Tag: Cody Barton

Contract details for Broncos’ 3 recent free agent signings

New Broncos signees Matt Peart, Cody Barton and Justin Strnad will combine to count $4.9 million against the salary cap in 2024.

Before agreeing to a two-year deal with wide receiver Josh Reynolds this week, the Denver Broncos previously inked one-year contracts with offensive tackle Matt Peart and linebackers Cody Barton and Justin Strnad.

Terms of those three contracts are now known.

Barton received a $1.33 million base salary, a $1 million signing bonus and a $170,000 per-game roster bonus. That will give him a total salary cap hit of $2.46 million. His $1.33 million salary is guaranteed.

Strnad received a $1,055,000 base salary and a $250,000 signing bonus, giving him a total salary cap hit of $1,305,000. He has $500,000 guaranteed.

Peart received a $1,125,000 base salary and a $167,500 signing bonus, giving him a total salary cap hit of $1,152,500. He has $200,000 guaranteed.

Combined, those three players will account for $4,917,500 worth of salary cap space if they make the roster this summer. Before accounting for the Reynolds contract, OverTheCap.com estimates the Broncos have about $20.4 million in remaining cap space.

Reynolds’ two-year contract is said to be worth “up to” $14 million, but his base salary will be lower than $7 million per season. We will share Reynold’s contract details on Broncos Wire when they become available.

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Check out these highlights of new Broncos LB Cody Barton

Here some highlights of new Broncos linebacker Cody Barton from his time with the Seahawks and Commanders.

The Denver Broncos agreed to terms on a one-year contract with linebacker Cody Barton on Friday night.

Before landing in Denver, Barton previously started 16 games with the Seattle Seahawks (2019-2022) and 13 games with the Washington Commanders (2023). Here are some clips from his time with the Commanders last season:

And here are some highlights from his time with the Seahawks:

And here’s footage from both Seattle and DC:

Barton, 27, has totaled 352 tackles (including eight behind the line of scrimmage), nine pass breakups, seven quarterback hits, three interceptions, two sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in 78 career games (29 starts). He has started 24 games over the last two seasons.

After losing Josey Jewell to the Carolina Panthers during NFL free agency, the Broncos signed Barton, presumably as a replacement. The sixth-year linebacker will be the favorite to start next to Alex Singleton in 2024, but Jonas Griffith will also get an opportunity to compete for a spot this summer. Denver’s depth at the position gets a big boost with Barton’s arrival.

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Broncos find their Josey Jewell replacement with LB Cody Barton

The Broncos are bringing in Cody Barton as their Josey Jewell replacement.

Three days after they lost free agent linebacker Josey Jewell to the Carolina Panthers, the Denver Broncos have found their replacement.

The Broncos agreed to terms on a one-year deal with Cody Barton on Friday, the linebacker’s agent, David Canter, announced on Friday evening.

The one-year contract is worth “up to” $4 million, according to KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis, but the linebacker’s base salary is not yet known.

Barton (6-2, 237 pounds) entered the league as a third-round pick out of Utah with the Seattle Seahawks in 2019. He was a special teams player and rotational linebacker through his first three seasons before starting 11 games in 2022.

Last year, Barton was a 13-game starter with the Washington Commanders, totaling 121 tackles, one interception, one forced fumble and one pass breakup. The 27-year-old linebacker has recorded 352 tackles, three interceptions and two sacks in 78 career games (29 starts).

Barton will now likely be a favorite to start next to Alex Singleton in 2024. Jonas Griffith and Drew Sanders are also returning this season.

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Former Commanders linebacker Cody Barton signs with Broncos

Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu are in, while Cody Barton and others are out.

It’s been a good week for Washington fans hoping for improved linebacker play. The Commanders signed former Panthers linebacker Frankie Luvu to a three-year deal to kick off free agency and followed that up by signing future Hall of Famer Bobby Wagner to a one-year deal.

