Broncos To Extend Sean Payton
The Broncos have locked up their brain trust for the long haul. After signing general manager George Paton to a five-year extension last month, the team has agreed to a new deal with head coach Sean Payton. He will join Paton in landing a five-year extension, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. Paton and Payton are under contract through 2030.
More to come…
Raiders CB Jermod McCoy On Track For Training Camp
Jermod McCoy was arguably the No. 1 cornerback available a few weeks before the draft, but serious concerns over his knee led to a precipitous drop down the board. McCoy lasted until the first pick in the fourth round, where the Raiders took a flier at No. 101 overall.
The Raiders have taken it easy with McCoy during their offseason program, but it appears he will ramp up activities when training camp opens in July. McCoy is on schedule to be a full participant, according to Vincent Bonsignore of the California Post. There are not any “new issues” with his knee, per Bonsignore.
McCoy hasn’t played a down of football since 2024, when he was a second-team All-American at Tennessee. The 6-foot-1, 188-pounder deflected nine passes and came down with four interceptions in 13 games that year, but he was unable to build on it in 2025 after tearing his ACL. McCoy bounced back nicely in February at the Combine, where he showed off his athleticism with a 4.37-second 40-yard dash, a 38-inch vertical jump and a 10-foot, 7-inch broad jump.
While his Combine showing was encouraging, there was nonetheless plenty of leeriness toward McCoy going into the draft. The ACL injury had little to do with his stock plummeting in the first place. Rather, as NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero said before the draft, “the concern is about a bone plug that was used to repair a cartilage defect in his knee.” If McCoy eventually requires surgery to replace the bone plug, it would likely shelve him for at least a year. Worse, there is a good chance an unsuccessful procedure would end his career.
There was too much risk for any team to spend a high pick on McCoy, but he could emerge as a mid-round steal for the Raiders if his knee holds up. Also a former Oregon State corner, McCoy picked off six passes in two college seasons. Las Vegas, whose defense tied for 27th in INTs last year, would welcome that type of playmaking ability. If McCoy is indeed a full go when camp rolls around, he will presumably compete with Darien Porter for the Raiders’ No. 2 corner job opposite Eric Stokes. McCoy’s performance in camp and during the preseason will count among the Raiders’ most interesting storylines this summer.
Browns S Ronnie Hickman Signs Second-Round RFA Tender
In March, the Browns elected to keep restricted free agent safety Ronnie Hickman in the fold by applying a second-round RFA tender. That one-year deal has now been signed.
Hickman is officially on the books, the Browns announced on Thursday. The 24-year-old is due to collect $5.77MM in 2026 as a result. That represents a sharp raise in pay compared to Hickman’s first three years in the NFL, and it illustrates his importance to Cleveland’s defense in at least the near term.
During his first NFL season, the former undrafted free agent made an impact on defense while operating in a part-time role and also chipping in on special teams. Hickman saw an uptick in usage during the 2024 campaign, and he continued to impress. That helped pave the way for full-time starting gig in 2025.
Hickman appeared in every game for Cleveland last year, easily setting new career highs in many categories. The Ohio State product notched 103 tackles, a pair of interceptions and seven pass deflections. Expectations will be high for a strong follow-up season in 2026, and another productive campaign would of course help Hickman’s case for a long-term Browns commitment.
The deadline for players attached to an RFA tender to sign an offer sheet from an outside team has long passed. The Browns would have received a second-round pick as compensation for Hickman inking an unmatched offer sheet earlier this offseason, but they will prepare for at least one more season of him playing a key role in the secondary. Cleveland still has Grant Delpit in the fold and the team added Emmanuel McNeil-Warren in the second round of the draft, but Hickman figures to spend at least one more season as an important contributor at the safety spot.
Rams Rework Myles Garrett’s Contract
JUNE 11: As a result of the restructure, Garrett’s cap charge for 2026 will be $8.84MM (h/t NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero). That figure will experience a notable jump every year afterwards, topping $48MM in 2030. A dead money charge of $39.91MM will hit Los Angeles’ books after the contract voids in 2031.
