Lions, S DeShon Elliott Agree To Deal
DeShon Elliott visited the Lions on Wednesday; the meeting produced an agreement. The former Ravens safety will join the Lions on a one-year contract, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Elliott’s deal could max out at $3.65MM, USA Today’s Josina Anderson tweets.
A sixth-round 2018 draftee, Elliott became a full-time starter after the Ravens’ Earl Thomas experiment went south before the 2020 season. Elliott started 22 games with Baltimore beginning with that 2020 slate, a 16-start year for the ex-Texas Longhorn. Elliott will join a Lions team that recently re-signed Tracy Walker.
Elliott made 80 tackles, recorded 2.5 sacks and forced two fumbles during the 2020 season. He is coming off an injury-marred 2021 slate. The soon-to-be 25-year-old defender suffered pectoral and bicep tears midway through last season, shutting him down for the year. This continued an injury-riddled slate for a Ravens secondary that also lost Marcus Peters and Marlon Humphrey. Elliott also spent his entire rookie season on IR.
Baltimore signaled it was moving on from Elliott with its latest big-ticket safety signing — a five-year deal with Marcus Williams. Not typically a big-spending team in free agency, the Ravens have made exceptions at safety. Williams follows Thomas, Tony Jefferson and Eric Weddle as Raven signings at the position since 2016. The Elliott-Chuck Clark pairing represented a deviation from the organization’s big-name strategy at safety.
This Elliott agreement may also mean the Lions’ visit with Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton will not lead to a rare top-two safety investment in the draft. The Lions scheduled a visit with Hamilton for this week, though the former Fighting Irish defender is not viewed as likely to be chosen second overall. Detroit now has Elliott, Walker and 17-game 2021 starter Will Harris under contract at safety.
Raiders, Derek Carr Agree To $121MM+ Deal
5:12pm: Carr’s contract contains a $65.5MM injury guarantee, according to SI.com’s Albert Breer, and the deal will give the ninth-year veteran a $5.2MM raise in 2022 (Twitter link). Carr will make $24.9MM fully guaranteed in 2022, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes.
A key date comes after Super Bowl LVII. Three days after the Super Bowl, Carr will see $40.5MM — his $33MM 2023 salary and $7.5MM of his 2024 pay — become fully guaranteed, Breer tweets. This would give the Raiders a small window to work out a trade in 2023, but Carr’s no-trade clause gives him final say on any potential escape-hatch deal for the team.
9:33am: The Raiders and Derek Carr have agreed to terms on a three-year extension worth $121.5MM (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). With that, the Raiders’ star quarterback will remain in place through the 2025 season. 
Carr’s deal includes a no-trade clause (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo), a rarity in the NFL enjoyed by only about a dozen players. All together, Carr is set to earn $141.3MM over the next four years, with $100MM of it coming in the next three seasons, per Garafolo. That’s player-friendly cashflow for Carr, who was fighting for his Raiders future just a couple of years ago.
It’s the latest splash in the Raiders’ busy offseason, following their acquisition of wide receiver Davante Adams. Ultimately, GM Dave Ziegler and head coach Josh McDaniels have kept much of the core in tact while revamping the team after a tumultuous 2021.
Carr’s $40.5MM new-money average puts him fifth among all quarterbacks and, as noted by NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (Twitter link), he’s now the seventh member of the league’s $40MM/year club, joining Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Matthew Stafford and Dak Prescott.
Carr, who just turned 31, had one year to go on his old deal with a cap hit of $19.8MM. After he notched a career-high 4,804 passing yards en route to his first ever playoff appearance, the Raiders were unwilling to risk losing him. Now, Carr’s got a fat new contract and an old friend in Adams, his former teammate at Fresno State.
“Derek’s fit on the team, as a player, is obviously what we’re looking for and what we’re trying to build around,” McDaniels said recently. “[When it comes to the contract,] you try and do what’s best for the team. When we get into those conversations with Derek, Derek’s going to have to make decisions about what’s best for him… There will be a sweet spot in there hopefully for everybody, and we’ll be excited to go forward like that.”
Today, the Raiders are undoubtedly excited as they’ve locked up their three-time Pro Bowler for years to come.
