Tag: NFL rumors

Former Saints All-Pro Deonte Harty signs with Ravens

Deonte Harty has found a new team. The former Saints All-Pro return man is signing with his hometown Ravens:

Deonte Harty has found a new team. The former New Orleans Saints All-Pro return specialist has signed a one-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens, returning to his hometown.

Harty spent his first four seasons in the league with the Saints, primarily working as a returner for them. In 2019, Harty led the entire league with 338 punt return yards to go along with a return touchdown. These numbers ultimately led to Harty receiving All-Pro recognition in his very first season.

In 2021, Harty earned an increased role as a receiver in the New Orleans offense, specifically as a deep threat option for Jameis Winston. Harty hit career-high numbers that season with 36 catches for 570 yards and three touchdowns.

However, an injury-plagued season in 2022 led to a parting of ways, but Harty was able to rebound when signing with the Buffalo Bills. Harty was active in 16 games for the Bills last year, providing a spark to their special teams unit, but he was let go as a salary cap casualty this offseason. With the Ravens’ departure of receiver/returner Devin Duvernay, Harty should be able to find himself literally right at home in Baltimore.

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Cameron Jordan had ankle surgery, on track for offseason program

A midseason ankle injury slowed Cameron Jordan down in a big way last year. He’s since had surgery, and isn’t expected to miss a day of the Saints’ offseason program:

It’s no secret that Cameron Jordan didn’t look like himself in 2023. He played in all 17 games but only bagged two sacks and three tackles for loss, the lowest totals since his rookie season way back in 2011. The New Orleans Saints defensive end underwent offseason surgery to get right. Both Jordan and his coaches blame his poor production on that midseason ankle injury, but head coach Dennis Allen doesn’t expect him to miss any time in spring training while healing up.

“I don’t think it’s going to be anything that’s going to keep him out of the spring,” Allen told reporters at NFL owners meetings this week. Teams with returning head coaches, like the Saints, are allowed to open their offseason program on April 15.

While he doesn’t anticipate any setbacks from this ankle surgery, Allen did point out that the team plans on lightening Jordan’s offseason work to keep him fresh and rested when the season kicks off in September.

Allen continued: “I do think when you have a guy like Cam who’s getting a little older, how much do we do with him in the spring, how much do we do with him in training camp, I think those are all things that we’ve got to take into account when we’re dealing with a more veteran player.”

Jordan will turn 35 in June, making him one of the oldest players in the NFL along with his teammate Demario Davis. Their only senior among the league’s defenders is Calais Campbell. Left tackle Trent Williams and quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, and Russell Wilson are the other active players who can say they’re older than Jordan.

It isn’t unusual for the Saints to scale back practice reps for older players to save them for the regular season. They took that approach with Drew Brees in the final years of his career, too. Giving Jordan a day off here or there could pay off.

But the most important thing is recovering fully from this ankle injury. Jordan’s snap counts plummeted after he suffered both lower and higher ankle sprains in his left foot, and he wasn’t able to push the pocket on passing downs because of it. The hope is he can return to health and bounce back.

What complicates things is that both Jordan and the player he figures to split snaps with, Chase Young, are each recovering from surgeries. Any time they miss — and, again, Allen said Jordan should be back soon — is going to disrupt the chemistry in that group at defensive end. Hopefully everyone can heal up and get time in training camp to work together and develop a plan for attacking Week 1 in September.

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Veteran S Rodney McLeod officially back with Browns in 2024

The vet is back!

While NFL rumors indicated the Cleveland Browns and veteran safety Rodney McLeod were close to a reunion in 2024, the two have officially agreed to a new deal today.

McLeod was a crucial piece to the puzzle in the secondary’s transition under new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. Playing under Schwartz in Philadelphia, McLeod brought a level of professionalism and leadership to that unit a year ago.

Suffering a season-ending bicep injury near the end of last season, however, it did not seem likely that McLeod would be ready to go in 2024. However, time cannot keep the old man down as he will be back in Cleveland again this next season.

McLeod joins the likes of Za’Darius Smith, Shelby Harris, and Maurice Hurst to return to a Cleveland defense that was the best in the league a year ago. With Juan Thornhill and Grant Delpit both under contract as well, the Browns have retained their entire safety room from a year ago.

Titans’ Jeffery Simmons elated with L’Jarius Sneed trade

Titans DL Jeffery Simmons was ecstatic after finding out about the trade for L’Jarius Sneed.

It has been quite the roller coaster for Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons over the past few months.

The Titans unexpectedly fired a head coach he adored in Mike Vrabel, and that firing and the hiring of new head coach Brian Callahan signaled the franchise would likely be going through a rebuild, something that can often take years to complete.

Fast forward a few months and the Titans have made some impressive moves this offseason that could have the team contending much sooner than initially expected, with the latest coming in the form of general manager Ran Carthon striking a deal with the Kansas City Chiefs for top cornerback L’Jarius Sneed.

As you’d expect, Simmons was elated with the move and even pulled out a line from the movie “Jerry Maguire” to express his excitement.

