The NFL closed its Personal Conduct Policy investigation into Stefon Diggs last week, clearing the free agent wide receiver as he seeks a new team.
Diggs, 32, addressed his future in an interview with Fox 5 DC on Monday, including the possibility of landing with his hometown Commanders.
“I never realized how many fans it was back home until I was a free agent and people were like, ‘Are you going to come back home?’” Diggs told the TV station. “Especially when they see me back. I’m like this, I’ve been living here for my whole life. I’ve been living here for 10 years. They was just like this, ‘Oh, we never see you.’ I was like, ‘Man, y’all wasn’t looking.’
“It’s a lot of hopes. We’re kind of figuring it out, working through some things. I did have a small piece of me, like, ‘Damn, it would be great to come home and play in front of the fans I used to play in front of as a young adolescent in college and just kind of doing something for the city.’ Hopefully, things do work out. We’ll see how it goes.”
Diggs grew up in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and played collegiately at Maryland. He has played for the Vikings, who selected him in the fifth round in 2015, Bills, Texans and Patriots.
The Patriots released Diggs in March, replacing him with A.J. Brown earlier this month.
A jury acquitted Diggs of felony strangulation and misdemeanor assault, prompting the NFL to end its investigation. Now, it’s just a matter of Diggs finding the right fit.
Patriots Clips
Every second-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft has signed his rookie contract, except one: Patriots linebacker Gabe Jacas, who remains unsigned as questions surround his non-participation in the team’s offseason work.
Patriots coach Mike Vrabel confirmed last week that Jacas was not participating, but did not say why. Vrabel did, however, mention that Jacas had to have a procedure this offseason.
According to Mike Reiss of ESPN, the injuries are mounting for Jacas: A hamstring injury kept him out of both the NFL Scouting Combine and Illinois’ Pro Day, although he held his own Pro Day before the draft and looked good. Sources from other NFL teams said that in pre-draft medical evaluations, Jacas was found to have a torn labrum in his shoulder and a stress fracture in his foot. And the procedure Vrabel mentioned was reportedly for Jacas’ knee.
The report says Jacas was not given a standard “participation agreement” from the Patriots, which most draft picks receive, that would have guaranteed the Patriots would still sign him to his rookie contract even if he suffered an offseason injury that prevented him from playing. Jacas may have to get healthy before the Patriots are ready to commit to signing their end of his rookie contract.
As quarterback Drake Maye prepares for his second season in the Josh McDaniels offense, McDaniels knows Maye is in a much better spot than he was a year ago. But there’s still plenty of room to grow.
This time around, they’re focusing on better preparing him for game scenarios by “weaponizing” his mind.
As explained by Mike Reiss of ESPN in his weekly look at all things Pats, he explains that, during offseason practices, McDaniels would at times hurry Maye to the line of scrimmage but without giving him a play call. The purpose was to get Maye to solve problems on his own.
“Then we can go into the meeting room and talk about what he was thinking, why he was thinking,” quarterbacks coach Ashton Grant said, per Reiss. “If it was a great answer, you give him a pat on the back. If it’s something you might want to tweak or adjust, we talk about it.
“It’s easy to say ‘solve the problems,’ but if you never let him practice solving problems, then you’re just talking to a cement wall. . . . We’re trying to weaponize Drake’s mind. As opposed to be just throwers of the football, we want them to be operators of the offense.”
That’s the challenge for every quarterback. Understanding based on the pre-snap look what will, or won’t be, available — and making a decision accordingly.
It’s something that requires reps in games. The Patriots are trying to give Maye reps in practice in anticipation of the reality that those issues will arise in games.
The new Patrick Mahomes contract covers eight seasons and averages, from signing, a payout of $63.093 million per year. That pushes the market to unprecedented heights. And it brings into focus the next wave of quarterback deals.
So let’s take a look at the quarterbacks who’ll use the Mahomes contract as a key data point for ongoing or upcoming negotiations.
Lamar Jackson, Ravens.
Jackson has wanted a new deal for more than a year. His current contract averaged $52.5 million per year from signing. At the time it was finalized, he was the highest paid player in the league. He has now slid down to the bottom of the top 10. Mahomes getting to $63.09 million, especially while still recovering from a torn ACL, will only strengthen Lamar’s resolve.
