The NFL combine is underway, which always makes for plenty of headlines, but as the NFL sorts out this latest pool of prospects, we will take a look at the transactions that have occurred since I touched on each team in my roster reset series.
The top headlines are related to the franchise tag and roster cuts, but there have also been some re-structured deals that create some clarity on roster construction moving forward. Let’s dive into it.
Early Franchise Tags
Tee Higgins, WR, Cincinnati
L’Jarius Sneed, CB, Kansas City
The Tee Higgins news was anticipated - Cincinnati consistently declined to engage in trade discussions for the rangy receiver - and pushes back the discussion of whether the Bengals can build around Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Higgins long-term by a year. Meanwhile, Kansas City bucked the notion that they would not retain both defensive tackle Chris Jones and cornerback L’Jarius Sneed by indicating that they will apply the tag to Sneed on the same day that they cut receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
There is still plenty of time to negotiate long-term deals, but the franchise tag could make a lot of sense for both of these teams. Both organizations need to tread cautiously as they build around their massive cap hits at quarterback, and the tag gives them flexibility for a variety of future outcomes. Higgins is coming off an injury-plagued fourth season, while Sneed, who was consistently a “plus” player (whether in the slot or outside) during his first three seasons, established a new standard in Year 4, but has yet to stack multiple seasons playing at an All-Pro level. Despite those minor flags, both players would command a deal near the top of their respective position’s market if they reached free agency, so I wouldn’t expect them to take a discount on a long-term deal.
If Higgins is healthy in 2024, the Bengals can sign him to a long-term deal ahead of 2025, while the Chiefs can take another year to see how the rest of the roster unfolds, and decide whether they will have space to keep Sneed long-term as they go through this exercise next year. That’s a possibility if they continue to hit on draft picks, but if Kansas City signs Jones to a long-term deal as expected, they need to ensure they have those players in place before they add Sneed to the list of long-term commitments.
In the short term, swapping out MVS for Sneed only costs the Chiefs $7 million, and given that they were in solid cap shape before that move, it is a reasonable move to make. A receiver room without MVS opens up opportunities for more pass-catchers to emerge on rookie deals while Sneed can continue to lock things down on the other side of the ball.
Update: News has emerged suggesting the Chiefs could tag and trade Sneed; as noted in my Chiefs roster reset, Kansas City has two solid young outside cornerbacks in place with Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams. If they can get a high-value pick in exchange for Sneed without creating a glaring need, it only benefits their mission to find surplus cap value around Mahomes and Jones. (I’d list Travis Kelce here as well, but his top-of-market tight end contract generates value relative to the receiver market…and Kelce is, first and foremost, a pass-catcher).
Re-Signings
Nelson Agholor, WR, BAL
Demarcus Robinson, WR, LAR
These early re-signings won’t register shock waves, but they are critical background moves for the Ravens and Rams as they move forward.
Nelson Agholor was a terrific fit in Baltimore as a complementary pass-catcher; with both Agholor and Odell Beckham Jr. slated for free agency, the Ravens needed to address their depth behind Zay Flowers. They are still likely to add a player at some point in the draft, but re-signing Agholor makes that a less pressing priority.
Similar things could be said about Demarcus Robinson signing with the Rams; with Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, and Tutu Atwell already in the fold, signing Robinson will allow general manager Les Snead to focus on adding talent to the defense in the middle rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Cuts
ATL: TE Jonnu Smith
CHI: G Cody Whitehair
CHI: S Eddie Jackson
KC: WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling
LAC: C Corey Linsley (post 6.1 release salary adjustment)
LAR: C Brian Allen
LVR: QB Jimmy Garoppolo
MIA: DE Emmanuel Ogbah
MIA: CB Xavien Howard
NE: DT Lawrence Guy
NE: S Adrian Phillips
NYJ: G Laken Tomlinson
PIT: QB Mitchell Trubisky
PIT: C Mason Cole
PIT: OT Chukwuma Okorafor
TB: OLB Shaq Barrett
There are several themes to this list, so I’ll break it up that way.
Chicago moved on from veterans Cody Whitehair and Eddie Jackson, the last two connections to the run they made in Matt Nagy’s first season as head coach. The Bears didn’t need to make the move - they have cap space - but with cornerback Jaylon Johnson due for a significant raise, these cuts help Chicago turn the page into the new era.
The Raiders cut Jimmy Garoppolo after a failed PED test; in my Raiders breakdown, I noted that, if Las Vegas opted to go the veteran route at quarterback, they would at least have to have a discussion about bringing back Garoppolo given that they were tied to a portion of his contract, but he made it easy for them, allowing the Raiders to wipe their hands of the Josh McDaniels era and start fresh.
