Browns To Sign Austin Hooper
The Browns have reached agreement with Austin Hooper, as NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. The deal will make Hooper the league’s highest paid tight end of all time. Hooper has also personally confirmed that the Browns are likely to land him (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). 
“I’m definitely leaning Cleveland. Unless something comes up unexpected, then no question Cleveland is the leader,” Hooper said.
Once finalized, the deal will pay Hooper $42MM over four years, as Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com tweets. The pact includes $18.5MM fully guaranteed at signing with $23MM locked in through the first two years. The average annual value of $10.5MM makes Hooper the league’s best compensated TE in NFL history, putting him ahead of Jimmy Graham. Graham, before he was cut, was on a deal that paid him $10MM per annum.
Hooper has drawn interest from just about everyone in recent weeks and, unlike the incumbent Falcons, they had enough available cap room to swing a deal. The deal, for now, is a (teleconferenced) handshake. On Wednesday, the two sides can make things official when the 2020 league year officially begins.
In 13 games for Atlanta in 2019, the two-time Pro Bowler set career-highs in catches (75), receiving yards (787), and touchdowns (six). In Cleveland, Hooper would provide Baker Mayfield with yet another explosive offensive weapon. Last year, despite all of their immense talent, the Browns were unable to capitalize.
This year, things could be different under their new regime, and their aerial attack could be more dangerous than ever. Meanwhile, the Browns will keep their fingers crossed for the swift and full recoveries of Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry, both of whom are coming off of surgery. If they’re good to go, opposing defenses will have their hands full with Hooper, OBJ, Landry, and David Njoku, who would likely line up in two tight end sets with the team’s new high-priced addition.
49ers, Arik Armstead Nearing Deal
The 49ers and Arik Armstead are on the verge of a brand new deal, Mike Florio of PFT (via Twitter) hears. That agreement is expected “very very soon,” he adds.
Many labeled Armstead as a bust early on, but he silenced critics with his performance in 2019. Pro Football Focus pegged the former first-rounder as the sixth-best edge defender out of 107 qualified players in the category. Meanwhile, Jadeveon Clowney ranked 20th, Shaquil Barrett ranked 25th, and Yannick Ngakoue ranked 36th. Barrett led the league with 19.5 sacks while Armstead recorded “just” ten sacks, but he had more quarterback hurries, which is perhaps a better indicator of sacks to come.
Some may say that Armstead is something of a one-hit wonder, dismissing his 2019 season as a well-timed burst before free agency. However, the talent has been there all along, and the Niners are confident that he’ll continue to build on that performance. It’s worth noting that Armstead has generated a hurry on over 9.2% of his pass-rush snaps over his career – none of the aforementioned players have topped 7.8%.
Along with Nick Bosa and Dee Ford, Armstead has helped to turn one of the Niners’ biggest weaknesses into the team’s greatest strength. With a new deal, SF will aim to keep that momentum going.
Vikings To Place Franchise Tag On Anthony Harris
Monday morning’s tag mania continues. A 13th team will use its tag. Less than ten minutes before the deadline, the Vikings will deploy their tag on safety Anthony Harris, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. It will cost the Vikings $11.4MM to use this tag.
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Harris was not viewed as a tag candidate, instead being set for free agency as one of the market’s top defenders. Now, he’ll be tethered to Minnesota’s payroll. The Vikings’ cuts of Xavier Rhodes and Linval Joseph, and their Kirk Cousins extension, helped create cap space to make a Harris tag possible.
Harris and Justin Simmons were the consensus top two options at the safety position, but the Broncos whittled that down recently by applying the franchise tag to their star in the secondary. Harris, a proven vet, has ranked among the league’s best safeties in his time with the Vikings. Understandably, the Vikes didn’t want to let him get away.
According to the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus, Harris has been a top-five safety in each of the last two years. Between 2018 and 2019, he’s totaled nine interceptions, 17 passes defended, and 106 tackles.
