Minor NFL Transactions: 3/6/26
Here are today’s NFL minor moves as we head into the final weekend before the start of free agency:
Denver Broncos
- Re-signed: RB Tyler Badie, DT Jordan Jackson, S Devon Key, OLB Dondrea Tillman
Houston Texans
- Re-signed: S M.J. Stewart
Los Angeles Chargers
- Re-signed: RB Jaret Patterson, S Kendall Williamson
New York Giants
- Released: T James Hudson
Washington Commanders
- Re-signed: K Jake Moody
Initially opening the season as a starter on the line in New York in place of Andrew Thomas, Hudson was benched after struggling in a first-string role. He had been signed to serve as a swing tackle for the Giants, but after his early-season struggles, he failed to see much playing time for the remainder of the season.
After getting waived by the team that drafted him in the third round, Moody landed on the Bears’ practice squad before the Commanders signed him to their active roster. Washington made the move after watching Moody connect on eight of nine field goal attempts in two games for Chicago then watched Moody convert 10 of 11 for their team over the final six weeks of the season. Not willing to pay the prices on a restricted free agent tender, the Commanders opted not to tender him but continued on the path to a new deal as an unrestricted free agent.
Dolphins Release K Jason Sanders, FB Alec Ingold
A busy day ahead of the start of free agency continues as it was announced today that the Dolphins will be parting ways with kicker Jason Sanders (per ESPN’s Adam Schefter) and fullback Alec Ingold (per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo). The Dolphins had attempted to rework the deals of both veterans to help them stay in Miami, but with no deals coming to fruition, Sanders and Ingold will head to free agency. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that the pair of transactions will put the Dolphins’ cap space at about $5MM. 
Sanders had been the Dolphins answer in the kicking game for seven years before this past season. Drafted in the seventh-round out of New Mexico in 2018, Sanders immediately put an end to what had been a consistent rotation of kickers on one- or two-year stays dating back to a four-year tenure of Dan Carpenter. Though not asked to do much, Sanders delivered as a rookie only missing two field goal attempts and one extra point attempt. He saw a few more misses in his sophomore campaign but reestablished himself in 2020 with a first-team All-Pro performance.
In the final dying days of the 2025 preseason, it was disclosed that Sanders was dealing with a hip injury that was expected to keep him out for the first four or five weeks of the season, necessitating a temporary replacement. When 12 weeks of the season had come and gone, and Sanders was still nowhere to be seen, newer reports out of Miami indicated that there was no sense of whether or not Sanders was any closer to a return or whether or not he would return at all.
In Sanders’ absence, the Dolphins turned to young journeyman kicker Riley Patterson to fill in. Only 26 years old, Patterson made the Dolphins the sixth NFL team of his career. He’d previously spent time with the Lions, Jaguars, Browns, Jets, and Falcons and had only kicked an entire season with a team once — 2022 in Jacksonville. Patterson was outstanding in replacement duty, converting 27 of 29 field goals attempts and 34 of 35 extra point attempts.
Per Jackson, the Dolphins have not been actively pursuing a new contract with Patterson. Not wanting to pit the two specialists against each other, Miami focused their efforts first on trying to convince Sanders to restructure at a lower rate. Now that a deal with Sanders is no longer being pursued, it stands to reason that the Dolphins may now pursue a renewed agreement with Patterson.
Ingold’s time in Miami comes to an end after four years with the team. Joining the Dolphins after an initial first three years with the Raiders, Ingold has found plenty of use on one of the few teams left still utilizing a fullback. Starting 47 of 66 game appearances, Ingold got most of his use as an extra run blocker, though he has contributed in the pass game, as well. A team captain who was chosen three times to be the team’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, Ingold’s biggest impact may have been in the locker room and the community.
As the Dolphins clear out some low-hanging fruit to clear up a bit of cap space ahead of free agency, Sanders will see free agency for the first time, and Ingold will now look to find a new NFL squad looking to utilize a fullback.
Commanders Re-Sign DE Deatrich Wise, DT Shy Tuttle
The Commanders added two veterans in the defensive trenches last year but barely saw use out of either of them. Well, both defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. and defensive tackle Shy Tuttle will get another chance in Washington as the Commanders have re-signed both players to one-year deals for the 2026 NFL season, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. 
