NFL Player News

Trautman (abdomen) has been participating in training camp.

Trautman is past an abdominal issue that hampered him during the offseason, allowing him to compete for slotting on the Broncos' tight end depth chart ahead of Week 1. Greg Dulcich and Lucas Krull are also in the mix, and while Trautman is a strong blocker, his upside as a receiver is limited after he produced a 22-204-3 line in 17 regular-season contests with Denver in 2023.

Johnson took a majority of first-team reps at Monday's practice, Gabriel Trevino of NJ.com reports.

It's a bit surprising given that Johnson is a rookie fourth-round pick and was just activated from the active/PUP list a day earlier after missing the first few days of training camp with a hip injury. On the other hand, there's not much reason to slow-play his development when the likely alternative at tight end is third-year pro Daniel Bellinger, who struggled with blocking the past two seasons while getting just 63 targets on 512 routes (12.3 percent). Johnson never reached even 350 receiving yards in a season at Penn State, but he has prototypical speed (4.57 combine 40) and size (6-foot-6, 259 pounds) for an NFL tight end.

Johnson (knee) jogged and worked off to the side during Monday's practice, John Hendrix of SI.com reports.

Johnson was first spotted at training camp Friday, and while he hasn't progressed to sprinting or anything along those lines, his presence on the field less than a month and a half after foot surgery suggests the rehab process is going well. He seemingly suffered the injury during June minicamp, with reports at the time calling the tight end uncertain for Week 1. That's probably still accurate, as he remains on the active/PUP list with six weeks to go until the Saints' season opener against Carolina on Sunday, Sept. 8.

The Bengals activated All (knee) from the active/non-football injury list Sunday.

All has been recovering from a torn ACL suffered last October, and he opened training camp on the active/NFI list on July 20. The rookie fourth-round pick out of Iowa will now be cleared to practice for the first time after finally passing a physical examination. All logged 21 catches for 299 yards and three touchdowns over just seven games during his final collegiate season. He will look to ramp up in time for the Bengals' first preseason game Saturday, Aug. 10 versus Tampa Bay.

The Giants activated Johnson (hip) from the active/PUP list Sunday, Art Stapleton of The Bergen Record reports.

Johnson sat out the beginning of training camp due to a hip injury, but with his activation he'll log his first practice as a pro Sunday. New York selected Johnson in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft with the knowledge that Darren Waller could hang up his cleats, which proved to be the case when Waller announced his retirement in June. Johnson will consequently have an opportunity in camp to compete with Daniel Bellinger for the Giants' starting TE role for the 2024 campaign.

Williams is dealing with AC sprain that occurred on a diving catch attempt during practice, Alan Saunders of SteelersNow.com reports.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin indicated Saturday that Williams will be out for "days," so the tight end could miss numerous practices and may not be ready for Pittsburgh's first preseason contest Aug. 9 versus Houston. Williams got into 13 regular-season contests with the Steelers last year but didn't log any catches and played primarily on special teams.

Njoku (undisclosed) participated in his first training camp practice Saturday, Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Njoku missed the first two days of training camp with an undisclosed injury, but the team never indicated the matter was overly serious. The big-bodied tight end is now poised to build off a stellar second half of the 2023 season, when he registered 50 receptions, 598 receiving yards and four touchdowns over the Browns' final eight games including the playoffs.

Cannella will be signing with Tampa Bay, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Cannella has yet to play an NFL snap since ending his college career in 2019, but he's had some success in the XFL/UFL, most notably leading the UFL with six receiving touchdowns while racking up 496 receiving yards (fifth-most in the league) on 53 receptions (third-most) with Arlington this spring. Cannella will look to earn a roster spot among a Tampa Bay TE corps that is headed by Cade Otton, who played over 90 percent of the team's offensive snaps last season.

The Panthers signed Franks on Friday, Darin Gantt of the team's official site reports.

Franks had a tryout with Carolina on Monday, and he impressed the organization enough to get a contract. The 26-year-old spent the previous three seasons with Atlanta, though he was on injured reserve all of last year due to an undisclosed issue. Franks is presumably now healthy, and he'll look to make a positive impression in training camp with the aim of competing for a roster spot.

Gesicki already seems to have good chemistry with QB Joe Burrow, SI's James Rapien reports.

It sounds like the tight end is getting a lot of first-team reps early in training camp, which wasn't a sure thing after he had only 244 yards for the Patriots last season and then got only $240,000 guaranteed this spring on his one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Bengals. It's backup money by most standards, yet enough to make Gesicki a starting candidate in a TE room where the other veteran options are Drew Sample and Tanner Hudson. The Bengals also have two rookie draft picks, fourth-rounder Erick All (knee) and sixth-rounder Tanner McLachlan, but Gesicki is shaping up as an early favorite to lead the team's tight ends in targets.