Teams making decisions about picking up the fifth-year options on the contracts of their 2023 first-round picks now know how much that will cost.
The NFL revealed the values on Friday afternoon. There are four levels of compensation at each position. Players who have made multiple Pro Bowls as an original selection are at the top followed by players with one Pro Bowl selection and players who have hit playing time milestones before reaching the lowest level.
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud were the first two picks of that draft and both of them reached the playing time level of compensation. That will leave them with fully guaranteed salaries of $25.904 million if the teams decide to exercise the options, but longer-term extensions are also a possibility now that they have finished their third seasons.
The full list of 2023 first-rounders — there were 31 that year because the Dolphins were stripped of their pick — and their fifth-year option salaries appears below:
1. Panthers QB Bryce Young — $25.904 million (playing time).
2. Texans QB C.J. Stroud — $25.904 million (playing time).
3. Texans DE Will Anderson — $21.512 (Pro Bowl).
4. Colts QB Anthony Richardson — $22.483 million (base).
5. Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon — $21.161 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
6. Cardinals OT Paris Johnson — $19.072 million (playing time).
7. Raiders DE Tyree Wilson — $14.475 million (base).
8. Falcons RB Bijan Robinson — $11.323 million (Pro Bowl).
9. Eagles DT Jalen Carter — $27.127 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
10. Bears OT Darnell Wright — $19.072 million (playing time).
11. Titans OG Peter Skoronski — $19.072 million (playing time).
12. Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs — $14.293 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
13. Packers DE Lukas Van Ness — $14.475 million (base).
14. Steelers OT Broderick Jones — $19.072 million (playing time).
15. Jets DE Will McDonald — $14.475 million (base).
16. Rams CB Emmanuel Forbes — $12.633 million (base).
17. Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez — $18.119 million (Pro Bowl).
18. Lions LB Jack Campbell — $21.925 million (Pro Bowl).
19. Buccaneers DT Calijah Kancey — $15.451 (playing time).
20. Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba — $23.852 million (Pro Bowl).
21. Chargers WR Quentin Johnston — $18 million (playing time).
22. Ravens WR Zay Flowers — $27.298 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
23. Vikings WR Jordan Addison — $18 million (playing time).
24. Giants CB Deonte Banks — $12.633 million (base).
25. Bills TE Dalton Kincaid — $8.162 million (base).
26. Jets DT Mazi Smith — $13.391 million (base) Smith was traded to the Jets by the Cowboys.
27. Jaguars OT Anton Harrison — $19.072 million (playing time).
28. Bengals DE Myles Murphy — $14.475 million (base).
29. Saints DT Bryan Bresee — $13.391 million (base).
30. Eagles LB Nolan Smith — $13.752 million (base).
31. Chiefs Felix Anudike-Uzomah — $14.475 million (base).
Titans Clips
When the Titans drafted Cam Ward at No. 1 overall last year, it was a clear signal that the club did not view Will Levis as their franchise quarterback.
Levis was poised to potentially be the team’s backup. But in July, Levis was placed on injured reserve due to a shoulder injury that required surgery, shutting him down for all of 2025.
A second-round pick in 2023, Levis is entering the last year of his rookie contract. With 21 starts over his first two seasons, Levis does have valuable experience under his belt.
New head coach Robert Saleh was asked about his impressions of Levis during his press conference at the scouting combine this week.
“I just met him, I had a really good conversation with him the other day,” Saleh said. “My one exposure to him was back in ’24, we played him in Week 2. I do think he’s got tremendous talent, he’s tremendous size, tremendous arm strength. Again, I’m looking forward to [working with] him, and I’ll tell you guys the same thing I told him — just attack this offseason, have the best offseason of your life and compete your butt off and let’s see what happens. But I’m really looking forward to him being part of this football team.”
Given his former status as a starter, Levis has qualities Saleh says he’s looking for in a backup quarterback.
“You’re looking for a guy who can come in and win football games for you if something happens to the starter,” Saleh said. “A guy who’s going to be a tremendous — who’s going to support the starter, who is going to support his team, who will prepare like a starter. So you’re really looking for another starter.”
Levis started nine games as a rookie in 2023, completing 58.4 percent of his passes for 1,808 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions. He followed that with 12 starts in 2024, completing 63.1 percent of his passes for 2,091 yards with 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Titans head coach Robert Saleh is set to have one of his former Jets players join him in Tennessee.
According to multiple reports, the Jets have agreed to trade edge rusher Jermaine Johnson to the Titans. The Titans will send defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat back to the Jets once the trade can become official on the first day of the new league year.
Johnson was a Jets first-round pick in 2022 and Saleh was the team’s head coach at the time. He had 10 sacks over his first two seasons, but tore his Achilles two games into the 2024 season. He returned to record 43 tackles and three sacks last season.
The Jets picked up Johnson’s option for 2026, which leaves him set to make $13.411 million this year.
Sweat was a 2024 second-round pick in Tennessee. He has 85 tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in 29 career games.
The Titans have moved on from a pair of players on Wednesday.
Tennessee announced the club has released center Lloyd Cushenberry and safety Xavier Woods.
Cushenberry was released with a failed physical designation.
