NFL Player News

The first of three wideouts drafted by the Jets on Day 3, Saunders averaged 15.2 yards per reception and had 26 touchdowns as a three-year starter at Oklahoma. Saunders should open 2014 behind Jeremy Kerley at slot receiver, with the majority of his playing time coming on punt returns.

Not a great sign for Sanders’ future that he couldn’t beat out Ben Sauls and Dominic Zvada to even become part of the Giants kicker competition for 2026. He’ll look for another landing spot to try to win a job.

Hill suffered a “devastating, awful” (Mike Vrabel’s words) knee injury in OTAs. He had just signed a three-year contract, and his absence will likely have the Patriots relying more on Reggie Gilliam as a blocker while elevating the snap count of third-round draft pick Eli Raridon.

Mitchell now gets to be the “other” player who has been on New England and Philadelphia’s rosters this offseason. Released by the Patriots after the draft, Mitchell will try to catch on as a depth back behind Saquon Barkley.

$21 million of this contract is guaranteed as Hall figures to step into more of Boye Mafe’s role. Hall was entering the final year of his rookie deal. Hall fell from eight sacks in 2024 to just two in 2025 as Seattle embraced a deeper edge rusher rotation with the signing of DeMarcus Lawrence. Hall should be in good shape to bounce back in 2026 with his contract situation now taken care of.

Further testing on an earlier reported partially torn quadriceps pushed Speed’s return timeline from three months to the entire regular season. Houston will ask more of Henry To’oTo’o in the final year of his rookie contract, and will perhaps consider signing a veteran stopgap. Speed is under contract for 2027, though there’s no guarantee the Texans will keep him as they can save $2.25 million against the cap by releasing him.

Jacobs was arrested last week for domestic violence allegations including battery, criminal damage to property, disorderly conduct, strangulation and suffocation, and intimidation of a victim. He has denied the allegations and was not formally charged last week by the local district attorney’s office. Jacobs could be facing a lengthy absence this season depending on the outcome of a league investigation into the accusations of domestic violence. Releasing Jacobs, 28, would result in a $6.25 million dead cap hit for the Packers.

Malik Willis, Hafley said during a Tuesday presser, is still building chemistry with the team’s pass catchers in OTAs and working on timing. That presumably includes Malik Washington, who had 46 catches for 317 yards and three scores last season, and Greg Dulcich, who’s expected by Miami beat writers to “figure heavily” into the team’s passing attack in 2026. Jalen Tolbert and Tutu Atwell could also see heavy snaps in the Miami passing game this season. Tolbert, who flashed in Dallas in 2024 with 610 yards and seven touchdowns, could emerge as the Dolphins’ top pass-catching option with a solid training camp. There likely won’t be much target volume to go around, however, considering the team’s plans to operate a run-heavy offense.

Beckham, who reunited with the Giants on Monday after eight years away from the team, will “likely spend camp behind veteran Darnell Mooney, rookie Malachi Fields, Calvin Austin and maybe more,” Vacchiano said. “He might have to battle for practice reps with veterans Braxton Berrios and JuJu Smith-Schuster,” journeyman who recently signed with the wideout-needy Giants. Headed into his age-34 season following a raft of injuries, Beckham “probably can’t” offer any tangible help for a New York offense in need of pass-catching upside outside of Malik Nabers, who is returning from a major knee injury. Beckham since the start of the 2022 season has 44 receptions for 610 yards. Vacchiano said OBJ’s most important contribution to the 2026 Giants could be mentoring for the team’s young wideouts. Unless you’re in a fantasy league that awards points for mentoring, OBJ likely won’t be viable this season.

Nix is still recovering from the broken ankle he suffered in the divisional round of last year’s AFC playoff matchup against the Bills. While it’s too early to be overly concerned about Nix’s availability come training camp, his absence for OTAs is a bit disappointing given that Broncos co-owner Greg Penner said earlier this offseason there were “no concerns at all for OTAs.” Of course, this was nearly a full month before Nix underwent a procedure in late April to “clean up” his ankle. Head coach Sean Payton expressed confidence that Nix will be ready to go by training camp, which begins in just under two months. The Broncos are set to have a mandatory three-day minicamp from June 16-18, which we wouldn’t expect Nix to be available for. For now, backups Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger will handle most of the snaps under center while Nix remains sidelined.

The Eagles are also receiving a 2027 fifth-round pick from the Patriots in exchange for Brown. After spending months waiting for this trade to become official, the two sides finalized things shortly after the post-June 1 deadline took effect on Monday, sending Brown to the Patriots and giving Drake Maye an elite WR1 to pair with Romeo Doubs and company. Brown grew increasingly frustrated with his role in Philly’s run-heavy offense last season, which made him a likely trade candidate this offseason if the team could find a suitor. With Stefon Diggs no longer in Foxborough and Maye ascending the ranks of NFL quarterbacks, pairing Brown with Maye for the foreseeable future seemed like a no-brainer for the Patriots, who were able to avoid dealing their 2027 first-round pick. Brown will turn 29 this offseason, but has totaled 1,000-plus yards in each of his four seasons with the Eagles, helping them to their second Super Bowl title in 2024. He’ll profile as a fringe WR1/WR2 in fantasy leagues and should see a nice increase in targets next season.