Jags’ Cam Robinson Signs Franchise Tender
Cam Robinson is back in the fold for the Jaguars. The team kicked off its first offseason program under Doug Pederson this week, and Robinson is on track to participate in team activities moving forward.
Despite the Jags having tagged their left tackle in back-to-back years, this situation is hardly contentious. Robinson became a somewhat surprising tag recipient in 2021 and is now attached to a fully guaranteed $16.7MM salary. The next three months will be pivotal for the former second-round pick’s future in Jacksonville.
The Jags have until July 15 to work out an extension with Robinson, who has a new O-line mate that navigated a similar situation. Although Brandon Scherff is a much higher-regarded blocker than Robinson, the latter plays a premium position. Scherff made it to free agency after being tagged twice, failing to reach an extension agreement in Washington this year and heading to Jacksonville. A third Robinson tag would check in at 144% of his 2022 salary, an untenable figure for the Jags. While Robinson’s status (zero Pro Bowls in five seasons) might not make a Jags extension unrealistic in 2023, the best bet for the Alabama alum to stay would be a deal by the July deadline.
Drafted during Tom Coughlin‘s run atop the front office, Robinson has now been tagged by two different regimes — Urban Meyer‘s brief operation and the Pederson-Trent Baalke setup. The sixth-year blocker is still just 26 and has made it back from a 2018 ACL tear to be a steady presence in Jacksonville’s lineup over the past three years.
The Jaguars’ second Robinson tag has led to understandable speculation they will not use the No. 1 overall pick on a tackle. They were previously linked to NC State’s Ikem Ekwonu, but Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson is now the odds-on favorite to be the pick.
Texans To Sign Steven Nelson
The Texans have agreed to sign Steven Nelson, as Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network tweets. Once finalized, it’ll be a two-year, $10MM deal for the veteran cornerback.
A free agent in April for the second straight year, Nelson took a trip to Houston earlier this week. He’ll now join up with the Texans, moving on from a one-year stint with the Eagles. Previous to that, Nelson spent the early part of his career with the Chiefs (four seasons) and the Steelers (two seasons).
The former third-round pick worked as a starter with Philadelphia last season, just as he has for most of his career. To date, Nelson’s got 84 starts out of 98 total games.
The Texans re-signed Desmond King this offseason and they’ve also got Lonnie Johnson going into his walk year. Nelson, 29, will probably serve as a short-term answer at corner.
Nelson isn’t a world-beater, but he’s reliable — he hasn’t missed more than one game in any given season since 2017. His best recent work came in 2019 with the Steelers when he allowed a 50% completion rate and notched a 65.8 passer rating on plays where he was the closest defender. That year, his first in Pittsburgh, he ceded zero touchdowns. However, between 2020 and 2021, Nelson allowed 12 TDs.
Chargers WR Jalen Guyton, TE Donald Parham Sign ERFA Tenders
A pair of offensive skill players signed their tenders with the Chargers today. According to ESPN’s Field Yates (on Twitter), wide receiver Jalen Guyton and tight end Donald Parham officially inked their exclusive rights free agent tenders.
Guyton, a 2019 undrafted free agent out of North Texas, has spent the majority of his three-year career with the Chargers. He basically redshirted his rookie campaign before turning into a serviceable target for Justin Herbert over the past two seasons. In 32 games (11 starts) between the 2020 and 2021 seasons, Guyton has hauled in 59 receptions for 959 yards and six touchdowns.
After bouncing around the NFL and XFL to begin his professional career, Parham caught on with the Chargers in 2020. He’s seen time in 27 games (14 starts) over the past two years, hauling in 30 receptions for 349 yards and six touchdowns. His 2021 season ended on IR after he suffered a scary concussion in December.
The Chargers also officially announced the signing of linebacker Troy Reeder today. We learned that Reeder was inking a one-year deal with the team this past weekend.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/12/22
Today’s minor moves:
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: LB Brandon King
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed ERFA tender: C J.C. Hassenauer
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Re-signed: DL Patrick O’Connor
Seahawks Pick Up TE Noah Fant’s Fifth-Year Option
Weeks into his Seahawks tenure, Noah Fant saw his contract extended. The Seahawks are picking up Fant’s fifth-year option, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
This will keep Fant on his rookie deal through the 2023 season. Because Fant has not made a Pro Bowl but has logged a participation rate north of 50%, he qualifies for the third-tier option price ($6.85MM). This will give the Seahawks a longer look at the tight end acquired in the Russell Wilson trade.
