Tag: NFL

Taylor is clearly an essential part of Indianapolis’ offense, and much like they were in 2023, the Colts are maintaining cautious optimism regarding their quarterback situation, increasing Taylor’s importance.

That’s where the similarities end. Back in 2023, Taylor was dealing with a persistent ankle injury and had requested a trade after failing to find common ground with Colts management.

In 2026, a wiser Taylor is on good terms with the Colts. Ideally, instead of devolving into a situation that includes a trade request and constant questions, the 27-year-old running back arrives at a new deal before long, especially with his health no longer being a concern following consecutive 300-plus-carry seasons.

“Hopefully so. Hopefully so,” Taylor said when asked if there was momentum building toward an agreement. “But at this time, we are in minicamp, trying to work on getting better, obviously still preparing with the body, gotta hit the training hard. Like I said, I’ve already expressed that I want to be a Colt for life, even throughout the years. So hopefully they feel the same, Indianapolis, not only, like, the team but the city, is a special place.”

Under his current contract, Taylor ranks seventh in average annual salary ($14 million per year). He was only recently surpassed by Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker III ($14.35 million per year), Breece Hall ($14.5 million) and De’Von Achane ($16 million per year), signaling it’s time for Taylor to climb back up the salary ranks.

Judging by his comments and the current state of the Colts, it’s fair to expect Taylor will receive an extension before long. Thankfully, it shouldn’t be nearly as dramatic, either.

The Bears boast an ascending quarterback in Caleb Williams and a stockpile of weapons to go along with a good offensive line.

“I love the challenge of looking at Luther Burden and how do we get him the ball and maximize what he does best, along with Rome (Odunze), along with Colston (Loveland) and Cole (Kmet),” Johnson said. “We have this whole slew of weapons that we’re looking to maximize. I think that’s the fun part. The plays don’t matter so much to me. It’s more so, how do we get these guys the ball with a little bit of space to do what they do so well?”

Burden came on strong down the stretch of the season as he became more comfortable in the offense. The shifty wideout, who generated 25 catches and 357 yards in his final five games of the regular season, is poised for a breakout campaign. Odunze, when healthy, provides a big-bodied wideout who can win on the boundary and stretch the field. And Loveland, who led the Bears in yards and receptions last season, continues to grow as a mismatch weapon.

Williams is the key to Johnson’s offense making another leap. The Madden NFL 27 cover athlete made significant strides last season, and taking another step forward could push the Bears offense from a top-10 unit into the very upper echelon. Johnson noted that Williams’ comfort in the offense is growing, but it always helps to have his improvisational skills in the back pocket when things break down.

“There is a lot of unpredictability that comes along with it,” Johnson said. “As he continues to grow and develop, if the structure of the play is there for him, then he’ll take it. But what he can do out of structure is really unique, and I think it makes us even more difficult to defend.”

One big question heading into the Dallas Cowboys’ mandatory minicamp next week is whether George Pickens will report.

Pickens, who had the franchise tag placed on him, has skipped voluntary workouts. Coach Brian Schottenheimer said Pickens has not committed to attend minicamp but expects the wideout to report.

Quarterback Dak Prescott, likewise, anticipates Pickens’ attendance but doesn’t expect the wideout to participate much.

“I haven’t had any conversations, and to be honest, would love for him to be in, but even if he’s in, I doubt it’s a full, he’s going full go, jumping in the team,” Prescott said, via the team’s official website. “I would hope not to be honest, just being protected and being smart. Just hope he gets in just to see some of the new guys, meet some of the new guys. I’m sure he’ll be here.”

Prescott went through his own franchise tag situation in the past, so he understands full well what the wideout is experiencing. The QB said his last throwing sessions with Pickens happened in March or April.

“They were great,” Prescott said. “George is George. He’s great, he’s awesome. The personality, excitement, his energy was consistent, consistent as it’s been those times that I got to throw with him. Just even communicating with him through phone as we have these last couple of weeks, George is great. I’m excited about where he’s going to be. I’m excited about when he gets in and the work that we’re going to have to build off of. George is George, and he’s fine.”

The New York Giants’ offseason moves at receiver have raised suspicion that Malik Nabers might not be ready for Week 1 as he continues to rehab from the second surgery on his injured knee.

However, general manager Joe Schoen told Jori Epstein of Yahoo! Sports that he remains optimistic about Nabers’ timeline, planning for the star wideout to be on the field Sept. 13 against the Dallas Cowboys.

“I still think he’ll be fine Week 1,” Schoen told Epstein on Monday. “So we’ll see. He’s trending in the right direction. Again, these things take time, so it’s not instant. Every patient is different.”