Patriots Tag Joe Thuney
The Patriots will use the franchise tag on offensive lineman Joe Thuney, as agent Mike McCartney tweets. It’s a stunning move – few expected the Patriots to cuff Thuney given their tight cap situation and reluctance to spend on their own free agents.
The tag does not guarantee that the Patriots will keep Thuney. Instead, this could be step one towards a tag-and-trade scenario. The left guard is a four-year starter who has never missed a game. He also just turned 27 in November – other clubs would love to have an elite interior protector in his prime.
It’s important to note that the franchise tag is the same for all offensive linemen, meaning that Thuney is now slated to make $14.8MM for the 2020 season. That’s the kind of compensation that goes to top offensive tackles. Then again, the guard market is rapidly rising – former Giants draft bust Ereck Flowers, for example, could be in line for an incomprehensibly lucrative pay day. Better options, like Redskins standout Brandon Scherff, have already been spoken for.
Meanwhile, the Patriots are working to keep franchise star Tom Brady in New England. The Titans, thought to be one of his biggest potential suitors, exited the sweepstakes by extending Ryan Tannehill. The Niners, meanwhile, are likely to stand pat with his one-time backup Jimmy Garoppolo.
Packers To Sign T Ricky Wagner
Ricky Wagner will jump from one NFC North offensive line to another. The Packers are signing the recently released Lions lineman, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
A former Ravens starter, Wagner served as the Lions’ right tackle for three seasons. He will be in line to succeed Bryan Bulaga in Green Bay. Bulaga is a free agent expected to have a strong market.
The Lions cut Wagner over the weekend, and the Packers emerged as a suitor Monday morning. Minutes after Green Bay was linked to the seven-year veteran, the sides had a deal. This marks the Packers’ second notable street free agent agreement of the morning, with the team adding linebacker Christian Kirksey as well. It looks like Brian Gutekunst plugged two holes in the team’s starting lineup before the tampering period begins.
Wagner graded as a substandard blocker, per Pro Football Focus, in 2019 but was solid in his initial two Lions seasons. The Lions cut bait on a five-year deal. Wagner came into the league three years after Bulaga did, but the former is only seven months younger than the longtime Green Bay right tackle. Both are 30. Since becoming a Ravens starter in 2014, Wagner has started 87 games.
Browns Tender Kareem Hunt, Release Morgan Burnett
The Browns placed a second-round tender on restricted free agent Kareem Hunt and released safety Morgan Burnett, as Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Both moves were expected, though the tender level for Hunt was in question. 
The second-round tender will cost roughly $3.3MM for 2020. If Hunt is signed to an offer sheet and the Browns decline to match, they would receive a second-round pick from the team signing him.
Hunt, of course, has been the subject of serious controversy in recent years. In 2018, the Chiefs cut Hunt after a surveillance video showed him striking a woman at a hotel in Cleveland. In that same year, he also got into a physical altercation with a man in Ohio. The Browns picked him up and Hunt vowed to make wholesale changes to his life. In January, police say Hunt was in possession of marijuana when they pulled him over for a traffic stop.
Since then, new Browns GM Andrew Berry has indicated that Hunt would be retained. On the field, he averaged nearly 60 yards from scrimmage per game and posted a 4.2 yards per carry mark.
Burnett, meanwhile, has been plagued by injuries over the last two seasons. The Browns released him with a failed-physical designation, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. An Achilles tear brought his 2019 season to an early end and the Browns, in turn, have terminated the second half of his two-year, $7.5MM deal. By shedding his deal, the Browns will save $3.375MM while carrying a dead money hit of $1.325MM.
Colts To Release DL Margus Hunt
Margus Hunt‘s 2019 extension will only end up lasting one season. The Colts are releasing the veteran defensive lineman, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).
Hunt has worked as a starter with Indianapolis over the past three seasons. He signed a two-year deal last March. The Colts helped the former first-round pick revive his career, after the Estonian talent sputtered with the Bengals.
