Transactions News & Rumors

Bills To Bring Back WR Gabe Davis

After one season out of Buffalo, Gabe Davis is on his way back. The veteran receiver has agreed to a Bills reunion, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.

Davis played out his rookie contract in Buffalo, establishing himself as a standout deep threat along the way. It came as no surprise when he departed on the open market, however. The 26-year-old landed a $13MM-per-year deal with the Jaguars in free agency. After one injury-filled campaign in Jacksonville, Davis was one of several receivers the team’s new regime elected to move on from.

That decision led to a long-running free agent process. Davis met with the 49ers, Giants and Saints once each this offseason, while also firmly remaining on the Steelers’ radar. A second visit with Pittsburgh took place last month, but no agreement was worked out. Shortly after that follow-up with the Steelers, Davis lined up a summit with the Bills. A familiar face to general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott, the former third-rounder did enough to land a new opportunity with his original team. Other offers were in play as well, Schefter’s colleague ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler adds.

A meniscus tear limited Davis to 10 games last year, and medical evaluations were a key focus of his visits. To no surprise, Schefter notes this will be a practice squad agreement. Veterans often take the taxi squad route upon joining teams once roster cuts have taken place. Davis will continue working toward full strength with an eye on moving to the active roster in short order.

Buffalo extended Khalil Shakir this offseason, making him one of many players to receive a long-term commitment on a second contract. The team also added Josh Palmer and Elijah Moore in free agency after seeing Amari Cooper and Mack Hollins depart. 2024 second-rounder Keon Coleman is positioned to take a step forward this season, with Palmer and Shakir handling notable roles along the way.

When he finds himself on the active roster, Davis will look to carve out a spot as well. The UCF product averaged 16.7 yards per catch and scored 27 touchdowns with the Bills. A strong second stint in Buffalo would help rebuild his value on another commitment from the team or a pact sending him elsewhere next spring.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/2/25

Here are today’s minor moves as we inch a day closer to the start of the regular season:

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

New Orleans Saints

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Waived (with injury settlement): CB JayVian Farr, CB Roman Parodie

The 49ers are doing a bit of shuffling in their receiving corps, calling up Valdes-Scantling from the practice squad and cutting Gage. According to multiple sources, it’s believed that Gage will be immediately signed back to the team’s practice squad to remain with the team.

Haener was brought back to the active roster in New Orleans after being waived at the roster cut deadline. The Saints had three quarterbacks, with Iowa Western rookie practice squad passer Hunter Dekkers, but adding Haener gives the team a bit more experienced depth, if only barely, in what may be the league’s youngest quarterbacks room.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/2/25

Here are Tuesday’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Denver Broncos

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

The 12-year veteran wide receiver, Woods, had been signed to the Steelers’ practice squad after failing to make the 53-man roster. Per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, Woods requested to be released from his practice squad contract but told Pittsburgh that he would be open to returning if a spot on the active roster opened up for him. The team granted his request.

The Cardinals are able to add two players while only releasing one because Daxon is part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program, having been born in the Bahamas. Teams can have one more than the 16-player limit for their practice squad, as long as the 17th players is in the IPPP.

Per Brady Henderson of ESPN, it’s believed that the Seahawks have made this transaction as a courtesy to Campbell, Gaines, and Laumea, who’ve all spent most of the offseason in Seattle with the team. This week on the practice squad will potentially get each player a minimum check for $13K, but the Seahawks are expected to bring Martinez and Jean-Charles back to the p-squad. The same has yet to be confirmed for Kight.

Texans To Extend QB Davis Mills

Last September, the Texans signed backup quarterback Davis Mills to an extension as he entered a contract year.

Almost exactly a year later, Houston is tacking on another year to Mills’ deal, per Dianna Russini of The Athletic. Mills’ extension is worth a fully guaranteed $7MM, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, securing his services through the 2026 season as the No. 2 quarterback behind C.J. Stroud.

