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NFL 2026 NFL Free Agency People in the NFL are buzzing about the futures of Fernando Mendoza (left) and Kyler Murray. Megan Briggs, Norm Hall / Getty Images PHOENIX — For some in the NFL world, the offseason begins the day after the Super Bowl. But many writers and reporters covering the league see it a little differently: Commissioner Roger Goodell closes the annual meetings at the end of March at some fantastic resort, then draft season takes center stage, and then the offseason begins. Advertisement This year, it didn’t feel like there was one “big topic” at this year’s league meetings that compared to the tush push debate’s domination last year. In fact, the play (which is still legal) was hardly talked about at all. And although it has been fun to discuss, it does not feel like there will be any lasting fallout from the spring’s biggest headline so far — the failed trade between the Las Vegas Raiders and Baltimore Ravens for star pass rusher Maxx Crosby. There were frustrating non-answers about some major topics: Goodell rushed past a question on Tuesday about New York Giants former co-owner and current chairman of the board Steve Tisch and his connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; no member of the Tisch family was present at the meetings despite Steve Tisch’s continued role with the team. Also, the NFL sent a lengthy memo to teams as the meetings began, warning them not to discuss the ongoing negotiations between the league and the referees’ union. But there are many evolving items that the owners, executives, coaches and league personnel did talk about publicly or casually during the meetings — or immediately after. From quarterbacks to a lingering general manager opening to contract trends to under-the-radar coaches, here’s some of what I am finding most interesting this offseason: Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell erred on the side of diplomacy in any public comments about his quarterbacks room, which now includes 2019 No. 1 pick Kyler Murray and backup Carson Wentz, along with 2024 first-rounder J. J. Mc Carthy and backup Max Brosmer. But curiosity is building around the league about what Murray will do in O’Connell’s creative, quarterback-friendly system. O’Connell, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips and quarterbacks coach Josh Mc Cown may develop more experimental looks out of both pistol and shotgun formations as organized team activities begin, and they’ll get to troubleshoot how those concepts affect a veteran defense and defensive coordinator in Brian Flores.

O’Connell’s offense (and especially his run game) currently flows out from a quarterback most frequently aligned under center, and it’s important that play action is first established from there. Yet when used judiciously, the pistol and shotgun can really open up a playbook. Advertisement Teams that predominantly use shotgun lose a lot of their play action passing game but do have the advantage of seeing more of the defense or using formations like “empty” that force a defense to declare its pressure; teams that predominantly run pistol without the threat of a running quarterback might initially keep a play action game but can’t hold any run/pass disguise against a defense for long. But with a quarterback who has Murray’s mobility, the pistol especially can be incredibly effective. The quarterback can see the defense as if he’s in shotgun, with a full menu of motions at his disposal, while he is able to disguise the run direction and whether he or the running back will keep the ball. He can also keep the play action passing game as if from under center; the offensive line will have to block out of initial contact a little longer in this case (the running back is aligned further away from the line of scrimmage). Pistol may be a nice compromise between the shotgun that Murray has predominantly played from (84. 8 percent of his snaps since 2020 were in shotgun, per Tru Media) and the under-center playbook O’Connell has used. The Vikings had the eighth-highest under-center rate last season, but with a quarterback who presents a real run/pass conflict, the shotgun and pistol frequency should increase. O’Connell was a key voice in installing a new offense with Rams coach Sean Mc Vay in 2021 for quarterback Matthew Stafford. It featured significantly more shotgun plays than Mc Vay had ever previously utilized. I’d expect O’Connell to revisit that playbook, among others. Rob Brzezinski, the Vikings’ interim general manager, will lead their draft before the team is expected to formally open its search. Brzezinski was at the annual meetings but didn’t take a spot in the GM photo. My impression is that Brzezinski, who has worked for the team since 1999, has no small amount of internal support for the full-time job. Candidates around the league have an eye on the opening because they’d like to work with O’Connell and for an organization that has state-of-the-art facilities and support staff. The search will be thorough and undoubtedly interesting, especially because it’s happening so late in the offseason. Puka Nacua’s off-field controversies emerged near the end of last season when he did an antisemitic dance on a livestream that is known for amplifying people with those views, as well as white nationalists, while also saying on the stream that NFL referees invent calls to get on TV and implying that concussions aren’t real. Nacua, who had tried to invite those streamers into the Rams’ practice facility during a game week, later apologized for the dance and said he did not know it was antisemitic. Advertisement Early in the offseason, clips of Nacua appearing to be intoxicated in public circulated on social media; in March, a lawsuit was filed against Nacua that claims he bit two women at a dinner while intoxicated and made an antisemitic statement (per these allegations, this incident happened less than three weeks after the incident with the streamers and Nacua’s apology). Nacua’s lawyer denied that the receiver made such a statement. Last week, news broke that Nacua had checked himself into a private care facility. His lawyer said (and a team source confirmed) that Nacua has been in the facility since March — before the lawsuit was filed. Perhaps taking cues from Mc Vay, the Rams did not seem to have many long-term concerns about Nacua’s behavior immediately after the in-season incidents (Nacua was neither suspended nor punished by the team, and Mc Vay, in fact, praised his on-field production in the first game after the livestream, although he added he hoped Nacua would learn from his mistakes). But it’s my understanding that their concerns significantly increased — especially about Nacua’s well-being — as the offseason continued. While Nacua checked into the facility of his own volition, a source with knowledge of his decision said, the team is certainly glad he did. In the background of all of this has also been the question of Nacua’s upcoming contract extension, especially after the Seattle Seahawks in late March signed star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba to a four-year, $168. 