Matthew Berry

Only the Cardinals could find a way to turn offseason team activities in a year in which they are projected to be one of the worst teams in the NFL into a dramatic exercise. Brissett looks to be pushing all his available leverage on a potential contract extension, though the fact that there’s really been no report that the Cardinals are looking to do something with him seems to be very telling. As for Sweat, his name has been bandied about in trade rumors but, again, the Cardinals don’t appear to have much interest in dealing him at this time.

Gordon has missed the majority of the offseason program with what has been deemed a soft-tissue injury. Not great! Gordon spent a lot of last year banged up with a hamstring issue that sent him to injured reserve. This is an inauspicious start for his fifth season in the NFL.

Odeyingbo tore his Achilles in early November, but it appears the recovery has gone well if he’s already getting full-team reps ahead of training camp. T.J. Edwards (shoulder) joined him in participating. With the Bears not adding much to their pass rush this offseason, they’ll be counting on a healthy Odeyingbo come September.

It has always seemed likely that Skattebo will be ready for training camp, plus or minus an off-day here or there to help with recovery, but this pretty much guarantees it. Skattebo escaped the offseason as a big fantasy football winner since the Giants didn’t add a real competitor for the starting job. It remains to be seen if he can hold off Tyrone Tracy for a full-time role, but he should at least start the year as the lead of a committee.

It frees up $10 million in cap space for the coming season, which NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport made sure to note was in part to pay for the Dexter Lawrence trade. It could have been a much deeper restructure had the Bengals wished, with Burrow on a $48 million cap number with $25.25 million in base salary due. Still, it’s something. More than we’ve seen from the Bengals in a while.

He cautions that there’s still a possibility the Ravens address the position late in free agency, as Stefon Diggs, Keenan Allen, Deebo Samuel, and DeAndre Hopkins remain available. Still, he has the experience edge over the two rookie receivers and barring an injury stash situation it’s hard to understand the Ravens not keeping two players they just drafted. Considering Lamar Jackson’s history and the potential upside in Declan Doyle’s offense, Walker is an interesting buy in fantasy at this point — it’s just hard to make the case that he’s got a real floor.

Unless Bond can make a real move on Jerry Jeudy, we imagine he’ll probably split reps with Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion early in the season, leaving him as more of a deep-league stash. Still, after he went undrafted last year due to a sexual assault accusation, it appears the Browns think pretty highly of him and he’ll likely finish training camp as someone with an easy roster spot.

In other words, they’re “going to play a lot” per Jackson. It’s generally a good sign when rookies are already working with the 1s ahead of camp, even if they haven’t literally won the No. 1 role yet. Both players carry some breakout potential, though it’s hard to recommend either as more than a bench redraft league prayer in shallow leagues to open the season given Cleveland’s quarterback situation.

The “if needed” is a bit of a buzzkill, but it should surprise nobody if Montgomery is a heavy-touch player in Houston’s offense this season after coming over in an offseason trade. Woody Marks is not guaranteed to have a major role if Montgomery can handle third downs as well. Montgomery mostly ceded these roles to Jahmyr Gibbs with the Lions; it is no insult to Marks to note that he is not Gibbs.

Graham’s boot, on his right foot, obviously prevented him from practicing. There’s still plenty of time ahead of training camp, so there’s not a real reason for concern for his season yet barring more dire details emerging. Still, it’s not great news for a player that dealt with knee and rib issues last year.