NFL Player News

It sounds like Brown took less than the $1.3 million it would have cost the Bills to tender him at the “original pick” level. Brown, 27, made one spot start in 2012 before suffering a year-ending hamstring injury. The hamstring wound up being ripped entirely off Brown’s leg bone. His position flexibility helps, but Brown will have to compete to keep his roster spot in 2013.

The Broncos begin their path to the Super Bowl as one of the healthier teams in the league after their Wild Card bye as the No. 1 seed in the AFC, enough so that they appear to have elevated two practice squad members, Elijah Moore and Caleb Lohner, to receive a small roster bonus as thanks for their time on the practice squad this season. The home-favorite Broncos face a difficult challenge against the Josh Allen-led Bills as they aim to avoid the same postseason outcome as in 2024 when the Bills bounced the Broncos in a blowout loss.

Johnson came into the weekend listed as questionable after a single limited session in practice this week, ultimately deemed inactive for the second consecutive playoff contest. Expect Ray Davis to once again fill in as the primary change of pace and clear passing situation back, as he did in the Wild Card win over the Jaguars. Also inactive for the Bills are LB Terrel Bernard, S Jordan Poyer, CB Maxwell Hairston, OT Tylan Grable, DT Phidarian Mathis, and TE Keleki Latu.

The team completed the interview Saturday following the parting of ways with former offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, who was fired earlier in the week. The change comes in the wake of a 6.9 points per game decrease in scoring compared to their Super Bowl-winning season in 2024, meaning quarterback Jalen Hurts will operate with a sixth offensive coordinator in his seventh professional season when the new league year begins.

The Bills activated Oliver along with WR Curtis Samuel (elbow, neck) from injured reserve earlier this week. While Oliver has missed all but three games this year, he recorded a sack in all three of those contests. Even in limited snaps, he should provide run-stuffing ability and pass rush juice while he’s out there.

While Rodgers’ future in the NFL remains uncertain, it’s become clear he’s unlikely to continue quarterbacking the Steelers next season. Rapoport’s report that the 42-year-old signal caller isn’t expected to return to Pittsburgh comes on the heels of Steelers owner Art Rooney II saying as much at his press conference earlier this week. Rooney made it clear that Rodgers joined the Steelers last year to play for Mike Tomlin, who stepped down immediately following the team’s loss in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Without Tomlin, there’s almost no chance of the Rodgers-Steelers partnership continuing. If Rodgers does ultimately decide to keep playing, there should be plenty of openings this offseason with the draft and free agency light on starting options. He’s still one final stop in Minnesota away from completing the Full Favre, though he engaged in discussions with the Vikings last offseason.

Evero met virtually with the Raiders this week and will have an in-person interview sometime next week. The 45-year-old defensive coordinator also has an interview with the Steelers coming up. Evero has been a defensive coordinator for the last four years (three with the Panthers, one with the Broncos) with mixed results, though he remains respected around the league.

Morton was fired as offensive coordinator of the Lions after the season, though he was stripped of play-calling duties midyear. The 56-year-old coach has coached under Sean Payton in New Orleans and Denver before, so his arrival with the Broncos this week isn’t a big surprise. Morton could find himself on Payton’s staff again next year as well.

Hafley is interviewing with the Steelers on Saturday and has fielded requests from the Raiders, Titans, Cardinals and Falcons as well. The 46-year-old coach has led a top-12 defense in each of his two seasons as the Packers’ defensive coordinator. Hafley is a natural fit with the Dolphins given his relationship with new Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan, who worked in the Packers’ front office for many years. Before joining the Packers, Hafley had a 22-26 record in four season as the head coach at Boston College.

Schefter says the Seahawks still believe Darnold will be OK for the Divisional Round matchup against the 49ers on Saturday. Seahawks coach Mike McDonald remained optimistic that Darnold would be able to play Friday, though he acknowledged the possibility of the injury limiting the 28-year-old quarterback and dodged questions about if Darnold actually threw the ball during the team’s walkthrough. Picking up an oblique injury two days before the biggest game of the season is far from ideal, but Darnold is still expected to play. Seattle would prefer to lean on its defense and running game with Darnold at less than 100 percent, though.

This comes on the heels of a report from SNY’s Connor Hughes on Friday that Stefanski is the favorite for the Falcons job. Schefter passes along that the Falcons are Stefanski’s next interview, getting him in the building again before the Titans can do the same. Stefanski has dealt with less-than-stellar quarterback situations in the past and the Falcons roster is strong in other areas, potentially making him a strong fit under new President of Football Matt Ryan.