Mike Evans To Return In 2026
Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans has put any retirement talk to bed. Evans will return for a 13th season in 2026, agents Deryk Gilmore and Darren Jones told Kimberley A. Martin of ESPN. Although Evans is a career-long Buccaneer, the pending free agent will explore his options on the open market.
While Evans left the door open for retirement in September, he would have exited on a sour note had he gone through with it. The 32-year-old entered 2025 aiming for a 12th straight 1,000-yard campaign, which would have broken a tie with Jerry Rice for the all-time record. However, multiple injuries – including a broken clavicle – prevented Evans from surpassing the legendary Rice.
Playing in just eight of the Buccaneers’ 17 games, Evans wound up with 30 catches, 368 yards and three touchdowns. The 6-foot-5, 231-pounder’s injuries contributed to a disappointing finish for Tampa Bay, which went 8-9 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
On Feb. 8, Gilmore expressed optimism Evans would continue playing, stating: “[Evans] finished feeling better than he has in several seasons. I think his competitive nature leads to more football. That is my hope.”
Evans proved Gilmore right nine days later, but now their focus will turn to which uniform he will wear in 2026. As veteran insider Jordan Schultz notes, “Evans’ heart has always been in Tampa.” Nevertheless, if Evans sees a better opportunity after the Buccaneers fell flat in 2025, he may take it.
The last time Evans was on track to reach the open market, 2024, the Buccaneers prevented it from happening with a two-year, $52MM offer. A host of teams were prepared to line up for Evans before he re-signed. He later pointed to the Texans and Chiefs as clubs he would have considered joining had he rejected the Bucs’ proposal. As a Galveston native and a former Texas A&M standout, signing with the Texans would have given him a chance to play in his home state.
Since going to Tampa Bay as the seventh pick in the 2014 draft, Evans has amassed 866 receptions, 1,495 yards and 108 touchdowns. Now a six-time Pro Bowler and a one-time Super Bowl champion, the potential Hall of Famer is on his way to free agency as the most accomplished receiver available. Combining his injury-ruined 2025 and his age, Evans won’t test the market at an ideal time. Nevertheless, it’s likely he will garner plenty of interest from around the league.
2026 NFL Franchise Tag Candidates
We are now in Year 34 of the franchise tag, a retention tool that came about during the same offseason in which full-fledged free agency spawned. The NFL salary cap is rising at a rate allowing teams to hammer out more extensions than in previous periods. That has helped dilute free agency talent pools. This led to a 2025 landscape in which only two players — Tee Higgins and Trey Smith — received the franchise tag. The cap, which stood at $279.2MM in 2025, is expected to rise beyond $301MM this year.
This year’s free agent class looks to feature only one tag lock, but a handful of players make sense as candidates to be kept off the market. An antiquated NFL system regarding positional classifications also affects this year’s free agency crop, as a couple of high-end UFAs-to-be (Tyler Linderbaum, Devin Lloyd) would likely be kept off the market if the league modernized how it sorted positions with regards to tag prices.
Teams who use the franchise or transition tag have until July 15 to complete an extension; otherwise, negotiations cannot restart until after the 2026 season. The transition tag does not bring any compensation back for an unmatched offer sheet, but the two-first-rounder component associated with a franchise tag has not been especially relevant in ages. Although offer sheets have come out in previous eras (Sean Gilbert and Dan Wilkinson signed unmatched offers in the 1990s), clubs avoid these in fear of an unmatched proposal requiring two first-round picks to be sent to the tagging team.
The tag window opens at 3pm CT today. With clubs having until 3pm CT on March 3 to apply tags, here is who may be cuffed:
Likely tag recipients
George Pickens, WR (Cowboys)
Projected tag cost: $28.82MM
The Cowboys have regularly turned to the tag over the past decade. They cuffed DeMarcus Lawrence in 2018 and ’19 before locking down Dak Prescott in 2020 and ’21. The latter Prescott tag was procedural, as the quarterback used the threat of a lofty second tag number hitting Dallas’ cap sheet as leverage toward a player-friendly extension — one that laid the groundwork for his 2024 player-friendly extension. The Cowboys then kept Dalton Schultz (2022) and Tony Pollard (’23) off the market. After two years without unholstering their tag, the Cowboys appear all set to prevent Pickens from reaching free agency.
Acquiring Pickens in a May 2025 trade with the Steelers — which featured a 2026 third-round pick as the top asset going back to Pittsburgh –Dallas reaped immediate benefits from that swap. Pickens, 24, smashed his career-high receiving mark with 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns. That booked the former second-round pick his first Pro Bowl honor; more impressively, Pickens was named a second-team All-Pro. The mercurial ex-Steeler WR1 was more than 300 receiving yards clear of CeeDee Lamb for the Cowboys’ receiving lead; even though Lamb missed three games, Pickens’ per-game average (84.1) better Lamb’s (76.9).
