Tag: NFL

The Jaguars sent their first-round selection to the Cleveland Browns during the 2025 draft in order to trade up and select Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, an aggressive swing taken with a transformative future in mind. Hunter fell short of that mark as a rookie before his season ended prematurely due to injury, but with the former No. 2 pick on the recovery road — he’ll be limited in offseason activities, per Gladstone — the Jaguars don’t have any regrets.

They’re comfortable with feeling out the draft from the sideline. Their time spent with Rams GM Les Snead and coach Sean McVay has prepared them well.

“No, we do scenarios,” Gladstone said when asked if the Jaguars still produce mock drafts without a first-round pick. “We walk through, hey, if this pot of players is there, which one do we feel most comfortable targeting knowing that at our next pick point or our next few pick points, these are the players that we feel like may be in scope. How do we feel about the combination of these different players together, and so on and so forth.

“We’re working through that a little bit. Obviously on draft night, there’s no telling. All it takes is one team to take a player that you want and you’re moving onto the next that you were eyeing up. And that may alter what you do at the pick point behind it and the pick point behind that, so we’re trying to chop through that as best we can.”

Such an approach can be perceived as passive, especially after the Jaguars largely stood pat during free agency. But there’s value in expressing belief in an existing roster and retaining the core contributors, and it seems to be the foundation of Jacksonville’s approach as the club ventures into its second season under the direction of Gladstone and Coen.

As the Jaguars see it, they like what they have. They’re excited to add when their time arrives during the draft. Unlike last season, a big swing isn’t necessary to build on what was a remarkable turnaround in 2025.

Most importantly, they can’t wait to get back to work.

“You’re chomping at the bit, especially after going to the owner’s meetings and talking some smack and having some fun, but also it just feels a little bit closer right?” Coen said. “Getting the guys back in the building. The entire message is we’re attacking this offseason. We’re attacking the details, we’re attacking the relationships, we’re attacking our communication. Because there’s new, there’s change. Different communications and relationships that need to be blended and matched. Pouring into each other from a detail standpoint, I think that’s going to be key and critical, and getting better with less time.

“We were fortunate last year as a first-year staff to have an extra week. We maximize the entire offseason with less time as a coaching staff and with the players being extremely dialed into everything that we’re trying to improve on. Those areas I talked of stink that we need to work on, and then continuing to focus on the fundamentals and techniques that we always want to coach, but we’re attacking everything that we’re doing this offseason.”

Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson is coming off a career year. He’s looking to up the ante in 2026.

“Last year was a cool year, but this year I want to be even better in all aspects,” Robinson said, via the team’s official website.

Robinson rushed for a career-high 1,478 yards on 287 carries with seven touchdowns and added 820 receiving yards and four more scores. His 2,298 scrimmage yards ranked No. 1 in the NFL in 2025 and were the 12th-most in a single season in NFL history. The output led to Robinson’s second Pro Bowl nod and inaugural first-team All-Pro selection. The dynamic back also finished fourth in Offensive Player of the Year voting.

Even with the weekly highlights, which included a 93-yard touchdown blast, Robinson, who earned 5.1 yards per carry, believes there is still meat on the bone.

“Me being here for now, going on my fourth year, and me now being a veteran leader to these guys, it’s pretty cool. I am pretty excited, even just with how I feel,” Robinson said. “They always say, like, (these are) your prime years, but I really feel like this is the best I have felt my whole time being here.”

Robinson credited his fresh feeling to training with San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey. Given the two dual-threat backs’ similar skill set and comparable workloads, it makes sense that Robinson would try to learn how the 29-year-old CMC has kept in top gear.

“That’s a cool deal, man,” Robinson said of his offseason work in California with McCaffrey. “We put in work, but we really do take care of our bodies. His regimen has been really good for me, especially last year and what I did throughout the season. It was a blessing that I stayed healthy throughout the whole season, but even when the season was over I felt great to play even more.”

Going on his third coach in four seasons, Robinson’s skill set matches well with the offense Kevin Stefanski prefers to run. With Brian Robinson signed as a backup this offseason, Bijan is the clear three-down back in Atlanta. It’s a good thing he feels as healthy as ever, because entering Year 4, Robinson projects to get a massive workload in the new system.

New York Giants offensive coordinator Matt Nagy has already had the Patrick Mahomes conversation with Jaxson Dart.

Given Nagy’s experience in Kansas City, the Mahomes discussion was always going to happen. The new Big Blue OC’s message to his young QB: Be yourself.

“He’s Jaxson Dart. He’s not Patrick Mahomes.” Nagy said earlier this week, as the Giants opened up voluntary workouts, via the NY Post.

No one is comparing Dart to Mahomes, but given Nagy’s previous employer, the question was an obvious one.

Nagy was in Kansas City for Mahomes’ first season in 2017, when the quarterback started just one game as a rookie. Nagy then left to coach the Chicago Bears for four seasons before returning to a full-formed Mahomes in 2022. Nagy rejoined KC as a senior assistant and QB coach and spent the past three seasons as Andy Reid’s OC.