Jackson currently has $104 million remaining on his current contract, over the next two years. With a no-tag clause, he can kick the can through the next two seasons and become an unrestricted free agent. It gives him significant leverage, and Mahomes’s contract likely nudges Lamar’s reasonable expectations from at least $60.1 million per year (based on Dak Prescott’s latest deal) to at least $63.1 million annually.
Joe Burrow, Bengals.
In 2023, after his first three NFL seasons, Burrow agreed to a seven-year deal with an average from signing of $44.28 million per year and a new-money average of $55 million. He has four years left with a total payout of $163.539 million, an average of $40.88 million.
His recent restructuring was a cap-creation device, with no new money. The Bengals, who are extremely careful with money, may not be inclined to tear up the current deal and replace it with a new contract.
For his part, Burrow may not be inclined to extend his commitment to the team. His discontent after three straight non-playoff seasons has become more obvious. As he enters his seventh season in Cincinnati, Burrow could be thinking about reaching the same conclusion Carson Palmer did after his eighth.
Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers.
He has said talks on a deal that would extend his $33.3 million per year contract are nowhere close to where he thought they’d be. The Buccaneers could tag him in 2027, or they could let him hit the open market.
Some think the Bucs wouldn’t use the franchise tag; with a 2026 cap number of $39.975 million, Mayfield’s 2027 franchise tender would be at least $47.97 million. There’s a sense in some circles that the Bucs believe they’ll ultimately offer him more than anyone would in free agency, if a new deal isn’t done before Mayfield’s self-imposed deadline of the start of training camp.
C.J. Stroud.
The Texans repeatedly have proclaimed that he’s their guy. But they have yet to do for him what they’d done for cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and defensive end Will Anderson — sign the first-round pick to a new deal before his fourth season.
The challenge at this point comes from putting a number on his second contract. There’s a broad range when it comes to veteran quarterback pay. Where would Stroud fit?
Currently, the number would be lower than it could be for Stroud, if he has a strong fourth season. Since the Texans realize that, at this point, they’d be only bidding against themselves, there’s no reason to rush the process.
Caleb Williams, Bears.
The first overall pick in the 2024 draft becomes eligible for a new deal after the 2026 regular season. And Williams has been very focused on the business realities of the NFL, from even before he was drafted.
When the time comes for Williams to get a new deal, the Mahomes number will drive the discussion. Especially if Williams continues to be on a trajectory that could put him among the top four or five quarterbacks in football.
We’ve already heard talk of Williams having expectations that would be more than eye-popping. And we also expect that Williams will make it known that he wants his contract not after the 2026 postseason ends, but promptly upon the opening of the window for a new deal after the Bears face the Vikings in Week 18.
Why carry the injury risk into the 2026 postseason? No quarterback on his rookie deal has tried to do that, even though the CBA wrinkle has been hiding in plain sight since 2011.
Jayden Daniels, Commanders.
Like Williams, Daniels becomes eligible for a new deal after the 2026 regular season. His main goal should be to reestablish himself after a disappointing and injury-plagued second season, during which he played only seven of 17 games.
If Daniels returns to his rookie form, he’ll be joining Williams as a quarterback looking for a second contract.
Drake Maye, Patriots.
The player who finished second in the MVP voting to cap his second season also has his window open after the 2026 regular season. And the Patriots will be hoping that, like Tom Brady before him, Maye will be less inclined to break the bank and more inclined to ensure that there will be cap space to have a quality team around him.
Brady, who entered the league as the 199th overall pick, had naturally lower expectations early in his career. Maye, the third overall pick who was denied the commensurate reward due to the rookie wage scale, may not be as charitable as Brady was.
Bo Nix, Broncos.
Nix’s window likewise opens after the 2026 regular season. He’ll need to show he has fully recovered from the foot injury suffered late in the AFC playoff win over the Bills. And he’ll need to do even more in Sean Payton’s offense to unlock a major deal.
Regardless, there’s a new high bar — and his contemporaries from the 2024 draft could add more data points.
That raises another question, as to Williams, Daniels, Maye, and Nix. Who goes first? There will be a competition among the agents to emerge with the best deal. This could prompt some of them to wait until the others jump in the pool first.
Sam Darnold, Seahawks.
Darnold’s three-year, $100.5 million contract from 2025 was structured to give the Seahawks an escape hatch after one year. It wasn’t structured to force the team back to the table if Darnold leads the team to a Super Bowl win.
With $27.5 million in base pay and up to $5 million in available incentives, Darnold would be justified to seek a new deal. The Seahawks may want to wait until 2027.
