NFL Player News

Hawkins (6'0/208) was a highly recruited wide receiver in high school, but transitioned to the secondary at Cal after redshirting. He was a three-year starter and earned an All-Pac 12 honorable mention as a redshirt senior. He has racked up 10 interceptions over the last three seasons, but he is a below-average tackler and makes too many gambles for a free safety. Hawkins was a projected undrafted free agent and The Athletic’s Dane Brugler’s 30th ranked safety in the 2020 NFL Draft. Most considered him as a special teamer. The Falcons seem to be expecting more.

Gannon also said on Monday that Murray is “a top-level, franchise quarterback.” While opinions may differ on whether or not Murray is a “top-level” quarterback, it’s hard to argue against him remaining as the team’s starter next season. Not because of his play but because of the five-year, $230.5 million contract extension he signed in the 2022 offseason. Murray is under contract through 2028 and carries a cap hit just north of $45 million next season. It’s unlikely any team would want to trade for Murray given his cap hit, and the dead cap hit he carries in 2025 tops out at just over $63 million. The Cardinals don’t have many options outside of playing Murray, who threw for 3851-21-11 in his first full season as a starter since 2020.

Florio’s report comes hours after it was announced by NFL Media that the Saints had submitted a request to interview the former Stanford head coach. While an interview could still come down the line, it appears the Saints have no interest in interviewing Shaw at this time.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported earlier that the Saints were expected to file a formal request to speak with Glenn. Now, the current Lions defensive coordinator will have a chance to speak with a team he played for in 2008 and served as an assistant from 2016 to 2020 before joining Dan Campbell and company in the Motor City. Glenn has been a hot name NFL coaching cycles for the last several seasons, and will have ample opportunities to land a job for the 2025 season. The Lions, who hold the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs, could be looking at a staff overhaul on both sides of the ball if Glenn and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson both leave at the end of this season.

McDermott said he was “hopeful” that Cooper would be available for Sunday’s game against the Broncos, but would not commit to it. Cooper has not been a full-time receiver in Buffalo since being acquired, so perhaps it doesn’t matter much either way, but it sure isn’t ideal for perhaps the best pure outside receiver the Bills have to be away from the club ahead of the playoffs.

Monken, 58, has never served as a head coach in the NFL, but his reputation as an elite offensive coordinator, specifically in the passing game, has always made him a threat to bolt for a top job of his own. Monken has spent the last two seasons with the Ravens and may have helped coach Lamar Jackson to his second-straight MVP after Lamar won MVP last season. Monken is one of several head coaching candidates the Bears hope to speak with in the coming days. While he isn’t the young, big-named player caller in the ilk of Ben Johnson, Joe Brady, or Liam Coen, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if Monken had a chance to eventually lead his own team and build an offense to best suit his play-calling.

The Dolphins DC now has at least two interviews, one with the Bears and one with the Saints, before we turn to recent vacancies that opened. Weaver profiles more as the leader of men type, and was considered a finalist for the Falcons job in 2024. Weaver played in 103 NFL games and had 15.5 sacks and 265 combined tackles before shifting over to the coaching side, where he’s mostly been a defensive line coach outside of a failed stint as Texans DC in 2020 and his run as Dolphins DC in 2024. He’s not someone with any obvious Saints ties, but Weaver appears to be one of the hotter names on the coaching market right now.

Daniels struggled through the first half of the Commanders’ Week 18 contest against the Cowboys, completing 6-of-12 passes for 38 scoreless yards before being replaced by Marcus Mariota in the the second half. Daniels was rumored to be dealing with said leg soreness after the game, but could be seeing cutting up on the sideline and engaging his teammates during the comeback win. Things didn’t appear all that serious on Sunday, and Quinn’ lack of concern heading into the NFC Wild Card week is enough to suggest Daniels will be good to go on Sunday night against the Buccaneers.

Ah the complications of the Mike McCarthy Dallas coaching contract. So McCarthy is technically under contract still. The Cowboys don’t have to let him interview for the vacancy until the end of the week. McCarthy is coming off a down season in Dallas, but had reeled off three consecutive 12-5 seasons before that and the offense had success in all three of those years before faceplanting in 2024. There appears to be legitimate momentum in NFL circles for McCarthy as a real candidate for other teams in 2025, and this is our first official sign of it rather than a “don’t be surprised if this happens” bite. The Bears are apparently interviewing any offensive mind they find noteworthy as they search for someone to guide Caleb Williams’ development.

Moore’s stock rebounded after he led the Eagles offense to a run-heavy dominance behind Saquon Barkley in 2024. His 2023 stint with the Chargers was rough, but he had a long history of success prior to that with Dak Prescott and Mike McCarthy in Dallas. This is his first reported interview of the 2025 offseason, though he did interview with the Chargers for their vacancy in 2024 and was clearly in-demand in 2024 as an OC as the Eagles and Browns both requested to interview him. Still only 35, Moore looks likely to keep getting interviews even if he isn’t one of the top names on the landscape right now.

Of course, the reality of the situation is that the 49ers often take their time on these huge extensions. Nick Bosa and Brandon Aiyuk are recent examples that lingered well into training camp and almost to the start of the season. “If that’s an opportunity to be able to get that done quick, that’d be great. Just so we can get back for phase one,” Purdy said. The 49ers don’t have a huge cap hit to shed ahead of free agency by extending Purdy, so they probably don’t have a lot of incentive to hurry this along. But it should get done at some point this offseason.