Vikings, CB James Pierre Agree To Deal
James Pierre was recently mentioned as one of the cornerbacks drawing notable attention ahead of free agency. He has indeed landed a new agreement in short order.
Josina Anderson of The Exhibit reports Pierre has reached a deal with the Vikings. This will be a two-year pact with a maximum value of $8.5MM, she adds. Pierre will secure $3.7MM guaranteed, including a $2.5MM signing bonus.
Anderson mentioned Sunday that Pierre was on nearly 10 teams’ radars after a solid sixth season in Pittsburgh. The career-long Steeler, though, will turn 30 this year. That effectively provided a market cap. Still, Pierre secured a raise after playing for low-level (NFL-wise, at least) money throughout his career.
Pro Football Focus viewed Pierre — a 2025 Steelers injury sub — as the NFL’s second-best corner (among qualified options) last season. Granted, he played 408 snaps, but the season represented a massive breakthrough. While NFL teams likely did not view him that highly, this contract reflects the six-year vet’s improvement.
The Steelers spoke with Pierre’s camp about a likely low-cost deal, but the team moved on by signing Jamel Dean. The longtime Buccaneers defender joins Joey Porter Jr. and Jalen Ramsey, depending on where the aging All-Pro is stationed, as the Steelers’ top corners for 2026. As for the Vikings, they will pair Pierre with Byron Murphy and Isaiah Rodgers. Pierre overlapped with Vikings DC Brian Flores during a 2022 season spent as Pittsburgh’s linebackers coach.
Sam Robinson contributed to this post.
Colts, DE Arden Key Agree To Deal
Former Jaguar and Titan Arden Key will make his third AFC South stop in 2026. The Colts are adding Key on a two-year contract, insider Jordan Schultz reports. The deal carries a max value of $20MM with $11MM in guarantees.
Key, who will turn 30 in May, is joining the fifth organization of his eight-year career. He began as a Raiders third-round pick in 2018. After spending three seasons with the Raiders, he had one-year stints with the 49ers and Jaguars.
The Titans gave Key some stability when they inked him to a three-year, $21MM accord in 2023. Although Key was the subject of trade rumors before last November’s deadline, he wound up staying in Tennessee for his entire contract. There was mutual interest in a return next season, but Key will head to Indianapolis instead.
While Key combined for just three sacks in 37 games with the Raiders, he has averaged a respectable 5.5 per year dating to 2021. During his most productive season, 2024, the ex-LSU Tiger logged career highs in tackles (42), starts (15) and sacks (6.5). Key also reached 15 QB hits for the third time.
Quad and hip injuries limited Key to 12 games (nine starts) in 2025, during which he recorded 11 QB hits and four sacks. Pro Football Focus ranked Key 71st among 119 qualified edge rushers. Colts defensive end Samson Ebukam checked in two spots higher. Ebukam is now among the Colts’ free agents. More importantly, though, the team could lose the unsigned Kwity Paye to a richer payday elsewhere. Bringing in Key will give the Colts a decent veteran option as they brace for the potential exits of Ebukman and Paye.
Titans To Sign DL John Franklin-Myers
Robert Saleh is reforming his Jets band. After Jermaine Johnson arrived via trade, John Franklin-Myers is coming over in free agency. The high-level FA agreed to a three-year, $63MM Titans deal, per insider Jordan Schultz.
A two-year Broncos starter, Franklin-Myers was a key piece under Saleh with the Jets. With D-line coach Aaron Whitecotton coming to Nashville as well, the Titans appeared to be the most logical suitor for Franklin-Myers (as Nikhil Mehta’s Offseason Outlook detailed). Franklin-Myers, 29, will see $42MM guaranteed on this deal — a massive raise from his Denver terms.
Widely expected to leave the Broncos, who had not made an extension offer during a period where several other front-seven cogs were paid, Franklin-Myers hit free agency at an ideal time. Despite heading into an age-30 season, the high-end role player looked to be by far this market’s top interior D-line option. PFR ranked Franklin-Myers sixth in this year’s FA class — largely because of its lack of DT options and a draft not teeming with them, either — and the $21MM-per-year number nearly triples his Broncos AAV.
