Falcons To Sign K Nick Folk
Nick Folk‘s NFL career will continue with another new team in 2026. The 41-year-old kicker has agreed to a Falcons contract, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. This will be a two-year deal.
Recently expressing interest in playing a 20th NFL season, Folk clearly knew a market awaited. The Falcons experienced kicking issues last season, bidding farewell to Younghoe Koo early in the year. They are picking up the most accurate kicker over the past three NFL seasons.
The Falcons will be Folk’s sixth NFL team. The 2007 UDFA has played for the Cowboys, Jets, Buccaneers, Patriots and Titans. He displayed elite accuracy during his seasons with the Titans and back with the Jets. Folk made between 95.5% and 96.7% of his field goals. Last season, the second-stint Jet went 28-for-29; this included a 7-for-8 ledger from beyond 50 yards.
After kicking in less-than-ideal conditions in New York, Folk will enjoy an indoor environment for the first time since his Dallas days (and even that was not fully indoors). He has kicked in 258 NFL games. Among players throughout NFL history, that ranks 50th all time. Among kickers, Folk sits 19th in NFL annals. If Folk makes it through two Atlanta seasons with perfect attendance, he can climb into the top 20 for games played in league history.
Koo’s eight-season run halted early last season, when the Falcons released him in September. The Falcons used two more kickers — Zane Gonzalez, Parker Romo — with the latter making fewer than 80% of his tries. With a new staff coming in, the team will aim for kicker consistency like Koo once provided.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Saints To Sign RB Travis Etienne
Running back Travis Etienne is coming off the free agent market. The ex-Jaguar will sign with the Saints, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. Etienne will ink a four-year, $52MM pact, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Former Seahawk Kenneth Walker III agreed to a three-year, $43.05MM deal with the Chiefs around 25 minutes after the negotiating window opened Monday. That briefly left Etienne as the No. 1 runner available. The five-year veteran will now return to his native Louisiana for a sizable raise.
Etienne’s new accord places him first among all running backs in total money, surpassing the Packers’ Josh Jacobs ($48MM). At $13MM per year, Etienne checks in at sixth in average annual value.
After a stellar career at Clemson, Etienne entered the league as a first-rounder (No. 25 overall) in 2021. A foot injury wiped out Etienne’s entire rookie year, but he showed no ill effects during his debut the next season. Etienne has logged three 17-game seasons and a 15-gamer since then. He is a three-time 1,000-yard rusher who has averaged around 43 catches and eight total touchdowns per season.
Etienne endured an uncharacteristically poor year in 2024, after which the Jaguars drafted fellow RBs Bhayshul Tuten (fourth round) and LeQuint Allen (seventh). It appeared Etienne’s touches would decrease then, but that did not end up being the case.
Etienne got off to a hot enough start in Week 1 last year that the Jaguars quickly traded another of their backs, Tank Bigsby, to the Eagles. In what went down as a rebound campaign for Etienne, he ran for 1,107 yards and seven touchdowns on a career-high 260 carries (4.3 YPC). The 5-foot-10, 215-pounder added 36 catches for 292 yards and another six scores.
With the 27-year-old Etienne heading to New Orleans, it is fair to wonder what the team will do with incumbent starting back Alvin Kamara. The five-time Pro Bowler still has another season left on his two-year, $24.5MM contract. However, the 31-year-old Kamara is coming off a disappointing 2025 in which an MCL sprain limited him to 11 games.
The Saints restructured Kamara’s deal this past weekend. Doing so could make it easier to trade or release the nine-year veteran, though it is unclear if he would be willing to continue with another team. Leading up to last November’s trade deadline, Kamara was adamant that he did not want to play anywhere else.
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.
Patriots, FB Reggie Gilliam Agree To Deal
After a six-year run in Buffalo, Reggie Gilliam will head elsewhere in the AFC East. The veteran fullback has agreed to join the Patriots on a three-year deal worth up to $12MM, per his agents (h/t NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo). The pact includes $6MM guaranteed.
