NFL Player News

Ahead of training camp, offensive coordinator Nick Caley notes that said he's seen Stroud take a leap this offseason, Jonathan M. Alexander of The Houston Chronicle reports.

"There was a lot of progress that C.J. and the offense made last year," said Caley, who enters his second year as Houston's offensive coordinator. "We continued to get better from the start of the season to the end of the regular season and just continued to make progress from week to week. So we're going to continue to build on that. It's a new year. C.J. has done a great job out here. Looks good. Locked in." During the 2025 regular season, his third campaign with the Texans, Stroud -- who had his fifth-year contract option picked up in April -- threw for 3,041 yards with 19 TDs and eight picks in 14 games to go along with 48 carries for 209 yards and a rushing score. Looking ahead, he'll look to rebound from a forgettable four-interception outing in his team's divisional-round postseason exit last season, while working with a pass-catching corps that continues to feature WRs Nico Collins and Jayden Higgins, along with TE Dalton Schultz. The Texans also traded for RB David Montgomery this offseason and added TEs Foster Moreau and Marlin Klein with the goal of establishing a more effective ground game to help balance out the team's offense, per Nick Shook of NFL.com.

Darnold notes that cleaning up his footwork and reducing his turnovers are among his goals heading into the 2026 season, Eric Edholm of NFL.com reports.

In his first year with the Seahawks, Darnold helmed his team's Super Bowl LX win over the Patriots, but despite that success the veteran QB acknowledges that there's still work to be done in terms of "continuing to hone in on the deep ball" as well as understanding how he can get better that way by "quieting (his) feet in the pocket." Darnold -- who threw for 4,048 yards and 25 TDs in 17 regular-season games in 2025 -- also points to his 20 regular-season turnovers (14 interceptions and six fumbles lost) as an area that he can improve. Looking ahead to the coming campaign, the 29-year-old will be working with a pass-catching corps that returns WRs Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp and Rashid Shaheed and TE AJ Barner. Following the free-agent departure of RB Kenneth Walker, the team added Jadarian Price in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to bolster a backfield that awaits the recovery of Zach Charbonnet, who's bouncing back from a torn ACL.

Jones, who dealt with a sore shoulder during the 49ers' spring program, threw passes this week at Tight End University, an event hosted by teammate George Kittle (Achilles), David Lombardi of the San Francisco Standard reports.

The fact that Jones was out there throwing this week suggests that Brock Purdy's top backup should be good to go come training camp. Though there was some speculation this offseason that Jones could be on the move, he'll remain a valuable insurance policy at QB for the 49ers, on the heels of a 2025 regular season in which Purdy missed eight games, all of which Jones started in his place.

Purdy, who has been participating in this week's Tight End University, an event hosted by teammate George Kittle (Achilles), said that he plans to gather with other 49ers for throwing sessions over the next month prior to training camp, David Lombardi of the San Francisco Standard reports.

As the coming campaign approaches, Purdy -- who has had time to move past the shoulder and toe issues he dealt with last season -- is set to work with a WR corps that welcomes a trio of key additions in Mike Evans, Christian Kirk and rookie second-rounder De'Zhaun Stribling. Also in the mix are returnees Ricky Pearsall, Jacob Cowing, Jordan Watkins and Demarcus Robinson. Meanwhile, Kittle is bouncing back from an Achilles injury, and though the star TE says that he has "a chance" to be ready for Week 1, the 49ers may need to lean more on their key wideouts out of the gate this year while Kittle works his way back into the mix. Purdy is coming off a 2025 regular season in which he threw for 2,167 yards with 20 TDs and 10 picks, while carrying 33 times for 147 yards and three scores in nine games. Looking ahead, the signal-caller's fantasy upside in 2026 hinges largely on avoiding injuries, as well as building strong on-field chemistry with his team's re-tooled pass-catching unit.

The Bengals are spending more time working on their under-center offense more this offseason, Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic reports.

