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Browns T Dawand Jones Agrees To Take Pay Cut

By | at May 2, 2026 9:58 pm

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.

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Seahawks Announce Seven UDFA Signings

By | at May 2, 2026 3:00 pm

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:

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.

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Cowboys Sign 11-Man UDFA Class

By | at May 2, 2026 12:22 pm

Though many of the Cowboys’ draft picks in recent years have been shipped off to other franchises in a series of ground-shaking trades, the team still ended up with seven picks in the 2026 NFL Draft. To their benefit, six of them came in the first four rounds, and all but one of them addressed the defensive side of the ball. By signing these 11 undrafted free agents, Dallas evened things out a bit while continuing to explore big bodies for the defensive line:

Tight end was a position the Cowboys had intended to address during the draft, but when the early run started on Day 2, they had bigger priorities to take care of. Still, they walk away here with two high-ceiling prospects without having to commit full drafted rookie contracts to either. Trigg was the top prospect on many “Best Available” lists at the conclusion of Day 3. One of only six FBS tight ends to eclipse 50 receptions in 2025, he was very productive and ranked highly within his position group, but major questions on his maturity and accountability were apparently enough to keep him off draft boards.

Rogers needs quite a bit of seasoning to develop into a weapon at the next level, but strong physical traits were enough to make him a coveted UDFA. Both tight ends UDFA contracts came with $200K of guaranteed money, per ESPN’s Todd Archer. Hudson was another prospect that many expected to come off the board on Day 3. In three years at SMU (after transferring from TCU), he never quite jumped off the page, but he showed consistent production averaging just around six touchdowns in each year with the Mustangs. A lot of his potential in the NFL will be dependent on the coaches and system around him, so being in a room that currently rosters weapons like CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens is a good sign.

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Eagles Announce 8 UDFA Signings

By | at May 2, 2026 10:17 am

During last week’s draft, the Eagles made eight selections and three trades, starting with a trade up to the 20th pick to steal USC wide recever Makai Lemon out from under the in-state rival Steelers. They also acquired Jonathan Greenard from the Vikings as well as a few extra late-round picks, one of which they used on one of the most intriguing developmental prospects in recent years: Nigerian-born Uar Bernard.

Philly has since added eight undrafted free agents, per a team announcement, including another player out of the International Player Pathway program and a new long snapper. Here’s the full list:

Gushiken is an elite athlete who ran a 4.33-second 40-yard dash at his pro day with a 1.49-second 10-yard split. He began his college career at Saddleback Community College in California before transferring to Washington State in 2023 and Ole Miss in 2025. He has some playmaking skills – 4 interceptions and 20 passes defended over the last three years – but his 5-foot-9, 189-pound frame could be limiting in the NFL.

Lawson started for most of the last four years at Alabama, including multiple years wearing the green dot. Injuries hindered him throughout his college carer, but when healthy, he was a consistent presence in the middle of the Crimson Tides defense. If he can stay on the field, his advanced football I.Q. will give him a chance at carving out a role in Philly sooner rather than later.

Underwood won the Patrick Mannelly Award in 2024 as the best long snapper in college football. After 49 games at Florida, he will likely take up the same role in Philadelphia after the team parted ways with Charley Hughlett.

Weru played rugby for Kenya’s national team and is the latest international player from the sport to convert to football. While not as explosive as Bernard, Weru is still an elite athlete. Like his fellow IPP product, he has much to learn in Philadelphia and will likely spend at least a few years to develop into a game-ready player.

Wright was a somewhat surprising player to go undrafted after ascending production in his college career. After two solid years at Virginia Tech (47 catches for 574 yards), he transferred to Ole Miss and leveled up. After 27 catches, 394 yards, and his first four college touchdowns in 2024, he made 39 catches for 635 yards and another five scores last year. The Eagles have a crowded tight end room, even more so after adding Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers in the second round, so Wright still has an uphill battle to the 53-man roster.

