Dolphins Sign CBs Darrell Baker, A.J. Green
The Dolphins continue to make additions on defense. Cornerback Darrell Baker has agreed to terms on a one-year deal, per his agents (via Tom Pelissero of NFL Network).
In addition, the team has announced the signing of fellow corner A.J. Green. Those two will join a new-look secondary in 2026. Miami agreed to terms with Lonnie Johnson Jr. earlier today.
More to come…
OT Jedrick Wills To Sign 1-Year Deal With Bears
Jedrick Wills is indeed returning to the NFL. The former first-round pick missed all of the 2025 season due to a torn MCL suffered the year before and is now set to sign a one-year deal with the Bears, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
More to come.
Panthers To Sign WR John Metchie
After playing out his rookie contract with three different teams, John Metchie has lined up another new arrangement. The wideout has agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Panthers, per his agent (h/t ESPN’s Adam Schefter).
More to come…
OLB Bradley Chubb To Join Bills
Designated a post-June 1 cut by the Dolphins, Bradley Chubb intends to join one of their rivals. The Bills are bringing in the former top-five pick, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
Chubb is signing a three-year, $43.5MM contract with Buffalo. Of that total, $29MM is guaranteed. The deal can max out at $52.5MM. This signing could point Joey Bosa out of Buffalo, but with a new defensive system being implemented, the Bills are making changes to that unit early in free agency.
Miami officially designated Chubb a post-June 1 release, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. This long-rumored cut will create $20.23MM in cap space for a Dolphins team that made history with its other post-June 1 designation today. Tua Tagovailoa‘s release will tag Miami with an NFL-record $99.2MM in dead cap. That money will be spread over two years, but it still smashes the record Russell Wilson‘s Broncos release set in 2024.
Long deploying a 4-3 defense, the Bills are switching to a 3-4 scheme under new DC Jim Leonhard. Chubb is a career-long 3-4 outside linebacker, beginning in that role with the Broncos and moving to the Dolphins via a blockbuster 2022 trade. The former Denver Von Miller sidekick has battled major injuries — two ACL tears — during his time as a pro, but he bounced back with a healthy 2025 season. Still, the Dolphins’ new regime moved on.
Drafted two spots before Josh Allen in the 2018 first round, Chubb pursued the rookie-year sack record and reached 12 alongside Miller that year in Denver. He missed most of the 2019 season with an ACL tear and battled more injury trouble in 2021, seeing Denver unload him at the ’22 deadline. Chubb signed a Dolphins extension in 2022 but suffered a second ACL tear late in the ’23 season and missed all of 2024. This led to a reworked deal in 2025.
More to come.
Lions Release DE Josh Paschal
After missing the 2025 season through injury, Josh Paschal will not return to the Lions. The fifth-year defensive end has been released, per a team announcement.
More to come…
Cardinals Release Kyler Murray; Vikings Frontrunners To Add QB
The 2026 league year has started — precisely one minute ago. The Cardinals did not waste any time; the team announced its Kyler Murray release.
This concludes a seven-year chapter, one that ended as most expected it to. The Cardinals now have Gardner Minshew on the roster, accompanying Jacoby Brissett. This will be a post-June 1 cut, which will help Arizona cap-wise. Teams cannot announce post-June 1 cuts until this afternoon, explaining the delay on the long-expected Murray release.
Connected frequently to the Vikings, Murray may well be headed north soon. Minnesota is viewed as the favorite to land the former No. 1 overall pick, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero report. This is not especially surprising, as Murray has been connected to Minnesota for months. A recent report suggested the 28-year-old passer is eyeing in the Vikings, who have been tied to interest here — as Murray will likely be available for the veteran minimum thanks to the nature of his Arizona exit.
The Cardinals, Jets (Geno Smith) and Dolphins (Malik Willis) have made starter-level quarterback additions, the Vikings have refrained. Murray looks likely to be Minnesota’s J.J. McCarthy competition, though the two-time Pro Bowler is a more talented player and would be favored to start in 2026. The Vikes are walking a tightrope here, as our Adam La Rose discussed in his most recent mailbag. They are still tethered to McCarthy’s development while understandably wanting a potentially better option after concerning 2025 play from the top-10 pick. Murray will be looking to bounce back after a lost 2025.
Minnesota used the No. 10 overall pick on McCarthy but lost him to a season-nullifying injury last year. A high ankle sprain shelved McCarthy for a chunk of the season last year, and given the Michigan alum’s early-season struggles, rumblings the Vikings were giving him time to reset emerged. When McCarthy replaced Carson Wentz around midseason, he was wildly inconsistent. The team saw 2024 starter Sam Darnold pilot the Seahawks to a Super Bowl win, and GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has since been fired. Quarterback issues undoubtedly played a key role in the four-year GM’s ouster.
Murray played under Drew Petzing, an ex-Kevin Stefanski assistant. Stefanski’s past under Gary Kubiak ties Kevin O’Connell — a Sean McVay disciple — to the same sturdy Mike Shanahan coaching tree. This would stand to make a Murray-Minnesota transition easier, but the diminutive QB’s best work came under Kliff Kingsbury earlier in his career.
O’Connell rehabilitated Darnold’s career in 2024, overseeing a Pro Bowl nod after coaxing quality play from Kirk Cousins before his October 2023 Achilles tear. Murray, who booked original-ballot Pro Bowl invites in 2020 and ’21, has displayed quality work but has been inconsistent. He was not playing especially well before a December 2022 ACL tear, which came after he signed a five-year, $230.5MM Cardinals extension. The Cards held off on redeploying Murray until midway through the 2023 season, and while Murray ranked ninth in QBR in 2024 — a 17-game season — more injury trouble intervened as the QB was struggling yet again.
