having appeared in nine games, collecting six tackles.
Lions Release TE Jesse James
Jesse James‘ two-year stint in Detroit has come to an end. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that the Lions have released the veteran tight end. The move will save the team more than $6MM over the next two years.
The tight end initially joined the Lions on a four-year, $22.6MM deal back in 2019, but he hasn’t come close to matching the (limited) production he displayed during his time with the Steelers. In 32 games (18 starts) over the past two years, James has hauled in 30 receptions for 271 yards and two touchdowns. The 26-year-old had cap hits of $6.4MM in 2021 and $7.1MM in 2022, and the Lions will be left with dead cap hits of $4.2MM in 2021 and $5.7MM in 2022.
The 2015 fifth-round pick spent the first four seasons of his career with Pittsburgh, starting 36 totals games. His best season came in 2018 when he hauled in 30 receptions for 423 yards and two scores.
T.J. Hockenson obviously sits atop the Lions tight ends depth chart, but the team will surely be looking for some reinforcement behind him. Hunter Bryant is the only other tight end under contract for the 2021 campaign.
Bears Re-Sign K Cairo Santos
Cairo Santos is sticking around Chicago. The Bears have signed the impending free agent kicker to a new five-year deal, reports Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter).
The deal is worth $16MM and has a maximum value of $17.5MM, according to Biggs. However, the final two years of the deal are voidable, effectively making it a three-year, $9MM deal (with a max value of $11MM). The entire deal includes $4.575MM in guaranteed money, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo (via Twitter).
Santos initially joined the Bears last offseason, but he was cut at the end of preseason. He quickly rejoined the team when kicker Eddy Pineiro landed on IR, and Santos proceeded to put forth one of the best kicking seasons in franchise history. The 29-year-old connected on 3o of his 32 field goal attempts, leading to a franchise-best field goal percentage (93.8). He also set the franchise mark in consecutive field goals made, connecting on 27-straight during the 2020 campaign.
Santos spent the first three-plus seasons of his career with the Chiefs, but he’s bounced around the NFL since getting dumped during the 2017 season. He had a previous stint with the Bears to finish his 2017 campaign, and he’s since spent time with the Jets, Rams, Buccaneers, and Titans. The kicker’s recent inconsistency (he made only 68.8% of his kicks between the 2017 and 2019 seasons) explains why he hasn’t been able to find a steady gig, but it sounds like he’s found a home in Chicago. Similarly, the Bears have finally found an answer at kicker, at least for the next few seasons. As Biggs writes, the Bears have had a carousel at the position since letting go of Robbie Gould in 2016.