Giants’ Draft Set To Bring Atypical Transitions, Big-Picture Questions
The Giants entered the draft with a revamped decision-making structure, catering to a proven head coach at the expense of a struggling general manager. While it is worth wondering if this will be the only draft where John Harbaugh coexists with Joe Schoen, the Giants were the first team to come out of Round 1 with two top-10 picks since 2023 and only the fifth to make two such selections in a draft over the past 26 years.
With Harbaugh reporting directly to ownership -- a significant change for the Giants franchise -- and new front office hire Dawn Aponte handed some of Schoen's duties, the embattled GM was believed to be reduced to a head-of-scouting-type role. That adds intrigue to this particular Giants draft, with the GM still having input while the new HC reshapes his roster.
Disparate Giants strategies in the short and long term also prove interesting about these choices. Linked to a number of paths with the Nos. 5 and 10 picks, the Giants ended up with Arvell Reese and Francis Mauigoa. Reese was expected to be drafted earlier, while Mauigoa probably would have been selected sooner had a back injury not caused pre-draft uncertainty. Through that lens, the Giants may have come away with two franchise cornerstones at premium positions.
But examining the downside of two top-10 picks only requires a look back to 2022, when Schoen's first draft delivered unreliable edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux and bust-in-progress Evan Neal at Nos. 5 and 7. Perhaps the most interesting wrinkle of this particular Giants draft comes from the organization's immediate plans for the first-rounders.
Cowboys Prefer To Keep Tyler Smith At LG; LT Competition Expected
The Cowboys are returning all five of their starting offensive lineman from the 2025 season, but left tackle Tyler Guyton is not assured to keep his job after a disappointing start to his career.
Guyton, 24, played right tackle at Oklahoma before he was drafted by the Cowboys in the first round (No. 29 overall) of the 2024 draft. He was asked to flip to the left side in Dallas, a switch that clearly did not take right away. He allowed six sacks as a rookie with an overall grade of just 50.4, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), while also committing 18 penalties. There were some improvements in 2025, though he only started 10 games due to a season-ending ankle injury. Guyton surrendered two sacks, improved his grade to 57.5, and reduced his penalty count to seven. Still, that is not the level of play expected for a first-round pick or accepted for the protector of the blind side of the league’s most expensive quarterback.
As a result, the Cowboys are poised to hold a competition for the starting left tackle job this summer, according to The Athletic’s Jon Machota. 2024 seventh-round pick Nathan Thomas and Drew Shelton, a fourth-rounder in this year’s draft, will also vie for the job.
Thomas, 24, took over for Guyton after he landed on injured reserve, but was benched after allowing 23 pressures and three sacks with a 93.5 pass blocking efficiency, per PFF. 2022 first-rounder Tyler Smith moved over from left guard to close out the season and allowed just five pressures and one sacks across three games.
Dallas intends to keep Smith at guard, where he has earned three straight Pro Bowl nods after an uneven rookie year at left tackle, his college position. This would maintain a solid interior trio of Smith, center Cooper Beebe, and right guard Tyler Booker (with Terence Steele set to return at right tackle).
Sh
elton, 22, started at left tackle for the Nittany Lions for most of the last four years with some split duties on the right side in 2023. His grades steadily improved throughout his college career, up to 70.6 as a senior in 2025, when he allowed just one sack and zero quarterback hits. He is a solid athlete, but his 33.4-inch arms are below NFL standards for the position. Pre-draft evaluations pegged him for a swing tackle role early in his career with potential to grow into a starter, but he may have a shot at the job right away.
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer praised Shelton’s “smooth footwork” and athleticism at the team’s rookie minicamp and confirmed that he would be competing with Guyton and Thomas this summer.
“We just like the traits, and we bet on a guy that’s played, I think, 34 starts,” Schottenheimer said (via Machota). “We think we can get him in here to compete with some of the guys we got.”
