The NFL has announced the names of the current and former players that will take part in next week’s draft by announcing second-round picks.
The list includes players associated with all 32 teams, including Cardinals running back James Conner. Conner has strong ties to the Pittsburgh area after playing for the Steelers and attending Pitt, which likely made him an easy choice as the Cardinals’ representative.
Former Bears tackle Jimbo Covert, former Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett, former Chiefs defensive lineman Bill Maas, current Vikings tackle Brian O’Neill, former Jets running back Curtis Martin, and former 49ers punter Andy Lee are other Pitt alums who are set to take part.
The hometown team will be represented by four players. Former Steelers Jerome Bettis and John Stallworth will be joined by Joey Porter Sr. and Jr. next Friday.
The other players taking part and their team affiliations appear below:
Falcons: Michael Turner
Ravens: Mark Ingram
Bills: Shane Conlan
Panthers: Jake Delhomme
Bengals: Ken Anderson
Browns: Phil Dawson
Cowboys: Drew Pearson
Broncos: T.J. Ward
Lions: Calvin Johnson
Packers: John Kuhn
Texans: Billy Miller
Colts: Pat McAfee
Jaguars: Paul Posluszny
Raiders: Matt Millen
Chargers: Shawne Merriman
Rams: Tavon Austin
Dolphins: Dwight Stephenson
Patriots: Deion Branch
Saints: Marques Colston
Giants: Osi Umenyiora
Eagles: Brian Westbrook
Seahawks: Cliff Avril
Buccaneers: Ronde Barber
Titans: Jeffery Simmons
Commanders: Mark Rypien
Panthers Clips
The Panthers visited with some of the top wide receiver prospects in this year’s draft class and those meetings have led to questions about whether they will actually use a first-round pick on a wideout for the third straight season.
Panthers General Manager Dan Morgan fielded that exact query at a Tuesday press conference. Morgan took Xavier Legette in 2024 and offensive rookie of the year Tetairoa McMillan was last year’s top pick, but Morgan said that their presence isn’t going to keep Carolina from tripling down if the board falls that way at No. 19.
“No. I think with anything, we’re going to take the best player,” Morgan said, via the team’s website. “So if the best player we feel is that at 19, I wouldn’t hesitate to draft another wideout. I don’t think there’s a rule that says you can’t draft a wide receiver three years in a row. So I’m not really going to box us in and say we’re not going to draft him.”
Morgan is correct about the lack of a rule prohibiting the use of three straight first-round picks on receivers. The Lions did it with Charles Rogers, Roy Williams and Mike Williams from 2003-2005 and went 16-32 over those seasons. They then went back to the well in 2007 to take Calvin Johnson in a move that worked out far better than the previous three choices.
The Lions’ history is unlikely to have much bearing on Morgan’s ultimate decision, especially if there’s a player available that the Panthers believe will help quarterback Bryce Young continue to ascend in his third season.
The Panthers indicated back in January that they were planning on exercising quarterback Bryce Young’s fifth-year option for 2027 this spring.
While that hasn’t happened quite yet, General Manager Dan Morgan said on Tuesday that it will occur soon.
“Once the draft’s over, we’ll definitely get that going,” Morgan said in his press conference. “Obviously, the player’s not in the building yet. … We’ll get that done as soon as he gets back in the building.”
Carolina’s offseason program begins next week on Monday, April 20. With the draft beginning next Thursday, it stands to reason that the Panthers will officially pick up Young’s option within the next two weeks.
Based on his playing time, Young is projected to earn $25.904 million guaranteed on the fifth-year option in 2027. Beyond that, it’s unclear what kind of long-term deal Young could command.
Young helped lead the Panthers to the postseason for the first time in his career in 2025, completing 63.6 percent of his passes for 3,011 yards with 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He finished the postseason loss to the Rams 21-of-40 for 264 yards with one TD and one pick.
The Panthers are meeting with another one of the draft’s top wide receivers on Thursday.
Field Yates of ESPN reports that they have Denzel Boston in for a visit. Former Indiana wideout Omar Cooper Jr. also visited with the team this week while Boston has met with a number of teams while making the pre-draft rounds.