On Friday, Washington’s starting inside linebacker from 2023, Cody Barton, found a new home. Per his agent, Barton signed a one-year deal with the Denver Broncos for $3.5 million. It’s the same terms he signed for in Washington last March.

Barton started all 13 games in which he played for the Commanders, recording 121 tackles, including three for loss and one interception. But don’t mistake that number of tackles for effective play. While Pro Football Focus can sometimes be controversial with its grading, PFF’s grade of 53.9 for the 2023 season was accurate.

Washington’s linebackers were a weakness during all four seasons under Ron Rivera, but it was particularly bad last season.

Chargers named potential landing spot for pair of linebackers

Kenneth Murray is a free agent and Eric Kendricks could be a cap casualty.

The Chargers will be retooling their linebacker room this offseason. Kenneth Murray is a free agent and Eric Kendricks could be a cap casualty.

To fill a void, Pro Football Focus listed two pending free-agent linebackers that Los Angeles could target.

The first is Commanders’ Cody Barton.

After four seasons with the Seahawks, Barton was traded to Washington. He was plagued by an ankle injury that caused him to miss four games. However, Barton still finished with 121 tackles.

His best season came in 2022 when he posted a career-high 136 tackles, six passes defended and four tackles for loss.

At 27 years old, Barton is still young, he has plenty of production and would come at a low price tag.

The next linebacker PFF mentions is Eagles’ Zach Cunningham.

They highlight how defensive coordinator Jesse Minter was the defensive coordinator for Vanderbilt, the same school Cunningham attended.

Cunningham’s strength is run defense, which he posted grades of 70 or higher in six of his seven seasons.

He should also be come cheap.

5 LBs the Colts should target in free agency

Taking a look at LB depth options in free agency.

The Indianapolis Colts are set at linebacker with Zaire Franklin and E.J. Speed in 2024 but the position doesn’t have a lot of depth entering the offseason.

As of this writing, Segun Olubi and Grant Stuard are the only players under contract. While I like what Olubi showed in 2023 and Stuard as a core special teamer, competition for the third linebacker spot on the depth chart needs to be considered.

Plus, the future of the position has to be kept in mind this offseason with Franklin and Speed entering the final year of their contracts.

With the starting roles locked up, I don’t foresee Chris Ballard targeting the top linebackers that are set to hit the market so players who will likely command a payday and a starting role have been omitted.

Here are five linebackers that should be on Ballard’s radar if he chooses to find some depth via free agency:

Commanders LB Khaleke Hudson again showing his value

When Khaleke Hudson gets an opportunity, he usually delivers, and that’s again the case.

Khaleke Hudson has been down this road previously.

The former Michigan Wolverine linebacker has played hard for four seasons on special teams but has gotten little chance to play on the defensive side of the ball.

Last week against the Jets, Hudson was graded by Pro Football Focus (PFF) to have recorded an 82.5. The significance of this was it meant Hudson graded out as the highest Commanders defensive player for the game.

Following Hudson was Kendall Fuller (78.0), Jonathan Allen (76.0), Percy Butler (73.5), Emmanuel Forbes (70.2) and David Mayo (69.7).

While Ron Rivera’s linebackers have struggled for much of the season, Hudson’s defensive snaps have remained peculiarly quite low.

Cody Barton was brought in to replace free agent Cole Holcomb who signed with Pittsburgh. But Barton often struggled. Several of us asked at various times this season why was Hudson again being relegated to special teams primarily?

Most often, the Commanders coaches determined to not play the two most athletic linebackers. So Hudson again found himself not even seeing a single defensive snap in four games. And then, in three other games, he saw only 1, 8 and 6 defensive snaps.

This is the same Hudson who coaches limited to a grand total of five defensive snaps in 2022 going into the season finale against Dallas. That day he was permitted to play all 67 defensive snaps making 7 tackles.

