NFL Player News

McMillan is part of a crowded WR room that just added Emeka Egbuka with the 19th overall draft pick.

One might assume no concerns about job security for a 2024 third-round pick who scored seven TDs over the final five weeks of his initial NFL regular season. Unfortunately for McMillan, there's a chance Egubka proves to be the superior player, and not much chance of Mike Evans or Chris Godwin (ankle) getting benched. Of course, it's also possible the concerns prove unfounded and McMillan cements himself as a quality starter, with Egubka either brought along slowly or getting most of his snaps when Evans/Godwin miss time. There does seem to be a lot of overlap between McMillan, Godwin and Egubka in terms of relative strengths and weaknesses, whereas Evans is a different animal altogether, largely running downfield routes on the perimeter.

Watts (neck) was released by the Steelers on Monday and will discontinue playing football.

Watts sustained a neck injury in Pittsburgh's final 2024 preseason game, per Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com, and it has been determined by team doctors, medical experts and Watts' representatives that it is in his best interest to end his NFL career. He was selected in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of Texas and did not appear in a regular-season game for the Steelers.

Evans will participate in Denver's rookie minicamp on a tryout basis, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

Pelissero mentions that Evans has recovered after missing the entire 2024 season due to a ruptured patella tendon. Prior to the injury, Evans appeared in 34 regular-season games for the Bengals after being selected in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. His contributions in Cincinnati came mostly on kickoff returns and as a pass catcher out the backfield.

Molden (knee) said Monday he is recovering from offseason surgery undergone to repair a right meniscus tear and expects to be fully healthy for training camp, Kris Rhim of ESPN.com reports.

Molden said he's already recovered from the broken left fibula he suffered back in December, but he's been limited at voluntary OTAs due to his offseason knee surgery. The veteran safety inked a three-year, $18.75 million contract with the Chargers in February after having tallied a career-high 75 total tackles across 15 regular-season appearances in 2024. He also had seven passes defensed, including three interceptions, and two fumble recoveries last season.

McCormick is expected to compete for a depth role behind rookie sixth overall pick Ashton Jeanty, Tashan Reed of The Athletic reports.

McCormick has presumably recovered from the ankle injury that landed him on injured reserve to finish the 2024 season. Prior to getting hurt, McCormick filled in capably as a starter, rushing for 64 yards in Week 13 and 78 yards in Week 14. The 24-year-old running back likely will slide down a couple pegs on the depth chart following the additions of Jeanty in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft and veteran Raheem Mostert in free agency. McCormick may be competing for a roster spot with Zamir White, who was sidelined by a quadriceps injury to finish the 2024 season.

Pickett has been joined in Cleveland's quarterback room by rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, whom the Browns drafted in the third and fifth rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft, respectively.

Cleveland's quarterback depth chart now runs five players deep, including Deshaun Watson, who isn't expected to be available for the beginning of the season as he recovers from a torn Achilles. After trading for Pickett on March 10, the Browns signed the 40-year-old Joe Flacco on April 11, then drafted Gabriel out of Oregon and Sanders out of Colorado. Sanders was viewed as a likely first-round pick before surprisingly dropping in the draft, so he has more immediate upside than the typical fifth-round draft pick. Pickett may be able to thread the needle and win the starting job as a far younger option than Flacco but one with more experience than Sanders or Gabriel, but even in that scenario, Pickett would likely be on a short leash with no shortage of available alternatives under center.

Flacco will face additional competition from rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, whom the Browns drafted in the third and fifth rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft, respectively.

Deshaun Watson isn't expected to be available for the beginning of the season as he recovers from a torn Achilles, but Cleveland now has four potential Week 1 starting options in Flacco (signed April 11), Kenny Pickett (traded for March 10), Gabriel out of Oregon and Sanders out of Colorado. Even if the 40-year-old Flacco wins the job initially in camp, it likely won't take long until Cleveland turns to one of the three younger options, who possess significantly more long-term upside, especially because Sanders was viewed as a likely first-round pick before surprisingly dropping in the draft.

White is expected to compete for a depth role behind rookie sixth overall pick Ashton Jeanty, Tashan Reed of The Athletic reports.

Jeanty's expected to take on a workhorse role out of the gate, and free-agent signing Raheem Mostert is better suited to playing in pass-catching situations than White, who has just 21 catches through three NFL seasons. White has presumably recovered from the quadriceps injury that sidelined him after Week 11 in 2024, but he's unlikely to meaningfully challenge Jeanty for early-down work considering White averaged just 2.8 yards per carry in 2024. Sincere McCormick (ankle), Dylan Laube and Chris Collier also will compete for roles in Vegas' backfield.

Second-round pick Tre Harris figures to compete with Johnston and Mike Williams for perimeter snaps, Daniel Popper of The Athletic reports.

The Chargers' top receiver, Ladd McConkey, is at his best working from the slot, yet also figures to get playing time in two-wide formations (as was the case for much of last season). Johnston thus finds himself in a tricky situation, despite being a recent first-round pick (22nd overall in 2023) who improved considerably between Years 1 and 2. The improved version was still wildly inconsistent, memorably putting up 186 yards in Week 18 before going catch-less (on five targets) in a wild-card round loss at Houston. Johnston is good with the ball in his hands, especially relative to other big WRs, but Harris may prove superior at getting open and catching the ball. There's also some chance, though perhaps a slim one, that Williams emerges as a real threat again, now two years removed from an ACL tear and returning to Los Angeles after a one-year sabbatical. The good news for those interested in Johnston is that his already-modest ADP figures to drop even further after the Harris pick.

Kirk (collarbone) figures to spend a lot of time in the slot after Houston drafted 6-foot-4 wideout Jayden Higgins at No. 34 overall, The Athletic reports.

Kirk might've taken most of his snaps in the slot anyway, so it's hard to spin the NFL Draft as a win for his fantasy value, especially after the Texans doubled down on Iowa State receivers and took Jaylin Noel in the third round. There's suddenly a lot of target competition behind No. 1 receiver Nico Collins, who averaged 83.8 yards and 8.3 targets per game in 2024 despite playing less than half the available snaps in three of his 12 regular-season games. The upside scenario for Kirk's volume entails Collins continuing to struggle with soft-issue injuries while the rookies fail to develop as expected. The downside scenario features Kirk becoming somewhat of an afterthought and perhaps even losing slot snaps to Noel eventually. Kirk has one year left on his contract and should be healthy for training camp, after a broken collarbone ended his final season with the Jaguars (who subsequently traded him to Houston for a seventh-round pick). The Texans already restructured Kirk's contract to convert his non-guaranteed salary into a guaranteed bonus, which rules out any chance of him being released before Week 1.