Panthers To Sign David Moore
The Panthers just lost a receiver when Curtis Samuel signed with Washington, and now they’re adding one. Carolina has agreed to terms with David Moore, Bill Voth of the team’s official site tweets.
It’s a two-year deal for the D2 product out of East Central University, long-time Panthers beat writer Joseph Person tweets. The pact is worth $4.75MM over two years with $1.25MM guaranteed, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets. Moore was a seventh-round pick of the Seahawks in 2017, and he turned into a nice unheralded find. He appeared in only one game with no stats as a rookie, but quickly broke out as a sophomore.
In 2018 he played in all 16 games, racking up 26 catches for 445 yards and five touchdowns, averaging an impressive 17.1 yards per reception as a deep threat. This past season in 16 games and six starts, he had 35 catches for 417 yards and six touchdowns.
Moore turned 26 in January, and it’ll be interesting to see what he can do when not buried behind Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf. Carolina is reportedly aggressively looking for an upgrade at quarterback over Teddy Bridgewater, so it’s unclear who he’ll be catching passes from in 2021.
The Panthers currently have Robby Anderson and D.J. Moore at receiver, but little outside of them, so Moore should have a good chance at winning the third receiver job depending on what they do in the draft.
Chiefs To Bring Back OL Mike Remmers
Despite Mike Remmers struggling in a Super Bowl for the second time, the Chiefs want him to be part of their reconfigured offensive line.
The two-time defending AFC champions are bringing Remmers back on a one-year deal worth $3.5MM, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The nomadic blocker could earn up to $7MM on this contract.
Kansas City signed Remmers last year, and he ended up playing a pivotal role. Mitchell Schwartz‘s back injury thrust Remmers into action. He started 10 regular-season games and all three of Kansas City’s playoff tilts. After Eric Fisher‘s Achilles tear in the AFC championship game, the Chiefs turned to Remmers at left tackle in Super Bowl LV. While his matchup with Jason Pierre-Paul somewhat resembled his Super Bowl 50 encounter with Von Miller, Remmers has been an NFL starter for the past six seasons.
The Chiefs have cut both Schwartz and Fisher, leaving two gaping holes on the edges of their offensive line. While Kansas City added Joe Thuney on a monster guard deal and brought Kyle Long out of retirement, the team’s tackle needs remain noticeable. Remmers, 32 in April, would stand to either fill one of them at a low cost or reprise the swing role he was brought in to play last year. In his tweet announcing the agreement, Rapoport characterizes Remmers as a Chiefs starter. Remmers’ agent, Brett Tessler, concurs, understandably (Twitter link). It will be interesting to see if the Chiefs go in that direction given the tackle stability the organization possessed going into 2020.
Remmers worked as Carolina’s starting right tackle from 2015-17. He played with Minnesota in 2018 and the Giants in 2019, starting 30 games between those two seasons. While maligned at times, Remmers has started 88 games in his career. Both he and Andrew Wylie, a guard whom the Chiefs turned to at right tackle in the Super Bowl, are back for 2021.
Jets To Sign Dan Feeney
The Jets are staying active, and just moments after we heard they’d be signing Keelan Cole they’re now adding an offensive lineman. New York has agreed to terms with interior lineman Dan Feeney, a source told Adam Caplan of Sirius XM NFL Radio (Twitter link). It’s a one-year deal worth $3.5MM, although the deal could peak at $4.25MM, per Brian Costello of the New York Post (via Twitter).
It’s the first offensive line addition for the Jets this offseason, and a fallback move after they struck out on fellow guard Joe Thuney. Feeney was a third-round pick of the Chargers back in 2017. The Indiana product started nine games as a rookie, and then all 16 in each of the past three years.
That’s a lot of starting experience, although to be sure the Chargers’ offensive line was never a particularly strong unit during those years. There’s a reason the Chargers just opted to sign Matt Feiler to help replace him.
That being said, it’s a presumably cheap signing that can’t hurt the Jets too much. Feeney likely won’t be counted on to be a starter, and will slot in as a versatile reserve who can play both center and guard. They can take as many O-line flyers as they need as they look to set up solid protection for Sam Darnold or whoever their next quarterback of the future is.
