Patriots, FB Reggie Gilliam Agree To Deal
After a six-year run in Buffalo, Reggie Gilliam will head elsewhere in the AFC East. The veteran fullback has agreed to join the Patriots on a three-year deal worth up to $12MM, per his agents (h/t NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo). The pact includes $6MM guaranteed.
Gilliam earned a reputation as one of the league’s top fullbacks during his long stint in Buffalo. He ultimately got into 94 games across six seasons with the Bills, plus another 14 playoff appearances. Gilliam was often among those credited with the Bills effective rushing attack, especially following James Cook‘s standout campaign in 2025.
That’s about the extent of Gilliam’s offensive contributions. He had an occasional touch in Buffalo, but nothing that would signal he’s in line for a larger role with a new team. Gilliam finished his Bills tenure with 24 touches for 149 yards and two touchdowns.
The Patriots offensive line struggled mightily in the postseason. While a fullback can’t single-handedly turn around the team’s fortunes, he should at the very least help keep Drake Maye upright while also opening holes for Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson.
It seemed like Josh McDaniels was interested in implementing a fullback in the Patriots 2025 scheme. However, Jack Westover struggled in the role, forcing the team to occasionally turn to DT Khyiris Tonga for some fullback snaps. Now, the team has a legitimate fullback for the foreseeable future.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Giants To Sign P Jordan Stout, Release P Jamie Gillan
The Baltimore-to-New York trend is continuing early in free agency. Jordan Stout will reunite with John Harbaugh as a member of the Giants in 2026.
Stout has agreed to terms on a three-year, $12.3MM deal, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports. This will make him the NFL’s highest-paid punter. Harbaugh is known to prioritize special teams given his coaching background, so this news comes as little surprise. In a corresponding move, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports Jamie Gillan is being released.
Monday’s Stout contract makes the former Raven the NFL’s highest-paid punter. The $4.1MM-per-year player, whom Baltimore entrusted to replace longtime punter Sam Koch in 2022, joins Isaiah Likely and Ar’Darius Washington in making Baltimore-to-Big Apple plans today.
As waves of transactions transpired Monday, a few punters were on the move. The Saints (Ryan Wright) and Falcons (Jake Bailey) made moves to add at this position. Stout, a 2022 fifth-round pick, comes over after a first-team All-Pro season to close his rookie contract. The Ravens punter averaged 50.1 yards per boot last season, placing 45.3% of his kicks inside the 20-yard line.
Affectionately known as the “Scottish Hammer,” Gillan will see a Harbaugh favorite replace him. The Giants will save $1.17MM by cutting Gillan but take on more than $2MM in dead money. New York extended Gillan in 2023, giving him a three-year deal worth $9MM. Punting in a slightly worse environment compared to Stout, Gillan averaged just 44.5 yards per punt in 2025. This came after a 43.7-yard 2024 average. With a new coaching staff coming in, familiar options are being sought. Gillan — the Giant punter since 2022 — will now look for work elsewhere.
Sam Robinson contributed to this post.
Bears To Sign S Coby Bryant
Safety Coby Bryant is leaving the Super Bowl champion Seahawks for the Bears, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports. Chicago is handing Bryant a three-year, $40MM contract, per veteran insider Jordan Schultz.
The NFC North-winning Bears deployed Jaquan Brisker and Kevin Byard as their top safeties last season, but both are free agents after playing almost every defensive snap in 2025. Effective in-season acquisition C.J. Gardner-Johnson is also without a deal. The uncertainty surrounding those three left safety as an obvious area to address for general manager Ryan Poles. He has done it in adding PFR’s 28th-ranked free agent.
During their resurgent 2025, the Bears led the NFL in both takeaways (33) and interceptions (23). The 32-year-old Byard picked off seven passes en route to first-team All-Pro honors. Bryant’s numbers were not as gaudy, but the 26-year-old had a big season in his own right. Across 15 games (all starts), the former slot corner logged 66 tackles, seven passes defensed, four TFL and a career-best four INTs. He chipped in another 10 tackles and two PDs during the Seahawks’ three victories in the playoffs.
Bryant, who has combined for seven picks since 2024, ranked 27th among Pro Football Focus’ 91 qualifying safeties last season. He graded among the top 30 safeties in both coverage and run defense. Despite a penchant for taking the ball away, the Bears ranked 22nd against the pass and 27th versus the run. Bryant helped the Seahawks to third and 10th in those respective categories.
Although Bryant is a noteworthy loss for Seattle, the team is still in good shape at safety. Julian Love, Ty Okada and Nick Emmanwori are all more than capable of handling the position. However, Bryant may not be the first major defensive back the club loses. Cornerbacks Josh Jobe and Riq Woolen remain unsigned two hours after the negotiating window opened.
Bucs, Kenneth Gainwell Agree To Terms
Kenneth Gainwell enjoyed a strong season in 2025. It has landed him a new deal which will send him out of Pittsburgh, though.
