Dolphins, K Zane Gonzalez Agree To Deal
The Dolphins are signing kicker Zane Gonzalez to a one-year deal, agent Mike McCartney announced on X.
A veteran of seven NFL teams and seasons, the 30-year-old Gonzalez will replace the long-tenured Jason Sanders in Miami. Sanders had been a Dolphin since 2018, but they released him last week after he missed all of last season with a hip injury. Riley Patterson, now a free agent, filled in for Sanders last year.
In moving to South Florida, Gonzalez will reunite with new Dolphins special teams coordinator Chris Tabor. When Gonzalez was a rookie in Cleveland in 2017, Tabor was in charge of the Browns’ special teams unit. Tabor held the same position in Carolina in 2022. Gonzalez was on the Panthers’ roster then, but he missed the entire season with a quad injury.
Since entering the league as a UDFA from Arizona State nine years ago, the oft-waived, oft-injured Gonzalez has put together just two full seasons. He did not kick for anyone from 2022-23, though he resurfaced with the Commanders in ’24 for a nine-game stint (including three in the playoffs). Washington re-signed and then released Gonzalez last spring.
After the Commanders cut him, Gonzalez had to wait until last November for another contract. Two days after John Parker Romo missed an extra point in a 24-23 loss to the Patriots, the Falcons waived him and brought in Gonzalez. The move worked out for both sides. Gonzalez made 19 of 22 field goals (86.4%) and 17 of 18 extra points (94.4%).
Although he kicked in just nine games, 2025 was one of Gonzalez’s best seasons. During his 78-game career, Gonzalez has hit 81% of field goals (115 of 142) and 163 of 171 extra points (95.3%).
Lions To Sign RB Isiah Pacheco
The Lions have identified their David Montgomery replacement. Isiah Pacheco has agreed to terms with Detroit, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports. This is a one-year pact, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press adds.
Montgomery was recently traded to the Texans in a move which gave Houston a new lead back. He will serve as Joe Mixon‘s replacement with the Texans. Meanwhile, Kansas City made one of the most impactful RB additions of free agency yesterday by agreeing to terms with Kenneth Walker. That news confirmed Pacheco would be departing after playing out his rookie contract with the Chiefs.
The Montgomery trade left Detroit with Jahmyr Gibbs atop the running back depth chart. He is eligible for an extension this offseason, and a pact at or near the top of the position’s market can be expected. The Lions entered this week in need of inexpensive backfield depth, and Pacheco will be counted on to serve as Gibbs’ new partner.
Entering the NFL as a seventh-round pick, Pacheco made an immediate impact and became Kansas’s City’s starter as a rookie. He then took on an increased workload (205 carries) in 2023 and set new career highs across the board. Pacheco posted 935 yards and seven touchdowns that season, one which led to increased expectations. The Rutgers product was limited to just seven games in 2024, however.
Pacheco missed four contests this past campaign as well, one in which he averaged only 3.9 yards per attempt on a struggling Chiefs offense. The 27-year-old will look to bounce back with Detroit. The Lions lined up a few offensive line additions on Monday, including center Cade Mays. He and the team’s eventual Taylor Decker replacement at left tackle will make up a renovated unit along the O-line in 2026. Stronger play in that regard will of course help the Lions’ rushing attack.
Leading up to free agency, a report from SportsBoom’s Jason La Canfora named the Lions as a potential Mixon suitor. The veteran would have been a viable option to serve as Montgomery’s replacement. Instead, Detroit will use Pacheco in that capacity.
Bears To Sign WR Kalif Raymond
Wide receiver/return man Kalif Raymond is moving from Detroit to NFC North rival Chicago. The Bears are signing Raymond, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. It’s a one-year, $5.1MM pact, per Rapaport and colleague Mike Garafolo.
This deal will reunite Raymond with Bears head coach Ben Johnson, who was on the Lions’ staff during the wideout’s first four years in the Motor City. Johnson worked as the Lions’ offensive coordinator from 2022-24.
