Dolphins Cut Matt Judon
The Dolphins are shaking things up ahead of Week 16. Along with making a change at quarterback, the team has cut pass rusher Matt Judon, veteran insider Jordan Schultz reports. He’ll go through waivers before potentially reaching free agency.
Now in his 10th NFL season, Judon hit free agency after a 17-game, 15-start, 5.5-sack campaign with the Falcons in 2024. The four-time Pro Bowler went without a contract until August.
The Dolphins added Judon a one-year deal worth up to $6MM just a couple of weeks before the start of the regular season. The pact came with a $1.5MM base salary. A claiming team would assume the prorated portion of that figure.
Also a former Raven and Patriot, Judon joined the Dolphins with 72 sacks on his resume. Surprisingly, that number has not changed this year. Judon has never finished a season with fewer than four sacks, but he’sin danger of going without one in 2025. The 33-year-old appeared in 13 of the Dolphins’ games, made three starts, and recorded 19 tackles and three quarterback hits. Pro Football Focus ranks Judon dead last (112th) among qualifying edge defenders.
Despite his immense struggles this year, Judon could close out the season with a contender if one claims him on waivers or he lands a deal (likely a practice squad arrangement) in free agency. The Dolphins, eliminated from playoff contention, will finish out 2025 with Bradley Chubb and Chop Robinson as their top edge rushers.
Judon and Jaelan Phillips have been prominent members of the Dolphins’ pass-rushing group this season, but they’ve now moved on from the two of them during a disappointing year. While Miami was able to reel in a third-round pick from the Eagles in a Phillips trade before the Nov. 4 deadline, the Judon pickup will go down as a swing and a miss.
Jets, TE Jeremy Ruckert Agree To Extension
The Jets and tight end Jeremy Ruckert have agreed to a two-year, $10MM contract extension, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. The deal could max out at $11MM.
The Ruckert extension is the second one general manager Darren Mougey has doled out since last week. The team previously reached a two-year, $11MM agreement with center Josh Myers on Dec. 12.
Unlike Myers, who joined the Jets as a free agent, Ruckert is a homegrown product. With prior GM Joe Douglas at the helm, the Jets used a third-round pick on Ruckert in 2022. The former Ohio State Buckeye caught just one pass in nine games as a rookie, but his usage and production have increased since then.
After combining for 34 catches and 256 yards in 32 games from 2023-24, Ruckert has racked up career highs in receptions (20) and yards (163) in 14 contests this season. He hauled in his first career touchdown in Week 2.
Ruckert spent the previous couple of seasons working as a complementary piece behind starting tight end Tyler Conklin. While Conklin left for the Chargers in free agency last March, Ruckert has again served as the Jets’ No. 2 TE this year. Rookie Mason Taylor, a second-round pick, has established himself as one of the only real threats in the Jets’ offense. Taylor ranks first among Jets skill players in snap share (75%).
Despite Taylor’s presence, Ruckert has still seen a good amount of playing time in first-year coordinator Tanner Engstrand‘s run-first offense. The 25-year-old has played a career-high 43.2% of snaps. Ruckert has also been on the field for 26.9% of special teams plays.
Ruckert was just a few months from hitting the open market for the first time. Keeping him in the fold takes a little bit off Mougey’s plate ahead of the offseason. Running back Breece Hall, quarterback Tyrod Taylor, guards John Simpson and Alijah Vera-Tucker, and linebacker Quincy Williams are among notable Jets still on track to reach free agency in March.
QB Arch Manning To Remain At Texas For 2026 Season
Speculation about Arch Manning‘s future has come to an end. The oft-discussed quarterback will remain at Texas for the 2026 season, as first reported by Chip Brown of Horn247.com. 
Cooper Manning has since confirmed the news about his son, which ensures one of the top QB prospects in the 2026 class will not be turning pro. Since the start of the season, questions have been raised about Arch Manning and whether or not he would declare after only one year as the Longhorns’ starter. His status has been at the center of overall speculation concerning a 2026 class which has fallen short of expectations.
Early in the 2025 campaign in particular, Manning’s performances led to a perceived dip in his draft stock. Things improved during the second half of the season, though, as Texas went 6-1 down the stretch. That was not sufficient to secure a spot in the College Football Playoff, but Manning’s play improved over that period. Earlier this month, it was reported multiple NFL evaluators still viewed him as the top signal-caller potentially available in April’s draft.
