The Pro Football Hall of Fame will honor three former assistant coaches with the Awards of Excellence. The Hall announced Monday that Mike Westhoff, Bobb McKittrick and Ted Cottrell will make up the Class of 2026.
This is the fifth class for the Awards of Excellence, with 17 assistant coaches honored in that time.
Westhoff coached in the NFL for 33 seasons, the majority of his career spent as the special teams coach of the Dolphins and Jets.
McKittrick spent 21 seasons as the offensive line coach for the 49ers and is one of four coaches who was with the team for all five of the franchise’s Super Bowl titles. Bill Walsh hired McKittrick in 1979.
Cottrell worked for six franchises over 24 seasons and is viewed as an innovator of the 3-4 defense. He helped develop several Hall of Famers, including Bruce Smith with the Bills.
The Hall previously announced winners in three other categories with Scott Berchtold, Jim Gallagher and Lee Remmel picked as public relations directors; Red Batty; Mike Davidson and Jack Noel as equipment managers; and Edward “Abe” Abramoski, Kent Falb and Michael Ryan in the athletic trainers category.
The Hall will announce winners in film and video directors category.
The ceremony honoring the Awards of Excellence winners will take place June 24-25 in Canton.
Ryan Van Denmark will be off to Minnesota.
The Bills have declined to match the offer sheet Van Denmark signed with the Vikings as a restricted free agent, according to a report from NFL Media.
With Buffalo tendering Van Denmark at the original-round level, the club will not receive any compensation for the offensive lineman’s departure.
Van Denmark’s deal with Minnesota is reportedly for one year and worth $4.3 million. Had he played on the original-round tender with Buffalo, Van Denmark would have made $3.52 million in 2026.
Van Denmark appeared in 43 games with six starts for Buffalo over the last three seasons. He appeared in all 17 regular-season contests for the Bills in 2025, playing 28 percent of offensive snaps and 17 percent of special teams snaps.
Free agent defensive end A.J. Epenesa is signing a one-year deal worth up to $5 million with the Browns, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Epenesa, 27, has spent his entire career in Buffalo since the Bills made him a second-round pick in 2020.
In 2025, he played 16 games with two starts and totaled 32 tackles, 2.5 sacks, nine quarterback hits, two interceptions and four passes defensed.
In his career, Epenesa has recorded 135 tackles, 24 sacks, 53 quarterback hits, four interceptions, 21 passes defensed and five forced fumbles.
The Browns are also signing wide receiver/returner Tylan Wallace, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports.
Wallace, who turns 27 in May, is following Todd Monken from Baltimore after spending his career with the Ravens.
A fourth-round pick in 2021, Wallace played 14 games with two starts last season. He caught four passes for 45 yards and a touchdown and averaged 24.6 yards on five kickoff returns.
He has only 22 receptions for 305 yards and two touchdowns in five seasons, with one punt return touchdown.
The Bills reacted to their latest failure to get over the hump in the playoffs by firing head coach Sean McDermott and their bid to finally break through has also included moves to bring in players like edge rusher Bradley Chubb, wide receiver DJ Moore and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
All three players have a track record of success in the NFL, but Gardner-Johnson is the only member of the trio who brings a Super Bowl ring with him to Buffalo. Gardner-Johnson was on the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX winners a couple of years ago and he believes that experience will be valuable to the Bills as they try for the first title in franchise history.
“Having champions around, not necessarily being older guys, [but] having a champion around really means something,” Gardner-Johnson said, via the team’s website. “It gravitated [people to] you . . . bringing that experience in the room and when people ask, ‘How does it feel?’ We have that background to tell them and actually know what it takes to get to that level.”
Gardner-Johnson has bounced around the league often during his eight years in the NFL and he carries a reputation for being difficult to get along with at times, but odds are that he’ll be a popular fellow in Buffalo if he can push the Bills to heights they haven’t been able to reach during the Josh Allen era.
The Vikings have signed Bills restricted free agent Ryan Van Demark to an offer sheet. The Bills have five days to match what KSTP reports is a one-year, $4.3 million deal.
The original-round tender on the former undrafted free agent was $3.52 million.
The Bills will not receive compensation if they decline to match Minnesota’s offer.
Van Demark, who turns 28 this month, played 154 snaps at right tackle and 43 at left tackle in 17 games last season, with four starts.
In three seasons, he saw action in 43 games with six starts.
In Minnesota, Van Demark would serve as a swing tackle behind left tackle Christian Darrisaw and right tackle Brian O’Neill.
