Texans To Extend Laremy Tunsil
The Texans have reached an agreement on a three-year extension for left tackle Laremy Tunsil, according to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). It’s a monster number — $66MM — for the former first-round pick.
In addition to a $22MM salary, $57MM is guaranteed. The contract contains a $13MM signing bonus, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Tunsil will receive $40MM over the first two years of the deal, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
The numbers on Tunsil’s new money are, in a word, staggering. Tunsil confirmed earlier this month that he planned on becoming the NFL’s highest-paid offensive tackle, and he’s done so by a wide margin. Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson previously held that honor with an $18MM/year average, but Tunsil has now exceeded that figure by $4MM, a hefty increase.
This year, Tunsil will take home more than $27MM, with Wilson adding he will receive $16.85MM fully guaranteed in 2021. In 2022, $10MM of Tunsil’s $17.85MM base salary is guaranteed. His $18.5MM 2023 salary is non-guaranteed.
Tunsil’s $57MM in guarantees almost surely refers to injury guarantees, not full guarantees. The Raiders’ Trent Brown currently leads all offensive linemen $36.25MM in fully guaranteed money, so $57MM would represent an unprecedented jump. Johnson received $55.845MM in injury guarantees on his extension with Philadelphia, and Tunsil has now topped that as well.
Of course, Tunsil held all the leverage in talks with Houston and exerted that clout as best he could. The Texans made a stunning trade to acquire Tunsil last year, sending two first-round picks plus a second-rounder to Miami in order to land 25-year-old starter. Having made that move, there was simply no way Houston could allow Tunsil to leave via free agency, so the club had to give him a massive extension.
Tunsil, the 13th overall selection in the 2016 draft, had one year and $10.35MM remaining on his contract. While the Texans could have theoretically franchised him in both 2021 and 2022, Tunsil could have sat out or refused to sign the tag. The optics of such a maneuver wouldn’t have been great for Houston. Instead, a three-year extension will lock up Tunsil through the 2023 campaign.
In spite of his new annual salary, Tunsil remains a good — not great — left tackle. While he’s been a full-time starter in each of his four NFL seasons, he’s never made an All-Pro team and was given a Pro Bowl nod just once (2019). Pro Football Focus, meanwhile, graded Tunsil just outside the top-20 tackles in each of the past two years.
Tunsil, who fired his agent in March, negotiated this deal directly with Texans head coach/general manager Bill O’Brien, tweets Wilson. Tunsil received input from outside advisors, but he clearly did very well for himself in working out a new contract.
Texans To Sign S Michael Thomas
The Texans are signing veteran safety and special teamer Michael Thomas, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link). It’s a one-year deal, tweets Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com.
Thomas, not to be confused with the Saints receiver of the same name, is widely considered one the best special teams players in the NFL. Throughout his career with the Dolphins and Giants, Thomas has regularly played more than 75% of his team’s ST snaps. In addition, he’s viewed as an excellent locker room presence and was New York’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 2018, tweets Raanan.
A Pro Bowler as a special teamer in 2018, Thomas has seen significant action on the defense in the past, as he played more than 45% of his club’s defensive snaps in 2015, 2016, and 2018. However, Houston already has Justin Reid and Tashaun Gipson lined up as starters at safety, and the team also signed defensive back Eric Murray to a three-year deal last month. Thus, Thomas will likely spend most of his time on special teams duty.
The Texans have placed an emphasis on special teams in recent years, so the addition of Thomas shouldn’t come as a total surprise. Houston ranked fifth in Football Outsiders‘ special teams metric in each of the past two seasons.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/24/20
As Day 2 draft news comes rushing in, we’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Atlanta Falcons
- Waived: P Sam Irwin-Hill
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: OT Garrett McGhin
Denver Broncos
- Re-signed: OT Jake Rodgers (ERFA)
Green Bay Packers
- Signed exclusive rights tender: TE Robert Tonyan
Vikings Trade 25th Pick To 49ers
The pace of trades is starting to pick up as the first-round draws to a close. The Vikings are trading the 25th pick to the 49ers, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets.
The Vikes will get the 31st, 117th, and 176th picks from San Francisco in return, according to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune (Twitter link). The 49ers made the move to ensure they got the receiver they wanted, as they drafted Brandon Aiyuk from Arizona State with the 25th pick. This was the Vikings’ second pick of the first-round, after they took LSU receiver Justin Jefferson at 22.
It’s interesting that the 49ers opted to trade up, considering all the talk surrounding them has been they were looking to move down. San Fran made the draft’s first trade when they swapped the 13th pick for the 14th and 117th picks with the Bucs. They didn’t have any second, third, or fourth-rounders before that deal, and they are without a pick in those middle rounds once again after giving 117 right back up.
Patriots Trading 23rd Pick To Chargers
We’ve got another trade folks. The Patriots are shipping the 23rd pick to the Chargers, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. Los Angeles will send back picks 37 and 71, Field Yates of ESPN.com reports in a tweet.
The Chargers used the added first-rounder to take Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray. Los Angeles has one of the most talented defenses in the league on paper, with a top-tier defensive line and secondary. The one weak-spot was at linebacker, so Murray will help solidify an already promising defense.
The Patriots were previously without a second-round pick and weren’t scheduled to pick again until 87, so this move makes some sense for them. Unless they surprisingly trade back into the first later tonight, the Patriots won’t be taking Tom Brady’s successor in the first-round. The Chargers already made a splash by taking Justin Herbert sixth overall, and GM Tom Telesco is staying aggressive.
There had been some talk that New England could take Utah State passer Jordan Love at 23, but that turned out to be unfounded. There were reasons to believe Bill Belichick was leaning toward adding a signal-caller in the middle rounds, and that looks to be the case.