Knowing how Mahomes trains and approaches the game is beneficial for the Giants and Dart, but it’s not a game plan.

“We can use that for more, like, routines and maybe how we did things,” Nagy said. “First of all, I know how much respect that Jaxson has for Patrick. We’ve talked a little bit about the process and what he’s been through, but we’ve also made it clear, you have to be Jaxson Dart. He’s going to do that.”

Nagy has experience with a young QB who has blossomed into a star, and, during his time in Chicago, those who never overcame the pitfalls — Mitchell Trubisky, Justin Fields.

Nagy noted that while the Chiefs weren’t in the market for a QB in 2025, they still did their due diligence on Dart, and he came away with the Ole Miss product’s accuracy and scrambling ability.

“Back then, a year ago or two years ago, I didn’t know how tough he was and how good of a runner he was,” Nagy said. “He was a really good, sneaky good runner, tough, physical, played the quarterback position well. You could see he was a competitor.”

Balancing Dart’s running ability with keeping him healthy should be top-of-mind for Nagy and the Giants, just as it was keeping Mahomes upright in K.C.

Atlanta shuffled its O-line in the wake of McGary’s season-ending injury last August with a starting left-handed QB, Michael Penix Jr., at the helm. That issue remains as Tua Tagovailoa enters the fold in 2026, and the Falcons moved swiftly by signing former Jaguars and Chiefs tackle Jawaan Taylor to a one-year deal with a base value of $5 million on Wednesday, ESPN reported.

A 2019 first-round pick out of Washington, McGary arrived as the final piece of Atlanta’s trio of key linemen, teaming with longtime left tackle Jake Matthews to provide the Falcons with bookend tackles, with veteran center Alex Mack manning the middle. McGary became a stalwart along Atlanta’s front five, making 92 starts in 93 games from 2019-2024 and shoring up the right side despite frequent change at quarterback.

McGary’s reputation as a dependable tackle took a hard turn in 2025 when he suffered a lower left leg injury during the late stages of training camp, requiring a cart to exit the field. For the first time in his career, McGary did not appear in double-digit games in a season, missing the entire campaign due to the injury, an especially unfortunate outcome given he’d recently signed a contract extension through 2027.

Those would ultimately be McGary’s final snaps as a pro. He walks away with seven seasons spent protecting a variety of quarterbacks, including Ryan, Kirk Cousins and Penix on his resume, which he can be proud as he strolls into retirement.

Fortunately, Baltimore still has Jackson at the center of its plans. The same is true of Hamilton, although the Ravens would be wise to build a stronger defensive unit in 2026 in order to avoid so being exceptionally dependent on Hamilton to bail them out of bad situations as they did too often in 2025.

Jackson has his own demons to exorcise. Despite winning two NFL MVP Awards and narrowly missing out on a third in 2024, the quarterback is still without the most coveted prize of all and has yet to lead the Ravens to a Super Bowl appearance, serving as the face of a club that is also uncomfortably occupied by Buffalo star QB Josh Allen.

With new head coach Jesse Minter in charge and the fresh air of a reset filling the building, Jackson’s teammates believe their quarterback, who was present for the start of voluntary workouts on Tuesday, is more prepared than ever to finally deliver on his potential.

“He’s ready. He’s always ready, probably more so this year,” receiver Zay Flowers said on Wednesday, per The Athletic. “We want to finish. We want to get a ring.”

A former Ravens lieutenant, current Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald, proved it’s possible to take over a new team and lead them to the NFL’s mountaintop in 2025. Baltimore is hoping the same is true for Minter, another product of the Harbaugh coaching tree with a bright future ahead of him.

The expectation has already been set. Now, it’s time to follow through.

If newly signed quarterback Kirk Cousins starts the season under center for the Las Vegas Raiders over presumptive No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, that would be a clear win for star tight end Brock Bowers.

Dating back to his days in Washington, Cousins has always excelled in multi-tight end sets and has found production from the position at each stop. In D.C., it was Jordan Reed and Vernon Davis. In Minnesota, Kyle Rudolph, T.J. Hockenson and Irv Smith thrived. Last year, when he took over late in Atlanta, it helped unlock the best of Kyle Pitts.

Bowers’ talent surpasses them all.

“Yeah, I think he may be the best tight end in football,” Cousins said of Bowers in an interview with the team website’s Levi Edwards. “Hopefully, we can make that a reality this fall. Gotta keep him healthy, just like some of the other great players on this team. But he gives us an ability to use a lot of different personnel groupings. I think that can allow us to be very creative with how we attack defenses.

“I’ve always really enjoyed playing with talented tight ends because of the curveball that it throws at defenses. I expect Brock to be as good of a curveball as I’ve ever played with. Can’t wait to see how we can use him and to get on the grass with him. Even routes on air, I think it’s going to be exciting to see a guy like that go to work.”

The little things fell through the cracks last season in Arizona, from missed blocks to missed tackles to the infamous Emari Demercado fumble at the goal line in a winnable game. Those issues, coupled with injuries piling up, led to a 3-14 season and a change from Jonathan Gannon to LaFleur.

