Cardinals, Andrew Wingard Agree To Deal
The Cardinals are on track to lose Jalen Thompson in free agency, but a replacement has been lined up. Andrew Wingard has agreed to a one-year deal with a base value of $3MM and a maximum of $4MM, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports.
A former UDFA out of Wyoming, Wingard emerged as a key defender for the Jaguars. He spent his entire seven-year career in Jacksonville, collecting 349 tackles and six interceptions. He often alternated between the starting lineup and the bench during his time with the organization, and his snap count tended to correspond to his role.
He started all 15 of his appearances in 2021, getting into 95 percent of his team’s defensive snaps. Over the next three years, he only started seven of his 42 appearances while appearing in less than half of his team’s defensive reps. He also missed the first few months of the 2024 campaign thanks to a knee injury.
With a new staff in place in 2025, Wingard returned to the starting lineup. He started all 16 of his appearances, compiling 84 tackles, one interception, and nine passes defended. Pro Football Focus only ranked him 72nd among 91 qualifying safeties, although they did give him one of the highest positional grades for his run-stopping ability.
Wingard could retain his starting gig in Arizona, but there’s a chance he returns to a reserve role. While the team lost Thompson, they still have Budda Baker and Rabbit Taylor-Demerson to lead the depth chart. That means the newest addition could find himself competing with the likes of Kitan Crawford for any leftover reps.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Buccaneers To Sign QB Jake Browning
Jake Browning has found his next NFL home. The veteran QB has agreed to terms on a one-year Buccaneers deal, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports.
A former Washington standout, Browning spent the first two seasons of his professional career on the Vikings practice squad. He caught on with the Bengals practice squad in 2021, and he also spent the following season on Cincy’s taxi squad.
He finally earned a roster spot in 2023, when he beat out Trevor Siemian to be Joe Burrow‘s primary backup. Burrow ended up suffering a season-ending wrist injury that season, forcing Browning into the starting lineup. He was predictably a far cry from his superstar teammate, but he managed to keep the Bengals afloat, as the team went 4-3 in Browning’s seven starts.
The career backup ultimately finished that campaign having completed a league-leading 70.4 percent of his passes for 1,936 yards, 12 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He added another 127 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. He had a standout showing during his second career start, completing 32 of his 37 pass attempts in an overtime win over the Jaguars. That performance ended up earning him AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Browning inked a two-year extension with the Bengals the following offseason, and he’s spent the past two years as Burrow’s backup. After barely seeing the field in 2024, Browning added another three starts to his resume in 2025. Cincy went winless in those three games, and Browning finished the campaign having tossed six touchdowns vs. eight interceptions.
Now, he’ll be looking to continue his career in Tampa Bay, where he’ll be penciled in as Baker Mayfield‘s primary backup. Teddy Bridgewater held that role in 2025, but the veteran QB just joined the Lions as a free agent. Browning is likely a shoo-in for the Buccaneers QB2 role, although the team is still rostering 2025 UDFA Connor Bazelak.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Texans Release DL Mario Edwards
Mario Edwards‘ two-year run with the Texans has come to an end. The veteran defensive lineman has been released, per the transactions wire (h/t Mike Garafolo of NFL Network).
Edwards has been cut with a failed physical designation, Aaron Wilson KPRC2 reports. Wilson adds, however, that Edwards is still on course for a full recovery from a pectoral tear; that could lead to a number of suitors showing interest. Houston will save $4.41MM with this move while generating a dead money charge of $1MM.
Edwards joined the Texans ahead of the 2024 campaign. He missed a handful of games after being hit with a suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, but he otherwise started 12 of his 13 appearances. He inked a two-year, $9.5MM deal with the organization last offseason but saw a lesser role, appearing in 33 percent of his team’s snaps through 14 games. His season ended prematurely thanks to that aforementioned pec tear.
Edwards has turned into a true journeyman, as his next squad will represent the ninth of his career. Still, he’s proven to be a dependable rotational defensive lineman who can get after the QB. The 32-year-old has tallied 26 sacks in his career, including 4.5 during his stint with the Texans.
Pro Football Focus wasn’t fond of his performance in 2025, ranking Edwards 126th among 127 qualifying interior defenders. However, the site graded him as more of a middle-of-the-road defender in recent years, including a third-place showing in 2020. Teams will surely bank on Edwards improving a bit in 2026, but even then, he’ll likely be competing for a roster spot come the preseason.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Packers To Sign DL Javon Hargrave
Another offseason, another eight-figure-per-year Javon Hargrave contract. Released today by the Vikings, Hargrave will set up shop with one of Minnesota’s rivals.
