Category: NFL Free Agency

Eagles could see Daniel Jones again after former Giants QB signs with NFC North team

Philadelphia Eagles could see Daniel Jones again after former New York Giants QB signs with the Minnesota Vikings

Most teams are just one injury away from having their backup quarterback become the starter, and with Sam Darnold nursing nagging ailments, the Vikings have signed former Giants quarterback Daniel Jones.

Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports reports that Jones will join Minnesota and head coach Kevin O’Connell on a practice squad deal to help maximize the current roster.

Jones was drafted with the No. 6 pick from the Duke Blue Devils in the 2019 NFL Draft. After earning a contract extension in 2022, his struggles have continued in his sixth season with the Giants organization. Through 10 games this season, he has thrown just eight touchdowns to seven interceptions with a 79.4 passer rating and 46.8 quarterback rating.

While speaking to reporters Thursday, Jones thanked the organization and teammates and, while taking questions from the media, noted that his injury guarantee of $23 million was the prime factor in his demotion and scout team activity at safety.

“Well, I’ve got the injury guarantee,” Jones said. “So, that’s that. I understand it. They don’t want to take any risks. At that point, it’s just do as you’re told.”

Jones will finish his Giants career with a 64.1 completion percentage, 14,582 yards passing, 70 touchdowns, 47 interceptions, and an 84.3 passer rating.

Against Philadelphia, Jones has a passer rating of 88.6 with 1202 yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions in 6 games against the Eagles in his career.

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Raiders reportedly interested in free agent former 1st round QB, but feeling not mutual

The Raiders are reportedly interested in signing former Giants first round pick QB Daniel Jones, but Jones isn’t interested in them.

Sunday the Raiders went from a team without a great QB situation to a team desperate for a quarterback. As it happens, right around the same time, the Giants were waiving their former sixth overall pick quarterback Daniel Jones.

So, naturally the question was if the Raiders might try to sign him should he clear waivers.

“Any free agent or anybody to be claimed, that’s third floor,” said Antonio Pierce on Monday regarding the potential interest in Jones. “So, [Tom] Telesco and that group is the head of it, and obviously, we’ll see what happens by the end of the day.”

Well, the third floor is said to be interested in Jones, according to Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports, Jones isn’t reciprocating that interest. He apparently would rather be a backup with a playoff team and the Raiders ain’t that.

It wouldn’t do much for the Raiders’ hopes at present, but if Jones could find new life in Las Vegas, he could have potentially helped them in future. Sounds like that’s off the table and the Raiders will have to work with what they have which is Desmond Ridder and Aidan O’Connell who they hope will return this week off injured reserve.

Should the Ravens have interest in signing veteran QB Daniel Jones?

Adam Schefter is reporting that the Baltimore Ravens are among the handful of teams that could sign veteran quarterback Daniel Jones

The Ravens have many needs as they head down the stretch toward a potentially deep playoff run.   The backup quarterback wasn’t the most pressing need, but things happened, and John Harbaugh wanted insurance for MVP candidate Lamar Jackson.

Adam Schefter reports that Baltimore is among the few teams that could sign Jones once he clears waivers.

Jones, who requested and received his release from the Giants on Friday, is expected to clear waivers on Monday at 4 p.m. ET. At that point, when he’s a free agent and allowed to talk to other teams, Jones should sign relatively quickly.

Jones was drafted with the No. 6 pick from the Duke Blue Devils in the 2019 NFL Draft. After earning a contract extension in 2022, his struggles have continued in his sixth season with the Giants organization. Through 10 games this season, he has thrown just eight touchdowns to seven interceptions with a 79.4 passer rating and 46.8 quarterback rating.

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It may be time for 49ers to part with superstar playmaker in offseason

It might be time…

It appears the San Francisco 49ers are headed toward an offseason full of difficult decisions.

The salary cap and quarterback Brock Purdy’s impending contract extension were always going to make the 2025 offseason a rough one, but the team’s sluggish 5-5 start to the 2024 campaign is an indicator that significant changes need to be made to their roster.

One of those changes may be parting ways with wide receiver Deebo Samuel.