A relatively unheralded fourth-round pick seems like a long shot to start at left tackle as a rookie, but the team’s other options do not inspire much confidence. And if none of the three can emerge as a starting-caliber player, Dallas could still pivot back to Smith and put a different player at left guard, though again, that is a situation they would prefer to avoid.
Browns T Dawand Jones Agrees To Take Pay Cut
Coming into the final year of his rookie contract, Browns offensive tackle Dawand Jones has agreed to a pay cut in a restructured deal proposed by the team. Jones was originally due to receive $3.67MM in 2026, though none of it was guaranteed. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, he is now set to play for $1.5MM this year with $1.15MM guaranteed. The Browns get some cap relief, and Jones gets some guaranteed money.
As a rookie fourth-round pick in 2023, Jones was forced into a starting role very early when starting right tackle Jack Conklin went down with a season-ending injury in Week 1. As he grew more comfortable in the role, Jones showed some inspired play as a rookie starter, giving hope that Cleveland had found a diamond in the Day 3 rough, but his season ended after 13 weeks when he, too, suffered an injury that would hold him out for the remainder of the year.
Jones opened up his sophomore campaign as the starting right tackle but didn’t hold the position down nearly as well as he had in Year 1. He also fell short of full season for the second time in two years, undergoing season-ending surgery to repair a fractured ankle from the team’s Week 11 contest that year. He also underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his knee for an issue he had reportedly been playing through in 2024. Regardless, Jones opened up the 2025 season as the Browns starting left tackle, but for the third year in a row, his season ended with surgery, this time to address a knee injury suffered just three weeks into the season.
The Browns made a similar cost-cutting move with running back Jerome Ford in 2025. Ford had carried a big role in prior seasons, but the use of high draft picks on rookie rushers Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson meant that Ford’s hold on a continued significant role was in jeopardy; similarly this year, the team used a first- and third-round pick on Jones’ position. Getting Ford onto a restructured deal allowed the team to reduce his cap impact while giving him some guaranteed money that he otherwise might have missed out on if cut.
ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi pointed out that Cleveland has played this card before with multiple fourth-year players who received Proven Performance Escalators, bonuses awarded to non-first-round picks to compensate them for contributions beyond the expectations assumed based on their draft status. He also notes that wide receiver Cedric Tillman and defensive end Isaiah McGuire classified for Level One PPE and will be due $3.6MM non-guaranteed salaries in 2026, as well. With the Browns utilizing first- and second-round picks on Tillman’s position, he could be the next target for such a restructured deal.
Patrick Mahomes Expected To Participate In Chiefs’ OTAs
The Chiefs will begin their organized team activities later this month. Patrick Mahomes has progressed in his injury recovery to the point he is expected to take part.
“He is in a good position to be able to do some things,” head coach Andy Reid said (via ESPN’s Nate Taylor). “Phase 2 [of the offseason program], remember, there’s no contact and there’s no offense versus defense. It’s Phase 3 that you get into that… He’s in a position where he can do everything, I think.”
Mahomes suffered ACL and MCL tears late in the 2025 season, setting him up for a lengthy rehab process and leading to questions about his Week 1 availability for next year. Even limited participation in spring practices would obviously be an encouraging sign, though. Kansas City’s OTAs will take place from May 26-28 along with June 1-3.
That will be followed by mandatory minicamp; contact practices will not commence until training camp in July. By that point, the Chiefs will no doubt have a clearer picture of Mahomes’ rehab status. The team will presumably proceed with caution over the coming weeks, with trade acquisition Justin Fields a candidate to handle first-team reps. Kansas City also has Chris Oladokun and seventh-round rookie Garrett Nussmeier on the QB depth chart.
Mahomes’ deal was once again restructured this offseason, and he remains under contract through 2031. The three-time Super Bowl MVP will play a key role in the Chiefs’ efforts to return to the playoffs in 2026 after Kansas City’s underwhelming showing this past campaign. A clean bill of health will of course be critical to the team’s short- and long-term outlook. As Kansas City’s offseason programs unfold, the involvement of Mahomes will remain a story to follow closely.