JUNE 4: Myles Garrett became the rare edge rusher to change teams in a trade involving a first-round pick and not receive an immediate extension. As our most recent Trade Rumors Front Office piece detailed, Garrett is set to be first EDGE to be traded for a future first — excluding pick-for-pick trades — this century and not receive an extension.
We learned following the trade the Rams were not planning an immediate pay bump for the future Hall of Famer, but the sides have agreed to rework the contract the Browns designed last March. The Rams and Garrett agreed on an adjusted deal Thursday, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reports. While this can be framed as a five-year, $204MM agreement, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport notes it does not provide a raise or add any years to his Cleveland agreement.
[RELATED: Aaron Donald Mulling Unretirement]
Garrett signed a four-year, $160MM Browns extension nearly 15 months ago. Because two seasons were left on his first Browns extension — a five-year, $125MM pact agreed to in summer 2020 — his current deal runs through 2030.
Garrett set a single-season sack record in 2025, proving he remains probably the game’s premier edge rusher and one of the NFL’s best overall players, and his Browns re-up triggered a sea change on the EDGE market. T.J. Watt, Micah Parsons, Aidan Hutchinson and Will Anderson Jr. have leapfrogged Garrett’s $40MM-per-year deal in terms of AAV. Anderson moved the bar to $50MM per year in April.
But the Garrett trade was more about a team resetting and cashing in on its top asset to accelerate a rebuild, as opposed to most high-profile trades at this position. Of the seven other 21st-century instances of edge rushers being dealt for packages involving a first-rounder — for Parsons, Bradley Chubb, Frank Clark, Khalil Mack, Jared Allen, John Abraham, Kevin Carter — all involved immediate raises. So did three recent deals involving a second-rounder being swapped for an edge defender (Brian Burns, Montez Sweat, Dee Ford). The Rams having an opportunity to acquire Garrett without needing to authorize a top-market extension created even more value for the Browns in this trade, which sent Jared Verse and three draft choices (including a 2027 first-rounder) to Cleveland.
The rework will increase Garrett’s 2026 pay from $31.5MM to $37MM, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler adds. Like they did with Matthew Stafford in 2024, the Rams are moving money from future years into the current campaign. The Thursday adjustment also moves option bonuses to signing bonuses in some cases, per Fowler.
Garrett’s Browns deal already contained $41.7MM in 2027 guarantees. Today’s agreement, which includes $37MM guaranteed at signing, will reduce Garrett’s 2027 guarantees by $10.7MM but increase the 2028 guarantees by $7.2MM, Florio notes.
By 2027, Garrett will see a total of $62MM in injury guarantees vest, Florio adds. That makes this an appealing package for both team and player, as a two-time Defensive Player of the Year is still attached to the league’s fifth-most-lucrative EDGE AAV and said player will see a mammoth guarantee come his way next year.
This amounts to a three-year deal with two team options, with the Rams keeping Browns terms for the nonguaranteed 2029 and 2030 years; Garrett will be due an $8MM roster bonus in March 2029 and March 2030. The cap numbers will be important to observe on this rework, as the Rams have surely adjusted the contract to help in that regard.
The Rams entered Thursday with $18.29MM in cap space. Although Los Angeles moved off Verse, it has a host of extension-eligible young players. The 2023 draft brought Puka Nacua, Steve Avila, Kobie Turner, Byron Young and Warren McClendon to L.A. Nacua is believed to be the top priority, but the Rams have not executed any extensions for that draft class yet. The team did give Stafford a one-year, $55MM extension. More deals should be expected.
It will be interesting to see if Garrett pushes for a true raise soon. The Rams have shown in the past — via their bumps for Donald and Cooper Kupp in 2022 — they are willing to reward cornerstone players with multiple seasons remaining on contracts. Garrett’s camp forcing the issue in the future would not surprise, but the trove of guaranteed money vesting next year should satisfy the superstar defender for the foreseeable future.
HC Kellen Moore Hopes Cameron Jordan Re-Signs With Saints
It was learned last month that the Saints have submitted a contract offer to Cameron Jordan. The franchise icon remains unsigned at this point, but not because of a lack of interest from New Orleans.
