{"id":664369,"date":"2026-05-12T11:57:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/664369\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T11:57:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:57:18","slug":"the-biggest-loose-ends-of-the-nfl-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/664369\/","title":{"rendered":"The Biggest Loose Ends of the NFL Offseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

When will A.J. Brown get traded? What will a Baker Mayfield extension look like? Where does C.J. Stroud stand with the Texans? That and more in our offseason roundup. <\/p>\n

The NFL offseason has seemingly hit its dead period, but by now, we should know there\u2019s really no such thing. Even if the big tentpoles of the league\u2019s silly season\u2014free agency and the draft\u2014are behind us, there are still a number of loose ends that will need to be tied up between now and the start of camp in July. With the draft over, teams are clear to sign free agents without worrying about how those deals will affect their compensatory pick formula That typically brings about another wave of signings; for example, the Chargers inked tight end David Njoku to a one-year contract on Monday. We\u2019re also getting close to June 1, when dead cap penalties for trades and cuts are essentially halved, which often leads to another flurry of roster moves. The NFL calendar may appear light at the moment, but we should get plenty of league-altering news over the coming weeks. Let\u2019s take a look at some of the bigger offseason plots that still need to be wrapped up.<\/p>\n

\"\"Getty ImagesThe Eagles still need to trade A.J. Brown.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if a player has ever been more pre-traded than Brown, who is still a member of the Eagles even though we\u2019ve known for weeks that Philly will send him away as soon as it becomes financially feasible to do so. That will happen on June 1, when the dead cap number for a Brown trade will drop from $43.4 million to a more reasonable $16.3 million; a trade would then free up around $7 million in cap space, per Over the Cap<\/a>. There haven\u2019t been any updates on this front since ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter reported<\/a> that a deal with New England was already in the works in late April, and both teams have been operating as if Brown will be in a Patriots uniform next season. New England hasn\u2019t made any significant additions to its receiver room since signing Romeo Doubs at the start of free agency, and over the past few months, the Eagles have used a first-round pick on Makai Lemon, signed Hollywood Brown, and traded for Dontayvion Wicks. Even if the Pats don\u2019t ultimately land the star wideout, it\u2019s clear the Eagles have decided to move on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The one thing left to sort out is compensation. Schefter believes Philadelphia will get a first-round pick for Brown, but that feels rich given the trade interest\u2014or the shocking lack thereof\u2014in the 28-year-old. The Rams reportedly talked with the Eagles about a possible deal but were apparently \u201cscared off\u201d by Brown\u2019s chronic knee issues<\/a>, which have bothered the receiver since his time in Tennessee. Outside of that, the Pats have been the only team publicly mentioned in trade talks. Philly doesn\u2019t have a lot of leverage here, having already reshaped its receiving depth chart. And I don\u2019t know if it can even afford to keep Brown if the \u201cwink-wink understanding\u201d<\/a> with the Pats falls through. General manager Howie Roseman still needs to extend Jalen Carter and some other players who are nearing the ends of their rookie contracts. Quarterback Jalen Hurts will also be looking for an extension, and while the team is reportedly undecided on whether to give him one<\/a>, Roseman will have to budget for the possibility regardless.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With the Eagles changing their offensive scheme under new coordinator Sean Mannion, who\u2019s bringing a play-action-heavy attack to Philly, Brown may no longer be as valuable to the team as he\u2019s been the past few seasons. Mannion\u2019s offense will focus more on attacking the middle of the field and less on those deep perimeter targets that Brown devoured. And that might be for the best. The Eagles have likely reached the point of diminishing returns on a passing game built around Brown\u2019s vertical threat. From 2022 to 2024, Brown\u2019s first three seasons in Philadelphia, only George Pickens generated more EPA on \u201cgo\u201d routes, per TruMedia. In 2025, 33 pass catchers ranked ahead of Brown in the same stat, including nine tight ends. While the trade talks have been framed as the team capitulating to a disgruntled star that it would prefer to retain, Roseman and the front office could see this as an opportunity to sell high on a player whose best days are behind him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Getty ImagesBaker Mayfield is still entering a contract season.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t sound like Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht wants to get out of the Mayfield business anytime soon. He\u2019s assured the media several times throughout the offseason that Tampa Bay will get a deal done with its quarterback, and he has even gone so far as to say that Mayfield \u201cis at the forefront of our mind at all times<\/a>.\u201d (That quote reads more like something ripped from a Nicholas Sparks novel than something said by an NFL GM, but I digress.) Interestingly, Licht doesn\u2019t have much, if any, financial leverage over Mayfield, as Mayfield\u2019s in a position to demand a top-of-the-market deal. And that\u2019s despite the fact that he had a shaky end to the 2025 season. After spending the first two months of the season in the MVP discussion, Mayfield (predictably) regressed in the second half as his turnover luck flipped. The Bucs quarterback turned it over 11 times from Week 10 on, tying him with Shedeur Sanders for the second most in the league over that span. He also fell to 17th in EPA per dropback and 13th in success rate, per TruMedia. Those are decent numbers considering the context\u2014Mayfield played through an injury and didn\u2019t have much help with a banged-up supporting cast\u2014but it felt like a massive drop-off after a hot start to the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Clearly, the Bucs are better off with Mayfield in the fold, and he\u2019s been one of the better bargains in the league since arriving in Tampa on a one-year, $4 million prove-it deal in 2023. Mayfield earned a three-year, $100 million contract the following offseason and then agreed to a restructure last offseason that guaranteed him $30 million for 2026. In order to get that deal done, Licht tacked three void years to the end of Mayfield\u2019s contract, which is set to expire after next season. If it does, it will trigger a dead cap penalty of over $22 million. The Bucs can avoid that charge if a deal is made before then, so you can see why Licht is talking about the new contract as if it\u2019s a foregone conclusion. Tampa Bay doesn\u2019t really have much of a choice unless it wants to sabotage its cap situation and enter into quarterback purgatory. Now it\u2019s just a matter of how much the Buccaneers will have to pay.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The quarterback market is constantly evolving. Several quarterbacks have entered extension talks this offseason, and the cap is taking another big jump. Dak Prescott currently holds the title of highest-paid quarterback based on average annual value at $60 million per year, and there are four quarterbacks all tied for second place at $55 million, including Trevor Lawrence and Jordan Love, whose r\u00e9sum\u00e9s aren\u2019t better than Mayfield\u2019s, even if they\u2019re more talented. So $55 million per year is probably the starting point for any negotiations. But even when accounting for cap inflation, that\u2019s a significant investment. As we saw the last time Mayfield and the Bucs came to an agreement, Licht loves void years, so I imagine that Mayfield\u2019s new contract will include some of those to help spread any signing bonuses or other guarantees over a longer period. That would help the deal age better as the cap continues to grow, as well as allow Tampa Bay to give its quarterback the payday he probably deserves after playing for a below-market rate over the past three seasons. There\u2019s a better-than-good chance that Mayfield will end up as the highest-paid quarterback in the league at some point in the next month or two, a remarkable come-up for a player who was let go by two teams in one calendar year and available for punter money just three seasons ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Getty ImagesThe Lions still need to extend their 2023 draft class.<\/p>\n

