Category: 2022 NFL Free Agency

Texans re-signing LB Christian Kirksey to 2-year contract

The Houston Texans are bringing back linebacker Christian Kirksey on a two-year contract.

The Houston Texans are getting back a veteran linebacker for the 2022 season.

According to Jeremy Fowler from ESPN, linebacker Christian Kirksey is signing a two-year contract to remain with the AFC South club.

On Jan. 10, the day after Houston’s season ended, Kirksey, 29, told reporters the type of team he wanted to sign with in free agency, and wouldn’t rule out the Texans.

“Me, personally, I look for a group of men that have a will to win,” Kirksey said. “I look for good people. It’s hard to come across good people, good genuine people that are fully invested in their craft. That’s what I look for when I’m looking for a team. I think Texas embodies that. It’s a bunch of great faces in this organization and I enjoyed my time here. Hopefully, I have more time here, but like I said, that’s out of my control. I think that they have the right people that’s put in place here, and I definitely enjoy that.”

Kirksey played in 13 games for Houston, starting in 12 of them, and generated 93 combined tackles, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, an interception, eight pass breakups, and two fumble recoveries.

Giants a possible landing spot for Cam Newton?

The New York Giants are reportedly among the “possible landing spots” for impending free agent QB Cam Newton.

The New York Giants have once again hitched their wagon to quarterback Daniel Jones, but newly hired general manager Joe Schoen has made it clear the backup position will be addressed this offseason.

“I think backup quarterback is one of the more important positions in the league, so it’s something we’re going to look at, and we’re going to address,” Schoen said at the NFL Combine. “But it’s not just quarterback. I think building depth is going to be a priority. It might be a little bit hard early on, but you can continue to build the team up over the years.”

One potential backup quarterback the Giants have been linked to is Mitchell Trubisky, who has a familiarity with both Brian Daboll and Schoen from their time in Buffalo. However, Trubisky is among the hottest names on the impending free agent market and some believe he’ll get paid starter money.

If that turns out to be the case, the Giants will be priced out of Trubisky’s market and thrust back into the hunt for a backup.

One potential alternative option, as it turns out, is former Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton.

Panthers beat writer Sheena Quick was the first to report the news.

The 32-year-old Newton was the first overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft. He spent nine seasons with the Panthers before joining the Patriots in 2020. He returned to Carolina this past season, but is expected to become an unrestricted free agent on March 16.

In 148 career games (144 starts), Newton has completed under 60% of his passes for 32,382 yards, 194 touchdowns and 123 interceptions. He’s also rushed the ball 1,118 times for 5,628 yards and 75 touchdowns.

If the smoke around Newton proves to be accurate and he’s willing to take backup money, he would be a solid veteran option for the Giants. He would provide them stability behind the oft-injured Jones and give the team an opportunity to compete if Jones missed any significant time.

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Giants release punter Riley Dixon

The New York Giants have announced the release of punter Riley Dixon.

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The New York Giants have less than a week remaining to get under the NFL’s salary cap and they’re working feverishly to do so. They’ve already reworked several deals and make several cuts, including a new name on Thursday night.

The team officially announced the release of veteran punter Riley Dixon — a move that was anticipated.

With the release of Dixon, the Giants clear $2.8 million in salary cap space. He’s now the third player released by the Giants under new general manager Joe Schoen. The others were running back Devontae Booker and tight end Kyle Rudolph.

The 28-year-old Dixon had been with the Giants over the past four seasons and averaged 44.4 yards per punt in 2022, which was down from his first few years with the team.

The Giants did sign former Cleveland Browns punter Jamie Gillan to a reserve/futures deal earlier in the offseason, but expect them to add more competition at the position prior to the start of OTAs.

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Sterling Shepard agrees to pay cut, will remain with Giants in 2022

The New York Giants and WR Sterling Shepard have agreed to a re-worked contract that will keep him in East Rutherford in 2022.

Sterling Shepard is the longest-tenured member of the New York Giants and will remain so heading into the 2022 season.

