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.
Falcons Extend DE Steven Means
In the final days of a one-year Falcons contract, Steven Means landed another. The Falcons will bring back the veteran defensive end for the 2020 season, the team announced Monday.
It’s a one-year deal for the 29-year-old defender. The Falcons gave Means a one-year, $805K deal in February 2019.
With Means coming off a lost season due to an ACL tear during OTAs, this pact also figures to be a league-minimum agreement. The CBA proposal passing would stand to increase Means’ salary by more than $100K.
Means, 29, originally caught on with the Falcons in September 2018, agreeing to terms after being part of the Eagles’ Super Bowl LII-winning roster. He has registered one sack in each of the last three seasons and made four starts for the 2018 Falcons. The former Buccaneers fifth-round pick will be in line to vie for a Falcons backup job again this summer.
The Falcons also waived tackle Lukayus McNeil on Monday.
Bills To Sign Josh Norman
Josh Norman will attempt to bounce back with some familiar personnel. The former Panthers and Redskins cornerback agreed to terms with the Bills on a one-year deal, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter).
The contract is worth $6MM but could climb to $8MM based on incentives, Garafolo notes. This will reunite Norman with former Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott and ex-Carolina assistant GM Brandon Beane. The top two members of Buffalo’s power structure were with Carolina throughout Norman’s Panthers tenure. Beane revealed the Bills were interested last month.
Several teams expressed some degree of interest, which helps explain the $6MM Bills proposal, but Garafolo adds (via Twitter) Norman opted for Buffalo because of his familiarity with McDermott’s system and the presence of top-tier cornerback Tre’Davious White.
Washington released Norman earlier this year, cutting ties with what was the league’s top cornerback contract for years. The 32-year-old defender will return to the system that turned him from 2012 fifth-round pick to a first-team All-Pro.
As of now, Norman will become Buffalo’s highest-paid cornerback. While the team wants to extend White, the Bills’ CB1 remains attached to his rookie deal. The Bills have fellow rookie-contract cogs Levi Wallace and Taron Johnson in place as well, but Kevin Johnson looms as a free agent. Pro Football Focus graded Kevin Johnson as its No. 24 overall cornerback last season.
Norman dominated during the Panthers’ 2015 season, playing a key role in their run to Super Bowl 50. He intercepted four passes, taking two back for touchdowns. It remains one of the best contract-year performances in modern NFL history. The Panthers rescinded Norman’s franchise tag in April 2016, leading to his five-year, $75MM Redskins pact. He did not match that play in Washington, a tenure that ended with the Redskins benching him last season.
Norman’s $15MM-per-year deal did not produce a Pro Bowl with the Redskins, but he will land on his feet with a chance to become a supporting-caster on a talented Bills roster.
Chargers, Austin Ekeler Agree To Deal
The Chargers have identified the running back they’d like to keep for the long haul. Instead of Melvin Gordon, former UDFA Austin Ekeler now has a second Bolts contract.
Ekeler agreed to a four-year, $24.5MM deal on Friday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). This pact will include $15MM in guaranteed money. Ekeler was a restricted free agent but is now locked up through the 2023 season.
This represents a remarkable rise for Ekeler, who entered the league in 2017 undrafted out of Division II Western State (Colo.). While he backed up Gordon for most of his first two seasons, Ekeler thrived in a starting role and then alongside the former first-round pick in 2019.
He finished with 993 receiving yards — fifth-most ever in a season for a pure running back — and totaled 1,550 from scrimmage. Ekeler added 11 touchdowns and became the first Charger in 34 years to post a 100-100 game, which occurred against the Jaguars in December. His 10.3 receiving yards after catch ranked second in the NFL, per ESPN Stats & Info.
A report pointed Gordon toward free agency Thursday, and this Ekeler accord confirms it. After Gordon became extension-eligible in January 2018, the sides went two years without agreeing to terms. And Gordon’s 2019 holdout undoubtedly benefited his backup’s case for a payday. Ekeler agreed to his re-up — at a price south of what Gordon sought during his holdout — after being extension-eligible for barely two months. The Bolts and Ekeler began negotiating the extension in January, Schefter adds.
At 24, Ekeler is two years younger than Gordon and has logged 443 career touches — well behind Gordon’s 1,283. The Chargers should be able to rely on their passing-down back for a few more seasons, while Gordon will now have a chance to gauge his value on the open market.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/5/20
Today’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: OL John Wetzel
Denver Broncos
- Released: DL Billy Winn
- Waived: CB Horace Richardson
San Francisco 49ers
- Tendered as exclusive rights free agents: OL Daniel Brunskill, TE Ross Dwelley, CB Emmanuel Moseley, QB Nick Mullens, RB Jeff Wilson
Panthers To Sign Chris Smith
The Panthers have agreed to sign defensive lineman Chris Smith, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). It’s a one-year deal that will allow Smith to stay local as he returns to football.
Smith was away from the game in 2019 after the tragic death of his girlfriend. Recently, Smith’s camp reached out to teams to let them know that he was ready to make his NFL return. The Arkansas product met with the Panthers on Tuesday and the Bengals on Wednesday, but ultimately circled back to Charlotte to sign his deal. The 28-year-old hails from North Carolina.
The former fifth-rounder spent the first three seasons of his career with the Jaguars before moving on to the Bengals in 2017. In Cincy, he appeared in a career-high 16 games and compiled 26 tackles and three sacks, earning him a three-year contract with the Browns. He appeared in 16 games for the Browns during the 2018 season, but he was limited to only nine games this past year.
It’s already been a busy day for the Panthers. Earlier, the team made a trade with the Chargers that would send tackle Russell Okung to Carolina and guard Trai Turner to Los Angeles.
