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Free Agent Roundup: Anderson To Panthers; Perriman To Jets & More
We roll into the second day of the second week of free agency with a handful of moves worth noting to catch up on, starting with Carolina. ...

As Profootballtalk.com noted, the receiver market was slow to develop, leaving Robby Anderson waiting longer than anticipated.

That changed on Tuesday. Anderson will sign a two-year, $20 million deal with the Panthers, including $12 million in the first year, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Anderson, 26, played at Temple when new Panthers coach Matt Rhule was the head coach there. Anderson becomes the third Temple player to rejoin Rhule in recent days, following Tahir Whitehead and P.J. Walker.

Anderson spent four seasons with the Jets, making 207 catches for 3,059 yards and 20 touchdowns.

In 16 games last season, Anderson made 52 receptions for 779 yards and five touchdowns.

As USA Today's Doug Farrar noted earlier this month, Anderson was one of the more prolific deep threats in the NFL last season, catching nine passes of 20 or more air yards on 28 targets for 329 yards and three touchdowns. Per Pro Football Focus, only Julio Jones (126), Mike Evans (121) and Antonio Brown (113) have more deep targets than Anderson since 2016, which is when Anderson came into the NFL as an undrafted free agent.

Now he’s going to get solid money for that deep speed, as well as his consistency and reliability — he’s played in 62 of a possible 64 games in his NFL career.

And he's going to do it for a coach that is fully aware of what he's capable of doing.

With the Panthers, Anderson will be paired with 2018 first-round pick D.J Moore, who had 87 catches for 1,175 yards last season. The combo, along with running back Christian McCaffrey, will give new offensive coordinator Joe Brady and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater the potential for a potent offense.

The question now is whether Bridgewater can maximize that deep speed. ...

Also in Carolina. .. In case you missed it, Cam Newton was officially released earlier today. In addition, the Panthers traded Kyle Allen to the Redskins in exchange for a fifth-round pick over the weekend.

The trade came after the Panthers signed Walker, the former XFL standout.

The Panthers re-signed Allen, who was an exclusive rights free agent, to a one-year deal earlier this month. The 24-year-old started 12 games in 2019 in place of the injured Newton, completing 62 percent of 489 attempts for 3,322 yards, 6.8 yards per attempt, with 17 touchdowns, 16 interceptions for an 80.0 passer rating, and took 46 sacks in 13 appearances.

After a solid start under Allen, the young signal-caller faltered down the stretch as the Panthers' season sunk.

Heading to Washington reunites Allen with former Panthers head coach Ron Rivera, who now holds that same role in Washington.

Allen provides another backup option behind Dwayne Haskins, but shouldn't threaten the second-year quarterback's standing atop the depth chart at this point. At the very least, Rivera now has a quarterback in the building he's familiar with and could start in a pinch.

Back in Carolina, Walker's presence could be an issue for Will Grier, who was rather unimpressive in two starts last season. ...

Meanwhile, back in New York. ... After losing Anderson to the Panthers,the Jets replaced him with Breshad Perriman.

Current Jets GM Joe Douglas was still with the Ravens when they drafted Perriman in the first round in 2015.

Perriman struggled with injuries and inconsistencies on the field during his tenure in Baltimore. The Ravens declined Perriman's fifth-year option and released him before the start of the 2018 season. Perriman went to Cleveland in 2018, then signed a one-year, $4 million deal with the Buccaneers last season and showed flashes of the player many expected to see in Baltimore.

During the final three weeks of the regular season, when the Bucs were banged up at wide receiver, he caught 17 passes for 349 yards and four touchdowns. He finished the season with 36 catches for 645 yards and six total TDs and proved to be an intriguing deep threat.

For the record, Perriman agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $8 million with $6 million guaranteed, according to his agent, Drew Rosenhaus. That's just $2 million less than the Panthers paid Anderson, who developed good chemistry with Sam Darnold as his QB. We'll see if Perriman can do the same. ...

