NFL Player News

Schultz left the Texans’ Divisional Round loss to the Patriots in the first quarter and did not return. The good news is that it doesn’t sound like the calf injury will affect his offseason routine much, if at all. Schultz quietly led the Texans with 82 receptions this year. He finished second on the team in yards at 777. Houston has several young receovers fighting to see more work in 2026, but Schultz has proven to be a reliable check-down option for C.J. Stroud over multiple years. He will remain a solid TE2 fantasy option for the upcoming season.

The Vikings have a lot of cap space to create and this was always the likely move based on that calculus. Jones probably won’t attract much interest on the trade market as he enters his age-32 season and has started to leave a concerning number of games with injuries, in addition to being placed on IR for a short stint early in the 2025 season. He’d likely only have head-of-committee ceiling heading into the 2026 offseason. Schefter added that the same trade-or-release ultimatum exists for DT Javon Hargrave.

“I would bet that we will spend more money in free agency than we have,” Jones said. It’s hard to tell if this is bluster because almost all of Jones’ public statements contain some level of bluster at this point, but it would make sense for this to be a splurge year for the Cowboys off a disappointing 7-9-1 season and with a defense that badly needs an influx of talent.

Taylor writes that the Chiefs led the league in run-pass option plays last year and the results were poor. New OC Eric Bieniemy just spent time in Chicago with one of the most varied run attacks in the game and is expected to “revamp” the Chiefs run blocking scheme. Getting away from the RPO game would give Kansas City’s linemen more space to operate in and let them potentially push open bigger holes without the fear of a penalty for illegal man downfield.

New Jets DC Brian Duker coached Fitzpatrick last year in Miami, and Fitzpatrick is apparently imminently available. The Jets realistically aren’t a Minkah Fitzpatrick away from contention, but they may be a Minkah Fitzpatrick away from playing poorly enough to get Aaron Glenn fired. From that perspective, this could make some sense.

You rarely see a quarterback talked about in public the way McCarthy has been this offseason — we can’t remember the last time it was leaked that a coaching staff didn’t trust a quarterback to take throws over the middle of the field. So it does make some sense that the Vikings could cut ties with McCarthy. A source told Pauline that “the team is really down” on McCarthy and is ready to move on from him. We’re not sure who would be in the market for him (Harbaugh reunion in Los Angeles as a backup?) after these past two seasons, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the Vikings tried to find a market for him.

Carr would require some sort of draft pick compensation for the Saints, as if he unretired his contract would toll. He would seem to be more of a backup plan than anything for potentially interested teams at this point, and the idea that he would only unretire for a Super Bowl contender seems to point to it being a very slim needle to thread to find a team that fits both that criteria and is willing to trade something to the Saints for him.

It all finally clicked for Chaisson with the Patriots, where he posted a career high 7.5 sacks and 18 quarterback hits last year. It sounds like at that price range, other teams around the league view Chaisson as a starter at this point. Entering his age-27 season, it’s likely a team will get prime years from Chaisson in free agency.

“I think the price is too high. I’m not sure they really want to move him at this point. But that could change,” one NFC executive told Fowler. While Crosby is undoubtedly a superstar, he’s entering his age-29 season. Parsons was entering his age-26 season when he was dealt, and that made a huge difference in the return. We still wouldn’t be shocked if Crosby was eventually moved, but the idea of a Parsons-like haul always felt like wishful thinking.

It’s part of the reason why the Panthers are willing to let Rico Dowdle leave in free agency. With Chuba Hubbard as the main back, Brooks would likely not be a major part of the offense even if he got to camp healthy after losing most of his NFL career to date to ACL tears. Still, he’s going to be just 23 this offseason, it’s hard to completely give up hope on him. He’ll battle Trevor Etienne for the main backup role if the Panthers don’t bring in anyone else.

Achane, along with C Aaron Brewer and LB Jordyn Brooks are “core players” in Miami’s view along with the already-extended Jaylen Waddle. Achane has seen some trade buzz this offseason, but there’s not really a compelling reason for Miami to move off him without a big haul considering he’s just 24 years old.