Lions Unsure If S Kerby Joseph Will Be Ready For Week 1
The Lions are a little over three months away from kicking off their season against the Saints on Sept. 13. It is unclear if standout safety Kerby Joseph, who is managing a degenerative knee condition, will be ready by then (via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press).
Asked Thursday if Joseph will be on the field in Week 1, head coach Dan Campbell said: “Honestly, we probably won’t know until we get into the thick of training camp.”
Joseph, a third-round pick in 2022, did enough over his first three seasons to earn a massive extension. Coming off a first-team All-Pro campaign in which he pulled in an NFL-leading nine interceptions, he inked a four-year, $86MM deal in April 2025. The agreement briefly made the 25-year-old the league’s highest-paid safety (the Ravens’ Kyle Hamilton surpassed him last August).
After the Lions made a huge long-term commitment to Joseph, it was clear they expected him and Brian Branch to continue forming an elite safety duo for at least a couple of more years. Unfortunately for Detroit, injuries foiled those plans for most of 2025. Joseph’s knee limited him to six games, and his last appearance came in an Oct. 12 loss to the Chiefs. Branch, meanwhile, missed five games (one because of a suspension) and tore his Achilles in a Week 14 win over the Cowboys on Dec. 4. Thanks in part to their absences, the Lions went a middling 9-8 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2022.
Because Branch suffered his Achilles tear late last season, he is not expected to be ready for the start of camp in late July. It is up in the air whether Joseph will still be sidelined then, though Campbell said the defender has “done everything he can do to this point” during the rehab process.
With Joseph and Branch on the mend from major injuries, the Lions added veteran safeties Christian Izien and Chuck Clark on modest free agent deals earlier in the offseason. Those two have worked with the first-team defense in OTAs this spring, per Birkett, and could be in for big roles if one or both of the Lions’ starters are still on the shelf in September.
Packers, WR Christian Watson Agree To Extension
Last offseason, Christian Watson and the Packers agreed to a one-year extension. Another new deal has been worked out, and this time around a long-term commitment has been made.
Watson has agreed to a four-year extension, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. This is a $110.5MM deal, he adds. The Packers have included a $31MM signing bonus in this contract, which will keep Watson on the books through 2030.
Injuries have been a concern throughout Watson’s NFL career. The former second-rounder was limited to 10 games during the regular season in 2025, although he also played in Green Bay’s wild-card loss. Watson was productive when on the field, totaling six touchdowns and maintaining a strong yards per catch average. The Packers clearly saw enough this past season to authorize a lucrative investment.
In March, Watson was named as one of several young members of Green Bay’s core who could be in line for an extension. One month later, general manager Brian Gutekunst confirmed a long-term deal was indeed a priority for the team. With plenty of time to spare before training camp, an agreement has now been reached. This represents the second big-money deal worked out with a receiver this spring in the case of Green Bay.
Jayden Reed agreed to an extension of his own shortly before the second day of the draft. That pact ensures he will remain in place through 2029 and carries an average annual value of $16.75MM. Watson’s new deal confirms he will be a focal point on offense for the foreseeable future as well. Tight end Tucker Kraft has yet to line up a second contract, but he may represent Green Bay’s next priority.
Watson has secured an AAV of $27.63MM on this latest extension. The 27-year-old will thus slot in just outside the top 15 in the NFL with respect to receiver compensation on an annual basis. Continued absences due to injuries could of course limit the success of this commitment, and Watson has yet to top 620 yards in a season. Nevertheless, he has averaged 17 yards per reception over the course of his career, and remaining one of the league’s top vertical threats would be critical for the Packers’ offense moving forward.
The 2026 offseason has seen Romeo Doubs depart in free agency, while Dontayvion Wicks was traded to the Eagles in April. Those absences will thin out a receiver room on a Green Bay team which added Matthew Golden in the first round in 2025 but did not make any draft investments this year. Watson, Reed and Golden will be counted on to operate as key figures for years to come as part of the Packers’ efforts to make a deep playoff run.