Also in Washington. ... The Redskins signed running back Peyton Barber.

Barber agreed to a two-year deal worth up to $3 million with $600,000 guaranteed, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports.

Barber joins a running backs room that also has Adrian Peterson, Derrius Guice, J.D. McKissic and Bryce Love, with not all five likely to make the roster.

Barber, 26, spent his first four seasons with the Buccaneers.

He has 551 career carries for 1,987 yards and 15 touchdowns. Barber also has made 57 catches for 349 yards and two touchdowns.

Guice has shown tremendous promise during brief periods of health in his two seasons as a pro while Peterson has been a solid presence. Barber might have trouble carving out a role if Peterson remains as effective as he was last season. ...

Washington also agreed to terms with tight end Richard Rodgers, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports.

Rodgers, 28, spent the past two seasons in Philadelphia but played only eight games. He was on injured reserve for part of 2018 and unemployed for three months last season.

Rodgers made only one catch for 7 yards with the Eagles.

He was with the Packers his first four seasons after they made him a third-round choice in 2014. Rodgers was far more productive in Green Bay.

Rodgers has made 121 catches for 1,173 yards and 13 touchdowns in his six seasons.

In New York. ... Dion Lewis' time in Tennessee never produced what anyone likely envisioned, but he's found another job.

Lewis signed a one-year deal with the Giants.

Lewis was released by Tennessee earlier this month after failing to live up to the other half of a thunder-and-lightning backfield with Derrick Henry, who was franchise tagged last week. The diminutive running back carried the ball just 54 times in 2019 for an average of 3.9 yards per carry and was used even less in the passing game, tallying 25 receptions for 164 yards in an offense that became increasingly reliant upon Henry.

The most recent season shouldn't be used as the sole judge of Lewis' ability, though. When inserted as a satellite back and an outside-the-tackles runner, Lewis can still be effective thanks to his speed and smaller frame. He can serve as a spell back to Saquon Barkley in New York, and the two could also end up contributing in two-back sets that would force opposing defenses to account for both as pass-catchers.

New Giants head coach Joe Judge is at least somewhat familiar with Lewis, having spent 2015-2017 together in New England. We'll see how his offense plans to deploy Lewis this fall.

Also. ... Receiver Corey Coleman re-signed with the Giants on a one-year deal.

Coleman, 25, was competing to become the team’s third wideout when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament early in training camp last summer.

The Browns made Coleman the 15th overall choice in 2016. He lasted only two seasons in Cleveland, catching 56 passes for 718 yards and five touchdowns. The Browns traded him to the Bills in the 2018 preseason, and he spent time with Buffalo and New England without playing a game.

The Giants added him to the practice squad on Oct. 18, 2018, and he appeared in eight games with one start that season. He made five catches for 71 yards.

Coleman also was the Giants’ top kick returner down the stretch in 2018, returning 23 kicks for 598 yards. ...

In Jacksonville. ... The Jaguars' latest attempt fix their tight end woes by agreeing to terms with Tyler Eifert on a two-year deal Tuesday night. As ESPN.com's Michael DiRocco notes, the move makes the oft-injured player the top option for second-year quarterback Gardner Minshew. It also reunites him with current Jags offensive coordinator Jay Gruden, his former OC with the Bengals.

The Jaguars have been struggling to get consistent production out of the tight end for the last decade, and Eifert is the latest free-agent signee to add hope. The team also signed Julius Thomas (2016) and Austin Seferian-Jenkins (2018) but neither made much of an impact.

The current tight ends on the roster have a combined 64 career catches -- including 60 by James O'Shaughnessy, who is coming off a torn ACL. Second-year player Josh Oliver, one of the team's third-round pick last season, played in only four games last season because of hamstring and back injuries. He has just three catches for 18 yards.

Eifert set a notable personal feat in 2019 by avoiding injury and appearing in all 16 regular-season games for the Bengals for the first time in his career. He caught 43 of 63 targets for 436 yards and three touchdowns.

