Titans Interested In Re-Signing Kevin Zeitler, Chig Okonkwo
With the March 9 legal tampering period closing in, Titans right guard Kevin Zeitler and tight end Chig Okonkwo are among their highest-profile pending free agents. Of all the Titans’ unsigned players, they are “pushing hardest” to re-sign Zeitler and Okonkwo, according to team insider Paul Kuharsky.
Although Zeitler has been a full-time starter since his career began as a 2012 first-rounder, the 35-year-old could move on to a seventh team in free agency. The former Bengal, Brown, Giant, Raven and Lion joined the Titans a year ago for $9MM, pushing him past $100MM in career earnings. It was money well spent for Tennessee, even though the team posted its second straight 3-14 record.
Playing the 14th year of his career, the reliable Zeitler gave the Titans 16 starts in as many appearances. Pro Football Focus ranked Zeitler’s performance 11th out of 79 qualifying guards. He earned an especially solid grade as a pass blocker, which should be important to a Tennessee team trying to protect a prized young quarterback.
As a rookie last year, 2025 first overall pick Cam Ward took a league-worst 55 sacks. Losing Zeitler wouldn’t do Ward any favors. Plus, having released center Lloyd Cushenberry this week, Zeitler’s exit would force the Titans to add two new starters on the line. They would like to avoid that, per Kuharsky.
Okonkwo was part of former Titans general manager Jon Robinson‘s last draft class in 2022. Since a 32-catch rookie season, Okonkwo has gone over the 50 mark three years in a row. The Titans added a fourth-round rookie tight end in Gunnar Helm, who racked up 44 catches, but it did not hamper Okonkwo’s production. In his fourth consecutive 17-game season, the durable Okonkwo set career highs in receptions (56) and yards (560). He also led Titans TEs in snap share (63.07% to Helm’s 50.47%) and scored two touchdowns.
“I definitely want to be a part of the core and watch this place grow from where we’re at now into a winning organization,” Okonkwo said in January.
Okonkwo is clearly open to re-signing, but it’s unknown if Zeitler feels the same way. Regardless, both players should sign reasonably priced deals. With a league-high $94.8MM in cap room, the Titans are well-positioned to keep Zeitler and Okonkwo in the fold.
Cowboys Plan To Spend More In Free Agency This Year
At approximately $56.133MM in the red, the Cowboys own the worst salary cap situation in the NFL heading into March. That will not be the case for long. Owner Jerry Jones indicated the Cowboys will adjust several contracts to give themselves far more financial freedom before the legal tampering period begins March 9.
Dallas will restructure deals belonging to quarterback Dak Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and left guard Tyler Smith, per Todd Archer of ESPN.com. Doing so will free up $66MM in breathing room. The Cowboys will also rework contracts for the expensive defensive tackle trio of Quinnen Williams, Osa Odighizuwa and Kenny Clark. As things stand, they are due to count an untenable $63MM against the cap in 2026.
Once those changes become official, Jones will act aggressively to improve a team coming off back-to-back seven-win seasons. Adding defensive lineman Solomon Thomas on a two-year, $8MM deal was the Cowboys’ priciest outside free agent signing last offseason. It appears they will operate much differently this year.
“I would bet that we will spend more money in free agency than we have,” said Jones, who added that the team also has “ammunition” to be active on the trade front.
On the offensive side, the Cowboys have already placed the $27.298MM franchise tag on receiver George Pickens and re-signed running back Javonte Williams to a three-year, $24MM pact. Those two were key contributors on one of the league’s best offenses in 2025, whereas the Cowboys’ last-ranked scoring defense was a train wreck. The unit predictably stumbled after losing its best player, outside linebacker Micah Parsons, in a late-August blockbuster trade with the Packers.
The Cowboys received Clark and two first-round picks in the Parsons swap, giving them a pair of No. 1s in each of the next two drafts. They have picks 12 and 20 in Round 1 this April. It seems fair to expect the Cowboys to use both of those selections to upgrade their defense. Regardless, the 83-year-old Jones expects immediate impact from his top rookies in 2026 (via Jon Machota of The Athletic).