Mills, a 2021 third-round pick, wrested the starting job away from Tyrod Taylor as a rookie and carried it into 2022. However, it quickly became clear that he was not a long-term option under center after throwing a league-high 15 interceptions in 15 games. His struggles led the Texans to a 3-13-1 record in 2022, allowing them to draft Stroud with the No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft. Over his two years as a starter, Mills completed 62.8% of his passes for 5,955 yards for 35 touchdowns and 25 interceptions.

Since then, Mills has served as Stroud’s backup with six games played and zero starts. Virtually all of his appearances have come at the end of blowouts with one true relief showing in 2023.

Mills’ 2024 extension was worth $5MM, so his new deal includes a solid raise as well as some security for another year. However, Stroud will become eligible for an extension next offseason, so Houston may not be able to spend premium backup money on Mills for the rest of the decade. The Texans drafted former Wisconsin and Florida quarterback Graham Mertz in the sixth round of April’s draft and may look to groom him as a successor to Mills in their quarterback room.

Titans, LB Kyzir White Agree To Deal

Kyzir White drew interest from a few teams on the market without striking a deal. No connections had emerged with Tennessee, but that is where the veteran linebacker is headed.

[RELATED: Recapping Titans’ Offseason]

White and the Titans have agreed to a deal, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports. Nothing is official yet on this front, but TitansInsider’s Terry McCormick confirms White is set to join the fold. The eighth-year defender will offer plenty of experience and a starting-caliber option to his latest team. To no surprise, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes this will be a practice squad agreement.

White has logged 73 starts across his time with the Chargers, Eagles and Cardinals. The 29-year-old has surpassed 100 tackles in three of the past four seasons, and he set a new career high with 2.5 sacks in 2024. Expectations for similar production with Tennessee could be unrealistic based on the timing of this arrangement. Still, White could step into a prominent role right away.

The linebacker spot has seen plenty of turnover this offseason in the case of the Titans. Kenneth Murray was traded away, while Jerome BakerJack Gibbens and Luke Gifford departed in free agency. Cody Barton was added on a three-year deal, and he will be counted on to operate as a starter. 2024 fourth-rounder Cedric Gray could join him as a first-team presence.

Even in that event, White will offer Tennessee with a productive option to be elevated at some point. The West Virginia product took visits with the Lions and Colts this summer, but neither resulted in an agreement. Instead, White will spend this season with the Titans in a bid to earn his next contract much sooner in the 2026 offseason.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/1/25

Here are the latest practice squad transactions from around the NFL:

Chicago Bears

  • Signed: LB Cale Jones Jr.
  • Released: LB Power Echols

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

  • Signed: QB/WR Tommy Mellott, DT Coziah Izzard

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

With backup quarterback Aidan O’Connell starting the season on injured reserve, the Raiders – who already traded for Kenny Pickettadded some more veteran depth by signing Driskel. The 32-year-old has spent the last seven years in the NFL but only took one snap for the Commanders last season. Now, Driskel will join rookie QB Cam Miller on the practice squad in Las Vegas.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/1/25

NFL teams are continuing to make minor roster moves as the regular season approaches. On Monday, four clubs released players from their injured reserve lists with an injury settlement. Players who land on the IR without a return designation have to remain there for the entire season, but those with a chance to recover often seek injury settlements so they can return to the field that season. The settlements pay a portion of the player’s salary, typically based on the amount of time the player is expected to miss, while freeing up cap space for the team during the season.

Houston Texans

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Removed from IR with injury settlement: S Jaylen Jones

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

  • Removed from IR with injury settlement: LB Wesley Steiner

Saints Release S J.T. Gray

J.T. Gray has operated as a core special teams presence throughout his Saint tenure, but his time with the team could be coming to an end. The eighth-year safety is being released, Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football reports. Head coach Kellen Moore has since confirmed the news.

[RELATED: Recapping Saints’ Offseason]

Gray survived roster cuts last week, something which appeared to set him up for another campaign serving as a central figure on special teams in 2025. The former UDFA has played 98 NFL games, all of which have been with the Saints. Barring a practice squad return, though, he will now test the open market.

One year remained on Gray’s contract, and he was owed $3.1MM this season. Today’s move will generate $2.6MM in cap savings since that was his scheduled base salary. The 29-year-old has already been paid a roster bonus in March, and that will contribute to the $980K in dead money charges incurred by this release.