Gilliam earned a reputation as one of the league’s top fullbacks during his long stint in Buffalo. He ultimately got into 94 games across six seasons with the Bills, plus another 14 playoff appearances. Gilliam was often among those credited with the Bills effective rushing attack, especially following James Cook‘s standout campaign in 2025.
That’s about the extent of Gilliam’s offensive contributions. He had an occasional touch in Buffalo, but nothing that would signal he’s in line for a larger role with a new team. Gilliam finished his Bills tenure with 24 touches for 149 yards and two touchdowns.
The Patriots offensive line struggled mightily in the postseason. While a fullback can’t single-handedly turn around the team’s fortunes, he should at the very least help keep Drake Maye upright while also opening holes for Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson.
It seemed like Josh McDaniels was interested in implementing a fullback in the Patriots 2025 scheme. However, Jack Westover struggled in the role, forcing the team to occasionally turn to DT Khyiris Tonga for some fullback snaps. Now, the team has a legitimate fullback for the foreseeable future.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Giants To Sign P Jordan Stout, Release P Jamie Gillan
The Baltimore-to-New York trend is continuing early in free agency. Jordan Stout will reunite with John Harbaugh as a member of the Giants in 2026.
Stout has agreed to terms on a three-year, $12.3MM deal, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports. This will make him the NFL’s highest-paid punter. Harbaugh is known to prioritize special teams given his coaching background, so this news comes as little surprise. In a corresponding move, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports Jamie Gillan is being released.
Monday’s Stout contract makes the former Raven the NFL’s highest-paid punter. The $4.1MM-per-year player, whom Baltimore entrusted to replace longtime punter Sam Koch in 2022, joins Isaiah Likely and Ar’Darius Washington in making Baltimore-to-Big Apple plans today.
As waves of transactions transpired Monday, a few punters were on the move. The Saints (Ryan Wright) and Falcons (Jake Bailey) made moves to add at this position. Stout, a 2022 fifth-round pick, comes over after a first-team All-Pro season to close his rookie contract. The Ravens punter averaged 50.1 yards per boot last season, placing 45.3% of his kicks inside the 20-yard line.
Affectionately known as the “Scottish Hammer,” Gillan will see a Harbaugh favorite replace him. The Giants will save $1.17MM by cutting Gillan but take on more than $2MM in dead money. New York extended Gillan in 2023, giving him a three-year deal worth $9MM. Punting in a slightly worse environment compared to Stout, Gillan averaged just 44.5 yards per punt in 2025. This came after a 43.7-yard 2024 average. With a new coaching staff coming in, familiar options are being sought. Gillan — the Giant punter since 2022 — will now look for work elsewhere.
Sam Robinson contributed to this post.
Bears To Sign S Coby Bryant
Safety Coby Bryant is leaving the Super Bowl champion Seahawks for the Bears, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports. Chicago is handing Bryant a three-year, $40MM contract, per veteran insider Jordan Schultz.
The NFC North-winning Bears deployed Jaquan Brisker and Kevin Byard as their top safeties last season, but both are free agents after playing almost every defensive snap in 2025. Effective in-season acquisition C.J. Gardner-Johnson is also without a deal. The uncertainty surrounding those three left safety as an obvious area to address for general manager Ryan Poles. He has done it in adding PFR’s 28th-ranked free agent.
During their resurgent 2025, the Bears led the NFL in both takeaways (33) and interceptions (23). The 32-year-old Byard picked off seven passes en route to first-team All-Pro honors. Bryant’s numbers were not as gaudy, but the 26-year-old had a big season in his own right. Across 15 games (all starts), the former slot corner logged 66 tackles, seven passes defensed, four TFL and a career-best four INTs. He chipped in another 10 tackles and two PDs during the Seahawks’ three victories in the playoffs.
