Minor NFL Transactions: 4/10/19
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Re-signed: TE Darrell Daniels (exclusive rights free agent), OL Jeremy Vujnovich (ERFA)
Buffalo Bills
- Re-signed: DE Eddie Yarbrough (ERFA)
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: DT T.J. Barnes, DT Destiny Vaeao
Cincinnati Bengals
- Re-signed: CB Tony McRae (ERFA), G Alex Redmond (ERFA)
Dallas Cowboys
- Waived: G Parker Ehinger, DT Aziz Shittu
Green Bay Packers
- Re-signed: TE Robert Tonyan (ERFA)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: S Cody Brown (AAF)
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: QB John Wolford (AAF)
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: LB Greer Martini (AAF)
New York Jets
- Signed: QB Brandon Silvers (AAF)
- Re-signed: DL Bronson Kaufusi (ERFA), LB Anthony Wint (ERFA)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: S Orion Stewart (AAF)
Giants, Sterling Shepard Agree To Extension
The Giants have finalized a four-year, $41MM extension with wide receiver Sterling Shepard, a source tells Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). Prior to the extension, Shepard was set to hit the open market after the 2019 season. 
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Shepard, the team’s longest-tenured receiver, is now the club’s highest-paid player at the position. It’s a larger than expected deal for Shepard, especially since his skill set mirrors that of new acquisition Golden Tate.
By the same token, the Giants will be relying on Shepard even more now that Odell Beckham is out of the picture. He’ll look to build off of a career year in 2018 when he hauled in 66 receptions for 872 yards and four touchdowns. The 26-year-old spent most of the year in the slot, though he also lined up outside towards the end of the year while OBJ was sidelined.
The former 2016 second-round pick and Tate are set to headline the Giants’ WR depth chart with support from the recently re-signed Russell Shepard, Corey Coleman, Bennie Fowler, Cody Latimer, and others.
Patriots To Sign TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins
The Patriots have agreed to sign tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins to a one-year deal, tweets Field Yates of ESPN.com. 
The pact is worth the veteran minimum salary, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), who adds ASJ chose New England over the Seahawks. Seferian-Jenkins received a $50K signing bonus and can earn another $40K in additional bonuses, tweets Tom Pelissero of NFL.com.
New England is facing the overwhelming task of replacing All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski, who retired late last month. Seferian-Jenkins, clearly, isn’t Gronk, but he’ll give the Patriots another option on a tight end depth chart that also includes Jacob Hollister, Stephen Anderson, Ryan Izzo, and free agent addition Matt LaCosse.
A former second-round pick, Seferian-Jenkins floundered until joining the Jets midway through the 2016 campaign. In 2017, ASJ started 10 games for New York, posting 50 receptions for 357 yards (both career-highs) and three touchdowns. That performance earned him a two-year $10MM deal with the Jaguars.
Seferian-Jenkins’ season with Jacksonville wasn’t a success, as he appeared in only five games before landing on injured reserve. ASJ posted only 11 total receptions and ranked as one of the NFL’s least efficient tight ends, per Football Outsiders. On the positive side, Pro Football Focus did grade Seferian-Jenkins as a top-11 run-blocker at his position.
Given the low level of the Patriots’ contractual commitment, signing Seferian-Jenkins shouldn’t rule out another tight end addition in New England. Several draft prospects — including Iowa’s Noah Fant and Alabama’s Irv Smith Jr. — have been popularly mocked to the Patriots.
Giants To Re-Sign WR Russell Shepard
The Giants have agreed to re-sign wide receiver Russell Shepard, as he indicated himself in an Instagram post.
Shepard, 28, spent the first five years of his career in the NFC South, playing for the Buccaneers and Panthers before inking a one-year deal with the Giants last offseason. The former undrafted free agent had never been much of an offensive force, as he’d reached career highs in receptions (23) and yards (341) during the 2016 campaign. Shepard’s first season in New York wasn’t much different, as he posted just 10 catches for 188 yards and two scores.
Shepard could potentially contribute to an Odell Beckham-less Giants receiving corps in 2019, but it’s more likely he makes his impact on special teams. He played 58.5% of Big Blue’s special teams snaps last year, managing four tackles and helping New York’s ST unit rise from 32nd to 3rd in Football Outsiders’ special teams rankings. As Jordan Rannan of ESPN.com tweets, Shepard was also considered a solid veteran presence in the Giants’ locker room.
Last year, Shepard’s one-year deal with the Giants had a base value of $1.25MM and contained roughly $750K in incentives. Details of his new pact haven’t been announced, but Shepard likely inked a similar accord.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/9/19
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: LS Cole Mazza
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: WR Greg Ward
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: DL Casey Sayles (AAF)
Lions Sign QB Tom Savage
The Lions have signed free agent QB Tom Savage, per Tim Twentyman of the team’s official website (via Twitter).