The Bengals, Colts and 49ers also pursued Franklin-Myers, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini. Traded to the Broncos as a salary-dump move in the 2024 draft, Franklin-Myers agreed to a two-year, $15MM deal — a better offer than the Jets made as they aimed for a sizable pay cut. Franklin-Myers had been tied to a four-year, $55MM Jets extension, but as Haason Reddick arrived via trade, Joe Douglas sent him to Denver. That became a boon for the Broncos’ defense, and it turned into a mutually beneficial relationship.
Two top-three Broncos defenses deployed Franklin-Myers as a 3-4 defensive end starter. He racked up 14.5 sacks during his two-season Broncos stay. But Denver had agreed to extensions with Zach Allen, Malcom Roach, Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper during Franklin-Myers’ tenure. The team also re-signed DT D.J. Jones just before last year’s free agency. Franklin-Myers did not expect an extension, and he will benefit from hitting the market in a down year for the position.
Initially claimed off waivers from the Rams during Adam Gase’s HC tenure, Franklin-Myers displayed inside-outside versatility under Saleh. He recorded 11 sacks from 2021-22, teaming with Quinnen Williams up front New York. Saleh’s second Jets defense improved from 32nd to fourth, and Franklin-Myers’ 2022 showing was a key reason for that leap. Two years after the draft-weekend trade, Franklin-Myers will join his former coaches on a monster fourth contract.
G Zion Johnson To Join Browns
Cleveland’s offensive line overhaul continues. After trading for Tytus Howard and giving the ex-Texans first-rounder an extension, the Browns are turning to another former first-rounder to continue their makeover up front.
Zion Johnson is joining the Browns on a three-year, $49.5MM contract, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. The four-year Chargers starter will see $32.4MM guaranteed on the deal. Chargers GM Joe Hortiz‘s Combine comments seemed to point Johnson out of Los Angeles, and arguably this market’s top guard is heading to Ohio.
PFR’s No. 8-ranked free agent, Johnson spent four seasons with the Bolts. They declined his fifth-year option in 2025, with the Hortiz-Jim Harbaugh regime turning the Tom Telesco draftee into a contract-year player. Rumblings about a big market ensued, even though Johnson has not been viewed as a high-end guard just yet. But durable guards with high draft pedigrees regularly see big money in free agency. Considering some of the deals thrown around at this position in recent years, the Browns may have a bargain with the Boston College alum.
The longtime Browns guard duo — Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller — hit free agency. New HC Todd Monken, who coached Bitonio in 2019, wants the 12-year Browns blocker to re-sign. But one of Cleveland’s guard posts is now filled. The Browns are also interested in bringing back sixth man-turned-Teller timeshare cog Teven Jenkins. With Howard’s extensive history at guard — even though right tackle is his primary position — gives Cleveland options here. But the Browns also have their primary tackles and center from 2025 unsigned, creating a rare situation in which a team swaps out all five O-linemen from a season.
While Pro Football Focus has never ranked Johnson as a top-35 guard, ESPN’s run block win rate metric regarded his contract year highly, slotting him second among all interior O-linemen. Having logged full seasons at right and left guard, Johnson has made 65 starts and has been one of the position’s most durable players. On a market housing several older blockers, the 26-year-old L.A. piece will be a key part of the Browns’ 2026 O-line overhaul.
Commanders To Add CB Amik Robertson
Amik Robertson hit free agency a second time, and he will again choose to depart his current team. The recent Lions cornerback is joining the Commanders, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports.
Washington is giving the former Raiders draftee a two-year, $16MM deal that includes $9.3MM guaranteed. Robertson, 27, spent the past two years with the Lions and started 14 games with the team.
A 2020 fourth-round pick out of Louisiana Tech, Robertson spent the first four seasons of his career with the Raiders. After making only brief cameos on defense through his first two years in the NFL, he got into more than half of his team’s defensive snaps in 2022 and 2023. That latter campaign still represents the cornerback’s best season, as Robertson finished the campaign with 50 tackles and a pair of interceptions.
That performance earned him a two-year, $9.25MM contract ($4.5MM guaranteed) with the Lions the following offseason. He didn’t miss a game during his time in Detroit, starting 14 of his 34 appearances. He got into a career-high 76 percent of his team’s defensive snaps this past season, finishing with 52 stops and a career-high 12 passes defended. He allowed a career-high eight touchdowns.
