As the 2026 NFL Draft approaches, NFL.com is keeping you up to date with the latest reports, rumors and rumblings from NFL Network, ESPN and team officials. Here's what we're learning Monday ahead of Thursday's first round.
As A.J. Brown trade rumors persist, the receiver is not expected to attend Eagles offseason workouts as he awaits clarity on his future, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo reported on Monday.
Because of the structure of Brown's current contract with Philadelphia, June 1 is essentially functioning as the date at which a trade becomes possible. Upon the arrival of that date, the Eagles can clear $7.04 million of Brown's $23.39 million cap hit for 2026 via trade, making a deal more palatable for Philadelphia. If traded prior to June 1, Philadelphia would incur a massive dead cap hit of $43.4 million, per Over The Cap.
Despite serving as a key member of the Eagles' air attack since arriving in 2022 and winning a Super Bowl in the 2024 season, Brown and the Eagles have endured more than their fair share of drama over the last few years, with Brown becoming the focus of in-season headlines in each of the past two seasons. With the Patriots and perhaps others expressing interest in Brown's services, talks could heat up at the start of June -- the same timeframe in which offseason activities become mandatory.
-- Nick Shook
Giants less likely to deal pass rusher
Kayvon Thibodeaux was the subject of trade chatter this offseason. After Saturday's trade of Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to Cincinnati, consider that chatter muted.
New York is now considered less likely to deal the former first-round pick, and Thibodeaux is set to play out the 2026 season on his $14.751 million fifth-year option, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday, per sources.
Teams had recently talked to Big Blue about Thibodeaux, 25, but as with Lawrence, it was going to take the right price for the Giants to deal him, NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo added.
Lawrence netted the Giants their second pick in the top 10 of the 2026 NFL Draft. New York now picks at No. 5 overall and No. 10, receiving the latter from the Bengals.
Thibodeaux, the No. 5 pick of the 2022 draft, has started 53 of a possible 68 regular-season games for New York. He is coming off a career-worst 2.5 sacks in 10 games played in 2025.
Giants brass had expressed confidence in Thibodeaux amid the trade chatter. General manager Joe Schoen said at the NFL Scouting Combine in February that he expected "big things" from the pass rusher in his fifth season. While coach John Harbaugh said in reference to Thibodeaux that "everybody's tradeable," the first-year coach added he was "fired up" to coach him.
"He looks great, he's in great shape," Harbaugh said earlier this month. "I'm thinking about him on the field, getting him plugged into our defense and getting him rolling."
-- Jeremy Bergman
Medical update for top QB prospect
Garrett Nussmeier, who is projected to be a Day 2 or 3 pick in this week's 2026 NFL Draft, has some clarity on a health issue that affected his 2025 season.
The former LSU signal-caller underwent tests at the NFL combine that revealed a cyst on his spine -- the root cause of persistent oblique pain last year, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported on Monday, per sources.
The cyst was pressing on a nerve, causing discomfort in Nussmeier's oblique. He has been asymptomatic since just prior to January's Senior Bowl and all throughout the draft process; if that changes down the road, Nussmeier could undergo a minimally invasive procedure and miss just two to three weeks while stitches heal, Pelissero reported.
The good news for Nussmeier is that the cyst and potential surgery present no short- or long-term risk, per Pelissero.
Nussmeier ranked fifth in the FBS in 2024 with 4,052 passing yards but threw for just 1,927 yards and 12 touchdowns in nine starts last season.
He ranks as QB4 on NFL.com's Bucky Brooks' prospect by position rankings.
-- Jeremy Bergman
Love a top-three pick?
Could a running back go in the top three on Thursday?
There is growing chatter in league circles that top RB prospect Jeremiyah Love is in play with the Cardinals at No. 3 overall, ESPN reported.
If Love were to be taken at No. 3, he would be the highest-drafted RB since Saquon Barkley in 2018 (No. 2 to the Giants).
The Cardinals would reportedly prefer to find a team willing to trade up to No. 3, and there have been "exploratory" calls, ESPN reported.
But if Love, arguably the top overall prospect in the draft, is available at No. 3, which is likely with the Raiders expected to take Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza and the Jets leaning pass rusher at No. 2, Arizona could surprise by taking the Notre Dame product.
-- Jeremy Bergman
Seahawks looking to trade out of first
Fresh off winning Super Bowl LX, the Seattle Seahawks have very little capital in the 2026 NFL Draft -- just four picks to be exact.
Sitting at No. 32 overall to end the first round on Thursday night, Seahawks general manager John Schneider wasn't playing coy Monday, admitting he's open for business to trade down to acquire more pics.
"It's no secret with us, we have four picks," he said at the team's pre-draft news conference, via the team website's John Boyle. "We'll be looking to trade back."
Seattle currently owns picks in the second (No. 64 overall), third (No. 96) and fourth (No. 188 from Browns) rounds.
There's a dearth of major needs for the Seahawks, but depth is always a necessity and they'll need to replace departed talent at running back, defensive back and edge. Thus, at least one first-round pick is likely to be on the move when the draft begins Thursday evening in Pittsburgh.
-- Grant Gordon
No end for Aiyuk saga in sight?
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk might have been placed on the reserve/left squad list in December, but he's still on the roster as of April.
General manager John Lynch doesn't expect that will change this weekend.
At his pre-draft news conference on Monday, Lynch said he doesn't consider it a "high probability" the Niners will move Aiyuk during the draft, per The Athletic's Matt Barrows. Like any good GM, he still left the door open and also mentioned he has had discussions with specific teams regarding a trade, but he didn't make a divorce from Aiyuk seem imminent.
The drama with Aiyuk has persisted for years, starting off with him requesting a trade and staging a training camp hold-in in 2024 before agreeing to a new deal, only to tear his ACL that season, pop up in trade speculation again last offseason and sit out the entirety of the 2025 campaign -- a trying year that saw San Francisco void his 2026 guaranteed money and place him on the aforementioned left squad list.
Lynch said in January it was "safe to say" Aiyuk had played his final snap for the 49ers, but it's anyone's guess when he's freed up to line up for another squad.
-- Bobby Kownack
