NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Mason Cole intends to sign with Steelers



Quarterback Mitch Trubisky isn’t the only player planning to sign with the Steelers once the new league year starts on Wednesday.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that interior offensive lineman Mason Cole plans to leave the Vikings for a three-year deal in Pittsburgh. No other terms of the deal are known at this point.


Cole was a 2018 third-round pick in Arizona who was traded to the Vikings before last season. He made starts at both guard and center in Minnesota last season and has started 39 games overall during his NFL career.

The Steelers offensive line may lose guard Trai Turner as he’s still set for free agency and needs to be in better form in front of Trubisky or any other quarterback for the offense to take a step forward from last season.

PFT

 

A year to the day Winovich gets his fresh start.

Traded to Cleveland for Mack Wilson

 

Lions set to sign DJ Chark



The Lions re-signed Josh Reynolds last week and now they’re set to add a wideout from outside the organization this week.

According to multiple reports, the Lions have agreed to terms with DJ Chark on a one-year deal. The contract will reportedly be for $10 million in guaranteed money with a chance to go up to $12 million.


Chark fractured his ankle while playing for the Jaguars in Week Four of the 2021. That injury likely put him on the path to a one-year deal with an eye on playing well enough to land a larger pact heading into the 2023 season.

The Jaguars picked Chark in the second round of the 2018 draft. He had his best season in 2019 with 73 catches for 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns. He has 147 catches for 2,042 yards and 15 touchdowns overall.

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Reports: Randy Gregory spurns Cowboys for Broncos



Moments after the Cowboys announced that they would re-sign Randy Gregory comes news that they won’t.

Now there are multiple reports that Gregory has spurned the Cowboys and decided to accept a contract offer with the Broncos.


The financial terms of the contract are reportedly the same: A five-year, $70 million deal that includes $28 million in guaranteed money. But Gregory apparently decided he would take that contract with the Cowboys, and then changed his mind and took the same contract with the Broncos.

That’s highly unusual; the Cowboys put the signing of Gregory on their official Twitter account, and Gregory’s agent told the Dallas Morning News that Gregory was staying in Dallas. Usually by the time that happens, the deal is done.

But nothing is official until a contract is signed, and Gregory apparently had a change of heart and decided to go with an offer from the Broncos instead. Gregory can’t sign that offer until tomorrow afternoon, and it’s possible he could change his mind again. But for now, Gregory appears headed to Denver.

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Marcus Williams is expected to sign with the Ravens

The Ravens are reportedly set to add one of the top free agent safeties on the market.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that Marcus Williams has agreed to a contract with the Ravens. It’s set to be a five-year, $70 million pact in Baltimore.


Williams, who is No. 12 on PFT’s list of the top free agents, was a second-round pick in 2017 and spent his first five seasons with the Saints. He started all 76 regular season games he played in New Orleans and also started seven playoff games for the NFC South club.

Williams has 320 tackles, 15 interceptions, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and a sack over the course of his career.

DeShon Elliott is still set for free agency, which should set Williams up to play alongside Chuck Clark at safety in Baltimore.

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The Lions should follow this up by offering a 5th to Baltimore for Miles Boykin.

 

The Ravens are definitely shopping him and it would definitely be a plus for the Lions... Im not sure I like that tho, lol.

 

Texans agree to sign Ogbonnia Okoronkwo



The Texans are adding an edge rusher off of the Super Bowl champions.

According to multiple reports, Houston has agreed to sign Ogbonnia Okoronkwo on a one-year deal.


A Rams fifth-round pick in 2018, Okoronkwo missed his rookie season due to a foot injury. But he appeared in 33 games over the last three seasons, recording a total of 4.5 sacks, five tackles for loss, 13 quarterback hits, and a pair of forced fumbles.

In six postseason games over the last two years, Okoronkwo also recorded a one pass defensed and three QB hits.

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Reports: Patriots trading Shaq Mason to Bucs



Tom Brady is back with the Buccaneers and guard Shaq Mason is set to be back with Brady.

