Tag: NFL

Late last month, Olave described the incident after participating in some individual drills.

“It was crazy,” Olave said. “I didn’t really know before when they told me, I ain’t really know what a blood clot was, but once they told me, they explained the whole situation that was going on, I feel like it was tough at first.

“But I just put my best foot forward, (and am) just trying to do everything right so I can be healthy at the beginning of the year.”

Playing it safe with the star receiver, who caught a career-high 100 passes for 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns in 16 games last season, makes sense. His status is particularly notable as the Saints and Olave’s camp continue to work on a big-money contract extension ahead of the final year of his rookie deal.

The Saints will hold mandatory minicamp next week (June 16-17).

Macdonald was asked whether Charbonnet was ahead of schedule or simply on a standard pace.

“If you’re going to guess what type of schedule Zach Charbonnet would be on, that’s the type of schedule he’s on,” Macdonald said. “Doing a great job. I know he has high expectations for himself. Look forward to see where it ends up.”

Even with Macdonald’s cautious optimism, given the timing of the injury, it would be a surprise if the running back was ready for the start of the regular season.

By all accounts, his rehab has gone well. He’s participated in OTAs and mandatory minicamp. According to reporters, he appears to be the same physical, explosive runner he flashed last season.

“(He’s) got his confidence back, his explosion. We’ll just see when he gets the pads on, but looks good,” Browns coach Todd Monken said of Judkins.

The RB agreed with his coach.

“Yeah, I would say, like you said, confident,” Judkins said. “I know the work that I put in. So I’m prepared to just go out there and just put it on the field.”

We won’t be able to fully assess Judkins’ recovery until the pads come on in training camp and the physicality starts. When he’s able to be fully hit in that leg repeatedly, we’ll see if that confidence stands.

If Judkins is indeed 100% heading into the season — and can stay that way — he profiles as a clear lead back who should get the bulk of the early-down carries with Dylan Sampson playing a third-down role. After losing Jerome Ford in free agency, the Browns didn’t add to the group this offseason, outside of a couple of undrafted free agents, indicating that they’re confident in Judkins’ recovery and ability to carry the load.

Most of the focus in Cleveland this offseason has been on the quarterbacks, offensive line changes, and, most recently, the trade of its superstar edge rusher for a promising youngster. In the middle of all that, running back Quinshon Judkins has plugged along in his rehab, a secondary storyline.

“Just taking it day by day, man, and just really knowing the goal and where I want to be and getting back to making plays on the field and just feeling like myself,” Judkins said this week via the Akron Beacon Journal. “So that’s what my main goal was.”

Judkins should play a massive role in any step forward the AFC North cellar dwellers might take in 2026. Last season, Judkins got off to a slow start after missing training camp because he hadn’t signed his contract — a deal that was complicated by an arrest in Florida for a domestic violence charge, which was ultimately dropped by the state attorney’s office. Judkins missed Week 1, but became a force when he entered the lineup.

In 14 games, the RB dashed for 827 yards and seven TDs on 230 totes. He generated five games of 80-plus yards, including a career-high 110-yarder in Week 5. Given the rest of the Browns’ offensive struggles, Judkins play stood out as a shining, bright light. Then his season ended abruptly in Week 16, when he suffered an ankle injury and a fractured fibula that required surgery.

By all accounts, his rehab has gone well. He’s participated in OTAs and mandatory minicamp. According to reporters, he appears to be the same physical, explosive runner he flashed last season.

“(He’s) got his confidence back, his explosion. We’ll just see when he gets the pads on, but looks good,” Browns coach Todd Monken said of Judkins.

The RB agreed with his coach.

“Yeah, I would say, like you said, confident,” Judkins said. “I know the work that I put in. So I’m prepared to just go out there and just put it on the field.”

We won’t be able to fully assess Judkin’s recovery until the pads come on in training camp and the physicality starts. When he’s able to be fully hit in that leg repeatedly, we’ll see if that confidence stands.

If Judkins is indeed 100% heading into the season – and can stay that way – he profiles as a clear lead-back who should get the bulk of the early-down carries with Dylan Sampson playing a third-down role. After losing Jerome Ford in free agency, Browns didn’t add to the group this offseason, outside of a couple of undrafted free agents, indicating that they’re confident in Judkins’ recovery and ability to carry the load.