“He’s a young man who’s gotten better as the season’s gone on, and not only physically, but mentally, maturity-wise,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said (via ESPN’s Andrea Adelson). “I would think he’s going to want another year of that growth to put himself in position for hopefully a long career in the NFL. And he’s got some unfinished business of what he came here to do and what he came here to accomplish.”
Indeed, Manning will suit up in 2026 for his redshirt junior season. Texas reached the CFP semifinals last year with Quinn Ewers under center, but this season did not produce the same level of success. Especially if Manning can deliver a strong performance during his second straight campaign as the Longhorns’ starter, he will be among the top passers in the 2027 NFL class. Of course, the same is also true of LaNorris Sellers, who recently committed to staying at South Carolina for next season.
That means attention regarding the incoming QB class will increasingly turn to the likes of Dante Moore (Oregon) and Ty Simpson (Alabama). It remains to be seen if one or both of them will turn pro after their respective seasons end, while Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza is on course to be a first-round lock (and quite possibly the No. 1 pick). Intrigue will no doubt continue to surround the passers available to NFL teams in April, but that group will not include Manning.
Dolphins Considering QB Change
Mike McDaniel is far from assured of a fifth season as Dolphins HC, but he has reestablished some momentum since a rough start. However, the Dolphins taking a one-sided loss in Pittsburgh crushed any hopes of a playoff berth.
The McDaniel storyline moves back to center stage, and the player he is most closely tied to once again did not play well in cold weather. Tua Tagovailoa‘s dud in Pittsburgh has left the Dolphins 6-8, and both his and McDaniel’s futures are up in the air. For now, McDaniel did not guarantee Tagovailoa would keep his job to close the season.
McDaniel called the team’s quarterback play “not good enough” (via NFL.com’s Cameron Wolfe) Monday night. The fourth-year HC said everything was on the table regarding a QB move, with a decision coming Wednesday. The Dolphins’ staff is believed to have considered such a move previously, per veteran insider Jordan Schultz.
Tagovailoa and McDaniel have been joined at the hip since the HC’s 2022 hire. The former 49ers OC revitalized the ex-Alabama star, with Tua leading the NFL in key passing categories each year from 2022-24 after a sluggish start to his career. The southpaw passer’s resurgence led to the Dolphins giving him a four-year, $212.4MM extension in July 2024. That contract complicates the futures of both Tagovailoa and McDaniel, as it will be quite difficult for the Dolphins to move that deal in a 2026 trade due to the guarantees remaining on it.
Tagovailoa is owed $54MM guaranteed for 2026 and does not carry the best reputation around the league. Both these factors limit his trade value, and an inconsistent 2025 obviously brings concern about Miami’s ability to compete for a Super Bowl with Tua at the controls. For McDaniel to make his consideration of Tua public potentially points to the current Dolphins leader having enough support in the building — regarding a fifth year in charge — though he did not answer a question pertaining to this potential demotion impacting his 2026 status, per the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson.
Miami does not have good options behind Tagovailoa, having already toggled between Zach Wilson and Quinn Ewers on its depth chart behind the longtime starter. Wilson is tied to a one-year, $6MM deal; Ewers arrived as a seventh-round pick, though the Texans product was expected to go off the board much earlier. Ewers leapfrogged Wilson on the Dolphins’ depth chart earlier this year, only to fall back to the QB3 level soon after.
The NFL’s leader in yards per attempt in 2022, passing yards in 2023 and completion percentage last year, Tagovailoa has made 76 career starts. His extension — one the Dolphins probably now regret — runs through the 2028 season. The first realistic out in the deal comes in 2027, when a $31.8MM dead cap hit — a figure that could be split over two years via a post-June 1 designation — would come in the event of a release.
The Dolphins benching Tagovailoa now only to regroup around he and McDaniel in 2026 would obviously not inspire confidence, but McDaniel is still believed to have ownership support. The close to this season will test that support, as a new GM would need to accept working with a potential lame-duck HC — in the event Stephen Ross follows through on rumors he will stay the course — and HC-GM misalignment has been a strategy teams are beginning to avoid in the grand scheme. With Tagovailoa potentially being benched, Miami’s HC situation will be an area to closely monitor before Black Monday.
