Lions To Sign Chase Daniel
The Lions have agreed to sign Chase Daniel, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). It’ll be a three-year, $13.05MM deal for the former Bears quarterback and, interestingly, Schefter hears that the deal will include a voidable clause. 
Daniel joined the Bears on a two-year deal back in 2018 – a pact that also included a void clause. The provision works in Daniel’s favor. If he breaks out a la Nick Foles, he can cash in on the open market. If he remains as a steady clipboard-holding hand, the Lions will get to keep him at a reasonable rate for a respected backup.
Daniel represents a fascinating case in the NFL. At the age of 33 (he’ll be 34 in October), he’s started in just five career NFL games. Still, coaches love his talent and his locker room leadership, so he has cashed in with various clubs in recent years.
Last year, Daniel’s lone start came against the Raiders – the Bears lost that game 24-21. In 2018 (just a few starts ago) he led the Bears to victory over the Lions on Thanksgiving Day.
Panthers Give Cam Newton Permission To Seek Trade
The Panthers may be moving on from Cam Newton. On Tuesday, the club announced that they have granted their star quarterback permission to seek a trade.
“One of the distinct pleasures of my career was selecting Cam with the first pick in the 2011 draft,” GM Marty Hurney said in a statement. “Every year difficult decisions are made and they are never easy. We have been working with Cam and his agent to find the best fit for him moving forward and he will always be a Carolina Panther in our hearts.”
Newton, 31 in May, captured the NFL’s MVP trophy in 2015 and led the team to the Super Bowl. He also owns just about every franchise record for QBs.
Unfortunately, injuries have taken his career in a different direction as of late. The three-time Pro Bowler has gone under the knife multiple times, including surgeries to his throwing shoulder and left foot.
Newton may have lost some of his luster, but he should still hold appeal for teams in need of QB help. He’s slated to make just $18.6MM this season, making him a fairly affordable bridge option.
Any interested clubs will want to take a close look at his aforementioned maladies. At last check, we heard that Newton could ready to throw sometime this month, though the Panthers were planning to be cautious with him and delay some of his work until later in the spring.
Meanwhile, the Panthers are showing very strong interest in quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, sources tell Dianna Russini of ESPN.com (on Twitter). They’ll have competition for Teddy Two-Gloves, however – the Bears have shown interest (though they seem ready to pivot towards other passers) and the Bucs also see him as a strong fallback if they’re unable to land Tom Brady.
If the Panthers don’t go for Bridgewater, or another one of this year’s high-profile free agent QBs, they could consider a passer in the first round of the draft. The Panthers own the No. 7 overall pick, putting them in good position for most of this year’s top signal callers.
Bills To Sign Mario Addison
The Bills have agreed to a three-year deal with defensive end Mario Addison, according to Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The deal is yet another example of the power of networking – Buffalo’s “Carolina North” leadership was happy to reunite with the veteran.
Addison is coming up on his age-33 season, but he’s shown that he has plenty of football left in the tank. Last year, he tallied 9.5 sacks. And, in each of the past four seasons, he’s had at least nine sacks. His durability isn’t in question, either – he’s missed just one game over the past three years with strong attendance dating back to his first season as an NFL regular with the Panthers back in 2013.
Addison will help soften the blow after the Bills lost Shaq Lawson to the Dolphins. He might not be a one-for-one replacement, but he should be able to keep the pressure on, alongside Jerry Hughes, Trent Murphy, and the rest of the gang.
Financial terms of the deal are not yet known.
Dolphins To Sign Emmanuel Ogbah
Emmanuel Ogbah has agreed to terms with the Dolphins on a two-year deal, as ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. The defensive end will earn $15MM on the contract, with $7.5MM of it fully guaranteed. 
Ogbah was shipped from the Browns to the Chiefs in April of last year, thanks in part to brokering by agent Drew Rosenhaus. Unfortunately, his season was halted midway when he suffered a torn pectoral muscle in November.
Ogbah had 5.5 sacks on the year before going down, leading the team at the time of his injury. Now, the former second-round pick is taking his talents to South Beach.
The Dolphins have been busy this week. Yesterday, they inked former Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy (which came with the bonus of taking him away from the rival Jets). They also fortified their secondary by agreeing to terms with former Cowboys corner Byron Jones.
Saints, Drew Brees Agree To Deal
No surprise here. Drew Brees and the Saints have agreed to a brand new deal, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter).
Brees has re-upped with the team on a two-year, $50MM deal. Long ago, he confirmed that he would not be leaving the Saints, so it was just a matter of years and money.
The 19-year veteran turned down a two-year, $60M fully guaranteed deal from the Cardinals in 2018 to sign with the Saints, and he’s back on the same terms — two years, $50MM — he signed for then. This will almost certainly allow Brees to finish his career in New Orleans.
Brees, 41, is still playing at an extremely high level. The Saints, meanwhile, are also looking ahead. They’ll pass the torch from Brees to Taysom Hill this year – all while moving on from proven vet Teddy Bridgewater.
This is the fifth contract Brees has signed with New Orleans. Arriving in 2006, Brees has become by far the best and most important player in franchise history. He has become the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards and touchdown passes and moved the Saints’ playoff win total from one to nine.
The future first-ballot Hall of Famer finished second in the 2018 MVP voting and looked sharp upon returning from his thumb injury last season, completing 74% of his throws for a second straight season and throwing 27 touchdown passes in just 11 games. While he may cede more time to Hill this season, the Saints’ best chance at another Super Bowl title will almost certainly involve Brees.
