NFL Player News

Tampa Bay also put in a claim on Hicks. He spent three weeks on the Jets’ active roster after being signed off Indianapolis’ practice squad. It’s purely a depth move.

Bills beat writer Ryan Talbot notes that “a source close to Kincaid confirmed what Knox said” on the podcast. This certainly comes as a bit of a surprise. Kincaid, who popped up on multiple injury reports this season due to a knee injury, apparently played through the entire season with a PCL injury he suffered in 2024, which caused him to miss some time. We would assume that surgery will be in Kincaid’s future to correct the issue after he was limited to just 253 routes run this season on a career-low 368 offensive snaps, but we’ve yet to see anything from the team to suggest that. Kincaid averaged an impressive 2.70 yards per route run in his limited action, but the Bills offense will be better off in 2026 if they can have him on the field for a full assortment of snaps.

Harris continues to make the rounds for defensive coordinator openings. The former Pro Bowl corner, who entered the league as a coach in 2012, joined the Bears last offseason as their defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator after spending the previous five seasons with the Cowboys in a similar role. Under Harris, the Bears led the league with 33 turnovers, which included 23 interceptions. Harris most recently met with the Commanders and spent four years coaching alongside Dan Quinn during their days in Dallas. Harris seems primed to make the leap to defensive coordinator somewhere this offseason, but could have more interviews on the way as other teams continue to fill head-coaching vacancies.

According to Fowler, “interest in Udinski is real” for the Browns. Fowler said the Browns are still expected to meet with Rams assistant Nate Scheelhaase next week before making any decisions, but Udinski will have a good chance to make an early impression. In his first season as the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator, Udinski helped lead the team to the sixth-highest scoring offense in the league, while Trevor Lawrence enjoyed a career-year that put him in the MVP conversation. Udinski turned 30 earlier this month and would become the youngest head coach hired in NFL history should the Browns give him the job.

With former Chargers DC Jesse Minter now heading to Baltimore to serve as their next head coach, the Chargers have a new vacancy to fill. The obvious connection here is the Harbaughs. After spending the last two seasons coaching with John Harbaugh in Baltimore, Orr could become the latest coach and/or player to make the leap to Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers. Orr’s time in Baltimore was marked by challenges. Despite his defense ranking ninth in points allowed in 2024, the Ravens often felt like they underperformed on that side of the ball in big moments, and they fell to 18th in points allowed and 24th in yards allowed in 2025. Wherever he lands next, Orr will have a lot to prove after underperforming expectations this season.

With the Bills entering their first head-coaching search of the Josh Allen era, the team will let its MVP quarterback have more than his share of say on who leads the team into the future. Allen and the Bills again came up short in their quest for their first Super Bowl in last week’s loss to the Broncos, spurring the change at head coach that took many on the team by surprise. Buffalo has already begun its head coaching search, but has interviews with multiple outside candidates starting on Friday and lasting over the weekend.

McDaniel is expected to take the job as the Chargers’ offensive coordinator, but he’ll still take time to speak with the Bills about their head-coaching opening before settling for a coordinator role. McDaniel withdrew his name from the Browns’ head-coaching search earlier this week in favor of the Chargers’ job, but having the chance to lead a team with one of the best quarterbacks in the game in Josh Allen could be too much for McDaniel to pass up should the opportunity present itself. The Bills are early in their head-coaching search and still have other potential suitors to meet over the weekend, but for now, McDaniel is in the mix.

The 2025 Heisman Trophy winner and national champion didn’t take long to announce his decision. Just days after downing Miami in the College Football Playoff national championship game, Mendoza, who is widely believed to be the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, will leave college for the pros. Mendoza is a fourth-year prospect who got his start at Cal, before transferring to Indiana for the 2025 season. Under head coach Curt Cignetti, Mendoza showed tremendous improvement, throwing for career-highs across the board while finishing with a line of 3,535-41-6 through the air and leading the nation in yards per attempt (9.3) and touchdown passes. He’s a prototypical pocket passer standing at 6-foot-5, and weighing in at 225 pounds, but Mendoza also showed off the wheels at times, rushing for 76-377-7, per PFF, who does not account for rushing yards lost due to sacks. The Raiders, who currently hold the No. 1 pick in the draft, seem destined to take Mendoza come April in hopes of fixing the quarterback woes that have plagued them since Derek Carr left after the 2022 season.

Pleasant’s current stint with the Rams began in 2023, when they hired him as the defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator. He was promoted from the former role in 2024, though per the team’s website, he continued to work closely with the defensive backs last season. He previously coached cornerbacks for the Rams from 2017-2020.

Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters earlier today that they are “optimistic” about Cross’ availability this week. Cross’ top-two backups, OT Josh Jones (knee/ankle) and OT Amari Kight (knee), were also absent again on Thursday and are considered “day-to-day,” per Macdonald.

We fully expect Darnold to play in the Seahawks’ NFC Championship Game against the division-rival Rams. The Seahawks’ quarterback was able to throw at practice today, which is great to hear. The two teams faced each other twice this season, both squads coming away with one win. The Rams’ defense has held Darnold to less than 280 passing yards in both outings, while intercepting six passes and allowing just two passing touchdowns.