Eagles Rookie Markel Bell Could Challenge For Swing Tackle Role
The Eagles boast one of the more-talented, highly regarded pair of bookend tackles in the league with Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson. Philadelphia still opted to utilize a Day 2 pick on the position, and doing so has the potential to address two things moving forward for the Eagles.
With Johnson having just turned 36 years old with two years remaining on his contract, third-round rookie Markel Bell could be the plan as the heir apparent to Johnson if the Eagles opt to move on from the All-Pro right tackle. In a more immediate purpose, though, Bell could wrestle the role of swing tackle away from veteran incumbent Fred Johnson. According to Zach Berman of The Athletic, with Lane Johnson not currently present at Organized Team Activities, it’s been Bell, not Fred Johnson, benefitting from first-team reps in his place.
Bell found his way to third-round draft status after landing at Miami (FL) through the JuCo route. After two years at Holmes Community College (MS), Bell committed to the Hurricanes and earned a swing tackle role in his first year. He arrived in Coral Gables a bit raw, boasting elite size in his 6-foot-9, 350-pound frame. After a year in the Hurricanes’ system, he earned a starting role as the blindside blocker opposite first-round teammate Francis Mauigoa. He hasn’t quite found his ideal body composition and his lower body movement could use work at the next level, but Bell boasts the size, strength, and length of an NFL tackle with surprising mobility and athleticism.
Fred Johnson, a former undrafted free agent out of Florida, has done good work to stay in the NFL over the past seven years. Initially signing with the Steelers after falling out of the 2019 draft, Johnson was claimed by the Bengals when Pittsburgh waived him midway through October of his rookie year. In two and a half seasons in Cincinnati, Johnson appeared in 23 games, earning seven starts. After a year in Tampa Bay, Johnson signed with the Eagles, with whom he’s enjoyed a three-year stint as the team’s swing tackle, appearing in 51 games and starting 14 of them. Over the past two seasons, though, in those 14 starts, Johnson has not graded out favorably, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
So, with Bell getting tapped to fill in as the starting right tackle in place of Lane Johnson in OTAs, he’s gaining experience at right tackle that will benefit his ability to fill in on either side of the line, and he’s getting valuable experience on the first team offense that could give coaches an idea of his potential to start in future seasons. If he continues to get looks over Fred Johnson moving forward, he could establish a role as the Eagles swing tackle in his rookie campaign.
Raiders Intend To Use RB Ashton Jeanty As Workhorse
Two weeks after ESPN’s Ryan McFadden reported that new Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak said he “would like to have a two-running back system” to “take some of the workload off” Ashton Jeanty, a new report seems to offer a change in stance. McFadden’s report this week suggested that Kubiak wants to give Jeanty a Christian McCaffrey-like snap share in his sophomore campaign.
Two weeks ago, we wrote about the potential Arkansas rookie running back Mike Washington Jr. held in his ability to relieve Jeanty of some of his massive workload. Running backs in Las Vegas last year carried the ball 307 times; Jeanty’s 266 carries accounted for 86.6% of them. Out of 994 offensive snaps for the Raiders, Jeanty was on the field for 770 (77.5%) of them. For context, McCaffrey’s 311 carries accounted for 77.2% of the team’s 403 carries by running backs, and he was on the field for 1,014 (81.7%) of the team’s 1,241 snaps.
“We want to put a lot of pressure on Ashton,” Kubiak told reporters. “…I don’t know the play snap percentage, but you look at Christian McCaffrey, his play snap percentage is high. So, the great backs, they don’t want to come off the field.”
Jeanty answered his new coach’s call, telling reporters that he didn’t want to come off the field if he didn’t have to. In his heavy usage as a rookie, Jeanty averaged an underwhelming 3.7 yards per carry, but that lack of efficiency wasn’t all on his shoulders. As part of the league’s worst rushing attack in Las Vegas last year, Jeanty was stopped for zero or fewer runs on 26.7% of his carries, per McFadden, and his 639 yards after contact are the most in the past 20 seasons for rushers who didn’t reach 1,000 yards.