Bengals’ Duke Tobin Not On Hot Seat; Zac Taylor Likely To Be Retained For 2026
The Bengals have plunged into an ignominious place, being set to miss three straight playoff brackets in Joe Burrow‘s 20s. The team’s status received additional scrutiny after some puzzling comments from the superstar quarterback last week. Although Burrow attempted to clarify the disillusionment he expressed was not directed at the Bengals, antennae around the NFL sprang up after the press conference.
Sitting 4-10, the Bengals have regressed considerably from a 2024 season that featured a woeful defense deny Burrow playoff access after an MVP-caliber season. Cincinnati’s defense has dipped from 2024, as Trey Hendrickson has missed much of this season with a hip injury. For most franchises, a housecleaning would be considered. But the Bengals do not operate like most clubs.
While rumblings about de facto GM Duke Tobin‘s job security emerged midway through this season, The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. counters by noting the executive VP is not going anywhere. The Bengals view Tobin “like family,” per Dehner.
Tobin, 55, has been with the Bengals since 1999. The team did not win a playoff game for 20-plus years into Tobin’s stay with the team. In most cases, the person in the GM seat would have been fired long ago. But the Bengals have kept Tobin around; success during the Burrow era followed, but the team is certainly in a rut.
Hired in 2019, Taylor will end this season 2-for-7 in playoff qualification. Burrow injuries have defined much of Taylor’s tenure, however, and the team made back-to-back AFC championship game berths for the first time in franchise history on the current HC’s watch. This included a narrow Super Bowl LVI defeat. Since the Bengals’ 2022 AFC title game loss to the Chiefs, they are 22-26. Like Tobin, however, Taylor should be viewed as likely to remain in his post beyond this season, per Dehner.
Taylor’s extension carries two more years, as Dehner adds the contract runs through the 2027 season instead of 2026. The sides agreed on a five-year extension in 2022, but Dehner notes the parties huddled up again on an amended deal following the 2022 slate; this tacked on a year to the previous agreement. That additional bump could prove to be significant regarding Taylor’s future.
When the Bengals last made a coaching change, Marvin Lewis coached a lame-duck season. This left no guaranteed money for the longtime HC, giving the Bengals a clean out after the 2018 season. Most teams do not proceed this way, but the Bengals certainly have a reputation for thriftiness under Brown. Firing Taylor with two seasons left on his deal would be out of character, though it would stand to reason the HC’s seat would be reasonably warm come 2026.
Burrow lobbied aggressively for the Bengals to retain Tee Higgins and then stumped for a Hendrickson payday. Hendrickson is on track for free agency, seeing his extension push fail when the Bengals refused to include guaranteed salary beyond Year 1 of a new deal. His raise has led to a seven-game season; the Pro Bowl pass rusher is now on season-ending IR. Higgins has played well when healthy, though he has sustained two concussions this season. It will be interesting to see if Burrow pushes for any additional moves, as many roster updates will be required after this wildly disappointing season.
Additionally, Dehner notes DC Al Golden is more likely to stay than go in 2026. Although DVOA had Golden’s defense ranked as the worst in NFL history through 10 weeks, the Bengals have shown some improvement recently.
The team ranked last in EPA per drive and points allowed per drive before its bye week; it is now 23rd and 19th in those categories, respectively, since. Those are not exactly impressive statistics, but the Bengals have employed Golden on multiple occasions. The former Notre Dame staffer is likely to be given a chance to repair the unit in 2026.
A stay-the-course path certainly will be risky for the Bengals, who have seen some prime Burrow years squandered due to injuries, poor defensive performance and slow starts. It will be interesting to see if any real chatter about Burrow visiting the Carson Palmer playbook surfaces. For the time being, the high-end QB is not taking any aggressive tactics with regard to his Cincinnati status. He will also keep playing despite Cincy’s playoff elimination, even as yet another season of his became defined by injury (this one turf toe). But plenty of heat will be on the Bengals’ top decision-makers coming out of this double-digit loss season.
Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love Declares For Draft
Widely considered the RB1 of this year’s draft class from the start of the season, Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love has surprised absolutely nobody with his announcement today (via Instagram) that he is declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft. While the perpetual debate around this particular position being first-round-worthy is sure to rear its ugly head, Love has garnered several first-round grades following an impressive junior year. 
A consensus top 100 prospect coming out St. Louis, Love fielded offers from nearly every major program as one of the top backs in the Class of 2023. He took official visits the summer before his senior year to Texas A&M, Oregon, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Alabama. When the paid trips were done, only the Aggies and Fighting Irish saw him on campus on his own dime before his eventual commitment partway through his final season of high school ball.
