NFL News Updates

Author: nfltalk

  • Can James Shibest’s special teams magic rub off on Purdue football?

    Can James Shibest’s special teams magic rub off on Purdue football?

    WEST LAFAYETTE − Considered one of college football’s top special teams coordinators, James Shibest will try to inject his wisdom with Purdue football.

    In 25 years coaching special teams, Shibest twice has been recognized as Special Teams Coordinator of the Year, including at his most recent stop with UNLV.

    Shibest spent two years at UNLV coaching with Barry Odom, then followed him to Boilermaker country when Purdue hired Odom as head coach.

    Opportunities lacked for Purdue’s kicking and return units last year.

    Keelan Crimmins, who transferred to Illinois after the season, did lead the Big Ten in total punt yardage, which is more indicative of how bad the offense was. Purdue ranked sixth in punting average and net yardage.

    More: How did former Purdue football players perform for NFL scouts on pro day?

    3 questions with Purdue football special teams coordinator

    Q: You’ve only worked for three head coaches (Houston Nutt, Justin Fuente and Barry Odom). How much trust does there have to be with the head coach when you want to do trick plays like a fake punt or field goal? There’s got to be some freedom to trust the special teams coordinator, right?

    A: First of all, you’ve got to have time to work on them things. You usually start with a base three to four fakes and whatever you install in fall camp. We kind of choose from the looks we’re getting for the week. Coach Odom is a gambler, which is awesome. A lot of these guys just want to get the ball out of there and not take any risk.

    Dec 26, 2023; Phoenix, AZ, USA; UNLV Rebels special teams coordinator James Shibest against the Kansas Jayhawks in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

    Q: What philosophy will you and Barry Odom have as to which athletes are on special teams?

    A: It all comes down to personnel. Regardless if it’s…

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  • Saints restructure Erik McCoy’s contract

    Saints restructure Erik McCoy’s contract

    The Saints again find themselves needing to make moves in order to get under the salary cap and, as in past years, the machinations will involve contract restructures.

    Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football reports that center Erik McCoy is one of the players who will be converting salary into a bonus. Per the report, the Saints will pick up more than $7 million in cap space as a result of the deal.

    That money will now hit the cap in future seasons, which likely means that the Saints will continue to make similar maneuvers down the road.

    McCoy is under contract through the 2027 season. He was limited to seven games in 2024 due to groin and elbow injuries and he’s started all 81 games he’s played since joining the Saints in 2019.

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  • College football transfers in spotlight this spring, from Jackson Arnold at Auburn to Travis Shaw at Texas

    College football transfers in spotlight this spring, from Jackson Arnold at Auburn to Travis Shaw at Texas

    Spring practice is beginning to get underway across the country, which means it’s the first opportunity for coaches to see their new transfer additions on the field. For some programs that’s a high-priced quarterback, while for others, it’s a new addition who will help rework the offensive line or the secondary.

    As spring practice gets going in earnest, these are 15 transfers from across the country we’re excited to see step on the field and why they’re so important to their new teams.

    Previous school: Oklahoma

    Arguably the most talented field-stretching X receiver this portal cycle, Anderson is one of the rarest possible commodities in the portal. At 6-foot-4, 216 pounds, Anderson can go up and win 50-50 balls with his frame but excels thanks to long speed that allows him to blow by cornerbacks, a skillset he showed in 2023 while averaging 21 yards per catch for Oklahoma. The big question with Anderson is health. He missed basically the entire 2024 season with an upper quad injury, which included re-injuring it in just a few snaps after a brief return against Tennessee. 

    A healthy Anderson is a dangerous vertical threat for Nussmeier in a way the Tigers really haven’t had since the 2023 campaign. But is he fully recovered? We’ll find out a lot more this spring.

