HEADLINES

Trey Hendrickson Not Seeing Bengals Talks Shift; Guarantees Remain Issue

July 30th, 2025 at 8:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following Terry McLaurin, Trey Hendrickson reported to training camp after a brief holdout. The Bengals can no longer levy nonwaivable $50K fines daily, but they will not see the disgruntled defensive end suit up for practice.

Hendrickson will also follow the Commanders wideout in staging a hold-in; unlike McLaurin, no injury designation is covering this tactic. Hendrickson (via the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway) is healthy and not working out due to dissatisfaction with his Bengals negotiations.

[RELATED: Bengals Reach Compromise To Sign Shemar Stewart]

Although Hendrickson reporting to camp can be interpreted as a positive sign, the 2024 sack leader squashed a notion of improvement by saying (via The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr.) “nothing has changed” with regard to his Bengals impasse. Though, Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz indicates Hendrickson does plan to attend Bengals meetings to stay engaged while embroiled in this dispute.

Hendrickson wants future salary guarantees, a contract dealbreaker — for non-Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase performers — in Cincinnati. A report indicated Hendrickson rejected multiple Bengals offers following the franchise’s traditional structure, which features no post-Year 1 salary guarantees, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirmed (during a Pat McAfee Show appearance) locked-in money represents the final hurdle here. The parties are believed to be in agreement on total value.

The Bengals are not willing to budge much on guarantees, per Schefter, who indicates the parties are far apart here. Schefter pointed to a roughly $10MM guarantee gap existing while adding, in a notable inclusion, the Bengals have discussed a partial guarantee for Year 2 of the extension. We broached this as a possible middle ground in the latest Trade Rumors Front Office post, though Hendrickson is displeased with the amount of guaranteed money the team is willing to provide post-Year 1. For 2025, however, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero note Hendrickson would receive a “huge” raise.

Cincy broke with its guarantee M.O. for Chase while tying Tee Higgins to a traditional deal. Higgins being paid almost definitely is affecting Hendrickson, as all signs were pointing to Higgins departing — in free agency or via a tag-and-trade move — in 2025. Burrow’s persistent lobbying undoubtedly swayed the Bengals on Higgins, and the QB is still pushing for a Hendrickson extension. Considering the weight Burrow holds, his latest endorsement is notable.

“This is the guy that has the most sacks over the last two years,” Burrow said, via SI.com’s Russ Heltman. “Production is value in this league. I know you can think you’re such a good player, but to not have any production doesn’t really matter. So when you have a guy like that, you want to reward him.”

Burrow made a public plea to the Bengals on Hendrickson in May as well. Hendrickson and the Bengals being in agreement regarding value is an important takeaway here, but with the perennial Pro Bowler set to turn 31 later this year, ensuring protections beyond the first year of an extension represents an important negotiating component. An AAV number has not surfaced, but it would stand to reason it would be close to the $35.6MM figure Danielle Hunter agreed to with the Texans ahead of his age-31 season.

Early this summer, however, no $35MM-AAV proposal had come from the team. The Bengals had preferred to resolve this with a one-year add-on; Hendrickson already did that (in 2023), being tied to that one-year, $21MM bump. Significant updates to his position’s market have emerged since, many coming this year.

T.J. Watt raising the EDGE ceiling (to $41MM) before his age-31 campaign could also have inflated Hendrickson’s asking price; Watt’s full guarantees on a three-year deal ($108MM) likely emboldened the Cincinnati rusher as well.

While Hendrickson is unlikely to surpass that, the Bengals have seen this saga play out during an offseason in which the position’s market has seen four updates to its previous highwater mark (Nick Bosa‘s $34MM-per-year deal). Micah Parsons is at odds with the Cowboys, but that deal could affect a Hendrickson rate as well. Parsons going first and raising the market past $41MM per annum could introduce another element in the Hendrickson talks. For now, the sides remain dug in on the guarantee matter.

Seahawks To Extend GM John Schneider

July 30th, 2025 at 8:48pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Seahawks moved John Schneider to the top of their personnel pyramid in 2024, firing Pete Carroll and giving their GM final say. A year later, the team is extending its longtime front office boss.