 

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Chiefs Add 20 UDFA Rookies

By | at May 1, 2026 10:11 pm

In the 2026 NFL Draft, the Chiefs found themselves drafting in the top 10 for the first time since they selected Patrick Mahomes out of Texas Tech at No. 10 overall in 2017. They took advantage with their three selections in the first 40 picks, adding heavily to the defense before shifting focus to the other side of the ball on Day 3. After only ending up with seven rookie additions from the draft, Kansas City let loose with contract offers, adding these 20 undrafted free agent rookies:

After adding a few on offense at the end of the draft, Kansas City continued to add some weapons in undrafted free agency. Ott showed a ton of potential as a sophomore two years ago, when he attended the same school De Jesus transferred to for 2025. He led the Golden Bears with 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground in 2023, but his production and efficiency hit a nosedive the next year. Despite starting 10 games, his production fell to 385 rushing yards and four touchdowns. After transferring to Norman, his production continued to freefall as his usage dwindled nearly down to nothing. There are questions about his toughness and ability to play through minor injuries, but the height of his production showed a dynamic, one-cut rusher with NFL potential.

Caldwell is raw and didn’t dominate at the same level after transferring from Lindenwood to Cincinnati, but a 6-foot-5 frame with a 4.31-second 40-yard dash put him on the map for the NFL with projections that he could have been a fifth- or sixth-rounder. The Chiefs get the developmental project post-draft, though, and could come away much better because of it. It’s probably not a great sign that Gyllenborg didn’t produce much in five years at Wyoming, but scouts see some extremely promising physical tools that boast plenty of potential to work in the league.

On the defensive front, Anthony comes to Kansas City after notching 12.5 sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss in his last two years starting for the Blue Devils. He has a decent set of moves to disrupt the offenses he faces but will need to add weight and clean up his game to stick at the next level. Bissainthe’s level of play rose with each of his four years at Miami — three as a starter — as he developed his game all over the field. He hasn’t proven to be especially strong in any one area, but he’s a hard hitter who has shown a knack for improvement in the face of each challenge.

In the secondary, the Chiefs landed two promising safeties who had strong chances of getting drafted; Singleton was even projected to go in the fifth or sixth round. Showing up all over the stat sheet, Singleton could establish a role as a nickelback if the depth chart stacks up just right. Nwankpa had a really strong senior year with the Hawkeyes, but his future may be as a standout special teamer. At cornerback, Phillips was a player Kansas City coveted. In order to secure his signature, the Chiefs gave Phillips an undrafted free agent contract with $247,500 in guaranteed money, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

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Ravens Sign 19-Man UDFA Class

By | at May 1, 2026 9:00 pm

As the Ravens spent the early days of free agency under the impression that Maxx Crosby and Trey Hendrickson were both coming to take up a significant portion of the team’s salary cap, they watched unrestricted free agents parade out of Baltimore without being able to add much more. As a result, the Ravens have plenty of room to bring in bodies, and they’ve announced the signing of these 19 undrafted free agents to go along with their 11 draft picks and make up a 30-man rookie class:

Fagnano wasn’t expected to do much at UConn after transferring from Maine, but the 25-year-old ended up leading a strong Huskies offense by the end of his seven-year collegiate career. He made few mistakes, boasting a touchdown:interception ratio over his career of 93:18 and only throwing one pick compared to 28 touchdowns in his final year of school. Fagnano’s processing, decision-making, and accuracy all score high marks, but his arm strength and mobility leave a lot to be desired.

It was a bit surprising to see Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft come and go without Pounds coming off the board. The starting left tackle for most of the past two years at Ole Miss, Pounds was projected by some as a potential fourth-rounder. The North Carolina-transfer has all the makings of a strong blindside blocker of the future with reliable pass pro habits, but his run grading has room for improvement. He’s got a great frame for an NFL tackle but will need to make sure he’s putting good weight on that frame.

Burke is a Baltimore-native who ended up in Austin for high school and stayed there for college. With only 10.5 sacks in 17 starts over four years, he may not project as a future starter in his hometown, but with three blocked field goals in his last two years, he shows the potential to find a roster spot on special teams. He’s joined in his virtual homecoming by Webb, whose father played all nine years of his career with the Ravens. The senior Webb led the team in interceptions (5) and passes defensed (20) in 2011 and led the league in passes defensed (22) in 2013.

