Offseason programs will start getting underway around the NFL next week.
The ten teams that hired new coaches this offseason will be eligible to start working with their players on Monday, April 6. The Ravens are the only team that has set that as their first day of work while the Cardinals, Falcons, Bills, Browns, Raiders, Dolphins, Giants, Steelers and Titans have set Tuesday as their opening day.
All of those teams will also be able to hold a voluntary minicamp later in the spring. Every team is also scheduled to hold a rookie minicamp and a mandatory minicamp over the course of the next few months.
The first two weeks of work for all teams is limited to meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehabilitation only. The three-week second phase allows for on-field work, but no full-speed team drills while the third OTA phase allows for team drills, but there is no live contact allowed at any point in the offseason.
Most of the 22 teams with returning coaches will be opening their offseason programs on April 20 or 21. The Broncos have set May 4 as their first day.
After a four-year stint as Dolphins head coach, Mike McDaniel landed with the Chargers as their offensive coordinator in 2026.
McDaniel and head coach Jim Harbaugh certainly make for an intriguing coaching combination. While there are months until the Chargers will suit up for a game, so far, the two men have been working well together.
“Awesome,” Harbaugh said Tuesday, via Eric Smith of the Chargers’ website, when asked how it’s been having McDaniel in the building. “Awesome with a capital A.”
Harbaugh noted he’s gained plenty of insight from McDaniel since the OC has been in Southern California, saying he’s had a “paradigm shift in ways I’ve thought about football.”
“Where to really start would be just how his mind is. Just how much football information, how good it is, his expertise at all positions, and on defense, too,” Harbaugh said. “He’s a real expert in how defenses play different coverages, schemes, fronts, blitz patterns.
“The receivers, the timing between the quarterback, offensive line play, the running backs being tied into the blocking scheme … really been doing a lot of listening, a lot of learning, just leaned in to how he sees football,” Harbaugh added. “It’s really great. And it is what I really thought it was, a perfect combination of Mike McDaniel and Justin Herbert.”
Harbaugh noted he feels like the pairing with McDaniel as offensive coordinator and Herbert is “going to bode really well for the Chargers,” as McDaniel’s scheme is designed to better protect the QB.
“It’s probably two ways. One, it’s just less … dropback protection. Straight dropback protection, the defensive line can transition into pass rush immediately,” Harbaugh said. “The second way is the way the run game and the pass game, play action, are tied together. It takes a second more that you can see defensive linemen [thinking], ‘Oh, now it’s a pass.’
“And then they transition to their move or their bull or their pass rush. They’re going from run defense to pass defense,” Harbaugh added. “How valuable is a second? Very valuable.”
Herbert was sacked a career-high 54 times in 2025 while throwing interceptions at the highest rate of his career (2.5 percent, 13 total picks). He completed 66.4 percent of his passes for 3,727 yards with 26 touchdowns and 13 interceptions last season.
Najee Harris visited the Seahawks on Wednesday and the running back has another visit lined up with a prospective employer for the 2026 season.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Harris has a visit planned with the Raiders as well.
The Raiders have 2025 first-round pick Ashton Jeanty at the top of the backfield depth chart. Dylan Laube and Chris Collier are the only other backs currently on the roster in Las Vegas.
Harris is recovering from a torn Achilles he suffered while playing for the Chargers last September. The 2021 first-round pick spent his first four seasons with the Steelers and ran for 4,312 yards during his time in Pittsburgh.
The Seahawks have met with a potential addition to their backfield.
The NFL’s daily transaction report shows that they reported a visit with running back Najee Harris. Harris is coming off of a torn Achilles that ended his 2025 season with the Chargers in Week Three.
Harris recently shared a video of him sprinting on a treadmill to update where things stand in his return to health. Harris also suffered an eye injury in a fireworks accident last summer, but returned to play in the first three games of the season. He ran 15 times for 61 yards and caught three passes for 25 yards.
Harris had four straight seasons with at least 1,000 rushing yards with the Steelers to open his career.
Kenneth Walker left the Seahawks for the Chiefs as a free agent this month and Zach Charbonnet is recovering from a torn ACL. The newly signed Emanuel Wilson joins Cam Akers, George Holani, Kenny McIntosh, and Jacardia Wright on the running back depth chart.
The Chargers have added some depth for their offensive line.
Los Angeles announced on Wednesday that the club has signed Kayode Awosika.
Awosika, 27, spent the last four seasons with the Lions. He appeared in 13 games with four starts for the club last season, on the field for 35 percent of offensive snaps and 18 percent of special teams snaps in games played.
Awosika entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of the University at Buffalo in 2021. He’s played 50 games with 11 starts for the Eagles and Lions in his career.
