Jets, RB Breece Hall Agree To Extension
MAY 13: The deal will include $29MM guaranteed over its first two years, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer tweets. While it is not known if this figure is fully guaranteed, that is likely the case due to what Hall would have made on two franchise tags. If the $29MM is locked in at signing, it will rank fourth among RBs (and second among non-rookie-contract deals at the position). Two void years are included in the contract, per Breer. Hall will carry cap hits of $11.48MM (2026), $14.48MM (2027) and $15.48MM (2028).
There are $1.5MM in incentives present as well. Hall reaching seven rushing touchdowns, surpassing 1,426 scrimmage yards or being named to the Pro Bowl would carry a $250K bump in each season, Breer adds. Hall if the first of this year’s three franchise-tagged players to sign an extension.
MAY 11: The Jets have officially announced the extension. We’ve also learned that the base value of the contract actually comes in at $43.5MM, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini.
MAY 8: Breece Hall‘s Jets tenure will continue beyond 2026. The franchise-tagged running back has worked out an extension agreement with New York.
Team and player have struck a three-year deal, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports. He adds this extension is worth up to $45.75MM. Instead of only being in place for one more season due to the tag, Hall will now be on the books through 2028.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network notes $45.75MM represents the base value of this deal. As such, Hall’s average annual value checks in at $15.25MM. That figure ranks third in the NFL among running backs, behind only Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey. The position’s landscape could change soon with Jahmyr Gibbs and Bijan Robinson each eligible for extensions of their own this offseason. In any case, Hall’s outlook has now become much clearer.
The transition tag loomed as an option for New York to keep Hall in the fold for 2026. However, interest in offer sheets would have emerged had the Jets used the less-expensive one-year tender. Indeed, the Broncos were among the teams which would have pursed Hall in that scenario. As such, New York wound up applying the non-exclusive franchise tag. That set Hall up for $14.29MM in guaranteed 2026 earnings, but a long-term arrangement has now taken the place of the tag. The upfront payments in this new deal will be interesting to see.
On that note, ESPN’s Rich Cimini reports Hall will receive $29MM guaranteed. That figure essentially matches what he would have collected by playing on two straight franchise tags. Connor Hughes of SNY adds that locked-in money will be paid out over the next two years, with no guarantees present for 2028. This agreement is therefore a $14.5MM-per-year pact for now with incentives present in Year 3 which could increase Hall’s overall earnings.
Hall, who will turn 25 later this month, expressed a desire to remain in place with the Jets and a general confidence that he would eventually land a deal near the top of the running back market. Both goals have now been achieved. After the tag was applied, a period following the draft emerged as a target for a multiyear extension to be finalized. GM Darren Mougey expressed optimism a deal would be reached, and that has proven to be the case in time for spring practices.
As a rookie, Hall flashed plenty of potential before suffering an ACL tear. Since returning to action, the former second-rounder has handled a heavy workload and been a regular presence in the passing game along the way. Hall topped 1,000 rushing yards for the first time in 2025, but he recorded more than 1,300 scrimmage yards for the third year in a row while doing so. The Iowa State product will once again be joined by Braelon Allen in the backfield next season, although another large offensive role for Hall can be expected.
The Jets will have Garrett Wilson in place once again for 2026, and he too is under contract for the future. Mougey has been busy adding at the skill positions, selecting tight end Mason Taylor in last year’s draft and trading for receiver Adonai Mitchell as part of the Sauce Gardner blockbuster. Last month, New York used two of three first-round selections on another tight end (Kenyon Sadiq) and an additional wideout (Omar Cooper Jr.). Those players, led in large part by Hall, will serve as an offensive nucleus moving forward.
Iowa Adds Tom Moore To Coaching Staff
Tom Moore left the Buccaneers’ staff after seven seasons in January. This was classified as a retirement at the time, but the long-running assistant coach is not leaving the profession.
An interesting reunion is coming to pass, with Iowa announcing the former NFL offensive coordinator will join the staff as a senior consultant to the head coach and offensive advisor. This will bring Moore back to his alma mater 66 years after his Hawkeyes playing career concluded. Moore has not worked at the college level since serving on the Minnesota staff in the mid-1970s.
