Bills announce two-year deal for QB Trubisky
“We had a long discussion and he understood it was a business decision,” Grier said at the NFL Scouting Combine last week. “And at the end of the day, I just felt it was right for him to have this opportunity for his agent to go see what’s out there for him. But didn’t close the door and said we’re going to stay in communication as the process goes and see what happens and left the door open for him possibly coming back here, too.”
Grier said the team has confidence in 2023 secondround pick Cam Smith, who played sparingly as a rookie but will compete with Kader Kohou for playing time in 2024. Jalen Ramsey is set to return for his second season in Miami, but Grier said the team will bring in cornerbacks, as Eli Apple, Nik Needham and Justin Bethel are unrestricted free agents.
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Quarterback Mitch Trubisky signed a twoyear contract with the Buffalo Bills on Thursday.
Financial terms were not disclosed by the team for Trubisky, who mutually agreed to part ways with the Pittsburgh Steelers last month with two years remaining on a three-year, $19.4 million contract.
Trubisky, 29, will be making his second stint in Western New York. He spent the 2021 season in Buffalo seeing limited action in support of Josh Allen, going 6 of 8 for 43 yards and rushing for 24 yards and a touchdown over six games (no starts).
Trubisky joined the Steelers as a free agent in 2022, the same year Pittsburgh selected quarterback Kenny Pickett in the first round of the draft. Trubisky began that season as the starting quarterback but soon gave way to Pickett.
While Pickett dealt with injury and regression in 2023, Trubisky made two starts before the Steelers eventually turned to Mason Rudolph, who helped guide the team to a wild-card berth.
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Saints: New Orleans will release wide receiver Michael Thomas prior to the start of the new league year next week, The Times-Picayune reported Thursday.
Thomas was in line to receive a base salary of $1.21 million this season with a roster bonus of
$2.2 million. He carried a cap hit of just over $12.4 million, per Spotrac.
Thomas, 31, has spent his entire career with New Orleans since being selected by the Saints in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft. The two-time All-Pro and three-time
Pro Bowl selection recorded consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in his first four years in the league, culminating with 1,725 yards and nine touchdowns in 2019, when he was named Offensive
Player of the Year.
Thomas has endured several injury-riddled seasons since catching an NFL record 149 passes in 2019. He has played in 20 games (15 starts) over the past four years, including missing the entire 2021 season due to an ankle injury.
Thomas had 39 catches for 448 yards with a touchdown in 10 games (seven starts) last season before landing on injured reserve due to an ailing knee.
Bears: Two days after Chicago used the franchise tag to keep him, cornerback Jaylon Johnson secured a $76 million deal to stay with the Bears, according to reports Thursday.
Once the signing is official, Johnson, 24, would become one of the highest-paid players at the position on a deal that would average $19 million per year and reportedly includes $54.4 million guaranteed.
The 2024 franchise tag would’ve guaranteed Johnson a one-year salary of $19.8 million.
Broncos: Denver is releasing two-time Pro Bowl safety Justin Simmons after eight seasons with the team.
The move announced Thursday will cost the financially strapped team $3.75 million in dead money but will save $14.5 million against the salary cap.
The 30-year-old Simmons, a third-round pick in 2016, was the Broncos’ longest-tenured player. He never appeared in a playoff game.
He made 15 starts last season and tallied 70 tackles, three interceptions and one sack, earning his second Pro Bowl selection (also 2020). He leaves Denver with 30 interceptions (tied for seventh in franchise history), 64 passes defensed and 604 tackles.
The Broncos incurred a record $85 million dead money charge by releasing quarterback Russell Wilson. They came into this week about $16 million over the $255.4 million salary cap, per ESPN.