Big Jeff has been doing his thing upfront without much support on the back end for multiple years now. As a result, he hasn’t had much time to get after opposing quarterbacks with how easily their receivers get open.

Now, Simmons will have what could be an elite secondary behind him with the likes of Sneed, Chidobe Awuzie and Roger McCreary, and improved coverage on the back end should mean more sacks for Simmons.

Speaking of Awuzie, he shared his reaction to the trade, as well, as did new wideout Calvin Ridley.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

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Titans acquire CB L’Jarius Sneed in trade with Chiefs

The Titans have reportedly struck a deal with the Chiefs for CB L’Jarius Sneed.

The Tennessee Titans pulled off a blockbuster move late Friday night, with the team reportedly acquiring cornerback L’Jarius Sneed in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Chiefs are expected to receive a 2025 third-round pick and the two teams will swap 2024 seventh-round selections in the deal.

As was expected in order to complete a Sneed trade, the Titans are signing him to an extension, also.

According to Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz, Tennessee is giving Sneed a four-year deal that is worth $19 million annually and includes $55 million guaranteed.

Per Over the Cap, Sneed’s annual average in the extension ranks tied for seventh at the position, and the guaranteed money ranks fifth.

This is a massive pickup for the Titans, who have now improved their secondary by leaps and bounds as compared to what is was in 2023.

Sneed will play opposite free-agent signing Chidobe Awuzie, giving the Titans one of the better 1-2 punches on the boundary in the NFL. Roger McCreary will, of course, work out of the slot in this new-look secondary.

Making this deal even better, the Titans didn’t have to break the bank in terms of the extension or the draft compensation they’re giving up.

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Chargers signing ex-Titans CB Kristian Fulton

The Chargers are reportedly signing former Titans CB Kristian Fulton.

Former Tennessee Titans second-round pick and cornerback Kristian Fulton has reportedly found a new home.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Fulton is signing a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Chargers after visiting with the team recently. The financial terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed.

Per ESPN’s Turron Davenport, Fulton turned down offers from multiple teams, including the Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos and Arizona Cardinals.

Fulton going elsewhere in free agency comes as zero surprise, with the 26-year-old desperately needing a change of scenery following a tenure in Tennessee that can best be described as disappointing.

Fulton looked the part of a No. 1 cornerback over his first three years in the NFL, but injuries were always an issue for him. He was hit with the injury bug once again in 2023 and the quality of his play dipped significantly.

Now, Fulton gets a fresh start in Los Angeles, where he’ll look to revive his career and set himself up for a payday in 2025.

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Grading the Saints’ signing of former 49ers DE Chase Young

We know the contract terms and 2024 salary cap hit. So how do you grade the Saints’ signing of Chase Young? Here’s our take:

It took a while for all the details to come to light, but now we know the structure, risks, and true costs of Chase Young’s contract with the New Orleans Saints. So now the fun part: evaluating it with a simple letter grade.

This is complicated, so stay with us. Young signed a one-year contract carrying $13 million in guarantees, and so long as he’s active and healthy for all 17 games, he’ll see every dollar. But his salary cap hit in 2024 is just over $3.4 million. How did the Saints do that? Why not pay it off all at once?

Young’s contract is structured to include $7.99 million in 17 per-game roster bonuses, of which 16 are treated as a signing bonus for accounting purposes. So they’re guaranteed now and spread out over the next five years to more easily fit on the books. The Saints will get a $470,000 cap credit next year for any games that Young misses in 2024.

So if this is a one-and-done deal the Saints will be paying $3.4 million for Young in 2024 and as much as $9.1 million in 2025 as dead money. If Young misses extensive time that 2025 dead money figure goes down significantly. It’s about as team-friendly a deal as it gets while also making concessions for the player. Young has a lot of incentive to recover quickly from offseason neck surgery and get back on the field in time for Week 1.

But Young is worth the risks. When he’s healthy, engaged, and firing on all cylinders he looks like the best pass rusher in the NFL. The Saints are hoping to get that version of him more than what the San Francisco 49ers saw after trading for Young last year: a slow-footed player who shied away from contact, and who they allowed to leave in free agency without a fight.

Grade: B

So with all this in mind, we’re grading this move with a B. Young looks like a good pickup, not a great one, and his availability is our greatest concern. It’s reassuring that the Saints protected themselves financially but fans have seen too many talented defensive ends go missing for weeks on end because of injuries in recent years. Hopefully Young can end that streak rather than continue it.

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Saints linked to a 2024 draft linebacker at Ohio State pro day

The Saints were linked to a 2024 draft linebacker at Ohio State’s pro day. Steele Chambers could be a good pick to help replace Zack Baun:

Here’s an interesting draft prospect. The New Orleans Saints had dinner with Ohio State linebacker Steele Chambers before his pro day workout on Wednesday, per Sportskeeda’s Tony Pauline. New Orleans signed free agent linebacker Willie Gay to push Pete Werner for snaps but they could use more help with multiple players hitting free agency.