Steelers Will Not Trade T.J. Watt In 2026, Likely To Retain Alex Highsmith
Developing their share of rush linebackers going back to the Greg Lloyd/Chad Brown days, the Steelers have produced a long string of talent at this position. Nick Herbig is Pittsburgh’s latest OLB success story, and despite a history as a part-time starter, the former fourth-round pick received an eye-opening extension this week.
The Steelers gave Herbig a four-year, $100MM extension, one that matches the deal Odafe Oweh received from the Commanders in March. Herbig, 24, is now signed through the 2030 season. His signing has generated obvious questions about the long-term statuses of T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.
[RELATED: Steelers, TE Darnell Washington Agree On Extension]
Teams do not make a habit of carrying three lucrative edge rusher contracts on payrolls. As our Connor Byrne noted when discussing the Herbig extension Tuesday, the Steelers are spending a combined $84MM in AAV at edge rusher. Only the Texans ($96MM) outpace them, and Houston just authorized a record-smashing $50MM-per-year payday for Will Anderson Jr. and another extension for Danielle Hunter. Both those players have every-down roles in Houston, whereas Pittsburgh’s outlook is historically unusual.
While the Steelers once rostered All-Pros Lloyd, Brown, Jason Gildon and Hall of Famer Kevin Greene at once (1994-95), Brown and Gildon were developing on rookie contracts behind the lead ‘backers before Greene’s 1996 free agency exit; Brown then left as a 1997 FA. Highsmith also overlapped with Bud Dupree‘s franchise-tag year (2020), but the Steelers gave the younger player a key promotion a year later.
No other team is even carrying three edge rushers beyond $11MM — the Raiders’ Maxx Crosby–Kwity Paye–Malcolm Koonce trio that certainly was not designed to play together (due to the Ravens’ scrapped agreement to acquire Crosby) — the Steelers have Watt on a $41MM-AAV extension and Highsmith at $17MM per year. Highsmith is signed through the 2027 season, Watt through 2028.
Even with Herbig’s extension inviting speculation about Pittsburgh offloading one of its more experienced vets, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport said during a Pat McAfee Show appearance the team is expected to keep all three on its roster in 2026. Watt will not be traded, Rapoport said definitively, and Highsmith will be expected to be part of his seventh Steelers roster. After 2026, the Steelers likely have a decision to make. The Browns just traded Myles Garrett to presumably help in their pursuit of a long-term quarterback answer; Watt or Highsmith would serve as Steelers aid if/when one of them is dealt.
Re-signed before the Ravens backed out of their Crosby trade agreement, Koonce is also on a one-year deal. His $11MM AAV came into the week as the NFL’s highest as far as No. 3 edge rushers go. The Commanders also have Dorance Armstrong on a three-year, $30MM deal — one that sits behind, in terms of AAV, Oweh and K’Lavon Chaisson — in third place among edge rushers on their payroll. The Seahawks just extended Derick Hall to go with DeMarcus Lawrence ($10.8MM per year) and Uchenna Nwosu ($9.8MM AAV). The Steelers carrying Watt’s upper-crust contract and now two other lucrative deals separates this situation from those and just about any other EDGE setup before it.
Herbig’s cap numbers are not yet known, but Steelers deals are typically clean. It should be expected Herbig will have a lower cap figure in 2026 before the extension bumps up his 2027 number. While that will seemingly make a move likely before the 2027 season, Herbig’s lower cap hit this year points to the Steelers (per McAfee staffer Mark Kaboly) dealing with that problem after the season and keeping the Watt-Highsmith-Herbig troika together for another year.
Highsmith, 29 in August, came up in trade rumors just before the draft. But those were quickly squashed. Coming off a 9.5-sack season, Highsmith is on a team-friendly contract that does not include any remaining guarantees. Watt’s three-year, $123MM extension contains fully guaranteed money in 2026 and ’27. The future Hall of Famer hopes to play several more seasons.
Watt, 31, managed just seven sacks in 14 games last season. But labeling him a declining player seems premature. He joins Cameron Heyward as Steelers front-seven cornerstones, with Herbig’s contract elevating him to such status as well.
