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Dolphins Not Making RB De’Von Achane Available In Trades
A February report indicated neither Jaylen Waddle nor De’Von Achane were available, deeming both core players in Miami. The Dolphins have since moved Waddle, sending the 1,000-yard wide receiver to the Broncos for a package headlined by a first-round pick. Teams are naturally wondering if the rebuilding team’s stance has changed on Achane.
As of mid-March, it has not. The Dolphins are informing interested teams the fourth-year running back is not available, ESPN’s Adam Schefter notes. One season remains on Achane’s rookie contract, and after the team stripped Malik Willis of his top pass catcher, the new QB will be expected to have the speedy running back complementing him.
Achane, 24, is due a $5.68MM base salary in the final year of a third-round rookie deal. The staffers that brought the Texas A&M alum to Miami — Chris Grier, Mike McDaniel — are gone, and the Dolphins have separated from their Waddle-Tua Tagovailoa–Tyreek Hill troika this offseason. The team also cut Bradley Chubb and traded Minkah Fitzpatrick for a second time.
With a second rebuild in seven years in the works, Miami probably will not slam the door on dealing Achane — a valuable piece due to his age and sprinter speed — but it would seemingly take a strong return for a player profiling as an extension candidate.
Before the Dolphins brought in Jeff Hafley and Jon-Eric Sullivan, Achane made it known he was seeking an offseason extension. This year could see pivotal updates on the running back market, with Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs now extension-eligible. Both the Falcons and Lions can buy more time — if they choose to — by exercising the former first-rounders’ fifth-year options, pushing their rookie contracts through 2027. The Dolphins have no such luxury, with Achane a former third-round pick.
Even with a new Miami regime in town, the team needs to pay someone to play alongside Willis. Placeholder options (Tutu Atwell, Jalen Tolbert) are positioned at receiver, with the injury-prone Greg Dulcich at tight end. Achane represents the Dolphins’ clear centerpiece on offense.
When asked about extensions at the Combine, Sullivan targeted summer talks with Achane and select others. Considering the players the Dolphins have dealt, not many extension candidates are on this roster. After finishing the 2024 season with 1,499 scrimmage yards and 12 touchdowns, Achane followed it up with a 1,838-yard, 12-TD 2025. While the latter effort was obscured by Tagovailoa’s descent and steady rumors of staff upheaval, the Dolphins will hope to rely on him — potentially after a big-ticket payday — as Hafley’s HC tenure starts.
Browns To Add DE A.J. Epenesa, WR Tylan Wallace
A.J. Epenesa‘s time in Buffalo is over, but the veteran defensive end will not be traveling far for his next NFL gig. The Browns are bringing in the former second-round pick.
Cleveland is adding Epenesa on a one-year deal worth up to $5MM, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. With the Bills changing their defensive scheme, Epenesa will wrap his tenure at six seasons.
Buffalo is shifting to a 3-4 scheme under new DC Jim Leonhard, and Epenesa will stay in a 4-3 alignment and work as a complementary presence around the game’s top pass rusher. The Browns already have Alex Wright in place as Myles Garrett‘s top sidekick, but Epenesa is no slouch in the sack department. He recorded 19 sacks from 2022-24. The Bills signed Bradley Chubb last week and have Michael Hoecht coming back from injury.
The Bills had re-signed Epenesa on a two-year, $12MM deal in 2024. The Iowa alum played out that contract but did not have a good platform year this time around. The rotational rusher only recorded 2.5 sacks in 15 games. Epenesa did intercept two passes, however, matching his total from 2023.
Although Epenesa’s sack count was down, the Bills still used him on 47% of their defensive snaps. Working as the top rusher off the bench behind starters Gregory Rousseau and Joey Bosa, Epenesa settled back into a second-string role after 13 2024 starts. The longtime Rousseau sidekick played a career-high 612 defensive snaps in 2024, recording a safety and setting a new career-best mark with eight tackles for loss.
Wright, 25, does not have a six-sack season yet despite playing opposite Garrett. The Browns extended the ex-Jim Schwartz piece on a three-year, $33MM deal. At a price that will come in shy of $5MM, Epenesa (27) represents what looks like a good value bet for Cleveland.
The team is also signing wide receiver/return man Tylan Wallace, cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot reports. Wallace spent his entire five-year career in Baltimore, and he will follow ex-Ravens OC Todd Monken to Cleveland.
