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Free Agency Roundup: Patterson Returns To Falcons & More
The free-agent signing period rolls on, although the signings have slowed. Still, there have been moves of interest.

Starting in Atlanta. ... From a fantasy football perspective, the best move is often no move at all. ... After having his best season as a Falcon last year, Cordarrelle Patterson will stick around for another season.

In nine NFL seasons, Patterson has played for five teams and been an All-Pro and a Pro Bowler for two of them with the vast majority of that success coming as a special teamer.

But Falcons coach Arthur Smith, known for his innovative offensive thinking, was able to solve the Rubik’s cube Patterson's diverse skillset present.

With Smith finding the lanes that allowed Patterson to maximize his talents, the veteran became an all-purpose threat and fantasy superstar carrying the ball 153 times for 618 yards and six touchdowns while catching 52 passes for 548 yards and five touchdowns. All those numbers were career-highs.

Patterson also had 18 kickoff returns for 434 yards and even played a couple of snaps on defense.

So re-signing with the Falcons today is the best possible outcome here.

That being the case -- even acknowledging touchdown regression is likely and despite the addition of Damien Williams (ostensibly to replace Mike Davis), Patterson's ADP in early best-ball drafts -- RB31 -- is crazy cheap. Expecting another RB1 finish is overly optimistic, but drafting him as a low-end RB2 or high-end RB3 and expecting RB1 totals on occasion is totally realistic.

In Cleveland. ... A day after the stunning acquisition of Deshaun Watson, the Cleveland Browns are planning to sign Jacoby Brissett to back him up, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports.

If Watson ends up serving an NFL suspension, Brissett could see significantly more action than the average backup quarterback.

The Browns also traded Case Keenum to the Buffalo Bills today. Baker Mayfield is still on the roster, but won't remain there. ... The NFL confirmed on Friday that the league's investigation into 22 allegations of sexual misconduct and assault against Watson is ongoing, and discipline from the league office remains on the table.

The Browns acquired Watson after a grand jury declined to indict him on criminal charges last week. If Watson does face a ban or placement on the commissioner's exempt list, Brissett would be in line to start in Cleveland.

With Mitchell Trubisky off to Pittsburgh, Keenum becomes Josh Allen’s new backup in Buffalo.

In Green Bay. ... The Packers have agreed to a one-year deal with Robert Tonyan.

After a breakout in 2020 for the Packers with career highs in catches (52), receiving yards (586) and touchdowns (11), Tonyan played in only eight games last season before he tore the ACL in his left knee Oct. 28 against the Arizona Cardinals.

Tonyan, who turns 28 in April, played last season on a restricted free-agent contract worth $3.384 million and likely would have been in line for a much more lucrative deal had he stayed healthy. His 11 touchdown catches in 2020 tied for the NFL lead among tight ends with Kansas City's Travis Kelce.

The injury occurred at the end of a 33-yard reception late in the third quarter against the Cardinals, a game in which he had three catches for 49 yards. He finished the season with 18 catches for 204 yards and two touchdowns.

Given the date of his injury, it's not certain that he would be ready for the start of training camp this year. ...

In Las Vegas. ... Twice over the past few years Garrett Gilbert has been part of the Patriots organization. So, naturally, he’s joining former Patriots OC and current Raiders HC Josh McDaniels in Las Vegas. His agent announced the addition on twitter today.

Gilbert was on the Patriots’ practice squad part of last season. The time before that he was with the Patriots was 2014-15.

In between those stints, Gilbert has been around. He even spent some time with the Raiders back in 2015. Gilbert has been active for eight NFL games since then, the first coming in 2018 with the Panthers.

He started one game for the Cowboys in 2020 and one game for Washington late last season.

Now he’s currently the one and only backup behind Derek Carr for the Raiders. At least until they add a third QB to the offseason roster. ...

In Los Angeles. ... In addition to announcing a four-year, $160 million contract extension for Matthew Stafford, the Rams announced on Saturday that Brandon Powell has agreed to terms on a one-year deal.

Powell joined the Rams on Nov. 4, initially on the team’s practice squad. But he ended up playing a significant role on Los Angeles’ special teams unit.

He averaged 26.0 yards on eight kick returns and 22.2 yards on six punt returns, including a 61-yard touchdown against the Vikings in Week 16. In the postseason, he averaged 11.6 yards per punt return and 17.6 yards per kick return.

Powell has also spent time with the Lions, Falcons, Bills, and Dolphins. He’s caught 23 passes for 198 yards with a pair of touchdowns in his career. ...

In Tennessee. ... Randy Bullock stepped in and stepped up when the Titans needed him in 2021. Now, he's set to be the team's kicker again in 2022.

The Titans and Bullock have agreed to terms on a new deal. Reported by TitansOnline.com

The veteran kicker, originally signed by the Titans last September following an injury to Sam Ficken, went 26-of-31 on field goal attempts in 2021 while also making 42-of-45 extra point attempts. Bullock finished the 2021 season with 120 points, which was the second-highest total of his career and the ninth-highest in franchise history.

Bullock also made three game-winning field goals in 2021 (at Seattle, at Indianapolis, vs San Francisco), giving him seven for his career. He has connected on 194 of 233 field goal attempts (83.3 percent) and 257 of 270 extra points during career.