nfl free agency 2013

[TFM_Dale]

The rich keep getting richer.

Lawrence Okoye, a British Olympian with no football experience but impressive physical skills, went undrafted this weekend. He has chosen the NFC champion 49ers as his first football destination.

Okoye made the announcement on his Twitter page, via Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com.

The 21-year-old Okoye holds the British record for throwing a discus. A former Rugby player as well, Okoye never has played football.

The 49ers will now teach him to football.

With so many great players already in place, the Niners can afford to roll the dice with a periodic project. At six feet, six inches and capable of running a sub-4.8-second 40, Okoye will become a defensive end in San Fran.

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The bad news is that Ryan Griffin wasn’t drafted. The good news is that he won’t have to worry about finding a new place to live.

The former Tulane quarterback has agreed to terms with the Saints as an undrafted free agent, according to Larry Holder of the New Orleans Times Picayune.

Griffin, regarded by some as the incoming quarterback with the highest potential to be a sleeper, played for former Saints receivers coach Curtis Johnson at Tulane. The Green Wave run the same offensive system as the Saints.

Another former Tulane quarterback likely approves of the outcome. Shaun King, an analyst on NBC Sports Network’s Pro Football Talk, was hoping that Griffin would go undrafted in lieu of being taken in round six or seven, so that he could pick his next destination.

Griffin now has a chance to become the next Chase Daniel in New Orleans — a multi-year understudy to Drew Brees and then, eventually, a $3 million per year backup somewhere else.

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Former Chiefs and Texans offensive tackle Eric Winston will have a workout with the Dolphins on Wednesday, a league source told PFT’s Mike Florio.

Winston, 29, has started 103 consecutive regular-season games. He has played right tackle on the NFL level after playing left tackle at Miami (Fla.).

Jake Long, the Dolphins’ starting left tackle since 2008, departed in free agency, and his replacement remains unclear.

The Dolphins’ primary starting right tackle from a season, Jonathan Martin, is an option on the left side if Miami adds a veteran right tackle like Winston.

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After becoming the fifth overall pick of the Jaguars in 2012 but before signing his rookie contract, Justin Blackmon was arrested for DUI.

The timing was not good, because it gave the Jaguars extensive leverage in their contract talks with Blackmon, who had a DUI at Oklahoma State, too. The Jags parlayed that leverage into a contract that deferred 40 percent of his signing bonus into future roster bonuses. As of right now, roughly $4 million has not been paid.

Blackmon’s future guarantees will void based on a standard provision in all guaranteed rookie contracts that wipes out the guarantees in the event of a suspension. This means that the Jags can now pull the plug on Blackmon’s deal and owe him nothing more, even though top five players otherwise get fully guaranteed contracts for four seasons.

Throw in a new G.M. who may have had no desire to pick Blackmon in the first place, and Blackmon could be gone. If the Jaguars are willing to accept the fact that Blackmon will have received roughly $8.5 million for one year, they can move on by asking Blackmon to move out.

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The Jets paid $1 million to trade Darrelle Revis. They’ve now paid $1.53 million to cut Tim Tebow.

As expected (and as MDS pointed out) no one made a waivers claim for the remnants of quarterback Tim Tebow’s rookie contract.

This lack of a waivers claim means that the Jets remain on the hook to pay back to the Broncos $1.53 million in salary that was advanced to Tebow in 2011.

And so one of the worst personnel moves in recent history gets even worse for the Jets. Woody Johnson will be contributing $1.53 million to Pat Bowlen’s bank account.