This marks the first time the Seahawks have exercised a fifth-year option, which has been in place since the 2011 CBA. The team passed on the option for James Carpenter (2011), Bruce Irvin (2012), Germain Ifedi (2016) and Rashaad Penny (2018). Given 2019 first-rounder L.J. Collier‘s usage rate, the defensive end is not an option candidate. The 2020 CBA introduced the tiered option structure, giving teams more to consider due to the options now being fully guaranteed.
Joining Drew Lock and Shelby Harris in coming over from Denver last month, Fant is set to become one of Seattle’s top pass catchers. The Iowa alum did not become a top-flight tight end in Denver, but the Broncos’ longstanding issues at quarterback limited just about all their targets in recent years. Fant caught 68 passes for 670 yards and four touchdowns last season — similar numbers to a 2020 season spent with Lock as his quarterback.
That 2020 season — a 62-catch, 673-yard, three-TD slate — could prove relevant considering Lock’s presence. The Seahawks have repeatedly praised their quarterback acquisition, unsurprisingly, and have not added competition. That could well come in the draft or via a Baker Mayfield trade. For now, however, Lock is in position to have a strong chance at another starting gig.
Having run a 4.50-second 40-yard dash at the 2019 Combine, Fant combined for 18 touchdowns in his final two Iowa seasons. This topped Hawkeyes teammate T.J. Hockenson by a considerable margin. The Lions plan to pick up Hockenson’s option, which will cost slightly more due to his Pro Bowl nod. Fant, 24, played with numerous starting quarterbacks in Denver, which also saw Albert Okwuegbunam eat into his target share when healthy. A case can certainly be made Fant has a higher ceiling to reach with his new team. Fant will join Will Dissly in Seattle. The Seahawks re-signed the injury-prone tight end to a three-year, $24MM deal last month.
Falcons Sign TE Anthony Firkser
Arthur Smith will bring another of his former Titans charges to Atlanta. The Falcons agreed to a one-year deal with Anthony Firkser on Tuesday.
This comes not long after the Titans added ex-Falcon tight end Austin Hooper. Not as accomplished as the former Atlanta and Cleveland pass catcher, Firkser waited a bit longer to find a home in free agency. But he will see some familiar faces with the Falcons.
Smith coached Firkser for the first three seasons of his career, the first as his position coach and the next two as Titans offensive coordinator. Firkser, 27, will rejoin Marcus Mariota on a Falcons team that has also added ex-Titans linebacker Rashaan Evans this offseason. Firkser should be expected to fill the No. 2 tight end role behind Kyle Pitts, one vacated after Hayden Hurst signed with the Bengals last month.
The Titans not using their franchise tag on Jonnu Smith led the previous starter to the Patriots, though this defection did not exactly lead to a Firkser production increase. After a 39-catch 2020 season, the Harvard alum snared 34 passes for just 291 yards last season. Those numbers still led Titans tight ends. On a Falcons team currently without much at wide receiver, Firkser could see similar opportunities.
Jaguars Waive LB Dylan Moses
Dylan Moses will have to revive his football career elsewhere. The Jaguars have waived the linebacker, reports Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com (via Twitter).
Moses was a five-star recruit coming out of high school, and he quickly lived up to the hype during his time at Alabama. He had a standout 2018 campaign, but that was cut short by a foot injury. He missed the entire 2019 season with a knee injury, but he managed to earn third-team All-American honors when he returned to the field in 2020.
Still, thanks to the lack of track record and a torn meniscus suffered during that 2020 campaign, Moses went undrafted in the 2021 draft, and he ended up catching on with the Jaguars. He went under the knife last February, so he ended up spending his entire rookie season on the non-football injury list. He was expected to be healthy enough to compete for a roster spot this year.
The Jaguars have already seen some turnover at linebacker this offseason. The team added Foyesade Oluokun on a three-year deal, and they also moved on from Myles Jack.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/11/22
Today’s minor moves:
Denver Broncos
- Waived: T Cody Conway
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: DE Tashawn Bower
- Released, NFI: OT Kamaal Seymour