The 2026 NFL draft is still more than a month away, but five teams have already accumulated two first-round picks.
The Dolphins became the latest team to get a second first-rounder when they agreed to trade wide receiver Jaylen Waddle to the Broncos. Miami will have its own pick (No. 11 overall) as well as Denver’s pick (No. 30).
The Jets have their own pick (No. 2) and the Colts’ pick (No. 16) from the Sauce Gardner trade.
The Cowboys have their own pick (No. 12) and the Packers’ pick (No. 20) from the Micah Parsons trade.
The Browns have their own pick (No. 6) and the Jaguars’ pick (No. 24) from the draft-day trade a year ago that allowed the Jaguars to move up to draft Travis Hunter.
The Chiefs have their own pick (No. 9) and the Rams’ pick (No. 29) from the Trent McDuffie trade.
A sixth team was poised to get a second first-round pick when the Raiders agreed to trade Maxx Crosby to the Ravens, but that trade fell through and the Ravens kept their first-round pick.
Five teams don’t have a first-round pick: The Broncos, Falcons, Colts, Packers and Jaguars.
The teams with two first-round picks all missed the playoffs last season and are attempting to rebuild their roster. A draft with two first-round picks is a big part of the rebuilding process.
No one does “do as we say not as we do” better than NFL owners. Some of the ones who don’t want to be publicly criticized by players have no qualms about publicly criticizing them.
Case in point: Jets owner Woody Johnson. He and his partners successfully (sort of) stifled the NFL Players Association’s ability to publicize report cards that Johnson dismissed as “totally bogus.” Meanwhile, Johnson publicly criticized quarterback Justin Fields during the 2025 season.
“It’s hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that he’s got,” Johnson said during quarterly league meetings last October, regarding the Jets’ latest struggles with Fields at quarterback. “If we can just complete a pass, it would look good,” Johnson added.
Fields took the high road, but he surely was bugged at some level by the idea that he was being thrown under the bus by the boss. Now that Fields will be playing for the Chiefs, he’ll get a chance to prove Johnson wrong.
And, yes, the Chiefs host the Jets this season.
There’s no guarantee Fields will take a regular-season snap in 2026. Much of that depends on whether Patrick Mahomes is healthy when Week 1 rolls around. It also depends on whether the Chiefs put Mahomes on a pitch count as he works his way back to 100 percent.
Mahomes will want to do everything. The team may try to hold him in check, for his own good. Regardless, Fields becomes another weapon for the offense.
Besides, Fields wasn’t horrible last year. His passer rating was 89.5. He completed 62.7 percent of his passes, with seven touchdown passes and one interception. His career numbers aren’t awful, either; they’re not nearly as bad as Johnson’s assessment.
No one forced the Jets to give Fields $30 million fully guaranteed at signing on a two-year deal. Fields has had moments. And now he has extra motivation to use 2026 as the foundation for the chance to become the latest Jets alumnus to become a much better quarterback elsewhere.
Maybe he’ll eventually do well enough that, one of these days, the Jets will do a trade to bring him back. Like they did last week with Geno Smith.
Former Jets defensive end Mark Gastineau’s lawsuit has been, yes, sacked.
Last year, Gastineau sued ESPN, the NFL, NFL Films, and co-directors James Weiner and Ken Rodgers for The New York Sack Exchange, which included a clip of Gastineau verbally accosting Brett Favre for his gift to Michael Strahan that allowed Strahan to break Gastineau’s single-season sack record in 2001.
Via Zach Powell of The Athletic, a federal judge dismissed Gastineau’s lawsuit on Monday.
The defendants had argued that the complaint failed to state a claim on which relief could be granted. Which is a fancy way of saying that, even if every fact alleged is true, there’s no recognized legal theory that would make the conduct a violation of Gastineau’s legal rights.
Gastineau had argued that the inclusion of his words with Favre were used without Gastineau’s consent or permission, and that the clip portrayed him “in a manner which was maliciously false.” Gastineau argued that the producers “intentionally and maliciously” omitted footage of Gastineau and Favre shaking hands.
Regardless, the court decided it wasn’t enough to create a valid claim for relief.
Gastineau will have the right to appeal the decision. Sometimes, a plaintiff whose first crack at fashioning an actionable legal claim gets a chance to try again.
Cornerback Nahshon Wright’s play with the Bears during the 2025 season landed him a contract with the Jets and it earned him the most performance-based pay in the league for last year as well.
The NFL announced that Wright earned more than $1.44 million in performance-based pay. The bonus more than doubles Wright’s base salary for the season.
Wright signed with the Bears after being released by the Vikings last April. He was named to the Pro Bowl after recording 80 tackles, five interceptions, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries during the regular season.
The performance-based pay fund is part of the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement to compensate all players based on a formula encompassing their playing time and salary. It paid out more than $542 million for the 2025 season.
Browns safety Ronnie Hickman earned over $1.293 million for second place and tackle Elijah Wilkinson earned over $1.272 million for his work with the Falcons. Wilkinson has since signed with the Cardinals.
Panthers safety Nick Scott, former Commanders guard Chris Paul, Ravens guard Andrew Vorhees, Vikings defensive end Jalen Redmond, Steelers guard Mason McCormick, Chiefs defensive back Chamarri Conner, and Patriots safety Craig Woodson make up the rest of the top 10 recipients of performance-based pay for 2025.
The Chiefs needed a veteran quarterback with starting experience. The Jets had one too many.
And while it’s not exactly an accidental collision between peanut butter and chocolate, the trade that will send Justin Fields to the Chiefs for a 2027 sixth-round pick is a win-win-win for the two teams and the player.
In Kansas City, starter Patrick Mahomes is recovering from a torn ACL. He’s determined to return as soon as possible. The Chiefs need someone who can handle the reps until the team is comfortable clearing him to practice.
In New York, it was clear they wanted to move on from Fields. They were facing the possibility of cutting him and eating his $10 million in fully-guaranteed salary, less whatever he’d make elsewhere (most likely, the $1.215 million minimum for his level of experience).
And while the Chiefs could have waited for Fields to be released, the Jets could have dragged their feet. Since the Jets would have owed Fields nothing beyond the guaranteed $10 million until Week 1, they could have kept him from going to Kansas City and getting to work.
So the Chiefs will pay $3 million ($1.785 million more than they would have paid if/when he’d been cut) and give up a 2027 sixth-round pick to get him immediately. And the Jets will gain the draft pick and pay less than they would have owed if they’d cut him.
On that point, Fields was due to make $20 million total in 2026. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Fields’s total 2026 salary has dropped to $11 million. As we understand it, the Jets will pay $8 million total and the Chiefs will pay $3 million.
To summarize, the Jets save $785,000 and get a pick, the Chiefs get a veteran quarterback now, and Fields receives $11 million and a potentially perfect destination for his sixth NFL season. He’ll learn from coach Andy Reid, from offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, and Mahomes.
And maybe Fields will get some playing time, if Mahomes isn’t ready — or if the Chiefs aren’t comfortable with the idea of rushing him back.