Schneider and the Seahawks have agreed on a four-year extension, according to FOX’s Jay Glazer. The new deal will push Schneider’s contract through 2030. Schneider has been in place as Seattle GM since 2010. Were he to finish out this contract, the Super Bowl-winning decision-maker would become one of the longest-tenured GMs in NFL history. Among pure GMs in the league today, Schneider already sits second (behind only the Saints’ Mickey Loomis) in terms of longevity.

This is Schneider’s first extension since the blockbuster Russell Wilson trade. Credited with drafting the franchise QB in the 2012 third round and building a loaded roster around him in the early 2010s, Schneider cashed out at the right time by unloading the 10-year Seattle starter for an eight-asset bounty. The Broncos gave the Seahawks two first-round picks and two seconds to headline the package, one that also included Noah Fant, Drew Lock and Shelby Harris. This armed the Seahawks in the 2022 and ’23 drafts, and key starters emerged from the haul.

While Schneider’s trade gave the Seahawks prime draft resources, the team has not turned a corner since that March 2022 swap. Wilson indeed tumbled off the star tier, to the point the Broncos needed to designate him a post-June 1 cut in 2024 and take on a record-setting dead money total to do so, but the Seahawks have not reached the heights of even the QB’s late prime. They booked a playoff berth in 2022, at 9-8, but missed the following two brackets. A 9-8 2023 season led ownership to ditch Carroll and retain Schneider, who then hired Mike Macdonald. The duo signed off on significant offseason changes this year.

After reviving Geno Smith‘s career, the Seahawks traded their three-year starter to the Raiders for a middling return (a 2025 third-rounder). D.K. Metcalf had requested a trade, and Seattle parted with the Pro Bowl wide receiver days later. The team collected a second for the six-year veteran and will retool around free agency additions Sam Darnold and Cooper Kupp. This swap injects considerable risk into the equation, given Darnold’s uneven history and Kupp’s injury trouble. Both Smith and Metcalf signed extensions elsewhere this offseason.

Schneider’s previous extension had run through the 2027 draft; ownership is showing confidence the GM can steer another turnaround following the offseason shakeup. This belief undoubtedly comes from Schneider being in place when he and Carroll built one of the best NFL nuclei this century, having stacked their defense during Wilson’s rookie-contract years. This produced a dominant Super Bowl win and, despite injuries piling up a year later, another run to the game’s top stage. The Seahawks have not been back to an NFC championship game since the fateful Malcolm Butler interception, and Wilson was asked to do much more during the second half of his tenure. That still brought a host of playoff berths, but the Seahawks are attempting to elevate their operation to the Legion of Boom-era level more than a decade after the Patriots loss.

The Seahawks have booked 10 playoff trips during Schneider’s tenure, forging a successful partnership in pairing Carroll with a veteran Packers exec. They are 147-96-1 under Schneider, whose draft record slipped a bit between the Legion of Boom period and the Wilson trade. The Seahawks had not picked up a fifth-year option on a player Schneider drafted until this offseason, exercising Charles Cross‘ 2026 option. Ownership is counting on the pieces from the Wilson trade changing the equation, and Schneider has security as a new-look roster tangles with the Rams and 49ers in the NFC West.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/30/25

July 30th, 2025 at 6:45pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are today’s midweek minor moves:

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Green Bay Packers

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

The Chiefs have signed Lassiter, fresh off a spring season with the UFL’s Memphis Showboats, to help cover for the lack of camp bodies at the position. Xavier Worthy, Skyy Moore, and Marquise Brown are all currently sidelined with injuries.

In other Chiefs-related news, Niang will get a new opportunity in Washington for training camp. A former third-round pick in Kansas City, Niang was tried at starter for a bit before ultimately getting demoted to the practice squad last year. The Chiefs released him from the p-squad in November, and he’s been a free agent ever since.

Jihaad Campbell Progressing, Working With Eagles’ First Team; Latest On OLB, S Situations

July 30th, 2025 at 5:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

Viewed as an upper-crust talent in the first-round mix this year, Jihaad Campbell fell to No. 31 largely because of injury concerns. The rookie linebacker missed the Eagles’ offseason program, but his climb toward the expected starting role is underway.

