Dolphins To Sign DB Lonnie Johnson Jr.
Lonnie Johnson Jr. has lined up his next NFL gig. The veteran defensive back has agreed to a one-year deal with the Dolphins, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports.
Miami will be the latest in a long line of stops for Johnson, who entered the league as a second-round pick in 2019. The Kentucky product spent his first three years in Houston, where he logged 19 of his 22 career starts. Johnson has since gone through one-year stints with the Titans, Saints, Panthers and Raiders. He also had brief offseason runs in Kansas City and another in Houston along the way.
Johnson posted his most productive season in 2021, a 55-tackle, three-interception effort over 14 games with the Texans. In 48 games since then, Johnson has recorded just 56 tackles and one pick.
Johnson’s year in Las Vegas got off to an inauspicious start when he suffered a broken fibula in an August practice. When the Raiders assembled their season-opening roster later that month, they placed Johnson on IR with a designation for return. The Raiders activated Johnson toward the end of October. He wound up starting in two of nine games and making 25 tackles. The 30-year-old worked as a free safety for the majority of his snaps (243 of 321).
Johnson is the third depth signing of the day for Miami’s defense. The Dolphins previously agreed to deals with edge rusher Josh Uche and linebacker Willie Gay.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post…
Vikings, RB Aaron Jones Agree On Rework
Aaron Jones will not be a Vikings cap casualty, after all. The sides agreed on a reworked deal that positions the veteran running back to play a third season in Minnesota, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport report.
The adjustment will lower Jones’ 2026 base salary to $5.6MM. Of that total, $5MM will be guaranteed (per ESPN’s Adam Schefter). Jones delivered a 1,000-yard rushing season in his Vikings debut, leading to a 2025 re-signing (two years, $20MM). But injury trouble intervened in 2025.
Ceding time to trade acquisition Jordan Mason last season, Jones rushed for just 547 yards — his fewest since his 2017 rookie season — and missed five games because of a hamstring injury suffered in Week 2. The Vikings dangled Jones in trade talks and were prepared to move on via release if no swap came to fruition, but barely an hour before the NFL’s cap-compliance deadline, the team found a way to retain the aging back.
Jones, 31, initially came to the Twin Cities after declining a Packers pay cut. The former fifth-round pick had already accepted a trim in 2023, but a bigger cut proved too much for the productive veteran to accept. Jones landed with the Vikes on a one-year, $7MM deal and totaled 1,546 scrimmage yards — the second-most of his career — and seven touchdowns in 2024. The seven-year Packer played a central role in the Vikings’ 14-3 season with Sam Darnold at the helm, and the team circled back on a deal that provided $11.5MM guaranteed at signing.
Jones was to earn a $9MM base salary this season; if the Vikings were to cut him, they would have saved nearly $8MM in cap space but taken on nearly $7MM in dead money. Kevin O’Connell‘s team looks set to move forward with a second season with the Mason-Jones RB tandem. The ex-49er infiltrated Jones’ backfield stranglehold, leading the Vikings with 758 rushing yards. Mason averaged 4.8 yards per carry to Jones’ 4.2.
Previously tied to a four-year, $48MM Packers deal agreed to just before the 2021 free agency period, Jones has done well to extend his career. He has four 1,000-yard rushing seasons on his resume. Mason, who backed up fellow 2017 RB draftee Christian McCaffrey in San Francisco, is signed for one more season. His two-year, $10.5MM contract calls for a $4.73MM base salary in 2026.
Patriots To Sign S Kevin Byard
The Patriots are not resting on the laurels of their elite defensive performance in 2025. Instead, they are continuing to upgrade the unit with veteran safety Kevin Byard. He is expected to sign a one-year, $9MM deal, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
In New England, Byard will reunite with Mike Vrabel, who was his head coach for much of his time in Tennessee.
The 2016 third-round pick earned a starting job in his second year and received a first-team All-Pro nod after le Vrabel was hired the following offseason, and Byard was a key part of his defense for the next five years. He was named an All-Pro again in 2021 and put up another strong campaign in 2022, but he was sent to the Eagles at the 2023 trade deadline after the Titans’ 2-4 start. That was also Vrabel’s last year in Tennessee.
Byard signed a two-year, $15MM contract to join the Bears in 2024 and started every game. He was one of many players to see a big jump in performance under the new coaching staff in 2025 with seven interceptions and his third first-team All-Pro selection. Chicago worked to retain him, but Byard preferred to join his former head coach and the reigning AFC champions, per The Exhibit’s Josina Anderson.
