Browns To Add DL Quinton Jefferson
Losing Jordan Elliott to the 49ers this week, the Browns are adding a piece to their defensive line. In addition to bringing back Shelby Harris, Cleveland will add an outside hire to its D-line equation.
Quinton Jefferson will come over from the Jets on a one-year deal, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Mary Kay Cabot. A veteran who has largely worked as a defensive tackle, Jefferson has enjoyed his two most productive years as a pass rusher since 2022. The eight-year veteran has combined for 11.5 sacks in that span.
[RELATED: Browns Re-Sign DT Shelby Harris]
This will be Jefferson’s fifth NFL destination in the 2020s. The former Seahawks draftee has ventured from Buffalo to Las Vegas to Seattle to New York since the decade dawned. He will now join Jim Schwartz‘s Cleveland defense, which led the league against the pass in 2023. Jefferson is set to team with the likes of Harris and high-priced DT Dalvin Tomlinson.
The Jets brought in former Robert Saleh 49ers charge Javon Kinlaw early in free agency, and Jefferson — as he is accustomed to doing — will take his routine to another city. Vacillating from starter to rotational player during this nomadic period, Jefferson has produced consistently. After notching 16 quarterback hits as a Raider in 2021, the former fifth-round pick totaled 13 in each of the past two seasons. Jefferson, 31 this month, also forced a fumble with the Jets last year; the six sacks he notched in New York represent a career high.
Jefferson has extensive experience contributing on playoff-bound D-lines. While the Jets fell well short of expectations, Jefferson was on a postseason-bound team from 2018-22. He sacked Joe Burrow in the Raiders’ narrow wild-card loss to the Bengals in 2021 and totaled two sacks during the 2019 playoffs as a Seahawk.
While Jefferson has traveled the league following the expiration of his rookie contract, he has not signed exclusively one-year deals like Jadeveon Clowney has. The Seahawks released Jefferson from a two-year pact last year, leading him to the Jets. His work in Saleh’s defense caught the Browns’ eye, bringing in an interesting piece for Schwartz’s pass rush.
Bills To Re-Sign RB Ty Johnson
The Bills are keeping one of James Cook‘s backups in the fold. Ty Johnson is expected to stay in Buffalo on a deal that will put him on track play a second season with the perennial AFC East champions, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler tweets.
A former Lions and Jets running back, the five-year veteran will have another opportunity with the Bills. Initially signing with Buffalo in 2023, Johnson worked in a reserve role in 10 games last season. He is re-signing on a one-year deal, per the Buffalo News’ Jay Skurski.
Damien Harris‘ midseason injury prompted the Bills to promote Johnson, who landed on the practice squad after not making Buffalo’s roster out of training camp. The Maryland alum then joined Latavius Murray as a Cook backup last season. Johnson logged 37 touches for 194 yards last season, catching a touchdown pass during his run of spot duty. He fared well in this role during the Bills’ narrow divisional-round loss to the Chiefs, totaling 40 yards on seven carries.
Harris and Murray, the latter managing to play an age-33 season in 2023, are not under contract. While the Bills should be expected to add an RB2 candidate in the draft or later in free agency, they have Johnson in place as a capable reserve. Darrynton Evans also resides on Buffalo’s offseason roster, rounding out the team’s backfield at present.
Johnson, 26, averaged 5.3 yards per carry as a Jet in 2022. The Jets had re-signed Johnson in March 2023 only to circle back and release him a month later. Over his career, the former sixth-round pick has totaled just 238 carries while contributing on special teams.
Jets, LB C.J. Mosley Agree To Extension
C.J. Mosley stumbled to a rocky start with the Jets, but the former Ravens draftee has since reclaimed his place as one of the NFL’s best linebackers. The Jets are rewarding the veteran defender as a result.
No guaranteed money remained in place on Mosley’s through-2024 Jets deal, but ESPN.com’s Field Yates indicates the sides agreed on a two-year, $17.25MM deal that includes $13.25MM in additional guarantees.
The guarantees will ensure Mosley is part of the 2024 Jets, and the second year stands to give the team an option on a player who was previously set to be a 2025 free agent. The 31-year-old defender will receive $9MM fully guaranteed for 2024. The Jets will benefit in 2024, as the deal will lower Mosley’s $21.5MM cap hit.