The veteran running back has agreed to terms with the Buccaneers, per NFL insider Jordan Schultz. This will be a two-year pact worth $14MM. Gainwell will collect $10MM guaranteed.
As Gainwell has moved to the Bucs, the Steelers wound up replacing him with Rico Dowdle for similar money. Though, Dowdle landed a two-year, $12.25MM pact. Gainwell did a little better, and a strong 2025 season in Pittsburgh paved the way.
Earning Steelers team MVP honors, Gainwell outplayed his one-year, $1.79MM deal in 2025. The four-year Eagles backup amassed 1,023 scrimmage yards and eight touchdowns last season, playing a key role for a Steelers team that again lacked wide receiver depth. Gainwell only has 394 career carries, helping his cause ahead of an age-27 season.
Tampa Bay has a locked-in starting running back, as Bucky Irving displayed star potential as a rookie. A two-injury 2025 season slowed the former fourth-round pick, forcing the Bucs to turn to the demoted Rachaad White. Irving’s older complementary option is not expected to return, and the team did not tender Sean Tucker as an RFA. While Tucker would be brought back at a lower rate, Gainwell is in place as the clear insurance option — a player whose contract suggests a 1-B role could be in the cards — alongside Irving.
Gainwell only logged 280 carries in four Eagles seasons, playing behind a revolving door of higher-caliber RBs. Gainwell backed up Miles Sanders, D’Andre Swift and Saquon Barkley. The Eagles kept trusting the former fifth-round pick as their No. 2 option, and after the Steelers season, Gainwell will see a big pay raise. His two-year deal complements Irving’s rookie accord, with the Bucs now set for an interesting setup in which their backup RB will earn roughly six times the starter’s salary. Irving cannot be extended until 2027.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Falcons, TE Austin Hooper Agree To Deal
Austin Hooper will return to his original NFL team in 2026. The veteran tight end has agreed to terms with the Falcons on a one-year, $3.25MM deal, Ian Rapoport, Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network report.
The former third-round pick played out his rookie contract in Atlanta, where he got into 59 games. He had his most productive NFL seasons during his time with the Falcons, including a 2019 campaign where he hauled in 75 catches for 787 yards and six scores.
That performance earned him a four-year contract from the Browns, but he failed to repeat those numbers. He ended up lasting only two seasons in Cleveland, averaging 390 yards per year. He bounced around the league over the next two years, spending time with the Titans and Raiders before catching on with the Patriots ahead of the 2024 campaign.
He ended up inking a pair of one-year deals with New England. He only missed a single game through his two seasons with the organization, tallying 66 catches while mostly serving as a backup to Hunter Henry. Hooper’s lack of blocking skills ultimately made him expendable with the Patriots, and he’ll now land in a familiar spot in Atlanta.
The team’s TE outlook has obviously changed since the last time Hooper played for the Falcons, with Kyle Pitts now leading the depth chart. The Falcons ended up slapping Pitts with the franchise tag, and he’ll continue to garner most of the snaps at the position in 2026. Still, Hooper’s familiarity with Kevin Stefanski should afford him some extra reps in his latest stop.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Jets To Add OLB Kingsley Enagbare
The Packers will be without Rashan Gary moving forward, and he is not the only edge rusher set to depart Green Bay. Kingsley Enagbare is set to leave during his first trip to free agency.
Enagbare has agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Jets, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports. This will be a $10MM contract, he adds. Enagbare and Joseph Ossai will represent new arrivals for the Jets in 2026, with the team moving quickly at the start of the negotiating window to line up deals in both cases.
Aaron Glenn added two familiar faces in aging ex-Saints Demario Davis and David Onyemata, while Ossai and Enagbare will be new charges for the second-year New York leader. Enagbare was never asked to be a regular Packer starter, but he did make 21 first-string appearances during his four-year Wisconsin run.
Totaling 25 tackles for loss during that four-year stay, the former fifth-round pick was used between 41% and 47% of Green Bay’s defensive snaps during those years. Working primarily as an edge defender, Enagbare totaled 15 QB pressures and two sacks last season. Despite Lukas Van Ness‘ presence, the Pack turned to Enagbare as their Micah Parsons injury replacement over their season’s final four games.
Green Bay will have a new-look EDGE corps, with Gary moving to Dallas and Enagbare Big Apple-bound. Van Ness has one season left on his rookie contract. Parsons could conceivably return by Week 1, but the Packers are traditionally cautious with injury recoveries. A stay on the PUP list would not surprise. The Packers will need some help at OLB soon.
The Jets are remodeling their EDGE cadre themselves, trading Jermaine Johnson. They are expected to pick up Will McDonald‘s fifth-year option, but with Johnson gone and Micheal Clemons unsigned, Glenn and GM Darren Mougey are bringing in their own hires to rush the passer next season.
Sam Robinson contributed to this post.
Titans To Sign QB Mitch Trubisky
Mitch Trubisky is reuniting with Brian Daboll. The former Bills allies will link up once again, with Mike Garafolo of NFL.com reporting Titans are giving the veteran quarterback a two-year deal.