In New England, Byard will replace Jaylinn Hawkins in the Patriots secondary after his departure to Baltimore. Hawkins started 15 games in 2025 with a team-high four interceptions, production that the veteran ballhawks should be able to replace. Byard will slot in next to rookie standout Craig Woodson, where his decade of NFL experience could foster the development of the 2025 fourth-round pick.
Falcons To Sign DL Chris Williams
The Falcons have agreed to a one-year contract with defensive lineman Chris Williams, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. It’s a $2MM deal.
Undrafted out of Wagner in 2020, Williams caught on with the Colts and spent his rookie season on their practice squad. The 298-pounder went on to play sparingly with Indianapolis from 2021-22, during which he appeared in 13 games and made six tackles.
After the Colts cut Williams in the spring of 2023, he had brief runs on practice squads in Kansas City and Cleveland. Although he did not play a snap for the Browns, they got some value from Williams in an August 2024 trade. The Browns sent Williams and a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Bears for a ’25 sixth-rounder. Ian Cunningham, now the Falcons’ general manager, was the Bears’ assistant GM when they acquired Williams.
During his two-year run in Chicago, Williams played in 31 games and clearly impressed Cunningham along the way. In 2024, his lone 17-game season, Williams racked up 23 tackles, seven QB hits and three sacks on 367 defensive snaps. The 27-year-old was on the field for 14 games and 219 defensive plays last season. He finished the year with 14 tackles, two QB hits and a sack.
The Falcons’ defensive line took an obvious hit when David Onyemata left for the Jets on Monday. They have since added Williams and Cameron Thomas in low-cost moves.
Ravens To Re-Sign CB Chidobe Awuzie
Chidobe Awuzie was key member of the Ravens’ secondary in 2025. The veteran corner will remain in place for Baltimore moving forward, with NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reporting a new deal has been agreed to. 
This is a one-year, $5MM pact, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic adds. Per Garafolo, that figure will be guaranteed in full. Awuzie, 30, played for $1.26MM in 2025, but his Baltimore showing has resulted in a considerable raise this spring.
The Ravens have Pro Bowler Marlon Humphrey and 2024 first-rounder Nate Wiggins atop their cornerback depth chart. Both players had rough patches in 2025, however, something which was compounded by the failure of the Jaire Alexander experiment. That resulted in a notable workload for Awuzie, who logged five starts and handled a 59% defensive snap share during his debut Baltimore campaign.
The former Cowboy, Bengal and Titan was held with an interception over that span. Awuzie did, however, notch seven pass deflections and he allowed a completion percentage of 55.6% in coverage (the best figure in that respect since 2022). Another good season would be welcomed on a Baltimore defense seeking needed improvements against the pass in 2026 under new head coach Jesse Minter.
The Ravens underwent a slew of coaching changes following the 2025 campaign, which ended without a playoff berth. John Harbaugh will not return, nor will Zach Orr after two seasons as the team’s defensive coordinator (and further time in the organization as both a player and a position coach). Anthony Weaver is back in Baltimore and he will handle DC responsibilities, although Minter – whose stock has risen sharply as one of the league’s top defensive minds – will call plays on that side of the ball.
Orr’s unit ranked 31st against the pass in 2024 and 30th last year. Shoring up the secondary will be a priority for Baltimore, a team which is set to lose safety Alohi Gilman in free agency. Awuzie remaining a steady presence for another year would be welcomed by the Ravens, whose cornerback room could of course benefit from improved play up front. Expectations will be high in that regard, and it will be interesting to see if a stronger edge rush will aid Baltimore’s level of play against the pass.
49ers Plan To Release Brandon Aiyuk; Commanders Most Likely Landing Spot?
The Brandon Aiyuk saga is nearing an end in San Francisco. The 49ers plan to release the wide receiver, Nick Wagoner of ESPN reports. The team could cut Aiyuk as early as today, per Wagoner, who points to the Commanders as his most likely landing spot.
A 49er since they spent the 25th pick on him in 2020, Aiyuk immediately became a key part of head coach Kyle Shanahan‘s offense. During his best season, 2023, Aiyuk hauled in 75 passes for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns to earn second-team All-Pro honors. A lengthy contract standoff between Aiyuk and the 49ers occurred during the next offseason.
Unable to reach a deal, San Francisco had an Aiyuk trade in place with Pittsburgh in August 2024. However, after the Steelers’ extension offer for Aiyuk fell short, he agreed to stay with the 49ers two weeks later.
The 49ers kept Aiyuk around with a four-year, $120MM proposal that included $76MM in guarantees, but they will end up receiving little to nothing from the investment. Over his first seven games in 2024, Aiyuk caught just 25 of 47 targets for 374 yards and no scores. His season ended with a torn ACL and MCL in Week 7. Aiyuk has not suited up since then.