The offseason work is just getting started for the Lions front office, which has a lot to deal with before camp, including extensions for pretty much the entire 2023 draft class. Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell, Sam LaPorta, and Brian Branch are all eligible for extensions, and general manager Brad Holmes said back in February that those discussions had already started.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those four players are viewed as key cogs that Detroit will want to keep around, but these won\u2019t be straightforward deals. We already saw that with Campbell when the team declined his fifth-year option, which would have guaranteed him $21.9 million in 2027. That would have made Campbell the highest-paid linebacker in the league, and it appears that the team isn\u2019t interested in resetting the linebacker market for the 25-year-old who can at times be a liability in coverage. Extending Gibbs should be a priority after he carried the offense for stretches last season, but contract negotiations with running backs are always tricky. The same goes for safeties, and Branch is coming off an Achilles tear that ended his 2025 season, so don\u2019t expect Holmes to just fork over a big-money deal With the league falling back in love with tight ends this offseason, LaPorta should have no problem landing a new contract, but deals for Kyle Pitts and Tucker Kraft are looming, so that number could be inflated if the Lions don\u2019t act quickly. That also applies to Gibbs, who will be competing with Bijan Robinson this offseason to become the league\u2019s highest-paid running back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even if Detroit wants to bring back all four guys, it might not be able to. The Lions have added a lot of young talent since Holmes took over the front office in 2021, and those players have gotten expensive. In the last two years alone, the Lions have signed Aidan Hutchinson (four years, $180 million), Amon-Ra St. Brown (four years, $120 million), Penei Sewell (four years, $112 million), Alim McNeill (four years, $97 million), Kerby Joseph (four years, $86 million), and Jameson Williams (three years, $80 million) to massive extensions. And that\u2019s not to mention the fact that they\u2019re paying Jared Goff $53 million per year. There are only so many dollars to go around, so, as well as the 2023 draft class has performed, Detroit may have to let one or two of them go just to keep its cap situation tenable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Getty ImagesC.J. Stroud is still on his rookie contract.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult to have a rational discussion about Stroud\u2019s value after that playoff performance. The third-year quarterback just had to be Trent Dilfer on the 2000 Ravens\u2014staying out of the way and letting a ridiculous defense shoulder the load\u2014and he couldn\u2019t even manage that, throwing four interceptions, including a pick-six, in a 28-16 loss to the Patriots. That disaster class led to some discussion about whether Houston could move on from the NFL\u2019s 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year, but that was promptly shut down by general manager Nick Caserio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s moronic. We’re not trading the guy,” Caserio said at the combine in February<\/a>. “He’s our quarterback. He’s gonna be playing quarterback for the Houston Texans in 2026. Anything beyond that, that’s your world. You guys can speculate on that. But we’re not trading C.J. Stroud.”<\/p>\n

