Chiefs Restructure G Laurent Duvernay-Tardif’s Deal
The Chiefs have restructured the contract of guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, per Terez A. Paylor of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). There are not yet any details on the restructure, but it will create some much-needed cap room for cap-strapped KC.
LDT was scheduled to count for nearly $9MM against the Chiefs’ cap in 2020, $6.45MM of which was comprised of base salary. It’s possible that Kansas City converted some of that money into a signing bonus in order to spread out the hit over the remaining three years of Duvernay-Tardif’s deal.
The Quebec native was selected by Kansas City in the sixth round of the 2014 draft. By 2015, he had become the team’s full-time starter at right guard, and he inked a five-year, $42.36MM extension after the 2016 season. Though he missed a significant chunk of the 2018 campaign due to injury, he started all 14 regular season contests in which he appeared in 2019, and he also enjoyed perfect attendance in the team’s postseason run through Super Bowl LIV.
Though Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics didn’t love his 2019 performance, ranking him as just the 47th-best guard out of 81 qualified players, LDT is a key component of the Chiefs’ high-octane offense.
Colts Sign TE Trey Burton
Trey Burton has found a landing spot after his Bears release. The former Eagles tight end agreed to terms with the Colts on Wednesday, according to his agency (Twitter link).
This will reunite Burton with Frank Reich, who was the Eagles’ offensive coordinator during the tight end’s final years in Philadelphia. This will be a Colts-friendly deal, with Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reporting (via Twitter) Burton agreed to a veteran-minimum contract. However, Burton still has $4MM coming to him by virtue of his 2018 Bears pact.
Burton, 28, will not be asked to be Indianapolis’ clear No. 1 tight end the way he was in Chicago. Although the Colts let Eric Ebron defect to the Steelers, they still employ Jack Doyle. Burton will be in position to be an auxiliary weapon for Philip Rivers.
The passer on the Eagles’ “Philly Special” play in Super Bowl LII performed fairly well in 2018, suiting up for 16 games and hauling in a career-high 569 yards and six touchdown receptions. Last season, though, injuries hampered Burton. He only recorded 84 yards in eight games. Burton underwent hernia surgery during the 2019 offseason and went on IR after a calf injury.
The Colts will still head into the draft in need of a T.Y. Hilton complement at wide receiver, but this Burton agreement stands to make tight end a lower priority. Indianapolis also rosters Mo Alie-Cox and ex-Steelers blocking tight end Xavier Grimble.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/22/20
Today’s minor moves:
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: TE Colin Thompson (XFL)
Miami Dolphins
- Signed exclusive rights free agent tender: LB Trent Harris
Colts To Re-Sign WR Marcus Johnson
The Colts have agreed to re-sign wide receiver Marcus Johnson, according to his agents at EnterSport Management (Twitter link).
Johnson, 25, reached restricted free agency last month, but Indianapolis opted not to tender him an offer. Thus, the former undrafted free agent almost surely re-signed at a cost cheaper than the lowest RFA tender of $2.133MM.
Johnson was injured for the first half of last season, but took on a prominent role down the stretch, starting six games and posting a 105-yard performance against Tampa Bay. Overall, he finished with 277 yards and two touchdowns in only eight games.
Patriots Trade Rob Gronkowski To Bucs
Rob Gronkowski is ready to make his NFL return and he’ll do it with Tom Brady as his quarterback. The Patriots have agreed to trade Gronk and a seventh-round pick to the Buccaneers in exchange for a fourth-round pick. The trade is still pending a physical, but all of the pieces are in place for Gronkowski to suit up in TB, with TB.
Gronkowski, soon to be 31, told the Patriots that he wanted to return to football – just not with them (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). Rumors have swirled about the superstar tight end taking his talents to Tampa for months. Now, it’s happening. Gronk will pick back up where he left off with one season and $10MM left on his deal. Gronk has a $9MM base salary due in 2020, with the other $1MM available through workout and roster bonuses.
Gronk has passed his physical and the deal is now official, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Greg Auman of The Athletic tweets that the fourth-rounder Tampa is giving up is the No. 139 overall selection, which is a compensatory pick. The Bucs still have their own fourth-rounder, No. 117 overall.
Although Gronk spent his prime tied to a contract he expressed frequent dissatisfaction with, he plans to honor it in Tampa, agent Drew Rosenhaus notes (via Rapoport, on Twitter). This deal goes all the way back to 2012, when the Patriots agreed to a six-year, $54MM deal with a player who would become an all-time great. For the time being, Gronkowski will remain tethered to that contract.
The future Hall of Famer said this week he was not “totally done” with football. He’s made a slew of “never say never”-type comments ever since his retirement, but this turned out to have legs.
Brady lobbied hard to have Gronkowski on the Bucs, per Rapoport, who adds Gronk has also been adding weight in preparation for an NFL return, Rapoport notes (on Twitter). The return-and-trade transaction is an unusual one, but it’s not without precedent. Back in 2017, the Raiders and Seahawks agreed on a trade involving Marshawn Lynch, allowing the running back to return to the NFL with his hometown team after a one-year hiatus.
As Gronk made notable inroads in the WWE, the Patriots sorely missed their top weapon. Brady struggled for much of last season, and the Patriots did not come close to filling the void the four-time All-Pro created when he retired over a year ago. It’s a fascinating deal, because the Patriots obviously need Gronkowski more than a Bucs team that rosters O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate does.
