Tag: 2021 Free Agency

Twitter reacts to Bears’ re-signing Mario Edwards to 3-year extension

The Bears signed DE Mario Edwards to a three-year contract extension, and Twitter had plenty to say, most of which was good.

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The Chicago Bears continue to re-sign some of their in-house free agents ahead of the start of the new league year. Chicago re-signed defensive end Mario Edwards to a three-year contract extension worth $11.5 million, which keeps a valuable rotational player on the defensive line through 2023.

Edwards joined the Bears last summer after he was released by the New Orleans Saints. In 15 games, Edwards totaled 17 tackles, four sacks, and one pass deflection.

Twitter had plenty to say following Edwards’ contract extension, most of which was positive as Chicago locked up one of their key rotational players on the defensive line. Although there were still some people waiting for a Russell Wilson trade.

https://twitter.com/katelynnelener/status/1371141686731100170?s=20

https://twitter.com/MatthewS_Aung/status/1371135314362777603?s=20

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Mario Edwards’ contract extension with Bears will pay him $4.5M in 2021

Bears DE Mario Edwards’ three-year extension will pay him $11.55M, including $4.5M for the 2021 season.

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The Chicago Bears locked up a valuable rotational piece along the defensive line just a couple of days ahead of the start of the new league year.

Chicago re-signed Mario Edwards to a three-year contract extension that keeps Edwards in Chicago through 2023.

Edwards signed with the Bears last summer after he was cut by the New Orleans Saints, and he carved out a crucial role on Chicago’s defensive line. Last season, Edwards appeared in 15 games, where he totaled 17 tackles, four sacks, and one pass deflection.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Edwards’ deal is valued at $11.55 million over three years. That would pay Edwards just under $4 million per year.

According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Edwards will get $4.5 million in the first year of his deal.

Now all eyes will turn to the salary cap, where Edwards’ cap hit will be no doubt be at its lowest for the 2021 season.

With Edwards locked in for the next few years, that leaves another one of Chicago’s key rotational players in free agent Brent Urban waiting in the wings.

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Steelers unable to tender special teams ace, OLB due to salary cap restrictions

Pittsburgh Steelers feeling the repercussions of the salary cap situation.

Repercussions of the salary cap situation in Pittsburgh are being felt as the team is unable to re-sign restricted free agent, outside linebacker Ola Adeniyi. He’ll be on the market when free agency begins on March 17.

Adeniyi signed with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2018. He spent much of his rookie year on injured reserve. Since the 2019 season, he’s played sparingly on defense (215 snaps or seven percent) but has been a factor on special teams.

On special teams, Pro Football Focus grades Adeniyi at 88.1. He’s contributed 63 key plays and 14 tackles on 503 plays.

Adeniyi was solid as a special teamer but didn’t add much value as a reserve defender. With free agency starting Wednesday, expect to see more salary-cap casualties come from the Steelers.

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Former Ravens RB Mark Ingram agrees to one-year deal with Texans

Former Baltimore Ravens RB Mark Ingram will join former Ravens WR coach David Culley after signing a one-year deal with the Houston Texans.

It didn’t take long for former Baltimore Ravens running back Mark Ingram to find a new home. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Ingram reached an agreement on a one-year deal with the Houston Texans on Thursday. The deal is worth up to $3 million.

The Ravens waived Ingram in January after he spent two seasons in Baltimore, earning a Pro Bowl nomination in 2019. Ingram found himself working behind young running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards last season, eventually being a healthy scratch for the Ravens’ two playoff games. Despite the diminished role, Ingram remained a vocal leader and mentor, earning heartfelt goodbyes from teammates when he was released.

During his two seasons in Baltimore, Ingram ran the ball 274 times, accounting for 1,317 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground. He also added another 297 receiving yards and five touchdown receptions on 32 catches.

Ingram is a perfect match for the Texans, who are currently in shambles. Ingram will rejoin former Ravens passing game coordinator David Culley, who is now the head coach in Houston, helping carry over the culture and tone from Baltimore. While Ingram might not be a top running back any longer, he should be able to provide some production at the position while being a mentor to many of the young players on the team.

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Safety Keanu Neal to Cowboys makes a lot of free agency sense to a lot of people

A former Dan Quinn prospect might just fit into Dallas’ scheme. Former Falcons’ safety Keanu Neal could be the missing link for the team.