Raymond recorded a career-high 616 receiving yards in Johnson’s first season calling plays. He also accrued his second-most catches (47) that year, though his impact in Detroit’s offense diminished after that. Raymond amassed 35 catches for 489 yards and a touchdown in 2023, his second straight 17-game campaign. He dipped to 17-215-2 over 12 contests in Johnson’s last season with the Lions.
With Johnson moving to Chicago for a promotion in 2025, Raymond experienced a mild uptick in production under the play-calling duo of now-former O-coordinator John Morton and head coach Dan Campbell. In 15 games, Raymond secured 24 of 30 targets for 289 yards and a score.
As a receiver, Raymond wrapped up his five-year Detroit tenure with 171 catches, 2,185 yards (12.8 YPC) and eight TDs. He also made an impact as a return man, twice earning second-team All-Pro honors. He took back three punts for touchdowns as a Lion and led the league in return yards in 2024.
Also a former Bronco, Jet, Giant and Titan, the 31-year-old Raymond will again serve as an auxiliary receiver with his new team. Having traded D.J. Moore to the Bills, the Bears will go forward with Rome Odunze and Luther Burden atop their depth chart. Chicago lost Olamide Zaccheaus to Atlanta on Monday, which created an opening for Raymond.
Bills, TE Dawson Knox Agree To New Deal
MARCH 14: Knox’s new contract is worth $20MM over the next three years with $13.46MM in guaranteed money, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. Of that, $10MM is fully guaranteed, including a $6.25MM signing bonus, as well as $1.3MM in guaranteed salary in 2026 and $2.45MM in 2027, according to OverTheCap. Another $3.46MM of his 2027 salary is guaranteed for injury and will vest into a full guarantee early in the following league year. Knox additionally will receive a $1MM bonus on the fifth day of the 2028 league year.
MARCH 10: Seven-year veteran tight end Dawson Knox will continue his career in Buffalo. The parties have agreed to a new three-year deal, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports. Knox agreed to a restructured contract to remain with the Bills, per Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network.
Until now, Knox’s future in Buffalo had been in question as a result of a bloated cap number on his previous pact. Before this restructuring came together, the 29-year-old was in line to count $17.87MM against the Bills’ cap next season.
With Knox due a $1.5MM roster bonus on Day 5 of the league year, the Bills had to address his contract quickly. They will now keep the 2019 third-rounder in the fold as an important cog in their offense.
Knox combined for 52 catches over his first two seasons, but he found another gear from 2021-22. The 6-foot-4, 254-pounder averaged 48 catches, 552 yards and just under eight touchdowns during that two-year stretch.
Knox earned his lone Pro Bowl nod in 2022, but the Bills’ reliance on him temporarily diminished after they spent a 2023 first-rounder on fellow TE Dalton Kincaid. While Kincaid hauled in 73 passes and recorded a 60.05% snap share as a rookie, Knox caught just 22 and played 41.8% of offensive snaps. With Kincaid battling knee issues in 2024, Knox easily finished with more snaps (618 to 471), though he only managed 22 receptions for the second straight season.
Last year was a resurgent pass-catching campaign for Knox, who racked up 36 grabs, 417 yards and four scores. Playing the first 17-game season of his career, Knox led Bills tight ends in snap share (57.69%) as knee and oblique injuries held Kincaid to 12 contests. The Bills were also heavily reliant on blocking specialist Jackson Hawes, who was in on 43% of offensive snaps as a rookie.
Although Hawes caught a meager 16 passes in 17 games last season, Pro Football Focus ranked the fifth-rounder as the league’s fourth-best tight end among 69 qualifiers. Kincaid checked in at No. 2, while Knox finished 24th. With Knox sticking around, the Bills will keep a strong TE group intact heading into former offensive coordinator Joe Brady‘s first season as their head coach.
