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NFL notebook: Saints drive the free-agency action again
The New Orleans Saints continued to revamp their roster Friday, and their moves had ripple effects throughout the AFC East and beyond.
The Saints made their third trade of the week, sending wide receiver Kenny Still to the Miami Dolphins, who a few hours later traded receiver Mike Wallace to the Minnesota Vikings.
The Saints also signed C.J. Spiller, who was replaced in Buffalo by a similarly skilled player in former New York Jet and Viking Percy Harvin.
The running back market, which had seen five key players move this week, remained active Friday as Spiller signed with the Saints, Darren McFadden replaced DeMarco Murray in Dallas and DeAngelo Williams landed in Pittsburgh, where the Steelers also were busy signing quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to a new contract.
The Saints got the snowball rolling with their third trade of the week, sending the promising young Still to the Dolphins for linebacker Dannell Ellerbe and a third-round pick in this year’s draft.
The Saints now have traded tight end Jimmy Graham, guard Ben Grubbs and Still while adding Spiller (four years, $18 million), Ellerbe, center Max Unger (in the Graham deal) and cornerback Brandon Browner.
After securing Still, Miami got to work looking to trade Wallace and reportedly ended up shipping him and a seventh-round pick to the Vikings for a fifth-rounder.
The Vikings had pursued Wallace in 2013 and reportedly offered more money than the Dolphins, but he chose the warmer climate of South Florida over frigid Minnesota winters.
He lasted just two seasons of his five-year, $60 million contract with the Dolphins and will count $6.6 million against their salary cap in 2015.
Wallace should be the Vikings’ most explosive receiver since Harvin was traded to Seattle in 2013, and now Harvin is on his fourth team in three years after agreeing with the Bills on a one-year deal reportedly worth $6 million.
Harvin is the second explosive offensive player the Bills have added this week — they traded for running back LeSean McCoy on Tuesday.
McCoy was replaced in Philadelphia by Murray, and the Cowboys replaced him, at least partly, by agreeing on a two-year deal with McFadden.
McFadden spent his first seven seasons with the Oakland Raiders but had only 1,249 total touches because of durability issues.
Williams, the Carolina Panthers’ career rushing leader, also signed a two-year deal, joining Roethlisberger’s Steelers.
Roethlisberger, 33, signed a new five-year contract Friday and talked about adding more championships to the two Super Bowls he already has win with the franchise.
In other news Friday:
—Defensive tackle Nick Fairley signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the St. Louis Rams.
With Fairley in the mix, the Rams feature five first-round picks on their defensive line — ends Chris Long and Robert Quinn and tackles Michael Brockers and Aaron Donald, along with Fairley, a first-rounder in 2011 who played 46 games with the Detroit Lions. The Auburn standout was the 13th overall pick.
In addition to signing Fairley, the Rams signed outside linebacker Akeem Ayers and acquired quarterback Nick Foles, who was introduced to media.
—The Bills signed defensive tackle Kyle Williams to a contract extension.
Terms were not disclosed, but the deal reportedly is for one year and $10.5 million, tying him to Buffalo for three more years. Williams, 31, is set to make $4.8 million next season and $7 million in 2016.
The 31-year-old Williams, a four-time Pro Bowler (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014), is the longest tenured Bill and will enter his 10th season with the team.
—The Tennessee Titans announced contract agreements with linebackers Brian Orakpo and Derrick Morgan, tight end Anthony Fasano, kicker Ryan Succop and defensive lineman Karl Klug.
Orakpo reportedly agreed to a four-year, $31 million contract. He could earn a maximum of $35 million, with $13.5 million guaranteed.
Morgan’s deal is reportedly for four years and $30 million, with $10.5 million guaranteed.
Succop’s three-year deal is reportedly valued at $2.4 million per year.
—Safety Marcus Gilchrist agreed to a four-year deal with the New York Jets, giving the team four new defensive backs in a much-maligned secondary.
General manager Mike Maccagnan signed cornerbacks Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie and Buster Skrine on the first three days of free agency and landed Gilchrist on Friday. He’ll pair with former first-round pick Calvin Pryor at the back end of the new-look secondary.
—The Washington Redskins signed cornerback Chris Culliver and defensive lineman Terrance Knighton.
Terms of the deals were not disclosed, but Culliver reportedly signed a four-year contract worth $32 million. Knighton reportedly signed a one-year, $4 million deal.