Wallace played out a one-year, $2.1MM Ravens pact. While Wallace only has 305 receiving yards in five seasons, he has made a bigger impact as a return man. The former fourth-round pick returned a punt for a touchdown in 2023. Monken presumably has a bigger role for Wallace in mind — for a Browns team with serious WR questions beyond Jerry Jeudy — after the five-year vet returned only 20 combined kicks and punts in Baltimore.
Lions To Sign WR Greg Dortch
Greg Dortch will complete a quick reunion with Drew Petzing. The new Lions offensive coordinator will once again coach his former Cardinals slot charge.
Detroit hosted Dortch on a Wednesday visit, per NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo, and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero note the meeting will lead to a quick signing. It’s a one-year deal.
Contributing as a receiver and both as a kick and punt returner, Dortch will vie for a roster spot with Petzing’s new team. The Cardinals tendered Dortch as an RFA last year ($3.26MM) but will let him walk now that Mike LaFleur‘s in charge.
Operating as a diminutive inside receiver under Kliff Kingsbury and then Petzing in Arizona, Dortch saw time for the Cardinals from 2021-25. Formerly a Jets UDFA, Dortch journeyed to the Rams, Panthers and Falcons before getting a shot in the desert. The Cardinals deployed two 5-foot-7 wideouts — in Dortch and Rondale Moore — from 2021-23, and both enjoyed moments as auxiliary playmakers around the likes of DeAndre Hopkins, Trey McBride and Michael Wilson.
Playing in two 2019 games but not seeing any action in 2020, Dortch carved out a Cardinals role in 2022 and logged snap shares from 35-45% on offense over the next four seasons. A veteran of PFR’s Minor NFL Transactions posts, Dortch is still just 27 (28 in May). His best season came under Kingsbury in 2022 (52 receptions, 467 yards), but the Cards kept him around as they transitioned to Petzing’s offense.
Dortch did combine for six touchdown receptions from 2024-25, but he averaged fewer than 10 yards per catch — down to a paltry 7.1 last season — as Arizona’s offense became increasingly unreliable. The Wake Forest alum missed five games last season, being placed on IR in early December. A steadier presence as a return man, Dortch was the Cardinals’ primary kick returner last season. He also served as a regular Arizona punt-return option from 2022-25, though the dual-threat specialist does not have a return TD in his career.
The Lions have starters Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams signed to extensions, and three years remain on Isaac TeSlaa‘s rookie contract. The team also brought back practice squad mainstay Tom Kennedy last week.
Chargers To Re-Sign S Tony Jefferson
Tony Jefferson battled injuries for a while, spending the 2020 season out of football. He then spent the 2023 season retired, working as a Ravens scout. But the veteran safety is now preparing to play a third season since coming out of retirement.
The Chargers are re-signing Jefferson, NFL insider Jordan Schultz tweets. It is a one-year, $2MM deal. He rejoins a team that traded Alohi Gilman months ago; Gilman has since signed with the Chiefs.
Jefferson’s reemergence — under then-Bolts DC Jesse Minter, a former Ravens DBs coach (who is now Baltimore’s HC) — made the Chargers comfortable trading Gilman in a package that brought back Odafe Oweh last October. Jefferson made eight starts last season — his most since the 2018 slate — and helped the Bolts back to the playoffs. The Derwin James complementary piece is still in the NFL despite entering the league in 2013. The two sabbatical seasons have presumably helped keep the veteran fresh, but the former UDFA is going into an age-34 season.
While Minter landed the Ravens’ HC job, the Chargers replaced him with their former safeties coach. Chris O’Leary coached the Bolts’ safeties in 2024, and Schultz adds he and Jefferson remain close. Only two months older than Jefferson, O’Leary is back with the Chargers after spending the 2025 season as Western Michigan’s DC.
Suiting up for 13 games last season also marked Jefferson’s most since that 2018 Ravens campaign under Minter. O’Leary was finishing up his college playing career at Indiana State when Jefferson entered the NFL, and the new coordinator will have considerable experience to lean on at safety this coming season. James is back for his ninth Bolts year, with Elijah Molden returning for a sixth NFL season. With James patrolling the slot or roving near the line of scrimmage more often than not, Jefferson logged 351 snaps at free safety last season.