Chargers, Panthers Agree To Okung/Turner Swap
6:01pm: Turner wants a new contract, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter. It remains to be seen whether the Chargers would be willing to give him a deal that reflects the current guard market.
4:44pm: The Chargers and Panthers have reached tentative agreement on a trade that would send tackle Russell Okung to Carolina and guard Trai Turner to L.A., according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). It’s a swap of two big-time and big-bodied offensive lineman that addresses areas of need for both teams. 
The deal is not yet official, but it sounds like the core pieces are in place. Once the new league year begins on March 18, the deal can be finalized.
The Panthers started shopping Turner earlier this month and it didn’t take long for a deal to come together. He’s got two years to go on his four-year, $45MM pact, but the Chargers are happy to pick up what’s left of the tab. The contract is not cheap by any stretch, but the guard market has rapidly advanced to the point where interior enforcers are getting ~$15MM year.
Turner, who has made the Pro Bowl for the last five years, has 84 career games and 80 NFL starts to his credit. Last year, he graded out as the No. 31 ranked guard in the league, according to the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus. In 2015 – his coming-out party – he positioned as one of the game’s very best.
Okung was skeptical of his future with the Chargers and vocal about his complaints against the team. His L.A. tenure has been a bit of a mixed bag. In Year One, Okung earned Pro Bowl honors. Unfortunately, he lost much of last season due to blood clots in his lungs and a painful groin injury. All in all, he appeared in just six games for the Chargers.
No one expected Okung to fetch a ton on the trade block – he has one year left on his four-year, $53MM deal and the Bolts seemed likely to cut ties. His contract calls for a sizable $16.7MM cap hit; the Chargers had an escape hatch, however, that would have left them with just $3.5MM on the books.
The Chargers already have more than $50MM in available cap room and shedding Okung’s deal would push them into $60MM+ territory. They can direct those funds towards finding Philip Rivers‘ replacement or stick with Tyrod Taylor as their starter and spread the funds all around.
Okung, who is also looking to lead the NFLPA’s charge in CBA discussions, would probably be happy to rejoin offensive line coach Pat Meyer.
Texans To Re-Sign LS Jon Weeks
In a couple of weeks (get it?), the Texans will re-sign their longtime long snapper. The team has agreed to a new deal with Jon Weeks that will be formalized at the start of the league year, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter).
Weeks holds the Texans’ consecutive game streak with 160 straight appearances – he hasn’t missed work since joining the club in 2010. The Baylor product was not selected when he declared for the 2008 NFL Draft, but he kept with it and, eventually, found his home.
The 34-year-old is coming off of a four-year, $3.9MM extension he signed back in 2015. Terms of the new deal are not yet known, but the new pact might be long enough to secure him through the rest of his playing days.
Mike Adams Retires From NFL
Mike Adams is calling it a career. On Wednesday morning, the former Pro Bowl safety announced his retirement on NFL Network (Twitter link via Tom Pelissero). 
Adams leaves the sport after 16 seasons and 228 games played. The 38-year-old suited up for the 49ers, Browns, Broncos, Colts, Panthers, and, most recently, the Texans, over the course of his career. In 2014 and 2015, his first two seasons in Indy, he stepped into the limelight with back-to-back Pro Bowl nods. Remarkably, he did it in his age 33 and 34 seasons.
Eventually, Father Time caught up with Adams. After spending two seasons as a Panthers starter with snaps at both safety spots, the Panthers allowed him to walk following the 2018 season.
Adams’ 228 games played ranks him third all-time among NFL safeties, slotting him ahead of John Lynch, Brian Dawkins, and other football legends. We here at PFR wish Adams the best in retirement.
Jaguars To Trade A.J. Bouye To Broncos
The Broncos have themselves a new cornerback. On Tuesday, GM John Elway struck a deal with the Jaguars to acquire A.J. Bouye, as Mike Klis of 9News tweets. Klis notes in a separate tweet that multiple teams were interested in trading for Bouye, but he preferred to be dealt to Denver, and Jacksonville GM Dave Caldwell made it happen.
In exchange, the Jaguars will receive a 2020 fourth-round pick (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). The trade will be officially processed on March 18, when the new league year kicks off.
Once finalized, the Broncos will assume the $13.4MM owed to him in 2020 and the $13.5MM coming to him in 2021. The Broncos will honor that deal “for now,” Klis writes, so it sounds like the Broncos may look to restructure the contract once all of the dust settles.
The deal, in all likelihood, will mark the end of Chris Harris‘ tenure in Denver. Harris is set for free agency and he was already preparing himself to move on. The arrival of Bouye all but seals it. This also means that the Broncos will be less bullish on this year’s crop of free agent CBs, which includes notables like James Bradberry, Josh Norman, Logan Ryan, and Byron Jones.
Bouye teamed with Jalen Ramsey two years ago to help form one of the most talented secondary units in the NFL and aid the Jags in their run to the AFC title game. Now, that whole group has been revamped.
Instead, the Jaguars are choosing to retool and they’ll have a bevy of draft picks to make that happen. With the trade, they’ll have ten picks in the 2020 NFL Draft, with six of those picks coming in the first four rounds and two in the first round. As Schefter (Twitter link) notes, they’ve also got nine picks in 2021. And, in both years, they’ve got two picks in Round 1 and Round 4. The Jaguars will also have more to spend – by dealing Bouye, the Jaguars have cleared an additional $11.4MM in cap space.
Last year, Bouye recorded 65 tackles and one interception for the Jaguars. Still, he didn’t fit the Jaguars’ plans – Jacksonville would have released Bouye if they didn’t find a deal for him, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com hears (via Twitter).