Browns To Re-Sign DE Jadeveon Clowney
After weeks of rumors connecting Jadeveon Clowney to a Cleveland return, that agreement has come to pass. Clowney will stay with the Browns on a one-year deal, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports (on Twitter).
The ninth-year defensive end will stay in Cleveland on a deal worth up to $11MM, USA Today’s Josina Anderson tweets. Incentives are included in this total, making it appear similar to the one-year, $8MM pact Clowney inked with the Browns in 2021. Either way, this will ensure Myles Garrett‘s edge-rushing partner will return — something the All-Pro lobbied for — for a second season.
The sides agreed to this deal Wednesday, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, but needed a few more days to finalize it (Twitter link). Clowney should be expected to earn close to that $11MM total, RapSheet adds, noting that the veteran edge defender turned down multiyear deals worth more than $14MM from other teams to stay in Cleveland (Twitter links).
While this does not stop Clowney’s run of one-year agreements, it does ensure he will return to a team for the first time since his Texans rookie deal expired. Since the Texans executed a tag-and-trade sequence with the Seahawks late in the summer of 2019, Clowney has spent the past three seasons in Seattle, Tennessee and Cleveland. The Browns season marked his most successful, even if the team underwhelmed. Clowney’s nine sacks were his most since 2018, his most recent Pro Bowl year. He finished with 32 pressures (tied for 25th in the NFL) alongside Garrett, who tied T.J. Watt for a league-high 52. Garrett’s 16 sacks were also a Browns single-season record.
Cleveland used a third-round pick on defensive end Alex Wright and traded for ex-Patriots edge contributor Chase Winovich. This duo will now be positioned to be rotational rushers behind the Garrett-Clowney tandem. With the Browns having moved on from 2021 defensive tackle starters Malik Jackson and Malik McDowell, Clowney will be positioned to help as an inside rusher as well. That would allow one of the edge backups to join he and Garrett in sub-packages.
This does continue an interesting run of contracts for Clowney, who led off a talented 2014 draft. Injuries have plagued the former South Carolina super-prospect for most of his career, with knee trouble being at the forefront of his health issues. Clowney did play in 14 games last season, however. But the long-term deal packed with guarantees — along the lines of the ones 2014 classmates Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack received years ago — eluded him. Clowney, 29, played out his Texans contract but will finish his 20s on a year-to-year path.
Still, Clowney earned $15MM in 2019 (via the tag), $13MM in 2020 and $8MM (plus $750K in incentives) last year. In addition to the $30MM-plus he made in five years with the Texans, the three-time Pro Bowler has done pretty well for himself — albeit in unorthodox fashion.
NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/21/22
The only drafted rookie who signed their contract today:
Cincinnati Bengals
- DL Zachary Carter (third round, Florida)
Chargers Sign 14 UDFAs
The Chargers’ 14-man undrafted free agent crop rounds out this year’s class of priority free agents. Here are the UDFAs vying to catch on with Los Angeles’ AFC team:
- Trevon Bradford, WR (Oregon State)
- Leddie Brown, RB (West Virginia)
- Erik Krommenhoek, TE (USC)
- Raheem Layne, S (Indiana)
- Tyreek Maddox-Williams, LB (Rutgers)
- Kevin Marks Jr., RB (Buffalo)
- James McCourt, K (Illinois)
- Brandon Peters, QB (Illinois)
- Brandon Sebastian, CB (Boston College)
- Ty Shelby, OLB (Louisiana-Monroe)
- Stone Smartt, TE (Old Dominion)
- Skyler Thomas, S (Liberty)
- Andrew Trainer, T (William & Mary)
- Isaac Weaver, C (Old Dominion)
Brown finished his Mountaineers career with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, totaling 22 rushing touchdowns in that span, while Marks was a four-year regular at Buffalo. Despite playing alongside Jaret Patterson during his first three seasons, Marks amassed a 1,000-yard rushing slate as a sophomore in 2019 and finished with 33 touchdowns with the Mid-American Conference program. These two will join the Chargers’ Austin Ekeler-led backfield, which includes backups Joshua Kelley, Larry Rountree and fourth-round rookie Isaiah Spiller.
Peters, who spent six years at Illinois, struggled with accuracy (54% career completion rate) at the Big Ten program and missed time due to injury as a senior. His most productive season came in 2019, when he threw 18 touchdown passes. The Fighting Illini’s kicker from 2019-21, McCourt enjoyed his best year as a senior, when he made 18 of 23 field goals. McCourt’s eight 50-plus-yard makes are the most in program history. He joins a Bolts team that has experienced kicker trouble in recent years but one that added longtime Washington specialist Dustin Hopkins last season.
Smartt joined Old Dominion as a transfer quarterback in 2019 and started for the Commodores that year. He struggled as a passer, but after the pandemic nixed Old Dominion’s 2020 season, Smartt moved to wide receiver. He caught just 17 passes in 2021, but the Bolts will try him at tight end alongside Krommenhoek, who caught just 15 passes last season. The Chargers did not re-sign Jared Cook but added Gerald Everett in free agency; he joins Donald Parham as the team’s top tight ends.
