49ers, LB Joe Walker Agree To Deal
Joe Walker will change NFC West teams, moving from the Cardinals to the 49ers. The defending NFC champions agreed to a one-year deal with the linebacker, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).
A former Eagles seventh-round pick, Walker supplanted Haason Reddick in the Cardinals’ lineup last season. He originally caught on with the Cards after being signed off the Eagles’ practice squad. The 27-year-old defender will have a chance to carve out a role with the 49ers.
San Francisco did not tender linebacker Elijah Lee as a restricted free agent last week, opening up a depth spot for Walker. While the 49ers have their top three fairly well positioned — in Kwon Alexander, Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw — the 2019 Cardinals starter will be a prime candidate to serve as a backup.
The Oregon product registered 65 tackles (five for loss) and a forced fumble last season. He had previously made just 17 stops in his Eagles career. Despite being a starter, Walker also played 70% of Arizona’s special teams snaps last season.
Giants To Bring Back Corey Coleman
Despite their transition to a new coaching staff and Corey Coleman having missed all of last season due to injury, the Giants are re-signing the former first-round pick. They will retain Coleman to a one-year deal, Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com tweets.
Coleman missed all of last season due to a summer ACL tear. He will now make another attempt to contribute in New York. The former No. 15 overall pick has not fared well since his initial weeks in the NFL in 2016. Coleman caught just five passes in eight Giants games in 2018.
Set to turn 26 in July, Coleman has enjoyed a modicum of stability with the Giants after being discarded by a few AFC teams in the months prior. Shortly after Coleman displayed an extensive sneaker collection on 2018’s Hard Knocks installment, the Browns traded him to the Bills. Buffalo then waived him. The Patriots cut him from their practice squad in the fall of 2018. Coleman then rose from the Giants’ P-squad to their active roster.
Despite this latest Giants agreement, Coleman is nearly out of chances in the NFL. The first receiver taken in the 2016 draft has 61 receptions for 789 yards and five touchdowns in his career. He will be no higher than fourth on a Giants depth chart that houses Sterling Shepard, Golden Tate and Darius Slayton.
Panthers To Trade QB Kyle Allen To Redskins
Hours after agreeing to terms with XFL standout P.J. Walker, the Panthers are unloading a quarterback they just extended. The Panthers have agreed to trade Kyle Allen to the Redskins, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.
A 2018 UDFA, Allen was the Panthers’ primary starter last season under Ron Rivera. He signed an extension March 10. Washington will send a fifth-round pick to Carolina for Allen, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
This will not only reunite Allen with Rivera, but the Redskins have former Panthers QBs coach Scott Turner on board as offensive coordinator. Turner was on Carolina’s staff for each of Allen’s two seasons with the team.
Allen, 24, will clear a path for Walker to make the Panthers’ roster and fill a Redskins need. With Alex Smith‘s status still uncertain, Washington now has a healthy quarterback set to join Dwayne Haskins. While the Redskins have been linked to Tua Tagovailoa, they are still the frontrunners to draft Chase Young. Washington has also been connected to trade-down maneuvers, with Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert drawing interest from other teams. Allen would stand to be Washington’s QB2 of the moment, and in an offseason that is unlikely to feature any OTAs, the Texas A&M product’s familiarity in Turner’s system will be critical.
Taking over after Cam Newton‘s September re-injury, Allen started strong but faded down the stretch. He ended his season with a 17-16 TD-INT ratio, 3,322 passing yards in 13 games and a 62% completion rate. Walker and Will Grier now stand to be Teddy Bridgewater‘s backups.
Patriots To Sign DB Cody Davis
Veteran defensive back Cody Davis will sign with the Patriots, according to his agent (Twitter link). He will land with a franchise that has frequently displayed a commitment to rostering high-end special-teamers.
Davis spent the past two seasons with the Jaguars, playing at least 85% of their special teams snaps in those years. He spent the first five seasons of his career with the Rams. While Davis made five starts with Los Angeles, the former UDFA has primarily operated as a special-teamer in the NFL.
The 30-year-old specialist will join recently re-signed Matthew Slater, a perennial special teams Pro Bowler, and three-time Pro Bowl special-teamer Justin Bethel — whom the Patriots added last year. Davis does not have a Pro Bowl on his resume, but he will add to New England’s array of talent at these spots while helping the Pats fill the void Nate Ebner created when he signed with the Giants.
Cardinals Re-Sign DL Jonathan Bullard
A Cardinals waiver claim last year, Jonathan Bullard agreed to remain with the team after a short stay in free agency. The Cardinals announced they re-signed the defensive lineman on a one-year deal.
Bullard started six games for the Cards last season, registering 22 tackles (four for loss) and 1.5 sacks. He ended the season on IR due to a hamstring injury.
The Bears cut the former third-round pick before the 2019 regular season began; the Florida product worked as a rotational player in Chicago before ascending into Arizona’s starting lineup.
The Cardinals lost Rodney Gunter to the Jaguars in free agency but signed former Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips. But be it in a starting or rotational role, Bullard is set to be back as a contributor for the Cardinals up front in his fifth NFL season.
Panthers, QB P.J. Walker Agree To Deal
After an abbreviated run in the XFL, P.J. Walker drew interest from several NFL teams. But he will reunite with his former coach.
Walker will sign with the Panthers, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The recent Houston Roughnecks standout played for Matt Rhule at Temple. This will mark another NFL opportunity for the former UDFA quarterback, who will receive a $150K signing bonus, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
Monday marks the first day NFL teams can sign XFL players. While it is unclear how many will have markets, Walker did well for himself in the rebooted league. He generated interest from the Broncos, Cardinals and Seahawks and will have a chance to become the Panthers’ backup quarterback behind Teddy Bridgewater. Though, this crowds the Panthers’ quarterback group.