Head coach Kellen Moore said (via Mike Triplett of NewOrleans.Football) the Jordan offer is still on the table at this time. He added he remains hopeful the eight-time Pro Bowler will choose to stay with the only NFL team he has played for. Jordan’s entire 15-year career has taken place as a member of the Saints, and he demonstrated an ability to continue producing at a high level in 2025.
Jordan notched 10.5 sacks last season, his highest total since 2021. After accepting a pay cut last year, a lucrative short-term pact could be in order for the former All-Pro should he decide to play another New Orleans season. Retirement was not a consideration as of March, and a number of suitors would no doubt show interest in Jordan as at least a capable veteran depth option along the edge. Former Saints head coach Dennis Allen resides in Chicago as the Bears’ defensive coordinator, but a reunion between the two is not expected.
Jordan is set to turn 37 in mid-July, around the time NFL training camps will begin. He will no doubt aim to have clarity with respect to his 2026 outlook by that point, whether that consists of another Saints agreement or a deal sending him elsewhere. Jordan has indicated he will not chase the most lucrative bid at this stage of his career, although finances will no doubt be a factor in his decision. New Orleans has Chase Young and Carl Granderson set to return as key pass rush figures from 2025, while the team swung a trade for former Raiders top-10 pick Tyree Wilson during the draft.
The Saints currently have $8.13MM in cap space. That figure is among the lowest in the NFL as things stand, but it could be enough to absorb a new Jordan contract. If Moore has his way, Jordan will be back in the fold relatively soon.
Chiefs Hand QB Patrick Mahomes Extension Through 2033
11:21pm: Hours after the announcement hit the waves, Mahomes has officially put pen to paper on his new deal. With the record-setting deal finalized, the three-time Super Bowl MVP is now under Chiefs control for eight more seasons.
3:34pm: Six summers ago, the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes agreed on an unrivaled extension that ran into the 2030s. The superstar’s lengthy contract benefited the Chiefs, and other passers’ salaries began to dwarf his.
The Chiefs agreed to a reworked deal in fall 2023 but did not remove any years from the mammoth pact. The parties have now agreed to add more time on this deal, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Kansas City will now have Mahomes signed through the 2033 season at $504.75MM. That is the total value of the new deal, which will add two seasons to Mahomes’ term.
That whopping number covers eight seasons in total, representing a seismic adjustment to the NFL’s longest-term contract. In terms of new money, Mahomes will receive $239.1MM, per Schefter and Rapoport. The first four years of the three-time Super Bowl MVP’s deal are guaranteed at signing, representing tremendous confidence the quarterback will return to his stratospheric heights after suffering ACL and LCL tears last December.
This does not mean the Chiefs are adding $239.1MM over the 2032 and ’33 seasons, as Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio points out, but the team will give the all-time great a significant raise over the existing years of his deal. In exchange, Mahomes will give the Chiefs two more years of control.
The 2033 season would be Mahomes’ age-38 campaign. That $239MM number will mark a raise throughout the eight-year contract’s life, and it represents a record-setting AAV bump for the current game’s most accomplished quarterback.
The new guarantees probably represent the most notable component of this agreement. Aside from first- or early-second-round rookie contracts and the outlier Deshaun Watson deal, teams do not authorize four years of fully guaranteed money. The Chiefs are doing so, with Schefter and Rapoport adding guarantee mechanisms — which were used in the team’s initial Mahomes extension — are present to cover the 2030s part of this accord.
While plenty of details are yet to emerge, the eight-year package worth $504.75MM comes out to more than $63MM per year. We will wait to see how this is structured, but that blows past Dak Prescott‘s previous high-water mark — set in September 2024. The Cowboys have Prescott signed to a four-year, $240MM extension, one the QB secured thanks to historic leverage. Mahomes opted for a team-friendlier deal in 2020, and it helped the Chiefs retain Chris Jones on multiple extensions — to go with other roster-building advantages. The organization is rewarding the 10th-year quarterback, and it will be interesting to see how this contract breaks down in terms of cap hits.