The Raiders worked hard to ensure they were putting an improved offense around Jeanty, and they’ll hope that doing so will allow him to reap more production for his efforts. To increase his durability and endurance, Jeanty has incorporated boxing into his cardio routine, and he’s started film study on the likes of McCaffrey and new division-rival Kenneth Walker III (the last leading rusher in a Kubiak-led offense). Reaching that level of usage will require Jeanty to play a bigger part in the passing game, as well.
Kubiak knows the lofty expectations the Raiders had when drafting Jeanty the year before he arrived, and he knows the expectations Jeanty has for himself. He, therefore, sees it as his responsibility to get those expectations out of Jeanty and wants to continue to “challenge” and “pressure” him to get him there. Kubiak did relent a bit, reasserting that “it’s important to have a quality second back,” but in his eyes, “the best player has got to play,” and he wants to get that best player “on the field as much as (they) can.”
Charlie Kolar Could Be Chargers’ TE1
Following the strong rookie campaign of Chargers tight end Oronde Gadsden II and the addition of veteran Pro Bowler David Njoku in free agency, it seems odd to assert that Charlie Kolar — TE3 for the Ravens last year — will be the new TE1 for the Chargers. However, that’s just what Daniel Popper of The Athletic is seeing out of Organized Team Activities in Los Angeles this past week. Popper’s assertion is based mostly on the observation that Kolar is the best run blocker of a group that includes Gadsden, Njoku, and three undrafted rookies.
Over the course of four years in Baltimore, Kolar only amassed 30 catches for 409 yards and four touchdowns. He essentially redshirted his rookie year behind veterans Mark Andrews and Josh Oliver and fellow rookie Isaiah Likely. With Andrews limited to only 11 games in 2023, Likely took over a lot of the position’s receiving opportunities, while Kolar mainly saw the field as a run blocker. He continued to specialize as a run blocker in his third season, and in the final year of his rookie contract, Kolar led the room in run blocking snaps.
Popper doesn’t see Kolar as a one-trick pony, though; he believes that Kolar has “upside as a pass catcher” and that the complete skillset will give him more consistent opportunities than Gadsden or Njoku. Kolar demonstrated his receiving abilities during his time at Iowa State. In his final three years as a starter for the Cyclones, Kolar totaled 157 receptions for 2,044 yards and 20 touchdowns in 36 games. Though he was only targeted 41 times in Baltimore, Kolar routinely graded high as a receiver, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), with his only two drops coming in his sophomore campaign.
Njoku has the most starting experience of the three by far. Formerly a first-round pick for the Browns out of Miami (FL), Njoku showed a ton of promise with a strong Year 2 but saw injuries derail the rest of his rookie contract. He didn’t find his stride again until returning to a full-time starting role in 2022 then earning Pro Bowl honors with career highs in receptions (81), receiving yards (882), and receiving touchdowns (6) in 2023. Originally thought to be a pure receiving tight end out of college, Cleveland utilized Njoku in a balanced role from his fourth year with the team up until the last two seasons. While he’s got plenty of experience, he’s never graded very high as a run blocker, per PFF.
Gadsden quickly earned a major role in Los Angeles, starting seven games as a rookie and catching 49 passes for 664 yards and three touchdowns. Simply by being on the field more than his tight end teammates last year, Gadsden racked up a good number of run blocking snaps, but his usage trended heavily towards receiving plays and his run blocking, when he was on the field, left a lot to be desired.
Should Popper be correct in predicting Kolar as the future TE1 in Los Angeles, Gadsden and Njoku will almost certainly still get their receiving opportunities rotating in off the bench. Kolar’s run blocking abilities could potentially put him on the field as a starter, though, and if his receiving abilities can shine in the increased exposure, Kolar will have a great opportunity to carve out a consistent starting role on the Chargers offense.
Jack Campbell Did Not Push To Reset LB Market
Jack Campbell earned a first-team All-Pro selection in 2025, cementing his status as one of the best linebackers in football. His new four-year, $81MM contract rewarded him accordingly, though his $20.25MM AAV still trails Fred Warner, who makes $21MM per year.
