Eagles Still In Market For Edge Rusher
The Eagles worked to re-sign Jaelan Phillips in free agency, but they were ultimately outbid by the Panthers. A much, much, cheaper pivot to Arnold Ebiketie followed, but he alone will struggled to replace Phillips’ pass rushing production in 2026.
As a result, Philadelphia is still looking to add to their edge rushing room this offseason, according to Zach Berman of The Athletic. Currently slated to start are 2023 first-rounder Nolan Smith and 2024 third-rounder Jalyx Hunt, who both broke out with 6.5 sacks in their second seasons, with Ebiketie and Jose Ramirez providing depth. Brandon Graham has also signaled his intention to return for a 17th NFL season, though his playing time and production has waned in the last two years.
Smith, Hunt, and Ebiketie are a solid, but perhaps not game-changing, trio of edge rushers, and Ramirez, a 2023 sixth-round pick by the Buccaneers, has only played in four career games, all in 2024 in Tampa Bay. The unit could certainly use an infusion of talent, and Eagles general manager Howie Roseman is known to go big-game hunting.
Among the potential additions is Vikings edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, per Berman. Philadelphia has interest in the 2024 Pro Bowler, though it would take both draft picks and a new contract. Neither has typically been an issue for Roseman, who has been willing to move aggressively in trade and contract negotiations to secure his desired talents. The Eagles currently have $32.58MM in cap space (via OverTheCap), and can clear another $7.04MM with an A.J. Brown trade after June 1. Such a deal should net enough draft capital to acquire Greenard, too.
Even if Roseman declines to go after Greenard, the losses of Joshua Uche and Azeez Ojulari in free agency will encourage him to add some veteran edge depth. His predilection for brand names could point him towards Cameron Jordan or Joey Bosa, both multi-time Pro Bowlers who has remained effective in rushing the passer in the last few years.
Dolphins Restructured Aaron Brewer, De’Von Achane Deals For Waddle Trade
The Dolphins’ decision to part ways with Tua Tagovailoa this offseason put them in a tight cap situation due to the $99.2MM in dead money it left on their books.
Trading Jaylen Waddle stretched their budget even further, as the pre-June 1 move accelerated his remaining bonus prorations onto this year’s salary cap. That created $26.5MM in dead money in 2026, higher than his originally-scheduled cap hit of $11.8MM, which would have put Miami over the 2026 limit once the trade was processed.
To clear the requisite space, the Dolphins restructured the contracts of center Aaron Brewer and running back De’Von Achane, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. For Brewer, this meant a conversion of $5.25MM of his 2026 salary to a signing bonus, reducing his salary to the veteran minimum and his cap hit by $4.2MM to $4.95MM (via OverTheCap). This is the last year of Brewer’s contract with three void years already present, so one more was added to maximize the savings of the move, according to KRPC2’s Aaron Wilson. While technically this increases his cap hit in each of the next four seasons by $1.05MM, those charges will all accelerate onto the Dolphins’ 2027 cap when Brewer’s deal voids next February, leaving $4.2MM in dead money. An extension before the void date will prevent that acceleration.
Achane’s salary – originally boosted to $5.77MM as a result of the Proven Performance Escalator – was also reduced to the veteran minimum with $4.62MM converted to a signing bonus, per Wilson. Four void years were added to maximize the 2026 cap savings of the restructure, thereby creating the same amount of dead money for the 2027 season. An Achane extension, which could be negotiated in the coming months, would defer those charges.
The Dolphins will still need to clear more cap space to sign their rookie class and afford minor in-season expenses. Much of that relief will arrive on June 1, when the $20.2MM in savings from Bradley Chubb‘s release will be processed. The Dolphins will also receive a $3.08MM cap credit in 2027 for Waddle, according to Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.
Miami’s new regime was clearly prepared for these cap gymnastics entering the offseason. They were able to sign a full free agent class – including quarterback Malik Willis, who signed the seventh-biggest contract in free agency – despite devoting more than half of their budget to players that are no longer on the team.
But moving Waddle was only worth it for the compensation they received from the Broncos. Miami established a first-round-plus valuation for their star wide receiver back at the 2025 trade deadline and stuck to it during negotiations this offseason. Denver was willing to add a third-rounder to their No. 30 selection, but only if a fourth-round pick swap was also part of the deal, per 9News’ Mike Klis.
Kirk Cousins Weighing All Options In Free Agency
MARCH 20: SportsBoom’s Jason La Canfora echoes the sentiment that Cousins is in position to wait until deep into the spring to decide on his next move. A few more QB dominoes may need to fall before his latest NFL contract is in place.