When Mahomes agreed to his 10-year Kansas City extension (worth $450MM) in July 2020, Russell Wilson‘s $35MM-per-year Seahawks pact had resided atop the quarterback market. Mahomes’ accord raised the ceiling, but it did not take too long for the field to catch up with him. Watson topped the deal on a much more player-friendly package — the most player-friendly agreement in NFL history — while Aaron Rodgers became the first $50MM-AAV player days earlier in March 2022.
A host of QBs are now in the $50MM-per-year club, leading to the Chiefs infusing Mahomes’ contract with guarantees in September 2023, with Prescott hitting $60MM AAV. The $60MM-per-year club now houses two passers, and Lamar Jackson‘s camp will assuredly take note of Mahomes’ latest update.
Jackson carries favorable leverage compared to Mahomes, whose previous through-2031 arrangement gave the Chiefs flexibility — which they have continually used via restructures. The Chiefs have restructured Mahomes’ contract five times since its authorization; the latest change (in February) dropped his cap number to $34.65MM for 2026. That gave the Chiefs some breathing room, as they entered the offseason well over the cap.
The contract maxes out at $522.25MM, according to Schefter and Rapoport, with incentives and escalators present. This agreement comes more than a year after the Bills gave Josh Allen a monster adjustment by adding two more years to his lengthy contract. The only QB to remotely venture into Mahomes’ contractual territory — term length-wise — Allen signed a six-year Bills extension in 2021. After Allen’s 2024 MVP season, the team rewarded him with a six-year, $330MM contract that added two years to his previous pact. This Mahomes offering looks similar, but with four fully guaranteed years, the Kansas City icon fared better on that front.
It is debatable as to whether Allen has passed Mahomes in the QB pecking order exiting the 2025 season, and the Bills superstar is a year younger. But no debate exists as to the league’s most accomplished active QB.
The Chiefs had experienced a 50-year Super Bowl drought after their Super Bowl IV victory, which closed the sport’s AFL chapter, as the likes of Joe Montana, Trent Green and Alex Smith — among others in a QB carousel that formed a San Francisco-to-Kansas City pipeline — were unable to lift the franchise back to the game’s ultimate stage. Mahomes did, and he has played in five Super Bowls and seven AFC championship games through eight seasons as a starter.
Mahomes delivered his best statistical season in 2018, throwing 50 touchdown passes and reaching 5,097 passing yards in his first year succeeding Smith. A porous Chiefs defense could not stop Tom Brady and Co. in the AFC championship game, but Kansas City’s seminal Steve Spagnuolo hire soon after allowed Mahomes to have near-Brady-like defensive protection en route to forming the NFL’s only post-Patriots dynasty. The Chiefs won Super Bowls LIV, LVII and LVIII over the next five seasons, with Mahomes earning MVP honors in each game. Also receiving regular-season MVP acclaim in 2022, Mahomes created distance between himself and the field by that point.
Since then, the Chiefs have not rivaled their early Mahomes years on offense. The team ranked 15th in scoring in 2023 and ’24, with the Tyreek Hill trade — and a few misses at wide receiver — limiting the once-explosive attack. Travis Kelce moving into his mid-30s did not help matters, and Spagnuolo’s defense — a top-10 unit in six of the decorated DC’s seven seasons in K.C. — became an underrated component of this dynasty.
The Chiefs lost Mahomes to a season-ending knee injury in Week 15 last year, but the team was on the verge of elimination with the future first-ballot Hall of Famer at the wheel. Mahomes went 6-8 as a starter last season, as the Chiefs’ close-game mojo faded. The team ranked 21st in scoring offense, with the post-Mahomes period contributing to that placement. Wednesday’s commitment certainly shows no signs the franchise is concerned about its passer’s long-term viability.
Andy Reid, the Chiefs dynasty’s other pillar, has continually fended off retirement rumors. The NFL’s fourth-winningest all-time coach is heading into his 14th season in charge of the AFC West team. The Broncos toppled Reid’s bunch last season, going 14-3, while the Chargers swept the Chiefs with Mahomes starting both games. Reid, 68, will attempt to become the oldest HC to win a Super Bowl; Bruce Arians, 66 when his Buccaneers thrashed the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV, currently holds that record.