Cushenberry, 28, had two years remaining on the four-year contract he signed with Tennessee in the 2024 offseason. A third-round pick in 2020, he spent his first four seasons with Denver.
Woods, 30, appeared in 11 games with 10 starts for Tennessee last season, recording a pair of interceptions and a sack. He’s played 134 games for Dallas, Minnesota, Carolina, and Tennessee since being selected in the sixth round of the 2017 draft. Woods signed a two-year contract with the Titans last offseason.
Titans General Manager Mike Borgonzi wasn’t on the job when left guard Peter Skoronski was drafted in the first round in 2023, but he’d like to keep the three-year vet on the roster for a while.
Skoronski has started all 48 games he’s played since joining the Titans and Borgonzi told reporters at a Wednesday press conference from the Scouting Combine that the team would like to secure his rights for years to come.
“We always try to secure our best players early,” Borgonzi said. “And that is obviously a tool, an option we can use. But our goal is to get something done with Peter. . . . With Peter, he is one of our better players and we’d like him here long-term. The fifth-year option is always a tool, a mechanism, you can use. But we are going to work to try and get something done with Peter.”
If the Titans do exercise their fifth-year option on Skoronski’s contract, his salary — which is projected to be over $20 million — for the 2027 season will be fully guaranteed. That number will likely figure into any negotiations that go on regarding a longer deal in Nashville.
One of the hot topics on Tuesday at the Scouting Combine was the future of Eagles receiver A.J. Brown. And while the Eagles are saying all the right things regarding Brown’s future in Philly, odds as to his next team have emerged.
At DraftKings, the current favorites are the Eagles, at -130.
Next on the list is the Patriots, at +275. The Chargers land at +750, with the Bills at +900.
A return to the Titans is a +1000 bet. The Raiders are +1400, with the 49ers, Dolphins, and Ravens at +1600.
Eagles G.M. Howie Roseman made it clear that they’ll listen to any team that makes any offers about Brown or any other player. The question is whether another team will make the Eagles an offer they won’t refuse.
The Titans will have a new head coach in 2026 and it appears they will have a new look on the field as well.
A post to the team’s X.com account shows a patch of fabric with three stars on it alongside the date March 12, which suggests that will be when the Titans reveal a change to their uniforms and/or logo next month. Billboards have gone up in Nashville with the same image and both come after a picture of merchandise with a new logo was leaked earlier this month.
Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon said before the 2025 season that the Titans would have new uniforms coming. That did not happen last season, but it appears that Moon may have been a little ahead of the game.
We’ll find out what tweaks the Titans have made to their appearance in a few weeks.
Jon Robinson, who was fired as the Titans’ General Manager in 2022, has found his first job since then.
The Dolphins hired Robinson as their new Senior Personnel Executive, according to NFL Network.
Robinson will work under new Dolphins General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan. The two have not previously worked together.
The 50-year-old Robinson worked in the personnel departments of the Patriots and Buccaneers before getting hired as Titans GM in 2016. The Titans had immediate success under Robinson, improving from 3-13 to 9-7 and having six consecutive winning seasons, but Robinson’s decision to trade star wide receiver A.J. Brown and draft wide receiver Treylon Burks with the first-round pick the Titans got for Brown has gone down as one of the NFL’s worst recent personnel decisions.
The Dolphins will hope Robinson can be part of a turnaround in Miami in 2026 like the one he helped engineer in Tennessee in 2016 — and that it won’t end like it did with the Titans.
Cam Ward has begun his offseason training, but he has yet to throw.
Ward, who injured his right shoulder in a season-ending loss to the Jaguars, will resume throwing in 2-3 weeks, Cameron Wolfe of NFL Media reports.
Ward was diagnosed with an AC joint sprain that did not require surgery, and Wolfe reports that Ward is “recovering well.”
The No. 1 overall pick in 2025 is working on his mechanics with his private quarterbacks coach, Darrell Colbert Jr. According to Wolfe, Ward is trying to eliminate some of the “bad habits” he developed last year with the team’s protection issues.
Ward started all 17 games and finished the season with a 60 percent completion percentage, 3,169 yards and 15 touchdowns with five interceptions. He did not throw a pick in any of his final four starts and only one in his last nine starts.
The Titans announced a final addition to defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s coaching staff on Friday.
Assistant defensive line coach Tanzel Smart has joined the staff. Smart played for Saleh with the Jets and spent the 2025 season on the Cowboys’ staff.
The Titans retained assistant head coach/special teams coordinator John Fassell, senior defensive assistant Ben Bloom, offensive assistant Trevor Browder, running backs coach Randy Jordan, defensive pass game coordinator/cornerbacks coach Tony Oden, assistant special teams coach Rayna Stewart, and tight ends coach Luke Stocker from last year’s staff.
Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi, offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo, defensive backs/nickels coach Dalton Hilliard, offensive assistant/game management coach Cade Knox, wide receivers coach Greg Lewis, defensive backs/safeties coach Marquand Manuel, offensive assistant John Rudnicki, defensive assistant Ahmed Saleh, quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney, defensive run game coordinator/defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton, assistant offensive line coach Isaac Williams and chief of staff Rob Dadona are the other new faces in Tennessee.
