Panthers To Re-Sign Tre Boston
Tre Boston is staying in Carolina, and he’s finally getting the multi-year deal he’s been seeking. The Panthers are giving the safety a three-year deal worth $18MM, his agent Drew Rosenhaus told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Schefter notes that Boston will get a whopping $9.5MM in the first year of the contract. Boston has been a solid starting safety for a while now, but since he isn’t considered to be in the top-tier, it’s been tough for him to get a long-term commitment. Last offseason he waited until July to sign with the Panthers on a one-year, $3MM deal after he was unsatisfied with the initial offers he got.
The year before he did the same thing, waiting until July to sign with the Cardinals on a one-year, $1.5MM deal. He’s had to bet on himself, and it finally paid off. This past year he started all 16 games for the Panthers, racking up 11 passes defended and three interceptions, helping to turn around a suddenly resurgent secondary.
Boston started his career in Carolina, so it’s fitting they’re the ones who ultimately rewarded him. A fourth-round pick of the Panthers back in 2014, he spent three years with them before being waived and latching on with the Chargers. He started 15 games for the Chargers and had five interceptions, but still failed to generate much of a market.
Tom Brady Expected To Sign With Bucs
It looks like the Tom Brady sweepstakes are coming to a close. The expectation is that Brady will sign with the Buccaneers, sources told Jeff Darlington and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Tampa’s offer is “roughly” $30MM annually, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets, although the duration is unclear.
Rapoport added that the Buccaneers have been confident all day about landing him. It’s not at all unexpected given today’s developments, but it still is a wild conclusion to an unpredictable saga. A couple of years ago we got the first reports that Brady might want out of New England, but nobody at the time could’ve predicted it would end with him teaming up with Bruce Arians in Tampa Bay. It became clear in recent months that Brady leaving was a very real possibility, and earlier this morning the legendary quarterback announced he wouldn’t be back with the Patriots in 2020.
We heard just a little while ago that the Chargers were out of the running, which left the Bucs as the only known team aggressively pursuing Brady. The Raiders had been floated at various points, but they recently signed Marcus Mariota and the same report that had the Chargers out indicated Brady wanted to stay closer to his family on the east coast.
The Patriots were one of the best teams in the league last season, but it was mostly because of the defense and not the offense. Brady had one of his worst seasons statistically, averaging his lowest yards per attempt (6.8) since the 2002 season. The Pats were widely criticized for not providing him with enough weapons, and that won’t be an issue in Tampa.
The Bucs have arguably the best receiving duo in the league, with Chris Godwin and Mike Evans forming a matchup nightmare for any opposing secondary. Their defense also made major strides down the stretch last season under DC Todd Bowles, and they’ll now be considered an instant contender in 2020.
Brady spent 20 incredible years in New England, helping to create one of the most iconic dynasties in sports history. He’ll leave the Patriots at the age of 42, having won six Super Bowls with the team. We may never know exactly what happened the last few years, but it seems clear that Brady wanted a fresh start. His frustration with the offense was evident toward the end of last season, and it culminated in an embarrassing home loss to the Titans in the first round of the playoffs.
As for the Buccaneers, they’ll obviously be moving on from Jameis Winston, who they drafted first overall back in 2015. The game of quarterback musical chairs has almost ended, and there aren’t too many starting jobs left available for Winston to nab.
Browns To Acquire Broncos FB Andy Janovich
Day 2 of the tampering period will produce a fullback trade. The Broncos have agreed to trade Andy Janovich to the Browns in exchange for a 2021 seventh-round pick, Mike Klis of 9News reports (on Twitter).
Janovich has been one of the league’s top fullbacks, but many NFL systems do not make use of this diminishing position. New Denver OC Pat Shurmur does not intend to use fullbacks regularly, per Klis, leading to the Broncos shipping Janovich out for little value.
While the Broncos extended Janovich in October of last year, he only played 13% of the team’s offensive snaps. With another new offensive coordinator set to take over, the fifth-year fullback will relocate to Cleveland. Janovich, 26, is under contract through the 2022 season.