Having kept Pickens and Williams from the open market, the Cowboys will turn their attention to complementing their prolific offense with a vastly improved defense. New coordinator Christian Parker‘s plan to implement a 3-4 base, which Dallas has not run since 2012, only increases the urgency for outside additions.
Bears Want To Retain QB Case Keenum As Coach
Case Keenum is set to hit free agency in March, but if the Bears have it their way, the journeyman will stay in Chicago.
But it would not be as a quarterback. Instead, Ben Johnson is hoping that Keenum can join his coaching staff and continue to mentor the team’s young passers, Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent, according to Essentially Sports’ Tony Pauline.
Keenum, 38, arrived in Chicago in 2025 and quickly endeared himself to Johnson as a veteran voice in the quarterback room. At this point in his career, he does not profile as much more as a player. He last started a game in 2023 for the Texans with no more than two starts in a season since 2019. And despite the positive reputation Keenum has built up in the league, his stretches of starting-caliber play were far and few between.
But the backup quarterback-to-assistant coach pipeline has been active in recent years, especially this offseason with Sean Mannion and Davis Webb both landing offensive coordinator gigs. It is unclear what role Keenum would take on; the Bears already have quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett and Robbie Picazo as an offensive assistant focused on quarterbacks and receivers. Perhaps Keenum could be an assistant quarterbacks coach.
He would have to retire from playing to do so. If he thinks he still has gas left in the tank, he may want to see his options in free agency before taking off the pads. But the Bears are a rising team, and this could be a good opportunity to kickstart his coaching career.
Offseason Outlook: Buffalo Bills
With the offseason beginning in January for most NFL teams, it was in fashion for dissatisfied owners to throw their head coaches under the bus while retaining their general managers. Of the record-tying 10 clubs that switched head coaches over the past several weeks, eight of them maintained the status quo atop their front offices. The Bills are part of that group. Not only did general manager Brandon Beane stay in place at Sean McDermott's expense, but owner Terry Pegula promoted him to president of football operations/GM.
Most teams that shook up their sideline leadership missed the playoffs in 2025, whereas the Bills earned a berth for a league-leading seventh straight year. They even won a wild-card round game, a 23-20 nail-biter in Jacksonville, but it was not enough to buy McDermott a 10th year. After the Bills dropped a 33-30 overtime thriller to the No. 1-seeded Broncos in the divisional round, Pegula decided he had seen enough.
Believing the Bills "hit the proverbial playoff wall" under McDermott, Pegula fired him two days after the Denver game. On the other hand, Pegula is convinced Beane is not at fault for the Bills' long-running playoff shortcomings. Pegula went along with Beane's decision to promote McDermott's last offensive coordinator, Joe Brady, to head coach (more on that below).
With the grizzled McDermott gone and a rookie head coach in place, Beane is wielding more power than ever. Beane is now in the beginning stages of a crucial offseason for a team that has to find a way to break through as superstar quarterback Josh Allen enters his 30s. While Beane will aim to beef up his roster around Allen, a lack of financial wiggle room and some potentially painful losses in free agency will boost the difficulty level.
Cowboys Place Non-Exclusive Franchise Tag On George Pickens
Time still remained for the Cowboys to place the franchise tag on wideout George Pickens. Nevertheless, Friday has proven to be the day for the tender’s application. 
Pickens has officially been tagged, per a team announcement. A number of reports from Friday morning pointed to today being the point at which the move would take place. Dallas has taken the expected route of the non-exclusive franchise tag in this case, ESPN’s Todd Archer reports.
“My relationship with GP doesn’t change,” head coach Brian Schottenheimer said about Pickens when speaking about the looming tag application. “Just like it didn’t change with CeeDee [Lamb] or Dak [Prescott] when those guys were going through certain things. It’s all part of the process. It’s the business side of it… This is going to play out the way it’s supposed to play out.”