—The Cleveland Browns re-signed defensive lineman John Hughes.
The team did not release terms of the deal, but the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported it is a four-year deal worth $14.4 million, including a $2.5 million signing bonus and $3.56 million guaranteed.
A third-round pick by the Browns in 2012, Hughes has been a key component of the Browns’ run defense.
—The Denver Broncos agreed to terms with safety Darian Stewart and guard Shelley Smith on two-year contracts.
Stewart replaces Rahim Moore, who signed with the Houston Texans on Thursday. Stewart has started 33 games for the St. Louis Rams (2010-13) and Baltimore Ravens (2014).
Smith replaced Orlando Franklin on a deal will be worth $5.65 million, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. It will be a double homecoming for Smith, who played at Colorado State before being drafted in the sixth round in 2010 by the Houston Texans, then coached by Gary Kubiak, who is now the Broncos’ coach.
—The Oakland Raiders reportedly signed quarterback Christian Ponder to a one-year contract.
The move reunites Ponder with Bill Musgrave, who coached him in Minnesota and is now the Raiders’ offensive coordinator under new coach Jack Del Rio.
Ponder was drafted 12th overall by the Vikings in 2011 and started 36 games in his four seasons in Minnesota. He completed 59.8 percent of his passes for 6,658 yards, 38 touchdowns and 36 interceptions.
In Oakland, Ponder likely will back up second-year quarterback Derek Carr. The Raiders are expected to release Matt Schaub, who was acquired from the Houston Texans in 2014 and was beaten out by the rookie Carr.
The Raiders also signed cornerback James Dockery, who spent the past three seasons with the Carolina Panthers.
— The Detroit Lions officially re-signed defensive tackle Tyrunn Walker to a one-year contract.
Terms were not disclosed, but the deal reportedly is for $1.75 million.
The Lions also re-signed free agent safety Isa Abdul-Quddus to a one-year contract and free agent linebacker Josh Bynes to a two-year deal.
—Running back Reggie Bush met with the New England Patriots.
Bush was released by the Detroit Lions on Feb. 25 and had visited the San Francisco 49ers earlier this week. A potential reunion with his original team, the New Orleans Saints, seemed to be nixed when the Saints agreed to a deal with former Buffalo Bills running back C.J. Spiller on Friday.
The Patriots are looking for a replacement for Shane Vereen, who signed with the New York Giants. The Patriots also hosted wide receiver Percy Harvin this week, but he signed with Buffalo.
The Patriots also re-signed linebacker and special-teams player Chris White and signed veteran tight end Scott Chandler, was released by the Buffalo Bills on Wednesday.
—The Kansas City Chiefs re-signed wide receiver Jason Avant, tight end Richard Gordon and safety Kelcie McCray on Friday.
Reunited with coach Andy Reid last season, Avant caught 13 passes for 152 yards in five games with the Chiefs. Avant began his career in Philadelphia when Reid was the Eagles’ coach.
The Chiefs also announced they officially acquired Grubbs from the Saints.
—Running back Trent Richardson filed a grievance against the Indianapolis Colts, who don’t plan to pay his $3.1 million salary for 2015 after releasing him Thursday.
Richardson was suspended two games by the team before the AFC Championship Game loss to the New England Patriots due to failure to communicate with the team about why he missed a walkthrough practice. He cited a family emergency, which was related to his girlfriend facing potential complications with her pregnancy.
Richardson said Thursday he did not see eye to eye with general manager Ryan Grigson.
—Six rookies received more than $300,000 each in performance-based bonuses for their play in 2014, the NFL announced Friday.
Seantrel Henderson, a seventh-round tackle for the Buffalo Bills, topped all players with $373,671. Green Bay Packers center Corey Linsley, a fifth-round pick, earned $339,566; Cincinnati Bengals center Russell Bodine, a fourth-round pick, received $318,612; Tennessee Titans linebacker Avery Williamson, a fifth-rounder, was paid $315,120; St. Louis Rams cornerback E.J. Gaines, a sixth-rounder, earned $308,338; and Kansas City guard Zach Fulton, a sixth-rounder, merited $303,352.
NFL players will receive $116.26 million in performance-based pay for their performances during the 2014 season.
The program was implemented in 2002 and has paid out close to $925 million to players who have outperformed their contracts.
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