Tag: Brock Wright

49ers dip into RFA market for tight end help

The #49ers are taking a little bit different route to find TE depth.

The 49ers are taking an unusual route to try and find tight end help. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on Friday reported San Francisco signed Lions restricted free agent TE Brock Wright to an offer sheet. Detroit now has five days to match the offer.

Detroit only placed a right of first refusal tender on Wright which means the 49ers won’t owe the Lions any draft compensation if the Lions choose not to match. It’s unclear what the terms of San Francisco’s offer sheet is.

Wright signed with the Lions as an undrafted free agent following the 2021 draft. He played in 41 games with 19 starts across three seasons in Detroit, posting 43 catches for 424 yards and seven touchdowns.

While he’s capable of handling some of the blocking assignments required of 49ers second TEs, Wright is also capable of shouldering a heavier workload in the passing game. His career receiving stats are well north of former 49ers backup TE Charlie Woerner, who signed with the Falcons this offseason leaving a vacancy on the 49ers’ depth chart.

If the Lions match, we’ll likely see San Francisco look elsewhere for a veteran TE with only unproven commodities Cameron Latu and Brayden Willis on the roster behind George Kittle.

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49ers sign Lions tight end Brock Wright to restricted free agent offer sheet

The Lions can either match the 49ers offer or lose Wright without any compensation

It is not often that teams sign players to restricted free agent deals but they do happen. The first, and only one so far, of the 2024 free agency cycle has been completed with Lions tight end Brock Wright. The deal is for one-year, $2.985 million dollars on an original tender.

Signing with the Lions after going undrafted out of Notre Dame in the 2021 NFL Draft, Wright made his impact right away. In Ben Johnson’s offense he was able to be used on critical downs and was an extension of the offensive line with his blocking ability. He has been especially versatile as a blocker being able to seal off edges for outside runs or pull and be a lead blocker.

The Lions now have five days to decide if they will match the offer. If they do, Wright signs with them for the same deal. If they do not match the deal, the Lions will not receive any compensation for him leaving.

Lions officially tender James Houston among several transactions

Lions officially tender James Houston among several transactions to start the new NFL league year

The start of the new NFL league year commenced at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday. The flip to 2024 means transactions that had been pending and long-reported are now able to be made official.

Such was the case for the Detroit Lions with a few deals that had been in the works. Among those were the qualifying tender offers for restricted and exclusive rights free agents on the roster.

MOst of these were already known, but the Lions made it official. They extended qualifying offers to just one of the six eligible restricted free agents. Tight end Brock Wright will be back in Detroit for $2.9 million.

The following restricted free agents are now on the open market and no longer under contractual control or compensation ties to the Lions:

  • CB Jerry Jacobs
  • CB Chase Lucas
  • LB Anthony Pittman
  • LS Scott Daly
  • DT Benito Jones
  • CB Khalil Dorsey

For exclusive rights free agents, or ERFAs, the Lions officially tendered five of the six eligible players. Most notable is EDGE James Houston, whose status had been kept quiet by all parties. Houston will play for the NFL league minimum for the Lions in 2024 and will become a restricted free agent following the season if he’s on the roster in some form for at least six games.

The trade for Carlton Davis and recent re-signings of RB Zonovan Knight, CB Emmanuel Moseley and TE Shane Zylstra were also made official on the league’s transaction wire.

Lions expected to extend high tender offer to restricted free agent Brock Wright

Lions expected to extend a right of first refusal tender offer to restricted free agent Brock Wright

One of the less taxing decisions for NFL teams in free agency is the fate of their restricted free agents. The team controls the players’ availability through tender offers and the ability to match any outside offers—if any other teams aren’t scared off by the initial tender offer.

One Lions restricted free agent who the team seems very intent on keeping is tight end Brock Wright. Per Over The Cap, Detroit will use the right of first refusal RFA tag on Wright.

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In effect, the right of first refusal tender means the Lions will pay Wright  $2.985 million for the 2024 season. He will then be an unrestricted free agent after the season, his fourth in the NFL. Another team can offer Wright more, and the Lions could choose to match that offer. Pro Football Network summarized it nicely,

If a player is tendered at the original round/right-of-first-refusal level and signs an offer sheet that his incumbent team declines to match, that club would be entitled to a draft choice equal to the round in which the player was selected. The team wouldn’t receive compensation if the player wasn’t drafted or was tendered at the lowest of the four levels.

It’s hard to see another team paying Wright $3 million for one season. The 25-year-old is coming off a broken arm that ended a season in which he caught 13 passes for 91 yards. In three seasons in Detroit since joining the Lions as an undrafted free agent from Notre Dame, Wright has caught 43 passes for 424 yards and seven touchdowns.

Lions place TE Brock Wright on injured reserve, add Zach Ertz to the practice squad

Lions place TE Brock Wright on injured reserve, add Zach Ertz to the practice squad

In an unfortunate turn of events, Brock Wright’s season is now over. The Lions placed the tight end on injured reserve on Wednesday with a broken forearm.

