RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/7/26
Here are Saturday’s tender decisions:
RFAs
Non-tendered:
- Broncos: DL Matt Henningsen
- Chiefs: OL Mike Caliendo
Henningsen played a rotational role on defense in 2024 and ’25 for Denver. Caliendo, meanwhile, totaled 42 appearances and seven starts across three years in Kansas City. Both players are now on course to reach free agency next week unless they elect to re-sign with their respective teams in the immediate future.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/7/26
Saturday’s lone minor move in the NFL:
Kansas City Chiefs
- Re-signed: LS James Winchester
Winchester has been in place with Kansas City since 2015, and his career will stretch into at least a 12th campaign. He has agreed to a one-year deal for the offseason year in a row. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports the pact is worth $1.75MM and is fully guaranteed. That ensures Winchester, who will turn 36 this summer and has yet to miss a game in his career, will remain the league’s highest-paid long snapper.
Vikings Work Out Several Restructures
Until recently, the Vikings were on track to be well over the 2026 salary cap. That has produced a number of cost-shedding moves over the course of this week, including several restructures. 
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T.J. Hockenson has agreed to a contract adjustment, Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network report. This move will free up roughly $5MM in cap space. Prior to the restructure, Hockenson was due to carry a cap charge of $21.3MM in 2026, the highest in the league among tight ends.
The two-time Pro Bowler has struggled to regain his previous form since suffering a major knee injury in 2023. As a result, Hockenson’s cap figure would have been a sore spot had it remained intact. Instead, he will look to rebound in 2026. Hockenson was originally under contract through 2027, but Pelissero notes the final year of his deal has been removed through this arrangement. He is now on course for free agency next spring.
Minnesota has also worked out simple restructures in the case of wideout Justin Jefferson and left tackle Christian Darrisaw, per Pelissero. That process consists of converting base salaries into signing bonus to create immediate cap space. Over $27MM in breathing space for 2026 has been generated by those moves. Given their ages and importance to Minnesota’s offense, Jefferson and Darrisaw loomed as obvious candidates for restructures. Their respective deals run through 2028 and ’29, leaving plenty of time for future adjustments if needed.
Cornerback Byron Murphy‘s deal has been restructured as well, as detailed by Ben Goessling of the Minnesota Star Tribune. Roughly $11MM in savings have been generated in his case as a result. Murphy remained in place with the Vikings on a three-year, $54MM pact last offseason. His cap charge is now on track to spike in 2027, but there is no danger of a release taking place before then.
A number of veterans will not be in place for the Vikings once the 2026 season begins. Defensive linemen Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen as well as running back Aaron Jones will soon become free agents upon being released, while center Ryan Kelly has retired. The restructures finalized in recent days are enough for Minnesota to attain cap compliance in time for the start of the new league year, per Over the Cap.
Chargers Re-Sign Khalil Mack
Khalil Mack will not test free agency ahead of the 2026 season. He will instead remain in place with the Chargers for next year. 
Mack has agreed to a one-year deal with Los Angeles, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The Bolts will retain at least one of their two high-profile edge rushers as a result of this news. Mack has been in place with the team since 2022. This latest re-signing is now official, per a team announcement.
Retirement was once again a talking point at the end of this past season. It was reported earlier this month, however, that Mack planned on playing in 2026. That will indeed be the case. A re-signing was mentioned as a likely scenario in this case, so today’s news comes as little surprise.
During each of his first three Chargers seasons, Mack earned a Pro Bowl nod (bringing his career total to nine). He set a new career high in sacks with 17 in 2023, and upon arrival new general manager Joe Hortiz made it a priority to keep him in the fold. Mack played on a one-year, $19MM pact in 2024, and he did the same on a deal worth $1MM less the following season. Both of those contracts were fully guaranteed.
Team and player have worked out the same arrangement this time around. This is once again a fully guaranteed accord valued at $18MM, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. That includes a $10MM signing bonus (h/t Over the Cap). Los Angeles will have Mack in the fold as a key figure in the pass rush department while Tuli Tuipulotu plays out the final year of his rookie contract. The latter earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2025 and if/when an extension is signed in his case, it will bring about a major raise.
