Tag: tender

Saints aren’t tendering wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr.

The Saints aren’t tendering Lynn Bowden Jr., which means only 3 of the 11 wide receivers who played for them last year are set to return for 2024:

Get ready for a new-look New Orleans Saints wide receiver corps in 2024. The Saints will not be tendering veteran wideout Lynn Bowden Jr., per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, which will make him a free agent when the new league year begins on March 13.

This isn’t too surprising in itself. Bowden primarily worked as a blocker and decoy for the Saints, only drawing 16 targets in 15 games last year while catching 11 passes for 83 yards, picking up a pair of first downs. He also recorded 5 rushing attempts for 32 yards on the ground, moving the chains three times. He was a serviceable emergency returns specialist, averaging 7.6 yards per punt return and 21.3 yards per kick return. That isn’t production teams pay top-dollar for.

But things are interesting under the surface. Fowler initially said that Bowden was an exclusive rights free agent, not a restricted free agent, which he later said was a mistake. Not tendering Bowden as a restricted free agent made sense because it costs at least $2,985,000. Re-signing Bowden at the league-minimum salary is an option.

Maybe he returns later as a minimum signing, but it’s possible that the Saints will be moving on as offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak revamps the receiving corps. Bowden is the latest wideout from New Orleans’ 2023 team to depart thus far. Let’s break it down:

  • Michael Thomas will enter free agency on Wednesday after being released from his contract
  • Marquez Callaway signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers after his practice squad deal expired
  • Shaquan Davis chose to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles in similar circumstances
  • Kirk Merritt is playing for the UFL’s Houston Roughnecks
  • Jontre Kirklin is with the UFL’s San Antonio Brahmas as well
  • Keith Kirkwood will be an unrestricted free agent, too
  • If you’re curious, the Detroit Lions signed Tre’Quan Smith

Which leaves Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, and A.T. Perry as the only receivers returning for the 2024 season (so far). It’s possible Kirkwood and Bowden return at some point but Kubiak has a big opportunity to retool this depth chart. Stay tuned to learn what his plan for accomplishing that is.

Update: Fowler corrected his report, clarifying that Bowden was a restricted free agent (RFA), not an exclusive rights free agent (ERFA). So that confusion can be chalked up to a typo. Maybe the NFL can workshop some abbreviations which aren’t so easy to mistake for one another?

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Broncos won’t re-sign DL Jonathan Harris before free agency begins

The Broncos will not pick up Jonathan Harris’ restricted free agent tender, allowing him to test unrestricted free agency next week.

The Denver Broncos have re-signed two exclusive rights free agents — linebacker Jonas Griffith and wide receiver Michael Bandy — and attention now turns to the club’s restricted free agents.

The Broncos have two restricted free agents this year (defensive lineman Jonathan Harris and offensive lineman Quinn Bailey), according to OverTheCap.com. The team has made a decision on one of them.

Denver informed Harris on Wednesday that he will not receive a restricted free agent tender, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero first reported. That means the Broncos are allowing the defensive lineman to hit unrestricted free agency next week.

It’s still possible that Denver could bring Harris back in 2024. An original-round tender would have paid Harris $2.985 million this season. The league minimum for a player with three years of experience like Harris is $1.055 million. So if the lineman does not draw a lot of interest on the open market, he might be willing to return to the Broncos for less than his declined tender.

Harris, 27, signed with Denver in 2019. He has dressed for 31 games over the last five seasons, earning four starts in 2022 and five starts in 2023. He has recorded 73 tackles, six quarterback hits and one sack with the Broncos.

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Seahawks GM John Schneider explains decision to rescind Ryan Neal tender

Seattle Seahawks GM John Schneider explained the reasoning behind the decision to rescind safety Ryan Neal’s restricted free agent tender.

While the Seattle Seahawks have looked to bolster their defense through the early stages of free agency, they’ve also seen some players move on from the organization. On Thursday, general manager John Schneider talked about the most recent defender to sign elsewhere, safety Ryan Neal.

“We would have loved to have Ryan on our squad this year,” Schneider said during his weekly radio show on Seattle Sports. “Unfortunately, there is a process to free agency and it’s just the reality of it. There’s different phases, there’s different consequences and you’re always competing as much as you can stay in as many deals as you possibly can and then figuring out what you can and can’t do.”