With two games remaining, Hudson is playing more now, being given six defensive starts. He has made 50 tackles, 2 quarterback hits, 1 quarterback sack and 2 tackles for a loss.

Hudson enjoyed a big game last week against the Jets with 8 solo tackles and two passes defended. He was also in on 7 assisted tackles.

WATCH: Commanders LB Cody Barton with an interception and long return

Cody Barton had his best play of the season against the Jets, playing a large role in Washington’s comeback.

Washington Commanders linebacker Cody Barton struggled badly through the first month of the 2023 NFL season. Barton had his best performance in Washington’s Week 6 win against the Atlanta Falcons.

He was injured the next week and would miss the following four games.

He returned in Week 12 and resumed his place in the middle of Washington’s struggling defense.

Barton had his most memorable moment in Sunday’s game against the New York Jets since coming to the Commanders this season.

With the Jets leading 27-7 midway through the third quarter, they had a chance to put the game away, but Barton had other ideas. New York quarterback Trevor Siemian stared down his receiver on second-and-goal, and Barton made him pay, intercepting the pass and returning it 56 yards into New York territory.

The play proved pivotal for the Commanders. Jacoby Brissett would enter the game at quarterback in place of the struggling Sam Howell and led Washington on consecutive touchdown drives.

Commanders PFF grades: Best and worst performers vs. Cowboys in Week 12

Which Commanders performed the best in Thursday’s embarrassing loss? Which ones struggled? The grades are in.

The Washington Commanders dropped to 4-8 after Thursday’s 45-10 Thanksgiving Day loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Amazingly, this was a competitive game entering the fourth quarter, with Dallas leading 20-10.

That’s when everything fell apart for the Commanders.

Washington’s defense finally broke, allowing two Dak Prescott touchdown passes — he had four on the day — and Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland intercepted Washington quarterback Sam Howell, returning it for a touchdown, his fifth this season and a new NFL record.

The loss was so bad that head coach Ron Rivera moved on from defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and secondary coach Brent Vieselmeyer on Friday.

It’s time to review Pro Football Focus‘ best and worst from Washington’s Week 12 game against Dallas. Here are the PFF grades.

Commanders, Rivera like the return of LB Cody Barton

Barton’s return allows Jamin Davis to return to his more natural position.

Commanders head coach Ron Rivera announced Tuesday to the media that LB Cody Barton is returning.

“We’re going to activate Cody tomorrow, just to give you guys a heads up on that. He’s had a good couple of days. He had actually a good week last week, and he’s chomping at the bit; he’s been a pain.”

The former Utah linebacker previously spent four seasons (2019-22) with the Seattle Seahawks before signing with the Commanders in the offseason. Barton played in the first seven Commanders games this season before being injured in the first game against the Giants. It was a 14-7 Commanders loss at MetLife Stadium

Rivera quickly asserted that having Barton back in the lineup would help Jamin Davis and the rest of the defensive unit.

“Well, I think what it does is it puts Jamin [Davis] back at his more natural position that he’s been playing the last couple of years and just kind of settle him back down. That’d be really good for Jamin. And just his overall communication skills as an inside guy. I don’t know if we’ll have to rely on as many different personnel groupings either on defense, but I thought David Mayo came in and did a heck of a job for us.”

Barton has enjoyed posting three double-digit tackles in a game this season. He collected ten in the win at Denver, 13 the next week against Buffalo and 15 in the win at Atlanta.

Though the Commanders lost to the Giants 31-19, they were heavily favored in the game. The Giants are 1-7 against all the other teams they have faced, yet 2-0 against the Commanders. Rivera believes his team will bounce back Thursday in Dallas against the Cowboys.

“I think (the mental condition of the team) has been pretty good. Like I said yesterday, for the most part, the guys came in and were really steady, and really focused in on getting ready for Dallas. So, we feel pretty good about them. I think they had a good day today, brought some energy out at the walkthrough.”