Now 87, Moore began his coaching career at Iowa as well. After his playing career wrapped in 1960, Moore entered a six-plus-decade coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater. Moore, who played and coached under Jerry Burns during his previous Iowa tenure, followed in Burns’ path to a lengthy (putting it mildly) NFL career. He has been on NFL staffs in all but one season since 1977.
The Bucs employed Moore as a senior offensive consultant. He collected a fourth Super Bowl ring during this tenure, helping Tampa Bay’s first Tom Brady-led squad to a Super Bowl LV win under Bruce Arians. Moore said in 2021 he wanted to coach as long as he was physically able. He will join Kirk Ferentz’s staff ahead of the Iowa City mainstay’s 28th season leading the program.
Winning his first Super Bowls as a Chuck Noll assistant in Pittsburgh, Moore added a third ring while serving as Colts OC in 2006. He has been on the consultant/advisory level since 2010. He stepped down after 12 seasons running the Colts’ offense that year and later moved to the Jets, Titans, Cardinals and Bucs’ staffs. Todd Bowles fired OC Byron Leftwich after the 2022 season and went through three different OCs from 2023-25, but Bowles retained Moore throughout that period. Previously the OC for the Steelers and Lions, Moore helped with Baker Mayfield‘s rebound in Tampa. He will now work with a Hawkeyes team coming off a 9-4 season.
Jets To Sign WR Tim Patrick
Tim Patrick has rebounded from back-to-back injury-marred seasons that closed his Broncos tenure, and he is now reuniting with a former Denver front office staffer in New York.
Darren Mougey will add the veteran wide receiver to the Jets’ roster, ESPN’s Rich Cimini reports. Patrick’s Lions season (2024) also is rather relevant to this signing, as Jets HC Aaron Glenn was in place as Detroit’s DC at that point.
This transaction will give Patrick a chance to play a 10th NFL season. Patrick, 32, caught on with the Broncos as a 2018 waiver claim. Mougey was in place under then-GM John Elway at the time. Mougey moved up the ladder to director of player personnel during George Paton‘s first GM year (2021). That year brought a Patrick extension (three years, $30MM). While the 6-foot-4 wide receiver did not live up to that deal due to the above-referenced injuries, he has provided contributions to other teams over the past two seasons.
The Broncos released Patrick shortly before the 2024 season, leading him to the Lions’ practice squad. That quickly preceded a move up to Detroit’s 53-man roster, and the possession receiver caught 33 passes for 394 yards and three touchdowns to help a dominant Lions offense secure a No. 1 seed. The Lions re-signed Patrick in 2025 but traded him to the Jaguars last summer, acquiring a 2026 sixth-round pick in the deal. Patrick caught 15 passes for 187 yards and three TDs last season.
Perhaps more importantly for Patrick’s NFL viability as his mid-30s near, he played in 16 games in each of the past two seasons. The Broncos saw Patrick become an important target during their time in quarterback purgatory, but their blockbuster Russell Wilson trade did not include any game time with Patrick. The former $10MM-per-year player suffered a torn ACL during training camp in 2022 and went down with an Achilles tear in July 2023.
While it would be quite interesting to see Wilson and Patrick finally link up — should the potential TV analyst accept a Jets offer — the veteran pass catcher did his best work with Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock. The Utah product caught 51 passes for 742 yards and six touchdowns in 2020. He then worked with Bridgewater and Lock in 2021, hauling in 53 passes for 734 yards and five scores that season.
The Broncos had placed a second-round RFA tender on Patrick in 2021 before signing him to an extension. Denver extended Patrick and Sutton in November 2021 but saw the former drift off the radar as the latter moved back into the WR1 role with the franchise. The Broncos slashed Patrick’s 2024 salary down toward the veteran minimum and attempted to trade him later that year. He played for $2.5MM in 2025.
The Jets have done extensive WR work since assembling a flawed crew around Garrett Wilson last year. Last year’s squad, with Wilson going down seven games in, became the first Jets edition since 1976 to fail to produce a 400-yard pass catcher. However, Gang Green acquired Adonai Mitchell from the Colts at the trade deadline and traded up to No. 30 (via the 49ers) for Indiana’s Omar Cooper Jr. last month. Patrick will be positioned to represent a veteran presence to complement those rookie-deal cogs around Wilson.
