Giants Optimistic About Nate Solder Return
The Giants cut Kevin Zeitler this week, and many people have been expecting another big name offensive lineman to follow him out the door. However, it sounds like veteran offensive tackle Nate Solder might be spared amidst the cap casualty onslaught.
There is now optimism within the organization that Solder will play for the Giants in 2021, a source told Dan Duggan of The Athletic (Twitter link). Duggan notes that the sides are “still working out the terms,” so it sounds like Solder’s contract is going to be restructured. In all likelihood, that means Solder will be taking a pay-cut.
He had been scheduled to carry a $16.5MM cap hit for this season. New York has been needing to clear space in order to bring back guys like defensive linemen Leonard Williams and Dalvin Tomlinson, and many pointed to a Solder cut as an obvious way to save money.
The Giants are indeed talking “restructured numbers” with Solder, Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post confirmed in a tweet. A source told Dunleavy that it never reached that point with Zeitler, meaning Zeitler was a goner from the beginning despite some speculation that he could restructure as well.
New York signed Solder to a massive four-year, $62MM deal in 2018, and he’s been a pretty big disappointment for that hefty contract. They almost traded him in 2019, but nothing got done. He opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19, so he still has two more years left on that deal. He confirmed in February that he’s planning on returning for the 2021 season.
Bills Re-Sign Matt Milano
As free agency draws nearer, the Bills are locking up one of their own with a big commitment. Buffalo has agreed to terms to re-sign linebacker Matt Milano, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
The deal is for four years and a whopping $44MM, with $24MM of that being guaranteed. We had heard just a few weeks ago that the Bills were planning on letting Milano hit the open market, and many were expecting both sides to move on, so this one is a bit surprising.
The conventional wisdom was that the Bills might get priced out on Milano with the emergence of A.J. Klein and the upcoming potential extension for fellow linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. This is a pretty solid deal for the Bills considering many expected him to be even more expensive. In fact, a source told Josina Anderson of ESPN that the Bills were “pleasantly surprised” that Milano opted not to test the open market (Twitter link). Milano reportedly stressed how important the culture in Buffalo is to him, and his belief that the team is close to getting to a championship level.
Injuries limited Milano to only ten games this past season but he was still effective, racking up 45 tackles, 3.5 sacks, three passes defended, and an interception in those games. The year before he had 101 tackles in 15 games. A fifth-round pick back in 2017, Milano far exceeded all expectations from his draft status.
He started five games as a rookie and then became a full-time starter in 2018. One of the top free agent linebackers is now off the market. With Tre’Davious White and Dion Dawkins, Milano is part of an extremely successful 2017 Buffalo draft class.
Texans To Sign Mark Ingram
New Texans head coach David Culley made some puzzling comments on Deshaun Watson just now, but the Watson saga isn’t the only order of business the team has going on.
Houston has agreed to sign running back Mark Ingram to a one-year deal, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Per Schefter, the deal is worth “up to” $3MM, presumably indicating he’ll need to hit some incentives to get that full number. Ingram was cut by the Ravens back in January. Ingram will get a $500K signing bonus, and has $250K incentives for hitting both 750 and 1,000 yards rushing, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
The Texans recently cut Duke Johnson while coming to a new agreement with David Johnson, who Ingram will now presumably split carries with. Houston really values their running backs, pulling off several trades for runners in recent years. With a duo of Johnson (29) and now Ingram (31), it won’t exactly be the most youthful backfield in 2021. The 28th overall pick of the 2011 draft, Ingram spent the first eight years of his career with the Saints.
He then spent the past two seasons in Baltimore, and will now head off to Houston for his 11th pro campaign. The 2009 Heisman Trophy winner wasn’t very productive last year, but in 2019 he was a Pro Bowler and rushed for 1,018 yards and ten touchdowns while averaging five yards per attempt.
With the Ravens drafting J.K. Dobbins early last year he fell out of favor in the rotation, but that doesn’t mean he has nothing left to contribute. It’ll be interesting to see what his usage is like next to Johnson.
Lions To Release CB Justin Coleman
The free agent market is about to get another big name corner. The Lions are planning on releasing cornerback Justin Coleman in the coming days, a source told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link).