Browns To Hire Trent Baalke
Trent Baalke was out of the NFL during the 2025 season, but he has lined up his next gig. The veteran executive is being hired by the Browns, Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reports.
Zenitz notes Baalke will be joining Cleveland in a “consultant-like capacity.” This is not the first time the Browns have enlisted a former general manager to join their front office in 2026. Tom Telesco assisted the team during last week’s draft, as noted by Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.
It remains to be seen if Telesco will stay in place now that the draft is finished. In any case, Baalke will be among the executives joining new teams late in the offseason. The former 49ers and Jaguars GM saw his Jacksonville tenure end under bizarre circumstances during last year’s hiring cycle. Baalke appeared at first to be safe even with head coach Doug Pederson being dismissed, but things changed in short order.
Liam Coen was originally in position to remain the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator, with his second Jaguars HC interview being canceled. Baalke’s presence was a major factor in his hesitancy to join Jacksonville, with Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn sharing the same sentiment. In the end, though, Coen did wind up being hired by the Jags on a lucrative deal which also essentially provided him with the opportunity to pick the team’s new general manager.
After Baalke was officially fired, there was an understandable lack of interest on the part of other teams. The longtime staffer did not end his 49ers tenure on the best of terms, and Jacksonville went 25-43 on his watch. Baalke, 62, had been in place with the Jags since 2020 when his time there came to an end. Coen and new GM James Gladstone helped lead Jacksonville to a division title in 2025.
Second opportunities to serve as a general manager are rare in the NFL, and a third should not be expected in Baalke’s case. Still, he will offer the Browns with a highly experienced voice in their front office. Andrew Berry has been in place since 2020, and he survived the firing of head coach Kevin Stefanski. Cleveland has gone 45-56 under Berry, who will hope to deliver a high-impact rookie class for the second year in a row in 2026. His efforts on that front will include input from Baalke.
Texans, C.J. Stroud Yet To Conduct Extension Talks?
Earlier this offseason, signs pointed to hesitancy on the part of the Texans regarding a C.J. Stroud extension being worked out in 2026. It appears a deal is still not imminent in this case.
ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime reports there have yet to be “serious extension talks” at this point. Houston made the obvious decision of picking up Stroud’s fifth-year option this spring, doing the same for edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. The latter recently inked a massive second contract, one carrying a non-QB record average annual value of $50MM.
The Texans’ attention could now turn to Stroud if their goal is to work out a long-term contract before the latest inevitable jump in the quarterback market. On the other hand, the former No. 2 pick’s statistical regression over the past two years compared to his stellar rookie campaign led to some executives Bien-Aime spoke with recommending a patient approach from Houston. As a result of the option decision, Stroud will be under team control through at least 2027.
The franchise tag looms as another means of keeping Stroud in the fold for the short term, although using it would involve considerable up front cap commitments. A long-term extension, by contrast, would presumably carry a much larger AAV but allow Houston to spread out the cap charges over an extended period. In any case, finding common ground on the value of a potential second contract will be a central task for team and player.
10 quarterbacks are currently attached to deals averaging between $51MM and $60MM per season. Players from the 2023 draft are eligible to join that list, although the No. 1 pick in Stroud’s class (Bryce Young) is far from certain to land a big-money commitment from the Panthers. Anthony Richardson, taken fourth overall, remains a trade candidate as the Colts prepare to move forward with Daniel Jones as their QB1.
Stroud has outperformed both Young and Richardson early in their respective NFL careers. The Texans have reached the divisional round during each of the past three years. This past postseason in particular, however, highlighted concerns related to turnovers in Stroud’s case. The 24-year-old also missed three games in 2025 due to a concussion. Those factors, along with an inability to replicate the efficiency of his rookie season, could lead general manager Nick Caserio and Co. to wait before authorizing an extension.