Janovich will join Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt in the Browns’ backfield on Kevin Stefanski‘s first Cleveland offense.
Raiders Agree To Terms With Carl Nassib
The Raiders are staying busy, this time bolstering their pass-rush. Las Vegas has agreed to terms with free agent defensive end Carl Nassib, Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune tweets.
Nassib originally became widely known to football fans as a ‘Hardknocks’ star during training camp with the Browns in 2018 when they were featured on the hit HBO series. He was waived by Cleveland at final cuts, but was quickly claimed by Tampa Bay. He thrived with the Buccaneers, racking up 6.5 sacks that year. This past season he had six more in 14 games while playing around 55 percent of the defensive snaps.
It will be interesting to see what the terms are, but it’s likely that Vegas didn’t have to break the bank for him. Overall, it’s a nice under the radar signing. Nassib was originally a walk-on at Penn State, and played sparingly his first few years. He came out of nowhere to dominate in his senior season, racking up 15.5 sacks and winning the Hendricks Award for the nation’s top defensive end.
The Raiders have struggled to generate a consistent rush in recent years, and they had only 32 sacks as a team last season. They also agreed to terms with defensive tackle Maliek Collins Tuesday to further bolster the defensive front.
Jets To Sign OL Connor McGovern
The Jets will make a splash to help their offensive line. They have agreed to terms with Connor McGovern, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets.
McGovern, who played both center and guard in Denver, agreed to a three-year, $27MM deal, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter). McGovern will receive $18MM fully guaranteed.
Gang Green was eyeing top guards Joe Thuney and Graham Glasgow, but the Patriots franchise-tagged the former and the Broncos nabbed the latter. The Broncos submitted an offer to keep McGovern but withdrew it after Glasgow signed. That will lead the former fifth-round Broncos pick to the Jets, who have been busy attempting to fortify their front.
McGovern graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 11 center last season — well ahead of Jets options Ryan Kalil and Jonotthan Harrison. The elder of the NFL’s two Connor McGoverns, the ex-Mizzou lineman started 31 games over the past two seasons and helped Phillip Lindsay become the first UDFA in NFL history to begin his career with two 1,000-yard seasons.
While the Jets are likely not done, they have paid starter money to McGovern and tackle George Fant. They have also re-signed Alex Lewis at $6MM AAV, likely to play left guard. The Jets have been linked to tackles in the draft. Longtime right guard Brian Winters remains on the roster but is a candidate to be a cap casualty under new GM Joe Douglas.
Cowboys To Bring Back Sean Lee
Despite the Cowboys bringing in a new coaching regime for the first time in 10 years, they will bring back one of the team’s leaders. Sean Lee and the Cowboys have agreed on a deal that will keep the linebacker in Dallas for an 11th season, according to Lee’s agent (Twitter link).
Lee will earn $4.5MM on a one-year deal, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). The longtime Cowboy cog will receive $2MM in full guarantees. This will be Lee’s age-34 season.
In February, Lee vowed not to retire. But the Cowboys at that point had not yet decided to bring him back. They have now, and Lee will return to his post as the veteran in Dallas’ linebacking corps.
While Lee himself has been injury-prone during his Cowboys tenure, he played a key role last season after Leighton Vander Esch‘s season-ending setback. Lee started 13 games and worked in a three-down role with Jaylon Smith. He made 86 tackles in Dallas’ disappointing 2019 season. Vander Esch is expected to be ready by training camp, but Lee will be back in uniform as a high-profile insurance policy.
Giants Re-Sign WR/ST Cody Core
The Giants continue to make moves. New York is re-signing receiver Cody Core, a source told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link).
As Pelissero points out he’s primarily a special teams player, and is regarded as a key coverage unit guy. New Giants coach Joe Judge is a Bill Belichick disciple, so it’s not surprising that he values his unheralded special teamers. Core was drafted by the Bengals in the sixth-round back in 2016, and spent his first three years in Cincy. Let go at final cuts last year, he was promptly claimed off waivers by the Giants.