While Aiyuk was recovering from his injury last July, the 49ers voided the remaining guarantees on his contract. The team had issues with his rehab effort, and Shanahan revealed that Aiyuk was “extremely distant” during the process. Aiyuk could have filed a grievance against the 49ers through the NFLPA, but he let the 50-day window expire and lost over $26MM.
With Aiyuk still on the reserve/PUP list at the beginning of December, general manager John Lynch expressed hope that he would return down the stretch. Any chance of that vanished when the 49ers put the 27-year-old on the reserve/left squad list on Dec. 13. Lynch said in late January that the 49ers would move on from Aiyuk this offseason, though he has held out for a trade. With the new league year commencing Wednesday afternoon, it does not appear Lynch will find a taker for Aiyuk.
If the 49ers designate Aiyuk a post-June 1 release, they will spread almost $35MM in dead money over the next two seasons ($13.33MM in 2026, $21.25MM in ’27). The team will save $1.32MM on next year’s cap, though those funds will not be available until June.
Once he reaches the open market, Aiyuk will immediately become one of the most talented players available. However, considering the bizarre turn his 49ers tenure took, the 6-foot, 200-pounder will likely have to settle for a short-term contract.
For multiple reasons, Washington has stood out as an obvious Aiyuk fit for months. The team is cognizant of how much he wants to play there, according to John Keim of ESPN. Aiyuk would reunite with Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels seven years after the two established a rapport at Arizona State in 2019. Adam Peters, now the Commanders’ GM, was in the 49ers’ front office when they drafted Aiyuk a year later.
With the Commanders in need of receivers beyond No. 1 option Terry McLaurin, Peters has been aggressive on this year’s market. Peters tried to sign Alec Pierce and Romeo Doubs before they reeled in lucrative paydays elsewhere. Having come up empty in those pursuits, Peters could turn his attention to Aiyuk soon.
Colts To Add DE Micheal Clemons
Another of the Jets’ Joe Douglas-era defenders is relocating. Rather than reunite with Robert Saleh or Jeff Ulbrich, Micheal Clemons is heading to Indianapolis.
Clemons is signing a three-year, $17.5MM deal with the Colts, NFL insider Jordan Schultz tweets. The deal can max out at $18.5MM. The Colts were in the Trey Hendrickson market, but the Ravens prevailed there. Losing Kwity Paye to the Raiders, the Colts will bring in the former Jets contributor to be part of their edge-rushing corps.
The Colts just checked the Daniel Jones deal off their to-do list, freeing up cap space after a cap-clogging $37.83MM transition tag number was on the payroll. Some of those savings will go toward Clemons, a full-time starter in 2024 but more of a depth piece in his other three New York seasons.
One of the Jets’ many trade candidates at last year’s deadline, Clemons started six games during a disastrous 3-14 Gang Green 2025 season. Mostly playing behind Will McDonald and Jermaine Johnson last season, Clemons totaled just one sack and five QB hits in 16 games. In 2024, the former fourth-round pick posted a career-best 4.5 sacks.
Clemons, 28, has never posted more than eight QB hits in a season. Although the Texas A&M product was not a regular starter last season, his snap share (55%) outpaced his 2024 number (54%). Last season, DC Steve Wilks used Clemons inside more frequently than Saleh and Ulbrich did. The Colts have regularly turned to their DEs (notably Dayo Odeyingbo and Tyquan Lewis) as hybrid players, though that was under Gus Bradley. Lou Anarumo enters his second season as Indianapolis’ DC.
The Jets, who lost Johnson for the year in 2024 to clear a path for Clemons, are rebooting on their D-line. After trading Quinnen Williams at the 2025 deadline, New York dealt Johnson to Tennessee for T’Vondre Sweat. Ex-Bengal Joseph Ossai is now Big Apple-bound, being set to play opposite McDonald while Sweat takes over as the nose tackle in Aaron Glenn‘s 3-4 front. A career-long 4-3 D-end, Clemons will join Laiatu Latu, JT Tuimoloau and free agency addition Arden Key in Indy.
Seahawks To Re-Sign OT Josh Jones
Josh Jones won a Super Bowl in his debut year in Seattle as the Seahawks’ swing tackle. He will continue in that role in 2026 on a new, one-year contract, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Jones, 28, has changed teams in each of the last three offseasons. He began his career as a Cardinals third-round pick in 2020 and started multiple games at right guard, right tackle, and left tackle in his first three years.