No member of the trio has logged more than 10 snaps (per Pro Football Focus) as an inside D-lineman in a season. Watt did say (via Pro Football Talk’s Charean Williams) he expects to move around in Patrick Graham‘s defense, but it remains to be seen if the Steelers will find ways to have all three well-paid rushers on the field together. This looks to be a 2026-only problem, and teams will likely be calling about Highsmith and Watt before 2027. For now, the Steelers have one of the NFL’s more interesting positional plans thanks to Herbig’s extension.
Pro Football Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat: 6/4/26
Pro Football Rumors' Sam Robinson will be holding a live chat at 4pm Central today, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers!
Rams Rework Myles Garrett’s Contract
Myles Garrett became the rare edge rusher to change teams in a trade involving a first-round pick and not receive an immediate extension. As our most recent Trade Rumors Front Office piece detailed, Garrett is set to be first EDGE to be traded for a future first — excluding pick-for-pick trades — this century and not receive an extension.
We learned following the trade the Rams were not planning an immediate pay bump for the future Hall of Famer, but the sides have agreed to rework the contract the Browns designed last March. The Rams and Garrett agreed on an adjusted deal Thursday, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reports. While this can be framed as a five-year, $204MM agreement, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport notes it does not provide a raise or add any years to his Cleveland agreement.
[RELATED: Aaron Donald Mulling Unretirement]
Garrett signed a four-year, $160MM Browns extension nearly 15 months ago. Because two seasons were left on his first Browns extension — a five-year, $125MM pact agreed to in summer 2020 — his current deal runs through 2030.
Garrett set a single-season sack record in 2025, proving he remains probably the game’s premier edge rusher and one of the NFL’s best overall players, and his Browns re-up triggered a sea change on the EDGE market. T.J. Watt, Micah Parsons, Aidan Hutchinson and Will Anderson Jr. have leapfrogged Garrett’s $40MM-per-year deal in terms of AAV. Anderson moved the bar to $50MM per year in April.
But the Garrett trade was more about a team resetting and cashing in on its top asset to accelerate a rebuild, as opposed to most high-profile trades at this position. Of the seven other 21st-century instances of edge rushers being dealt for packages involving a first-rounder — for Parsons, Bradley Chubb, Frank Clark, Khalil Mack, Jared Allen, John Abraham, Kevin Carter — all involved immediate raises. So did three recent deals involving a second-rounder being swapped for an edge defender (Brian Burns, Montez Sweat, Dee Ford). The Rams having an opportunity to acquire Garrett without needing to authorize a top-market extension created even more value for the Browns in this trade, which sent Jared Verse and three draft choices (including a 2027 first-rounder) to Cleveland.
The rework will increase Garrett’s 2026 pay from $31.5MM to $37MM, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler adds. Like they did with Matthew Stafford in 2024, the Rams are moving money from future years into the current campaign. The Thursday adjustment also moves option bonuses to signing bonuses in some cases, per Fowler.
Garrett’s Browns deal already contained $41.7MM in 2027 guarantees. Today’s agreement, which includes $37MM guaranteed at signing, will reduce Garrett’s 2027 guarantees by $10.7MM but increase the 2028 guarantees by $7.2MM, Florio notes.
By 2027, Garrett will see a total of $62MM in injury guarantees vest, Florio adds. That makes this an appealing package for both team and player, as a two-time Defensive Player of the Year is still attached to the league’s fifth-most-lucrative EDGE AAV and said player will see a mammoth guarantee come his way next year.
This amounts to a three-year deal with two team options, with the Rams keeping Browns terms for the nonguaranteed 2029 and 2030 years; Garrett will be due an $8MM roster bonus in March 2029 and March 2030. The cap numbers will be important to observe on this rework, as the Rams have surely adjusted the contract to help in that regard.
The Rams entered Thursday with $18.29MM in cap space. Although Los Angeles moved off Verse, it has a host of extension-eligible young players. The 2023 draft brought Puka Nacua, Steve Avila, Kobie Turner, Byron Young and Warren McClendon to L.A. Nacua is believed to be the top priority, but the Rams have not executed any extensions for that draft class yet. The team did give Stafford a one-year, $55MM extension. More deals should be expected.
It will be interesting to see if Garrett pushes for a true raise soon. The Rams have shown in the past — via their bumps for Donald and Cooper Kupp in 2022 — they are willing to reward cornerstone players with multiple seasons remaining on contracts. Garrett’s camp forcing the issue in the future would not surprise, but the trove of guaranteed money vesting next year should satisfy the superstar defender for the foreseeable future.
