The Baltimore Ravens traded for Lee Evans last year to help them stretch the field. He didn’t stretch much of anything all season because he was battling a busted foot and rarely saw any action.

Now, it seems that the Jacksonville Jaguars are willing to roll the dice and bet that his terrible season was all due to injury, and that he can come back and be productive. According to Adam Schefter, the Jags have signed him to a one-year deal.

Photo Caption: The Ravens were hoping that Evans was on the field for one less play.

“Former Ravens and Bills wide receiver Lee Evans will sign a one-year deal Monday with the Jacksonville Jaguars,” Schefter tweets.

We really like this signing. Evans has been a very nice player throughout his career and just couldn’t get on the field last season. When Mike Thomas and Laurent Robinson are your starters….yeah, we like this signing.

The Philadelphia Eagles took a decent-sized gamble last year when they gave former New York Giants WR Steve Smith several million dollars. He was coming off of a serious knee injury and they didn’t really know what they were getting. What they did get, was a big waste of time. Smith was rarely on the field, and when he was, he was dropping passes.

Now, it’s the St. Louis Rams turn. According to Jim Thomas, the team has signed the formerly good wideout.

“Rams agree to terms with WR Steve Smith of Philadelphia and TE Matthew Mulligan of New York Jets,” he tweets.

Since the Rams are much more wide receiver-needy than the Eagles, maybe he’ll have a good chance for some playing time. Let’s just hope he doesn’t give the Rams the same kind of playing time that he gave the Eagles.

The Indianapolis Colts got rid of a lot of talent after they watched their prize possession sign with the Denver Broncos. They have tons more holes now (and they had a butt ton before) and need to fill them.

So, while they re-signed Reggie Wayne this offseason, they still have more receiver slots to fill.

And they attempted to fill those slots with one burner who was formerly a productive player. The Colts have signed Donnie Avery, who used to be with the Tennessee Titans and St. Louis Rams. Not at the same time of course.

Avery was a second-round draft pick in 2008, and the first WR taken in that draft. Avery is an absolute burner, and if he can stay healthy, he should be a good deep threat for whoever the hell is playing QB for the Colts in 2012.

Brandon Lloyd has said all offseason that he wants to play with Josh McDaniels. He had most of his success playing in McDaniels system, which started back with the Denver Broncos.

McDaniels is now the offensive coordinator with New England Patriots, a position that he held several years ago. And Lloyd made no bones about the fact that he would take less money to play for McDaniels.

And he wasn’t kidding.

The Patriots signed Lloyd to a three-year, $12 million contract, according to Jason La Canfora on Twitter.

“Brandon Lloyd’s deal with Pats is 3yrs/$12M #freeagency,” La Canfora tweets.

That’s less than guys like Laurent Robinson, Robert Meachem and Eddie Royal have gotten. You could argue that Lloyd is better than all three of them…combined.

Okay, not combined, but he’s still a better player than those guys, depending on what skill set a team is looking for.

Lloyd should provide a nice outside target for Tom Brady, who hasn’t had a good wide receiver since Randy Moss was actually productive.

New York Giants punter Steve Weatherford came into the 2011 season as what can only be described as a journeyman. He’d been with the Saints, Chiefs, Saints again, Jags, Jets and then the Giants.

So, for him to come in and punt the way he did was nothing short of spectacular. His 45.7 average through 16 games was incredible and he certainly contributed to the Giants winning the Super Bowl.

And the Giants are wisely rewarding him. They stuck him with the franchise tag a couple weeks ago, but now have signed him to a five-year, $12.75 million contract that, according to Profootballtalk.com, has $3.25 million in guarantees.

Good on Gran, and good for the NFL for finally recognizing the importance that punters play in the game. We always hear about how important field position is in this game, yet punters are treated like red-headed step children. Hell, kickers in general. There is only one true kicking specialist in the Hall of Fame and that’s Jan Stenerud. No Ray Guy? No Sean Landeta? You have to be flippin’ kidding me.

Ok, I’m done ranting. Congrats to Steve Weatherford, if he keeps punting like this, the Giants got a good deal on him.

The Buffalo Bills have toiled in relative obscurity since…well, since recent memory. They’ve had some talented players, but never enough of them and they just haven’t had what it takes to compete consistently with the New York Jets and New England Patriots in the division.

But, maybe that’s starting to change. Not known as a team that routinely makes a big splash in free agency, the Bill just made one of the biggest splashes in free agency history.

