The 2023 NFL Expansion Team series that builds the inaugural roster for the London Knights continues with Part III: Free Agency. If you missed Part I: City, Branding, Coaching Staff and Part II: The Expansion Draft, you can check them out too.
With the way the expansion draft player pool worked out and with the free agents available, we are going to be somewhat aggressive—but on mostly one-year deals to lower our risk—trying to immediately compete for a championship in our first couple of seasons under Jim Harbaugh.
Free Agent Signings
Julio Jones | WR | Age: 34 | 1 year, $10 million
Determining the salary for Julio Jones was a challenge, but around a $10 million one-year contract—potentially with incentives—feels fair. Despite being 34 years old and having trouble with injuries in recent years, the future Hall of Fame receiver is tough to pass on as a free-agent acquisition given our ideal cap space situation. One of the best receivers of all-time, Jones is a great leader that can elevate our locker room.
Nelson Agholor | WR | Age: 30 | 1 year, $6 million
Nelson Agholor has recently been called the “most misunderstood Eagle” by his former teammate Chris Long, who spoke about Agholor’s work ethic and being a tremendous teammate that also does dirty work at a glamourous position. And he had nine catches in a Super Bowl win! The Knights are happy to ignore the social media critics and add Agholor to our group. We have plenty of depth at wide receiver now, and the position could work into a nice rotation—I mentioned in Part II about Denzel Mims getting playing time—that keeps players fresh.
O.J. Howard | TE | Age: 28 | 1 year, $2 million
O.J. Howard forms an ideal complement to Zach Ertz, as the former first-round pick can stretch the field a little more while being a very willing and able blocker both in the pass and run game. I’ve always been a fan of Howard’s ceiling. While we had intentions of targeting Mike Gesicki with a long-term deal during free agency, he decided on playing in Bill O’Brien’s offense with the Patriots instead of going to London. Also, I have an eye on potentially grabbing a tight end in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Isaac Seumalo | OG | Age: 29 | 3 years, $30 million
We beat the Steelers by $2 million per year in salary on a three-year deal to get Isaac Seumalo as a stalwart on Jim Harbaugh’s offensive line. All-Pro center Jason Kelce said that his former teammate is “a really, really special player,” and “probably the smartest player I’ve ever been around,” so this is a potential steal.
Poona Ford | DL | Age: 27 | 1 year, $5.5 million
Poona Ford received a surprisingly modest contract during free agency, and perhaps he just wanted to join an elite Bills team. However, we’re able to sign the big man by offering more than double what Buffalo signed him for in real life.
Maurice Hurst | DL | Age: 28 | 1 year, $3 million
The past two seasons for Maurice Hurst have basically been wiped out entirely due to injury, but the former Michigan star fits a need for us on the defensive interior. Hurst was one of the best players to play under Harbaugh with the Wolverines.
Linval Joseph | DL | Age: 34 | 1 year, $3 million
Linval Joseph and Nndamukong Suh gave the Eagles run defense a major boost before their eventual run to Super Bowl LVII, and London signs the veteran Joseph as a strong rotational piece on the defensive line.
Justin Houston | EDGE | Age: 34 | 1 year, $5 million
In reality, Justin Houston remains a free agent despite coming off another productive campaign in which he recorded 9.5 sacks for the Ravens. He might be someone that waits to sign, but his addition ensures exceptional depth as the third edge rusher along with Leonard Floyd and Emmanuel Ogbah.
Shaq Lawson | EDGE | Age: 29 | 1 year, $3 million
Shaq Lawson fits best as a 4-3 defensive end rather than a 3-4 outside linebacker, but the Clemson product is a fantastic depth piece coming off the edge. He’s shown the ability to record a handful of sacks in a season, which could be the difference in games.
Azeez Al-Shaair | LB | Age: 25 | 1 year, $8 million
Basically stuck behind Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw in San Francisco, we’ll take a shot on Azeez Al-Shaair as a starting linebacker for the Knights. Al-Shaair is still just 25 years old and might take off with an increased role.
Deion Jones | LB | Age: 28 | 1 year, $5 million
It was a somewhat odd end to his tenure with the Falcons, but Deion Jones was one of the better linebackers in football for years in Atlanta. Jones has shown an ability to make an impact on the game in a variety of ways, including five career pick-sixes.
Sean Murphy-Bunting | CB | Age: 26 | 1 year, $5 million
Injuries have plagued Sean Murphy-Bunting the past couple of seasons, but he was a huge contributor to the Bucs’ exceptional Super Bowl LV defense. It’s worth betting on the talented SMB, who can play either outside or at nickel, with a one-year deal.
Eric Rowe | S | Age: 30 | 1 year, $3 million
Before this safety run, I should first note that we wanted to sign Chauncey Gardner-Johnson at the position, but he ultimately wanted to play for the emerging Lions. Eric Rowe is a versatile piece on the backend and can come up to effectively cover players in the slot.
DeShon Elliott | S | Age: 26 | 1 year, $3 million
DeShon Elliott is one of the most underrated safeties in the league, and he’ll slide in alongside Rowe to form our likely starting duo. The former Texas Longhorn had a career-high 96 tackles last season.
Jaquan Johnson | S | Age: 27 | 1 year, $2.5 million
After getting his most playing time through four seasons in 2022, Jaquan Johnson is someone that can push for a starting role on our expansion team. At the very least, Johnson showed with the Bills that he can be a key contributor on special teams.
Jake Bailey | P | Age: 26 | 1 year, $2 million
While a down and injury-impacted 2022 season led to the Patriots releasing Jake Bailey, he’s a former All-Pro punter and an ideal special-teams signing for the Knights.
Current Roster
I am a fan of how the inaugural roster of the London Knights is coming together. We can move Matt Feiler to right tackle, where he mostly played for the Steelers, after signing Isaac Seumalo to man the left guard position. Overall, the offensive line can be solid, but it appears to lack the upside we’d like—which isn’t surprising for an expansion roster. After beefing up during free agency, the defense—particularly the front seven—can be an above average unit. The expansion series concludes tomorrow with the 2023 NFL Draft, and we’ll kick things off with the No. 1 pick in the draft.
Salary cap: $224,800,000
Total payroll: $194,161,759
Cap space: $30,638,241
QB: Marcus Mariota // Nick Foles
RB: Dalvin Cook // Trey Sermon // Jordan Mason // Brittain Brown
WR: Julio Jones // Denzel Mims
WR: Nelson Agholor // KJ Hamler
WR: Hunter Renfrow // Isaiah McKenzie
TE: Zach Ertz // O.J. Howard
OT: Rasheed Walker // Yodny Cajuste
OG: Isaac Seumalo
C: Pat Elflein
OG: Wyatt Davis
OT: Matt Feiler // Darian Kinnard
EDGE: Leonard Floyd // Justin Houston
DL: Poona Ford // Linval Joseph
DL: Maurice Hurst // Marlon Tuipulotu
EDGE: Emmanuel Ogbah // Shaq Lawson
LB: Azeez Al-Shaair // Josh Ross
LB: Deion Jones
CB: Jeff Okudah // Michael Ojemudia
S: Eric Rowe // Jaquan Johnson
S: DeShon Elliott
CB: Cameron Dantzler // Tariq Castro-Fields
NB: Sean Murphy-Bunting
K:
P: Jake Bailey
LS:
Check back tomorrow for Part IV of the 2023 NFL expansion series, the 2023 NFL Draft!