A tag surfaced on the radar here in mid-November, and momentum has steadily built for Pickens to follow in Dez Bryant‘s footsteps as a Cowboy wideout being kept off the market. It will take a near-Saints-level odyssey for the Cowboys to create sufficient cap space for a Pickens tag and reasonable spending room; they are projected to be more than $30MM (per OverTheCap) north of the 2026 salary ceiling, but enough smoke has emerged here — after Pickens fit the tag profile upon arrival — to make it safe to expect this outcome.
The Steelers shipped out Pickens in part because of reliability concerns, but the 6-foot-3 playmaker outperformed — with a considerable QB upgrade in Prescott — his previous work. With Lamb tied to a $34MM-per-year deal and Prescott on an NFL-record $60MM-AAV extension, the Cowboys are far from certain to extend Pickens. A tag-and-trade play has surfaced as a possibility, but with negotiations not having begun as of early February, expect the Cowboys to use the tag to at least buy themselves more time on their ultra-talented WR2.
On tag radar:
Breece Hall, RB (Jets)
Projected tag cost: $14.54MM
The Chiefs offered a fourth-round pick for Hall at the deadline, but the Jets held onto their starting running back after having asked for at least a third-rounder. Hall denied a report he was seeking a New York exit — after the blockbuster deals involving Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams — but he could have a chance to explore his value on the open market soon. The Jets, however, have spoken highly of the 1,000-yard rusher. The tag has surfaced as a possibility.
Hall, 24, is more than two years younger than Etienne. He will thus command more in free agency. The former second-round pick is also more than three years removed from the ACL tear that sidetracked his rookie season. The Jets waited on a Hall extension, keeping him on his rookie contract while giving Gardner and Garrett Wilson big-ticket deals, but Aaron Glenn has spoken highly of the Iowa State alum.
Gang Green wants to retain Hall. The easiest way for that to happen would be to extend his negotiating window via the tag. A $12MM-per-year offer could await the fifth-year player, making a tag logical. If the Jets were to place the transition tag on Hall, it would cost them a projected $11.73MM. They would receive no compensation in the event of an unmatched offer sheet, thus allowing another team to dictate the contract structure a la the Packers’ Kyle Fuller offer sheet in 2018.
The Jets saw Hall sidekick Braelon Allen miss much of the season, but the former Joe Douglas-era fourth-round pick remains signed through 2027. Allen gives the Jets some protection against a Hall exit, with a mid-round 2027 compensatory pick possible as well. But Hall is a dynamic RB that will be an attractive FA commodity if unattached come March 9. The Jets have a big decision to make over the next two weeks.
Trey Hendrickson, DE (Bengals)
Projected tag cost: $34.8MM
The defensive end tag is projected to come in at $27.32MM, but because Hendrickson was attached to a $29MM salary (following a late-summer raise), he is the rare tag candidate to whom the 120% rule would apply. As PFR’s glossary indicates, “the amount of the one-year offer is determined by a formula that includes the salary cap figures and the non-exclusive franchise salaries at the player’s position for the previous five years. Alternately, the amount of the one-year offer can be 120% of the player’s previous salary, if that amount is greater.” In Hendrickson’s case, it would be.
Cincinnati has been here with a veteran contract not too long ago. The team tagged A.J. Green in 2020, doing so after he had played out a five-year extension. That decision, which paired the former Pro Bowl mainstay with Joe Burrow‘s rookie contact, backfired after Green could not reprise his prime form after missing 2019 due to injury.
Hendrickson, 31, is more likely to resemble prime form than Green was at 32 six years ago. But the All-Pro edge rusher is coming off an injury-shortened season, playing in only seven games. Hendrickson also underwent core muscle surgery in December.
Also adding Hendrickson to pair with Burrow’s rookie deal (in 2021), the Bengals saw their four-year, $60MM pact with the Saints draftee become a bargain. Hendrickson anchored Cincy’s Super Bowl LVI defense and went on to register 17.5 sacks in back-to-back seasons (2023, ’24). The Bengals gave Hendrickson a one-year, $21MM extension in 2023 — a deal the D-end signed in fear the team would tag him in 2025. But the Higgins process dragged out to a point that would have been moot.
Hendrickson then angled for an extension during the 2025 offseason but saw the Bengals — who almost always draw a hard line on post-Year 1 salary guarantees — dig in and only offer him a backloaded deal without future guaranteed salary. The one-year, $29MM offer (which did not contain a no-tag clause) turned out to be a nice reward for the productive pass rusher, but it drained a year from his prime. The Bengals are planning to use the Combine to gauge Hendrickson’s value, which would give serious thought to a tag-and-trade scenario.
This might not go over well with Hendrickson’s camp, but if the Bengals — who have two first-round DEs (Myles Murphy, Shemar Stewart) contracted — believe they can land something of consequence, they will use the tag. If Hendrickson does not sign the tender, Cincy can rescind the tag down the road.