Rams Would Welcome Aaron Donald Unretirement
Aaron Donald ended one of the greatest careers in NFL history at age 33, stopping after 10 Rams seasons. The three-time Defensive Player of the Year made a case as the greatest defensive tackle ever during that period, but the Rams have been able to get by defensively without the all-time great.
The Rams have been able to stay afloat defensively due in large part to successful front-seven draft investments. The team hit on Kobie Turner and Byron Young in the 2023 third round and then landed Jared Verse and Braden Fiske in the 2024 draft’s first two rounds. Los Angeles used Verse as the headline asset in the Myles Garrett package, and Donald took notice of another future Hall of Famer joining the Rams’ defense.
Going a whole two seasons without a surefire Hall of Famer on defense, the Rams acquired Garrett and will pair him with the Young-Turner-Fiske trio. Donald, however, created considerable buzz in the wake of the trade by indicating he is considering a return to football. The Rams’ three-year, $95MM Donald — agreed to months after Super Bowl LVI — contract carries one more season, in the event Donald would want to follow Philip Rivers in delaying his Canton clock.
Unlike Rivers, Donald is a no-doubt first-ballot Hall of Famer. He also plays a far more rigorous position. Unsurprisingly, Sean McVay said (via ESPN.com’s Sarah Barshop) the Rams would welcome a Donald return. But the former superstar, who regularly posts workout videos to social media, is far from certain to complete a comeback even with Garrett headlining Chris Shula‘s third defense.
“Aaron’s a guy that I stay really close in touch with and I know the respect that he has for Myles,” McVay said. “Talked to [Donald] about the opportunity to be able to bring [Garrett] on board. If Aaron decides he wants to dust them off at the age of 35, I bet you he could still do it at a pretty high clip.”
Perhaps the only D-lineman whose peak rivals Donald’s this century, J.J. Watt also teased an unretirement earlier this decade. Retiring after the 2022 season, when a heart scare occurred, Watt said he would consider a comeback to join the Texans or Steelers. But the CBS analyst said that window would close after the 2024 season. Donald is further removed from his career than his former peer was when he mentioned the prospect of a comeback, offering another complication.
Rather than rejoining the Rams this summer and going through another training camp, Donald could delay an unretirement for a bit and consider an in-season return. This seems like the more realistic path, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer offers. Mentioning Eric Weddle‘s unretirement in time for the 2021 playoffs — after the Rams had lost multiple safeties — as a potentially notable example (Weddle initially retired after the 2019 season).
The Eagles also signed Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph in mid-November 2022, adding the vets to their D-line after neither had gone through training camp or played in the first half of that season. Both played rotational roles for the NFC champions that year.
Donald playing a rotational role would be rather strange given his abilities pre-retirement. After missing a chunk of the 2022 season due to injury, Donald roared back with a seventh first-team All-Pro season in 2023. He finished that ’23 season with eight sacks and 16 tackles for loss, helping a Rams team that had themed 2023 around cost-cutting moves back to the playoffs.
Los Angeles has Fiske and Turner as locked-in regulars on its D-line. Donald returning would stand to cut into the younger 3-4 ends’ playing time. But a defense rostering Garrett and Donald to go with some rising young talents would obviously be formidable. Beyond a 2022 high ankle sprain, Donald does not have much of an injury history. Prior to 2022, the only two games he missed were due to a 2017 holdout. This may be a storyline to monitor well into the season — or until Donald shuts it down — as the Rams are viewed as early Vegas favorites to win a Super Bowl set to take place at SoFi Stadium.
Giants DL Roy Robertson-Harris Could Return This Season
The Giants have bought in bulk on their defensive line following the Dexter Lawrence trade. New York added Shelby Harris, D.J. Reader, Zacch Pickens, Leki Fotu and Josh Tupou this offseason. The team also drafted Bobby Jamison-Travis in Round 6.
