NFL Player News

Hass’ competition for the sixth receiver spot, Brandon Rideau, was targeted four times and caught two of them. The winner of the battle will see most of his time on special teams and possibly the game-day inactives list.

Rooney pointed to “positive signs” that Rodgers could finally be ready to sign with Pittsburgh after flaming out with the Jets last season. He added that the team would not wait “forever” for Rodgers to make his final decision. Rodgers, entering his age-41 season, reportedly meshed well with Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith in a March visit to the team facility. With the Giants signing Russell Wilson, the Steelers are the last viable landing spot for the mercurial veteran. The Vikings could change that calculus if they don’t commit to JJ McCarthy as their Week 1 starter, however.

Proposed by the Packers, who could not stop the Jalen Hurts-led tush push in last year’s postseason, the tush push ban will be kicked down the road to another owners meeting. CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones said 16 teams opposed the rule to ban the tush push. “There will be much more conversation, with many teams in favor of having the NFL’s competition committee continue to study the play,” Jones said. NFL head coaches have spoken out against the tush push in part because they can’t stop it and partly due to concerns about injuries, even though the tush push does not have a high injury rate. A ban of the short-yardage play would constitute a major blow to the Eagles offense.

Gladstone said Brown, who last month signed a one-year, $10 million deal with Jacksonville, will be a solid complement to alpha WR Brian Thomas in the Jaguars offense. “Somebody else that can go down the field so [Thomas] is not always having to be that guy on the top shelf,” Gladstone said when asked about acquiring Brown, who had his most productive stretch as a pro last December and January for the Commanders. Jaguars head coach Liam Coen described Brown as “somebody that’s able to attack the field at all three levels.” Brown, entering his age-26 season, should be the team’s No. 2 target behind Thomas now that Evan Engram is in Denver.

The rule tweak means NFL replay officials can now reverse flags thrown for hits to defenseless players, along with facemask penalties, horse collar penalties, tripping, and running into/roughing the kicker, according to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. The change will not allow officials to apply a penalty when one has clearly occurred on the field.

Blackshear will return to Carolina for a fourth season with the Panthers. Mostly used as a special teams player Blackshear, 25, has sometimes been used as an emergency running back. He has 203 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns over his three seasons with the Panthers.

Moore called Kamara a “premiere player” who will have an outsized role in the New Orleans offense next season. This comes as Saints coaches and front office officials reportedly “look hard” at incoming rookie running back prospects. That includes a recent meeting with Boise State RB Ashton Jeantey, widely expected to be the first back off the draft board. Kamara, entering his age-30 season, could take on more of a pass-catching role if the Saints take a running back in the first or second round of the draft. Kamara has 330 receptions since the start of the 2020 season, leading all running backs over that span.

Usurped by Michael Penix as Atlanta’s starter late last season, Cousins, entering his age-37 season, reportedly hopes to be traded after the 2025 NFL Draft. Cousins has a no-trade clause in his Falcons contract, meaning he has a say in where he’s dealt in the coming weeks or months. Though Falcons officials have been cagey about Cousins’ future with the organization, there’s almost no way Cousins remains on the roster headed into the summer. Penix is widely viewed as the team’s long-term starter. Cousins in 2024 posted the second-lowest touchdown rate of his NFL career and the lowest adjusted yards per attempt of his 13 seasons in the league.

Earlier in the day, Haslam was quoted as saying the trade for quarterback Deshaun Watson was “a big swing and a miss.” The team’s plans under center certainly remain up in the air with Watson rehabbing a torn Achilles suffered in 2024, but Haslam asserted the team does not feel the need to reach for a signal caller at No. 2 overall, nor trade up to the first pick in the coming NFL draft to select a quarterback. It should be noted that this is the same owner who was swayed to draft Johnny Manziel because a homeless man told him to — if any situation screamed “reach for a quarterback” in the NFL, it is this one.

“Meanwhile, the slot in New England -- which was a staple over the years with Troy Brown and Wes Welker, among others -- could use a rebirth. It was expected that Douglas would be the top option in 2025, but Diggs’ arrival could alter plans at times,” Reiss writes. Diggs saw 43 percent of his snaps in the slot with the Texans last season, but they also had the No. 1 receiver that the Patriots lack in Nico Collins. Reading between the lines, this could be a tough scene for PPR scam Pop Douglas, who had a 66/621/3 line in 17 games last year. Diggs operating out of the slot for a large part of his snaps would seem to further reinforce his WR2 upside in this offense.

Cominsky took to social media to announce his retirement due to medical reasons. A former 2019 fourth-round pick by the Falcons, Cominsky missed all of last season due to a torn MCL he suffered during the summer and saw his contract with the Lions expire at the end of the season. Cominsky appeared in 57 games in his career, making 20 starts while totaling 7.5 sacks and 107 tackles.