The Packers will bring in the veteran interior defensive lineman, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. Hargrave agreed to a two-year deal worth $23MM. This marks the third time in four offseasons the well-traveled D-lineman has inked a deal averaging more than $10MM per year. That is rather impressive considering Hargrave has now been cut twice in two years. This will reunite Hargrave and Jonathan Gannon, the Eagles’ defensive coordinator from 2021-22.
Hargrave, 33, may have been a 49ers and Vikings cap casualty but still carries respect around the league (as evidenced by this quick agreement). The Packers traded Kenny Clark to the Cowboys in the Micah Parsons blockbuster last year; they will now add another 30-something veteran to complement Devonte Wyatt up front.
After helping the Eagles make a run at the 1984 Bears’ single-season sack record, Hargrave commanded a four-year, $84MM 49ers deal as a 2023 free agent. Starting for San Francisco’s Super Bowl LVIII team, the former third-round pick suffered a pectoral injury early in the 2024 season. The 49ers cut him soon after, leading to a two-year Vikings pact worth $30MM. Hargrave started 15 games last season but joined fellow Minnesota 2025 FA addition Jonathan Allen in being released today.
Enjoying a strong sack stretch from 2021-23, Hargrave peaked with 11 in 2022 to help the Eagles to Super Bowl LVII. Playing in Super Bowls in back-to-back years, Hargrave also produced 7.5 sacks and a career-high 18 QB hits under Gannon in 2021. The Steelers draftee earned a Pro Bowl nod as a 49er in 2023. The interior rusher has toggled between 3-4 and 4-3 schemes during his career, as such differences have mattered less and less thanks to the proliferation of nickel and dime packages.
One season remains on Wyatt’s rookie contract; the Packers picked up his fifth-year option and declined Quay Walker‘s last year (Walker is now a Raider). Trading Clark just before the season, the team used Karl Brooks as a seven-game starter in 2025. As Gannon puts his stamp on Green Bay’s defense, the ex-Cardinals HC will turn to one of his former charges to help do so.
Dolphins Sign CBs Darrell Baker, A.J. Green, Alex Austin
The Dolphins continue to make additions on defense. Cornerback Darrell Baker has agreed to terms on a one-year deal, per his agents (via Tom Pelissero of NFL Network).
[RELATED: Dolphins To Sign DB Lonnie Johnson Jr.]
In addition, the team has announced the signing of fellow corner A.J. Green. Those two will join a new-look secondary in 2026. Miami agreed to terms with Lonnie Johnson Jr. earlier today. And to top it all off, the Dolphins have agreed to a one-year deal with cornerback Alex Austin, per Jordan Schultz.
Baker is coming off a two-year stint with the Titans, where he emerged as a part-time starter. He started 19 of his 34 appearances between 2024 and 2025, collecting 95 tackles and 12 passes defended. He primarily played as an outside cornerback during his stint in Tennessee, although he also made same cameos at safety, at slot corner, and in the box.
The former UDFA out of Georgia Southern started his career with the Cardinals before catching on with the Colts practice squad. After making only three appearances with Indy as a rookie, he got into 14 games (six starts) in 2023. He inked a one-year extension with the organization during the 2024 offseason, but he was waived by the Colts at the end of that year’s preseason.
Green had a four-year stint with the Bengals to begin his professional career. He’s since bounced around a bit, spending time with the Vikings, Rams, and Dolphins. He split the 2025 campaign between Miami and Los Angeles, where he mostly appeared on special teams.
Austin spent the majority of his three-year career in New England, where he got into 26 games. He started six games during his Patriots tenure (including two in 2025), but he mostly earned his worth on special teams. Austin got into 220 ST snaps during his time in New England, including 120 this past year.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
T Jedrick Wills To Sign With Bears
Jedrick Wills is indeed returning to the NFL. The former first-round pick missed all of the 2025 season due to a knee injury suffered the year before and is now set to sign a one-year deal with the Bears, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The five-year veteran previously visit the Patriots and the Lions as he explored his options, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz.