Texans To Sign Randall Cobb
Randall Cobb is headed to Houston. The Texans have agreed to sign the former Cowboys wide receiver and longtime Packers star, according to old friend James Jones (on Twitter).
Once finalized, it’ll be a three-year deal worth $27MM. The pact also includes $18.75MM guaranteed – a solid haul considering Cobb’s age and injury history.
While Cobb took a one-year, $5MM deal with the NFL’s other Texas team in 2019, this Houston pact comes in nearly as high as the deal the Packers gave him amid his prime in 2015. Cobb played out his four-year, $40MM Green Bay deal and fared well in Dallas on a prove-it pact.
Cobb, 30 in August, stayed healthy last year and appeared in 15 games for the Cowboys. Although Dallas fell short of the postseason, he had a productive campaign with 55 catches for 828 yards and three touchdowns.
In Houston, he’ll try to be part of the solution after yesterday’s shocking trade of DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals. Cobb will join Kenny Stills and Will Fuller in Houston, likely stepping into a familiar slot role while the deep threats work the boundaries. However, Cobb is the only member of this trio signed beyond 2020. Both Stills and Fuller are set for UFA status in 2021, so the Texans still have work to do at wide receiver after Monday’s stunner.
Cardinals To Sign Jordan Phillips
The Cardinals have signed defensive tackle Jordan Phillips, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The former Bills defender has inked a three-year deal worth $40MM with $18.5MM guaranteed, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). Technically, it’s a four-year deal, but Phillips is really only ticketed for three since the 2023 season will be voided if he is on the roster five days after the 2022 season’s Super Bowl is played.
The incumbent Bills didn’t make a major play to keep Phillips. They drafted Ed Oliver at No. 9 overall last year, they have promising 2018 third-rounder Harrison Phillips coming back from injury, and they’re set to retain Star Lotulelei for a third season. Other clubs would have considered Phillips as a franchise tag candidate, but the Bills were in a unique position and allowed him to walk.
Phillips enjoyed a remarkable turnaround in Buffalo. The Bills claimed former second-round pick off waivers from the Dolphins in 2018, and he went on to become a key component of the Bills’ elite pass D. Last year, he tallied 9.5 sacks – nearly double the amount he totaled between all of 2016, 2017, and 2018. He also had 16 quarterback hits. The advanced metrics weren’t fond of his work (Phillips ranked just No. 103 out of 113 qualified interior defenders) but NFL evaluators, especially those in Arizona, didn’t mind.
Giants To Sign LB Blake Martinez
The Giants have agreed to sign Packers free agent linebacker Blake Martinez, as NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. Once finalized on or after Wednesday, it’ll be a three-year deal worth $30MM. 
Martinez, 26, has landed an uncommonly lucrative deal for a middle linebacker. Still, it’s important to remember that the market has shifted in recent years, with big names like C.J. Mosley and Bobby Wagner leading the way. The Giants hope that their deal with Martinez turns out better than the Jets’ pact with Mosley; of course, the age differential between the two players is key. Martinez’s best years are still ahead of him and the Giants were happy to pay the price to land him.
Martinez turned in another productive season in 2019, tallying a career-high 155 tackles to go along with three sacks, two passes defended, an interception, and one forced fumble. The linebacker has finished with at least 140 tackles in each of the past three seasons.
The Martinez signing came hours after the club also agreed to terms with Panthers free agent cornerback James Bradberry. Giants GM Dave Gettleman is intent on revamping the team’s swiss cheese defense this offseason and he’s doing so with his trademark aggressiveness.
49ers Re-Sign Jimmie Ward
The 49ers have been forced to reshape their defense, but they’re still looking to hold on to their own where ever possible. That’s what they did with safety Jimmie Ward, who has been re-upped on a new three-year deal worth $28.5MM, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). 
[RELATED: 49ers Trade Buckner To Colts]
Ward, 28, has been set back by injuries throughout his career, but he stayed healthy for the most part and shined in 2019. The veteran tallied a career-best 65 tackles in 13 starts, an indicator that even better things could be on the horizon.
Last year, the Niners kept Ward with a one-year prove-it deal. This time around, he has the security of a multi-year pact that will pay him $9.5MM per annum.
The Northern Illinois product was an integral part of SF’s secondary last year. On the whole, the unit graded out No. 2 in defensive DVOA. He also settled in at the free safety position – before last year, he saw time at multiple spots as coaches tried to figure out the best way to use him.
All along, Ward has said that he wanted to return to the NFC champs.
“This is where I would like to be,” Ward said in February (via Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area). “I like to continue playing for this great organization.”
Now, he’s under contract with the Niners through the 2022 season.
Redskins Sign Kendall Fuller
Kendall Fuller is headed back to D.C. The Redskins have reached agreement with the cornerback on a four-year deal worth $40MM, as NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. 
The Redskins selected Fuller in the third round of the 2016 draft and shipped him to the Chiefs in 2018 in the Alex Smith deal. Now, he’s coming back to where it all started and he’ll help fill the gap after the club moved on from Josh Norman.
Fuller, 25, appeared in eleven games for KC last year and tallied 49 tackles. For his career, he’s appeared in 55 games for the Redskins and Chiefs. Fuller has usually garnered strong marks from Pro Football Focus, and he had the game-sealing interception of Jimmy Garoppolo to give the Chiefs their Super Bowl LIV victory.
Washington has clearly made upgrading the defense a priority under new head coach Ron Rivera, and they’ve already made several moves on that side of the ball. Fuller should be a building block in the secondary for years to come.