Punter Brad Robbins is back in the NFL.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Robbins has agreed to terms with the Bills. The 2023 sixth-round pick has been out of the NFL since being released by the Bengals last October.
Robbins averaged 44.3 yards per punt during his rookie season with Cincinnati, but he injured his quad heading into the 2024 season and went on injured reserve. That opened the door to undrafted rookie Ryan Rehkow and he thrived for the Bengals last year.
The Bills also signed Jake Camarada as a free agent this offseason, so it appears they’ll be holding a competition for the job once they begin their offseason program.
The Packers’ proposal to ban immediate pushing on plays like the tush push has been a popular topic of conversation at the league meetings in Palm Beach.
AFC coaches met with the media on Monday morning and many of them were asked for their opinions about whether the play should remain in the game. We’re compiling those responses and will continue to add more to the list throughout the day and when their NFC brethren have their turn to speak to reporters on Tuesday.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni is part of that group, but his team’s success running the play has led to this discussion and he’s been clear about his opposition to any change.
Given the Packers’ proposal, it was also easy to guess which side head coach Matt LaFleur takes on the matter.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott is a member of the NFL’s Competition Committee and said he is in favor of a “proactive” move against the play for health an safety reasons.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is also on the committee and shared McDermott’s feelings that the lack of injury data may not speak to the full risks involved, but called himself “open-minded” ahead of further conversations.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said “if it’s putting a player in a bad position, then you probably have to do something about it,” but said you could “argue it either way” given current information.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh called it a “football play,” but said his opinion could change with further medical information.
Colts head coach Shane Steichen was once the Eagles’ offensive coordinator and he said on Monday that he’s against any ban.
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said he’s in favor of keeping the current rules in place.
Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports that Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel is against a rule change and Vrabel indicated the same during a Monday appearance on PFT Live.
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said that it is “tough to punish a team for being really good at something.” ’
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said “my job is to stop that play.”
Rams head coach Sean McVay said “it doesn’t look like football” and said the play shouldn’t be legal, but expressed doubt any change will come this year.
Saints head coach and former Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is comfortable with the play being legal.
Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said he focuses on how to stop others from from succeeding with the play.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said at the Combine that he is in favor of banning the play and reiterated that at the league meetings.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales noted the lack of data showing it’s a dangerous play and said he doesn’t “want to take away competitive advantage.”
If the proposal is put to a vote of league owners, it will take 24 votes in favor of the Packers’ proposal to change current rules.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott shared concerns about player safety when asked about a tush push ban at the Scouting Combine in February and he sounded like he is prepared to back the Packers’ proposal to prohibit the move at the league meetings on Monday.
McDermott is on the Competition Committee and reportedly took part in an animated conversation with Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman and others about the proposal on Sunday. He acknowledged on Monday that there is not significant data showing increased injuries as a result of the play, but said he still believes that the best course of action is to act now.
“I’m not a doctor, so I’m not gonna get too deep into that situation in terms of how much data, how much sample,” McDermott said, via Eliot Shorr-Parks of WIP. “I don’t think that’s always really the best way to go. There’s other data out there that when you’re in a posture like we’re talking about, that can lead to serious injury. I think being responsible and proactive in that regard is the right way to go.”
While the Eagles are the team linked to the play most often, the Bills have had success running it as well. McDermott said his “biggest concern” is the health and safety of players, but was noncommittal when asked if those concerns will stop the Bills from using it if the play remains legal this week.
The Competition Committee gathered on Sunday to review the various proposed rule changes from the teams. The elephant in the room is the play that unfolds like a collision between two hippos.
Via Kalyn Kahler of ESPN.com, the committee had a “heated” discussion regarding the Packers’ proposed tweak to the tush push.
The headline to the article indicates that the proposal has “support” within the Competition Committee. It’s unclear whether the committee made a formal recommendation to the owners to act on Green Bay’s proposal.
There are nevertheless strong feelings on the current rule, which has resulted in the Eagles essentially shrinking the distance between the orange sticks.
“It’s weak,” an unnamed team executive told Kahler regarding the proposal. “It’s punishing a team who became excellent at executing the play. In 2022, when Philadelphia was the only team doing it, there was a concern that it made the game less compelling because fourth-and-short was no longer in doubt. Then other teams copied it, and they can’t do it as well. . . . It reeks of jealousy.”
Momentum for a change was sparked by the incident from the NFC Championship, when multiple offsides fouls by the Commanders nearly resulted in the awarding of a touchdown under the never-used “palpably unfair act” language of the rulebook. One source described the outcome to Kahler as a “shitshow.”