49ers Trade 13th Pick To Buccaneers
We’ve finally got our first trade of the evening. Plenty of teams in the top ten were listening to calls, but apparently nobody got an offer worth taking.
The 49ers are making the first move, trading back one slot with the Buccaneers, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). In order to get the 13th pick Tampa will send the 14th pick and the 117th pick, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The 49ers will also send back the 245th pick as part of the deal.
The Bucs are using the selection to add some protection for Tom Brady, as they’re drafting Iowa tackle Tristan Wirfs with the pick. San Francisco previously didn’t have any picks in the second, third, or fourth-rounds, so they were widely expected to explore trading down from one of their two first-rounders.
They are also currently scheduled to pick 31st later tonight, and GM John Lynch clearly wanted to get an extra mid-rounder. Since the Bucs are only moving up one spot, it’s likely the 49ers were threatening to move the pick to a different team who also wanted a tackle like Tampa did.
Saints Re-Sign Johnson Bademosi
The Saints are bringing back cornerback Johnson Bademosi, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter). Terms of the deal between New Orleans and the special teams ace are not yet known.
Bademosi spent time with the Browns, Lions, Patriots, Texans, and Dolphins before joining up with the Saints last year. His trip from Houston to Miami came courtesy of the Laremy Tunsil blockbuster. When he was dropped by the ‘Fins last October, the Saints scooped him up.
Meanwhile, the Saints are pushing hard to trade up in the first round of the NFL Draft. It won’t be easy for New Orleans to swing a deal – they’ve got only five picks in their possession and only two of those are inside of the first three rounds. They’re also not ruling out the possibility of drafting a quarterback. If they fall farther than expected, players like FIU’s James Morgan, Georgia’s Jake Fromm, and Washington’s Jacob Eason could be in consideration for GM Mickey Loomis if he’s serious about backstopping Drew Brees and Taysom Hill.
Broncos Waive Colby Wadman, Trevor Daniel
There will not be a punting competition in Denver. A month after agreeing to terms with Sam Martin, the Broncos are waiving incumbent Colby Wadman and former Texans punter Trevor Daniel, Mike Klis of 9News tweets.
The Broncos promoted Wadman from their practice squad in October 2018, after their Marquette King signing did not work out to their liking. Wadman, however, largely struggled after taking the job.
Despite the advantages of kicking in Denver’s thin air, Wadman averaged 44.4 yards per punt last season — 26th in the league. The former UDFA did, however, rank ninth in punts inside the 20-yard line (29). The Broncos signed Martin, a longtime Lions punter, to take over in March.
Denver added Daniel via reserve/futures deal after the season but will move on with just Martin at punter. Daniel punted in 18 games for the Texans from 2018-19, but Houston opted to go with Bryan Anger over him early last season.
Patriots To Sign Marqise Lee
The Patriots are signing wide receiver Marqise Lee, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). He’ll ink a one-year deal as he moves on to a new team in the AFC after spending the first six years of his career with the Jaguars, who released him several days ago.
New England, of course, lacked its usual offensive firepower in 2019, with veteran wideout Julian Edelman representing the team’s only reliable weapon for former QB Tom Brady. The Pats rode to the playoffs on the strength of their defense and special teams, and regardless of who is under center in 2020, they need to surround their signal-callers with more options.
The team will be returning Mohamed Sanu in 2020, but given that they gave up a second-round pick in this year’s draft to acquire Sanu, the Pats will be unable to take advantage of an unusually deep crop of collegiate receivers until the third round (assuming they don’t take a WR with the No. 23 overall selection). Sanu suffered a high ankle sprain during a punt return in his third game with New England, and he was not the same after that injury. He recently underwent surgery on the ankle, as it did not heal on its own as hoped.
Lee has battled his own injury woes over the past couple of seasons. A knee injury sidelined him for all of the 2018 season, and he battled ankle and shoulder maladies in 2019. But he totaled 1,551 receiving yards between 2016-17, leading all Jags targets in that span, and if healthy, he represents a quality vertical weapon who would nicely complement Edelman, Sanu, and second-year player N’Keal Harry.
No contract details are available at this time, but it is almost certainly a modest deal for the USC product, who hopes to reignite his career in Foxborough.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Steelers’ Bud Dupree Signs Franchise Tender
Linebacker Bud Dupree has signed his franchise tender, according to an announcement from the Steelers. Assuming he’s tagged as a linebacker, Dupree will be slated to earn over $16MM. If he pushes back and manages to get tagged at the defensive end position, he’ll be set for $18MM+.
Of course, Dupree and the Steelers will have until July 15 to hash out a long-term contract regardless of the tag value, and given that Pittsburgh is right up against the cap, both player and team are likely hoping they can get that done. Though Dupree had not exactly lived up to his billing as a 2015 first-round draft choice prior to the 2019 campaign, he had a terrific platform year, piling up a career-best 11.5 sacks while also displaying some ability in setting the edge against the run.
Though there was some thought that the Steelers could look to trade Dupree after slapping him with the franchise tag, that no longer appears to be in play. Instead, the club will head into the 2020 campaign (and probably beyond) with a fearsome Dupree-T.J. Watt combo that will keep opposing QBs awake at night. Indeed, the Steelers ranked third in defensive DVOA last season (first against the pass), and if they can get a healthy season out of QB Ben Roethlisberger, they could certainly make a return trip to the playoffs.
If the two sides do work out a multi-year pact, it would not be surprising to see the Kentucky product land something in the neighborhood of a five-year, $80MM deal, with around $30MM or so fully-guaranteed. That might seem high for a player who hasn’t made a Pro Bowl yet, but given the importance of edge rushers and Dupree’s well-timed breakout, it would be in line with his open market value.
Zach Links contributed to this post.