MARCH 17: After attempting to force his way into free agency last offseason, Kirk Cousins finally got his wish last week. However, the veteran remains available after the first wave of signings and is still considering all of his options, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
One of the best landing spots would have been Kansas City. The Chiefs needed a starter until Patrick Mahomes completes his recovery from last December’s ACL tear, so Cousins could have had guaranteed playing time on a contending team to start the year. A successful season under Andy Reid certainly would have boosted his stock into 2027.
The Chiefs, however, traded for Justin Fields to bridge the gap until Mahomes’ return. The Falcons similarly signed Tua Tagovailoa to battle Michael Penix Jr. for a starting job, and the Colts have Anthony Richardson and Riley Leonard behind Daniel Jones in the event he cannot recover from his Achilles tear by Week 1. No other team has an injured starter, though Cousins’ history with Sean McVay in Washington could make him a natural fit as Matt Stafford‘s backup in Los Angeles, especially with Gardner Minshew following Mike LaFleur to Arizona.
There are two starting jobs available, Breer notes, in Pittsburgh and Las Vegas. Both teams, though, are expected to go with different quarterbacks. The Steelers are poised to reunite Aaron Rodgers with new head coach Mike McCarthy, and Fernando Mendoza has been projected for the Raiders’ No. 1 overall pick since the regular season ended.
Cousins ending up in Pittsburgh would likely only happen if Rodgers retires, and he would probably have to win the job against Will Howard, Mason Rudolph, and potentially a rookie taken in April’s draft.
The Raiders may consider sitting Mendoza in his first year to continue his development, but quarterbacks drafted in the top-five picks typically start right away. The reigning Heisman winner will also turn 23 years old as a rookie and seems ready for the NFL after leading Indiana to a national championship. However, new head coach Klint Kubiak was the Vikings’ quarterbacks coach (2019-2020) and offensive coordinator (2021) for one of the best stretches of Cousins’ career and could see him as a valuable mentor and placeholder for Mendoza as he gets his pro footing.
Cousins could also wait, Breer adds. Other teams could have interest in Cousins if their quarterback situations were to suddenly change with an injury. This would remind of last year, when Cousins preferred to see how every team’s QB depth chart looked post-draft. But no trade commenced then. With the Falcons having cut the cord following an organizational overhaul, Cousins should have a lower-stakes free agency decision to make at some point this offseason.
Eagles LB Jihaad Campbell To Miss Most Of Offseason
The Eagles let Nakobe Dean walk in free agency, positioning 2025 first-rounder Jihaad Campbell to take over his starting linebacker job next to Zack Baun.
Campbell, however, is expected to miss most of the offseason after undergoing shoulder surgery, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio recently revealed.
“He is dealing with a shoulder injury,” Fangio said last week (via Reuben Frank of NBC Sports Philadelphia). “He’s gonna miss probably most of the offseason.”
That will leave Campbell with less time to get comfortable in Philadelphia’s 2026 defense, though much of the unit will be the same as last year. He appeared in every game as a rookie with 10 starts and a 63% snap share, so he should already be plenty familiar with Fangio’s scheme and the players in it.
The former Alabama star was a full-time starter at the beginning of the year with Dean still recovering from the previous season’s knee injury. Campbell slid to the bench when Dean returned, but another injury later in the season put the first-round pick back in a starting role for the last two games of the regular season.
Campbell finished his rookie year with 80 tackles (two for loss), two tackles for loss, three passes defended, one forced fumble, and one interception. He also earned a 76.2 grade from Pro Football Focus (subscription required), which ranked 17th among all linebackers with at least 50 snaps (and led all rookies).
Though he was seen as a hybrid linebacker/edge rusher, Campbell only lined up along the defensive line 150 times as a rookie with just 57 pass rushing snaps. Fangio’s comments and the Eagles’ offseason moves indicate he will primarily remain in an off-ball linebacker role moving forward,
WR T.Y. Hilton Announces Retirement
Longtime Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton has not played in the NFL since 2022, and he has now made his retirement official with an announcement on social media.
Hilton, 36, was one of the NFL’s most consistently productive receivers in the 2010s with five seasons with more than 1,000 receiving yards and four Pro Bowls from 2013 to 2018.
Originally a third-round pick out of Florida International, Hilton was drafted by the Colts in the same year as Andrew Luck and quickly emerged as one of the young quarterback’s most reliable targets. After a productive rookie year, Hilton took the torch from Reggie Wayne in 2013 with a team-high 1,083 yards and five touchdowns through the air. He led Indianapolis in receiving for six years in a row with a career- and league-high of 1,448 yards in 2016.