Jefferson shined under Minter, intercepting a career-high four passes. That doubled his career total, with the 2025 thefts his first in seven years. The former Cardinals UDFA played for the veteran minimum in 2025, doing so as he yoyoed between the Bolts’ practice squad and active roster between the 2024 and ’25 campaigns. This $2MM deal does not ensure Jefferson will be back, but his close relationship with O’Leary and 2025 success makes it safe to pencil in the Oklahoma alum for another year in the league.
Colts Sign WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, LB Akeem Davis-Gaither
Continuing a hyphen-heavy transaction week, the Colts are adding some veteran depth on both sides of the ball. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Akeem Davis-Gaither are signing with the team, the Colts announced.
Lou Anarumo‘s reunions with hyphenated ex-Bengals already included a Tuesday Cam Taylor-Britt agreement. Davis-Gaither, who played for Cincinnati from 2020-24 under Indianapolis’ current DC, will join the Colts after a season with the Cardinals.
Westbrook-Ikhine comes over after a season in Miami, but he is certainly better known to Colts fans as a longtime Titans auxiliary wideout. The former Ryan Tannehill target spent five years in Tennessee before moving to Miami last year. Westbrook-Ikhine posted two 400-plus-yard seasons, including a 476-yard, four-TD campaign for a Titans team that claimed the AFC’s No. 1 seed in 2021.
Three years later, Westbrook-Ikhine managed nine touchdown grabs on just 32 receptions — including a 98-yard score. Two of those nine TDs came against the Colts. The 6-foot-2 pass catcher, 29 on Saturday, signed a two-year, $5.99MM Dolphins deal in 2025 but caught only 11 passes as a Jaylen Waddle complementary option. Miami’s new regime, which is prepared to smash a single-season dead money record, released Westbrook-Ikhine recently (the seventh-year vet only counts $1.6MM toward Miami’s astonishing dead cap total — above $170MM when Tua Tagovailoa‘s release is factored in).
The Colts came into last season with a receiver surplus but dealt into it over the past five months, sending Adonai Mitchell to the Jets in the Sauce Gardner trade and Michael Pittman Jr. to the Steelers in a salary-dump move as payments for Alec Pierce and Daniel Jones loomed. Those moves could clear a path for Westbrook-Ikhine to be a low-cost WR3 alongside Pierce and Josh Downs.
Davis-Gaither, 28, made a career-high 13 starts for the Cardinals but received a pink slip earlier this month. He had previously been a role player under Anarumo, serving as a Logan Wilson–Germaine Pratt wingman at linebacker. This included three seasons with a snap rate of 30% or higher. Pratt and Wilson were the lead options, though, during Anarumo’s tenure. The Colts rostered Pratt last season, picking him up after a Raiders release, but have not brought him back just yet.
Intercepting a Tyler Huntley pass in the 2022 wild-card round, Davis-Gaither took on a bigger role with the Cardinals in 2025 but struggled. Pro Football Focus graded him in the bottom quartile among off-ball linebackers last season, though he did smash a career high with 117 tackles while adding an interception and five passes defensed.
The Colts have steadily dismantled their linebacking corps, moving on from Shaquille Leonard, E.J. Speed and Zaire Franklin over the past two-plus years. They sent Franklin to Green Bay for defensive tackle Colby Wooden. Jaylon Carlies currently serves as the top Indianapolis holdover LB, giving Davis-Gaither a path to a prominent role as it currently stands.
Bears To Bring Back LB Jack Sanborn
After a season with the Cowboys, Jack Sanborn will return to Chicago. The Bears are bringing back the veteran linebacker, according to a team announcement.
A 19-game Bears starter from 2022-24, Sanborn migrated to Dallas after being nontendered as an RFA last year. Sanborn went down with a groin injury midway through the season, and the Cowboys did not activate him from IR. He will return to Chicago after playing out a one-year, $1.5MM Dallas deal.
Even with the Bears spending big at linebacker in 2023 — via the Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards accords — they used Sanborn as a 10-game starter. He registered a career-high 67 tackles (seven for loss) and intercepted a pass. Chicago capped Sanborn’s defensive usage at 39%, with Edmunds and Edwards in place as full-timers on the team’s defensive second level. A similar role may be in store in 2026.
