NFL Player News

Thomas was set to enter free agency next week. The deal has an $8 million base salary with a chance to make up to $9 million. Thomas, 26, has developed into a capable defender since signing on with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2023. He totaled 62 solo tackles, eight TFLs, one interception, seven forced incompletions, 15 quarterback pressures and three sacks in the 2025 regular season.

He begins the offseason as the likely backup to Omarion Hampton. Vidal had a 155/643/3 rushing line last year and managed a few big weeks against weaker run defenses. We wouldn’t be totally surprised if Vidal continued to be fantasy-interesting this year, especially given how often Hampton was banged up in his first season in the NFL.

Perhaps this will change if and when a Malik Willis signing hits, but for now the Cardinals haven’t shown much interest in moving on from their veteran signal caller. Brissett went 1-11 as a starter last season, but adeptly blossomed in the desert with a 23-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio and also nearly threw for 3,500 yards in just 12 starts. We’re a little surprised there hasn’t been more interest in him from non-Jets teams this offseason.

His departure will clear the Vikings cap sheet a bit more, saving them some cap space ahead of the new league year. Kelly played nine seasons with the Colts and made four Pro Bowls and a second-team All-Pro Team in 2020. He was still playing well this past year, as he finished with an 82.2 PFF offensive grade. But concussions began to keep him sidelined longer and longer, and he eventually went on season-ending injured reserve for them in December. Kelly probably will get some Ring of Honor talk in Indianapolis at some point.

Every Lamar Jackson contract negotiation seems to drag on forever because Lamar Jackson is his own agent. The Ravens would prefer not to restructure Jackson’s deal because it pushes more money into the 2027 season, potentially giving Jackson more leverage for the negotiation. The Ravens have talked about getting this extension done since before the 2025 season. This is essentially deadline time for Baltimore because they need the cap space to deal with 2026’s free agency class, especially impending free agent center Tyler Linderbaum, who may get $25 million a season. The Ravens have projected confidence that a deal will get done all offseason. Clock is ticking.

This is interesting in the wake of Alvin Kamara’s contract restructuring, which some outside observers have speculated could foreshadow a retirement. We haven’t seen the Saints bandied around as a running back market yet, but the room is certainly barren past Kamara. Etienne should do quite well for himself by Wednesday.

Murray appears to want to sign with the Vikings the most, to which Breer notes “the Vikings are mulling their options,” which could mean they at the very least don’t see Murray as a slam-dunk No. 1 quarterback on the market. Breer also tosses out the Jets, Dolphins, and Falcons as places of interest for Murray. Specifically for the Colts, he notes that it would ease Daniel Jones’ Achilles rehab to have a viable starter in place for the early season. Reading between the lines, it sounds like Murray prefers the Vikings and Colts and neither have the interest in him that he has in them.

All the Texans did in the last calendar year when ask about whether Mixon would play in 2025 or 2026 is answer questions that they had to preface with “we’re not trying to be evasive, but...” So, we’re not trying to be evasive, but we genuinely are not sure if Mixon will play again. He turns 30 in July and is now a year removed from what was a pretty stellar 2024 campaign with the Texans. He surely has the talent to resurface somewhere, but is he healthy? And if not, will he ever be?

Burks had a Catch Of The Year candidate on his lone touchdown catch last season, finishing with a 10/130/1 line in spot duty. He’s not likely to start out the year in the Commanders starting three-wide, but he’s a reasonable depth option and should have a good shot to win a roster spot.

Stewart started for the Texans in the middle of the season after the team released C.J. Gardner-Johnson, then was lost in Week 10 to a season-ending quad injury. He’ll likely compete for a starting spot again in 2026 as a priority re-sign for the Texans.

Packers beat writer Rob Demovsky is reporting that Gary has not been told he will be traded or released, and that a source told him Gary’s Instagram account had been hacked. It’s impossible to know what to make of this situation right now, but the fact remains that Gary has no guaranteed money left on his deal, which expires at the end of the 2027 season, and the Packers could save nearly $11 million if they released him as a pre-June 1 cut, or as much as $19.5 million if they were to release him as a post-June 1 cut. Gary is hopefully looking into two-factor authentication to better secure his Instagram account going forward.