Seattle had originally extended a right of first refusal to Neal, but ended up rescinding it last week, immediately making him an unrestricted free agent.

On Tuesday, Neal agreed to terms with the Buccaneers, ending his career in Seattle . . . for now.

“We had to remove the tender from Ryan and he wound up choosing to go to Tampa for what he thought was a better opportunity,” Schneider explained. “We never close the door and you guys have seen that, and he’ll be a free agent next year.”

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Chargers tender kicker Cameron Dicker

The Chargers tendered a contract offer to kicker Cameron Dicker to keep him in Los Angeles in 2023.

The Chargers have tendered a contract offer to kicker Cameron Dicker to keep their special teams unit intact ahead of the 2023 season. Dicker was an All-Rookie team selection by the Professional Football Writers of America last year and served as a consistent asset for the team, missing just one three-point attempt in 20 tries over the course of 10 games in Los Angeles.

An undrafted free agent after the 2022 annual selection meeting, Dicker initially signed with the Rams, though he did not see action for the Chargers’ crosstown rivals. He would later sign with the Ravens but saw his time in the Charm City cut short after just two days.

Dicker was eventually added by the Eagles to shore up their kicking game in Week 5 of the 2022 season, nailing his only three-point attempts as a member of the team and converting two points after tries to boot.

While no news has come out regarding the details of the contract or his decision to officially sign with the Chargers, fans should expect Dicker to be back in Los Angeles next season to build on his sterling 2022 resume.

Packers place second-round restricted tender on OT Yosh Nijman

The Green Bay Packers placed the second-round restricted free agent tender on offensive tackle Yosh Nijman.

The Green Bay Packers placed the second-round restricted free agent tender on offensive tackle Yosh Nijman, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

The second-round tender is valued at a one-year salary of $4,304,000 for the 2023 season. The deadline to place the tender was Wednesday afternoon, or the start of the new league year.

Restricted free agents are players with expiring contracts who have three years of accrued NFL experience.

Nijman can still negotiate with other teams, but if he signs an offer sheet with another team and the Packers do not match, the offering team would have to send the Packers a second-round pick in the 2023 draft.

The tender suggests Nijman is a strong candidate to start at right tackle – opposite David Bakhtiari at left tackle – for the Packers next season.

Nijman, 27, has played in all 34 games and made 21 starts (playing both left and right tackle) over the last two seasons.

Last season, Nijman allowed 28 total pressures (five sacks) and committed 10 penalties over 758 total snaps. He played 200 snaps at left tackle and 555 at right tackle. A switch over to the right side and a late-season shoulder injury created some inconsistency late in the season, and the Packers actually benched Nijman for rookie Zach Tom in the season finale.

The Packers originally signed Nijman as an undrafted free agent out of Virginia Tech in 2019. He played all of 14 snaps during his first two seasons but has emerged as a player the Packers can count on at offensive tackle, a premium position.

The team’s other restricted free agents are tight end Tyler Davis and linebacker Krys Barnes, neither of which is expected to get a tender. Without one, both players would become unrestricted free agents at the start of the new league year on Wednesday afternoon.

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Jaguars tender kicker Riley Patterson as ERFA

The Jaguars are keeping kicker Riley Patterson in Jacksonville.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are keeping kicker Riley Patterson after he accounted for the third most points ever in a season for the franchise. A source told Jaguars Wire that the team has tendered Patterson as an exclusive-rights free agent.

As a player with only two seasons in the NFL under his belt, the Jaguars only needed to extend a qualifying offer (the league minimum) to keep Patterson in Jacksonville.

Patterson, 23, spent his rookie season with the Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, and Detroit Lions. In August, Patterson was waived by the Lions at the end of training camp and was claimed by the Jaguars, who struggled to find a consistent kicker in preseason.

In his first season with the Jaguars, Patterson made 30 of his 35 field goals and all but one of his 37 extra point tries. He hit a 48-yard field goal as time expired to force overtime against the Dallas Cowboys, and he made a 36-yard game-winner against the Los Angeles Chargers in the playoffs.

Former kicker Mike Hollis is the only Jaguars player to ever score more points than the 126 Patterson recorded during the 2022 regular season.

Patterson is one of four exclusive-rights free agents for the Jaguars this offseason, along with wide receiver Tim Jones, and offensive linemen Cole Van Lanen and Blake Hance.