On his new contract, Mosley will receive base salaries of $1.21MM (2024) and $8.25MM (’25). The decorated linebacker’s 2024 cap hit will drop by around $14MM, with it now checking in at $7.2MM, per OverTheCap. Mosley will have $4.25MM in 2025 guarantees. Three void years are now on the deal as well; the Jets would be charged $7.65MM in dead money if they do not re-sign Mosley before the 2026 league year.
Mosley signed a then-record-setting (by a wide margin) contract to join the Jets back in 2019. Then-GM Mike Maccagnan gave the former Ravens first-rounder a five-year, $85MM deal. Because Mosley opted out due to COVID-19 concerns in 2020, his contract tolled to 2024. No guarantees remained on the Pro Bowler’s deal, which was set to void next year.
Forming a high-end tandem with Quincy Williams, Mosley has shined over the past three seasons. Missing only one game in that span, Mosley has strung together back-to-back 150-plus-tackle slates and collected his first All-Pro honor — a second-team selection — in 2022. Pro Football Focus graded Mosley as a top-10 off-ball ‘backer last season and viewed him as the position’s premier coverage player. As teams search for three-down linebackers with this skill, Mosley has rewarded the Jets.
While Maccagnan ended up being fired weeks after signing Mosley and drafting Quinnen Williams, those two remain the team’s front-seven centerpieces. Each is now signed beyond 2024, with Williams having inked a lucrative extension going into training camp last year. Mosley, who will turn 32 this summer, saw injury trouble end his Jets debut after two games. While the team did not see any return on its monster investment until Year 3 of the deal, the belated rewards have come in as Robert Saleh‘s defense has been one of the NFL’s best over the past two years. Mosley has been a central part of that.
Titans To Sign WR Calvin Ridley
After a Jaguars-Patriots duel formed in the Calvin Ridley sweepstakes, a mystery suitor revealed itself. The Titans are swooping in with a big offer to land the former first-round pick.
Ridley will commit to Tennessee on a four-year, $92MM deal, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. The Titans are giving Ridley $50MM fully guaranteed. A year after winning a lower-priced DeAndre Hopkins pursuit, Tennessee will pair him with Ridley.
This marks a windfall for Ridley, who will cash in despite missing the 2022 season due to a gambling suspension and leaving the Falcons early in the 2021 slate. After Atlanta traded Ridley to Jacksonville during his suspension, the former Alabama standout posted his second 1,000-yard year. Although the Jaguars wanted to retain Ridley, they may have stopped short of this price point.
As of Wednesday afternoon, however, the Titans checked in with the NFL’s most cap space. Ran Carthon‘s team carried $72MM before the Ridley agreement. While the Patriots and Jaguars both made offers, a stealth suitor may have topped them both. The Jags had been viewed as likely to retain Ridley, but they already have three veteran contracts at receiver (Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, Gabe Davis) and another at tight end (Evan Engram). Tennessee has Hopkins on a relatively low-cost accord, after beating out the Patriots in that race as well, giving the team a clearer path to pursue this year’s top free agent wideout. Indeed, in a piece written by Jeff Howe, Larry Holder, and Randy Mueller of The Athletic (subscription required), we learned that while the Jags’ and Pats’ offers were in the same ballpark, the Titans’ proposal was significantly higher.
At $23MM per year, Ridley checks in as the NFL’s ninth-highest-paid receiver; the $50MM guaranteed at signing, however, is the more important number. Only Tyreek Hill‘s 2022 Dolphins deal carried more locked in at signing. That illustrates where this market went and the aggressive pushes teams were making to bring in this market’s top receiver.
Ridley, 29, will also reunite with the Jaguars’ 2023 pass-game coordinator, Nick Holz, who landed the Titans’ OC job earlier this offseason. Holz was on-hand for a rather uneven Jaguars offensive season, with Press Taylor calling plays. Ridley, however, used the 2023 slate to rebound after effectively two years away. The 2018 first-round pick left the Falcons in October 2021, and while the team helped him find a desired trade destination — Ridley picked Jacksonville — money may well be talking for the Florida native.