Regardless, Mahomes’s new contract will be a factor, whenever it’s time to sit down and work out a new contract.
After a jury acquitted free-agent receiver Stefon Diggs of felony strangulation and misdemeanor assault, the NFL did not close its Personal Conduct Policy investigation arising from the underlying allegations.
It now has.
Per multiple reports, the NFL has ended the investigation. The league found that the evidence to support a finding of a violation was not sufficient.
It’s unclear whether the alleged victim, Mila Adams, was interviewed by the NFL. The league has no subpoena power, and it has no way to force non-employees of the league or its teams to cooperate.
Adams’s testimony at the Diggs criminal trial was ultimately not persuasive. The cross-examination demonstrated many flaws in the story. Ultimately, the case arguably should not have been pursued.
The NFL uses a much lower bar than the rigorous requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt that applies in criminal court. Even under that reduced standard, there was not enough evidence for the league to find that Diggs had done anything wrong.
Diggs remains a free agent. He generated more than 1,000 receiving yards during the 2025 season with the Patriots, one year after suffering a torn ACL.
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel’s relationship with wide receiver A.J. Brown was strong when the two were together in Tennessee, and Vrabel was eager to bring Brown to New England when the opportunity arose. But Brown says Vrabel isn’t the only one he’s glad to be working with for a second time.
Brown noted that Vrabel has hired a number of assistant coaches in New England who worked for him in Tennessee, and that the Patriots have a few other players who were on the Titans when Brown played there. Those people make Brown feel like he’s already at home.
“Do I feel at home? Yeah, I’m surrounded by a lot of Tennessee coaches and a couple Tennessee players, so walking in the building feels good,” Brown said.
To Brown, the most important familiar face may be Patriots wide receivers coach Todd Downing, who was the Titans’ offensive coordinator during Brown’s final year in Tennessee. Vrabel also brought with him several members of the support staff and athletic training staff who worked for him with the Titans.
“Being around coach Vrabel and other people I know, it feels great,” Brown said.
Brown’s relationships in Philadelphia reportedly got rocky at times, but in New England, he thinks he’s found the right home.
Jordon Hudson keeps trying to extend her 15 minutes of fame.
Upon seeing Thursday’s report from The Assembly that Hudson has requested a broad range of internal North Carolina documents regarding last year’s report from Pablo Torre that she had been “banned” from the UNC football facility, my first reaction was to not give the story the oxygen she wants it to have.
Ignoring it simply because she wants it to be noticed isn’t the right answer. The development, despite being apparently gratuitous, has significance.
On one hand, Hudson is possibly trying to gather evidence that could be used in her promised (but not yet filed) lawsuit against Torre. (She should be paying very close attention to the applicable statutes of limitations, if she’s serious about suing.) On the other hand, she could be fishing for any evidence that could reveal whether and to what extent North Carolina officials were discussing her, internally or externally.
Whatever the explanation, it’s a very bad look for North Carolina coach Bill Belichick. He knows what she’s doing and supports it or he knows what she’s doing and has asked her not to do it or he’s clueless about what she’s doing. Whatever he knows, or doesn’t know, the notion that the girlfriend of the major college head football coach has become a chronic thorn in the side of the institution becomes a potentially major problem for the coach.
That’s the practical impact of her public-records side hustle. It will absolutely impact the manner in which UNC views Belichick. Which will make the bar a little higher for him to earn a third season at UNC.
Already, there’s a sense that Belichick is on the hot seat entering the 2026 season. If firing him means not having to deal with Hudson, firing him becomes a more attractive option. Which means that, if it’s ultimately a close question, Hudson’s antics could turn a decision to keep him for a third year into an announcement that he has been terminated.
Does Hudson not realize how this will impact UNC’s attitude toward her boyfriend? Or does she know it and not care?
This wrinkle serves only to make a strange situation borderline bizarre. Belichick, the ultimate no-distractions/"do your job” head coach, has created a massive distraction through his personal life, one that continues to create developments that take the focus away from what the Tar Heels are trying to do.
Broaden the lens. When has the spouse or significant other of a college or pro head coach created so many issues? (Or any issues?) Hudson has consistently interjected herself into Belichick’s job, and the general reaction has been consistently negative.
Still, she seems to revel in it. Beyond craving fame, she embraces notoriety. At the potential expense of her boyfriend, whose eight-figure job would seem to take precedence over her effort to find ways to get people to write or talk about her in advance of whatever reality-show endgame she may have in mind.
