NFL Player News

An UDFA out of Mississippi State, Brown caught seven passes for 99 yards and a touchdown in the preseason.

If two missed field goals and a missed extra point in last season’s Wild Card round loss to the Bears didn’t spell McManus’ impending exit, then the selection of Florida kicker Trey Smack in the sixth round of this year’s draft almost certainly did. McManus, 34, converted 24-of-30 field goals during the regular season in 2025, but struggled on distances of 40-plus yards, going 6-for-12 from that range. McManus will likely catch on with another team before training camp and get a chance to compete for a starting job for the upcoming season.

The Jets used their No. 2 overall pick to shore up their pass-rush with the selection of Bailey. The former Texas Tech Red Raider racked up a blistering 14.5 sacks and 19.5 TFLs in his last collegiate season, earning Unanimous All-American honors while also being named the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year. In their first season under head coach Aaron Glenn, the Jets were among the worst defenses in the league, allowing the second-most points and the eighth-most yards per game, and were one of the worst against the pass. They impressively failed to force an interception all of last season and tallied the second-fewest sacks (26) of any team. If he lives up to his potential, Bailey should help improve those sack totals and may even force a quarterback into making a bad decision or two along the way.

Glenn said he has no update on where things currently stand between the Jets and Russell Wilson, who is reportedly weighing his options between signing with the Jets as a backup or walking away from football to take on a media job. Wilson, 37, threw for 831-3-3 in six games with the Giants last season while completing a career worst 58 percent of his passes. With his best days clearly behind him, if a backup job with the Jets is the best he can get, he could opt to call it a career. If he did sign with the Jets, he would be the early favorite to open 2026 as the team’s QB2 behind Geno Smith.

Regarded by some as the top receiver in this year’s draft, injury concerns may have been the reason Tyson “fell” to the Saints at No. 8 overall in this year’s draft. Now under contract, Tyson, whose deal is worth $32.5 million in guaranteed money, is ready to get to work in his rookie year and has a chance to elevate a Saints passing game that began to show signs of life once Tyler Shough took over as the starter last season. Tyson can work both on the outside and in the slot and excelled after the catch during his time at Arizona State. He projects as a first-year starter and could make an early impact for fantasy managers in what appears to be an ascending offense in 2026.

Branch played 77.9 percent of his college snaps from the slot, per PFF, and at 5-foot-9, 177 pounds, it’s widely believed he will see most of his work in the slot as a pro. Despite this belief, Stefanski praised his rookie receiver for his versatility and ability to line up anywhere on the field, suggesting the Falcons could look to utilize him in multiple ways this season. After Drake London, the Falcons’ receiving depth gets very thin. Veterans Jahan Dotson and Olamide Zaccheaus currently project as the team’s other two starting receivers, but Branch, a third-round pick in this year’s draft, could look to unseat either vet in camp to earn some early playing time. Branch caught 81 passes for 811 yards and six touchdowns last season at Georgia, setting career-highs in every receiving metric.

Browns GM Andrew Berry said in February that he wasn’t “overly optimistic” about the possibility of Owusu-Koramoah playing in 2026 after the linebacker suffered a neck injury in 2024 that also sidelined him for all of 2025. It seems increasingly likely that Owusu-Koramoah’s career may be over, which was speculated earlier this offseason as well. He totaled 61 tackles and three sacks in eight games when he last played in 2024.

According to The Athletic’s Mike Kaye, the Panthers converted Horn’s 2026 salary earlier in the week, which freed up enough cap space for the Panthers to sign six draft picks and 10 UDFAs on Thursday. Horn signed a four-year extension with the Panthers in 2025 and remains under contract through the 2029 season. Last year he totaled 37 tackles, eight pass breakups, and five interceptions in 16 games and has earned a Pro Bowl nod in each of the last two seasons.

Styles will get a fully guaranteed $37.2 million on his rookie deal. The rookie linebacker is expected to immediately fill the hole left by Bobby Wagner, who remains a free agent after spending the last two seasons with the Commanders. Styles, 21, totaled 182 tackles in his final two seasons at Ohio State after making the switch from safety to linebacker, and is one of the most physically gifted rookies of the 2026 draft class. He’ll look to help the Commanders turn around a defense that ranked 27th in points allowed and last in total yards allowed last season.

The deal includes an $8 million base salary. Jennings can make an extra $5 million via incentives. This will be Jennings’ first time playing for a team other than the 49ers, who drafted him in the 2020 NFL Draft’s seventh round. Jennings, 28, caught 55 passes for 643 yards and a career-high nine touchdowns last year. He should start in three-wide receiver sets alongside Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Jefferson will rarely leave the field, but one wonders if Jennings (6'3/212) might be able to steal snaps from Addison (5'11/175) in two-wide receiver sets, in part due to Jennings’ run-blocking ability. Addison, 24, is the more talented receiver, so we expect him to remain the No. 2 target earner, but this dynamic is worth keeping an eye on in training camp. For now, Jennings can be viewed as a WR4/FLEX, while Jefferson sits in the WR1 tier and Addison in the WR2/3 range.

Per Over The Cap, the contract is worth $7.09 million. Forecasting Branch’s year one fantasy relevance is difficult. He stands just 5'9/177 and generated much of his receiving production in the screen game last year. That said, he is a very talented player with the ball in his hands and the Falcons’ wide receiver corps thins out quickly behind No. 1 WR Drake London. Veterans WRs Jahan Dotson and Olamide Zaccheaus are penciled in as the Nos. 2 and 3 players in his position group. Unseating one, or both, is possible.