NFL Player News

Oladapo (6’2/216) arrived on campus as a preferred walk-on cornerback and molded himself into the rocked-up, versatile playmaker of today after six years at academies of higher learning. He barely saw game action during his first three years on campus, but in 2021 he ran with his opportunity by recording 68 tackles, 6.0 TFL and 10 PBU to go with 20 stops. Oladapo would post 154 tackles with 16 PBU over the next two seasons, while earning the fifth-highest PFF defensive grade in the nation and number-one run defense grade among all Power Five back line contemporaries in 2023. Oladapo is unusually shifty for his build and can adequately patrol his half of the side of the field in deep coverage. A captain who directs traffic and is a fierce run supporter, Oladapo can be clunky in his transitions and is vulnerable if asked to carry receivers downfield. However, he has an NFL caliber physical profile and could eventually be deployed as a run-down box safety.

With JuJu Smith-Schuster and Hollywood Brown still free agents, Thornton currently figures as their No. 3 option behind Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy. When you factor in how often Rice has been sidelined due to injury or off-field incidents — another of which is possible this offseason — Thornton could step into real fantasy value at some point this year if the Chiefs don’t draft or sign anyone ahead of him. It’s a situation worth monitoring. Taylor’s words do suggest that the Chiefs aren’t actively looking to block Thornton.

Dulcich led all tight ends in average yards after the catch in 2026 despite not seeing a full-time role. With Darren Waller in free agency and the Dolphins’ salary cap in shambles, it’s quite possible the Dolphins don’t add further to the tight end position. If they don’t Dulcich can be embraced as a TE2 sleeper with TE1 upside.

Robinson’s free agency has been slow to this point in the legal tampering cycle, but he figures to be involved in a few places. We wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted a bigger opportunity than he figures to get behind Christian McCaffrey. He didn’t crack 10 carries in a single game with the 49ers after coming over in a trade before the season.

It’s worth noting that nowhere in this reaction to Day 1 did Dugar even mention “incumbent” back George Holani, who feels like a placeholder at the top of the depth chart while Zach Charbonnet recovers from a January ACL tear. The Seahawks will (our speculation) likely find a veteran back in free agency to head up a committee while Charbonnet recovers.

Kupp’s 2026 cap hit is $17.4 million, fourth-highest on the team behind Sam Darnold, Leonard Williams and Uchenna Nwosu. The Seahawks can’t clear much of it via a release, but they could trade him and save roughly $9.4 million if they found a taker. That sounds like a lot to ask. With a full season to implement Shaheed into the offense, we may just see Kupp become WR5 background noise for fantasy purposes.

A lifelong passion for snapping footballs as long as one can has turned into a lucrative career for DePaola, whose long snaps have sailed so long that they landed him in the Pro Bowl not once, not twice, but three times. DePaola, who is also a two-time First-team All-Pro, has been named team captain in each of the last two seasons, which explains the fully-guaranteed deal he received. You simply won’t find a better player or locker room guy to do what the soon-to-be 39-year-old does.

From The Charlotte Observer’s Mike Kaye, Ray has played in more games under Panthers DC Ejiro Evero than any other player on the team. He missed the first month of the season with a high-ankle sprain that limited him to 13 games on the year. Ray sees most of his reps against the run and will likely retain that limited role in 2026.

It raised some eyebrows when the 49ers agreed to terms with Lowe on Monday while Williams was reportedly available in trade talks. While it may yet wind up unfolding that way, The Athletic’s 49ers beats note that the 49ers have until March 20 to rework the deal — that’s when a $10 million option bonus is due. Lowe’s two-year, $12 million contract is a reasonable swing tackle deal if it comes to that.

It comes on the heels of a report from Adam Schefter that teams haven’t met Hendrickson’s asking price so far — it feels like the league as a whole has gotten together to tell Hendrickson that he’s not a top-dollar player at age-32 and coming off missing most of the year to a core injury. We’ll see how that settles, it’s still early in free agency, but it wouldn’t be entirely surprising if Hendrickson lingered.

Hobbs had a dreadful injury-ravaged year with the Packers, and only started through Week 7. ESPN’s Rob Demovsky reports that this is a post-June 1 release, leaving Green Bay with $8 million in eventual cap savings this year. Hobbs, who signed a four-year contract with the Packers last offseason, feels like a candidate to start elsewhere in 2026 if healthy. He won’t factor into compensatory draft pick formulas since he was released and is only entering his age-27 season.