Mahomes, who had missed only two games due to injury prior to his knee setback, did some work at Chiefs OTAs and is targeting a Week 1 return. The Chiefs acquired Justin Fields via trade, bringing in some insurance in the event the longtime starter is not ready. Mahomes has beat rumored injury recovery timetables in the past, most notably playing on a high ankle sprain in the 2022 playoffs, and comparable recoveries from ACL tears have commenced.
Seeing favorable AFC West draws in the years after Peyton Manning‘s retirement, the Chiefs now enter a season — for the first time in ages — in which they are not the surefire favorites to win the division. Kelce is entering an age-37 season, while Chris Jones is now 32. The team’s questions at wide receiver persist, with No. 1 target Rashee Rice currently in jail — while rehabbing from knee surgery — due to violating his probation. The Chiefs added Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker in free agency and made three top-40 picks in this year’s draft, using a 6-11 2025 record to their advantage.
The team will hope its cornerstone player will be back in Week 1. But for the long haul — which will feature the Chiefs moving across the Kansas state line into a new stadium in 2031 — no doubt exists about internal confidence in Mahomes, who remains the NFL’s only player signed beyond the 2030 season.
Latest On Rams, DT Aaron Donald
The Rams reached a blockbuster agreement to acquire Myles Garrett last week. Aaron Donald then dropped breadcrumbs about a potential unretirement. Understandably, the Rams are intrigued by this prospect.
Were Donald to unretire, he would again be the most accomplished player on the Rams’ roster. Garrett would be the only one close to the former all-world defensive lineman, who would be delaying his Hall of Fame induction by returning. While it is possible this situation drags on past training camp, teams may well need to prepare for a Rams D-line housing Garrett and Donald.
Rams DC Chris Shula said (via The Athletic’s Nate Atkins) he would welcome Donald back “with open arms”; the three-time Defensive Player of the Year retired months before Shula’s first season as Los Angeles’ defensive play-caller. Adding fuel to the fire here, ESPN’s Adam Schefter predicts Donald will return to the Rams after two years away.
While Schefter cautions no reporting is present on a Donald comeback being set just yet, but the veteran insider views it as “more likely than not” the 35-year-old D-line dynamo will be back. In surveying some other teams on the prospect of Donald returning to the Rams, Schefter indicates outside expectations are the NFC West power will find a way to bring Donald back.
Donald said last fall he did not have an itch to return to football, noting he had merely missed the camaraderie rather than the game itself. Several months later, he has openly teased a return. It would stand to reason the Rams would be prepared to use the legendary DT less than they previously did, as the 10-year Pro Bowler carried at least an 81% snap share on defense from 2017-23. In that span, Donald won three Defensive Player of the Year awards and helped the Rams to two Super Bowls and one title.
Since Donald’s retirement, the Rams have seen Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske become mainstays. Turner played 67% of the Rams’ defensive snaps last season, while Fiske logged a 48% number. Also rostering Poona Ford at nose tackle, the Rams would need to reduce two rising D-line talents’ playing time to accommodate a Donald return.
This would qualify as a champagne problem for a franchise that would have the makings of a D-line that potentially surpasses the 1960s-’70s Fearsome Foursome in terms of talent. The Rams teamed all-time greats Merlin Olsen and Deacon Jones together, to go with an evolving set of quality supporting-casters, more than 50 years ago to form a historic inside-outside D-line pair. Fiske, Ford and Turner’s presences accompanying a Donald-Garrett duo would stand to present tremendous blocking difficulties for opponents as the Rams attempt to “host” a Super Bowl for the second time.
Donald was attached to a three-year, $95MM deal — a raise provided after he threatened retirement post-Super Bowl LVI — and one season remains on that contract. The Rams have found money to bring in Garrett and Trent McDuffie this offseason. McDuffie signed a cornerback-record extension, while Garrett remains on his $40MM-AAV Browns contract — one the Rams restructured post-trade. L.A. also has Turner, Byron Young, Puka Nacua, Steve Avila, Warren McClendon. The team included Jared Verse in the Garrett trade but has decisions to make on several other young players. But if Donald truly wants to come back, the Rams will surely accommodate him.
