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While the overall pace of signings slowed down a bit, the pace picked up again Monday -- especially with regards to quarterbacks with Deshaun Watson's trade to Cleveland last week and Matt Ryan going to the Colts today spurring some related moves. ...

Let's get the ball rolling in New Orleans, where Jameis Winston will return to the Saints.

The two have agreed to a two-year contract, according to multiple reports. According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, the deal is reportedly worth $28 million, with $21 million of it guaranteed.

The Saints attempted to upgrade at quarterback this offseason, including by trying to trade for Deshaun Watson, but in the end they’ve decided to go back to Winston, who went 5-2 in his first year as a starter with the team last season, but he tore the ACL in his left knee and sustained MCL damage on Oct. 31.

The former No. 1 overall NFL draft pick and Heisman Trophy winner posted a career-high passer rating of 102.8 with the Saints last season, completing 95 of 161 passes (59 percent) for 1,170 yards, 14 touchdowns and three interceptions. He also ran for 166 yards and one touchdown and lost one fumble.

As ESPN.com's Mike Triplett notes, although Winston averaged just 186 passing yards in his six full games, he still flashed his big-play ability with four completions of 49-plus yards. And he proved that he could overcome the turnover issues that plagued him during his first five NFL seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Winston went 28-42 as a starter with the Buccaneers, completing 61.3 percent of his passes for 19,737 yards and 131 total touchdowns, including 10 rushing. He also had 88 interceptions and 23 lost fumbles.

Triplett went on to remind readers that Winston displayed some dynamic highs and lows during his tenure with the Bucs -- especially in 2019, when he led the league with 5,109 passing yards while also becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to throw at least 30 touchdown passes and 30 interceptions in the same season (33 TDs and 30 INTs).

When Tampa Bay elected to move on to Tom Brady in 2020, Winston joined the Saints as a backup to try and revive his career under then-coach Sean Payton and starter Drew Brees. Winston signed a one-year deal that was worth just $1.1 million plus incentives because he said he wanted to get a "Harvard education in quarterback school."

Winston signed another one-year deal with the Saints before the 2021 season that included $5.5 million in guarantees and up to $7 million in incentives after Brees retired. He beat out Taysom Hill to win the starting job in the preseason, and he was repeatedly praised by Payton for both his arm strength and his leadership.

If Winston is healthy and ready to go, all expectations are that he’ll be the Week 1 starter in New Orleans. If it takes Winston longer than 10 months to be ready to go, backup quarterbacks Ian Book and Blake Bortles would likely compete to start until Winston is healthy.

In Atlanta. ... The Falcons agreed to terms with Marcus Mariota on a two-year deal.

The move is no surprise. After the Falcons traded Ryan to the Colts, Mariota became an immediate target.

Why Mariota?

For starters, he arrives in Atlanta with deep knowledge of head coach Arthur Smith's system. He worked with Smith in Tennessee, when he was Titans quarterback and Smith was a tight ends coach who became offensive coordinator in 2019.

That was Mariota's last season in Tennessee, after Ryan Tannehill took hold of the starting job during that campaign. The Oregon product spent the last two years as Derek Carr's backup in Las Vegas, though he was primarily used as a change-of-pace option as a running quarterback.

His last prolonged playing stretch came in 2020, when he threw for 226 yards, one touchdown and one interception, with nine rushes for 88 yards and a touchdown, while stepping in for an injured Carr against the Chargers.

Mariota's mobility is one of his greatest assets, able to create plays with his legs and his arm. He has an 89.5 passer rating in the NFL and a 29-32 record over 61 starts, all with Tennessee.

The Falcons still likely need to add another quarterback, with Feleipe Franks as the only other signal caller under contract. Who that person is will show whether Mariota is set to be the unquestioned starter or whether he'll have competition for the job.

Remember, the Falcons are taking a dead cap hit of more than $40 million on the Matt Ryan trade, according to ESPN’s Field Yates, who says this is the biggest dead cap hit in NFL history by more than $7 million.