Although Campbell was not expected to be at full speed yet, PHLY.com’s Zach Berman notes is already mixing into first-string work. The Eagles are listing the Alabama product as limited, but the Philly Voice’s Jimmy Kempski indicates little about his workload suggests a limited tag is necessary. That certainly represents good news for the Eagles, as Berman points to a Week 1 lineup configuration including Campbell alongside Zack Baun at linebacker.

[RELATED: Assessing Eagles’ 2025 Offseason Work]

Campbell having dealt with trouble involving both shoulders, undergoing surgery on one in March, scared some teams during the pre-draft process. But he avoided the active/NFI list to open Eagles camp. A dynamic player who only slid to linebacker (from the edge) due to the Crimson Tide being deeper there during his college career, Campbell has already come up as a player with an edge-rushing future.

For now, the Eagles have their top prospect stationed at off-ball linebacker. Campbell is competing with Jeremiah Trotter Jr. for the job alongside Baun, Kempski adds. While noting the second-generation Eagles LB has started off camp well, Campbell being ready to roll would seemingly make this a non-competition. Campbell’s rookie contract aligns with Baun’s $17MM-per-year deal, giving the Eagles good balance once they have the rookie up to speed.

Shifting to the edge, the Eagles have two experienced options as apparent insurance policies behind hopeful starter Jalyx Hunt. Josh Sweat‘s free agency defection and Brandon Graham‘s retirement leave the Eagles with OLB questions, and they took fliers on supplementary rushers Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche. Thus far, the two vets are working almost exclusively with the second team, the Philly Voice’s Geoff Mosher adds, while Hunt plays opposite locked-in starter Nolan Smith.

Padded work in practice, along with the defending Super Bowl champs’ preseason games, could change this equation. For now, though, the Eagles are not mixing their low-cost FAs into first-string work much — to the point Kempski indicates Ojulari has not shown much early in camp. The four-year Giants contributor drew extensive trade interest before last year’s deadline but only fetched a one-year, $3MM Eagles deal in free agency. Uche is on a one-year, $1.92MM pact. A 2024 third-rounder, Hunt played 241 defensive snaps as a rookie; he tallied 1.5 sacks and three QB hits before matching each total during Philadelphia’s playoff slate.

As expected, Sydney Brown represents second-round pick Andrew Mukuba‘s primary competition at safety. The two split reps early, per 94WIP.com’s Eliot Shorr-Parks. Mukuba, who goes just 186 pounds, has missed early-camp time with a shoulder injury. The Eagles could also limit their non-Reed Blankenship safety’s usage by giving Cooper DeJean safety time in base sets, which was an offseason talking point. Brown lost his job to C.J. Gardner-Johnson last year, as the 2023 second-round pick was rehabbing an ACL tear sustained late in his rookie season. With Gardner-Johnson traded to Houston, Brown has another chance to start. Two years remain on Brown’s rookie contract.

Rounding out late-July Eagles matters, Jordan Davis said (via the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane) he has dropped 26 pounds to weigh in at 330. The imposing D-tackle is now extension-eligible, but the 2022 first-rounder’s part-time usage (down to 37% in 2024) connected him to the bottom rung on the option ladder. Davis is now tied to a fully guaranteed $12.94MM in 2026; the substantial weight loss could help him stay on the field more en route as an extension case builds.

Commanders Hesitant About $30MM-AAV Deal For Terry McLaurin?

July 30th, 2025 at 3:34pm CST by Sam Robinson

JULY 30: A previous reference to an asking price beyond $30MM per year looks to be accurate. McLaurin is believed to targeting Metcalf’s $33MM-AAV number, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport notes. The 2019 draftees have similar career production, with Metcalf’s coming with much more QB stability compared to McLaurin’s.

Metcalf is tied to the NFL’s fourth-highest receiver AAV; considering there are five players earning at least $30MM per year yet south of where Metcalf’s Steelers contract settled, this would help explain the holdup in the McLaurin-Commanders negotiation.