Mack was limited to 12 games this past year, but he has largely remained durable during his Chargers tenure. With 11.5 sacks since 2024, expectations will remain high for at least steady production along the edge in this case. The former Defensive Player of the Year has racked up 113 career sacks, good for 28th all time. Only six active players have more, and a move into the top 25 will be within reach.
Attention will now turn to the matter of fellow Chargers edge rusher Odafe Oweh. He is currently one of the top pending free agents among pass rushers, and a first career trip to the open market looms. Hortiz has expressed a desire to retain not only Mack but Oweh as well. It will be interesting to see if he manages to do so, something which could be feasible given the Chargers’ healthy cap situation.
Ravens, QB Tyler Huntley Agree To Deal
Tyler Huntley‘s tenure in Baltimore will continue. The pending free agent quarterback has agreed to a new Ravens deal, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. 
This is a two-year pact. Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic notes it has a base value of $5MM. Incentives can push Huntley’s earning potential to $11MM, per both reports. This agreement has now been made official by an announcement from his agent.
Since arriving in the NFL, Huntley has spent most of his career with Baltimore. The former undrafted free agent has made 32 combined regular and postseason appearances; 27 of them have come as a member of the Ravens across two different stints. Huntley saw time with the Browns during the 2024 offseason before retuning to Baltimore. Later that year, he departed the practice squad to sign with the Dolphins and fill in for an injured Tua Tagovailoa.
Huntley once again wound up in Cleveland this past summer, although he did not survive roster cutdowns. That resulted in a Baltimore return via a practice squad deal. The 28-year-old found himself back on a depth chart including Lamar Jackson, but free agent signing Cooper Rush was in place as well. Rush received the first opportunity to replace an injured Jackson early in the 2025 season, but Baltimore’s offense struggled mightily with him at the helm.
Huntley eventually took over, and he handled starting duties in Weeks 8 and 17. Baltimore won both of those games, and over the course of the season Huntley set new career highs in completion percentage (77.6%), yards per attempt (6.4) and passer rating (103.1). Those figures came about in large part due to a small sample size, of course, but they helped raise the Utah’s product’s value ahead of a free agent period lacking in high-end quarterback options.
Huntley could have tested the market next week. Instead, he has agreed to a deal which will extend his current Ravens tenure. Rush is on the books for 2026 as things stand, but this news points even further in the direction of a release in his case. That would leave Jackson – whose pending extension remains a key cost-saving move yet to be finalized – and Huntley atop the QB depth chart moving forward.
This agreement marks a raise from the $1.17MM Huntley made in 2025. Baltimore has other key financial decisions to make for a number of reasons, not the least of which being creating the cap space needed to finalize the Maxx Crosby trade. With plenty more work to be done, the Ravens have at least settled their quarterback setup ahead of the new league year.
Cowboys To Place 2nd-Round RFA Tender On K Brandon Aubrey
MARCH 7: The Cowboys are indeed placing a second-round RFA tender, now officially worth $5.76MM, on Aubrey, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Given Aubrey’s salary demands, it seems unlikely that another team would be willing to send a second-round pick and give out the biggest special teams contract in league history. Dallas would likely be satisfied with receiving a second-round pick in place of a kicker who was taking up a lot of cap space for a team with so many expensive players on the books.
FEBRUARY 26: Talks regarding a Brandon Aubrey extension date back several months. No agreement has been reached, and the Cowboys have little need to aggressively pursue one with their standout kicker at this point. 
Earlier this week, Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News reported an offer worth around $7.5MM had been submitted. A correction issued on Thursday indicates Dallas’ best offer to date is actually just under $7MM. The latter figure would still be sufficient to make Aubrey (who turns 31 next month) the NFL’s highest-paid kicker on an annual basis.
Setting the market is a logical target in this case. Aubrey has proven to be one of the league’s best performers at the position during his three-year Cowboys career. Regularly connecting on long-range kicks, Aubrey’s range has made him an obvious candidate for a major raise. Harrison Butker currently leads the way in terms of kicker compensation with an AAV of $6.4MM.
Aubrey is a pending restricted free agent, meaning he will not test the open market the way many of Dallas’ other players on expiring deals will in March. The Cowboys have the option using an RFA tender in this case; the second-round tender would carry a projected cost of $5.81MM. Confirming a gap has long existed between team and player during negotiations, Clarence Hill Jr. of All City DLLS reports the Cowboys are “comfortable” placing the second-round tender on Aubrey if it proves necessary.