Gronkowski has dealt with numerous injuries throughout his career, with back trouble limiting him late in his Patriots tenure. But the Bucs are now set to pair Pro Bowlers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin with the most dominant tight end of this generation. Even if Gronk has ceded that belt to either Travis Kelce or George Kittle, he still stands to be a difference-making presence for a Bucs team that has now added the highest- and second-highest-profile members of the second leg of the Patriot dynasty.
A Gronk-Howard-Brate setup would seem untenable, with Brate also signed for $6.8MM per year. One year remains on Howard’s rookie deal, though he can be controlled through 2021 via the fifth-year option. Another trade should be expected, one that would stand to help the Bucs add a draft pick to make up for the one they’re losing by acquiring Gronkowski. Even before this, there were rumblings of Howard being available.
The Patriots still do not feature much at tight end, but they have engaged in Gronk trade talks previously. They were close to dealing him to the Lions two years ago, but Gronkowski nixed it by indicating he’d retire instead of going to Detroit. With Brady now a Buccaneer, Gronk OK’d a deal to the NFC this time around.
The Bucs said no to a Brady-Antonio Brown partnership, but they have green-lit a Brady-Gronk reunion. Either way, this figures to generate immense publicity for a team that has not made the playoffs since 2007. Conversely, with no surefire Brady successor in place and Gronk now on another team, the Patriots feature major questions for the first time in decades.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/21/20
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the day.
Dallas Cowboys
- Waived: WR Lance Lenoir
Miami Dolphins
- Waived/injured: DE Jonathan Ledbetter
Seattle Seahawks
- Claimed off waivers from Dolphins: CB Linden Stephens
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: CB Tye Smith
Packers Claim Gerald Willis, Jamal Davis
The Dolphins waived six players Saturday; two are now set to join the Packers. Green Bay claimed defensive linemen Gerald Willis and Jamal Davis, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter).
While Willis was viewed as a mid-round prospect last year, he tumbled out of the draft. He has spent time with the Ravens and his hometown Dolphins, washing out of both places. The Packers will give the ex-Miami Hurricane defensive tackle a shot to become a rotational cog up front.
An edge player, Davis is already on team No. 6. The UDFA out of Akron spent time with five franchises last year, going to camp with the Texans and landing on the Bills, Colts and Titans’ practice squads. The Dolphins signed him off the Titans’ taxi squad late last season.
Willis played in two Dolphins games; Davis was active for three. Neither saw any NFL action for other teams in 2019.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/20/20
Today’s minor moves will be posted here:
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Released: RB Taj McGowan
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: OL Kahlil McKenzie
McKenzie is best known for being the son of former Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie. Drafted by the Chiefs in the sixth-round back in 2018, he spent 2019 on Seattle’s practice squad. He was with the Los Angeles Wildcats of the XFL most recently. McGowan was an undrafted rookie from UCF last year who spent his rookie season on the Jags’ injured reserve list after going down in July.
Jaguars To Release Marqise Lee
The Jaguars are releasing Marqise Lee, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. With that, the accomplished wide receiver will hit the open market just before the 2020 NFL Draft. The Jaguars will save $4.8MM by cutting Lee.
Lee signed a four-year, $38MM deal with the Jaguars in 2018 but did not do well to justify the team’s investment. A knee injury sidelined him for all of the ’18 season, and Lee battled ankle and shoulder injuries last season. The Jags placed him on IR. This cut was expected, but the team did Lee no favors by releasing him over a month after free agency’s outset.
The former Jags second-round pick caught just three passes last season. However, Lee was a reliable contributor in Jacksonville before his 2018 absence. He totaled 1,551 receiving yards between 2016-17, leading all Jags targets in that span. Despite the team still employing its GM and head coach from that span, it has parted ways with most of the talent responsible for the run to 2017’s AFC championship game.
While the Jags still feature D.J. Chark, Dede Westbrook and Chris Conley, they could be in the market for a wide receiver in the first round. Thanks to the Jalen Ramsey trade, the team holds two first-rounders. With the first of those picks coming at No. 9 overall, Jacksonville could be a landing spot for one of this draft’s top wide receivers. Barring another team trading in front of the Jags, they could be a threat to have their pick of the wideouts in this receiver-stacked draft.
Falcons’ Brian Hill Signs RFA Tender
Falcons running back Brian Hill has signed his RFA tender, as D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. With that, Hill will return to the Falcons on a $2.13MM salary in 2020.
Atlanta originally selected Hill in the fifth round of the 2017 draft. He was waived by the team in October of that year and was signed to the practice squad, but the Bengals plucked him off the practice squad a month later. He ultimately appeared in six games for Cincinnati but was waived prior to the start of the 2018 season. The Falcons, who never really wanted to let him go in the first place, brought him back to their practice squad shortly thereafter.
Hill got just 20 carries in 2018 but saw that number increase to 78 in 2019, as he became the primary backup to Devonta Freeman after Ito Smith succumbed to injury. Freeman was released last month, and while the club brought in Todd Gurley to replace him, Gurley’s own medical history doesn’t inspire a great deal of confidence.
Hill, who has posted a very good 4.7 yards-per-carry average across an admittedly small sample size of 109 career totes, will have a good chance to be Gurley’s primary backup, and he could get even more burn if Gurley cannot shake his injury woes. The Falcons may very well select another RB in this week’s draft, but Hill will be in the mix.