Bills, K Tyler Bass Agree To Restructure
Tyler Bass will remain in place with the Bills for 2026. Coming off a missed season, though, his pact has been adjusted.
Team and player worked out a revision on Tuesday, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Bass has accepted a $1.5MM pay cut for the coming campaign in exchange for a $1MM guarantee in 2026. The veteran kicker can earn another $1MM via incentives, and his cap figure now sits at $3.05MM.
A 2020 sixth-rounder out of Georgia Southern, Bass missed just one game over his first five seasons. The career-long Bill converted a solid 84.5% of field goals (131 of 155) and 96% of extra points (264 of 274) during that span.
Bass was in line to remain the Bills’ kicker last year, but he wound up missing the entire season as a result of a hip/groin issue. The Bills placed Bass on injured reserve leading up to Week 1 and brought in 41-year-old Matt Prater as a last-minute replacement. Prater went on to hit 18 of 20 FGs (90%) and 46 of 49 PATs (94%) over 15 regular-season games. The two-time Pro Bowler was perfect during the postseason, in which he made five field goals and six extra points in two games.
Bass underwent surgery in late November, but it appears Buffalo is confident he will return to full strength next season. The only other kicker in the building is the untested Maddux Trujillo, who is on a reserve/futures deal. Meanwhile, if Prater wants to play a 20th season in 2026, he will likely have to look elsewhere in free agency.
Connor Byrne contributed to this post.
Packers To Sign CB Benjamin St-Juste
Cornerback was known to be an area of need for the Packers entering the 2026 offseason. An addition has been lined up early in free agency.
Green Bay has agreed to a deal with Benjamin St-Juste, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. This will be a two-year, $10MM deal, he adds. Incentives could push the maximum value to $10.5MM.
The 28-year-old St-Juste will step in for Nate Hobbs, whom the Packers released Tuesday. St-Juste spent last season as a member of the Chargers, with whom he performed effectively as a rotational boundary corner and a regular special teamer. While logging a 34.97% defensive snap share over 16 games, St-Juste totaled 37 tackles, seven pass deflections and an interceptions.
Despite St-Juste’s limited role, Pro Football Focus ranked the 6-foot-3, 200-pounder 11th out of 112 qualifying corners in 2025. As PFF’s Mason Cameron notes, St-Juste led the league with a 90.1 grade in zone coverage.
Before his short but impressive stint with the Chargers, St-Juste was a Commander for the first four years of his career. Washington used a 2021 third-rounder (74th overall) on the Montreal native and former Minnesota Golden Gopher. St-Juste lined up on the boundary and in the slot in Washington, where he started in 45 of 54 games.
In 2023, his best year as a Commander, St-Juste racked up 17 pass deflections in 16 starts. However, PFF ranked St-Juste as a bottom-five corner in 2024. A couple of months after the Commanders benched him late in the season, they allowed St-Juste to walk in free agency. He enjoyed a resurgence in Los Angeles under defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. Green Bay is expecting that to transfer to new D-coordinator Jonathan Gannon‘s system.
Connor Byrne contributed to this post.
Cowboys To Sign S Jalen Thompson
Jalen Thompson emerged as a name to watch regarding the Cowboys on Monday. The veteran safety is indeed heading to Dallas.
ESPN’s Todd Archer recently reported the Cowboys were in contact with Thompson. A deal has now been struck, according to Ian Rapoport and Jane Slater of NFL Network. This will be a three-year contract worth up to $36MM.
This deal will provide $22MM guaranteed over its first two seasons, according to ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano, with OverTheCap listing its base value at $33MM. Dallas is guaranteeing Thompson’s 2027 salary ($8MM), providing the longtime Cardinals starter some security.
A modern-day rarity as a supplemental draft choice that panned out, Thompson was a regular Cards starter for the past five seasons. The Budda Baker sidekick helped Arizona form one of the NFL’s top safety tandems. With Baker on two near-top-market contracts during Thompson’s time in the desert, the latter played out a three-year extension worth $36MM. This will represent a pay cut of sorts due to inflation, as the cap resided at $208MM when the Cardinals extended Thompson (it is at $301.2MM now).
Thompson is only entering an age-28 season. As we’ve seen numerous times in recent years, players are agreeing to shorter-term deals in hopes of cashing in again after cap spikes. Pro Football Focus graded Thompson between 26th and 36th among safeties over the past three seasons. He has not intercepted a pass since 2023, but he nabbed four that season. Thompson also has two 100-plus-tackle seasons on his resume.
The Cowboys have not re-signed Donovan Wilson, and Malik Hooker surfaced recently as a cut candidate. It looks like Hooker will be staying, as the former first-rounder agreed to a restructure earlier Monday. Markquese Bell remains on Dallas’ roster as well. Thompson’s contract will make him Dallas’ top safety priority, representing a change after all those seasons playing alongside Baker in Arizona.
Sam Robinson contributed to this post.
Saints, P Ryan Wright Agree To Deal
Ryan Wright will not remain in Minnesota after playing out his rookie contract there. He will instead become the Saints’ new punter.