The debate over the change could become one, too. Kahler reports that, on Sunday, Eagles G.M. Howie Roseman, assistant G.M. Jon Ferrari, and Rams coach Sean McVay and Bills coach Sean McDermott had a “private and animated side conversation” about the proposed change.
The proposal remains vague. As previously noted, it bans only an “immediate” push after the snap. It doesn’t prevent a second-act shove, after the first push by the offensive line. Thus, to the extent there is concern about the look of the play, the current rule won’t change that very much, if at all.
Hovering over the entire discussion is the fact that nothing will change unless at least 24 teams want it to change. If at least nine teams are fine with the status quo, the tush push will be going nowhere. And if there’s a spirited debate cutting both ways on the topic, it’s hard to imagine at least 75 percent of the owners deciding to change the play.
The Bills have extended several players this offseason, getting cornerback Christian Benford, defensive end Greg Rousseau, linebacker Terrel Bernard and wide receiver Khalil Shakir on long-term deals.
The Bills also want to re-sign James Cook but apparently not at the running back’s current asking price.
General Manager Brandon Beane said Sunday the Bills are done with contract talks until at least after the draft.
“I love Jimbo. Proud of his success just like these other guys that we got extended,” Beane said, via video from Matthew Bove of WKBW. “I don’t talk about negotiations. I would say his reps and him did put it out there that we did talk, so I’m not sharing anything new. It didn’t lead to anything as far as closing in on a deal, so we moved onto the guys that we were on the same page with. At this points, we’re onto the draft. . . . I don’t see us doing any deals anytime soon.”
Cook said on social media last month that he is looking for $15 million. That would be third behind Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey in average annual pay.
Cook has made $4.256 million in three seasons and has outplayed his contract, which is scheduled to pay him a $5.271 million base salary in 2025. He has two 1,000-yard seasons, two Pro Bowls and, in 2024, he scored 16 rushing touchdowns.
He is scheduled to become a free agent in 2026, but the Bills do have the franchise tag or the transition tag they could use to keep him.
The Bills, though, want a long-term deal as badly as Cook does, just maybe not for the same price.
“Just because we don’t have James signed today doesn’t mean next year we still can’t get him done before he gets to free agency,” Beane said.
The Bills have locked up one of their key defensive players.
According to multiple reports, cornerback Christian Benford has agreed to a four-year contract extension with Buffalo.
The initial numbers indicate Benford’s deal is worth $76 million.
Benford, 24, was a sixth-round pick in the 2022 draft but has emerged as a critical piece. He moved into a full-time starting rule in 2023. In 15 games last season, he recorded 10 passes defensed with two interceptions, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and a sack.
The cornerback was headed into the final year of his rookie contract.
Benford is now among several players the club has extended this offseason, including quarterback Josh Allen, linebacker Terrell Bernard, and receiver Khalil Shakir.
It was reported as a three-year, $69 million deal with $26 million guaranteed. It is not.
The new Stefon Diggs contract falls short on both counts, based on the details reported by Albert Breer of SI.com.
Here they are:
1. Signing bonus: $12 million.
2. 2025 workout bonus: $200,000.
3. 2025 base salary: $2.9 million, fully guaranteed.
4. 2025 per-game roster bonus: $3.4 million total.
5. 2026 workout bonus: $200,000.
6. 2026 base salary: $20.6 million, $1.7 million of which is fully guaranteed and $6 million of which is guaranteed for injury at signing and becomes fully-guaranteed in March 2026.
7. 2026 per-game roster bonus: $1.7 million total.
8. 2027 roster bonus: $200,000.
9. 2027 base salary: $20.6 million.
10. 2027 roster bonus: $1.7 million total.
The contract has $4 million in 2025 incentives, with $500,000 unlocked at 70 catches, 80 catches, 90 catches, 100 catches, 1,000 yard, 1,100 yards, 1,200 yards, and 1,300 yards.
There’s also an annual $500,000 Pro Bowl incentive.
The base value of the deal is $63.5 million, NOT $69 million. To get to $69 million, Diggs needs to make the Pro Bowl every year and catch 100 passes for 1,300 yards in 2025.
The guarantee at signing is $16.6 million. The total guarantee is $22.6 million, NOT $26 million.
Apparently, the initial reports included the $3.4 million in per-game roster bonuses in the guarantee. Even if they are, they still must be earned. And Diggs — who suffered a torn ACL last season — will lose $200,000 for each game his misses.
It’s basically a one-year, $18.5 million deal that includes very high per-game roster bonuses. It can be $23 million, if he hits all incentives for 2025.