Shepard and the Giants agreed to a reworked one-year contract that will keep him signed for next season, but will also wipe the final year of his previous contract (2023) from the books.

Shepard’s status with the Giants was up in the air due to his contract. If he were released, the team would have saved $4.5 million in cap space but ate a ton of dead cap. And given general manager Joe Schoen’s quest to clear $40 million from the books, you have to imagine this re-worked deal saved around that same amount (maybe a bit less).

Shepard, who only appeared in seven games for the Giants due to injuries last season (included a torn Achilles at the end of the year), had just 36 catches for 366 yards and one touchdown — all career lows.

Shepard had signed a four-year, $41 million extension and would have counted for $12.4 million against the cap in 2022.

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Texans to release CB Terrance Mitchell

The Houston Texans intend to release cornerback Terrance Mitchell.

The Houston Texans are moving on from cornerback Terrance Mitchell for a second time.

According to Aaron Wilson from the Pro Football Network, the Texans have informed Mitchell that he will be released.

Mitchell played 14 games for Houston last season, starting in 13 of them. The 5-11, 191-pound defensive back produced 60 combined tackles, a tackle for loss, an interception, 10 pass breakups, and three forced fumbles.

The former Dallas Cowboys 2014 seventh-round pick from Oregon was pleased with the chemistry that the Texans secondary had developed by the end of the year.

“Just as the year went on, we’ve built a nice bond,” Mitchell told reporters on Jan. 7, two days before the season finale against the Tennessee Titans. “Truthfully, we’ve seen that anybody we put in those positions, we all are capable of doing the job. We’re just a next-man-up mentality and we’re just all trying to get better and just (get) momentum going into next year.”

Mitchell’s first stint with the Texans was during the 2016 training camp when he was cut at the end of preseason.

Mitch Trubisky’s redemption destinations

Touchdown Wire’s Laurie Fitzpatrick goes to the film to find the best fit for Mitch Trubisky.

After four years in Chicago under Matt Nagy, the Bears organization decided to not waste any more time in developing the quarterback they traded up to select second overall in the 2017 draft. Mitch Trubisky showed a decline in his accuracy and confidence in the pocket as he approached his fourth year in the NFL.

It’s easy to see that Trubisky does not have the tools to be an elite quarterback. The Bears often won in spite of him, but that said his career record is 29-21, and that includes two playoff appearances. With the Bears, he had a 64% completion percentage, and 10,652 passing yards with 64 touchdowns. So, the fact is, he’s actually done better for the Bears offense than any other quarterback they have put under center since Jay Cutler.

Trubisky has some unique skillsets at the next level that are not at all what we saw from him coming out of the draft. Trubisky won’t produce explosive plays down field, but he is solid when passing short distances. According to PFF, in 2018, his passer rating was 108.9, and in 2020, it jumped to 113.8 when throwing between 0-9 yards.

Over the last few years, we also found out that Trubisky runs a decent run-pass option and bootleg offense because of his run threat. After Nick Foles took his starting position in 2020, he quickly got it back after the Bears rushing attack severely declined. Foles was no threat in an RPO offense, and Trubisky at least kept the offense multi-dimensional.

Unfortunately, the accuracy and decision making forced the Bears to move on from Trubisky. After leaving Chicago, he was looking to reset his career and the Buffalo Bills was a great place to start. Josh Allen was pivotal for Trubisky’s growth as he was able to watch a quarterback who went through similar struggles. Sean McDermott and Brian Daboll were able to develop him into the player he is now.

That brings us to the first possible destination for Trubisky, who is now touted as an attractive free-agent option. This could say more about the 2022 quarterback class, both in free agency and the draft, than it does about Trubisky’s ultimate potential.

Report: Giants expected to move on from Eli Penny, Cullen Gillaspia

The New York Giants are not expected to retain fullbacks Eli Penny or Cullen Gillaspia as they seek a more traditional H-back.

