NFL - NEWS & NOTES

With Russell Gage (former sixth rounder, converted DB) now set to bolt for Tampa, Atlanta has made a WR move for the 2022 season. They have offered a tender to try to keep RFA Olamide Zaccheaus.

If you don't recall the name from the 2019 mock/draft season, he's 5' 8", played college ball at Virginia, was not invited to the Combine, ran track in high school and college but was only in the "high 4.4 to low 4.5 range" at Virginia's pro day. His NFL draft profile page called him an "explosive slot target with poor hands", noted his small catch radius and below average hand-eye coordination, and said that his "pass catching technique is gross".

The rest of the NFC is shaking with fear (or is that laughter?) to learn that the mighty OZ is, at least for today, the veteran leader of the Falcons receiving corps with his almost - though not quite - 800 career receiving yards in 38 games (10 starts).

 

Darious Williams set to sign with Jaguars



The Jaguars’ spending spree is set to continue with cornerback Darious Williams.

According to multiple reports, Williams, who is a Jacksonville native, has agreed to sign with the Jaguars once the new league year starts on Wednesday afternoon. It’s a three-year deal for Williams worth $30 million with $18 million in guaranteed money. The value could rise as high as $39 million.


Williams signed with the Ravens after going undrafted in 2018 and joined the Rams as a waiver claim during his rookie season. He worked his way into the starting lineup in 2020 and remained there through the team’s Super Bowl win.

Williams has 130 tackles, six interceptions, and two fumble recoveries in 46 career games.

PFT

 

Browns to release TE Austin Hooper after two seasons

Another notable member of the Browns is headed out of Cleveland.

The Browns are set to release tight end Austin Hooper on Wednesday, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported.

Hooper's departure is not a surprise to those paying close attention to his production in Cleveland and the potential salary cap benefits of releasing him. Hooper carried the fourth-highest cap number on Cleveland's roster at $13.25 million, but can save the Browns $9.5 million in cap space for 2022 as a post-June 1 designation. This seems to be the logical designation for Hooper's release, as there is a $7 million difference in cap savings based on designation.

Hooper's output simply hasn't been worth that kind of money to Cleveland. In his last year in Atlanta (2019), Hooper put up numbers worthy of a top-tier deal for a tight end, catching 75 passes for 787 yards and six scores. As the Browns' No. 1 tight end, Hooper has tallied 84 receptions for 780 yards and seven touchdowns combined between his two seasons in Cleveland. Former first-round pick David Njoku -- who seemed to be on the outs heading into 2021 -- outperformed Hooper, catching 36 passes for 475 yards and four touchdowns to finish third in receiving for the Browns in 2021.

That was enough to convince Cleveland to not let the 25-year-old Njoku walk away for free agency, placing the franchise tag on him this month. It was also enough to decide to move on from Hooper.

Hooper joined the Browns in part because he wanted the opportunity to play with quarterback Baker Mayfield. It worked out in year one, with the two helping Cleveland reach the postseason and win its first playoff game since the 1994 season. But the Browns are in the midst of some significant roster changes that have already seen the franchise say goodbye to Jarvis Landry and JC Tretter, and very well could include Mayfield.

With Njoku secured for at least 2022 and third-year standout Harrison Bryant back for more, Cleveland can replace Hooper with a cheaper free agent tight end this offseason if it so chooses. Such an outcome seems necessary for Kevin Stefanski's offense, which often relies on three tight ends. None of those will be Hooper.

NFL.com

 

Kinda strange what their doing there (ATL) also. Must be a rebuild of sorts.

 

Raiders finalizing deal with Chandler Jones



It looks like Khalil Mack and Randy Gregory will not be the only pass rushers heading to the AFC West for the 2022 season.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the Raiders are finalizing a deal with Chandler Jones. That deal can become official on Wednesday afternoon when teams and players can move from agreeing to deals to actually signing them.


Jones had 10.5 sacks for the Cardinals during the 2021 season and he posted 71.5 of them over his entire six-year run in Arizona. Yannick Ngakoue is reportedly heading to the Colts in a trade, so Jones will team up with Maxx Crosby to give the Raiders a enviable pair of rushers on the edges of their defense.

Mack is set to join the Chargers in a trade while Gregory is expected to sign with the Broncos as the entire division gears up for taking on quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Russell Wilson, and Derek Carr in 2022.

PFT

 

Raiders are expected to trade Yannick Ngakoue to Colts



Yannick Ngakoue had one of his best seasons for the Raiders in 2021.