Detroit signed Coleman to a four-year, $36MM pact back in March of 2019, but he only ended up making it halfway through that deal. As Pelissero points out, he had been one of the highest paid slot cornerbacks in the league. The Lions will save between $5MM and $9MM in cap space depending on whether the move is given a post-June 1 designation or not, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press tweets.
He struggled with a hamstring injury this past season that limited him to only 11 games. In those games he had 30 tackles and only one pass defended. The year before though in 16 games he had 54 tackles, three forced fumbles, 13 passes defended, and an interception.
He came into the league as an UDFA out of Tennessee in 2015 with the Vikings and then Patriots, and didn’t breakout until the 2017-18 seasons with the Seahawks. Coleman won’t get the $8.9MM he had been slated to make on the open market, but he should draw significant interest. He’s proven to be a solid slot corner in the past, and will only turn 28 later this month.
Saints Release Janoris Jenkins
The Saints are releasing cornerback Janoris Jenkins, as NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. Jackrabbit was due to earn $11.2MM with a cap hit of $14.2MM. Instead, the Saints will cut him to save about $7MM on the books for 2021. 
The Saints extended Jenkins last year, smoothing out his cap hit with a two-year, $16.75MM add-on. The new deal pushed most of Jenkins’ guaranteed cash into 2020 while effectively turning 2021 and 2022 into option years. The 32-year-old (33 in October) was claimed off waivers by the Saints in December 2019. The former Giants standout was still productive in New Orleans, but the Saints are being forced to shed veterans as the cap drops.
Starting opposite of Marshon Lattimore, Pro Football Focus graded Jenkins as the 42nd best cornerback in the NFL out of 121 qualified players last year. Lattimore — younger and cheaper than Jenkins — could be kept for the long haul if the Saints can hammer out an extension. Lattimore is currently attached to a $10.2MM fifth-year option salary. After that, the 2017 first-rounder will be extension eligible.
Chiefs Release Eric Fisher, Mitchell Schwartz
The Chiefs have released left tackle Eric Fisher and right tackle Mitchell Schwartz, per a club announcement. Together, the moves will save the Chiefs upwards of $18MM. 
Both players finished the year on injured reserve and missed the team’s most recent Super Bowl. Schwartz was lost to back injury in October that ended his streak of 134 consecutive regular-season starts. He underwent back surgery just a couple of weeks ago, but should be back on the field no later than Week 1 of the 2021 season. He has never made a Pro Bowl and has just one First Team All-Pro nod to his credit, but Pro Bowl nods often elude elite right tackles. Schwartz has been one of the best right tackles in the league since he entered the NFL as a second-round pick of the Browns in 2012.
Fisher tore his Achilles in the AFC Championship Game, leaving them extra thin in the front five. Even before Schwartz’s injury, they lost interior standout Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and rookie tackle Lucas Niang to COVID opt-outs. They also lost left guard Kelechi Osemele in October — none of that has stopped the Chiefs’ world-class offense from reaching the championship game. Fisher started 113 games for the Chiefs across eight years for the Chiefs.
Even while the Chiefs were $20MM over the salary cap, GM Brett Veach was still looking for ways to keep the offensive line together.
“From the offset here, the draft looks to be really talented on the offensive line,” Veach said earlier this year. “So I think it’ll be a combination of what we have in-house and blending that in with some new talent. Potentially in free agency and potentially in the draft.”
Ultimately, the numbers crunch was too much, forcing the Chiefs to move on from their top outside protectors.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/10/21
The restricted free agent and exclusive rights free agent tender decision deadline is a little more than a week away. Some teams are already making their calls in advance of March 17. We’ll keep tabs on the latest here:
RFAs
Tendered:
- Washington: WR Cam Sims
Non-tendered:
- Jets: LB Harvey Langi
ERFAs
Tendered:
- Ravens: C Trystan Colon-Castillo, LB Kristian Welch
- Seahawks: OL Kyle Fuller, DT Bryan Mone
- Washington: QB Kyle Allen
Cowboys Release FB Jamize Olawale
Jamize Olawale opted out of last season due to COVID-19 concerns. He will now need to find a new team. The Cowboys released the veteran fullback Wednesday.
The move will free up a bit of cap space ($1.1MM) but leave Dallas with more in dead money ($1.2MM). The Cowboys previously extended Olawale in 2019, signing him through the 2021 season.
