Atlanta Falcons

The Cardinals signed tight end Shawn Bowman and linebacker Eugene Asante on Sunday, the team announced.

Bowman most recently played for the Orlando Storm in the UFL. He appeared in 11 games this spring and caught seven passes for 53 yards.

He entered the NFL in 2024 with Jacksonville as an undrafted rookie free agent from Rutgers. Bowman spent his rookie season on the Jaguars’ practice squad.

While in college, Bowman appeared in 44 games at Rutgers (2023) and Maine (2019-22) and made 90 receptions for 984 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Asante spent this spring with the Houston Gamblers of the UFL and appeared in nine games. He totaled 34 tackles, four tackles for loss, two passes defensed and two forced fumbles.

He entered the NFL as an undrafted rookie free agent from Auburn in 2025, signing with the Dolphins. Asante spent his rookie season on the Dolphins, Browns and Falcons practice squads.

During his six-year collegiate career at Auburn (2022-24) and North Carolina (2019-21), he saw action in 65 games. Asante totaled 196 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, two pass breakups, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble.

Asante was third-team All-SEC in consecutive seasons (2023-24).

A week of bank-breaking running back contracts was capped by Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs breaking the bank by the biggest margin.

Gibbs, now the highest-paid running back in the league, signed his new contract on Friday.

Here are the full and complete details, per a source with knowledge of the terms:

1. Signing bonus: $15 million.

2. 2026 90-man roster bonus: $2.038 million, fully guaranteed.

3. 2026 base salary: $1.145 million, fully guaranteed.

4. 2027 option bonus: $10.033 million, fully guaranteed.

5. 2027 base salary: $1.26 million, fully guaranteed.

6. 2028 offseason workout bonus: $250,000, fully guaranteed but must be earned.

7. 2028 base salary: $10.25 million, fully guaranteed.

(The full 2028 compensation package is guaranteed for injury at signing. Of that amount, $8.25 million is fully guaranteed. The remaining $2.25 million becomes fully guaranteed in March 2027.)

8. 2029 offseason workout bonus: $250,000.

9. 2029 base salary: $22.25 million, $11.5 million of which is guaranteed for injury at signing. Of that amount, $8 million becomes fully guaranteed in March 2028. The remaining $3.5 million becomes fully guaranteed in March 2029.

10. 2030 offseason roster bonus: $1 million.

11. 2030 offseason workout bonus: $250,000.

12. 2030 base salary: $21.25 million.

The contract also includes $4.125 million in available escalators for 2029 and 2030 each. For 2029, Gibbs gets $562,500 for each year from 2026 through 2028 in which he generates 800 or more receiving yards. He gets another $562,500 for each year in which he generates 800 or more receiving yards and the team gets to the divisional round of the postseason.

For 2030, Gibbs gets $421,875 for each year from 2026 through 2029 in which he generates 800 or more receiving yards. He gets another $421,875 for each year in which he generates 800 or more receiving yards and the team gets to the divisional round of the postseason.

Gibbs also gets $750,000 in each year for winning the MVP award a single time.

If the escalator package sounds familiar, it should. It’s identical to the Bijan Robinson incentive package. In fact, the overall structure of the two deals is virtually identical.

It appears that the Lions and/or Gibbs took the Bijan deal and used it as the template for the Gibbs deal, with more total money for Gibbs.

The biggest difference is the amount. The Robinson new-money APY is $22.25 million, and the maximum value is $25 million. For Gibbs, the new-money APY is $22.5 million, with a maximum value of $25.25.

From signing, the Gibbs deal has a five-year average of $16.995 million. Robinson’s deal has a five-year average of $16.36 million.

That may not seem like much, but it works out to a difference of more than $3 million.

The Falcons announced the release of linebacker Troy Andersen on Friday morning.

Andersen was a second-round pick in 2022 after playing linebacker, running back and quarterback while at Montana State and he played in every game as a rookie. He only played two games in 2023 due to shoulder and pectoral injuries, however, and a 2024 knee injury wound up keeping him out for all of the 2025 season as well.

