Antonio Smith lands in Oakland
Posted by Mike Florio on March 14, 2014
Getty Images
The Raiders have responded to the
Rodger Saffold fiasco by systematically locking up veteran talent for the other side of the ball.
On Thursday, they added defensive end
Justin Tuck and linebacker
LaMarr Woodley. On Friday, they added cornerback
Tarell Brown.
Now, per a league source, they’ve signed former Texans defensive end
Antonio Smith. It’s a two-year, $9 million deal.
The 10-year veteran played five years with the Cardinals before joining the Texans, where he spent five years. Perhaps best known for a Ninja Assassin sack dance, Smith famously has feuded with Dolphins guard
Richie Incognito on multiple occasions in the past.
Most recently, Smith was suspended for two preseason games and
one regular-season game after removing Incognito’s helmet during a preseason contest and swinging it at Incognito’s head.
Now that Smith is with the Raiders and
Jonathan Martin plays for the 49ers, maybe there’s a way to find some other common ground among the two rival Bay Area franchises.
Brandon Browner chooses the Patriots
Posted by Mike Florio on March 14, 2014
AP
The Patriots’ secondary will be much improved in 2014. October of 2014.
Cornerback
Darrelle Revis will be there from the get-go. After four games, cornerback
Brandon Browner will be joining the effort.
Browner tells Josina Anderson of ESPN that he has agreed on Friday to a three-year deal with the Patriots.
The agreement comes after Browner’s agent, Peter Schaffer, negotiated with three other teams — Washington, New Orleans, and Oakland.
The negotiations resulted in an erroneous report from NFL Media on Thursday night that Browner had agreed to a two-year contract with New England. Schaffer angrily responded to the report, going on the record to call it “100 percent untrue” and lamenting the fact that his phone was blowing up with calls and texts at a time when he was trying to play in a recreational hockey league game.
His comments also spawned a quote destined to land on a T-shirt bearing a PFT logo: “
I just wanna play hockey.”
Suspended for at least a year in December, Browner negotiated the ability to return to the NFL now in exchange for an agreement to abandon litigation arising from the league’s effort to subject him to substance-abuse testing while he wasn’t employed by any NFL team. Those tests, which he missed because he wasn’t made aware of them, put him within one violation of a one-year suspension. Last year, the violation happened, and the suspension was imposed.
But Browner also agreed to accept a four-game suspension. He’s presumably in Stage III of the testing program, which again puts him one violation away from a one-year suspension.
Browner initially entered the NFL in 2005 with the Broncos. Cut the following year, he eventually played in the CFL before Seahawks G.M. John Schneider brought him back to the NFL in 2011.
Raiders sign Tarell Brown
Posted by Michael David Smith on March 14, 2014
Reuters
Tarell Brown is leaving the 49ers but staying in the Bay Area.
Brown, a cornerback who has played his entire seven-year career in San Francisco, has signed a contract with Oakland. The Raiders, who have been relatively quiet in free agency despite leading the league in salary cap space, announced the move on Friday.
The 29-year-old Brown played in 13 regular-season games for the 49ers last season, starting 10, and he also started all three playoff games. He’ll provide an upgrade to an Oakland secondary that struggled throughout the 2013 season.
Brown was the No. 68 player in our
Free Agent Hot 100.
Report: Colts agree to one-year deal with Hakeem Nicks
Posted by Darin Gantt on March 14, 2014
AP
The Colts
sent out a photo this afternoon of free agent wide receiver
Hakeem Nicks walking the halls.
They probably wouldn’t have done that if they weren’t confident.
Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network said the Colts were
closing in on a deal with the former Giants wideout, and Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports just confirmed that Nicks had
agreed to a one-year deal.
A prove-it deal seemed most likely for Nicks after a disappointing final season with the Giants, but his destination surprised some.
It’s unclear if his hometown Panthers, who have no receivers at all at the moment, were in the mix or not. But Colts General Manager Ryan Grigson furthered his reputation as a closer by getting the deal done before Nicks could visit San Diego.
:rockon::cheers: :seizure:
