49ers Acquire DT Osa Odighizuwa From Cowboys
Osa Odighizuwa will be on the move after all. A trade has been agreed to which will send the veteran defensive tackle from the Cowboys to the 49ers, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports. The deal is now official.
San Francisco will send Dallas a third-round pick, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network adds. As such, the Cowboys will add the No. 92 selection in April’s draft. The team did not own a second- or third-rounder in 2026 prior to this agreement.
A report from Tuesday indicated teams were showing trade interest in Odighizuwa. Dallas already has Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams on the books. The Cowboys also lined up a deal with free agent Otito Ogbonnia, adding further to their depth at the defensive tackle spot. Inquirers from the Bengals did not yield traction, but Dallas clearly remained open to moving forward with a swap in this case. The team will create $4.75MM in cap space while generating $16MM in dead money.
The Cowboys will clear Odighizuwa’s $16.25MM salary in 2026 as a result of this trade. The 49ers, meanwhile, will take on the remainder of his contract; the pact runs through 2028. Odighizuwa inked a four-year, $80MM deal last offseason, but the arrivals of Clark and Williams threatened to cut into his playing time. A heavy workload will await him in the Bay Area, while Dallas will not face the challenge of maintaining three DTs attached to large contracts.
As Schultz confirms, the 49ers were among the runners-up for free agent John Franklin-Myers. The former Bronco wound up agreeing to a lucrative deal with the Titans. San Francisco has pivoted in short order. In addition to wideout Mike Evans, this constitutes certainly a significant addition on the part of general manager John Lynch early in the new league year.
Jordan Elliott lined up an agreement with Tennessee during the early stages of free agency, thinning out the 49ers’ defensive line. Odighizuwa will help serve as a replacement, and he will be counted on to remain a strong contributor against the pass in particular on his new team. The 27-year-old has recorded between 3.0 and 4.5 sacks each season since his rookie campaign. He totaled 64 QB pressures over the past two years, and disruption on that level would be welcomed in San Francisco.
The injury-ravaged 49ers ranked last in the NFL in sacks this past season. A healthy year from Nick Bosa and others would of course go a long way in helping the team bounce back in that regard. Nevertheless, Odighizuwa’s arrival should provide a pass rush boost along the interior for 2026 and beyond.
Giants To Re-Sign OT Evan Neal
In another example of new head coach John Harbaugh‘s influence in New York, the Giants are re-signing offensive lineman Evan Neal, per his agency, AMDG Sports. It will be a one-year deal for a veteran-minimum salary, per Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post.
The former No. 7 pick was expected to leave New York this offseason after not appearing in a single game in 2025. The Giants had high hopes that Neal could form an elite bookend duo with left tackle Andrew Thomas, but the former Alabama star never lived up to his draft billing.
Neal missed four games as a rookie due to an MCL sprain. When healthy, he graded out as one of the worst right tackles in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Neal only only appeared in 16 games over the next two years and continued to struggle in pass protection, though his run-blocking grade jumped to 80.8 in 2024.
The Giants declined Neal’s fifth-year option last offseason and attempted to move Neal to guard, but the transition never took. He instead spent the season as a healthy scratch until November, when a hamstring injury forced him on injured reserve.
At that point, it truly seemed that Neal’s rocky tenure in New York was over. Another team may want to roll the dice on his obvious physical gifts, but the Giants could not figure it out in four years. Multiple reports indicated that Neal would be leaving the team after he landed on injured reserve, but Harbaugh must have a different perspective and plenty of faith in new offensive line coach Mike Bloomgren.
Texans To Sign TE Foster Moreau
Foster Moreau has lined up his next opportunity. The veteran tight end has agreed to terms with the Texans, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
It will be a two-year deal for Moreau, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston. The tight end will earn a fully guaranteed $6.3MM over the length of his contract, plus potentially another $1MM via incentives.
Moreau was a fourth-round pick by the Raiders back in 2019, but he struggled to carve out a definitive offensive role during his time with the organization. As fellow TE Darren Waller commanded targets, Moreau saw a secondary role in the passing attack. He did show some promise during his final two years in Las Vegas, hauling in a combined 63 catches for 793 yards and five touchdowns.
He caught on with the Saints during the 2023 offseason via a three-year, $12MM pact. He had arguably the best offensive season of his career during his second year in New Orleans, finishing with 413 receiving yards and five touchdowns. However, he was limited to only seven catches in 2025 before an ankle injury ended his season.
Moreau has been an above-average pass blocker over the past two seasons, which would have carved him out a role with any squad. Both Dalton Schultz and Cade Stover will return to the Texans after leading the position in snaps last year, but the team will have some leftover looks with Harrison Bryant hitting free agency.
Ben Levine contributed to this post.
Jaguars To Sign RB Chris Rodriguez
The Jaguars are set to lose Travis Etienne, but they are making an addition in free agency. Jacksonville has agreed to a deal with Chris Rodriguez, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports. This is a two-year pact, per ESPN’s Michael DiRocco. DiRocco’s colleague Jeremy Fowler adds that the contract has a base value of $10MM with $6.2MM fully guaranteed and a maximum value of $12MM. 
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence had to say goodbye to his backfield mate of the past eight years, but the goodbyes seemingly began after an uncharacteristically poor 2024 campaign in which Etienne totaled only 558 rushing yards and two touchdowns despite starting 15 games. That performance likely resulted in the team opting to draft Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen in the fourth and seventh rounds last year, respectively.
There was a good amount of buzz around Tuten who looked to steal a decent share of carries as a rookie out of Virginia Tech. Ultimately, Etienne reclaimed backfield dominance, thanks in part to a timely trade of Tank Bigsby to the Eagles just after the team’s season opener. Etienne looked much closer on par with how he had performed in his first two years of NFL play, but he was never able to top the rushing total of his first season or the touchdown high of his sophomore campaign.
With Etienne gone, Tuten appears to be the heir apparent to RB1 duties, but Rodriguez now enters the picture with experience in a crowded backfield. Rodriguez just finished off what was a bit of a comeback campaign in Washington. As a rookie sixth-round pick out of Kentucky, Rodriguez was limited as RB3 behind Brian Robinson and Antonio Gibson and ended the season on injured reserve with concussion symptoms. His rookie contract was nullified when he failed to make the 53-man roster in Year 2 and cleared waivers to end up on the practice squad.
Rodriguez did find his way off the taxi squad late in the 2024 season and even delivered some strong performances as he averaged 4.9 yards per carry on limited playing time to close the year. He entered 2025 as the RB2 in a traffic jammed running backs room that included Austin Ekeler, Jeremy McNichols, and rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt. He earned the first two starts after Ekeler went down with a season-ending injury two games into the season, but Croskey-Merritt took the baton for five games after that. The hot hand swung back and forth between the two for the remainder of the season, and they were getting pretty similar carry numbers as the season came to a close.
Rodriguez ended season with a career-high 500 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. While Duval’s running back’s room isn’t nearly as crowded as D.C.’s was, Rodriguez still finds himself in a good position to compete for RB1 or RB2 duties. Jacksonville may be comfortable moving forward with Tuten as RB1, or they may push him to earn the job over Rodriguez, who put up a good competition in the regular season all last year. With an average annual value of $5MM, it seems Rodriguez is expected to contribute.
Ely Allen contributed to this post.
Cardinals, Andrew Wingard Agree To Deal
The Cardinals are on track to lose Jalen Thompson in free agency, but a replacement has been lined up. Andrew Wingard has agreed to a one-year deal with a base value of $3MM and a maximum of $4MM, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports.
A former UDFA out of Wyoming, Wingard emerged as a key defender for the Jaguars. He spent his entire seven-year career in Jacksonville, collecting 349 tackles and six interceptions. He often alternated between the starting lineup and the bench during his time with the organization, and his snap count tended to correspond to his role.
He started all 15 of his appearances in 2021, getting into 95 percent of his team’s defensive snaps. Over the next three years, he only started seven of his 42 appearances while appearing in less than half of his team’s defensive reps. He also missed the first few months of the 2024 campaign thanks to a knee injury.
With a new staff in place in 2025, Wingard returned to the starting lineup. He started all 16 of his appearances, compiling 84 tackles, one interception, and nine passes defended. Pro Football Focus only ranked him 72nd among 91 qualifying safeties, although they did give him one of the highest positional grades for his run-stopping ability.
Wingard could retain his starting gig in Arizona, but there’s a chance he returns to a reserve role. While the team lost Thompson, they still have Budda Baker and Rabbit Taylor-Demerson to lead the depth chart. That means the newest addition could find himself competing with the likes of Kitan Crawford for any leftover reps.
Ben Levine contributed to this post.
Buccaneers To Sign QB Jake Browning
Jake Browning has found his next NFL home. The veteran QB has agreed to terms on a one-year Buccaneers deal, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports.
A former Washington standout, Browning spent the first two seasons of his professional career on the Vikings practice squad. He caught on with the Bengals practice squad in 2021, and he also spent the following season on Cincy’s taxi squad.
He finally earned a roster spot in 2023, when he beat out Trevor Siemian to be Joe Burrow‘s primary backup. Burrow ended up suffering a season-ending wrist injury that season, forcing Browning into the starting lineup. He was predictably a far cry from his superstar teammate, but he managed to keep the Bengals afloat, as the team went 4-3 in Browning’s seven starts.
The career backup ultimately finished that campaign having completed a league-leading 70.4 percent of his passes for 1,936 yards, 12 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He added another 127 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. He had a standout showing during his second career start, completing 32 of his 37 pass attempts in an overtime win over the Jaguars. That performance ended up earning him AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Browning inked a two-year extension with the Bengals the following offseason, and he’s spent the past two years as Burrow’s backup. After barely seeing the field in 2024, Browning added another three starts to his resume in 2025. Cincy went winless in those three games, and Browning finished the campaign having tossed six touchdowns vs. eight interceptions.
Now, he’ll be looking to continue his career in Tampa Bay, where he’ll be penciled in as Baker Mayfield‘s primary backup. Teddy Bridgewater held that role in 2025, but the veteran QB just joined the Lions as a free agent. Browning is likely a shoo-in for the Buccaneers QB2 role, although the team is still rostering 2025 UDFA Connor Bazelak.
Ben Levine contributed to this post.
Texans Release DL Mario Edwards
Mario Edwards‘ two-year run with the Texans has come to an end. The veteran defensive lineman has been released, per the transactions wire (h/t Mike Garafolo of NFL Network).
Edwards has been cut with a failed physical designation, Aaron Wilson KPRC2 reports. Wilson adds, however, that Edwards is still on course for a full recovery from a pectoral tear; that could lead to a number of suitors showing interest. Houston will save $4.41MM with this move while generating a dead money charge of $1MM.
Edwards joined the Texans ahead of the 2024 campaign. He missed a handful of games after being hit with a suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, but he otherwise started 12 of his 13 appearances. He inked a two-year, $9.5MM deal with the organization last offseason but saw a lesser role, appearing in 33 percent of his team’s snaps through 14 games. His season ended prematurely thanks to that aforementioned pec tear.
Edwards has turned into a true journeyman, as his next squad will represent the ninth of his career. Still, he’s proven to be a dependable rotational defensive lineman who can get after the QB. The 32-year-old has tallied 26 sacks in his career, including 4.5 during his stint with the Texans.
Pro Football Focus wasn’t fond of his performance in 2025, ranking Edwards 126th among 127 qualifying interior defenders. However, the site graded him as more of a middle-of-the-road defender in recent years, including a third-place showing in 2020. Teams will surely bank on Edwards improving a bit in 2026, but even then, he’ll likely be competing for a roster spot come the preseason.
Ben Levine contributed to this post.
Packers To Sign DL Javon Hargrave
Another offseason, another eight-figure-per-year Javon Hargrave contract. Released today by the Vikings, Hargrave will set up shop with one of Minnesota’s rivals.
The Packers will bring in the veteran interior defensive lineman, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. Hargrave agreed to a two-year deal worth $23MM. This marks the third time in four offseasons the well-traveled D-lineman has inked a deal averaging more than $10MM per year. That is rather impressive considering Hargrave has now been cut twice in two years. This will reunite Hargrave and Jonathan Gannon, the Eagles’ defensive coordinator from 2021-22.
Hargrave, 33, may have been a 49ers and Vikings cap casualty but still carries respect around the league (as evidenced by this quick agreement). The Packers traded Kenny Clark to the Cowboys in the Micah Parsons blockbuster last year; they will now add another 30-something veteran to complement Devonte Wyatt up front.
After helping the Eagles make a run at the 1984 Bears’ single-season sack record, Hargrave commanded a four-year, $84MM 49ers deal as a 2023 free agent. Starting for San Francisco’s Super Bowl LVIII team, the former third-round pick suffered a pectoral injury early in the 2024 season. The 49ers cut him soon after, leading to a two-year Vikings pact worth $30MM. Hargrave started 15 games last season but joined fellow Minnesota 2025 FA addition Jonathan Allen in being released today.
Enjoying a strong sack stretch from 2021-23, Hargrave peaked with 11 in 2022 to help the Eagles to Super Bowl LVII. Playing in Super Bowls in back-to-back years, Hargrave also produced 7.5 sacks and a career-high 18 QB hits under Gannon in 2021. The Steelers draftee earned a Pro Bowl nod as a 49er in 2023. The interior rusher has toggled between 3-4 and 4-3 schemes during his career, as such differences have mattered less and less thanks to the proliferation of nickel and dime packages.
One season remains on Wyatt’s rookie contract; the Packers picked up his fifth-year option and declined Quay Walker‘s last year (Walker is now a Raider). Trading Clark just before the season, the team used Karl Brooks as a seven-game starter in 2025. As Gannon puts his stamp on Green Bay’s defense, the ex-Cardinals HC will turn to one of his former charges to help do so.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Dolphins Sign CBs Darrell Baker, A.J. Green, Alex Austin
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).
[RELATED: Dolphins To Sign DB Lonnie Johnson Jr.]
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. And to top it all off, the Dolphins have agreed to a one-year deal with cornerback Alex Austin, per Jordan Schultz.
Baker is coming off a two-year stint with the Titans, where he emerged as a part-time starter. He started 19 of his 34 appearances between 2024 and 2025, collecting 95 tackles and 12 passes defended. He primarily played as an outside cornerback during his stint in Tennessee, although he also made same cameos at safety, at slot corner, and in the box.
The former UDFA out of Georgia Southern started his career with the Cardinals before catching on with the Colts practice squad. After making only three appearances with Indy as a rookie, he got into 14 games (six starts) in 2023. He inked a one-year extension with the organization during the 2024 offseason, but he was waived by the Colts at the end of that year’s preseason.
Green had a four-year stint with the Bengals to begin his professional career. He’s since bounced around a bit, spending time with the Vikings, Rams, and Dolphins. He split the 2025 campaign between Miami and Los Angeles, where he mostly appeared on special teams.
Austin spent the majority of his three-year career in New England, where he got into 26 games. He started six games during his Patriots tenure (including two in 2025), but he mostly earned his worth on special teams. Austin got into 220 ST snaps during his time in New England, including 120 this past year.
Ben Levine contributed to this post.
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 knee injury suffered the year before and is now set to sign a one-year deal with the Bears, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The five-year veteran previously visit the Patriots and the Lions as he explored his options, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz.
Willis, 26, arrived in Cleveland as the No. 10 selection in the 2020 draft. He took over as the team’s starting left tackle and was named to the All-Rookie team in what remains the best pass-blocking performance of his career, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Willis missed four games in 2021, but returned for a full season in 2022. The injuries began to crop up after that with only 13 appearances across 2023 and 2024, the latter of which featured a season-ending MCL tear in Week 9.
Wills looked into playing in 2025, but opted to sit the season out to solidify his recovery. He will be another left tackle option for the Bears, who used four different players at the position last year. Second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo held down the starting job in the second half of the season but is expected to miss most of 2026 with a knee injury suffered in the playoffs. Wills will compete for Trapilo’s spot with Braxton Jones, who was retained on a one-year contract, and second-year UDFA Theo Benedet. Both started multiple games last season, with Jones opening the year as the starter as he did for the previous three and Benedet supplanting him in Week 4.
That could be a tough battle for Wills. His pass blocking efficiency and grades from PFF have steadily trended downward since his rookie year with injuries impacting his availability and level of play. Ideally, the extended time away from the field will have allowed him to not only fully recover from his last injury, but improve his durability to prevent more.