Kyle Pitts, TE (Falcons)
Projected tag cost: $16.32MM
Pitts gives off buyer-beware vibes due to inconsistency, but the tag has regularly served as an avenue for this genre of player to be retained for further evaluation. As PFR’s Connor Byrne noted in his Falcons Offseason Outlook, the team is in an extraordinarily rare position of seeing a former quarterback (Matt Ryan) make a franchise tag call on one of his former weapons. Atlanta’s new personnel chief peppered Pitts with targets as a rookie, making him the NFL’s second tight end (after Mike Ditka) to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards as a rookie.
The former No. 4 overall pick, however, regressed and did not eclipse 675 yards in a season from 2022-24. The Falcons’ issues replacing Ryan, with neither Marcus Mariota nor Desmond Ridder impressing, hindered Pitts and Drake London.
A declining Kirk Cousins did not save the day, but he sure helped Pitts in a contract year. The Cousins-Pitts connection humming in Tampa (11 catches, 166 yards, three touchdowns) put him on the tag radar and launched him to second-team All-Pro honors (with injuries to George Kittle and Brock Bowers helping clear a path). More buzz has since circulated about Pitts being tagged; the 6-foot-6 pass catcher has spoken highly of Kevin Stefanski, who helped David Njoku and Harold Fannin to productive seasons.
Though, Pitts only finished with five touchdowns last season; he has not been a prolific end zone threat (15 TDs in five years) and one 100-yard game. His 928-yard season impressed, and receiving tight ends are not so easy to replace. This is a situation to monitor. The Falcons’ previous regime showed little interest in extending the 25-year-old pass catcher, but this one might be more amenable to keeping the TE beyond his rookie deal.
Strong markets await otherwise:
Travis Etienne, RB (Jaguars)
Projected tag cost: $14.54MM
Jacksonville’s previous front offices turned to the tag regularly this decade. Edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue became a tag-and-trade player in 2020, while left tackle Cam Robinson was cuffed in 2021 and ’22. The team tagged Evan Engram over Jawaan Taylor in 2023. Second-year GM James Gladstone reshaped the team’s skill-position corps last year, moving on from the likes of Engram, Christian Kirk, Gabe Davis, Devin Duvernay and Tank Bigsby. Although the Jags drafted two running backs (Bhayshul Tuten, LeQuint Allen), Etienne returned to his RB1 role and produced 1,107 rushing yards and a career-high 13 total touchdowns.
Chosen in Urban Meyer‘s lone draft at the helm, Etienne lost work to Bigsby in 2024 but regained his grip on the Jags’ RB job after the team traded Bigsby to the Eagles before Week 2. The college Trevor Lawrence teammate turned 27 last month, making this a prime window for him to cash in before concerns about his mileage (897 career carries) add up.
Fortunately for Etienne, this Jaguars front office is not expected to use the tag here. The team is projected to be more than $13MM over the cap as of Tuesday, and even though the cap is expected to rise by at least $22MM in 2026, the Jags will look to use $14.5MM toward another area of the roster. This would allow Etienne to shop around for a multiyear guarantee, no sure thing on the RB market. Absent a tag, the Jags will have until 3pm CT on March 9 to keep him out of free agency.
Odafe Oweh, OLB (Chargers)
Projected tag cost: $28.2MM
This is more of a cap space-based idea. The Bolts are projected to hold more than $82MM in cap room, with some cost-cutting options at play as well. They also have both Oweh and Khalil Mack unsigned for 2026. Although top edge rusher Tuli Tuipulotu has one season left on his rookie deal, the Chargers will need to make moves at the position due to the statuses of Mack and Oweh. With Mack going into an age-35 season, he is not a tag candidate. At 27, Oweh makes a bit more sense.
Oweh’s sack production does not rival Hendrickson’s, but he played well after a deadline trade with the Ravens. All 7.5 of Oweh’s sacks last season came as a Charger, and he racked up 10 in 2024 after Baltimore picked up his fifth-year option. The former first-rounder, who joined Kwity Paye and Jaelan Phillips as 2021 first-round edges to play out option years, will be one of the top free agents available if the Chargers let him reach the legal tampering period unattached.
The Bolts are not viewed as likely to tag Oweh; they could work out a separate deal with him before March 9. By not using the tag, Los Angeles would risk losing a prime talent. Oweh did not eclipse five sacks until his fourth season, so a $28MM tag number — the linebacker rate, as Oweh is a career 3-4 OLB — does not quite align with his production.
Tagging him at that number would make for an interesting negotiation, as the Bolts have a Tuipulotu extension to hammer out this year. But Oweh also could be used as a rental as the Chargers prepare to battle the Broncos and Chiefs for AFC West supremacy in 2026.
Jaelan Phillips, OLB (Eagles)
Projected tag cost: $28.2MM
Philadelphia let Josh Sweat walk in free agency last year, and GM Howie Roseman has not used his franchise tag since keeping DeSean Jackson off the market in 2012. That was Andy Reid‘s last Philly year. With Roseman as the clear lead decision-maker, the Eagles have taken their chances with in-house free agents.
