NFL Player News

Panthers coaches and front office officials “still believe in” Young despite his ups and downs this season, including a Week 13 meltdown against a weak Niners defense. Young finished the 2024 season on a hot streak after being benched early that season, but started 2025 with baffling decision making and poor throws both in the short areas and downfield. On the season Young ranks 21st out of 33 qualifying quarterbacks in drop back success rate and 30th out of 40 quarterbacks in yards per attempt. Graziano said he expects the Panthers to keep Young around in 2026 “because the cost will be reasonable (around $26.5 million), but then the question becomes what to do after that.”

The Bengals have until May 1st to decide if they want to exercise Murphy’s fifth-year option or let his current contract expire at the end of next season. Murphy, who has totaled 8.5 sacks in 47 career games with the Bengals, had the best season of his career in 2025 and is “just starting to scratch the surface,” per Tobin, but whether or not they want to commit $14.475 million to him to retain him in 2027 is something the team isn’t sure of. We’ll know by the end of this week if Murphy’s option is exercised, but if not, he’ll likely need a breakout season in 2026 if he hopes to sign a long-term deal with the Bengals in the offseason.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported shortly before the start of Day 1 of last week’s draft that Pickens would be signing his franchise tag. Now, it appears that is not the case. Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones said last week that the team would not have negotiations with Pickens for a long-term deal this year, but it’s possible that Pickens and his team may take their time to see if a deal can still be reached. There’s not much we know here other than Pickens hasn’t signed his tag, but with the deadline to sign tags still over two months away, Pickens has plenty of time to see if the Cowboys are willing to budge and ink him to a new deal rather than force him to play on the one-year tag. If he does play on the tag, Pickens would earn a guaranteed $27.3 million.

The official decision comes nearly a month after EVP Rob Brzezinski said the team was planning to do so. It’s been an up-and-down start for Addison through the first three years of his career. The former No. 23 overall pick has tallied a career receiving line of 175-2,396-22 in his career while playing opposite Justin Jefferson, with his best season (70-911-10) coming as a rookie. Addison missed three games last season due to a suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, and was arrested for misdemeanor trespassing charges earlier this offseason. While it wouldn’t be surprising if he and the Vikings eventually hammer out an extension, Addison may need to play out his contract through the 2027 season if he hopes to land the long-term deal.

This is, of course, all speculation, but Payton is one of the more athletic QBs (4.56 40-yard dash, 9.86 RAS) to come through the draft in recent memory, and there’s been plenty of speculation about what the Eagles have planned for him after making him the fourth quarterback on the roster. Mosher notes in his article that he reached out to an NFL personnel executive who scouted Payton to get his thoughts on him. Said scout replied, “not sure he’s a QB,” and according to Mosher, the “personnel exec and the team he works for weren’t alone in that opinion.” It’s worth noting that Payton was asked to participate in non-QB drills at North Dakota State’s Pro Day but declined. Now that he’s found his landing spot to begin his pro career, it will be interesting to see how he will be utilized come camp and whether or not the Eagles and Nick Sirianni have a few tricks up their sleeves for their rookie fifth-rounder.

Branch suffered a torn Achilles in Week 14 of last season. It was reported by The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy back in March that Branch isn’t expected to be ready by Week 1 of this upcoming season, but it’s an encouraging sign that Holmes likes how the star safety is trending. Regarding Joseph, the fifth-year safety appeared in just six games last season due to a knee injury and suffered setbacks in his recovery, resulting in a prolonged absence. Holmes said the team’s decision not to draft a safety ultimately had more to do with their board than the health of either safety, but he seems optimistic about their long-term availability for this upcoming season.

Hilton (6’0”/188) is a former four-star recruit who dealt with numerous injuries while at LSU and never amounted to more than a lightly-used backup. As a freshman in 2021, Hilton suffered a torn meniscus in both his knees. He missed most of 2022 due to a torn labrum and appeared in only six games in 2024 due to an ankle injury. Hilton played primarily on the outside during his time with the Tigers, but never ran more than 149 routes in a season. For his career, he ran 100-plus routes just twice in five seasons. He boasts a 4.41 40-yard dash and made a handful of long touchdown catches in his career, but Hilton needs to refine his route running at the next level and comes up short more often than not on contested targets. With a career receiving line of 41-779-6 in 38 games, Hilton will need to impress on special teams if he hopes to earn a roster spot or earn an extended look on the practice squad.

Per Ballard, both the players and the team just have to “have a little patience here and see what happens.” Ballard adds that he does not know if Richardson and Moore will attend the Colts’ voluntary organized team activities next week. It seems likely that both players will be released at some point in the near future if they don’t want to play with the Colts this season.

Tomlin believes Rodgers remains a “capable” player and still loves the game. The positive reports regarding Rodgers’ potential return continue to trickle in. Last week, Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy said that he has confidence in Rodgers’ current abilities, and the team only added Round 3 rookie QB Drew Allar to the mix over the weekend. He joins incumbent QBs Will Howard and Mason Rudolph. Allar is an interesting prospect but likely needs time to develop. Being mentored by Rodgers would be very helpful for him.

Rowser spent one season at Campbell before transferring to New Mexico State. He then headed to Arizona State, where he spent his final two college seasons. The Seahawks possess one of the league’s best safety units, even with Coby Bryant departing for the Bears in free agency. They drafted TCU S Bud Clark in the second round and are still looking for more end-of-roster players. PFF credits Rowser with four forced incompletions, 70 solo tackles, 10 TFLs and three quarterback pressures last year.

Fitzgerald (5’11/201) spent two years at Coffeyville Community College before joining NC State. He played a rotational role in his first season of D1 ball, logging three pass breakups and two interceptions across 13 games. He took on a larger role in the following season and tallied another eight pass breakups with three picks, plus seven TFLs. Fitzgerald then transferred a second time, landing at USC for his final season, where he intercepted five passes, including a pick-six, and notched one sack. Fitzgerald has experience lining up in the box, slot and as a deep safety. Running a 4.55 40, Fitzgerald has enough speed to track down plays, but the time it takes him to recognize the play can often undercut his quickness. With the game only getting faster in the pros, Fitzgerald will need to learn to process faster to keep up as a rookie. NBC Sports Houston’s Aaron Wilson reports that Fitzgerald received a $20,000 signing bonus.