After creating some much-needed cap space with the signing of Dak Prescott and restructuring of several contracts, the Dallas Cowboys must shift their attention elsewhere, as they look to improve upon a depleted defense from last season. One position group that must be addressed more than any other is the secondary.

Last season Dallas struggled to do the basics of football: cover, tackle and force turnovers. Looking at the 2020 defensive rankings, the team remained in the bottom ten of passing yards allowed and converted a mere 10 interceptions. Help is needed and a former player of Dan Quinn might just fit into Dallas’ plans. Former Falcons’ safety Keanu Neal could be the missing link.

In a recent simulated offseason scenario, Sports Illustrated predicted that Neal would wind up signing with Dallas. They also had Dallas selecting Northwestern OT Rashawn Slater, Miami DE Quincy Roche, UCLA DT Osa Odighizuwa and North Carolina Central CB Bryan Mills in the first three rounds.

Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report added on to the fire that Dallas should consider Neal.

The former first-round pick hasn’t lived up to expectations in Atlanta, but there’s reason to believe his best football could still be in front of him.

That’s because a lot of the 25-year-old’s struggles have come because of injuries. After amassing 222 total tackles, 14 passes defended and eight forced fumbles in his first two seasons, he missed large portions of his next two seasons with an Achilles injury and an ACL tear.

That’s a red flag, but it’s one that could also point toward his potential to improve. Neal came back healthy last season and had 100 tackles in 15 games with nine tackles for a loss. Given another year of recovery and health, he could be even better over the next few seasons.

The Florida product is at his best playing a traditional strong safety role.

Neal would make a great asset to a locker room struggling to find its defensive niche. Last season, the former Falcon started 14 of his team’s 15 games. During that time, he added on two pass deflections and one interception. While the numbers may not be eye-catching, one area the safety excelled at was his ability to tackle downfield. In 2020, the former pro bowler finished second on his team with 76 solo tackles.  Likewise, he tallied on three quarterback hits and notched his first ever sack.

In 2017, Neal had his best seasons while playing under Quinn. The starting safety computed six pass deflections that year and combined for five forced fumbles. His success under the Cowboy’s coordinator comes as no surprise, as the Falcons had one of the top 10 defenses that season. A major part of his success was due in part to the Cover 3 scheme Atlanta ran. Quinn understood how to utilize players through zone and man-to-man coverage.

Bob Strum of The Athletic believes the free agent safety would come at a cheap price. The belief is that both sides would be able to get a deal done financially, without Dallas breaking the bank. Pro Football Focus predicts a two-year, $10 million deal is the market for Neal.

Should Jerry Jones decide to purse Neal, the question remains at what cost? The Cowboys would be wise to splash interest at a player that they lack depth at. Neal could be the missing piece for the team’s secondary.

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3 potential landing spots for JuJu Smith-Schuster

Where could Steelers fan-favorite JuJu Smith-Schuster end up via free agency?

Not that we thought it would be any different, but it’s looking more and more like JuJu Smith-Schuster will be taking a hike during the NFL free agency period that starts on March 17 at 4 p.m. ET.

Below is a list of spots where Smith-Schuster could end up.

Jamize Olawale release saves Cowboys cash, little cap space

Cowboys release veteran fullback Jamize Olawale.

Just a couple hours after officially signing Dak Prescott’s new contrac, the Dallas Cowboys made moves to create additional cap space. First was their quest to restructure the contract of their top three offensive linemen. Then Dallas decided to create minor cap space and an extra slot on their 90-man roster ahead of the March 17 start of the new league year.

The Cowboys have decided to release veteran fullback Jamize Olawale.

 

Olawale, who played college football at North Texas, was an undrafted free-agent for Dallas in 2012. He went on to play six season for the Raiders before signing a three year contract to return to the Cowboys in 2018. Olawale’s role in Dallas mainly consisted of being a lead blocker for Ezekiel Elliott, he was also a contributor on special teams.

However he was a remnant of the no-longer in tact Jason Garrett regime. New head coach Mike McCarthy doesn’t have a similar affinity for the position.

Olawale’s base salaries and cap hits pushed forward to 2021 from 2020, so the Cowboys will save the $1,050,000 in cash, but only $450,000 against the cap as the 2022 proration of his $1.8 million signing bonus accelerates onto this year’s cap.