Phillips, 26, played well for the team despite low sack numbers. And he is a former Vic Fangio Dolphins piece. Phillips’ 35 pressures last season ranked 12th in the NFL. The Eagles struggled to replace Sweat before their Phillips deadline deal, seeing Za’Darius Smith retire and Nolan Smith go through an IR stint. Brandon Graham unretired, but he would be going into an age-38 season if he came back again. Expected to be Philly’s lead edge rusher, Smith only tallied three sacks last season.
A $28MM tag would not quite align with Phillips’ value, however. Unlike the Chargers, the Eagles are projected to hold barely $18MM in cap space. That makes Phillips — who has ACL and Achilles tears on his NFL medical sheet — less likely to see the tag. But the Eagles would then be five days away from competing with other teams to sign him.
Kenneth Walker, RB (Seahawks)
Projected tag cost: $14.54MM
Zach Charbonnet‘s divisional-round ACL tear unleashed Walker. Held in a full-on timeshare with Charbonnet last season, Walker broke through for 116 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries against the 49ers. He then gashed the Patriots for 161 scrimmage yards in a Super Bowl LX MVP performance. Walker, 25, has encountered some trouble staying healthy. But he made it through his contract year — a second 1,000-yard season — unscathed for a team that may have Charbonnet bound for the reserve/PUP list come September.
The Seahawks want to retain Walker, and he wants to stay. The team has a history of paying running backs without using the tag, re-signing the likes of Marshawn Lynch, Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny under GM John Schneider. The latter two RBs were not tag-level players, and both ran into injury trouble on second contracts. A Tuesday report also noted the Seahawks are leaning against tagging Walker.
A transition tag is projected to be nearly $3MM cheaper; that could also be an option for Walker, who upped his free agency price with the Super Bowl performance. Running back value has been difficult to peg in recent years, but as mid-20-somethings coming off 1,000-yard seasons, Walker and Breece Hall figure to do quite well. The Seahawks will run the risk of losing him, as hometown discounts are not wise at a position without many bites at the apple, if they do not apply the tag.
The Colts’ call
Daniel Jones, QB/Alec Pierce, WR
Projected tag costs: $47.32MM, $28.82MM
Both have come up as tag candidates, with one being much easier to cuff. Quarterback tags are relatively rare, but six passers have been cuffed since 2011. The Colts tagged Peyton Manning before the lockout (and before the effects of a career-threatening neck injury were known), while the Eagles kept Michael Vick off that 2011 market. The Saints tagged Drew Brees in 2012, while both Kirk Cousins and Dak Prescott were tagged twice. Lamar Jackson requested a trade while on the 2023 tag. Vick’s career did not live up to expectations, but it is safe to say Jones would be the worst quarterback tagged during the rookie-scale era.
This situation looks quite familiar; Giants fans can recall a similar setup playing out in 2023. New York had both Jones and Saquon Barkley unsigned that year. While Barkley was widely acknowledged as the far superior player, positional value led the Giants to prioritize Jones by extending him just before the March ’23 tag deadline and using the tag to retain Barkley. That backfired, with Jones underwhelming before a November 2023 ACL tear. Barkley joined the Eagles a year later and ripped off one of the great running back seasons in NFL history.
Somehow, Jones has managed to gain leverage again despite a bad 2024 season and an injury-plagued 2025. Jones suffered an Achilles tear after playing through a fibula fracture. He also has two bouts of neck trouble in his New York past. But the Colts have made no secret of their intent to keep going with Jones, who was playing well before his Achilles setback.
Jones, 28, averaged more than seven yards per attempt for the first time (8.1) and had the Colts at 8-2. His injury led to the Philip Rivers comeback, but with that in the rearview mirror, Indianapolis’ decision-makers have Jones as a key component in job preservation.
Carlie Irsay-Gordon retained both Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen, but the duo has yet to find quarterback stability. Ballard bears more responsibility for this due to his status as a 10th-year GM, with a string of passers coming through post-Andrew Luck. Jones’ one-year, $14MM deal panned out for a while, but even after he underwhelmed on his $40MM-AAV Giants payday and ran into more injury trouble, the Colts’ QB issues and having traded their 2026 and ’27 first-round picks for Gardner equips the QB with negotiating ammo. He played his hand well in 2023, and the Colts may need to overpay soon.
That QB tag number would hinder the Colts in free agency, forcing cost-cutting maneuvers for a team projected to hold less than $36MM in cap space. A Pierce tag — also floated as a possibility — would be more reasonable. The Colts went between 2013 and 2024 without using the tag, but Ballard’s first such move took a wide receiver (Michael Pittman Jr.) off the market.
Pittman has not quite justified his three-year, $72MM deal, and Pierce passed him as Indy’s top target last season (1,003 yards). A scenario in which the Colts pay Pierce and Jones while bidding farewell to Pittman in the final year of his contract should be considered in play.