Steelers Interested In Kirk Cousins?
Kirk Cousins will be released by the Falcons tomorrow, ending his two-year run in Atlanta. That could lead to interest from a few QB-needy teams, including the Steelers. 
[RELATED: Steelers To Acquire, Extend WR Michael Pittman Jr.]
Pittsburgh’s quarterback plan for 2026 hinges once again on Aaron Rodgers. The future Hall of Famer is expected to arrive at a decision on his playing future sooner than he did last year, but at this point it remains to be seen if his career will continue. A second Pittsburgh campaign would be welcomed, but the team obviously needs to have contingencies in place as well.
Bringing in a different veteran passer could serve that purpose. SportsBoom’s Jason La Canfora reports Cousins is “among the top options” the Steelers are considering as a fallback in the event Rodgers does not return. Pittsburgh also has backup Mason Rudolph in the fold, while La Canfora confirms the team remains high on the potential of 2025 sixth-rounder Will Howard.
At least one more season with an experienced passer would buy time for Howard to continue developing. It could also provide the Steelers with a bridge to the 2027 draft, which is expected to provide teams with more options at the QB spot than April’s edition of the event. Cousins has not worked with new Pittsburgh head coach Mike McCarthy before, but he would be expected to ensure the team still has a high floor in the event of a short-term deal being worked out. Cousins, 37, is younger than Rodgers and is further removed from the Achilles tear which ended his productive 2023 campaign.
That season proved to be Cousins’ last in Minnesota, although a Vikings reunion has been floated as a possibility. Nevertheless, recent reporting – including today’s La Canfora update – has pointed to Kyler Murray as Minnesota’s top QB target. That could leave the Steelers in line to make a Cousins push depending on how things play out with respect to Rodgers’ future.
QB Kyler Murray Could Be Patient In Free Agency
MARCH 10: Murray has yet to formally be released, nor have the Cardinals publicly confirmed they will do so at this point. That should change tomorrow, but it remains to be seen how quickly Murray will act upon becoming a free agent. In any event, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network confirms (video link) the Vikings remain the “favorite” with respect to Murray’s destination at this point.
MARCH 8: Once Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray landed on injured reserve this year having only played five games, two years after being limited to only eight games, Arizona decisionmakers were forced to broach the topic of reevaluating the future of the franchise. As the season progressed without Murray, all signs started pointing to his eventual departure from Arizona. The lack of robust trade interest in Murray led to the conclusion that the team would plan to release him to free agency. 
With his likely future set to begin later this week, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that Murray “could choose to be methodical in picking his destination” once free agency opens up. There are multiple free agent and draft options available to teams looking to fill out their roster at quarterback, and at some point, those team’s roster spots will be filled. There’s certainly strategy in working to lock down a spot to make sure one has a guaranteed job and contract, but there’s strategy, too, in being reactive to the moves that get made in order to ensure that one has the most information possible on a potential decision.
There will likely be teams — and there have already been a few for Murray — who will make their interest known loudly, publicly. Once the opportunity to communicate opens up, those teams could come hard and fast to display just how interested they are in a prospect. They may offer a contract big enough to convince a player to abandon his plans to look around and test the market. Then, once they’ve locked the player into a contract, the situation that was promised to that player may end up getting altered. The general idea of this would be similar to what happened with the Falcons and Kirk Cousins. Though, that wasn’t a necessarily quick courtship, Cousins signed under the impression that he was the only guy at quarterback moving forward, then the Falcons went and spent a first-round pick to draft Michael Penix.
Murray could, instead, be more patient and reactive. Once officially released from his contract in Arizona, Murray can start taking visits. We’ve known Minnesota to be an interested party as they seek competition for starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy. It was reported as recently as yesterday that the Jets were also showing interest, and Fowler mentions the Colts and Falcons as possibilities, as well, due to their current statuses with injured passers who may not be ready to start the season.
