In an appearance for NFL Network, Morgan stated the Panthers are talking through an extension for Young and will be in touch with his agent. The Panthers picked up the quarterback’s fifth-year option this offseason, putting him under contract through 2027. Morgan was noncommittal on an extension happening this offseason, saying “when a contract happens, we’ll see about that.” Young has faced his own ups-and-downs throughout his Panthers tenure and his 2026 campaign will define his contract beyond 2027.
Hurst has gotten much attention out of Bucs rookie minicamp as a true X receiver in the offense. Robinson praised the versatility of Jalen McMillan, Emeka Egbuka, and Chris Godwin Jr., but said having a true X receiver is “an absolute threat.” Whether Hurst is a legitimate threat as a deep target or is simply running a go-route as a “sacrificial X”, Robinson seems to like having the option of a tall receiver to stretch the defense. Hurst is still outside the top-three on the pass-catching pecking order in Tampa Bay, but could certainly be worth a dart throw with boom-or-bust upside running outside deep routes as an X receiver.
The NFL announced that the Bengals and Falcons will play in Madrid for Week 9 of the 2026 season. It is the NFL’s second time having a game in Madrid, reaching a deal earlier this year to play more games at Bernabeu Stadium, home of the Real Madrid soccer club. Burrow will play his first career international game, the Bengals’ first in seven years. Meanwhile, Bijan Robinson and the Falcons will return overseas after playing in Berlin last year. Both teams will hope to be contending in their division at this halfway-point in the season after both missed the playoffs last season.
An unfortunate string of injuries has prevented Trice from becoming a full-time contributor to the Steelers’ defense. He played in six games in 2024, but knee and hamstring injuries led to zero games played in 2025. The Steelers waive Trice after a failed physical and the 25-year-old will look for a new offseason team.
He was told in the same tone that the children in The Simpsons episode “Team Homer” played tag whilst wearing the grey uniforms. Brissett remains absent from early offseason work while he seeks a new contract, but this at least should shift the comfort level on drafting Cardinals wideouts a bit in early best ball leagues. Brissett is set to earn $4.88 million in the final year of his contract, well below what a starting quarterback makes, so it’s not a surprise that he’s holding out for the time being.
“During rookie minicamp, the former Penn State quarterback worked his two- and three-step drops at an almost robotic-like pace. That was intentional,” DeFabo writes. Perhaps it all clicks later in the offseason, but we’d be surprised to see Allar as a real option in-game this year based on this observation.
This probably isn’t overly concerning just yet. It was reported that Irving had offseason shoulder surgery after playing through the issue late last year. “Time will tell if he is able to get cleared to see the field during OTAs or if the team will hold off until training camp,” reports the venerable Bucs-focused website. If Irving’s absence continues to drag on, the Kenneth Gainwell train will begin to gain steam again in 2026.
Chris Ballard has emphasized lately that he “still thinks Richardson has something to offer.” We can certainly see the logic behind the Colts not doing another team a favor by letting Richardson become a free agent, but if there’s no market here, it seems likely that Richardson will likely just be the team’s third quarterback this season behind Daniel Jones and Riley Leonard.
Vaughn has now washed out of Dallas and Denver over the past calendar year, and didn’t record a carry for the Broncos in 2025 while hanging on the practice squad. The 24-year-old will look to resurface elsewhere.
Bond finds himself on a stacked depth chart and will most likely wind up on IR or the practice squad for his rookie season. The 22-year-old has a chance to develop into a real option with time, but any potential paths to playing time would probably depend on one of Jaylin Noel or Jayden Higgins falling out of favor or getting injured.
Fellow EDGE Nick Bosa (also knee, also ACL), who suffered his injury six weeks earlier, is expected back for Week 1. It sounds like Williams is in more doubt. Based on that, it’s certainly possible the second-year EDGE player starts training camp on the PUP list. 49ers beats saw Williams doing side-to-side movements and working with resistance bands at rookie minicamp, so he’s certainly active, but he still has several hurdles to clear in his rehab before a return is on the table.
Omar Cooper Jr. is primarily a slot player, and the Jets didn’t bring in real competition at outside receiver for Mitchell. That doesn’t necessarily mean big things are afoot for Mitchell’s fantasy value — between Cooper and Kenyon Sadiq, there would appear to be more mouths to feed in an offense that starved many last year — but it does mean he should at least see the majority of the snaps this year.
(Deep sigh.) “The word ‘“aura”’ has been thrown around — including by running back Breece Hall — after a slo-mo video of Klubnik walking out to practice on Thursday,” Rosenblatt writes. Klubnik also gathered Jets rookies at the team hotel to run through plays in a weight room even though the receivers were running “three-yard routes” in Klubnik’s words. We suppose there’s a low bar for excitement on the Jets quarterback front. It’s plausible that Klubnik rebounds from a down final season at Clemson that claimed the draft stock of both himself and several of his teammates. We’d be surprised if he made a real push to play this year without injuries ahead of him.
