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Seahawks, S Julian Love Reach Agreement On Extension

July 24th, 2024 at 10:07pm CST by Ely Allen

After making his first Pro Bowl with the Seahawks last year, safety Julian Love was set to enter the 2024 season on the final year of his contract. It appears that Seattle valued his contribution in 2023 enough to sign Love to a new three-year extension worth up to $36MM, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Love left Notre Dame after his junior season as a consensus All-American, getting drafted in the fourth round by the Giants in 2019. Over his first three seasons, Love wasn’t viewed as a starter in New York, often sitting behind the likes of Antoine Bethea, Jabrill Peppers, Logan Ryan, and Xavier McKinney. Still, he got a decent amount of playing time with at least five starts in each of those first three years and nabbing one interception in each of those years, as well.

In the final year of his rookie contract, Love finally earned a role as a full-time starter on the Giants defense. Love led the team with a career-high 124 tackles, earning other career highs in interceptions (two), tackles for loss (six), and sacks (one). His efforts earned him a spot in Seattle with a two-year, $12MM contract, despite beliefs in New York that Love would re-sign with the Giants.

Despite seeming to be a superfluous addition to a secondary that already rostered Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams, Love found new life in Seattle. In his first season with the Seahawks, Love started 12 games, filling in as an injury replacement for Adams at first, before becoming too crucial to the defense to keep off the field. Love was all over the field on defense, finishing second on the team with 123 tackles, while tallying career highs in interceptions (4) and passes defensed (10). With the releases of both Adams and Diggs, Love will take over alongside newly signed Rayshawn Jenkins as the top safety duo in Seattle this coming season.

Before his new deal, Love was expected to head into the final year of his two-year contract with a cap hit of $8.09MM. Love’s extension will likely lower that figure while rewarding the safety with a new signing bonus. Instead of dealing with free agency next offseason, the two parties will now be tied together through the 2027 NFL season.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/24/24

July 24th, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Ely Allen

Wednesday’s minor transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Placed on active/NFI list: T Gottlieb Ayedze, WR Shaquan Davis
  • Placed on active/PUP list: S Sydney Brown

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

In New Orleans, Young has officially made the comeback from offseason neck surgery, passing his physical today alongside Olave, who is no stranger to offseason injuries.

Treadwell will join his eighth team in nine years after only making one catch in five games with the Ravens last season.

Brown is working his way back from an ACL tear that he suffered in the final game of his rookie season last year, so it’s no surprise that he will start the offseason on PUP.

Broncos, Quinn Meinerz Agree On Extension

July 24th, 2024 at 11:30am CST by Sam Robinson

JULY 24: The base value of Meinerz’s deal will leave the NFL’s $20MM-per-year guard count at four. This contract checks in at four years and $72MM, according to OverTheCap. Of Meinerz’s $45MM guarantee, $24MM is locked in at signing. Incentives cover $8MM in this deal, which could take it to $80MM if maxed out.

The improving guard secured a rolling guarantee structure for 2026 as well. If Meinerz is on Denver’s roster by Day 5 of the 2025 league year, his 2026 base salary ($14.86MM) becomes guaranteed. Meinerz’s 2024 and ’25 base salaries are guaranteed at signing. If Meinerz is on the Broncos’ roster by Day 5 of the 2027 league year, $6.14MM of his 2027 base ($17.49MM) will become guaranteed.

JULY 16: Already carrying three veteran contracts on their offensive line, the Broncos are adding a fourth. Quinn Meinerz is now Denver’s highest-paid blocker, with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reporting the team’s ascending right guard has an extension in place.

The former third-round pick agreed to a four-year deal worth $80MM; $45MM will be guaranteed to the Division III product. Meinerz, who has become one of the NFL’s better guards over the past two seasons, is now signed through the 2028 season. This eclipses Garett Bolles‘ deal for the most lucrative pact handed to an O-lineman in Broncos history.

Earlier this offseason, we mentioned Meinerz as an extension candidate. The Broncos will have some more breathing room beginning in 2026, when the Russell Wilson dead money is off the books, and Meinerz will be paired with Bo Nix‘s rookie contract. While right tackle Mike McGlinchey is locked in through at least 2025, Bolles is playing on an expiring contract. Left guard Ben Powers‘ four-year deal also pays out its guarantees this season. Meinerz now sits as the top investment along Denver’s O-line, becoming the NFL’s fifth $20MM-per-year guard.

Meinerz’s deal follows Quenton Nelson, Chris Lindstrom, Landon Dickerson and Robert Hunt in the $20MM-AAV club at this increasingly valuable position. This contract matches the Hunt and Nelson deals for AAV; Dickerson remains the NFL’s highest-paid guard. Although Meinerz has yet to be selected for a Pro Bowl, the interior mauler — known at one point for his “The Belly” alias — has been one of the top-rated guards over the past two seasons.

