NFL Player News

Short notched two tackles across 40 snaps in Week 1 prior to exiting. He’ll be replaced by veteran Zach Kerr with sixth-round pick Bravvion Roy rotating in. It’s an impactful absence in Carolina’s trenches only one week after the Panthers allowed Josh Jacobs to roll with 25/93/3 in the season opener.

With Joe Brady landing the Bills head coaching job, Daboll is resigned to take over as OC for head coach Robert Saleh’s Titans. Daboll, who served as Bills offensive coordinator before becoming Giants head coach, will be charged with molding second-year QB Cam Ward following Ward’s uneven rookie year in which he was among the NFL’s most inefficient passers. Turning Ward into a viable starting NFL quarterback will be Saleh’s priority for 2026 as he tries to establish a winning culture for a team that has struggled mightily in recent years.

Maye seemed to have injured his shoulder during the Patriots’ AFC title game win over the Broncos. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was vague when asked about Maye’s practice status for the coming weeks. “This is a sport where there’s gonna be things that come up. We’ll talk about whatever status each player has for the game once we’re required to,” Vrabel said. If Maye is struggling with an injured shoulder, he’ll have a while to recover ahead of New England’s Super Bowl matchup against a tough Seattle defense. Joshua Dobbs is the Patriots’ backup QB.

While it’s hard to separate Brady’s play calling and offensive scheming from the all-world quarterbacking of Josh Allen, Brady’s Buffalo offenses have been productive. The Bills have been top-six in points scored and top-ten in total yards in all three of Brady’s seasons at the helm of the offense. Brady, 36, served as OC for the Panthers before coming to Buffalo in 2023. The Bills over the past three years lead the NFL in EPA per play and rank second in offensive success rate, trailing only Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers. Brady, at worst, will bring continuity to the team after they fired longtime head coach Sean McDermott following a Divisional Round loss to the Broncos.

Daboll could have his choice of destinations, somehow, after a rough stretch as New York’s head coach. Daboll reportedly prioritizes the Bills head coaching job but could fall back on the Raiders gig if Buffalo goes in another direction in the coming days. In Vegas, Daboll would be charged with heading a lengthy rebuild of a team without much talent and with no real direction from the front office, which may or may not be controlled by Fox Sports announcer Tom Brady. Daboll won 33.5 percent of his games as Giants head coach over three and a half seasons.

Schwartz could land the Browns’ head coach gig by default with so many candidates pulling out of the search for the league’s most unappealing job. During five seasons as Lions head coach, Schwartz was a disaster, posting a 29-51 record. He was unable to make the Lions a competitive team for much of that time; even the team’s defense was subpar. Schwartz, 59, would likely be a placeholder coach until the Browns can convince a young, up-and-coming coach to take a job no one really wants. Nate Scheelhaase and Todd Monken are reportedly also in the mix to coach Cleveland.

Loveland’s role in the Chicago passing attack grew steadily in the back half of his rookie season and peaked in the postseason, with Loveland shredding the Packers in the Wild Card Round for eight catches and 137 yards. “He’s going to be a weapon for a long time,” head coach Ben Johnson said. Loveland’s route tree expanded in the final couple months of the season, Wiederer said, as Bears coaches and Caleb Williams trusted him as the clear No. 1 pass catcher in the run-first Chicago offense. Loveland should be considered a candidate to lead all tight ends in fantasy scoring next season.

Stafford, 37, is coming off his best season as a pro, throwing a career-high 46 touchdowns alongside just eight interceptions. Stafford’s 2025 adjusted yards per attempt (8.82) was the best of his 17-year NFL career. “It’ll be a lot that goes into it,” Stafford said. “It’s a physical, a mental and emotional decision, a personal and a family decision as well. So, we’ll figure all that kind of stuff out with some time. ... I know I had a ton of fun playing football this season and had so much fun playing for the Rams. So when I’m ready to figure that out, I’ll be ready to figure that out. That moment isn’t right now.” Stafford is signed through the 2026 season and would count as a $48.2 million cap hit for the Rams.

Reich, if he’s hired by the Jets, is expected to call plays for the team’s offense, per Hughes. That would mean current offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand would be demoted following a 2025 season in which the talent-bare Jets offense had the NFL’s fourth lowest EPA per play and third lowest success rate. Hughes said Engstrand could maintain his OC title. Reich, a former NFL quarterback, served as offensive coordinator for the Chargers and Eagles before becoming the Colts’ head coach and then the Panthers’ head coach. Both head coaching tenures proved disastrous.

Wells has a connection with newly hired Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy. Wells coached Dallas tight ends throughout McCarthy’s Cowboys coaching tenure and stayed in Dallas with Brian Schottenheimer, who took over when McCarthy was fired. Wells in early January got an offensive coordinator interview with the Commanders. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him follow McCarthy to Pittsburgh as the Steelers undergo yet another offensive transition.

The former front office official told ESPN’s Rich Cimini that the lackluster effort on the part of Jets players was a telltale sign of a head coach who had not done anything to shift the team’s miserable culture, like his former boss, Dan Campbell, did in his first year with the Lions. Glenn “talked about swagger and toughness, but I didn’t see any of that. They played like a bunch of guys punching time clocks; they didn’t want to be there,” the former GM said. Glenn’s Jets struggled through a hopeless 3-14 season in 2025, posting one of the most lopsided scoring margins in recent NFL history. Glenn, a defensive specialist, gave total control of the defense to Steve Wilks, who was fired late in the season. New York was the first team in NFL history to go an entire season without an interception. Jets owner Woody Johnson will give Glenn another season to turn things around, Cimini said, because he was very much involved in hiring Glenn last offseason.