    Previous…

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  • 2025 NFL offseason: Best landing spots for Davante Adams, DK Metcalf, other veteran wideouts now available

    2025 NFL offseason: Best landing spots for Davante Adams, DK Metcalf, other veteran wideouts now available

    The market for wide receivers has skyrocketed with less than a week to go before the official start of free agency. This week alone, the Jets released Davante Adams, the Seahawks parted ways with Tyler Lockett, the Jaguars will reportedly move on from Christian Kirk and star wideout DK Metcalf has requested a trade that Seattle will reportedly explore. 

    The Seahawks will undoubtedly receive interest for Metcalf, a two-time Pro Bowler and a physical specimen at 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds. Metcalf reportedly wants his contract reworked, but that likely won’t scare off many receiver-needy teams. Metcalf also reportedly wants to play for a title-contending team, so that might limit his options and the teams that inquire about him. 

    Metcalf might be the crown jewel of this group, but Adams, Kirk and Lockett are very good players who will also receive plenty of attention on the open market. Adams has enjoyed a Hall of Fame-caliber career as a six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro. Kirk is a former 1,000-yard receiver who is still in his prime. Lockett is a crafty veteran with 661 career catches and 61 touchdown grabs under his belt. 

    With free agency looming, here’s is the best landing spot for each veteran wide receiver now available on the market. 

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  • Zack Martin mentions Notre Dame in Players’ Tribune football farewell

    Zack Martin mentions Notre Dame in Players’ Tribune football farewell

    Zack Martin recently retired from the NFL and is certain to wind up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as soon as he’s eligible. When all is said and done, the football masses will remember his time as a pro above all else.

    But that doesn’t mean Martin has forgotten his days at Notre Dame. In fact, he devoted a large portion of his letter in the Players’ Tribune that officially bid farewell to football to his time with the Irish.

    Specifically, Martin mentions several teammates from his Irish days as well as experiences he had with them at that time. The names you see are ones you likely will be familiar with if you have followed the program closely for a long time.

    Here is a portion of what Martin said about playing at Notre Dame:

    “Something like me and my best buddies from Notre Dame out on the lake at night with a cooler of beers and a Bluetooth speaker, singing along to ‘Colder Weather.’ Just getting increasingly louder and more confident until we think we are the Zac Brown Band and people are yelling to us from the shore to please shut it down, for the love of God. 

    Hey, if you get it, you get it. Not everybody can be a ramblin’ man who ain’t never gonna change.

    To me, that’s football. Me, Tyler Eifert, Chris Watt, Dan Fox and Tommy Rees, out at the lake, talking about how the season is going to be, and everything we’re going to accomplish. I feel like God put those guys in my life for a reason. We all lived together in a house for four years at Notre Dame, and it was exactly what you probably imagine. Walls of protein tubs and dirty laundry, basically. It was shameful.”

    Martin goes on to talk about how he met his wife Morgan, who also happens to be Eifert’s sister, while at Notre Dame. You can read that and the rest of the letter here:

    Best of luck to Martin, and congratulations to him on a great football…

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  • The PFT Live run on Sky Sports is not ending, yet

    The PFT Live run on Sky Sports is not ending, yet

    More than five years ago, PFT Live became a weekday staple on Sky Sports. Earlier today, it appeared that run would be ending on Friday.

    It’s not.

    We’re told that a short-term extension has been finalized, bumping the deadline from March 9 to April 18. This means that we’ll definitely be on the air through free agency, and possibly well beyond that.

    We’re also told the Sky Sports Action listings (which currently have no NFL shows as of Monday) will be updated very soon to reflect this arrangement.

    The change traces to the expiration of the contract between the NFL and Sky. On the surface, the move affects only game broadcasts. If, however, Sky doesn’t have an NFL deal, Sky won’t have the right to show NFL highlights. Since PFT Live uses NFL highlights, PFT Live can’t be aired on Sky unless Sky has an NFL deal.

    Our fingers, toes, and bollocks are crossed in the hopes that it will work out. NFL fans in the UK and Ireland are far more passionate, on average, than American NFL fans. They don’t get as much NFL content as the U.S. sports fan does, which makes them appreciate what they get even more.