By being patient, Murray can take the time to truly consider team fit and city fit, instead of letting dollars and cents be the main factor of the decision-making process. The money is important, too, though, and seeing what other veteran free agents are signing for could help Murray leverage a better free agent deal for himself instead of being the one who acts first and sets the market. He also has a bit of freedom in what kind of contracts he can ask for, given he’s still due to receive a good amount from guarantees in his contract from Arizona. He’ll be able to see which teams really want him and which just really need a body to fill the room. Perhaps he’ll be open to joining the Vikings, Colts, or Falcons, who have talented rosters but eventual competition at quarterback, or perhaps he’ll desire a job with a team that needs more work as long as it provides him a secure starting opportunity.
Free agency could go in a lot of different directions once it really opens up this week. It will be interesting to see how quickly Kyler moves in his first bout with free agency. He may subject himself to a bidding war and go with the highest bidder early, or he may be slower and more deliberate in his approach to finding a new home.
Packers To Release CB Nate Hobbs
Nate Hobbs‘ Green Bay future was a question mark leading up to free agency. The veteran corner will indeed be on the move after just one year with the team. 
Hobbs is being cut, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports. This will be designated a post-June 1 release, ESPN’s Rob Demovsky adds. Green Bay will create $8.84MM in cap savings as a result while generating a dead money charge of $4MM.
No restructure was worked out in this case as the new league year approached, leading to questions about a separation. Hobbs inked a four-year, $48MM contract in free agency last spring upon playing out his rookie contract with the Raiders. As usual, the Packers did not include any full guarantees beyond the first season of the deal, with Hobbs being owed a $6.25MM roster bonus on Friday. In advance of that date, Green Bay has elected to move on.
Hobbs joined the Packers with injury concerns, and that proved to be a problem in 2025. A meniscus issue in training camp marked the first of three knee ailments the former fifth-rounder dealt with in Green Bay. The last was a season-ending MCL injury. Hobbs had found himself out of the starting lineup by the time that took place, pointing further to a cut in this case.
The Illinois product struggled in coverage with the Packers, surrendering a passer rating of 111.1 as the nearest defender in 2025. Between that and his injuries, Hobbs will be hard-pressed to secure a long-term contract like he did last spring. Still, at the age of 26, he could be seen as a bounce-back candidate by teams seeking depth in the secondary.
The cornerback position was a sore spot for Green Bay down the stretch, as illustrated by the Trevon Diggs experiment to close out the campaign. He is no longer in the fold, and Hobbs will also be on the move in free agency. Early on Tuesday, though, the Packers lined up a CB addition by agreeing to terms with Benjamin St-Juste.
Vikings To Re-Sign LS Andrew DePaola
The Vikings are re-signing three-time Pro Bowl long snapper Andrew DePaola, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. The sides have agreed to a one-year, fully guaranteed deal worth $1.725MM.
DePaola, who went undrafted out of Rutgers in 2012, worked as a bartender before catching on with the Buccaneers two years later. He then went on to log four straight 16-game seasons – three with the Bucs and another with the Bears. The Raiders gave DePaola a four-year deal in 2018, but a torn ACL limited him to one game that season.
After the Raiders released DePaola in the ensuing offseason, he was unable to secure a roster spot anywhere in 2019. Since resurfacing on the Vikings’ practice squad in 2020, DePaola has turned into a fixture on their special teams unit. He has put up four 17-game seasons, including last year, and earned a total of four All-Pro selections. The soon-to-be 39-year-old is now in line to remain in Minnesota for at least another season.
With DePaola’s help, kicker Will Reichard nailed 33 of 35 field goals (94.3%) and all 31 extra points en route to first-team All-Pro honors in 2025. DePaola will continue snapping to Reichard in 2026, but he will work with a different punter after Ryan Wright left for New Orleans on Monday.
TE Hayden Hurst Retires
Hayden Hurst will not be among the players lining up free agent deals this week. The veteran tight end will instead begin his post-playing career. 