During his New Orleans tenure, Gray has totaled only 153 snaps on defense. His impact in the third phase has been substantial, however; Gray has amassed 2,065 snaps on special teams, logging a workload of 83% or higher in three of the past four seasons. In 2021, the Mississippi State product received a Pro Bowl invitation along with a first-team All-Pro nod for his special teams work. Gray has also landed on the second All-Pro team twice, including last year.

Moore deemed (via team reporter Erin Summers) the decision to cut Gray the most challenging to date of his tenure. That suggests a return by means of the taxi squad is not immediately forthcoming. With plenty of roster moves still likely to be made before Week 1, however, it will be interesting to see if the team attempts to keep him in the fold at some point.

For now, the Saints will move forward with a safety room which lost Tyrann Mathieu to retirement this offseason. Free agent signing Justin Reid will be counted on to help replace him, while later addition Julian Blackmon and third-round rookie Jonas Sanker will be tasked with contributing defensively as well. New Orleans’ depth in the secondary will be thinner based on the Gray release, and special teams could suffer a notable loss with him no longer in the fold.

Cowboys Extend CB DaRon Bland

SEPTEMBER 1: Bland’s extension is worth a maximum (rather than a base value) of $92MM, as detailed by ESPN’s Todd Archer. A $22MM signing bonus is present, and Bland’s base salaries in 2025 and ’26 are locked in at signing. His $12MM salary for 2027 is guaranteed for injury and vests in March of that year. The same structure is in place for annual $1MM roster bonuses.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports the deal includes a $19MM option bonus in 2028. Annual escalators worth up to $500K each are in place based on individual and team performances (with five and seven interceptions marking the thresholds and full pay being tied to whether or not the team reaches the playoffs the previous season). Salary de-escalators are also present instead of workout bonuses. In all, the four-year pact is worth $90MM in base value with $36.35MM fully guaranteed and another $13MM set to lock in midway through the deal.

AUGUST 31: The Cowboys have agreed to a four-year extension with cornerback DaRon Bland, as FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer was first to report. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com adds the deal is worth $92MM and includes $50MM in guaranteed money. The Cowboys have since announced the extension.

We heard back in April that Dallas was eyeing long-term deals for Bland, tight end Jake Ferguson, left guard Tyler Smith, and kicker Brandon Aubrey. Now, a little over month after extending Ferguson, Bland is on the books for the foreseeable future.

Of course, the situation involving former Cowboys edge defender Micah Parsons has been one of the NFL’s key storylines this offseason. Parsons, a premier, in-his-prime talent, was not originally viewed as a realistic trade candidate, but the relationship between player and team deteriorated in a very public way, and Dallas recently dealt the four-time Pro Bowler to the Packers for two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark. While the trade and the circumstances that gave rise to it have earned owner Jerry Jones a great deal of criticism, it did free up some funds to be allocated elsewhere.

Indeed, as Joseph Hoyt of the Dallas Morning News writes, team sources said in the wake of the Parsons trade that the Cowboys would be active on the extension front. As such, it would not be surprising to see Smith and/or Aubrey get a new contract in short order.

A report at the end of July suggested Dallas and Bland were engaged in contract talks, and those conversations progressed to the point that Bland was hoping to put pen to paper before Week 1. He has gotten his wish, and in so doing he has landed just outside the top-five earners at the cornerback position in terms of average annual value. His new-money average of $23MM/year is just behind the likes of Patrick Surtain ($24MM), Jalen Ramsey ($24.1MM), and Jaycee Horn ($25MM).

Bland followed Trevon Diggs to the first-team All-Pro level in 2023, returning an NFL-record five interceptions for touchdowns. The fifth-round find became a vital piece in Dallas’ defense that season, shifting to an outside CB role in the wake of Diggs’ September ACL tear. Bland, who intercepted an NFL-most nine passes that season, now joins Diggs as a high-priced corner on the Cowboys’ defense. Pro Football Focus ranked Bland second among qualified corners in 2023 and 33rd during his seven-game 2024.

