The Texans have reached agreement with another free agent.
According to multiple reports, they have agreed to terms with defensive back Tremon Smith. The news comes shortly after word that they have struck a deal with wide receiver Braxton Berrios.
Smith’s deal is for two years with a value of $7.5 million. It includes $4.5 million in guaranteed money.
Smith spent the last two seasons as a core special teams player with the Broncos, but also spent two years with Houston earlier in his career. He had nine tackles and a fumble recovery last season and he has 62 tackles, two interceptions, three forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries over his entire career.
The Broncos are keeping some offensive line depth.
Per Peter Schrager of NFL Media, Matt Peart has agreed to re-sign with the Broncos on a two-year deal.
Schrager notes the contract is worth $7 million with incentives potentially driving it up to $10 million total.
Peart signed a one-year contract with the Broncos last offseason and ended up appearing in all 17 games with two starts. He was on the field for 17 percent of offensive snaps and 18 percent of special teams snaps.
A third-round pick in 2020, Peart spent his first four seasons with the Giants. He’s played 60 career games with nine starts.
Most of the news since noon has focused on players reaching new deals, with their current teams or new ones. Here’s one about a deal that is being negotiated.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports that the Broncos are trying to close a deal with 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga.
A fifth-round pick in 2021 and a Pro Bowler in 2022, Hufanga suffered a torn ACL during the 2023 season. He returned to play in seven games last season.
The deal isn’t done yet. Then again, none of the deals between free agents and new teams are officially done until Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. ET. In theory, either side can change their minds — and it’s happened before. (Examples, Anthony Barr and Frank Gore.)
Stay tuned, on this one and all others.
Evan Engram may be closer to finding a new home.
According to multiple reports, Engram is taking a free-agent visit with the Broncos on Monday.
Engram, 30, was released from the Jaguars last week. In nine games last season, the tight end caught 47 passes for 365 yards with one touchdown.
That was Engram’s third season with the Jags and followed the best season of his career in 2023, where he caught 114 passes for 963 yards with four TDs.
A Giants first-round pick in 2017, Engram has played 108 games with 89 starts for New York and Jacksonville.
D.J. Jones will stay with the Broncos rather than test free agency.
Jones has agreed to re-sign with the Broncos, according to Zac Stevens of DNVR.
The 30-year-old Jones played out the three-year contract he signed in Denver in 2022 and would have become a free agent this week, but instead he and the team reached a new deal.
Jones started all 17 games for the Broncos last season and is a major part of the Broncos’ run defense. He played 40 percent of the Broncos’ defensive snaps and is usually off the field in passing downs, but the Broncos like what he can do in the middle of their line, and he’ll keep doing it in Denver.
The Broncos are bringing back backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham, according to multiple reports.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports it’s a two-year deal worth $12 million with $7 million guaranteed.
Stidham likely would have found significant interest as a backup on the open market this week. Instead, he will stay in Denver to backup Bo Nix.
Stidham saw action in three games last season, playing 14 snaps. He did not throw a pass.
In his six NFL seasons, Stidham has completed 59.4 percent of his passes for 1,422 yards with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions. He is 1-3 as a starter.
The Broncos also are re-signing long snapper Mitch Fraboni to a three-year, $4.175 million deal, per multiple reports. The team did not tender Fraboni as a restricted free agent as the lowest tender was $3.3 million.
He led the NFL in long snaps (161) and tackles (five) last season.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton’s staff for the 2025 season has been finalized.
There will be eight new coaches in Denver, including special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi. Rizzi’s addition was reported earlier in the offseason and the Broncos officially announced that they’ve also hired assistant offensive line coach Chris Morgan, director of game management/offensive line assistant Evan Rothstein, defensive quality control coach Todd Davis, defensive quality control coach Brian Niedermeyer, assistant special teams coach Marwan Maalouf, special teams quality control coach Zach Line, and assistant strength and conditioning coach Taylor Porter.
The Broncos also announced new titles for offensive run game coordinator/assistant head coach Zach Strief, offensive pass game coordinator/quarterbacks coach Davis Webb, tight ends coach Austin King, defensive pass game coordinator/assistant head coach Jim Leonhard, cornerbacks coach Addison Lynch, linebackers coach Isaac Shewmaker, and director of strength and conditioning Shaun Snee.
Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, running backs coach Lou Ayeni, senior offensive assistant Pete Carmichael, wide receivers coach Keary Colbert, offenisve passing game specialist Zach Grossi, offensive quality control coach Logan Kilgore, offensive quality control coach Favian Upshaw, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, defensive line coach Jamar Cain, and senior defensive assistant Joe Vitt return from last year’s staff.