This move will save the Colts $4MM, though it’s not like the team is in need of cap space. Indianapolis will again enter free agency loaded with offseason funds. The team is set to hold nearly $70MM in space. That figure is a tad down from the $100MM-plus mark of 2019, but the Colts have not been known as big spenders under current GM Chris Ballard.
Despite Hunt being a 2013 draftee, he is already 32 years old. After two productive seasons, he struggled in 2019. Pro Football Focus graded him outside the top 100 interior defenders last season.
Ravens Tender C Matt Skura
The Ravens are using the low tender on center Matt Skura, as Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. This will lock Skura in at a reasonable salary for the 2020 season, though they’ll receive no compensation if another team signs him as a restricted free agent and the Ravens do not match the offer. 
Skura is working his way back from a major knee injury, one that capped the starter at eleven games last year. After suffering ACL, MCL and PCL tears, Skura is still a few weeks away from running, though he hopes to be a participant in training camp this summer.
Before the injury, the 27-year-old had not missed a game since taking over for Ryan Jensen when he left for the Bucs in 2018. In fact, he never missed a snap. Skura played 1,889 snaps in that ’18 season and graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 12 overall center. If teams feel confident in his health, he seems likely to garner lots of interest and could even find a decent chunk of guaranteed money in an offer sheet.
Cowboys Place Franchise Tag On Dak Prescott
The Cowboys have placed exclusive franchise tag on Dak Prescott, according to David Moore of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter). This move means that no other team will be allowed to negotiate with him, which has pros and cons for the QB.
Under the traditional non-exclusive tag, Prescott would have been able to talk with other clubs that would potentially be willing to cough up a pair of first-round picks for the right to sign him. On the flipside, the exclusive tag would pay Prescott at the average of the league’s top-five salaries for the 2020 season. With the non-exclusive tag, it would have been the top-five average of last year.
The non-exclusive tag would have come at $26.8MM. With the exclusive version, the number should be somewhere around $31.6MM.
The Cowboys’ long-term negotiations with Prescott have been going on for some time and there was talk just before the season that the two sides were nearing a deal. Since then, the Cowboys haven’t made much progress in bridging the gap, though Jerry Jones & Co. have said repeatedly that they would keep him, one way or another.
With Prescott cuffed for the 2020 season, the Cowboys will turn their attention to finalizing a long-term deal with star receiver Amari Cooper. A new deal for Cooper won’t come cheap, though the depth of this year’s WR class in the draft may work to the Cowboys’ favor. Teams, in theory, could keep a lid on their offers with an eye on finding cheaper and younger receiving talent in April. Cooper’s camp is acutely aware of this scenario – even if they won’t admit it publicly.
In 2019, Cooper registered 79 receptions for 1,189 yards and eight touchdowns and graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 10 receiver in the NFL. Meanwhile, Prescott threw for 4,902 yards and 30 touchdowns and turned in an electric first half to the season.
Falcons To Cut Ty Sambrailo
The Falcons will cut offensive lineman Ty Sambrailo, according to a source who spoke with NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo (on Twitter). It’s just the latest Monday morning move by the Falcons to free up cap space this offseason and more releases could be on the way. 
Sambrailo, who just celebrated his 28th birthday, played in 13 games as a reserve last season. He also got to leave the Falcons with a memorable moment – a 35-yard touchdown reception against the Buccaneers to close out the season and his Atlanta tenure.
By releasing the veteran, the Falcons will save roughly $3.7MM against the 2020 cap. That’s money that can be used to shore up their defense and, potentially, help bring another running back into the fold. Moments ago, the Falcons released one-time star Devonta Freeman, leaving them perilously thin in that area. Then again, many anticipate that they’ll target their next running back in the (likely to be teleconferenced) draft.
Before the official start of business today, the Falcons also informed cornerback Desmond Trufant that he’ll be released sometime this week.