The receiver tag is worth $27.298MM in 2026, the league announced Friday. Although Dallas is an estimated $56MM over the salary cap (per OverTheCap), the team has long been willing to apply the tag to keep Pickens off the market with free agency approaching. Pickens is free to speak with interested teams given the nature of the tag used in this case, but the chances of an outside suitor working out a deal and parting with two first-round picks to facilitate it are extremely low. Attention will instead turn to the matter of contract talks between the Cowboys and their productive 2025 trade acquisition.
As Archer notes, Pickens and his camp were informed of the tag decision yesterday. He adds that “general” conversations took place between the Cowboys and Pickens’ representatives at the ongoing NFL Combine. Progress with respect to detailed negotiations will be worth watching for as this situation unfolds. If no long-term agreement can be reached by July 15, Pickens will be required to play on the tag next season. He may sit out if a deal does not come together, according to Clarence Hill Jr. of All City DLLS.
The Cowboys already have huge money tied up in Lamb, whom they signed to a four-year, $136MM extension in 2024. Lamb ranks third at his position in value, AAV and guarantees ($100MM). He has a better overall track record than Pickens, but with the cap continuing to rise, the latter might be in line for a similar contract. Executives across the league are expecting at least $30MM per year for Pickens, Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports reports. There is even a possibility the soon-to-be 25-year-old Pickens’ next pact will surpass Lamb’s.
The Cowboys acquired Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round pick from the Steelers for a 2026 third-rounder and a ’27 fifth-rounder last spring. At that point, Pickens had established himself as a good (far from elite) receiver who came with some off-field baggage. The former second-rounder from Georgia had issues with punctuality over his first three years in Pittsburgh. Toward the end of Pickens’ last year with the Steelers, Mike Tomlin said the wideout needed to “grow up.”
The change of scenery worked wonders for Pickens overall. One of the few hiccups came when Schottenheimer benched him (and Lamb) for the opening series in a Week 11 win over the Raiders. The two star receivers missed curfew the night before, but that quickly blew over. Pickens went on to finish a 17-game season with across-the-board career highs in catches (93), receiving yards (1,429) and touchdowns (nine). He easily would have been the most desirable pass catcher on the open market had he gotten there.
Depending on how talks with the Jerry Jones-led Cowboys go, Pickens could still change hands via trade. Jones and Pickens’ agent, David Mulugheta, did not see eye to eye in extension negotiations with superstar pass rusher Micah Parsons last year. After a contentious battle, Jones dealt Parsons to the Packers in a late-August blockbuster.
Jones and Mulugheta will aim for more harmonious talks in this case. If they reach an agreement, Pickens would follow former Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant in inking an extension after receiving the tag. The Cowboys tagged Bryant back in 2015, but they shook hands on a five-year, $70MM deal before the mid-July deadline.
Connor Byrne contributed to this post.
Patriots Interested In WR A.J. Brown
The Patriots spent 2024 exhausting just about every avenue to add a marquee wide receiver. Their Calvin Ridley free agency pursuit failed, and Brandon Aiyuk opted to return to the 49ers rather than be traded to New England. Last year, however, Stefon Diggs provided substantial help by posting his seventh 1,000-yard season.
As PFR’s Ben Levine noted in his Patriots Offseason Outlook, Diggs is not a lock to be back in Foxborough. The mercurial veteran is due see $6MM of his 2026 compensation become guaranteed March 13. Diggs’ cap number climbs from $10.5MM last year to $26.5MM in 2026, putting a separation on the radar. But the Patriots could potentially keep Diggs and add another impact veteran.
The team is interested in reuniting Mike Vrabel and A.J. Brown, MassLive.com’s Karen Guregian and Mark Daniels report. Vrabel coached Brown for three seasons with the Titans and was not believed to be happy when the team traded the high-end WR during the 2022 draft.