JULY 29: The 2024 offseason expanded the $30MM-per-year wide receiver club to six members. D.K. Metcalf, Ja’Marr Chase and Garrett Wilson have taken it to nine this year. Terry McLaurin is undoubtedly pushing to bump that number to 10, after seeing 2019 Day 2 classmates Metcalf and A.J. Brown land among that contingent.

McLaurin reported to training camp Sunday and landed on the active/PUP list. As our Rory Parks explained, skepticism exists about how injured the Commanders’ top wide receiver really is. An ankle injury has keyed the PUP stay, but it can be safely assumed McLaurin would be ready to practice if an extension comes to pass. Nevertheless, the Commanders have been surprised by the difficulty of these talks.

[RELATED: Assessing McLaurin’s Extension Value]

Using an injury to avoid practicing while negotiating — developments the Jonathan Taylor and Micah Parsons sagas brought — represents a third tactic, joining the holdout and the increasingly utilized hold-in amid extension talks. McLaurin shifted from a holdout to the injury route; no matter how he is accomplishing not practicing, the seventh-year veteran is aiming to land a lucrative third contract. His age provides a complication for Washington.

McLaurin is going into an age-30 season, separating him from Brown and Metcalf. Both Ole Miss products were drafted just before McLaurin, a 2019 third-round pick, but they are each two years younger. This strengthened their cases for big-ticket third contracts. McLaurin went first to ignite the second-tier boom on the receiver market in 2022, agreeing to a three-year, $69.6MM extension. That shaped the Metcalf and Deebo Samuel extensions, both of which coming in higher than McLaurin’s despite the latter’s consistency with suboptimal quarterback situations.

McLaurin’s AAV has dropped to 17th at wide receiver. The Commanders are prepared to extend their top wideout, but Sportskeeda.com’s Tony Pauline indicates hesitancy regarding the $30MM-AAV number. Some around the league point to the team not wanting to go into that neighborhood for McLaurin, despite his five 1,000-yard seasons. Courtland Sutton and McLaurin are nearly the same age, and the Broncos’ top target signed a four-year, $92MM extension. That matches where the Titans went for Calvin Ridley (now 30) in 2024. McLaurin, though, has a better resume than both and should be aiming higher. The Commanders have a Jayden Daniels rookie contract to structure another McLaurin extension around as well.

Adam Peters was around for the 49ers’ 2022 Samuel extension but not Brandon Aiyuk‘s $30MM-per-year deal. (The Samuel extension also did not work out for the 49ers, who proceeded with a salary dump of sorts by trading him to the Commanders.) The second-year GM taking a hardline stance with McLaurin would be an interesting route given the WR’s importance to a sudden contender. Peters confirmed talks are ongoing, with that comment coming after McLaurin expressed frustration about the negotiations.

A potential gap between the pack of 20-somethings (and Tyreek Hill) north of $30MM AAV and the Tee Higgins–Jaylen Waddle–D.J. Moore tier could be relevant here, and it will be interesting to see if McLaurin settles for something just south of that $30MM benchmark. Guarantees and contract structure, of course, will be important to determining the value as well. A short-term extension should be reached soon, per Pauline, but if the Commanders hold the line at or around $30MM, the McLaurin matter could drag on for a while longer.

AFC East Notes: Dolphins, Pats, Myers, Bills

July 30th, 2025 at 3:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

Zach Sieler is not holding in at Dolphins practice, but the veteran defensive lineman has let it be known he is seeking a new contract. Tied to a three-year, $30.75MM extension, Sieler has delivered a considerable return for the Dolphins by posting back-to-back 10-sack seasons — for a team decimated at the edge rusher positions.

“I do feel like I want to get,” Sieler said, via the Miami Herald’s Omar Kelly. “I do feel that respect coming. I think I’ve earned it. I know I’ve earned it.”

The interior defender, though, is signed for two more seasons. Dolphins GM Chris Grier has bent on a few occasions to extension-chasing players with more than a year left on their deals. Grier rewarded Xavien Howard, Tyreek Hill and Jalen Ramsey in doing so. The Howard and Ramsey decisions burned the Dolphins, as substantial dead money emerged following their respective exits. Sieler signed his extension shortly before the first of those 10-sack seasons. Set to turn 30 in September and sitting 31st in AAV among interior D-linemen, the former seventh-rounder is looking to capitalize on his performance and cash in while still in his prime.