Robertson has shown the ability to play both on the outside and in the slot, although he’s likely eyeing that latter role in Washington. Trey Amos and Mike Sainristil are currently penciled in as the Commanders’ two outside CBs. For Detroit, this is a tough subtraction for a squad that has some question marks in their secondary. Terrion Arnold is currently being investigated for his ties to a kidnapping and robbery plot, while safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph are both returning from season-ending injuries.
Steelers To Sign CB Jamel Dean
After a seven-year run with the Buccaneers, Jamel Dean will be on the move. The veteran cornerback has worked out an agreement with the Steelers.
Pittsburgh is set to add Dean on a three-year deal, Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network report. The pact will be worth $36.75MM. A full-time starting role with the Steelers can be expected with this contract for Dean, who was a first-team presence for most of his Tampa Bay tenure.
Dean had a productive stint in Tampa Bay. The former third-round pick finished his Buccaneers tenure with 11 interceptions, including a pair of pick-sixes. The cornerback was also a Pro Football Focus darling, with the site consistently ranking him inside the top-20 at his position. This included a 2025 campaign where Dean ranked fifth among 112 qualifying cornerbacks.
Dean mostly played on the outside in his 14 appearances in 2025. PFF credited him with allowing 25 catches on 54 targets, leading to 311 receiving yards and only a single touchdown. Dean also made some cameos at slot CB and in the box, showcasing his versatility.
That could come in handy in Pittsburgh, although it’s safe to say Dean will line up opposite Joey Porter Jr. on the outside. At the moment, Cory Trice and Asante Samuel Jr. represent the Steelers depth options among outside CBs, with Brandin Echols and Donte Kent penciled in for slot duties.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Bears To Sign LB Devin Bush
The Bears briefly needed a starting linebacker after releasing Tremaine Edmunds last week. They will fill the void with former Brown Devin Bush, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. Bush is signing a three-year, $30MM contract with $21MM in guarantees.
The Bears will already be Bush’s fourth team since he entered the NFL as the 10th overall pick in 2019. The former Michigan Wolverine spent his first four years with the Steelers before a one-season stop in Seattle. He was a Brown for two years. Cleveland wanted to retain Bush, but it will have to look elsewhere.
Although Bush started in 48 of 52 games with the Steelers, he was not a hot commodity in free agency in 2023. The Seahawks landed him on a deal worth up to $3.5MM, and Bush wound up with a higher snap share on special teams than as a defender. The Browns relied far more on Bush, whom they signed to back-to-back one-year contracts.
Bush is now reeling in a far richer payday with the Bears, who have been aggressive at the outset of free agency. They previously agreed to pacts with former Seahawks safety Coby Bryant and ex-Colts defensive lineman Neville Gallimore. The club also agreed to re-sign linebacker D’Marco Jackson. He will provide depth behind Bush.
After the first 17-start season of his career in 2025, Bush will team with T.J. Edwards to comprise Chicago’s top two linebackers in 2026. The soon-to-be 28-year-old Bush registered career highs in tackles (125), passes defensed (eight), interceptions (three) and sacks (two) last season. He returned two of those INTs for touchdowns and recorded a league-high 164 return yards on his picks.
In addition to Bush’s gaudy traditional numbers, Pro Football Focus ranked his performance an eye-opening fourth among 88 qualifying linebackers in 2025. The Bears will bank on Bush carrying his breakout from Cleveland to the Windy City.
Jets To Sign DT David Onyemata
The Jets remain busy in their defensive overhaul. New York is in position to add veteran defensive tackle David Onyemata to the mix for 2026.
The parties have agreed to terms on a one-year deal, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports. This pact has a base value of $10.5MM with $9.65MM guaranteed, Garafolo adds. Onyemata will play outside the NFC South for the first time in his career next season.
A former Saints draftee and Falcons free agency addition, Onyemata will turn 34 this year. While that $10MM-plus pact represents another nice payday, it is not on the level of his 2023 Atlanta deal (three years, $35MM). This is Onyemata’s fourth NFL contract, however. He also played out a three-year, $27MM Saints deal. While not exactly a household name, the Nigerian defensive lineman will surpass $75MM in career earnings via this contract.
As our top 50 free agent list showed, this was not a good year to need a veteran defensive tackle. Only one (John Franklin-Myers) appeared on the list, and his high placement (No. 6) was largely due to the lack of prime-years difference-makers available. The Titans paid up for Franklin-Myers (three years, $63MM).
