Minor NFL Transactions: 4/29/26
Wednesday’s midweek minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: FB Ben VanSumeren
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed franchise tender: WR George Pickens (story)
Detroit Lions
- Signed: LB Joe Bachie, DT Jay Tufele
Kansas City Chiefs
- Received international exemption: T Chukwuebuka Godrick
- Waived: RB ShunDerrick Powell
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: DT Leki Fotu
Los Angeles Chargers
- Received international exemption: TE Thomas Yassmin
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: DT Eric Johnson II
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: TE Harrison Bryant
The Seahawks are adding some depth in their tight ends room by bringing in the former Mackey Award winner out of FAU. Seattle relied heavily on a two-man crew featuring AJ Barner and Elijah Arroyo until a knee injury placed the second-round rookie, Arroyo, on injured reserve for most of the rest of the team’s Super Bowl run. When Arroyo went down, veteran Eric Saubert came in to supplement Barner with minimal contributions from undrafted Minnesota rookie Nick Kallerup.
In his rookie year, Bryant looked like he might displace David Njoku as TE2 behind Austin Hooper in Cleveland. He found himself third in the pecking order in Year 2, but returned to TE2 duties, this time behind Njoku, after Hooper was no longer on the team.
Dolphins Part Ways With Champ Kelly
With the draft now in the books, the Dolphins are among the teams undergoing changes in their front office. The most notable departure has come in the form of new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan‘s predecessor.
Miami has parted ways with Champ Kelly, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reports. Kelly held the title of senior personnel executive but also served as the Dolphins’ interim GM after Chris Grier‘s in-season dismissal. Miami was one of the teams in need of a new general manager during the 2026 hiring cycle, something which ultimately resulted in Sullivan’s hire and consultant Troy Aikman securing a semi-permanent role in the organization.
When the Dolphins narrowed their GM candidates list to four, Kelly was still in the running. He had just joined the team near the start of the prior league year after three-year tenure in Las Vegas that started with his first opportunity in an assistant general manager role before moving him into an interim role in place of fired Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler. The former Broncos and Bears staffer’s knowledge of both college and pro scouting helped him quickly climb up to even be in position for multiple interim GM opportunities.
Joining Kelly in departure are pro scouts J.P. Correia and Andy Howell. Correia came out of the UMass front office in 2017, serving a short pro personnel internship with the Giants before joining the Dolphins as a scouting assistant. Corriea worked as a player personnel scout for the next three years before spent the past four seasons in his most recent role.
Howell started as a scouting assistant with the Browns in 2012, spent two years going from pro personnel intern to assistant with the Jets, and spent a season as the director of player personnel/recruiting coordinator at Western Michigan before joining the Dolphins in 2016. He only spent one season as a player personnel scout before moving in a the pro scout position for the past eight seasons.
Ely Allen contributed to this post.
DT Jaleel Johnson Retires
Jaleel Johnson will not return to the NFL in 2026. The veteran defensive tackle has retired at the age of 31, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson notes.
Johnson entered the league in 2017. He played out his rookie contract as a member of the Vikings, taking on a larger defensive workload with each passing season. Johnson operated as a full-time starter during his final Minnesota campaign, and his 654 snaps that season wound up being the most of his career during a single year.
During his first foray into free agency, Johnson joined the Texans on a one-year deal. He did not survive roster cuts but still wound up making 12 appearances with Houston in 2021. During the ensuing years, Johnson found himself bouncing on and off practice squads while serving in a depth capacity. The former fourth-rounder split his time between the Texans and Falcons in 2022.
That was followed by a brief stint with the Titans. Johnson spent the 2023 campaign in Tennessee, alternating between time on the active roster and the team’s practice squad. The Iowa product managed 12 games played that season, but he did not receive any contracts (or take any known visits with interested teams) after that point. Johnson remained unsigned deep into the spring, and with the draft now in the books he will not be seeking out an opportunity to land with a team during training camp, as was the case in 2024.
Despite never delivering standout production against the run or pass, Johnson amassed 90 combined regular and postseason appearances across a career which spanned seven years. He has officially retired with just over $5.5MM in total earnings.
Falcons Part Ways With Exec Chris Olsen, Hire Eagles’ Bryce Johnston
APRIL 29: Johnston will hold the title of senior vice president of football administration/senior personnel executive in Atlanta, per a team announcement. He will thus play a leading role as part of the Falcons’ significantly revamped front office.