Hurst announced his retirement on Tuesday. He did not see any game time in 2025, and instead of spending another offseason in search of a new contract the former first-rounder will hang up his cleats. Today’s news brings an end to a seven-year NFL career.
“It is a blessing how far sports have taken me in this life,” Hurst’s retirement message reads in part. “I was determined to make football work after baseball failed me, and I never let anyone tell me I couldn’t do anything… I fought daily to be the best version of myself that I could, and I hope it showed on the field with the passion 1 played with every snap and every game. To all the fans in the cities I played in, thank you for supporting me along the way, and I hope I represented your hometown well.”
Hurst certainly had an unorthodox path to professional football. A 2012 draftee of the Pittsburgh Pirates, he wound up making only one start as pitcher in the minor leagues. With his baseball journey coming to an abrupt end, Hurst turned his attention to football and enjoyed a productive three-year tenure at South Carolina.
Hurst was selected with the 25th overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft, and he spent his first two seasons with the Ravens. Baltimore added Mark Andrews in the same draft, however, and the team committed to him as its top option at the tight end position. Hurst was traded to the Falcons, although he also dealt with the problem of being buried on the depth chart behind Kyle Pitts in Atlanta for one year.
During his first trip to free agency, Hurst signed a one-year deal with the Bengals. He was able to deliver strong production as a secondary option in Cincinnati’s passing game, something which resulted in a three-year Panthers contract. Hurst was limited to nine games in 2023, however, and his Carolina tenure was cut short after only one season. He spent 2024 with the Chargers, playing sparingly.
Hurst’s retirement announcement noted this news is probably one year too late, but in any case he can now turn his attention elsewhere at the age of 32. In all, Hurst played 93 combined regular and postseason games and amassed roughly $28.5MM in career earnings.
Giants To Sign CB Greg Newsome
The Giants’ roster overhaul is ongoing, and it will continue into Tuesday. Shortly after learning Cor’Dale Flott will depart, a cornerback addition has been arranged.
New York is expected to sign Greg Newsome, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports. This will be a one-year deal, he adds. Newsome is headed to the NFC after playing out his rookie contract in Cleveland and Jacksonville. He will collect up to $8MM in 2026 with $3MM in guarantees, per Connor Hughes of SNY.
The Browns spent the 26th pick in the 2021 draft on Newsome, a former Northwestern standout. Over his first three seasons, Newsome started in 39 of 41 games and combined for 29 pass deflections. Newsome’s only two interceptions during that span came in 2023, after which the Browns exercised his $13.37MM fifth-year option for 2025.
Newsome added another pick in 2024, but the Browns demoted him to a slot role in sub-packages during a 13-game, three-start season. With Martin Emerson taking his starting job on the outside, Newsome recorded a career-low 53.04% snap share. Pro Football Focus ranked Newsome’s play an unsightly 106th out of 117 qualifying corners.
While trade rumors swirled over Newsome at last year’s draft and in the summer, he stayed put to begin the season. The Browns reinstalled Newsome as a starter for their first five games, but they finally pulled the trigger on a trade in early October. The team shipped Newsome to the Jaguars in a corner-for-corner swap that delivered Tyson Campbell to Cleveland.
Newsome started in 11 of 12 games during his short stay in Jacksonville, which let him walk and re-signed Montaric Brown instead. Between the Browns and Jags, Newsome totaled 52 tackles, nine pass deflections and an INT in the first 17-game season of his career. PFF had a more favorable outlook on Newsome’s performance in 2025, though he still ranked a subpar 89th among 112 CBs.
The Giants thought they had a deal with Flott before Titans head coach Robert Saleh talked him into moving to Tennessee on Monday. A day later, the Giants have the 25-year-old Newsome in the fold as a potential starter opposite Paulson Adebo.
Connor Byrne contributed to this post.