Here is the latest from the AFC East:

  • The Dolphins brought in Mike Hilton and Jack Jones at cornerback, but they have lost Kader Kohou and Artie Burns for the season. Hilton had spoken with the Dolphins months ago. The former Steelers and Bengals slot corner expected to draw more interest, but he is now 31. He still expected to wind up in Miami, via ESPN.com’s Marcel Louis-Jacques.
  • Hilton arrived after multiple instances of Dolphins-Rasul Douglas negotiations. The Douglas talks would pertain more to Jones, who is an outside CB. Douglas remains in free agency after rejecting a Dolphins offer, The Exhibit’s Josina Anderson reports. Ranked behind veteran corners D.J. Reed, Byron Murphy, Carlton Davis and Charvarius Ward in PFR’s top 50, Douglas has been tied to the Dolphins and Seahawks and, per Anderson, has received more interest lately. It should be expected the soon-to-be 30-year-old DB signs somewhere soon, but his value will not approach the three-year, $21MM Packers deal he inked in 2022.
  • The Dolphins signed James Daniels after an Achilles tear, and they do not have top interior backup Liam Eichenberg available yet. The versatile O-lineman is weeks away from returning from the active/PUP list, Mike McDaniel said (via Jackson). McDaniel confirmed this issue is “not a season-ender.” The Dolphins re-signed Eichenberg (one year, $2.25MM) after seeing Isaiah Wynn miss all of last season due to a 2023 injury. Wynn is no longer on the roster, but second-round pick Jonah Savaiinaea is set to replace Eichenberg in Miami’s lineup.
  • Good news for the Patriots, who have seen their new DC (Terrell Williams) return to work at camp. A spring health scare sidelined Williams, but the Boston Sports Journal’s Mike Giardi notes he is back ahead of his first year as a coordinator.
  • Josh Myers did not see his four years of starter experience lead to a noteworthy free agency deal, reminding of Teven Jenkins‘ market. The four-year Packers center starter, who received just $2MM from the Jets, did say (via SNY’s Connor Hughes) the team informed him upon signing he would move into a center competition with incumbent Joe Tippmann. We heard during OTAs the Jets would put Tippmann — a 2023 second-round pick — in a position battle with Myers, and it is ongoing. Both players are ex-second-round picks, though Myers’ 56 starts better Tippmann’s 31. Pro Football Focus ranked Tippmann eighth last season, slotting Myers in 38th among centers. Two years remain on Tippmann’s rookie deal.
  • Vince Carter does not intend for his Bills ownership stake to bring a silent partnership role. “I’ve sat with the GM, president, owner, the big boss,” Carter said, via the Daytona News-Journal’s Chris Vinel. “I’ve sat with everybody, and we’ve had conversations, and I just listen and learn. I don’t just want to have a name on it. I want to be involved.” While Carter is unlikely to represent the Bills at any owners meetings, he is one of many to take advantage of the NFL loosening restraints on private equity ownership recently.

S Jordan Whitehead Receives Full Clearance, To Meet With Falcons

July 30th, 2025 at 1:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

An injury sustained in a car accident sidelined Jordan Whitehead for the Buccaneers’ final two games, and the team ended the safety’s second Tampa stint before a roster bonus was due. Whitehead’s rehab process, however, has wrapped months later.

The veteran safety received full clearance recently, according to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo, who reports the Falcons are hosting him on a visit Wednesday. Whitehead has extensive familiarity with the Falcons’ new defensive system, having played under new Atlanta DC Jeff Ulbrich with the Jets.

The Bucs gave Whitehead a two-year, $9MM deal to return after his two-season Jets tenure. New York did not place a top priority on retaining Whitehead in 2024, but the team was interested in retaining him. The parties separated after Whitehead played out a two-year, $14.5MM Jets accord. Last season did not go well for Ulbrich or Whitehead, with the latter missing time due to a separate injury — a pectoral malady — before the car accident scuttled his return.