APRIL 27: The Falcons are continuing to reshape their front office under new vice president of football operations Matt Ryan and general manager Ian Cunningham. The latest change is the departure of senior director of football administration Chris Olsen, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Olsen is a longtime NFL executive who began his career working for the NFL Management Council. In 2007, he was hired as the Texans’ senior vice president of football administration, a post he held until his firing in 2020. He then joined the Falcons the following year and played a key role negotiating contracts and managing Atlanta’s tight cap situation over the last several years.
Replacing Olson will be Eagles senior vice president/tertiary football executive Bryce Johnston, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. He spent the last decade working under one of the league’s preeminent contract/cap experts in Howie Roseman, which included the execution of major deals with Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, and several others.
Johnston overlapped with new Falcons GM Ian Cunningham in Philly. Johnston will now take that expertise to Atlanta where he will manage the salary cap, lead contract negotiations, and handle similar roster-related duties under the Falcons’ new regime.
The Falcons are also overhauling their scouting department. The team has parted ways with scouts Alex Brown, Ben Martinez, and Shepley Heard, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. Brown joined the team just last year, while Martinez arrived in 2023. Heard was previously Atlanta’s director of pro personnel under former general manager Thomas Dimitroff, but was demoted to an area scout role when Terry Fontenot took over in 2021.
Jets Decline Mazi Smith’s Fifth-Year Option
The Jets announced on Wednesday that they picked up the fifth-year option for their 2023 first-round pick, Will McDonald. However, according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini, they will not do the same with Mazi Smith, the Cowboys’ 2023 first-rounder who was acquired as part of the Quinnen Williams deal at the 2025 trade deadline.
New York’s second fifth-year option decision certainly comes as no surprise. Smith did not develop as hoped during his tenure with the Cowboys, something which made him expendable in the Williams swap. He will now enter next season as a pending free agent.
Smith played sparingly as a rookie but took on a full-time starting role during his second season in Dallas. The Michigan product did not emerge as a notable presence in the pass rush department. Run defense remained a concern, and while the Cowboys initially displayed a desire to keep Smith in the fold, his name was mentioned in trade speculation. Upgrading along the defensive interior was a goal for the team last offseason, and Kenny Clark was part of the package Dallas received in the Micah Parsons blockbuster.
Even with Clark in the fold, Dallas sought out further changes at the D-tackle spot. That led to the Williams trade, and Smith — a throw-in piece in that November 2025 swap — played a role in replacing him upon arrival in New York.
Smith made just three appearances with the Jets down the stretch, though, logging only 54 defensive snaps along the way. A depth role should again be in store for his first full campaign with the team. The Jets acquired T’Vondre Sweat in the trade which sent Jermaine Johnson to the Titans and signed David Onyemata in free agency.
Defensive tackle was still seen as a position where New York could make further investments entering the draft. The Jets selected Darrell Jackson Jr. in the fourth round, and he will look to carve out a rotational role as a rookie. How Smith fits into the team’s setup on the defensive line will be interesting to see. It will also determine his earning potential upon testing the open market next spring.
Seventeen defensive tackles are currently attached to an AAV of $20MM or more. Smith would not have joined that group had his option ($13.93MM) been exercised, but a raise to that figure would have still been unexpected. The 2026 season will represent Smith’s age-25 campaign, and it will be key in deciding how his second NFL contract takes shape.
Nikhil Mehta contributed to this post.
Jets Pick Up Will McDonald’s Fifth-Year Option
The Jets officially picked up Will McDonald‘s fifth-year option, per a team announcement, ensuring the 2023 first-rounder remains under contract through the 2027 season. This had been the expectation, and this Jets regime now has more time to evaluate the Joe Douglas/Robert Saleh-era first-rounder.
McDonald, 26, had a quiet rookie year but emerged as a productive edge rusher in the last two seasons with 18.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss. Those numbers did not earn him any Pro Bowl recognition, which, combined with his minimal playing time as a rookie, keeps his fifth-year option at the lowest tier. He will be owed a fully guaranteed salary of $13.75MM, an excellent price for a consistent pass rusher.
[RELATED: 2027 NFL Fifth-Year Option Tracker]
That number looks even better considering McDonald’s upside. He is an elite athlete with nearly 35-inch arms, though his otherwise undersized frame significantly limits him against the run. That, of course, is less important in a league that pays for pass rushing production more than anything else.