Giants’ Malik Nabers Undergoes Second Knee Surgery
The subject of follow-up surgeries surfaced recently when it was revealed Bo Nix underwent one to address his ankle issue. Malik Nabers is now in the same boat.
Nabers, who suffered an ACL tear in Week 4 of last season, has undergone a second surgery during his knee rehab. This procedure removed scar tissue that had caused stiffness, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan reports. Like Nix’s, this is being described as a cleanup operation.
This procedure occurred multiple weeks ago, Duggan adds. Although it is certainly not ideal to need a second surgery, this mid-offseason development is not viewed as one that will alter Nabers’ recovery timeline. That said, Nabers is not expected to be ready for training camp on time. Considering when Nabers went down (Sept. 28), it is notable he is unlikely to avoid the active/PUP list come late July.
The active/PUP list is a camp-only designation that came up involving a key Giant last summer. Andrew Thomas, who went down with a Lisfranc injury in October 2024, was not moved off the active/PUP list until August 19 of last year. While that meant a stay on the reserve/PUP list (and a four-game absence) was off the table, the All-Pro left tackle did not debut until Week 3. Nabers, who needed rehab time on an injured toe during the Giants’ 2025 offseason program, will be a player to monitor with regards to practice participation once pads come on this summer.
During the pre-draft process, the Giants were connected to using one of their top-10 picks on a receiver; Carnell Tate and Jordyn Tyson came up during Big Blue’s complex runup to the first round. The Titans took Tate fourth overall, and the Giants scooped up a falling Arvell Reese at No. 5. The decision to add yet another pass rusher with a top-10 pick left Tyson on the board, and he went eighth to the Saints. The Giants did address the receiver position by making a 31-spot jump (via the Browns) for Notre Dame’s Malachi Fields in Round 3.
A rumor indicating the Giants’ receiver interest may be partially due to Nabers not expected to be 100% by Week 1 surfaced. While I contended at the time such a protection measure would be a misguided use of a top-10 pick, Nabers’ timeline will be one to follow in the coming months. The Giants still roster Darius Slayton and Jalin Hyatt, though the latter has disappointed after being a 2024 third-round pick. The team signed Darnell Mooney and Calvin Austin in March. Slayton is also recovering from offseason surgery.
Draft Rumors: Bucs, Raiders, Waller, Dolphins, Cowboys, Colts, Allen, Giants
Exiting a season without an eight-sack player for the fourth straight year, the Buccaneers attempted to take a big swing in free agency by being part of the Trey Hendrickson chase. The Ravens, after their Maxx Crosby about-face, ended up closing that market. Baltimore reneging on that agreement may have helped Tampa Bay land Rueben Bain Jr., with Jason Licht indicating during a Pat McAfee Show appearance the Raiders obtaining the No. 14 overall pick probably took an EDGE suitor out of the mix.
“Spytek, he and I are very close. He was taunting me a little bit, ‘Hey, we’re sitting right in front of you; I know what you need,’” Licht said of his former Bucs lieutenant-turned-Raiders GM (h/t the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin). “We’re all trying to help each other out here, especially the people that are good friends, so thanks, Spytek.”
Spytek worked under Licht before being hired as Raiders GM in 2025. The Raiders were all set to move Crosby’s $35.5MM-per-year contract off their payroll, and although the team signed Kwity Paye during the period where Crosby was all but certain to relocate to Baltimore, the team could have used more help at the premier position. (If nothing else, Spytek certainly appears to have needled his former boss about needing to trade up for a pass rusher.) Instead, Paye joins Crosby and Malcolm Koonce — re-signed before the Ravens’ seismic decision — in headlining the Raiders’ EDGE corps.
