Raiders To Release QB Geno Smith
Geno Smith will indeed prove to be a one-and-done passer in Vegas. Barring a last-minute trade, the Raiders will release the veteran, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. 
Smith’s future has been in question since Vegas secured the No. 1 pick in April’s draft. Earlier this week, signs increasingly pointed to a release taking place in the event no trade partner was found. Suitors will no doubt wait for Smith to become a free agent before making a push to acquire him.
The 35-year-old does not appear to be particularly downtrodden over today’s development, given his reaction on social media. Smith will become one of many veteran quarterbacks on the market with free agency looming. A long-term commitment would come as a surprise, but NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports multiple teams are expected to show interest in this case.
The Seahawks brought in Klint Kubiak as their offensive coordinator last offseason. That set up a potential pairing with Smith, but with Seattle bringing in Sam Darnold Smith wound up being dealt to Vegas. Immediately after the Super Bowl, Kubiak was hired by the Raiders as their new head coach. Once again, though, no time will be spent with Smith in his case. A parting of ways points even further to Vegas selecting Fernando Mendoza first overall in April.
That remains the widespread expectation, but Dianna Russini of The Athletic cautions the Raiders’ preference would be to have Mendoza sit at the beginning of his rookie campaign. If insurance for the Heisman winner is to be added, Russini points to free agency as the route GM John Spytek and Co. will take. Vegas is not lacking in cap space, so finances will not be an issue when QB options are evaluated.
Cutting Smith will yield $8MM in cap savings while generating a dead money charge of $18.5MM. He was on course to see $8MM in 2026 compensation become guaranteed on March 13, leading to the timing of this decision. Smith will join Kyler Murray and – in all likelihood – Tua Tagovailoa as starting quarterbacks released by their respective teams. Their free agent prospects will be worth watching closely once the new league year begins next week.
In 2022, Smith earned Comeback Player of the Year honors with a strong Seattle showing. The team’s Russell Wilson replacement led the NFL in completion percentage that season, and in the following year he secured a second straight Pro Bowl nod. Smith landed a new Seahawks contract in 2023, and he inked a two-year, $75MM pact upon arrival in Vegas. A less lucrative deal is no doubt coming this time around after the former second-rounder topped the league in interceptions (17) in 2025.
Offensive success proved highly difficult to come by for Vegas this past season. Kubiak and a much different coaching staff is now in place, and his ability to develop Mendoza and a core led by tight end Brock Bowers and running back Ashton Jeanty will be critical moving forward. Smith will not be part of that effort, as his next NFL opportunity awaits.
Bears To Acquire C Garrett Bradbury From Patriots
Garrett Bradbury is heading back to the NFC North. Days after Drew Dalman‘s retirement, the Bears have a deal in place to acquire Bradbury from the Patriots, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports.
Chicago is sending a 2027 fifth-round pick (per ESPN’s Adam Schefter) to New England for Bradbury, who logged six seasons as the Vikings’ starting center before being cut in 2025. The former first-round pick started every game for the Patriots last season, doing so after logging 88 starts with the Vikings from 2019-24.
The 2025 offseason dispersed Dalman and Bradbury elsewhere. A four-year Falcon, Dalman signed a three-year, $42MM Bears deal. Not too long after his Vikings release, Bradbury landed in Foxborough via a two-year, $9.5MM pact. The Bears will pick up Bradbury’s $3.7MM 2026 base salary.
This trade comes after Tyler Biadasz, who visited the Bears in the wake of the Dalman retirement news, agreed to a three-year Chargers deal worth $30MM. Chicago will save quite a bit at center compared to Dalman or Biadasz, though Bradbury will likely be a downgrade from Dalman’s 2025 work.
Pro Football Focus graded Bradbury as the NFL’s No. 29 overall center last season. The Patriots voyaged to Super Bowl LX, but their O-line featured shaky stretches beyond merely Will Campbell‘s late-season struggles. Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson are certainly familiar with Bradbury from previous NFC North clashes, but it is worth wondering if the Bears will add a center option in the draft as well. Bradbury will turn 31 in June.