They brought in Mario Williams from the Texans on the first day of free agency, and had him at hello or something. They didn’t let him leave and have signed him to a six-year, $100 million contract with $50 million in guarantees.

Where are Charley Casserley’s critics now? Remember he was lambasted back in 2006 when he took Williams over sure-fire Hall of Famer Reggie Bush. Maybe this signing should be a little reminder to all the a-holes on draft weekend that feel the need to speak with certainty about what player will do what at the NFL level.

Williams is coming off of a torn pectoral muscle, but should be perfectly fine to start the season. We still aren’t sure exactly how the Texans let this guy walk away.

The Philadelphia Eagles have had their share of ups and downs with WR DeSean Jackson. He can be a Jekyll-and-Hyde type of player, with amazing ups and frustrating downs.

So, that made it difficult when it came to negotiating a long-term deal. What’s he worth? On one hand, he’s absolutely electric and can cause major problems from anywhere on the field. On the other hand, he gets alligator arms and is clearly trying to just not get hurt.

The Eagles recently franchised him, hoping to work out a long-term deal, or even trade him if necessary. Well, the former has happened.

According to G. Cobb on Twitter, the Eagles have signed the speedy little wideout to a five-year, $51 million contract.

“It’s a five-year $51 million dollar deal,” G. tweets.

Who knows how much of that he’ll really get, as we haven’t heard what the guaranteed numbers are. I’m sure the Eagles have it in there that they can get rid of him if he becomes attitudinal or starts getting more concussions.

Regardless, this is a good thing for the Eagles. Our guess is that he’ll stop dogging it knowing he’s going to be paid regardless. He’s the anti-Albert Haynesworth if you will.

Now, one would assume that the Eagles will turn their attention to the contract of LeSean McCoy, who has just one year left on his deal.

It’s easy for fans to focus on their teams getting big-name, big-ticket free agents soon after the signing period begins. After all, it’s fun and you want your squad to bring that dominant guy (at whatever position) who is going to make a huge impact.

But, many times it’s the smaller names that are brought in and cause light ripples as opposed to a huge splash that can make all the difference on your season.

In this case, the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears have each made moves that we just love.

The Bears have signed QB Jason Campbell, who started a bunch of games for the Oakland Raiders last year and played very well. His broken collarbone ended his season and the team ended up trading two first-round picks to the Cincinnati Bengals for Carson Palmer in order to salvage their season. He didn’t, but the heavy investment in him means they had to stay with him. So bye bye, Jason Campbell.

Now, he’ll be the backup in Chicago and you have to love that. Sure, Jay Cutler hadn’t gotten hurt very much prior to going down last season, but it could happen at any time (see: last season). And now, you won’t have to watch Caleb Hanie flail about while you watch your season go into the toilet. Campbell is starting caliber and while we don’t like this move for him (he should be starting somewhere), we love it for the Bears.

And the Cowboys have done likewise by inking Kyle Orton to a three-year deal. He’s a somewhat starting-caliber QB who can step in and manage games for you if Tony Romo should get hurt. Good on Gran for that one.

Backup QB’s are huge in the NFL and can be the difference between having your season lost because of an injury to your starter, and actually making the playoffs. Would the 1972 Dolphins have been undefeated without Earl Morrall?

The Washington Redskins are the latest team to shuffle their wide receiver core. They have signed former Indianapolis Colts receiver Pierre Garcon, although we don’t have contract details right now.

Garcon will instantly become the top target for RGIII (assuming that the Redskins don’t trade the pick). However, Redskins fans better hope that they didn’t overpay for Garcon and give him No. 1 WR money.

Why? Because he’s not. Plain and simple.

He’s a nice receiver who should be a nice addition to their offense, but he’s not going to draw double teams. I’d be concerned about that because they did the same thing with Antwaan Randle-El, even though Garcon is better than him.

Can’t wait to see the details on this one.

UPDATE: Yep, they overpaid. Five years, $42.5 million with $21.5 million guaranteed.

At one point, it looked like there would be a nice group of free-agent wide receivers for teams to choose from. Guys like DeSean Jackson and Dwayne Bowe got the franchise tag, so unless you’re willing to up the anti, you can scratch them off the list.

Now, you can take one more name off of that list. According to Jay Glazer, the New Orleans Saints have agreed to deal with WR Marques Colston.