PFR’s top 50 free agent ranks listed the Titans as a potential Ridley suitor — largely due to cap space and what has transpired since the A.J. Brown trade. The Titans have not seen Brown’s immediate replacement — 2022 first-rounder Treylon Burks — become a difference-maker. And less than two years after the ill-fated Brown move, the Titans ditched their GM (Jon Robinson) and HC (Mike Vrabel). The Titans were not offering Brown a deal in this ballpark; two years later, and with the cap exploding to $255.4MM, a new GM will sign off on this money for Ridley, whose career has been much rockier than the current Eagles WR1’s.
As Julio Jones‘ hamstring trouble — which helped lead the Falcons to trade him to the Titans the following year — produced a 2020 shutdown in Atlanta, his younger sidekick broke through. Ridley’s 90-catch, 1,374-yard, nine-TD season placed him on the All-Pro second team. Ridley said he played most of the 2020 season on a broken foot, but he was not informed of the break until June 2021. He underwent surgery, which was described as a minor procedure, but said he was not close to 100% by Week 1. This preceded Ridley leaving the Falcons, citing mental health reasons.
Ridley’s rookie contract tolled to 2023 due to the subsequent gambling ban, which will add more risk to this Titans bet. Although Ridley produced in spurts for the Jags in a 1,016-yard season, he will turn 30 before the 2024 season ends. Two of Ridley’s four 100-yard showings came against a struggling Titans team, though, and Carthon will place a big bet on Ridley having plenty left in the tank to help Levis. This contract will pair with Levis’ rookie deal, which runs through 2026.
Chargers Release WR Mike Williams
Needing to clear $27MM-plus off their cap to reach compliance by the 3pm CT today, the Chargers will part with one of their starting wide receivers. They are releasing Mike Williams, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports.
Dangling Williams and their other three monster cap charges — Keenan Allen, Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa — in trades, the Chargers will clear $20MM by cutting Williams. The 2017 top-10 pick stands to become an interesting free agent, even coming off an ACL tear. The Bolts have since announced the move.
[RELATED: Latest On Chargers’ Trade Efforts]
Williams, 29, was set to carry a $32MM cap hit. The Bolts came into Wednesday with four of the NFL’s top 12 cap figures, with the above-referenced quartet all tied to numbers north of $32MM. It remains to be seen if one of the other high-profile Bolts will be jettisoned — via trade or release — but Williams is the first to go. While Rapoport adds that the Chargers would want to re-sign Williams, the high-end WR2 plans to test free agency.
One season remained on Williams’ three-year, $60MM deal. The then-Tom Teleseco-run Chargers gave Williams that contract just before free agency in 2022, and while the deal was finalized just before the Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill extensions changed the market, Williams battled injuries over the course of the pact. While Williams is coming off an ACL tear and going into his age-30 season, he has two 1,000-yard campaigns on his resume. The Clemson product has excelled as a deep threat and in the midrange, working as a key option during Justin Herbert‘s early years.
Williams cleared 1,000 yards in Philip Rivers‘ final Chargers season (2019, leading the NFL with 20.4 yards per catch) and then posted a career-high 1,146 yards to help Herbert become the 2021 Pro Bowl starter. Williams injuries wounded the Chargers over the past two years. Sustaining a back fracture during a meaningless Week 18 game in Denver, Williams could not suit up for the upcoming wild-card game in Jacksonville. The depleted Chargers’ offense struggled, and the Jaguars completed a 27-point comeback. The 6-foot-4 target also battled a high ankle sprain in 2022. Williams’ ACL tear three games into last season hurt the Bolts’ passing attack again, and ownership ousted the Telesco-Brandon Staley operation months later.
A number of teams still need receiver help. While this draft class will present yet another array of options, teams will be looking into the veteran now that he is a free agent. The WR-deficient Chiefs are quite familiar with Williams, and after missing on Darnell Mooney, would the defending champs dive in here? Williams will not command a $20MM-AAV deal coming off his knee injury, but seeing as teams to not make a habit of cutting two-time 1,000-yard receivers in their 20s, a few clubs figure to be interested in seeing what it will take to add the seven-year vet.
Colts, QB Joe Flacco Agree To Deal
Joe Flacco enjoyed a highly impressive late-season re-emergence with the Browns in 2023, but Cleveland elected to add Jameis Winston as a backup quarterback for 2024. Flacco has found a new opportunity for next season, though. 
