NFL Player News

Zamir White was ruled out on Friday. Mattison was given a shot to suit up after getting in three practices this week but still needs more time to recover from his lingering ankle issue. With nothing left to play for, the Raiders don’t need to rush the veteran back. Sincere McCormick and Ameer Abdullah will split the backfield this week. McCormick led the team with 12 carries last week while Abdullah remains the top back in passing situations. Both are RB3/FLEX plays for Week 14.

Alexander declined to have a session with the media and said “he didn’t have anything good to say so definitely wasn’t going to talk.” Okay then! An Alexander release would save the Packers almost $7 million against their 2025 cap, with a post-June 1 designation saving $17 million but spreading the hit into 2026. Alexander played well while healthy this year, but “while healthy” has dogged the star cornerback as he has played 560 snaps or less in three of his last four seasons. If he does hit free agency, he’ll probably be perceived as risky enough to be a one-year deal candidate.

The Saints have not done so yet, but they have been linked to McCarthy strongly enough that Mickey Loomis was asked earlier today if they’d be targeting McCarthy. McCarthy was New Orleans’ offensive coordinator from 2000-2004 before joining the 49ers, so he has worked with Loomis before and has Saints roots. Most sourced accounts of the Saints opening have pushed the idea that the Saints will hire someone familiar to the organization, so the McCarthy smoke has some solid foundational roots already.

Reed exited in the third quarter of Sunday’s game and did not return to the field. Whatever the issue, Reed has already brushed off the possibility of surgery, which is a good sign as he and the Packers prepare for the offseason. Reed caught 55 passes for 857 yards and six touchdowns on the season, but was underutilized by the Packers after going for 64-793-8 as a rookie. We’ll see how things shape up for him next season, but Reed has the potential to be a nice value in fantasy drafts if the Packers simply increase his overall volume in 2025.

The only team more overdue for some kind of overhaul than the Steelers, the Saints are predictably prepared to remain stuck in the glory of their recent past. Mired in salary cap, coach, and quarterback purgatory, it would be a perfect to break with the Loomis and Payton past, but the Saints will continue to run it back until morale improves. No one should expect that to be in the year 2025.

Loomis did balk when asked if the soon-to-be 34-year-old could be brought back at his currently-farcical $51 million 2025 cap number. The problem is moving on from or reducing that number would require all manner of financial gymnastics and kicking the can ever further down the road. At some point, the Saints are going to need to confront both a financial and roster reckoning. There isn’t any juice left to squeeze out of the Carr orange. The situation should gain clarity once a hire is made to replace Dennis Allen’s vacant seat.

It’s not an official firing, but the Cowboys’ decision not to re-up with McCarthy makes it clear they were only willing to retain him on their terms after a disappointing 2024. The split reportedly came down to a disagreement over the length of contract McCarthy should receive as the two sides attempted to hammer out a new deal, with his current one set to expire at the end of Tuesday. His dismissal comes moments after ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the possibility of the two sides moving on, but now it’s been made official. In his five seasons with the Cowboys, McCarthy led them to a 49-35 record while. He made the playoffs in three of his seasons and won 12 games in each year he made the postseason. Already believed to have a hot market, requests to interview McCarthy come quickly. The Bears are expected to still be interested in him after Dallas denied their request for an interview last week, and there have been rumors that the Saints would also be interested in speaking with the veteran head coach. If he wants to coach in 2025, it seems as if McCarthy will have no problem finding a job as he now becomes one of the top candidates on the market. While McCarthy is under contract through January 14th, the team has said he is free to speak with other teams immediately.

According to Pelissero, Saleh is scheduled to meet with the Jaguars on Tuesday and will then sit down with the Raiders on Thursday. Despite a disappointing tenure with the Jets that never saw him win more than seven games in a season, Saleh remains a popular head coaching candidate in some circles. If he doesn’t return as a head coach in 2025, the veteran defensive coordinator also has a chance to return to the 49ers in the same he previously served in from 2017-2020. Saleh met with the 49ers last week and is rumored to be high on their list of potential candidates to replace former defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen.

This news comes days after NFL Networks’ Tom Pelissero reported on Friday that McCarthy and the Cowboys were “expected to open talks” on a new contract. McCarthy has already drawn interest from several teams in search of a new head coach, but the Cowboys have declined any requests to speak with the veteran head coach, whose contract expires on January 14th. If McCarthy and the Cowboys don’t have a new deal in place by then, he will be free to speak with any team. The Saints and Bears have both expressed interest in speaking to McCarthy, who has gone 49-35 in his five years with the Cowboys with three playoff appearances. We’ll see if anything changes between now and the next 24 hours, but Schefter reports “it’s now looking like McCarthy will indeed become a coaching free agent.”

Fired by the Saints after a 2-7 start to the year, Allen is still viewed by many as one of the top defensive coordinators in the game. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports Allen “is expected to have several options” available to him this offseason, but the Colts will be the first to sit down with Allen when he interviews with them on Friday. From 2020 to 2023, Allen’s defense ranked in the top-10 in points allowed every season, and was top 10 in yards allowed in three of those four seasons. Things bottomed out for him in 2024, but, but Allen’s track record over 14 seasons will be more than enough to land him another look as defensive coordinator down the line. The Colts defense ranked among the leagues worst in 2024, which is something head coach Shane Steichen can ill-afford heading into what may be a do-or-die 2025 season.