Luck’s sudden retirement in 2019 predictably led into a huge statistical drop for Hilton. Over the next three years, he appeared in just 35 games and averaged just 531 yards per season. Hilton hit free agency in 2022 and signed with the Cowboys late in the season. He appeared in five games in Dallas (including the playoffs).
Hilton will retire with 146 appearances (121 starts), 638 receptions, 9,812 receiving yards, and 53 touchdowns to his name. He also has just over $77MM in career earnings, per OverTheCap.
Eagles Sign RB Dameon Pierce
The Eagles signed running back Dameon Pierce, per a team announcement, adding depth to a backfield that lost AJ Dillon in free agency earlier this week.
Pierce, 26, appeared in four games for the Texans and one for the Chiefs in 2025 with just 28 total snaps on offense. Originally a fourth-round pick in 2022, the Florida product emerged as Houston’s lead back and ranked eighth in the NFL with 72.2 rushing yards per game.
Pierce’s rookie season ended in Week 13 due to an ankle injury, and he lost his starting job after a rough start to his sophomore campaign. He finished the year with just 2.9 yards per carry and was seen as an afterthought in 2024 after the Texans’ acquisition of Joe Mixon. But Pierce bounced back in a rotational role in the backfield. Even taking out his season-long rush of 92 yards, he averaged 5.2 yards per carry, but injuries again limited him to 11 games.
It was clear in 2025 that the Texans were finished with Pierce. Even with Mixon sidelined, he had virtually no role in the offense. He was active for four games with all 23 of his offensive snaps and 10 of his carries in Weeks 1 and 5. He later had kick return duties in Weeks 8 and 10 before being waived.
The Chiefs added Pierce to their practice squad and played him in Week 18. He will now look to carve out a role in Philadelphia behind Saquon Barkley. Tank Bigsby ran well when called upon in 2025, so he is likely the favorite for the No. 2 role, but 2024 fourth-rounder Will Shipley has yet to distinguish himself in the NFL. All three also have experience returning kicks, which will likely factor into the competition for roster spots and playing time.
The Eagles are also signing tight end Stone Smartt, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The former college quarterback appeared in 15 games for the Jets last season after three years with the Chargers. Smartt flashed some pass-catching ability in Los Angeles, but has primarily been a special teams contributor in his career and will likely continue in a similar role in Philadelphia.
Eagles, K Jake Elliott Agree To Revised Contract
Eagles kicker Jake Elliott accepted a revised contract, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, which reduces his 2026 pay by $1MM but ensures he will remain on the roster this season.
Elliott, 31, signed a four-year extension with the Eagles in 2024 worth $6MM per year with $9.7MM in guaranteed money. This year he was set to earn $6MM, but none of it was guaranteed.
The reworked contract includes a $1.3MM veteran-minimum salary and a $3.65MM signing bonus, according to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson – all guaranteed money. The Eagles also added three void years to the deal to fully prorate Elliott’s signing bonus (and option bonuses in 2027 and 2028).
As a result, Elliott’s cap hit was reduced by about $240k, and he can be safely removed from Philadelphia’s list of potential cut candidates.
Elliott’s pay cut comes after two down seasons for the veteran kicker. Originally a Bengals fifth-round pick in 2017, he signed with the Eagles early in his rookie year after not making the roster in Cincinnati. He quickly proved himself to be a reliable kicker and converted 86.2% of his field goal attempts in the first seven years of his career with just one season below 80%. Elliott also made 26 of his 37 attempts from over 50 yards, good for a 70% conversion rate from distance, and received a Pro Bowl nod in 2021 and a second-team All-Pro selection in 2023. He also won a Super Bowl in his rookie year and in 2024.
But in the last two years, Elliott has made just 76.2% of his field goals and just five of 15 from beyond 50 yards. The Eagles understandably did not want to pay him at the very top of the kicker market, but they felt that his history of consistency and reliability was still worth keeping in Philadelphia.
Eagles To Acquire QB Andy Dalton From Panthers
The Eagles are trading a 2027 seventh-round pick to the Panthers in exchange for quarterback Andy Dalton, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Dalton, 38, served as the backup to Bryce Young in Carolina for the last three years. He started one game in 2023 but drew five starts in 2024 with the Panthers having some doubts about their former No. 1 pick. This past season, though, he started only one game with Young putting up the best numbers of his career and establishing himself as the team’s unquestioned starter heading into 2026.