With the New York Giants going through a severe cost cutting period as the NFL new fiscal year comes to end next Wednesday, players who would probably be brought back under normal situations are likely to be released or be allowed to enter free agency this year.

The Giants are still close to $8 million over the $208.2 million salary cap and the goal is create $40 million in available cap space as per new general manager Joe Schoen.

Two players the Giants are almost sure to let hit free agency are fullbacks Eli Penny and Cullen Gillaspia, reports Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post.

You can expect the Giants to replace Penny and Gillaspia with an H-back or a versatile tight end who can play multiple roles in the offense. The Giants will likely keep Kaden Smith as one of their tight ends and possibly Chris Myarick, who has the look of an H-back type.

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Could Giants make a run at the recently released Jon Feliciano?

The Buffalo Bills released veteran OL Jon Feliciano on Wednesday and he would certainly make sense for the guard-needy New York Giants.

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The New York Giants began retooling the depth along their offensive line on Wednesday, signing tackle Matt Gono to a one-year deal. Gono had been released by the Atlanta Falcons in January.

Given the team’s lack of cap space, do not expect that to be the end of their bargain bin shopping.

With only a week remaining until the new league year, salary cap cuts will continue to trickle in across the NFL. And as new players shake loose, new opportunities potentially arise for the Giants and general manager Joe Schoen.

Another such option became available on Wednesday as the Buffalo Bills parted ways with veteran guard Jon Feliciano.

The 30-year-old Feliciano immediately makes sense for the Giants on a multitude levels. First and foremost, he’s a trusted veteran guard and New York is in desperate need of those. Secondly, he obviously has familiarity with Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, as well as Daboll’s offensive system.

Finally, Feliciano has an extended history with Giants offensive line coach Bobby Johnson. The two were together in both Oakland and Buffalo, totaling six seasons side-by-side.

Feliciano, a fourth-round pick in the 2015 NFL draft, has appeared in 82 career games with 36 starts. He’s taken reps at both right and left guard, and only lost his starting job after going on short-term injured reserve a season ago.

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What do the Seahawks think they’re getting in Drew Lock?

The Seahawks got Broncos quarterback Drew Lock in the Russell Wilson trade. Based on the tape, Lock is no Wilson replacement. Why did this happen?

When it comes to the Seattle Seahawks in their post-Russell Wilson universe, it’s all about what Pete Carroll and John Schneider get out of the draft picks and players they have from the trade. The Denver Broncos gave up two first-round picks (2022 and 2023), two second-round picks (2022 and 2023), a 2022 fifth-round pick, and defensive lineman Shelby Harris, tight end Noah Fant, and quarterback Drew Lock for Wilson and a 2022 fourth-round pick.

On its face, and considering how poorly the Seahawks have drafted over the last half-decade (avert your eyes), this trade would seem to favor the Broncos to a massive degree. If Denver believed it was just a quarterback away from a Super Bowl possibility (and that may be so), then acquiring Wilson allows the Broncos to possibly do what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did two seasons ago, and the Los Angeles Rams did last season — win the Super Bowl with a better-than-average roster, and the new star quarterback as the final piece. It’s not fool-proof, but you can understand why the Broncos went all-in here.

For the Seahawks, the Wilson (and the release of linebacker Bobby Wagner) means that it’s all about the rebuild. Whether Carroll and Schneider should be handed this rebuild, since they created the need for it in the first place? That’s a relevant debate, and it starts with Lock’s place in this trade.

Should Pete Carroll and John Schneider be trusted with the rebuild they created?

The Broncos selected Lock with the 42nd overall pick in the 2019 draft. That franchise was in the middle of a comical series of failures at the quarterback position after Peyton Manning’s retirement — the primary reason the Broncos haven’t made the playoffs since Manning’s retirement. Over three seasons, Lock completed 59.3% of his passes for 4,740 yards, 25 touchdowns, 20 interceptions, a career passer rating of 79.3, and a career ANY/A of 5.57. In 2020, his one full season as an NFL starter, Lock threw 16 touchdown passes, and led the league with 15 interceptions. This was one reason Denver brought Teddy Bridgewater in via trade with the Carolina Panthers before the 2021 season, and Lock’s role was subsequently reduced.

