Despite offseason appearances, Lamar Jackson could be ducking out of Baltimore sooner rather than later.
Despite offseason appearances, Lamar Jackson could be ducking out of Baltimore sooner rather than later.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
Across 10 NFL cities last week, there was a distinct smell in the air — the smell of football.
The 2026 season officially began when teams with new head coaches launched their nine-week offseason programs. The first two weeks are just for voluntary meetings, workouts, and rehab, but team facilities have come alive again with football activities. The other 22 teams will open April 20-21 (other than May 4 in Denver).
“It was fun to stand in front of the New York Giants today — it was an honor,” new Giants coach John Harbaugh said. “We had great meetings. It was just a joy to be around the guys.”
Though the practices are mostly voluntary and non-contact, there is still a lot going on during the offseason. Here’s a look at the top story lines:
▪ Lamar Jackson shows up in Baltimore, but for how long?
Jackson usually skips voluntary practices, so the Ravens gave him a hero’s welcome when he showed up for the first day of workouts Monday under new coach Jesse Minter. The Ravens tweeted three videos of Jackson arriving and working out, and headlining an article on the team website that his attendance “speaks volumes.”
Left unsaid, though, is whether Jackson will continue to participate in voluntary workouts as he and the Ravens negotiate a new contract. The Ravens didn’t post any video or photos of Jackson’s participation beyond Monday, and he wasn’t involved in Wednesday’s media session.
Perhaps Jackson truly is bought in this year, but the Ravens’ positive media blitz last week gave the impression of trying to persuade him to keep him coming back. He will receive $750,000 if he participates in 80 percent of voluntary workouts (26 of 32), a bonus he has skipped in the past.
“He’s ready to go. He wants to finish. He wants to get a ring,” wide receiver Zay Flowers said.
▪ Do we listen to their words or actions when it comes to Myles Garrett?
When asked about trading Garrett, the two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year (2023, ’25), the Browns have been unequivocal.
“Myles is a career Brown,” general manager Andrew Berry recently told Cleveland.com. “He is one of the faces of our organization. I understand all the questions, but I’ll be honest, I don’t really want to waste a ton more breath on the topic.”
Yet their actions say otherwise.
The Browns and Garrett recently agreed to a contract tweak that made it easier to trade him. Cleveland unsuccessfully proposed a rule that would allow teams to trade five years of first-round picks (with the Rams trying to convince everyone it was a great idea, hmm … ). Now Garrett is staying away from voluntary workouts, likely forgoing a $1 million bonus.
If the Browns are intent on keeping Garrett, his absence will likely be solved by a new contract. He is currently the fifth-highest paid edge rusher at $40 million, while Micah Parsons leads the way at $46.5 million, and Will Anderson might crack $50 million. But the rebuilding Browns surely could use the haul of draft picks Garrett could fetch more than they need an expensive, 31-year-old edge rusher.
▪ Will A.J. Brown be allowed to participate in Philadelphia?
Eagles GM Howie Roseman recently answered every question about Brown with, “A.J. Brown is a member of the Eagles.” Yet it’s hard to find anyone in the NFL universe who believes Brown wouldn’t be traded for the right price, with the Patriots the likeliest suitor. A trade may happen before or during the draft April 23-25, and otherwise not until after June 1, which is eight weeks into the nine-week offseason.
Brown usually participates in voluntary workouts, but an injury could wreck his trade value. The Eagles can’t officially ask Brown to stay away, but do they come to an unspoken agreement? Or do they let him participate for leverage’s sake, and create the perception that they’re willing to keep him?
▪ Will Aaron Rodgers sign before mandatory minicamp in June?
Last year, Rodgers didn’t sign with the Steelers until June 5, missing the Steelers’ entire offseason save for the three-day minicamp at the end. New coach Mike McCarthy said recently he’s “confident” Rodgers will play again, but the team still doesn’t have clarity. Will Howard will get plenty of reps, but if Rodgers is going to play this fall, his team needs him there soon.
▪ Will the Rams and Colts have anyone to run the offense?
They don’t use footballs in practice for another month, so both teams have time to figure out their quarterback situations. But the Rams don’t have either Matthew Stafford or Jimmy Garoppolo under contract, while the Colts have Daniel Jones rehabbing his Achilles and Anthony Richardson on the trade block. For now, it’s Stetson Bennett and Riley Leonard leading the Rams and Colts, respectively.
Though he's unsigned, the Rams are expected to have quarterback Matthew Stafford return for an 18th NFL season.