As a true freshman in head coach (for now) Marcus Freeman‘s second season at the helm, Love was the team’s second-leading rusher, though it was a distant second as bell-cow back Audric Estime led the team with 210 carries (compared to Love’s 71). After seeing Estime get drafted in the fifth-round to Denver, Love took over the lead back role, though the rushing attack in his sophomore campaign proved to be much more of a committee than in 2023.
Dual-threat quarterback Riley Leonard led the team in carries (184) and tied Love for the team-lead in rushing touchdowns (17), but with a healthy 6.9 yards per rush attempt, Love led the team with 1,125 rushing yards on 163 carries as a sophomore. That year redshirt sophomore Jadarian Price got a healthy secondary dose of his own, as well, logging 120 carries for 746 yards and seven touchdowns in the Irish’s three-headed rushing attack that took them to the College Football Playoff championship game.
With a new, more stationary quarterback under center for his junior year, Love saw a nice boost to his usage. Despite opening up his 2025 campaign with a season-low 33 yards in a loss to the Hurricanes, Love rattled off a few monster performances in games against Purdue (19 carries-157 rushing yards-2 rushing touchdowns), USC (24-228-1), Boston College (17-136-2), Pittsburgh (23-147-1), and Syracuse (8-171-3). In four fewer games than his sophomore season, Love tallied 199 carries for 1,372 yards and 18 rushing touchdowns, all while redshirt junior Price still accounted for 113 carries for 674 yards and 11 touchdowns of his own.
In Dane Brugler of The Athletic’s midseason rankings of his top 50 draft prospects, Love registered at No. 5 overall as one of only two running backs to make the top 50 — the other being Price at No. 39. Love runs with a smooth yet explosive style. He displays impressive patience as he floats through the first level before exploding to the second. He finds several ways to be elusive and hard to bring down — his favorite of which tends to be the “Y” or “triangle” button on your controllers at home as he frequently attempts to put opponents on highlight reels with his hurdles.
He’s not a prolific pass catcher out of the backfield, but that doesn’t stop him from being dangerous once the ball is in his hands via checkdown or swing pass. He’ll have a lot of room to improve with pass pro at the next level, but few college rushers really come in as elite blockers. While ultimately, the efforts he and his teammates put on the field fell short of qualification for the College Football Playoff, Love’s efforts earned him a trip to New York as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, where he finished third in voting for the award behind Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia and Heisman-winner Fernando Mendoza, the quarterback out of Indiana.
Overall, there isn’t going to be much argument over who the best running back in this class is. Love finished the season 5th in the NCAA in rushing yards and third in rushing touchdowns. At this point, it doesn’t look like there will be any debate over which running back will come off the board first. Instead, the question to posit will be exactly when Love’s name comes off the board in April.
Commanders Place WR Noah Brown On IR
Noah Brown‘s injury-marred season has come to an end. The veteran receiver has once again landed on injured reserve, the Commanders announced on Tuesday. 
Brown managed to play in Week 15, but that represented just his fourth appearance of the season. It would also prove to be his last. The move back to IR ensures at least a four-week absence. Having already been eliminated from the playoffs, the Commanders’ three remaining regular season games will be the last of their 2025 campaign.
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In his second season with the Commanders, Brown started the first two weeks of the season, drawing a healthy seven targets but only reeling in three catches for 36 yards. A groin injury would sideline him for the next 11 weeks. Injuries are nothing new for Brown, who hasn’t appeared in every game of a single season since 2020. Even that full campaign came on the heels of his 2018 season, in which he missed the first half of the year, and his 2019 season, in which he sat the entire year on the reserve/physically unable to perform list due to multiple knee surgeries.
This hasn’t only been a Brown problem, though. Injuries have been so rampant in Washington that, at one point, the team fielded a starting lineup that featured veteran Chris Moore and fourth-round rookie Jaylin Lane at wideout with Luke McCaffrey and Robbie Chosen coming off the bench. While stars Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel eventually returned, McCaffrey found his way to IR, where he would join running back Austin Ekeler and eventually be joined by tight end Zach Ertz. To really drive the point home, the team shut down starting quarterback Jayden Daniels today with three games left in the season as he recovers from an elbow dislocation on his non-throwing arm.
