No major cause for concern just yet, but it’s worth monitoring how he rebounds from a hamstring injury. With A.J. Brown now officially on the Patriots, Lemon is ticketed for a fairly big role in Philadelphia’s new offense in his rookie season. We’d be surprised if it had major breakout potential, but a WR3 season is probably in the range of outcomes if everything goes right.
He gets a $5 million raise this year and has a chance to make $5 million more next year if he makes the Pro Bowl or All-Pro teams. The “good player pay bump” is getting more and more common in NFL circles. Surtain has been on one of the two All-Pro teams in three of his first five seasons in the NFL, so there’s a good shot he makes it again this year if he stays healthy.
$42 million of this money is guaranteed per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. Herbig was entering the final year of his rookie contract and coming off a career-high 7.5 sacks. The extension locks him in next to Alex Highsmith and J.J. Watt, and the Steelers would have three separate edge players on $20 million cap hits in 2027 if they all stayed. This extension sure seems to forecast that either Highsmith or Watt isn’t long for Pittsburgh.
More wideout talent headed to the AFC East. (/sourced reporter voice.) Reagor did not have an NFL snap last year and was released from the Chargers practice squad in October. The first-round bust has 1,037 receiving yards in five NFL seasons so far and is entering his age-27 season.
Walley tore his ACL last August in training camp after a promising offseason that seemed to have him as a possibility to start right away. It looks like he’ll be full-go in training camp and should have a decent shot at starting. The 80th overall pick in the draft in 2025, Walley’s absence was a big part of the reason the Colts dealt for Sauce Gardner at midseason last year, and it sounds like he could replace Kenny Moore in the slot for the Colts in 2026.
McLane added that he thinks that’s why Brown’s value on the market wasn’t “what you thought it would be.” Brown held his press conference with the Patriots today and said “I know this isn’t heaven. But it’s close to it.” We don’t think this report holds any real impact on Brown’s 2026 status, but it’s worth considering for dynasty leaguers and keeper leagues as Brown enters his age-29 season.
Madubuike is at the facility rehabbing and has been taking part “in aspects” of the offseason workout program. While the Ravens are publicly playing it coy about the odds of Madubuike playing next year, they certainly seem to believe there’s a real chance it happens. “In aspects” will probably need to become “in full” before anyone has real faith in him playing in September.
Buchanan tore an ACL in December. He’s at OTAs, but isn’t described as actively participating in The Athletic’s story. We’d expect him to be a PUP List possibility when training camp starts given how late his ACL tear happened, but it’s not completely off the table that he’s ready to work in August.
He missed all of last season with an elbow injury. Isaac recorded one TFL in 2024 during 32 defensive snaps. The Ravens have largely covered their EDGE hole between Trey Hendrickson and Zion Young, but it sounds like Isaac won’t even be able to play a depth role in 2026 from where things stand today.
Further testing on an earlier reported partially torn quadriceps pushed Speed’s return timeline from three months to the entire regular season. Houston will ask more of Henry To’oTo’o in the final year of his rookie contract, and will perhaps consider signing a veteran stopgap. Speed is under contract for 2027, though there’s no guarantee the Texans will keep him as they can save $2.25 million against the cap by releasing him.
$21 million of this contract is guaranteed as Hall figures to step into more of Boye Mafe’s role. Hall was entering the final year of his rookie deal. Hall fell from eight sacks in 2024 to just two in 2025 as Seattle embraced a deeper edge rusher rotation with the signing of DeMarcus Lawrence. Hall should be in good shape to bounce back in 2026 with his contract situation now taken care of.
Mitchell now gets to be the “other” player who has been on New England and Philadelphia’s rosters this offseason. Released by the Patriots after the draft, Mitchell will try to catch on as a depth back behind Saquon Barkley.
Hill suffered a “devastating, awful” (Mike Vrabel’s words) knee injury in OTAs. He had just signed a three-year contract, and his absence will likely have the Patriots relying more on Reggie Gilliam as a blocker while elevating the snap count of third-round draft pick Eli Raridon.
Not a great sign for Sanders’ future that he couldn’t beat out Ben Sauls and Dominic Zvada to even become part of the Giants kicker competition for 2026. He’ll look for another landing spot to try to win a job.
Olave is currently set to play 2026 on the fifth-year option, but the two sides have been rumored to be in extension discussions for a while. “I feel like we’re going to come down to that before training camp,” Olave said. The Saints haven’t exactly been in a rush to settle their in-house contract issues this offseason, with Alvin Kamara also sort of dangling in the void.
Broadly speaking: This is good news, but there’s many steps of the rehab process still to come. Colts GM Chris Ballard said in April that Jones is “shooting for Week 1.” That implied a little bit of a question mark. If Jones does start Week 1, he will be hard to trust in fantasy leagues, as the Achilles is likely to hinder him for quite a bit as a runner. That question doesn’t have to be answered for quite a few months, though, and it seems like Jones has been ahead of expectations of his recovery for some time.
Jacobs was arrested last week for domestic violence allegations including battery, criminal damage to property, disorderly conduct, strangulation and suffocation, and intimidation of a victim. He has denied the allegations and was not formally charged last week by the local district attorney’s office. Jacobs could be facing a lengthy absence this season depending on the outcome of a league investigation into the accusations of domestic violence. Releasing Jacobs, 28, would result in a $6.25 million dead cap hit for the Packers.
