NFL Player News

There have been mixed reports on Oakland’s supposed pursuit of Hardy, but most local reporters say there’s nothing cooking. It would, of course, be beneficial for Hardy to be linked to the Raiders, who have enough cap space to drive up the price on any player.

The Dolphins are moving on from their head coach after four seasons, according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter. McDaniel met with owner Stephen Ross this week and Ross decided to move on from the 42-year-old coach despite his contract running through 2028. McDaniel’s Dolphins made the playoffs in his first two years, but were bounced in the Wild Card round each time and failed to make the playoffs each of the last two seasons. While the Dolphins held out the longest of any team that fired their coach so far, the writing was on the wall for McDaniel after a 1-6 start this season. There are now eight head coaching vacancies around the league. McDaniel could be a candidate for the Browns head coaching position, according to a previous report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, though an offensive coordinator position could also be an option for McDaniel.

While Bucaneers head coach Todd Bowles told reporters Wednesday that he’ll remain in charge in 2026, someone was needed in the wreckage after Tampa Bay went 2-8 in its last 10 games and missed the playoffs. Grizzard is out after one season as the Buccaneers offensive coordinator, a running theme under Bowles, who’ll have his fifth OC in five years in ’26. Grizzard attempted to run back Liam Coen’s offensive from 2024, when the Bucs were fourth in the league in scoring, but his Bucs managed just 22.4 points per game (18th in the league). Baker Mayfield will be on his eighth different offensive coordinator in the last nine seasons in ’26.

Pierce took over as the Raiders’ interim head coach after Josh McDaniels was fired midway through the 2023 season and went 5-4 in the second half of the season. He was brought back for 2024, which was a disaster as the Raiders went 4-13, and was subsequently fired. While that is the extent of Pierce’s head coaching resume, his history with the Giants runs deep. A linebacker who played under Tom Coughlin in New York, Pierce made the Pro Bowl in 2006 and was an integral part of the Giants’ Super Bowl run in 2007. Whether that is enough to distinguish himself amongst a group of candidates that could include John Harbaugh and Kevin Stefanski remains to be seen.

Joseph has been defensive coordinator for one of the league’s top defenses in the Broncos since 2023. He led a crew that allowed the second-least yards and third-least points to opponents during the 2025 regular season. Joseph was previously the defensive coordinator for the Cardinals and Dolphins with a stint as the Broncos’ head coach from 2017-2018. He could get his second chance to become a head coach this cycle and the Ravens, who had a struggling defense this season, will interview him for the job.

The Dolphins will interview Chargers assistant general manager Chad Alexander, Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan, 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams and their own interim general managers Champ Kelly for their open general manager position. The Dolphins are moving quickly towards finding their new general manager, beginning the second phase of the interview process by bringing in these four candidates in-person. Mike McDaniel is still the head coach but it is possible the general manager hire changes things with John Harbaugh also on the coaching market.

Ferguson followed up his Tuesday DNP with another DNP on Wednesday. WR Jordan Whittington (knee) and OL Kevin Dotson (ankle) also remained out. Official injury statuses will come out on Thursday but all three players are on the wrong side of questionable for the Wild Card round against the Panthers.

Herbert sat out in Week 18. He told reporters that he took snaps under center today, which is “the earliest he’s done that in any game week” since suffering the injury in Week 13. Taking the week off seems to have helped in his recovery. Herbert should be good to go for his team’s game against the Patriots on Sunday.

Lambert-Smith left the Chargers’ Week 18 game against the Broncos with an apparent hamstring injury and now starts out the week not practicing. The rookie 23-year-old is low on the pass-catching depth chart and finished the 2025 regular season with five receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown. Lambert-Smith’s absence on kick returns will have more of an impact if he cannot go in the Wild Card against the Patriots.

Among the nine, only six teams actually have head-coaching vacancies at this time. The six teams in reference are the Giants, Titans, Falcons, Raiders, Browns and Cardinals. Regarding the remaining three, according to Vacchiano, “speculation around the league seems to have centered” on the Dolphins, Packers and Panthers. Last we heard, “signs continue to point towards Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel returning next season.” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur is preparing his team for their third straight trip to the postseason, but “there has been an eerie feeling around the league that he might need to win a first-round game to be completely safe.” The Panthers are widely viewed as this year’s weakest playoff team, and owner David Tepper “is always a threat to swing again.” The Buccaneers were also thought to be in the mix before it was made known that head coach Todd Bowles is keeping his job for 2026.

Bradbury joins OLB Anfernee Jennings, OT Vederian Lowe, and OT Morgan Moses as players out with illness on Wednesday. The only non-illness absence on the active roster for the Pats was DT Khyiris Tonga (foot). Sitting with illness this early in the week generally does not mean the players will miss the game, but it is certainly a situation to keep an eye on for the Pats’ offensive line heading into the Wild Card round against the Chargers. Tonga is a key run stuffer that will have a couple more chances to practice ahead of Sunday’s game.