NFL Player News

He will be placed on season-ending injured reserve, with Frank Kearse promoted from the practice squad to take his roster spot. The 33-year-old had been playing on early downs but was below average in run defense. Sione Fua should take over as the starter inside. It’s not a major downgrade.

The second-year receiver was left motionless and removed on a stretcher after a helmet-to-helmet hit against the Texans in Week 15. DuBose revealed that he was “induced into a coma as part of the recovery process.” Anyway, every NFL player is a superhero. DuBose will be fighting for a job on the tail end of the Dolphins wideout depth chart this offseason.

Williams ends his Saints career with just 154 carries for 470 yards and two touchdowns in two seasons with the team. He took more than 20 snaps in just four games with New Orleans last year between injuries and the rise of Kendre Miller late in the season. Williams is entering his age-30 season and could make for a reasonable backup for a team that wants a goal-line grinder to spell a back who can stay on the field on third down. The release frees up $1.59 million in cap space for the Saints, meaning they only need to find another $45 million in cuts or restructures to be cap compliant. Easy.

Jackson writes that keeping Chubb on his current contract, which has a $28.6 million cap hit, is “unrealistic” for Miami. The team could designate him as a post-June 1 cut and save $19 million in cap space, but that money wouldn’t free up until after June 1 and thus couldn’t help the Dolphins in the initial wave of free agency. If the Dolphins instead were able to talk Chubb, who missed all of last season after a devastating late-2023 knee injury, into a pay cut, they could use that money at the start of free agency. That’s the exact script that worked on Terron Armstead last week. Chubb is entering his age-29 season and is coming off an 11-sack season in 16 games in 2023, so if teams believe he’s healthy, he would make for an interesting free agent.

Farabaugh adds that Harris “seems to have several suitors” and that the Raiders were “one team that came up quite often when talking about Harris.” Steelers general manager Omar Khan was quoted at the NFL Combine as saying that Pittsburgh hasn’t closed the door on a return for Harris, but that’s not exactly a statement brimming with optimism and movement towards a deal. The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo wrote today that Harris “appears far more likely to be playing elsewhere than the GM’s public comments made it seem.” Harris seems likely to wind up elsewhere in free agency, leaving Jaylen Warren as Pittsburgh’s lead back for the short term.

Lions general manager Brad Holmes talked about the Lions being in the “planning stages” of getting Hutchinson extended at the combine. Pouncy speculates that the Lions could save a million or two beating the notoriously slow-moving Cowboys front office to their extension on Micah Parsons. Hutchinson is entering the final year of his rookie contract and the Lions will almost certainly pick up his fifth-year option, giving the team plenty of leverage to negotiate from. The star EDGE was on an All-Pro pace last season before fracturing his tibia and fibula against the Cowboys in Week 6.

Prescott spoke to reporters at Dallas’ launch of a Girls Flag Football League, noting that he “wouldn’t say I’m running full speed yet ... but everything’s on the right track” for a return. It wouldn’t be surprising if Prescott was limited at OTAs and, perhaps, early in training camp. Fortunately for Dallas, Prescott should have most of Brian Schottenheimer’s system down pat after spending the last several years with Schottenheimer as his OC.

The team’s own website notes that Zack Moss’ status going forward is “unclear.” Speaking to reporters, Pitcher praised Chase’s ability in pass protection, saying “Chase really stepped up in his protection as well last year.” The Bengals coordinator added that “depending on who we are able to add we can mold it and we can make it work. Credit Chase’s development that we find ourselves in that position.” It was never likely that we were going to get Week 10-Week 18 Brown, who almost never left the field, back in 2025. A bigger backup runner could cost Brown some red zone carries, but at least it would maintain his status as a main target out of the backfield for Cincinnati next season.

Iosivas appears locked in to the third receiver role for the Bengals heading into the offseason, and with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins hardly in settled contract situations, there’s probably a little upside left to tap here. “I thought he made a lot of big plays this year. I thought he really filled that role well,” Pitcher told the team’s website. “His skill set afforded us the flexibility to really move Ja’Marr as much as we moved him.” With Jermaine Burton needing a bounceback year after a rough first season where he was made inactive multiple times right before kickoff for disciplinary reasons, Iosivas seems like the best bet to hold value in deeper leagues as Cincy’s third wideout at the moment.

But is it officially official? Adam Schefter did a media hit earlier today where he said his “guess” is that a team won’t make a compelling enough contract offer to pry Darnold loose from the Vikings. Darnold and the Vikings look to be in active discussions about a reprisal, with Rapoport stating in a video hit that he’d likely return for less than the franchise tag amount if he returned to the Vikings. It makes a lot of sense for Minnesota to keep Darnold as a fallback plan for J.J. McCarthy off McCarthy’s lost season. But it would be surprising if the Vikings made Darnold the best offer he’s going to see. How will the end game play out? Stay tuned.

The Packers finally were able to find consistency at kicker with McManus, who hit 20-of-21 field goals last season in 11 games, though he did miss a field goal in Green Bay’s loss to Philadelphia in the Wild Card round. There’s a $5 million signing bonus in the contract, per Adam Schefter. This deal lands McManus near the top 15 in total contract value for a kicker. It was clear that McManus was a priority re-sign in Green Bay’s eyes, but he won’t necessarily be a terrific fantasy football kicker in 2025.