Averaging just 6.0 yards per attempt through five games under Petzing in 2025, Murray went down with a foot injury and never returned. The Cardinals looked ready to move Murray back into the starting lineup later in the season, but an about-face led to a shutdown. The Cardinals’ previous regime had authorized the five-year extension, and the deal brought an advanced guarantee for 2026. Murray remaining on Arizona’s roster by mid-March of 2025 guaranteed his ’26 salary, leading to this post-June 1 designation.
The Cardinals will take a $47.1MM dead money hit in 2026 as a result of the Murray release, though OverTheCap lists the signal-caller’s 2027 dead cap number at $7.2MM. Should that split hold true, Arizona’s new coaching staff will feel some pain this season before seeing considerable relief in Year 2. The Cardinals do not have an inspiring QB setup presently, with Minshew and Brissett bridge types (at best). But they are getting out of the big-ticket QB-contract business after nearly four years.
Atlanta already took advantage of a post-June 1 designation by scooping up Tua Tagovailoa on what is expected to be a veteran-minimum deal. Murray is expected to be available, as Wilson was in 2024 with Pittsburgh, for the vet minimum. That could bring value for the Vikings, though the former Heisman winner is expected to be patient before committing, as this bounce-back opportunity will help determine if his career has a positive second act.
Falcons Release QB Kirk Cousins
New Falcons GM Ian Cunningham recently confirmed Kirk Cousins would be released at the start of the new league year. With that checkpoint having been reached this afternoon, Cousins is indeed a free agent.
The Pro Bowl quarterback has been cut, ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirms. Cousins’ Atlanta run ends halfway through the four-year, $160MM pact he signed in free agency. A much less lucrative pact will await this time around. This is coming through a post-June 1 designation, per a team announcement. $2.1MM in cap savings will be generated with the Falcons taking on $22.5MM in dead money charges which can be spread out over the next two years.
Atlanta is set to move forward with Michael Penix Jr. at the quarterback spot. The team has also lined up a deal with Tua Tagovailoa, and the ex-Dolphin will operate as a highly inexpensive option under center. It has long been clear Cousins, 37, would be moving on from the Falcons this offseason. His attention will now turn to free agency, although a number of QB spots have already been filled at this point.
Cousins has been mentioned as a candidate to return to Minnesota. Over six years with the Vikings, he largely delivered strong play up to the Achilles tear which ended his 2023 campaign. Kyler Murray has also been released today, however, and Minnesota is widely regarded as the top landing spot in that case.
More to come…
Jets To Sign G Dylan Parham
The Jets are signing former Raiders guard Dylan Parham, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. He will secure a a two-year deal worth up to $20MM.
The Jets have been heavily active this week, but this is their first offensive line addition. With guards John Simpson and Alijah Vera-Tucker set to reach free agency, it was known the Jets would have to make at least one move up front.
Simpson (Ravens) and Vera-Tucker (Patriots) left, paving the way for Parham to join the Jets’ line. He will reunite with reacquired Jets quarterback Geno Smith, who was the Raiders’ signal-caller last season.
A third-round pick in 2022, Parham was a starter for the Raiders for his entire four-year rookie contract. The 332-pound Memphis product was durable in Las Vegas. He played 17 games in each of his first two years before putting together back-to-back 15-game campaigns from 2024-25.
Parham logged significant action at both guard positions during his tenure in Las Vegas. He took all 843 of his snaps at left guard last season. Pro Football Focus ranked the 26-year-old’s play a solid 37th among 79 qualifying guards. Parham is expected to remain on the left side in New York, per Connor Hughes of SNY.
With Parham joining the fold, the Jets may already have next season’s starting line in place. They at least have a capable Parham-Joe Tippmann guard tandem and two cornerstone tackles in Olu Fashanu and Armand Membou. There may be room to upgrade on center Josh Myers, though the Jets inked him to a two-year, $11MM extension in December.
Vikings To Release S Harrison Smith
With the new league year beginning today, the Vikings are making a number of financial moves. One of them will be a post-June 1 release of safety Harrison Smith, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert reports.
Smith’s contract was set to void on Friday, so a decision on this front needed to be made in short order. As Seifert notes, this is not a guarantee Smith will be retiring. Minnesota remains open to retaining the franchise icon on a new deal provided he elects to continue playing.
More to come…
49ers, TE Jake Tonges Agree To Deal
The 49ers and restricted free agent tight end Jake Tonges have agreed to a two-year, $8MM deal, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. Tonges’ contract includes $5.5MM in guarantees.
This is a nice raise for the 26-year-old Tonges, who was relatively anonymous entering last season. At that point, Tonges had not even caught an NFL pass since he entered the league as a UDFA with Chicago in 2022. Tonges played four games with the Bears as a rookie, but he did not stay in the organization for a second year.
After Chicago waived Tonges in August 2023, the former Cal pass catcher returned to the state to join the 49ers’ practice squad. Tonges did not see any game action in his first year with the 49ers, but he played a big role on their special teams in 2024. He racked up 232 ST snaps, good for fourth on the team, over 16 games.
Tonges put up his second straight 232-snap season on special teams last year. He also became a contributor on the 49ers’ offense, which turned to him for 399 snaps.
A Week 1 hamstring injury to star tight end George Kittle enabled Tonges to step up. He caught his first three passes, including a touchdown, in their season-opening win over the Seahawks. Kittle did not return until Week 7. By then, Tonges had already hauled in 25 passes for 234 yards and three scores. The 6-foot-4, 240-pounder finished the year with 34 catches on 46 targets, 293 yards and five TDs in 17 games.
Kittle suffered a torn Achilles in the 49ers’ wild-card round win over the Eagles. The injury will cost Kittle at least some of next season, making it even more important for the 49ers to keep Tonges as insurance.