Packers Add 14 Undrafted Free Agents
The Packers roster now includes 14 undrafted rookies:
- RB BJ Baylor, Oregon State
- LB Caliph Brice, Florida
- LB Ellis Brooks, Penn State
- DL Akial Byers, Missouri
- WR Danny Davis, Wisconsin
- RB Tyler Goodson, Iowa
- OT Jahmir Johnson, Texas A&M
- OT Caleb Jones, Indiana
- LB Chauncey Manac, Louisiana
- G George Moore, Oregon
- DL Hauati Pututau, Utah
- C Cole Schneider, Central Florida
- S Tre Sterling, Oklahoma State
- CB Raleigh Texada, Baylor
The Packers already added three rookie wideouts via the draft, but that didn’t stop them from signing Davis. The Wisconsin product played 51 games during his collegiate career, hauling in 1,642 yards and 14 scores. He also contributed a bit in the running game, and he even served as a backup punt returner.
The team also added a trio of linebackers. Brice is a good story, as the defender worked his way from Hutchinson Community College (Kansas) to Florida Atlantic, where he collected 141 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss in 30 games. Brooks earned second-team All-Big Ten honors in 2021, and he finished his career with the Nittany Lions having compiled 230 tackles. Manac earned second-team All-Sun Belt in 2021 after collecting 57 tackles and 10.5 sacks.
Cowboys Add 20 UDFAs
The Cowboys had one of the biggest UDFA classes in the NFL, signing 20 undrafted rookies to contracts:
- S Markquese Bell, Florida A&M
- DE Markaviest Bryant, Central Florida
- RB Malik Davis, Florida
- WR Dontario Drummond, Ole Miss
- C James Empey, BYU
- WR Ty Fryfogle, Indiana
- K Jonathan Garibay, Texas Tech
- LB Aaron Hansford, Texas A&M
- TE Peyton Hendershot, Indiana
- WR Dennis Houston, Western Illinois
- LB Storey Jackson, Liberty
- C Alex Lindstrom, Boston College
- CB Quandre Mosely, Kentucky
- WR Jaquarii Robinson, Wake Forest
- RB Aaron Shampklin, Harvard
- OT Amon Simon, Texas A&M-Commerce
- DE Mike Tafua, Utah
- CB Isaac Taylor-Stuart, Southern Cal
- S Juanyeh Thomas, Georgia Tech
- S La’Kendrick Van Zandt, TCU
Bell got a chunk of money to join the Cowboys, receiving $215K in guaranteed money, per PFF’s Doug Kyed (on Twitter). The Florida A&M product missed the 2020 campaign but returned for the 2021 season, finishing with 95 tackles and a pair of sacks. Bell has shown some ability to play on both sides of the ball, making him an intriguing prospect (and, presumably, a good fit for special teams).
Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com tweets that Empey got $110K in guaranteed money. The lineman was a four-year starter at BYU, although injuries limited him to only 15 combined appearances between the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
Ravens Reunite With DL Urban
A late report this Friday evening, Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network tweeted that defensive lineman Brent Urban will rejoin the team that drafted him, crediting Urban’s wife in the report. Urban reportedly agreed to a one-year deal to return to Baltimore. 
Urban was drafted by the Ravens in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft out of Virginia. Due to a torn ACL, followed by a torn bicep, Urban didn’t make his NFL debut until Week 12 of his sophomore season, blocking a potential game-winning field goal that was returned by teammate Will Hill for a game-winning touchdown as time expired.
Urban earned the starting job at right defensive end to begin his third season, but a Lisfranc foot injury sidelined him for the season after only three games. In his contract year, Urban finally got to play an entire healthy season, starting every game of the year for Baltimore.
The next season, Urban followed defensive coordinator Dean Pees from Baltimore to Tennessee, signing with the Titans. After four games of backup duty, he was released but promptly picked up by the Bears, who needed to replace injured defensive end Akiem Hicks. Chicago re-signed Urban for another year, in which he earned eight starts filling in for another injured-Bear, Roy Robertson-Harris. Last year, Urban signed with the Cowboys starting four of the six games he appeared in before once again being placed on injured reserve in late October.
Urban will have to work to earn a roster spot in Baltimore. On the interior, Baltimore re-signed Calais Campbell and brought back another former-Raven in Michael Pierce. They also drafted Travis Jones who is expected to compete as a rookie for playing time with other recent draft picks Justin Madubuike and Broderick Washington. At defensive end, Baltimore will utilize Odafe Oweh and Jaylon Ferguson to rush the passer. Derek Wolfe is on roster as a plus run-defender.
Baltimore mixes up the defensive alignments, with Campbell lining up all over the line and pass rushers like Oweh, Ferguson, and linebacker Tyus Bowser alternating between standing up and putting a hand in the dirt. The lack of options on the outside of the line could provide Urban an opportunity to stake his claim to a roster-spot next season.