The Panthers signed Kenny Pickett as Young’s new backup last week, making Dalton surplus to requirements in Carolina. The Eagles have their own backup for Jalen Hurts in 2023 sixth-round Tanner McKee, who has impressed when asked to play in the last two years. He has only made two starts with a total of 88 passing attempts in the regular season, though he graded out as one of the NFL’s best passers during the 2025 preseason, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
Philadelphia’s move for Dalton could mean that the team is open to trading McKee, who drew interest during roster cut-downs last summer and was mentioned as a potential trade chip this offseason. Teams seeking a young backup they could work to develop into a future starter could inquire after the Stanford product.
In that case, Dalton would take over as Hurts’ backup in the Eagles offense. Hurts has generally been healthy in his career with his absences typically coming as a result of the team locking in its playoff seeding early.
The official terms of the deal have yet to be announced, so the Panthers could be eating some of Dalton’s remaining salary to facilitate the trade. Assuming that is not the case, the Eagles will inherit the final year of the two-year, $8MM extension he signed last February. Dalton is owed $3.9MM in salary ($2MM of which is guaranteed) with a $100K workout bonus and a $4MM cap hit, per OverTheCap.
The Eagles will be Dalton’s sixth NFL team. The longtime Bengals starter enjoyed one-and-done stints with the Cowboys, Bears and Saints. The Panthers gave him a two-year, $10MM deal in 2023 to mentor a to-be-determined rookie — which became Young weeks later — and re-signed him in 2025 (two years, $8MM) despite an awkward changeover involving a car accident. Dalton suffering minor injuries in the accident led to Young’s second chance, and the diminutive QB has kept the Carolina reins since.
One season remains on McKee’s rookie contract. This marks the third straight year the Eagles have traded for a backup. They acquired Pickett from the Steelers in 2024 and made a late-summer Sam Howell acquisition in 2025. It will now be Dalton in place in the Hurts-McKee QB room, as the 16th-year quarterback is setting up to play an age-39 season.
Lions To Sign LB Damone Clark
Damone Clark is heading north. The former Cowboys, and Texans linebacker has signed with the Lions, per a team announcement.
Clark, 25, was a fifth-round pick out of LSU in 2022. He missed the first half of his rookie year due to spinal fusion surgery, but drew starts for five of his 10 appearances with a 59% snap share. He started every game for the Cowboys in 2023, but saw a significant role reduction in 2024 and was waived midway through last season.
The Texans claimed Clark off waivers and installed him as a core special teams contributor for the last six games of the season. He only played 23 snaps on defense, but saw the field for 131 special teams plays with a 78.7 grade from Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
In Detroit, Clark will add dept to a linebacker room currently led by Jack Campbell, Derrick Barnes, and Malcolm Rodriguez. Veteran Trevor Nowaske re-signed with the Lions last week; he and Clark will likely serve as backups on defense with core roles on special teams in 2026.
Clark knows his new defensive coordinator, Kelvin Sheppard, from their shared time at LSU. Sheppard, also an alum, served as the Tigers’ director of player development in 2020, Clark’s junior year at Baton Rouge.
49ers Not Expected To Re-Sign WR Jauan Jennings
Wide receiver Jauan Jennings was expected to draw multiple suitors in free agency after his first two seasons as a starting wideout for the 49ers.
San Francisco engaged in contract talks with Jennings after the season, but the two sides could not agree on terms before he hit the open market.
Surprisingly, the five-year veteran has received little interest since free agency began, despite racking up 1,618 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns on 132 catches in the last two years. He has also filled multiple roles in one of the most popular offensive schemes in the league – including time cutting his teeth as a run-blocker – and has relationships with the 49ers’ former coaches who have now taken head coach or coordinator jobs with other teams.
But if Jennings is aiming for a starting-level receiver money around $15MM per year, he may need to recalibrate his expectations for his new contract.
Re-upping in San Francisco may no longer be an option, either, per The Athletic’s Vic Tafur. The sight of Mike Evans in a 49ers uniform will take some getting used do, but he more than replaces Jennings’ physical presence and production in the receiver room. His three-year, $42.5MM deal ate up a significant portion of the team’s offseason budget, making it difficult for them to offer Jennings a competitive salary now.
Perhaps the 49ers’ impending split with Brandon Aiyuk will open a path for Jennings to remain with the club that drafted him in 2020. His familiarity with Shanahan’s scheme and ability to operate out wide or from the slot makes him an easy plug-and-play option if the team does not fill out their wide receiver depth in the coming months.