He caught only three passes for 28 yards this past year, but appeared in all 16 games and played 62 percent of the special teams snaps. In his last year in Cincinnati in 2018 he caught 13 passes for 160 yards and as a rookie he had 200 yards in only eight games, so the Ole Miss product has shown at least something as a receiver.
Steelers To Sign FB Derek Watt
Two of the three Watt brothers will now play for the Steelers. Fullback Derek Watt agreed to terms with Pittsburgh, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).
A four-year Chargers contributor, the middle Watt brother will join T.J. Watt on the Steelers. This deal will pay Derek Watt $3.25MM per year, per Rapoport (on Twitter). T.J. is currently set to make $1.7MM this season. With the Steelers a lock to pick up T.J. Watt’s fifth-year option, it is certainly possible the two-time Pro Bowler will make less than the least accomplished of the NFL Watts this season.
Derek, 27, was a sixth-round Bolts pick in 2016 and has played special teams as well in his NFL career. Derek Watt, 27, played 123 snaps at fullback for the Bolts last season. While he only has 29 career touches, the Wisconsin product will likely be asked to play a key role on Pittsburgh’s special teams units.
The Watts will join another two-thirds brother tandem on the Steelers. The Edmundses — Terrell and Trey — are under contract with Pittsburgh for the 2020 season.
Giants To Sign LB Kyler Fackrell
The Giants’ revamping of their defense continues. New York is signing former Packers linebacker Kyler Fackrell to a one-year deal, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
He’ll get $4.6MM for the 2020 season. The Giants have been so active that this is actually the second former Green Bay linebacker that they’ve signed, after they recently gave Blake Martinez three years and $30MM. They also signed cornerback James Bradberry to a huge three-year, $45MM pact. Fackrell is obviously a lesser name, but it’s still a notable signing. New York’s aggressiveness on this side of the ball isn’t a surprise given how disappointing their defense was last year.
They’re entering a new era of football with Joe Judge, and the team is going to look a lot different in 2020. Fackrell was drafted in the third-round by the Packers back in 2016. He didn’t play a ton as a rookie but his role grew slowly, and he busted onto the scene in 2018. That year he came out of nowhere to rack up 10.5 sacks while starting seven games.
He took a big step back this past season with only one sack while playing about 40 percent of the defensive snaps, but his flashes of potential were enough for the Giants to take a low-risk flyer.
Bengals To Sign CB Trae Waynes
Minutes after losing Darqueze Dennard, the Bengals will add another former first-round cornerback. They have agreed to a deal with longtime Vikings defender Trae Waynes, Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com report (via Twitter).
The Bengals will pay big money to land him as well, with Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reporting (via Twitter) this is a three-year, $42MM deal. The $14MM-AAV contract will pay out $20MM in Year 1 and net Waynes $31MM after the 2021 season, per Pelissero. This puts Waynes among the top-10 highest-paid cornerbacks.
Waynes was a regular starter with Minnesota over the past three seasons and joins Xavier Rhodes among Vikings corners set to play elsewhere in 2020. Waynes will join another team that has valued corners extensively. The Bengals, despite losing Dennard, still roster ex-first-rounders Dre Kirkpatrick and William Jackson.
While Waynes has topped out at an above-average level, never grading above 70.0 on Pro Football Focus’ scale in five seasons (but never grading below 63.0), this still represents significant deviation for the Bengals. They just signed D.J. Reader to an eight-figure-per-year deal. He and Waynes double as the conservative franchise’s most notable outside free agent investments in many years.
The Vikings selected Waynes in the 2015 first round and used him as a starter in 53 games. Over the past few days, the Vikings have moved on from several members of the core they spent years assembling. Rhodes, Linval Joseph and Stefon Diggs are gone. Everson Griffen is a free agent. Minnesota has done some retooling this week and will need to add reinforcements at corner with two of their primary cover men out of the picture.