It was Eifert's most productive season since 2015, when he made the Pro Bowl.

Injuries have kept Eifert off the field for the majority of his career, limiting him to one game in 2014 (dislocated elbow), eight in 2016 (ankle/back), two in 2017 (back) and four in 2018 (broken ankle).

He has 185 receptions for 2,152 yards and 24 touchdowns in 59 career games.

In Green Bay. ... The Packers are signing receiver Devin Funchess, Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports.

Funchess, 25, will play for his third team in three years.

He was with Carolina for four seasons before going to Indianapolis a year ago as a free agent.

But Funchess spent most of last season on injured reserve with a fractured clavicle. He played only one game with the Colts, making three catches for 32 yards.

In Carolina, Funchess played 61 of a possible 64 games. He made 161 receptions for 2,233 yards and 21 touchdowns. ...

In Seattle. ... The Seahawks are signing Phillip Dorsett on a one-year deal.

After three solid seasons in New England since he was acquired in a trade for QB Jacoby Brissett, Dorsett seemed to get phased out of the receiver mix as the 2019 season progressed. Considering that the Patriots were badly in need of production from their receivers, which was probably an ominous sign for him returning in 2020.

Dorsett, who ESPN.com's Mike Reiss reports earned widespread respect throughout Patriots' organization for his professionalism, will add even more speed to an already fast wideout corps behind starters Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf. The 27-year old Dorsett brings a veteran presence to the battle for No. 3 duties with David Moore, Malik Turner and John Ursua. ...

In Atlanta. ... The Falcons signed Laquon Treadwell to a contract over the weekend.

Treadwell was the Vikings’ first-round pick in 2016, though he never quite lived up to expectations there, catching 65 passes in four seasons.

But, he’s still just 24 and the Falcons aren’t counting on him to be a starter, so it’s a reasonable and presumably low-cost chance to take.

He also adds pedigree to an offense with a lot of it.

After signing running back Todd Gurley and trading for tight end Hayden Hurst last week, 10 of their 11 projected starters on offense were first-round picks (fullbacks seldom get chosen that highly). That group includes wide receivers Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley, quarterback Matt Ryan, Hurst, Gurley, and the offensive line of Jake Matthews, James Carpenter, Alex Mack, Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary.

Of course, the Falcons have one of the best wide receiver duos in the NFL with Jones and Ridley set to return. The emergence of Russell Gage as the team's third receiver was encouraging for the future.

Treadwell will likely compete for a spot in the receiver mix during training camp and the preseason, and he will provide even more depth to the group. ...

In San Francisco, the 49ers are signing former Chargers wideout Travis Benjamin to a one-year deal.

It's added depth and speed for a 49ers offense that just lost Emmanuel Sanders to the Saints in free agency, and one that seems open to Marquise Goodwin's departure.

Benjamin enjoyed a breakout campaign back in 2015 with the Browns, burning for 966 yards and five TDs as a deep threat. He signed with the Chargers in 2016 to be a speedy complement to Keenan Allen.

The plan didn't work out for long.

Benjamin earned 677 yards on 14.4 yards per catch with four TDs in his first season, but his impact regressed each year from there. Benjamin played just five games in 2019, catching six passes for 30 yards and zero touchdowns, so a fresh start seems like a positive. ...

In Baltimore. ... The Ravens are keeping one of their own free agents in house.

According to Adam Caplan of SiriusXM NFL Radio, the Ravens are bringing back wide receiver Chris Moore on a one-year deal.

Moore was their fourth-round pick in 2016, and he caught three passes for 21 yards last season.

Aside from the retirement of guard Marshal Yanda, it has been a quiet offseason for the Ravens’ offense, with all the activity on the other side of the line.

In Cincinnati. ... The Bengals signed wide receiver Mike Thomas.

If nothing else, he’s solid depth and special teams help, and a known commodity for coach Zac Taylor from his days with the Rams.

He caught two passes last season, appearing in all 16 games.