“Scoopage: Take 1 name off the list of free agents set to hit the market today. Saints have just agreed to new 5 yr deal w WR Marques Colston,” Glazer tweets.

We knew the two sides were working hard to get something done and Colston made it clear he wanted to stay in New Orleans. While we don’t have the details of the contract, the Saints only have $7 million in cap space this season, so his base salary is probably going to be low.

UPDATE: It’s reportedly a five-year, $40 million with $19 million in guarantees.

File this under “We Don’t Get It.” The New York Jets have signed quarterback Mark Sanchez to a three-year contract extension. Read that again. Seriously.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s remember that he got paid big bucks as a top pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. He has two years left on that deal, so this “extension” could end up being more of a restructuring.

Sanchez helped the Jets to the AFC Championship game in his first two seasons. That’s pretty great. His detractors will say that he had nothing to do with it, but if he was that awful, they wouldn’t have sniffed the conference championship game.

The Jets held a conference call to discuss the extension, but would not discuss the details.

The Jets were in the news as a team that was kicking Peyton Manning’s tires, but they said a Sanchez extension has been discussed for weeks. Yeah f’ing right! Maybe in an “if we don’t get Peyton should we restructure Sanchez’ contract and make it look like we’re committed to him” manner.

Again, we don’t know the particulars of this deal, no one does right now. But we just can’t imagine them rewarding him after the season he had. Sure, he had a career-high 26 TD’s, but he also threw 18 picks and the Jets didn’t make the playoffs.

The New York Yankees are famous for making big splashes in free agency and adding the big names. But they’ve made some smaller moves this offseason and that may end up helping them more. After all, how many more superstars can you have?

According to Bryan Hoch on Twitter, the Yanks have signed RHP David Aardsma, former of the Seattle Mariners.

He’s coming off of Tommy John surgery, so he won’t be able to contribute until midseason. But, he had a 2.90 ERA in 2009-10 and could end up being a huge addition out of the bullpen.

The deal is reportedly worth $500,000.

If Aardsma does a great job and becomes a Hall of Famer, he’d likely be listed first alphabetically.

Here go the New York Yankees again, making their huge splashes in free agency. Who is it this time? Clemens? Kevin Brown? A-Rod?

Nope, they’ve signed heavyweights Russell Branyan and Bill Hall to minor league contracts. Both will get invites to spring training.

Hall will make $600,000 if he makes the club and there are $600,000 more worth of incentives there. He’ll most likely be used as a utility man.

And who cares what Branyan will make? He’s 36-years old and has back problems. He could pop a couple off the bench, but so what?

You can never have enough depth. For the Philadelphia Phillies, that depth is needed in the outfield. Shane Victorino is back in centerfield, but they are trusting John Mayberry to play a full season in left and maybe hoping that Dom Brown emerges in right after competing with some of the average joe’s they signed in the offseason.

So, why not roll the dice on a low-risk, decent-upside deal with a guy who was once a damn good player?

According to Jim Salisbury of CSN, that’s what the Phillies have done. He says they’ve signed Juan Pierre to a minor-league deal.

“Confirmed. Pierre agrees to minor lg deal. “@Ken_Rosenthal: Pierre minor-lge deal with #Phillies – @JSalisburyCSN reports serious talks,” Salisbury tweets.

If Pierre even has a decent spring, expect him to stay up with the club.

One of the highest profile free agents in baseball this year is/was Prince Fielder. It was believed that he was looking for a deal in the neighborhood of eight years, $200 million.

And obviously, he wasn’t worth that because no one would give it to him. Hell, that’s why he was on the market for so long.

But, it only takes one team. And that team is the Detroit Tigers.

According to SI’s Jon Heyman, the Tigers have signed Fielder to a nine-year, $214 million contract. Seriously.

Fielder is a phenomenal hitter, but is he really worth that much? He’s only 27-years old, which means I automatically like this deal better than Pujols’ deal with Anaheim. But, Fielder hit a career high .299 last year and you have to think that won’t happen again as he’s .282 for his career. He’ll always get you 30 HR’s and might even get 40 or 50. For that money, he better be north of 40 every year.

Time will tell if it’s truly a bad signing, but right now, I can’t see committing that many years and that much money to one guy.

Hope you like chubby guys, Detroit. ‘Cause you just got a very pricey one.