From the outset, the new coach is emphasizing the details, even down to how the club breaks the huddle.

“I think the whole point is that everything is a big deal,” center Hjalte Froholdt said. “How about we just figure out how we get in the freaking huddle and we are all on the same page, because if the first group isn’t on the same page, well then the rest of the people can’t follow along. I think that’s a big deal.”

Stressing the details is not a new strategy, and it is a Day 1 message from all coaches, particularly those running an operation for the first time. But it remains a staple of good clubs. Winning in the NFL often comes down to which team doesn’t beat itself. The Cards too often failed in that department under the previous regime. LaFleur is out to ensure it doesn’t happen under his watch.

“The whole goal is to come here to win the Super Bowl,” Froholdt said. “But in order to get there, we’ve got to set the tone first and what the little things are.”

The Dallas Cowboys, sporting two first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, have the potential to shape the entire first night.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said from the new league meetings last week that he wouldn’t shy away from making a draft-day trade.

“I’ve looked at that mirror a lot, about how to go up and down and trade and do those kinds of things,” Jones said via the team’s official website. “Absolutely. We’ll entertain improving or an in-draft read on what gives us a better chance to get another player, and still have our pick and the red meat of top players. Now that has an on-the-board aspect to it, but it’s very doable.”

With the Nos. 12 and 20 selections, and still boasting several needs, the Cowboys could go any direction. Jones could stand pat and get two starting-caliber players. He could package his picks and move up to get a top-tier difference maker in what is viewed as a shallow first round. Or, without a second-rounder, he could trade down to amass more picks — this year or next — to continue to plug multiple holes.

“You should — when you’ve got the kind of assets or the kind of ammunition we’ve got in this draft, you should look at all machinations,” he said. “It’s one thing to sit here right now, it’s another thing to sit and look at it three hours into the draft and see what you got there. So all of that is a possibility. This is an obvious statement, but nothing — no amount of skill, no amount of knowledge — can beat having a lot of draft capital, having a lot of picks. That’ll win most of the time.”

How the Cowboys grade out the first round could heavily influence how they use their picks. Back in 2017, in another draft viewed as falling off talent-wise in the first round, the Cowboys selected Taco Charlton at No. 28, a player they admitted they had a second-round grade on at the time. Charlton lasted just two seasons in Dallas and was out of the league after 60 games played. Jones will want to avoid another Taco situation.

If the Cowboys don’t see a ton of options they like at No. 20, trading out of that spot could become a touchstone point of the draft on April 23.

The focus in New York on Dexter Lawrence‘s trade request took some attention off another former first-round pick who could be on the block: Kayvon Thibodeaux.

The No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft enters the fifth and final year of his contract. With the Giants already paying Brian Burns big money and having drafted Abdul Carter last year, the assumption is that Thibodeaux isn’t long for New York. A trade would curtail the Giants’ pass rush but could bring some compensation for a player not in the long-term plans.

Harbaugh was asked about Thibodeaux at the opening of the Giants’ voluntary workouts on Tuesday.

“I think he’s a great player. I’m excited about him,” Harbaugh responded. “I was fired up to see him today. He looks great, he’s in great shape. I’m thinking about him on the field, getting him plugged into our defense and getting him rolling.”

The question came from Dan Duggan, long-time Giants beat reporter currently working for The Athletic, who took a playful ribbing from Harbaugh.

“You want to talk about is he a trade possibility? Everybody’s tradeable, everybody. Even you’re tradeable, Dan. If we can get something for you, we’d trade you in a heartbeat,” Harbaugh quipped to laughter from the media present.

The coach insisted his focus is on getting Thibodeaux ready to play, and let the front office handle the other aspects.

“It’s not really what you focus on,” he said of the trade chatter. “You focus on the fact that we’re having a day, we’re talking ball, we’re getting our team coming together as a team. The business part of it is the business part. That kind of swirls around us. We try to lock in on the football.”

The reality for the Giants is that the longer they hang onto Thibodeaux, the less they’ll get back in any trade return. Keeping him into the season would provide the Giants with a potent pass-rush rotation, but is that the best use of their assets long-term? The decision could come down to how quickly Harbaugh believes his team will take to legitimately compete for the division and conference titles.

Trading Thibodeaux would clear the $14.751 million guaranteed from the Giants’ books, money they could use through the season — or help them bridge the financial gap to keep Lawrence.

It was somewhat of a surprise that the Giants rebuffed calls for Thibodeaux last year, when his return might have been at its greatest. We’ll see if the organization changes course in the coming weeks. They could trade the pass rusher ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft. They could hold on until after the selection process to see if a club that struck out on the top edge players feels pressed to make a move this summer. The Giants could assess where they’re at approaching the fall trade deadline. Or they could let it ride, hope for a productive season from their first-rounder, and allow him to hit free agency in 2027 – a compensatory pick could come into play, but that would also mean the Giants wouldn’t be very active in the market next spring.

For now, Thibodeaux is a Giant. We’ll see how long that holds true.