49ers Re-Sign QB Nate Sudfeld
While much of the focus in San Francisco is on the status of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, the 49ers have locked up another signal-caller for the 2022 season. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter), the 49ers have re-signed Nate Sudfeld.
It’s a one-year deal worth up to $3MM, with $2MM in guaranteed money. Per Schefter, Sudfeld had interest from two other teams, with those organizations believing the 28-year-old has “starter potential in the league.”
Sudfeld was a sixth-round pick by Washington in 2016, and after getting waived, he caught on with the Eagles in 2017. He’d go on to spend four seasons in Philly, seeing time in four games. He won a Super Bowl with the Eagles during his first season with the organization.
The quarterback caught on with the 49ers last offseason, and he ended up spending the 2021 season alternating between the active roster and practice squad. With Garoppolo and third-overall pick Trey Lance on the roster, Sudfeld didn’t see the field for his new team, but he’ll likely be the primary backup to Lance during the 2022 campaign.
Jets Re-Sign DB Lamarcus Joyner
Lamarcus Joyner is returning to New York. The veteran safety is re-signing with the Jets, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). It’s a one year-deal for Joyner.
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After getting cut by the Raiders last offseason, Joyner caught on with the Jets. He started his lone game for New York, collecting one tackles in nine defensive snaps. Unfortunately, an elbow injury landed him on injured reserve, and he ended up sitting out the rest of the season.
Joyner entered the league as a second-round pick of the Rams back in 2014. After his rookie contract expired, he played 2018 under the franchise tag with the Rams. The Florida State product earned a big four-year, $42MM contract from the Raiders the following free agency, but he was released just two years into that pact.
Joyner played last season on a one-year deal that included $2.5MM in guaranteed money. Considering the injury, he probably had to settle for less this time around.
Raiders To Release LB Cory Littleton
One of the top free agent signings two years ago, Cory Littleton will be back on the market. The Raiders have informed the veteran linebacker he will be released, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.
The Raiders brought in multiple veteran linebackers last year and have since hired a new head coach and GM. Although it is not certain, Littleton is certainly a candidate to be designated as a post-June 1 cut. If not, the Raiders would save just $1MM and see $14MM in dead money.
A post-June 1 designation would bring just a $4MM dead-cap hit this year. Las Vegas reworked Littleton’s contract three times over the past year and change, leading to the sizable dead-money number. Indeed, the Raiders are using this designation, Tashan Reed of The Athletic tweets. While the team will not be able to use the cap savings until June, it avoids this eight-figure dead-money sum hitting in 2022.
Despite his production with the Rams, Littleton did not live up to his contract with the Raiders, who signed him to a three-year, $35.25MM deal in 2020. After Littleton played 90% of Las Vegas’ defensive snaps in 2020, one-and-done DC Gus Bradley limited his work to 57% last season. Littleton, who impressed in coverage as a two-year starter with the Rams, made 98 tackles last season and 82 in 2020. He topped 120 stops in both his final two Rams slates.
The Raiders brought in both K.J. Wright and Denzel Perryman at the position. With Patrick Graham now in the DC role, it will be interesting to see how the Raiders address this group. Wright and Nicholas Morrow are free agents, while Perryman and Nick Kwiatkoski remain under contract for 2022.
Giants Restructure WR Sterling Shepard’s Contract
The Giants’ longest-tenured player is sticking around for at least another season. According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo (via Twitter), the Giants have reached an agreement on a restructured deal with wideout Sterling Shepard.
While we don’t have full details on Shepard’s pay cut, we have learned that the two sides chopped a year off the player’s contract. Shepard was originally signed through the 2023 season, but Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv tweets that the restructure will see the final season wiped off that deal. As a result, 2022 will now be the final year of the receiver’s contract.
We heard recently that the Giants were asking the former second-round pick to take a significant pay cut as part of the team’s larger cost-cutting agenda. Shepard reportedly wasn’t a fan of that idea, but the two sides apparently came to a compromise. The receiver was set to earn a salary of $8.5MM next season.
When healthy, Shepard has been Daniel Jones‘ favorite target, but injury troubles (such as the torn Achilles he is currently rehabbing) have landed the wideout in this financial situation. Shepard seemed to be coming into his own in 2018 when he finished with 872 receiving yards. However, he’s missed 20 games over the past three seasons, including 10 in 2021. He ultimately finished last season with 36 receptions for 366 yards and one touchdown.