Nabers suffered an ACL tear in late September and underwent a second cleanup surgery to remove scar tissue earlier this offseason. News of the second surgery throttled down the questions about Nabers’ timeline during June workouts.

Big Blue spent the offseason restocking the wideout room. Darius Slayton returns, and the Giants added Calvin Austin III and Darnell Mooney early in free agency and drafted Malachi Fields in the third round. Recently, they signed a trio of pass catchers in Odell Beckham, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Braxton Berrios (also a potential returner). The recent moves added to speculation that Nabers might not be ready to face Dallas.

Schoen believes that the collective receiver room can provide enough weapons, along with tight ends Isaiah Likely and Theo Johnson.

“Do we have that true No. 1 alpha 22-year-old Malik Nabers out there if he’s not available? No, but I think there’s enough to go,” Schoen said. “There’s going to be a good competition at receiver throughout camp, but there’s enough for me from the backfield, the tight end position, there’s enough at receiver where we’ll be able to move the ball and still be a productive offense – and it’ll be a cherry on top if Malik’s out there.”

As we approach training camp in late July, questions will ramp up about how much Nabers can participate and whether he will indeed be ready for the start of the regular season. For now, Schoen isn’t fretting that Nabers is not participating in offseason workouts, even as the Giants install a new offense.

“If he’s ready to go Week 1, you told me that today, however it looks in between now and then, I don’t care as long as when we roll out against the Cowboys over here that he’s out and ready to go,” Schoen said. “And if it’s not? Again, I think we bought enough insurance that we’ll still be able to move the ball and be productive.”

Veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins rejected the notion that he’s in Las Vegas to mentor No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, instead suggesting it’s more of a collective approach in the QB room.

“[It’s] more of a narrative than it is the truth,” Cousins said of the mentor discussion, via Ryan McFadden of ESPN. “They’re pretty good players, pretty experienced, and I’m learning a lot from them, too, and asking questions to them.

“Nobody’s leading more than someone else. I think we’re all a working force together, helping each other, giving feedback, giving perspective [and] giving another set of eyes.”

Cousins added that it’s “a bit of a reach” to call him Mendoza’s mentor, as all the QBs are working to get better each day to improve the football team.

The 37-year-old quarterback can downplay his role in Mendoza’s development. That’s his prerogative. However, it’s obvious that a player with 14 years of NFL experience, including 167 starts, who has played in a Kubiak-style offense, would have more experience than a rookie still getting used to taking snaps from under center. That knowledge will be passed down in one form or another.

After the debacle that was his experience in Atlanta the past two seasons with Michael Penix Jr., perhaps Cousins is simply wary of titles and how those stories can spiral. The veteran QB would rather focus on the collective.

“I’ve always felt I prepare my best during the season when we can all kind of be together in that room in the evening, going over things together rather than working in our own,” Cousins said. “I think when we can kind of all be given feedback on each other, that’s when I think the best ideas come out.”

Mendoza said he’s already learned a lot from Cousins and Aidan O’Connell.

“We’ve all come together and have combined our experiences, whether it’s from an experienced mind, a naive mind, [or] Aidan’s mind, who’s a little bit of a mix,” Mendoza said.

While Cousins is in a QB room with yet another first-round rookie, this situation is vastly different from the one he left in Atlanta. There he was taken by surprise when the Falcons drafted Penix after giving him a $100 million contract. In Vegas, everyone knew Mendoza was coming to town. Cousins signed knowing full well he was a bridge, one that would be as long or short as the rookie needed.

“First of all, here’s what the San Francisco 49ers would like: they have his rights, he’s not due any guaranteed money because he forfeited that by not showing up to his rehab,” Rapoport said Monday on The Insiders. “So, they would like to trade him, probably to the Commanders, with his old friend Jayden Daniels and an organization that obviously knows him well, considering (Commanders general manager) Adam Peters was in San Francisco, and all that.

“What the Commanders would like to do is sign him without having to trade him. … We’re in a situation where nobody wants to move at all. They’re all staring at each other. There’s really no deadline to make a move at all. So, until and unless everyone gets tired of Brandon Aiyuk sending Instagram messages, this is going to be a storyline that takes us through the summer.”

In the 2025 offseason it was reported the 49ers were open to trading him. During the season, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan expressed optimism that Aiyuk could return to the playing field for the team around Week 6 of the ’25 season, but that never materialized. In December, the team placed him on the reserve/left squad list and roughly a month later, San Francisco general manager John Lynch said it was “safe to say” Aiyuk would not play for the 49ers again.