Since then, Caserio picked up Stroud\u2019s fifth-year option, which should keep him in Houston through at least 2027. But until the Texans give him a second contract, we\u2019ll be left to speculate about how long he\u2019ll stick around beyond that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Based on the words of all the important parties\u2014like Caserio, head coach DeMeco Ryans, and team owner Cal McNair\u2014the team still views Stroud as its future. And extending the former no. 2 pick should be a no-brainer. The playoff horror show notwithstanding, Stroud\u2019s game passes any sniff test. He\u2019s produced three seasons of good film, which looks even better when you consider the context of Houston\u2019s offense. The run game has been useless since the start of Stroud\u2019s career, and the offensive line has been horrendous\u2014so much so that when it was merely \u201cbad\u201d last season, it felt like a massive upgrade. Stroud has been playing on hard mode for the past three years, so while he hasn\u2019t lit the league on fire statistically, his numbers are still impressive. Last season, he finished 11th in QBR while playing in a brand-new system that gave him more responsibility before the snap. And after some early growing pains in that new scheme, which coincided with an 0-3 start for Houston, he finished the season sixth in the league in EPA per play, ahead of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, and Justin Herbert.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The idea that Stroud was bad last year is based solely on that game in New England. And while that loss did expose some of Stroud\u2019s weaknesses\u2014inconsistent accuracy and playmaking under pressure\u2014it is not an accurate representation of his talent. The Texans should still view Stroud as their future at quarterback and should be rushing to get a deal done before the season kicks off. The price will only go up from there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Getty ImagesThe Chiefs still desperately need a wide receiver.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been four years since the Chiefs traded Tyreek Hill to Miami, and the team still hasn\u2019t managed to replace him despite its best efforts. The idea of trying to fill the void in the aggregate with multiple undersized speedsters has not worked out (Hollywood Brown, Skyy Moore, and Xavier all failed to establish themselves as threats for which opposing defenses had to game-plan). Rashee Rice has been productive\u2014when he\u2019s been available\u2014but he\u2019s not a vertical route runner like Hill was. No one on the team is, frankly, and before Kansas City signed Kenneth Walker III in free agency, their skill group was devoid of players capable of consistently producing explosive gains.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nobody is going to feel sorry for Patrick Mahomes, who spent his early seasons surrounded by explosive talent and one of the league\u2019s greatest play callers, but watching him try to carry this offense the past few seasons has been tough. And it\u2019s frankly a crime against the sport that he\u2019s now a fixture at the bottom of league aDOT charts. Andy Reid and general manager Brett Veach should be thrown in football jail for what they\u2019ve done to their quarterback, who finally buckled last season under all the weight put on him by suspect roster management and an offensive scheme that grows increasingly stale every season. Reid\u2019s play calling\u2014specifically his insistence on a run game built around RPOs\u2014hasn\u2019t helped, but the lack of talent has been the main issue holding Kansas City\u2019s offense back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As things stand, the Chiefs\u2019 offensive depth chart will look awfully similar to 2025 in 2026. Walker is a welcome addition, but the group of pass catchers is still painfully thin after the team used its first three draft picks on defense. There\u2019s still time for that to change. Hill is available if the Chiefs don\u2019t want to try anything new, but he\u2019s also coming off a nasty leg injury and two consecutive down years. Stefon Diggs is a free agent but has lost a couple of steps and is mostly a possession receiver at this point in his career. A trade for A.J. Brown is still possible, but \u2026 well, I don\u2019t really have a good reason why the Chiefs shouldn\u2019t be pursuing one. Brown isn\u2019t a speedster, but he has been a dominant vertical threat for most of his career. As I covered earlier, his numbers were down in that regard last season, but that may have been the product of a flawed Eagles passing game rather than a decline in his ability. There were still moments when Brown looked as solid as ever, including in Philly\u2019s Week 3 win over the Rams, when the star receiver took over the game in the second half. There may not be any obvious answers to Kansas City\u2019s issues at receiver, but they do have options.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Steven Ruiz<\/p>\n

<\/a>Steven Ruiz has been an NFL analyst and QB ranker at The Ringer since 2021. He\u2019s a D.C. native who roots for all the local teams except for the Commanders. As a child, he knew enough ball to not pick the team owned by Dan Snyder\u2014but not enough to avoid choosing the Panthers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When will A.J. Brown get traded? What will a Baker Mayfield extension look like? Where does C.J. Stroud…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":664370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":["post-664369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=664369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}