The injuries limited Andersen to 26 total games with the Falcons. He had 135 tackles, five tackles for loss, an interception return for a touchdown, a half-sack, and a forced fumble in those appearances.

The Falcons signed wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson to fill the open roster spot.

It’s clear that both Falcons running back Bijan Robinson and Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs wanted to get to $25 million in new-money APY on their new contracts. Both can do it, but only by reaching their full upside packages.

After the Falcons gave running back Bijan Robinson a deal with a value of $22.25 million per year, the Lions weren’t inclined to do much more. In the end, Gibbs got a slight bump over Robinson.

The problem with a hold-in is that it has to end at some point, because the season eventually starts. And both the team and the player need the player to be ready to go.

For Gibbs, who had more “old money,” the three-year, $67.5 million deal combines with his existing $17.476 million to create a five-year, $84.976 million contract. The per-year average from signing is $16.99 million. (Robinson’s five-year deal has an average of $16.36 million.)

We’ll have a full breakdown of the Gibbs terms. The Robinson terms are here.

The Falcons officially brought linebacker Jalon Walker’s season to an end on Thursday.

Walker was placed on injured reserve after tearing his ACL in practice this week. The 2025 first-round pick will have surgery and then spend the coming months working his way back to health for his third season.

The NFL’s daily transaction report shows that the Falcons filled the open roster spot by claiming defensive back Keidron Smith off of waivers. He was cut by the Jets on Wednesday.

Smith had 15 tackles in three games for the Jets last season. He had seven tackle in nine appearances for the Broncos in 2024.

To this point, the Falcons’ quarterback competition has not truly begun in earnest because Michael Penix Jr. has not been fully medically cleared.

Penix, who suffered a torn ACL in November, is still recovering and told reporters in his Wednesday press conference that he feels like he’s getting better every day.

While Penix’s original timetable for recovery had him being cleared in late August, he said that he could be cleared “any day.”

“I’m not really chasing a timeline. I’m just chasing trying to be better every day,” Penix said, via transcript from the team. “Each and every day I get out there, I look forward to being better than I was the day before. That comes with obviously just the reps, time on task, and also just what I’m doing in the rehab and the treatment room as well, so I can get to where I want to be.”

Penix noted he doesn’t yet have a scheduled date to get re-examined by his doctor to be cleared, but that’s a step he’ll need before he’s able to fully participate. That also means he won’t truly be a part of a QB competition until that time.

“I mentioned it before, I can’t worry about a starting job until I’m worried about getting back on the field,” Penix said. “If I can’t be on the field, how am I going to be the starter? That’s all my focus is right now — just trying to get back and get healthy so that whenever that time comes, then we can talk about the whole starter thing, but that’s not my focus right now.

“I’m just getting stronger and getting more confident in my knee and everything. My body has been feeling really good. I’m hitting all my weight goals and making sure I’m taking my diet seriously. I’m doing everything I can to help my knee get better faster. I’m definitely better than where I was last week.”

But as Penix continues to make progress, Tua Tagovailoa will have the ability to put some separation between himself and Penix’s base level in the new offense under head coach Kevin Stefanski.

Yes, Matthew McConaughey is a Commanders fan. But he’s also a Texas supporter. An so he supports Texas players in the NFL.

One Texas player who has done very well in the NFL is Falcons running back Bijan Robinson. Via J.J. Post of ESPN, Robinson told reporters that McConaughey was one of the first people to contact Robinson when news of his new contract broke.

“As soon as the news hit, Matthew McConaughey hit me,” Robinson said. “As soon as it hit. I think it hit at like 7:56 [a.m. ET]. Like 7:58 [a.m.], he texted me. . . .

“A lot of awesome, really cool people texted me, but it was cool to see him, as soon as it hit, like, he was the first one.”

And, of course, the request eventually will come to kick some of that cash back to the effort to help the Longhorns get more players like Robinson on the roster.

Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs have been mentioned in conjunction with one another a lot this offseason and their contract pushes were also the subject of conversations between the two running backs.