Part of this spree did come after a notable setback, as Roy Robertson-Harris — given a two-year contract in 2025 — suffered an Achilles tear. While the veteran interior D-lineman is facing a long recovery journey, the Giants are not placing him on IR. John Harbaugh said (via The Athletic’s Dan Duggan) the team has hope Robertson-Harris can return late in the season.
Robertson-Harris going down in late May would conceivably support an in-season return. We have seen similar timetables emerge involving players to suffer this injury during offseason work. Terrell Suggs‘ 2011 Defensive Player of the Year season preceded an Achilles tear in spring 2012. Suggs underwent surgery and returned in Week 7, helping Baltimore win its second Super Bowl. A year later, Michael Crabtree suffered an Achilles tear during 49ers OTAs. He came back in Week 13 as the 49ers reached a third straight NFC championship game.
Cam Akers beat those two standouts’ timetables in 2021, suffering a tear in late July and returning by Week 18. The Rams running back was not in great form upon return, but he made his way back to dress for Los Angeles’ four-game playoff run that culminated with a Super Bowl LVI win. Robertson-Harris is not on a team with lofty aspirations, but there is precedent for players in his circumstance completing a rehab effort by season’s end.
It looks like the Giants will stash Robertson-Harris on their reserve/PUP list when they set their 53-man roster in late August. He would miss at least the first four games, and a late-May Achilles tear will almost certainly lead to a longer hiatus. If the Giants were to place Robertson-Harris on IR now, he would — barring a situation involving a release and injury settlement — be forced to miss the season. The Giants would not lose one of their eight injury activations by activating Robertson-Harris from the PUP list.
A 10th-year veteran, Robertson-Harris started 17 games for the Giants last season and played 56% of their defensive snaps. The former Bears, Jaguars and Seahawks defender signed with the Giants — on a two-year, $9MM deal — after a Seattle release.
The Giants, who geared their D-line group (and pretty much their entire front seven) around Lawrence’s presence for seven years, have four 30-somethings rostered along their defensive front post-Lawrence. Robertson-Harris, 32, will not join Harris and Reader — and perhaps Tupou, who is 32 — on New York’s active roster for a while, but the team will hold out hope he can come back this season.
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/4/26
Several NFL teams made minor transactions on Thursday. Here’s a look…
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: DE Benton Whitley
Houston Texans
- Signed: TE Louie Hansen
- Waived: WR Jalen Walthall
Los Angeles Rams
- Placed on IR: OL Chad Lindberg, OLB Eddie Walls
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: WR Michael Briscoe, WR Trayvon Rudolph
- Waived: WR Joaquin Davis
New York Jets
- Signed: WR Gee Scott
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: LB Jamin Davis
- Waived: TE Chamon Metayer
Out of the 11 players listed above, Davis is the only one with a first-round pedigree. Washington took the former Kentucky Wildcat 19th overall in 2021, but his stock has plummeted during his five-year career. As a member of the Commanders for three-plus seasons, he totaled 282 tackles and seven sacks over 50 games (36 starts).
The Commanders experimented with Davis at defensive end in 2024, but it didn’t work out to their liking. They waived Davis in late October that year, and he has since gone to short stints with the Packers, Vikings, Jets and Raiders. The 27-year-old got into two games with the Raiders last season and made three tackles. Davis is now reuniting with Steelers defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, who held the same position in Las Vegas in 2025.
Dolphins Sign Fifth-Rounder Seydou Traore, Wrap Up Draft Class
The Dolphins signed fifth-round tight end Seydou Traore to his rookie deal on Thursday, the team announced. They now have all 13 of their 2026 draft picks under contract.
Traore was Miami’s 11th pick in a class headlined by two first-rounders, offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor (No. 12) and cornerback Chris Johnson (No. 27). They grabbed Proctor after moving down a spot in a trade with Dallas, which gave up the 177th and 180th picks. The Dolphins used the 180th choice on Traore, who was born in France and raised in England. Along with Jordan Mailata (Eagles; seventh round, 2018), Travis Clayton (Bills; seventh round, 2024) and Uar Bernard (Eagles; seventh round, 2026), Traore is one of four NFL draft picks to come from the International Pathway Program.