Despite a solid season on the blind side in 2022, he was traded to the Texans during roster cuts in 2023. Jones could not carve out a role in Houston and took a one-year, $1.8MM deal with the Ravens to rebuild his value. Baltimore’s healthy offensive line largely kept Jones off the field, though he did feature as the sixth offensive lineman in ‘jumbo’ packages.
That helped Jones earn a $4MM deal in Seattle. An injury to starting left tackle Charles Cross pressed him into duty for the last three games of the season, and he held up enough for the Seahawks to secure the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff picture.
Also staying with the reigning champs is long snapper Chris Stoll, who has landed a two-year deal (via Pelissero). The 27-year-old signed in Seattle as an undrafted rookie in 2023 and won the long snapping job in training camp. He has played in every game since, including February’s Super Bowl win, but did not receive a restricted free agent tag after the season. Instead, he will stay with the Seahawks for at least the next two seasons.
Jets To Sign K Cade York
Losing Nick Folk after a quality reunion season, the Jets are moving to a much younger option. They are adding Cade York on a one-year deal, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz. 
York’s lone full NFL season was his rookie campaign. The 2022 Browns draftee played 17 games, but his eight missed field goals and two missed extra points left plenty to be desired. York was let go during roster cutdowns in 2023, and he has hardly seen any game time since then.
The 25-year-old made a single appearance in 2024 with the Commanders along with five as a member of the Bengals. York has seen plenty of time on and off various practice squads and active rosters over the course of his career. Most recently, he had a brief stint with the Saints but was not used in game action.
During his return to the Jets in 2025, Folk missed a total of only one kick. The 41-year-old led the NFL in field goal accuracy for the third season in a row, so replacing him will be no small feat for the team. York’s lack of experience stands in sharp contrast to Folk’s track record at the NFL level. It would certainly come as no surprise if another kicker were to be added later this offseason to set up a training camp competition.
This York agreement will no doubt check in at or near the league minimum. That will leave the Jets with plenty of financial flexibility as their roster overhaul continues.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Giants’ Steve Tisch Requesting To Transfer Ownership Stake
Giants co-owner Steve Tisch was named in the Epstein files recently. No NFL investigation has commenced, but the longtime Giants leader is preparing to step out of his role.
Team co-owners Steve, Laurie and Jonathan Tisch have sent a request to the NFL’s finance committee to transfer their ownership stakes into their children’s trusts, according to ESPN.com’s Seth Wickersham and Jordan Raanan and The Athletic’s Dianna Russini. Steve Tisch and his two siblings have co-owned the Giants since 2005.
Tisch’s name is mentioned at least 440 times in the files connected to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Those ranged from casual to problematic. As a result, Tisch is taking a Giants exit ramp after 21 years alongside John Mara atop the organization.
If/when the NFL finance committee approves the transfer, the family’s memo states Tisch would “no longer own any interest in the Giants.” This will mark the third and final transfer of the Tischs’ trusts, with Raanan indicating previous transfers to his children’s trusts occurred in 2023 and 2024.
“We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition, we discussed movies, philanthropy, and investments,” Tisch said earlier this year, discussing his relationship with Epstein. “I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with.”
The emails show Epstein connecting Tisch, 77, to a number of women. Most of the duo’s correspondence appears to have taken place in 2013. Epstein had already served prison time for sex crimes by that point, beginning that sentence in 2008. Several execs and an owner informed Wickersham and Raanan they expected a Tisch update at this month’s owners meetings. While the controversial emails are undoubtedly at the root of Tisch’s Giants exit strategy, he has not been accused of any crimes. Authorities arrested Epstein on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019. He was found dead in a jail cell in August 2019.
The Mara family founded the Giants in 1925; John Mara serves as the team’s president at CEO. Working in the team facility and speaking on the team’s behalf, Mara has the far more active Giants owner during his partnership with Tisch. Described previously as a silent partner, the latter is part of the Giants’ decision-making structure. Though Tisch has not spoken publicly about the Giants since 2020, he did sit in on coaching interviews during the franchise’s effort to lure John Harbaugh earlier this year. Tisch was believed to be the strongest Harbaugh proponent within the organization.
Among a number of high-profile figures mentioned in the Epstein files, Tisch is a partner at Escape Artists, a film production company, and has produced several movies — including Forrest Gump and Risky Business. The New Jersey native has sat as the Giants’ chairman of the board; his brother, Jonathan, is the team’s treasurer. One of Jonathan’s sons, Charles, works in the Giants’ football ops department as an administration manager.
The Maras and Tisches each own a 45% stake in the Giants, according to NJ.com’s Darryl Slater. The other 10% was sold, as the NFL began to allow private equity investments in teams, in 2025. The Tisches’ stake is valued at $2.31 billion, Slater adds.