Wright and New Orleans have agreed to a four-year deal, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. This will be a $14MM pact, he adds. Wright will collect $8MM in guarantees.
The Vikings used Wright as their punter for four seasons, but they will let him walk. As of Monday night, Minnesota does not have a punter on its offseason roster.
At $3.5MM per year, Wright becomes the NFL’s fifth-highest-paid punter — behind Jordan Stout, Michael Dickson, Logan Cooke and AJ Cole. The Giants reunited Stout with John Harbaugh on Monday, making the former Ravens specialist — at $4.1MM per year — the NFL’s highest-paid punter.
A former UDFA out of Cal, Wright will go from indoor confines in one city to another — albeit a much warmer locale. He finished last season with a 49-yard average per punt; that represented a career-best mark.
Vikings, CB James Pierre Agree To Deal
James Pierre was recently mentioned as one of the cornerbacks drawing notable attention ahead of free agency. He has indeed landed a new agreement in short order.
Josina Anderson of The Exhibit reports Pierre has reached a deal with the Vikings. This will be a two-year pact with a maximum value of $8.5MM, she adds. Pierre will secure $3.7MM guaranteed, including a $2.5MM signing bonus.
Anderson mentioned Sunday that Pierre was on nearly 10 teams’ radars after a solid sixth season in Pittsburgh. The career-long Steeler, though, will turn 30 this year. That effectively provided a market cap. Still, Pierre secured a raise after playing for low-level (NFL-wise, at least) money throughout his career.
Pro Football Focus viewed Pierre — a 2025 Steelers injury sub — as the NFL’s second-best corner (among qualified options) last season. Granted, he played 408 snaps, but the season represented a massive breakthrough. While NFL teams likely did not view him that highly, this contract reflects the six-year vet’s improvement.
The Steelers spoke with Pierre’s camp about a likely low-cost deal, but the team moved on by signing Jamel Dean. The longtime Buccaneers defender joins Joey Porter Jr. and Jalen Ramsey, depending on where the aging All-Pro is stationed, as the Steelers’ top corners for 2026. As for the Vikings, they will pair Pierre with Byron Murphy and Isaiah Rodgers. Pierre overlapped with Vikings DC Brian Flores during a 2022 season spent as Pittsburgh’s linebackers coach.
Sam Robinson contributed to this post.
Falcons To Sign WR Jahan Dotson
A busy Monday continues for the Falcons. The team’s latest contract agreement has been reached with wideout Jahan Dotson.
Atlanta has agreed to a two-year deal with Dotson, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. This pact will have a base value of $15MM with a maximum of $17MM. Dotson will collect $10MM guaranteed, Schefter adds, while NFL insider Jordan Schultz notes $8MM will be paid out in 2026.
Dotson will come over after two seasons as an Eagles auxiliary wide receiver. For a player discarded by the Commanders two seasons into his career and deemed a tertiary target in Philly, this represents a decent payday for the Penn State product.
The Commanders traded Dotson to the Eagles just before the 2024 season, moving on months after an organizational overhaul. Drafted by the Ron Rivera regime in the 2022 first round, Dotson caught seven touchdown passes in 12 rookie-year games. Dotson topped 500 receiving yards in both his Washington seasons but failed to eclipse 300, with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith playing ahead of him in an increasingly run-based offense, in Philadelphia. Dotson did snag two passes for 42 yards in the Eagles’ dominant Super Bowl LIX win, however.
Dotson, who will turn 26 next week, joins a Falcons team that just released two-year No. 2 wideout Darnell Mooney. Atlanta re-signed Olamide Zaccheaus, who caught passes from new front office boss Matt Ryan during his rookie contract. Zaccheaus and Dotson pose as complementary cogs at best, with this roster appearing to lack a qualified No. 2 opposite Drake London. The draft may be a play to look here, especially with London likely to land an extension averaging more than $30MM per year, but free agency is only one day old.
Sam Robinson contributed to this post.
Cardinals, RB Tyler Allgeier Agree To Deal
The Cardinals will retain James Conner for 2026. He will have a new teammate in the backfield for 2026, however.
Arizona has agreed to terms with Tyler Allgeier, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports. This will be a two-year, $12.25MM pact. Allgeier will again find himself as part of a running back tandem after being in such a situation with the Falcons.
Allgeier once appeared to be the Falcons future RB. The 2022 fifth-round pick had a strong rookie campaign, finishing with 1,174 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns. However, the organization used the eighth-overall pick on Bijan Robinson in 2023, and Allgeier proceeded to start only five games over the following three years.
Still, the RB managed to carve out an important role in Atlanta. Allgeier finished his sophomore campaign with 876 yards from scrimmage, and he added another 732 yards in 2024. Robinson’s league-leading 2,298 yards in 2025 led to a career-low 610 yards for Allgeier. Still, the RB2 managed to finish with a career-high eight touchdowns.