It’s nigh impossible to envision the Kyle Shanahan 49ers without Samuel. His rookie season was in 2019, the year the club turned around a sustained run of mediocrity and catapulted to the Super Bowl. In that year we saw glimpses of what eventually made him an All-Pro in 2021.

He is a unique play maker whose 1,405 receiving yards, 365 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns in 2021 may be a stat line we never see again from a wide receiver.

Samuel was also a consistent offensive spark for San Francisco, and Shanahan wasn’t afraid to lean on him when the team needed to generate offense.

It appears this season that version of Samuel may not be there anymore for the 49ers. In nine games he’s produced 33 receptions, 490 yards and one touchdown on 52 targets. He’s also carried 27 times for just 79 yards and one touchdown. Of his 27 carries, only two have generated either a touchdown or a first down, and his longest run of the season is just 12 yards.

In Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks where the 49ers didn’t have tight end George Kittle, there was a prime opportunity for Samuel to have a major impact. Instead he hauled in four balls for 22 yards and lost one yard on his only carry of the game.

Samuel’s yards after catch per reception are a career-low 7.7 so far this season. His yards-per-route run of 1.98 are the second-lowest mark of his career. He’s also forced only eight missed tackles on 33 receptions after forcing 40 on 73 catches last year. That trend continues in the run game where he has eight missed tackles forced on 27 carries this year, down from 22 missed tackles forced 43 carries a season ago per Pro Football Focus.

The explosiveness that made Samuel the NFL’s most dangerous playmaker through the early portion of his career seems to have evaded him. It’s hard to blame him given the physicality that defined his playmaking ability.

However, the 49ers need to start devising new ways to create offense, and parting ways with Samuel is starting to look like more of a necessity if they want to turn the page to the next chapter of football in San Francisco.

If they make Samuel a post-June 1 designation, they’ll have a $10,751,753 dead cap hit while saving $5,206,105 against the cap per Over the Cap.

With the type of high-priced contracts the 49ers are holding, that extra $5 million in room would be helpful, and Samuel would be able to find a new opportunity with a team that can differently maximize him.

It also opens the door for players like Ricky Pearsall, Jacob Cowing and Jauan Jennings to be more involved in whatever the next evolution of the 49ers’ offense looks like.

Parting ways with the 2021 All-Pro wouldn’t be easy, and it would be perhaps the single biggest move the 49ers could make to signal that a new era has arrived. It may be a necessity though given everything we know after 11 weeks of the 2024 season.

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Eagles sign former sixth round pick to a deal

The Philadelphia Eagles are signing defensive end Tarron Jackson and released quarterback Will Grier

The Eagles announced two roster moves on Thursday. The team signed 2021 sixth-round pick Tarron Jackson to a practice squad deal.

The team released veteran quarterback Will Grier from the practice squad in a corresponding move.

Jackson (6-2, 254) originally was drafted by the Eagles in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Coastal Carolina. He played in every game as a rookie, logging 17 tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble in 253 snaps on defense.

Jackson split time between the active roster and the practice squad of the NFC Champions in 2022, playing in five games, including playoffs. He was on the practice squad for the entirety of the 2023 campaign. He battled for a roster spot in this year’s Training Camp and preseason but was released during the final roster cutdown.

Jackson was promptly signed to Carolina’s practice squad and eventually promoted to the active roster before being waived on October 15. He played in three games for the Panthers, logging 28 snaps on defense.

Grier previously played for Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore both in Dallas and in Los Angeles with the Chargers. The former third-round pick of the Panthers started two games for Carolina in his rookie season of 2019.

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Will Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry’s success change how RBs are viewed in free agency?

Will Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry’s success change how the running back position is viewed in free agency?

Five of the NFL’s top ten leading rushers in 2024 were on different teams in 2023, and three of those players, Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, and Josh Jacobs, were vocal about running backs getting the short end of the stick when it comes to contracts, and a fair pay scale for the position.

Before this season, only Christian McCaffrey ($19M) and Alvin Kamara ($15M) were the outliers for massive contracts for running backs. Since then, Jonathan Taylor scored a deal for $14 million per season, while Barkley ($12.5M) and Jacobs ($12M) have proven the doubters the wrong on dishing out considerable contracts to running backs.