The Texans have a young core anchored by their elite defense, and expectations will remain high for the team moving forward. Another renovation project along the offensive line, coupled with the acquisition of David Montgomery as a new lead running back, should help Stroud’s performances in 2026. If he is to enter next season with a new deal in hand, though, there appears to be plenty of work still to be done on the negotiating front.
TE David Njoku Arranges Chargers Visit
David Njoku‘s free agent spell has lasted well into the offseason. With the draft now complete, though, he is among the veterans positioned to find a new home shortly.
Njoku has arranged a visit with the Chargers, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. He adds it will take place on Monday. Njoku is among the most accomplished tight ends still on the market as teams around the league begin their spring practice programs.
A first-round pick of the Browns in 2017, Njoku was held in high regard by the team throughout his Cleveland tenure. Expectations did not always match production in his case, but he surpassed 500 yards on four occasions. Njoku was a focal point on offense for much of his Browns stint, receiving 123 targets in 2023. The play of Harold Fannin Jr. as a rookie this past season set him up to operate as the Browns’ top tight end for years to come, however.
That made it little surprise when Cleveland elected not to retain Njoku in free agency. The 29-year-old is a veteran of 118 games, and he will offer a pass-catching presence to his next team. Njoku lined up a visit with the Ravens in March, but that did not result in a Baltimore deal. Other potential suitors waited until the draft took place to consider circling back to this situation.
The Chargers have already made a number of decisions at the tight end spot this offseason. Will Dissly and Tucker Fisk are unsigned at this point, while Tyler Conklin departed in free agency. Charlie Kolar was added on the open market, and the former Raven could be in store for an uptick in offensive usage on his new team. The Bolts did not add a tight end during the draft, leaving potential room for a late-spring signing.
The Chargers remain near the top of the league in terms of cap space with over $45MM available. A deal in Njoku’s case will no doubt consist of a short-term agreement and one worth less than the $13.69MM AAV of his second Browns contract. Finances will certainly not be an issue if the Chargers eye a deal following his visit.
Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby’s Gambling Problem Puts Future In Jeopardy
MAY 2: According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Pete Thamel, Sorsby has retained prestigious sports lawyer Jeffrey Kessler in an effort to keep his eligibility to play for Texas Tech this year. Kessler’s work spans the gamut of sports headlines. From the landmark antitrust cases that established the concept of free agency in the NFL to the NCAA v. Alston Supreme Court case that led to the ability for college athletes to be compensated through NIL to the USWNT’s successful efforts for equal pay to successful outcomes in both the “Bountygate” and “Deflategate” controversies, Kessler has been known to blaze trails as a litigator.
Schefter initially offered that, should Kessler not be successful in preserving Sorsby’s eligibility, the former Bearcats quarterback would have a deadline of June 30 to declare for the supplemental draft. He followed this up with a clarification that Sorsby must apply to be approved for the supplemental draft based on his application and the underlying circumstances surrounding his application. He also relayed that the NFL does not have a deadline set for the supplemental draft.
APRIL 29: The NFL Draft has come and gone, and we ended up with two Day 1 quarterbacks when it was all said and done. When we were taking a look at potential first-round passers early on, former Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby‘s name was mentioned as a name to watch. Now at Texas Tech via transfer portal, Sorsby’s future could be in jeopardy due to a gambling problem that has landed him in an addiction program, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Sorsby’s entry in a treatment program came following news that the two-time transfer had made “thousands of online bets on a variety of sports via a gambling app,” putting his eligibility to play at his new school in danger. The NCAA forbids student athletes from betting on college and professional spots and are reportedly investigating Sorsby’s gambling activity. Per Thamel’s sources, that activity includes bets on a team for which Sorsby played at the time they were placed.
