NFL News Updates

Author: nfltalk

  • Travis Kelce reportedly signs 3-year, $54.7 million deal to return to Chiefs after flirting with retirement

    Travis Kelce reportedly signs 3-year, $54.7 million deal to return to Chiefs after flirting with retirement

    For a few weeks this offseason, it seemed possible that Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce could retire from the NFL. But Kelce put those rumors to rest in mid-March, as reports emerged that he would sign a one-year, $12 million deal to return to the Chiefs.

    Turns out, Kelce has more football left in him than anyone expected. Kelce reportedly signed a three-year, $54.7 million contract with Kansas City on Monday, per NFL Network.

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    The Chiefs confirmed Kelce signed a contract Monday, though did not provide financial details of Kelce’s new deal.

    That deal can reportedly jump to $57.7 million based on incentives. Kelce will make $12 million in Year 1.

    Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season

    The 36-year-old Kelce is coming off somewhat of a resurgent year with the Chiefs, in which he gained 851 yards and scored five touchdowns. The majority of that production came when quarterback Patrick Mahomes — who missed the team’s final four regular-season games due to a knee injury — was on the field.

    Once Mahomes was lost for the season, Kelce hauled in 16 passes for 124 yards and no scores.

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    Following the final game of the regular season, Kelce was non-committal about his future, leading some to believe he would consider retirement. Monday’s reported contract suggests Kelce has no desire to walk away from the game soon, as he signed on for multiple seasons.

    Signing on for three years, however, doesn’t mean Kelce will stick it out for the entirety of the contract. While details of his new deal are not known, it’s possible the Chiefs protected themselves with void years or other protections should Kelce decide to retire before the 2028 NFL season.

    The multi-year deal does give Kelce some flexibility, though. If Mahomes isn’t able to get back as quickly as expected from his injury and the Chiefs struggle again in 2026, Kelce could opt to run it back in 2027 and team up with a — presumably — fully-healthy Mahomes…

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  • Carnell Tate 2026 NFL Draft: Best landing spots for Ohio State WR

    Carnell Tate 2026 NFL Draft: Best landing spots for Ohio State WR

    LSU has long held the belt as “Wide Receiver U,” but Ohio State has made a push in recent years to take it away. The Buckeyes have produced several high-profile wideouts, including Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who helped lead the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl LX title and just became the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history. Ohio State has also sent the likes of Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Terry McLaurin, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka to the league in recent years.

    Could Carnell Tate be the latest OSU pass catcher to take the NFL by storm?

    He’s earmarked to be a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh later this spring and could very well be the first wideout off the board. In fact, CBS Sports Senior NFL analyst Pete Prisco has Tate as the first receiver selected, landing with the Cleveland Browns at No. 6 overall in his opening mock draft. CBS Sports’ Mike Renner also slots Tate inside the top 10 as the No. 1 receiver, projecting him to the New Orleans Saints at No. 8 overall in his post-free agency mock draft.

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  • Bengals’ Joe Burrow targets 2028 Olympics after Flag Football Classic

    Bengals’ Joe Burrow targets 2028 Olympics after Flag Football Classic

    Prior to throwing a couple touchdown passes and nearly running for another during Saturday’s first Fanatics Flag Football Classic, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow made it clear he wants to play for Team USA in Los Angeles during the 2028 Olympics. Flag football joins the summer program for the first time and the NFL has already voted to allow active players to participate.

    ‘”I’ve always wanted to play in the Olympics. I’ve never necessarily played an Olympic sport before, so when this got announced, I was pretty excited about it,” Burrow said prior to his Wildcats FFC team going 1-2 in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic round robin. “The opportunity to win a gold medal (is) something that I’ve thought about — a moment like that — for a long time, since I was a kid. I think it would be something very special.”

    Burrow looked extremely competitive during the event, bouncing back from an early interception return for a touchdown with a couple head-turning plays against Team USA and Tom Brady’s Founders FFC to get to the final. Burrow nearly ran the length of the field for a touchdown on one call, avoiding contact near midfield before spinning his way out of a flag grab approaching the end zone.

    Burrow raised eyebrows a couple times on collisions, noticeably crashing to the turf near the 1-yard line during the second half of a loss to Team USA. Burrow was immediately taken to the ground and his flag pulled after he caught a pass from Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels on fourth-and-goal, resulting in his pleading with officials.

