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Lions To Sign LB Alex Anzalone

March 24th, 2021 at 1:44pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

New Lions coach Dan Campbell is getting the gang back together. Well not entirely, but he is adding a familiar face to his inaugural defense.

Detroit has agreed to terms on a deal with free agent linebacker Alex Anzalone, a source told Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (Twitter link). It’s a one-year pact worth a modest $1.75MM, he reports. Campbell and Anzalone were together in New Orleans for the past four years when Campbell was an assistant head coach under Sean Payton. 

The Saints drafted Anzalone in the third-round back in 2017, and he spent his first four pro seasons with the team. This past season he appeared in all 16 games and started nine, playing almost exactly half of the defensive snaps. He finished with 41 tackles, three for a loss.

The Lions have so far made the defensive line more of a priority, adding guys like Michael Brockers and Charles Harris, and this is their first real addition to the linebacking corp.

Jaguars To Sign C.J. Beathard

March 24th, 2021 at 12:35pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Jaguars won’t get Trevor Lawrence until next month, but they’re adding to the quarterback room in the meantime. Jacksonville is expected to sign C.J. Beathard, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). It’s a two-year pact worth $5MM with additional incentives available, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets.

Beathard was originally drafted by the 49ers in the third-round back in 2017, and has spent the past four years in San Francisco. He started five games as a rookie, another five in 2018, none in 2019, and another two this past year due to various benchings and injuries. The Iowa product is 291/497 for 3,469 yards (7.0 YPA), 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in his career.

Not terrible numbers for a backup, although some would argue they’re the product more of a Kyle Shanahan system than anything else. We’ve heard that current Jags passer Gardner Minshew is drawing trade interest, so this move could be a precursor to a deal there. Funnily enough the 49ers have been linked to Minshew, so they could end up just swapping places.

New Jaguars coach Urban Meyer did say recently the team wasn’t shopping Minshew “at this point.” The 49ers had discussions about Beathard over the years, and apparently could’ve gotten a sixth-rounder for him around the 2019 deadline. Besides Minshew the Jaguars also have 2020 sixth-round pick Jake Luton, who started three games last year, on the roster.

Bears To Sign Damien Williams

March 24th, 2021 at 12:22pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Bears are adding to their running back room. Chicago has agreed to terms on a deal with free agent Damien Williams, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). It’s a one-year pact, he notes.

Williams was a COVID-19 opt out of the 2020 season, and the Chiefs then cut him last week after the drafting of Clyde Edwards-Helaire made him expendable. As Rapsheet points out there’s some familiarity here, as Bears head coach Matt Nagy is an Andy Reid protege who runs a similar offensive scheme. New Bears offensive coordinator Bill Lazor also coached Williams in Miami.

An Oklahoma product, Williams got his NFL start as an UDFA with the Dolphins in 2014. After four years there as a role player, Williams signed with the Chiefs in 2018 and took on a bigger load. In 2019 he was the team’s leading rusher despite playing in only 11 games, carrying the ball 111 times for 498 yards and five touchdowns.

In Kansas City’s Super Bowl win that season he came up huge, rushing for 104 yards and scoring two touchdowns. That’s the last game he’s played. He’ll turn 29 next month, and will join a backfield that includes last year’s workhorse David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen returning from injury.

Bengals To Sign Ricardo Allen

March 24th, 2021 at 11:41am CST by Zachary Links

After being cut by the Falcons, Ricardo Allen has found a new home. On Wednesday, the Bengals agreed to sign the veteran safety to a one-year deal (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). 

Allen operated as a first-string safety for the Falcons from 2015-2020, including a start in Super Bowl LI. Despite losing his 2018 season to injury, the 29-year-old has been mostly healthy over the last two years.

The Bengals made a point to upgrade their secondary by bringing in new cornerbacks like Eli Apple, Mike Hilton, and Chidobe Awuzie. Allen, meanwhile, gives them another option at safety on what should be a fairly low-cost deal.

In his 12 games last season, the 29-year-old registered 25 stops and a pair of interceptions. He comes to Cincy with plenty of veteran experience, having appeared in 77 games (76 starts) since 2014.

Vikings To Re-Sign Ameer Abdullah

March 24th, 2021 at 11:33am CST by Zachary Links

The Vikings have agreed to a new deal with Ameer Abdullah (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). Terms of the deal are not yet known,

Abdullah had lots of hype coming out of Nebraska in 2015. The Lions’ second-round pick was reasonably productive as a rookie, averaging 4.2 yards per carry plus added 25 catches for 183 yards. His follow-up season was mostly lost to injury and he was unable to reassert himself in 2017, as he averaged just 3.3 yards per tote. In 2018, he found his way to the rival Vikings as a backup RB.