Though he's unsigned, the Rams are expected to have quarterback Matthew Stafford return for an 18th NFL season.Barry Chin/Globe Staff
The Rams don’t expect any drama with Stafford returning, and the Colts might just let Richardson take reps this spring while his trade market evolves. But both teams aren’t accomplishing much on offense until their starters return.
▪ Will Bo Nix be ready to go?
A fractured ankle suffered at the end of the divisional playoff win over the Bills ruined the Broncos’ postseason hopes and revealed a previously unknown history of ankle injuries for the quarterback. Coach Sean Payton said at the league meetings that Nix is “ahead of schedule” and will participate in offseason workouts, but lacked specifics and didn’t say Nix will be 100 percent without limitations. Payton said the Broncos are opening the offseason on May 4 to account for their long 2025 season, but he also might be giving Nix another week or two to get ready.
▪ With new faces in new places, who’s playing quarterback where?
Kyler Murray will get first crack at the Vikings’ starting job, and could bury J.J. McCarthy before training camp begins. Tua Tagovailoa will lead the Falcons offense and have the inside track for Week 1 with Michael Penix rehabbing a torn ACL. Justin Fields will run the Chiefs offense while Patrick Mahomes rehabs his torn ACL. In his fifth year, Malik Willis will get his first chance to lead as the Dolphins’ new starter. Kirk Cousins will run the Raiders QB room for a few weeks, before competing with and mentoring No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza. And Geno Smith is back with the Jets as they try to win a few games and save coach Aaron Glenn’s job.
MORE TO COME
Mixed results from kickoffs
One clear theme from the NFL owners meetings two weeks ago in Phoenix was that the league is pleased with the return of the kickoff play after drastically altering the rules two years ago.
It used to be a dead play, with a 73 percent touchback rate in 2023 when a touchback came to the 25-yard line. But moving the touchback to the 35-yard line in 2025 reduced the touchback rate to 20.7 percent, with 1,100 more returns and 28,000 more return yards compared to ’24, when the line was the 30.
The new rules reduced the distance between opponents, therefore eliminating most high-speed collisions. The kickoff used to be four times as dangerous as a run or pass play, but in 2025 the concussion rate was approximately the same level as a play from scrimmage.
“That’s just a crazy change in the game, one that we’ve worked on for a long time,” Rich McKay, chairman of the competition committee, said.
Yet I wouldn’t consider the new kickoff rules an unequivocal success yet. Despite 1,100 more returns in 2025, there were actually fewer kickoff return touchdowns (six) than in ’24 (seven). In 2007, a year with an almost identical number of kickoff returns as ’25, there were 23 touchdowns.
Special teams coaches have said that the new rules have made it difficult to create space and bust a big return.
The injury risk of the kickoff play also remains a concern. Although the decreased concussion rate is obviously a positive, the NFL acknowledges that the raw concussion numbers on kickoffs increased meaningfully, based on having 1,100 additional plays. While the new rules made the kickoff safer for most players on the field, NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller acknowledged, “we did see more concussions than we expected to the returner and tackler this year.”
So while kickoff returns are back, it’s not producing many big plays, and it’s mostly just returners running into a wall of defenders around the 27-yard line, while remaining a high risk of concussion for the returner and tackler. But the NFL chooses a glass-half-full approach.
“In our mind, yes, it is worth it,” McKay said. “For us, the return yardage matters, because that shows the action of the play and the ability of the play to spread it out a little bit. So, we like the fact that they’re action plays, they’re not touchbacks.”
ETC.
Minutiae returns in large quantities
The owners didn’t make many changes to the NFL rules over a sleepy three days at the league meetings. But fans of minutiae may be interested in the tweaks that the league keeps making to the kickoff.
Related to the lack of kickoff return touchdowns mentioned above, the owners approved a rule allowing the return team to utilize a 5-4-2 alignment rather than 6-3-2 — basically, to have another “floater” off the restraint line. The 5-4-2 was the original proposal from special teams coaches two years ago, but the NFL went with 6-3-2 out of caution. After two years, it was determined the special teams coaches were right, and the hope is that the extra floater can lead to more spacing and big plays.
“We were hesitant, didn’t know the impact of having those floaters,” chairman of the competition committee Rich McKay said. “As we looked at it, those are almost the safest players on the play. That was one proposal that didn’t take a lot of time, very easy to pass.”
The owners also approved a few tweaks to the rare scenario where a team kicks off from the 50-yard line after its opponent committed a personal foul on the point after try.