While the Ravens drafted the top interior offensive lineman of this year’s class in Penn State’s Vega Ioane, they failed to draft a new starting center. Taking a chance on Dawkins, who spent the past two years starting next to Ioane in Happy Valley, could be a strong bet. Dawkins will certainly have chemistry with his former line-mate, and a thin depth chart at the position could give him a strong chance to earn a roster spot.

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NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/1/26

By | at May 1, 2026 7:32 pm

Here are Friday’s rookie signings from the 2026 NFL Draft:

Baltimore Ravens

Green Bay Packers

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

  • G Micah Morris (sixth round, Georgia)
  • DT Uar Bernard (seventh round, IPPP)

For both the Ravens and Packers, today’s signings leave them with only one unsigned rookie draft pick. Both teams still need to ink their second-round picks to closeout their 2026 draft class signings.

Discovered playing basketball at 16 years old in Nigeria, Bernard earned invitations to the NFL Nigeria camp in 2024 and the NFL Africa camp in Cairo in 2025. As part of the league’s International Player Pathway program, if Bernard is unable to make the initial 53-man roster, he can be placed on the practice squad without counting against the unit’s 16-player limit.

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Minor NFL Transactions: 5/1/26

By | at May 1, 2026 7:00 pm

Here are Friday’s minor transactions:

Houston Texans

  • Claimed off waivers (from Titans): DE Ali Gaye

After playing the past two seasons in Tennessee, Gaye is returning to the team that initially signed him as an undrafted free agent out of LSU. Gaye spent his first year in the league on the Texans’ taxi squad, and when he failed to make the initial 53-man roster in Year 2, the Titans claimed him off waivers. Playing in 15 games with Tennessee in 2024, he even notched his first career sack against C.J. Stroud. Gaye started 2025 on the Titans’ practice squad and was called up to the active roster in mid-October, but he ended up on the injured reserve by November with a knee injury that would hold him out of the remainder of the year.

Born in the Gambia, Gaye qualifies for the exemption afforded to players as part of the International Player Pathway Program. This means that, if he lands on the Texans’ practice squad again, he won’t count against the unit’s 16-player limit.

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Chiefs Decline DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah’s Fifth-Year Option

By | at May 1, 2026 5:00 pm

The final fifth-year option decisions are trickling in on deadline day. As the Rams and Giants made expected calls to pass on 2027 guarantees for cornerbacks Emmanuel Forbes and Deonte Banks, the Chiefs are passing on their underwhelming 2023 first-rounder’s option.

Felix Anudike-Uzomah, who missed all of last season, will not see his option exercised, according to Pro Football Talk’s Charean Williams. The Chiefs drafted the Kansas City-area native 31st overall but have not seen him make inroads toward a prominent role in their defense.

[RELATED: 2027 NFL Fifth-Year Option Tracker]

It would have cost Kansas City $14.48MM to exercise Anudike-Uzomah’s option. The Kansas State alum’s work to date did not give the Chiefs much of a decision here. Anudike-Uzomah joins Banks, Forbes, Anthony Richardson (Colts), Tyree Wilson (Saints), Broderick Jones (Steelers), Jack Campbell (Lions), Mazi Smith (Jets) and Myles Murphy (Bengals) in seeing their options declined.

Even as Campbell became an All-Pro who saw his option declined — as teams have steered clear of ILBs’ options for years now — the 2023 draft produced 22 exercised options. That represents a quality group, and two of those players — Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Will Anderson Jr. — have already signed record-setting extensions at their respective positions.

The Chiefs enjoyed rare draft real estate this year, using their No. 9 pick to trade up for cornerback Mansoor Delane. The Patrick Mahomes era has otherwise featured drafts either without a first-round pick (2018, as the team traded up for Mahomes a year prior) or a draft slot at or near the bottom of the round. That was the case in 2023, when the Chiefs were coming off a Super Bowl LVII win. Anudike-Uzomah, who played at nearby Lee’s Summit (Mo.) High before trekking to Kansas State, has just three sacks in 34 career games.

