Tag: 2023 free agency

Bucs officially announce Matt Feiler signing

Tampa Bay officially has its new offensive guard.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have officially got their new offensive guard.

The team officially announced its signing of OG [autotag]Matt Feiler[/autotag] after the two sides reportedly came to terms last week. Feiler started 33 games in the last two years for the Los Angeles Chargers and previously played for the Steelers.

Feiler will compete for one of Tampa Bay’s two open guard spots, though his experience starting will make him a very likely candidate to win out one of them. Feiler had a strong 2021, as he was the fourth-highest-rated guard in PFF’s rankings for that year, but he had a notable downturn in 2022 that resulted in his release. Still, he’s a veteran guard that could do well with a change of scenery, so it will be interesting to see how he’ll do in the team’s upcoming offensive line competition.

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Bears re-sign WR Dante Pettis to 1-year deal

The Bears are bringing back a familiar face in WR Dante Pettis, who’s signing a one-year deal with Chicago.

The Chicago Bears are bringing back a familiar face in wide receiver Dante Pettis, who’s signing a one-year deal with the team as the offseason program gets underway.

The Bears signed Pettis to a one-year deal last offseason where the expectation was he’d serve as WR6 and contribute on special teams. Instead, Pettis wound up more involved on offense than many expected during the 2022 season.

Pettis, who played in 17 games, was the team’s fifth-leading receiver with 245 yards on 19 catches and led all Bears receivers in touchdowns (3) in 2022. While Pettis had his struggles with drops, he did have his moments in the passing game, highlighted by some deep receptions.

Pettis was also the team’s primary punt returner — after Velus Jones Jr. struggled with muffed punts early in the season — serving a dual role for Chicago.

Now, Pettis returns to an improved receiving corp that acquired DJ Moore in a trade. Pettis projects as WR6 on this team behind Moore, Chase Claypool, Darnell Mooney, Velus Jones and Equanimeous St. Brown, who also signed a one-year extension before the end of the 2022 season.

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Foster Moreau shares update on his cancer battle, treatment plan

Foster Moreau shared an update on his cancer battle and treatment plan during an interview with Good Morning America:

It’s been a dramatic offseason for Foster Moreau. The former Las Vegas Raiders and LSU Tigers tight end was expecting the first big payday of his NFL career as a free agent, and it nearly came with his hometown New Orleans Saints team.

Instead, he’s beginning a treatment plan for Hodgkin’s lymphoma after the cancer was discovered in a routine physical in New Orleans. Moreau shared the story of his initial diagnosis from Dr. John Amoss, a Saints team physician, which ended up being life-changing.

“I felt strong. I felt like I was running well,” Moreau recounted during an interview with Good Morning America. He had already undergone a physical with the Cincinnati Bengals before visiting the Saints, which hadn’t detected anything. “I mean, my offseason training was going just fine, and then he tells me something’s there that I could’ve never imagined and it rocks my world.”

He’s remaining optimistic. Other players have dealt with Hodgkin’s lymphoma to return to football before, and Moreau is hopeful he can do the same: “It’s at stage 2, so it’s spread from the initial location. But it appears to be a slow spread and we should be able to get rid of all of it.”

But he’s keeping a clear head. Moreau says he’s thankful for the support the Saints have given him throughout this process, and that he’s grateful he can stay close to his parents in New Orleans while undergoing treatment. He’s treating this battle just like every other conflict he’s approached on the field.

Moreau continued, “There’s no other way to look at it, right? So I’m preparing for my opponent, right? Hodgkin’s lymphoma, chemotherapy, I’m preparing for being on an IV, for six, seven, eight hours. Whatever it takes, right? Because I mean, there’s no other option. There’s no option.”

So will he return to play football? Moreau hopes so, but he’s being realistic about his expectations. He recently returned to New Orleans to complete his physical, and it’s possible the team could sign him after the 2023 NFL draft so he doesn’t count into the 2024 compensatory picks formula. They could then place Moreau on the non-football injury list until he’s cleared to return in, say, October. But that’s a long ways away. For now, Moreau is going to do everything he can to win this fight.

“You only have a finite amount of time on this Earth,” Moreau added. “For me, I’m gonna make it count. And right now, making it count is whuppin’ up on cancer’s butt.”

