Contract Details: Collins, Morse, Graham
Let’s take a look at the details of a few recently-signed contracts from around the NFL:
- Landon Collins, S (Redskins): Six years, $84MM deal, $45MM guaranteed. $15MM signing bonus, $6MM option bonus for 2024 (exercised between first and fifth of 2020). Deal includes $32MM guaranteed over the first two seasons. $5MM of his 2021 salary is guaranteed at signing. Salaries: $1MM (2019), $10MM (2020), $12.5MM (2021), $11.5MM (2022), $12.5MM (2023), $13.5MM (2024). All Twitter links via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, and ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
- Mitch Morse, C (Bills): Four years, $44.5MM, $26.5MM guaranteed (original story). Receives $19.5MM in 2019, $28.375MM in 2020. Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero.
- Brandon Graham, DE (Eagles): Three years, $40MM. $23.5MM guaranteed. $12.5MM signing bonus. Salary: $1MM (2019), $10MM (2020). Team option for 2021: $13MM salary and $3.5MM option bonus. Twitter link via Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic.
- Danny Amendola, WR (Lions): One year, $4.5MM. $4.25MM fully guaranteed. $250K in per-game roster bonuses, $1.25MM in incentives. Twitter link via Ben Volin of the Boston Globe.
- Tyler Kroft, TE (Bills): Three years, $18.75MM. $8.3MM guaranteed, $2.4MM signing bonus. Will earn $1.8MM salary in 2019, $4.45MM in 2020. Roster bonuses include $2.1MM (2019), $750K (2020), $750K (2021). Twitter links via Wilson and ESPN’s Mike Rodak.
Ravens Increase Offer For C.J. Mosley
The Ravens chose not to franchise-tag inside linebacker C.J. Mosley, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want him back. The Ravens are working to retain him and “have sweetened their offer,” according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic (Twitter link).
While the Ravens have upped their offer, Zrebiec notes there “is still a gap” between what Baltimore is offering, and the offers from the Jets and potentially more teams. The Jets have been strongly connected to the Alabama product, and we’ve also heard teams like the Browns and Redskins are interested.
Judging by the deal Kwon Alexander landed from the 49ers, Mosley is about to cash in. Mosley is widely thought to be the better player, and Alexander just got four years and $54MM while coming off a torn ACL. In a separate tweet Zrebiec notes that the Redskins’ signing of Landon Collins might’ve diminished their interest in Mosley.
In the same tweet Zrebiec highlights the Colts as a potential suitor for Mosley in addition to the Browns and Jets. He also says it “sounds like Jets have been the most aggressive with the offer.” The 17th overall pick of the 2014 draft, Mosley has made the Pro Bowl in four of his five seasons in the league and is still only 26, so it makes sense why so many teams are interested.
Redskins To Sign Landon Collins
Landon Collins has agreed to sign with the Redskins (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson). It’s a whopper of a contract: Collins will receive a six-year, $84MM deal with $45MM guaranteed to be paid out over the first three years, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). 
That’s an astronomical figure for a box safety and a huge change from last year’s safety market, which led to disappointing deals for big names such as Tyrann Mathieu. Many feared that the safety market would continue to stall, but things are looking up for the NFL’s last line of defense.
Up until this point, Collins spent his entire career with the rival Giants, a team that did not feel he was worthy of the franchise tag this offseason. Collins clashed with team brass over his contract and threatened to hold out, leading to his exit. The Giants ultimately preferred a shot at a 2020 third-round compensatory pick to keeping one of the game’s most talented young safeties.
Collins, a second-round pick in the 2015 draft, has been a full-time starter for the Giants since entering the league. A two-time Pro Bowler, Collins posted 96 tackles, four passes defensed, and a forced fumble in 2018 while grading as the NFL’s 39th-best safety, per Pro Football Focus.
The Redskins acquired safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix from the Packers last year, but his status is in limbo as an unrestricted free agent. Collins will solidify a group that has moved on from D.J. Swearinger and might not include Montae Nicholson.
Redskins Shopping Zach Brown, Mason Foster
The Redskins are actively shopping several players in trade talks, including linebackers Zach Brown and Mason Foster, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Meanwhile, the Redskins are also strong players for Ravens free agent linebacker C.J. Mosley. 
