NFL Player News

Alie-Cox returns to the Colts for his ninth season with the franchise after he re-signed for one season. The veteran tight end has appeared in 125 games for the franchise, catching 127 passes for 1,550 yards and 16 touchdowns. He ranked second on the team in snaps (419) at the position behind then-rookie Tyler Warren, making the signing a pure depth move that gives the offense the ability to run 12-personnel alignments, although Alie-Cox’s modest 18.5% route participation rate a season ago leaves the veteran bereft of fantasy value moving forward.

To say the least, it’s going to be hard for the Eagles to recoup major draft capital in a trade for McKee if he can’t beat out an Andy Dalton who looked extremely washed last offseason. The backup quarterback battle updates in July will continue until morale improves.

To be clear, the headline of this article said Taylor “could — and should — hold in” and the article itself mostly focuses on why he should and would have a lot of leverage if he attempted to. There’s not exactly a pull quote here from Taylor that suggests he’s leaning one way or the other. But Boyd has been on the beat in Indianapolis for a bit and we believe there’s a real chance this happens. Taylor didn’t technically hold in during an acrimonious contract dispute ahead of the 2023 season so much as he dealt with a right ankle injury that suddenly healed after he got a contract before Week 5. Boyd believes Taylor “despite being three years older, has more leverage now than he did in 2023.” The Colts certainly don’t have a real backup plan for him at running back based on how last season and this offseason went.

Watson’s last live snap was in October 2024. This mostly seems to be a point about how Watson will play a lot in the preseason even if Shedeur Sanders grabs the lead in the QB1 derby. The bread crumbs in the article tend towards Watson, noting “Monken called run/pass option plays and even the occasional designed keeper for Watson, the coach has stressed that he believes Sanders can operate a similar offense” while adding that Watson’s best chance to win the job lies in “his athleticism and ability to both extend and freelance plays.” It remains hard to trust whoever is named the starter here will keep the job for more than a month or two.

Brown was reported to be discussing an extension with the Bengals in January, but nothing came of that. Dehner believes the $14.3 million franchise tag number for running backs “speaks the Bengals’ language as they continue to work on a potential longer deal for him.” Brown, entering his age-26 season, remains a fringe fantasy RB1 in Cincinnati’s wide-open offense. It doesn’t seem like there’s any danger of a holdout or anything of the sort here.

We’ve done a lot of J.J. McCarthy blurbs this offseason and the vast majority of them from beats have McCarthy well behind Kyler Murray, while we also have a June quote from Kevin O’Connell saying “he doesn’t plan to take the competition until the end of camp.” It’s only the league-wide reporters who seem to give McCarthy much of a chance to win the job. Interesting coincidence, some would say.

He’s joined by CB Jaycee Horn, who cut his foot while running and required stitches. Horn’s injury is expected to be a minor one. Moton, on the other hand, is expected to miss the start of the season and the “belief” is he’ll play in 2026. The Panthers later clarified that Moton is hopeful to return “mid-season.” Rookie first-round tackle Monroe Freeling figures to step in for Moton early in the season.

There’s been some mild hype for Engram again in the early offseason, but it’s hard to understand why the Broncos would have brought in Jaylen Waddle if they thought getting Engram more involved in the offense would have been a notable upgrade. Engram belongs in TE2 purgatory for the time being.

They certainly have the talent for this, and doing so would at least keep both Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant fantasy-adjacent despite the fact that Jaylen Waddle and Courtland Sutton figure to play the vast majority of the snaps. Gabriel guesses that early in the season the Broncos will “mix up looks” depending on game situations with Franklin, Bryant, and Marvin Mims. The Broncos played 11-personnel in 64 percent of their snaps in 2025. They’d probably need to be closer to 80 percent to get a third WR beyond the WR5 conversation.

He projects Ehlinger to win the job, too. “The notion that Ehlinger could beat him out is not rooted in Stidham’s performance in the AFC title game,” Gabriel writes, "...but rather just in the staff’s excitement about Ehlinger a year ago, his mobility and a potential jump in performance in his second summer with the Broncos.” First the NFL hands us a Joe Milton-Sam Howell backup battle, now this? Premium July entertainment. Neither player has any real upside, though whoever wins the job could argue for Sean Payton-based superflex QB2 consideration in a good matchup should Bo Nix miss time.

Not exactly a surprise — you’d really hope your No. 1 overall quarterback pick would get some first-team reps before the season starts — but this is notable because earlier reports had Kirk Cousins taking all the first-team reps in offseason practices. Mendoza is not likely to be named the starter before the season, but it sounds like it’s more of a matter of when rather than if he eventually overtakes Cousins for the lead role this year.