Walker, 25, guided the Roughnecks to a 5-0 start. He threw 15 touchdown passes and four interceptions, completing 66% of his passes. The XFL ended its season early because of the COVID-19 pandemic and freed up its players to sign NFL deals. Previously, XFLers could not sign until after the league’s season ended.
Walker was Temple’s starter for four seasons, from 2013-16. Rhule was the Owls’ coach throughout that span. Despite Walker being unable to catch on with an NFL team’s active roster previously, his history with Rhule points to a good shot at sticking around in the league this time. The Panthers, however, still have primary 2019 starter Kyle Allen under contract. They also used a third-round pick on Will Grier last year. The team recently extended Allen and has Grier signed through 2022. Rhule not drafting Grier, however, could play into the team’s plans.
While he was on track to be the XFL’s second MVP, Walker has enjoyed NFL opportunities previously. He bounced on and off the Colts’ practice squad in 2018-19. The Colts cut Walker from their P-squad in September of last year. No other team signed him, but he remade himself into an intriguing commodity during XFL 2.0’s shortened season.
Panthers To Sign LB Tahir Whitehead
Released by the Raiders earlier this month, Tahir Whitehead will have another opportunity to be a starter. The Panthers are signing the free agent linebacker, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
It’s a one-year deal worth $2.5MM, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Whitehead will receive a $1.45MM signing bonus.
Whitehead played in all 32 games during his two-season Raider tenure and was the team’s runaway tackles leader during its final two Oakland seasons. The Panthers saw Luke Kuechly retire earlier this offseason; Whitehead will be in line to move into the starting lineup alongside Shaq Thompson.
Carolina has lost Kuechly and all-time tackles leader Thomas Davis in consecutive offseasons. The team extended Thompson late last season but has a need for another three-down linebacker. Whitehead saw by far the most snaps among Raiders ‘backers from 2018-19 and was a Lions starter in the years prior.
Whitehead, who will turn 30 next week, has only missed three games in an eight-year career. He has produced four straight 100-plus-tackle seasons, leading the Lions in that department during his final two years in Detroit.
Bears To Sign LB Barkevious Mingo
Barkevious Mingo is set to suit up for a sixth NFL team. The Bears are adding the well-traveled former first-round pick, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).
The Bears and the veteran edge defender agreed on a one-year, $1.2MM deal, Rapoport tweets. Mingo will receive $900K guaranteed. This will be the former No. 6 overall pick’s fifth team in five seasons.
After acquiring him in the Jadeveon Clowney trade last season, the Texans deployed Mingo on just 7% of their defensive snaps. He saw action on 74% of Houston’s special teams snaps, however. While Mingo’s defensive usage has fluctuated since the Browns traded him to the Patriots in 2016, he has been a key special-teamer for most of his career.
The LSU product did not pan out as a pass rusher, topping out at two sacks in a season since a five-sack rookie slate with the 2013 Browns. But he’s consistently found work. Mingo has been twice traded; this marks his third free agency agreement.
He signed with the Colts in 2017 and the Seahawks in 2018. The Bears are adding him at a cheaper rate than the Seahawks did, however. That 2018 Seattle pact was a two-year, $6.8MM deal. Mingo will reunite with Bears DC Chuck Pagano and provides some depth behind Khalil Mack and the recently acquired Robert Quinn.
Falcons Sign OL Justin McCray, CB Blidi Wreh-Wilson
The Falcons will bring in an offensive line swing man and re-sign one of their backup cornerbacks of recent years. Atlanta signed Justin McCray and Blidi Wreh-Wilson on Sunday.
McCray, who played with the Browns last season and has seen action with three teams since 2014, agreed to a one-year deal, Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com tweets. Wilson has been with the Falcons since 2016; he signed a one-year deal to stay in Atlanta in February 2019.
A former UDFA out of Central Florida, McCray started four games with the Browns last season. He started 13 with the Packers from 2017-18. The Packers traded McCray to the Browns last August, and the 27-year-old blocker saw action at guard and tackle. Largely because of his work in pass protection, McCray graded as one of Pro Football Focus’ worst tackles in 2019.
McCray will join Jamon Brown, James Carpenter, John Wetzel and fourth-year blocker Sean Harlow as players vying for roles among Atlanta’s O-line group.
Wilson, 30, has started three games since coming to Georgia nearly four years ago. He saw his biggest workload in 2019, playing 335 defensive snaps. Wilson finished with seven passes defensed and 25 tackles last season. Having released Desmond Trufant, the Falcons are retooling at cornerback. They will have more moves to make at this position going forward this offseason.
Falcons Sign WR Laquon Treadwell
Laquon Treadwell will have a chance to prove himself with another team. After the former first-round pick underwhelmed for four seasons with the Vikings, he will join the Falcons. The team announced the move.
The 2016 first-round pick could not justify that draft status in Minnesota, being released and re-signed in 2019 and totaling just 65 receptions for 701 yards and two touchdowns during his four Vikings seasons. He did finish the ’19 slate with a 20.4-yard average but did so on just nine catches.
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Ole Miss product topped out at 4.63 seconds in the 40-yard dash four years ago and never solidified the No. 3 receiver role behind Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs. He will have an opportunity to fill in behind another talented wideout duo.
Atlanta will have the high-end Julio Jones–Calvin Ridley tandem back for a third season together and saw Russell Gage eclipse 400 receiving yards last season. Treadwell will attempt to carve out a spot in the Falcons’ receiver group.