Mosley already figured to have a huge market with teams like the 49ers on his tail. The Redskins, meanwhile, figure to make a strong play for him while overhauling their own LB corps.
Brown was solid in his second season with the Redskins, but he also clashed with coaches. In December, Brown said that he expected to be released in the offseason.
“I think they’re just going in a different direction towards everything,” Brown said. “I’m going this direction, they’re going that direction.”
Brown, 29, had 96 tackles and one sack as the Redskins’ inside linebacker last season. The advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus were extremely high on him, grading him as the third-best LB in the NFL behind only Bobby Wagner and Luke Kuechly. Brown’s contract runs through 2020, but teams could still have interest in acquiring him.
Foster, 30, has spent hte last four seasons with the Redskins. He’s dealt with injuries in the past, but he started in all 16 games last season en route to compiling 131 tackles, two interceptions, and a sack.
Raiders Interested In Le’Veon Bell
Could Le’Veon Bell reunite with Antonio Brown in Oakland? The Raiders are a sleeper team for the running back, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Meanwhile, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com hears similar buzz as the Raiders are seeking to use their cap room on offensive firepower while bolstering the defense through the draft. 
Many teams would like to add Bell to the backfield, but only certain clubs are expected to go into the $12MM+/year range for his services. The Raiders, who are desperate for an offensive spark, could be in a position to add another elite weapon days after adding Brown.
Meanwhile, the Jets are the favorites to sign Bell, in the estimation of Peter King of NBC Sports. Lately, we’ve been hearing that the Jets will focus their efforts on second-tier running backs, but it appears there’s been a shift of thinking in New Jersey. Armed with $100MM+ in cap space, the Jets certainly have the resources to add the ex-Steelers back. King can’t envision Bell joining the Colts, unless it was at a discount, and that seems unlikely given the money sacrificed by Bell in 2018. King also believes the Redskins and Dolphins will be in the mix.
Redskins Interested In Landon Collins
Elsewhere in the video Rapoport posted, he broke down the whole safety market. Unlike last year, where the safety market took very long to develop and seemingly nobody got paid, Rapoport expects big contracts to be flying left and right for safeties this time around. He also notes that the Redskins are expected to be interested in Landon Collins, who the Giants recently decided to let walk.
NFC East Notes: Giants, Cowboys, Eagles
The Eagles did their due diligence on Antonio Brown before their in-state rival elected to ship him to Oakland, but Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com believes Philadelphia should “absolutely” pursue Brown’s soon-to-be former teammate, Le’Veon Bell. There have been rumors linking Bell to the Eagles this offseason, and Shorr-Parks sums it up thusly: “[T]he Eagles’ biggest need is running back. Bell is the best one available. They have the money to sign him, and they have a quarterback that needs him.”
The Brown saga appears to be wrapped up, and the Bell story will have a new chapter this week, when the talented back finds a new home. As we look ahead to free agency, let’s round up a few other NFC East items:
- The slot receiver market may be among the interesting to watch when free agency opens on Wednesday, tweets Mike Garafolo of NFL.com. Teams like the Cowboys, Redskins, and Eagles, who are expected to respectively lose Cole Beasley, Jamison Crowder, and Golden Tate, shouldb be in line to target new slot options. Additionally, clubs such as the Colts, Raiders, Lions, Titans, and Bills are also searching for inside weapons, per Garfolo.
- Given all of the needs they have, and their relatively modest amount of cap room, the Giants are likely to make a few ripples in the pool of free agent talent rather than a major splash, as Paul Schwartz of the New York Post opines. The team needs to fortify a few positions (like strong safety and cornerback) so that they do not have to reach for a particular position in the draft.
- Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv lauds the Giants‘ return in the recent Olivier Vernon trade, but he wonders how it will impact the rest of the team’s offseason. For instance, although free agency is loaded with quality pass rushers, Big Blue will not able to afford even a second-tier option if it wants to adequately address all of its needs, and it now becomes more possible that the Giants will take a pass rusher with the No. 6 overall pick (which would certainly upset plenty of Giants fans if Kyler Murray or Dwayne Haskins is still on the board).