So what’s the story here? Chambers doesn’t fit the athletic thresholds the Saints have maintained at the position. He weighed in at 6-foot-flat and just 226 pounds with 30.5-inch arms at the NFL Scouting Combine, posting pedestrian numbers in the jumps and agility drills, without timing the 40-yard dash until his pro day (where he was clocked in the 4.6 to 4.65 range by scouts in attendance, per 11 Warriors’ Dan Hope). As fate would have it, Buckeyes linebackers coach James Laurinaitis, who briefly played for the Saints, conducted drills for Chambers at the school’s pro day.

While those numbers aren’t strong enough to get him drafted by the Saints early on, they shouldn’t eliminate him altogether. Chambers is projected to be picked in the the last few rounds of the 2024 NFL draft, and that’s generally where teams like New Orleans start to make exceptions for players they like who don’t hit their athletic targets in these drills.

And there’s a lot to like with Chambers. He’s only played linebacker for three years after spending his first two seasons in Columbus at running back, but he’s already totaled more than 1,700 career snaps across 39 games on defense. He has some ball skills with four career interceptions.

Importantly for the Saints, Chambers has played plenty of snaps on special teams. He’s ran with the return and coverage squads on both punts and kickoffs as well as the field goal block team. Zack Baun was a key player on special teams for New Orleans and they need to replace him, among others, in that capacity. Nephi Sewell won’t be ready for training camp after suffering a torn ACL in December, and other special teamers like Andrew Dowell, Ty Summers, and Ryan Connelly are all free agents. Maybe Chambers can win a role in the kicking game before developing into a quality backup. We’ll see where he ends up in April’s draft.

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Former Chiefs DB Mike Edwards signs with Buffalo Bills

Former Kansas City #Chiefs safety Mike Edwards signed a one-year contract with the Buffalo #Bills.

The Kansas City Chiefs lose another member of their Super Bowl LVIII winning defense, with the latest departure coming from the secondary.

After publicly meeting with several teams at the start of free agency, Safety Mike Edwards officially joined the Buffalo Bills on Wednesday. The announcement was made on the Bills’ social media account, featuring a photo of Edwards ironically putting pen to paper with an image of him in a Chiefs uniform in the background.

The complete terms of the deal weren’t announced, but it was confirmed to be a one-season agreement with the 27-year-old.

During his lone season with the Chiefs, he collected one interception, two fumble recoveries, one fumble recovery for a touchdown, and 51 total tackles in 17 games, including five starts. The fumble recovery for a touchdown was memorable during the matchup against the Miami Dolphins in Frankfurt, Germany. The six-year veteran was valuable to defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s secondary depth.

The two-time Super Bowl champion will be an addition to a Bills unit that has gone through significant changes on defense this offseason. Kansas City could be in the market for adding in the secondary during next month’s NFL Draft.

ESPN pins Odell Beckham Jr. as next player Saints should sign

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell says the New Orleans Saints would be a “perfect fit” for free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. A homecoming could make sense:

The free agency period never fails to disappoint year in and year out, and 2024 proved no different. But there are still multiple talented players left unsigned by an NFL team and ESPN’s Bill Barnwell views wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. as the perfect pick for who the New Orleans Saints should pick up next.

Despite an overall lack of production in 2023, Barnwell still sees value in the talent Beckham brings to the table.

“While he didn’t get steady volume, Beckham was efficient when on the field, averaging 2.2 yards per route run, which ranked 19th among receivers who ran 200 routes or more,” he wrote. “His efficiency was in line with Tank Dell and Jayden Reed, but he only ran about 18 routes per game to Reed’s 23 and Dell’s 27. If a team thinks Beckham can expand his role and retain his efficiency, there’s the potential for the 31-year-old to be more of a legitimate WR2 in 2024.”

Sending him back to Louisiana is something Barnwell looks at as kind of poetic in a way, considering that Beckham Jr. played college football for the LSU Tigers. And before that, he played out his high school career at Isidore Newman in New Orleans.

“Call me a romantic, but getting Beckham back home would be a natural way for the former LSU star to wind down his NFL career,” Barnwell said.

The fit is there for the Saints after the team released one of its most prominent wide receivers. Barnwell continued: “The Saints have a need for a second wideout after releasing Michael Thomas. Rashid Shaheed will take more snaps as the team’s designated deep threat and Cedrick Wilson is in town after disappointing over the last two years in Miami, but Beckham would fit in as part of the rotating cast behind third-year star Chris Olave, especially if the price tag is about half of what it was for the Ravens a year ago.”

Beckham has played for four teams over his NFL career and it is easy to get the sense that his time on the field is coming to a close as Barnwell notes, but he could still be in asset to the Saints in that time frame. The Saints made a run at Beckham before, which he characterized as the “right place, wrong time” for his career before joining a Los Angeles Rams squad that went on to win a Super Bowl.

Beckham finished out the 2023 season for the Ravens with 35 receptions for 565 yards with 3 touchdowns, seeing action in all 14 games. Whether or not he gets the opportunity to bring some solidity to the Saints’ wide receivers room will be something to keep an eye on.

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