NFL Player News

Coach Mike McCarthy said Prescott is making progress in his recovery from a season-ending right ankle injury, Rob Phillips of the Cowboys' official site reports. "He's throwing now, doing footwork drills. He's made a lot of progress," McCarthy noted.

When he suffered the compound fracture and dislocation in Week 5 of last season, Prescott was leading the NFL in passing with 1,856 passing yards to go with nine touchdowns and four interceptions. After surgery was performed that same day, he entered the rehab process, which included a second procedure in December, walking on an anti-gravity treadmill and in a pool, and beginning the aforementioned footwork drills in April. The Cowboys are aiming for Prescott to be healthy and ready for training camp.

Coach John Harbaugh said the Ravens are expected to pick up the fifth-year option on Jackson's rookie contract, Jonas Shaffer of The Baltimore Sun reports.

With an MVP award and two 1,000-yard rushing seasons under his belt through three years with Baltimore, Jackson is poised to get a payday sooner rather than later. If the Ravens make the aforementioned move by May 3, his contract will be $23.1 million in 2022, but the team also may want to lock him up long-term in the near future, as has been intimated this offseason. Jackson has a new weapon in the passing game via free agent Sammy Watkins, and the Ravens may also use draft capital to improve the receiving corps, which would give Jackson a good chance to surpass 3,000 yards through the air for the second time in his career this fall.

The Browns exercised Mayfield's fifth-year option worth $18.86 million for the 2022 season Friday, Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal reports.

It's not much of a surprise to see Cleveland pick up the option for the 26-year-old, which the team also did for teammate Denzel Ward. Mayfield helped the Browns secure their first playoff victory in 26 years last season after completing 63 percent of his passes for 3,563 yards, 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions while also rushing for 165 yards and one touchdown in 16 games. A long-term extension could be next now that his status is secured for the next two years.

Smith has re-signed with the Seahawks.

Smith has backed up Russell Wilson for the past two seasons, a role that he'll reprise in 2021. While working behind Wilson, who's been durable as a pro, Smith has made just one regular-season appearance for Seattle, in a blowout win over the Jets last year.

Burrow (knee) said Tuesday in an interview with Chris Collinsworth on the "Pro Football Focus Podcast" that he's "very optimistic" about his rehab progress and expects to play Week 1, Geoff Hobson of the Bengals' official site reports.

Working his way back from Dec. 2 surgery to repair a torn ACL and MCL, Burrow has now resumed throwing from a dropback position, in addition to running and weightlifting. He isn't doing rollouts or any change-of-direction work, but that's to be expected at this middle stage of the rehab process. The 24-year-old says he's ahead of schedule and even believes he'll be able to practice at some point this summer.

Mahomes has regained flexibility in his left toe, James Palmer of NFL Network reports.

Mahomes underwent surgery Feb. 10 to repair a torn plantar plate in his left foot, with the expectation of a three-month recovery timeline. With everything seemingly on track, the superstar QB should be healthy for training camp and might even make some on-field appearances at the offseason program or June minicamp.

Dobbs signed a one-year deal with the Steelers on Wednesday, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

The 2017 fourth-round pick returns to Pittsburgh to fill a depth role behind veteran starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. He'll be competing with Dwayne Haskins and Mason Rudolph for the top backup job heading into 2021.

Mahomes (toe) was pictured attending the Masters Tournament without a walking boot Thursday, James Palmer of NFL Network reports.

Mahomes is nearing the end of his estimated three-month recovery timeframe for surgery surgery to repair a torn plantar plate in his left foot Feb. 10, and the fact that he's been cleared to shed his walking boot suggests that things are progressing on track. The NFL recently announced that clubs can kick off Phase One of offseason activities April 19, which includes small group workouts at team facilities, so an official update on Mahomes' health could come then. Of course, mandatory minicamps don't take place until June even in a typical year, and the NFL has yet to announce an offseason schedule beyond April 19's events.

The 49ers signed Sudfeld to a one-year contract Wednesday.

Sudfeld will join a crowded quarterback room in San Francisco that already includes Josh Rosen and Josh Johnson as depth options behind Jimmy Garoppolo (ankle). The 49ers could also invest their No. 3 overall pick in April's draft into a signal-caller, so the addition of Sudfeld could create robust competition even for the third spot on the depth chart.

The Panthers are allowing Bridgewater to talk with other teams to facilitate a potential trade, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

The Sam Darnold trade didn't remove all of Bridgewater's leverage, as he still has a $10 million guarantee on his $17 million base salary for 2021. That means there's some chance he sticks around in Carolina, even if it's ultimately as a backup to Darnold. The Panthers seemingly prefer to trade Bridgewater, but that might be easier said than done at this point in the offseason.