Wise joined the Commanders as a free agent almost a year ago, signing with only his second NFL franchise after spending the first eight years of his career in New England. After working his way up from rotational piece to full-time starter for the Patriots over that time then falling back down the depth chart, Wise found himself in Washington, where he would once again get a chance at being a full-time starter. Unfortunately, only two games into the season, Wise was carted off the field with a season-ending quad injury. This new deal will allow Wise a second chance at a first full season with the Commanders.
Tuttle also only played two games with the Commanders in 2025, but that was because he spent the majority of his season with the Titans. Over the first ten weeks of the season, Tuttle worked as a rotational tackle on the defensive line in Tennessee, playing about a quarter of the team’s defensive snaps. After seeing no game action for about a month late in the season, Tuttle was put on waivers by the Titans and claimed by the Commanders. He played in the team’s final two games before the season came to an end.
These two veterans have both fallen on harder times after working to establish themselves as starters in the NFL. The Commanders believe they’ve got enough to offer, though, and will give each player another opportunity to contribute in 2026 now that Wise should be able to get healthy and Tuttle will get a full offseason with the team.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/4/26
More teams made tender/non-tender decisions on restricted and exclusive rights free agents today. Here are the latest updates:
RFAs
Non-tendered:
- Buccaneers: S Christian Izien, RB Sean Tucker
- Commanders: K Jake Moody
- Cowboys: G Brock Hoffman
- Patriots: CB Alex Austin
Before taking a backseat to second-year safety Tykee Smith this year, Izien served as a major contributor for the Bucs secondary. In his first two years as an undrafted player out of Rutgers, Izien started 14 of 31 game appearances, logging 140 total tackles, three interceptions, and two forced fumbles. Meanwhile, Tucker made himself a bowling ball in the redzone this year, recording a team-leading seven rushing touchdowns on just 86 attempts. His 320 rushing yards were third in Tampa Bay’s running backs room behind Bucky Irving (588) and Rachaad White (572).
ERFAs
Tendered:
- Browns: TE Brenden Bates, WR Malachi Corley, LB Winston Reid, LS Rex Sunahara, K Andre Szmyt, WR Jamari Thrash
- Cowboys: CB Reddy Steward
- Lions: K Jake Bates
- Panthers: WR Jalen Coker, WR Brycen Tremayne
- Vikings: DT Jalen Redmond
While Moody seemingly continues to struggle to stay employed after getting draft in the third round three years ago, Bates and Szmyt will get another go around in Detroit and Cleveland.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/4/26
Minor NFL transactions are picking back up as we near the start of free agency with teams trying to secure any pending free agents before they hit the open market:
Green Bay Packers
- Re-signed: RB Chris Brooks
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Re-signed: TE Quintin Morris
Los Angeles Chargers
- Placed on reserve/retired list: C Bradley Bozeman (story)
Miami Dolphins
- Re-signed: LB Cameron Goode
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Re-signed: QB Connor Bazelak
- Exercised club option: P Riley Dixon
Brooks served as a third rushing option in Green Bay this year behind Josh Jacobs and Emanuel Wilson while MarShawn Lloyd sat on injured reserve all season. It was thought that, if Lloyd had been activated off IR, one of Wilson or Brooks would’ve been the odd man out. Though Wilson got significantly more usage (125 carries for 496 rushing yards and three touchdowns) than Brooks (27 carries for 106 yards) this season, Wilson was not tendered as a restricted free agent, and Brooks agreed to a two-year deal to stay in Green Bay.
Known more for his contributions as a blocker and special teamer, Morris has made a place for himself on the roster in Duval. He appeared in 14 games for Jacksonville last year, earning five starts.
Dixon’s two-year contract had a potential out with which, if they had decided not to retain him, his release wouldn’t have created any dead cap money. The team has opted not to go that route, extending his time with the team to the full duration of the contract.
Alabama QB Ty Simpson Could Jump To Top Half Of First Round?
It’s long been considered an essentially foregone conclusion that Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza will go No. 1 overall to the Raiders at the end of April. Las Vegas isn’t the only team that needs an upgrade at the quarterback position, though, and Mendoza isn’t the only passer available in the 2026 NFL Draft. According to Tony Pauline of EssentiallySports, Alabama’s Ty Simpson could be a potential solution to the Browns’ longstanding quarterback woes, and he could hear his name called much sooner in the draft than anyone is currently expecting. 
Simpson has long been seen as the draft’s QB2, behind the consensus No. 1, Mendoza. He had some competition in Oregon quarterback Dante Moore in early speculations, but Moore returned to Eugene for another season, essentially clearing the field of competition for Simpson. The hierarchy lately has been Mendoza at QB1, a large gap between him and Simpson at QB2, then another significant gap between Simpson and the next group of passers which includes Penn State’s Drew Allar, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, and Miami’s Carson Beck.