Last season, Dallas played without a traditional fullback in their offense, often using tight-end Blake Bell in that role. Bell is expected to become a free-agent this offseason.

With the release of Olawale and possible loss of Bell, the Cowboys could turn to second-year player Sewo Olonilua. The former TCU Horned Frog is an intriguing option seeing that he ran for 1,624 yards and 18 touchdowns in his college career.

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Report: Cowboys restructure contracts of Zack Martin, Tyron Smith, La’el Collins

Dallas found out their salary cap ceiling earlier Wednesday then in the afternoon went about creating room so they can play in free agency.

Although the Dallas Cowboys didn’t necessarily need to make any moves to become compliant with the 2021 salary cap after it was announced to be $182.5 million earlier on Wednesday, they made moves anyway. To help create room under the cap for the opening of free agency next week (March 17), the club pulled three restructure triggers to create a reported $17 million worth of space, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer.

The Cowboys could have netted around $21 million in space if they restructured each players deal down to veteran minimum base salaries, so each player’s deal has not been maximized. That’s normally the case for Dallas as even last year they didn’t knock any of the deals down to the minimums for each player’s service time.

Prior to the move, Martin was set to make $11,000,000 in base salary, Smith  $10,500,000 and Collins $8,550,000.   Their cap hits were $17 million, $14.025 million and $12.05 million, respectively.

The base salary amounts changed to bonuses will still be paid to those players during this season, but the cap hits will be spread out evenly over the remaining years on each player’s contracts. Potentially, like the team did with DeMarcus Lawrence’s restructure last year and what was included in Prescott’s new deal, the team could add void years to help spread the hits out over a maximum of five seasons.

Void years don’t add to the contract’s length, they are simply an accounting method (read: cap magic) that allows teams to manipulate a cap that is going to expand and possibly explode as soon as the new television deals hit the NFL’s revenue along with gambling proceeds.

Currently Smith’s contract runs through 2023 while Collins and Martin’s contracts run through 2024. Smith, like Lawrence, got a void year in last year’s restructure and that hit puts dead money on the 2024 cap after his contract ends.

If any of the players sign extensions with Dallas, the cap hit still resides on those years after the void years are replaced by actual contracts.

The Cowboys still have several restructure or cuts they can make to create more cap space as needed, but $17 million is a strong starting point to enter free agency with.

For a look at these moves as well as others that were proposed, here’s Cowboys Wire’s guide to maximizing cap space in 2021.

After Dak deal, here’s how Cowboys can maximum cap space in 2021

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Potential landing spots for Chargers TE Hunter Henry

If the Los Angeles Chargers can’t agree to terms with Hunter Henry, where might he end up?

The Chargers will have some decisions to make on their pending free agents when the new league year begins next week.

I expect Los Angeles to be aggressive to bring back a few of them. However, there’s no guarantee that they’re back, especially if a team that has more interest outbids them.

With that being said, let’s take a look at potential landing spots for the Bolts’ notable free agents if the Bolts can’t come to an agreement, starting with tight end Hunter Henry.

Jaguars: Jacksonville will be looking to build around the likely No. 1 pick quarterback Trevor Lawrence. With the most cap space available, they are the most equipped to land arguably the top tight end on the market.

Bengals: Like Lawrence, Cincinnati will be seeking to give their young signal-caller, Joe Burrow, more reinforcements. For a position group that struggled last season, adding Henry is just what they need. With $44.1 million in available cap space, the team can make it happen.

Panthers: Whether it’s Teddy Bridgewater, a free agent or a rookie distributing the wealth, Carolina needs to get better at the position for them. Following Greg Olsen’s departure, Ian Thomas struggled to step up in the No. 1 role. The Panthers are slated to have $32 million in spending money.

Patriots: New England will likely be undergoing a complete makeover to their offense this offseason, but the position should be a priority last after finishing last in the league in receptions by tight ends each of the last two seasons. The Patriots will likely be aggressive to land Henry, as they possess $70.1 million.

Bills release WR John Brown, DL Quinton Jefferson

Buffalo Bills cut WR John Brown and DE Quinton Jefferson ahead of 2021 free agency.

The first cuts have been made by the Buffalo Bills this offseason.

On Wednesday, the team announced that both wide receiver John Brown and defensive lineman Quinton Jefferson were released by the team. Both players have long been considered to be cap casualties this offseason.

Check back for updates… 

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