NFL Player News

Though Bowers (undisclosed) was present for practice Friday, he didn't participate in the session, Tashan Reed of The Athletic reports.

At this stage, there's been no report of an injury, so it's possible Friday was simply a rest day for Bowers. As the coming season approaches, the 2024 first-rounder is bound to remain a focal point of a Raiders passing attack now helmed by QB Geno Smith, with the tight end out of Georgia currently viewed as the consensus No. 1 option at his position in fantasy rankings.

Sanders is "shining" at training camp, according to Alex Zietlow of The Charlotte Observer.

It sounds like Sanders has been especially impressive during red-zone drills, catching a bunch of TD passes from Bryce Young. The 2024 fourth-round pick finished his rookie season with a 33-342-1 receiving line, serving as Carolina's top pass-catching TE for much of last season while splitting snaps with Tommy Tremble, who currently resides on the PUP list with a back injury. A strong summer could help Sanders take more snaps away from Tremble come September.

The Bengals have signed Noah Fant to join Gesicki at tight end, Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com reports.

The new addition warrants at least a slight reduction in Gesicki's playing-time and target projections, although the Bengals may end up mostly using Fant in multi-TE sets. The former Bronco and Seahawk is signing a one-year, after the Bengals gave Gesicki a three-year, $25.5 million deal this offseason. Both are catch-first tight ends, although Gesicki arguably more so, aligning in the slot or out wide more often that he's tight to the formation. Fant could now take some of the single-TE-formation snaps (and routes/targets) that might otherwise have gone to Gesicki.

Yeboah suffered a leg injury during Thursday's Hall of Fame Game against the Chargers, Justin Rogers of DetroitFootball.net reports.

Yeboah will presumably undergo further imaging Friday, as little was known about the injury Thursday night. Nevertheless, he believes he avoided a serious issue.

Dissly brought in both targets for 14 yards and a touchdown during the Chargers' 34-7 preseason win over the Lions in Thursday's Hall of Fame Game.

The veteran tight end capped off the Chargers' first drive with a nifty five-yard touchdown grab on a perfect touch pass from Trey Lance. Dissly broke out in 2024 with a career-best 50-481-2 receiving line over 15 regular-season games, and he's slated to open the campaign with at least a share of the top tight end job again despite the additions of Tyler Conklin and Oronde Gadsden via free agency and the draft, respectively.

The Bengals officially signed Fant on Thursday.

Fant, who recorded a 48-500-1 receiving line in 14 regular-season games with the Seahawks in 2024, bolsters a Bengals tight end corps that also includes Mike Gesicki, who caught 65 passes for Cincinnati last season. With star wideouts Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins also around to command plenty of targets, Fant may not initially have a path to steady volume, but the 2019 first-rounder would quickly find himself on the fantasy lineup radar if Gesicki were forced to the sideline at any point this season.

The Colts cut Okwuegbunam on Thursday.

Okwuegbunam signed with the Colts' practice squad last December but didn't appear in a regular-season game during the 2024 campaign. The 27-year-old clearly didn't show enough in practice this offseason behind Tyler Warren, Mo Alie-Cox, Drew Ogletree, Jelani Woods and Will Mallory. Okwuegbunam's NFL career appears to be running on fumes, with him having last logged a regular-season reception back in the 2022 campaign with Denver.

The Bengals waived Taylor on Thursday.

Taylor signed with the Bengals as an undrafted free agent following the 2025 Draft. He's out of a roster spot after the team signed veteran TE Noah Fant on Thursday.

Taylor looks ready to start out of the gate and has been operating ahead of Jeremy Ruckert and Stone Smartt in training camp, Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic reports.

Taylor has demonstrated good chemistry with quarterback Justin Fields and drawn praise from wide receiver Garrett Wilson for his playmaking ability. The rookie second-round pick's main competitors for snaps at tight end, Ruckert and Smartt, have combined for only one touchdown catch in 79 regular-season NFL games.

Knox (hamstring) returned to practice Thursday.

After missing the start of training camp, this marks the first practice for Knox since he came off the active/non-football injury list, per Katherine Fitzgerald of The Buffalo News. The 28-year-old, who logged 22 catches for 311 yards and a touchdown in 16 regular-season games in 2024, thus is slated to reprise his role in a Buffalo passing offense that also features fellow TE Dalton Kincaid, who caught 44 passes in 13 contests last season.