Whitehead suffered a neck fracture in the crash, the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud reports. He had been on the way to practice before the Bucs’ Week 18 game. Overall, Whitehead missed six games during his second Bucs stint. The veteran starter, though, should have some quality football left, provided he can return successfully from this injury. The former fourth-round pick is heading into an age-28 season, and he made key contributions in both Tampa and New York.

One of the many DB draft picks GM Jason Licht made from 2018-20, Whitehead started every game alongside Antoine Winfield Jr. during Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl LV-winning season. For his career, the Pitt alum has 101 starts. Licht lamented letting Whitehead walk in free agency, but he helped the Jets during that short stint. The Jets rocketed from last place defensively in 2021 to fourth in 2022. They ranked third in total defense in 2023; Whitehead started all 34 Jets games during his tenure.

The Falcons did not re-sign Justin Simmons, capping that partnership at one season, but did make multiple offseason additions at safety. The team signed Jordan Fuller, who played under Raheem Morris with the Rams, and used a third-round pick on Xavier Watts. Whitehead would bring considerable experience alongside Jessie Bates, however. It will be interesting to see if more teams reach out to the recovering safety. The Bucs moved Tykee Smith to safety this offseason, putting the second-year DB in position to replace Whitehead.

Bills CB Maxwell Hairston Avoids ACL Tear

July 30th, 2025 at 12:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

Maxwell Hairston went down with a noncontact knee injury during Tuesday’s Bills practice. Fears of an ACL tear turned out to be overblown.

The first-round cornerback’s ACL is intact, according to Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz, and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo report the Kentucky product suffered an LCL sprain. Hairston is expected to be out for at least a few weeks, but the Bills avoided the worst-case scenario here.

Buffalo views Hairston as likely to be ready for Week 1, Schultz adds. This is a break for the Bills, who based their offseason cornerback plan on Hairston. The team did not re-sign Rasul Douglas and authorized a Christian Benford extension — one that soon became paired with Hairston’s rookie contract. The team also traded Kaiir Elam, who had not panned out as a 2022 first-round choice.

Douglas remains a free agent, not signing with the Dolphins despite multiple instances of reported negotiations emerging. Miami has since signed Jack Jones and Mike Hilton. Douglas remaining available represents an interesting option for the Bills, but if Hairston is to be back by Week 1 or shortly before that point, they may opt to stick with their current depth chart. The team also brought back Tre’Davious White and Dane Jackson this offseason.

The knee injury comes after the Bills received word of a civil suit alleging Hairston sexually assaulted a woman as a freshman at Kentucky. Hairston, 22 next week, denied the allegation.

“This is something I’ve been dealing with since I was 17,” Hairston said, via Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith. “It’s been four years now, and I went through this whole process with the police, they went through a thorough investigation, and I was exonerated from that. The University of Kentucky did a thorough investigation, I was exonerated from that as well. And I volunteered to do multiple polygraphs because I was determined to get my truth out there, because I had nothing to hide. I was an open book.

“The Bills have been by my side from the start because they did their own thorough investigation. The people that know the truth know, and those are the people I’m sticking by and they’re sticking by me.”

Brandon Beane previously suggested the Bills conducted thorough research on this matter, indicating he believed the cornerback was falsely accused of this crime. In the suit, the unnamed woman accuses Hairston of sexually assaulting her in her dorm room on March 25, 2021. The suit alleges Hairston removed the woman’s pajamas, after she had indicated she was tired and uninterested in sexual intercourse, and assaulted her. The woman filed a police report at the time, according to Bardahl and Graham, and went through a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner exam at a hospital.

Bengals Release RB Zack Moss

July 30th, 2025 at 11:57am CST by Sam Robinson

A severe injury ended Zack Moss‘ 2024 season, and the Bengals are moving on ahead of a 2025 comeback bid. They released the veteran running back Wednesday.

Cincinnati made multiple additions to its running backs room this offseason, reacquiring Samaje Perine and drafting Tahj Brooks in the sixth round. Moss is also facing a potential career-ending injury, with The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. indicating the sixth-year veteran broke his neck in three places last season. Moss began Bengals camp on the active/NFI list.

