NFL News

3:55pm: Yanda’s new deal averages $7.1MM per year, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). That’s a raise on his old annual average salary, but not quite as expensive as some previous reports speculated. Wilson adds (via Twitter) that the contract features about $15MM guaranteed.

1:29pm: The Ravens have officially announced Yanda’s extension, which keeps him locked up through the 2019 season.

12:40pm: Yanda and the Ravens have reached an agreement on a new deal, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. It’s a four-year extension, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

12:33pm: The Ravens are closing in on a contract extension with veteran guard Marshal Yanda, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun, who reports (via Twitter) that an agreement between the two sides should be finalized soon.

Yanda, who turned 31 last month, is one of the steadiest and most reliable guards in the league, having started all but two regular season games for the Ravens since the start of the 2011 season. He has also earned four consecutive Pro Bowl nods, and was named to his first All-Pro First Team in 2014.

Per Over the Cap’s data, Yanda’s previous contract placed him among the league’s highest-paid guards. According to OTC, no right guard earns a higher annual salary than Yanda’s $6.4MM average, while only four left guards make more than the Ravens standout — Logan Mankins ($8.5MM), Mike Iupati ($8MM), Orlando Franklin ($7.3MM), and Josh Sitton ($6.75MM) all have slightly higher annual averages, and two of those players signed new free agent contracts earlier this year.

Yanda’s contract had been set to expire at the end of the 2015 season, and his new deal figures to average just as much as his old one, if not more. I can’t imagine the former third-round pick getting a huge raise, since he’s in his early-30s now, but the Ravens clearly like him enough to make sure he didn’t reach free agency this winter. When Dallas Robinson of Nerdy Football examined the Ravens’ guards as extension candidates in June, he suggested something in the range of four years and perhaps $32MM might make sense for Yanda.

Of course, Yanda’s new deal leaves Baltimore’s other starting guard, Kelechi Osemele, as the possible next man up for an extension of his own. However, there has been some skepticism in recent months that the Ravens will have the cap flexibility to take care of both players, since clubs typically don’t devote significant chunks of cap space to guards. One July report suggested that Osemele could be the odd man out when the Ravens started locking up potential free agents.

With the NFL eyeing locations beyond the United Kingdom for international games in future seasons, the Texans are targeting a potential game in Mexico City in 2016, according to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. Of course, like most other teams that express interest in playing an international contest, Houston would prefer to be the road team in such a game.

“I believe there’s a chance,” Texans president Jamey Rootes said of playing in Mexico City. “We’ve always expressed that we have an interest in participating internationally as a road team. … We’ve made it clear that we’re most interested in doing that in Mexico. It’s an amazing opportunity for the team and the league. But it’s a league decision, and it would be on their timing.”

Let’s check out a few more odds and ends from around the AFC….

• With Bills wideout Sammy Watkins having expressed a desire to have more passes thrown his way, Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap examines the situation in Buffalo, discussing the role that targets play in contract discussions for wide receivers.
• The Steelers sent a fifth-round pick to Philadelphia when they acquired cornerback Brandon Boykin, but Pittsburgh seems unwilling to play Boykin, as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com details. Presumably, the Steelers will want to get some value out of Boykin eventually, to warrant giving up that draft pick, but Fowler looks into why the ex-Eagle has only seen one defensive snap in the last three weeks.
• Patriots cornerback Tarell Brown has a potentially serious foot injury and is seeking a second opinion, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. For now, Brown’s availability appears to be week to week, but if the injury is determined to be significant, he could end up on the IR list.
• The Dolphins aren’t happy about starting the season with a 1-3 record, or having to make coaching changes, but football czar Mike Tannenbaum tells Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald that he likes the team’s roster.

According to head coach Marvin Lewis, the Bengals won’t make any roster moves next week involving linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who is on the PUP list, or offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuehi, who remains on the NFI list (Twitter link via Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com). Both players are eligible to be activated after Week 6, but it makes sense that Cincinnati would hold off, even if they’re close to being ready, since the club has a bye in Week 7.

Here’s more from out of the NFL’s North divisions:

• Running back Raheem Mostert, claimed off waivers by the Ravens earlier this week, said he was “shocked” when he found out he was heading to Baltimore, as Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun writes. When he got the call, Mostert was standing in the Dolphins‘ training facility, ready to re-sign to Miami’s practice squad after the team cut him. Now, the 23-year-old is ready to contribute and hoping to find a new home with the Ravens.
• Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, with an assist from the team’s official website, shut down any speculation that he might be a candidate for USC’s coaching job. “I love the Ravens. It’s not a consideration,” Harbaugh said today, per Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com.
• Asked by a reader if the Bears made a mistake by trading Jared Allen and Jon Bostic for late-round draft picks, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune suggests that neither player was a good fit in Vic Fangio‘s 3-4 defensive scheme, so he has a hard time imagining the moves hurting the club this season.
• Vikings defensive coordinator George Edwards said there’s a “possibility” safety Anthony Harris could soon be called up to the 53-man roster, tweets Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press.