The reigning Comeback Player of the Year has agreed to a one-year deal with the Colts, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He adds the contract is worth up to $8.7MM and includes $4.5MM guaranteed. Flacco will thus be able to meet his stated goal of continuing his career for at least one more season, while taking the place of Gardner Minshew as the Colts’ backup to Anthony Richardson. Adam Caplan of Pro Football Network reports the Flacco pact includes incentives for playing time, wins, a playoff berth and postseason victories totaling $3.7MM.
Minshew agreed to a two-year deal with the Raiders at the onset of the negotiating window. That pact includes $15MM guaranteed and can be worth up to $25MM, leading many to believe he could compete for the starting role in Vegas. The Browns, meanwhile, inked Winston to a one-year deal worth a similar maximum value to the one Flacco has taken. Now, the latter and Indianapolis have struck a deal to meet each other’s needs.
Cleveland endured a slew of injuries on offense in 2023, including Deshaun Watson being lost for the campaign with a shoulder injury. The team identified Flacco as an insurance option for its other passers, but in short order it was the former Super Bowl MVP at the helm. Flacco took on starting duties to close out the regular season, averaging a stunning 323 passing yards per game. Without Nick Chubb in the fold, it was the 39-year-old’s play (coupled with a stout defense) which guided the Browns into the postseason (during which time, to be fair, his interception troubles became a major issue).
Both player and team expressed a willingness to work out a deal, with Flacco publicly stating his preference to remain in Cleveland. It had been expected that the longtime Ravens starter would reach the market, however, and the Winston deal confirmed the Browns would not pursue a re-up. Now, Flacco will take on a new QB2 role behind Richardson, whose rookie season was limited to just four games.
After being drafted fourth overall last April, Richardson joined Indianapolis with the expectation he would put an end to the team’s search for a permanent Andrew Luck successor. A healthy campaign will go a long way to determining his ability to reach that target. Flacco, meanwhile, will be in place as a capable backup after Minshew nearly did enough for the Colts to win the division in 2023 upon taking the reins. The former has stated an intention of playing at least two more years, and a strong showing in 2024 would help his chances of doing so.
Jets To Reacquire T Morgan Moses From Ravens
In need at tackle, the Jets will turn to a familiar face. The Ravens are sending Morgan Moses back to the Jets, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Moses, who played for the Jets in 2021, has been the Ravens’ starting right tackle for the past two years. This will be a pick-swap deal. The Jets will receive Moses and a fourth-round pick (No. 135, a compensator), while the Ravens will collect fourth- and sixth-rounders (Nos. 113 and 218).
The Jets entered the offseason unlikely to bring back their primary 2023 tackles — Duane Brown and Mekhi Becton — and their O-line plan in front of Aaron Rodgers has been roundly criticized since the team acquired the future Hall of Fame quarterback. In Moses, the Jets will have a veteran in position to start at right tackle. Moses has made 144 career starts; 16 of those came with the Jets three years ago.
Going into his age-33 season, Moses is going into the final season of the five-year, $15MM contract he signed in 2022. He is due a $5.5MM base salary. With the Jets aiming for Becton to return and George Fant still under contract, they let Moses walk in 2022. Becton did not end up playing that season, leaving the team in a pinch. That produced the late-summer Brown addition. With that contract and Becton’s rookie deal off the books, the Jets need new answers.
Helping the Ravens to the AFC’s No. 1 seed, Moses ranked 20th in pass block win rate last season. The longtime Washington starter continued to display durability in Baltimore, missing only three games in his two-season starter run. Moses played in all 17 Jets games in 2021, initially landing in New York after being a mid-offseason cut. A 2014 third-round pick, Moses is one of the game’s longest-tenured tackle starters. He has been a first-stringer since the start of the 2015 season.
Pro Football Focus was even higher on Moses last season, slotting him 10th among all tackles; PFF ranked Moses 13th in 2022. Despite holding the NFL’s longest playoff drought, the Jets are far from rebuild mode. Adding a soon-to-be 33-year-old tackle adds up on the team’s timeline, with Rodgers — his recent proclamations aside — still probably in year-to-year mode. This Moses rental also would stand to ensure Alijah Vera-Tucker stays at guard, which has been the team’s preference after sliding the 2021 first-round pick over to right tackle — due to injury emergencies — in each of the past two seasons.