Pro Football Focus has long viewed Sanborn as a mid-pack linebacker, but he did not have enough snaps to qualify as a regular in 2025. Sanborn, 25, missed 11 games last season; though, the Wisconsin alum did log a career-best 55% snap rate in his Cowboys season.
Releasing Edmunds — who landed on his feet with a $23MM Giants guarantee — the Bears still roster Edwards, and they added Devin Bush after the former first-rounder impressed under Jim Schwartz in Cleveland. The team re-signed D’Marco Jackson and rosters two of the NFL’s three Sewell brothers. Noah Sewell started nine games last season; Nephi has one career start in four NFL campaigns.
Panthers To Sign RB AJ Dillon
AJ Dillon‘s journey around the NFC will continue with a trip south. The former Packers mainstay is heading to Carolina, NFL insider Jordan Schultz tweets.
The Panthers are adding Dillon on a one-year deal, giving the former second-round pick a chance to play a seventh NFL season. Dillon spent last year as an Eagles Saquon Barkley backup option but has not seen extensive work since the 2023 season — his last as the Packers’ Aaron Jones complementary piece.
Although Dillon re-signed at a low rate to stay with the Packers in 2024, an IR placement without a return designation that August sidelined him for the season. Dillon, 28 in May, totaled only 12 carries for 60 yards last season. On one hand, the bruising back should be fresh after 12 carries in two years; on the other, he has been relatively off the radar for a while.
Carolina lost Rico Dowdle in free agency; the 2025 1,000-yard rusher joined the Steelers on a two-year, $12.25MM deal. The team demoted Chuba Hubbard to give Dowdle more work last season, but the homegrown talent is still signed through 2028 on his $8.3MM-per-year deal. The Panthers also have 2024 second-round pick Jonathon Brooks, but he has suffered two ACL tears since 2023 and missed all of last season. Trevor Etienne, a 2025 fourth-rounder, should factor in more prominently post-Dowdle.
Best remembered as a key between-the-tackles/short-yardage presence (and tormentor of Jones fantasy GMs), Dillon totaled 2,246 rushing yards from 2021-23. He averaged 4.3 and 4.1 yards per carry in 2021 and ’22, respectively, serving as a key presence for the Packers’ first post-Davante Adams offense in the latter season. In 2023, however, Dillon slogged to just a 3.4-yard average.
The Boston College product played for just $1.34MM in Philadelphia last year and collected $2.74MM on Green Bay’s IR two years ago. This deal likely will not ensure Dillon makes the Panthers’ 53-man roster, but the team does have some veteran insurance behind Hubbard. Dillon’s roster spot could be contingent on where Brooks’ recovery ends up, but at the very least, the power back is an experienced player on a team lacking much of that in its backfield beyond Hubbard.
Vikings Blocked Giants From Josh McCown Hire
Josh McCown is heading into his third season as Vikings quarterbacks coach. In addition to continuing the J.J. McCarthy developmental process, McCown will be coaching Kyler Murray in 2026.
Kevin O’Connell has lost Grant Udinski and Brian Angelichio from his offensive staff — to AFC OC gigs — over the past two offseasons, and NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo indicated (h/t The Athletic’s Dan Duggan) the Giants interviewed McCown for their OC post. While that could be something to keep in mind in the event Matt Nagy can move up the ladder in 2027, the Giants did not stop there with McCown.
John Harbaugh‘s team attempted to hire McCown as pass-game coordinator, making the former quarterback an offer. The Vikings, per Garafolo, blocked that move. Teams are allowed to block lateral moves involving contracted assistants; McCown also serves as Vikes pass-game coordinator.
No other team met with McCown about an OC position this offseason. Considering McCarthy’s issues last year, it is somewhat understandable teams were not eager to poach his position coach for a potential play-calling role. Then again, McCown was Sam Darnold‘s position coach during his breakthrough 2024 Pro Bowl campaign. McCown has yet to interview for an OC job since taking the Vikings position, but he did meet with the Jets about their HC post last year.
We heard in early January the Giants had McCown on their radar, though they eventually hired Nagy to call plays under Harbaugh. McCown’s career included no Ravens stops, though both he and GM Joe Schoen were with the Dolphins in 2008.