At 25 years old, Campbell certainly had a case to surpass the 49ers veteran. Though the Lions declined his $21.9MM fifth-year option (for the 2027 season), the former first-round pick could have driven a hard bargain and at least eclipsed Warner’s annual pay. But that was not his priority.
“I feel like for me I don’t need to be the highest paid,” Campbell said before apologizing to other players at his position who would have benefitted from a market reset. The linebacker market has barely moved in the last few years – in fact, in terms of percentage of salary cap, teams are paying linebackers less.
A transformative market update often requires a young, elite player to push for a record-breaking sum on his second contract. Campbell fit the bill, and beyond him, there may not be another chance until 2025 second-rounder and Defensive Rookie of the Year Carson Schwesinger is extension-eligible…in 2028.
“But I just feel like for me I knew what I wanted in this,” Campbell added (via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press). “I want to help the team in any ways possible just to continue to keep the core together. So I mean, at the end of the day I feel like it was fair for the team and I’m more than happy with everything that they’ve blessed me with.”
Among Campbell’s blessings are an $8.6MM signing bonus and fully guaranteed salaries in 2026 and 2027, worth $2.4MM. His $11.89MM option bonus due next year is also guaranteed, per OverTheCap. Campbell also is eligible for $100k workout bonuses in each of the next four offseasons.
Overall, though, Campbell’s contract is exceedingly team-friendly. He will only receive $22.9MM over the first two years of the deal with no guaranteed money past 2027. His option bonuses – worth $18.85MM in 2028, $5MM in 2029, and $15.4MM in 2030 – are essentially team options. Theoretically, Detroit could get out of the deal and pay Campbell $43.05MM through three years or $63.5MM through four. Both resulting AAVs are far below the annual $20.25MM sticker price of his deal.
With that structure in mind, it certainly seems that Campbell could have pushed for a better deal, whether that meant a market-setting AAV for linebackers or a more advantageous payment structure. It remains to be seen if fellow 2023 first-rounder Jahmyr Gibbs will be willing to take a similarly team-friendly deal, or if he will aim higher for a reset of the running back market.
Cowboys Could Still Make ILB Addition
Coming off a nightmarish defensive campaign, the Cowboys identified inside linebacker as one of their main needs entering the offseason. Top option DeMarvion Overshown missed 11 games in 2025, leaving Kenneth Murray and Shemar James to receive the most snaps at the position. They struggled, as did Logan Wilson after he came over in a November trade with the Bengals.
Murray, who is still a free agent, and the retired Wilson are now out of the organization. Injuries limited Overshown to just 19 of a possible 51 games in his first three seasons, but he is expected to start under new defensive coordinator Christian Parker. Looking for a partner for Overshown earlier in the offseason, the Cowboys pursued high-end free agents Devin Lloyd, Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker. They came up empty on all three, while trade talks centering on the Dolphins’ Jordyn Brooks and the Steelers’ Patrick Queen did not lead anywhere.
The Cowboys finally made a couple of notable off-ball linebacker additions at the draft. The first came in a Day 2 trade with the 49ers, who sent Dee Winters to Dallas for a fifth-round pick. The three-year veteran was a 17-game starter for the first time last season, but he is not under contract beyond 2026. After trading for Winters, the Cowboys picked up a potential long-term solution in third-rounder Jaishawn Barham, a former Michigan Wolverine who went 92nd overall.
As things stand, Overshown and Winters look like the Cowboys’ starting tandem. James, Barham, Justin Barron and Curtis Robinson are also in the mix. However, bringing in another vet could still be on the table, per Jon Machota of The Athletic. As Machota notes, the Cowboys have not yet decided who will wear the green dot on his helmet and relay the defensive calls to his teammates. Rookie safety Caleb Downs, the 11th overall pick, may be a candidate to take on that role, but head coach Brian Schottenheimer said at the draft that the responsibility will likely go to a linebacker (via Tommy Yarrish of the team’s website).