Wills, 26, arrived in Cleveland as the No. 10 selection in the 2020 draft. He took over as the team’s starting left tackle and was named to the All-Rookie team in what remains the best pass-blocking performance of his career, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
Wills missed four games in 2021, but returned for a full season in 2022. The injuries began to crop up after that with only 13 appearances across 2023 and 2024, the latter of which featured a season-ending MCL tear in Week 9.
Wills looked into playing in 2025, but opted to sit the season out to solidify his recovery. He will be another left tackle option for the Bears, who used four different players at the position last year. Second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo held down the starting job in the second half of the season but is expected to miss most of 2026 with a knee injury suffered in the playoffs.
Wills will compete for Trapilo’s spot with Braxton Jones, who was retained on a one-year contract, and second-year UDFA Theo Benedet. Both started multiple games last season, with Jones opening the year as the starter as he did for the previous three and Benedet supplanting him in Week 4.
That could be a tough battle for Wills. His pass blocking efficiency and grades from PFF have steadily trended downward since his rookie year with injuries impacting his availability and level of play. Ideally, the extended time away from the field will have allowed him to not only fully recover from his last injury, but improve his durability to prevent more.
Panthers To Sign WR John Metchie
After playing out his rookie contract with three different teams, John Metchie has lined up another new arrangement. The wideout has agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Panthers, per his agent (h/t ESPN’s Adam Schefter).
The former second-round pick is coming off a 2025 campaign that he split between the Jets and Eagles. Now, he’ll be joining a Panthers offense that’s led by Bryce Young, who was Metchie’s QB when the two were at Alabama.
It was Metchie’s performance with the Crimson Tide that convinced the Texans to use the 44th-overall pick on the WR in the 2022 draft. Unfortunately, the receiver failed to click in Houston. He sat out his rookie campaign after being diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia, but he returned in time for the 2023 season. In two healthy years with the organization, Metchie was limited to a combined 40 catches for 412 yards and one touchdown.
He was dealt to the Eagles last August for a late-round pick swap and got into seven games with his new squad, hauling in four catches for 18 yards. He was included in the Michael Carter swap in October and proceeded to appear in nine games (seven starts) for the Jets, where he finished with 29 catches for 256 yards and two scores.
Now, he’ll be reuniting with Young in Carolina. He’ll have an opportunity to carve out a minor role with his new team, although it’s worth noting that the Panthers are set to return all of their top-four WRs (in terms of snap count) from 2025: Tetairoa McMillan, Xavier Legette, Jalen Coker, and Brycen Tremayne.
Ben Levine contributed to this post.
OLB Bradley Chubb To Join Bills
Designated a post-June 1 cut by the Dolphins, Bradley Chubb intends to join one of their rivals. The Bills are bringing in the former top-five pick, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
Chubb is signing a three-year, $43.5MM contract with Buffalo. Of that total, $29MM is guaranteed. The deal can max out at $52.5MM. This signing could point Joey Bosa out of Buffalo, but with a new defensive system being implemented, the Bills are making changes to that unit early in free agency.
Miami officially designated Chubb a post-June 1 release, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. This long-rumored cut will create $20.23MM in cap space for a Dolphins team that made history with its other post-June 1 designation today. Tua Tagovailoa‘s release will tag Miami with an NFL-record $99.2MM in dead cap. That money will be spread over two years, but it still smashes the record Russell Wilson‘s Broncos release set in 2024.
Long deploying a 4-3 defense, the Bills are switching to a 3-4 scheme under new DC Jim Leonhard. Chubb is a career-long 3-4 outside linebacker, beginning in that role with the Broncos and moving to the Dolphins via a blockbuster 2022 trade. The former Denver Von Miller sidekick has battled major injuries — two ACL tears — during his time as a pro, but he bounced back with a healthy 2025 season. Still, the Dolphins’ new regime moved on.
Drafted two spots before Josh Allen in the 2018 first round, Chubb pursued the rookie-year sack record and reached 12 alongside Miller that year in Denver. He missed most of the 2019 season with an ACL tear and battled more injury trouble in 2021, seeing Denver unload him at the ’22 deadline. Chubb signed a Dolphins extension in 2022 but suffered a second ACL tear late in the ’23 season and missed all of 2024. This led to a reworked deal in 2025.
Returning to play his age-29 season last year, Chubb started in all 17 of the Dolphins’ games and recorded quality counting stats. Chubb finished the campaign with 47 tackles (eight TFL), 20 QB hits and 8.5 sacks. On the other hand, Pro Football Focus was unimpressed with the two-time Pro Bowler, whom it ranked 103rd among 119 qualifying edge rushers.