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Bears reveal jersey numbers for new players

Here’s a look at the jersey numbers for the new crop of Bears players.

The Chicago Bears announced jersey numbers for its new players acquired through free agency, as well as in the trade for the No. 1 pick to the Carolina Panthers.

DJ Moore, Ryan Anderson, Tremaine Edmunds, Nate Davis, DeMarcus Walker, Rasheem Green and Andrew Billings are among those who will don the same number they’ve previously worn in their NFL careers. Meanwhile, T.J. Edwards, Robert Tonyan, D’Onta Foreman, P.J. Walker, Travis Homer and Dylan Cole are going with new numbers in Chicago.

Here’s a look at the jersey numbers for new Bears players, in numerical order.

Report: Bucs sign OG Matt Feiler in free agency

The Bucs have added a new name to their offensive guard roster ahead of camp.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have added a new name to their impending guard competition.

NFL Network’s Peter Schrager reported on Thursday that the Bucs were signing guard Matt Feiler to a one-year deal. Feiler most recently spent the last two years starting for the Los Angeles Chargers.

Feiler was released by the Chargers toward the beginning of free agency to help save Los Angeles what would have been an $8.5 million cap hit for 2023. Now, he’ll come to Tampa Bay on a one-year deal and compete for one of the team’s two open guard positions with Aaron Stinnie, Nick Leverett, Robert Hainsey and Luke Goedeke. He is the latest in a set of one-year deals the Bucs have made in free agency to try and address their immediate needs.

Feiler previously played for the Steelers from 2015-20.

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One thing to love about each of the Bears’ free agent additions

From Tremaine Edmunds’ youth to Andrew Billings’ technique, here’s one thing to love about each of the Bears’ 2023 free agent signings.

The Chicago Bears have added 11 significant additions to their team in free agency this offseason. Chicago had the most cap space in the NFL to spend, and general manager Ryan Poles made good on that, using that money to start to fill holes with young talent.

Key additions in Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards will help fix the holes created at linebacker when the Bears traded away Roquan Smith last season.

Whether it’s a new starter or a depth player, these 11 additions all bring something exciting to the 2023 roster. Here’s one thing to love about each of the Bears’ free-agent additions.

Details of DL Rasheem Green’s contract with Bears

The Bears added Rasheem Green to the defensive line room this offseason. See the details of his contract here:

The Chicago Bears added another veteran to their defensive line with the signing of defensive end Rasheem Green to a one-year contract.

He joins fellow free-agent defensive end DeMarcus Walker and defensive tackle Andrew Billings as new faces in the defensive line room this offseason.

Details of Green’s contract have emerged, and it’s an affordable one for the Bears. According to Aaron Wilson, Green’s one-year deal is worth $1.5 million with a total maximum value of $2.75 million.

That includes a $500,000 base salary guarantee, $350,000 signing bonus, $500,000 in per game active roster bonus, $250,000 incentive and $150,000 workout bonus.

Green is a former third-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks in 2018, who played four years with Seattle before joining the Houston Texans in 2022. He’s already played five years in the league and is only 25 years old, so there’s plenty of upside with this move by general manager Ryan Poles.

Green is a versatile defensive lineman with the ability to play outside and inside, and he should be a solid rotational piece in Matt Eberflus’ defense.

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Bears to sign free-agent punter Ryan Anderson

Free-agent punter Ryan Anderson took to Twitter to share that he’s signing with the Bears.

The Chicago Bears are signing free agent punter Ryan Anderson, he announced on Twitter Monday.

Anderson, 27, worked out for the Bears during the 2022 season. He’s a left-footed punter, and the team was preparing to face a left-footed punter in Washington’s Tress Way. Now, Anderson will work with Chicago during the offseason, where he joins Trenton Gill in the specialists room.

“Extremely fortunate to still be playing this game!” Anderson wrote on Twitter. “Beyond grateful to the Bears Organization for giving me the opportunity to continue living out of my dream! #BearDown”

Anderson signed as an undrafted free agent with the New York Giants after a successful tryout at the team’s rookie minicamp in 2019. He was waived during roster cuts later that summer.

Anderson was a star at Rutgers, where he earned First Team All Big Ten and was named the Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year in 2017. He still holds the single season punting average at Rutgers.

