Garafolo: Mayfield and Bucs not close on new deal

Early in the offseason, it looked like the Browns were more than comfortable rolling Watson out as their Week 1 starter. Then they saw Watson practice. Reports from OTAs and minicamp were not kind to Watson, though Sanders didn’t earn great reviews either. After getting a better look at both players, it sounds like new head coach Todd Monken truly doesn’t know who will take the first snap this year. By virtue of not being Deshaun Watson, Sanders has forced a legitimate training camp competition, though we doubt much fantasy value comes from the situation, regardless of who wins the job.

Wolfe said he heard this sentiment from multiple sources around the league. Dallas hired him as their defensive coordinator this offseason after two years as the Eagles’ defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator. He also held the title of DBs coach in Denver for three seasons. Parker has a tall order ahead of him with the Cowboys. They ranked dead last in scoring allowed in 2025, giving up a franchise-record 511 points. Expect several teams to give him a look in the next hiring cycle if he can turn this unit into even a league-average one.

Hunter is working his way back from a 2025 knee injury and is expected to be a full go for the beginning of training camp, according to Wolfe. The 23-year-old is still going to play both sides of the ball, though Wolfe stated Hunter can be “unleashed” as a starter on defense and “the goal is to eventually have him play nearly all the snaps on defense in a particular game.” The Jaguars seem to like Hunter much better as a cornerback but he will still play offense with his wide receiver snaps fluctuating depending on the game. Hunter is attending meetings for both sides of the ball and will presumably practice both sides come training camp. He is expected to be healthy and ready to go by the time Jags veterans report to training camp in late July.

Judkins, entering his second NFL season, was an honorable mention in Jeremy Fowler’s list of top running backs headed into the 2026 season. “Runs incredibly hard, faster in the open field than you’d think,” the executive told Fowler. “I think he’s going to have a big year.” Coming off a major leg/ankle injury that ended his rookie campaign, Judkins participated in offseason practices and has a real chance to suit up for Week 1, barring injury setbacks in training camp and the preseason. Judkins had 827 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in 2025, adding 26 grabs for 171 yards. He was targeted on a strong 23 percent of his pass routes last season. Assuming health, Judkins could be an underrated option behind an improved Cleveland offensive line.

Washington spent the past four seasons in the Vikings front office, most recently as assistant general manager. With Minnesota moving on to a new front office, he was let go after Nolan Teasley was hired as general manager. Washington now joins the Commanders as senior personnel executive after previous incumbent Scott Fitterer left to join agency Athletes First. Commanders general manager Adam Peters previously worked with Washington in San Francisco’s front office from 2017-2021.

Former Titans DC Dennard Wilson is now the Giants DC, and Ravennell had also been with John Harbaugh in Baltimore before playing 14 games for the Titans last year. The Giants have plenty of potential snaps available along the defensive line, so the connections made Ravenell an easy claim.

Trice tore his ACL in a 2024 preseason game against the Dolphins, then missed all of last year on injured reserve when he had a setback. The 2024 third-rounder has yet to play in an NFL game, but could push for a roster spot this year if he manages to stay healthy.

“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done on this one,” Garafolo continued. “The Bucs are in no rush.” All outward projections have been that Mayfield and the Buccaneers will eventually find a middle ground, and Todd Bowles recently said that there’s “absolutely no question” he wants Mayfield as his quarterback for a long term. But it does seem like the two sides have very different dollar values attached to Mayfield and that this might be something that simmers into training camp.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler spoke with NFL coaches and front office officials about the league’s best running backs. Barkley ranked third behind Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs. “My only criticism is that he doesn’t always produce when things aren’t completely clean,” an NFL coordinator said of Barkley, adding that Barkley should be treated as a three-down back. “That’s dating back to the Giants. Tends to need things perfectly set up for him.” This could explain why Barkley had a disappointing 2025 campaign in an Eagles offense that struggled to move the ball for much of the season. Barkley, who is widely expected to have a bigger role in the Philadelphia passing offense in 2026, last season ranked 45th out of 60 qualifying backs in yards after contact per rush, alongside Woody Marks and Breece Hall. Tank Bigsby, Barkley’s backfield mate, led the NFL in yards after contact per attempt.

The presence of A.J. Brown in the New England offense, Graf said, could stop teams from crowding the line of scrimmage this season. The Patriots in 2025 faced the league’s second highest rate of stacked boxes (eight or more defenders) at 52 percent, as opposing defenses were not afraid of the team’s pass-catching options. This in turn created less-than-optimal conditions for TreVeon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson. New England last year ranked 18th in yards before contact per attempt, a rate that could (should) rise if defenses give more respect to the passing attack. Graf said Henderson could continue missing out on valuable snaps if he hasn’t improved his pass protection this offseason.