NFL Player News

They’re also believed to have inked former Lions third-round pick Derrick Williams. The 2006 Heisman Trophy winner Smith spent last season with the UFL’s Omaha Nighthawks. We did extensive digging on Smith and could not even find any of his minor-league stats. With Charlie Batch, Byron Leftwich, and Dennis Dixon all free agents, Smith will have a shot to make the Steelers’ 53-man roster in 2012. Behind Ben Roethlisberger, Smith and Texas A&M product Jerrod Johnson are Pittsburgh’s only quarterbacks under contract at the moment.

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, “the Raiders voided the remaining $35.2 million of guaranteed money left on Wilkins’ contract last month.” The Raiders’ decision is reportedly “due to how Wilkins treated the rehab from his foot injury he suffered last season.” He signed a four-year, $110 million contract with the team last offseason, but appeared in just five games before suffering the season-ending injury. He totaled 14 tackles, nine quarterback pressures and two sacks while active. Wilkins reportedly filed a grievance with the NFLPA today. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport adds that the team asked Wilkins to undergo surgery to correct the injury but Wilkins declined.

Referring to Egbuka as “the absolute stud” on the New Heights podcast, Mayfield described him as being “so [dang] smart... willing to block, willing to do everything we ask him to do” and specifically celebrated Egbuka’s post-catch potential. Mayfield praised Egbuka for always being “grounded” when he’s catching the ball, which sets the receiver up for immediate post-catch production. Travis Kelce then implicitly referred to Egbuka as the Buccaneers’ No. 3 WR by recounting Chiefs head coach Andy Reid’s love of three-deep receiving corps. Mayfield did not correct him. Egbuka has seemingly already supplanted Jalen McMillan on the depth chart and appears to be on track for a flex-worthy role in year one.

Greenfield initially signed on with the Seahawks but was waived in August 2024. He later joined the Buccaneers but logged no snaps.

Jefferson described the decision to depart early as “just taking precaution.” It sounds like there are no concerns here. Fantasy managers can continue drafting him as an elite WR1.

Per Woodyard, Williams “has noticed Morton’s aggressiveness in his approach to taking deep shots down the field,” and “this is one of the major areas that Williams feels that he has improved since last season.” Williams described his diversified downfield route tree as being “more polished,” as he gets “better with cuts and angles.” While more deep shots do appear to be incoming, fantasy managers should note that Jared Goff downplayed the number of changes being made from last year to this year, and “remains confident the Lions can continue to execute at the highest level.” Maintaining the status quo to some degree would be a smart move for Morton, with the Lions having led the league in points per game (29.0) over the last three years.

Butler plays plenty on defense but special teams is his strength. His eight special teams tackles last year tied for eighth-most on the team. In coverage, he’s a liability, having allowed 14.5 yards per reception through three NFL seasons.

It’s possible that the backboard and cart were just precautionary, given Russell’s ability to move his limbs. We wish him a speedy recovery. Russell totaled a career-high 21 tackles with the Buccaneers last year.

Cook knows that his status as an early-down rusher hurts his ability to negotiate a long-term deal, and he aims to change that, telling The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia that he hopes to “get more involved in the pass game instead of the run game.” The Bills’ three-player rotation “led to Cook receiving under 50 percent of offensive snaps in his games played, despite his breakout statistical season.” Both Ray Davis and Ty Johnson are heavily involved in the offense, and Johnson, specifically, out-snapped Cook on third down, 149-to-27. “Just being out there on third downs” would go a long way toward proving his value. Cook faces an uphill battle in this endeavor, but should he successfully unseat Johnson for the role, both his future salary and projectable fantasy output would stand to benefit.

King played well on special teams last year and will likely find a spot on a 53-player roster elsewhere. The journeyman cornerback turned 30 this offseason. The Falcons also placed CB Cobee Bryant, S Malik Verdon and DE LaCale London on the non-football injury list.

Both players lined up with the first-team offense, but Warren got the start. We expect both players to remain involved all year, but following the competition to see which player at least gets the 1A designation is worthwhile. For now, the veteran is in the driver’s seat.