Patriots To Cut QB Cody Kessler
The Patriots’ quarterback depth chart will soon be two-man group again. They are cutting Cody Kessler, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). This will leave Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer as the Pats’ QBs.
New England acquired Kessler in late September of last year, and the former Cleveland third-round pick bounced on and off the Pats’ roster. But the USC product spent most of last season with the Patriots. This move points to the team planning to add another quarterback.
Despite being a fourth-round pick who threw four passes as a rookie, Stidham is rumored to have the inside track at being Tom Brady‘s immediate successor. Hoyer re-signed with the Pats because he was told he would be able to compete for the starting job. Kessler was not expected to factor into that equation, but his departure opens the door to questions about the Pats’ plans for this additional quarterback job.
Kessler was under contract through the 2020 season; his release will save the Pats $935K in cap space. They entered Wednesday with just $708K in cap room.
Kessler has 12 career starts on his resume, the first eight coming with a 2016 Browns team that went 1-15. He briefly supplanted Blake Bortles with the 2018 Jaguars. For his career, Kessler has completed 64% of his passes and has thrown eight touchdown passes and five interceptions.
Texans, DT Timmy Jernigan Agree To Deal
After three years in Philadelphia, Timmy Jernigan will head back to the AFC. The veteran defensive tackle agreed to terms with the Texans on Wednesday, Marc Berman of Fox 26 tweets.
Jernigan can earn up to $3.75MM on this one-year contract, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, and will receive $1.25MM guaranteed. He will join a Texans team that saw longtime starter D.J. Reader defect in free agency.
This marks another low-level pact for Jernigan, who went from signing a four-year, $48MM Eagles extension to agreeing to back-to-back one-year deals. Last year, the Eagles released him only to re-sign him for one year and $1.25MM. The former Ravens starter will become the second-biggest name on the Texans’ defensive line, which J.J. Watt is in line to lead for a 10th season.
Jernigan, 27, played just 27% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps last season. He missed most of the 2018 campaign due to injury but impressed enough during Philly’s Super Bowl season to sign that lucrative extension. A former second-round Ravens pick, Jernigan totaled 13 sacks and 35 quarterback hits in three Baltimore seasons. With Philly, he posted 5.5 sacks and 12 QB knockdowns. Last season, Jernigan missed extensive time due to a broken foot.
A change of scenery figures to result in increased playing time for the six-year veteran, and this will likely double as a chance for Jernigan to re-establish his value in hopes of landing another big contract.
Titans Re-Sign Kamalei Correa
The Titans are bringing back linebacker Kamalei Correa, as Correa’s agency, DEC Management, announced via Twitter. Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network says it will be a one-year deal worth up to $3.5MM (Twitter link).
The Ravens selected Correa in the second round of the 2016 draft with the hopes that he could become a fearsome edge rusher. Although he showed some flashes of that ability here and there, he was never able to put it together in Baltimore, and he was traded to the Titans before the 2018 season in exchange for a sixth-round pick.
In Tennessee, Correa continued to work with Dean Pees, who had served as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator for the prior six seasons and who agreed to join the Titans’ staff in the same capacity in 2018. Pees announced his retirement in January, so Correa has lost one obvious supporter, but the team clearly saw enough from him to re-sign him.
The Boise State product saw the most action of his career in 2019, appearing in all 16 games and starting five of them. He played in about 40% of the Titans’ defensive snaps and continued to be a major special teams contributor. Although Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics considered him an average pass rusher, he did pick up a career-high five sacks. He has also been lauded for his coverage abilities.
Per Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com, Correa has had an offer from the Titans for a couple of weeks (Twitter link). Clearly, he did not get a more attractive proposal on the open market.
Titans To Sign DL Jack Crawford
The Titans will add a second member of the past several Falcons defensive lines. They are signing Jack Crawford, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
Crawford joined Vic Beasley in Atlanta for the past three seasons. The 2020 season will be Crawford’s ninth as a pro.
Tennessee saved extensive cap space by trading Jurrell Casey to Denver, and Crawford figures to be part of the team’s patch-up effort on its defensive front. Crawford, 31, has worked primarily a defensive tackle in recent years. Although Crawford finished last season as one of Pro Football Focus’ worst-graded interior defenders, the former fifth-round pick played better in 2018. He registered a career-high six sacks that season.
The former Raiders and Cowboys defensive lineman has 16 career sacks. The 6-foot-5 defender worked as an 11-game starter for the 2018 Falcons and ’16 Cowboys. Crawford will add depth to a Titans D-line that houses 2019 first-rounder Jeffery Simmons and DaQuan Jones.
The Falcons have lost Beasley, Crawford and Adrian Clayborn — also a Tuesday-night signing, with the Browns — from their 2019 D-line.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/31/20
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Chicago Bears
- Re-signed: S DeAndre Houston-Carson
Cincinnati Bengals
- Re-signed: CB Greg Mabin
Browns, DE Adrian Clayborn Agree To Deal
The Browns continue to add role players to their defense. They have agreed to terms with veteran defensive end Adrian Clayborn, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
The parties reached an agreement on a two-year, $6MM deal, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, adding the pact’s max value is $7MM.
Clayborn worked as a part-time player for the Falcons in four of the past five years and won a Super Bowl with the 2018 Patriots. He makes sense as a rotational cog who could work behind Myles Garrett and Olivier Vernon.