Bears, Chargers Finalizing Khalil Mack Trade
After four seasons in Chicago, Khalil Mack is headed back to California. The Bears and Chargers are nearing a trade for the All-Pro edge defender, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The sides have nearly completed this deal, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
The Chargers are set to send the Bears second- and sixth-round picks, Rapoport tweets, for the eight-year veteran. The Bears will receive the Chargers’ 2022 second-round pick and their 2023 sixth. This will reunite Mack and Brandon Staley, who coached the Bears’ outside linebackers from 2017-18.
No contract adjustment is coming, per Rapoport, who adds the Chargers will take on the remaining three years and $63.9MM on Mack’s pact (Twitter link). That contract will be more manageable for the Chargers, with no guarantees remaining on the deal.
Mack is coming off an abbreviated season, but the former Raiders top-five pick and NFL Defensive Player of the Year is still regarded as one of the best pass rushers in the game. Mack is set to team with Joey Bosa in Los Angeles. The Chargers rank in the top five in the NFL for cap space, giving them an easier path to absorbing Mack’s contract compared to most teams.
While this is a major move, it comes a year after the Raiders discussed reacquiring Mack from the Bears before the 2021 free agency period. Chicago passed but saw Mack go down with a foot injury midway through last season. Mack underwent surgery and missed nine games. Prior to last season, however, the three-time All-Pro had never missed more than two games in a season.
The 2016 Defensive Player of the Year, Mack went to Chicago in 2018 for a monster haul. Chicago sent Oakland a package headlined by two first-round picks. The Bears gave Mack a then-defender-record $23.5MM-per-year contract. Three seasons remain on that deal. Mack is set to earn $12.1MM in base salary next season. The Bolts, however, now boast the most expensive pass-rushing duo in NFL history. They signed Bosa to a $27MM-AAV extension last year. This move likely will send previous Bosa sidekick Uchenna Nwosu elsewhere; Nwosu is set to hit free agency next week. This is a luxury many teams could not afford, but the Bolts have Justin Herbert tied to a rookie deal until at least 2023.
Mack, 31, played a major role in lifting the Bears to the 2018 NFC North title. He collected his third All-Pro honor that year. The Buffalo alum will head to Los Angeles with four double-digit sack seasons and six Pro Bowls on his resume. This represents another move for one of the highest-profile divisions in recent memory. The Broncos sent the Seahawks two firsts for Russell Wilson this week, giving them a much better shot to contend in the AFC West. The Bolts now have a top-tier edge tandem to throw at Wilson, Patrick Mahomes and Derek Carr.
The Bears still have Robert Quinn, who broke Richard Dent‘s franchise single-season sack record last season, under contract for 2022. But losing Mack is certainly a significant development for the franchise, which recently hired a new coach and GM. This move will douse the Bears in dead money as well, saving them only $6MM in cap space. Chicago will incur a $24MM dead-money charge, part of that coming because the team restructured Mack’s deal in 2019 and in 2021.
Saints Re-Sign Carl Granderson
The Saints easily could have kept Carl Granderson on a low-cost, one-year deal. Instead, they’ve re-signed the exclusive rights free agent to a brand new two-year pact worth upwards of $5MM (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com). 
[RELATED: Saints Carve Out $12MM+ In Cap Room]
The first half of the pact will pay Granderson $965K, the same as his would-be ERFA salary. But, after that, the defensive end will earn $4.3MM in 2023. That’s roughly in line with what the second-round restricted free agent tender should be next offseason.
The deal, which also includes a $240K signing bonus, shows how much the Saints value the young edge rusher. Still only 25 (26 in December), Granderson has managed eight sacks between the last two seasons, despite playing mostly as a reserve.
The Wyoming product went undrafted in 2019 following criminal charges. Recognizing his talent, the Saints rolled the dice and signed him to their expanded 90-man roster. So far, that’s all paid off as Granderson has played a key role in the edge rotation. That role may expand even further now — even after today’s cap magic, the Saints are still $30MM+ over the cap, which means that some high-priced defenders will have to be traded or released.
Lions To Release Trey Flowers
The Lions are set to release outside linebacker Trey Flowers, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (on Twitter). The Lions first tried to trade the veteran (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport), but they ultimately weren’t able to find a suitable deal.
