NFL Player News

Prescott will have his workload limited in training camp, Jon Machota of The Athletic reports. "Now that he's in the over-30 club, we're going to be smart with some of the things we do with him," new head coach Brian Schottenheimer said Monday. "He is anti-that. He wants to do as much as possible. Luckily we have the trump card with him on that."

Prescott played just eight games last season before going down with a torn hamstring that required surgery, and while the 31-year-old has declared himself fully healthy to begin camp, Dallas isn't going to take any chances with him. The team's $240 million quarterback is likely to see little, if any, preseason action as well as the Cowboys focus on getting him ready for a Week 1 battle with the Super Bowl champion Eagles.

Milton is expected to see plenty of reps with the first-team offense during training camp as the Cowboys limit Dak Prescott's workload, Jon Machota of The Athletic reports.

Prescott's 2024 campaign ended after Week 9 due to a torn hamstring that required surgery, and while the quarterback has declared himself fully healthy to begin camp, Dallas isn't taking any chances with him. Milton, a sixth-round pick of the Patriots in 2024 who was acquired in an April trade, is still something of a project, but the Cowboys are counting on him to be the No. 2 QB this season, so the more work he can get in camp, the better.

Ward's teammate, Will Levis, will undergo surgery on his right throwing shoulder next Tuesday and will miss the entire 2025 season, Jim Wyatt of the Titans' official site reports.

With Levis -- who logged 21 starts for the Titans over the last two regular seasons -- no longer in the mix to compete with Ward, Turron Davenport of ESPN.com notes that the No. 1 overall choice in the 2025 NFL Draft is slated to take the team's first-team QB reps in training camp and likely will be backed up by Brandon Allen, with Tim Boyle also on hand. Ward thus appears destined to draw the Week 1 start for Tennessee while helming a passing attack that's headlined by top WR Calvin Ridley and top TE Chig Okonkwo but otherwise is a work in progress, with slotting behind the duo at their respective positions to be determined as the summer progresses.

Levis will soon have season-ending surgery for a shoulder injury that he initially sustained early in the 2024 campaign, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Levis aggravated the injury later in the 2024 season and then apparently dealt with discomfort this spring/summer. With his shoulder still not right at the start of training camp, he's opting for surgery and hoping to return for 2026, at which point he'll be in the final year of his rookie contract. The Titans are left with Brandon Allen and Tim Boyle as the backup QB options on their current roster behind presumed starter and No. 1 overall pick Cameron Ward.

The Bears activated Keenum (undisclosed) from the active/non-football injury list Sunday.

Keenum was one of a few players added that Chicago placed on the active/NFI list Saturday. It's unclear what issue the 37-year-old was dealing with, but it won't keep him from hitting the practice field as the Bears open training camp Tuesday. Keenum joined the team on a one-year contract in April, and, while he'll likely compete with Tyson Bagent for the No. 2 quarterback role, his primary contribution should come as a mentor for Caleb Williams as he enters his second season as a starter.

Cincinnati released Woodside on Sunday.

Woodside joined the Bengals' practice squad last August and served as the team's emergency QB behind Joe Burrow and Jake Browning in 2024. While he never appeared in a game for Cincinnati, he re-signed with the team in April and looked primed to compete with undrafted rookie Payton Thorne for the QB3 role. But he was released in a flurry of moves by the Bengals on Sunday, which included signing former Falcons starting quarterback Desmond Ridder. Woodside will now look to compete for a backup role elsewhere this preseason.

Ridder signed a contract with the Bengals on Sunday, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

Ridder heads back to the city where he played college football in Cincinnati, as he'll join his third team in the last 16 months since being traded from the Falcons to the Cardinals in March 2024. The 2022 third-round pick ultimately spent the 2024 season with the Raiders and served as the third option behind Aidan O'Connell and Gardner Minshew. Ridder completed 61 percent of 85 passes while appearing in six games with one start in Las Vegas. In his lone start, he went 23-for-39 passing for 208 yards and one touchdown to two interceptions during a 15-9 loss to Atlanta, which is also the team he started 13 games for in 2023. Ridder will now provide competition for the Bengals' backup quarterback job behind Joe Burrow. Cincinnati's No. 2 quarterback over the past two seasons has been Jake Browning, who started seven games when Burrow was injured in 2023.

Keenum (undisclosed) was placed on the active/non-football injury list by the Bears on Saturday.

Once he's ready to start practicing again, the quarterback can return from the active/NFI list at any time during training camp and the preseason. Keenum signed a one-year deal with the Bears in April after missing the 2024 season with a foot injury. The veteran, who has made 66 career regular-season starts and two playoff starts, might be able to compete with Tyson Bagent for the backup job to Caleb Williams.

Shough agreed to terms on his four-year rookie contract with the Saints on Saturday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Shough gets his entire $10.8 million rookie contract guaranteed as well as an annual roster bonus payment structure, which no other rookie selected outside the first round has. The No. 40 overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, Shough enters training camp primed for a three-way competition between himself, Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener (oblique) for the Week 1 starting job, an opportunity opened up by the offseason retirement of Derek Carr (shoulder). While Shough boasts the least NFL experience of the trio, he will turn 26 in September, so if he manages to impress in training camp there will be little incentive to keep him sidelined for any sort of developmental period.

Stroud made it a point during the offseason to rework his body after a sophomore season of regression in 2024, DJ Bien-Aime of ESPN.com reports. "I've been working really hard on getting my body right -- losing body fat, trying to be faster, stronger," Stroud said. "And it went really well. ... [Working] pocket mobility, running out the pocket, throwing the rock. Everything kind of works hand in hand."

Stroud looks to rebound from his second NFL season, when he saw dips in passing yards and touchdowns while throwing seven more regular-season interceptions than in his rookie season. It's a hopeful sign that Stroud is putting in the work this offseason, but there are other areas of the offense that need to improve in 2025. Houston ranked 22nd in yards per game (319.7) and 19th in points per game (21.9) while managing to win the AFC South for a second consecutive season. That drop cost offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik his job, as the Texans replaced him with Nick Caley, who was the pass game coordinator and tight ends coach for the Rams last year. In addition to what will be a new playbook, the offensive line needs to be better. Stroud was sacked 52 times during the regular season and taken down 11 more times during the playoffs.