Finishing out his second Bills stint, Trubisky’s first came in Daboll’s final Buffalo season (2021). Tennessee will bring in the ex-Daboll pupil to work as Cam Ward‘s backup.
Fending off Mike White for Buffalo’s backup job last season, Trubisky has mostly been a No. 2 option since his Bears rookie deal expired after the 2020 season. While the former No. 2 overall pick did open the 2022 season as a Steelers bridge, that was short-lived. He stayed in Pittsburgh in 2023 but returned to Buffalo in ’24, as Mason Rudolph had overtaken him to replace Kenny Pickett. Daboll, however, initially coached Trubisky following his shaky Chicago tenure.
Trubisky, 31, is best remembered for his erratic Bears tenure — which featured a contract-year benching — but he did take part in two Bears playoff games as a starter. After his Steelers tenure, the North Carolina alum has not been looked at for starting work. It looks likely he will replace Brandon Allen as Ward’s backup, though Will Levis is technically still on the roster.
Levis has come up as a trade candidate on a few occasions, though that paused in 2025 as the second-round pick missed all of last season. Trubisky is likely coming in to be the backup, and Levis was drafted two coaching staffs ago (plenty has changed about the Titans’ front office since that time too). Before Saleh and Daboll’s arrival, Titans brass said Levis will be expected to be on the 2026 roster. But with Trubisky set to push him to the third-string level — in all likelihood — there may no longer be a place for him.
Buccaneers To Sign LB Alex Anzalone
Middle linebacker Alex Anzalone is going from Detroit to Tampa Bay. Anzalone has agreed to a two-year, $17MM contract with the Buccaneers, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
This move sends Anzalone back to Florida, where he played college football with the Gators. The former Saints third-round pick will also return to the NFC South after opening his career there from 2017-20.
While Anzalone was primarily a backup in New Orleans, he was a full-time starter during his five-year tenure in Detroit. There was a belief he would reunite with former Lions defensive coordinator and current Jets head coach Aaron Glenn in free agency. Instead, Anzalone will join a Tampa Bay team that has a better chance to compete for a playoff spot in the near term.
During his last year in Detroit, Anzalone started in all 16 games and finished with 95 tackles, nine passes defensed, 2.5 sacks and an interception. The 31-year-old played 90.86% of defensive snaps, good for third on the Lions, and placed a respectable 33rd among 88 qualifying linebackers at Pro Football Focus.
The Buccaneers’ addition of Anzalone further calls fellow veteran middle linebacker Lavonte David‘s future into question. A full-time starter since the Buccaneers drafted him in 2012, David has become an icon in Tampa Bay. But David is now a 36-year-old pending free agent who is mulling retirement. The Anzalone signing could signal the end of David’s prolific 14-year run with the Bucs.
Saints, DT John Ridgeway Agree To Terms
John Ridgeway will not be departing on the open market. The defensive tackle has agreed to a new Saints deal, Tom Pelissero, Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network report. This will be a two-year, $6.2MM contract.
Ridgeway has spent the past two seasons in New Orleans. He got into 28 percent of his team’s defensive snaps during his first year with the organization, finishing with 15 stops. He seemed prime for a larger role in 2025, but injuries got in the way. A pectoral injury delayed the start of his campaign, and an illness kept him sidelined later in the year. He ultimately started two of his four appearances.
The former fifth-round pick spent the first two seasons of his career with the Commanders. He got into 32 games (six starts) during his stint in Washington, compiling a total of 55 tackles.
Nathan Shepherd and Davon Godchaux are both set to return in 2026, but there could be some leftover reps at DT depending on the status of free agent Jonah Williams. Vernon Broughton could represent Ridgeway’s biggest competition for any backup snaps at the position.
Ben Levine contributed to this post.
Jets To Sign OLB Joseph Ossai
Joseph Ossai will not return to the Bengals in 2026. The pass rusher’s first trip to free agency will instead send him to New York.
Ossai and the Jets have agreed to terms, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports. This will be a three-year pact worth $36MM, Schultz adds. Ossai will receive $22.5MM fully guaranteed, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Expectations will be high for notable production off the edge in this case for 2026 and beyond as a result.
A third-round pick in 2021, Ossai spent his entire four-year career in Cincinnati. He had a part-time role through his first two years in the NFL but took on more responsibility in 2024. He finished that campaign with 46 tackles and five sacks while getting into about 50 percent of his team’s defensive snaps.
He started a career-high nine games this past year, finishing with 43 stops and five sacks. Pro Football Focus ultimately ranked him 70th among 119 qualifying edge defenders, with the site being most bullish on his run-stopping ability.
He’ll have a chance at a three-down role in New York. The Jets needed to add some pass-rush help following the Jermaine Johnson trade. At the very least, Ossai will contribute on third-down, but the Jets lack of defensive depth (and the team’s financial commitment) means he should see a full-time role for his new squad.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.