Savage has had a tough go of it since entering the league as a fourth-round pick of the Texans in 2014. He served as a backup in his rookie campaign, missed all of 2015 with a shoulder injury, worked primarily as a backup to Brock Osweiler in 2016, and finally got his chance to start in 2017. But he made it through just the first half of the first game of the 2017 season, and he was benched at halftime in favor of Deshaun Watson, whom the team had drafted in the first round that year. He reentered the starting lineup when Watson went down with an ACL injury, but he ended up putting together a 1-6 record and a 71.4 quarterback rating.
Savage signed with the Saints last April but was cut before the start of the regular season, and he bounced on and off of the 49ers’ roster for several months. He finished out the 2018 campaign with the Bengals, who claimed him off waivers in November, but he did not see a regular season snap last year.
For his career, Savage has a 2-7 record and has thrown for five touchdowns against seven interceptions. With Detroit, he will compete to serve as Matthew Stafford‘s backup. The only other QB currently on the Lions’ roster is Connor Cook, though the club may select a passer in this month’s draft.
As Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com observes, the Savage signing means that the Lions will not be bringing back last year’s No. 2 signal-caller, Matt Cassel.
Dolphins Sign Kenneth Farrow, Three Others
The Dolphins have signed AAF standout Kenneth Farrow, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Miami, which is in full rebuild mode, has raided the now-defunct AAF, adding linebackers Tyrone Holmes and Jayrone Elliott and offensive lineman Michael Dunn in recent days.
Farrow signed with the Chargers as a UDFA out of Houston in 2016 and saw action in 13 games (2 starts) that year. He totaled 262 yards from scrimmage, most of which came after a late-season injury to Melvin Gordon created an opportunity for playing time. Farrow’s 2017 season was wiped out by a shoulder injury, and Los Angeles waived him last April. He bounced on and off the Patriots’ taxi squad in 2018, but he did not see game action.
As a member of the AAF’s San Antonio Commanders, though, Farrow compiled 372 rushing yards (tied for second in the league) and four TDs. He added 12 catches for 95 yards, and he may get an extended look on the talent-needy Dolphins.
As Jackson writes, the Dolphins have also added former AAF players Joey Mbu (DT), Reece Horn (WR), and Jaryd Jones-Smith (OT).
Patriots To Re-Sign K Stephen Gostkowski
The Patriots are re-signing long-time kicker Stephen Gostkowski to a two-year contract, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
The timing of the deal is interesting, as we hadn’t heard any updates on negotiations between the two sides for nearly three weeks. Earlier today, however, a report that the 49ers were interested in Gostkowski surfaced, and perhaps that was the push that New England needed to pull the trigger.
Gostkowski, 35, has served as the Patriots’ place kicker since 2006, and he just finished a four-year, $17.2MM pact that he signed in 2015, but the Pats elected to not use the franchise tag on him and allowed him to hit the free agent market for the first time. After paying Gostkowski an average of $4.3MM per year over the last four seasons, New England was said to be waiting for a “market correction” (in other words, they wanted to pay him less this time around).
Other teams were reportedly interested in his services, but before today, we did not have any specifics in that regard.
Gostkowski is the third-most accurate kicker in league history. Last year, he made 27 of his 32 field goal attempts, good for an 84.4% conversion rate that ranked 20th in the NFL. He missed only a single extra point, and the Patriots ranked 17th in Football Outsiders‘ field goal/extra point metric.
New England selected Gostkowski in the fourth round of the 2006 draft, and he and punter Ryan Allen — who re-signed with the club last month — will work as the Pats’ kicking specialists for the seventh straight year.
Eagles Sign WR Charles Johnson
Wide receiver Charles Johnson is back in the NFL. The former Viking and AAF standout has signed with the Eagles, according to a team announcement. 
Johnson entered the NFL as a seventh-round pick of the Packers in 2013, but he first made his mark in 2014 when he caught 31 passes for 475 yards and two scores for the Vikings. He wasn’t used a whole lot in his 2015 follow-up, but he managed 20 catches for 232 yards in 2016, his last season in the NFL.
This year, Johnson hooked on with the Orlando Apollos of the AAF and established himself as one of the best offensive talents in the short-lived league. In eight games for the Orlando Apollos, Johnson registered 45 grabs for 685 yards and five scores.
Falcons To Sign DE Adrian Clayborn
The Falcons are signing Adrian Clayborn, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The defensive end will return to Atlanta on a one-year deal worth up to $4MM. 
This marks a homecoming for Clayborn, who spent 2015-2017 with the Falcons. In his final Atlanta season, Clayborn registered a career-high 9.5 sacks, but his 2018 follow-up with the Patriots (2.5 sacks) was not quite as impressive.
In mid-March, the Pats cut him loose. The Patriots used Clayborn as a pass-rushing specialist and employed him in 14 regular season games. All in all, he played in 30% of the team’s defensive snaps last year, but he was a healthy scratch in the final two contests of the season.
Even if he’s lost a step, Clayborn fills a need for the Falcons on the defensive line.