Brown has been a persistent issue in Philadelphia, but the former Tennessee standout has been one of the most productive skill-position players in Eagles history. Going into an age-29 season, he would be a valuable piece in a trade. Nick Sirianni stopped short of guaranteeing Brown would be back, and the Eagles are prepared to listen to offers.
Philly is believed to be setting a high price on Brown, who has gone 4-for-4 — despite bemoaning his role in the offense at various points — in 1,000-yard receiving seasons with the team. It might take first- and second-round picks — at least, that may be the asking price — to pry Brown from the NFC East club. That would be a difficult move for a team to make for a receiver with seven years’ experience, but Brown’s option bonus-laden contract runs through the 2029 season. That would be valuable for a team, should it feel comfortable acquiring the high-maintenance performer.
Despite a massive dead money number if the Eagles were to trade Brown before June 1, the team is expected to make a decision by March 9 — when the legal tampering period begins. Trading Brown before June 1 would level the Eagles with a 43.45MM dead cap charge, a record for his position. They would also lose $20.12MM in spending room. Meanwhile, an acquiring team would have to take on what’s left of the three-year, $96MM extension Brown signed before the Eagles’ Super Bowl-winning 2024 campaign.
The Patriots would be picking up a $29MM guarantee on Brown’s 2026 money, but little locked-in compensation exists in this contract beyond this coming season. As PFR’s Connor Byrne noted in his Eagles Offseason Outlook, the team moving on before March 13 would allow them to pass a $4MM 2027 guarantee for the wideout to another club. Option bonuses worth $19.41MM, $29.36MM and $28.32MM are in place for 2027, ’28 and ’29, per Spotrac. The Eagles rely heavily on option bonuses for cap purposes. That will make moving Brown now difficult for the perennial contender.
A need may exist for the Patriots to restructure Diggs’ contract, per Guregian and Daniels. The Pats could reduce Diggs’ $20.6MM 2026 salary by moving money into a signing bonus, thus increasing the dead money hit in 2027. It would be unlikely Diggs will be keen on accepting a pay cut after being the runaway receiving leader on an AFC champion, but the Pats look to be trying to get the 32-year-old WR’s cap hit down. Diggs also faces a potential suspension for an alleged assault. He pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges earlier this month.
New England has rookie-deal wideouts Kayshon Boutte and Demario Douglas signed for one more season apiece. Mack Hollins‘ two-year, $8.4MM contract also runs through 2026. Holding just more than $40MM in cap space, the Patriots have also been linked to Maxx Crosby in a trade. It would be highly unlikely New England could acquire both, but a Brown resolution figures to come before Crosby, whom the Raiders want to retain. Crosby is also in the process of recovering from knee surgery.
In addition to creating a massive dead money figure, the Eagles would have a major receiving need alongside DeVonta Smith. Philly’s aerial attack has run through Brown, Smith and Dallas Goedert for four seasons now. Goedert is due for free agency next month. While Howie Roseman is one of the most aggressive GMs in NFL history, the Eagles remember being deficient at receiver not too long ago. Misses on JJ Arcega-Whiteside and Jalen Reagor left Philly in need as the Carson Wentz era ended, and the Smith and Brown moves turned the position into a strength.
For his issues with the Eagles’ passing game at times, Brown spoke highly of his current employer recently. Will the Eagles cash out on Brown in his 20s and move back into unknown territory at wideout? It appears we are close to finding out.
Former NFL G Justin Pugh Named Italian Football League Commissioner
For the past several years, efforts to expand the international influence of the NFL have grown with the league’s International Series of games. What began in 2007 as an annual trip across the pond has multiplied with games taking place in Mexico starting in 2016, Germany starting in 2022, Brazil starting in 2024, and Spain and Ireland last year. 2026 will see the introduction of France and Australia to the International Series. 
There are other ways to expand the influence of the NFL across the world, though, and according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, former Giants and Cardinals offensive guard Justin Pugh will undertake new efforts in the aim of the expansion of the game. Pugh has reportedly accepted a role as commissioner of the Italian Football League.