The two sides can now get to work on a long-term extension, though negotiations could be tricky. McDonald’s traditional counting statistics over the last two years place him among the league’s top 20 edge rushers and in the company of players like Odafe Oweh, who just signed with the Commanders for $24MM per year. However, his pass rush win rate and pressure production fall closer to the middle of the pack, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
In fact, those numbers closely compare to Joseph Ossai, who just signed with the Jets for $11.5MM per year. A McDonald extension should certainly come in higher than Ossai’s due to his option value, but there is still a significant gap between that and Oweh’s deal. However, both player and club have plenty of reason to come to the table. McDonald is set to earn just $3MM in 2026, and his fifth-year option will be paid out as base salary over the course of the 2027 season. A multiyear deal would give him a sizable up-front payday and some long-term security as soon as he puts pen to paper.
The Jets would also benefit from an early extension. The new years and money would be added on to McDonald’s current deal, resulting in a much more favorable annual cost over the full term of the contract. The team retained McDonald at last year’s trade deadline. At the time, it was believed he carried more value to the current regime than fellow 2025 trade target Jermaine Johnson. The Jets dealt Johnson to Saleh’s Titans in March, though No. 2 overall pick David Bailey now resides as the team’s pass-rushing centerpiece. Johnson will remain in the fold, however, as the team evaluates his place alongside the Texas Tech standout.
Kadyn Proctor’s Dolphins Career To Begin At Guard
In 2016, the Dolphins benefited from Laremy Tunsil‘s slide to No. 13 overall. Although Miami eventually stationed the high-level prospect at his natural left tackle position, Year 1 featured Tunsil at guard while Branden Albert remained on Ryan Tannehill‘s blind side. Kadyn Proctor‘s NFL journey may begin similarly.
The Dolphins intend to use the Alabama left tackle — this year’s No. 12 overall pick — at guard to open his career, GM Jon-Eric Sullivan said during an appearance on the Joe Rose Show (h/t ESPN.com’s Marcel Louis-Jacques). Specifically, the new Miami GM said left guard will be where Proctor begins his NFL run.
While the Dolphins intend to cross-train the college left tackle at both guard and tackle, the team will have him learn LG while 2025 LG Jonah Savaiinaea moves to RG. All 982 of Savaiinaea’s rookie-year snaps came at left guard. Rather than ensure continuity there and have Proctor try right guard to begin his career, a new Dolphins regime will relocate Chris Grier‘s final second-round pick.
Proctor’s draft stock was partially boosted by his left tackle ability, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, as the two tackles drafted before him — Spencer Fano and Francis Mauigoa — were primarily RTs in college. Ditto Lions first-rounder Blake Miller. Proctor played left tackle for three seasons at Alabama, earning first-team All-SEC and second-team All-America honors last season. Our Ely Allen noted in PFR’s mock draft that many teams would be interested in seeing how Proctor looks at guard, and the Dolphins will kick the tires here.
Proctor checked in at 6-foot-6 and 352 pounds at the Combine. He will become one of the NFL’s biggest guards. Sullivan said (via Louis-Jacques) following the Proctor pick — which came after a one-spot trade-down move via Dallas — he could potentially play four positions along the O-line (all but center). Featuring needs at many positions entering the draft, the Dolphins made Proctor their first pick — over the likes of Rueben Bain Jr. and Makai Lemon — of the Sullivan era. The team also traded out of No. 11, giving the Cowboys Caleb Downs access. Passing on Bain and Downs certainly provide expectations for Proctor, whose path to a left tackle job may not materialize as Tunsil’s did nearly 10 years ago.
The Dolphins moved Tunsil to LT in 2017 upon trading Albert to the Jaguars. The Sullivan-Jeff Hafley regime, however, has Patrick Paul going into his second season as the left tackle starter. Austin Jackson is in place at RT, though injuries have regularly impacted the O-line nomad in Miami. Jackson has settled at RT, receiving a three-year extension worth $36MM in late 2023, but he did play guard previously with the Dolphins.
Paul replaced a retired Terron Armstead at LT last year, doing so as Jackson missed 11 games (after missing nine in 2024). Jackson missed 15 games in 2022, with his healthy 2023 leading to the extension. Miami gave Jackson a pay cut this offseason, potentially opening the door for Proctor at RT (the team also lost swing tackle Larry Borom in free agency). Jackson’s deal expires at season’s end. More clarity will come on Proctor’s positional future by then, but for now, a Tunsil-like path at LG to open his career is in the cards.
Miami drafted another guard — Texas’ D.J. Campbell — in Round 6. The team is planning to try the former Longhorns blocker at center in addition to guard, the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson notes. The team also added ex-Charger swingman Jamaree Salyer in free agency, providing another potential answer at tackle or guard.