Per Hill, Dallas does not plan to increase its offer, an understandable stance given the fact the tender resides as a fallback option. He adds Aubrey’s agent Todd France shut down negotiations until this week’s Combine upon learning the Cowboys would not be willing to meet an asking price of $10MM per season in this case. Despite the ongoing disconnect, Watkins notes discussions between the sides are still “not considered acrimonious.”
Players who receive an RFA tender can be subject to offer sheets from outside teams. Should a player sign an offer sheet, their parent team has the opportunity to match it. In this case, the Cowboys would receive a second-round pick in the event they were to apply the second-round tender and not match an Aubrey offer sheet.
Raiders To Release QB Geno Smith
Geno Smith will indeed prove to be a one-and-done passer in Vegas. Barring a last-minute trade, the Raiders will release the veteran, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. 
Smith’s future has been in question since Vegas secured the No. 1 pick in April’s draft. Earlier this week, signs increasingly pointed to a release taking place in the event no trade partner was found. Suitors will no doubt wait for Smith to become a free agent before making a push to acquire him.
The 35-year-old does not appear to be particularly downtrodden over today’s development, given his reaction on social media. Smith will become one of many veteran quarterbacks on the market with free agency looming. A long-term commitment would come as a surprise, but NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports multiple teams are expected to show interest in this case.
The Seahawks brought in Klint Kubiak as their offensive coordinator last offseason. That set up a potential pairing with Smith, but with Seattle bringing in Sam Darnold Smith wound up being dealt to Vegas. Immediately after the Super Bowl, Kubiak was hired by the Raiders as their new head coach. Once again, though, no time will be spent with Smith in his case. A parting of ways points even further to Vegas selecting Fernando Mendoza first overall in April.
That remains the widespread expectation, but Dianna Russini of The Athletic cautions the Raiders’ preference would be to have Mendoza sit at the beginning of his rookie campaign. If insurance for the Heisman winner is to be added, Russini points to free agency as the route GM John Spytek and Co. will take. Vegas is not lacking in cap space, so finances will not be an issue when QB options are evaluated.
Cutting Smith will yield $8MM in cap savings while generating a dead money charge of $18.5MM. He was on course to see $8MM in 2026 compensation become guaranteed on March 13, leading to the timing of this decision. Smith will join Kyler Murray and – in all likelihood – Tua Tagovailoa as starting quarterbacks released by their respective teams. Their free agent prospects will be worth watching closely once the new league year begins next week.
In 2022, Smith earned Comeback Player of the Year honors with a strong Seattle showing. The team’s Russell Wilson replacement led the NFL in completion percentage that season, and in the following year he secured a second straight Pro Bowl nod. Smith landed a new Seahawks contract in 2023, and he inked a two-year, $75MM pact upon arrival in Vegas. A less lucrative deal is no doubt coming this time around after the former second-rounder topped the league in interceptions (17) in 2025.
Offensive success proved highly difficult to come by for Vegas this past season. Kubiak and a much different coaching staff is now in place, and his ability to develop Mendoza and a core led by tight end Brock Bowers and running back Ashton Jeanty will be critical moving forward. Smith will not be part of that effort, as his next NFL opportunity awaits.
NFL Mailbag: WRs, Vikings, McDuffie, LBs
In this week's edition of the PFR Mailbag, questions on a pair of high-profile receivers are addressed. The recent Trent McDuffie trade, the Vikings' pending quarterback decision and more are also explored.
Josh asks:
The Eagles cannot realistically trade A.J. Brown now, right? The dead money would be really damaging, and they would have a huge hole on offense. Do you think the sides make peace to ride this out for another year or would a trade be possible in the summer?
For anyone unaware, a trade in this case prior to June 1 would result in over $43MM in dead money charges for the Eagles. That’s $20MM more than what the team would be responsible for by simply keeping him on the roster.
Ravens, Cowboys, Bears Among Top Maxx Crosby Suitors; Others Still In Play
2:11pm: Mentioned previously as a team to monitor with regards to Crosby, the Bears are still believed to be in the mix. Chicago joins Baltimore and Dallas here, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones notes. The Bears and Raiders swung the Khalil Mack trade nearly eight years ago, though that was with Ryan Pace and Jon Gruden steering those ships, and Chicago appears interested — despite its Dayo Odeyingbo 2025 signing — in adding an impact edge rusher opposite Montez Sweat.