With his outright release, Flowers will be a full-fledged unrestricted free agent and able to sign with any team. However, that won’t become official until the first day of the league year (next week), as noted by Birkett. In theory, Flowers could still be traded between now and then, though his contract will probably be a blocker.
Flowers came up with the Patriots, where he missed all but one game in his rookie year. After that, he tallied 21 sacks and 25 tackles for loss across three full seasons. The Lions snagged him in the 2019 offseason, inking the edge rusher to a five-year, $90MM deal. His first year went well with seven sacks and eight total tackles for loss. Unfortunately, injuries have hampered him the last two years — he suited up in just 14 total games between 2020 and 2021.
By releasing the edge rusher, the Lions can save $10.4MM against $12.85MM in dead money. They can also spread out that dead money hit with the post-June 1 designation, which would kick roughly half of it to the 2023 books.
Flowers, 29 in August, had just 1.5 sacks in his partial season. Still, he has youth on his side, ample starting experience, and a career tally of 31.5 sacks.
Commanders To Cut Landon Collins
The Commanders are set to release Landon Collins (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The two sides tried to come to terms on a pay cut, but the safety preferred to try his luck on the open market.
The old regime gave Collins a six-year, $84MM deal in 2019. That pact made him the first safety in league history to crack the $14MM/year mark. Now, midway through the megadeal, the Commanders are going to bid farewell to the 28-year-old. Releasing Collins will save $6.6MM against roughly $10MM in dead money for 2022.
By all accounts, the Commanders would have been happy to keep Collins — just not at his $16.1MM cap figure. To his credit, Collins was mostly healthy in 2021, appearing in 13 games as a linebacker/safety. Plenty of teams will have interest in the veteran, though he won’t match his previous deal. This year’s safety market — headlined by the likes of Marcus Williams, Tyrann Mathieu, and Jessie Bates III – offers more bang for the buck elsewhere.
Collins finished 2021 with 81 tackles, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries, and three sacks across 13 games. Now, he’ll look to reassert himself elsewhere when free agency opens on March 16.
Titans Release Rodger Saffold
The Titans are continuing to cut costs along the offensive line. Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, the team is releasing left guard Rodger Saffold (Twitter link). 
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The 33-year-old had one year remaining on his contract, with a scheduled cap hit of $12.8MM. If he had still been on the roster five days after the beginning of free agency next week, he would have received a $1MM roster bonus. The move will incur $2.375MM in dead money, but save the Titans just over $10.4MM in cap room.
After nine years spent with the Rams, the former second rounder signed a four-year, $44MM deal to come to Nashville in 2019. He missed a total of three games in three campaigns with the Titans, and even earned his first career Pro Bowl nod in 2021. On the other hand, PFF assigned him an underwhelming grade of 68.8.
After letting go of Lamm and now Saffold, the Titans are back in the black with regard to the salary cap. They are presently listed as having $3.75MM in breathing space, which makes room to accommodate Harold Landry‘s new deal, but doesn’t leave much to find a replacement. Center Ben Jones is also set to become a free agent, so the team could very well be on the lookout for multiple new starters along the interior of the offensive line.
Despite his age, Saffold will now become one of the top LGs on the open market. Other big names at the position include Laken Tomlinson, Andrew Norwell and Quinton Spain. With a number of teams in need of at least shoort-term health on their offensive fronts, Saffold shouldn’t be out of work for very long.
Saints Restructure Jordan, Kpassagnon
The Saints restructured the contracts of defensive ends Cameron Jordan and Tanoh Kpassagnon, creating $12.45MM in cap room (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com). Meanwhile, the Saints have also re-signed a pair of would-be ERFAs in defensive end Carl Granderson and defensive tackle Jalen Dalton. 
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That’ll help the Saints tamp down their payroll, but they still have lots of work to do. Heading into today, the Saints were projected to be $45.2MM over the salary cap, so they still have a franchise quarterback’s worth of dollars to carve out.
Jordan still has two to go on his deal, thanks to the three-year, $52.5MM add-on he signed in 2019. Jordan has spent his entire career in New Orleans, turning in near-perfect attendance and 175 total starts. This past year, Jordan notched his fifth-straight Pro Bowl nod with 12.5 sacks, 59 tackles, six passes defensed, and two forced fumbles.
Kpassagnon, meanwhile, notched four sacks in eight games (five starts) last year. The 6’7″, 289-pound edge rusher still has one year to go on his deal — his contract will remain largely unchanged via the simple restructure.