NFL Player News

This is a tough break for Rakestraw (6'0/172), who had appeared in four games for Missouri this season, which included a start against Central Michigan in Week 1. Per Pro Football Focus, Rakestraw has 15 tackles on the season to go with three passes defensed on 216 snaps.

Johnson announcing his retirement is more of a formality than him actually walking away from the game. The do-it-all back who flirted with a 1,000-plus rushing and receiving yard season back in 2016 didn’t play a snap of football in 2023 and spent much of 2022 as a free agent before being signed to the Saints practice squad and suiting up for five games over the final three months of the season. When he was at his peak, Johnson was one of the best running backs in football — both real and fantasy. He was a key part of the disastrous 2020 offseason trade orchestrated by Bill O’Brien that sent DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals and proved to already be past his prime by the time he arrived in Houston as a 29-year-old running back. Johnson retires, having amassed 6,876 yards from scrimmage and 57 total touchdowns.

Mayer has been a full participant in the Raiders’ offseason program. His attention now turns to how to co-exist with new first-round teammate Brock Bowers. Mayer, of course, has said all the right things about his new position group mate, but Bowers’ presence is going to make it virtually impossible for Mayer to crack the top 20 at tight end despite his promising rookie campaign.

Dell’s trainer, Delfonte Diamond, posted a video to X showing the second-year wide receiver running routes and performing drills at the University of Houston indoor training facility Saturday. The fact that Dell, who is also recovering from a fractured fibula, is running and going through drills is a good indication that he will be ready for the start of the 2024 season.

It was Cousins’ answers at his introductory press conference that more or less spurred the investigation, as the veteran quarterback suggested on numerous occasions that he had impermissible contact with several members of the organization prior to the start of the new league year. He also said he played a role in recruiting Darnell Mooney by calling him prior to the official start of free agency. The league’s investigation is still ongoing, but the Falcons run the risk of losing draft picks if any violations are found. It’s hard to imagine the league lacking evidence of tampering, given how plainly Cousins laid out everything, but whether or not what they have is considered severe enough to warrant disciplinary actions won’t be known until the conclusion of the investigation.

Teammate Jason Godrick was also arrested with Morris, as the two were reportedly booked at the Johnson County Adult Detention Center around 2 A.M. Friday morning. Both players have since posted bond and were released, with their court appearances scheduled for May 23. It continues to be a rough offseason for the defending Super Bowl champions, who are dealing with the legal issues Rashee Rice has found himself in, and controversial comments recently made by kicker Harrison Butker. Morris is expected to compete with rookie Kingsley Suamataia for the starting left tackle job this offseason. Both players could be subject to discipline from the NFL depending on how the rest of this shakes out.

Perine appeared in three games for the Chiefs last season and drew the start in a meaningless Week 18 game, where he totaled 109 yards from scrimmage against the Chargers. It was the most run Perine had seen since 2020, and he failed to take a regular season snap in 2022. The former fourth-round pick will be 26 at the start of this season and has a career rushing line of 94-340-2. He could earn another chance to compete for a job this offseason, but he’s unlikely to offer much fantasy upside regardless of landing spot.

Morris was drafted by the Chiefs in the third round of last year’s draft but played sparingly behind veteran Donovan Smith. He did manage to start four games on the year, allowing two sacks on 20 pressures in those starts, but won’t be handed the job heading into Week 1. Suamataia, who was drafted in the second round of this year’s draft, is expected to compete with Morris for the starting gig and has experience at both left and right tackle in college. It’s possible this gets settled before the end of training camp to ensure the eventual starter sees plenty of snaps with the first-team before the season kicks off against the Ravens.

Hockenson suffered a torn ACL and MCL in last year’s Week 16 loss to the Lions. The veteran tight end said he and the team are “taking it day by day, week by week” and noted that there are “so many variables” that one can go through during the rehab process. Hockenson also added he’s “doing really good right now,” which is an encouraging sign for the Vikings and fantasy managers. Still, the late timing of his injury could result in him missing time early in the season as he continues his recovery. The Vikings have Josh Oliver and Johnny Mundt both on the roster and also signed Robert Tonyan to a contract earlier this week. If they don’t feel like Hockenson is ready to go, they have the players in place to wait out his recovery should it continue into the regular season.

Harris has reportedly lost seven pounds this offseason and has been “almost obsessively clean” with his diet in recent months. “It’s all fueling his fire to have an even better season than last year and prove a lot of people wrong,” said Josh Scott, Harris’ trainer. “There’s a lot of people that hate on him for whatever reason, but he’s been as consistent as you can be. He’s durable. I think he’s going to continue with that. I mean, contract season, that pretty much speaks for itself.” The Steelers this month decided not to pick up Harris’ fifth-year option, though the team has not ruled out striking a deal with Harris to keep him in Pittsburgh beyond the 2024 season. He’ll likely split the backfield workload this season with the more explosive, efficient Jaylen Warren.

Jones said Tua, lobbying for a long-term deal with the Dolphins, has been “absent for the large majority of voluntary offseason work since the Dolphins reported back April 15" and might not join his teammates at voluntary workouts starting Monday. Tagovailoa said in April that he would not miss any offseason workouts while working out a contract with the team. Dolphins general manager Chris Grier has said he wants to sign Tua to a longer term deal — despite Tua’s shortcomings in an otherwise productive Miami offense. This situation will likely be resolved in the coming weeks. If it isn’t, Tagovailoa could face daily fines of $40,000 if he sits out some or all of training camp. The team could save those fines if it sees fit, Jones said.