NFL Player News

The Athletic’s Matt Barrows reports “Cowing continues to stand out in practice” and expects both Cowing and veteran Chris Conley to secure the Nos. 5 and 6 wide receiver jobs. Cowing was promisingly held out of the 49ers preseason Week 1 game before catching 4-of-5 targets for 51 yards in preseason Week 2. The showing included two missed tackles forced, one contested catch, one explosive pass play and three first downs gained. The 49ers drafted him in the 2024 NFL draft’s fourth round.

Johnson will return to the Bills, and likely serve as the top backup tailback for Buffalo behind stalwart James Cook while seeing playing time on third down. Johnson would offer some decent upside if he were to replace Cook, but isn’t likely to see enough touches to help fantasy players in 2025.

NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports the contract includes $3.2 million guaranteed. Westbrook-Ikhine heads to Miami as a new field-stretcher for Mike McDaniel’s offense. He had a career-high nine receiving scores last season, finishing with a 32/497/9 line. The Dolphins now give him a two-year deal and the chance to compete for the No. 3 wide receiver spot in the offense. Though he won’t be a consistent fantasy receiver, Westbrook-Ikhine will be a boom-or-bust play with a higher ceiling in the Dolphins offense than he had with the Titans.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports that it’s a $6.5 million deal for Niemann. The 27-year-old linebacker is best known for his quality special teams play, and he’ll likely be a key backup to the starting linebackers while seeing most of his playing time on kick coverage.

A 2021 third-round pick, Christensen just wrapped his rookie contract. He spent 2024 time at left tackle and center and has an entire season’s worth of playing time at left guard. He is a replacement-level player on the whole, but that kind of versatility can be ... hard to replace. Christensen is old for a fifth-year pro, turning 29 in September.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the deal is fully guaranteed. Hekker has been named an All Pro four times in his career, and he likely will be punting an awful lot for one of the worst offenses in football.

It’s likely that the Cardinals didn’t have to lay out much cash here for Brissett, but we don’t have the terms yet. Brissett, who currently holds the all-time interception percentage record (in a good way) at 1.4 percent, was battered behind New England’s line in five starts last year before giving way to Drake Maye. The sterling 2022 season isn’t that far in the rearview mirror, though, and he’d be a competent-if-unexciting option if Kyler Murray had to miss games for any reason in 2025.

Tonyan had a brief moment of being a fantasy-relevant tight end while he was a member of the Packers, but he’s become a roster afterthought over the last few years. He’ll be behind Travis Kelce and Noah Gray — with a few others competing with Tonyan — to open the 2025 campaign.

Martin was released by the Bills on Thursday, and it didn’t take too long for the 35-year-old to find a new home. The veteran punter averaged 46.7 yards per punt and ranked 11th with 46.3 percent of his punts landing inside of the 20-yard line. The Panthers offense looked vastly improved at the end of 2024, but he should get plenty of chances to punt the football in 2025.

Adam Schefter notes that Reid will get $22.25 million fully guaranteed. It’s a strong contract for the 28-year-old safety, who finished 2024 with a career-best 78.2 PFF grade and is versatile enough to play in the box, over the top, and at slot if necessary. He’ll give defensive coordinator Brandon Staley some pre-snap versatility. Reid will replace Will Harris, who the Commanders signed earlier today, as New Orleans’ starting safety next to Tyrann Mathieu.

Gifford will be a depth piece for the linebacking corps, but where he’s excelled over the last couple of years is on special teams. He’ll help improve that unit while backing up the inside backers on the 49ers’ defense.