Malik Willis, Hafley said during a Tuesday presser, is still building chemistry with the team’s pass catchers in OTAs and working on timing. That presumably includes Malik Washington, who had 46 catches for 317 yards and three scores last season, and Greg Dulcich, who’s expected by Miami beat writers to “figure heavily” into the team’s passing attack in 2026. Jalen Tolbert and Tutu Atwell could also see heavy snaps in the Miami passing game this season. Tolbert, who flashed in Dallas in 2024 with 610 yards and seven touchdowns, could emerge as the Dolphins’ top pass-catching option with a solid training camp. There likely won’t be much target volume to go around, however, considering the team’s plans to operate a run-heavy offense.
Beckham, who reunited with the Giants on Monday after eight years away from the team, will “likely spend camp behind veteran Darnell Mooney, rookie Malachi Fields, Calvin Austin and maybe more,” Vacchiano said. “He might have to battle for practice reps with veterans Braxton Berrios and JuJu Smith-Schuster,” journeyman who recently signed with the wideout-needy Giants. Headed into his age-34 season following a raft of injuries, Beckham “probably can’t” offer any tangible help for a New York offense in need of pass-catching upside outside of Malik Nabers, who is returning from a major knee injury. Beckham since the start of the 2022 season has 44 receptions for 610 yards. Vacchiano said OBJ’s most important contribution to the 2026 Giants could be mentoring for the team’s young wideouts. Unless you’re in a fantasy league that awards points for mentoring, OBJ likely won’t be viable this season.
Nix is still recovering from the broken ankle he suffered in the divisional round of last year’s AFC playoff matchup against the Bills. While it’s too early to be overly concerned about Nix’s availability come training camp, his absence for OTAs is a bit disappointing given that Broncos co-owner Greg Penner said earlier this offseason there were “no concerns at all for OTAs.” Of course, this was nearly a full month before Nix underwent a procedure in late April to “clean up” his ankle. Head coach Sean Payton expressed confidence that Nix will be ready to go by training camp, which begins in just under two months. The Broncos are set to have a mandatory three-day minicamp from June 16-18, which we wouldn’t expect Nix to be available for. For now, backups Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger will handle most of the snaps under center while Nix remains sidelined.
The Eagles are also receiving a 2027 fifth-round pick from the Patriots in exchange for Brown. After spending months waiting for this trade to become official, the two sides finalized things shortly after the post-June 1 deadline took effect on Monday, sending Brown to the Patriots and giving Drake Maye an elite WR1 to pair with Romeo Doubs and company. Brown grew increasingly frustrated with his role in Philly’s run-heavy offense last season, which made him a likely trade candidate this offseason if the team could find a suitor. With Stefon Diggs no longer in Foxborough and Maye ascending the ranks of NFL quarterbacks, pairing Brown with Maye for the foreseeable future seemed like a no-brainer for the Patriots, who were able to avoid dealing their 2027 first-round pick. Brown will turn 29 this offseason, but has totaled 1,000-plus yards in each of his four seasons with the Eagles, helping them to their second Super Bowl title in 2024. He’ll profile as a fringe WR1/WR2 in fantasy leagues and should see a nice increase in targets next season.
We will all breathe a collective sigh of relief when this trade is completed. Schultz said the two sides have “had deep discussions” on a potential trade, and also confirmed previous reports from The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane that the deal would include a 2028 first-round pick going back to the Eagles. It truly feels like only a matter of time before this deal gets done, as we all continue to wait for the post-June 1 deadline to officially take effect. It wouldn’t be surprising if this deal became official before the end of the day.
Monken said the only thing he was assured of when taking the job as the Browns’ head coach was what was written on his contract. That doesn’t seem great. Garrett has been the subject of offseason trade rumors after the Browns modified the language in his contract earlier this offseason, and has notably been a no-show at team activities thus far. Should he not report to mandatory minicamp next week, it would be the most obvious sign yet of a clearly disgruntled player who could be looking for a way out. Garrett signed a massive four-year, $130 million contract extension last offseason, but now, it’s possible the 30-year-old pass-rusher would like to have a chance winning something on the football field while still in the prime of his career. Garrett set an NFL record 23 sacks last season on his way to winning Defensive Player of the Year honors. If he were to become available, it’s safe to say there would be plenty of teams lining up for a chance at his services.
Shortly after Browns HC Todd Monken declined to comment on whether or not he expects Garrett to report to mandatory minicamp, we now have our answer. The 2025 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and single-season sacks record holder is now taking his talents to Los Angeles to help Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford’s push for a second Lombardi Trophy. Speculation around a possible trade for Garrett began swirling earlier this offseason after the team re-worked the language in his contract to make him more feasible to trade, and now, after months of insisting Garrett would be a Brown for life, Cleveland has dealt him away. It goes without saying that Garrett will provide a major boost to a defense that finished 10th in points allowed last season and fell just short of a Super Bowl appearance, even if it does come at the cost of losing a young star in verse. Garrett signed a four-year, $130 million extension with the Browns last offseason and remains under contract through 2030, putting him under the Rams’ control for the next four seasons. Browns GM Andrew Berry said shortly after the deal was announced that talks were ongoing and nothing was official yet, but this seems like a done deal despite Berry’s best poker face.
Verse is a rising star in the league who has totaled 12 sacks in 34 regular season games. The 25-year-old, however, became a key part in the deal that sent Myles Garrett to the Rams, as GM Les Snead reportedly wouldn’t take no for an answer in his endeavors to acquire the 2025 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Verse is a former first-round draft pick from the 2024 class and has two years left on his rookie deal plus a fifth-year option that the Browns will need to decide on whether or not to pick up next offseason. He won’t completely fill the void left by Garrett, but verse has displayed a good knack for getting after the quarterback, generating 157 QB pressures and another 35 hits since entering the league, per PFF.