Boston caught 125 passes for 1,715 yards and 20 touchdowns while playing for Jedd Fisch at Washington the last two seasons. Carolina’s 2025 first-round pick Tetairoa McMillan also played for Fisch for two seasons when Fisch was the head coach at Arizona. Fisch and Panthers head coach Dave Canales were also on the same Seahawks staff in 2010.
The Panthers also took Xavier Legette in the first round in 2024 and the team has never selected wideouts in the first round in three straight drafts.
Having won the CFP National Championship with Indiana in January, running back Kaelon Black has a busy pre-draft schedule.
Black has several teams on his list for pre-draft, top 30 visits, including the Jets, Broncos, Panthers, Colts, Texans, Dolphins, Packers, Vikings, Patriots, and Raiders, a source with knowledge of the situation tells PFT.
He may also meet with the Bengals.
Black played under head coach Curt Cignetti at James Madison for two years before transferring to follow Cignetti to Indiana in 2024.
He rushed for 251 yards for Indiana in 2024 before becoming one of the Hoosiers’ two 1,000-yard backs in 2025, finishing the season with 1,040 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also caught four passes for 36 yards.
The Panthers are set to meet with a potential addition to their quarterback room.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that former Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia will visit with the team on Tuesday.
Pavia played at New Mexico Military Institute and New Mexico before spending the last two seasons with the Commodores. He was voted to the All-SEC first-team after a 2025 season that saw him throw for 3,539 yards and 29 touchdowns while completing more than 70 percent of his passes.
Pavia’s college production was impressive, but measuring in at under 5-foot-10 at the Scouting Combine will likely work against him with some teams looking for quarterback help. The Panthers have a shorter quarterback in Bryce Young, however, and that could make them more open to drafting Pavia as a developmental prospect behind their starter.
Two NFC South teams are getting a closer look at an incoming quarterback over the coming days.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Haynes King is slated to visit with the Panthers and Falcons this week.
King, 25, began his collegiate career at Texas A&M in 2020 and transferred to Georgia Tech in 2023. He started 36 games for the Yellow Jackets over the last three seasons. In 2025, King completed 69.8 percent of his passes for 2,951 yards with 14 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also rushed for 953 yards with 15 TDs.
In his 46 career collegiate games, he completed 65.6 percent of his throws for 9,486 yards with 65 touchdowns and 34 interceptions. He also rushed 471 times for 2,427 yards with 37 TDs.
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.
The Panthers have drafted a wide receiver in the first round of each of the last two drafts and they’re meeting with one of this year’s top prospects at the position.
Jordan Reid of ESPN.com reports that Omar Cooper Jr. is set to visit with the NFC South team. Cooper took part in Indiana’s Pro Day on Wednesday.
Cooper led the Hoosiers with 69 catches and 937 receiving yards on their way to the national title. He also caught 13 touchdowns, which left him two behind team leader Elijah Sarratt.
Tetairoa McMillan was the Panthers’ 2025 first-round pick and he won offensive rookie of the year last season. The Panthers, who have the 19th overall pick this year, traded into the first round to select Xavier Legette in 2024.
The Titans are adding another quarterback to their roster.
Per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, Hendon Hooker has agreed to sign with Tennessee.
Hooker, a third-round pick in the 2023 draft, was most recently with the Jets. He had signed with the team’s practice squad late in the 2025 season and was promoted to the 53-man roster in January.
The Lions had waived Hooker in August while reducing their roster to 53 players and he signed with the Panthers’ practice squad a couple of days later.
Hooker has appeared in just three regular-season games, all in the 2024 season with Detroit. He’s completed 6-of-9 passes for 62 yards.
With the addition of Hooker, the Titans will have five quarterbacks on their offseason roster with Mitchell Trubisky, Brandon Allen, and Will Levis all behind 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. It stands to reason that at least one will be moved in the coming weeks, with Levis being a prime candidate after recovering from a shoulder injury that kept him out for all of last season.
