NFL Player News
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Austin Reed QB | CHI
Austin Reed: Intends to sign with Chicago
Reed is slated to sign with the Bears as an undrafted free agent, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.
Reed (6-foot-2, 220 pounds) had a borderline late-round/UDFA draft grade by most analysts, but the sixth-year senior out of Western Kentucky ultimately didn't have his name called Saturday afternoon and will head to Chicago, where he'll slide in on the depth chart behind No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, Tyson Bagent and Brett Rypien. Reed completed 63.2 percent of his college throws for 8,086 yards, 71 touchdowns and 22 interceptions.
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Michael Pratt QB | TB
Packers' Michael Pratt: Joins Green Bay
The Packers selected Pratt in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL Draft, 245th overall.
The Packers likely wanted to jump in front of the priority undrafted free agent game, locking in the Tulane product with their second to last remaining seventh-round pick. A four-year collegiate starter, Pratt won't be mistaken for a run-first option behind center nor does he have a cannon for an arm, but he's a competitive quarterback who has improved his game significantly after just starting to play football for the first time in high school. It's entirely possible Pratt pushes out the incumbent, Sean Clifford, for the team's backup job behind Jordan Love.
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Devin Leary QB | BAL
Ravens' Devin Leary: Hoping to back up Jackson
The Ravens selected Leary in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, 218th overall.
Leary showed the ability to produce in both the ACC and SEC as the quarterback for NC State and Kentucky, respectively. His redshirt junior season with the Wolfpack was the best of his career, as he tossed 35 touchdowns and threw for 3,433 yards. Leary has good arm strength and should stick on a roster as a backup -- perhaps to Lamar Jackson -- though he had a concerning dip in accuracy in his final collegiate campaign for Kentucky (56.3 completion percentage).
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Joe Milton III QB | DAL
Patriots' Joe Milton: Lands in New England
The Patriots selected Milton in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, 193rd overall.
The Tennessee signal-caller predictably wowed folks with a bazooka of an arm during throwing drills at the NFL Scouting Combine and ran a respectable 4.62-second 40-yard dash time at 6-foot-5, 246 pounds, but he didn't carve out a full-time starting role until his sixth collegiate season in 2023. Even then, Milton failed to put up eye-popping stats in an offense in which Hendon Hooker had been a Heisman Trophy contender one year prior. Milton is the definition of a project at the quarterback position, and if he's unable to beat out Bailey Zappe for the No. 3 spot on the depth chart behind veteran Jacoby Brissett and first-round pick Drake Maye, Milton could be converted to tight end, where he might profile as an interesting prospect thanks to his size and athleticism.
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Jordan Travis QB | NYJ
Jets' Jordan Travis: Lands with Jets
The Jets selected Travis (leg) in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, 171st overall.
If not for a severe leg injury suffered late in his senior year, Travis may have heard his name called much earlier than the end of the fifth. He was a dynamic, longtime starter at Florida State who progressed each season. He never threw more than six interceptions in any season and left Tallahassee with 65 passing touchdowns in 42 games. He had strong rushing ability that will perhaps return when he's recovered, rushing for 1,682 yards and 28 touchdowns. Tyrod Taylor gives the Jets immediate cover if Aaron Rodgers is to miss any time, but Travis projects as an eventual backup with little likelihood to become a starter.
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Spencer Rattler QB | NO
Saints' Spencer Rattler: Slide ended by New Orleans
The Saints selected Rattler in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, 150th overall.
Rattler entered college as an elite prospect with Oklahoma but was displaced as the starter after 15 games by Caleb Williams. Rattler finished out his collegiate career with South Carolina and rehabilitated his draft stock a bit in his final year by posting a 19:8 TD:INT with 3,186 passing yards. He's trended in the wrong direction since leaving high school and slipped even further than anticipated in the draft, though his landing spot should give him the chance to immediately claim the backup job behind Derek Carr.
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Tyson Bagent QB | CHI
Bears' Tyson Bagent: Tracking to be Chicago's QB2
Following the selection of No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, Bagent is viewed as the favorite to open the season as the Bears' primary backup quarterback, USA Today's Vincent Parise reports.
With Justin Fields traded to the Steelers earlier in the offseason, it leaves Bagent and Brett Rypien behind Williams. There's a chance Chicago adds an experienced veteran to what is currently a pretty young quarterback room, but Bagent showed well enough as a rookie last year to enter 2024 with a chance to claim backup duties. Bagent went 2-2 in four games as a starter, completing 65.7 percent of his passes for 859 yards, three touchdowns and six interceptions and adding 109 rushing yards and two additional scores on 23 attempts.
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Kirk Cousins QB | LV
Falcons' Kirk Cousins: Joined by first-round rookie QB
Cousins (Achilles), who signed a four-year deal with Atlanta in March, is slated to be joined in the team's QB corps by Michael Penix, who was taken with the No. 8 overall pick in Thursday's NFL draft, Terrin Waack of the Falcons' official site reports.
Despite the franchise's surprising decision to select Penix, Cousins, who is rebounding from an Achilles tear that he sustained Oct. 29, remains locked in as the Falcons' No. 1 QB for the foreseeable future. Regarding that topic, GM Terry Fontenot noted Thursday, "Kirk Cousins is our quarterback. We're very excited about Kirk, very excited about this team. (With) Michael Penix we're talking about the future. The draft is you look at the future and you look at big picture." In terms of his injury recovery, Cousins relayed last month that he's progressing well and is "optimistic that (he) can be full speed at practice before (the Falcons) break for the summer." In any case, barring any setbacks, Cousins -- who turns 36 in August -- is entrenched atop Atlanta's depth chart, with Penix providing the team with both an insurance policy for the veteran signal-caller, as well as a potential successor down the road.
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Jacoby Brissett QB | ARI
Patriots' Jacoby Brissett: Set to compete with Maye
Brissett is in line to compete with newcomer Drake Maye for the Patriots' starting QB job ahead of the upcoming NFL season, Mike Reiss of ESPN reports.
Given that New England selected Maye with the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, it's only a matter of time before the North Carolina product is installed as the team's starter. That said, it's possible that the rookie begins the season as Brissett's understudy, with coach Jerod Mayo noting Thursday of the Patriots' signal-caller situation that "at the end of the day, our philosophy is the best players will play. We will compete and the best player will start." Brissett rejoined the franchise that drafted him in 2016 on a reported one-year, $8 million deal, providing New England with an experienced option who can either helm the offense until Maye is deemed ready to do so, or alternatively serve as quality backup and mentor to Maye, who doesn't turn 22 until Aug. 30. Meanwhile, 2022 fourth-rounder Bailey Zappe and Nathan Rourke are also on hand to provide the Patriots with QB depth ahead of training camp.
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Marcus Mariota QB | WAS
Commanders' Marcus Mariota: Likely headed for backup role again
Mariota will be joined by fellow Heisman winner and No. 2 overall draft pick Jayden Daniels in Washington's QB room.
The incoming rookie was a four-year college starter (five if you count a COVID-shortened season) and is already 23 years old, making him a strong bet to quickly take over as QB1 in Washington. Mariota presumably knew the Commanders were likely to use the No. 2 overall pick on a quarterback when he signed with them in March, but the team at least traded Sam Howell to Seattle, leaving the 30-year-old unchallenged for a backup role. It remains to be seen how the Commanders divide reps between Daniels and Mariota this spring and into summer.