The Vikings gave Bradbury a three-year, $15.75MM deal in 2023; that came after then-GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah did not pick up the Rick Spielman draftee’s fifth-year option. PFF has never graded Bradbury as a top-10 center, but the advanced metrics site did place him 11th in 2022. Rankings outside the top 20 have followed in the years since.
The Bears, who officially placed Dalman on the reserve/retired list today, look to be passing on a free agent market that also includes Connor McGovern, Cade Mays, Lloyd Cushenberry and Ethan Pocic. Tyler Linderbaum is PFR’s No. 1-ranked free agent, but with Biadasz potentially being too pricey for the Bears (if that is indeed the case), the four-year Ravens starter’s explosive market certainly would be.
Chicago looks set to plug Bradbury into an O-line returning starters Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson and Darnell Wright — while LT Ozzy Trapilo will spend part of the season rehabbing a patellar tendon tear — while New England will need a new center. Ben Levine’s Patriots Offseason Outlook mentioned Bradbury as a potential cut candidate. It is worth wondering if the Patriots will be in the market for a free agent upgrade soon. The Bradbury trade will also mark a reunion for Thuney and Bradbury, who played together at NC State.
Lions Plan To Release LT Taylor Decker
Taylor Decker agreed to put off retirement earlier this offseason, but it looks like the veteran left tackle will be seeking a second NFL employer.
The 10-year blocker announced on Instagram he is being released by the Lions (via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). Decker was set to earn $14.9MM in base salary next season; none of that amount was guaranteed. As our Detroit Offseason Outlook piece indicated, Decker was due a $1.5MM salary guarantee on March 15. Decker’s post reveals requested this release.
It sounds like the Lions were angling for a Decker pay cut, as the former first-round pick notes discussions were ongoing about his contract. Decker, 32, was tied to a three-year, $60MM deal that ran through the 2027 season. The Ohio State product played through injury last season, only missing three games. A year after the Lions lost center cornerstone Frank Ragnow, they are splitting up their Pro Bowl Decker-Penei Sewell tackle tandem.
This release will save Detroit $11.6MM in cap space, though it will also leave a significant void at a premium position. Decker has started 140 career games with the Lions since being the No. 16 overall pick in 2016. Decker’s 140 starts are the third-most by a tackle in Lions history — behind Jeff Backus and Lomas Brown.
An essential part of Dan Campbell‘s turnaround in Detroit, Decker made his first Pro Bowl in 2024 — after signing his $20MM-per-year extension. That was Decker’s third Lions contract, after he had signed a four-year, $59.65MM deal in 2020. Decker said after the season he would take extensive time to determine if an 11th NFL slate was in the cards for him. Although Decker recently announced he intends to play, it is worth wondering if he is open to continuing his career outside of Detroit.
When Decker missed much of the 2021 season, the Lions used then-rookie Sewell at left tackle. That could be an option once again, but Sewell has established himself as a dominant right tackle. Sewell suddenly represents the last man standing from the 2023 O-line that powered the Lions to the playoffs. Pro Football Focus graded Decker as the league’s No. 39 overall tackle last season and has been high on his play throughout his Detroit decade. He ranked ninth, per the advanced metrics site, in 2023 and landed his second Lions extension in July 2024.