It will be interesting to see how the roles shake out in Arizona in 2026. Conner topped 1,000 yards from scrimmage in each of his first four seasons with the Cardinals, culminating in a 2024 campaign where he collected a career-high 1,508 offensive yards. However, the veteran was limited to only three games this past year thanks to a season-ending foot injury. He should be ready to go for 2026, but there’s a chance he returns to a split backfield with Allgeier now on the roster.
Ben Levine contributed to this post.
Lions, C Cade Mays Agree To Deal
Cade Mays is among the first offensive linemen to reach agreement on a new deal early in the negotiating period. The veteran center is heading to Detroit.
A Lions deal has been arranged, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports. This will be a three-year, $25MM pact, Joe Person of The Athletic adds. Mays will collect $14MM guaranteed.
A 2022 sixth-round pick by the Panthers, Mays couldn’t have picked a better time for a breakout campaign. He served as an occasional starter through his first two years in the NFL, starting seven of his 27 appearances. That led to him subsequently bouncing around the NFL a bit, but he ended up returning to Carolina and spent the majority of the 2024 campaign on the active roster, starting eight of his 11 appearances.
He stuck in Carolina via a RFA tender last offseason and proceeded to have a career year. He started 12 of his 14 appearances filling in for an injured Austin Corbett, leading to a career-high 727 offensive snaps. He graded out 24th among 37 qualifying centers on Pro Football Focus positional rankings, with the site being particularly bullish on his pass-blocking skills.
The Lions clearly believe he can continue being a full-time starting center in Detroit. The organization struggled to fill the role following the retirement of Frank Ragnow. There was a possibility that Tate Ratledge could end up taking over the gig, but he’ll instead stick at his preferred position at right guard.
Ben Levine contributed to this report.
Falcons To Sign P Jake Bailey
More punter movement is taking place during the early stages of free agency. Jake Bailey will be on the move in 2026.
Bailey has agreed to a three-year deal with the Falcons, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. This will be a $9MM pact with $5MM in full guarantees. Bailey’s career to date had been spent in the AFC East, but that will no longer be the case.
The Falcons have added two AFC East specialists today, agreeing to terms with Bailey and 2025 Jets kicker Nick Folk. Bailey spent the past three seasons with the Dolphins, moving to Miami after playing out his rookie contract with the Patriots. This marks an interesting reunion for Bailey and Folk; they were teammates from 2019-22, each playing four years with the Pats.
This will be Bailey’s first time as primarily an indoor punter, and he has a standout season on his resume. Bailey’s 2020 season produced a first-team All-Pro honor, as he averaged a career-best 48.7 yards per boot for the Pats that year. The Patriots replaced Ryan Allen with Bailey following Super Bowl LIII, which featured quite a few punts; special teams aficionado Bill Belichick drafted Bailey in Round 5 in 2019.
Last season marked Bailey’s best in terms of distance as a Dolphin, with the Stanford alum averaging 47.7 yards per punt. Miami has not replaced the 28-year-old specialist on its roster just yet.
Titans To Sign TE Daniel Bellinger, OL Cordell Volson
Daniel Bellinger will not be back with the Giants, but he will reunite with a familiar face on his next team. The fifth-year tight end is joining the Titans.
Bellinger has agreed to terms with Tennessee, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports. This will be a three-year, $24MM pact, he adds. Bellinger will once again work with Brian Daboll — the Titans’ new offensive coordinator — on his new contract.
We now have three of Daboll’s former Giants — Bellinger, Wan’Dale Robinson, Cor’Dale Flott — coming to Nashville via Monday agreements. Bellinger will receive a hefty raise despite limited success as a receiver (zero 300-plus-yard receiving seasons). Bellinger was called upon as the Giants tried to replace Evan Engram and Darren Waller, later taking a backseat — as a receiving option, that is — to Theo Johnson.
The Titans, who have not re-signed Chig Okonkwo (the tight end market was quiet Monday), will undoubtedly use Bellinger as a blocker extensively. Bellinger was a run blocker on 281 plays during the Giants’ 2025 season, teaming with Johnson. Bellinger and Robinson will be well versed in Daboll’s system as he installs it this offseason.
Entering the day with the second-most cap space in the NFL, the Titans ran wild. Beyond the three ex-Giants additions, Tennessee signed John Franklin-Myers and Alontae Taylor — both players in the top 12 of PFR’s free agent list. Tennessee also added some O-line depth in Cordell Volson, with KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson noting the ex-Bengals starter agreed to a one-year deal worth $4.22MM.
Volson was a three-year guard starter in Cincinnati; the 2022 fourth-round pick started 48 of the 50 Bengals games he played. Though, Cincinnati benched the North Dakota State alum late in the 2024 season and gave him a pay cut months later. Volson, 27, was not viewed as a roster lock ahead of the 2025 season, and he spent the full campaign on IR due to a shoulder injury requiring surgery.
Pro Football Focus never graded Volson as a top-40 guard. He joins a Titans team that wants to re-sign Kevin Zeitler to reprise his role opposite Peter Skoronski; Volson stands to provide some depth.
Sam Robinson contributed to this post.