NFL Player News

Stafford said his finger, which was injured late last season, is now fine, Justin Rogers of The Detroit News reports. Stafford said of the situation, "It just needed rest. No surgery, no procedure, anything like that. It feels good, threw with it today. It feels fine. Been throwing with it for a month, month and a half, now. It just took some rest."

Stafford dislocated the middle finger in his throwing hand during Week 14's win over the Bears. He played the remainder of the season, including a wild-card loss to the Seahawks, but looked significantly affected by the injury, throwing twice as many interceptions to touchdowns during the span. After taking some time off, the quarterback, who is entering the last year of his contract, should be ready for the beginning of OTAs.

Savage likely will face competition from an early-round draft pick, John McClain of The Houston Chronicle reports.

Savage and Brandon Weeden -- both in the last year of their contracts -- are the only quarterbacks on Houston's roster ahead of the 2017 NFL Draft. While Weeden might nominally be a part of the competition, the starting job likely will come down to a battle between Savage and a rookie. The 26-year-old only has 92 pass attempts in three professional seasons, but he did appear competent in a late-season cameo last year before suffering a concussion in Week 17.

Carr (fibula) was able to complete Monday's workout, which marked the start of the Raiders' offseason program, USA Today's Lindsay Jones reports.

Carr broke his right fibula in Week 16 of last season but ended last month by stating his intention to be fully involved in Oakland's offseason work. Although the Raiders' exertions were likely on the lighter side to start off their program, the fact Carr completed all the tasks that his teammates did is certainly encouraging. According to all accounts, Carr's recovery has gone tremendously well, but given his massive importance, it's likely his status will continue to be updated until he's back in full football activities. In the meantime, Carr hopes to secure a new contract with the Raiders before training camp and said Monday his agent and general manager Reggie McKenzie have been in talks over a deal for months.

According to Titans coach Mike Mularkey, Mariota (fibula) is probably ahead of schedule in his rehab process, Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com reports.

Mariota was present Monday for the start of Tennessee's voluntary offseason program, where he was reportedly walking around without showing any signs of a recent injury. Of course, his second season came to an end after he suffered a broken right fibula in Week 16. Now that he's already undergone surgery, moved past needing a walking boot, and begun putting weight on his leg, however, Mariota's rehab progress is more advanced than initially anticipated. Currently able to jog lightly, the quarterback's next step will be to run at full-speed, which he anticipates being able to do in 2-to-3 weeks. Although he isn't expected to be fully cleared until closer to training camp, Mariota says his rehab won't prevent him from throwing with teammates over the summer, marking another encouraging development for the Titans.

Prescott expects his second NFL season to be a challenge, The Dallas Morning News reports. "Anytime that you've had the success that I had in one year, that being my first year, I expect things to get harder," Prescott said. "I wouldn't want it any other way. The defenses have had more looks at me, so they're going to throw things at me. I'm ready for all of it. I'm excited for the challenge."

While he isn't necessarily wrong that NFL defenses will have a better idea of how to defend him, Prescott should benefit from taking regular first-team reps throughout the offseason program and into training camp ahead of his second professional campaign. He'll still be playing behind an elite offensive line, with Ezekiel Elliott, Dez Bryant and Jason Witten giving opposing defenses plenty to worry about. The Prescott-to-Bryant connection could take a big step forward, as the Cowboys' No. 1 receiver was limited by knee and back injuries last season, missing three games and playing at far less than 100 percent in at least a few others. Bryant and Prescott both finished the season on high notes from a statistical standpoint, with the former accounting for two of the latter's three touchdown passes in a 34-31 playoff loss to the Packers.

The Jets likely will release or trade Petty (shoulder) if they use an early-round draft pick on another quarterback, Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News reports.

With Josh McCown and 2016 second-rounder Christian Hackenberg seemingly both locks for the final roster, Petty would be the obvious odd man out if the Jets drafted another developmental project at quarterback. On the other hand, if he remains with the team in 2017, Petty could also get a crack at starting before the end of the season, as McCown has struggled to stay healthy in recent years and Hackenberg was unable to climb the depth chart last season. It's unclear if Petty will be ready for the start of the Jets' offseason program after undergoing January surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left (non-throwing) shoulder.

Stafford (finger) is in the early stages of negotiating a contract extension with the Lions, NFL.com's Kevin Patra reports.

Stafford is entering the last season of the five-year, $76.5 million extension he signed back in 2013, so the Lions hope to lock him in on another long-term deal before preparations for the upcoming campaign intensify. Although it reportedly could be a few months before Stafford inks his contract, the fact that his representatives and the Lions have engaged recently signals the start of that process. With Jim Bob Cooter serving as his offensive coordinator for most of the past two seasons, Stafford has put together his two best campaigns in terms of completion percentage as well as two of his three best touchdown-to-interception ratios.

The Bills signed T.J. Yates this week, as the veteran will join Tyrod Taylor, Jones and Josh Woodrum to form the team's current quarterbacks corps.

Jones entered the offseason as the clear-cut No. 2 behind Taylor, but that's no longer the case as Yates has much more experience, both on the field and in new coordinator Rick Dennison's offense. While the team seems to be setting things up as an open competition, we'd have to say Yates would currently have the edge -- as much upside as Jones has, there's still a long way to go in his development.

Starting wideout Demaryius Thomas noted that Lynch appears more confident as the signal-caller's second season as a pro approaches, Cecil Lammey of 104.3 The Fan reports.

In the same press conference, Thomas said that Lynch is smiling more around the Broncos' facility, no longer burdened with the pressures of being a rookie. This is the second time Thomas has taken Lynch under his wing, as he was seen on the sidelines talking to the QB after the then-rookie didn't get to play in the Broncos' 2016 season finale against Oakland - saying afterwards that the team believed in him. Thomas, as he has to, will be diplomatic when asked about his quarterbacks this summer, and he praised last year's starter, Trevor Siemian in the same press conference. Any faith he shows in Lynch, however, could aid in helping Lynch become more of a leader -- something head coach Vance Joseph has said that he needs to show if he is to take the reins in Denver.

Mariota (fibula) will be present Monday for the start of the Titans' voluntary offseason program, The Tennessean reports.

A previous report suggested Mariota wouldn't join the team until OTAs in late May, targeting a return to on-field activities at the start of training camp or perhaps a bit sooner. While his timeline for participation probably hasn't changed much (if at all), he'll return to Tennessee on Monday to take advantage of his first opportunity since the end of last season to discuss football-related issues with the coaching staff. Mariota has thus far spent most of his offseason doing rehab work at the University of Oregon and at home in Hawaii. He recently shed his walking boot and began putting weight on his surgically-repaired leg.