To fill Browns’ spot on the 53-man roster, the Commanders signed Moore back from the practice squad. Moore was initially signed off the practice squad to fill Ekeler’s spot on the active roster following his season-ending injury. Moore was waived to make room when Brown was activated just 10 days ago, but he’ll make a quick return to the 53-man roster.
Ely Allen contributed to this post.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/16/25
Today’s practice squad transactions:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: OL Marques Cox, S Patrick McMorris
- Released: T Trey Wedig
Buffalo Bills
- Released: CB M.J. Devonshire
Chicago Bears
- Signed: LB Dominique Hampton
- Released: LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin
Denver Broncos
- Released: RB Sincere McCormick
Detroit Lions
- Signed: CB Keenan Garber
Houston Texans
- Signed: S Brandon Hill
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: G LaDarius Henderson, G Bill Murray, T Zachary Thomas
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: G Nick Broeker, S Tanner McCalister
New York Giants
- Signed: CB Jarrick Bernard-Converse
New York Jets
- Signed: S Jaylen Mahoney, LB Ochaun Mathis
- Released: QB Adrian Martinez
San Francisco 49ers
- Released: CB Isaiah Bolden
Washington Commanders
- Signed: WR River Cracraft, WR Gee Scott Jr.
- Placed on practice squad/injured list: CB Darius Rush
NFL Minor Transactions: 12/16/25
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed to active roster: WR Jalen Brooks
Cincinnati Bengals
- Claimed off waivers (from Steelers): WR Ke’Shawn Williams
Houston Texans
- Signed to active roster: RB Jawhar Jordan
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed off Panthers’ practice squad: RB DeeJay Dallas
- Opened practice window: LB Jalen McLeod
- Placed on IR: LB Jack Kiser
Las Vegas Raiders
- Waived: DT Leki Fotu
New England Patriots
- Signed off Colts’ practice squad: LB Chad Muma
New York Jets
- Signed to active roster: S Jarius Monroe
Seattle Seahawks
- Waived: S D’Anthony Bell
Tennessee Titans
- Claimed off waivers (from Browns): G Garrett Dellinger
A steady presence in Arizona a couple years ago, Fotu started four of six game appearances for the Raiders this year. The occasional starts were not indicative of his true usage, though, as he hasn’t gotten consistent time on the field for Las Vegas in 2025. The Raiders will move on from the veteran as they shift focus in a lost season towards evaluating young talent with more gametime.
As a practice squad elevation this weekend, Jordan became the first Texans running back to eclipse the century mark in a game this year. Houston wasted little time in returning him to the active roster
Giants Waive K Younghoe Koo, Claim LB Caleb Murphy
The Giants made a flurry of roster moves on Tuesday, including the release of kicker Younghoe Koo and the addition of linebacker Caleb Murphy via waivers, per NFL insider Jordan Schultz and KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson.
Koo, 31, took over the Giants’ kicking job after Graham Gano suffered a herniated disk that forced him onto injured reserve for the second time this season. Gano previously missed Weeks 4 though 7 with a groin injury, during which time Jude McAtamney kicked in his place. He made both of his field goals but only nine of his 12 extra point tries. McAtamney returned to the practice squad when Gano came back in Week 8 and was later released altogether.
When Gano’s neck injury popped up in early November, the Giants signed Koo and undrafted free agent Ben Sauls to their practice squad. Koo won the starting job and made his first 12 kicks across four games, but failed to convert his two field goal attempts in Week 15. Though both misses came from outside of 50 yards, New York opted to waive the veteran and give Sauls a chance.
The rookie out of Pitt signed, fittingly, with the Steelers after the draft. Though he had virtually no chance of overtaking longtime starter Chris Boswell, he performed well in the preseason with a five-for-six mark on field goals and a perfect six-for-six showing on extra points. Sauls is now in line to make his NFL debut on Sunday against the Vikings.
Murphy, 26, will join his third team of the season after stints with the Chargers and the Patriots. He primarily featured on special teams and will likely continue in a similar role in New York.
The Giants also designated fourth-year offensive lineman Evan Neal to return from injured reserve. The former first-rounder’s mid-November hamstring injury and subsequent IR placement seemed to signify the end of his time in New York, but Neal may come back this season after all. The Giants do not necessarily need reinforcements along their offensive line, though, and Joshua Ezeudu returned to practice last week. If he is activated to the 53-man roster, there may not be room for Neal, so today’s move could have been a formality to give him some more practice reps before the year’s end.