Bucs To Re-Sign Rakeem Nunez-Roches
While it will not register on the level that Shaquil Barrett or Lavonte David‘s re-signings did, the Buccaneers brought another member of their Super Bowl champion roster Thursday.
They are re-signing defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches, with Sirius XM Radio’s Adam Caplan reporting the veteran interior defender will sign for two years and $5MM. Nunez-Roches, who can earn up to $6.5MM on this deal, has been with the Bucs since 2018. The former Chiefs draftee will collect $2.25MM in guarantees on his latest Bucs contract.
Nunez-Roches played a career-high snap rate last season, starting 11 games for the Bucs and playing 45% of Tampa Bay’s defensive snaps. The Bucs relied on Nunez-Roches more after Vita Vea‘s injury. Nunez-Roches does not have notable pass-rushing abilities, having recorded 1.5 sacks in six seasons, and Pro Football Focus graded him as one of the worst D-tackles last season. But the Bucs have now made him a priority under two coaching staffs, and he has been a part of two strong run defenses over the past two seasons.
The team has not yet re-signed Ndamukong Suh, though given its spree of re-ups, that certainly cannot be ruled out. Nevertheless, they have one of their D-line starters back on a low-cost deal. Suh, however, remains a priority to re-sign, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times (on Twitter).
Jets To Sign WR Keelan Cole
The Jets are adding another pass-catcher. New York is signing former Jaguar Keelan Cole to a one-year deal, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
The pact is worth $5.5MM, Schefter writes. It’s a nice payday for a player who went undrafted out of D2 school Kentucky Wesleyan. The move comes just a few days after the Jets gave a big contract to Corey Davis as they look to upgrade last year’s underwhelming receiving group. With Davis, Jamison Crowder, second-year player Denzel Mims and now Cole, the Jets will have a respectable corp in 2021.
Cole signed with Jacksonville as an UDFA in 2017, and turned into a nice diamond in the rough find. He came out of nowhere as a rookie to play in all 16 games and rack up 748 yards. He never eclipsed that total again as other Jags young players moved up the depth chart, but he’s coming off a solid 2020 season.
In 16 games and five starts, he turned 55 receptions into 642 yards and five touchdowns. Not bad for a player the Jets will be counting on to be a third or fourth option. Cole has never missed a game during his pro career, and the Jags thought highly enough of him to give him a second-round tender last offseason as a RFA. He’ll turn 28 next month.
Browns, CB Troy Hill Agree To Deal
The Browns have now received multiple commitments from ex-Rams secondary starters this week. Following their agreement with safety John Johnson, the Browns are signing cornerback Troy Hill, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
A multiyear starter in Los Angeles, Hill will come to Cleveland on a four-year, $24MM contract. Hill will join Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams as the Browns’ top corners. Assuming the Browns pick up Ward’s fifth-year option, all three will be signed through at least 2022.
Hill, 29, has experience as a boundary and slot corner, giving the Browns options. He also stands to provide insurance after Williams missed all of last season with an injury.
The Browns brought in Kevin Johnson on a one-year deal in 2020, but the former first-round pick has not been re-signed. Born in northeast Ohio but having gone to high school in southern California, Hill will return to his home state after multiple productive seasons with the Rams.
Last season, the Rams used Hill on 95% of their defensive snaps — well up from his 2019 usage — and he graded as a top-30 corner, per Pro Football Focus. Hill intercepted three passes last season and returned two of those picks for touchdowns. In 2019, Hill allowed opposing QBs to collectively amass a 61.3 passer rating and complete just 45% of their passes when targeting him. He stands to help a Browns defense that rated 25th in DVOA last season.
The Rams turned to Hill as a key cog, with the team having traded Marcus Peters to the Ravens during the 2019 season. Hill, however, played five seasons with Los Angeles and started 39 games. He and Johnson will arrive on long-term contracts, which run counter to GM Andrew Berry‘s strategy a year ago. In 2020, Berry supplemented his rookie-deal troops with the likes of Johnson, Andrew Sendejo and Karl Joseph in the secondary. The second-year GM opted to devote more significant resources to the secondary this year.