Entering his age-26 season, Bland also saw his extension leverage strengthened by Diggs’ injury trouble. The Cowboys paid Diggs (via a five-year, $97MM extension) before the 2023 season but have not seen the 2021 first-team All-Pro live up to the deal. The knee trouble Diggs ran into in 2023 resurfaced last year, and he missed the team’s offseason program and training camp due to the rehab effort. Diggs is off Dallas’ PUP list but is a question mark going into the season.

Bland is no stranger to injury trouble himself, having suffered a foot fracture during training camp last year. That kept him out 10 games, as the Cowboys activated him in late October but did not use him in a game until their Thanksgiving tilt. This extension certainly reveals confidence Bland can anchor Dallas’ CB corps moving forward. The team can release Diggs for just less than $6MM in dead money in 2026.

With third-round rookie Shavon Revel on the team’s reserve/NFI list after an ACL tear sustained during his final East Carolina season, Bland will be a crucial piece to Matt Eberflus‘ defense — especially considering one of the NFL’s lead pass-rushing pieces is now in Wisconsin. The Cowboys have question marks at their other CB posts for the time being, with trade acquisition Kaiir Elam — a former first-rounder the Bills never trusted as a regular starter — set to play a key role while Diggs and Revel recover.

Bland’s usage will be interesting to track this year as well. After playing a near-full-time slot role as a rookie, he has largely been a boundary defender. This offseason, however, the Cowboys had Bland working in the slot regularly. A setup where he plays inside on passing downs, alongside Diggs and Elam/Revel, would make sense for the Cowboys. This contract also checks in well north of where the 49ers went for their multipurpose CB (Deommodore Lenoir) last year and miles ahead of the slot-only market.

Sam Robinson contributed to this post.

Steelers Extend RB Jaylen Warren

Retained on an RFA tender this spring, Jaylen Warren has received a new commitment from the Steelers. The fourth-year running back received an extension on Monday, per an announcement from his agency.

This new pact is two years in length, Warren’s agency announced. As a result, he is now under contract through 2027. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network notes the contract will pay out over $7MM this season and includes $12MM guaranteed. Colleague Mike Garafolo adds the total compensation owed across the next three years is nearly $17.5MM. A $5.95MM signing bonus is present in the pact, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

The coming campaign will represent the first year Warren, 26, operates as Pittsburgh’s lead back after Najee Harris departed in free agency. Before the start of the season, the Steelers have made a notable investment. How he fares in an increased role will be critical to the team’s new-look offense.

Warren received the second-round RFA tender just before the start of free agency in a move which prevented him from testing the market. The tender is valued at $5.35MM, a notable step up from his previous earnings in the NFL. The details available so far on this pact demonstrate it is a strong sign Warren will be counted on as Pittsburgh’s RB1 beyond 2025.

The former UDFA flashed potential during his rookie season by averaging 4.9 yards per carry. Warren received 149 carries the following season and averaged 5.1 yards per attempt (a stark contrast to Harris’ efficiency). Pittsburgh declined Harris’ fifth-year option last offseason, an indication 2024 would be his final year with the team. That proved to be the case, with the former first-rounder joining the Chargers in March and the Steelers electing to move forward with Warren atop the depth chart. The Oklahoma State product has never handled a snap share higher than 49% to date, but that is likely to change this year.

Pittsburgh added Kenneth Gainwell in free agency before selecting Kaleb Johnson in the third round of the draft. Those two will handle complementary roles in 2025, with Gainwell being added on a one-year deal. Johnson could take on a larger workload over the course of his rookie contract, but today’s news means Warren will remain in place for most of that time. It will be interesting to see how the backfield workload gets split up over the coming months.

Warren’s ability as a receiver allowed him to amass 1,154 scrimmage yards in 2023. His production took a step back last year, a season in which he missed two games. After scoring just one touchdowns as a rookie and again in 2024, improvement in that capacity will be a target for team and player. Plenty of time remains for Warren to find the end zone with increased regularity though, as he will continue in the team’s offensive plans for the foreseeable future.