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.
Safety Kyle Dugger signed with the Bengals this week and he’s looking forward to the chance to rediscover his top form in Cincinnati.
The 2020 second-round pick was a starter throughout his time with the Patriots, but an ankle injury limited him in 2024 and offseason surgery hurt his adaptation to a new defense after head coach Mike Vrabel was hired in 2025. Dugger played sparingly over the first five weeks of the season and was traded to the Steelers at the middle of the season.
Dugger started all nine regular season games he played for the Steelers, but didn’t start their playoff loss to the Bills before moving on to the Bengals as a free agent. After signing his new deal, Dugger said his ankle now feels back to full strength and that leaves him with a positive outlook about what the 2026 season will bring.
“Fresh start and a new opportunity. I’m excited for it,” Dugger said, via the team’s website. “It’s been a rough two years. I’m thankful where I am.”
The Bengals also signed Bryan Cook this offseason and the two safeties will be part of what the team hopes will be a turnaround from two rough years of their own on the defensive side of the ball.
The Bengals are adding to their secondary.
Cincinnati has reached a one-year agreement with safety Kyle Dugger, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
Dugger, 30, spent the second half of last season with the Steelers, starting nine games after being traded from the Patriots. He tallied 42 total tackles with five passes defensed and two interceptions.
A second-round pick in 2020, Dugger spent his first five-plus seasons with New England. He’s appeared in 90 career games with 78 starts, recording 11 interceptions with 29 passes defensed.
The Bengals announced the addition of a cornerback to their roster on Thursday.
They have signed Ja’Sir Taylor to a one-year contract. No other terms have been announced.
Taylor was a Chargers sixth-round pick in 2022 and played in 57 games for the team before being traded to the Jets last November. He appeared in eight games for the Jets after joining the team.
Taylor had 13 tackles in his time with the Jets. He had 84 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery while playing for the Chargers.
Dax Hill and DJ Turner are the top returning corners in Cincinnati. Jalen Davis, Josh Newton, DJ Ivey, and Bralyn Lux also return from the 2025 season.
Shemar Stewart made more news for his contract holdout than for anything he did on the field his rookie season after the Bengals selected him in the first round.
Stewart’s 2025 season was marred by missed time, because of the contract dispute, as well as injuries. He had a lingering ankle injury early in the season and a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in Week 9.
He does not project as a starter for the Bengals with free-agent signee Boye Mafe and Myles Murphy expected to hold those spots. But the Bengals still have big expectations for Stewart, who played eight games with five starts last season.
“His development is a priority for us,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said, via Paul Dehner of TheAthletic.com. “We’re not trying to do anything to stunt the growth there. We’re trying to do everything we can for him to continue to grow and play a major role for us. So signing Boye really doesn’t do anything negatively for Shemar, because we still have high expectations for him.”
Taylor was asked if the Bengals have enough snaps for Stewart to be a big contributor. He played 53 percent of the snaps in the eight games he appeared in last season.
“If you look at all the great defensive lines that have gone far in the playoffs, they’re loaded up front with depth,” Taylor said. “Yeah, there are starters, but there are also guys that are going to play you 40-50 snaps a game. . . . I think there’s plenty [of snaps], especially depending on games, whether you see more 12 personnel and you’re in base defense.
“We feel like we’re configured the right way now to get the right people on the field. Even if we’re in nickel, there’s plenty of opportunity for all those guys to play. I don’t worry about any of that.”
Stewart totaled one sack, four quarterback hits and 11 tackles last season.
Linebacker Sonny Styles is one of the top prospects in this year’s draft class and he’s starting to make the rounds with teams that could make him a first-round pick next month.
During an appearance on Up & Adams, Styles said that he has already had a visit with the Jets. Styles says that he also has visits planned with the Cowboys, Commanders and Bengals in the near future.
The Jets have the second overall pick and have commonly been linked to Styles’s Ohio State teammate Arvell Reese in mock drafts. They also have the 16th overall pick and have an arsenal of early-round choices over the next two drafts, so they could move around the board in order to nab their preferred targets.
Dallas also has two picks — No. 12 and No. 20 — while the Commanders are at No. 7 and the Bengals are at No. 10.
Styles had 244 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, nine sacks, an interception, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery during his time with the Buckeyes. He also impressed during his workouts at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last month to solidify his standing as a top prospect.