    Burrow wanted a penalty on the play against Team USA’s defensive back for contact, but didn’t get a whistle.

    Rosters will be decided later

    With nearly two years to finalize the 10-man roster for Team USA, not all spots are guaranteed to be taken up by NFL players. Darrell “Housh” Doucette, who has played quarterback for USA Football’s…

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  • Notre Dame Lives Up To High Expectations For Elite Edge Jackson Vaughn

    Notre Dame Lives Up To High Expectations For Elite Edge Jackson Vaughn

    Notre Dame hosted its first Junior Day of the year this weekend, but the Irish also hosted a number of big time sophomores, including Oradell, N.J./Bergen Catholic standout edge Jackson Vaughn. Vaughn made his third visit to campus this weekend, and he had very high expectations for this visit, and the visit more than lived up to that standard.

    “The visit was great,” Vaughn told Irish Breakdown. “It was great being able to get back on campus and spend time around the coaches and players. I was really able to feel the energy of the program, and that was big for me. It definitely lived up to what I expected.”

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    Getting to know the culture from the standpoint of Irish players was something that Vaughn was keen on accomplishing during his visit. The culture of the schools that are recruiting him will be one of the deciding factors in why he ultimately chooses a program in the future. Notre Dame certainly made a mark in that department.

    “The culture stood out the most for me,” Vaughn expressed. “You can tell it’s a brotherhood. Guys are competing at a high level, but still supporting each other. The standard is really high, and not just on the field, but academically off the field too. That’s important to me and my family.”

    Vaughn was on campus to watch Notre Dame compete in its second practice of the spring. This was important for Vaughn since Notre Dame has a new defensive line coach from the last time he was on campus. This was Vaughn’s first chance interact on campus with new defensive line coach Charlie Partridge, and see how the Irish team, and the line went about its business.

    “Practice was intense,” detailed Vaughn. “It was high tempo, very detailed and competitive. That’s the type of environment I want to be in. Coach Partridge is a great coach. He’s very technical and he coaches with energy. You can tell…

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  • NFL free agency winners and losers after 2 weeks: Panthers, Rams load up; J.J. McCarthy loses job?

    NFL free agency winners and losers after 2 weeks: Panthers, Rams load up; J.J. McCarthy loses job?

    NFL free agency is essentially complete after two weeks. The two-day negotiating period, prior to the league’s calendar beginning anew, saw nearly every team agree to terms with at least one external free agent.

    The activity around the NFL is now at a lull nine days after the litany of moves made after the start of the new league year on March 11. Front offices will now turn their attention toward the 2026 NFL Draft and the pro days and 30 visits for the incoming class of collegiate prospects. 

    Finding out who truly won and lost from the first couple weeks of free agency 2026 will truly be determined a year or years down the road, in some cases. However, we live in the present, so here’s the gift of winners and losers from this offseason’s free agency cycle as things sit today. 

    Winner: Matthew Stafford and the Rams

    The Los Angeles Rams finished a play or two short of beating the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship. Cornerback was the position that held them back, and the Rams went all in to fix the issue. Trading for a former All-Pro in Chiefs’ Trent McDuffie and then signing his buddy Jaylen Watson was great business. Those two, plus Quentin Lake, comprise a strong trio. Kam Curl’s return ensures stability on the back end behind them. Los Angeles has everything it needs to win the Super Bowl next season, which will be played at SoFi Stadium — their home turf and the site of their last Super Bowl win that concluded the 2021 season.

    DraftKings Sportsbook now lists the Rams as the 2026 Super Bowl favorite with +850 odds, and 38-year-old quarterback Matthew Stafford is now positioned…

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  • Latest NCAA transfer portal proposal aimed at halting post-spring tampering

    Latest NCAA transfer portal proposal aimed at halting post-spring tampering

    The NCAA FBS Oversight Committee on Friday zeroed in on a recommendation meant to aggressively penalize teams for adding players outside of the transfer portal window.

    Adjusting a proposal initially formed in February, the oversight committee settled on a pair of actions that would occur if a team added a player who wasn’t entered into the transfer portal during the January window:

    The head coach would be prohibited from all football (recruiting and on-field coaching) and administrative duties (team meetings) for six contests.The school would be fined 20% of its football budget.