New Browns GM Andrew Berry has spent extensive time augmenting the Browns’ defensive depth in free agency. Cleveland has now signed Clayborn, Andrew Sendejo, Karl Joseph, Kevin Johnson, B.J. Goodson and Andrew Billings this month.
Playing 42% of the Falcons’ defensive snaps last season, Clayborn graded as a top-40 edge defender last season (per Pro Football Focus). He saw action on more than 50% of the Falcons’ snaps from 2015-17 and topped out in ’17 with a 9.5-sack season, aided by a six-sack day against a Cowboys team missing Tyron Smith.
The 2020 season will be Clayborn’s age-32 campaign. Formerly a Buccaneers first-round pick, Clayborn has 36.5 career sacks and 10 forced fumbles. Five of those strips have occurred since 2017. Clayborn registered at least 13 quarterback hits each year from 2015-18 but, despite collecting four sacks, tallied just seven QB knockdowns last season.
Jets To Re-Sign QB David Fales
David Fales is back with the Jets. The well-traveled backup/No. 3 quarterback reached an agreement to return to the Jets on Tuesday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. It’s a one-year deal.
Despite having zero career starts, the former sixth-round pick is entering his seventh year as an NFLer. He has previously worked with Adam Gase and Jets OC Dowell Loggains with two other franchises — the Bears and Dolphins — and will reprise his role as one of Sam Darnold‘s backups.
Following Trevor Siemian‘s season-ending injury, the Jets added Fales last September. Siemian played out his one-year deal and is a free agent. The Jets also turned to Luke Falk over Fales to replace Darnold last season but waived the struggling passer and kept the latter on board as Darnold’s QB2 when he returned from his mono bout. Darnold, Fales and former Cowboys UDFA Mike White are the three quarterbacks tethered to the Jets presently.
Fales, 29, played under Gase during the 2015 season — when Gase was the Bears’ OC — and in 2017-18 with the Dolphins. His knowledge of the second-year Jets coach’s system figures to be critical in an offseason that likely will not feature any on-field work until at least training camp.
Redskins’ Brandon Scherff Signs Franchise Tender
Brandon Scherff is officially headed back to Washington. The standout guard has signed his franchise tender to remain with the Redskins, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
As Schefter notes, him signing this early will require him to be at training camp, provided it proceeds as scheduled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Scherff became the first guard to get franchise-tagged since all the way back in 2011. He’s set to make $14.8MM in 2020 under the tag. The tag system groups all offensive linemen together, which explains why it’s so rarely used on a guard. Scherff has certainly proved himself worthy of being the exception, making the Pro Bowl in three of the past four seasons.
The only time he didn’t make it in that span was in 2018, when he appeared in only eight games due to a torn pec. He was again banged up last year, missing five games with elbow and shoulder issues. The fifth-overall pick in the 2015 draft, Scherff is one of the few consistent players on Washington’s offense.
Given the continued uncertainty surrounding left tackle Trent Williams, it makes sense why the Redskins would want to take no chances with their other stud offensive lineman. The two sides still have until July to work out a long-term extension.
Seahawks Release Ed Dickson
Seattle continues to clear cap space bit by bit. The Seahawks have released veteran tight end Ed Dickson, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).
The move comes shortly after Seattle cut safety Tedric Thompson to save a little bit of cash as well. Rapoport notes that Dickson had been set to earn $3MM in 2020, and that the Seahawks will save “most of it” by cutting him. Dickson had a very disappointing run in Seattle after signing a three-year, $10.7MM deal there in 2018. He missed the first six games of that season on the NFI list, and then missed all of last year with a knee injury.
Oddly, he started the year on injured reserve, was activated in November, but then nearly immediately placed back on IR without playing a game after he failed to recover from his knee injury. The circumstances of the knee issue were always a mystery, and it’s unclear if he’s now fully healthy.
A third-round pick of the Ravens back in 2010, Dickson has always been more of a blocker than a pass-catcher. He has had some reasonably productive years though, catching 30 passes for 437 yards with the Panthers in 2017, his last healthy campaign. Set to turn 33 in July, he’ll likely struggle for much guaranteed money assuming he wants to keep playing.
Seahawks To Sign WR Phillip Dorsett
March 31: Dorsett’s deal will qualify for the veteran salary benefit, as Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. That means he’ll count for just $877K against Seattle’s cap, with a $137,500 signing bonus, even though he’ll collect a larger sum.
March 24: Phillip Dorsett will have a new address soon. The free agent wide receiver has committed to signing with the Seahawks, Josina Anderson of ESPN.com tweets. It’s a one-year deal.
As many as five teams were looking into the former Patriots contributor, and Dorsett’s decision will add a weapon to the Seahawks’ receiving corps. The Jets, 49ers, Raiders and Chargers also showed interest in the former first-round pick.
Seattle will team Dorsett with Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf, giving Russell Wilson some additional help. Dorsett spent the past three seasons with the Patriots, being sent to New England for Jacoby Brissett just before the 2017 season. While Dorsett never broke through as a higher-end weapon for Tom Brady, he played a supporting-cast role and posted 29 receptions for 397 yards and a career-high five touchdowns last season. He added two TDs during the Patriots’ 2018 playoff run.
Dorsett, 27, averaged north of 16 yards per catch in 2016 and ’17, enjoying his best season with Andrew Luck in ’16. Dorsett posted a career-high 528 receiving yards that year but saw then-new GM Chris Ballard ship him out just before the 2017 regular season. This Seahawks agreement represents another chance for the ex-Miami Hurricanes speedster.