What this means, practically, is that this will in all likelihood be a major rebuilding season in Atlanta and Mariota will be at the helm of an offense with Cordarrelle Patterson and Kyle Pitts currently its top offensive playmakers. ...

In Seattle. ... The Seahawks are bringing back running back Rashaad Penny on a one-year deal, according to multiple reports.

According to ESPN.com's Brady Henderson, it's a prove-it deal after a stellar finish to an injury-plagued first 3½ seasons in the NFL.

Chris Carson, who has been Seattle's starter since 2018, is coming off neck surgery. Alex Collins, who first replaced Carson in the starting lineup before he was overtaken by Penny late in the season, is a free agent.

NFL Network first reported Seattle's deal with Penny.

After being viewed as a first-round bust for most of his four NFL seasons, Penny finished the 2021 season with one of the most prolific rushing stretches in Seahawks history.

With Carson on injured reserve, Penny led the NFL with 671 rushing yards -- 208 yards more than anyone else -- over the final five games. In doing so, Penny joined Shaun Alexander as the only players in team history with 130 rushing yards in three consecutive games. In addition, he ran for a career-best 190 yards in the season finale.

He scored six rushing touchdowns over those final five games -- one more than he scored over his first 32 regular-season games.

To that point, Penny's career had been marred by a long list of injuries, including a torn ACL in December 2019 -- just as he was starting to break out -- that sidelined him for much of 2020. He also missed five games after injuring a calf in the 2021 opener and another game in November because of a pulled hamstring.

All told, the 26-year-old Penny has missed 30 of a possible 69 games, including playoffs, because of injury.

Penny, who has spent much of his first four seasons playing behind Carson after being selected with the 27th overall pick in 2018, had had flashes of production when healthy. In the seven games in which Penny has gotten at least 12 carries, he has topped 100 rushing yards in six of them, scoring nine rushing TDs.

In Buffalo. ... Jamison Crowder is signing with the Bills on a one-year deal worth up to $4 million, a source tells NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.

The Jets let Crowder, their leading weapon as a slot receiver, move on as a free agent after his least productive season with the team. He originally signed a three-year deal worth $28.5 million, with $17 million guaranteed, in 2019.

That was his best year and he finished with 833 yards and six touchdowns.

During the 2020-21 season, he had a slight regression in production due to injuries and play from quarterbacks Sam Darnold and Joe Flacco.

Over three seasons, he racked up 1,979 yards with 14 touchdowns. Last year, Crowder dealt with nagging soft tissue injuries to his groin and calf, which caused him to miss five games and he lasted only one quarter of their season finale against the Bills.

In the 11 games he did play, he totaled 447 yards with two touchdowns.

He was a solid safety blanket for Zach Wilson, catching 71 percent of his targets. His signing comes after the Bills released Cole Beasley and the veteran would seem to have a good shot at soaking up some of the snaps in the slot that became available with Beasley’s departure. ...

Last week, the Bills initially had an agreement with running back J.D. McKissic before he elected to return to the Commanders.

Now they have found another dual-threat for their backfield.

Duke Johnson has agreed to sign with Buffalo on a one-year deal, according to agents Drew Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey.

Johnson appeared in five games with four starts for the Dolphins last year. He had 330 yards rushing with three touchdowns along with four catches for 41 yards.

Johnson started his career with Cleveland as a third-round pick in 2015. He played four seasons for the club before being traded to Houston in 2019.

Turning 29 in September, Johnson has 311 career receptions for 2,870 yards with 12 touchdowns as well as 2,261 yards rushing with 11 touchdowns.

Meanwhile, the Bills have welcomed a few familiar faces to the roster during free agency, including one in the quarterbacks room. Matt Barkley has signed a one-year contract with Buffalo.

Barkley spent time with the Tennessee Titans, Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons during the 2021 season. He played three seasons with the Bills from 2018 to 2020.