In the spring, Decker underwent surgery to relieve pain in his shoulder caused by bone spurs in his rotator cuff. He began training camp on the active/PUP list as a result, and though he suited up for the start of the regular season, he did miss three last season due to a shoulder ailment. It will be interesting to see if Decker lands elsewhere soon,
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/6/26
Friday’s RFA and ERFA tender decisions:
RFAs
Non-tendered:
- Broncos: TE Lucas Krull
ERFAs
Tendered:
- Chargers: RB Kimani Vidal
- Vikings: LB Bo Richter, RB Zavier Scott
After a strong campaign backing up an injury-depleted running backs room, Vidal gets the most obvious ERFA tender of all time. Starting 10 of 13 game appearances, Vidal rushed for 643 yards and three touchdowns after injuries to Najee Harris, Omarion Hampton, and others.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/6/26
Here are today’s NFL minor moves as we head into the final weekend before the start of free agency:
Denver Broncos
- Re-signed: RB Tyler Badie, DT Jordan Jackson, S Devon Key, OLB Dondrea Tillman
Houston Texans
- Re-signed: S M.J. Stewart
Los Angeles Chargers
- Re-signed: RB Jaret Patterson, S Kendall Williamson
New York Giants
- Released: T James Hudson
Washington Commanders
- Re-signed: K Jake Moody
Initially opening the season as a starter on the line in New York in place of Andrew Thomas, Hudson was benched after struggling in a first-string role. He had been signed to serve as a swing tackle for the Giants, but after his early-season struggles, he failed to see much playing time for the remainder of the season.
After getting waived by the team that drafted him in the third round, Moody landed on the Bears’ practice squad before the Commanders signed him to their active roster. Washington made the move after watching Moody connect on eight of nine field goal attempts in two games for Chicago then watched Moody convert 10 of 11 for their team over the final six weeks of the season. Not willing to pay the prices on a restricted free agent tender, the Commanders opted not to tender him but continued on the path to a new deal as an unrestricted free agent.
Dolphins Release K Jason Sanders, FB Alec Ingold
A busy day ahead of the start of free agency continues as it was announced today that the Dolphins will be parting ways with kicker Jason Sanders (per ESPN’s Adam Schefter) and fullback Alec Ingold (per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo). The Dolphins had attempted to rework the deals of both veterans to help them stay in Miami, but with no deals coming to fruition, Sanders and Ingold will head to free agency. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that the pair of transactions will put the Dolphins’ cap space at about $5MM. 
Sanders had been the Dolphins answer in the kicking game for seven years before this past season. Drafted in the seventh-round out of New Mexico in 2018, Sanders immediately put an end to what had been a consistent rotation of kickers on one- or two-year stays dating back to a four-year tenure of Dan Carpenter. Though not asked to do much, Sanders delivered as a rookie only missing two field goal attempts and one extra point attempt. He saw a few more misses in his sophomore campaign but reestablished himself in 2020 with a first-team All-Pro performance.
In the final dying days of the 2025 preseason, it was disclosed that Sanders was dealing with a hip injury that was expected to keep him out for the first four or five weeks of the season, necessitating a temporary replacement. When 12 weeks of the season had come and gone, and Sanders was still nowhere to be seen, newer reports out of Miami indicated that there was no sense of whether or not Sanders was any closer to a return or whether or not he would return at all.
In Sanders’ absence, the Dolphins turned to young journeyman kicker Riley Patterson to fill in. Only 26 years old, Patterson made the Dolphins the sixth NFL team of his career. He’d previously spent time with the Lions, Jaguars, Browns, Jets, and Falcons and had only kicked an entire season with a team once — 2022 in Jacksonville. Patterson was outstanding in replacement duty, converting 27 of 29 field goals attempts and 34 of 35 extra point attempts.
Per Jackson, the Dolphins have not been actively pursuing a new contract with Patterson. Not wanting to pit the two specialists against each other, Miami focused their efforts first on trying to convince Sanders to restructure at a lower rate. Now that a deal with Sanders is no longer being pursued, it stands to reason that the Dolphins may now pursue a renewed agreement with Patterson.
Ingold’s time in Miami comes to an end after four years with the team. Joining the Dolphins after an initial first three years with the Raiders, Ingold has found plenty of use on one of the few teams left still utilizing a fullback. Starting 47 of 66 game appearances, Ingold got most of his use as an extra run blocker, though he has contributed in the pass game, as well. A team captain who was chosen three times to be the team’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, Ingold’s biggest impact may have been in the locker room and the community.
As the Dolphins clear out some low-hanging fruit to clear up a bit of cap space ahead of free agency, Sanders will see free agency for the first time, and Ingold will now look to find a new NFL squad looking to utilize a fullback.