S Justin Simmons Announces Retirement
Last month, Justin Simmons revealed a desire to return to the NFL in 2026. But the accomplished safety has since changed his mind. Simmons announced his retirement Wednesday.
Retiring as a Bronco (via an announcement shared by the team), Simmons exits the NFL after nine seasons. Eight of those came in Denver, with the All-Pro spending the 2024 season in Atlanta. Simmons, 32, did not play last season. He timed his announcement 10 years after being drafted.
Simmons was not part of the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 defense, arriving months after the team’s championship parade as a 2016 third-round pick. But he enjoyed several quality seasons as the franchise transitioned from its Peyton Manning era. Simmons ended his career as a four-time All-Pro and was among his era’s best ballhawks.
The Broncos parked Simmons behind their No Fly Zone safety starters — T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart — as a rookie but released Ward upon deeming the Boston College product ready by Year 2. Simmons then anchored the Broncos’ secondary for a few seasons, eventually commanding two franchise tags (in 2020 and ’21).
Simmons was among many players to play on the tag in 2020 — when the COVID-19 pandemic created cap uncertainty — and was tied to a $11.44MM salary that year. Simmons earned Pro Bowl recognition in 2020 and saw the Broncos re-tag him in 2021. Simmons joined Chris Godwin, Brandon Scherff and Leonard Williams as players to receive the tag in 2020 and ’21 (Dak Prescott was procedurally tagged in ’21) but ended up with a market-setting extension soon after the Broncos applied tag No. 2.
The Broncos gave Simmons a four-year, $61MM extension in March 2021. At the time, that represented the safety position’s high-water mark. Jamal Adams‘ ill-fated Seahawks payday months later established distance between his pact and Simmons’, but the Broncos certainly saw more value from their safety accord. Simmons found spots on the next three All-Pro second teams, camping on that tier; from 2019-23, Simmons earned four second-team All-Pro nods.
Simmons finished his Bronco career with 32 interceptions, recording at least five each year from 2020-22; he tied for the league lead with six in ’22. The Broncos paired Simmons with first-round cornerback Patrick Surtain for three seasons, with both earning All-Pro acclaim in 2022. Simmons helped the Broncos complete a turnaround in Sean Payton‘s first months on the job. After missing the team’s infamous 70-20 blowout loss to the Dolphins in Week 3, Simmons was part of a five-game win streak that had the Broncos as surprising playoff contenders. One of those wins included a Week 8 victory over the eventual Super Bowl champion Chiefs, which featured one of Simmons’ six career interceptions of Patrick Mahomes.
As the Broncos braced for a then-record-smashing single-player dead money hit — from Russell Wilson‘s release — they included Simmons’ contract as a way to reach cap compliance. Denver released Simmons along with Wilson in March 2024. He caught on later with the Falcons, who authorized a one-year deal worth $7.5MM. Atlanta paired Simmons with Jessie Bates that season, and while the veteran made 16 starts that year, he did not land anywhere in 2025. The Eagles and Panthers — in potential reunions with Vic Fangio and Ejiro Evero — emerged as possibilities for Simmons last summer, but nothing came to fruition.
Although Simmons never played in a playoff game, he led all safeties in INTs during his eight-year Broncos run. While Simmons is unlikely to follow decorated Broncos safeties Steve Atwater, John Lynch and Brian Dawkins into the Hall of Fame, he will likely land in the franchise’s ring of fame down the road. The free safety staple retires having earned more than $69MM over the course of his career.
Giants To Sign DT Shelby Harris
Trading their cornerstone defensive lineman days before the draft, the Giants created a glaring need. Dexter Lawrence is now part of a deep Bengals D-tackle group, while the Giants need some answers after devoting their early draft resources elsewhere.
One of those answers is coming from a recent visitor. A month after meeting with the Giants, Shelby Harris is signing with the team (according to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson). Harris joined D.J. Reader in visiting the team while Lawrence remained a Giant, though Harris’ visit came before the All-Pro’s trade request.
This agreement will give Harris a chance to play an age-35 season. Formerly a key Broncos D-line piece who became part of the 2022 Russell Wilson trade, Harris spent the past three seasons as a Jim Schwartz charge in Cleveland. Regularly redirecting passes via batdowns, Harris started 25 games with the Browns and has 89 career starts on his resume.
The Giants have been looking for multiple D-linemen, according to The Athletic’s Dan Duggan, who indicates the team has been searching for a nose tackle and a three technique. Harris qualifies for the latter role, while Reader would be a nose addition. Reader remains unsigned but has been closely linked to the Giants this offseason.