Sorsby began his collegiate career at Indiana, and in 2022, he was a true freshman for the Hoosiers in the process of redshirting. Thamel reports that Sorsby bet on the Hoosiers to win individual games that season, but none of those bets were placed on the singular game in which he made a brief appearance that year. Those with knowledge of the situation note that Sorsby has not been tied to any potential attempts to influence outcomes to profit off bets and that his gambling habits were not ever put on the radar of law enforcement.
As a Hoosier, Sorsby showed promise but left room for improvement with his overall accuracy. After transferring to Cincinnati, he saw big improvement in a full-time starting role and had his biggest year for the Bearcats last year as a redshirt junior, throwing for 2,800 yards, 27 touchdowns, and only five interceptions. When he entered the transfer portal a second time, he immediately became one of the hottest names on the market. Following visits to LSU and Texas Tech, he committed to the Red Raiders on a reported NIL deal worth more than $5MM.
Texas Tech could be out of luck, though, as the NCAA’s strict policy against gambling could mean his time as QB1 in Lubbock is over before it ever began. With the onset of NIL and online sports betting in recent years, the NCAA amended its guidelines in 2023. The new guidelines dictate that wagers over $800 could lead to the loss of up to 30 percent of a season of eligibility. Cumulative bets greatly exceeding $800 could lead to permanent ineligibility. A college athlete betting on another school in their own sport could lead to 50 percent of a season suspension, while wagering “on their own games or on other sports at their own schools” could result in “permanent loss of collegiate eligibility in all sports.”
According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, every college football staffer he asked seemed to believe that the NCAA would revoke Sorsby’s eligibility. In order to continue his career in Lubbock, Sorsby would then have to “file a lawsuit and seek an injunction” to play. If ruled ineligible, Breer offered up that Sorsby could then head for the NFL by way of the supplemental NFL Draft. The supplemental draft is usually reserved for players who bypass the April draft in favor of extra years of eligibility they believe will be granted before the NCAA ultimately denies them. The early-summer event hasn’t taken place in either of the past two years due to no players declaring for it.
Breer and Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports laid out opposing viewpoints on the situation for Sorsby, who would have to be approved by the NFL for the supplemental draft. Breer mentioned the cases of former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who was banned from the university’s athletic program after withdrawing following allegations of making thousands of dollars for autographs, and former Baylor wide receiver Josh Gordon who had been suspended by the team for his marijuana use. Both players were accepted into the supplemental draft and selected.
Breer believes that, based on these past cases and based on the league’s recent partnerships with gambling companies potentially altering their disposition, Sorsby may be able to move past the NCAA situation by opting for the NFL. Jones, though, is under the impression that, if the NCAA rules Sorsby ineligible by June and he’s able to apply for the supplemental draft, the NFL would not realistically approve him to enter, citing the league’s history of hard judgment of gambling players. He pointed out that, currently, players who bet on their own teams, as Sorsby has previously done, face a two-year ban as punishment.
Even if the league does allow Sorsby to enter the supplemental draft, he would need to be selected by an NFL team. Breer offered up that any of the several teams that punted on the quarterback position in the draft this year with the intention of investing in next year’s class might be willing to throw a second- or third-round pick in for Sorsby, but a source Jones has in the league reportedly called the 22-year-old “untouchable” at this point in time.
Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire and the school both expressed support for Sorsby and his decision to seek professional help through the addiction program in statements released to the media. At the time, their focus is on Sorsby “as a person” while he prioritizes his health, and any other concerns will have to wait for the future, after he receives the help he needs.
Steelers Rumors: Metcalf, Jones, Draft
As the Steelers fought down the final stretch of the season last year in a race for the AFC North, an altercation from the team’s trip to Detroit forced them to finish the regular season without leading wide receiver D.K. Metcalf. In the first half a game against the Lions, Metcalf was caught on video grabbing then releasing the shirt of a fan in the stands in an aggressive manner. According to Christian Romo of the Detroit Free Press, Metcalf will avoid any charges as a result of the incident.