The Giants hired Brian Callahan for their QBs coach/PGC role. This McCown update points to the ex-Titans HC being at least New York’s second choice. Callahan did receive OC consideration this offseason, interviewing for the Buccaneers and Chargers’ play-calling positions. He will instead work as a top Nagy lieutenant. Should Nagy be a one-and-done, however, Callahan could find himself competing with McCown for Big Blue’s play-calling post in 2027.
McCown, 46, has been on NFL staffs since 2023. The Texans, however, interviewed him for their HC job in 2021 and ’22. The Panthers fired McCown after one season on Frank Reich‘s staff, but he found a quick landing spot under O’Connell. The former 19-year NFL vet will work as a key staffer under O’Connell and OC Wes Phillips once again.
NFC Contract Details: McDuffie, Eagles, Oweh, Lloyd, Etienne, Giants, Packers, 49ers, Bucs
Here are the latest details from contracts agreed to around the NFC:
- Trent McDuffie, CB (Rams). Four years, $124MM. Although McDuffie secured $100MM guaranteed, $50MM is locked in at signing. But a rolling guarantee structure is in place. If on the Rams’ roster by Day 5 of the 2027 league year, McDuffie will see his 2028 base salary ($26.32MM) shift to a full guarantee, according to OverTheCap. On Day 5 of the 2028 league year, the All-Pro cornerback will see $23MM of his $29.82MM 2029 base salary become guaranteed. A $5MM roster bonus is due on Day 5 of the 2029 league year.
- Odafe Oweh, DE (Commanders). Four years, $96MM. Oweh will receive $50.6MM guaranteed at signing, SI.com’s Albert Breer tweets. An additional $17.4MM is guaranteed for injury. A $1MM roster bonus is due by April 1, 2029, according to Spotrac.
- Jordan Davis, DT (Eagles). Three years, $78MM. Of Davis’ reported $65MM guarantee, OverTheCap indicates $38.94MM is the at-signing number. If Davis is on the Eagles’ roster by Day 3 of the 2027 league year, his 2028 salary and a $24.2MM option bonus become guaranteed.
- Laremy Tunsil, LT (Commanders). Two years, $60.2MM. Tunsil secured $52.66MM guaranteed at signing on his third career extension, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets. The Pro Bowl left tackle’s 2026 and ’27 compensation is fully guaranteed. An additional $8.85MM in 2028 compensation is guaranteed for injury.
- Travis Etienne, RB (Saints). Four years, $47MM. Etienne landed $24MM fully guaranteed, ESPN.com’s Katherine Terrell tweets. That is tied for fifth among running backs. The ex-Jaguar secured a $4MM injury guarantee on his $12MM 2028 base salary, Terrell adds.
- Devin Lloyd, LB (Panthers). Three years, $42MM. The initial reports of $45MM covered the deal’s max value, though the reported $25MM guarantee is a full guarantee (per Wilson). This includes an $8.54MM guarantee of Lloyd’s $11.25MM 2027 base salary.
- Isaiah Likely, TE (Giants). Three years, $40MM. Likely landed $20.5MM guaranteed, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan tweets. If the Giants move on after 2027, they would save $12MM.
- Chig Okonkwo, TE (Commanders). Three years, $27MM. The ex-Titan pass catcher scored $17.6MM fully guaranteed, Wilson tweets. The guarantee covers Okonkwo’s 2026 and ’27 compensation.
- Leo Chenal, LB (Commanders). Three years, $24.75MM. Chenal secured $12.4MM guaranteed, ESPN.com’s John Keim tweets.
- Javon Hargrave, DT (Packers). Two years, $23MM. Green Bay is giving Hargrave $10.5MM guaranteed at signing. ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky confirms, per usual with the Packers, the only guarantee comes via a signing bonus. A $3MM roster bonus is due next March.
- Alex Anzalone, LB (Buccaneers). Two years, $17MM. Anzalone’s contract includes $12MM guaranteed at signing, Wilson tweets.
- Eddy Pineiro, K (49ers). Four years, $17MM. The deal includes $8MM guaranteed at signing, with ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner indicating $10MM is guaranteed in total. Pineiro’s first two years are fully guaranteed; his 2028 base salary ($1.7MM) becomes guaranteed on April 1, 2027, Wagoner adds.
- Tyler Higbee, TE (Rams). Two years, $6MM. The initial $8MM number represents the deal’s max value, with Wilson adding $3.4MM of Higbee’s fourth contract is guaranteed.