NFL Player News

FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz reports that the first two years of Higgins’ new contract are fully guaranteed. The deal keeps the 26-year-old Higgins in a Bengals uniform through the 2028 season. He caught 73-of-104 targets for 911 yards and 10 touchdowns en route to the WR17 finish in PPR scoring formats last year. Higgins occasionally misses time due to nagging soft tissue injuries but regularly performs at an elite level when healthy. Appearing in 12 games last season, Higgins finished as the WR15 or better six times, including three top-four showings. He currently projects as a rock solid WR2, with easy WR1 upside. With Ja’Marr Chase also re-signed, there’s no need to envision a major target spike for Higgins, but he should continue to draw choice looks while Chase has everyone’s attention.

The Packers made a move to ban the tush push earlier this offseason, but soon, teams will have a chance to vote on the rule change. The Eagles, Jalen Hurts, and his fantasy managers have all benefitted from their signature play that became a mainstay in their offense in 2022, but now, it’s possible the league will get the 24 votes needed to ban the play before the start of next season. The league moved to ban the same play last year, but fell well short of the votes needed to implement the change. We’ll see if things break differently this time around.

Patrick enters his 10th NFL season, playing for his fourth NFL team. The journeyman blocker has never sustained above-average play, but NFL front offices evidently view him as a reliable starter. He earned a career-best 66.3 PFF run-blocking grade last year.

Sanders has meetings scheduled with both the Titans and Browns next week, so being drafted as a top-two pick is still, of course, possible. In recent weeks, Cam Ward has seemingly solidified himself as the 2025 draft class’ top prospect, though. More narratives will surely spin out of Sanders’ workouts next week, regardless.

Williams is rising up draft boards after running a 4.40-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. Williams caught 70-of-101 targets for 1,196 yards and 14 touchdowns and rushed nine times for 57 yards last season. Among the 40 Power Five wide receivers to earn at least 90 targets, his 2.71 yards per route run ranks fifth, and his 8.4 yards after the catch average ranks No. 1 overall. The speedy post-catch producer has a real chance to go on Day 2 of the 2025 NFL draft.

Although Derek Carr’s hefty contract is somewhat prohibitive, drafting a promising quarterback prospect is perhaps the most prudent option for Moore, who undoubtedly plans to craft his offense around a talented youngster at some point. The Saints are doing the smart thing by zeroing in on the quarterback prospect that is, at least currently, the most likely one to be available when they pick at No. 9 overall. Underhill notes that the Saints will likely take a look at CB Trey Amos on Friday as well.

Underhill declares the running back position “a need” for the Saints, “maybe not right now, but it will be for sure, in the future.” The Saints have also reportedly met with Georgia RB Trevor Etienne and Tennessee RB Dylan Sampson, and it’s worth noting that the Saints’ front office has successfully scouted Tennessee’s backfield in the past; Alvin Kamara played there from 2015-2016. New Saints head coach Kellen Moore also notably played quarterback for Boise State and reportedly “likes” Jeanty quite a bit.

Back in February, Krieg wowed teams at the NFL Combine by converting all 14 of his field goal attempts from various distances. He was also impressive at the NFL’s International Player Pathway pro day, which was held on Wednesday. Krieg, who played two seasons with the Stuggart Surge of the European League of Football, had trips to meet with other teams planned, but signed with the Falcons after meeting with them on Thursday. It will be interesting to see if Krieg can make the 53-man roster since the Falcons already have one-time Pro Bowler Younghoe Koo on their roster.

Wilson also reports that the Bills have scheduled three separate meetings with Bond, including a Thursday dinner, a private Friday workout and a trip to the Bills’ facility in Orchard Park, New York. Bond is also scheduled to meet with the Browns and Packers, and will participate in the Falcons’ local prospect day. The Bills regrettably traded back five spots in the 2024 NFL draft, allowing the Chiefs to take the speedy Xavier Worthy, while the Bills later drafted Keon Coleman. Worthy caught 30 more passes than Coleman last year, and the Bills are still searching for a speedy perimeter receiver. Perhaps, Bond is their man.

Responding to a series of reader questions, Dugar notes that “Darnold’s contract is effectively a one-year, $37.5 million deal with an option for a second year.” In a scenario where John Schneider’s round-based grade aligns with a quarterback prospect’s availability, then “the team will likely draft the prospect.” He specifically indicates that if Schneider views Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart as a first-round talent, Schneider would draft Dart ahead of standout players like Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan and South Carolina S Nick Emmanwori.

The 26-year-old returns for a fourth season in Kansas City on a one-year deal worth $3.2 million, per Over the Cap. In 2024, Johnson appeared in 16 games during the regular season, and made two starts in the playoffs. He posted a career-high 53 tackles, along with one sack and three passes defensed. However, he was the lowest-graded defensive back for the Chiefs last season, according to PFF.