Wednesday’s flurry of news included the fact that receiver D.K. Metcalf wants to fly the coop in Seattle. So where will he land?
Currently, DraftKings has the Seahawks and the Chargers as +300 co-favorites for Metcalf.
The Patriots aren’t far behind, at +350. The Texans are fourth at +550, followed by the Raiders at +700 and the Steelers and Broncos at 12-1.
It’s surprising the Seahawks have such low odds. Given the way word surfaced — with the Metcalf news landing at a time when the Seahawks were trying to give receiver Tyler Lockett a proper sendoff — the Seahawks reportedly are salty. The current momentum points toward a divorce.
What’ll it take? As explained on Wednesday, while 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel isn’t looking for a new deal on his way through the door in Washington (the trade becomes official on Wednesday), Metcalf is. Dianna Russini of TheAthletic.com reports that he’s looking for $30 million per year, and that the Seahawks want a first- and third-round pick.
That’s what the Eagles gave the Titans for receiver A.J. Brown (Metcalf’s Ole Miss teammate) three years ago. Metcalf’s next team will have to strike the right balance between paying the player and satisfying his current team. The more money they give Metcalf, the less capital they’ll want to sent to Seattle. And vice-versa. It becomes a thee-way negotiation, that requires two needles to be threaded by his next team.
Still, the overall circumstances (capped by the news of Metcalf wanting out becoming the turd in the punch bowl of what should have been Tyler Lockett Day) suggest that this thing could move, quickly. And that, come next Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. ET, Metcalf could indeed officially be on a new team.
The Broncos fired linebackers coach Michael Wilhoite on Wednesday, 10 days after his arrest on suspicion of second degree assault of a police officer.
“After thorough discussions as an organization, I met with Michael Wilhoite and informed him we have decided to part ways,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said in a statement to Mike Klis of 9News. “We recognize the serious nature of the allegations against him and believe this is the best course of action at this time.
“I appreciate Michael’s contributions to the Broncos and am confident he will move forward in a positive direction.”
Wilhoite, 38, faces three charges — second-degree assault on a police officer, obstruction of a peace officer and criminal mischief — from the incident at the Denver airport, per Klis.
Wilhoite left his car unattended in the arrivals area, and when he returned, a police officer told him he couldn’t leave his vehicle in that spot, according to court records obtained by Klis. Wilhoite told the officer to “shut the [expletive] up.” The officer repeated his command, and Wilhoite repeated his expletive before chest-bumping the officer.
The officer shoved Wilhoite, and Wilhoite then punched the officer, according to the statement obtained by Klis. The officer had injuries to both knees, pain in his jaw and may have damaged his left wrist.
The officer fired his Taser at Wilhoite, who is accused of driving off before his arrest a short time later.
Wilhoite joined the team’s staff as outside linebackers coach in 2023.
Former NFL defensive back Pacman Jones was one of our favorite PFT Live guests during Super Bowl week. So was Colorado coach Deion Sanders.
They recently got together for an episode of Deion’s Tubi show, We Got Time Today. And Jones made an eyebrow-raising claim regarding his efforts to beat the NFL’s drug-testing protocols.
“I cheated the program,” Jones said, via Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today. “Like, I was really good. People don’t know how smart I am, but like, I can say it now. I don’t play no more. But like, I’ve never used my [urine] for a [urine] test. Not one time. Not one time.” (Folks, it’s OK to use the word “piss,” if that’s the word he used. You won’t go to hell for it.)
Deion told Jones that “can’t happen today.” Jones, who spent 12 years in the NFL with the Titans, Cowboys, Bengals, and Broncos, disagreed.
“It can happen if you know what you’re doing,” Jones said. “Don’t say it can’t happen, Pop. Hey, Pop, don’t say it can’t happen.”
“The reason it can’t [is] because they go in there with you right now,” Sanders said, regarding the sample collectors. “No, no. They go in there and watch you pull out.”
“You still can get them,” Jones said.
Deion ended the conversation before Pacman could explain the workaround. In 2005, former NFL running back Onterrio Smith was caught at an airport with a “Whizzinator” — a fake penis that dispensed clean urine.
Nowadays, few care about marijuana use. As Jones said, it helps players manage pain.
“They’re giving guys opiates, pain pills, muscle relaxers,” Jones said. “You’re telling me that a guy that’s smoking THC, that it’s helping him perform more, or are you telling me is it helping his body? . . . I’m all for the weed.”
It’s currently legal for medical or recreational usage in 37 states. And while the NFL has largely decriminalized it under the substance-abuse policy, it would make more sense to tell the players, “Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.”
Especially since it helps them get through the grind of a 17-week football season.