We’ve been wondering for a while now (not really) where former New York Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran would land. Once an elite player, Beltran has broken down physically over the last few years, even though he continues to put up some decent number.

Well, wait no more!

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that the Cardinals have signed Beltran to a two-year contract.

“#Cardinals and Beltran have agreed upon a two-year deal, according to sources. News posted on Stltoday.com #stlcards,” he tweets.

It’s reportedly worth $26 million, which is kind of a lot for a 34-year old who has hardly been a model of fitness and health the last few years.

However, it’s tough to argue with Beltran’s numbers despite the injuries. His power isn’t remotely what it used to be, as he hit 22 bombs and just 84 RBI’s in 142 games in 2011. You’d be well within your rights to point out that he wasn’t in hitters parks in Queens and San Francisco (it’s not Russia after all), but those still aren’t dominant power stats.

However, he did hit .323 at the end of last season with the San Francisco Giants, and there wasn’t much (any) protection in that lineup.

Still, $13 million per year is a lot and he could spend most of the year on the DL.

The Kansas City Chiefs are the big winners in the Kyle Orton Sweepstakes. So, it would seem that we’ve seen the last of Tyler Palko for a while.

Or have we?

Orton was putting it out there earlier that if the Chiefs claim him, he won’t report to the team. That could be a problem.

But, he would be screwing himself over big time. Why wouldn’t he show up? The Chiefs would most likely send him a five-day letter. Basically, the five-day letter says “show up or else.” And that else is reserved/did-not-report list.

That means he’d forfeit the remaining balance of his 2011 $4.5 million salary and jeopardize his chances of free agency in 2012.

It would make absolutely no sense whatsoever for him not to show up and play.

While most Dallas Cowboys insiders weren’t surprised that the team released RB Tashard Choice, most national media were. That probably just goes to show how little the national media knows about individual teams, but we’ll leave that conversation for another day.

The truth is, Choice wasn’t playing well and he was never a favorite of Jason Garrett. That’s how you end up getting cut.

But, good news for Choice, he was claimed today by the running-back-needy Washington Redskins, according to Adam Schefter.

“The Redskins claimed former Cowboys running back Tashard Choice on waivers,” Schefter tweets.

Ryan Torain just hasn’t been getting it done, but then again falling behind 20-0 doesn’t help a coach stick with the run game. Tim Hightower is out for the year and all they have is Torain and Roy Helu. And knowing how Mike Shanahan rotates his backs, Choice will get a chance to show that he can play for them (if they aren’t down 20-0).

Choice averaged just 2.7-yards per carry this season, so memo to Washington D.C., you aren’t getting Barry Sanders.

However, the Redskins are getting a guy that over the last few seasons has filled in admirably when his number was called. It remains to be seen whether he’ll bet that guy, or the 2.7-yards per carry guy.

All offseason, many people were wondering why the Buffalo Bills didn’t go out and get a QB. Everyone thought they needed a QB except them. And maybe they were right with the way Ryan Fitzpatrick has been playing.

Fitzpatrick has the team off to a great start and apparently the Bills noticed. According to Joe Buscaglia of WGR, they have signed him to a pretty big extension.

“According to @john_wawrow of the AP, Ryan Fitzpatrick has agreed to a contract extension with the Buffalo Bills,” he tweets.

Rotoworld says the contract is a six-year, $59 million deal with $24 million guaranteed. This is insane. Fitzpatrick doesn’t have a ton of physical gifts, and he’s played well for periods of time before, only to fizzle out.

Don’t ignore any QB’s that might fall into your lap in the draft, Buffalo. We just don’t think he’s a great long-term solution. Especially since OTR thought the Bills should have addressed the QB situation in the offseason.

When you think of the top cornerbacks in the NFL, two names usually come up first. Nnamdi Asomugha of the Philadelphia Eagles and Darrelle Revis of the New York Jets. But there is another guy creeping into that territory and the Kansas City Chiefs obviously agree with us.

The Chiefs just locked up former second-round pick Brandon Flowers with a five-year, $50 million contract, according to Andrew Sociliano of the Red Zone channel.

“Reporting Brandon Flowers agrees to a contract extension with the Chiefs. 5yrs/$50 million – $22 million guaranteed,” he tweets.

Flower is still only 25-years old and is a hell of a player in both run support and pass coverage. That probably moves his counterpart Chris Carr to the top of the list to get a new contract after they already extended Derrick Johnson and Tamba Hali.