Dolphins To Extend C Aaron Brewer
The Dolphins had signed Aaron Brewer to a mid-tier center contract in 2024, but after his breakthrough 2025 season, a new deal is in place. Brewer is now the NFL’s third-highest-paid center.
Miami’s new regime is giving Brewer a three-year, $52.5MM extension, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. The deal will provide the veteran interior blocker with $37MM guaranteed. At $17.5MM per year, Brewer trails only Tyler Linderbaum and Creed Humphrey among center salaries. Brewer is now signed through 2029.
Plenty of rumblings about a Brewer payday emerged this offseason. Although new regimes regularly use their early months to evaluate holdover players — and this Dolphins power structure has made sweeping changes — Brewer joins De’Von Achane as extension recipients during the team’s offseason program. Achane signed a four-year, $64MM extension in May.
The Chris Grier-Mike McDaniel power duo had added Brewer on a three-year, $21MM deal in 2024. That represented a mid-market deal, though the pact being finalized months before Humphrey’s extension raised the center ceiling made Brewer’s terms reasonably player-friendly. But Linderbaum has since smashed through both the center and guard roofs, using unrestricted free agency to create a new sector on the center market.
Linderbaum’s AAV outpaces Humphrey’s by a staggering $9MM, but Brewer and Cam Jurgens join Humphrey on the market’s new second tier. Jurgens did see more in total guarantees ($43MM) compared to Brewer, and it will be interesting to see where the latter’s new deal lands in terms of fully guaranteed money.
Should the $17.5MM AAV be the contract’s base value, Brewer will surpass Jurgens’ salary ($17MM per annum). GM Jon-Eric Sullivan is launching a rebuild, as the Tua Tagovailoa release and trades of Jaylen Waddle and Minkah Fitzpatrick illustrate, but will ensure Brewer is around to block for free agent signing Malik Willis and perhaps a long-term successor.
Playing both guard and center with the Titans, Brewer worked his way up from the UDFA level into surefire starter. An injury-battered Titans O-line could count on the Texas State alum in 2022, when Brewer started 17 games at guard. Tennessee then placed a second-round RFA tender on him in Mike Vrabel‘s final offseason in charge. Moving to center in 2023, Brewer started 17 more games that season and created a nice market for himself. That led to the Dolphins paying him to begin snapping to Tagovailoa. The signing surely went better than the team anticipated.
Brewer landed a second-team All-Pro honor despite the Dolphins struggling in McDaniel’s final season. Pro Football Focus graded Brewer as its second-best center — behind Humphrey — while ESPN’s pass block win rate metric slotted the 28-year-old blocker ninth among all interior O-linemen. Although Miami did not see Tagovailoa rebound from a concerning 2024, Brewer’s work helped Achane to a career-best season. New HC Jeff Hafley will count on that duo moving forward.
The Dolphins have questions to answer up front as Hafley’s tenure starts. Austin Jackson accepted a pay cut after another injury-plagued season, and the veteran right tackle is in a contract year. The team has Patrick Paul entering a second season as its starting left tackle. The Dolphins are stationing first-round pick Kadyn Proctor — a tackle at Alabama — at left guard while putting 2025 second-rounder Jonah Savaiinaea in a competition to keep a starting job. Savaiinaea, who started at LG last season, is vying for the RG post with Jamaree Salyer and rookie D.J. Campbell.
Brewer represents some certainty for Miami’s new staff. Sullivan’s staff has now taken care of he and Achane, and it will be interesting to see if a Jordyn Brooks extension — one the former first-round linebacker has lobbied for — will come next in this transition period.
Pats Not ‘Exploring’ Stefon Diggs Reunion; TE Addition Possible
Although the Patriots released wide receiver Stefon Diggs in March, the four-time Pro Bowler was reportedly open to a new deal with the team as of mid-May. As expected, though, the Patriots went on to acquire wideout A.J. Brown from the Eagles a couple of weeks later. With Brown now the leader of a crowded receiving corps, Diggs will probably have to look elsewhere.
When head coach Mike Vrabel met with reporters Wednesday, he downplayed the chances of the Patriots re-signing Diggs, saying (via Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald), “Right now, I don’t think that that’s something that I think we’re exploring, but I would never say no.”