But with Las Vegas’ addition of Chandler Jones, he’ll be playing elsewhere in 2022.


Per NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, Las Vegas is expected to trade Ngakoue to Indianapolis. While the full terms of the deal are not yet known, cornerback Rock Ya-Sin will head to the Raiders as part of the compensation.

Ngakoue signed a two-year, $26 million deal with the Raiders last March. In 17 regular-season games, he recorded 10.0 sacks with eight tackles for loss, 23 quarterback hits, three passes defensed, and a pair of forced fumbles.

With the trade, Ngakoue will be reunited with Colts defensive coordinator Gus Bradley — who held the same position with Las Vegas last year. Bradley was also the Jaguars head coach in 2016 when the franchise selected Ngakoue in the third round of the draft.

A second-round pick in 2019, Ya-Sin appeared in 13 games with eight starts for Indianapolis in 2021 and recorded eight passes defensed, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Ya-Sin has two interceptions and 20 passes defensed in his three-year career.

PFT

 

J.D. McKissic to re-sign with Commanders after agreeing to deal with Bills

J.D. McKissic changed his mind just in time.

After agreeing to a two-year, $7 million deal with the Buffalo Bills, the running back has instead decided to return to Washington to stay with the Commanders on an identical contract, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Wednesday.

McKissic's retention in Washington goes against most of the team's other moves made Wednesday. The Commanders released four players -- safeties Landon Collins and Deshazor Everett, guard Ereck Flowers and defensive tackle Matt Ioannidis -- just hours before the new league year officially began.

McKissic has legitimate reasons for wanting to stay in Washington, of course. The running back has played a relevant role in Washington's offense in each of the last two seasons, averaging 4.3 yards per carry (on 133 attempts) and catching 123 passes for 986 yards and four touchdowns between 2020 and 2021. He's a solid complement to Antonio Gibson and comes rather cheap at just $3.5 million per year.

With Carson Wentz headed to the nation's capital, McKissic and the rest of the Commanders will have work ahead of them in getting to know their new quarterback.

NFL.com

 

Specifically at WR it's a combination of cap hell plus the ongoing circumstances with Calvin Ridley.

The bigger picture is that they also brought in a new coaching staff last year and had needs all across the roster with no cap space. (When we started last year's mock GM simulation, the Falcons were $27.7 million over the cap - on just 30 roster players plus 9 returning practice squad guys. That's a level of cap hell beyond anything Dante ever imagined. Dimitroff really did screw things up that badly in his final two or three years here. And Arthur Blank was fully on board with focusing on a handful of stars - following the model of his Atlanta United soccer team - so ultimately he can only blame himself for a huge portion of the mess.)

So last year they kicked the can down the road with some restructures (no choice - had to get under the cap), purged a couple of the big money guys (hasta la vista, Julio) and plugged holes with lots of guys on 1-year contracts. That truly was the best that anyone could do under the circumstances.

Flip side = now they're eating it on Julio's dead money, still dealing with cap hell plus the restructured contracts, and all those 1-year guys are free agents all over again.

The situation actually is a little better than last year - they now have 50 players under contract, though about 20 of them are futures/practice squad caliber hopefuls. It's about 30 "true roster" players just like a year ago, but after kicking $12 million of Matt Ryan's cap down the road they're now $17 million on the good side of the cap instead of $27 million over it.

Some fans love to scream "just blow everything up" and rebuild. But even now that still isn't truly a viable option - the dead money would blow up 2023 as well as 2022 and they would have to wait until 2024 before they could even start the proper rebuild.

 

Myles Jack is expected to sign with the Steelers



Linebacker Myles Jack was released by the Jaguars this week, but he has reportedly found a new place to play.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Jack has agreed to a two-year deal with the Steelers. It’s a $16 million deal for Jack in Pittsburgh.

PFT

 

Von Miller will sign with the Bills



Von Miller is coming to the AFC East.

Miller announced on Instagram that he is signing with the Bills.


“It’s been crazy man, crazy four hours,” Miller said. “Going back and forth man, a lot of things that I love in LA. But I just wanted to let you know I’m coming to Buffalo. Bills Mafia, what’s good? Is 40 open?”

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Miller has agreed to a six-year, $120 million deal, but full details of the pact are not yet available.

Miller split last season between the Broncos and Rams and ended it by winning his second Super Bowl ring. He made hints about being interested in a return to Denver and was negotiating with the Rams about a return for a full season, but will be moving on to Buffalo in the end. The Bills hope that the move has the same result as the one the Rams made before the trade deadline.