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Cowboys’ offseason looks even better after Ravens’ OBJ signing

Brandin Cooks and OBJ will forever be linked in the minds of Cowboys fans, but a look at their production shows Dallas got the better deal. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys put in the time on a long and very public courtship with Odell Beckham Jr., only to see the three-time Pro Bowler wind up at the altar with someone else.

The Baltimore Ravens and Beckham agreed to terms on Sunday; the receiver will join John Harbaugh’s club on a one-year deal that will see him earn at least $15 million and perhaps as much as $18 million for the 2023 season.

Jerry Jones and the Cowboys were never going to agree to a price tag like that, no matter how many one-handed grabs the 30-year-old coming off a year-long ACL rehab made in carefully-controlled workouts.

In truth, the OBJ door was likely closed by Dallas back on March 19, when they traded two late-round draft picks for Texans receiver Brandin Cooks.

And while the pair of wideouts will now always be linked in the minds of Cowboys fans, there’s a case to be made that Dallas got the far better deal.

Now, no one is suggesting that Beckham and Cooks are interchangeable pieces on the football field. But then again, the two are not all that dissimilar.

Both receivers were first-rounders in 2014; Beckham was the 12th overall selection, and Cooks was taken just eight picks later. They’ve been in the league the same amount of time, but Beckham has been sidelined for much of it. He’s played just two full seasons during his career, the last coming in 2019 in Cleveland. He’s appeared in 96 regular-season games and five playoff tilts; Cooks has been in 132 regular-season games and made six postseason appearances.

That could be interpreted to mean Beckham has amassed less wear and tear, but then again, Cooks doesn’t have a hamstring tear, ankle fracture, and two separate ACL tears on his chart.

With that extra playing time, Cooks has six 1,000-yard seasons on his resume, one more than Beckham. A head-to-head look at their regular-season stats shows just how even the two are, production-wise.

Player Rec Yds TD Yd/Rec Rec/Gm Yd/Gm TD/Gm
Odell Beckham Jr. 531 7,367 56 13.9 5.5 76.7 0.6
Brandin Cooks 630 8,616 49 13.7 4.8 65.3 0.4

Either makes a seasoned addition to an NFL offense, of course, But the two will likely carry very different expectations into their new locker rooms.

In Dallas, Cooks is clearly a complementary piece to CeeDee Lamb. He’ll be a veteran presence who will demand more attention from opposing secondaries than, say, Noah Brown or Jalen Tolbert and open up more opportunities for Lamb, Michael Gallup, and whoever lines up at tight end.

Beckham, on the other hand, will no doubt be treated as the top target in a Ravens WR corps that last season leaned on the likes of Demarcus Robinson, Devin Duvernay, and Rashod Bateman. Tight end Mark Andrews actually led the club in receptions and receiving yards in 2022, and Nelson Algolor has also joined Baltimore, but Beckham is the marquee upgrade who will be counted on to set the pace in the air game (provided OBJ’s arrival is a factor in convincing quarterback Lamar Jackson to remain with the flock).

With all of that context, the Ravens’ $15-18 million rental investment in Beckham suddenly looks like a massive gamble. They’re banking on him staying healthy, they’re banking on him remaining an elite-level receiving talent despite what’s sure to be consistent double-coverage, they’re banking on him helping to get Jackson back, and- let’s face it- they’re banking on him not causing drama.

The Cowboys, meanwhile, will pay Cooks a much more manageable $12 million this year (they also have him locked up for next year for another $8 million) to do exactly what he’s been doing like clockwork for nine very solid seasons. And just take a look at everyone else the Dallas front office signed with the free agent money left over…

The upcoming campaign will ultimately prove which receiver was the better catch for their new team. Sure, Beckham seems like the head-turning hottie you post beach-vacation pictures with on your socials and show off to your jealous friends, but Cooks could turn out to be the one who you bring home to meet your family and build something truly special with.

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Fantasy football: 2023 NFL free agency roundup

NFL free agency will drastically help reshape the fantasy football landscape as the new league year begins.

Now that NFL free agency is upon us, we’ll run through the fantasy football outlooks for trades, re-signings, midrange players, and tag recipients.

This analysis will be updated as players sign/re-sign in free agency, so be sure to check back regularly.

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