The Detroit Lions have agreed to sign free agent EDGE Marcus Davenport to a one-year deal
We have our first outside free agent reported signing for the Detroit Lions. Defensive end Marcus Davenport and the Lions have agreed to terms on a free agent deal during the first day of the NFL’s negotiating period.
Per Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, it’s a one-year deal for Davenport to reunite with Dan Campbell and Aaron Glenn, who coached him during his time in New Orleans. The deal cannot be signed until the new league year begins on Wednesday.
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Davenport, 27, played for the Minnesota Vikings in 2023 but spent the first five seasons of his career in New Orleans. He was a first-round pick by the Saints in the 2018 NFL draft. The 365-pound Davenport has 23.5 career sacks, nine of which came in 2021 in New Orleans.
The projections got it right this year. The NFL awarded the Saints three compensatory picks in the 2024 NFL draft:
The projections got it right this year. The NFL awarded the New Orleans Saints three compensatory picks in the 2024 NFL draft, all slotted into the fifth round:
Round 5, Pick 167
Round 5, Pick 169
Round 5, Pick 174
These extra draft selections were awarded as compensation for players the Saints lost in free agency last offseason — defensive tackle David Onyemata, defensive end Marcus Davenport, and linebacker Kaden Elliss. There was a possibility the Saints could have had that draft choice for Onyemata slotted into the end of the fourth round instead of the beginning of the fifth frame’s comp picks, given some uncertainty in different models, but it was always likelier to fall in this place.
So what will the Saints do with these extra picks? Their history suggests these draft resources will be spent trading up to target players in the earlier rounds. New Orleans has been given six comp picks over the last three draft classes and general manager Mickey Loomis has traded all of them in moves up the board, which you can read more about here.
Not only is the starting quarterback in major flux with Kirk Cousins set to be a free agent, but outside linebacker Danielle Hunter is also set to hit the market along with wide receiver Justin Jefferson and left tackle Christian Darisaw set to receive extensions.
What should the Vikings end up doing in free agency? There are a lot of different options and we are set to explore them all.
First up, our staff took a look at four players the Vikings should let walk.
Not only is the starting quarterback in major flux with Kirk Cousins set to be a free agent, but outside linebacker Danielle Hunter is also set to hit the market along with wide receiver Justin Jefferson and left tackle Christian Darisaw set to receive extensions.
What should the Vikings end up doing in free agency? There are a lot of different options and we are set to explore them all.
There isn’t much history of NFL teams trading down from the 14th overall pick, but this is a good year for the Saints to try it:
If there’s ever been a year for Mickey Loomis to break his streak of NFL drafts without a trade down (dating back to 2007!), it’s this one: the New Orleans Saints are getting perilously older at multiple positions and they’re short on draft picks. Restocking the roster is going to be tough with just two picks in the top four rounds.
At the same time, the 2024 draft class is remarkably top-heavy. A historically small class of underclassmen declaring has winnowed the talent available in the later rounds, where the Saints expect to have most of their selections once compensatory draft picks are announced in a week or two. Some crafty maneuvering — moving down early on, packaging those later picks to move up in the middle rounds — could pay off in a big way.
But beyond Loomis continuing to snub trade offers and move down, there isn’t much historical precedent for trading out of the 14th pick. We went back and studied every draft class since 2004 to get an idea of what the Saints could ask for in a trade down in 2024:
With Danielle Hunter and Marcus Davenport set to hit the free agent market, the Minnesota Vikings need to fill those holes. Here are six options.
Defense was the name of the game for the Minnesota Vikings for much of the 2023 season. When Kirk Cousins went down mid-season and the offense sputtered, the defense was left to pick up the slack. And pick it up they did!
The 2023 Minnesota Vikings defense was a much-improved unit under the tutelage of former Miami Dolphins head coach and Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Brian Flores. Flores’ defensive scheme kept opposing offenses guessing all season, and the defense is the primary reason why the Vikings were (at least theoretically) still in the NFC playoff picture until the last two weeks of the season.
For better or worse, the Vikings have a lot of talent on the defense that is scheduled to hit the open market during the NFL’s free agency period this year. The biggest name is EDGE rusher Danielle Hunter, but there are a couple of key names – whether starters or depth pieces – with him that could leave.
Whether they leave or re-sign with the Vikings, Minnesota is going to have to be active in the NFL’s free agency period in some capacity to fill out the roster. A roster that could have several large holes, particularly at EDGE rusher. Here are six players who could help plug the hole at that position.
From Justin Jefferson to Harrison Smith, these six Minnesota Vikings could have their contracts adjusted to create salary cap space.
The Minnesota Vikings’ competitive rebuild approach has been a major talking point among analysts. Why not just tear it down and rebuild from the ground up? Well, if you haven’t been paying attention, they did that while winning 20 games over the last two seasons.
In order to keep things moving in the right direction, the Vikings will need to continue adjusting the cap to meet their needs. The salary cap just went up $30 million, a near 14% increase year over year, something that hasn’t been seen prior to this season.
If they want to create even more cap space to make a huge splash in free agency, they absolutely can do that. What contracts could be modified to fulfill that goal? These six players can have their contracts modified in different ways to create cap space in 2024.