Robinson’s training camp hold-in ended when he signed a three-year extension with the Falcons on Wednesday, but Gibbs is still in the middle of one as he and the Lions try to work out a deal of their own. Robinson told reporters on Wednesday that he and Gibbs commiserated this offseason during calls about their respective situations.

“We just told each other, ‘Just hang in there, everything’s going to get done, everything’s going to be all right,’” Robinson said, via Marc Raimondi of ESPN.com. “And it’s cool to see him go through it, too. And I hope he gets the most out of what he deserves because he deserves it — deserves it all.”

The three new years on Robinson’s deal has an average annual salary of $22.25 million, which is the most for any running back in the league. Gibbs, who went four picks after Robinson in the 2023 first round, could top that number and Robinson said he thinks the parallel career arcs are a positive for both players.

“The Bijan-Gibbs debate is actually cool to see,” Robinson said. “It actually helps us both out because every single Sunday or whatever day we play, we’re always trying to compete against each other. And to have a guy like that, that I can compete with in whatever game he’s playing in and whatever game I’m playing in, we just know that we have to give our best effort. So, it’s cool to experience that.”

Debate about which back is better is likely to continue regardless of what Gibbs’s deal winds up looking like, but both teams will remain pleased with the choice they made a few years ago.

The Falcons and running back Bijan Robinson have worked out a new deal that will keep him under contract in Atlanta for five years.

The big numbers were leaked when the deal was reached in principle. Now that it’s on paper, it’s time to look at the details.

Here are the full terms, per a source with knowledge of the agreement:

1. Signing bonus: $15 million.

2. 2026 90-man roster bonus: $2.559348 million, fully guaranteed.

3. 2026 base salary: $1.145 million, fully guaranteed.

4. 2027 option bonus: $7.063 million, fully guaranteed.

5. 2027 base salary: $1.26 million, fully guaranteed.

6. 2028 offseason workout bonus: $250,000, fully guaranteed (but must be earned).

7. 2028 base salary: $10.25 million, fully guaranteed.

8. 2029 offseason workout bonus: $250,000.

9. 2029 base salary: $21.75 million, $13.5 million of which is guaranteed for injury at signing. Of that amount, $8.5 million becomes fully guaranteed in March 2028 and $5 million becomes fully guaranteed in March 2029.

10. 2030 90-man roster bonus: $1 million.

11. 2030 offseason workout bonus: $250,000.

12. 2030 base salary: $21 million.

The contract also includes $4.125 million in available escalators for 2029 and 2030 each. For 2029, Robinson gets $562,500 for each year from 2026 through 2028 in which he generates 800 or more receiving yards. He gets another $562,500 for each year in which he generates 800 or more receiving yards and the team gets to the divisional round of the postseason.

For 2030, Robinson gets $421,875 for each year from 2026 through 2029 in which he generates 800 or more receiving yards. He gets another $421,875 for each year in which he generates 800 or more receiving yards and the team gets to the divisional round of the postseason.

He also gets $750,000 in each year for winning the MVP award a single time.

The focus on receiving yards, coupled with the maximum contract value of $25 million per year (if the escalators are earned), suggests that this was the compromise as to any effort to get Robinson to a base deal of $25 million under on the argument that he’s more than just a runner. He has a path to get to $25 million, premised in large part on his production.

The first three years of the contract are fully guaranteed at signing, at $37.567 million in total payouts. By March 2028, the guarantee increases to $46 million.

The new-money average is $22.25 million. As mentioned Tuesday, the total value at signing for the five-year deal is $16.36 million per year.

The 49ers are adding another veteran player on Wednesday.

Per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, San Francisco has agreed to sign wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge.

Hodge, 31, spent the past four seasons with the Falcons — two of which were under now-49ers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.

Hodge has recorded 67 career catches for 1,026 yards with two touchdowns.

Last season with Atlanta, he caught three passes for 31 yards in 12 games. Most of his playing time came on special teams.

Hodge has also played for the Rams, Browns, and Lions since entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2018.

The 49ers have had a string of injuries at receiver early in camp, including losing Ricky Pearsall for the season with a knee issue.