Established in 1980, the IFL has completed 44 seasons of American football. In that time, the league has seen 12 different Italian Bowl champions, though just six teams account for 32 of the league’s championships. The league even held Italian Bowl XLII in 2023 at Toledo’s campus stadium, marking the IFL’s first game held outside Europe.
The league has seen its struggles to survive as blueblood franchises frequently defect for competing leagues around the country. In his written statement as the league’s new commissioner, Pugh pledged to accelerate the evolution of the sport across Europe by modernizing the league’s infrastructure, strengthening its governance, and elevating its standards. He asserts that his years of competition in the NFL will help him transform the IFL into a structured, credible, and forward-looking institution “capable of connecting Italian Football to the broader international ecosystem of the game.”
Mutual Interest Between Bucs, Mike Evans; WR To Explore Free Agent Options
FEBRUARY 27: While the Bucs maintain that Evans has “earned the right” to hear what other teams have to offer, ESPN’s Jenna Laine reports that Evans’ representatives at the NFL Scouting Combine, Darren Jones and Deryk Gilmore, met with the team in Indianapolis. Per Laine, Tampa Bay “will aggressively pursue trying to re-sign” the veteran wide receiver for 2026.
FEBRUARY 23: Mike Evans will play in 2026, meaning his decorated NFL career is set to include a 13th season. It remains to be seen if a new Buccaneers pact will be worked out or if a first ever free agent departure is in store. 
To no surprise, SportsBoom’s Jason La Canfora reports a mutual interest exists between Evans and Tampa Bay. The sides worked out a two-year, $41MM pact in 2024 just in time to prevent the franchise icon from testing the market. It appears that will not be the case this spring.
Evans’ agents have already conveyed his desire to seek out other options in free agency. La Canfora confirms the six-time Pro Bowler is assessing other teams based on the strength of their offenses and his potential fit. Playing on a Super Bowl contender is obviously a priority for Evans, who earned a ring in 2020 with Tampa Bay.
The Bucs have Chris Godwin under contract for two more years, and the team has made a pair of recent draft investments at the receiver spot (third-rounder Jalen McMillan in 2024, first-rounder Emeka Egbuka in 2025). Moving on without Evans would leave those three in place as the core of Tampa Bay’s passing attack, and there should be no shortage of other suitors lining up outside Evans offers. The Texas A&M product contemplated joining the Chiefs and Texans prior to signing his latest Buccaneers deal.
Injuries limited Evans to just eight games in 2025 and prevented him from registering a 12th consecutive 1,000-yard showing. He will be 33 by the start of next season, so a short-term offer from the Bucs or any other teams should be expected. As La Canfora notes, though, Evans is aiming to remain a full-time starting presence with Tampa Bay or a different suitor; he is still seen as an impact wideout by evaluators around the league. This situation will be worth watching closely as a result.
The likes of George Pickens and Alec Pierce are strong candidates to be retained via the franchise tag shortly. That could leave Evans as one of the top wideouts available on the market once free agency begins in mid-March. Another Tampa Bay re-up remains a possibility at this point, but it may very well take longer than last time for Evans’ future to be settled.
NFLPA Names Three Finalists For Executive Director
Following the controversial tenure of Lloyd Howell as executive director of the NFL Players Association, the players’ union has been searching for a permanent replacement. Per a joint report from ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Kalyn Kahler, the NFLPA has narrowed its search down to three candidates: interim executive director David White, former union chief strategy officer JC Tretter, and commissioner of the American Conference Tim Pernetti. 
Howell resigned last summer after reports emerged that he had charged strip club visits to the union, worked part-time for a private equity firm seeking minority ownership in NFL franchises, and struck an agreement with the league not to disclose an arbitrator’s ruling indicating potential collusion between NFL owners against players. In the wake of Howell’s departure, White was elected to serve in the interim role of executive director after also being a finalist for the position when it was given to Howell.