The Baltimore Ravens lost Tyler Linderbaum to the largest center contract in NFL history. The club was never able to replace the Pro Bowler with a clear starter in free agency and didn’t draft a pivot.

Entering offseason workouts, who would hike Lamar Jackson the ball was one of the most intriguing plotlines. It remains a mystery as Baltimore concluded its pre-training camp work with a two-day mandatory minicamp.

Danny Pinter and Jovaughn Gwynsplit the first-team reps over the two days, with Pinter going first on Tuesday and Gwyn the Wednesday reps. Corey Bullock, who backed up Linderbaum last year, has been dealing with an injury but will be part of the competition in July’s training camp.

What’s that old John Madden saying? When you have three centers, you have none?

“Those guys are competing well. They’re doing a pretty good job to me,” Jackson said. “I’m liking our choices, for sure.”

On the one hand, what is Jackson supposed to say? Trash his teammates or complain about how his bosses failed? On the other, perhaps at this stage of the offseason, when there isn’t full-contact hitting as there will be in training camp, they do look good. Frankly, we won’t know until the real action heats up.

The center battle will be a main focus as we head to Ravens training camp and the preseason.

“I would say it’s a pretty balanced competition right now,” Minter said. “I think Danny and Jovaughn both have done a great job. … With that position especially — because we haven’t had pads on yet, and they’re new — that will definitely sort itself out a little more as we get pads on.”

It will be imperative that Minter and new OC Decan Doyle sort out the pivot spot as quickly as possible so whoever wins the starting gig can mesh with the rest of the unit and get comfortable with Jackson. If the middle of the line fails, it could crumble the entire operation Doyle is trying to install – one that Jackson is excited to unveil this season.

“I feel like there’s going to be a lot of explosiveness this year,” Jackson said. “The way Declan calls plays and his creativity with his mind — how detailed he is — it’s mind-blowing.”

It won’t be mind-blowing if the center spot repeatedly whiffs and a defender is in Jackson’s face off the snap.

The last time Watson took the field in brown and orange, he appeared overmatched by the speed of the game and responsibilities assigned to him in former coach Kevin Stefanski’s offense. An Achilles injury ended that campaign after seven starts, and complications related to the Achilles ailment prevented him from playing at all in 2025.

By many accounts and estimations, Watson’s time in Cleveland was essentially finished.

Then Monken arrived, clearing the slate with his new team, including Watson, who said Wednesday he is fully healthy for the first time since Week 3 of the 2023 season. That was seven weeks before Watson produced his most encouraging performance in his Browns career in a 33-31 comeback win over the Ravens.

That second half outburst — 14-for-14 passing for 134 yards and a touchdown — inspired an entire offseason of belief for Browns fans, but they soon learned Watson wasn’t the same quarterback after suffering a glenoid fracture in his throwing shoulder, which ended his 2023 season following that Week 10 victory in Baltimore.

“I’m trying to play a full season,” Watson, 30, said when asked if he’s thought about what could happen in 2027. “I’m just trying to be healthy so I can play all 17-plus games. I don’t know. What happens is going to happen at that time.”

If staying healthy is priority No. 1 for Watson, winning the job over Sanders is 1B. Throughout the 2026 offseason, the Browns have willingly opened the door for Watson to return to the lineup, provided he earns it. Monken hasn’t given either an edge in June, but if Watson can find some semblance of the form that saw him lead the NFL in passing in 2020 while with the Houston Texans, the job should be his by August.

“It’s very important,” Watson, a three-time Pro Bowler, said of receiving a chance to start again. “I think each and every person that walks into the locker room should have that mindset that you want to start in this league. That’s why I show up each and every day, to be able to go out there and perform on Sundays, whatever day that is. It’s definitely the main focus of why I work hard to be able to come back.”

Still, Watson cautioned against setting expectations too high. The 2020 season was a long time ago.

“I’m not trying to replicate the 2020 (season),” he said. “I’m a different person. I’m older. I’m more wise. I think at the same time, everyone wants to rewind the clock back, but we can’t do that. At the end of the I just got to focus on being the best product and player I can for Deshaun Watson as a Cleveland Brown player. That’s all I’m focused on.”

