NFL Player News

This year’s Mr. Irrelevant, Christian went down in the preseason finale. He wasn’t more than a practice squad option. Darren Fells, Jermaine Gresham, and Troy Niklas are Arizona’s top three tight ends.

As well as Dobbins played, this makes plenty of sense. The Broncos stumbled into him in post-draft free agency — he was no primary target — and he (as usual) missed a huge chunk of last season with an injury. With the Russell Wilson cap hold gone, the Broncos could be a sneaky threat for the bigger-name running backs in free agency in 2026. Kosmider does say it would not be “shocking” if Dobbins eventually comes back, but he’s not a priority.

Wagoner’s long piece on Kittle’s injury is rooted in the idea that Kittle’s Achilles tear was “clean” and “happened high up by his soleus,” meaning the blood flow wasn’t as poor as it could be during the recovery. Kittle did not entirely rule out the idea of being ready for Week 1. We’d be surprised if a tight end entering his age-33 season was ready for Week 1, but we’ve learned not to count out any wild physical feats from Kittle. This timeline makes him a little more interesting in 2026 best ball, at the very least.

The Chargers do not often dip outside of GM Joe Hortiz’s preferred free agency lanes, but Rhim speculates it might be different for the former Ravens center who Hortiz helped draft in 2022. The Chargers definitely have a need at the position as Bradley Bozeman has been outclassed the last few years. Linderbaum would do a lot to help fix an interior line that has just never come together. But this does rely on the Chargers doing something they haven’t really done under Hortiz yet: spending big in free agency.

Cimini connects these dots through new head coach Mike LaFleur, who coached Hall with the Jets. Arizona’s backfield is in a major state of flux after all of last season’s backs (James Conner, Trey Benson, Zonovan Knight) suffered season-ending injuries. It’s a vacuum where Hall would make sense. Cimini believes the Jets would like to extend Hall before he hits the open market, but may wind up using the franchise or transition tags instead — or on the way to — a deal.

Rest assured that Thomas will be “a key piece of head coach Liam Cohen’s offense,” but DiRocco seems to believe that Thomas’ complementary role will endure in 2026. DiRocco also notes that Thomas looked uncomfortable in training camp, setting the scene for an ugly early-season run. Thomas has had plenty of trade buzz from the outside this offseason, but a trade probably relies on another team evaluating him at his 2024 level rather than his 2025 level. If he remains in Jacksonville, it’s hard to count on him as more than a WR3 pick in 2026.

Simpson will be looking to shore up the QB2 ranking in the class. The Alabama quarterback came out of nowhere last year with a conference-leading 473 attempts for 3,567 yards, 28 touchdowns, and five interceptions. Simpson had thrown just 50 passes in his first three seasons as Tuscaloosa. Scouts will want to get as deep of a look as they can at Simpson, so it makes plenty of sense for him to throw at the combine.

Moore passed away Saturday in New Albany, Ind. The Vikings have confirmed his death. Devastatingly, the New Albany police chief said Moore is believed to have taken his own life, but an autopsy has been scheduled for Sunday. The 25-year-old spent the 2025 season on Minnesota’s injured reserve after doing the same for the Falcons in 2024. The No. 49 overall pick of the 2021 draft, Moore was a high school and college sensation despite his 5-foot-7 frame. His NFL career was sadly beset by injury, but he still caught 135 passes across 39 games, and was a factor on special teams. Our thoughts are with Moore’s family, friends, and teammates.

Owusu-Koramoah suffered a terrifying neck injury in 2024 and missed the entirety of the 2025 season while recovering from the injury. It now appears as if his days of playing competitive football are done. It’s an unfortunate situation for the former Pro Bowl linebacker but he at least appears to have recovered from the injury enough to lead a normal life.

The deal includes $16 million in guaranteed money and ties the veteran back to the Cowboys through the 2028 season. Coming off a career year, Williams remains with the Cowboys after playing the 2025 season on a one-year, “prove it” deal. The value on the contract is the same as was recently signed by Bears running back D’Andre Swift, making Williams the 16th highest paid back in the league on an average annual value basis. Expect Williams to enter the 2026 regular season as a borderline workhorse after handling 252 carries and seeing 51 targets in 16 healthy games a season ago.

Speaking to Jon Gruden on Gruden Goes Long, Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely said he wants to “be able to blossom” moving forward. He added that he would like to return to Baltimore, a place he considers “home,” but was upfront with the fact that “business is business” as he works his way through his first free agency of his career. “I just want to be on a team where I can get out there and help a quarterback, help a team be able to put as much points on the board as possible,” Likely concluded. We’ll need to see how the coming months play out, but it certainly appears as if Likely is preparing to find a new home on the open market for the 2027 season.