Many thought that last year would be Teemu Selanne’s final year of hockey. Some prayed it would be (no they didn’t). But, in a stunning turn of events (not really), Selanne has signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Anaheim Ducks.

“Teemu Selanne to return to Ducks. Just signed for one year, $4 million,” tweets Helene Elliot of the LA Times.

Selanne had 31 goals and 80 points in just 73 games last season, so it’s clear he can still play.

This should go a long way to lifting the spirits of the Anaheim locals. Many are devastated by out-of-control spending in Washington and the huge budget deficit. This signing will go a long way towards quelling those fears and letting them know that everything is going to be okay with the world.

In other news, Israel and the Palestinians made up and agreed to stop their senseless bickering. It’s not known at this time if the Selanne signing had any impact on that outcome.

There weren’t many shocks on Saturday’s cutdown day for the NFL. Ok, maybe Tommie Harris getting let go wasn’t exactly expected. But, there wasn’t anything crazy. However, the New England Patriots cutting Brandon Meriweather certainly caused us to raise an eyebrow.

Meriweather made another Pro Bowl last season, but it was obvious the Patriots were getting sick of him. Maybe it was the off-the-field shooting stuff that they didn’t like (even though he was deemed a peacemaker in that incident). But, for whatever reason, the Patriots tried to trade him and they couldn’t, so they cut him.

And consider the Chicago Bears luckier for it. They signed the 27-year old safety to a one-year contract, with financial terms not disclosed.

This means that they don’t have to rely on second-year man Major Wright. It also means that Chris Harris can stay at his more natural position at strong safety. We’ve never thought of Meriweather as an unmitigated stud, but he’s clearly a nice addition to the Chicago secondary.

The Tennessee Titans have been waiting a long time to get stud RB Chris Johnson into camp. He was set to make some $800,000 this season and pretty much everyone agrees that he’s worth way more than that.

But, finally, the team has agreed to a contract extension with him.

“BREAKING: TItans agreed to 4-yr 53.5 million deal with Chris Johnson. 30 guaranteed,” tweets Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean.

That’s a huge chunk of money that will keep him in a Titans uniform for the next six years. Unless they cut him or trade him, but I think that’s just common sense.

He’s into camp in time to get some practice reps before being thrown to the Jaguars in Week 1. So he should be good to go fantasy wise even if they work him back a little slower. If you haven’t drafted, you can safely grab him with the No. 1 pick.

I’m not exactly sure what the Dallas Cowboys are doing here, but they seem to like Orlando Scandrick. Scandrick is hardly terrible, but he’s not a starter. Yet….he’s now being paid like it.

The Cowboys have given Scandrick a five-year, $27 million extension with $10 million guaranteed. That’s not high-end starter money, but it seems to be much more than he’s worth.

Scandrick isn’t bad, but his strength is as a nickel slot guy. He’s good at that, but not great. And anytime he’s asked to play outside, he’s awful. Kind of like Dallas’ version of Joselio Hanson.

Hey, maybe the Cowboys are seeing something I’m not. Maybe Bob Ryan has plans for him in his system that we don’t know about. But, it seems like they overpaid.

The Philadelphia Eagles have shocked the football world. The very latest on the signing of free agent CB Nnamdi Asomugha was that it was down to the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys. Both teams are heavy hitters who aren’t afraid to sling the dough around. But somehow, the Cowboys and Jets were out and Asomugha opted to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles.

It’s a five-year, $60 million deal with $25 million guaranteed. That is extremely team friendly as he was the top prize on the free agent market. Some thought he’d get in the $18 million per range.

So, now the Eagles have Nnamdi, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Asante Samuel. All three are very high level corners, or at the very least, have shown they are capable playing at a very high level (that last part was for you, DRC). You won’t see many (read: any) teams that have three corners this good. This is even better than when the Birds had Bobby Taylor, Troy Vincent and Al Harris.

So, will they really keep all three? They just got DRC and Nnamdi, so they are 99% staying. But, what about Asante? Could they deal him before the season? Is this his last year in Philadelphia?

It’s well known that the Eagles brass isn’t thrilled with his act. Asante does what Asante wants, when Asante wants to do it. Press coverage? No, I’ll play off. Pay attention in meetings? No thanks.