Abdullah, 28 in June, has only seen 31 carries across two-years-and-change in Minnesota. Still, he’s suited up for every possible game across the last two years with much of his time spent on special teams. He also serves as the Vikes’ main kick returner with a career average of 26.4 yards per attempt. This year, he may see more time behind Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison now that Mike Boone is out of the picture.

Giants Complete Kyle Rudolph Signing

March 24th, 2021 at 10:28am CST by Zachary Links

Despite Tuesday’s roadblocks, the Giants have ironed things out with Kyle Rudolph. The former Vikings tight end inked his new deal with the G-Men on Wednesday morning (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). 

[RELATED: Giants Concerned About Kyle Rudolph‘s Physical]

Rudolph first agreed to a two-year, $12MM deal last week. Then, a Giants physical yielded concerns about a foot issue that put surgery on the table. While it loomed possible that Rudolph’s reworked contract would have less in the way of guarantees or other added protections in the event of an injury, the Giants are honoring the original deal they agreed to with the veteran tight end, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.

Rudolph will undergo surgery this offseason, Garafolo adds, but he is expected to ready for action by the time the Giants begin the regular season. It is not certain if Rudolph will be full-go when training camp opens.

The 31-year-old marks yet another notable signing for the Giants, who have also landed star wide receiver Kenny Golladay and former Titans cornerback Adoree’ Jackson. Rudolph is now set to support top tight end Evan Engram as the Giants look to reignite their offense.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/24/21

March 24th, 2021 at 10:21am CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Green Bay Packers

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

Seattle Seahawks

49ers Re-Sign K’Waun Williams

March 24th, 2021 at 10:20am CST by Zachary Links

K’Waun Williams found plenty of interest on the open market, but the 49ers managed to keep him from straying. On Wednesday, the Niners agreed to a new one-year deal with the slot cornerback (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport).

The veteran cover man agreed to a modest contract to stay in San Francisco, rejoining the 49ers on a one-year, $2.38MM pact, Rapoport adds (via Twitter). This agreement comes after Williams’ three-year, $10MM extension expired after the 2020 season.

The Lions, Chiefs, and Jets also had their eye on Williams. The Jets were an especially logical destination, since Williams played for Robert Saleh in San Francisco.

Williams was limited to just eight games last year between his ankle injuries and knee issues. But, in the previous year, he played in 15 contests with eight starts while snagging two interceptions.

Williams, 30 in July, started his career as a Browns UDFA. Since then, he’s blossomed into one of the league’s stronger slot specialists. Now, he’ll return for another season, along with recently re-signed corners Emmanuel Moseley and Jason Verrett. Richard Sherman, meanwhile, seems destined to head elsewhere.

Buccaneers To Re-Sign Ndamukong Suh

March 24th, 2021 at 9:38am CST by Zachary Links

The Buccaneers are on the verge of re-signing Ndamukong Suh. Once finalized, it’ll be a one-year, $9MM contract for the defensive tackle, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). Through incentives, Suh’s deal could be worth up to $10MM (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). 

Suh joined Tampa on a similar contract in 2019. They re-upped him in 2020 for a touch less — a one–year, $8MM deal. Suh may be past his prime, but he still managed six sacks in the regular season — his highest total since 2015 — plus 27 total stops. All along, Bucs GM Jason Licht has said that he’s wanted to bring Suh back for a third year in Tampa.

“I think he’s said it, that’d he’d love to come back here,” Licht said in February. “I know that there’s mutual respect for each other, and I’ve told him that we’d like to have him back. We’re just kind of letting the dust settle here for a couple days. We’ve got some time here…We’ll have to see how it all shakes out, but he’s definitely one that we want back.”

Suh, 34, is still among the league’s better interior tackles and the Bucs have managed to keep most of their stars together post-Super Bowl. Their recent re-up of Rakeem Nunez-Roches cast some doubt on the odds of a Suh return, but the Bucs pulled it off to keep their strong run defense in tact.

Bucs To Extend Donovan Smith

March 24th, 2021 at 9:37am CST by Zachary Links

The Buccaneers and offensive tackle Donovan Smith reached agreement on a two-year, $31.8MM deal, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. As a part of the extension, Smith will earn $30MM guaranteed over the next two years. 

Between Smith’s new contract and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh‘s re-up, this has been a pretty great morning for GM Jason Licht & Co. Many wondered if the Bucs would be able to keep the band together after their Super Bowl win, but they’ve pulled it off with some clever accounting. Quarterback Tom Brady, wide receiver Chris Godwin, edge rusher Shaq Barrett, inside linebacker Lavonte David, tight end Rob Gronkowski, and kicker Ryan Succop and other core players have been re-upped, positioning the Bucs for another championship run.

Smith has never been a world-beater, but even an average blindside protector is a valuable in the NFL. In 2019, the Bucs re-signed him to a three-year, $41.25MM contract. He’s served as the Bucs’ starting left tackle since entering the league in 2015 and he’s missed only two games throughout his career (The latest one was due to COVID-19 exposure).

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