Diggs gave the Patriots strong production in what ended up as the only season of his three-year, $63.3MM contract with the team. In his return from the torn ACL he suffered in 2024 with the Texans, Diggs stayed healthy and led the Patriots in receptions (85), targets (121) and yards (1,013). He also caught four touchdowns, helping the Pats to a remarkable one-year turnaround in which they went from 4-13 to 14-3.
New England advanced all the way to Super Bowl LX, but the team couldn’t overcome Seattle in a 29-13 loss. The Patriots gave Diggs the ax a few weeks later and opened up $16.8MM in cap space at the cost of $9.7MM in dead money. At the time, Diggs was facing strangulation and assault charges for an alleged incident with his former personal chef. He was found not guilty in early May, though the league has continued to review the matter. It is unclear if he will face any discipline.
While the 32-year-old Diggs may be the best receiver left in free agency, Vrabel noted the Patriots are “happy” with the options they have. Beyond Brown, the club has expensive free agent pickup Romeo Doubs, Mack Hollins,2025 third-round pick Kyle Williams, Kayshon Boutte, DeMario Douglas and Efton Chism in its top seven. Hollins and Williams are “near-locks” for roster spots, according to Kyed. On the other hand, Boutte has come up as a trade candidate. He is reportedly open to a change of scenery, but the fourth-year man claims he is still content in New England.
“I wouldn’t mind being here,” Boutte said this week (via Chad Graff of The Athletic): “I do want to be here.”
With Brown and Doubs playing on big-money deals, Boutte is not in good position to sign an extension as he heads into a contract year, Graff notes. At the same time, Graff does not believe the Patriots are so well off at the position that they would give Boutte away for a late-round pick. Meanwhile, Douglas is reportedly on the roster bubble and might lose his spot to Chism, who could be the Patriots’ kick returner.
Although another agreement with Diggs appears unlikely, the Patriots may be in the market for tight end help after losing Julian Hill to an undisclosed injury. They brought in the former Dolphin on a three-year, $15MM pact in free agency, but he abruptly went on season-ending IR on June 1.
Asked about a potential tight end addition, Vrabel said (via Kyed), “I think that’s somewhere where we’d have to address.”
The Patriots have a clear-cut No. 1 tight end in Hunter Henry. They also drafted Eli Raridon in the third round this year. CJ Dippre, Jack Westover and undrafted rookie Tanner Arkin round out the group, but they could have company soon.
Giants Work Out LB Anfernee Orji, DL Marlon Davidson
The Giants hosted linebacker Anfernee Orji and defensive lineman Marlon Davidson for workouts during mandatory minicamp this week , per Dan Duggan of The Athletic. Both spent time under Giants defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson while he held the same job in Tennessee.
Orji, 25, signed with the Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2023 and spent the year on the practice squad. He made the 53-man roster in 2024 and appeared in 16 games with a core special teams role (82% snap share) and 146 snaps on defense.
Orji was a casualty of the New Orleans’ 2025 offseason overhaul. He was waived by the Saints and made his way to Tennessee but suffered a torn ACL in training camp that sidelined him for the entire season.
The Giants’ inside linebacker room is the thinnest one on their defense. They have just six players under contract – seven if you count No. 5 pick and hybrid edge rusher Arvell Reese – so they could stand to add another body for training camp.
Davidson, 28, was a Falcons second-round pick in 2020 who largely disappointed in Atlanta. He appeared in 19 games in his first two seasons with 29 tackles, one sack, and one tackle for loss before undergoing knee surgery that sidelined him for all of 2022. The Falcons waived Davidson the following offseason. He then spent time with the 49ers and the Titans with five appearances for Tennessee to close the 2023 season. Davidson missed the 2024 season due to a biceps injury and played nine snaps for the Falcons next year.
The Giants should place Roy Robertson-Harris (torn Achilles) on the physically unable to perform list at the start of training camp, which could open a spot in the defensive line room for Davidson. Even if signed, he and Orji would both face an uphill battle to a roster spot, though their connection with Wilson might give them a leg up in catching up on the team’s new defensive scheme.