NFL Player News

The Raiders can add $11.8 million in 2024 cap space if they release Renfrow with a post-June 1 designation, Tashan Reed of The Athletic reports.

Renfrow has just one season left on his contract, but the use of void years means dead-cap charges for 2025 and 2026 will accelerate onto the 2024 sheet if he's traded before June 1 or released without the aforementioned designation. Either way, the Raiders would avoid paying him an $11.53 million base salary, $100,000 workout bonus and up to $629,000 in per-game roster bonuses. It's an obvious move given his lack of production the past two seasons, though there is a scenario in which Renfrow stays in Las Vegas via a renegotiation or extension that drastically lowers his compensation. He's highly unlikely to have a trade market under the terms of the current contract.

Kansas City may release Valdes-Scantling this offseason, a move that would clear up $12 million in cap space, according to Nate Taylor of The Athletic.

It's a no-brainer move barring a renegotiated contract, despite Valdes-Scantling's contributions in the playoffs the past two seasons. He's won two rings since signing a three-year, $30 million contract with the team in March 2022, but he caught only 21 passes for 315 yards and one touchdown in 16 games during the 2023 regular season. Valdes-Scantling will turn 30 years old next October and has never reached 700 yards in a season despite taking nearly all of his NFL snaps with either Patrick Mahomes or Aaron Rodgers under center.

Patrick (Achilles) is a strong candidate to be released this offseason, Nick Kosmider of The Athletic reports.

Patrick has twice suffered season-ending injuries in training camp since signing a three-year, $30 million contract in Nov. 2021. He's now entering the final year of the deal and the 30-year-old has a non-guaranteed $9.5 million base salary for 2024. It is possible Patrick accepts a pay cut to stay in Denver and attempt his return from the torn Achilles tendon he suffered in August.

Gallup may be released this offseason, according to Jon Machota of The Athletic.

The last time we saw Gallup in uniform he caught six passes for 103 yards in a wild-card loss to the Packers. It was his first 100-yard game since Nov. 2021, six weeks before he suffered a career-altering ACL tear. Gallup has three seasons remaining on the five-year, $57.5 million extension he signed a few months after suffering the injury, but none of the remaining money is guaranteed. The Cowboys can free up $9.5 million in 2024 cap space if Gallup is designated as a post-June 1 release, while cutting him without the designation would free up just $800,000 but keep him off the books for 2025. He'll probably need to accept a pay cut if he wants to stay in Dallas

Slater announced Tuesday that he has retired from professional football.

Slater, 38, is calling it a career after 16 seasons in the NFL, all of which were spent with New England as a core contributor on the Patriots' special-teams units. The 2008 fifth-round pick retires with three Super Bowl rings, five first-team All-Pro nods, and 10 Pro Bowl honors under his belt. Former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick recently referred to Slater as the best special-teams player in NFL history, per Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, saying he was glad to have coached the greatest players in all three phases of the game, the others being Tom Brady on offense and Lawrence Taylor on defense.

Bateman finished the 2023 regular season season with 32 catches for 367 yards and one touchdown on 56 targets over 16 games.

The bright spot for Bateman was that he was able to stay healthy for most of the season, with the 16 games being a career high. Other than that, it was a down season for the 2021 first-round pick. He caught just 57 percent of his targets and had a 7.1 percent drop rate. Bateman was also not a threat after the catch with an average of 2.1 YAC per reception. Quarterback Lamar Jackson averaged 8.0 yards per attempt but Bateman averaged just 6.6 yards per target. The wideout saw the second-most snaps on the team among receivers, but he just wasn't able to draw much volume or convert those targets efficiently. Bateman now enters the final year of his rookie contract with significant pressure to produce. The Ravens could look to add a receiver in what is widely considered to be a strong group in the 2024 draft.

The Jaguars are expected to make a strong push to re-sign Ridley, who can become an unrestricted free agent in March, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports.

Ridley's first shot at free agency would come three months after his 29th birthday. He was on the old side for his draft class (2018 first round), got suspended for all of 2022 and then played out 2023 under the fifth-year option on his rookie contract. He wasn't quite the dominant No. 1 option the Jaguars (and many fantasy drafters) had been hoping for in 2023, but he did play all 17 games en route to a 76-1,016-8 line on 136 targets (55.9 percent catch rate, 7.5 YPT). It was enough for the Jaguars to likely offer him a new contract before the start of free agency, though not enough that the team would be willing to make him one of the best-paid WRs in the league. He can start negotiating with other teams March 11 if nothing gets done with Jacksonville before then.

Dell is making good progress in his recovery from a broken fibula and expects to be ready for OTAs this spring, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reports.

Ten and a half weeks removed from surgery, Dell was limited to coaching at Travis Scott's Cactus Jack Foundation celebrity softball game last Thursday, though the wide receiver moved around normally while playing catch with other participants. He started pool work in January, and there hasn't been any report of significant ligament or muscular damage accompanying his broken fibula. Dell plans to participate in spring practices and should be ready for training camp even if the Texans want him to slow-play things until then.

The Buccaneers are not expected to re-sign Evans by Monday's 'soft' deadline, which will force the team to take on $7.4 million in dead cap space, Jordan Schultz of BleacherReport.com reports.

Evans and Tampa Bay will continue contract negotiations in the meantime, but as things stand, the passing of Monday's deadline makes it look more realistic that the 30-year-old wideout ends up on the free-agent market. The Buccaneers also have the option of placing the franchise tag on Evans, though that would cost the team a whopping $28.4 million for 2024 and rule out other tag options like Baker Mayfield and Antoine Winfield. Evans has put together 10 straight seasons with over 1,000 receiving yards and been instrumental to each iteration of Tampa Bay's offense to burgeon in that stretch, so whether he receives his next contract from the Buccaneers or a team on the open market, expect his compensation to be remunerative.

Carter caught four passes for 39 yards on seven targets and rushed three times for 18 yards in 17 games during the 2023 season. He also returned 24 punts for 232 yards and 11 kicks for 262 yards.

Carter, who'll turn 31 years old in April, served primarily as a return man in his first season with the Raiders, logging just 102 total offensive snaps. The journeyman wide receiver is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2024, so it's uncertain that he'll be back as a specialist in Las Vegas.