Free agency has thinned out in general since it opened in March, but it may prove beneficial for Dallas that there are still a handful of battle-tested off-ball LBs available. Ten-time Pro Bowler Bobby Wagner heads the class. Age is working against Wagner (he’ll turn 36 in June), but it didn’t stop him from posting excellent production with the NFC East rival Commanders last year. Bobby Okereke, Matt Milano, Shaq Thompson and Germaine Pratt are a few other 30-somethings who could be of interest to the Cowboys if they are looking for a potential stopgap starter.
Giants Restructure Andrew Thomas’ Deal
MAY 30: The Giants in fact completed a maximum restructure of Thomas’ contract, per Dan Duggan of The Athletic. His base salary has been reduced to the veteran minimum of $1.215MM with a new total of $11MM of additional cap space. $3.67MM has been added to Thomas’ cap hits from 2027 through 2029, which all sit between $29.5MM and $30MM – still a reasonable price for an elite left tackle, though Thomas will have to stay healthy to be worth it.
MAY 28: The Giants and Andrew Thomas have once again agreed to a restructure. New York’s six-year left tackle starter has agreed to a reworking of his pact to create immediate cap space.
Team and player agreed to the latest restructure yesterday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. A portion of Thomas’ base salary for 2026 was converted into a roster bonus. The move created $6.46MM in space. As a result, Thomas is now on course to carry a cap charge of $17.59MM this season.
The former No. 4 pick was largely durable while playing out his rookie contract, something which helped New York make a big-money commitment in his case. Thomas inked a five-year extension worth $23.5MM per season in 2023. He has missed time every year since then, including the 2024 campaign in which Thomas was limited to just six appearances. His deal was restructured last September to create financial breathing room.
The Giants have taken the same route this time around. New York is currently near the bottom of the league in terms of cap space, so this Thomas restructure will help carve out some financial flexibility once it is processed. The team inked Francis Mauigoa to his rookie pact yesterday, but fellow top-10 selection Arvell Reese has not yet signed. The space created by this move will help make Reese’s deal easier to absorb and allow for other roster adjustments through the summer.
Thomas, 27, remains under contract through 2029 as things stand. None of his scheduled compensation beyond the coming campaign is guaranteed, although he is due a $2.5MM roster bonus next March. A healthy campaign would help ensure that payment winds up being made while also offering strong showings on the blindside for a Giants offensive line seeking improved play in 2026.
Rams G Steve Avila Hoping For Extension
The Rams took care of a crucial piece of offseason business when they inked MVP-winning quarterback Matthew Stafford to a contract extension last week. With that out of the way, Rams general manager Les Snead can turn his attention to other extension candidates as the summer approaches.
The Rams have a slew of prominent players entering contract years. The list includes (but is not limited to) wide receivers Puka Nacua and Davante Adams; outside linebacker Byron Young; defensive lineman Kobie Turner; guards Steve Avila and Kevin Dotson; and right tackle Warren McClendon Jr. Snead will prioritize some of those players before others. Nacua, Young and Turner appear to have the highest long-term earning power of the group. The 26-year-old Avila could also be among those to cash in on a lucrative deal, and he has made it clear he wants to stick with the organization.
“I feel like everybody that’s up for extension is hoping to get one,” Avila said (via Nate Atkins of The Athletic). “That’s definitely something I wish could happen. I try my best to stay the same every single year. I know for me, I’ve always improved every single year I’ve played football. I feel like I owe it all to the team to be the best version of myself.”
The Rams spent the 36th overall pick in the 2023 draft on Avila, a former TCU standout who primarily played center in his first couple of college seasons. He shifted to left guard in 2022, a 15-start campaign in which he earned consensus All-America honors. Avila carried his effectiveness into the NFL, where he started all 17 games as a rookie left guard and was the lone member of the Rams’ offense to play every snap (1,148 in total).
To this point, Avila’s first season has been the only full one of his career. After missing seven games with a sprained MCL in his second year, he suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 1 last season. The injury sidelined him for two games, though it may as well have been four. Avila was active in Weeks 4 and 5, but the Rams deployed Justin Dedich as their starter in those games. They permanently turned back to Avila the next week. He took just one penalty and yielded only one sack over 13 starts, according to Pro Football Focus, which rated his performance 10th among 79 qualified guards.