Ahead of the Week 8 matchup against the Bengals, Barkley was asked if his and Derrick Henry’s success this season can change how the position is viewed in free agency and when new deals are discussed.

Barkley is among the top five in rushing yards, while Henry is on pace to shatter the league’s single-season rushing record. Joe Mixon, David Montgomery, and Aaron Jones flourish with new teams or deals.

James Conner (Cardinals), Jones, Najee Harris, Nick Chubb, J.K. Dobbins, and Chuba Hubbard are among the big names who’ll test free agency, and this new theory that dual-threat running backs deserve to be paid like their counterparts at wide receiver.

Veteran tight end reunites with Luke Getsy on Raiders

Former 4th round pick veteran Trevon Wesco joined the Raiders practice squad Tuesday, reuniting him with Luke Getsy who coaches him in Chicago.

Tuesday the Raiders signed veteran tight end Trevon Wesco to the practice squad.

The 6-3, 287-pounder is in his sixth NFL season. He was originally drafted in the fourth round by the New York Jets back in 2019. He spent three seasons in New York before moving on to the Bears where he played under OC Luke Getsy.

Last season played with the Titans, starting a career high ten games.

Wesco has appeared in 69 career games with 23 starts, compiling nine catches for 134 yards. So, not much of a receiving threat. More of a blocking tight end and special teams player.

He joins a crowded group of tight ends on the practice squad along with Cole Fotheringham and Justin Shorter. While Michael Mayer is on the team’s Non-football illness list.

The Raiders active roster consists of Brock Bowers, Harrison Bryant and John Samuel-Shenker. Bryant appeared to injure his hand in Sunday’s game against the Rams, so Wesco’s signing could be to have ample depth at the position in case Bryant misses some time.

Raiders add competition at quarterback, signing former Falcons starter

The Raiders have finally added some much needed competition to the quarterback room, signing former third round pick Desmond Ridder.

There’s a new arm in the Raiders quarterback room. It’s Desmond Ridder. The Raiders have signed the former third round pick off the Cardinals practice squad according to ESPN’s Tom Pelissero.

Ridder started 13 games last season for the Falcons, putting up 2836 yards with 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while completed near 65% of his passes. He went 6-7 in those starts.

The Raiders didn’t just need the competition, they needed a body. It was revealed Monday morning that Aidan O’Connell was headed to injured reserve with a broken thumb, leaving just Gardner Minshew on the roster and undrafted rookie Carter Bradley on the practice squad.

Ridder earned his third round draft status by putting up big numbers at Cincinnati including 87 touchdowns over four seasons there.

With the Falcons addition of Kirk Cousins this offseason, they traded Ridder to the Cardinals. He was released with the final roster cuts and joined the practice squad.

Ravens to sign linebacker Kristian Welch

Baltimore Ravens to sign Kristian Welch to the practice squad

The Ravens are bringing back a familiar face, as The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec reports that Baltimore is signing linebacker Kristian Welch to the practice squad.

Welch signed with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2020 out of Iowa and played parts of three seasons with them as a core special teamer. He was recently let go by the Broncos.

Welch signed with Denver on Aug. 29. He played in the season’s first six games, earning one start. He played 97 snaps on special teams and 36 on defense over the last six weeks.

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Raiders make 4 roster moves ahead of Week 5 vs Broncos

Among several roster moves for the Raiders, they signed former first round pick K’Lavon Chaisson to the active roster from the practice squad.

It didn’t take long for K’Lavon Chaisson to get the call up from the practice squad to the active roster. Two weeks ago the team signed the former first round pick to the practice squad due to the injury to Tyree Wilson. Then last week against the Browns, he was activated due in part to the ankle injury to Maxx Crosby that caused Crosby to miss the game. Now they’ve made it official.

With the team sending LB Luke Masterson to the injured reserve, the Raiders have signed Chaisson to the active roster just ahead of facing the rival Broncos in Denver.

Crosby is Questionable for the game, so Chaisson’s addition could be to once again add much needed depth at the position.

Chaissaon played 41 snaps (69%) last week in his debut with the Raiders, collecting four combined tackles in that time.

In addition, the Raiders elevated RB Sincer McCormick and WR Alex Bachman from the practice squad.