The Bengals have been slow to adapt the growing trend in the NFL of working under center, and using more play-action from that set-up to initiate explosive plays. It's always been Burrow's preference to work out of the shotgun and survey the field, but the evidence suggests that the Bengals, while being successful in that format, are leaving explosive plays on the table as a result.

Williams appears poised to make a leap in his second season with coach Ben Johnson in 2026, Alyssa Barbieri of Bears Wire reports.

Williams was a standout during the offseason program after he took multiple steps forward under Johnson's tutelage last season. While his completion percentage dipped from 62.5 percent as a rookie to 58.1 percent in 2025, Williams' touchdowns (27), touchdown rate (4.8 percent), adjusted yards per attempt (7.3) and yards per completion (11.9) all saw significant boosts. He was also sacked just 24 times after absorbing a league-high 68 sacks as a 2024 rookie. Williams certainly has MVP aspirations headed into his third pro season at just 24 years old.

Coach John Harbaugh said recently that Dart is "adjusting really well" to the new offense, Charlotte Carroll of The Athletic reports.

With Brian Daboll and his staff out the door, Dart has a whole new coaching staff to work with in his second season, from offensive coordinator Matt Nagy to senior offensive assistant Greg Roman to passing game coordinator and QBs coach Brian Callahan. Harbaugh and Roman come from a Ravens team that leaned heavily on the run game, while Nagy and Callahan previously worked with Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow in Kansas City and Cincinnati respectively. It's still unclear what this offense is going to look like from a pass-to-run ratio standpoint, but Dart will need to do a better job of protecting himself and staying on the field after he missed two games and parts of a couple others to injuries last season.

An emphasis for Lawrence this offseason has been building chemistry with his wide receivers on downfield throws, Casandra Chesser of Jaguars Wire reports.

Chesser named Brian Thomas in particular as someone Lawrence is working to fortify his bond with in the deep passing game. Lawrence attempted the sixth-most passes of 20-plus air yards last season (590), but he completed just 36.1 percent of such throws, checking in at 25th among qualified quarterbacks. If he can take his deep passing game to another level, the Jacksonville offense would be even more lethal after the unit went nuclear down the stretch last regular season. From Weeks 9 to 18, the Jaguars averaged 32.8 points per game across 10 contests, and Lawrence had a sparkling 18:4 TD:INT mark across the final seven regular-season games. He has a chance to be in the MVP mix again in 2026 in his second season under coach Liam Coen.

As the coming season approaches, Hurts is slated to work with a dramatically different wide receiver corps, Glenn Erby of USA TODAY reports.

A.J. Brown, who led the Eagles with 121 targets in 2025, was traded to the Patriots earlier this month, but prior to that previously speculated move, Philadelphia proactively added depth to a WR corps that is slated to led by returnee DeVonta Smith. The most notable moves in that regard were adding Makai Lemon in the first round of this year's draft, in addition to trading for Dontayvion Wicks and signing Hollywood Brown and Elijah Moore in free agency. During the 2025 regular season, Hurts recorded 3,224 passing yards and a 25:6 TD:INT to go with 421 rushing yards and eight TDs on the ground (on 105 attempts) in 16 contests, numbers that kept him relevant from a fantasy perspective. Looking ahead, Hurts' upside in 2026 is largely tied to how well he adapts to working in new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion's system, as well as how things shake out in terms of the team's collective approach to replacing Brown.

Smith is being investigated in relation to a Sunday afternoon incident in which a woman accused him of battery, Rich Cimini of ESPN reports.

Per Cimini, a Davie, Florida police spokesperson noted Tuesday: "We were informed (Monday) evening that, during review, it was determined that this case is being further investigated by detectives. It is active and we cannot release any additional information at this time." Smith was acquired in a March trade with the Raiders and was subsequently named the Jets' starting quarterback for 2026. The team's training camp is set to open July 25th for rookies and July 28 for veteran players.