Raiders Release OL Alex Cappa
Alex Cappa‘s reunion with Tom Brady and John Spytek did not lead to a full-time starting job. The veteran guard will be a one-and-done in Las Vegas.
The Raiders announced Cappa’s release Friday. The move will create just more than $5MM in cap space for the AFC West team. The veteran guard did log some center snaps in 2025, playing there more often than at guard, but the Raiders will call it a day despite also having four-year guard starter Dylan Parham unsigned.’
[RELATED: Assessing Raiders’ Offseason Outlook]
Cappa signed a two-year, $11MM deal following his 2025 Bengals release. The Raiders used the former Brady Buccaneers teammate as an eight-game starter. Cappa, 31, is an eight-year veteran with 104 starts on his NFL resume.
Formerly Tampa Bay’s Ali Marpet guard mate, Cappa did not end up starting in Super Bowl LV due to his only notable injury with the Bucs. The 2018 third-round pick returned in 2021 but left for a Bengals deal in 2022. As Cincinnati overhauled its O-line after a 2021 Joe Burrow sack parade, Cappa inked a four-year, $35MM deal and joined Ted Karras and La’el Collins as veteran imports that offseason. The Bengals cut Collins after one year, while Karras remains with the team.
Lining up as the Bengals’ right guard for three seasons, Cappa received a pink slip before his final year on that $35MM pact. Asked to play a new position with the Raiders, Cappa struggled. As run lanes for rookie Ashton Jeanty were sparse last season, Pro Football Focus graded Cappa as the NFL’s third-worst center (among those with enough snaps to qualify). The Raiders have Jordan Meredith (PFF’s sixth-worst 2025 center) and Jackson Powers-Johnson — a Rimington award winner who has been asked to play guard in the pros — contracted among interior O-linemen. Parham can begin speaking to other teams Monday.
Texans To Extend TE Dalton Schultz
Less than 24 hours after agreeing to a one-year extension with Danielle Hunter, the Texans have a deal in place with Dalton Schultz. Like Hunter, it is a one-year bump.
Schultz is extending his contract through 2027 at a rate of $12.6MM, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. Between the 2026 and ’27 seasons, Schultz is now due $17.6MM guaranteed. Schultz is heading into his fourth Texans season, and this extension positions the former Cowboys draftee to play a fifth in Houston. This move comes hours after the Texans created $8MM in cap space by releasing Joe Mixon.
[RELATED: Texans To Acquire David Montgomery From Lions]
Initially joining the Texans on a midlevel deal (one year, $6.25MM), Schultz impressed in C.J. Stroud‘s rookie season and reupped on an upper-crust pact (3/36). That came shortly before free agency in 2024. Two years later, Schultz became a Texans priority again after another strong season.
Catching a career-high 82 passes, Schultz totaled 777 yards and three touchdowns last season. While the former fourth-rounder’s yards-per-reception number dropped to 9.5 — his first such season since 2020 — Schultz operated as Stroud’s No. 2 target behind Nico Collins during a season in which Houston again featured a subaverage ground attack.
Schultz, 30 in July, was set to carry a $15.9MM cap number in 2026. That will drop thanks to this extension. Should Schultz play out this deal, he will have split his career into five-year runs with Dallas and Houston. The Cowboys turned to Schultz after their Blake Jarwin extension did not pan out, with the former ultimately becoming the team’s Jason Witten successor. The Cowboys prioritized Schultz via a franchise tag in 2022, but like Mike Gesicki in Miami, no extension came to pass before that July’s deadline. A disagreement on term length between Schultz and the Cowboys led him to the market in 2023, and he has not tested it since.
While Schultz’s career-best yardage season remains his 808-yard 2021 in Dallas, he put up 635 yards in his Houston debut to help Stroud to Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. After a 535-yard 2024, the pass-catching tight end bounced back to help the team return to the divisional round in 2025. The Texans are a defense-powered operation, but they now have Schultz and Collins signed beyond 2026. Those deals pair with the team’s pair of Iowa State-developed wideouts — Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel; both players are tied to rookie contracts through 2028.