Though there’s been a perceived gap between Mendoza and Simpson, there have been projections in which Mendoza and Simpson mirror Cam Ward and Jaxson Dart from last year’s draft, with Mendoza at the top and Simpson standing a chance at sneaking into the back of the first round. Pauline, though, is asserting that some now believe Simpson could end up hearing his name sometime in the first 12 picks of the draft next month. These rumors started spreading even before Simpson impressed scouts and coaches at the NFL Scouting Combine last weekend, further bettering his position in the eyes of the NFL’s talent evaluators.
Pauline also noted a specific team that seems particularly interested in the former Crimson Tide passer, claiming the Browns have been “doing extensive work on Simpson.” This notion had been floated days earlier by Mary Kay Cabot at Cleveland.com. Cabot had written how new head coach Todd Monken has been a fan of Simpson since the days he recruited him as the offensive coordinator at Georgia years ago.
“I like Ty,” Monken told reporters at the combine. “I liked Ty when he was coming out (of high school). When I first got to Georgia, they hadn’t offered him, and I went up there and talked to his dad. In fact, his dad, Jason, is a Southern Miss alum, and I was the head coach at Southern Miss. So, we got to know them really well. Really fond of Ty, obviously, really good football player.”
Monken went on to note that his new team will not be complacent with the players it has in the building already. He told the media, “We’re going to do our due diligence to make sure that our roster–, that we put ourselves in the best position we can to score points, which starts with that (quarterback) position.”
Currently, the top projected contenders to win the QB1 job in Cleveland are the much-maligned Deshaun Watson and second-year Pro Bowler Shedeur Sanders. We haven’t seen Watson’s best football since two years before Monken offered Simpson at Georgia in 2022. And, though Sanders provided some excitement here and there as a rookie fourth option in Cleveland last year, he has a long way to go before he can be securely considered QB1. With Monken and Co. pledging to explore all options at quarterback, including external options, it stands to reason the Simpson could join the party in Cleveland and become another horse in the race for the starting job.
The Browns currently hold the Nos. 6, 24, and 39 draft picks on Days 1 and 2 of the draft. Simpson likely isn’t going sixth overall, unless some serious pressure and competition build up around the 23-year-old, so Simpson could be Cleveland’s selection at No. 24 or in the early second round. In order for Pauline’s top 12 prediction to be more feasible, the Browns may search out a team in the six picks behind them who may be looking to move up, and trade back to acquire some extra draft capital and draft Simpson a bit closer to his perceived draft projections.
RB Kenneth Walker III Likely To Leave Seattle?
MARCH 3: Walker will not receive the franchise tag, Graziano’s colleague Peter Schrager reports. Barring an agreement over the coming days, he will thus be able to depart in free agency. Only three previous Super Bowl MVPs have changed teams immediately winning the award, but that number could soon grow.
MARCH 1: Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III is just three weeks removed from being named Super Bowl LX MVP, but he won’t get to revel in the glory for too much longer as he’s set to hit free agency upon the expiration of his rookie contract in Seattle. According to ESPN’s Dan Graziano, Walker is reportedly generating so much outside interest that he could be pricing himself right out of Seattle. 
Now, reasonably, one might question whether the Seahawks would allow their leading rusher in each of the past four seasons to walk in free agency, but there’s plenty to point to in order to explain how it might be the best situation for everyone. To start, Walker’s health has been an issue in the past. He missed two games in each of his first two years in Seattle and missed six games over the course of the 2024 season. While he bucked that trend in Year 4 by appearing in every game for the first time in his career, the Seahawks have been burned in the past by frequently injured running backs like Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny, and they may see Walker’s injury history as too risky to invest in long-term.
Secondly, a year after Seattle drafted Walker in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, the team went back to the same well, selecting second-round UCLA rusher Zach Charbonnet. Walker’s frequent injuries gave Charbonnet eight spot starts in his first two seasons of play, and he showed plenty of promise as a potential lead back in the opportunities he was given. Though Walker played in (and started) every game this season, Charbonnet continued to see increasing opportunities, posting career-highs in carries (184) and rushing yards (780) while leading the team with 12 rushing touchdowns. While Walker would certainly be missed, the Seahawks may be ready to pass the rock to Charbonnet.
