NFL Player News

Phelps (6’2/244) spent his first three seasons at Miami (OH) where he was a two-time All-MAC performer but transferred to play for former MAC HC Lance Leipold, who coached against Phelps when he was at the helm of Buffalo. His step up to the Power Five level worked out perfectly, as Phelps led the Jayhawks with 11.5 TFL and 7.0 sacks en route to being named Second Team All-Big 12. Undersized in stature but not in terms of his effort, he attacks the pocket at a frenetic pace while using side-steps and a nice hop/chop maneuver in order to free himself from blockers’ hands. His arms are a sub-optimal 32” and he sometimes got rag-dolled by better P5 linemen, but Phelps makes up for it with scary burst as is reflected in his 4.55s 40-yard dash (98th%) and 1.57s 10-yard split (97th%). He’s never going to be a factor in the run game, but Phelps has the athleticism (8.45 RAS) and juice off the edge to be a passing down specialist.

Legette, who faded into WR3/4 territory last season in the run-heavy Carolina offense, has appeared more interested in the details of being a professional wide receiver over the past few months, according to Young and head coach Dave Canales. “[Legette] is putting in the time in the playbook,” Canales told reporters this week. “He’s busting his butt on the field, working on little technical skills.” Legette had a meager 35 receptions for 363 yards and three touchdowns in 15 games last season. He’ll remain a potential trade candidate this summer after the Panthers selected Tennessee wide receiver Chris Brazzell in the third round of the 2026 draft.

Sorsby has been the subject of numerous legal battles within the NCAA ranks amidst a betting scandal this offseason. It appears as if he has decided to move on from the cyclone he created in favor of trying his hand at the professional level. The NFL will need to approve his eligibility first and foremost before a supplemental draft would be held, during which teams would submit blind bids for any approved players. That number would stand at one, if Sorsby is approved, but it provides an interesting wrinkle to an otherwise lackluster quarterback draft class in an offseason with no shortage of quarterback-needy teams. Widely considered a surefire first-round pick, and potentially the No. 1 overall pick, Sorsby should drum up significant interest in the coming month if he gains eligibility. Teams would bid on Sorsby with associated draft picks in the coming draft, sorted by round. A winning team would then forfeit that round’s pick in the following draft.

The 15-year veteran has spent the entirety of his career wearing the black and gold in New Orleans but chose to test free agency heading into 2026. After a rather slow market through June, the two sides agreed to meet to discuss a return to the Saints. Saints beat reporter Matthew Paras reported late Monday that the two sides have made progress on a potential deal that would see the franchise’s all-time sacks leader return, but no other outlet has reported an impending agreement. The soon-to-be 37-year-old likely wouldn’t be in line for a robust snap rate should he return to New Orleans, but there is something to be said of the leadership and proven track record he would bring back to a familiar roster.

This one certainly slipped through the cracks. Harvey reportedly “hasn’t done much team work in OTAs but has been practicing,” according to Evans. While we don’t know when Harvey underwent the surgery, it presumably occurred shortly after the loss to the Patriots, so we would expect him to be at the tail end of his recovery. The second-year back totaled 896 yards from scrimmage and 12 touchdowns in his rookie season, but he will face competition for touches this season with J.K. Dobbins returning and rookie Jonah Coleman now added to the mix. In games that both Harvey and Dobbins played in last season, Harvey averaged just 7.9 opportunities per game compared to the 17.9 opps/gm he saw in games he missed, with Dobbins handling the majority of the rushing work. Hopefully Harvey will be good to go when training camp kicks off next month, but this will be something worth watching until we have received word that he is fully healthy and ready to go.

Jacas is the only second-round pick from the 2026 NFL Draft who remains unsigned. The former Illinois pass-rusher was dealing with a hamstring injury throughout the draft process, and according to Reiss, NFL teams that evaluated Jacas during the pre-draft process discovered a torn labrum and a stress fracture. The injury that reportedly caused him to miss OTAs and minicamp was a knee procedure. During his four-year college career, Jacas played in 50 games, racking up 27 tackles and 35.5 TFLs. He’ll eventually sign his rookie deal and report to the team, but it doesn’t sound like he’s anywhere close to suiting up. We’re still waiting for a clear report from the team on a timeline for Jacas’ return.

After staying away from the team during voluntary workouts, Pickens is officially in the facilities and “is expected to attend mandatory minicamp this Tuesday, Wednesday, [and] Thursday,” per Machota. The Cowboys franchise tagged Pickens earlier this offseason, but the star receiver is still hoping to secure a long-term deal before the start of this season, although the Cowboys have said they don’t intend to negotiate with him ahead of the July deadline to sign tagged players to multi-year deals. In his first season with the Cowboys, Pickens enjoyed a career year, totaling 93 receptions for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns — all of which were career-highs. His decision to report to minicamp is a good sign, although that could simply be out of a desire to avoid being fined for his absence. How much he participates in practice over the three-day period will be worth watching as the week unfolds.

Pearce is in the middle of an ongoing legal situation stemming from a February arrest that resulted in him being charged with three felonies and one misdemeanor. The 22-year-old pass-rusher recently entered a pre-trial intervention program that can result in all charges being dismissed if he meets the conditions of the program, and the league is reportedly “closely monitoring all developments” with Pearce. We don’t yet know if the league plans to hand down a suspension to Pearce, but it wouldn’t be surprising if some disciplinary action was taken after everything is resolved in his case.

Penix participated in the Falcons’ OTAs last month and was splitting first-team reps with Tua Tagovailoa, but the third-year quarterback has not yet been cleared for 11-on-11 sessions. With the Falcons starting minicamp this week, we’ll soon have an answer on whether or not he’ll be cleared or be forced to wait until training camp to try and return to the field. Penix is nearly seven months removed from surgery to repair the partially torn ACL he suffered in Week 11 of last season, so it wouldn’t be surprising doctors said it was too early for him to return for 11-on-11’s. If he’s unable to go, Tagovailoa would get all of the reps with the first team offense, which could position him well ahead of the QB battle that’s expected to take place in training camp if Penix is healthy.

Nix is expected to have a role at the team’s mandatory minicamp this week, but Payton seems confident that his QB1 will be ready for training camp after undergoing a cleanup procedure on his ankle in late April. How much work Nix does in minicamp is to be determined, but he continues to trend in the right direction with training camp just over a month away.

After a strong showing in the 2026 UFL season, where he racked up a league-high 641 yards and three touchdowns on 29 receptions. The former fourth-round pick hasn’t played an NFL snap since 2020 and appeared in only two regular-season games after bouncing around the league for six seasons. Butler joins a relatively deep receiver room in Denver and should be considered a long shot to make the 53-man roster.