NFL Player News

Buccaneers beat writer Rick Stroud was the first to report the injury. Walker, who the Buccaneers drafted with the No. 121 overall pick in this year’s draft, will now redshirt his rookie season and hope to be back in action for 2026. The former Central Arkansas pass-rusher totaled 10.5 sacks in his final season of college ball and displayed high-end athleticism at the NFL Scouting Combine. The Buccaneers will likely take a look at another pass rusher or two to add to the roster with Walker now out for the season.

Pleasant has also interviewed for openings with the Browns and Cardinals, although the Cardinals have already opted to retain last year’s defensive coordinator. Pleasant first joined the Rams in 2023 as their DB coach and passing game coordinator, and has never held a title of defensive coordinator in college or the pros. Pleasant played a key role in helping the Rams’ defense finish in the top-10 in points allowed while also ranking 12th in yards per attempt allowed. He’s drawn enough attention this coaching cycle to suggest that even if he doesn’t land a coordinator role this offseason, one could be in store for him in the very near future.

It’s a big win for the NFL and its owners, especially those owners who consistently score low on these team report cards — looking at you, Jets. Jets owner Woody Johnson saw his team rank 21st out of 32 teams in the 2024 report card, only for his team to drop to 29th after the 2025 season. Johnson ripped the surveys for being “totally bogus” and played a key role in the attempt to ban them from being published in the future. According to the independent arbitrator, the NFLPA “refused to produce any information or data related to prior years’ surveys” while adding “the Report Cards were designed by the union to advance its interests under the guise of scientific exercise.” Surveys were allowed to continue to be conducted in the coming seasons, but they will remain hidden from the public eye for the foreseeable future.

Diggs is facing felony strangulation and suffocation charges, along with misdemeanor assault and battery charges stemming from an incident that involved him and his personal chef. Diggs is next scheduled to appear for a pretrial hearing on April 1st. Diggs’ attorney said he “categorically denies these allegations.” This is a situation that is likely to play out over the next several months, but we would expect the league to decide whether or not to hand down a fine and/or suspension once this is resolved.

Blough is taking over as offensive coordinator after the Commanders fired Kliff Kingsbury. His first order of business will be to revive the passing game that thrived in 2024 and flopped in 2025. McLaurin probably won’t average 10 opportunities per game in the literal sense. His career-high in targets per game is 8.9. Still, it’s good to see Blough committed to getting the ball in the hands of his team’s best pass-catcher, even if he’s fudging the numbers a little. McLaurin missed most of the offseason last year in search of a new contract and couldn’t stay healthy when he finally rejoined the team. He appeared in just 10 games and posted a 38/582/3 receiving line on the year. Health permitting, McLaurin should return to the WR2 ranks in 2026.

Retirement will soon be in Evans’ future, but the veteran receiver isn’t expected to hang it up after the 2025 season. Evans, who will be 33 at the start of next season, had the worst season of his career this year. He caught 30 passes for 368 yards and three touchdowns while missing nine games due to injuries. Laine reports that the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent has yet to discuss his future, suggesting a departure from the Buccaneers could be possible this offseason. It’s hard to know how much Evans has left in the tank at this stage of his career, and his days as a true WR1 could be behind him. That said, if healthy, there would be plenty of teams he could still help if he were to opt to leave Tampa in free agency.

According to Davenport, Ward has “been working mostly on footwork” this offseason. The No. 1overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft is hoping to rebound from a challenging rookie season and will have a new offensive coordinator in place in Brian Daboll. Ward suffered his shoulder injury in the final week of the season, but exams revealed it was a sprained AC join that would not require surgery. Ward and the Titans have a lot to improve on in 2026 after the offense finished 30th in scoring and 31st in total yards. Hopefully a healthy offseason will lead to some growth for the second-year signal-caller.

Bullen will have the title of run-game coordinator added to his title for the upcoming season. The 41-year-old coach received interviews for defensive coordinator openings from the Browns, Cowboys, and Cardinals after being passed on for the Giants’ DC role, but opted to remove his name from consideration for the remaining openings. Bullen joined the Giants in 2024 and briefly served as the team’s interim defensive coordinator in 2025 after Shane Bowen was fired in late-November.

The Cardinals’ defensive coordinator each of the past three seasons, 32-year-old Rallis was the youngest DC in the league when he was first hired three years ago. He’s had a rollercoaster ride in Arizona thus far, finishing bottom four in scoring defense two of the past three years. Discouraging, though former head coach Jonathan Gannon was largely responsible for his own defense. Rallis evidently impressed enough people inside the building to hang around under new head coach Mike LaFleur. It’s a gamble for a Cardinals team that arguably needed wholesale change, but also an olive branch to players who will at least now have one familiar face sticking around.

44-year-old Schaub, who retired in 2021, spent 2023 as an offensive analyst for the Falcons but otherwise has zero coaching experience. Arizona would represent a reunion of sorts, as new Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur was on the Falcons’ staff in 2015-16 when Schaub was backing up Matt Ryan. It’s always a bit risky to make a zero-experience coaching hire, but Schaub should know a thing or two about coaching up quarterbacks. This seems like a good get for first-time head man LaFleur.

Rapoport previously suggested a tag-and-trade scenario is possible. This time, he notes that the Cowboys acquired him for a third-round pick, so sending him away for a second would be a nice value increase. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo also believes the Cowboys will franchise tag Pickens, but made it a point to express consternation over the idea of then trading him away if the Cowboys’ goal is to one day win a Super Bowl.