NFL Player News

With Demarcus Robinson leaving the game in the second half with a shoulder injury, Atwell was thrust into a larger role and delivered, including a crucial conversion on fourth and five late in the fourth quarter that set up a huge touchdown to extend the Rams’ lead. There is no word yet on the severity of Robinson’s injury, but if he were to miss any time, Atwell would enter the fantasy conversation in deeper leagues as the clear third option in the Rams’ passing attack.

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.

McCaffrey told reporters he could have played if the 49ers had made the playoffs. He will probably still be in the RB1 pool on the massive upside of his receiving talent in 2025 drafts, but he looked noticeably slower when he returned in 2024 and, well, we won’t blame grudge-holding fantasy managers for not trusting updates about his health after this past season. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in best ball over the coming months.

Smith has done a solid job in Pittsburgh this year, even if it remains memeworthy how often Cordarrelle Patterson will pop up in a big moment. The former Falcons head coach has three consecutive 7-10 years under his NFL belt as a head coach in Atlanta, as well as three highly-regarded years with the Titans and now Steelers as an offensive coordinator. The Bears are reportedly trying to find both a “leader of men” type as well as someone who can spark Caleb Williams’ development.

The Bears become the second team to request an interview with Flores, who is also being eyed by the Jets early in the coaching cycle. The former Dolphins head coach (2019-2021) has spent the last two seasons serving as the Vikings defensive coordinator and helped coach up one of the top defensive units in the game this season. Flores led the Dolphins to a winning record in two of his three seasons at the helm and is one of the stronger retreads to pickup steam thus far.