Joe Flacco has signed on to be the Bengals’ backup quarterback, but he clearly thinks he’s still capable of playing a bigger role.
Flacco opened the 2025 season as the starter for the Browns and the Bengals then traded for him to run their offense while Joe Burrow was recovering from injury. Flacco said on Wednesday that he’s happy to be back in Cincinnati, but questioned the wisdom of teams that passed on offering him a chance to be their No. 1 option.
“Believe me, I wish I was a guy somewhere,” Flacco said, via Ben Baby of ESPN.com. “And I think teams are dumb for not having me be that guy.”
Flacco threw for 1,664 yards, 13 touchdowns and four interceptions while completing 61.7 percent of his passes in nine appearances for the Bengals last year. Those numbers didn’t earn him a look as a starter this month, but Flacco has found paths back to the lineup in the past and other developments around the league could open another one at some point this year.
Joe Flacco was traded to the Bengals midway through the 2025 season after Joe Burrow went down with torn ligaments in his toe.
While Cincinnati won just one of Flacco’s six starts with the club, the 41-year-old quarterback did enough for the Bengals to want him back in 2026.
After signing his one-year deal, Flacco, via Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer, noted his market in free agency didn’t exactly work out as he’d hoped, as he wanted to “have multiple options and to think about it and make a really big decision.” But with a chance to be on a team expected to compete, Flacco elected to take the bird in the hand and re-sign with Cincinnati.
“I feel like I have unfinished business,” Flacco said. “That’s part of why I’m still here and playing and doing all those things. Not being one of those guys to go sign somewhere, yeah, it pisses me off a little, but at the same time, I’m very happy to be here and also why I don’t see this as the end.”
“I just enjoyed being here and felt like it was a good fit,” Flacco added. “I feel like I can help this team in any role possible and see what happens.”
In his nine appearances with six starts for Cincinnati, Flacco completed 61.7 percent of his passes for 1,664 yards with 13 touchdowns and four interceptions in 2025.
Last year, Joe Flacco arrived in Cincinnati by trade. This year, it’s by choice.
Via agent Joe Linta, Flacco has agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Bengals.
Flacco, 41, appeared in nine games for the Bengals in 2025, with six starts. He had opened the season as the Browns’ starter. Cleveland traded him to Cincinnati after Flacco was benched for rookie Dillon Gabriel.
Flacco joins Joe Burrow, Josh Johnson, and Sean Clifford on the depth chart in Cincinnati.
A first-round pick of the Ravens in 2008, Flacco won the Super Bowl XLVII MVP award to cap the 2012 season. He was twice the NFL’s highest-paid player.
He was cut by the Ravens after the 2018 season. Since then, he has played for the Broncos, Jets, Browns (twice), the Colts, and the Bengals. In 2023, a late-season stint in Cleveland resulted in Flacco winning the comeback player of the year award.
When it comes to paying star players, it never pays to wait.
The Cowboys learned that lesson (again) on Monday, when the market for the receiver position moved from $40 million per year to $42.15 million per year, thanks to the new contract signed by Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
That’s particularly relevant to Cowboys receiver George Pickens, whose path to free agency was blocked by the franchise tag. He’ll make $27.298 million without a long-term contract. And his desire to get a long-term deal will only become stronger, now that two other receivers have made it to the $40 million threshold.
The Cowboys and Pickens have until July 15 to get a multi-year deal signed. There has been no indication that any negotiations have begun. The Cowboys will likely push it to the deadline, while also lamenting Pickens’s absence from the offseason program.
Regardless, the price will keep going up. The Rams likely will be signing receiver Puka Nacua to a new deal, sooner than later. He’ll quite possibly be the next player to get to $40 million per year. That will make Pickens even more determined to get there.
No, delays never help get deals done. Especially since the Cowboys may have been able to get Pickens signed during the 2025 season for something less than $40 million per year.
Still, it’s on brand. They take too long to pay their stars. They did it with Dak Prescott. They did it with Ezekiel Elliott. They did it with CeeDee Lamb. They did it with Micah Parsons — and it blew up on them.
What will happen with Pickens? That’s largely up to the Cowboys. But the market is the market, and the market has once again changed. If the Cowboys truly want to keep him, they need to dig deep. If they keep dragging their feet, they’ll eventually need to dig ever deeper.