No flags were thrown when the incident occurred, and the Steelers never took action to discipline Metcalf, but the veteran receiver lost an appeal of his two-game suspension. He reportedly had a history with the fan, having reported them to security the year before, when he had visited as a Seahawk. Per Romo, the Detroit prosecutor’s office relayed that “police submitted a warrant request…but didn’t confirm who the warrant was for,” adding that “no charges were filed at the onset of the investigation,” and none will be levied against Metcalf following the conclusion of the investigation.
Here are a couple other rumors coming out of the Steel City:
- The Steelers declined the fifth-year option for offensive tackle Broderick Jones at the turn of the month, and while it seemed like a likely outcome based on his struggles over the first three years of his career, ESPN’s Brooke Pryor suggested that the outcome may have been different had Jones not gotten injured at the end of the 2025 season. Jones had to undergo neck surgery after missing the final six games of the regular season, and Pryor claims Pittsburgh “would’ve been much more likely” to pick up Jones’ option had the neck injury not complicated the team’s decision.
- During the 2026 NFL Draft, the broadcast showed a moment of levity as the Steelers reportedly called USC wide receiver prospect Makai Lemon before they were on the clock just for the Eagles to trade up one spot past them and draft the receiver right in front of them. According to Jake Rosenberg, a former Eagles front office executive, Pittsburgh’s actions may have violated a rule that restricts teams from talking to prospects or their representatives while not “on the clock” if it interferes “with the discussions between a player and the club that is ‘on the clock.'” Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk reached out to the league about the rule and received a response that the NFL “reviews all aspects of the Draft the week after its conclusion.” It seemed, though, as if the incident were an innocent mistake, that is until Mike Sando of The Athletic reported yesterday that some team executives have “suggested this is not the first time Pittsburgh has called a prospect early.” There appears to be suspicion the practice could be a strategy for learning who a team is drafting when the Steelers are told they must hang up in order for the team “on the clock” to be able to reach the prospect. It will be interesting to see if the league’s review of events concludes that the Steelers operated outside the rules.
Seahawks Announce Seven UDFA Signings
After coming away from Super Bowl LX with a victory, the Seahawks were set to go into the 2026 NFL Draft with a league-low four draft picks. Ultimately, with some crafty movement back in key places, the team left the draft with eight new rookie draft picks. Seattle announced yesterday that their full rookie class had reached 15 players with the signing of these seven undrafted free agents:
- Michael Briscoe, WR (Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo)
- Devean Deal, OLB (TCU)
- Aidan Hubbard, OLB (Northwestern)
- Marvin Jones Jr., OLB (Oklahoma)
- Lance Mason, TE (Wisconsin)
- Uso Seumalo, NT (Kansas State)
- Levi Wentz, WR (Kansas)
The Seahawks were certainly very focused with what they were looking to add in the hours after the draft. One area of focus was the edge group, from which the Seahawks saw Boye Mafe depart in free agency and to which the team failed to address in the draft or free agency. Hubbard was expected to hear his name sometime late on Day 3 after accumulating 19.5 sacks over his last three years in Evanston. Short arms and a left knee injury that hampered him throughout the pre-draft process may have kept him from coming off the board in April.
Jones is a former five-star recruit out of South Florida and will complete the rest of his cross-country trip after stops at Georgia, Florida State, and OU. His father was a top five pick for the Seminoles in 1993, and the linebacker enjoyed an 11-year career for the Jets. Though, Jones has the pedigree of an NFL veteran, along with the untapped potential that his body type and natural ability displayed to earn him a five-star rating in high school, he has yet to put it all together with consistency and production.
The other group the Seahawks focused on was the pass catchers, the most promising of which might be Mason, who transferred to Madison hoping play in the FBS would provide him a runway to the NFL after three years at Missouri State. He isn’t the most imposing athlete on the field, but Mason tends to overdeliver on expectations and can impact the game as a pass catcher, blocker, and special teamer.