While GM George Paton made some memorably bad decisions in 2022 — the Wilson trade/extension, the Nathaniel Hackett hire — his 2021 draft class has panned out thus far to help keep the team afloat. Meinerz joins Patrick Surtain as the anchors from that group, though the Broncos have a few other contributors from Paton’s first offering as a GM. Pro Football Focus graded Meinerz as a top-five guard in 2022 and slotted him third among guards last season. The advanced metrics site placed Meinerz, 25, as the NFL’s best run-blocking guard in 2023.

Sean Payton was not present for Meinerz’s arrival, but the second-year Broncos boss has long placed a premium on interior O-line success. Payton invested heavily in interior blockers to help protect Drew Brees; current Broncos O-line coach Zach Strief was part of that effort. Jahri Evans became a pillar for the Saints, while the team also used first-round picks to acquire Andrus Peat and Cesar Ruiz. Erik McCoy, who has become one of the NFL’s top centers, arrived via second-round pick during the end of Payton’s New Orleans run.

The Saints also signed Larry Warford to a big-ticket free agent deal in 2017, the same year the Broncos added Ronald Leary in free agency. Denver did not see Leary or 2020 free agent guard signee Graham Glasgow provide sufficient value, but the team continued down the free agent path with Powers. The late-blooming Ravens success story started 17 games alongside Meinerz last season. Powers, 27, is signed through 2026. The Broncos have bigger plans for Meinerz, who has become one of the NFL’s most unique success stories in recent years.

The COVID-19 pandemic nixed Division III’s 2020 season, leading Meinerz to train on his own ahead of the draft. A Senior Bowl invite, along with some mid-’80s Rocky Balboa-like training techniques, propelled the Wisconsin-Whitewater product to a Day 2 investment.

Replacing an injured Glasgow in 2021, Meinerz has started 39 career games. A Meinerz extension likely factored into the Broncos’ decision not to re-sign Dalton Risner last year — though, the four-year guard starter did not prove to be expensive in free agency — and the team will aim for Meinerz to block for Nix for many seasons moving forward.

Browns Place Nick Chubb, Jedrick Wills, Jack Conklin On PUP List

July 24th, 2024 at 11:00am CST by Sam Robinson

The Browns entered their wild-card game without Nick Chubb and both their starting tackles. Although Deshaun Watson has returned after missing the stretch run, Cleveland remains without its Pro Bowl running back and tackle tandem.

Chubb joined Jedrick Wills and Jack Conklin on the Browns’ active/PUP list to open training camp Wednesday. Neither Wills nor Conklin participated in Browns minicamp, working off to the side. Conklin, however, said this month he expected to be a training camp participant. That will not take place at the outset. Chubb is coming off two knee surgeries, making his placement on the camp injured list unsurprising.

Players stationed on the active/PUP list can be activated at any point during camp, as teams do not have to make decisions pertaining to the reserve/PUP list — which sidelines players for at least four games — for a few weeks. Chubb can be considered a candidate for that list, but it would surprise if Conklin or Wills did not return to practice soon. Conklin sustained ACL and MCL tears in Week 1 of last season, while Wills went down with an MCL sprain in December.

Now in a contract year, Wills will need to bounce back to earn a lucrative deal — either via a Browns extension or as a 2025 free agent — after missing nine games last season. Given the nature of the former first-rounder’s injury, it is a bit surprising he remains out of the mix regarding full work. Wills’ MCL issue did lead to surgery, however. The 2020 draftee has started all 53 games he has played in Cleveland, joining Conklin — a 2020 free agency pickup — as the team’s starters in that span.

Conklin, 30 in August, has seen knee injuries play a regular role during his NFL career. He went down midway through the 2018 season with an ACL tear — a setback that contributed to the Titans declining his fifth-year option — and missed 10 Browns games due to a torn patella tendon in 2021. The knee maladies are piling up for Conklin, whom the Browns extended late in the 2022 season. But the former first-round pick is expected to man Cleveland’s RT post again soon.

Given a substantial pay cut this offseason, Chubb is attempting to make his way back from two knee surgeries performed last fall. Chubb did not sustain a full ACL tear, though he did tear an MCL fully, in Week 2 of last season. But the Browns are expected to be cautious with the perennial Pro Bowler. It is not yet known when Chubb will be unleashed this season, and it would not surprise to see the team stash him on the reserve/PUP list. Though, that would create questions at running back for the AFC North club.

