NFL Player News

The Bucs have signed Martin to a five-year deal worth in excess of $35 million, Ian Rappaport of NFL.com reports.

The signing comes two hours shy of Martin hitting the open market as a 27-year-old tailback coming off a 1,400-yard season, preventing Tampa from having to scour free agency or invest a high draft pick on a new tailback. As per Rappaport, the deal contains $15 million in guaranteed money, and averages $7.25 million over the first three seasons, with a maximum overall value of $42.5 million. Although the courtship between Martin and the Bucs looked somewhat shaky at times this offseason, he ultimately made good on his previously-stated preference to remain in Tampa, and secured a contract that would have been highly improbable a year ago at this time. His retention preserves a potentially potent young nucleus of Jameis Winston, Charles Sims, Mike Evans, Austin Seferian-Jenkins and Martin, and frees the Bucs up to address other needs in free agency and the upcoming draft.

Grimes will be a free agent once the market opens Wednesday at 4 PM ET, Rand Getlin of NFL Network reports.

Entering the offseason as a restricted free agent, Grimes and the Texans were unable to settle at an amenable price. In three seasons with the club, he notched 116 carries for 508 yards (4.4 YPC), 38 receptions (on 45 targets) for 335 yards, and three total touchdowns in 32 games. Considering the workload, another reserve role is likely the best-case scenario on his next squad.

The Ravens have placed an exclusive rights tender on West, Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun reports.

A third-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, West caught on with the Ravens midway through last season, following unimpressive stints with the Browns and Titans. He'll likely have to fight for one of the final roster spots in 2016, as Justin Forsett (arm) and Javorius Allen are expected to compete for the starting job.

Anderson is expected to receive a low-round tender offer from the Broncos, the Denver Post reports.

Anderson's tender will peg his salary with the Broncos at $1.7 million for the upcoming season, while giving Denver the right to match any offer sheet he signs with another team. A breakout performer during the second half of the 2014 season, Anderson rushed for 720 yards and five touchdowns this past year, when he split time with free agent Ronnie Hillman. Although he fell short of the lofty expectations placed upon him going into last season, it'll be interesting to monitor the kind of interest and potential offers the 25-year-old Anderson garners from other teams.

The Charges released Brown on Thursday, Eric Williams of ESPN.com reports.

In an injury-plagued backfield, Brown managed to pick up just 10 percent of the offensive snaps, which equated to 59 carries for 229 yards, eight receptions (on 10 targets) for 88 yards, and one touchdown. As he enters his age-29 offseason, he may find difficulty find further employment.

As expected, the Bucs opted not to use their franchise tag on free agent running back Doug Martin, Roy Cummings of the Tampa Bay Tribune reports.

The non-move fulfills the widely-held expectation that Martin will only return to Tampa on a mutually agreeable multi-year deal, as opposed to the onerous $11.789 million salary for 2016 that the franchise designation would have carried. Cummings reports that the Bucs continue to work towards cementing a deal with fifth-year pro, ideally before free agency opens in earnest on March 9. If Martin does indeed land elsewhere, third-year all-purpose back Charles Sims and a 2016 draft pick or a free-agent signee would figure to share tailback duties in Tampa in 2016.

Draughn has signed a one-year deal to remain with the 49ers, ESPN.com reports.

Draughn, who missed the final two games of the 2015 season with a knee injury, is thus slated to remain part of the 49ers' backfield in 2016, serving as a complement/depth option behind presumed top back Carlos Hyde.

Helu recently underwent surgery for a hip impingement and is expected to have the same procedure on his other hip soon, ESPN's Adam Caplin reports.

Helu struggled in his first season as a Raider, playing merely nine games and totaling just 39 rushing yards, 75 receiving yards and one touchdown on 26 offensive touches. In wake of those troubles, Helu's offseason hip procedures figure to help him regain some flexibility going forward, as he hopes to improve next season.

Rawls, who suffered a season-ending broken ankle in Week 14 last season, is expected to be ready for training camp, the Seattle Times reports.

Coach Pete Carroll said Thursday that Rawls is in good shape and should be ready to go for the season. With Marshawn Lynch retired, Rawls will be the starting running back. "We love the style, he's a great kid," Carroll said. "I can't imagine that he's not going to be right in the middle of it. I don't know who else is going to be added to the team, but he's coming in as the guy that we're looking to him to give the ball to, and he's recovering really well."

Martin is increasingly likely to sign a free-agent deal with another club according to sources close to his negotiations with the Bucs on a new contract, Roy Cummings of the Tampa Bay Tribune reports.

The report comes on the heels of Jason Licht's proclamation in his Wednesday Combine press conference that he was "optimistic" that a deal that would keep Martin in Tampa would eventually get done. With a bit less than two weeks to go since the official start of the free agency signing period on March 9, there is certainly plenty of time for the consumation of an agreement. However, Cummings' sources indicate that "based on the current pace and direction of the talks, Martin is more likely to sign a deal with one of a handful of Bucs rivals". The same sources did not indicate any snag in negotiations however, and there was no concrete indication otherwise coming out of Licht's talks with Martin's agent Brian Murphy on Wednesday. Although they have the franchise tag at their disposal, Cummings reports that applying it to Martin would cost the Bucs approximately $11.5 million for 2016, a hit they've indicated they don't plan on absorbing.