White, formerly a CEO at an executive coaching/strategic firm and board chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, “has extensive labor experience” after having served as the leader of the SAG-AFTRA union from 2009-21. Tretter, the former Browns center and NFLPA player president for a five-year tenure, was also an option to serve as interim executive director, but he chose to withdraw his name from consideration after also resigning from his role with the union while denying any culpability in Howell’s wrongdoing. Tretter had been the leader of the search that led to the selection of Howell over White in 2023.
Pernetti is the only new name in the discussion. After leadership roles with Major League Soccer and the sports and entertainment company Endeavor, Pernetti served as the president of Florida’s athletic powerhouse high school IMG Academy. He was named the American Conference’s commissioner in June 2024. Other known candidates that didn’t make it to the final stage of the search process are former NFL cornerback and NFLPA president Domonique Foxworth, former NFL quarterback and player representative Matt Schaub, and former NFL center Jeff Saturday.
According to Mark Maske of The Washington Post, Tretter is “believed to have strong support among the players on the NFLPA’s ruling executive committee for the executive director job.” That won’t do him much good, though, as the decision will be made by a vote between the union’s 32 player representatives at the annual NFLPA meeting in San Diego next month.
Maske goes on to say that the player rep consensus may differ from the ruling executive committee, since Tretter is seen as a polarizing figure. White has typically been viewed more favorably, earning respect for having stabilized things in the wake of Howell’s departure, while Pernetti is not as well known to the players. Time will tell how things shake out as the league’s union moves closer and closer to establishing new leadership.
Falcons Dismiss Assistant DL Coach LaTroy Lewis
The Falcons named LaTroy Lewis their new assistant defensive line coach just 17 days ago. In the days since then, serious sexual assault allegations have surfaced against him from an unnamed alleged victim, per Darko State Media reporter and host of The Spiro Avenue Show podcast Justin Spiro.
An initial statement released by the Falcons (via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk) read, “We are aware of allegations regarding LaTroy Lewis. We are in the process of gathering information and will have no further comment at this time.”
It shouldn’t have been too difficult for Atlanta’s decisionmakers to glean information on the situation. Per Spiro, Lewis was in his hotel room in Indianapolis, “where he is attending the NFL Combine with other Falcons staff,” when Spiro called him for comment on the accusations against him. About two hours after the team’s statement, Greg Auman of FOX Sports relayed that the Falcons had dismissed Lewis after a little over two weeks of employment.
The allegations against Lewis stem from a time during which he was a part of what has become a very controversial coaching staff at the University of Michigan. Working as a graduate assistant under a newly promoted head coach in Sherrone Moore, Lewis reportedly met his accuser through a social media dating platform. Spiro provided screenshots of alleged communications from Lewis to his accuser that very quickly include threats of physical and sexual violence. “Under coercive circumstances,” Lewis demanded a collection of money and items totaling around $25K. The two had still not met in person up to that point.
Shortly after, Lewis’s accuser traveled to Ann Arbor for a work-related event, and the then-Michigan staffer allegedly made his way to her location under false pretenses before physically and sexually abusing her; Spiro’s breaking report included photographs to support many of the woman’s claims against Lewis. Following the Ann Arbor interaction, the alleged victim, who was acquainted with Lewis’s head coach outside of her interactions with Lewis, reached out to Moore to make him aware of the actions of his staffer as she was too scared to go to police. A mandatory reporter under Title IX, as dictated by the University of Michigan’s policy, the head coach allegedly shirked his responsibilities when she confided in him, refusing to report Lewis to the proper authorities. In fact, Moore himself allegedly began to harass Lewis’s accuser, while recommending Lewis for a position as the defensive line coach at Toledo.
Moore has since been fired from Michigan and arrested for stalking and breaking and entering. After a year at Toledo, Lewis accepted a job a UConn before leaving to accept his most recent position with the Falcons. In the wake of his dismissal, Lewis will likely be sought to participate in the newly opened investigation by the Ann Arbor Police Department. For now, though, his short stay in the NFL ranks of coaching has come to an end.