Urban’s unfortunate injury-history is a potential red-flag for the deal, especially after Baltimore watched a hip injury sideline Wolfe for the entire 2022 NFL season. Wolfe and Urban will play similar roles on the Ravens’ defense, so the addition of Urban may serve both players to share playing time and not put too much of a load on the recovering linemen.
Colts, Foles Getting Close To Deal
After reports that Indianapolis was open to adding a veteran quarterback to their roster, behind recent addition Matt Ryan, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports that a deal is in the works for the Colts to bring in Nick Foles. The move would reunite Foles with Colts head coach Frank Reich, who served as his offensive coordinator during their Super Bowl run with the Eagles. 
At the Colts’ rookie minicamp a week ago, Reich was asked specifically about the possibility of signing Foles, who was released by the Bears at the end of April. “We’re always looking at who makes this team better, at every position,” Reich said. “Who are the available veterans? Who can we still sign? [GM] Chris [Ballard] is very methodical about that process. We’re not in a rush. There is a timing to the way things go, and the way the roster is put together, that is very intentional.”
Foles and Reich have a strong relationship, and Foles recently said, “I learned more with [Reich] and that staff in that season in 2017 than I ever have.”
Foles’ subsequent stints with the Jaguars and Bears were eminently forgettable, but he would certainly represent a qualified backup for Ryan. And that could be critical for a team that saw firsthand in 2021 how an inexperienced backup can negatively impact a season
In a close game against the Rams in Week 2 of the 2021 campaign, Jacob Eason replaced starter Carson Wentz, who had suffered two sprained ankles. Eason, a 2020 fourth-rounder who was seeing his first regular season action, promptly threw a crippling interception and finished the game 2-for-5 for 40 yards and the pick. He was waived a month later.
Foles will be competing for the backup spot with second-year quarterbacks Sam Ehlinger out of Texas and James Morgan out of Florida International, as well as rookie undrafted free agent Jack Coan out of Notre Dame. According to Garafolo, the deal is expected to be finalized early next week.
NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/20/22
Here is today’s collection of draft picks to sign their rookie deals:
Baltimore Ravens
- NT Travis Jones (third round, Connecticut)
Pittsburgh Steelers
- DE DeMarvin Leal (third round, Texas A&M)
Minor NFL Transactions: 5/20/22
Here are the day’s minor moves:
Cleveland Browns
- Waived: WR Reggie Robinson
Dallas Cowboys
- Waived: S La’Kendrick Van Zandt
Green Bay Packers
- Waived: K JJ Molson
Houston Texans
- Waived: CB Jimmy Moreland
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: WR Jordan Veasy
- Waived: FB Sutton Smith
Seattle Seahawks
- Waived: QB Levi Lewis
Colts Sign Third-Rounders Jelani Woods, Bernhard Raimann To Wrap Draft Class
Despite making three picks in Round 3, a round that annually leads to delayed rookie agreements, the Colts are finished signing their 2022 draftees.
Third-round tight end Jelani Woods (Virginia) and third-round tackle Bernhard Raimann (Central Michigan) signed their four-year rookie deals Friday, being the final members of Indianapolis’ nine-man draft class to do so. Both players will be expected to vie for first-string work this year.
The Colts obtained the Woods draft pick (No. 73) in their second Carson Wentz trade, and they gave Matt Ryan a new weapon with the Commanders pick. A 6-foot-7 prospect, Woods transferred from Oklahoma State and put together a first-team All-ACC season (44 catches, 598 yards, eight touchdowns) in 2021. The second tight end off the board, Woods will be expected to contribute early. The Colts re-signed Mo Alie-Cox but saw Jack Doyle retire. The team drafted two tight ends this year.
Raimann went to the Colts four picks later, by virtue of the trade-down maneuver the team executed with the Vikings in Round 2, and joins a position group that lost starting left tackle Eric Fisher. Raimann also has tight end experience, starting 11 games at that post at Central Michigan. He finished as a first-team All-Mid-American Conference left tackle, however, last season. Raimann joins the recently re-signed Matt Pryor as the top candidates to succeed Fisher.
Here is the Colts’ full 2022 class:
Round 2: No. 53 (from Raiders through Packers and Vikings) Alec Pierce, WR (Cincinnati)
Round 3: No. 73 (from Commanders) Jelani Woods, TE (Virginia)
Round 3: No. 77 (from Vikings) Bernhard Raimann, OT (Central Michigan)
Round 3: No. 96 (from Rams through Broncos) Nick Cross, S (Maryland)
Round 5: No. 159 Eric Johnson, DT (Missouri State)
Round 6: No. 192 (from Vikings) Andrew Ogletree, TE (Youngstown State)
Round 6: No. 216 Curtis Brooks, DT (Cincinnati)
Round 7: No. 239 Rodney Thomas, S (Yale)