Tre Herndon

CB Rumors: Jackson, Lions, Jaguars, Apple

Adoree’ Jackson served as the Giants‘ No. 1 cornerback last season, his second with the team. Despite coming off injury, Jackson fared well against Justin Jefferson in the Giants’ wild-card win. But the team is experimenting on a potential shift in the veteran’s role during training camp. Jackson has seen extensive time in the slot in camp, and Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News notes the prospect of Jackson in the slot and Deonte Banks and Tre Hawkins outside is viable.

The Titans used Jackson as an outside corner during his Tennessee tenure, and the Giants stationed Darnay Holmes in the slot last year. They also drafted Cor’Dale Flott as a slot option in last year’s third round. But Holmes has struggled during camp, per Leonard. Hawkins, chosen in the sixth round out of Old Dominion, does not have slot experience. Jackson’s willingness as a tackler would benefit the Giants if they followed through on this, though the move is not set in stone. Holmes still operated as the team’s lead slot defender in a joint practice against the Lions on Wednesday, Dan Duggan of The Athletic tweets. Hawkins being in consideration for a regular role would be notable for a Giants team that struggled for CB depth last year.

Here is the latest from NFL secondaries:

  • Emmanuel Moseley‘s cleanup procedure on the ACL he tore last year has led to an unexpected delay in his return. Moseley reported to camp late due to the surgery, and the Lions placed the free agent signing on the active/PUP list. While Dan Campbell said last week the team expected Moseley back soon, the Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birkett notes no timetable exists for the ex-49er’s return, adding that he may not be a lock to start the season on time. This surgery has provided another delay for Moseley, who signed a one-year, $6MM deal that came with $2MM guaranteed. Campbell confirmed Moseley’s absence to start camp was excused.
  • Fellow UFA addition Cameron Sutton and Jerry Jacobs have worked as Detroit’s starting cornerbacks in camp, and while the return of Moseley will give the Lions another starter-level corner, rookie UDFA Starling Thomas has made enough of an impression that Birkett added he is a good bet to make the 53-man roster. He of a 4.28-second 40-yard dash at UAB’s pro day, Thomas has been running with the Lions’ second-stringers at corner alongside Will Harris.
  • Few battles for starting spots are transpiring in Jacksonville, but the Jaguars are holding one at nickel corner. Despite bringing back Tre Herndon on another one-year deal, the Jags are pitting the sixth-year veteran against several players for the slot role. Second-year players Gregory Junior (Round 6) and Montaric Brown (Round 7) join sixth- and seventh-round rookies Erick Hallett and Christian Braswell in vying for this job, per Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com. Fifth-round safety Antonio Johnson has mixed in here as well. Herndon re-signed on a fully guaranteed $2.58MM deal. Formerly surpassing 900 defensive snaps in back-to-back years, Herndon finished with just 416 last season.
  • Eli Apple‘s Dolphins deal is worth $1.6MM over one season, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald notes. Incentives could take the veteran corner’s contract up to $2.28MM. While the $1.6MM is not entirely guaranteed, the former top-10 pick received a $250K signing bonus.

Jaguars Re-Sign CB Tre Herndon

In what has now become an annual post, the Jaguars have re-signed cornerback Tre Herndon to one-year contract, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. The new deal is reportedly worth $2.6MM, guaranteed, his highest deal yet with the team.

A former undrafted free agent out of Vanderbilt in 2018, Herndon has spent all of the first five years of his career in Jacksonville. His role with the team over the years has varied greatly. His status has diminished from a starting position in the 2019 and 2020 seasons to a backup role in the past two years.

In the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Herdon started in three games, but that was outweighed a bit by the seven games in which he only appeared on special teams.

The position group that Herndon returns to will likely be led by Tyson Campbell and Darious Williams. Herndon will likely be competing with Montaric Brown for the next position on the depth chart after the release of former starter Shaquill Griffin.

Jaguars Re-Sign CB Tre Herndon

Tre Herndon is returning to Jacksonville. The Jaguars have re-signed the cornerback, reports Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com (via Twitter).

Herndon has spent his entire career with the Jaguars, and he’s seen an inconsistent role through his first four years in the league. He started 26 games for the organization between 2019 and 2020, but he only started three of his nine games in 2021. A knee injury delayed his start to last season, and he was also inactive for five of the team’s final 10 games.

Still, Herndon managed to compile 17 tackles while playing a role on special teams. In total, the 26-year-old has collected 161 tackles and three interceptions in 52 career games.

The cornerback will presumably play behind Shaquill Griffin and Rudy Ford in 2022.

Jaguars Re-Sign Tre Herndon

The Jaguars have re-signed cornerback Tre Herndon, per a club announcement. Terms of the deal are not yet known. 

Herndon, a former UDFA, was set for restricted free agency. The Jaguars could have retained him for roughly $2.1MM – instead, they hashed out a new deal.

The Vanderbilt product started in 12 of his 14 games last season, bringing him to a total of 26 starts over the last two seasons. He finished out 2020 with 76 tackles and one sack while grading out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 90 ranked cornerback out of 121 qualifiers.

Now set to enter his fourth season in the NFL, Herndon is likely to be slotted as a reserve. Last year, Herndon was one of the Jags’ most penalized players with seven flags. Rookie C.J. Henderson will return as a starter, but the Jaguars will be looking to reboot the rest of their CB group. They’ll have a pretty clean slate, as corners D.J. Hayden, Sidney Jones, and Greg Mabin approach the open market.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/19/20

Here are Saturday’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/16/20

Here are Wednesday’s minor moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Miami Dolphins

New York Jets

  • Placed on IR: S Saquan Hamilton

Philadelphia Eagles

Jaguars Sign 13 UDFAs

The Jaguars have signed the following 13 undrafted free agents:

Meeks skipped his senior season at Stanford with the belief that he would be a Day 3 draft pick. That call never came, so he’ll have to scrap for his opportunity to make the Jaguars’ final cut. Lazard also seemed to have a decent chance at getting drafted after setting Iowa State records with 231 passes and 3,218 yards over the course of his collegiate career.

The Jaguars now have have one open spot on their 89-man roster after releasing wide receiver Jaelen Strong and punter Brad Nortman.