Neither Harris nor Reader will count toward the 2027 compensatory formula, as that deadline passed Monday. Free agency annually reignites after that point on the NFL calendar. Joe Schoen said (via Duggan) the team had been in contact with a few veteran DTs, while John Harbaugh confirmed post-draft (via Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith) the Giants were “not done at all” at this spot.
A 2014 seventh-round Raiders draftee, Harris found a home in Denver after spending the 2016 season out of football. Harris served as a five-year cog for the Broncos, contributing for Vance Joseph and Vic Fangio‘s 3-4 defenses. Harris tallied two six-sack seasons under Fangio, and his pass-deflecting prowess shone during those years. Harris deflected nine passes in 2019 and re-routed seven more in 2020. From 2017-25, Harris ranks fourth among front-seven players with 40 pass deflections. Only Cameron Heyward, the since-retired Carlos Dunlap and T.J. Watt have more.
The Broncos re-signed Harris on a three-year, $27MM deal heading into Fangio’s final season as HC. A year later, they included that contract in the eight-asset Wilson trade package. The Seahawks used Harris as a starter in 2022 but released him in 2023, leading to the Cleveland trek. Used as a part-time starter, Harris totaled 18 tackles for loss over three Browns seasons. Pro Football Focus ranked Harris as a top-35 interior D-lineman in 2023 and ’24, slotting him 56th (out of 127 qualified options) in 2025.
Set to turn 35 in August, Harris certainly will not be a one-for-one Lawrence replacement. The Giants, who also lost Rakeem Nunez-Roches this offseason, waited until Round 6 to address the position in the draft. They do return veteran Roy Robertson-Harris and 2025 third-round pick Darius Alexander up front, but a team that ranked 31st in run stoppage with Lawrence last season certainly has more work to do after this Harris addition.
Jets Host QB Russell Wilson
After spending last season with the Giants, quarterback Russell Wilson may not have to go far to find his next team. Wilson visited the Jets on Monday, Brian Costello of the New York Post reports.
No signing is imminent, but there is “mutual interest” between the Jets and the 37-year-old Wilson, according to Connor Hughes of SNY. Wilson still lives in the area and “doesn’t really want to leave,” per Hughes.
Wilson was among the NFL’s top signal-callers for a large portion of a Seattle run that spanned from 2012-21, but the one-time Super Bowl winner’s production has fallen off in recent years. Since the end of his decade-long tenure in Seattle, where he earned nine Pro Bowl nods, Wilson has played for three teams in a four-year span.
Wilson’s fruitful Seahawks stint came to an end when they sent him to the Broncos for two first-round picks, a pair of second-rounders, defensive lineman Shelby Harris, tight end Noah Fant and QB Drew Lock in a March 2022 blockbuster. It ended up an ill-fated trade for the Broncos, who got two underwhelming seasons from Wilson and sputtered to a 13-21 record. They released Wilson in March 2024 and took on a then-record $85MM in dead money.
Looking for an upgrade over Kenny Pickett, the Steelers made a pair of dart throws when they added Wilson and Justin Fields ahead of the 2024 season. Both players wound up making starts, but Wilson got more action. Across 11 starts, he threw 16 touchdowns against five interceptions. While the Steelers went a middling 6-5 in Wilson’s outings, they finished 10-7 and earned a wild-card berth. Wilson completed 20 of 29 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns in the first round of the playoffs, but the Ravens handled the Steelers in a 28-14 victory. That proved to be Wilson’s last game in Pittsburgh.
Wilson was one of three high-profile QB pickups for the Giants last offseason. Before trading back into the first round to draft Jaxson Dart 25th overall, they signed Wilson to a one-year, $10.5MM guarantee and gave Jameis Winston $8MM over two years. Wilson opened the season as the Giants’ starter, but then-head coach Brian Daboll quickly pulled the plug. Daboll handed the reins to Dart in Week 4. Even though Dart later missed two games with a concussion, the Giants turned to Winston instead of Wilson in those instances. Wilson’s last start as a Giant came Sept. 21, 2025. He attempted just nine passes the rest of the year.
Shortly after the Giants’ season ended in January, Wilson revealed he suffered a hamstring tear last September. Despite that, he has insisted on multiple occasions that he wants to play a 15th season in 2026. The rebuilding Jets already have a bridge starter in offseason acquisition Geno Smith, Wilson’s former backup with the Seahawks, but the former enjoyed working with the latter in Seattle, per Costello. While rookie fourth-rounder Cade Klubnik, Brady Cook and Bailey Zappe are also in the fold, the Jets may turn to Wilson as Smith’s primary backup next season.