NFL Player News

The Commanders’ trading Robinson felt like a lock after it was announced last week that the team was shopping the fourth-year back. A day later, Robinson and the Commanders mutually agreed to sit him in the team’s preseason game against the Bengals, and now he’ll be on his way to the Bay Area to help a depleted Niners backfield. Robinson rushed for 799 yards and eight touchdowns in his first season in Kliff Kingsbury’s offense, but wasn’t deemed a scheme fit by the season’s end. The selection of Jacory “Bill” Croskey-Merritt, who has impressed in camp, has made Robinson expendable, and a now valuable addition to the Niners. He should immediately slot in as the RB2 behind Christian McCaffrey, but it seems unlikely that he will earn much work if McCaffrey sees his normal workload. Robinson is a solid between-the-tackles grinder who has averaged 4.1 YPC for his career. He could make for a decent handcuff in deeper leagues if McCaffrey were ever to miss time.

In other words: Brissett isn’t necessarily gunning for an extension, but he definitely wants to be paid like a starting quarterback if he’s going to start. Brissett’s contract calls for just $1.5 million in guarantees in 2026. It feels like the Cardinals could make this headache go away pretty easily if they wanted to based on this report — it’s not like Brissett is asking for future money, and the Cardinals have $35 million in cap space. But if they did that, they wouldn’t be the Arizona Cardinals.

Wilson told Weinfuss that he hopes to stay in Arizona long-term and that he knows last year’s 1,000-yard season will help him “a lot” in negotiations. It’s worth noting that this is only one side of the story and Wilson has no need to rock the boat in what would be a contract season, but it sounds like from Wilson’s point of view the Cardinals are engaged in active extension talks with him.

The Seahawks wrapped up Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s extension early in the offseason, but haven’t been able to come to terms with Witherspoon despite making an initial offer three months ago. It’s hard to infer the state of the negotiations from that line alone, but obviously there’s some gap still to be bridged at this time. One of the NFL’s best cornerbacks, Witherspoon figures to be near the top of the market when his deal is finally hammered out.

It’s a weird way to put it — so someone involved isn’t sure? — but it still feels more likely than not that O’Neill will get extended this offseason after being an observer during OTAs. The right tackle has been a force for the Vikings since being selected in the 2018 draft’s second round and figures to be a part of their plan so long as he continues playing well.

Wright was absolutely essential to how the Bears operated last year, to the point where Ben Johnson admitted the team favored plays to their right because they knew he’d be rock solid on the edge. The Bears picked up Wright’s fifth-year option earlier this offseason and have two years of team control on him, so jumping out ahead of an extension and spread it over these next two years would probably be fiscally prudent for them anyway.

Browns beat writers have been very careful to say that they don’t know why Ward didn’t participate in mandatory minicamp — Todd Monken said nothing when asked about it — but it does have the whiff of a hold in situation. Ward has no guaranteed salary remaining on his deal entering his age-29 season, so it feels like a no-brainer for him to get some sort of adjustment.

It’s the last piece of offseason business they have to wrap up after signing two of their other three pillars, De’Von Achane and Aaron Brewer, to extensions over the summer. Brooks, turning 29 in October, has started all 34 Dolphins games the last two years and was named a first-team All-Pro after leading the league with 183 tackles in 2025.

Banks didn’t participate in any of the offseason practices, though he did work on the rehab field, after suffering a broken foot at the NFL Combine. This doesn’t feel overly concerning at this point, though it wouldn’t be surprising if the work that Banks has missed gives him a slower start to his NFL career.

Washington remains short of wide receiver depth headed into training camp, with Terry McLaurin as the clear No. 1 option and Treylon Burks perhaps profiling as the team’s WR2. Jhabvala said Samuel’s familiarity with the Commanders could make him an easy fit as a secondary or tertiary pass-catching option in OC David Blough’s system. “He played all three seasons in Washington alongside Dyami Brown, and he’s familiar with receivers coach Bobby Engram, who was Samuel’s positional coach for his final season with the Commanders,” Jhabvala said. “Samuel’s not at the point in his career where he could be a No. 2 in terms of workload, but his versatility and ability to separate could make him a good depth option in Blough’s offense.” Entering his age-30 season, Samuel — who mostly functions as a slot wideout — had just 38 receptions over 20 games with the Bills over the past two seasons. He is six years removed from his career 2020 season in Carolina.

Aiyuk, who is still under contract with the 49ers, continues to post highly erratic videos to social media platforms after a California judge issued a warrant for his arrest in early June following exhibitionist speeding past the 49ers stadium. Jhabvala said the posts could make it less likely that Aiyuk lands with Washington ahead of the regular season. It’s been nearly 20 months since Aiyuk was last on an NFL field. “What was once a seemingly minimal-risk option now appears more concerning,” Jhabvala said, adding that the Commanders would “have to feel incredibly confident that he’s fit, physically and emotionally, to not just sign, but be committed to what they’re trying to build.” That appears more unlikely with every unhinged Instagram video. Aiyuk, 28, said on June 25 that he would “sign with the Commanders” tomorrow if the Niners cut him from their roster.