Back in February, head coach Sean McVay specifically named Avila as one of the “guys we have strong interest in continuing our journey with” (via Stu Jackson of the team’s website). That suggests an extension could come together with Avila, who is a legitimate starter with age on his side. The team also has a decision to make on Dotson as he enters the last season of a three-year, $48MM pact, but he will turn 31 in September 2027.
If the Rams are only going to pay one member of their guard tandem, Avila’s relative youth could tip the scale in his favor. The average annual value of Avila’s second contract should at least end up in the neighborhood of Dotson’s current deal. Dotson is one of four guards raking in between $14MM and $17MM per season on a multiyear arrangement. There are a dozen other guards making between $17.5MM and $24.5MM per annum. With the cap continuing to rise, perhaps Avila’s camp will push to join that group.
Raiders TE Brock Bowers Back At 100%
Raiders tight end Brock Bowers was limited for most of the 2025 season due to a bone bruise and a PCL sprain in his knee. He did not require any offseason surgery and has worked his way back to 100% with full participation in the Raiders’ ongoing OTAs.
“It feels good to be back out there practicing full speed,” Bowers said (via ESPN’s Ryan McFadden).
Bowers, 23, was the No. 13 pick in the 2024 draft and electrified as a rookie with 112 receptions on 153 targets for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns. He earned Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro recognition and finished second in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting.
In 2025, he appeared in just 12 games and caught 64 of his 86 targets for 680 yards and seven touchdowns. Those numbers represented drops in season-long and per-game volume – down from 6.6 receptions and 70.2 yards per game to 5.3 and 56.7 – but he maintained very similar efficiency metrics when healthy. Despite the down year, he still earned a Pro Bowl nod.
Bowers’ third season in Las Vegas will be very different than his first two. He will be playing under a new head coach and catching passes from a new quarterback for the third year in a row, though that turnover should end with Klint Kubiak and Fernando Mendoza now in place for the foreseeable future.
Bowers’ role in the Raiders offense has yet to be determined. The Seahawks’ tight ends were not seen as a huge part of Kubiak’s scheme last year, though AJ Barner quietly had a solid season with some key catches in the playoffs. But one of Kubiak’s strategies at his various stops has been to funnel the ball into his best player’s hands, whether that was Justin Jefferson in Minnesota or Jaxon Smith-Njigba in Seattle.
The Raiders applied this strategy to Bowers during his All-Pro rookie year, which featured 153 targets – the most of any tight end and sixth-most league-wide. He could see a similar workload in 2026, especially with a rookie quarterback who will benefit from schemed-up touches to his star tight end.
Texas Tech, QB Brendan Sorsby Appeal NCAA Decision
As expected, following the NCAA’s denial of Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby‘s reinstatement for the 2026 college football season, Sorsby’s team has filed an appeal. The team’s argument (via Ross Dellenger fo Yahoo Sports) leaned heavily on the framing of Sorbsy’s gambling problem as an issue of mental health and asked that, in lieu of the revocation of his remaining eligibility, the NCAA consider a two-game suspension.
In it’s denial, the NCAA stated that it “did not find any circumstances that warranted reinstating (Sorsby’s) eligibility.” By citing the specifics of Sorsby’s diagnosis and transgressions, the appeal attempts to paint the situation as one without precedent. In doing so, the team argues that the NCAA wouldn’t be following the precedent set by past players who have gambled and been caught; instead, it would be setting a new precedent for punishing a player who admitted to and sought treatment for his mental health disorder.
The team’s appeal obviously argues that Sorsby struggles from a gambling addiction, the mental health challenge that perpetuated his continuous activity, but the first instances of betting could not have been a result of a developed addiction, so they’ve framed that, too, within the scope of mental health.
As a report today from ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and David Purdum detailed at least 2,900 bets at Indiana, alone, totaling more than $30K in wagers, including at least 40 bets on the Indiana football team and its players, Sorsby’s physician asserted that the quarterback’s first bets were the result of “an adjustment disorder with anxiety that caused him to place those bets to feel part of the team.”