The saddest part of the saga is that she’ll find a small minority on social media who will loudly cheer her on. Even as a vast majority of largely silent observers will constantly be asking themselves questions like, “What the hell has Bill Belichick gotten himself into?”
A.J. Brown has caught passes from Ryan Tannehill, Marcus Mariota, Jalen Hurts, Gardner Minshew and Kenny Pickett. Now, after a trade to the Patriots, the wide receiver has Drake Maye as his quarterback.
In nine days, Maye has made a favorable impression with Brown.
“The talent speaks for itself. He can make any throw,” Brown said, via Khari Thompson of Boston.com. “But, I think what’s more impressive to me is that he knows what he’s doing. To be that young and to understand the defenses and to understand every little check, the hots, the blitzes all those things, so young, so fast, it’s very impressive. I really admire that. He knows what he is talking about. He demands everybody else to know as well. He’s a true leader of men. It’s crazy to see at a young age.”
Maye has made the Pro Bowl each of his first two seasons and led the Patriots to the Super Bowl in the 2025 season, and Brown can understand why.
“It’s hard not to get excited,” Brown said. “What a player he is, and just right off the bat, what a great teammate so far. He was eager to learn. He’s great with the guys in the locker room, and we just look forward to playing with a guy of that caliber.
“I know he’s been a great player in this league. He’s gone everywhere. He’s been a guy that you see on SportsCenter the next day, making plays and scoring. The best thing about him, he’s been a winner. He knows what it’s like to win, and he’s someone in that room that we were looking for. I think that’s the best thing.”
In his first year under head coach Mike Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, quarterback Drake Maye finished second in MVP voting while leading New England to Super Bowl LX.
As one would expect, Maye told reporters this week that he’s feeling a lot more comfortable with the scheme now as compared to 2025.
“I think it’s just naturally night and day from last year this time,” Maye said in his Wednesday press conference. “I was trying to get things right, trying to get guys knowing where I was making calls and getting guys lined up. Now we’re just taking the next steps.
“That’s the best thing about this time. You get to work on those things and also work on executing. That’s the best thing Coach McDaniels does, pushing me hard. He’s challenging me, and just trying to get comfortable here in OTAs, and getting comfortable with just doing things, being out here and just making throws. There’s a reason and there’s a why to it. That’s the best thing about Coach McDaniels. He’s so good about explaining that why and helping me get to know that why so I can play faster.”
As for where he’s improved the most, Maye noted that’s a little difficult to gauge in part because that’s what he’s trying to do right now, during the end of the offseason program.
“I’m just focused day-to-day and really not trying to pinpoint an area,” Maye said. “I’m trying to get better in all areas. I think it’s hard to pinpoint that. I think one thing is just making the right decision in the first few seconds I have the ball in my hand. Making the right decision, knowing sometimes incompletions are the best plays, not trying to hold the ball too long and get out of the habit of really trying to extend plays just because I feel like I haven’t extended a play in a while.”
Maye finished the 2025 season having completed 72 percent of his passes for 4,394 yards with 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He led the league with a 113.5 passer rating.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts spoke to reporters on Wednesday for the first time since wide receiver A.J. Brown was traded to the Patriots and he was asked about comments Brown made about their relationship last week.
Brown said “nothing happened, people just grow apart” when asked about Hurts and that he thought both men accepted that sometimes “you just you find yourself drifting away” despite being closer when Brown first joined the Eagles. Brown said he still hopes Hurts accomplishes “everything his heart desires” and Hurts said he couldn’t push back at someone else’s feelings.
“I’m not in the place to challenge anyone’s perspective on anything,” Hurts said at a press conference. “Seemingly so, it was. That’s where I am. I’ve always been focused on the collective. I’ve always put my energy towards that. As a leader, I’ve always put an onus on giving maximum effort to achieve the shared mission we have in the team.”
Hurts said before the trade that nothing can take away what he and Brown accomplished as members of the Eagles. He returned to that theme when asked if he’s disappointed about how things came to an end.
“You come into it and you have a sense of pride in how it began, and definitely what we were able to accomplish,” Hurts said. “The same thing I said last time, nothing can take that away. For the great things that we did, now it’s time to focus on achieving great things with this new iteration of the team.”
Hurts has a new offensive coordinator to go with a revamped receiving corps, so there will be plenty of on-field matters to keep the quarterback occupied heading into the regular season.