6 million deal (Smith-Njigba, like Nacua, was entering the final season of his rookie deal, although the Seahawks had already picked up his fifth-year option). The Rams made it clear publicly and even more firmly behind the scenes in recent weeks that Nacua will have to correct his off-field behavior to earn the type of contract his league-leading play would typically merit. Mc Vay has publicly referred to Nacua as a “kid” whose “heart he trusts. ” But Nacua is an adult — a 24-year-old man with an infant — who has the autonomy and resources to seek help, and has done so. Next, he’ll need to show Mc Vay and other members of the organization who have had their sincere belief in him tested that he can stay out of trouble. And, I’d just add this: Let’s not pretend that any Rams player outside of future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald has ever been completely untouchable. Since 2021, Mc Vay has pivoted from a former franchise quarterback (Jared Goff) and a fan-favorite franchise receiver (Cooper Kupp), and the Rams even engaged briefly in trade talks about a receiver who Mc Vay intensely pursued in free agency just one year ago (Davante Adams). Advertisement I don’t believe that an early extension is now a guarantee, even if the Rams have been clear they’d like Nacua to be with them for the long term. But the organization has a natural cushion during which to monitor Nacua, as they don’t typically do early extensions until training camp. If they still aren’t totally sure or need more time, they could even use the franchise tag on Nacua next spring — a move they’ve typically avoided. Two teams composed of NFL players and You Tube personalities got shellacked by Team USA in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic in March — a beating so thorough that event host (and quarterback for one of the NFL-led teams) Tom Brady opined about changing the rules of the now-Olympic sport. That’s some real Andy Bernard energy. Coaches at the league meetings were frank about the lopsided games, though. Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton coached one of the NFL-led teams and told reporters at the AFC breakfast that the experience was “humbling, ” adding, “you remember the ‘Home Alone’ series, and Macaulay Culkin was inside (the house). Macaulay Culkin was (Team USA) and I felt like (we) were the two guys outside getting hit in the head with the iron and tripping over the garden hose. It’s an entirely different game. ” Kyle Shanahan, the other NFL-led team’s head coach, said he knew his players were screwed the second he started watching actual flag football tape. Team USA outscored the other teams 106-44 in three games. Payton said he’d be surprised if even one current NFL player made the upcoming Olympic roster, with respect to the differences between the sports and the time required to acclimate. Payton’s comments juxtaposed with Goodell’s comments to close the meetings. Goodell said he thinks “we’ll see NFL players in the Olympics. ” It’s clear at this point to anyone who plays or coaches either sport that for an NFL player to actually land on the Team USA roster ahead of the 2028 L. A. Summer Games, that player would have to put serious time and energy into specific training. As any Olympic sport would require. Coaches and other key decision-makers in flag football are adamant they will only field the best flag football players on their Olympic teams. Yet Goodell seems determined to get some piece of the NFL on the men’s roster. Someone will have to blink first, and it probably shouldn’t be the favorites for the gold medal in the sport’s first Olympic season in their home country. Advertisement A story that wasn’t publicly discussed much due to the NFL’s warning memo, but isn’t going away: The league’s labor dispute with the NFL Referees Association and subsequent authorization to start the process of hiring replacement refs. The NFLRA’s current collective bargaining agreement will expire at the end of May. The Athletic reported last week that the two sides are still far apart in negotiations, citing people familiar with those plans, and members of NFL leadership have begun identifying and recruiting potential replacement game officials. Among the identified candidates are referees in the college football ranks. If those replacement refs are hired before the May 31 CBA expiration, the league would likely see little reason to urgently progress talks with the NFLRA. A lockout and another go-round with replacement refs could be coming, the results of which were catastrophic when it last happened in 2012. That season, the “Fail Mary” caused national anger among fans and across the 32 teams and was a catalyst for the two sides to finally agree to terms. “The negotiations haven’t progressed the way we had hoped from a timing standpoint, ” Goodell said in his Tuesday remarks. “We obviously have obligations to our fans, to everybody at the National Football League to play. And we will be prepared to play. ” A quiet trend that has continued for a few years drew additional interest this offseason: three-year deals for players. The Athletic’s Daniel Popper noted a slight uptick in three-year deals among his top-150 free agents (46 this season versus 38 last season). Over the Cap also told me that the total number of three-year deals done per year has held fairly steady since 2022, so it’s not a new trend. But between 2021 and ’26, OTC found, three-year deals represent the highest number of deals done in which the average compensation per year is over $10 million. Last year around this time, I spoke with an NFC executive who believed this trend was here to stay, and said his team had seen an increase in agents and players wanting a shorter-termed contract — particularly if it were a second contract (so, the next one after the initial four-year rookie deal). That executive said players feel such deals are friendlier to them. They can potentially sign a higher number of deals over the length of their careers if they are termed for fewer years. Plus, teams seem to prefer using void years for any cap flexibility instead of formally adding fourth and fifth years; players don’t often see the last year or years either, because they have a new deal, they move teams or otherwise.