In addition to Chubb, the Browns have free agent signing Nyheim Hines rehabbing a major knee injury. The former Colts and Bills RB landed on Cleveland’s active/NFI list, as the injury he sustained while on a jet ski in 2023 has sidelined him for over a year. Hines is aiming for a return during camp. The Browns, who added D’Onta Foreman as RB insurance, also placed DT Dalvin Tomlinson on their active/PUP list with a knee issue. Greg Newsome landed on Cleveland’s active/NFI list with a hamstring injury. Safety D’Anthony Bell is also on the Browns’ PUP list.

Rams, Matthew Stafford Reach Contract Resolution

July 23rd, 2024 at 10:12pm CST by Adam La Rose

Rams head coach Sean McVay announced on Tuesday that an agreement has been reached with Matthew Stafford on a new contract. The Super Bowl-winning quarterback will be in attendance at training camp.

McVay did not go into specifics with respect to financial terms, but he noted (via NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo) today’s agreement is not an extension. As a result, Stafford remains under contract through the 2026 campaign. Only one more year remained on the pact with guaranteed salary, so this restructure presumably includes new locked in compensation.

It became known during the draft that Stafford was seeking guarantees beyond 2024. The 36-year-old delivered a healthy and productive season last year, putting to rest thoughts of a trade sending him out of Los Angeles or (for at least the time being) speculation about retirement. McVay confirmed Stafford would remain in place for the coming campaign atop the QB depth chart after the team’s postseason exit. That will be the case for 2024 and potentially beyond, depending on the structure of the new arrangement.

Stafford’s camp had been in communication with the Rams about a resolution, so today’s update comes as little surprise. The latest report on the matter indicated the longtime Lions signal-caller would not engage in a training camp holdout even if a deal had not been agreed to. That has now become a moot point, and team and player will turn their attention to the 2024 season.

The Rams’ youth movement at a number of positions led to lessened expectations last year, but Stafford helped guide the team to the wild-card round. Taking one or more steps further than that in 2024 would prove his $31MM salary to be worthwhile, and staying healthy would make today’s investment in his finances for 2025 and/or ’26 a reasonable decision as well. The details of today’s move will be worth watching for as the Rams prepare for life after Aaron Donald on the field and from a financial perspective.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/23/24

July 23rd, 2024 at 8:25pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

  • Signed: OT Julién Davenport

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

  • Reverted to IR: WR Jared Wayne
  • Released from IR: WR Jaxon Janke

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

WR Michael Gallup Retires

July 23rd, 2024 at 7:28pm CST by Ben Levine

After joining the Raiders earlier this offseason, Michael Gallup is apparently calling it a career. The team announced that they’ve placed the wide receiver on the reserve/retired list.

The 2018 third-round pick quickly established himself as a foundational piece in Dallas, finishing his sophomore campaign with 66 catches for 1,107 yards and six touchdowns. Despite the team’s addition of first-round WR CeeDee Lamb in 2020, Gallup still managed to top 800 receiving yards on a depth chart that also featured Amari Cooper.

The trouble started in 2021. Gallup missed the first chunk of the season thanks to a calf injury. He was limited to a then-career-low 12.7 yards per reception that season on 35 catches before suffering a torn ACL in the regular season finale. The organization clearly wasn’t deterred by the injuries, as the front office handed Gallup a five-year, $62.5MM extension before trading Cooper days later.

To Gallup’s credit, he returned for 14 games in 2022, but he clearly wasn’t the same player. While Dak Prescott‘s absence partly played into Gallup’s drop in production, the wide receiver was still limited to only 30 yards per game. He managed to get into all 17 games this past season but his counting stats continued to drop, with the 28-year-old compiling only 34 catches for 418 yards and two scores.

The Cowboys gave Gallup permission to seek a trade earlier this offseason, but the team ultimately decided to cut him before a $4MM salary guarantee was due. The wideout quickly caught on with the Raiders, inking a one-year deal that could be worth up to $3MM. There was some hope that the veteran could soak up the snaps left by Hunter Renfrow, who was cut in March. Indeed, Ed Werder reports that news of Gallup’s retirement came as a surprise to the Raiders. The organization will now have an open competition for the WR3 spot behind Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers.

Vikings Sign CB Duke Shelley

July 23rd, 2024 at 6:15pm CST by Adam La Rose

Duke Shelley is back with a familiar team in time for training camp. The veteran corner re-joined the Vikings on Tuesday, per a team announcement.

Shelley spent his first three seasons in the league with Chicago, logging six starts and 30 appearances during that span. He did not survive roster cuts in 2022, though, and upon clearing waivers he found himself on the Vikings’ practice squad. The former sixth-rounder made five starts upon signing to Minnesota’s active roster that year, and he recorded his lone career interception during his first Vikings stint (one which predated the arrival of defensive coordinator Brian Flores).