Fallout From Antonio Brown Trade
Now that the Raiders have agreed to acquire Antonio Brown from the Steelers, you can be sure that more news about the deal (and the deals that were discussed, but never came to be), will be trickling in. We will monitor the AB fallout here throughout the course of the day, as the football world continues to process the conclusion of the biggest storyline of the offseason:
- The Eagles did discuss Brown with the Steelers, but as ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets, those talks never got serious. Instead, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were simply doing their due diligence.
- Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com suggests it was the new contract that Brown was demanding, rather than the draft picks, that scared the Eagles away (Twitter link).
- Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter) agrees with Shorr-Parks’ theory, saying that plenty of teams were willing to give up the third- and fifth-round picks that ultimately got the job done, but the Raiders were the only team that was willing to tear up Brown’s existing contract and give him a new one.
- Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets that the Bills were willing to swap 2019 first-round picks with the Steelers (No. 9 for No. 20) and trade away two mid-round picks, but it was Brown’s contract demands that proved to be the undoing of that potential deal.
- La Canfora adds in a separate tweet that the Redskins were still engaged with the Steelers after the Bills deal fell through earlier in the week, but it is unclear how serious the Pittsburgh-Washington talks became.
- Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com concedes that the Raiders easily got the better of the Steelers in this trade, but he reviews what Pittsburgh’s options were, and none of them were good (Twitter link). The Steelers could have cut Brown and received no trade compensation — which also would have allowed Brown to sign with any team he wanted, including a major conference rival — or they could have kept him, fined him when he didn’t report to camp, and hoped that he wouldn’t retire because he would have had to pay back $11MM if he did so.
- Fowler also passes along a couple of Raiders-related notes in a separate tweet. A source close to Brown said the wideout was excited about joining the Raiders in part because of the presence of head coach Jon Gruden and quarterback Derek Carr. Brown is also intrigued by the Raiders’ collection of high draft picks and young talent, and Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther — who had to devise many a game plan for Brown when he was the Bengals’ DC — strongly endorsed Brown’s game.
- Plenty of people have been wondering why the Steelers didn’t demand one of the Raiders‘ three first-round draft picks before agreeing to deal Brown to Oakland, and NFL Insider Adam Caplan says the Raiders simply refused to do so (Twitter link). Although the Raiders would of course have preferred to give up one draft choice instead of two, the club was adamant about holding onto its three first-rounders and one second-rounder.
- Although the Steelers‘ $21.12MM cap hit that they will have to absorb for Brown in 2019 is a killer, the trade does save the club $15MM in cash that can now be spent on other players, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk observes.
- Brown’s contract with the Raiders has set a new benchmark for players like Julio Jones, Tyreek Hill, and Michael Thomas, who will all cash in shortly.
- Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com takes an excellent in-depth look at the saga and what it means for both teams.
Redskins Targeting Third Quarterback
One of Eric Weddle‘s many suitors came from the NFC East. The Redskins inquired about the safety, according to NBC Sports Washington’s Ben Standig, but Weddle preferred the Rams’ proposal. Washington may be a spot for one of the many starter-caliber safeties on this year’s market, with the team having waived D.J. Swearinger and with Ha Ha Clinton-Dix‘s contract having expired.
- The Redskins’ Case Keenum trade frees them up to make more competitive offers to non-quarterbacks in free agency, instead of seeing Teddy Bridgewater or Tyrod Taylor proposals complicate the team’s plan. However, Washington is still expected to add at this spot this offseason, and Standig notes it won’t be a Josh Johnson reunion — barring a Colt McCoy departure. Another Johnson pact was previously mentioned as a possibility, but that may no longer be in the cards. Washington profiles as a possible quarterback destination in this year’s draft, but in picking at No. 15 and unlikely to trade up, this may be one of the teams that waits for 2020’s higher-profile group of quarterbacks.
Keenum Didn't Choose Redskins
- While Brown still hasn’t been traded, Case Keenum has. Keenum was dealt to the Redskins yesterday in a surprising trade, and fans weren’t the only ones caught off guard by the move. Keenum apparently didn’t know it was coming either, and neither he nor his camp were involved in finding Washington as a landing spot, according to Ryan O’Halloran of The Denver Post (Twitter link). Alex Smith is very likely to miss at least the entire 2019 season, and as of right now Keenum is likely to be the team’s starting quarterback next season.