Could the Eagles keep all three? Of course. But, don’t forget that when the Eagles get their nose out of joint, it gets waayyyy out of joint. And if they think he’s freelancing and half-assing it, it’s entirely possible that they are working the phones as we speak to ship Asante out of town.

In other news, the Eagles also confirmed on Twitter Friday the signings of Johnnie Lee Higgins and Donald Lee.

The Oregonian newspaper, located in a quaint town just north of Little Rock, AK, is reporting that former Carolina Panthers QB Matt Moore has signed with the Miami Dolphins. A source tells the paper that it’s a two-year deal worth $5 million, that can be pushed to $7.5 with incentives.

So now, the pundits are saying that this takes the Dolphins out of the Kyle Orton race. Why? Matt Moore has played about four good games of NFL football. Why is he the answer? Orton isn’t Joe Montana, but he’s proven he can play well and win games consistently. This is like showing up to a NASCAR race, and when everyone asks you where your race car is, you point to your ’83 Buick Skylark and say, “no, I’m good, I brought this.”

You didn’t solve the problem.

They did the same exact thing in Seattle. “Oh, we don’t need Kevin Kolb, we solved our QB problem with Tarvaris Jackson!” No, you didn’t. Tarvaris Jackson stinks at football. The Vikings didn’t agonize over Brett Favre for two years because Jackson is a stud in the making.

So, enjoy Matt Moore, Miami. Orton might not be a Super Bowl quarterback, but he’ll give you a better chance to have a winning season than the combination of Moore and Chad Henne.

I don’t get it. Signing crappy quarterbacks does not solve your signal-caller problem. These same executives and coaches will be the ones with the stunned look on their faces on the sidelines and luxury boxes in Week 10 when they are getting their asses handed to them by the Jets 48-3.

Gee….we thought we had our guy in Matt Moore.

According to Jeff Darlington, a trade has been completed between the Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints for Reggie Bush. And Bush has now agreed to a new contract with his new team to complete the move.

“The early-morning negotiations that leaked beyond 2 a.m. have resulted in an agreement today between the Dolphins and RB Reggie Bush,” Darlington tweets.

Reports are that Bush agreed to a two-year, $10 million contract with the Dolphins, who sent an undisclosed late-round pick to the Saints.

To be clear, this isn’t a feature role for Bush. He’ll be a third-down back while rookie Daniel Thomas is the starter. Thomas will get the bulk of the work, with Bush being the support guy.

A source tells PFT’s Mike Florio that the Carolina Panthers have agreed on a deal with defensive end Charles Johnson. The 25-year old DE got a six-year, $76 million contract with $32 million guaranteed. $30 million is in the form of a signing bonus.

Wow.

That is an absolutely huge deal for a guy who had 11.5 sacks last season. It was only his third year so they must be banking on him keeping it going and being a superstud for years to come.

Johnson was the most sought after defensive end on the market even though he didn’t really get to the market. Not sure I’d have paid that price tag anyway.

It didn’t take long for the Los Angeles Lakers to find a replacement for Phil Jackson. Not too long after guys like Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom were thoroughly embarrassing themselves as they got rocked by the Dallas Mavericks, the Lakers have agreed to a contract with former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown.

“Deal is done. Mike Brown and Lakers agree to 4-year, $18.25 million deal. Team option for 4th year. Brown gets $2.5 mil if option not taken,” tweets ESPN’s Chris Broussard.

Brown quickly recorded the best winning % in Cleveland Cavaliers history (maybe not that tough to do?). And his 211-117 record is the fifth-best record in the NBA over the last four seasons.

He’ll need to do something with Kobe Bryant that he couldn’t do with LeBron James: Get over the hump and win a championship.

Jeremy Shockey was bounced from the roster of the New Orleans Saints a few weeks so that the team could avoid paying him $4.7 million this year. And apparently, the Carolina Panthers have an affinity for oft-injured tight ends who run their mouth too much, because they signed him to a one-year deal.

According to Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com, it’s worth a maximum of $3,812,500, with $1 million guaranteed regardless of what happens. Another $812,500 is guaranteed to him if he he’s on the opening day roster.

Photo Caption: Shockey’s random re-enactments of “Karate Kid” were annoying enough, but coaches preferred it to his “Top Gun” soliloquies.

Shockey can still be productive, but we think this is a lot to pay for a guy who is, in all likelihood, past his prime. The biggest question will be how long he can stay healthy. Still, he might be a nice safety valve for whatever inexperienced quarterback they throw in there.