In free agency last offseason, Shelley signed with the Raiders but again he did not manage to secure a roster spot during training camp. The 27-year-old did not need to wait long to find a new home, though, inking a deal with the Rams in September. During his lone Los Angeles campaign, Shelley played 11 games while primarily logging a special teams role.

His third phase experience could help him carve out a roster spot upon his return to Minnesota. Shelley did, however, log a 52% defensive snap share during his first Vikings stint, so he has experience handling at least a rotational role in the secondary. Minnesota has Byron Murphy and free agent addition Shaquill Griffin atop the depth chart as things stand, but Shelley will be able to compete for a backup gig.

The tragic death of rookie Khyree Jackson left the Vikings short on depth at the cornerback spot, and Shelley will aim to land a full-time gig during his return to Minnesota. The team entered Tuesday with over $21MM in cap space, so further roster moves in the coming days and weeks could still take place.

DE Randy Gregory Absent From Buccaneers’ Training Camp

July 23rd, 2024 at 4:23pm CST by Adam La Rose

Uncertainty continues to loom over the status of Randy Gregory. The veteran defensive end was not in attendance for the start of Buccaneers training camp, and the team placed him on the reserve/did not report list Tuesday.

Gregory was absent from mandatory minicamp last month, a move which resulted in fines being accumulated. His absence came in the wake of the discrimination lawsuit he filed against the NFL and the Broncos over usage of a prescription medication which involved THC. Considering the latest development in his situation, Gregory’ absence does not come as a surprise.

Head coach Todd Bowles said last week he had not spoken with the 31-year-old in any capacity. Meanwhile, Greg Auman of Fox Sports notes there has been no update provided by Gregory’s camp with respect to why he has not attended camp. Needless to say, his future in Tampa Bay is very much in question at this point.

Gregory did not pan out in Denver, logging just 10 games during his time with the Broncos across the 2022 and ’23 seasons. He finished out the year in San Francisco, making 12 appearances and recording 2.5 sacks. The former Cowboys second-rounder signed a one-year deal with the Buccaneers worth up to $5MM. His earnings for the year have already been affected by the fines (totaling more than $100K) he accumulated by missing minicamp, however.

Tampa Bay guaranteed $1.37MM of Gregory’s base salary, but the team would save just over $1.6MM in cap space with a release. It will be interesting to see if an update takes place in this case over the coming days or if the Buccaneers elect to cut bait if Gregory remains away from the team.

Browns, WR Amari Cooper Agree To Restructure

July 23rd, 2024 at 2:03pm CST by Adam La Rose

Amari Cooper‘s contract situation has been resolved. The Browns wideout will receive a raise of up to $5MM in 2024 as part of a restructured contract, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. The additional money exists in the form of incentives, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini clarifies.

This new agreement will guarantee the $20MM in salary Cooper was already due to make in 2024. Half of that figure will be paid out as a signing bonus, Schefter adds. Cooper will still enter the coming season as a pending free agent, but today’s move adds to his immediate earning potential while also providing considerable locked in compensation.

Cooper skipped mandatory minicamp and incurred fines in the process as part of his attempts at landing a new (or, as it turns out, upgraded) deal. Head coach Kevin Stefanski said at the time team and player discussed the situation, paving the way for a resolution to be found. A report from last month confirmed a mutual interest existed for an agreement to be worked out in time for training camp.

With that having now taken place, attention can turn to Cooper’s role in a new-look Browns receiving corps. The 30-year-old has produced as expected during his Cleveland tenure, racking up 2,410 yards and 14 touchdowns since 2022. The team acquired Jerry Jeudy via trade this offseason, extending the former Broncos first-rounder on a three-year, $52.5MM deal. In spite of that move, Cooper will be counted on to remain the Browns’ No. 1 wideout.

The latter earned four Pro Bowl nods split between his time with the Raiders and Cowboys, and he received his fifth in 2023. Another strong campaign will help Cooper’s bargaining power on a new Browns deal or one sending him to a new team as a free agent. Despite his age, the Alabama product could benefit from the continued surges in the receiver market.

The $20MM AAV of Cooper’s 2020 deal has been dwarfed several times over in recent years. The top of the position’s pecking order has now surpassed $30MM in a select number of cases. Cooper is unlikely to reach those heights on his next pact, but he could help his case for a higher rate of annual compensation if he manages to produce another strong Browns season this year. In the meantime, he has significant guarantees in place along with a path to new money ahead of his walk year.

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