The Broncos moved on from head coach Vic Fangio after the 2021 season, replacing him with Nathaniel Hackett, and Hackett’s new staff. That new staff’s evaluation of Lock didn’t take long.

“The quarterback position is the leader of this organization in a sense,” new Broncos offensive coordinator Justin Outten, who was a coaching intern with the Atlanta Falcons in 2016, and an offensive assistant in 2017 and 2018, said in late February of the ideal quarterback room when Denver’s new coaching hired were announced — starting with head coach Nathaniel Hackett.

“They’re the guy that you have to lean on. It doesn’t matter if you’re on offense or defense or special teams. As far as the quarterback room itself, it’s got to be a supportive group. You’re working together. Being with [Falcons QB] Matt Ryan in Atlanta and having [Falcons QB] Matt Schaub as his counterpart, they would test each other every single day. Now, Matt Schaub knew that was his responsibility to make sure Matt Ryan was right each and every day of practice. It was just a collaborative situation, no different than the coaching style right now.

“Getting into the quarterback room with [Packers QB] Aaron [Rodgers] and his counterparts in there [Outten was also Green Bay’s tight ends coach from 2019-2021]. They were keeping each accountable, making sure things were light during the middle of season and keeping each other fresh. It was also a collaborative situation where they would shoot ideas off each other. I think that’s really important. It’s not just, this guy’s getting more reps than I am, so I’m just going to pout and do this. It should be: how can we make each other better? Having competitions within practice. They’ll take five minutes and throw a ball in a net 50 yards away. Keeping it competitive and having one up on each other, that’s the fun part of being in any room. It’s the competitive nature, while still being able to work together for the common good of the team, which is exciting.

“As far as [QB] Drew [Lock], he’s got a powerful arm. He’s done a really good job as far as using his legs and being an athlete. As far as that, I want to see how he fits in the system a little bit more once he gets the playbook under him, and then we’ll go from there.”

Clearly, the new Broncos staff did its due diligence on Lock and deemed him entirely fungible when the Wilson trade swung through. And based on Lock’s tape, that’s a reasonable conclusion. We have not yet heard the Seahawks’ reasoning for acquiring Lock. All we can do is to review his performance, and wonder.

So, what do the Seahawks have in Drew Lock, and why was he part of this trade in the first place? Based on the tape, Seattle got a plus backup at best.

Evan Engram likely being priced out of Giants’ market

The New York Giants have told TE Evan Engram they’d like him to return but only at the “right price,” which no longer seems feasible.

The New York Giants did not use their franchise tag on Evan Engram, but multiple teams around the league did designate their tight ends as franchise players.

David Njoku, Mike Gesicki and Dalton Schultz were all slapped with the franchise tag and that will have a ripple effect on the position. One that will likely impact both the Giants and Engram.

The Giants have informed Engram that they’d like to bring him back but there is one caveat. It would have to come at a team-friendly price.

Given the franchise tag value for tight ends ($10.931 million) and what’s likely to be available on the market, Engram is in line for a potentially substantial pay day. In fact, he appeared to recognize that reality on Tuesday amidst the wave of franchise designations.

Some Giants fans may scoff at the notion Engram will get paid, but his athleticism and talent are undeniable. He may have some consistency issues, but that’s nothing a change of scenery can’t potentially correct.

“Evan has the chance to be a top tight end but he has to focus on some key fundamentals,” an NFC offensive coach tells FanSided. “He needs to refine details like catch fundamentals, battling for contested catches, and Yards after The Catch. He can do all of those things, but that’s what made him special early in his career.”

Engram is younger than Rob Gronkowski and Zach Ertz, more of a mismatch threat than Eric Ebron, and more productive than Robert Tonyan and O.J. Howard. He’s going to get paid. And probably a lot more than the Giants would be willing to or could afford.

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