NFL Player News

Kansas City will release Valdes-Scantling on Wednesday, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports.

Valdes-Scantling's only chance of remaining with the Chiefs would have been to restructure the final year of his three-year, $30 million contract, but Kansas City will instead cut him loose to save roughly $12 million in cap space. The savings are a necessity for the Chiefs, who are hoping to retain defensive stalwarts L'Jarius Sneed and Chris Jones this offseason on longer-term deals. Valdes-Scantling did little across 16 regular-season games in 2023, with just 21 catches for 315 yards and one touchdown on 42 targets. Back in 2022, he essentially doubled that production in one extra game played. The 29-year-old deep threat will now look to find a complementary role in a wide receiver corps elsewhere in the league.

Head coach Dan Campbell indicated that Williams is set for an increased role in 2024, Tim Twentyman of the Lions' official site reports. "[Williams] is going to push to be a full-time starter, and that's what we're looking for. Everybody grows at a different rate. Maybe it's taken him a little bit longer, but he is developing and growing. The kid has come on. We got high hopes for him and see him continuing to grow," Campbell said Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Williams technically became a starter Week 7 of last season, but he never topped 70 percent of the offensive snaps in a single game until Detroit's season-ending loss to the 49ers in the playoffs. The 2022 first-round pick also saw just 3.5 targets per game after joining the starting unit. Given that the likes of Josh Reynolds and DJ Chark have regularly topped 80 percent of the offensive snaps while serving as the No. 2 wideout behind Amon-Ra St. Brown in recent years, Williams at least has considerable room to grow from a playing-time standpoint, especially with Reynolds set to become an unrestricted free agent. However, neither Reynolds nor Chark saw more than 4.7 targets per game in a season with Detroit, and none of the top-36 wide receivers in per-game half-PPR scoring saw less than 5.6 targets per game in 2023. With St. Brown and Sam LaPorta presumably the centerpieces for the passing game of a run-first Lions offense, Williams may need to rely upon touchdowns and explosive plays to pay off as a difference-making fantasy asset in 2024.

49ers general manager John Lynch said Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine that the team wants to sign Aiyuk to a long-term contract extension, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Lynch spoke strongly about Aiyuk's future, saying "we've got a nice track record of extending guys and [Aiyuk] is a guy we'd like to keep around." Now entering the fifth and final year of his rookie contract, and coming off a standout 75-1,342-7 receiving line across 16 games in 2023, the wideout will be set for a big payday regardless of what team he ends up with. Aiyuk has improved upon his yardage and touchdown totals each season in the NFL, so it wouldn't be unheard of for him to take another step forward during the 2024 campaign.

Raiders GM Tom Telesco said Tuesday that Adams won't be traded this offseason, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Adams has three seasons remaining on his contract, including a full guarantee on his $16.89 million base salary for 2024. The number is reasonable enough that he'd have considerable trade value, but it sounds like the Raiders are more inclined to keep him around, figuring the 31-year-old wideout can not only help them win games but also help ease the transition for whoever ends up playing quarterback. That said, Telesco might change his mind if another team makes a strong offer.

The Bengals applied their franchise tag to Higgins (hamstring) on Monday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

According to Rapoport, Higgins' franchise tag number is expected to fall around $21.8 million for the 2024 season, but the tag may merely serve as a placeholder as the Bengals work toward a long-term extension with the receiver prior to the July 15 deadline. If the two sides are far apart on an extension, the Bengals also could look to trade Higgins, who would be a highly-sought after receiver given the weak crop of free agents at the position. Higgins was limited to just 11 games in 2023 due to rib and hamstring injuries, but he once again was productive in his fourth NFL season with 42 catches for 656 yards and five touchdowns. He should be back to full health before OTAs get underway in the spring, if he isn't already.

The Bengals informed Higgins (hamstring) on Friday that he will receive the franchise tag, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

With the tag deadline still a week away, the Bengals have skipped negotiations for a long-term deal by letting Higgins know he will be franchised. A new contract still is a possibility, but this is apparently the most likely route as of now. The 25-year-old battled injuries during his fourth season in Cincinnati en route to career lows in yards (656) and touchdowns (five) in 12 games.

Robinson is re-signing with the Rams on a one-year, $5 million contract, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Robinson spent much of 2023 buried on the Rams' depth chart but then replaced Tutu Atwell as the No. 3 receiver down the stretch and put together an impressive streak of production. Robinson scored a TD in four straight games in December and had five consecutive outings with at least 44 yards and 12 PPR points. It was his seventh straight season with more than 200 receiving yards but less than 500, with the veteran recording career highs for yards per catch (14.3) and yards per target (9.5). Robinson will turn 30 in September and might still face competition for the No. 3 WR job behind Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp.

Brown (knee) called into Sports Radio 94WIP on Friday to shut down trade rumors and say that he wants to stay with the Eagles.

Brown took matters into his own hands after hearing trade rumors from Philadelphia media on the heels of the Eagles' late-season meltdown. He was clear about not wanting to be traded and not having any issues with QB Jalen Hurts, and Brown also mentioned feeling like the team's coaches were unfairly blamed for a disappointing 2023. All the same, Philadelphia will have new coordinators on both sides of the ball in 2024, having hired Kellen Moore for the offense and Vic Fangio for the defense. Assuming he's right about the trade rumors being bogus, Brown will remain a central figure in the offense for the second season of his four-year, $100 million extension. The knee injury that kept him out of a wild-card loss to Tampa Bay isn't expected to impact his preparations for 2024, and Brown figures to be taken late in the first round or early in the second round of most fantasy drafts, just as he was last summer.

The Chiefs signed Powell on Wednesday, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reports.

Powell, who finished this past season on Kansas City's practice squad, will thus have an opportunity to compete for a depth slot in the team's 2024 wideout corps. The 2021 fifth-rounder last saw regular-season action in 2022, when he suited up for three games with the Chiefs en route to recording three snaps on offense and 28 snaps as a special-teamer.

Allen re-signed with the Commanders on Thursday, Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post reports.

Allen got a chance with Washington as an undrafted free agent out of UCLA, and although he was unable to make the team out of camp, he did secure a spot on their practice squad. The 23-year-old will now get another opportunity with the team for the 2024 campaign, where he'll likely work to earn a role as a return man or a depth option at receiver.