The Patriots can escape the deal by next March, with only $1.7 million (subject to offset) owed for 2026.
Obviously, an effort was made to make the Diggs deal look better than it is. It’s not worth $23 million per year over three. It doesn’t pay $26 million guaranteed. It has one year of security, with a team option as to whether it will continue for 2026 and then for 2027.
Wide receiver Stefon Diggs met the media as a member of the Patriots for the first time on Friday and his new quarterback was an early topic of conversation in his press conference.
Drake Maye had a good rookie season in New England and showed an ability to make plays with both his arm and his legs for a Patriots team that was short on playmakers. Diggs played with another quarterback who had similar skills when he was in Buffalo and Josh Allen’s name came up when Diggs was asked about his thoughts on Maye.
“I’m excited,” Diggs said. “I really look forward to it. It’s crazy because when you ask around, he has a lot of similarities — people say through the grapevine, he acts a lot like Josh. That was my guy, so I look forward to meeting and connecting with him.”
Diggs was also asked what role he thinks he can play in Maye’s continued development as an NFL player.
“Seeing that I got the experience, I’ve been doing this for ten and a half years — I always add the half now — but I’ve played with a lot of quarterbacks,” Diggs said. “I’ve been around a lot of quarterbacks, so learning the quarterback, getting to know him, spending more time with him. Once you know somebody on a more personal level, I feel like it’s a lot of carry-over to the field, whether they’re risk-takers or like to play aggressive, like to play smart, and just honing in on what he’s good at. We played him last year. He shows a lot of fight. He got that fiery quarterback, ‘I want to win’ mindset. That’s something that I get excited about and love to be around. But, as far as his development as a quarterback, I feel like that’s not really too much of my job. My job is to get up and catch the ball. I just look forward to getting back out there and being one of the weapons for him.”
Diggs noted that he was on pace for around 100 catches and 1,000 receiving yards when he tore his ACL midway through last season before saying he is looking forward to “getting back on track.” If that looks like the Diggs who played with Allen in Buffalo, the Patriots offense should look a lot better in 2025.
Sports books have started taking bets on NFL teams’ 2025 win totals, and four of the top teams from last year are expected to be at the top of the league again this year.
The Eagles, Chiefs, Bills and Ravens’ win totals were set at 11.5, the highest in the NFL for this season.
Plenty can change between now and the start of the season, from the draft to trades to free agent moves to the schedule giving some teams more rest days than others. It’s possible that by the time the regular season starts, the win total expectations will be different. But right now, those four teams stand above the rest.
Next in the win total order are the Lions and 49ers, each at 10.5. The Buccaneers, Chargers, Rams, Texans, Broncos, Packers, Bengals and Commanders are all listed at 9.5 wins.
How much of a push is there to ban the tush push?
The time to put the cards on the table is coming very soon, with the league’s owners due to meet next week in Florida. That’s when proposed rule changes get a vote (or, if they’re going to fail, they get pulled or tabled).
After news first surfaced of the Packers proposing a change to the rule that allows a ballcarrier to be pushed from behind, we asked several coaches and General Managers about it at the Scouting Combine. None had a problem with it — other than Bills coach Sean McDermott, whose team uses a version of it (effectively) but who acknowledges the safety concerns.
The injury data, to the extent there is any, doesn’t show it. Obviously, it’s a high-intensity play. Former Eagles center Jason Kelce has said he’d scream “fuck my life” every time they ran it.
The question becomes whether 24 total teams are willing to un-eff the lives of current and future Eagles centers. More specifically, the question becomes whether 24 total teams will vote for a flawed proposal, which bans only the “immediate” pushing of the ballcarrier.
If the league wants to get rid of the tush push, the simplest fix would be to revert to the pre-2006 rulebook, which prohibited both pulling and pushing of the ballcarrier. Alternatively, pushing of the ballcarrier could be banned within the tackle box. Or within two yards of the line of scrimmage.
We’re mentioning it because of this observation about a tush-push ban from Dianna Russini of TheAthletic.com: “I feel like it’s getting more momentum in terms of those opposed to it than I’ve ever heard before.”
That’s all relative, of course. If there’s never been much momentum against the play (and there hasn’t been), any momentum would be more than ever before.
All that matters for present purposes is 24. Is there a proposal, any proposal, that would get 24 owners to support it. Most importantly, would that proposal truly ban the maneuver?
The Packers’ proposal would merely delay it. If there are 24 owners who want to get rid of it entirely, it would be very easy to do it. The fact that there’s no clean and simple and direct proposal that would ban the play suggests that the league remains a long way away from having the requisite 24 votes.
