NFL Player News

The son of former seven-year Carolina Panthers NT Kris Jenkins (6’3/299) boasts NFL pedigree, though he doesn’t carry quite the same massive 360-pound girth of his titanic old man. After spending two years filling out and getting acclimated to the college game, Jenkins was called upon to fill a starting role on the vaunted Michigan defensive line. He would go on to lead all Power Five defensive linemen with 36 stops in 2022, coming of age with an 81st percentile PFF overall grade for a Michigan team that reached the CFP Playoff. A stout run defender who plays with raw strength that outpaces his frame, Jenkins recorded 83rd percentile run grades in each of his last two seasons. Despite his ability to stack and shed versus the run, the two-time All-Big Ten DL only produced 40 pressures in two seasons with a team-low 2% pressure rate in third-down passing situations. Jenkins is a little undersized at 6’026 (56th%) and 299 pounds (54th%), but he ran extremely well posting times of 1.7s in the 10-yard split (92nd%) and 4.91s in the 40-yard dash. He also backed up the play strength displayed on tape by pushing out 29 bench reps, which tied for the second-most of the DL group, and finishing with a 9 relative athletic score. Jenkins will join a Bengals defensive line graded by PFF as last year’s 15th best pass rush and tenth worst run stopping unit.

Cappa was a cap casualty for Cincinnati earlier this week. The age-30 guard has 96 career starts during his time with the Bengals and Bucs. Dylan Parham started at right guard for the Raiders last year but missed a handful of games with an injury and was even benched for a week. Cappa could push him for the starting role in training camp. Even if the Raiders stick with Parham, Cappa gives them a second option as Parham heads into a contract year.

The news comes less than an hour after the Seahawks announced the release of Tyler Lockett. Metcalf is on the final year of his current contract and there hasn’t been much movement toward getting him a new deal. His financial situation and the fact that Seattle reduced his role in favor of more looks for Jaxon Smith-Njigba last year are enough for Metcalf to want out. With Tee Higgins getting hit with the franchise tag, Metcalf is easily the top receiver option available as free agency looms. Metcalf never ascended to true WR1 stardom in Seattle but has a floor of 900 yards in his six pro seasons. Expect plenty of teams to pick up the phone in the coming days. With Lockett gone and Metcalf on the way out, JSN is poised to take another step forward a year after finishing 10th in the NFL with 100 receptions.

Lockett has been a face of the franchise for a decade, but his contract was completely untenable for the Seahawks. He had a cap hit of nearly $31 million for 2025 before being released. The move nets Seattle $17 million in cap space and leaves them with a dead cap hit of $13.9 million. At 32 years old and coming off a down year that saw him record a measly 600 yards, Lockett will likely be stuck with a one or two-year deal in free agency. He is best suited to part-time WR3 duties on his next team.

The widely-expected move saves the Jaguars $10.4 million against the salary cap in 2025. Kirk missed much of the 2024 regular season after sustaining a broken collarbone in October, finishing the year with 27 catches for 379 yards and one touchdown on 47 targets. Kirk, 28, had a career year with the Jags in 2022, catching 84 passes for 1,108 yards and eight touchdowns. He’s struggled since then, and in 2024 was quickly usurped by Brian Thomas as the team’s No. 1 wideout. Kirk should have several suitors in free agency, though he would seem destined for a short-term, incentive-laden deal.

Ogunbowale will continue special teams work and backing up Joe Mixon in the backfield in 2025. The nine-year NFL veteran — entering his fourth year with Houston — had 112 yards on 30 rushes last season. He also had 19 catches for 198 yards and a touchdown, with most of the production coming when Mixon was sidelined with injury.

Crosby will retire with the Packers after spending 16 years as the team’s kicker. He spanned the entirety of the Aaron Rodgers era and was one of the NFL’s most reliable kickers until his final two seasons. Crosby, who had nine seasons in which he converted more than 80 percent of his field goal tries and three seasons with at least 30 field goals made, finishes his career with the tenth most points among kickers in league history. Only 12 kickers in NFL history had more field goal attempts than Crosby.

Hubbard’s injury-marred career ends after just seven years in Cincinnati. He suffered a major knee injury in mid-December and missed the remainder of the 2024 season before calling it quits in a social media post on Wednesday. Hubbard, 29, ends his NFL career with 38.5 sacks and 236 solo tackles. His play fell off in 2024, as Hubbard managed just ten QB hurries over 14 games, along with two sacks. He was an explosive EDGE rusher when healthy and helped power the Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance in 2022.

The move won’t be official until next week when free agency begins. It was a move widely expected after Minshew struggled mightily as the Vegas starter over nine games. He managed nine touchdowns to ten interceptions over those starts and eventually lost the starting gig to equally-unimpressive Aidan O’Connell. Minshew, 28, will certainly land on another roster this spring or summer and could end up starting games for another QB-desperate franchise. Only Will Levis had a lower drop back EPA than Minshew in 2024.

With the Titans expected to take a quarterback in the first round of the draft and sign a veteran free agent in the coming weeks, Levis could be demoted to third string or even fail to make the Week 1 roster. “I think they are tired of the backbreaking turnovers,” an NFL personnel employee told ESPN at the NFL Combine. The big-armed Levis was a disaster in 2024, eventually benched for journeyman QB Mason Rudolph, who proved more reliable and efficient than Levis. Entering his third NFL season, Levis is working with independent QB coach Jordan Palmer this offseason to improve his footwork and pocket movement, according to head coach Brian Callahan. It would hardly be a surprise if Levis was on another roster come September.

A two-time Pro Bowler that helped stabilize the Kansas City offensive line after its struggles a few years ago, Thuney will join Ben Johnson’s revamped Bears offense in 2025. Thuney, 32, who has missed just one regular season game over three years with the Chiefs, was graded last season by Pro Football Focus as the league’s 21st best pass-blocking offensive lineman. The Chiefs, per the Kansas City Star’s Sam McDowell, “weren’t in position to extend a 32-year-old guard with so many of their own young players headed towards free agency.” The Bears appear keen on bolstering their line after acquiring Jonah Jackson from the Rams on Tuesday. In 2024, Chicago had the league’s eighth best pass-blocking line, per PFF, while Caleb Williams took a league-high 68 sacks.