That assertion seems to be coming from pretty far out of left field, but if they can successfully establish the ordeal as a result of Sorsby’s struggles with mental health, it will be difficult for the NCAA to continue denying his reinstatement. The team’s appeal cites the NCAA’s own mission statement, grabbing snippets such as “fostering (student-athletes’) lifelong well-being” and promoting “a culture of care.”
The appeal attempts to shift the focus of the punishment away from Sorsby’s transgressions and towards his ultimate decision to seek treatment. The appeal states that “imposing a career-ending sanction on Sorsby will send the message to current and future athletes hiding in the shadows of the stigma of mental health challenges and addiction that they need to stay silent and never seek help or treatment because the NCAA will take a punitive approach by automatically applying the maximum sanction.” By instead imposing only a two-game suspension, the appeal argues that the NCAA would “be sending an important signal to current and future student-athletes that seeking treatment for an addiction does not have to mean ruining your future.”
The release of the appeal and the documents detailing just how far Sorsby’s gambling went on the same day set up a battle of perception. The 40 bets he placed on his own team only totaled around $850, ranging from $1 to $114, but that represents only a microcosm of his habits. Utilizing “accounts registered in his name, a family member’s name, and friends’ names, Sorsby placed at least $90K in impermissible wagers” through four separate betting sites. He reportedly had to transfer up to $60K to friends in order “to cover bets made on his behalf.”
If Sorsby’s team is successful in convincing the NCAA to view the entirety of Sorsby’s gambling history as actions stemming from struggles with mental health, he stands a strong chance of getting to play out his tenure with the Red Raiders. To this point, though, the NCAA has been adamant that it will not negotiate a settlement to reinstate Sorsby. It will be interesting to see if the team’s mental health appeals successfully scare the NCAA away from its current conviction. Will it see a maximum sanction as disincentivizing future student-athletes from gambling or disincentivizing future student-athletes “from seeking the help they desperately need?”
QB C.J. Stroud Addresses Potential Texans Extension
Throughout the offseason, signs have pointed to the Texans waiting until after the 2026 season takes place before authorizing a C.J. Stroud extension. Houston’s QB1 appears to be content with that approach, although he feels he has done enough to warrant a second contract.
Having played three years in the NFL, this offseason marks the first time during which Stroud could sign an extension. His rookie deal runs through 2026, while the Texans made the obvious decision of exercising his fifth-year option. That leaves the former Offensive Rookie of the Year under team control through at least the next two seasons.
When speaking to reporters, Stroud acknowledged the matter of an extension has been discussed within his camp. A big-money commitment has also been weighed by the Texans, and the team made one to fellow 2023 draftee Will Anderson Jr. earlier this spring. No serious negotiations with Stroud are known to have taken place so far, however.
“I let my agent handle that. If it’s time to do it, then it is,” the 24-year-old said (via ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime) when speaking about the possibility of an extension. “My job is football. That’s what I’m focused on, just getting better. I think I’ve held my bargain up. Whatever happens, happens.”
The penultimate sentence from those remarks certainly suggests Stroud feels an extension would be warranted. During his tenure – which has overlapped with that of head coach DeMeco Ryans – Houston has managed double-digit wins every season and reached the divisional round of the playoffs each time. Postseason shortcomings have increasingly become a talking point for the Texans, though, and Stroud’s play in 2025 in particular led to criticism.
The Ohio State product committed seven total turnovers across two playoff games this past season. Stroud also missed three contests in 2025 due to a concussion, but otherwise he has been largely durable in the NFL. Any long-term deal would check in at or near the top of the quarterback market (currently $60MM per year) given his age and production to date. Houston waiting one season could, on the other hand, not end up costing much more with the QB market not expected to see another surge in the immediate future.
Anderson and many of the Texans’ other key defensive players remain attached to lucrative deals. Earlier this week, the team authorized a short-term bump in pay for top receiver Nico Collins. Those financial commitments need to be kept in mind, of course, when general manager Nick Caserio and Co. contemplate the terms of a second Stroud contract. It will be interesting to see if traction is gained ahead of training camp with respect to negotiations or if Houston continues to opt for patience.