NFL Player News

The 49ers' decision to add Brian Hoyer decreases the odds Cousins will be traded to San Francisco, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports.

A trade to San Francisco has been one of the most popular rumors leading up to the free agency period, with Washington reportedly fielding offers for its 28-year-old quarterback after using the franchise tag on him earlier this offseason. Hoyer is more of a high-end backup than a true starting-caliber quarterback, but his presence could make the 49ers less aggressive in trade negotiations with other teams. It still appears that Washington and San Francisco are the two most likely 2017 homes for Cousins.

The 49ers are expected to sign Hoyer once free agency begins Thursday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Hoyer fared well in his stint as the Bears' starting quarterback last season, cobbling together four consecutive 300-yard performances before breaking his left forearm in Week 7. As he heads to San Francisco, he'll reunite with new head coach Kyle Shanahan, who served as the Browns' offensive coordinator during the sole 3,000-yard campaign of Hoyer's career in 2014. With running back Carlos Hyde (knee), wideout Jeremy Kerley, and Vance McDonald (shoulder) already in place -- and Pierre Garcon about to join the party -- Hoyer will have an opportunity to post respectable numbers with the eighth organization of his career.

The Bills have retained Taylor by signing him to a restructured contract.

While the financial particulars of the deal have yet to be clarified, the move provides the Bills with valuable stability at the QB position, while keeping Taylor off the open market. Taylor, who turns 28 in August, is coming off a 2016 campaign in which he threw for 3,023 yards, while compiling a 17:6 TD:INT ratio over the course of 15 games. Meanwhile, Taylor bolstered his fantasy profile by running 95 times for 580 yards and six TDs. This coming season, he'll be playing under a new head coach (Sean McDermott), but the QB is in line to continue to work with talented wideout Sammy Watkins, who is on the mend following foot surgery. Meanwhile, the Bills' productive ground game will welcome back the likes of LeSean McCoy and Mike Gillislee.

Head coach Jack Del Rio said Carr (fibula) is either on track or ahead of schedule in his rehab process, CSN Bay Area reports. "He's doing well," Del Rio said. "We still have a couple months before we crank it up. He's in good spirits and everything that I've seen and heard is that he's on track, or maybe even ahead of schedule. We expect a complete recovery, and for him to have no issues."

Del Rio's comments support the recent assessments provided by Raiders left tackle Donald Penn and Carr's brother (former NFL QB David Carr). The Raiders' signal-caller hopes to be a full participant in OTAs, but he did acknowledge that it wouldn't be smart to push the issue at such an early stage of the offseason. Even if he does miss some of the offseason program, Carr figures to be back at full strength before the start of training camp.

Shaw (leg) was re-signed by the Bears on Saturday, Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Shaw was likely to reach a deal with Chicago at some point, having entered the offseason as a restricted free agent. After missing the entire 2016 season with a broken leg, Shaw figures to remain buried on the depth chart at quarterback, but there is uncertainty surrounding who will be the top two options when the regular season rolls around.

Coach Adam Gase downplayed concerns regarding Tannehill's mobility going forward in the wake of the QB's season-ending knee injury in 2016, the Palm Beach Post reports.

On the topic of Tannehill's post-injury mobility, Gase relayed that the signal-caller "feels good about it. He feels good about the brace he's going to wear. I'm not worried about it." Initial fears were that Tannehill, who last saw game action on Dec. 11, might require ACL surgery, but that wasn't necessary and a recent Miami Herald report confirmed that the QB is now past the partially torn ACL and grade 2 sprained MCL that capped his 2016 campaign. As a result, Tannehill will be available for the team's upcoming offseason work. Though Tannehill's ability to run isn't expected to be overly impacted this coming season, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald suggests that the QB may morph into more of a pocket passer in 2017, while helming a Miami offense that figures to be keyed by running back Jay Ajayi and a pass-catching corps that will welcome back wideouts Jarvis Landry and DeVante Parker and introduce tight end Julius Thomas to the mix.

A decision on whether to keep Taylor or let his option pass will go right down to the wire. "I've enjoyed getting to know Tyrod and I've been impressed by his work ethic and he's won a number of games for this organization," new coach Sean McDermott told BuffaloBills.com. "Having said that the process continues. The decision making process that is. We're going to exhaust every resource, every avenue and every option available to us before we make that decision."

McDermott and general manager Doug Whaley couldn't have a more important decision to make before the new head coach fully gets going. Working in his favor, Taylor's posted the best QB numbers since Jim Kelly led the Bills, while offense wasn't the problem during Rex Ryan's two mostly disappointing seasons. Taylor also protects the ball well and has experience with new offensive coordinator Rick Dennison. On the other side of the coin, some don't envision him as a franchise quarterback that can win titles, as he has some holes in his game (though it can be argued that he makes up for those with his ball security and sheer athleticism). We'll see what the team does by next week, though if the Bills keep Taylor in the mix, it's a sign that the team is choosing not to go through a full rebuild and will instead try and work off some of the offensive success they had last season.

The Jets believe that Smith (knee) may not be healthy until September, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com reports.

Smith received an opportunity to start for the underwhelming Ryan Fitzpatrick in Week 7, only to sustain a torn ACL in the first half of that contest. Such injuries are accompanied by lengthy recoveries, so a September return is on the optimistic side, in most scenarios. Having said that, Smith thinks he'll be healthy by training camp and even stated a willingness to serve as a backup, which would open more doors as he embarks on unrestricted free agency this offseason. Whichever team provides Smith with his next opportunity, there's little doubt that his recovery will impact his potential to play in 2017.

Mariota has exchanged a scooter for a walking boot as he recovers from a broken right fibula, Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com reports.

Mariota's second season came to a close in Week 16, requiring surgery on Dec. 28 to repair the afflicted fibula. In the aftermath, he was expected to avoid putting any weight on his right leg for a period of eight weeks, hence the use of a scooter in the early stages of his rehab. Now in a walking boot, as of last week, he has hit that benchmark precisely on the head. On February 15, head coach Mike Mularkey mentioned that Mariota will be treated cautiously this offseason, stating that the quarterback is unlikely to participate in drills until training camp. If the preceding comes to pass, whoever the Titans ink as Mariota's backup in free agency will direct the offense in the coming months.

Broncos coach Vance Joseph said Wednesday that Siemian (shoulder) is on track to return for OTAs, Troy Renck of The Denver Post reports.

After winning the starting quarterback job to open 2016, Siemian played capably in the early stages of the season, but saw his production wane upon separating his left shoulder in October. Though he only ended up missing one game due to the shoulder issue, he required a minor procedure in January to address the issue, which left his availability for offseason activities on uncertain ground. Joseph's comments seem to suggest that Siemian is progressing as expected, and the organization seems to remain committed to the 25-year-old, at least in their interactions with the media. Despite Siemian's uneven play last season, Joseph said the Broncos are comfortable with Siemian and Paxton Lynch as the team's quarterbacks, perhaps taking them out of the running for one of the several veteran signal callers around the league who are expected to be available via trade or free agency in the offseason. Even if the Broncos don't bring in any outside competition for training camp, Siemian will likely still have to battle Lynch for the starting job heading into 2017.