NFL Player News

McClain, who turns 27 before the season, was welcomed to a soft free agent market, but should retain his starting job in Baltimore. McClain started all 16 games at weak-side linebacker last season. He rotates out too often to be a significant IDP asset, finishing the year with 84 tackles, one sack, and a pick. Pro Football Focus did grade McClain as a solid run stopper.

Boyd predicts (but doesn’t report) that Pierce will leave in free agency, and projects a quick pivot that would include Michael Pittman staying with the team and the Colts chasing another receiver to replace Pierce outside. Shaheed does fit the need for speed even if he doesn’t exactly have the contested-catch ability that Pierce leads with. Shaheed has already been linked to the Commanders, Bills, and Raiders this offseason — though the Bills have since traded for DJ Moore.

The Athletic’s Josh Kendall answered a mailbag question about this by simply saying “whether or not they listen is another question” and noting that Kevin Stefanski sounded “very much like he wanted to coach Pitts for a year.” So the open question on both sides is whether the Falcons would actually be willing to hear out an offer. It’s possible the Falcons get an offer they can’t refuse, but it sounds like based on the reporting the Falcons are more likely to sit tight on Pitts through his franchise tag.

Hill has a $3.8 million cap figure, of which the Ravens can save $3.1 million with a release. He missed the final six weeks of the season with a long-term neck injury, and turns 29 next November. Zrebiec brought up this idea in mentioning that the Ravens could chase a running back in the lower rounds of the draft to add to the room behind Derrick Henry.

A two-year, $29 million contract was lavished on Tomlinson last offseason as Jonathan Gannon tried to fix the defense. Instead, Tomlinson posted a career-worst 43.2 PFF defensive grade. His release frees up roughly $9.4 million in cap space.

Rosenblatt concludes that Smith’s availability and his lack of cost given his ability to play on an offset contract that should see him making the minimum will be pluses for the Jets. Smith, who was finally given walking papers earlier today, still has fans around the league and could be a reasonable one-year stopgap for the Jets. Brissett is seen as less likely by Rosenblatt because he has heard conflicting things about what Brissett might cost — we just blurbed about the Cardinals being unlikely to deal him, while Rosenblatt has heard they might move on for a high-end Day 3 pick. The idea of a Geno Smith-Jets reunion in 2026. What a wonderful world we live in.

Giants fans will always have the moment in Week 3 when Hudson committed penalties on four straight plays. The move clears $5.4 million in cap space. Hudson will search for swing tackle work on a new team.

Rapp underwent knee surgery at midseason and Sean McDermott — never one to spell out an injury situation — immediately said they didn’t think Rapp would play again in 2025. Entering his age-29 season, if Rapp is healthy, the guess is he’ll get a one-year contract somewhere and perhaps a chance to start. The Bills also cut ties with CB Dane Jackson.

Terms weren’t immediately available, but it’s likely a minimum contract or close to it. Patterson managed a 41/159/1 line as Los Angeles’ No. 3 back last season and will attempt to reprise that role in 2026. This doesn’t give him a safe roster spot for next year, but it likely gives him an inside track at one.

He begins the offseason as the likely backup to Omarion Hampton. Vidal had a 155/643/3 rushing line last year and managed a few big weeks against weaker run defenses. We wouldn’t be totally surprised if Vidal continued to be fantasy-interesting this year, especially given how often Hampton was banged up in his first season in the NFL.

Perhaps this will change if and when a Malik Willis signing hits, but for now the Cardinals haven’t shown much interest in moving on from their veteran signal caller. Brissett went 1-11 as a starter last season, but adeptly blossomed in the desert with a 23-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio and also nearly threw for 3,500 yards in just 12 starts. We’re a little surprised there hasn’t been more interest in him from non-Jets teams this offseason.