NFL Player News

Noel managed just 11 offensive snaps, but still outgained Christian Kirk (39 snaps, minus-3 yards on two targets) in the box score. We don’t get it, and we haven’t all season. The Texans look happy with him as a kick returner but Noel has made no real in-roads to a starting job in the 2025 season.

Horton has been the Ravens’ special teams coordinator for the past six seasons and the team would like to have the option of retaining him under the impending head coaching hire. He can only leave for roles that are promotions from his current job. Garafolo reports “Assistant Anthony Levine Sr. and senior ST coach Randy Brown might also be retained, pending the new HC hire.” As Baltimore gets closer to a head coaching hire, decisions are being made about the surrounding staff.

Terrell worked under new Lions offensive coordinator Drew Petzing in Arizona and is now interviewing at other spots with most of the coaching staff on the Cardinals experiencing turnover this offseason. The 34-year-old already interviewed with the Commanders and Chargers for their offensive coordinator roles this offseason and wrapped up another interview with the Falcons. Atlanta just completed hiring Kevin Stefanski as head coach and is now looking to round out the rest of the staff. Terrell may not call plays under Stefanski but his experience as pass game coordinator for Kyler Murray and Jacoby Brissett may be valued for the Falcons’ next starter.

McDaniel, who is no sure-fire shot to get a head-coaching job though he’s still a candidate with the Ravens and Raiders, is interviewing for the Chargers offensive coordinator job today. It doesn’t look great for the Browns that they couldn’t convince McDaniel to come in for a second interview given the fact that he may be looking at settling into an offensive coordinator spot. Still on the Browns list for second interviews are: Jaguars OC Grant Udinski, Rams passing-game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, former Ravens OC Todd Monken and Chargers DC Jesse Minter.

Not that this qualifies as “surprising,” but Kraft out-and-out said as much in an appearance on a Boston radio show. He also noted that owners were planning to “push like the Dickens” to make “so that every team every year will play one game overseas.” Kraft concluded by saying “as long as we can keep growing revenue we can keep long-term labor peace.” The current NFL CBA extends through the 2030 season, so we won’t have to spend too much time on this in the near future, but the specter of 18 games will continue to hover over labor negotiations as we hit the end of the decade.

Specifically, Petzing ran with much heavier personnel than the Lions are used to seeing and have run a lot of 13-personnel (three tight ends, one running back) since 2023. We doubt the Lions will go quite that big quite that often — that means one of Jameson Williams or Amon-Ra St. Brown is off the field — but we do think that Trey McBride’s success under Petzing generally augurs well for LaPorta in 2026. Of course, given that LaPorta (back) seems questionable for training camp after surgery, we don’t exactly know that the Lions will be able to pull this off. LaPorta seems like a boom-bust pick in Best Ball drafts from where we sit in January.

A late-season cut by Dallas, the Packers added Diggs to the roster on New Year’s Eve. He played 33 defensive snaps in Week 18’s loss to the Vikings (started by Clayton Tune) and one snap in their loss to the Bears in the NFC Wild Card round. Diggs is entering his age-28 season and seems likely to be a stopgap option for some team in free agency.

Do take a minute to look at the linked graphic for “Jesse Minter 2nd Interview,” what a glorious expression of the NFL coaching silly season. Minter remains in play for the Ravens, Browns, and Raiders jobs. We’d be surprised if he didn’t land one of them considering he’s had multiple second interviews, but the Chargers would happily take him back if Minter struck out on the remaining vacancies.

He added, “things can change.” Lot of caveats in this bit of hope, it sounds like. Nabers told reporters after the season that he was unsure about his return date. It wouldn’t be surprising if Nabers’ ACL and meniscus repairs keep him out well into training camp. He’ll be a caveat emptor all-star in offseason drafts — the talent is obviously there and he barely even got to play with Jaxson Dart. His health remains a big question mark at this time.

“It was rough, man. It was rough,” Odunze said. “I’m not going to sit here and say I can barely — you know, it is what it is. We play through injuries. It’s part of the game. I’m not going to sit here and make excuses about the foot, but something I was dealing with.” Odunze managed identical 2/44 lines in both Bears playoff games while playing through the foot injury. It’s great news that the injury won’t be a long-term concern for Odunze, who should be high in the Bears passing game pecking order again in 2026.

Jackson starts with Malik Willis, who spent the last two years marinating in Packers culture. The Dolphins have a very clear need at the position after benching Tua Tagovailoa late last season. Money might be an issue with the Dolphins starting the offseason $30 million over the cap, but it’s easy to connect the dots here and see Willis in Miami. Quay Walker, Kingsley Enagbare, Romeo Doubs and Sean Rhyan are also potential fits per Jackson.