Bills Pick Up Spencer Long’s Option
The Bills have exercised their option on offensive lineman Spencer Long, as ESPN.com’s Field Yates tweets. In related news, the club has also re-signed cornerback Levi Wallace and wide receiver Robert Foster; both players were due to be exclusive rights free agents this offseason. 
Long spent three years as the Redskins’ primary man in the middle before signing a a four-year, $27.5MM free agent deal with the Jets in 2018. That deal wound up lasting just one season when the Jets dropped him in February 2019. Days after he hit the market as a street free agent, the Bills scooped him up on a three-year, $13MM pact to keep him in the AFC East.
With the Bills, Long appeared in 14 games as a reserve. In theory, Long could wind up as a first-stringer in 2020 if the club does not retain left guard Quinton Spain, who is ticketed for free agency in March.
Spain, 28, should be in line for a sizable pay bump – whether it’s with the Bills or another club – given the dearth of quality linemen available. The Bills were happy with his work, even though the advanced metrics weren’t high on his performance in 2019.
Texans, Ka’imi Fairbairn Agree To Extension
The Texans have struck a new deal with kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. It’s a fresh four-year deal worth $17.65MM, according to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo (on Twitter). The pact includes $9MM in guaranteed money and positions him as the third-highest paid kicker in the NFL in terms of average annual value.
[RELATED: Texans, TE Darren Fells Agree To Extension]
Before the deal, Fairbairn was slated to reach unrestricted free agency. The new deal will keep him under contract through the 2023 season.
Since coming to Houston in 2017, Fairbairn has connected on 77 of 92 field goal tries and 111 of his 121 extra point attempts. He’ll try to keep up the good special teams work along with punter Bryan Anger, who recently re-upped with the team on a a three-year, $8.25MM deal.
The new deal marks a nice pay bump for Fairbairn, who collected a $3.095MM salary last year.
Panthers Sign Kyle Allen To Extension
Kyle Allen, in all likelihood, wasn’t going anywhere. Now, it’s official. On Tuesday, the Panthers announced a one-year extension for the quarterback. 
Allen was slated to become an exclusive rights free agent, which is to say that he wasn’t truly on course for free agency. Instead of exercising their right to keep Allen for another low-cast year, the Panthers have given him a fresh contract, one that might include a small bump in compensation.
Allen, 24, started in 12 games in Cam Newton‘s stead last year. Early on, he looked sharp – the Panthers rattled off four wins in his first four starts. After that, things got bumpy, though the blame couldn’t be entirely placed on his shoulder pads. The Panthers went 1-7 in Allen’s next eight starts as they tumbled out of playoff contention. The youngster finished out the year with 17 touchdowns against 16 interceptions and seven lost fumbles, a stat reflective of their offensive line issues.
Allen, a former UDFA, is slated to hold the clipboard for Newton once again this year. The Panthers reportedly plan to stick with the former MVP as their starter, but nothing is certain at this stage of the offseason.
Browns Release Christian Kirksey
The Browns have released linebacker Christian Kirksey, per a club announcement. Kirksey was one of the team’s longest-tenured players, but the club’s revamped regime did not see him as a part of their plans in 2020. 
“Christian Kirksey has been a vital member of our organization for the last six seasons because of his contributions on and off the field,” said Browns GM Andrew Berry, who overlapped with Kirksey in his original stint from 2016-2018. “He has been a strong leader both in our locker room and in the Cleveland community. These are difficult decisions and, in Christian’s case, more challenging because of how well he has represented our team. We thank him for his dedication and wish him nothing but the best in the next phase of his career.”
Kirksey played in 73 games and started 54 times over the course of six years. After his first four years of perfect attendance, the injury bug derailed him a bit. In 2018, he was held back by a hamstring injury. Last year, a torn pectoral muscle shut him down after just two games. He leaves the Browns after notching 484 stops, 11.5 sacks, two interceptions, and four forced fumbles. More importantly, he’ll leave behind a legacy of charitable work in the Cleveland area.
Cowboys Exercise Jamize Olawale’s Option
The Cowboys have picked up the 2020 option for fullback Jamize Olawale, as Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Olawale joined the Cowboys two years ago via trade with the Raiders and has been a key special teams piece ever since. 
[RELATED: Cowboys Increase Offer To Prescott]
In Oakland, Olawale was used to clear the way as a lead blocker. The Cowboys brought him in to take over for Keith Smith who, strangely enough, signed on with the Raiders in the same offseason.
Soon after the trade, the Cowboys gave Olawale a new three-year, $5.4MM deal with $2.8MM guaranteed, though the 2020 and 2021 seasons were left as option years. The Cowboys had to decide on those seasons before the end of the ’19 league year, and that’s what they did today.
