Tag: NFL

The NFL will not hand down a punishment to free-agent wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who was found not guilty of assault charges in May.

The league notified Diggs on Friday that it concluded its investigation and there is insufficient evidence to support a finding of a personal conduct policy violation, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported.

The four-time Pro Bower had been charged with felony strangulation and misdemeanor assault and battery stemming from an alleged dispute with his former personal chef. Diggs was found not guilty on May 5.

Despite the acquittal, the NFL could have penalized the wideout if they had found that he had violated the personal conduct policy. Fridays news closes the book on that possibility.

Diggs spent the 2025 with the New England Patriots, generating 85 catches, 1,013 yards and four touchdowns, helping the Pats reach the Super Bowl. New England released the wideout earlier this offseason. Given the additions of A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs this offseason, a crowded WR room has little need to bring back a veteran like Diggs.

With a league penalty no longer in play, Diggs could find a new home during the league’s summer break or perhaps during training camp.

Worthy’s second-year struggles epitomized the unit’s ineffectiveness. No K.C. WR hit the 600-yard mark last season, as the offense struggled to move the pigskin consistently even before Patrick Mahomes went down with injury. The collection of Worthy, Hollywood Brown, Rashee Rice, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Tyquan Thornton was supposed to finally provide a diverse skill set that would unlock a stymied passing game. They did not.

“We didn’t do what we needed to do last year,” Worthy said.

The early-season shoulder injury lingered for the speedster, who never felt 100% — it showed. His route tree never blossomed, and at times it felt like he was running the same route on repeat.

Despite last year’s struggles, the Chiefs made no significant upgrade to the position. Brown and Smith-Schuster are gone, with fifth-rounder Cyrus Allen the most notable addition. K.C. is counting heavily on an improved running game with Kenneth Walker III and improvement from Worthy, Rice and Thornton to get the offense back on track.

“Obviously I know the kind of player I can be,” Worthy said. “The things I can do on the field and what I can bring to the team.”

He knows. Now he needs to show.

It’d be an understatement to characterize Lukas Van Ness‘ first three seasons in Green Bay as a disappointment. Entering Year 4, the former first-round pick has a combined 8.5 sacks in three seasons, including just 1.5 in 2025.

“It’s probably not been my ideal career if you would have talked to me in 2023 when I was a fresh rookie coming in here, but everyone’s got their own process and their own path,” Van Ness said this week via The Associated Press. “I’ve trusted the path. I feel really good about where I’m at.”

The Packers used the No. 13 overall pick on the Iowa product in 2023, hoping to get a relentless edge presence to team up with Rashan Gary. Van Ness has yet to live up to that hope. His four-sack rookie campaign was brushed aside as a player growing, yet his numbers have dwindled each year after, with 3.0 sacks in 2024 and 1.5 in nine games in 2025. He’s also never generated more than 27 QB pressures in a season, nor higher than an 11.2% pressure rate, per Next Gen Stats.

“I think pressure is a privilege to have,” Van Ness said. “We’re obviously in a blessed position where there’s people watching our spot and people are obviously going to have their own opinions, but at the end of the day I think you’ve just got to believe in yourself and believe in what you’re hearing in the building from your coaches and from your circle and other players in the defensive room.”

After last year’s injury-riddled season, the Packers are counting on Van Ness finally putting things together. Green Bay traded Gary this offseason and didn’t draft an edge until Dani Dennis-Sutton in the fourth round.

Van Ness is confident his breakthrough is coming, but knows showing it on Sundays this fall is the only way to prove himself.

“At the end of the day, I feel like talk is cheap,” Van Ness said. “You’ve just got to put it out there when it matters.”

With Micah Parsons slated to miss the start of the regular season, the Packers’ pass rush sorely needs Van Ness to become the player he was drafted to be.

In 2020, the Buffalo Bills made a bold move, acquiring Stefon Diggs from Minnesota to help Josh Allen take the next step in his third season.

The move, along with improved mechanics from the QB, paid off: Allen exploded, passing for 4,544 yards, led the league in success rate, saw his completion percentage go from 58.8 to 69.2, and made his first Pro Bowl. Diggs was electric, generating 127 catches and 1,535 yards, both of which led the league, and eight touchdowns, earning first-team All-Pro honors. Diggs gave Allen a true No. 1 target who could win against any coverage and bail him out of bad balls.

Davis Webb was a practice-squad quarterback for the Bills that season. He had a front-row seat to see just how big a role Diggs played in helping elevate Allen to the MVP QB he became.

Now the offensive coordinator and play-caller for the Denver Broncos, Webb sees some similarities between the Bills’ trade for Diggs and Denver’s acquisition of Jaylen Waddle this offseason.

“He’s good. He’s a really good player,” he said of Waddle, via Nick Kosmider of The Athletic. “There are some similarities when I was with Josh Allen going into Year 3, similar to Bo (Nix) going into Year 3, and we traded for Stefon Diggs. That was a good year. That was a good two-year run in ’20 and ’21 when I was together with them. Just seeing the growth from both players, that time, there’s some similarities of what’s starting to happen here. It doesn’t mean it’s going to. We’ve got a long way to go, but, man, he’s good, and I’ve just enjoyed the person and watching him work. He’s a blessing to be around. He is a multiplier; he is a thermostat, like very, very good. That’s a credit to (general manager) George (Paton), that’s a credit to Sean (Payton). We don’t bring in bad people here. We’ve got really good players and great team chemistry.”

Waddle has made head-turning plays during OTAs, displaying the ability to win and make plays after the catch. Of course, doing so in non-contract sessions is much different than for 17 real games, but the glimpse is there.