Keeping No. 14, the Ravens were connected to Penn State guard Vega Ioane. Ely Allen’s PFR mock draft delivered a direct hit there, and the move allowed the Bucs access to Bain. Tampa Bay viewed the Miami EDGE as a top-five player on its board and was eyeing ex-Bain Hurricanes teammate Akheem Mesidor in the event Bain was off the board. The Ravens keeping their pick after signing Hendrickson may well have helped keep Bain in Florida. Here is the latest draft fallout:
- The Cowboys and Dolphins agreed to a first-round trade that allowed Dallas to climb up one spot for Caleb Downs. That swap was agreed to late during Miami’s time on the clock, and ESPN’s The Pick Is In special (h/t David Furones of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel) included a note about the Dolphins initially declining the Cowboys’ offer to move from No. 12 to No. 11. Dallas initially offered a fifth-round pick to climb one spot; this did not move the needle for new Miami GM Jon-Eric Sullivan. As the clock wound down, the Cowboys offered a second fifth-rounder and potentially another pick to seal the deal. Jerry Jones did not view the Dolphins as a threat to draft Downs but worried another team could jump the Cowboys for the Ohio State safety, leading to Nos. 177 and 180 going to Miami for No. 11. Jeff Hafley said during an interview with Richard Sherman (via Yahoo.com) the Dolphins would have drafted Kadyn Proctor at 11 had no trade occurred.
- Staying with the Dolphins, they will obtain an additional 2027 draft choice. The 2025 Darren Waller trade sent a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Giants after the tight end unretired; a conditional 2027 seventh went back to Miami. The conditions were ultimately satisfied, per the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, and the Dolphins will hold an extra 2027 seventh-rounder from the Waller swap. Although Waller began the season late due to injury before being placed on IR twice last season, he caught 24 passes for 283 yards and six touchdowns in nine games played. Waller is not expected to return to Miami.
- The draft signing process annually moves slowest with second-round picks, with guarantees providing the holdup. Round 2 draftees continue to make inroads on that front. Last year, a host of second-round talents — due in no small part to Tyler Shough going 40th overall — secured fully guaranteed deals. This year continues that growth, with KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson noting No. 53 overall pick C.J. Allen received 83.7% of his contract guaranteed from the Colts. That is up from 75.4% at No. 53 last year (Buccaneers CB Benjamin Morrison). The bar for fully guaranteed Round 2 deals will undoubtedly move past No. 40 this year, and Allen receiving this mostly guaranteed pact will have an impact on players drafted shortly before him this year.
Former All-Pro TE Charle Young Passes Away
Former Pro Bowl tight end Charle Young, who played for four NFL teams over a 13-year career, passed away. He was 75. The 49ers revealed they were informed of Young’s death by his wife, according to the Associated Press; no cause of death has been provided.
Spending his career with the Eagles, Rams, 49ers and Seahawks, Young was selected to three Pro Bowls; a hot start to his career in Philadelphia brought those invites, and the former top-10 pick became a long-term NFL starter who enjoyed a memorable second act.
The Eagles used the No. 6 overall pick on Young in 1973, acquiring the selection from the Chargers in a trade for linebacker Tim Rossovich. Philly deployed Young, a USC product, as an immediate starter. Even with the mid-1970s known as a low-octane passing era, Young shined as a receiving tight end.
He earned first-team All-Pro honors as a rookie, helping trade acquisition Roman Gabriel to his final Pro Bowl nod. The Gabriel-Young connection hooked up for six touchdowns, Young’s career-high mark, as the 6-foot-4 target amassed a career-best 854 receiving yards. Gabriel, acquired from the Rams, led the NFL with 23 TD passes that season.
Young then strung together 696- and 653-yard seasons in 1974 and ’75, earning second-team All-Pro acclaim each year, but the Eagles struggled during a down period in their franchise history. Gabriel did not sustain the momentum his 1973 season brought, and the Eagles lacked a quarterback answer. In 1977, they used Young to land one. In Dick Vermeil‘s second offseason in charge, the Eagles traded Young to the Rams for Ron Jaworski. That turned out to be a trade that benefited Philly more than L.A., as Jaworski — mostly a backup with the Rams early in his career — was the NFC East team’s starter for nearly a decade.
The Rams did not see much from Young, who totaled just 35 receiving yards in 14 games during his first Los Angeles season. Young only started three games in three Rams seasons, but an intra-NFC West trade allowed for a resurgence. The Rams traded Young to the 49ers in 1980, receiving two third-round picks in a pick-swap deal that saw L.A. third- and fourth-round choices go to San Francisco. This trade came as Bill Walsh, in Year 2 at the helm in San Francisco, was crafting a seminal turnaround.