A situation in which the Colts extend Jones and leave the tag open for Pierce (25) is a route to monitor, though it would limit Ballard’s ability to do much else in free agency. But QB dependability has eluded the franchise since Luck’s 2019 retirement, and Pierce has led the NFL in yards per catch in back-to-back seasons. Seeing the former second-round pick walk would hurt the Colts’ ability to build a quality passing attack around Jones.
Falcons ‘Likely’ To Tag TE Kyle Pitts?
Although he’s a pending free agent, Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts said in late January it would be “dope” to play for new head coach Kevin Stefanski. A potential trip to the open market is looming for Pitts, but it appears he will indeed work with Stefanski in 2026. Atlanta placing the franchise tag on Pitts is the “most likely outcome,” Josh Kendall of The Athletic writes.
[RELATED: Falcons Offseason Outlook]
The window to tag players opens at 3 CT Tuesday and will close March 3, giving the Falcons about two weeks to make a decision on Pitts. Stefanski, president of football Matt Ryan and general manager Ian Cunningham were not in place when the Falcons brought in Pitts as a first-round pick in 2021.They could nonetheless sign off on tagging Pitts for a projected $16.32MM.
A former Florida star, Pitts came off the board fourth overall, making him the highest-drafted tight end ever. Pitts has lived up to the billing at times, but probably not as often as former general manager Terry Fontenot was hoping for when he chose the 6-foot-6, 250-pounder.
The Falcons fired Fontenot after the season, ending his five-year run atop their front office. That set up a reunion with Ryan, who quarterbacked the Falcons for 14 years. With Pitts’ future up in the air, It’s worth noting Ryan and Pitts developed an on-field rapport in the latter’s rookie campaign. Pitts caught 68 passes and went over 1,000 yards (1,026) for the only time in his career that year, Ryan’s last season as a Falcon. Although Pitts scored just one touchdown, he earned his lone Pro Bowl invite.
Hamstring and knee injuries limited the normally durable Pitts to 10 games and 28 receptions in his second year. He hasn’t missed a game since then (nor did he in his first year), but Pitts’ numbers were closer to decent than great from 2023-24. He averaged 50 grabs, 635 yards and four TDs per season during that stretch.
Playing 2025 on his fifth-year option and a $10.88MM salary, Pitts enjoyed arguably the best season of his career at an opportune time. He set personal highs in catches (88), targets (118) and TDs (five). Pitts also finished with 928 yards en route to second-team All-Pro honors. However, there is skepticism in some corners that Pitts’ output would remain that strong on a multiyear contract.
“He didn’t really look like he really wanted it until it was time to get paid,” one personnel executive told Jason La Canfora of SportsBoom. “That’s a big red flag for me.”
If the Falcons are similarly hesitant to hand Pitts a sizable multiyear deal, it would still make sense to keep him around for a season with Stefanski. Known as a tight end-friendly coach, Stefanski had plenty of success in Cleveland with David Njoku from 2020-25. He and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees also helped third-round rookie Harold Fannin to a 72-catch, 731-yard, six-TD showing last season. Stefanski and Rees (now the Falcons’ OC) would likely expect even better results from Pitts.
Reunion Between Kirk Cousins, Vikings Gaining Momentum?
The Vikings’ desire to add competition for quarterback J.J. McCarthy could lead them back to old friend Kirk Cousins. With the Falcons expected to release Cousins in the next few weeks, he could be free to sign anywhere soon.
There is “growing sentiment” among NFL executives in the QB market that Cousins will rejoin the Vikings, Jason La Canfora of SportsBoom reports. The move would reunite the 37-year-old with head coach Kevin O’Connell, who had success with Cousins in the past.
In 2022, the Vikings’ first season under O’Connell, Cousins threw for 4,547 yards and 29 touchdowns on his way his fourth and most recent Pro Bowl nod. The Vikings went 13-4 and won the NFC North, but a 9-7-1 Giants team upended them in the wild-card round.
Statistically, Cousins got off to an even better start in 2023. However, a Week 8 Achilles tear wound up ending his Vikings tenure.
With Cousins hitting free agency during the ensuing offseason, the Vikings tried but failed to re-sign him. They were unwilling to give Cousins full guarantees through 2025. That wasn’t going to fly for Cousins, who went on to accept the Falcons’ Godfather offer of four years, $180MM and $100MM in guarantees.
A month and a half after adding Cousins, Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot took another enormous gamble in drafting former Indiana and Washington signal-caller Michael Penix Jr. eighth overall. It came as a major surprise, and Cousins later revealed he may have re-signed with the Vikings had he known the Falcons would draft Penix.
“It felt like I had been a little bit misled or certainly if I had had the information around free agency, it would have affected my decision,” Cousins said last summer. “I had no reason to leave Minnesota, as much as we loved it there, if both teams were drafting a quarterback high.”