The Broncos’ offense went into lulls far too often last season. The belief is that Waddle, with his ability to beat man or zone coverages and the speed to blast past defenders, will help eliminate those ineffective stretches. The former first-rounder has the talent to re-energize the offense and give Nix a go-to target.

The potential Diggs-type effect Waddle can have on the offense is why the Broncos didn’t shy away from paying the first-round-plus-some price tag for the WR. If Waddle can push Nix’s evolution even further in Year 3, it will be well worth the price tag.

While it was a private ceremony, among the rings’ myriad features was an ode to Seattle’s devoted fanbase – the 12s.

There is a 12 flag on the side, which is a button that releases Lumen Field arches and unveils the words “WORLD CHAMPIONS.” The bottom of the ring offers 12 feathers to symbolize the fanbase. Fifty white diamonds surround the center logo in commemoration of the franchise’s 50^th season.

The ring also opens to unveil a piece of a football used during the championship season and featuring No. 50.

Smackdab in the middle of the ring are a pair of Seahawks blue sapphires along with two Lombardi Trophies – representing each of the franchise’s Super Bowl wins.

An assortment of hidden details are also within the design.

Thursday night’s nod to the greatness of last season followed the Seahawks’ conclusion of mandatory minicamp earlier in the day and the beginning of the club’s summer break before returning in July to kick off training camp and the team’s defense of the Super Bowl it now has the jewelry to celebrate forever.

The Falcons sought tackle depth this offseason following the retirement of veteran Kaleb McGary. They had previously signed veteran Jawaan Taylor and now bring in his former teammate in K.C., Morris, to improve the unit.

Atlanta’s trade for Morris comes as it placed tackle Storm Norton on the reserve/physically unable to perform list on Thursday. Norton missed the 2025 season with an ankle injury.

The 25-year-old Morris had a mostly disappointing three years with the Chiefs, particularly struggling in pass protection, but brings starting experience to ATL.

The Chiefs were exploring trade options for Morris, who was buried on the depth chart. K.C. will plow forward with Jaylon Moore, second-year OT Esa Pole, who has generated some buzz this offseason, and rookie OT Kahlil Benson as options opposite starting left tackle Josh Simmons.

The Broncos have experienced a night-and-day turnaround since handing the head-coaching reins to Payton in 2023, trading a ’23 first-round pick and ’24 second-round selection to the Saints in order to hire the Super Bowl XLIV winner.

At the time, Denver had not experienced the playoffs since winning Super Bowl 50 during the 2015 season, and was bogged down by whiffing on the decision to acquire quarterback Russell Wilson. Payton helmed the Broncos to an 8-9 record in his first year, their best win total since 2016. Denver subsequently took on a then-record $85 million in dead cap to move on from Wilson, months later pairing Payton, known as a QB whisperer, with Bo Nix in the first round of the 2024 draft.

The Broncos went 10-7 in Nix’s rookie season with an appearance in the Wild Card Round. Then, in 2025, Payton and Co. arrived earlier than even the most optimistic projections, capturing the AFC’s No. 1 seed by going 14-3, the second-best regular-season finish in franchise history. Nix suffered a broken ankle in a climactic Divisional Round victory over the Bills, leaving Denver with feelings of what could’ve been after the team was unable to overcome the Patriots the following week, but there’s reason to believe brighter days are ahead to help ease that regret.

Denver recognizes that and rewarded its head coach for the rapid rebuild, locking in the Payton-Paton duo for years to come.

“I think it makes all the sense in the world,” Payton said Thursday regarding the team tying him together with Paton. “I’m super appreciative of that opportunity. I said this to you guys earlier, that triangle of ownership, the Walton-Penner group, Carrie and Greg, and then George, working with him, I’ve been spoiled. Because I had a real good experience in New Orleans with ownership and (Saints GM) Mickey (Loomis), and to go two for two with that is hard in our league. I’m thankful they want me back and we’ll do everything we can to continue to keep winning.”

Though Paton’s time as GM predates Payton, back to 2021, the pair has gone 32-19 together over the past three seasons. They’ve jumped from eight wins to 10 to 14, also going from the outside looking in to a wild-card game to standing on the doorstep of a Super Bowl berth.

The Broncos have now extended both with the belief they’ll soon knock down that door to earn another ring.

The Falcons sought tackle depth this offseason following the retirement of veteran Kaleb McGary. They had previously signed veteran Jawaan Taylor and now bring in his former teammate in K.C., Morris, to improve the unit.

The 25-year-old Morris had a mostly disappointing three years with the Chiefs, particularly struggling in pass protection, but brings starting experience to ATL.

The Chiefs were exploring trade options for Morris, who was buried on the depth chart. K.C. will plow forward with Jaylon Moore, second-year OT Esa Pole, who has generated some buzz this offseason, and rookie OT Kahlil Benson as options opposite starting left tackle Josh Simmons.

The Denver Broncos and Sean Payton have agreed to a new five-year contract, the team announced Thursday.

ESPN first reported the news.

“Sean Payton has led an impressive turnaround over the past three seasons, instilling a winning culture with high expectations,” team owner Greg Penner said in a statement released by the team. “I appreciate the close partnership he shares with George Paton along with the alignment and stability across our football operations.

“We’re thrilled for Sean to continue leading our team as head coach, building on our progress during such an exciting time for the Broncos.”

Payton has served as the club’s head coach for the past three seasons, overseeing Denver’s return to contention as the Broncos have gone 32-19 with a recent trip to the AFC Championship Game under him.

Payton’s deal keeps Denver’s regime intact through 2030, as the team also inked a five-year deal with general manager George Paton back in May.

Around the NFL will have more shortly.