Wright had his brightest moment of the entire season in the win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a beautiful catch-and-run that set up a touchdown. Unfortunately, he broke his arm later in the game.

As expected, the team added veteran Zach Ertz to the practice squad to take Wright’s place. In addition to signing Ertz, the Lions signed veteran DT Tyson Alualu from the practice squad to the active roster. Alualu has been playing as a practice squad elevation.

Watch: Former Notre Dame tight end’s huge divisional round reception

A huge play in Sunday’s first game…

While at Notre Dame, tight end Brock Wright was on the field a good amount as a blocker but he didn’t catch a whole lot of passes. Being on a team full of tight ends that wound up being NFL draft picks certainly played a role in that.

In his time with the Fighting Irish, Wright caught seven passes for 78 yards and one touchdown. It wasn’t a stat-filled career as he was used largely as a blocker.

Wright has been a member of the Detroit Lions since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2021. On Sunday he caught one of his biggest passes for the Honolulu blue.

Tied at 10 just past the midpoint of the third quarter, Detroit faced a third-and-1 from its 45. Who did they target to convert the key third down?

None other than Wright, who not just gave the Lions an extra set of downs but moved them significantly down the field. Check it out below:

The Lions capped the drive seven plays later to go up 17-10 and ultimately won 31-23. Wright and a good number of former Irish players who are now Lions now head to the NFC Championship game.

Lions postgame injury update: Bad news for 2 players

Lions postgame injury update: Bad news for 2 players after the win over the Buccaneers

The Detroit Lions advanced to the NFC Championship game next weekend with a 31-23 home win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Unfortunately, head coach Dan Campbell indicated after the game that two members of the Lions offense are unlikely to make the trip to San Francisco to play in that game.

Tight end Brock Wright, who made a critical catch and run in Sunday’s win, will be out with a broken forearm. Wright initially told Nolan Bianchi of the Detroit News that he suffered the broken arm later in the game. Campbell confirmed the injury in his postgame press conference.

Campbell also didn’t have good news on starting left guard Jonah Jackson, who left the game in the first half with a knee injury. Jackson did not return.

“Doesn’t look really good for next week,” Campbell said of the injuries. “But we’ll see,” he added.

Kayode Awosika filled in for Jackson for the remainder of the game. He figures to be the replacement against the 49ers.

As for Wright and tight end, the Lions have Anthony Firkser behind rookie Sam LaPorta, who showed no ill effects from his Week 18 knee injury. Reserves James Mitchell and Shane Zylstra are on injured reserve. Expect the Lions to add a tight end to the mix during the week, as they don’t currently have any on the practice squad.

Craig Reynolds scores on fourth down for Lions

A Dan Campbell gamble paid off for the Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions have a lot of offensive talent. When discussing it, Craig Reynolds’ name doesn’t usually come up.

However, on Sunday in the Divisional Round against the Bucs at Ford Field, Reynolds was given the ball by Jared Goff on fourth down in the third quarter from the one.

Reynolds plowed into the end zone and after the PAT, Detroit led 17-10.

Reynolds had all of 41 carries in the regular season, although 10 came in the game against Tampa Bay for 15 yards.

He had no stats in the Wild Card win over the Rams.

Earlier in the drive, another uncommon name Brock Wright took a pass for 30 yards. Wright had 13 catches in the regular season and none in the Wild Card win.

Notre Dame Football: 12 Former Golden Domers Remain in NFL Divisional Playoffs

Who do you like to advance to the NFL conference championships?

The NFL Divisional Playoffs are set and 12 former Notre Dame players are moving on to the second round.

Wild Card weekend saw one great game between the Lions and Rams and five other ones that left quite a bit to be desired.

As the NFL playoff field gets cut nearly in half, so do the amount of former Notre Dame players participating in the postseason.  The Irish saw 10 of their 22 former players on playoff teams eliminated this weekend.

So who is left and how did they fare on Wild Card weekend?

Lions final injury report for Week 18: No Jamo in the finale

Lions final injury report for Week 18: 3 Lions are ruled out including WR Jameson Williams

The final Detroit Lions injury status report for Detroit’s Week 18 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings is now out. The Lions officially ruled out three players due to injury, with four more listed as questionable for Sunday’s regular-season finale.

Wide receiver Jameson Williams is the most notable player ruled out. Williams suffered an ankle injury in the Week 17 loss to Dallas and did not practice all week. Tight end Brock Wright will miss his third straight game with a hip injury.

Also ruled out: EDGE James Houston. As head coach Dan Campbell indicated during the week, Houston is not ready yet to be activated off injured reserve.

Two other players currently on injured reserve are listed as questionable. Defensive tackle Alim McNeill and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson are not yet activated, though that status could change before Sunday. Defensive tackle Benito Jones (illness) is also listed as questionable.

All three starting offensive linemen who missed various practice time during the week — LT Taylor Decker, RG Graham Glasgow and C Frank Ragnow — do not carry any injury designation into the game.