NFL Player News

The Jets wanted to trade back in the first round to get an extra Day 2 pick, but didn’t find any takers. A jump to the early second would suggest they’re targeting fallers like LSU CB Greedy Williams and Florida OT Jawaan Taylor, or a top-30 visit like Texas A&M OL Erik McCoy. Moving up that far would cost the Jets significant future picks.

He signed a one-day contract to retire as a Ram. Woods peaked with the Jared Goff Era early Sean McVay Rams, where he signed as a free agent after a four-year rookie deal in Buffalo. Woods managed 3,289 yards and 14 touchdowns over a three-year stretch from 2018-2020. His last real action was with the Texans in 2023 and 2024, though he bounced around the Steelers in the 2025 offseason and did a few practice squad stints. Woods retires with 683 receptions for 8233 yards and 38 scores.

Bitonio, who has been contemplating retirement openly, asked the Browns for a few more weeks to do so. The club agreed. If Bitonio plays in 2026, he’ll be entering his age-35 season. Bitonio last carried a PFF grade above 80 in the 2022 season, though he’s remained solid and reliable for the Browns over the last three seasons.

It was sort of assumed that Evans would just run it back in Tampa as a career Buccaneer, but perhaps he’s actually interested in seeing what is out there for him. That’s about how it played out the last time Evans hit free agency, when he wound up with a two-year, $41 million contract with $29 million in guarantees. The Buccaneers have a much better wideout room now than they did in 2024, at least on paper, with Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin, and Jalen McMillan under contract. Evans is also entering his age-33 season and coming off a year where he missed time with a broken collarbone, so his market may also be reduced. Still, he played well while healthy. This will be one to watch over the next few weeks.

Fields would incur a $22 million dead cap hit and save the Jets only $1 million against the cap if released, and yet Rosenblatt still believes that is a likely scenario because the Jets are not lacking for cap space. Fields would likely find backup work somewhere if released, but the Jets runout appears likely to have been his final chance to cut it as a starter in the NFL. Rosenblatt also notes that it’s unlikely any team would trade for Fields at this point.

Allgeier will probably be one of the highest-regarded backs on the market, and Kendall notes that the Falcons can’t afford to give him starting running back money behind Bijan Robinson. Allgeier could wind up in a terrific fantasy situation this year — the Chiefs and Texans (our speculation) are two rooms he could step into as the lead back easily with real upside — and could find himself in the RB2 tier in the right landing spot.

When the Ravens surprisingly re-upped Mark Andrews in-season, it seemed to point to the idea that Likely could leave in free agency. This report only accentuates that. Turning 26 in April, Likely would seem to be one of the few free agent tight ends (perhaps alongside Chig Okonkwo) with any real starter upside. Zrebiec believes “he should do quite well” in free agency.

Linderbaum is expected to have a strong market, in other words. The two natural landing spots will be a return to Baltimore and a reunion with coach John Harbaugh in New York, though neither are exactly flush with cap space. Linderbaum has posted PFF grades above 74.6 in all four of his seasons and is a strong run blocker despite being undersized. He’ll turn 26 in April.

The Bengals have left open the option to trade Hendrickson through the franchise tag, but that seems like a really unrealistic scenario on paper. Hendrickson would, after being tagged back-to-back years, be guaranteed a $30.2 million salary in 2026. He could simply sign the tag and likely do better for himself than he would on the free market. This feels a lot like the Vikings trying to drum up a market for Sam Darnold in a tag-and-trade last year — if a team can’t afford to tag the player and simply keep him, it’s hard to believe that a trade will come to fruition.

Schwartz, who resigned from the Browns defensive coordinator job in early February after Todd Monken was named head coach, is set to take the year off with all defensive coordinator chairs filled. Vic Fangio appears to be very “year to year” with the Eagles at this point and contemplated stepping down this offseason. Schwartz’s deal with the Browns has a club option for 2027 that may require compensation in return, but Breer believes he will be the “belle of the defensive coaches’ ball” in 2027.

The depths of the McCarthy struggles last year were obvious, but the fact that the Vikings didn’t even trust him to do some fairly remedial work adds another layer to just how fractured this offense was. It’s almost impossible to imagine McCarthy winning a starting job against whoever the Vikings bring in this offseason. In fact, with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah fired, it’s probably not far-fetched to suggest that McCarthy could be available in a trade if another team still believes in him. If he stays in Minnesota, McCarthy is an easy fantasy football fade in 2026.