In a video report from earlier today, Venerable outlined a potential trade in which the Saints acquire the No. 3 overall pick from the Cardinals in exchange for the Nos. 8, 42 and 73 overall picks. He notes “no 2027 draft capital is exchanged with New Orleans,” and told viewers, “I think that’s the preference for these teams — in fact, I know it.” Per Venerable, the Cardinals “are looking to do their damage” in the draft this year, rather than next year. It sounds like Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort needs to leave the draft with meaningful personnel upgrades. Venerable notes that the Cardinals recently hosted Miami OT Francis Mauigoa (back) for a top-30 visit. He would be in play for them in this scenario. Yesterday, Venerable reported that the Cardinals have discussed a potential trade back with the Chiefs as well. He believes both the Saints and Chiefs are targeting either Texas Tech EDGE David Bailey or Ohio State LB Arvell Reese.
Delp has been very busy lately. He also took top-30 visits with the Buccaneers, Chargers, Vikings, Patriots, and Ravens. Delp was a three-year starter at Georgia, playing sidekick to current Raiders TE Brock Bowers in 2022 and 2023. Unfortunately, Delp never became a featured receiving option after Bowers was drafted. Delp possesses good size and athleticism. He has the potential to develop at the pro level.
The Chiefs would be targeting the top available pass rusher in a trade up, while the Cardinals will again look to accumulate more picks for their rebuild in a trade down. Several teams have been rumored to be looking to trade down, so it’s possible the return is more underwhelming than it would normally be. The Cardinals would be able to slide to the back end of the main tier of prospects in a trade down, and given that they feel like they have the murkiest roster in the NFL at the moment, trading down makes a lot of sense if they don’t have true conviction in any of these players becoming a star.
This probably isn’t going to lower his draft stock much — Branch is a likely Day 2 pick — but it’s not nothing as we near the start of the event next week. Branch was booked at 1:26 AM on Sunday and released at 3:44 AM. The Georgia wideout ran a 4.35-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine and figures to be a YAC-focused receiver in the pros.
Earlier reports indicated the Giants were “asking for a lot” in exchange for the standout pass rusher, something that now seems to bear weight after the team landed the No. 10 overall pick in the coming draft. The Giants now hold the No. 5 and No. 10 overall picks when festivities kick off in less than a week. The Bengals land their replacement for Trey Hendrickson after watching as he departed for Baltimore when the Maxx Crosby trade fell apart. It’s a weird replacement on paper as Lawrence wasn’t a premium pass-rusher last year, but it should shore up a weak run defense.
DeFabo notes that Steelers HC Mike McCarthy dropped a few clues when he said he likes quarterbacks with “big hands and long arms” and sometimes gets more excited about the floor than the ceiling. Beck and Penn State QB Drew Allar seem to be firmly on the radar for Pittsburgh, with Allar as the high-ceiling option to Beck’s safer floor. Beck could be targeted in the middle rounds.
“I wouldn’t say the room is complete,” he added. The Athletic’s Daniel Popper also mentioned Jauan Jennings, Deebo Samuel, and Tyreek Hill as “unsigned veteran receivers with scheme familiarity” for new OC Mike McDaniel. Fantasy managers reliant on Ladd McConkey will want the Chargers to avoid a reunion with Allen, as they both tend to win in the same areas of the field. McConkey, of course, watched his fantasy stock suffer last year with Allen in the fold.
Lawrence, dealt to the Bengals last night, officially passed his physical and signed the contract extension. It’s unclear exactly how much money this adds to his guaranteed tally — that’s probably the real question on how good of a deal it is — but the extension is a bit lower than his reported $30 million per season ask. Lawrence is now under contract for the next three seasons with the Bengals.
Styles and Jeremiyah Love are names that have been tied to the Titans at 4 and Giants at 5 regularly over the last week of buildup to the draft. The Ohio State linebacker is regarded as one of the safest picks in the draft and was a First Team All-American for the Buckeyes’ impressive defense last year. Now that the Giants have two first-round picks, it sounds like if they don’t pick Love, they could land two top-10 defenders.
It would be surprising if Brown were on the Eagles in 2026 given how things have trended. For the last month, all Eagles decision makers can say is People Are Asking Questions About My “A.J. Brown Is An Eagle” T-Shirt. Darlington says this doesn’t necessarily mean that the Eagles will draft a wideout in the first round — it’s a deep wide receiver class and the Eagles have already added Hollywood Brown and Dontayvion Wicks — but (our speculation) it shouldn’t surprise anyone if they wind up with a top-100 pick at wideout.
Kyle Shanahan and Green were captured yelling at each other on the sidelines several times this year. GM John Lynch said that the team wasn’t looking to trade Green. The 2024 second-rounder was a disappointment in 2025 with a 53.5 PFF coverage grade. It wouldn’t be totally surprising if someone traded for Green near the draft, but this report seems more like a public message to Green than anything.
This doesn’t tell us a whole lot. Readers might recall that the 2026 NFL Draft is next week, and the Cardinals hosted Alabama QB Ty Simpson for a top-30 visit yesterday. If the Cardinals do not draft a rookie quarterback, Jacoby Brissett will likely be the default starter, with only Gardner Minshew and Kedon Slovis joining him on the roster at this time. If that is the case, the pass catchers likely stand to benefit. Brissett was able to distribute the ball effectively last year. Rolling with a developmental rookie could hurt the receiving outlooks for TE Trey McBride, WR Michael Wilson and WR Marvin Harrison Jr.