The Bengals signed Moss to a two-year, $8MM deal in 2024, bringing in the Jonathan Taylor Colts backup/frequent fill-in to complement Chase Brown. Moss began last season as Cincinnati’s starter, but the November neck injury changed the equation. The Bengals reached an agreement on a reworking with Moss this offseason, tying the former Bills third-rounder to a one-year, $1.7MM deal ($375K guaranteed). This pointed to Moss making a return, but his injury has impeded that.

The severity of Moss’ neck injury did not surface until days before the Bengals’ Week 9 game last year. A two-month stay in a neck brace commenced, per Dehner, and Moss indicated he discussed retirement with HC Zac Taylor. Moss, though, did not need surgery and was cleared for offseason work. Conditioning spurred the Bengals’ reasoning for the active/NFI placement, rather than the neck issue.

Before the injury, Moss had not closely resembled his Colts version. He averaged just 3.3 yards per carry, as Brown became a more explosive option, last season. Moss, 27, was much better in 2023. He averaged 4.3 yards per tote in his lone full Colts season, replacing Taylor during a contract squabble and then due to injury. Moss produced 794 rushing yards and five touchdowns, helping Gardner Minshew guide the team to the playoff precipice that year.

It will be interesting to see if another team takes a chance on Moss before the season. Being cleared from the neck issue will help, but the injury was serious enough it has undoubtedly affected his NFL stock. The Bengals will take on $1.88MM in dead money from this cut.

Dolphins CB Kader Kohou Out For Season

July 30th, 2025 at 10:34am CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Dolphins’ cornerback situation keeps getting worse. The latest development will continue to differentiate this year’s group from the cadre Miami deployed in 2024.

Last week, Artie Burns went down with a season-ending ACL tear. Today, head coach Mike McDaniel announced that fourth-year cornerback Kader Kohou suffered the same injury in Saturday’s practice, per ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques. Kohou will undergo surgery and is expected to spend the entire 2025 season on injured reserve.

The 26-year-old is Miami’s only returning starter at cornerback after the team released Kendall Fuller and traded Jalen Ramsey this offseason. Kohou was expected to move outside in 2025 after playing the vast majority of his snaps in the slot in his first three seasons. That job will now be up for grabs among the several young corners on Miami’s roster in what appears to be a wide-open competition.

Second-year UDFA Storm Duck is the only rostered player with multiple starts at cornerback for the Dolphins. McDaniel has also made it clear that the team is looking for more out of 2023 second-rounder Cam Smith, who hasn’t logged a single start in his first two years with just 153 total defensive snaps. Third-year corner Ethan Bonner has primarily played special teams in his seven career appearances and seems unlikely to seriously factor into the starting cornerback competition.

The Dolphins didn’t invest premium resources into the position this offseason, but they still made two veteran additions to their cornerback room. Jack Jones, who started 17 games for the Raiders in 2024, will have a shot at earning a starting job on the boundary, especially after Kohou’s injury. Longtime Steelers and Bengals nickel Mike Hilton should be the favorite to occupy the same role in Miami.

This represents brutal timing for Kohou, who had emerged as a UDFA to be a Dolphins regular during a time of uncertainty at the position. Arriving during the Xavien Howard–Byron Jones experiment, Kohou stepped in as an immediate starter in 2022 and played a key role as the Dolphins moved on from Jones (via a post-June 1 cut) in 2023. Ramsey played only half the season that year, and after the Dolphins designated Howard a post-June 1 release in 2024, Kohou logged 13 more starts. A host of unknowns are now in place following Kohou’s setback.

Kohou logged a 76% snap rate in the 13 games in which he was healthy, remaining a fixture under Anthony Weaver. Pro Football Focus assigned him a mid-pack grade (57th) among CB regulars, and the Dolphins tendered him as an RFA ($3.26MM) in March. Kohou may need another one-year deal in 2026, with his contract year set to be erased. The Division II product will turn 27 in November, as this season will turn from a platform year to a lost campaign.

Sam Robinson contributed to this post.

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