Olawale, 31 in April, has 109 career appearances to his credit with 20 starts for the Raiders and Cowboys. He has not registered a carry since 2017 and did not catch a pass in 2019, though he was targeted twice on throws.
Ravens’ Marshal Yanda Retires From NFL
Marshal Yanda is calling it a career. On Wednesday, the Ravens’ guard will formally announce his retirement from the NFL, as ESPN.com’s Jamison Hensley tweets. 
[RELATED: Latest On Ravens’ Hurst, Smith]
Yanda, 35, spent his entire 13-season career with the Ravens. He also mulled retirement last year and there have been rumblings for the past few weeks about him hanging ’em up before the 2020 season. He’s following through on that, choosing to focus on family and his life outside of football.
Last year, Yanda helped the Ravens rack up 3,296 yards on the ground as he protected superstar Lamar Jackson & Co. That was an NFL all-time record, one that they couldn’t have achieved without stellar protection on the interior line from the eight-time Pro Bowler.
Along the way, Yanda also racked up two First-Team All-Pro nods and a Super Bowl ring. The veteran likely still has plenty of quality football left in the tank, but he also has nothing left to prove. He’s earned many millions of dollars since entering the league as a third-round pick in 2007 and reached the pinnacle of the sport – now, he’ll enjoy the fruits of his labor off of the field.
With Yanda out of the picture, the Ravens will be off the hook for his $7MM salary in 2020. They’re unlikely to find a better guard for that price.
Texans, Darren Fells Agree To Extension
The Texans have agreed to terms on a new two-year contract with tight end Darren Fells, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). The new deal is worth $7MM and will pay Fells a little more up front with $4MM in 2020. 
Fells, who will celebrate his 34th birthday in April, set a career high with seven touchdowns last year. It was an unexpected jump in offensive production for the veteran, who was previously known best for his blocking prowess.
Last summer, many thought that Fells was on the chopping block soon after signing his one-year deal with Houston. Six weeks after putting pen to paper, the Texans used a third-round choice on San Diego State’s Kahale Warring, a 6’5″ athlete with lots of promise as a blocker. Meanwhile, there were also “the Jordans” – 2018 picks Jordan Akins and Jordan Thomas.
Still, Fells emerged from the pack and as he started in all 16 games and caught 34 passes for 341 yards (and the aforementioned seven TDs.) Now, he’ll stick with the Texans for 2020 and possibly beyond.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/9/20
Today’s restricted free agent and exclusive rights free agent tender decisions will be posted below:
RFAs
Non-tendered:
- Buccaneers: OL Mike Liedtke
Liedtke has been with the Buccaneers organization since 2016, bouncing between the active roster and practice squad. He appeared in a career-high nine games for Tampa Bay in 2018. He missed the entire 2019 campaign thanks to shoulder surgery, but Greg Auman of The Athletic tweets that the 28-year-old is “almost fully recovered.”
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/9/20
Here are today’s minor moves:
Dallas Cowboys
- Re-signed: OL Adam Redmond
The Harvard product has spent the past two seasons with the Cowboys, including a 2018 campaign when he appeared in a career-high 10 games. After not seeing the field through the first two-plus months of the 2019 season, Redmond landed on the injured reserve. The lineman was set to be an exclusive rights free agent.
Raiders Release LB Tahir Whitehead
Tahir Whitehead‘s Raiders run will end after two seasons. The team released the veteran linebacker on Monday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The Raiders have since announced the move.
One season remained on Whitehead’s three-year, $19MM deal. The Raiders cutting Whitehead will save them $6.25MM, bumping their cap-space figure up north of $56MM.
Set to turn 30 in two weeks, Whitehead provided durability in Oakland. Part of Jon Gruden‘s initial free agency class upon coming back to the NFL, Whitehead started all 32 Raiders games during his tenure. He has not missed a start since the 2016 season and has only missed three games in his eight-year career. The former Lions starter also extended his streak of 100-tackle seasons to four during the Raiders’ Oakland swansong, posting 108 stops.
Whitehead was by far Oakland’s tackles leader in each of his two seasons there, registering 126 in 2018. But he is no longer in line to be part of the franchise’s Las Vegas run.
This will leave the Raiders in need at multiple linebacker spots. They relied on Whitehead last year after signings of Vontaze Burfict and Brandon Marshall did not work out. Although Burfict has since been reinstated from his suspension, the perpetual suspension risk is certainly no lock to come back. No Gruden-era draftee resides on Las Vegas’ roster at linebacker, pointing the Raiders toward addressing this area in both free agency and the draft.