Titans To Re-Sign T Ty Sambrailo
The Titans have seen their right tackle plans change considerably over the past year. They will retain a veteran with experience at this spot, however.
Ty Sambrailo reached an agreement to stay with Tennessee, according to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo (on Twitter). Sambrailo played in 10 Titans games, making five starts, last season.
The journeyman blocker’s return may be more impactful now. The Titans have traded would-be Jack Conklin successor Isaiah Wilson to the Dolphins, and they released Dennis Kelly — their 16-game right tackle starter last season — earlier this week. Sambrailo has played most of his career at right tackle, but he was called upon to play left tackle last season after Taylor Lewan‘s injury.
A former second-round Broncos pick who was initially tabbed to be their Week 1 left tackle starter in Peyton Manning‘s final season, Sambrailo has spent most of his career with the Falcons. He joined the Titans last year, doing so after he spent four seasons as the Falcons’ swing tackle.
It is not certain the Titans will ask Sambrailo to start, but the 28-year-old blocker may be counted on given the franchise’s developments at right tackle.
Patriots To Re-Sign K Nick Folk
The Patriots have added plenty of free agents from outside the organization this week, but they’re also keeping some of their own guys. New England is re-signing kicker Nick Folk to a one-year deal, a source told Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Yates reports that it comes with $1.225MM guaranteed. Meanwhile, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets that the deal has a $1.625MM base value, comes with a $125K signing bonus, and can be worth up to $2.5MM with incentives. After Stephen Gostkowski missed most of the 2019 season and was then released, the Pats have had a bit of an unstable kicking situation the past couple years.
They cycled through a few options, but now may have solved things with Folk. The former Cowboys and Jets kicker was out of the league for a little bit, and even spent some time with the Arizona Hotshots of the ill-fated AAF. He latched on for a handful of games with New England in 2019, then was signed again last August.
He ended up kicking in all 16 games last year, making 26 of 28 field goal attempts and 30 of 33 extra point attempts. Folk turned 36 in November.
Raiders To Re-Sign Theo Riddick
Despite agreeing to terms with Kenyan Drake, the Raiders are keeping Theo Riddick. They reached an agreement to re-sign the veteran passing-down back, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
It is a one-year deal that does not provide much assurance Riddick will make the Raiders’ 53-man roster, with Yates adding only $50K of the pact is guaranteed. But the Raiders do have Riddick in their plans, for the time being.
Riddick, 30 in May, played a small role in six Raider games last season. The former Lions outlet option totaled 57 yards on 11 touches last season. This came after Riddick spent a year on the Broncos’ IR after suffering an injury during the preseason.
Riddick made a lot of noise with Detroit from 2013-18, mostly as a pass-catching specialist and checkdown artist for Matthew Stafford. He’ll slot in (for now) behind Drake and Josh Jacobs on the depth chart. His best season was in 2015, when he had 697 yards through the air, although he hasn’t made much of an impact since leaving the Motor City.
Lions To Sign Charles Harris
The Lions are adding an interesting piece to their defense. Detroit is signing defensive end Charles Harris, a source told Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Harris is well known for being the 22nd overall pick of the Dolphins in the 2017 draft. He didn’t pan out in Miami from the jump, and was traded to the Falcons in May of last year for a seventh-round pick. He had the highest sack total of his career in Atlanta, registering three in 13 games while playing just under 27 percent of the defensive snaps.
The Lions finished with just 24 sacks as a team last year, tied for sixth-fewest in the league, so they can use all the pass-rushing flyers they can get. Harris was a first-round pick for a reason and just turned 26 earlier this month, so it’s a decent low-risk signing for a rebuilding team that could pay dividends if he ever unlocks his potential.
Detroit just re-signed Romeo Okwara to a big deal to be their top edge rusher, but they don’t have much besides him at the position other than Trey Flowers, who only played in seven games last year. There’s a path to real playing time for Harris if he earns it.