A former soccer goalie, Traore joined the NFL Academy in London and then moved to Clearwater, Fla., for his senior year of high school, per Dane Brugler of The Athletic. As a three-star recruit, Traore began his college career in 2021 at Arkansas State. He broke out in his second season – a 50-catch, 655-yard, four-touchdown campaign – and earned first-team All-Sun Belt honors. Traore sat out the next year after transferring to Mississippi State, but he was a solid producer there from 2024-25. He totaled 69 catches, 730 yards and six TDs over 25 games with the Bulldogs. The 6-foot-4, 223-pounder is now part of a Miami tight end group that also includes Greg Dulcich and third-round rookie Will Kacmarek.
The Dolphins made more picks than any other team in this year’s draft. Here is their full list of newcomers:
- Round 1, No. 12 (from Cowboys): Kadyn Proctor (T, Alabama) (signed)
- Round 1, No. 27 (from 49ers): Chris Johnson (CB, San Diego State) (signed)
- Round 2, No. 43: Jacob Rodriguez (LB, Texas Tech) (signed)
- Round 3, No. 75: Caleb Douglas (WR, Texas Tech) (signed)
- Round 3, No. 87 (from Eagles): Will Kacmarek (TE, Ohio State) (signed)
- Round 3, No. 94 (from Broncos): Chris Bell (WR, Louisville) (signed)
- Round 4, No. 130 (from Broncos): Trey Moore (EDGE, Texas) (signed)
- Round 4, No. 138*: Kyle Louis (LB, Pitt) (signed)
- Round 5, No. 158 (from Vikings): Michael Taaffe (S, Texas) (signed)
- Round 5, No. 177 (from Cowboys)*: Kevin Coleman Jr. (WR, Missouri) (signed)
- Round 5, No. 180 (from Cowboys)*: Seydou Traore (TE, Mississippi State) (signed)
- Round 6, No. 200 (from Panthers): DJ Campbell (G, Texas) (signed)
- Round 7, No. 238 (from Chargers via Titans and Jets): Max Llewellyn (EDGE, Iowa) (signed)
Chargers, Akheem Mesidor Agree To Deal
The Chargers have agreed to a deal with first-round edge defender Akheem Mesidor, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. As the 22nd overall pick, Mesidor inked a four-year, $20.46MM contract.
Despite his age (25) and past injury issues, Mesidor was widely expected to come off the board in the first round. He was one of the top 30 prospects available, according to both Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com (No. 26) and Dane Brugler of The Athletic (No. 28). The Buccaneers reportedly would have taken Mesidor 15th overall had former Miami teammate and fellow edge defender Rueben Bain Jr. not slid to them.
Mesidor is entering the NFL with plenty of experience, having played in 65 college games over six seasons. The Canada native began at West Virginia, where he tallied 70 tackles, 14.5 TFL and 14.5 sacks from 2020-21.
Mesidor was mostly an interior lineman with the Mountaineers, but he took on an edge role upon transferring to Miami in 2022. After racking up 10.5 TFL and seven sacks in 11 games in his first season with the Hurricanes, foot problems held Mesidor to three appearances in 2023. He stayed healthy in his final two seasons at Miami, though, and his production exploded during a 15-game 2025. The 6-foot-3, 259-pounder amassed 38 tackles, 17.5 TFL and 12.5 sacks en route to first-team All-ACC and second-team All-America honors.
As someone who is also a capable run defender, Mesidor projects as a three-down player in the pros, according to Brugler. He could begin his career as the third or fourth option in a talented group of edge defenders in Los Angeles.
The Chargers lost Odafe Oweh to the Commanders’ four-year, $100MM offer in free agency, but they still boast Khalil Mack and Tuli Tuipulotu as starters. Bud Dupree and Kyle Kennard are in the mix as depth. Kennard is the only member of that quartet signed past the upcoming season, but the 2025 fourth-round pick disappointed during a five-game, two-tackle rookie campaign. The Chargers will expect much better production from Mesidor during his first season. If he pans out and the Chargers extend Tuipulotu, which general manager Joe Hortiz hopes to do, they will have a formidable pass-rushing duo for the next several years.
With Mesidor under wraps, the Chargers have locked up seven rookies from an eight-player class. Fourth-round receiver Brenen Thompson is the last unsigned pick standing.