The Cardinals have signed free agent offensive lineman Olisaemeka Udoh to a one-year deal, the team announced Friday.
Udoh, 29, spent last season with the Titans, playing all 17 games. He made two starts at right tackle and one at left tackle, while playing 341 offensive snaps and 65 on special teams.
The Vikings made Udoh a sixth-round pick in 2019.
He has appeared in 74 games with 22 starts.
Udoh has made 14 starts at right guard, four at left tackle, three at right tackle and one at left guard.
He is the fourth offensive lineman the Cardinals have added in free agency, joining Isaac Seumalo, who will start at left guard, Matt Pryor and Elijah Wilkinson. Still, the Cardinals are expected to select at least one offensive tackle during the three-day draft, and University of Miami’s Francis Mauigoa is a popular choice for them in mock drafts.
Titans Clips
It’s been more than four years since Brian Flores filed his landmark race discrimination lawsuit against the NFL and various teams. The case remains stuck at square one.
The six teams that are the subject of claims made by Flores, Steve Wilks, and Ray Horton — the Dolphins, Giants, Broncos, Texans, Cardinals, and Titans — continue to seek a stay of the proceedings, pending multiple different appeals. This week, the presiding judge declined to stay the litigation.
Currently, the Giants, Broncos, and Texans have a petition for appeal pending before the U.S. Supreme Court on the question of whether the claims made against them require mandatory arbitration. A ruling is expected within the next month or so. (The Supreme Court first has to accept the appeal before resolving the issue.)
The Dolphins, Cardinals, and Titans more recently had their efforts to force arbitration denied. That will inevitably be the subject of another petition for appeal to the Supreme Court, based on the broader conclusion that the NFL’s entire system of arbitration controlled by the NFL has been struck down.
Like most defendants to civil litigation, there’s value in slowing the process down as much as possible. Flores, Wilks, and Horton want to move the case along.
While, like all parties in civil cases, appeal rights can be exercised as to certain issues before the case has ended, there’s a point at which justice delayed becomes justice denied. It has been more than four years. At some point, it’s time to start addressing the merits of the case, and to stop spinning the wheels of the court system on the threshold question of where and how the case is going to be litigated.
As to the notion that the case would have moved faster if the plaintiffs had accepted the league’s arbitration procedures (even if the process is inherently rigged against them), consider this — the league’s designated arbitrator (according to the plaintiffs) did nothing with the claims for more than a year.
A defendant to a civil case can run, but it cannot hide. Unfortunately, the NFL and the six teams that have been sued have managed to run an ultramarathon in the effort to avoid having to answer the specific claims that Flores, Wilks, and Horton have made.
Common sense suggests that, if the NFL and the six teams had any real confidence in its arguments on the merits, they would eventually stand and fight instead.
Tight end Jody Fortson didn’t play at all in 2025, but he’s trying to get back into the league for the 2026 season.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Fortson is visiting with the Titans.
Fortson last played in a game while with the Chiefs in Week 8 of the 2024 season. He tore his ACL in that contest and was reportedly cleared to return last fall, but did not catch on with any team.
Fortson had 14 catches for 155 yards in 19 games for the Chiefs in 2021 and 2022. He spent all of 2023 on injured reserve and then returned to Kansas City in 2024 after a brief stint with the Dolphins.
Defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers will be with a new team in 2026, but his transition to the Titans will be a smoother one thanks to some familiar faces in the building.
Titans head coach Robert Saleh had the same job with the Jets when Franklin-Myers was with the team and edge rusher Jermaine Johnson made the move to Tennessee in a trade this month. There’s also history with defensive run game coordinator Aaron Whitecotton and Franklin-Myers said that the best part of his new team is that “you have people that you trust and bled with and sweated with and it makes it easier to be out there.”
Franklin-Myers said Saleh’s presence was particularly important to him when it came time to making a decision about where to sign this offseason.
“Our relationship, we have one of the best relationships in football I would say,” Franklin-Myers said, via the team’s website. “We kept in contact. When I’m down, he is going to shoot me a text, and he is going to pick me up. Relationships in football, they’re so important. And I appreciate coach Saleh because I can always count on him. Whenever free agency started, it was like: ‘If the opportunity ever came about and he was willing, and we set the financials straight, I would be more than willing.’ And I am so happy to be back in this defense with him, for real.”