With Bosa and A.J. Epenesa among their free agents, it was obvious the Bills would need to add at least one established edge rusher this offseason. Those two combined for 1,000 defensive snaps and 7.5 sacks in 2025. Bosa led the league with five forced fumbles, though his impact dropped off to a noticeable degree as the season progressed.
The Bills were involved in the free agency sweepstakes for Trey Hendrickson, but he agreed to a four-year, $112MM deal with the Ravens on Wednesday. They also factored into the initial round of trade talks for Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby. While Crosby could become available again after the Ravens backed out of a trade with the Raiders, the Chubb signing may take the Bills out of the running.
Connor Byrne contributed to this post.
Eagles Discussing Trade, Extension For Vikings OLB Jonathan Greenard
Jonathan Greenard remains one of the top edge rushers who could be on the move soon. To little surprise, the Vikings Pro Bowler is still on the radar of the Eagles.
Philadelphia continues to make trade calls on Greenard, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports. Crucially, she adds conversations are ongoing with Greenard’s agent about a potential extension. Minnesota is open to a trade in this case with a raise being sought out.
The Eagles pursued Trey Hendrickson and Maxx Crosby but came up short on both high-profile edge rushers. Greenard’s push for a new contract, after a 2025 season that was not as good as his 2024 slate, emerged recently. But it sounds like the Eagles are open to accommodating the former Texans draftee here.
Philly tried multiple in-season fixes last year, bringing Brandon Graham out of retirement and trading for Jaelan Phillips. This came after Za’Darius Smith‘s in-season retirement. Philly, which also saw Nolan Smith spend time on IR in 2025, was viewed as close to re-signing Phillips. But the Panthers came in with a four-year, $120MM deal. It would surprise if Greenard fetches that, especially with the Eagles not deeming Phillips worth that price. But a lower-cost alternative looks to be available — and GM Howie Roseman is an aggressive trader.
Prior to the Greenard talks heating up, Russini reported the Eagles were eyeing EDGE help. The team still rosters Smith but has not quite seen him justify his first-round cost. Jalyx Hunt led the Eagles with 6.5 sacks, but the first-year starter registered a promising 24 QB hits. Philly lost auxiliary rushers Josh Uche and Azeez Ojulari today in free agency.
Greenard, 29 in May, became an attractive free agency piece in 2024 after a 12.5-sack season in his Houston contract year. The former third-round pick followed that up with a 12-sack Minnesota debut; both Greenard and teammate Andrew Van Ginkel earned original-ballot Pro Bowl acclaim that year, as the Vikings went 14-3. Greenard only notched three sacks in 12 games last season, however, making this contract crusade curious.
He is tied to a four-year, $76MM deal. That contract runs through the 2027 season, but the Vikings have been seeking a Day 2 pick to move on. (The Eagles traded a third-rounder for Phillips and, after letting Milton Williams and Josh Sweat walk in 2025, received four compensatory picks — one of them a third-rounder — in this year’s draft.) Minnesota has Van Ginkel and 2024 first-round pick Dallas Turner rostered at the position. As it stands, Turner is blocked from a starting role thanks to the veterans’ presences. But Turner broke through for eight sacks and 15 QB hits in 2025, providing Minnesota optimism in the event it can collect a notable asset for Greenard.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Lions Release DE Josh Paschal
After missing the 2025 season through injury, Josh Paschal will not return to the Lions. The fifth-year defensive end has been released, per a team announcement.
Paschal, 26, was a second-round pick in 2022. He missed at least three games in each of his first three season and did not play at all in 2025 due to offseason back surgery. He spent the year on the non-football injury list and his contract tolled as a result, which would have allowed the Lions to keep him in 2026 for the final year of his rookie deal.
Instead, they will let him hit the open market, where he will likely need to take a one-year, ‘prove-it’ deal to rebuild his stock after so many injuries. The 275-pound defensive end is a decent run-stopper but has not made a consistent contribution in the pass rush. He recorded five tackles for loss in 2023 and 2024 but just five sacks in his career. His pass rush win rate, which started at a solid 8.6% as a rookie, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), fell below 6.0% in each of the next two years.
The Lions will need to add some depth off the edge with Marcus Davenport and Al-Quadin Muhammad also hitting free agency. The team currently lacks a clear starter opposite Aidan Hutchinson, but the ranks of available defensive ends has thinned in the last two days.