During those three years, Barkley played in eight games and completed 53 of 97 passes for 788 passing yards and threw for three touchdowns.

In Los Angeles. ... Former Seahawks tight end Gerald Everett is signing with the Los Angeles Chargers, per Ari Meirov at Pro Football Focus.

Everett signed with Seattle last March and played relatively well during the 2021 season, posting 478 yards and four touchdowns. However, the recent trade sending franchise Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos brought over Noah Fant, a younger and more athletic tight end who will be taking over the No. 1 spot on the depth chart.

Everett joins a loaded offense led by Justin Herbert, one of the top rising stars at quarterback in the NFL. The Chargers have also re-signed wide receiver Mike Williams, their top pending free agent.

They face an uphill battle in the AFC West, though. Both Denver and the Kansas City Chiefs look like Super Bowl contenders on paper and the Las Vegas Raiders just got a huge boost from getting Davante Adams from the Green Bay Packers.

In New York. ... Veteran running back Breida has signed with the New York Giants, a source tells ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.

After stints with San Francisco and Miami, Breida spent last season with the Bills, playing in Brian Daboll’s offense, and now Daboll is the Giants’ head coach and Breida will have a leg up on learning the offense.

Last season Breida didn’t get a ton of playing time, carrying 26 times for 125 yards and a touchdown, and caught seven passes for 72 yards and two touchdowns. But from Week 10 to Week 12, he would have 172 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns.

In his most productive season, in 2018 with the 49ers, he had 153 carries for 814 yards and 27 catches for 261 yards.

In Jacksonville. ... Wide receiver Laquon Treadwell played 11 games for the Jaguars last season and he’ll remain with the team in 2022.

The team announced that Treadwell has re-signed on Monday. They also announced that kicker Ryan Santoso has signed with the team.

Treadwell had 33 catches for 434 yards and a touchdown last season. The receiving yards were a career high for Treadwell, who entered the league as a 2016 first-round pick of the Vikings and then moved on to the Falcons for the 2020 season.

Jacksonville added Zay Jones and Christian Kirk to their receiving corps as free agents over the last week.

Santoso kicked for the Lions and Panthers last season. He made 4-of-5 field goals and 6-of-8 extra points.

In Philadelphia. ... Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has reunited with a receiver he worked with in Indianapolis.

Philadelphia announced on Monday that the club has agreed to terms with Zach Pascal on a one-year contract.

Pascal just completed his rookie contract with the Colts. Pascal played 78 percent of the Colts’ offensive snaps in 16 games with 13 starts. But he caught only 38 passes for 384 yards with three touchdowns.

In 2019, Pascal caught 41 passes for 607 yards with five TDs. He had similar numbers in 2020, with 44 receptions for 629 yards and five touchdowns.

Sirianni was Pascal’s offensive coordinator from 2018-2020.

During Sirianni's very first press conference after he became head coach of the Eagles, he named Pascal among 13 players that he felt he built special relationships with in his previous coaching stops.

It's perhaps noteworthy that Pascal was more productive and on an upward trajectory when Sirianni was the offensive coordinator, but his numbers took a dip after Sirianni left for Philly and he had to play with Carson Wentz.

According to PhillyVoice.com's Jimmy Kempski, if Sirianni wants a dirty work kind of receiver in his offense, like JJ Arcega-Whiteside was in 2021, Pascal could be that guy, but with some ability to actually catch a football on occasion as well.

In Las Vegas. ... The Raiders agreed to terms with TE Jacob Hollister on a one-year deal, per Pelissero.

It's a reunion for new Raiders coach Josh McDaniels and Hollister, who began his NFL career in New England.

As CBSSports.com notes, Hollister is coming off a down year with the Jaguars, recording nine catches for 55 yards and a score in seven games. He'll benefit from veteran quarterback play in Derek Carr with his new squad, but he will also need to compete against Foster Moreau and Nick Bowers to get on the field, with Darren Waller in firm command of the top tight end spot.