The third factor would simply be price. Graziano believes that the Cowboys set the floor for the starting running back market when they extended Javonte Williams on a three-year, $24MM deal. He lists Walker as one of three backs who could surpass that annual average value of $8MM, citing increasing external interest as the driving factor. While the Seahawks’ salary cap puts them in a good position to spend in 2026, the franchise hasn’t invested long-term in a running back since the days of Marshawn Lynch.
Looking at all the factors together, it’s not looking good for fans that want to see the Seahawks run in back with their Super Bowl MVP. Retaining Walker would require Seattle to commit long-term money, and the combination of Walker’s injury history and Charbonnet’s capability make that option seem less than prudent. Instead, it appears that Walker could earn a big payday to try and take another team to the Super Bowl, while the Seahawks will get a good look at Charbonnet as RB1 as Charbonnet puts forth his best foot in a contract year for him.
Raiders’ Maxx Crosby Asking Price Deemed Too High
MARCH 2: Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated and The Athletic’s Matt Barrows and Vic Tafur each indicate a return of multiple draft picks and a player is unlikely to be found in any trade agreement. Interest persists, though, and Breer predicts a trade will still take place this offseason.
MARCH 1: The Raiders have been slow-playing what is seeming like it will be an eventual trade of star defensive end Maxx Crosby. With the NFL Scouting Combine coming to a close today and the last few rumors of the weekend trickling in, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that, at the moment, the asking price for Crosby is still too high for teams to act on. 
As workouts at the Combine began on Thursday, it came out that, in order to let go of Crosby, Las Vegas was looking for a similar trade package to what the Cowboys got for Micah Parsons (two first-round picks and an impact player). While general manager John Spytek said earlier in the week that he didn’t expect a trade to take place, Fowler’s source with the team called Crosby’s chances of returning “relatively small.” Some team executives are skeptical of the Raiders’ intentions reasoning that any team would want to keep “a premier player at a premier position” and seeing the high asking price as a sort of fence being built up around Crosby.
That’s not to say that teams aren’t interested, though. Per Fowler, “at least a dozen teams have expressed cursory to strong interest” in the 28-year-old. If enough suitors are truly interested, it may behoove the Raiders to keep the asking price high. That way, as the demand builds up, a team may get antsy waiting for the price to come down and choose to come up to meet the asking price in order to avoid another team jumping in first. Plus, there’s still plenty of time for negotiations to take place as free agency, the draft, and the rest of the offseason sit on the horizon.
We’ve discussed comparisons of Crosby to Parsons and Khalil Mack, but in those discussions, Crosby fell a bit short of his competition. While his production has been extremely similar over the years, he hasn’t garnered the same award interest as Parsons and Mack. Crosby is also two years older than Parsons and Mack were when they got traded. That may be why the current comparable asking price seems too high; those extra two years of age may be enough for teams to balk at including that impact player or keeping both top picks in the package on Day 1.
The situation still has all the room in the world to continue evolving as the offseason progresses, so we’ll continue to monitor the level interest coming in on Crosby and how the Raiders react to that interest. It seems like we’re closer than ever to reaching a conclusion on Crosby’s trade possibility. Crosby wants to win, and as the Raiders come out of their fourth losing season in a row, a change of scenes looks to be his best bet at winning while still in his prime.
Raiders Finalize Coaching Staff Under Klint Kubiak
The Raiders announced their finalized coaching staff today, the first under new head coach Klint Kubiak. Several of the new hires in Las Vegas have already been covered in previous posts, but today’s announcement did provide some new information. 
Before we get into what was in the coaching staff announcement, let’s briefly touch on what wasn’t. Many in the media were shocked to see that the Raiders had not employed the services of a quarterbacks coach on Kubiak’s first staff, especially since the consensus points to Vegas taking Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and the rookie may need a coach.
According to Vincent Bonsignore of the California Post, the team did look at candidates for the QB coach position but opted not to force a hire that didn’t feel right. Bonsignore suggested that the team would wait and revisit the position again next offseason, but Kubiak, offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko, and assistant head coach Mike McCoy have all held the title of quarterbacks coach in the past, so they may be well set up to work without an official one.
Moving on to the other new information for the offensive staff, Luke Steckel has once again been retained as the team’s tight ends coach for the 2026 season. A long-time Titans assistant from 2013-22, Steckel arrived in Las Vegas in 2024 as part of Antonio Pierce‘s staff and was retained on the staff under new head coach Pete Carroll last year. He’ll now coach tight ends for the Raiders under his third head coach.