Kansas City went with D-ends in back-to-back first rounds, taking George Karlaftis in 2022. He has become a key starter for the team, signing a four-year extension during the 2025 offseason. The Chiefs made Mike Danna a cap casualty last month and let Charles Omenihu walk in free agency, but they were closely linked to using one of their first-round picks on an end. That did not happen, but the team circled back to the position by selecting Oklahoma’s R Mason Thomas 40th overall.

After serving as an ineffective backup during his first two seasons, albeit while recording a sack in the Chiefs’ 2024 divisional-round win over the Texans, Anudike-Uzomah landed on IR last summer due to a hamstring strain. Those injuries typically do not cause season-nullifying transactions, but the Chiefs did not carry Anudike-Uzomah to their 53-man roster for a possible IR-return move.

He now will spend a contract year vying for playing time behind Karlaftis. The Chiefs also have 2025 third-rounder Ashton Gillotte in that mix, though the team is still looking for a surefire Karlaftis complementary piece. Anudike-Uzomah would transform his 2027 free agent market by making a belated push, and we have seen well-timed breakouts before. But the Chiefs are understandably passing on guaranteeing him any 2027 money based on performance thus far. He will be tied to a $3.76MM cap number this season.

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Rams Decline CB Emmanuel Forbes’ Fifth-Year Option

By | at May 1, 2026 4:56 pm

The deadline for fifth-year option decisions has arrived, and although the Rams did not make a first-round pick in 2023, they held an option call thanks to their waiver claim of Emmanuel Forbes. As expected, Los Angeles will not provide the cornerback with a 2027 guarantee.

Forbes will see his option declined, per The33rdTeam’s Ari Meirov. The Rams overhauled their cornerback contingent this offseason, importing Chiefs starters Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson into their starting lineup. A record-setting extension followed for McDuffie, while his former Kansas City sidekick signed a three-year, $51MM Rams accord.

[RELATED: 2027 NFL Fifth-Year Option Tracker]

It would have cost the Rams $12.63MM to exercise Forbes’ option. The 2020 CBA made options fully guaranteed, after the 2011 CBA allowed teams to pick up options and cut players later free of charge as long as they passed a physical. Although the current CBA has caused teams to be more careful with option decisions, the salary cap’s annual spikes have allowed some flexibility here.

Twenty-two 2023 first-rounders saw their options exercised this year. That beats the 2022 first-round contingent (19, though Derek Stingley Jr. was extended early) and the 2021 first-round crop (16, though three players were extended in that group). The 2020 draft only featured 12 exercised options, though the Packers extended Jordan Love in lieu of exercising his.

The ’23 first-round cornerback collection was 2-for-4 in exercised options, with the Seahawks and Patriots respectively extending Devon Witherspoon and Christian Gonzalez‘s rookie deals through 2027. The Giants, however, declined Deonte Banks‘ option today. Witherspoon and Gonzalez have become two of the NFL’s best corners, while Banks and Forbes have not lived up to the first-round billing.

The Commanders chose Forbes 16th overall, one spot in front of Gonzalez, and that regime was removed from power after the ’23 season. The Adam Peters-Dan Quinn duo moved on from the Ron Rivera-Martin Mayhew first-rounder quickly, cutting the lanky CB in November 2024 after dangling him in trades. The Rams swooped in with a claim and have used him sparingly since.

Coming to Washington after a Mississippi State career that included incredible ball production (14 INTs in three seasons, six pick-sixes), Forbes also entered the league south of 170 pounds. Size became an issue for the young ballhawk, who has five interceptions in three seasons. Forbes fell out of favor with Quinn’s staff and played in just two Rams games after being claimed in 2024. Last season, however, brought a much bigger role. L.A. used Forbes as a 14-game starter and deployed him on 73% of its defensive snaps. Pro Football Focus, however, graded Forbes 91st among qualified CB options in 2025.

As cornerback play may have been the Rams’ Achilles heel last season, the team paid up for replacements in McDuffie and Watson. The team also let Cobie Durant, Derion Kendrick and 2025 deadline acquisition Roger McCreary walk. Forbes may still have a role in 2026, but a significant snap-share reduction appears in the offing. The 6-foot cover man does represent important depth behind the ex-Chiefs and nickel Quentin Lake, however, and has one more season to boost his free agency stock.

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