NFL notes:
Linebacker Barrett and tight end Gronkowski latest players to agree to stay with Super Bowl champs.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers feel good about their chances of repeating as Super Bowl champions and aren’t wasting time doing whatever’s necessary to retain key components of their roster to help Tom Brady pursue an eighth NFL title.
Linebacker Shaquil Barrett and tight end Rob Gronkowski, who came out of retirement 11 months ago to help Brady win No. 7 in his first season with the Bucs, are the latest players to agree to terms to stay with the team.
Agent Drew Rosenhaus represents both players and confirmed the deals to the Associated Press on Monday.
Barrett agreed to a fouryear, $72 million contract. Gronkowski will return for his 11th season with Brady on a oneyear, $10 million deal — up from the $9.25 million he earned after arriving in Tampa Bay from the New England Patriots in a trade last April.
Meanwhile, back in Brady’s former stomping grounds, the Patriots opened their vaults wider than any other team on Monday, something unusual for a club that normally avoids chasing the most expensive free agents. Of course, New England went 79 without Brady in 2020.
Joining them are linebacker/ edge rusher Matthew Judon from Baltimore; tight end Jonnu Smith from Tennessee; nose tackle Davon Godchaux from Miami; and defensive back Jalen Mills from Philadelphia.
The Patriots also added former Raiders wide receiver Nelson Agholor on a twoyear, $26 million deal, according to ESPN. Agholor, the 20th overall pick of the 2015 draft out of USC, finished last season with a careerhigh 896 yards on 48 catches and eight touchdowns.
Clearly, the salary cap that decreased by about $16 million this year due to lost revenues because of the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t prevented New England from diving headfirst into the free agency waters.
But they let perhaps the best offensive lineman in this crop get away, as 28yearold guard Joe Thuney agreed to a fiveyear, $80 million contract with Kansas City. It might seem a stretch to think the Chiefs have problems on offense, but anyone who saw their line fall apart in the Super Bowl recognizes the value of adding Thuney.
The other AFC West teams were busy as well.
The Raiders, who have suffered defensively since trading Khalil Mack in 2018, agreed to a twoyear contract with edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue. They are last in the NFL with 66 sacks and 357 pressures, according to SportRadar, since the trade.
The Chargers went with an offensive line upgrade, center Corey Linsley, an AllPro with Green Bay last season. Los Angeles has also agreed to resign cornerback Michael Davis for three years.
Rams resign Floyd: Pass rusher Leonard Floyd agreed to a fouryear deal to return to Los Angeles, slowing the team’s losses in free agency. ESPN reported the contract is worth $64 million for Floyd, who is coming off the best season of his fiveyear NFL career.
The signing was the first good news of the free agent period for the Rams, whose flexibility is limited after consigning huge chunks of their cap room to dead money from the machinations needed to acquire players including quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Winston deal: A day after Drew Brees announced his retirement, Jameis Winston and the New Orleans Saints reached a oneyear deal worth up to $12 million, according to ESPN.
QB to Washington: Veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is heading to the Washington Football Team on a oneyear, $10 million deal that could grow to $12 million with incentives, per ESPN. Fitzpatrick will compete with Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen for the starting job.