PFT

 

The Julio Jones experiment didn't work out in Tennessee.

The Titans are cutting the star receiver after just one season, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday at the official start of the new league year.

ESPN first reported the news.

The Titans traded two draft picks for the 33-year-old last June, hoping that pairing the seven-time Pro Bowler with A.J. Brown would open up the passing game. Injuries held Jones to just 10 games, and he was largely ineffective when on the field.

Jones finished 2021 with 31 catches on 48 targets for 434 yards and one TD, all career lows. He generated just one regular-season game with more than 60 yards receiving. In the Titans' postseason loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Jones netted six catches for 62 yards.

By designating Jones a post-June 1 cut, the Titans save $9.513 million in cash and salary-cap space in 2022. The move spreads the cap hit over two years, leaving $8.4 million dead money in 2023.

The question for teams is whether Jones will ever get back to his All-Pro level or whether he'll be an oft-injured veteran capable of big games here and there.


The move leaves a hole in the Titans receiver room with Brown and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine sitting atop a shallow depth chart. Tennessee could use a high draft pick -- possibly No. 26 overall -- to add a young weapon for the offense.

NFL.com

 

Julio Jones just became available.

 

O.J. Howard



Howard is signing with the Bills on a one-year, $3.5 million deal worth up to $5 million, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports, per a source.

 

After getting him in the trade last year, Tennessee did a restructuring thing where they added the bogus auto-void years to reduce the cap hit from his base salary. So... they saved 11.2 million on last year's cap, but now they have 4.8 million dead money this year and 8.4 million next year.

Total cost to Tennessee = two draft picks and $17.1 million, or $558k per reception. Great job, guys!

 

In a mock GM thing, just for giggles I might resign him on a vet min benefit deal if he was still available - and then draft a receiver at #58 overall.

The humor value is that I'd have Julio for roughly the same total cap cost as if the team had never traded him (nearly all of it in dead money regardless of whether I signed him or not), would have no financial baggage from him beyond this season, and would be getting his replacement with the exact pick ATL got for trading him away.

 

The Bucs didn’t need until July 15 to sign Chris Godwin to a long-term deal. The receiver, whom the team used the franchise tag on for a second consecutive season, agreed to a three-year, $60 million deal that includes $40 million fully guaranteed at signing, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

The deal will free up cap space for the Bucs, who are trying to keep the band together after Tom Brady decided to return for 2022.


Godwin, 26, played last season on the $15.98 million franchise tag. The Bucs kept him off the free agent market again this year, and he was due $19.18 million if he played out the year under the terms of the tag. Godwin now will count only $5 million against the 2022 salary cap.

Godwin made 98 catches for 1,103 yards and five touchdowns before tearing an ACL in Week 15. Brady and the Bucs missed him in the postseason.

Tampa Bay made Godwin a third-round choice in 2017, and he has 342 receptions for 4,643 yards and 29 touchdowns in his career.

PFT

 

Rob Gronkowski says there’s a “very good chance” he returns to Bucs

As if there was even a question, Rob Gronkowski intimated that he will return to the Bucs in 2022. The moment Tom Brady decided he was returning to Tampa was the moment the future Hall of Fame tight end likely decided the same.

Alan Villa, owner of Mr Empanada South Tampa, posted a video of Gronkowski answering a question about a return to the Bucs.


“It’s a very good chance,” Gronkowski said. “I’ll let him have a little scare. A couple months without me and then you know. . . He just did it to me for a couple of months, so I’m going to do it to him.”

Gronkowski has worked out regularly at the team’s training facility this offseason.

Gronkowski, a four-time Super Bowl champion and four-time All-Pro, will turn 33 in May. But he caught 55 passes for 802 yards and six touchdowns in the regular season and added nine catches for 116 yards and a touchdown in two playoff games last season.

In 143 career games, Gronkowski has 621 catches for 9,286 yards and 92 touchdowns.

PFT

 

This kind of shit has to stop. I get that there are accountants paid A LOT of money to get all this figured out in a way that works for the team, but there's just no justifiable reason for this level of complexity. It works against the level playing field that the cap is supposed to create.

 

Well, when the Bucs are in cap hell for mortgaging the future, I'll just laugh.

I see your point though and I feel this all centers around Brady coming back. They are in "win now mode". It worked for the Rams but I'm curious about the season for them this year. The Bucs better win because I suspect they might be pretty bad when the bubble pops.