Despite Fontenot’s efforts, the Falcons still don’t have a clear answer at QB. Cousins struggled to regain form in the first year of his contract, leading head coach Raheem Morris to bench him for Penix ahead of Week 16. The Falcons were 7-7 and fighting for a playoff spot when Morris made the change. They finished 1-2 under Penix and missed the postseason for the seventh straight year.
Penix remained Atlanta’s starting entering last season, but it proved to be another rough season for the club. The Falcons went 8-9 again, and the oft-injured Penix was inconsistent before suffering a partially torn ACL in Week 11. The Falcons were 3-7 at the time. Cousins quarterbacked them to a 5-2 mark to wrap up the season, but it wasn’t enough to save Fontenot or Morris. Owner Arthur Blank fired the pair and replaced them with a new regime of president of football Matt Ryan, GM Ian Cunningham and head coach Kevin Stefanski.
A couple days after ousting Fontenot and Morris, the Falcons reworked Cousins’ contract, which signaled a forthcoming release. If Cousins is still a Falcon on the third day of the league year, he’ll earn a guaranteed $67.9MM for 2027. The restructuring also includes an $80MM poison pill for March 13, according to La Canfora. Considering the language in his deal, he’s as good as gone. The Falcons would take on a $35MM dead cap charge in designating Cousins a post-June 1 release, but they’d spread that over two seasons ($22.5MM in 2026, $12.5MM in ’27). The team would also save $2.1MM in cap room next season.
As is the case with the Falcons and Penix, the Vikings don’t know if they have the solution in their own 2024 first-round passer. Two picks after Penix came off the board, the Vikings selected McCarthy 10th overall.
A year after winning the national championship at Michigan, McCarthy missed his entire rookie campaign with a torn meniscus. The Vikings didn’t miss a beat without McCarthy, though, as veteran Sam Darnold revived his career during a 14-win outburst.
After their season ended with an ugly wild-card round loss to the Rams, the Vikings didn’t retain Darnold. They also couldn’t prevent late-season backup acquisition Daniel Jones from leaving for a chance to start in Indianapolis. Darnold walked in free agency for the Seahawks’ three-year, $100.5MM offer. One season later, Darnold and the Seahawks are Super Bowl champions. Jones had a terrific year in his own right before it ended with a torn Achilles in Week 14.
Meanwhile, the Vikings are coming off a nine-win season in which poor QB play torpedoed their chances of earning a playoff berth. McCarthy posted subpar numbers over 10 starts, and three injuries – a high ankle sprain, a concussion and a hairline fracture in his right hand – kept him out of seven games. The Vikings have since fired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, the GM who drafted McCarthy.
“They can say what they want publicly, but they have some serious questions about McCarthy,” one GM told La Canfora.
Vikings executive vice president Rob Brzezinski is now their interim GM, but O’Connell wields plenty of decision-making power. If he regards Cousins as an ideal veteran to place in the QB room with McCarthy, a reunion could be in store.
D’Andre Swift Wants To Stay With Bears
For the last two seasons, D’Andre Swift has operated as the Bears’ top running back. If the veteran has his way, that will continue in 2026. 
One year remains on Swift’s contract. However, none of his scheduled 2026 base salary is guaranteed, and the former Pro Bowler is due to carry a cap charge of $8.8MM next season. As such, many expect a release to take place in this case. Shedding Swift would generate $7.47MM in cap space against a dead money charge of just $1.33MM. The player’s preference, to no surprise, would be to avoid that scenario.
“I have no idea, but hopefully I did enough for them to want me back because I know I don’t want to go anywhere else,” Swift said (via Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times) when asked about his future. “That’s out of my control, but if I had it my way, I’d be back. I don’t want to play nowhere else.”
Swift played under Ben Johnson during his third and final Lions season. After finishing his rookie contract with the Eagles, the former second-rounder reached the open market for the first time in his career. A $24MM pact was worked out, but its structure always left the door open to a release in 2026. Swift is due a $500K roster bonus on March 15, and a decision on his future will presumably have been made by that point.
Chicago’s backfield benefitted from the standout showing by seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai in 2025. The 23-year-old proved to be effective in the red zone and in short-yardage situations while averaging 4.6 yards per carry (a comparable figure to Swift’s efficiency). Monangai could be in line for an increased workload in 2026 after he handled 169 carries this past season.
Swift, 27, surpassed 1,000 scrimmage yards for the third straight year in 2025 (and fourth in his career). He expressed a desire to be more involved in the passing game moving forward, although the Bears’ other options in that regard represent another reason why moving on could be seen as viable. An unwanted trip to free agency could be coming in this case as the Bears – one of the teams currently projected to be over the cap – plan out their financial approach to the spring.
Panthers Re-Sign LS J.J. Jansen
Once again, J.J. Jansen has agreed to continue his career. The longtime Panthers long snapper signed another new deal on Tuesday, per a team announcement. 