In Young’s second 49ers campaign, he totaled 400 receiving yards and five touchdowns. The 49ers deployed the veteran as a 16-game starter as they zoomed to a surprising 13-3 season in Joe Montana‘s first year as a full-time starter. Young then caught Montana’s first playoff touchdown pass, during a divisional-round win over the Giants, and added four receptions for 45 yards in the 49ers’ storied NFC championship game win over the Cowboys before collecting a Super Bowl ring.
The 49ers, however, sent first- and fourth-round picks to the Patriots for retired TE Russ Francis‘ rights in 1982. This preceded a 1983 Young release, but he landed a prominent role with the Seahawks soon after. Chuck Knox, Young’s coach during his first Rams season, was at the controls in Seattle when the Seahawks signed Young. The July addition made a difference in Seattle’s first playoff season, catching 36 passes for 529 yards and two scores. The Seahawks voyaged to the AFC championship game that season. Young finished his career after two more Seahawks slates, continuing to work as a regular starter.
Young finished his career with 142 career starts — that remains 30th among TEs in NFL history — to go with 418 catches and 5,106 receiving yards. Among pure tight ends at the time of Young’s retirement, those totals ranked seventh and 11th in NFL annals.
Poll: How Good Are The Bengals?
The Bengals entered last season with playoff aspirations, but they were never truly in contention. The team sputtered to a 6-11 record for a couple of obvious reasons: 1.) Superstar quarterback Joe Burrow missed eight games after suffering a toe injury in September. 2.) The defense was an unmitigated disaster.
While the 2026 campaign is still four months from kicking off, Cincinnati looks like a prime rebound candidate. Burrow, who returned in November to fire 15 touchdowns against five interceptions in six starts, is healthy. He will again lead an eminently talented offense that boasts an elite receiver duo (Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins) and a legitimate dual-threat running back in Chase Brown.
Even with the combination of Jake Browning and Joe Flacco filling in for Burrow for a large chunk of 2025, the Bengals’ offense still had enough horses to finish 12th in the NFL in scoring (24.4). The Bengals put up 30-plus points eight times, and the club went 5-3 in those games. When the Bengals scored fewer than 30, they went 1-8.
It is fair to say that if the Bengals are going to snap their three-year playoff drought in 2026, their defense will have to go from abysmal to competent. Since finishing 30th in points, 31st in yards and dead last in pass rush win rate last season, the unit has undergone a significant makeover.
The Bengals’ defense took a couple of notable hits in free agency when edge rushers Trey Hendrickson and Joseph Ossai (Jets) walked out the door. Hendrickson’s exit may be especially unfortunate when you consider he joined the AFC North rival Ravens, though the Bengals already began adjusting to life without him in 2025. A hip/groin injury limited Hendrickson to seven games, four sacks and kept him out from late October onward.
Aside from Ossai and Myles Murphy, nobody did much to fill Hendrickson’s void last season. The Bengals are likely confident that will change in 2026, as they brought in ex-Seahawk Boye Mafe on a three-year, $60MM deal and used a second-round pick on former Texas A&M pass rusher Cashius Howell. They have now Murphy, Mafe, Howell and 2025 first-rounder Shemar Stewart, who did not do much as a rookie, as their top options along the edge.
The Bengals’ collection of pass rushers should get a boost from a vastly improved interior defensive line. In a bold strike atypical of the Bengals, they landed perhaps the premier nose tackle in football when they traded the 10th overall pick to the Giants for Dexter Lawrence. The three-time Pro Bowler only managed a half-sack during a 17-game 2025, but just looking at sack totals doesn’t do Lawrence justice.
As a magnet for double teams, Lawrence makes life far easier on his defensive teammates. Despite drawing extra attention from opposing offensive lines, Lawrence has not had trouble affecting QBs. Dating to 2022, he has piled up 108 pressures as a nose tackle, an incredible 76 more than second place (32), per Warren Sharp of SharpFootballAnalysis.com.
The Bengals expect the best version of Lawrence to show up, which they believe would make a bigger difference than any rookie they could have drafted 10th overall. He is now the face of a strong DT group that also includes B.J. Hill and free agent signing Jonathan Allen. A former Commander and Viking, Allen has started in 125 of 126 games and accrued 45.5 sacks over his nine-year career.
