The Denver Broncos agreed to terms with unrestricted free agent wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders on a three-year contract, the team announced Sunday.
Sanders’ deal is worth $15 million, a league source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The National Football Post reported the deal is worth up to $18 million, including $6 million guaranteed.
“We’re thrilled to announce the signing of Emmanuel Sanders,” general manager John Elway said at a press conference. “He’s a guy that has had a tremendous career so far, and we think that he’s only scratched the surface. So we have great expectations of Emmanuel and really think he’s going to come in and add a tremendous amount to the offensive side.”
Sanders is a fifth-year player who appeared in 56 career regular-season games (18 starts) during his first four NFL seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, totaling 161 receptions for 2,030 yards with 11 touchdowns.
—Former Seattle Seahawks cornerback Walter Thurmond agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million contract with the New York Giants, the team confirmed Sunday.
The Giants also strengthened both their secondary and return game when they signed free agent safety Quintin Demps.
Thurmond (5-foot-11, 190 pounds) comes to New Jersey after spending his first four NFL seasons with Seattle, which selected him in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft, the 111th overall selection from Oregon.
In 2013, Thurmond played in 12 regular-season games with three starts. He missed four games while serving a suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. Thurmond returned for the regular-season finale against the St. Louis Rams and played in all three postseason games.
The 5-11, 208-pound Demps played in 2013 for the Kansas City Chiefs and has previous stops in Philadelphia (two seasons) and Houston (three).
—The San Diego Chargers and linebacker Dwight Freeney agreed to a $1 million salary reduction in their restructuring deal, according to U-T San Diego.
Freeney agreed to drop his 2014 pay from $3.5 million to $2.5 million. The Chargers saved more than $900,000 in cap space for the upcoming season.
Freeney is hoping to bounce back at age 34 from a season that was cut short after four games because of a torn quadriceps. He had two tackles and a half sack. In 12 seasons, Feeney has 300 tackles and 108 sacks.
—The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed former Cleveland Browns guard Oniel Cousins to a one-year contract on Sunday.
Cousins, 29, has started nine games in a six-year career, playing three years with the Baltimore Ravens before signing with Cleveland in 2011. He was in the Browns’ starting lineup for the first four games last season before being benched.
—Houston Texans running back Arian Foster, who had season-ending back surgery Nov. 15, turned to Twitter to announce he has been cleared by his doctor to return to the field.
“And for those wondering, I’ve been medically cleared by my doctor,” Foster tweeted early Sunday morning.
Foster ran for 542 yards on 121 carries and one touchdown in eight games last season.
—Linebacker Calvin Pace reached agreement on a two-year, $5 million contract to remain with the New York Jets, according to reports.
Pace led the Jets last season with 10 sacks and had 53 tackles. The 34-year-old veteran has started all 16 games each of the past three seasons.