San Francisco would have taken on $29.6 million in dead money for the upcoming season by trading Aiyuk before June 1. In a post-June 1 trade, the 49ers would only take on $8.3 million of dead money. Cutting Aiyuk, per Over the Cap, would save the team $6.3 million on the salary cap and bring about a $7.36 million dead money hit.

Aiyuk had an arrest warrant issued for him on June 3 by the Santa Clara County (California) District Attorney’s Office for a misdemeanor traffic violation that was filed on Jan. 30. The warrant, issued for exhibition of speed, stems from another video Aiyuk posted in December when a clip showed him driving at speeds upward of 100 mph on Santa Clara roads, including near the 49ers’ homefield of Levi’s Stadium.

Aiyuk was picked No. 25 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft by the 49ers, and has produced 294 receptions for 4,305 yards and 25 touchdowns in 69 games over parts of five seasons.

San Francisco is off this week, with Shanahan canceling mandatory minicamp after the team had perfect attendance at organized team activities last week.

There seems to be no end in sight for the Aiyuk-49ers squabble, or the disenfranchised wideout’s social media shots.

McCarthy isn’t thinking about what might happen if he doesn’t win the job, and he doubled down on his desire to remain in Minnesota.

“I think I made it very clear I wanted to be here before I got here,” McCarthy said. “I love this organization. I love the coaching staff. I absolutely love these players to death. This is where I want to be. I feel like I can thrive in this system.

McCarthy struggled with injuries and inconsistency last season after the Vikings traded up to take him with the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. In spite of missing his entire rookie season due to a torn right meniscus and struggling with accuracy and turnovers as the Week 1 starter a year ago, McCarthy said he wouldn’t want to go back and change his first two years in the league.

“Everything played out exactly how I wanted it,” he said. “I wouldn’t want anything else to change.”

Early reports suggest Murray might have a slight edge at this point, even if the competition remains very much in progress. For his part, Murray said he’s not concerned about battling with McCarthy and spoke like a man who expects to win the starting job.

“Me personally, I’m not too worried about the competition side of things, honestly,” Murray said. “To answer your question: Yes, the competitor I am, everybody out here holds themself to a high standard.”

We’ll likely find out in August which of the Vikings’ quarterbacks will earn the starting job. Both are confident in their chances, but only one can win it.

Thanks to the standard fifth-year option for first-round picks, Gonzalez is currently under contract through the 2027 season. The arrival of his fourth NFL season means he can start negotiating a long-term extension, inviting questions about greater wants, needs and timing. There’s little reason to worry about his general status for 2026, but it could include a hold-in to start training camp if negotiations don’t progress to a satisfactory place.

Days after Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield placed a hard deadline (the start of training camp) on his own contract talks, Gonzalez was asked whether he expects to participate in Patriots camp in late July.

“Training camp, I’m not worried about that,” Gonzalez said. “We are in mandatory minicamp right now, so that’s what we’re focused on as we get into that.”

Gonzalez’s timing for a new deal is potentially fortuitous. He’s coming off his first Pro Bowl campaign of his career, already has a second-team All-Pro selection on his résumé and just helped the Patriots reach the Super Bowl for the first time in the post-Tom Brady era.

As Gonzalez explained Tuesday, he returned to the Patriots’ offseason activities this week because “I got obligations.” Those same obligations will be present in training camp, a checkpoint Gonzalez hopes he’ll reach with a new extension in hand.

“I hope,” Gonzalez said when asked if he feels like progress is being made toward getting a deal done. “That’s up to my agents and the team. I hope we get something done.”

Judging by Gonzalez’s tone Tuesday, he’s taking a hands-off approach, focusing on football and hoping for the best. We’ll see if he’s rewarded before the 2026 season begins, or if another strong season is necessary for him to secure his first pay day.

Nick Sirianni is ready to close the book on A.J. Brown.

The Philadelphia Eagles head coach was asked on Tuesday about his former receiver who was traded to the New England Patriots last week, and Sirianni tried his best to highlight the positives and look to the future.

“I would say that it was a lot of good years,” Sirianni said when asked about Brown’s time in Philadelphia. “Done a lot of good things with A.J. here. Two times in the Super Bowl. I think he was All-Pro multiple times. Pro Bowl multiple times. I would say it was a good run.”

Sirianni said he and Eagles general manager Howie Roseman were in lockstep on moving Brown, which netted the Eagles two draft picks, including a first-rounder in 2028.

“Howie and I discuss everything as you know,” Sirianni said. “… So many things that (Brown) did that (were) good for our football team and always will wish him the best of luck.

“This is a team game. … In every decision that I make and the decisions that Howie makes, we talk to each other about it.”