For new hires on offense, Ben Wilkerson has been named assistant offensive line coach, Pete Collins and Conner McQueen have been named offensive quality control, and Tim Zetts has been named an offensive assistant. Wilkerson has made the rounds as an NFL assistant offensive line coach. After stints with the Bears, both New York teams, and the Browns, Wilkerson makes it out to Las Vegas. McQueen is making his NFL coaching debut after eight years of experience at the collegiate level. Zetts is an interesting name here. An offensive assistant on Pierce’s staff two years ago, Zetts returns on Kubiak’s staff in the same role after not working with the team last year.
On the defensive side of the ball, there were two updates to major positions. First, Matt Robinson‘s new role in Las Vegas, originally reported to be secondary coach, was clarified in the announcement. He will more specifically be the safeties coach. The other update saw assistant defensive line coach Kenyon Jackson retained in the same role. Jackson filled the position for Las Vegas last year, coming over from a similar role he had held in Houston.
The team’s defense is employing all new hires at the quality control and assistant level. Drew Gaither, Cody Grimm, and Ketner Kupp were all named defensive quality control, and Steve Ferentz was hired as a defensive assistant. Grimm is maybe the most notable name there. He was a safeties coach for the Jaguars in 2023 but hasn’t appeared on an NFL staff since. Ferentz also held a prior job as the Dolphins assistant linebackers coach back in 2022.
Outside of that, Matt Capurro has been retained as the team’s senior vice president of coaching operations. Capurro found his way to Vegas last year, following Carroll from Seattle. Capurro had been on staff with Carroll on the Seahawks for 15 years, but he’ll remain on staff for his first new head coach since then. Lastly, Tim McConnell was hired as the team’s new assistant special teams coach. McConnell makes his way to the NFL after working specials teams positions at the collegiate level at schools like North Texas and South Carolina.
This will be the crew, along with the formerly touched on new hires and promotions, to build up the new Raiders program. The Kubiak-era’s first big tests will come when free agency and the draft arrive, and he now has the staff of coaches with whom he will face those tests.
Lions RB David Montgomery ‘Wants Out’
Back in January, it was reported that the Lions were examining what was best for the future of veteran running back David Montgomery. General manager Brad Holmes even went so far as to say that what was best may include him playing “somewhere else.” Well, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, a trade appears to be a growing possibility for the 28-year-old rusher, as Fowler claims Montgomery “wants out” of Detroit. 
Coming out of Iowa State in 2019, Montgomery enjoyed an early career as a lead back for the Bears, taking on RB1 duties in a committee that included Tarik Cohen and Cordarrelle Patterson as a rookie. In his sophomore campaign, Montgomery essentially served bell-cow duties as Chicago’s leading rusher, but ever since, he’s been forced to share the rock. In 2021, two rookies — Justin Fields and Khalil Herbert — ate heavily into his carries, resulting in the lowest rushing total of his career at that point in time. In the final year of his rookie contract, Montgomery totaled a new low (801) as Fields led the team in rushing (1,143) and Herbert continued to gain ground on him (731).
As a free agent, Montgomery signed with the division-rival Lions, who were saying goodbye to both of their leading rushers from 2022 — Jamaal Williams and D’Andre Swift. While Montgomery may have believed he had made his way back to a bell-cow situation, a month and a half later, Detroit utilized their 12th overall pick on Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs. It was right back to a split backfield for Montgomery. In their first year together, the Montgomery-Gibbs split for carries (219-182), rushing yards (1,015-945), and rushing touchdowns (13-10) were as close as you’ll see for two teammates having strong rushing seasons.
In 2024, Gibbs took over RB1 duties. Though Montgomery was still involved in one of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses that season, the Gibbs-Montgomery splits for carries (250-185), rushing yards (1,412-775), and rushing touchdowns (16-12), no longer favored him. This past season, that trend continued in the wrong direction as, for the first time in his career, Montgomery didn’t start a single game all season while recording career-lows in carries (158) and rushing yards (716).
It’s no wonder, then, that Montgomery is looking for a way out. Luckily for him, the reduced usage has likely done a fair amount of good for his 28-year-old legs, and his remaining contract is fairly reasonable for a trade partner to take on. It also doesn’t sound like Detroit is asking for much in return, as Fowler reports that the team wants “a decent Day 3 pick,” meaning probably something from the fourth or early-fifth round. It should make Montgomery fairly easy to move, and give him plenty of options, should Detroit opt to take his preference into account.