NFL NEWS

NFL’S FREE-AGENT SPENDING FRENZY BEGINS FIRST WITH A LEGAL TAMPERING PERIOD

Ready, set, negotiate multi-million contracts.

The NFL’s free agency period opens Monday with a 52-hour legal tampering period ahead of the official start of the new league year Wednesday.

Edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans and Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III head the list of high-profile players who will be free to sign a contract with a new team. Quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Kyler Murray also will be seeking new teams because they’re going to be released by their teams.

Here’s an explanation of rules and terms:

What does legal tampering mean?

At noon EDT Monday, teams can start negotiating with certified agents of players who will become unrestricted free agents when their contracts expire at the start of the new league year on 4 p.m. EDT Wednesday. Teams aren’t permitted to speak directly to the players, who can’t sign a new contract until the league year officially begins. The two-day negotiating period applies only to players who will be unrestricted free agents.

Who are unrestricted free agents?

Any player with four or more accrued seasons — six or more regular-season games on a club’s active/inactive, reserve/injured or reserve/physically unable to perform lists — whose contract has expired becomes an unrestricted free agent and may negotiate and sign with any team.

Who are restricted free agents?

Restricted free agents are players with three accrued seasons who have received a qualifying offer when their current deals expire on Wednesday.

What is a franchise tag?

Each team can designate one potential free agent a franchise player. Cowboys receiver George Pickens, Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts and Jets running back Breece Hall received the tag before the March 3 deadline.

An exclusive franchise player is not free to sign with another club and is offered the greater of the average of the top five salaries at the player’s position for the current year as of the end of the restricted free agent signing period on April 17; or the amount of the required tender for a nonexclusive franchise player.

A nonexclusive franchise player can sign with another team, but that club will owe his previous team two first-round draft picks. All the players tagged this year are nonexclusive.

What is a transition tag?

The transition tag is a one-year offer for the average of top 10 salaries at the position. It guarantees the original club the right of first refusal to match any offer the player might receive from another team.

The tagging team is awarded no compensation if it chooses not to match a deal. Colts quarterback Daniel Jones received the transition tag this year.

The signing period for transition players begins at 4 p.m. EDT on March 11 and ends on July 22. After July 22 and until 4 p.m. EDT on the Tuesday following the 10th week of the season, the prior club has exclusive negotiating rights.

Teams can decide to withdraw franchise and transition tags and the player automatically becomes an unrestricted free agent.

What is the salary cap for 2026?

The salary cap is $301.2 million per club, up from $279.2 million last year. Teams must be under the salary cap by 4 p.m. EDT Wednesday.

What is salary cap rollover?

A team may carry over salary cap space from one league year to the following league year by submitting notice to the NFL prior to 4 p.m. EDT on the day following the team’s final regular-season game. A team can carry over 100% of its remaining 2025 room to its adjusted salary cap for 2026.

REPORT: TE TRAVIS KELCE WANTS TO KEEP PLAYING, PERHAPS NOT FOR CHIEFS

Star tight end Travis Kelce wants to continue his NFL career after 13 years with the Kansas City Chiefs and could be open to playing for another team, The Athletic reported on Sunday.

Kelce, who will be 37 in October, has been selected to 11 Pro Bowls and is a four-time first-team All-Pro with Kansas City, which drafted him in the third round in 2013.

He has been weighing whether to return for this 14th season in the league and has debated retirement for the past two offseasons. One new layer this offseason is Kelce is set to become an unrestricted free agent after finishing his two-year, $34.25 million extension this past season.

The Athletic reported that Kelce’s representatives are expected to talk with multiple teams.

Kansas City, while financially strapped by salary-cap issues, has been diplomatic in a wait-and-see approach with Kelce regarding retirement or another season.

“We’ve kind of prepared for either scenario,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said at the NFL Scouting Combine on Feb. 24. “We’re trying to position ourselves that either way, we have a plan moving forward.”

Veach said he would be meeting with Kelce’s representatives following the combine and “you need some sort of timeline and deadline,” but called conversations with his camp “positive.”

Head coach Andy Reid said he routinely is in touch with Kelce, who is coming off a relatively down year in a Hall of Fame career.

He had 851 yards and five touchdowns last season, but 76 receptions was Kelce’s lowest total since he had 72 in 2015. No. 2 tight end Noah Gray also is an unrestricted free agent.

“Travis is the best, he’s an icon and hopefully he comes back,” Veach said in the February interview. “We’ll just kind of let that process play out. It’s not your typical 27-year-old first-time-in-free agency.

“Travis has done everything. He’s accomplished everything. He’s about to get married, got a lot going on. We’re just going to continue to have positive dialogue and see where this thing ends.”

Prior to the 2025 season, Kelce admitted that he contemplated retirement. He also said his life has changed in some ways since he began dating the biggest pop star on the planet in Taylor Swift, to whom he is engaged.

Kelce, a three-time Super Bowl champion, is the Chiefs’ all-time leader in receptions (1,080), receiving yards (13,002) and touchdown receptions (82).