This trade will leave only Ronnie Stanley and Tyler Linderbaum as Ravens 2023 O-line starters under contract. The team will keep Stanley on a pay cut but has now lost Moses and left guard John Simpson. The team has swingman Patrick Mekari contracted, but the reigning AFC North champs will have some work to do. That said, Moses and Simpson both arrived before OC Todd Monken. That could be a factor in the team being willing to move on from starters.
Dolphins To Sign DB Siran Neal
Siran Neal will be sticking in the AFC East. The former Bills defensive back/special teams ace is signing with the Dolphins, according to ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques.
The 2018 fifth-round pick had spent his entire career in Buffalo, missing only a pair of regular season games in six seasons with the organization. Neal got a look on defense for a handful of years before mostly playing on special teams between 2022 and 2023 (108 defensive snaps vs. 658 special teams snaps). Over that two-year span, Neal has compiled 32 tackles, giving him 115 for his career.
Thanks to his special teams performance in Buffalo, Neal was becoming a popular name on the free agent circuit. NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe reported earlier this week that the special teamer was expected to meet with the Giants, and Wolfe later added that Neal was set to meet with the Falcons.
Ultimately, the Dolphins won out. Neal will be following his teammate Jordan Poyer to Miami, as the veteran safety agreed to a deal with the organization yesterday. While Neal will likely see a similar role with his new squad, he could end up earning some defensive snaps. At the moment, the Dolphins are only rostering five other cornerbacks in Jalen Ramsey, Cam Smith, Kader Kohou, Nik Needham, and Ethan Bonner.
Colts Retain Ronnie Harrison, Genard Avery
The Colts have kept a number of familiar faces home this offseason by re-signing the likes of Grover Stewart, Kenny Moore, Tyquan Lewis, and Rigoberto Sanchez. Add two more names to that list as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that defensive end Genard Avery and linebacker Ronnie Harrison have each signed one-year deals to return to Indianapolis in 2024.
Avery was set to be a potential contributor to the defensive front last year just two years removed from a strong season with the Eagles in which he started 12 games and set a career high in total tackles with 43. The Memphis product struggled to make the Buccaneers roster the following year and spent the beginning of the season on their practice squad. He got about two months on the active roster before being placed on injured reserve with an abdomen injury.
He signed with the Colts to add some pass-rushing depth last summer on a one-year deal, but Avery ended up needing season-ending knee surgery before the season even began. The LCL/meniscus issue that sidelined him for his entire 2023 campaign seems to be progressing well enough that Indianapolis has opted in for another year.
The team has also extended a second one-year contract to Harrison, who spent most of last year on the team’s practice squad, a first for the Alabama-product. Over his first five seasons in the NFL, Harrison mostly served as a starter for the Jaguars and Browns in bit of a hybrid linebacker and safety role, typically spending more time at safety or in the slot than in the box. Over that period, Harrison started 45 games in 67 appearances. He has had some trouble with injury, as well, though, missing 15 games over that stretch.
Harrison wasn’t promoted to the active roster this year until late-November, in time for a Week 11 matchup with the Buccaneers. He stayed on the active roster for the rest of season, starting three of seven game appearances, playing more linebacker than safety for the first time in his career, while still splitting snaps between the two. Harrison found ways to be productive despite the limited time, nabbing two interceptions (one a pick-six), two passes defensed, a sack, a tackle for a loss, and a quarterback hit.
Both players will once again attempt to work their way into the lineup in 2024. With Julian Blackmon hitting free agency, the team may attempt to bump Harrison back into a starting strong safety role. Avery, on the other hand, will hope to finally get an opportunity to contribute to the Colts in the regular season.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/13/24
Here are today’s free agent tender decisions:
RFAs
Tendered:
- Giants: CB Nick McCloud
- Rams: LB Michael Hoecht
- Seahawks: CB Michael Jackson, LB Jon Rhattigan
Non-tendered:
- Cardinals: DL Jonathan Ledbetter
- Commanders: LB Jabril Cox, RB Derrick Gore, LB De’Jon Harris
ERFAs
Tendered:
- Panthers: RB/KR Raheem Blackshear
- Titans: LB Jack Gibbens