Kick returners like the Patriots' Terrell Jennings could find more running room next season.
Kick returners like the Patriots' Terrell Jennings could find more running room next season.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
Under previous rules, teams were incentivized to kickoff out of bounds from the 50. A touchback would put the ball on the 35, but the penalty for kicking the ball out of bounds is “25 yards from the spot of the kickoff,” or the 25-yard line. In 2025, 10 of 14 kickoffs from midfield went out of bounds.
The NFL closed that loophole this year by changing a touchback to the 20-yard line when kicked from midfield.
“They weren’t getting the full benefit of the 15-yard penalty they were entitled to,” McKay said.
The owners also passed a rule allowing either team to declare an onside kick at any time in the game, not just when it is trailing. This was also done with the 50-yard line in mind.
“There are teams that say, ‘Why wouldn’t we kick onside there? We’d like that opportunity,’ ” McKay said.
Patriots Hall
The Patriots Hall of Fame has established rules for the induction process. A committee of mostly media members selects three finalists each year, and the fans vote for a single inductee. But owner Robert Kraft has stepped in before to make things right, and he might have to do it again in 2026 to avoid the same type of embarrassment suffered by the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier this year when its voters rejected Bill Belichick.
The finalists for this year’s Patriots Hall are all deserving — Logan Mankins, Adam Vinatieri, and Rob Gronkowski. But it’s hard seeing anyone beating out Gronkowski in a fan vote, which would create the awkward position of Vinatieri getting snubbed by the Patriots Hall of Fame in the same year he’s getting inducted by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In 2023, Kraft put Dante Scarnecchia in the Patriots Hall as a “contributor” alongside the winner of the fan vote, Mike Vrabel. In 2025, Kraft did it again with Bill Parcells going in with Julian Edelman. Vinatieri is not a “contributor” like the two coaches, but if Kraft wants to avoid negative headlines and a little public embarrassment, he should ensure that Vinatieri gets inducted this year, one way or another.
Role call
Tom Brady recently said “I don’t really have a daily role” with the Raiders, but he was omnipresent with the Raiders in the last week.
Brady was in the Raiders’ facility Tuesday for their first voluntary workout of the spring. And he was instrumental in signing quarterback Kirk Cousins for one year and $20 million, with the Raiders paying $11.3 million and the Falcons $8.7 million.
“I was at youth baseball practice, stepped away and just FaceTimed with Tom for a minute, just to understand the vision for the organization,” Cousins told NFL Network. “I got off the call and called my wife and said that was a really life-giving call with Tom. … I felt like that was a big nudge for me to come to Vegas. He was in the building yesterday for our first (practice) day, was able to catch up with him in the cafeteria, so he just wants to be a resource.
“I don’t know that he’s going to be around all the time, but he’s always a phone call or text away.”
The C.J. Stroud-led Texans lost to the Patriots in the divisional round in January.
The C.J. Stroud-led Texans lost to the Patriots in the divisional round in January.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
Extra points
The Texans made an easy decision last week to trigger C.J. Stroud’s fifth-year option for 2027, which guarantees him $25.9 million. The much tougher decision will come next offseason when they have to decide whether to sign Stroud to a mega contract extension, let him play out his fifth year, or move on altogether. The way he played last season, the Texans are a lot closer to the “move on” scenario than the “mega extension” one … The Giants didn’t just hire John Harbaugh as their new head coach, they’re raiding his former Ravens roster. New York has signed five former Ravens this offseason in tight end Isaiah Likely, safety Ar’Darius Washington, fullback Patrick Ricard, punter Jordan Stout, and guard Daniel Faalele … Sixteen of the top prospects will be on hand next week at the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, but not presumptive No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza, as the quarterback will be celebrating in Miami with family (his mother battles multiple sclerosis). It’s not uncommon, with other recent No. 1 picks to not attend the draft including Travon Walker (2022), Trevor Lawrence (’21), Baker Mayfield (’18), and Myles Garrett (’17) … Former Titans and Rams coach Jeff Fisher has reemerged as the commissioner of Arena Football One … Bill Belichick had Randy Moss in Chapel Hill last week to attend North Carolina’s spring practice. Belichick needs to lean into more of these connections if he wants to succeed at UNC … Ten years after being blackballed by the NFL for kneeling during the national anthem, Colin Kaepernick, 39, has a memoir coming out in September, “The Perilous Fight,” which publisher Legacy Lit said will be “equal parts memoir and manifesto.”
Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com.