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Chargers not tendering DT Breiden Fehoko

Fan-favorite Breiden Fehoko seems poised to find a new home after the Chargers failed to tender him.

The Chargers are expected to lose even more young talent in free agency after news broke on Monday that they are not expected to tender defensive lineman Breiden Fehoko.

The news came just after it was announced that they failed to reach an agreement with tight end Donald Parham Jr.

Unfortunately for the Chargers, their financial situation is likely playing a role in their inability to lock up key talent for the future. More attrition should be expected as the NFL’s free agency period moves into its second day.

Los Angeles added veteran linebacker Eric Kendricks on Monday, marking their first official free agent signing of the offseason. Additionally, they re-signed Trey Pipkins. But given their inflexibility with the cap, fans shouldn’t expect the team to make many more splash moves.

This is a grim reality for a team that seemed to be on the cusp of something special last season, and with an extension for franchise quarterback Justin Herbert on the horizon, the Chargers’ need to free up space to make a blockbuster deal happen will take precedent over further additions to their roster.

Broncos decline to place RFA tenders on 4 players

Broncos declined RFA tenders for QB Brett Rypien, DB P.J. Locke, CB Essang Bassey and LS Jacob Bobenmoyer, making them free agents.

Brett Rypein wasn’t the only restricted free agent to have his tender declined by the Denver Broncos on Monday.

The Broncos also declined to pick up the one-year, RFA tenders for safety P.J. Locke, cornerback Essang Bassey and long snapper Jacob Bobenmoyer, according to KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis.

Those four players are now set to become unrestricted free agents. It’s still possible that Denver could bring them back for less than the one-year RFA tender salary ($2.63 million).

Locke, in particular, has dressed for 47 games over the last three seasons, logging more than 1,000 snaps on special teams. Locke should be a candidate to return to the team.

The Broncos also declined a one-year, exclusive rights free agent tender for outside linebacker Jonathan Kongbo. Denver did pick up the ERFA tenders for inside linebacker Jonas Griffith, punter Corliss Waitman and offensive lineman Quinn Bailey.

We are tracking all of the team’s free agency moves on Broncos Wire.

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Broncos place 1-year ERFA tender on punter Corliss Waitman

The Broncos have placed a one-year, $940,000 ERFA tender on punter Corliss Waitman.

The Denver Broncos’ first move of NFL free agency flew under the radar, so much so that we didn’t notice it until almost three hours later.

The Broncos exercised the one-year exclusive rights free agent tender of punter Corliss Waitman, according to Doug Kyed of AtoZ Sports Nashville.

The ERFA deal will pay Waitman $940,000, the NFL’s minimum salary for a player with two years of experience. As an ERFA, Waitman will not be eligible to negotiate with other teams.

Waitman (6-2, 210 pounds) was born in Belgium and later moved to the United States as a teenager. He played college football at South Alabama and then signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2020.

Waitman bounced between the Steelers, Las Vegas Raiders and New England Patriots from 2020-2021 before being claimed off waivers by the Broncos late in the 2021 season. He went to camp with Denver last summer and beat out Sam Martin for the starting punter job.

Waitman averaged 46.6 yards per punt with the Broncos in 2022.

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Broncos will not place RFA tender on Brett Rypien, making him a free agent

The Broncos will not place an RFA tender on QB Brett Rypien, allowing him to become a free agent.

The Denver Broncos will not place a one-year restricted free agent tender on quarterback Brett Rypien, according to KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis. That means Rypien is now set to become an unrestricted free agent.

As an RFA, Rypien was eligible for a one-year tender worth $2.63 million. The Broncos apparently aren’t willing to pay that much for the 26-year-old quarterback. It’s still possible that Denver might re-sign Rypien at a lower salary than what the RFA tender would have been worth.

The Broncos will undoubtedly be in the market for a quarterback this spring as Russell Wilson is currently Denver’s only QB under contract for 2023.

The Broncos have three other RFAs this offseason: safety P.J. Locke, long snapper Jacob Bobenmoyer and cornerback Essang Bassey. Klis reported last week that Rypien was the team’s only candidate to have his tender picked up. If that’s accurate, Locke, Bobenmoyer and Bassey are also set to become unrestricted free agents.

Similar to Rypien, it’s still possible that Denver could bring Locke, Bobenmoyer and Bassey back for less than $2.63 million.

We are tracking all of the Broncos’ free agency moves on this page.

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