If Watson can fulfill that goal, he could find himself back in the lineup with one last chance to prove he’s worth employing in the NFL. That will require beating out Sanders, a 2025 fifth-round selection who found himself in the lineup as a last resort for Stefanski and managed to hang on to the job for the remainder of the season amid the highs and lows typical of a Day 3 pick.

“It’s been good,” Watson said of their relationship. “I’ve known the Sanders family. I’ve known his brother all the way back when he was at SMU. … I used to hang out with the team and his brother was one of the players. Me and his family have got a good relationship. We always just try to pull for each other.

“We both have the opportunity to go out there and put out the best product for the team and let Monk and the organization choose who goes out there, and we’ll support each other.”

It’s important to note it’s only June. The true test of Watson’s remaining abilities and proficiency will begin when the Browns take the field for preseason action in August. But for the first time since the start of the 2024 season, Watson has reason to be optimistic.

We’ll see if that optimism survives long enough to reach September.

An undrafted free agent out of Texas State who began his career with the Tennessee Titans in 2020, Brewer, 28, has become a stalwart for the Dolphins over the last two seasons, starting 33 of a possible 34 games. As Miami is reconstructing its roster, it’s tabbed running back De’Von Achane, who scored an extension earlier this spring, and Brewer as pillars the team is looking to build around.

Next up could be linebacker Jordyn Brooks.

For now, one of the Dolphins’ biggest agenda items can be checked off ahead of training camp.

Brewer garnered an 87.4 overall grade from PFF last season, second among centers behind only Humphrey.

Though he received second-team All-Pro recognition, he was a notable Pro Bowl snub, allowing just one sack and one QB hit.

His worth hasn’t been overlooked in Miami, though.

Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs have once again collaborated on a historic contract extension.

Kansas City is adding two years to Mahomes’ reworked contract, with the new money being worth $239.05 million and the total value coming out to $504.75 million, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Wednesday. The Chiefs announced the extension shortly after it was reported.

Schefter added that all $504.75 million becomes guaranteed through contract mechanisms, and that Mahomes can earn up to $522.25 million through incentives and escalators. The $64 million annual average value of the deal, beginning in 2027, is a new NFL record.

The years tacked on is a reworking of Mahomes’ previous extension with the Chiefs, a 10-year deal that he signed in 2020.

With the new money included, Mahomes’ average annual value will reach $64 million beginning in 2027, a $19 million-per-year raise that will push him past Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott ($60 million per year) and set a new record for the highest average salary per year in NFL history.

Following Loop’s miss and Baltimore’s loss, the Ravens parted with longtime coach John Harbaugh, replaced him with former Ravens assistance and Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, and spent the offseason resupplying the roster. Loop’s job was never in doubt, though; after a 30 for 34 season, the Ravens were pleased with what they received from their sixth-round pick in his first professional campaign.

Now comes the test of Loop’s resilience. After ending 2025 with a heartbreaking miss, his first attempt of 2026 will draw extra attention, a moment for which Loop can only prepare by converting practice kicks like the one he drilled on Wednesday.

“I think any time that’s your position as you go through high school, college, all the way up, you realize that you have to live through some good times and bad times,” Minter said on Wednesday. “It’s a process-driven position. You have to just be able to flush out bad things that happen. Trust your process. I thought he had a really good rookie year overall, but of course we’re judged by some of our biggest moments. We want to create opportunities for him to have these moments in front of people – in front of the team. To continue to have those opportunities, and certainly glad he knocked that one through.”

Baltimore’s fanbase has long lived in a world of privilege as far as kicking is concerned. The Ravens spent 13 years trusting Justin Tucker to convert, and save for an underwhelming final season in 2024, he never finished below a conversion rate of 82.5 percent in any of his first 12 years.

That’s a high bar for Loop to reach. Although his most memorable kick of his rookie season was a miss, he largely stabilized the position at a time in which the situation easily could have descended into revolving door territory.

Year 2 will be about building on his successes — and moving on from that one failure.

“No one wishes they had that kick back more than me, but gotta move on,” Loop said.