NFL Player News

With the Bengals playing on Thursday night against the Ravens, Higgins is up against a short turnaround time to clear protocol if he hopes to play in Week 13. Higgins caught five passes for 31 yards in the Bengals’ Week 12 loss to the Patriots, but entered the week with a four-game touchdown streak. His likely absence in Week 13 should free up more targets for Ja’Marr Chase against a Ravens secondary that’s ranked 24th in receiving yards allowed this season.

Per Evans, Coleman has been “heavily involved in the Broncos’ passing game,” flashing the necessary “open-field burst to be a threat on screen passes and choice routes out of the backfield.” Coleman (5'8/220) also possesses “enough stockiness to chip rushers on obvious passing downs.” Veteran RB J.K. Dobbins is set to handle primary rushing duties. Second-year RB RJ Harvey is practicing in a limited capacity following offseason shoulder surgery. Harvey is the incumbent receiving back and will ostensibly be given the chance to fend off Coleman in training camp. Three-player backfields typically create fantasy-unfriendly situations. If Coleman forces a timeshare on passing downs, it will be tough for him and Harvey to produce reliably. If one player can separate from the other, he could offer PPR FLEX value. This is worth following closely in training camp.

The Falcons designated Hayball as their exempt international player, so he does not count against the team’s 90-man roster limit. He played in all 17 games with the Saints as a rookie in 2024, averaging 44.0 yards per punt on 75 attempts. He did not play in 2025. Hayball will compete with veteran P Jake Bailey this year.

Bringing Snowden aboard gives the Cowboys a capable backup pass rusher. He tallied 10 quarterback pressures and two sacks on 52 pass-rushing snaps last year. He also chipped in 18 solo tackles and five TFLs, while earning a career-best 70.5 PFF defense grade.

Wheeler, 24, entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Bears in 2024. He briefly spent time on the Saints’ practice squad last year before making his way to the UFL, where he played for the Louisville Kings in 2026. He was productive as a rusher, posting a 68/370/6 stat line. Wheeler will now compete for the RB4 spot behind James Cook, Ty Johnson and Ray Davis.

Schottenheimer began this section of the press conference by saying that he was very pleased with Pickens’ playbook preparedness when he showed up for mandatory minicamp this week. He did not attend organized team activities, so this is great to hear. Regarding Pickens’ pre-snap alignment, he will not just play X-receiver this season — Schottenheimer notes that Pickens does not like doing that anyway. Schottenheimer plans to line Pickens up in the slot, and isolated on the front side, on the same side as the tight end. Pickens logged just 77 slot snaps last season and 891 out wide. Giving him more opportunities to run routes against safeties and linebackers from the slot will increase his fantasy-scoring floor and ceiling. Schottenheimer also plans to expand Pickens’ route tree and build elements of the offense around his strengths, noting Pickens’ slant route successes last season in particular. He’s a WR1.

The consensus among Cleveland beat writers was that neither Watson nor Shedeur Sanders shined during the team’s OTA practices. “Watson seems healthy and occasionally threw downfield with confidence,” Jackson said, “but he lacked consistency and too often threw into traffic.” Sanders, meanwhile, “seemed to be a more confident and accurate passer later in the spring than he was early on.” Browns head coach Todd Monken said he would have liked to name a starter headed into training camp next month but neither quarterback stepped up in June. “Whether Sanders can win the job this summer remains to be seen,” Jackson said. Neither Browns QB would likely be a viable option in one-QB leagues this season.

Reporters noticed Williams was not participating in organized team activities last week. The Cowboys hosted their three-day mandatory minicamp this week, and it sounds like Williams was either limited or held out again today. Schottenheimer was asked whether this was due to Williams’ shoulder injury from last season or simply veteran maintenance. Fortunately, Schottenheimer said Williams is “in a great spot” and “looks great.” His absence was “more about getting the young guys some reps in this last full-speed practice.” It seems like the Cowboys are hoping that one of Blue or Mafah can step up and be a reliable backup. If one separates from the other, he will be a worthwhile late-round pick.

Reporters asked Quinn to name players who stood out and stepped up throughout the offseason. White, WR Van Jefferson and rookie WR Jaden Bradley were the three offensive players. The latter two could have a tough time achieving fantasy relevance, but White has a wide range of outcomes. The Commanders are hoping RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt can return from his soft tissue injury and prove his three-down viability. They also drafted RB Kaytron Allen. White, 27, has struggled to perform well as a rusher, but is a proven passing game contributor. Depending on how things shake out in training camp, White could have a reliable role this season.

Holskey is a former Giants practice squad player who received a reserve/futures contract from them in January. The Broncos also signed undrafted free agent rookie CB Blake Cotton, who spent his 2025 college season playing at Utah. They waived OL Nash Jones.

Hennessy’s season is over. The Cowboys also released CB Corey Ballentine and waived WR Romello Brinson. The Cowboys correspondingly agreed to terms with two UFL players, former Houston Gamblers CB Ameer Speed and former Columbus Aviators OL Chris Glaser. Glaser unsuccessfully competed for a Cowboys roster spot last summer before entering the UFL.