NFL Player News

Stroud heads into the regular season with Nico Collins, Xavier Hutchinson, Jaylin Noel (hamstring) and Kayshon Boutte as his top wide receivers, while Jonathan M. Alexander of the Houston Chronicle reports that Tank Dell (knee) will begin the season on IR with a designation to return.

The Texans traded for Boutte from New England after Jayden Higgins tore his ACL, knocking the 2025 second-round pick out for the season. Boutte's 551 receiving yards for the Patriots in the 2025 regular season would have ranked second among Houston's wideouts behind Collins. Hutchinson had a career-high 428 receiving yards during the 2025 regular season, Noel has some intriguing upside as a 2025 third-round pick, and Houston is hoping to get Dell back eventually from the knee injury that sidelined him for the entire 2025 season. Stroud is looking to bounce back after a 2025 campaign in which he threw for career lows in both passing yards (3,041) and touchdown passes (19) during the regular season before coughing up seven turnovers in two playoff games.

Murray played six snaps during Minnesota's three-game preseason slate.

After completing two of his three pass attempts for 10 yards against the Giants in the preseason opener, Murray took a seat and parked it for the remainder of the exhibition season. Coach Kevin O'Connell settled on Murray as the Vikings' starter before training camp, and he's expected to have a long leash under center this season after J.J. McCarthy continued to look overmatched throughout the 2025 campaign. Murray has big upside in this quarterback-friendly scheme and has arguably the best supporting cast of his career. He's an ideal late-round fantasy target at quarterback.

Burrow said on teammate Ja'Marr Chase's (knee) podcast that the quarterback has high hopes for the Bengals in 2026 after the team's offseason personnel changes, Kevin Patra of NFL.com reports Thursday.

"We're going to have a really good team that has a chance to win every game that we step foot on the field for," Burrow said. "We brought in a lot of the right guys, a lot of the right people with the right mindsets to go and chase this goal of winning a Super Bowl." Cincinnati's offseason additions focused primarily on fixing a defense that allowed 28.9 points per game during the 2025 regular season, which was third most in the NFL. Burrow and the offense are poised for another productive campaign if the star QB can stay healthy after being limited to eight appearances last season due to a toe injury. Starting wide receivers Chase and Tee Higgins (heel), as well as running back Chase Brown, are all reprising their roles alongside Burrow to provide continuity on offense.

Richardson will open the season as the Colts' backup quarterback, Nathan Brown of The Indianapolis Star reports.

GM Chris Ballard confirmed Tuesday that Richardson -- who requested a trade over the offseason -- would remain with the Colts for the season, and head coach Shane Steichen revealed Thursday that Richardson beat out Riley Leonard for the backup job behind starter Daniel Jones.

Shough drew positive reviews for his performance during the Saints' final practice of training camp Aug. 26, Grant Chachere of SI.com reports.

Though he didn't play at all in the preseason while the Saints instead opened up more reps for backups Spencer Rattler and Zach Wilson, Shough reportedly looked sharp throughout training camp while keeping the New Orleans offense productive. Shough was able to close out camp on a high note by tossing three touchdown passes during 11-on-11 sessions, and Shough would have had two more had Devaughn Vele secured a one-handed catch in the end zone and had Chris Olave not fumbled near the goal line on another play. New Orleans will be without one of its key playmakers to begin the season in rookie first-round wideout Jordyn Tyson (hamstring), but Shough appeared to build good chemistry with new starting running back Travis Etienne, who was a frequent target of the quarterback during camp practices.

The Falcons plan for Penix (knee) to start "eventually" this season, but head coach Kevin Stefanski has yet to decide whether Penix or Tua Tagovailoa will direct the offense Week 1 in Pittsburgh, Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network reports.

Penix didn't suit up for the preseason while completing his recovery from Nov. 25 surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee, but he was cleared to take part in 11-on-11 drills just under two weeks ago and has been able to get some reps in with the first-team offense. Stefanski plans to continue evaluating both Penix and Tagovailoa in practices this week and next before naming a starter. Because of Penix's limitations for much of training camp, Tagovailoa initially appeared to be a strong bet to open the season as the Falcons' starter, but a poor preseason in which he fumbled twice and struggled to push the ball down the field has thus far prevented him from securing the Week 1 nod.

The Buccaneers signed Stick to the practice squad Monday, Scott Smith of the team's official site reports.

The Colts cut Stick on Sunday, but the quarterback has found a new home with the Buccaneers and will provide additional depth in case Baker Mayfield or Jalon Daniels misses time during the 2026 season.

The Jets signed Zappe to the practice squad Tuesday, Amanda Vogt of the team's official site reports.

The Jets cut Zappe last Saturday. The quarterback was competing for the No. 2 role behind Geno Smith but lost out to Cade Klubnik and Brady Cook. Zappe will now provide additional depth at the position and be ready to be elevated as an emergency quarterback if any of the first three options must miss time due to injury.

The Cowboys signed Milton to their practice squad Wednesday.

Milton is staying in Dallas after going unclaimed on waivers. The 26-year-old completed 29 of his 43 passes attempts for 378 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions across three preseason outings and will likely serve as the team's emergency third quarterback behind Dak Prescott and Sam Howell.

The Vikings signed Brosmer to the practice squad Wednesday, Rob Kleifield reports.

Brosmer made the Vikings' initial 53-man roster before being waived on Monday. The quarterback cleared waivers and will now serve as additional depth to Kyler Murray, J.J. McCarthy (ankle) and Carson Wentz on the practice squad instead of the active roster.