But the trend from an organizational perspective may lend well to quicker builds or rebuilds, too. Sprint-rebuilds are popular right now, especially among teams that are OK with eating a large sum of dead money all in one year, overhauling and then limiting financial investment into at least one side of the ball (they need to nail their draft picks there to do it right). Quicker rebuilds mean quicker roster turnover, which make shorter-termed contracts friendly to the organization as well. Advertisement Going for a quicker rebuild is sometimes also a result of impatient owners who are faster to fire coaches and GMs. Contracts or extensions for those personnel are often for three years these days. And a new head coach may be very active in his first year of free agency to bring in veteran players whom he’s familiar with to establish his scheme and culture — all the while knowing he may not get more than the three-year window to do it. While many NFL people wondered where veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins would eventually sign, he answered that question on Thursday by agreeing to a deal with Las Vegas that pays him $20 million guaranteed — only about $11. 3 million of it from the Raiders themselves over the next two league accounting years. I like to look at this move and another the Raiders made that could have felt superfluous (to some) in the same investment bucket: the Quarterback Development Plan. It’s not a huge secret that the Raiders will likely draft Indiana star and Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza with the first pick later this month. Bringing in Cousins, a veteran who can help a young player understand how to be the type of pro who attracts interested teams seemingly every free agency period — and also help the team avoid rushing that younger quarterback onto the field too quickly — was a smart move. The Raiders made their intent to build out this investment bucket very clear when they overpaid for star center Tyler Linderbaum in free agency. A top veteran center is perhaps the best player an organization can sign for a young quarterback — not just to protect the interior of his pocket and help keep him throwing on time, but to help set the protections and call out different alerts to combat a pass rush. All told, the Raiders are investing a three-year and $81 million contract into Linderbaum, an additional $11. 3 million into a backup/bridge quarterback and their first-round pick on Mendoza, all before training camp. And I love it. We won’t know the results for a while, but this is a great process by the Raiders. Getting a quarterback immediately on the right developmental path can lead to a decade or longer of team success — and the short-term cost of resources to do that should not matter. When I talked to coaches, executives and other league personnel throughout the meetings, I also wanted to know who they believed was a coach on the rise who perhaps was not getting enough recognition. Their responses: Matt Burke, defensive coordinator of the Houston Texans (multiple mentions): Burke took over play-calling from head coach De Meco Ryans last season. The Texans’ defense gave up the fewest points in the NFL last season, ranked second in defensive success rate and had the third-best defensive EPA/snap. Advertisement Aden Durde, defensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks (multiple mentions): One executive marveled that Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald was able to keep so much of his defensive staff intact — starting with Durde, the DC of the NFL’s best (and Super Bowl-winning) defense last year. Greg Williams, inside linebackers coach of the Los Angeles Rams: Williams will enter his third season coaching the group in L. A. and gets rave reviews from those who have had to practice against him daily or in joint training camp practices. Kelvin Sheppard, defensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions: A prominent AFC coach admired the way Sheppard coached his group last season and the energy he seems to infuse into his players from the sideline. Declan Doyle, offensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens: A few NFL people mentioned they were extremely curious to see what Doyle does with Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson. Karl Scott, defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks: Macdonald retained Scott when he took over as head coach in 2024 and one coach was impressed by Scott’s ability to raise the ceiling of some very talented players. Josh Mc Cown, quarterbacks coach of the Minnesota Vikings: A prominent NFC coach said it was clear over the past two seasons that the former quarterback Mc Cown is taking on more responsibility within the Vikings’ offense. Zach Strief, run game coordinator/assistant head coach of the Denver Broncos: Strief was cited as one of the few real difference-makers in offensive line coaching in the NFL. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Jourdan Rodrigue is a senior NFL writer for The Athletic. Previously, she covered the Los Angeles Rams for The Athletic, the Carolina Panthers for The Athletic and The Charlotte Observer, and Penn State football for the Centre Daily Times. She is an ASU grad, a recipient of the PFWA's Terez A. Paylor Emerging Writer award (2021) and the creator of "The Playcallers" and "Finding Rams" series. Follow Jourdan on Twitter @Jourdan Rodrigue