Bengals To Release Dre Kirkpatrick
The Bengals will release cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, according to ESPN.com’s Ben Baby (Twitter link). The move will save Cincy $8.3MM against the salary cap, giving them even more cash to work with in the second half of the offseason. 
Kirkpatrick is just the latest vet to be jettisoned by the Bengals. All in all, they’ve freed up more than $23MM by cutting veterans in the last couple of months.
The Kirkpatrick release doesn’t come as a surprise after the Bengals inked Trae Waynes to a three-year, $42MM deal that will pay him approximately $20MM in 2020. Kirkpatrick, a former first-round pick, should find plenty of interest from cornerback-needy teams, though his market will be somewhat limited since many teams have already addressed that gap.
Since 2012, Kirkpatrick has appeared in 99 games over the course of eight seasons. Last year, his season was cut short by a hyperextended knee injury. He finished out with 33 tackles, one sack, and one fumble recovery in six contests. In 2018, he allowed just 44.4% of the targets thrown his way to be caught, good for the second-best rate in the NFL.
The Bengals will also be moving forward without Darqueze Dennard, who left in free agency to sign with the Jaguars. Waynes will be among their new headliners and he’ll be joined by fellow ex-Viking Mackensie Alexander. Former Titans corner LeShaun Sims will also be in the CB mix.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/30/20
We’ve compiled today’s minor moves below:
Los Angeles Rams
- Re-signed: CB Donte Deayon
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: DE Dewayne Hendrix
Colts, CB T.J. Carrie Agree To Deal
A few days after the Colts agreed to sign Xavier Rhodes, they are adding another veteran cornerback to the mix. The Colts and T.J. Carrie agreed to terms Monday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
It’s a one-year deal for Carrie, who will earn the veteran minimum, per Adam Caplan of Sirius XM Radio (on Twitter). Carrie will receive $300K guaranteed, Caplan adds.
After being cut by the Browns in February, the former seventh-round pick visited the Seahawks earlier this month. Both he and Rhodes are street free agents, with the latter being a Vikings cap casualty.
The Colts have done some retooling in their secondary, releasing veteran Pierre Desir and signing Rhodes and Carrie. The latter duo brings a combined 13 years’ experience. For Carrie, this will be his third NFL team. The former Raiders draftee spent the past two seasons with the Browns.
Carrie worked as a part-time starter in Cleveland, opening 14 games with the Browns’ first-string defense during his time in Ohio. He worked as the Raiders’ primary slot defender in 2017. Pro Football Focus did not view Carrie’s Browns work as being on the same level as his Raiders contract year, but the 29-year-old defender will likely not be expected to be a starter in Indianapolis. He instead profiles as a depth piece for the Colts.
Ronald Darby To Sign With Redskins
The Redskins and veteran cornerback Ronald Darby are in agreement on a one-year, $4MM deal, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Darby has spent the last three seasons with the division-rival Eagles, though all three of those seasons have been marred to some degree by injury. He played in only eight games in 2017, nine in 2018, and 11 in 2019. The 2018 season was cut short by an ACL tear, but he was at least playing at an above-average level prior to the injury. The same cannot be said for his 2019 effort, as Darby never seemed to get into a rhythm even when he was on the field.
Indeed, despite the league-wide need for corners, we had not heard of any interest in Darby before he agreed to terms with Washington. He will, however, have a good opportunity to rebuild his value in 2020. The ‘Skins signed fellow CB Kendall Fuller to a lucrative free agent pact earlier this month, but aside from the middling Fabian Moreau, there is not much depth behind Fuller.
A 2015 second-round pick of the Bills, Darby quickly established himself as a starting-caliber CB in Buffalo before being traded to Philadelphia in exchange for a third-round pick and wide receiver Jordan Matthews. He generated a fair amount of free agent interest last offseason before agreeing to return to Philadelphia on a one-year, $8.5MM pact. He will now help to fill the void left by Quinton Dunbar, whom Washington recently traded to Seattle.
In his career, the Florida State product has started 56 of a possible 57 games and has picked off eight passes. He also captured a Super Bowl ring in his first season with the Eagles.
Lions Sign WR Geronimo Allison
The Lions have agreed to a one-year deal with former Packers wide receiver Geronimo Allison, the team announced. As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, it will be a one-year, veteran minimum deal of $910K with a $137.5K signing bonus.
That is a far cry from what Allison was probably anticipating this time last year, as he entered the 2019 campaign in line for an expanded role in Green Bay’s receiving corps. He opened 2018 with a bang, catching 19 passes for 289 yards and a score through the first quarter of the year, but a concussion and a core muscle injury limited him to just one game the rest of the way.
Still, the Packers thought enough of his potential — and Allison was generating enough interest from other teams — that the club signed him to a one-year deal last March after initially placing an original-round RFA tender on him. But Green Bay tried to use the 6-3, 202-pounder in the slot in 2019, and that simply didn’t work. He appeared in all 16 games but caught just 34 passes for 287 yards and two TDs.
The division-rival Lions have seen a good deal of Allison over his first four years in the league and apparently like his potential. The top of Detroit’s depth chart is set with Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones on the boundaries and Danny Amendola in the slot, but Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com says Allison will likely push Marvin Hall for the No. 4 WR job.
Of course, the Lions could also draft a wideout from a very deep WR class. But Allison is a good low-risk, high-reward addition who became yet another victim of a very tough FA market for receivers.
Chargers Sign WR/KR Darius Jennings
The Chargers are adding a depth piece to their receiving corp. Los Angeles is signing receiver/returner Darius Jennings, his agent announced on Twitter.