An eight-year veteran whom the Cowboys acquired from the Raiders in 2018, Olawale plans to play next season, according to the Dallas Morning News’ Michael Gehlken (on Twitter).
While it will not be a lock Olawale catches on elsewhere, considering he plays a fringe position and will turn 32 next month, he has managed to sign a few NFL contracts. The Raiders landed Olawale as a UDFA in 2012 and extended him in 2015. He did not make it to Year 1 of the team’s Jon Gruden regime, being traded to Dallas during an offseason that sent Cowboys fullback Keith Smith to the Raiders. The Cowboys re-signed Olawale to a three-year, $5.4MM deal in March 2019.
This move comes after the Cowboys restructured the contracts of Tyron Smith, Zack Martin and La’el Collins, creating around $17MM in cap space.
Contract Restructures: Panthers, Cowboys, Giants, Saints, Eagles, Steelers
It’s that time of year when teams are frantically maneuvering ahead of free agency. Due to the cap falling because of COVID-19, things are even more hectic than ever. We’ve seen a whole bunch of contract restructures come in, and there will be a whole lot more. Let’s catch you up on the latest batch and their financial implications:
- The Panthers restructured Christian McCaffrey‘s contract recently, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network tweets. They converted $7MM of his $8MM base salary into a signing bonus, which freed up about $5.6MM in cap space for 2021. Almost a year ago McCaffrey signed his record-breaking extension that has him locked up through the 2025 season.
- The Cowboys have had a busy week with Dak Prescott‘s massive extension now in the books, and they made a trio of moves to help clear some space. Dallas restructured the deals of Zack Martin, Tyron Smith, and La’el Collins, a source told Todd Archer of ESPN.com. The reworking of the three offensive linemen’s contracts cleared up about $17MM in cap space for Jerry Jones. As Archer notes, these moves have now gotten Dallas under the cap for 2021.
- The Giants just cut top offensive lineman Kevin Zeitler as they look to clear cap space to keep guys like defensive linemen Leonard Williams and Dalvin Tomlinson. The Zeitler release isn’t the only shuffling they’re doing, as they also restructured the contract of tight end Levine Toilolo, and Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com tweeted the details. Rather than a procedural restructure like you see with star players, Toilolo actually took a pay-cut to stay with the team. He had been scheduled to make $2.95MM this year but agreed to reduce that to $1.6MM, saving the Giants north of $1MM against the cap.
- We’ve got four other restructures to pass along, courtesy of this tweet from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The Saints restructured the deals of safety Malcolm Jenkins to save $3.4MM and offensive lineman Andrus Peat to save $6MM. New Orleans has the worst cap situation in the league, and they desperately needed moves like this to do things like franchise tag safety Marcus Williams.
- The Eagles saved $2.4MM by reworking the deal of offensive lineman Isaac Seumalo. Philly is right up there with New Orleans in terms of bad cap situations, so GM Howie Roseman is likely far from done here.
- The Steelers saved $880K by adjusting fullback Derek Watt‘s contract. Not exactly front page news here, but it should shore up Watt’s spot on the 2021 roster. T.J. and J.J.’s brother signed a three-year, $9.75MM pact last offseason.
Cardinals Release CB Robert Alford
Robert Alford‘s Cardinals tenure has come to an unceremonious end. Arizona has released the veteran cornerback, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
Alford signed a three-year, $22.5MM deal with the Cardinals in 2019, but will end his stint in the desert never having played in a game for them. He fractured a tibia in August of 2019 that cost him all of that season, and then tore a pec this past August which knocked him out for all of 2020. A second-round pick of Atlanta back in 2013, Alford spent the first six years of his career with the Falcons.
He was pretty durable during those years, playing at least 15 games in all but one season (10 in 2014). Unfortunately the injury bug has bit him hard, and he hasn’t suited up since the 2018 season when he started 15 games for the Falcons. A quality starter for a while, it’s anyone’s guess what he’ll look like now.
Alford turned 32 in November, and will likely struggle to find guaranteed money in a tough market coming off back to back season-ending injuries.
The release saves the Cardinals about $7.5MM in cap space for this season. As Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com points out in a tweet, this leaves the Cards with only one non-reserve/futures cornerback under contract for next season, 2019 second-rounder Byron Murphy.