    I hear from NFL fans in the UK and Ireland all the time. When we have a live picks podcast, the British accents are prevalent in the crowd. I’ve been hoping to eventually come to the UK with Simms for a series of appearances (or for a potential Sasquatch vs. Loch Ness Monster showdown).

    Even more than that, I’m hoping PFT Live will continue on Sky Sports until I retire, until NBC comes to its senses and fires me, or until I drop dead.

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  • Franchise tag deadline winners and losers: Sam Darnold, Tee Higgins set to cash, Patriots miss out on top WR

    Franchise tag deadline winners and losers: Sam Darnold, Tee Higgins set to cash, Patriots miss out on top WR

    The franchise tag deadline has come and gone with only two players getting tagged in 2025. This is a significantly lower amount than last season, as nine players earned the franchise and transition tag designation. With the rising salary cap, six players reached extensions, two players were traded and signed extensions with new teams, and one played the whole year on the tag. 

    This was a unusual franchise tag deadline, as 17 players received the franchise or transition tag prior to the deadline over the last two years — making the lack of activity around the league so puzzling.

    This ended up being the fewest players tagged at the franchise tag deadline since the 1994 season — one year after the NFL created the franchise tag (and it was initially created for quarterbacks). Only two players ended up getting the franchise tag ahead of the deadline, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins and Kansas City Chiefs right guard Trey Smith.

    As Higgins and Smith were the only players tagged, this franchise tag deadline was uneventful compared to previous years around the league. And this was with the rising salary cap.

    Regardless of the lack of activity regarding the tag, here were the winners and losers from the franchise tag deadline.

    Winner: Tee Higgins

    The Cincinnati Bengals couldn’t reach a long-term deal with Higgins, so he was tagged again for the second consecutive year. Higgins won’t get the opportunity to get a long-term deal on the open market, but he is getting a 120% pay raise from the Bengals. 

    Higgins’ salary goes up from $21.8 million to $26.2 million for 2025, as he’ll be paid amongst the top-10 wideouts in the game. This also gives Higgins more time to actually reach a long-term deal with the Bengals, where his salary could balloon even higher. 

    Since the Bengals failed to get a long-term deal done with Higgins again, his salary for 2025 may be a minimum of…

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  • ACC settles Florida State, Clemson lawsuits: Revised revenue distribution, lowered exit fees among key details

    ACC settles Florida State, Clemson lawsuits: Revised revenue distribution, lowered exit fees among key details

    Florida State and Clemson voted to agree on settling their four ongoing lawsuits against the ACC and a new revenue-distribution strategy Tuesday, CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello has confirmed. The ACC Board of Directors also approved the measure earlier in the day, bringing litigation between the conference and two of its most prominent member institutions to an end. 

    “Today’s resolution begins the next chapter of this storied league and further solidifies the ACC as a premier conference,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said in a statement. “As we look ahead to our collective long-term future, I want to express my deepest appreciation to the ACC Board of Directors for its ongoing leadership, patience and dedication throughout this process. The league has competed at the highest level for more than 70 years and this new structure demonstrates the ACC embracing innovation and further incentivizing our membership based on competition and viewership results. The settlements, coupled with the ACC’s continued partnership with ESPN, allow us to focus on our collective future — including Clemson and Florida State — united in an 18-member conference demonstrating the best in intercollegiate athletics.”

    ESPN recently exercised its opt-in clause with the ACC, extending its media rights deal with the conference through 2036 while providing some relief for the ACC through turbulent times. The new revenue-distribution strategy, as proposed in the settlement, would distribute 40% of the television money evenly through the 14 longstanding ACC members — including Florida State and Clemson — with 60% of the revenue distributed on a ratings-based formula from the past five years. 

    In addition, the total cost to exit the ACC is expected to decline by $18 million…

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