Cardinals To Cut DT Dalvin Tomlinson
Dalvin Tomlinson will be a cap casualty for a second straight year. After the Browns released the veteran defensive tackle in 2025, ESPN.com’s Josh Weinfuss reports the Cardinals are moving on.
Arizona will save $9.4MM by releasing the nomadic defensive lineman, moving its cap-space figure past $48MM. PFR’s Cardinals Offseason Outlook tabbed Tomlinson as a logical release candidate, and the team is separating from the nine-year veteran after a disappointing season.
[RELATED: Cardinals Planning To Release Kyler Murray]
Landing on his feet after the Browns release, Tomlinson agreed to a two-year deal worth $29MM. Although the former Giants and Vikings interior D-lineman started 17 Cardinals games, the season did not go as the team hoped. As the Cardinals slogged to a 3-14 finish — which included a significant defensive regression — Pro Football Focus graded Tomlinson 114th overall among qualified interior D-linemen.
This exit will mark Tomlinson’s first one-and-done stay. After spending four years in New York on a rookie contract, Tomlinson scored a two-year, $21MM Vikings accord. He build up his value in Minnesota, securing a four-year pact worth $57MM in Cleveland to start Jim Schwartz‘s DC tenure. The Browns used Tomlinson as a full-time starter but designated him as a post-June 1 cut last year.
The Cardinals, who employed future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt and future first-team All-Pro Zach Allen together up from 2021-22, have seen some of their D-line investments since fail to deliver much. PFF graded 2024 first-round pick Darius Robinson as the NFL’s worst interior D-lineman last season. Calais Campbell, as he always does, played well but has not decided if he will play an age-40 season. If Campbell does return, he is not a lock to stay in Arizona — even with the team retaining DC Nick Rallis despite firing Jonathan Gannon.
While the Cardinals also used a first-round pick on D-lineman Walter Nolen last year — ahead of what became an injury-plagued rookie season — they have a need up front yet again. Tomlinson, who turned 32 last month, will try his luck in free agency again. Although the former second-round pick has fared well on the market each time he has tried, his next contract will undoubtedly be a fraction of his previous pacts.
Bills Release Taylor Rapp, Dane Jackson
As Buffalo continues to make room for D.J. Moore‘s contract, the team will release two more veterans. Taylor Rapp and Dane Jackson have been cut, per a team announcement.
The Bills released cornerback Taron Johnson and wideout Curtis Samuel earlier today, confirming those cuts now. Rapp’s release will save the Bills more than $3MM, while Jackson’s exit creates $1.2MM in additional funds.
As Connor Byrne’s Bills Offseason Outlook indicated, Rapp was an expected cut after missing much of last season due to injury. The Bills had retained Rapp — a former second-round Rams draftee — on a two-year, $10.63MM deal. This came on the same day as Buffalo’s initial Jordan Poyer release (in March 2024). Poyer, however, made his way back to Buffalo last year and ended up playing extensively in place of Rapp.
Rapp, 28, underwent knee surgery in October and did not return last season. The Bills used Rapp as a reserve in 2023 — behind the longtime Poyer-Micah Hyde duo — and as a regular starter alongside Damar Hamlin in 2024. A 48-game Rams starter, Rapp started 24 games in Buffalo. While the veteran should draw interest elsewhere, this is a crowded safety market. A host of veteran starters are available, potentially pointing to some needing to accept below-market deals.
Buffalo, which has 2024 second-round safety Cole Bishop under contract for two more seasons, brought Jackson back after the veteran DB spent a season in Carolina. A former Bills seventh-round pick, Jackson only saw action in three games last season.
Rounding up the Bills’ wave of Friday cuts, the earlier Johnson release is expected (per The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia) to be a standard cut as opposed to carrying a post-June 1 designation. The Bills announcing the release effectively confirms Buscaglia’s account, as players designated as post-June 1 cuts cannot officially be jettisoned until March 11.