    The committee had previously proposed that a school would also lose five scholarships for adding a player not in the portal outside of the portal window. But that’s since been removed from the proposal.

    The committee left arguably the two most punishing penalties in its proposal, however. Losing five scholarships isn’t crippling in an era where teams can carry 105 scholarship players. A head coach losing his ability to recruit and literally do his job in-season is very stringent. So is a team being fined 20% of its football budget.

    The proposal still must be adopted by the Division I cabinet, but it’s clear the NCAA is taking aim at a transfer loophole that athletes have taken advantage of over the past year and could have had a major impact this spring. 

    NCAA trying to prevent another Xavier Lucas situation 

    When the NCAA moved from winter and spring transfer portal windows to a single window in January, it did so with the intent that all player movement happens in a single period immediately following the season.

    But … there was a way for teams to get around that: A player unenrolling from their school and reenrolling elsewhere. It’s a…

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  • NY Giants are building for a better tomorrow, not just a better 2026

    NY Giants are building for a better tomorrow, not just a better 2026

    I find myself in an uncomfortable position as my fingers tap on the keyboard of this brand new MacBook Air laptop the fine folks at Vox Media delivered to my doorstep this week. I am about to agree with something written by Pat Leonard of the Daily News, a good journalist but one whose style is about as far from mine as could possibly be.

    So, why am I in this uncomfortable position as I work my way through this post on a drizzly Saturday morning. Because Leonard recently wrote a reasoned take on the state of the 2026 Giants that I actually believe is on the mark.

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    Here is the essential part of what Leonard wrote:

    John Harbaugh’s prudent and at times frugal spending, with a heavy concentration on one-year contracts and Band-Aid deals at positions of need, seems to signal a longer-term approach rather than any rushed urgency toward retooling the current team for an immediate 2026 run.

    Not that the Giants are punting on the 2026 season. They can’t. Not with Andrew Thomas and Dexter Lawrence and Brian Burns on those contracts and with quarterback Jaxson Dart stepping into his critical second pro season.

    That’s why they recruited a playoff-experienced middle linebacker in Tremaine Edmunds and bought tight end Isaiah Likely at the top of his position’s market. And that’s why they’re throwing numbers at the receiver position, where No. 1 target Malik Nabers’ availability is in doubt as he recovers from a torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee.

    Still, Harbaugh was not hired to wave a magic wand on the Giants for this fall. He was hired to get them back on track for the long haul, starting with but not limited to this current core.

    So although he is patching together this year’s roster as best he can, it is clear that Harbaugh’s focus here is on long-term sustainability. He is not overcommitting deep into the future to many new players on this roster.

    This strategy helps the 2026 team try to return to a baseline of competence by giving the…

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  • Giants’ Cam Skattebo says CTE, asthma are fake, calls it an ‘excuse’

    Giants’ Cam Skattebo says CTE, asthma are fake, calls it an ‘excuse’

    The New York Giants could face questions about Cam Skattebo’s media appearances following comments he made this week surrounding CTE and asthma, serious health conditions the running back believes are fake. Skattebo, who’s entering his second season in the NFL, was asked by podcast host Frank Dalena if he thought the brain disease stemming from repeated head injuries was real.

    “No, it’s an excuse,” Skattebo said this week during an appearance on the “Bring The Juice” podcast.

    Breathing issues associated with asthma, a lung ailment, are also a fake medical condition, per Skattebo. As the conversation steered toward asthma, Skattebo said to “just literally breathe air” as a means to prevent lung issues.

    The American Lung Association has determined the following factors play a role in developing asthma, which could be fatal: family history, allergies, occupational exposure, viral respiratory infections, smoking, air pollution and obesity.

    A 2023 study conducted by Boston University revealed 92% of former NFL players who were analyzed after death had CTE, a degenerative brain disease often caused by repetitive head impacts during contact sports or military service. For the first time ever in 2016, the NFL acknowledged a direct link between football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

    “Following a thorough assessment and extensive analysis by our neuropathology experts, OCME has found unambiguous diagnostic evidence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE, in the brain tissue of the decedent. The findings correspond with the classification of low-stage CTE, according to current consensus criteria,” The Office of Chief Medical Examiner said in a statement.

    Skattebo’s comments likely won’t come without repercussions. Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL have worked to make the game safer for more than a decade. The league said in 2025 that it has significantly reduced…

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