Someone has to catch passes here, and the Raiders don’t have a single receiver who has cracked 700 yards in an NFL season. Both GM John Spytek and Kubiak have touted the idea of playing in bigger personnel. It’s certainly possible that Mayer gets more of a role in 2026, but with Brock Bowers ahead of him in the pecking order, Mayer probably belongs in the low-end TE2 pecking order until we see a firm role.
Egbuka floundered a bit down the stretch for fantasy managers after a strong first half of the season — some of that was Mike Evans coming back from injury, some of it was Baker Mayfield apparently playing through several injuries on his own. Still, based on what he did in the first half of the season, it’s plausible to believe he could challenge for a low-end WR1 fantasy ranking in his second season. Robinson certainly had no problem loading up his best receiver (Drake London) with targets last year.
Bell likely profiles as a potential deep sleeper in 2026, but he would have some real fantasy value if he found a real role in Buffalo’s offense. Keon Coleman hasn’t exactly endeared himself to anyone and Joshua Palmer had a lackluster first season with the Bills. With Tyrell Shavers also likely out early after tearing an ACL in the playoffs, Bell should be on the radar in the late second or early third round of rookie drafts.
You can never quite rule out the Browns quarterback situation just taking a weird turn towards Green at some point in the season — the situation is that unsettled — but it appears like this would be the easiest way for the 182nd overall pick to get involved early on in his career. Todd Monken said it’s “probably too early to tell that,” but added that “there would be a possibility of him (in) short yardage ... maybe some third down stuff that we could utilize.” Green is a name to remember for fantasy managers because his athleticism would seem to be an easy key to fantasy points if he can figure out the rest of the quarterback position, but he’s probably just a lottery ticket at this point.
Miller will clearly have a chance to step in right away as the bookend on the other side of Penei Sewell, it did seem like the Lions were leaning towards having Sewell play left tackle this offseason. Rookie tackles are not exactly a dependable source of solid play right away, but Miller’s career at Clemson leads us to believe he’ll have a decent floor right away, which should help the Lions pass protection and run game this season.
Law’s probably well behind Isaac TeSlaa in the race to be Detroit’s No. 3 receiver in 2026. He profiles as a steady backup between the special teams play and receiving acumen. He’ll likely be trying to replace Kalif Raymond as much as anyone else.
Gainwell and Irving “can kind of match each other in certain ways with what they can do in the pass game,” Robinson said during a Tuesday press conference. Robinson praised Gainwell’s veteran leadership and professionalism and said he was a key addition to the Tampa offense this offseason after he caught 73 passes for 486 yards and three touchdowns with the Steelers in 2025. Only three running backs — Christian McCaffrey, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Bijan Robinson — had more receptions than Gainwell last season. Irving has been a highly efficient pass catcher during his time with the Bucs. Last year he ranked second in yards after the catch per reception and fifth among backs in yards per catch. While Irving is widely expected to be the team’s nominal lead back, Gainwell could be relevant in PPR leagues this year.
Cleveland’s opponents for the upcoming season combined to win just 43 percent of their 2025 regular season games, the lowest mark in the NFL. The Bengals and Saints rounded out the bottom three in easiest schedules for 2026. The Browns’ competition could make it feasible for new head coach Todd Monken and the team’s superb 2026 draft class to compete for a postseason berth if the Browns can get decent quarterback play out of Deshaun Watson or Shedeur Sanders. Watson, for now, appears to be the odds-on favorite to start for the Browns. He’s coming off two torn Achilles tendons and has played in 19 regular season games since 2021.
Chicago opponents last year had a combined winning percentage of 55 percent, edging out the Dolphins for the year’s most difficult schedule. This follows an excellent 2025 campaign in which head coach Ben Johnson led the Bears to an 11-6 record with the NFC’s seventh best point differential, just ahead of the Vikings. Things could be slightly more challenging for Caleb Williams and company, though an other year of development and experience in Johnson’s cutting-edge offensive system could counteract the team’s tough slate of games in 2026.
It’s a matchup of two teams whose quarterbacks are recovering from injuries of varying degrees this offseason. Patrick Mahomes is working back from a December ACL injury while Bo Nix is recovering from a broken ankle sustained in the postseason. Mahomes’ opening day status remains uncertain, though Chiefs officials appear optimistic he will be ready to go for the start of the regular season. Where this Broncos-KC game will be played is another question. Like many Week 1 primetime games, it could be played outside the United States.
The rookie second-round defensive tackle gets the full $12.9 million guaranteed. McDonald should benefit from learning behind Sheldon Rankins, a storied NFL veteran with numerous years of elite production to his resume. Expect McDonald to see package work early in his career, with the franchise’s eyes on developing him into a top defensive lineman.
“You know Odell. He’s confident, man. He’s confident.” Harbaugh said Saturday. “He’s working hard. He believes in himself. I think we’ll just play it out over the next month and into training camp and see where we’re at.” While the respect aspect was definitely present, Harbaugh wasn’t exactly jumping out of his seat to pursue the aging veteran. OBJ continues to train in Arizona as he aims for a return to the league.