Mason and Brady were teammates with the Buccaneers before Brady left for Tampa and there are multiple reports Tuesday that Mason is heading to the Buccaneers in a trade. No trade can become official until the new league year opens on Wednesday and a fifth-round pick is expected to be the compensation.


Mason was a 2015 fourth-round pick and he’s spent all but the very start of his professional career as a member of the starting lineup in New England. He has 98 regular season starts and 13 in the postseason. The playoff starts include three Super Bowl appearances and Mason has a pair of rings from his time blocking for Brady with the Patriots.

The move comes after Ali Marpet‘s retirement and Alex Cappa‘s agreement on a deal with the Bengals, so Mason will likely be in line for a starting spot in Tampa.

PFT

 

Might not have been you but one of the Bears fans asked if I had watched him play. Did you?

 

Yet suspiciously had one of the lowest YPA in football.

Sorry your butthurt that no one likes your teams FA signing. I did watch every game the kid played.

Get used to seeing a highly inaccurate deep ball.

Get used to a lot of throws short of the sticks.

Get used to a lot of weak throws to the flat and crap ton of first read throws to covered receivers.

Like I said…really good athlete. Actually has a strong arm. It’s just not accurate and his ball placement is horrible.

I’m glad you’re excited to have him. I’m extremely excited he doesn’t wear a Bears uniform anymore.

Good luck.

 

https://www.12up.com/posts/video-mi...down-on-4th-and-23-vs-the-chiefs-01dwremcg5sn

 

Captain Checkdown: The quarterbacks who most and least rely on checkdown passes | NFL News, Rankings and Statistics | PFF

One more for good luck. Pretty good explanation of who throws good check downs, who throws some bad ones, and so on.

You will notice that Trubisky disappears from the lowest amount of checkdowns when 3rd down is the only down being looked at. Why? Because that’s when he has a tendency to crap his pants and do stupid things. Like checkdown for a couple yards when you actually need 11.

 

That’s a far more intelligent response than I expected, well done.

See you in two years when you can say you were right.

 

Ugh... Atlanta's new GM came from the rival Saints and was a protege of Mickey Loomis. So naturally... Atlanta has turned to that voided year crap and restructured Matt Ryan's contract to free up immediate cap space. His contract runs through 2023, but they added three bogus years to spread out the new bonuses.

They took 7.5 million in base salary and his 7.5 million roster bonus for this season and converted it to signing bonus, so $15 million of this year's cap hit becomes $3 million now, $3 million added to next year, and an automatic $9 million of dead money in 2024 when the 2024-2026 portion gets voided.

I like the idea of sticking with Ryan through 2023, if that's how things play out. I detest the idea of kicking the can down the road this way. It's as if teams that do this assume everything will work out perfectly and they will have no other dead money in those future years.

In Atlanta's case, I get it to some extent - they were in such an unreal cap hell last year that blowing everything up wasn't even an option. So they did what they could in 2021 and are working through more of it in 2022. I would just prefer to go about it in other ways that don't saddle 2024 with $9 million lost to help pay for the sins of 2019-2020.

 

Bloody hell. The Falcons should have already traded for him, though I'd try to do it for a later pick. A fifth rounder seems a bit steep for a rent-a-player situation.

Add Miles Boykin to our WR roster and we'd have...

... one WR you've heard of.

 

Bears agree to terms with Lucas Patrick



The Bears agreed to terms with former Packers interior offensive lineman Lucas Patrick on Tuesday night. Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports Patrick will sign a two-year, $8 million contract with $4 million fully guaranteed.

Patrick, 28, is following Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy from Green Bay. Patrick spent six seasons with the Packers after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Duke.


He served as a backup for most of his career before breaking into the starting lineup full time in 2020. Patrick started 28 games the past two seasons.

Patrick, who has played 73 games with 34 starts in his career, can play both guard spots as well as center.

The Bears lost offensive guard James Daniels to the Steelers earlier in the day.

PFT