REPORT: RAMS MAKE ALL-PRO TRENT MCDUFFIE HIGHEST-PAID CB IN NFL HISTORY

The Los Angeles Rams came to terms with cornerback Trent McDuffie Sunday evening on a four-year, $124 million extension, according to ESPN.

The deal for the former Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro includes a $100 million guarantee, which will make him the highest-paid cornerback in league history.

The Chiefs traded McDuffie, 25, to the Rams on March 5 in exchange for the 29th overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft and the Rams’ fifth- and sixth-round selections in 2026 as well as a third-round pick in 2027.

The Chiefs exercised McDuffie’s fifth-year option in April 2025. He recorded 63 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble in 13 games (all starts) last season, but missed the final four games due to a knee injury.

A two-time Super Bowl champion, McDuffie has totaled 246 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 34 pass breakups and three interceptions in 56 career games (all starts) since being selected by Kansas City with the 21st overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft.

The University of Washington alum earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2023 and second team accolades in 2024.

REPORT: BEARS RE-SIGNING DE DANIEL HARDY TO 2-YEAR CONTRACT

The Chicago Bears are re-signing defensive end Daniel Hardy, a special teams player, to a two-year contract worth about $5 million and close to $6 million with incentives, NFL Network reported on Sunday.

Hardy, 27, played in 17 regular-season games for the Bears in 2025, mostly on special teams, making one start and totaling 22 tackles. Hardy played on 78% of special teams snaps (355) and 5% on defensive snaps (54).

The Los Angeles Rams selected Hardy in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of Montana State. He started the 2022 season on injured reserve and played in six games in 2022 before he was released in August 2023 and signed two days later by the Bears to their practice squad.

He has 38 career tackles in 40 games, 34 with the Bears in 2024 and 2025.

REPORT: JAMES CONNER BACK WITH CARDINALS ON REWORKED DEAL

The Arizona Cardinals and James Conner have agreed to a reworked contract to keep the running back with the team next season, NFL Network reported Sunday.

Conner was scheduled to have a $9.8 million cap hit this season. The terms of his new contract were not reported.

Conner, who will turn 31 in May, missed all but three games last season after sustaining a season-ending ankle injury. Conner was coming off of back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons with Arizona in 2023-24.

A two-time Pro Bowl selection, Conner has been with the Cardinals since 2021 and has played in 60 games in Arizona after four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Across 110 career games (84 starts), the third-round pick from the 2017 NFL Draft has 6,065 rushing yards and 60 touchdowns with 2,255 receiving yards and 12 receiving touchdowns

The Cardinals also reworked the contract of cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting, who missed all of last season with a knee injury. Murphy-Bunting was projected to have a $9.2 million cap hit next season.

Murphy-Bunting, 28, has played in 82 career games (65 starts) for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2019-22), Tennessee Titans (2023) and Cardinals (2024). He has 297 tackles, 34 pass breakups and 11 interceptions in his career.

REPORTS: BRONCOS INK 3-YEAR DEAL TO KEEP LB JUSTIN STRNAD

The Denver Broncos are bringing back another key part of their defensive front. The Broncos have agreed to a 3-year, $18 million deal with linebacker Justin Strnad to keep him in Denver, multiple outlets reported Sunday.

Per the reports, $5.1 million is guaranteed at signing with $10 million guaranteed overall.

Strnad, 29, has played the past five seasons for the Broncos since Denver drafted him in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

After playing solely on special teams during his second and third seasons, Strnad has carved out himself a role as an every-game player on defense. Across the last two seasons, Strnad has started 16 games for the Broncos.

Strnad has played in 83 games (21 starts) for Denver across his five seasons. In those games he has 7.5 sacks, 177 tackles, six pass breakups and an interception.

REPORT: TYLER HUNTLEY RETURNING TO RAVENS ON 2-YEAR DEAL

Quarterback Tyler Huntley is staying with the Baltimore Ravens, with the sides agreeing to a two-year $5 million deal, multiple outlets reported.

Per reports, the contract contains up to $6 million in incentives.

Huntley, 28, has spent five of his six NFL seasons with the Ravens, who signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2020.

The Miami Dolphins claimed him off the Ravens’ practice squad in 2024, and he re-signed with the Ravens in 2025.

He has started 11 games for an injured Lamar Jackson and started five more in place of Tua Tagovailoa with the Dolphins and has a 7-9 record as a starter.

Huntley has appeared in 30 games overall, completing 66.2% of his passes for 3,212 yards, 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He has five rushing touchdowns and 795 yards on the ground.

REPORTS: PACKERS VERSATILE OL SEAN RHYAN AGREES TO 3-YEAR DEAL

Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Sean Rhyan agreed to a three-year, $33 million contract with a maximum value of $39 million, multiple media outlets reported Sunday.

Rhyan shifted from starting guard to center after two-time Pro Bowl selection Elgton Jenkins sustained a season-ending injury in November.

Rhyan, 25, appeared in all 17 games (11 starts) last season, one year after he started all 17 games at right guard.

He has made 47 appearances (28 starts) with the Packers since they selected him with a third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of UCLA.

The Packers are expected to part ways with Jenkins, either by trade or release.

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