Atlanta’s Jonnu Smith and the New England duo of Lawrence Guy and Adrian Phillips are stylistic cuts; it would not surprise to see Smith land in Pittsburgh, where his longtime benefactor, Arthur Smith, is coordinating the offense, which would give Pittsburgh one of the most versatile tight end rooms in the NFL. Guy and Phillips don’t have as clear a destination, but both were role-specific players in former head coach Bill Belichick’s scheme, which, along with comments from new GM Eliot Wolf, indicates the Patriots aren’t trying to do the same old thing with a different staff.
Kansas City’s Marquez Valdes-Scantling and New York’s Laken Tomlinson failed to play up to their contract numbers; Valdes-Scantling had some big moments, but inconsistent hands continued to plague him, a theme from his Green Bay days, while Tomlinson was arguably over-valued at the time of his signing. Tomlinson, who originally washed out as a first-round pick in Detroit, had much more success playing for Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco, but that did not translate to his time with the Jets. Nevertheless, this is a tough cut to make, given that Tomlinson was the only consistently healthy player on last year’s line.
The Dolphins made one obvious cut (Emmanuel Ogbah) and one less obvious cut (Xavien Howard) in their quest to get under the cap. This is the mess I alluded to when writing about the Dolphins in the roster resets; Ogbah’s limited guarantees made him an obvious candidate for release, but moving on from Howard is exactly the type of unfavorable move they would have wanted to avoid. Howard was on the books for three more years, and while Miami will realize savings on this move, they willl have to spread the dead cap hit over multiple years so that it isn’t a wash for 2024. Saving limited money to have a good player no longer play for you is less than ideal, particularly when your second-round pick at the position (Cam Smith) didn’t get on the field as a rookie despite an obvious void existing during the extended periods Howard and Jalen Ramsey were not both available.
The Los Angeles teams both moved on from their centers; the Chargers had signed Corey Linsley to a top-of-market deal, but similar to Shaq Barrett in Tampa Bay, injuries have taken their toll on Linsley, which made his cap hit difficult to justify. Allen was signed to a mid-range deal, which was always a bit odd given how successful the Rams had been finding interior linemen, linebackers, and safeties in the middle rounds of the draft; now they can look to start generating surplus value at the center position again.
Rounding out the moves are Pittsburgh’s cuts of Chukwuma Okorafor, Mason Cole, and Mitchell Trubisky. The Okorafor and Cole moves are interesting in that I always saw their presence in the starting lineup as an acceptance of mediocrity at a position group that had once been a priority for the Steelers. These cuts, paired with drafting Broderick Jones in the first round last year, set the Steelers up to start having a difference-making offensive line in 2024, rather than a group that the offense is trying to play around.
Re-Structures
BUF: G Connor McGovern
GB: EDGE Rashan Gary
NO: QB Derek Carr
NO: C Erik McCoy
NO: DE Carl Granderson
NO: DE Nathan Shepherd
SEA: QB Geno Smith
If you read my Saints roster reset, you’ll know that I think they needed to hit the ejector button on this experiment at least a year ago.
In the weeks since, things have gotten even worse; quarterback Derek Carr converted his 2024 salary into a signing bonus and added a void year, pushing out the money the Saints have committed to him from 2024 to as late as 2028. The re-structures for center Erik McCoy and defensive end Carl Granderson were more expected, given their level of play and relative age, but the decision to add void years to Nathan Shepherd’s deal speaks to the insanity of this situation. The idea that the 2024 Saints are SO close that they need to pay a middle-of-the-road defensive tackle money void money in 2026 is simply absurd; with the Super Bowl almost certainly out of reach, the responsible thing to do would be to cut Shepherd and fill the spot with an undrafted free agent, regardless of what the drop-off is.
Of course, the Saints aren’t doing any of their roster-building responsibly; they have become the modern version of the late-stage Al Davis Raiders, throwing bad money after bad money until the dead money ultimately cripples the organization. The Saints are already off the cliff on the way toward the type of irrelevance Houston endured in 2022 and 2023, but Loomis seems hell-bent on ensuring the pain lasts for as long as possible once he is gone.
Rashan Gary signed an extension earlier this season once he re-established himself after an ACL tear, so this move was likely part of the plan for general manager Brian Gutekunst. The re-structures for Buffalo and Seattle are more telling, particularly for the Seahawks; for the Bills, committing to McGovern ensures continuity at one line spot, but Seattle’s move prevents a musical chair from opening on the quarterback market, a much more consequential move. Perhaps they blow it up in Year Two of new head coach Mike Macdonald’s tenure, but it will be Geno at the helm in 2024.
What’s Next?
Transactions are continuing to leak out ahead of the official start of free agency, so I will be back next week with a recap of the most recent news!