NFL Player News

Coach Mike McDaniel described Bridgewater (concussion) as the Dolphins' "backup" quarterback during Monday's press conference at the NFL's annual league meetings, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald reports.

Bridgewater recently declined to discuss the role promised to him after signing with Miami, but McDaniel has now made absolutely clear that the plan moving forward is for the 29-year-old to enter Week 1 as the No. 2 option. McDaniel said the priority for Bridgewater and the coaching staff is "empowering Tua [Tagovailoa] to be the player he can be." Bridgewater, who missed the final four games of the 2021 season with a concussion, is one of the more accomplished and capable backups in the league, and he could certainly provide valuable mentorship for Tagovailoa, who is heading into a make-or-break third year in the NFL.

Winston indicated Monday that he's "ahead of schedule" in his recovery from a torn ACL.

The QB, who the Saints re-signed to a two year deal last week, added that he'll be back "well before training camp." Winston is bouncing back from knee surgery that he underwent in mid-November, but with his rehab evidently progressing well, the 28-year-old is trending toward being ready for Week 1 action. While it remains to be seen exactly when Winston will be able to practice fully, his 2022 fantasy prospects are bolstered by the fact that top target Michael Thomas (ankle) is on track to rejoin the team's wideout mix after missing last season, as well as the return to the fold of Tre'Quan Smith, who re-upped with New Orleans on Monday.

Coach Josh McDaniels said Monday the Raiders are "trying to build around" Carr but spoke vaguely about a potential contract extension for the starting quarterback, Vic Tafur of The Athletic reports.

McDaniels' comments come less than two weeks after Tafur's report that initial discussions between Carr and Las Vegas regarding an extension had begun. Earlier this month, McDaniels confirmed that Carr will enter the 2022 campaign as the Raiders' starting quarterback, and the team since has added a new No. 1 wide receiver to the offensive arsenal in the form of Davante Adams. Despite significant moves to bolster the roster, though, McDaniel's statement that the signal-caller is "going to have to make decisions about what's best for him," along with what appears to be a disgruntled response from Carr's representatives, would seem to indicate that little progress toward a new contract has been made. Currently, Carr is positioned to play out the final year of his contract in the 2022 season, with his $19.8 million salary representing a positional bargain for the Raiders.

GM Scott Fitterer noted Friday that Darnold is currently "in the lead" for the Panthers' starting QB job, ESPN's David Newton reports.

That said, less than a month ago Fitterer suggested that the job was "open,'' but at this stage P.J. Walker is the only other signal-caller on Carolina's roster. With that in mind, Fitterer indicated that the team intends to "add a lot of competition to (the QB) room" while adding he still hopes that Darnold can take the opportunity and run with it. It remains be seen if the Panthers bring in a veteran to compete with Darnold, elect to use a premium draft pick on a young QB, or both, but in the wake of a flurry of movement involving several high-profile players at his position, Darnold, at least for now, remains atop a Carolina depth chart that has yet to be filled out.

Siemian signed a two-year deal with the Bears on Thursday, according to his agent, Mike McCartney.

Siemian spent the 2021 season primarily as the backup in New Orleans. However, he did start for a string of five games in the middle of the season, during which he completed 57.2 percent of his passes for 1,083 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions. While Siemian won't have the opportunity to start in Chicago barring an injury to Justin Fields, he has proven to be a solid backup and viable spot starter throughout his five-year career. Nick Foles also remains in the picture, but he was often a healthy scratch when the rest of the quarterback room was healthy in 2021.

The Rams tendered Wolford a contract Wednesday, Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic reports.

As an exclusive rights free agent, Wolford can no longer negotiate with another team after being tendered by Los Angeles, which means he'll return to the Rams in 2022 as the backup to No. 1 quarterback Matthew Stafford. Wolford made three appearances in garbage time in 2021, with the Wake Forest's products most memorable NFL moments having come the season prior. While Jared Goff was sidelined due to thumb surgery for Week 17 of the 2020 season, Wolford started and led Los Angeles to a playoff-clinching win over the Cardinals.

Mahomes will have to contend with a revamped wideout corps in 2022 after the Chiefs traded top receiver Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins on Wednesday in exchange for multiple draft picks, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

In the wake of the move, the Chiefs' wideout ranks are currently headed by JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman, with Josh Gordon, Justin Watson, Cornell Powell, Gehrig Dieter and Corey Coleman on hand as depth. That said, the Chiefs are destined to add numbers at the position, either through what's left in the free-agent pool and/or via April's draft. Regardless, losing a proven target and playmaker like Hill isn't optimal with regard to Mahomes' fantasy upside, at least until there's added clarity with regard to Kansas City's wideout pecking order once the dust settles this offseason.

Tagovailoa is positioned to lead a revamped Dolphins offense in the 2022 season, with Miami most recently having acquired six-time Pro Bowl wideout Tyreek Hill from the Chiefs on Wednesday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

The Dolphins will surrender significant draft capital in exchange for Hill, giving up five picks headlined by 2022 first-round and second-round selections. Even so, the pairing of Hill with 2021 rookie standout Jaylen Waddle can't be overstated. Heading into what looks like a make-or-break Year 3 campaign, Tagovailoa will not only have the benefit of an improved receiving corps that also returns Mike Gesicki and DeVante Parker, but he'll also get significant upgrades to his offensive line following the offseason pickups of left tackle Terron Armstead (knee) and left guard Connor Williams in free agency. Additionally, head coach Mike McDaniel could have a chance to finally provide Tagovailoa with a rushing game to rely on, given his success in San Francisco and the arrivals of Chase Edmonds and Raheem Mostert (knee). The flip side, of course, is that if Tagovailoa fails to make a leap forward in spite of all the offensive upgrades, he could quickly face pressure from new backup Teddy Bridgewater (concussion) for the starting job.

White has signed his restricted free agent tender with the Jets, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com reports.

Per Cimini, White is slated to earn $2.54 million this coming season. The 26-year-old made four appearances (three starts) for the Jets in 2021, completing 88 of 132 passes for 953 yards, to go along with five touchdowns and eight interceptions. Now that he's back in the fold, White will compete with veteran Joe Flacco for the No. 2 signal-caller job behind Zach Wilson.

Prescott said Monday that his left, non-throwing shoulder is "fine," and he has no limitations following surgery in February, Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

When the surgery was reported in early March, it was termed a "clean-up" procedure, according to Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News. With his health not in question for the offseason program, Prescott now can focus on getting acquainted with a revised receiving corps that lost Amari Cooper via trade to the Browns and Cedrick Wilson in free agency to the Dolphins. At this point, CeeDee Lamb is the Cowboys' unquestioned top wide receiver, followed by Michael Gallup -- who tore his ACL in Week 17 -- newcomer James Washington and Noah Brown. As for the rest of the skill positions, Prescott has holdovers Ezekiel Elliott (knee) and Tony Pollard at running back and Dalton Schultz at tight end.