Onyemata carries a different skillset, excelling more against the run. Last season, Onyemata ranked ninth in run stop win rate. ESPN’s pass rush win rate metric also ranked the 335-pounder 17th among interior D-linemen. The Falcons turbocharged their pass rush in 2025, rocketing back to relevance with 57 sacks — behind only the Broncos’ 68. Onyemata only tallied one of those sacks, but he recorded seven tackles for loss in a 17-game season. He notched 21 TFLs during a three-year Georgia stay.
Aaron Glenn is diving into his past with two of his additions today. Onyemata will join former Saints teammate Demario Davis. By season’s end, these ex-Saints will give the Jets a 37-year-old linebacker and 34-year-old D-lineman. With Glenn’s seat warming after a rough 2025, he will turn to former cogs he trusts to start Year 2 in New York.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Saints, G David Edwards Agree To Deal
One of many notable guards set to reach the market has quickly lined up a deal. David Edwards is set to join the Saints in free agency.
Team and player agreed to terms on Monday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. Edwards will collect upwards of $15MM per season on this Saints accord, he adds. The Bills recently managed to prevent Connor McGovern from departing, but the same will not be true in this case.
Edwards entered the NFL as a fifth-round pick of the Rams in 2019. The former Wisconsin Badger started in 45 of his 53 regular-season Rams games, including all 17 during their Super Bowl-winning 2021 showing. A concussion suffered in 2022 held Edwards to four games that year and temporarily threw his career off track.
Heading into 2023, Edwards settled for the Bills’ modest one-year offer to reunite with ex-Rams offensive line coach Aaron Kromer. Although Edwards was a backup for his entire first season with the Bills, they thought enough of the 308-pounder to hand him a two-year, $6MM extension the next offseason.
Buffalo shifted McGovern from left guard to center in 2024, which opened up a spot for Edwards. He started in all 16 appearances and helped keep quarterback Josh Allen upright during an MVP-winning season. The Bills’ O-line yielded a league-low 14 sacks that year. The number skyrocketed to 40 in 2025, though Edwards was an effective member of a line that cleared the way for James Cook to win the rushing title. Over another 16-start campaign, Edwards finished as Pro Football Focus’ 22nd-ranked guard among 79 qualifiers.
The Saints entered free agency with the goal of improving a ground game that ranked 28th in the league last year. The additions of the 28-year-old Edwards and running back Travis Etienne should go a long toward achieving that. Free agent Dillon Radunz was the Saints’ primary left guard in 2025, but Edwards should provide a significant upgrade. Edwards will join tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. to give the Saints’ line an imposing left side and make life easier on second-year quarterback Tyler Shough.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Falcons To Sign WR Jahan Dotson
A busy Monday continues for the Falcons. The team’s latest contract agreement has been reached with wideout Jahan Dotson.
Atlanta has agreed to a two-year deal with Dotson, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. This pact will have a base value of $15MM with a maximum of $17MM. Dotson will collect $10MM guaranteed, Schefter adds, while NFL insider Jordan Schultz notes $8MM will be paid out in 2026.
Dotson will come over after two seasons as an Eagles auxiliary wide receiver. For a player discarded by the Commanders two seasons into his career and deemed a tertiary target in Philly, this represents a decent payday for the Penn State product.
The Commanders traded Dotson to the Eagles just before the 2024 season, moving on months after an organizational overhaul. Drafted by the Ron Rivera regime in the 2022 first round, Dotson caught seven touchdown passes in 12 rookie-year games. Dotson topped 500 receiving yards in both his Washington seasons but failed to eclipse 300, with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith playing ahead of him in an increasingly run-based offense, in Philadelphia. Dotson did snag two passes for 42 yards in the Eagles’ dominant Super Bowl LIX win, however.
Dotson, who will turn 26 next week, joins a Falcons team that just released two-year No. 2 wideout Darnell Mooney. Atlanta re-signed Olamide Zaccheaus, who caught passes from new front office boss Matt Ryan during his rookie contract. Zaccheaus and Dotson pose as complementary cogs at best, with this roster appearing to lack a qualified No. 2 opposite Drake London. The draft may be a play to look here, especially with London likely to land an extension averaging more than $30MM per year, but free agency is only one day old.
Sam Robinson contributed to this post.