NFL Player News

The Cardinals selected Harrison in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, fourth overall.

Sharing the same name as his star NFL wideout father, the younger Harrison somehow heads into the NFL with even higher expectations out of Ohio State than the senior Harrison did out of Syracuse in 1996. Although not quite as fast as his father, the younger Harrison is much bigger (6-foot-3, 209 pounds) and seemingly possesses much of the same technical prowess that made the senior Harrison a Hall of Fame receiver and Peyton Manning's all-time leading target. Harrison is so technically sharp that the game looks almost effortless to him, and he brings enough speed to threaten all levels of the field on almost any play design. For the Cardinals it's a near lock that Harrison immediately establishes himself as the team's WR1, and potentially by a significant margin. Indeed, it seems like Harrison's competition for targets is tight end Trey McBride rather than the likes of wideouts Michael Wilson and Greg Dortch. There's a good chance that Harrison proves the best NFL wideout between himself and former Ohio State teammates Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave and Jaxon Smith-Njigba after logging back-to-back 1,200-yard seasons at over 10.0 yards per target the last two years.

Brown (knee) signed a three-year, $96 million extension with the Eagles on Thursday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Rumors emerged early in the offseason that Brown was on his way out of Philadelphia after a disappointing close to the 2023 campaign. He did his best to shut the speculation down, and this extension -- which reportedly includes $84 million in guaranteed money -- should squash any lingering doubt as to his future with the Eagles as he's now under contract through 2029. Brown -- who is bouncing back from a knee issue that he sustained in the Eagles' regular-season finale -- has had two standout seasons with the team, topping 1,450 in each year with 18 total touchdowns.

Bateman signed a two-year contract extension Wednesday.

Bateman was already under contract through the upcoming season in the final year of his rookie deal, but the Ravens had until May 2 to decide whether to exercise the receiver's $14.44 million team option for 2025. By reaching an extension with Bateman, the Ravens will no longer have to decide on whether to exercise or decline the option, as he's now on the team's books through 2026. The 24-year-old appeared in 16 of the Ravens' 17 regular-season games this past season, catching 32 of 56 targets for 367 yards and one touchdown. Despite Bateman's underwhelming production during his third NFL season, head coach John Harbaugh noted earlier in the offseason that he views the wideout as a candidate to "take a big step" forward in 2024, per Ryan Mink of the Ravens' official site. The Ravens' pass-catching corps should look mostly similar in 2024 as it did in 2023, as No. 1 wideout Zay Flowers is entering his second season and standout tight end Mark Andrews is back in the fold, though Odell Beckham is currently a free agent and may not be brought back.

The Bengals exercised Chase's $21.82 million team option for 2025 on Wednesday.

Cincinnati's decision to exercise the fifth-year option on Chase's rookie contract comes as little surprise with the 24-year-old having emerged as one of the NFL's top receivers since getting drafted with the No. 5 overall pick in 2021. During this past season, Chase recorded a career-high 100 catches (on 145 targets) for 1,216 yards and seven touchdowns over 16 games.

St. Brown and the Lions reached agreement Tuesday on a four-year extension, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Rapoport relays that St. Brown's deal is worth more than $120 million, including $77 million guaranteed. If those numbers hold up when more details come out, St. Brown will tie Tyreek Hill's for average annual value ($30 million) for a receiver and have the stand-alone record for money guaranteed. Of course, he probably won't hold those records for long, as the list of star wideouts nearing the end of their rookie contracts includes Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb and Ja'Marr Chase. In any case, St. Brown has improved his receiving volume and fantasy production with each passing season in the NFL, and he should have another big year in 2024 while catching passes from quarterback Jared Goff in an offense that will be coordinated by Ben Johnson for at least one more season.

Kansas City is optimistic Toney will contribute in 2024, ESPN's Adam Teicher reports.

GM Brett Veach recently referred to Toney as "probably our most talented wideout," and coach Andy Reid said the 25-year-old is "arguably one of the most talented guys on the team." The implication, supported by Veach's comments, is that Toney's lack of playing time last season was a product of his medical issues, starting with a meniscus injury during training camp. Of course, injuries have been a constant for the 2021 first-round pick, who has missed at least four games in each of his three pro seasons and also seen his snaps limited a number of other times, and Toney has never recorded more than six targets or 30 offensive snaps in his 23 total game with Kansas City between the regular season and postseason. An ongoing legal situation involving Rashee Rice could open the door for Toney to get more playing time at some point in 2024, with his YAC ability potentially making him a good fit to see a lot of the quick passes Rice hauled in as a rookie in 2023. Fantasy relevance seems like somewhat of a long shot nonetheless, especially after Toney was a healthy(ish) scratch for the team's Super Bowl win over San Francisco in February.

Moore isn't a lock to make the 2024 roster, according to ESPN's Adam Teicher.

The 2022 second-round pick has averaged 1.4 catches for 16.5 yards through 30 regular-season games, mostly serving as Kansas City's fourth or fifth wide receiver. It won't be surprising if Moore ends up earning a depth job again, though his fate partially depends on how things play out with the 2024 NFL Draft, Rashee Rice's legal situation, and Kadarius Toney's health, among other factors. Rice and free-agent signing Marquise Brown figure to play a lot when available, though neither can exactly be called reliable. Even so, Moore's lack of playing time and production through two seasons suggests he's not the most likely beneficiary in the event things go south for one of the team's starters. Kansas City seems optimistic about Toney and Justin Watson and might devote an early draft pick to the position.

GM John Lynch said Monday that the 49ers are having "good talks" with Aiyuk, who hasn't been at the team facility for the offseason program, Matt Barrows of The Athletic reports.

Aiyuk is unlikely to show up for voluntary workouts without a new contract in hand, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll hold out from mandatory minicamp in June if the two sides haven't reached an agreement by then. The 26-year-old's agent denied reports of a trade request last weekend, and it sounds like there's still hope for a long-term contract heading into the fifth and final year of Aiyuk's rookie deal. He's scheduled to make $14.12 million under the fifth-year option, whereas a multi-year deal likely would entail a large signing bonus and an annual average value well north of $20 million. Making it work for the 2024 season isn't an issue, but the Niners may be hesitant to pay Aiyuk at market value long term when they already have six players scheduled for cap hits north of $20 million in 2025, including WR Deebo Samuel and TE George Kittle. Even then, it's a workable situation, as they've got a starting QB on a late-round-rookie contract and don't owe large sums of guaranteed money beyond the current year to anyone besides DE Nick Bosa.

Rice is likely facing a multi-game suspension for his involvement in a car crash in late March, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Rice left the scene of a six-car accident on a Dallas highway and now faces charges for aggravated assault, collision involving serious bodily injury and collision involving injury. While he figures to be suspended at some point, the NFL typically allows legal processes to play out before doling out league punishment, which means it's possible Rice is on the field come Week 1.

Chark visited the Chargers on Thursday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Few teams are more in need of wide receivers, with the Chargers having released Mike Williams and traded Keenan Allen earlier this offseason. Chark has never come close to matching his 1,008-yard, eight-TD performance in 2019 for Jacksonville, but he did top 500 yards both of the past two seasons in Detroit and Carolina, starting 21 of 26 games along the way. Chark will turn 28 in September and doesn't figure to command a large contract.