Along with what looks like a quality group of players up front, the Bengals have a steady collection of starters in the defensive backfield. Dax Hill and DJ Turner should be their top outside corners, while former Chiefs safety Bryan Cook came in on a three-year, $40.5MM pact in free agency to pair with Jordan Battle. Cook figures to offer a clear upgrade over the departed Geno Stone, who started 17 games in 2025 but missed a career-worst 20% of tackles (Cook checked in at 4.5%).
As for potential weaknesses, linebacker sticks out. Barring an outside acquisition (Bobby Wagner, anyone?), the Bengals are poised to rely on Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight for the second season in a row. Counting on them as rookies last year did not go well, but the club has done nothing to upgrade over them this offseason. The Bengals also look shaky at nickel corner. Jalen Davis is the frontrunner for the job, but despite being an eight-year veteran, he lacks defensive experience. Davis never approached 100 defensive snaps in a season until he amassed 270 over seven games in 2025.
Turning back to the offensive side, keeping the oft-injured Burrow healthy will be the most important order of business. That will largely be in the hands of a starting line that has not changed since the end of last season. The Bengals are running it back with tackles Orlando Brown Jr. and Amarius Mims, guards Dylan Fairchild and Dalton Risner, and center Ted Karras. Pro Football Focus rated the unit the league’s fifth-worst in 2025.
The Bengals are in a division with two other playoff hopefuls (Baltimore and Pittsburgh), but they should push for a postseason berth if Burrow stays healthy and the defensive acquisitions pan out as hoped. Vegas agrees, having set the over/under on the Bengals’ win total at 9.5. That ties them with last season’s AFC title game representatives, the Patriots and Broncos, as well as other conference contenders in Jacksonville and Houston. If the Bengals fall short of expectations again, long-tenured head coach Zac Taylor may not get a ninth year in 2027.
How do you expect the Bengals’ season to go? Vote in PFR’s latest poll and weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section.
How many games will the Bengals win in 2026?
NFC Notes: Giants, OBJ, Bates, Seahawks
Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton recently underwent core-muscle surgery, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports. The procedure should not affect Slayton’s availability for training camp, per Garafolo. It will also have no impact on a potential reunion with free agent wideout Odell Beckham, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post relays. The Giants hosted Beckham in late April, and while they have left the door open on a deal, they have not made an offer to the 33-year-old. Beckham did not play anywhere in 2025. Meanwhile, Slayton caught 37 passes for 538 yards and a touchdown in 14 games. He will be part of a more crowded receiving corps in 2026. The Giants will get No. 1 receiver Malik Nabers back from a torn ACL, and Darnell Mooney, Calvin Austin and third-rounder Malachi Fields are among their new additions.
More from the NFC…
- Now entering the last season of a four-year, $64.02MM contract, Falcons safety Jessie Bates is due to earn a $16MM salary – the eighth-highest total at the position. The three-time second-team All-Pro is a good bet to stick around Atlanta in 2027, according to Josh Kendall of The Athletic, though he notes it is likely the team will begin extension negotiations at a lower salary figure. While Bates managed his third straight full season last year and once again posted solid production (98 tackles, three interceptions), age is working against him as he seeks his next deal. By the time the 2027 season kicks off, Bates will be 30 years old. In the meantime, he will pair with Falcons safety Xavier Watts for the second year in a row. Those two accounted for defensive snap shares around 99% in 2025, an impressive rookie season for Watts.
- No cornerback taller than 6-foot-4 has ever played a regular-season NFL game. That will change if Seahawks cornerback Tyrone Broden earns a roster spot. The 6-5 Broden joined the Seahawks as an undrafted receiver last year, but he is now transitioning to the defensive side of the ball, per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. Broden spent some of last season on the Seahawks’ practice squad and did not get into any games. The reigning Super Bowl champion Seahawks boast a loaded defensive backfield, which works against Broden, but they lost 6-4 corner Riq Woolen to the Eagles in free agency.
- In another position switch, the Buccaneers’ Nash Hutmacher is shifting from defensive tackle to guard, Greg Auman of FOX Sports reports. Undrafted a year ago, the former Nebraska D-tackle spent the season on the Bucs’ practice squad.