Las Vegas is believed to have received “multiple strong offers,” according to veteran insider Jordan Schultz. Those teams are waiting on the Raiders, per Schultz, though Jones indicates no trade is imminent.
11:34am: One of the stop storylines around the league remains a situation tied not to upcoming free agency but rather a potential blockbuster trade. Maxx Crosby is still in place for the Raiders as things stand, although that could soon change. 
Recent reports have labeled at least 12 teams as being interested to one extent or another. As the new league year approaches, a shorter list of finalists figures to emerge. On that note, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports the Ravens and Cowboys are among the suitors to watch closely as it pertains to Crosby. Colleague James Palmer adds two other teams in particular are firmly in the mix as well.
Vegas has been linked to an asking price matching what the Cowboys received in the Micah Parsons trade. That would require a pair of first-round picks along with a player heading back to the Raiders. No team has been willing to meet that demand yet, but interest remains very high. SportsBoom’s Jason La Canfora adds Baltimore is currently making a “concerted push” to acquire the five-time Pro Bowler. According to multiple officials La Canfora spoke with, the Ravens are prepared to trade the 14th overall pick in April’s draft along with Day 2 capital in a Crosby trade.
GM Eric DeCosta has made a number of high-profile trades during his tenure, taking that route to acquire the likes of Roquan Smith, Marcus Peters and Calais Campbell over the years. A lack of pass rush production was a major issue for Baltimore in 2025, leaving additions on that front as an obvious offseason priority. Free agency will present DeCosta with a number of possibilities, but the most impactful move possible would of course be a Crosby trade.
The Cowboys have previously been linked to the Raiders standout, so today’s update comes as no surprise. Dallas’ production off the edge in 2025 was hindered by the Parsons trade, and a quartet of incumbent players (Jadeveon Clowney, Sam Williams, Dante Fowler and Payton Turner) are pending free agents. Multiple additions could be coming soon as a result, but none would be more substantial than a swap yielding Crosby.
Owner Jerry Jones has stated an abnormal willingness to be aggressive on the open market. That could of course include one or more big-ticket deals in free agency, and a number of recent restructures has given Dallas a degree of cap flexibility. The Cowboys made a splash on the trade front in November by adding defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, and the Parsons swap has left them with two first-round picks in 2026. Parting with one of them as part of a Crosby package could allow for a high-profile EDGE acquisition to pair with Williams along the interior.
Raiders GM John Spytek offered a public expectation to keep Crosby – who will turn 29 in August and whose contract runs through 2029 – in place when speaking at the Combine. Nevertheless, he is listening to offers. The Ravens and Cowboys (not to mention to remaining finalists) will be worth monitoring over the coming days as Spytek weighs his options.
Patriots To Re-Sign QB Tommy DeVito
During 2025 roster cutdowns, Tommy DeVito was waived by the Giants. New York’s preference was to keep him in place on the practice squad, but that did not prove to be possible. 
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The Patriots put in a waiver claim and retained DeVito through the 2025 season. The fan favorite was on course for restricted free agency, but instead he has worked out a multiyear deal to remain in place. DeVito has agreed to a two-year pact with New England, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
This contract has a maximum value of $7.4MM, per Schefter. He adds DeVito will secure $2MM in guarantees. As a result, the backup gig may be in store in this case. The reigning AFC champions will of course have Drake Maye atop the depth chart for years to come, but this commitment could be a signal DeVito is viewed as QB2 option. Veteran Josh Dobbs is under contract through 2026.
None of Dobbs’ scheduled base salary ($3.2MM) is guaranteed, however. A release in his case would yield $3.7MM in cap savings, so a parting of ways in this case will now be something to watch for. At a minimum, DeVito – who made eight starts across the 2023 and ’24 seasons during his time with the Giants – will remain in the fold as depth under center for New England.
The 27-year-old posted a passer rating of 88.4 during his New York stretch. A relatively high floor may be expected moving forward, especially if DeVito meshes with the scheme implemented by Josh McDaniels upon his return to the Patriots in 2024. New England’s offense will of course hinge in large part on the play of Maye in Year 3 and beyond, but it will be interesting to see if DeVito receives a full-time backup gig on his second career team.