Rapoport said he would be “surprised” if the Cardinals drafted a quarterback with the No. 3 overall pick. He also notes that Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort has a working relationship with Texans general manager Nick Caserio. The Texans currently hold the 28th overall pick. Swapping No. 34-plus for No. 28 would allow the Cardinals to get in front of the quarterback-needy Jets, who are slated to pick at the top of the second round, with pick No. 33. Rapoport also believes that if both the Cardinals and Jets pass on Simpson in this range, he may be waiting to be drafted for quite a while.
Rapoport cautioned viewers, saying he is not making any predictions, before listing Ohio State S Caleb Downs, Ohio State LB Sonny Styles and Miami EDGE Rueben Bain Jr. as potential options. An ESPN report from earlier this month indicated the Commanders are focused on improving the pass defense this year. Adding any of the three players listed above would go a long way toward that end.
Singleton broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot at the Senior Bowl, which required surgery and prevented him from participating in pre-draft workouts. Per Schefter, Singleton “projects to be a mid-round pick next week.” Hopefully for Singleton’s sake and fantasy purposes, that means Round 3 rather than Rounds 4 or 5. He is an explosive dual-threat player with good size, though analysts typically knock his vision.
Giants general manager Joe Schoen views Love as “an offensive weapon,” not just as a running back, so he may not disagree with Harbaugh in this scenario. That said, Raanan reminds viewers that Harbaugh is ultimately “running the show” in New York. The Giants are also interested in Ohio State LB Sonny Styles and Ohio State S Caleb Downs. Per Raanan, trading back into the Nos. 6-10 range before drafting Downs might be the “perfect scenario” for the Giants.
Earlier reports indicated the Giants were “asking for a lot” in exchange for the standout pass rusher, something that now seems to bear weight after the team landed the No. 10 overall pick in the coming draft. The Giants now hold the No. 5 and No. 10 overall picks when festivities kick off in less than a week. That said, and somewhat reminiscent of recent events with Maxx Crosby, he obvious caveat here is that Lawrence will need to pass his teem physical once he reports to New York. As it stands, the Bengals land their replacement for Trey Hendrickson after watching as he departed for Baltimore in the fallout of the previously mentioned Crosby hoopla. The wording of the announcement also seems to indicate that other pieces were involved in the deal, although the details of which have not yet been reported.
There had been talks earlier in the offseason of the team working to extend their veteran offensive lineman but it appears as if the two sides fell short in a resolution, ultimately leading to the team exercising their fifth-year option. Skoronski took a massive step forward in his third professional season, ending 2025 with the sixth highest composite grades amongst guards. Expect the two sides to continue contract discussions into the new year as the Titans continue their rebuild with eyes on the future.
McCarthy said that the NFL would not be reviewing whether Vrabel violated its personal conduct policy, which states that players, coaches and executives must not engage in “conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in” the NFL. Photos of Vrabel and Russini at a luxury hotel in Arizona led to an internal investigation from the Athletic and Russini’s eventual resignation earlier this week. Vrabel told the New York Post the photos show a completely innocent interaction, but otherwise he and the Patriots have declined to comment on the matter. The 50-year-old head coach skipped a pre-draft press conference earlier this week, but will be in attendance for next week’s NFL Draft.
Per NBC Sports Houston’s Aaron Wilson, Klare has met “extensively” with the Texans, Buccaneers, Rams, Broncos and Panthers. Klare could be the second tight drafted next week, profiling as a potential every-down player. Although he performed better as a receiver at Purdue in 2024, he earned a respectable 71.6 PFF run-blocking grade at Ohio State last year. Klare could be a year one contributor, but he is not guaranteed to reach the TE1 ranks in fantasy.
Both players are ahead of schedule, though Ortiz smartly notes, “coming back from injuries, you don’t rush anything.” The goal is for both players to be ready for the start of training camp. Slater ruptured a patellar tendon last August, ending his 2025 season before it began. Alt attempted to come back from a high-ankle sprain in-season last year before suffering a second high-ankle sprain in the same joint, ending his season.
The Packers also waived TE McCallan Castles and CB Tyron Herring. Johnson and Herring were 2025 undrafted free agents. Castles was an undrafted free agent the year prior. Johnson logged defensive snaps in three games late last season, totaling three solo tackles, one TFL, one quarterback pressure and one forced incompletion. Herring and Castles never took the field on defense or offense.
Sarratt spent “several quality moments” with Colts WR coach Reggie Wayne and the team’s local Pro Day earlier this month. Chappell wonders if the meeting “was a preview of coming attractions.” Per Chappell, EDGE is the Colts’ top need, followed by an NFL-ready linebacker. They do not possess a first-round pick and are armed with just one apiece in Rounds 3-6, plus two in the seventh. Although Chappell views linebacker as the No. 2 need, he will still lobby for a wide receiver in the third or fourth round. Adding another piece to the passing game puzzle would benefit QB Daniel Jones, who is coming off a season-ending Achilles tendon rupture. Were Sarratt to land in Indianapolis, it could be tough for him to produce fantasy-relevant numbers in year one, competing with TE Tyler Warren, WR Alec Pierce and WR Josh Downs.
The question as to where Love should be ranked on a team’s big board remains, however. The running back position is generally placed in the non-premium category, making it difficult for teams to treat them as justifiable picks early in the first round. That said, the positive drumbeats continue for Love, who Raanan yesterday said Giants head coach John Harbaugh “is going to want to draft” if he is available with the fifth overall pick.
Orhorhoro was drafted with the 35th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Smith was drafted shortly after that via the 48th overall pick. Both players have had bumpy starts to their careers, but Orhorhoro was slightly more productive last year, totaling 12 solo tackles, two TFLs, 30 quarterback pressures and four sacks. Smith totaled seven solo tackles, two TFLs, 11 quarterback pressures and zero sacks. He also missed three games at the end of the year. Both players are under 25 years old. The trade gives them a fresh start.