Defensive tackle Solomon Thomas and safety Tony Adams also have ties to the Saleh-era Jets and the Titans have brought in a number of players who played for offensive coordinator Brian Daboll when Daboll was the head coach of the Giants. They’ll be hoping that history leads to strong results on the field.
The Bears are set to add a defensive lineman to their roster.
According to multiple reports, they have agreed to a deal with James Lynch. It’s a one-year deal in Chicago for the veteran lineman.
Lynch spent the last two seasons with the Titans and appeared in all 34 of the team’s games. He had 45 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
The move to the Bears will be a return to the NFC North for Lynch, who entered the league as a Vikings fourth-round pick in 2020. He had 53 tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery while playing for Minnesota.
It didn’t take long for wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson to find a team when free agency opened.
Robinson agreed to terms with the Titans shortly after the negotiating window opened last week and he said this week that it “felt like it was the perfect marriage, a perfect timing type thing.” The presence of offensive coordinator Brian Daboll — who coached Robinson with the Giants — and quarterback Cam Ward had something to do with creating that feeling because Robinson believes they can help him build off of a breakout 2025 season.
“I feel like this past year was the first year I’ve been able to play inside and outside, more so being allowed to do that and showcase different things within the route tree and what I can do in my game,” Robinson said, via the team’s website. “Now having that confidence, I have already done it once, and now you can go out there and get better.”
The four-year, $70 million contract the Titans gave Robinson suggests they also see the potential and room for growth during his time in Tennessee. Turning those hopes into reality would be a boost to the Titans’ chances of avoiding another season in the cellar.
The Vikings have agreed to terms with punter Johnny Hekker, the team announced Tuesday.
Hekker, 36, spent last season with the Titans, who signed Tommy Townsend last week.
He played in all 17 games and punted 78 times for a 46.8-yard average and a 40.3-yard net. Hekker had seven touchbacks and landed 22 punts inside the 20-yard line.
Ryan Wright punted for the Vikings last season, averaging 49.0 yards on 65 punts with a 45.4-yard net.
Hekker got his NFL start as an undrafted free agent with the Rams in 2012. He stayed with the team for 10 seasons and earned Pro Bowl nods following the 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017 seasons.
Hekker punted for Carolina from 2022-24.
Free agent offensive tackle Austin Deculus reached an agreement today with the Titans, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Deculus, 27, spent last season with the Chargers.
He started five games on the team’s injury-plagued line last season and set career-highs with 13 game appearances, 516 offensive snaps and 41 special teams snaps.
Deculus entered the NFL as a sixth-round pick of the Texans in 2022.
He spent three seasons in his hometown, playing 13 games with one start.
The Texans traded him to the Chargers last August.
The Titans have held onto another one of their own free agents.
Running back Julius Chestnut has agreed to re-sign with the team. It is a one-year deal and no other terms have been announced.
Chestnut initially signed with the Titans as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and has remained with the team for the last four seasons. He played in nine games over his first two seasons and has played in every game for Tennessee the last two years.
Chestnut has seen most of his playing time on special teams while with the Titans and has only played 160 offensive snaps. He has 42 carries for 154 yards in that action and has also been credited with 19 tackles while averaging 24.3 yards on kickoff returns.
Wide receiver Calvin Ridley took a pay cut to stay with the Titans. That was reported over the weekend.
But how much was unknown.
Paul Kuharsky of paulkuharsky.com reports that Ridley’s cap number will drop by $11 million for 2026.
The one-time second-team All-Pro was due a $19.24 million base salary and a $2 million roster bonus with a $26.45 salary cap hit. The Titans added incentives to the revised deal, allowing Ridley to recoup some of the lost money.
Ridley signed a four-year deal in Tennessee before the start of the 2024 season. He played in every game that year and caught 64 passes for 1,017 yards and four touchdowns, but a fractured fibula ended his 2025 season after seven games. Ridley had 17 catches for 303 yards before the injury.
The Titans now have Riley, Wan’Dale Robinson, Elic Ayomanor, Chimere Dike, Mason Kinsey and Bryce Oliver in their receivers room.