Jennings entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the Browns back in 2015. He caught 14 passes for 117 yards in only four games as a rookie after getting promoted from the practice squad late in the year. He bounced around on various practice squads the next couple of years, resurfacing with the Titans in 2018. He operated as Tennessee’s kick returner that season, taking a kick back 94-yards for a touchdown and leading the league with a 31.7 yards per return average.
He was cut by the Titans midway through last season, but was re-signed in time for the playoffs and operated as their kick returner in two postseason games. The Chargers have Keenan Allen and Mike Williams at receiver but not a whole lot after them, so it’s certainly conceivable that Jennings will crack the roster.
Ravens, DE Derek Wolfe Agree To Deal
Hours after the Broncos agreed to re-sign Shelby Harris, their longest-tenured defensive lineman will head elsewhere. Derek Wolfe agreed to terms with the Ravens on a one-year deal worth up to $6MM, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
The deal will guarantee Wolfe $3MM, Troy Renck of Denver7 tweets. Wolfe said, via Renck, the Broncos did not make an offer to bring him back.
The Ravens were thought to have finalized an agreement with Michael Brockers, but after it turned out the sides could not close that deal, Baltimore will pivot to another veteran interior rusher.
Wolfe, 29, said for months his preference was to return to Denver, where he played eight seasons. But the Broncos traded for Pro Bowler Jurrell Casey and opted to re-sign Harris after his market underwhelmed. The Ravens have swooped in and will add Wolfe to a defensive line that includes Calais Campbell and Brandon Williams.
While Wolfe was productive in Vic Fangio‘s scheme — registering career-high seven sacks in just 12 games — and was a starter for the Broncos’ dominant Super Bowl-winning defense in 2015, he has dealt with injuries throughout his career. The former second-round pick was not able to play in Super Bowl XLVIII due to a scary neck injury sustained earlier in 2013 and encountered more neck trouble in 2017. His 2019 season ended early because of an elbow injury.
The Ravens expressed interest in Ndamukong Suh, but he returned to the Buccaneers. Instead, Baltimore will add Wolfe on a team-friendlier contract. Wolfe signed a four-year, $36.75MM Broncos extension in early 2016 and played out that contract. With the Broncos, he totaled 33 sacks. Working with talented edge rushers throughout his career, the interior rusher registered at least five sacks in four seasons.
Chiefs To Re-Sign WR Demarcus Robinson
The Chiefs are making a move to keep their deep receiving corps intact. They are bringing back Demarcus Robinson on a one-year deal, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.
A four-year veteran, Robinson hit the market as a UFA. But the majority of the wideouts who entered free agency did not find significant demand for their services, with the upcoming draft class playing into this team-friendly marketplace.
Robinson’s deal is worth a fully guaranteed $2.297MM but, due to the new CBA’s veteran salary benefit, will count only $1MM against the Chiefs’ cap, Pelissero adds (via Twitter). Teams can sign two vested veterans via this method each year.
After a report linked the Eagles to being in the mix for the longtime Chiefs auxiliary wideout, not much known interest came Robinson’s way during free agency. He now will return to Kansas City, rejoining a Chiefs receiving corps that still includes Tyreek Hill, Mecole Hardman and Sammy Watkins. The latter has been a long-rumored cap casualty but remains on the team.
Robinson, 25, turned in his best season during the Chiefs’ first Super Bowl campaign in 50 years. He established career-high marks in catches (32) and receiving yards (449), hauling in four touchdowns. Since Patrick Mahomes took over as Kansas City’s starter, Robinson has totaled eight TD receptions. In Week 2 of last season, Robinson torched the Raiders for 172 yards and two scores.
The Chiefs entered Saturday with the NFL’s least cap space, so this Robinson pact will almost certainly be a low-cost agreement. It stands to allow the former fourth-round pick to return to one of the friendliest receiver environments in recent memory and potentially elevate his stock for a 2021 free agency run.
The ex-Florida Gator coming back also provides insurance in case the Chiefs do part ways with Watkins, who is the NFL’s 11th-highest-paid wideout but at best the third option on his own team. Watkins is set to make a non-guaranteed $13.75MM base salary next season and count a seemingly untenable $21MM against Kansas City’s cap.
Falcons Sign LB Edmond Robinson
Another XFL player is heading to the NFL. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Falcons are signing linebacker Edmond Robinson. ESPN’s Vaughn McClure tweets that it’s a one-year deal.
Robinson was a seventh-round pick out of Newberry back in 2015, and he’s spent parts of three NFL seasons with the Vikings, Jets, and Cardinals. The 28-year-old has compiled 13 tackles and one pass defended in 22 career games, including a 12-game stint with Minnesota back in 2016.
The linebacker had a cameo with the Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football, and he joined the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL back in October. During that stint, Robinson compiled 22 tackles and a pair of sacks.
The undefeated Roughnecks have seen a number of players opt for the NFL, headlined by quarterback P.J. Walker signing with the Panthers. Cornerback Deatrick Nichols (Saints) and linebacker DeMarquis Gates (Vikings) have also signed with NFL teams.
Giants Sign TE Eric Tomlinson
Eric Tomlinson is heading back to New York. The veteran tight end has signed with the Giants, according to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan (via Twitter).
After brief stints with the Eagles and Texans to start his career, the UTEP product spent two-plus seasons with the Jets. He started 24 of his 29 games between the 2017 and 2018 seasons, hauling in a combined 16 receptions for 193 yards and one score.
The 6-foot-6, 263-pound tight end was cut by the Jets at the end of the 2019 preseason. When all was said and done, Tomlinson split the regular season between the Giants, Patriots, and Raiders, hauling in a single one-yard catch in eight games (three starts).
As Raanan points out on Twitter, the Giants will be running a “tight end heavy offense” under new offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. The team is currently rostering six tight ends in Tomlinson, Evan Engram, Levine Toilolo, Kaden Smith, Garrett Dickerson, and C.J. Conrad.