Bryant, who has combined for seven picks since 2024, ranked 27th among Pro Football Focus’ 91 qualifying safeties last season. He graded among the top 30 safeties in both coverage and run defense. Despite a penchant for taking the ball away, the Bears ranked 22nd against the pass and 27th versus the run. Bryant helped the Seahawks to third and 10th in those respective categories.
Although Bryant is a noteworthy loss for Seattle, the team is still in good shape at safety. Julian Love, Ty Okada and Nick Emmanwori are all more than capable of handling the position. However, Bryant may not be the first major defensive back the club loses. Cornerbacks Josh Jobe and Riq Woolen remain unsigned two hours after the negotiating window opened.
Bucs, Kenneth Gainwell Agree To Terms
Kenneth Gainwell enjoyed a strong season in 2025. It has landed him a new deal which will send him out of Pittsburgh, though.
The veteran running back has agreed to terms with the Buccaneers, per NFL insider Jordan Schultz. This will be a two-year pact worth $14MM. Gainwell will collect $10MM guaranteed.
As Gainwell has moved to the Bucs, the Steelers wound up replacing him with Rico Dowdle for similar money. Though, Dowdle landed a two-year, $12.25MM pact. Gainwell did a little better, and a strong 2025 season in Pittsburgh paved the way.
Earning Steelers team MVP honors, Gainwell outplayed his one-year, $1.79MM deal in 2025. The four-year Eagles backup amassed 1,023 scrimmage yards and eight touchdowns last season, playing a key role for a Steelers team that again lacked wide receiver depth. Gainwell only has 394 career carries, helping his cause ahead of an age-27 season.
Tampa Bay has a locked-in starting running back, as Bucky Irving displayed star potential as a rookie. A two-injury 2025 season slowed the former fourth-round pick, forcing the Bucs to turn to the demoted Rachaad White. Irving’s older complementary option is not expected to return, and the team did not tender Sean Tucker as an RFA. While Tucker would be brought back at a lower rate, Gainwell is in place as the clear insurance option — a player whose contract suggests a 1-B role could be in the cards — alongside Irving.
Gainwell only logged 280 carries in four Eagles seasons, playing behind a revolving door of higher-caliber RBs. Gainwell backed up Miles Sanders, D’Andre Swift and Saquon Barkley. The Eagles kept trusting the former fifth-round pick as their No. 2 option, and after the Steelers season, Gainwell will see a big pay raise. His two-year deal complements Irving’s rookie accord, with the Bucs now set for an interesting setup in which their backup RB will earn roughly six times the starter’s salary. Irving cannot be extended until 2027.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Falcons, TE Austin Hooper Agree To Deal
Austin Hooper will return to his original NFL team in 2026. The veteran tight end has agreed to terms with the Falcons on a one-year, $3.25MM deal, Ian Rapoport, Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network report.
The former third-round pick played out his rookie contract in Atlanta, where he got into 59 games. He had his most productive NFL seasons during his time with the Falcons, including a 2019 campaign where he hauled in 75 catches for 787 yards and six scores.
That performance earned him a four-year contract from the Browns, but he failed to repeat those numbers. He ended up lasting only two seasons in Cleveland, averaging 390 yards per year. He bounced around the league over the next two years, spending time with the Titans and Raiders before catching on with the Patriots ahead of the 2024 campaign.
He ended up inking a pair of one-year deals with New England. He only missed a single game through his two seasons with the organization, tallying 66 catches while mostly serving as a backup to Hunter Henry. Hooper’s lack of blocking skills ultimately made him expendable with the Patriots, and he’ll now land in a familiar spot in Atlanta.
The team’s TE outlook has obviously changed since the last time Hooper played for the Falcons, with Kyle Pitts now leading the depth chart. The Falcons ended up slapping Pitts with the franchise tag, and he’ll continue to garner most of the snaps at the position in 2026. Still, Hooper’s familiarity with Kevin Stefanski should afford him some extra reps in his latest stop.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.