NFL draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah understands why Saints fans are leery of another pass rusher, but says Laiatu Latu ‘is totally different’ from past busts
NFL draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah understands why New Orleans Saints fans are leery of seeing their team pick another pass rusher — they’ve swung and missed at several prospects early in recent draft cycles.
Marcus Davenport. Payton Turner. Now, Isaiah Foskey. All of them have failed to deliver either for missing time with injuries or not producing when on the field. It’s been a frustrating experience for the Saints to pour so many resources into the position group and have so little to show for it.
And the pass rush is an area of concern for the Saints again this year after they failed to get after the quarterback last season. One popular prospect for them in media mock drafts is UCLA star Laiatu Latu, who Jeremiah describes as a breath of fresh air given New Orleans’ past approach.
“Look, with Latu, he is totally different than those guys you just mentioned,” Jeremiah began, speaking on a national conference call Thursday. “So their formula that they had been chasing is more traits-based. All those guys you mentioned were kind of more raw, not technical pass rushers, but big, physical, explosive guys who weren’t technicians.”
The 6-foot-4, 261-pound Latu has plenty of size for the Saints’ standards even if he isn’t as tall as Tanoh Kpassagnon or as heavy as Cameron Jordan. And he’s been highly productive in two years at UCLA. Latu sacked the quarterback 23.5 times in 25 games while racking up 34 tackles for loss. He also finished with five forced fumbles and two interceptions. He’s a game-changer, and it’s a result of the work he’s put in to hone his craft.
Jeremiah continued: “Latu is a technician, man. I compare him to Trey Hendrickson. He is really good with his hands. He can win a variety of ways. He has a natural feel for pass rush. Some parts of the pass rush remind me of wide receivers. There’s route runners. There’s an artistry to it. Latu is an artist.”
That’s not to say Latu is a perfect prospect. He transferred to UCLA and missed the 2020 and 2021 seasons after a neck injury threatened his college career. It hasn’t been a problem in the years since, but it’s an injury history teams like the Saints must take seriously.
He’s moved on from that scary incident and developed into maybe the best pass rusher in this year’s draft class. Teams like the Saints would be wise to consider him.
“He is really, really gifted that way. So a totally different style than the guys that you mentioned that maybe they haven’t hit on in the past,” Jeremiah finished.
Is D.J. Wonnum a sleeper in the free agent market? Pro Football Network’s Adam Caplan believes so
As we inch closer to the NFL’s free agency period, the Minnesota Vikings have a number of decisions they’re going to have to make in the next few weeks. Kirk Cousins and Danielle Hunter are the two high-profile free agents that Minnesota will have to make a choice on, but they have a number of other players about to hit the open market.
One of those players, D.J. Wonnum, could garner more attention on the open market than some may realize. According to a report from PFN’s Adam Caplan, one NFL pro personnel source has said that Wonnum is a “top sleeper” for this year’s free agency period.
Defensively, keep an eye on D.J. Wonnum, who a pro personnel source said should be considered a top “sleeper” for free agency. Wonnum, who has posted 23 sacks in his four seasons of play, played in a career-high 83% of the team’s defensive snaps last season and has excellent length and size as an edge rusher (6-5, 260, 34 1/8-arm).
In addition to Hunter and Wonnum, the Vikings are also going to have to make a decision on EDGE rusher Marcus Davenport. Davenport, who was brought in last season from the New Orleans Saints, was a high-profile signing last season, but failed to live up to expectations, due in large part to injuries. When Davenport was healthy, he was a productive piece in Brian Flores’ much-improved Vikings defense.
Caplan goes on to say that he anticipates the Vikings bringing back at least one of those three, but that Hunter could fetch a steep price, somewhere between 17 and 20 million, on the open market. Davenport, at least according to Caplan, is likely to be the odd man out in this scenario.
Look for Minnesota to make a push to re-sign at least one of them, but Hunter, who turns 30 in late October, could yield a deal worth $17-$20 million per season elsewhere due to his outstanding productivity over his career and versatility. Both sides agreed to a revised one-year deal last season worth $17 million (fully guaranteed).
As for Marcus Davenport, who only played in just four games last season due to injury, look for him to be playing elsewhere.
Minnesota has a number of players scheduled to hit free agency, and not a lot of money to play with once you factor in the need to sign the eventual 2024 NFL draft class. It will be interesting to see where general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah chooses to prioritize spending that money.
The Minnesota Vikings and Marcus Davenport have agreed to move the void date back to maximize flexibiilty.
With the deadline approaching with Minnesota Vikings outside linebacker Marcus Davenport’s contract voiding on Monday, February 19th, both sides agreed to extend the void date to March 13th. That is the same day as both quarterback Kirk Cousins and outside linebacker Danielle Hunter. The news was reported by ESPN’s Kevin Seifert.
The Vikings did the same thing last year with Dalvin Tomlinson in hopes of getting a contract extension done.
Of course, both players had their void dates under different circumstances. Tomlinson had two really good seasons for the Vikings and ended up getting a massive contract from the Cleveland Browns. Davenport is coming off of an injury-riddled season where Davenport only played in four games dealing with two ankle injuries.
By extending the void date on the contract, Davenport’s $6.8 million in dead money won’t officially hit the books until that March 13th date. If the Vikings and Davenport agree on an extension before the contract voids, only $1.7 million of that dead money will impact the 2024 salary cap.