To no surprise, this is the latest in a long line of one-year pacts. Jansen has been operating on a year-to-year basis since 2021, and that will no doubt continue until his career ends. Now 40, Jansen will extend his lead in terms of the franchise’s games player leader list by playing his 18th NFL season.
Acquired via trade in 2009, the Notre Dame product has yet to miss a contest in his career. Jansen played out a five-year deal during the middle stages of his Carolina career, but he has been a special teams mainstay far beyond the expiration of that pact. The one-time Pro Bowler has played 277 games in the regular season, good for 27th in NFL history. Only Marcedes Lewis and Calais Campbell have played more among active players.
Jansen already leads the way in terms of games played by long snappers, and he will now extend his advantage in that regard. A move into the top 20 in league history (at all positions) will take place provided he manages to play a full campaign in 2026. As Carolina’s wild-card game approached, Jansen expressed a willingness to continue his career. Today’s news thus comes as no surprise.
Carolina relied on another veteran in the form of Sam Martin to handle punting duties in 2025. He is a pending free agent, so change could be seen at that position this offseason. Rookie Ryan Fitzgerald served as the team’s kicker this past season, and that can be expected to continue into 2026. Jansen will provide stability to the Panthers’ special teams battery yet again as he adds further to his career totals.
Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson Unlikely To Generate Strong Tag-And-Trade Market
The nature of Trey Hendrickson‘s Bengals future is once again in doubt this year. A free agent departure looms unless Cincinnati uses the franchise tag in this case. 
After playing a one-year agreement in 2025, Hendrickson has long been expected to find a new home this spring. A departure would set the Bengals up for a compensatory pick in 2027, but they could instead aim for immediate draft capital by tagging Hendrickson and then trading him to an interested team. Taking that route would likely not yield a notable return.
The Bengals will use the upcoming Combine to evaluate Hendrickson’s market, Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. That comes as no surprise, as many major roster decisions are informed when front office executives and player agents gather in Indianapolis. The Bengals will gauge the willingness of suitors to acquire Hendrickson in a tag-and-trade scenario, but the presence of other pass rushers on the market will lessen the willingness of outside teams to pursue a trade in this case.
An executive Conway spoke with predicted teams will be prepared to spend no more than a third-round pick in a Hendrickson trade. Any acquiring team will be required to work out a long-term pact with the four-time Pro Bowler, something which the Bengals have – in highly public fashion – been unable to do for quite some time. That will limit the number of genuine contenders to acquire Hendrickson, who was previously the subject of much stronger trade offers.
The pending free agent class includes a number of younger options than Hendrickson, who is approaching his age-31 season. The likes of Jaelan Phillips, Odafe Oweh and Kwity Paye are each on course to reach the open market for the first time in their careers. The list of free agents will also include another veteran in the form of Bradley Chubb, whose Dolphins release was learned of on Monday, while a blockbuster Maxx Crosby trade remains a possibility. The depth of alternative targets, coupled with Hendrickson’s injury-shortened 2025 campaign, could limit the Bengals’ ability to line up a significant trade package.
Hendrickson was limited to just seven games this past season due to core muscle surgery. The former Saint was highly productive during his healthy campaigns, though; in 72 Bengals contests, Hendrickson racked up 61 sacks. A parting of ways would come as no surprise with this largely successful Cincinnati partnership having run its course in the eyes of many. Nonetheless, the team may have a difficult time finding adequate value as part of its reset on the edge.
Offseason Outlook: Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons entered last season aiming to break a seven-year playoff drought. At the very least, finishing above .500 for the first time since 2017 would have represented a modicum of progress. It turns out that's all it would have taken to win an underwhelming NFC South in 2025. The Falcons still couldn't do it. While their subpar 8-9 record matched the top mark in the division, tiebreakers doomed the Falcons to a third-place finish behind the Panthers and Buccaneers.
The Falcons rattled off four straight victories to end the season, but it was a hollow winning streak for a team that was eliminated from playoff contention in Week 14. Fed up with another season of unsatisfactory results, owner Arthur Blank hit the reset button on his front office and coaching staff.
In an effort to lead Atlanta back to relevance, Blank lured 14-year Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan from his CBS gig with a newly created position: president of football. Ryan has since steered the Falcons to a new GM and head coach, but not everything has gone according to plan. With foundational edge rusher James Pearce Jr. facing five felony charges, Ryan has already encountered unexpected adversity in his first several weeks atop the Falcons' front office.
Coaching/front office:
- Fired general manager Terry Fontenot, head coach Raheem Morris
- Hired Matt Ryan as president of football
- Hired Ian Cunningham as general manager
- Hired Kevin Stefanski as head coach
- Hired Tommy Rees as offensive coordinator, replacing Zac Robinson
- Retained defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich
- Hired Craig Aukerman as ST coordinator, replacing Marquice Williams
- Hired Alex Van Pelt as QBs coach, replacing D.J. Williams
- Hired Bill Callahan as O-line coach, replacing Dwayne Ledford
- Hired Tanner Engstrand as pass-game coordinator
- Hired Robert Prince as wide receivers coach, replacing T.J. Yates
- Defensive pass-game coordinator Mike Rutenberg became Browns' DC
Seahawks Unlikely To Tag Kenneth Walker
Kenneth Walker is one of the top pending free agents at the running back position. A mutual interest exists in this case for a new Seahawks deal to be worked out, while the franchise tag looms as a stopgap option.