- In using a a seventh-round pick on former LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, the Chiefs took a potential option away from the Packers. Green Bay would have had interest in Nussmeier had he gone undrafted, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN relays. The Packers pivoted to former Virginia Tech QB Kyron Drones on the UDFA market. Drones, Tyrod Taylor and Kyle McCord are their backup options behind starter Jordan Love. Like Drones, Taylor is a Virginia Tech product. The 36-year-old has carved out a long career as an occasional starter/dependable backup since the Ravens selected him in the sixth round of the 2011 draft.
Patriots’ Quintayvious Hutchins Charged With Domestic Assault
Patriots rookie edge defender Quintayvious Hutchins has been charged with misdemeanor domestic assault and battery on a family/household member. The alleged incident took place at a Boston College dorm on Tuesday, according to Mike Toole of CBS Boston.
Hutchins pleaded not guilty in court in Newton, Mass., on Wednesday and was released. He will return to court for a hearing on a date yet to be determined.
The Patriots issued a statement on the matter, saying: “We are aware of the report involving Quintayvious Hutchins. We take these matters very seriously and are in the process of gathering additional information. We will not have further comment at this time.”
New England used the last of its nine draft picks on Hutchins, whom the team chose at No. 247 overall in the seventh round. The selection enabled Hutchins to stay in the area after a four-year playing career at Boston College.
Hutchins did not record huge production at BC, where he logged nine tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks in 43 games, but was an integral cog on special teams. A similar role may be in store for Hutchins if he makes the Patriots’ roster, though the NFL could discipline the 23-year-old at the outset of his career.
Hutchins signed his four-year rookie contract last week.
Bears Unlikely To Pursue Cam Jordan?
Cameron Jordan has enjoyed a superb 15-year career in New Orleans, but the free agent edge defender is unsure if he will don a Saints uniform for a 16th season. A number of contenders, including the Bears, would do well to pry Jordan out of New Orleans. But it does not appear Jordan will reunite with former Saints head coach Dennis Allen, now the Bears’ defensive coordinator.
When asked about Jordan last week, Allen said (via Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times): ‘‘I don’t know that there’s been a ton of discussion about [signing him]. We feel pretty good about where we’re at and what we have. Yet you never know what opportunities might present themselves down the road.’’
Not only was Allen the Saints’ head coach from 2022-24, but he was previously on their staff as a defensive assistant and then coordinator from 2015-21. Jordan posted five seasons of double-digit sacks and earned seven of his eight Pro Bowl trips in that span.
Allen moved to Chicago last year a couple of months after his Saints ouster, but Jordan showed no signs of slowing down. Despite his advanced age, the soon-to-be 37-year-old put up his seventh season with double-digit sacks (10.5). Jordan may have been even more of a force against opposing rushing attacks, as he ranked sixth among edge defenders in run stop win rate. Pro Football Focus gave Jordan the fourth-best grade against the run at his position.
In addition to his ongoing excellent production, Jordan remained remarkably durable during yet another full season. The 6-foot-4, 287-pounder has missed just two of 245 regular-season games in a decade and a half. On the other hand, health was elusive for Bears edge defenders last season, a year in which the team won the NFC North despite surrendering the sixth-most rushing yards and totaling the seventh-fewest sacks in the NFL.
The Bears entered 2025 with high expectations for Dayo Odeyingbo, whom they paid a guaranteed $32MM in free agency, but he registered just one sack in eight starts before suffering a torn Achilles on Nov. 2. Meanwhile, second-round rookie Shemar Turner went down with a torn ACL five games into his season. It also was a truncated campaign for Austin Booker, who began the year on IR with a knee injury and wound up missing seven games.
If Chicago does not use any of its $6.68MM in effective cap space to add Jordan or another available edge defender (Joey Bosa, Jadeveon Clowney, Von Miller and ex-Bear Leonard Floyd are also among those on the market), the team will bank on healthier seasons from Odeyingbo, Turner and Booker. The Bears would also benefit from a second straight full season from Montez Sweat, who recorded a team-leading 10 sacks last year. The rest of their defense accounted for just 25.
As for Jordan, assuming he continues his career in 2026, he will look to build on what could be a Hall of Fame resume. The 2010s All-Decade Team member ranks 17th on the all-time sack list (132). He could approach or break into the top 10 with another strong season.