The window for teams to apply franchise or transition tags opens today. The Seahawks could be a team to watch with respect to Walker on that front, but it appears as though nothing is imminent. Seattle is “unlikely” to use either tag on the Super Bowl MVP, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
[RELATED: Seahawks Among Potential Maxx Crosby Suitors?]
The franchise tag is projected to cost $14.53MM for running backs in 2026. That figure for transition tags is $11.73MM. Both one-year totals would be guaranteed in full in the event the tag were to be used and Walker were to play on the tender in 2026. Tagged players have until July 15 to work out a long-term deal, but the window for applying the tag will close one week before the start of the legal tampering period in March.
A report from last week indicated the Seahawks were likely to keep Walker in the fold for at least next season, either through the tag or a new contract. The running back market is currently topped by Saquon Barkley, and he is one of three backs with an average annual value of $15MM or more (a list which could grow if Bijan Robinson and/or Jahmyr Gibbs sign extensions this spring). Walker, 25, has shown an ability to operate as a lead back and thrived during the postseason; nevertheless, he does not have the resume of the league’s highest-paid players at the position.
That could land the former second-rounder in the group of backs attached to a deal averaging between $10MM and $14MM per year. Seattle also has Zach Charbonnet in place for 2026, but his status for the start of next year is uncertain as he recovers from an ACL tear. Walker will continue to be leaned on heavily in the event he finds himself in the Emerald City next season.
As Schefter notes, the Seahawks have a number of other priorities on the roster leading up to free agency. Retaining as many key members of their Super Bowl core, along with attempting to work out extensions with several ascending players, is a central goal at this point of the offseason. How that affects Walker will be interesting to monitor.
Dolphins Release WR Tyreek Hill
As expected, Tyreek Hill‘s tenure with the Dolphins is ending. The All-Pro wideout is among the veterans being let go on Monday. 
Hill is being released, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. This marks an end to his four-year run in Miami. As Hill continues to recover from the season-ending knee injury he suffered in Week 4, he will now become a free agent. The Dolphins have since confirmed the news.
[RELATED: Hill Plans To Play 11th NFL Season]
2026 was set to include $36MM in compensation in this case. Hill was due to collect a $5MM roster bonus as part of that figure in March, but many expected a release to take place well before that point. Miami has been busy on Monday, with the team’s list of veteran cuts including edge rusher Bradley Chubb and others. His release, along with that of Hill, will substantially alter the Dolphins’ cap situation.
Cutting Hill immediately would generate a slightly higher dead money charge ($28.25MM) than the cap savings it would create ($22.89MM). Like in Chubb’s case, a post-June 1 designation would be much more beneficial for the Dolphins. Taking that route would yield over $35MM in savings against while spreading out the dead cap charges across the next two years. In either case, Miami is well into cost-shedding season given the team’s actions today.
Hill is free to join another team, but since his injury there have been questions raised about his future. It will be interesting to see how much of a market forms in this case given the eight-time Pro Bowler’s health status. Hill is also the subject of an NFL investigation into domestic violence allegations. His history regarding other off-the-field issues represents another factor which could hinder Hill’s value.
The Dolphins received notable trade interest in Jaylen Waddle leading up to the 2025 deadline. To little surprise, Miami retained him. Waddle – who is under contract through the 2028 campaign – is now in line to handle WR1 duties moving forward. The rest of the team’s depth chart at the receiver position could see several changes this offseason.
Hill established himself as one of the league’s most productive players over the course of his Chiefs tenure. The former fifth-rounder was named a member of the 2010s All-Decade team based on his showings in Kansas City, and expectations were high upon arrival in Miami. The 2022 blockbuster deal which saw the Dolphins acquire Hill brought about five picks for the Chiefs and helped them reset their core. With the Dolphins, Hill proved to be a highly productive contributor.
In 2022, he broke the 1,700-yard threshold. Hill matched that feat the following season, leading the league in yards and touchdowns. A drop-off was suffered in 2024, a year in which the Dolphins dealt with quarterback injuries. Hill could be seen as a viable target in certain cases if suitors consider him a bounce-back candidate. Otherwise, his health status and intentions with respect to his future will be a major storyline.
The Dolphins are in position to usher in a new, young core during the opening year of the Jon-Eric Sullivan-Jeff Hafley era. Further changes can be expected, but several veteran contracts are already coming off the books in a sign of the wide berth granted by owner Stephen Ross. Inexpensive receivers will be targeted during the spring for Miami, while Hill will weigh his options.