Andrew Siciliano deep dives on the 2026 NFL Draft with Nate Tice & ESPN’s Matt Miller. Andrew kicks things off with Nate Tice as they parse through Nate & Charles McDonald’s latest mock draft and cover a few of the more interesting selections, including EDGE Rueben Bain Jr. going second overall to the New York Jets, RB Jeremiyah Love in the top ten, EDGE David Bailey to the Washington Commanders and more. Next, Andrew & Nate set their sites on Indianapolis for the NFL Combine as Nate gives his top prospects he’s most excited to watch test next week.
Advertisement
Later, Andrew is joined by ESPN’s Matt Miller to get his thoughts on the draft (including Ty Simpson, Caleb Downs and more) before talking through his latest NFL mock draft.
(6:55) – Nate Tice breaks down latest NFL mock draft
(21:55) – Nate’s top prospects to watch at the NFL Combine
(44:00) – Matt Miller talks latest NFL mock draft
MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA – JANUARY 19: Fernando Mendoza #15 of the Indiana Hoosiers takes the field during pregame warmups before the 2026 CFP National Championship between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium on January 19, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by CFP/Getty Images)
(Photo by CFP/Getty Images)
Inside Coverage would be nothing without the impact of our beloved Terez Paylor, who was a pillar of Yahoo Sports’ NFL editorial and podcast coverage. We will continue to produce this NFL podcast in his honor, and hope that you can support Terez Paylor’s legacy in one of three ways:
• Buy an “All-Juice Team” hoodie or tee from BreakingT.com/Terez. All profits directly fund the Terez A. Paylor scholarship at Howard University.
• Donate directly at giving.howard.edu/givenow. Under “Tribute,” please note that your gift is made in memory of Terez A. Paylor. Under “Designation,” click on “Other” and write in “Terez A. Paylor Scholarship.”
Today on the Kevin O’Connor show, KOC is joined by Tom Haberstroh to ask some big questions in the NBA world: Are the Houston Rockets done? What teams have the most to prove in the 2nd half of the season? Which young players might break out and which coaches are on the hot seat?
Advertisement
Then, the pair look at two of the hottest names in college basketball: Darius Acuff and Darryn Peterson. How does Acuff’s 49-point explosion affect his draft stock? Is Peterson’s self-check-out gambit for Kansas threatening his no. 1 draft pick potential?
Later, KOC is joined by Daman Rangoola, Sam Esfandiari & Claire De Lune from All-Star Weekend to talk the latest with the Lakers and Warriors. That and more on today’s show!
(1:11) Contenders with the most to prove (13:38) Young players to watch (20:26) NBA coaches on the hot seat (33:46) Kings decimated by injuries (37:12) Darius Acuff drops 49 points vs. Alabama (41:44) What’s going on with Darryn Peterson? (56:32) Daman Rangoola & Sam Esfandiari join from All-Star (1:43:10) Claire De Lune joins from All-Star
HOUSTON, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 11: Kevin Durant #7 of the Houston Rockets looks on during the second half of the game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Toyota Center on February 11, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Jack Gorman/Getty Images)
Nate Tice & Charles McDonald join forces to answer the NFL offseason’s biggest looming questions submitted by the audience. The duo start off by diving into the New York Giants’ potential NFL Draft plans with the 5th overall pick, how the Chicago Bears can fix their defensive line and whether or not Brian Daboll is a good fit with QB Cam Ward as the new Tennessee Titans OC.
Advertisement
Next, Nate & Charles discuss whether or not the Los Angeles Chargers can fix their offensive line in one offseason, if the Jacksonville Jaguars defense can take a leap next season, who the Denver Broncos should be targeting in free agency (Tyler Allgeier?) and what our expectations for the 2026 Washington Commanders should look like.
Later, the two hosts wrap up with thoughts on the New England Patriots’ upcoming offseason decisions, why Sean McVay changed to a duo run game style with the Los Angeles Rams, whether Sean McDermott was really the problem with the Buffalo Bills and more.
(44:15) – Biggest offseason questions: Patriots, Rams, Bills & more
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) warms up before the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
The Cooligans welcome former MLS head coach and analyst Giovanni Savarese for a deep dive into the 2026 MLS season. Gio shares his predictions, breakout teams to watch, and how the league continues to evolve ahead of a massive 2026 on home soil. The conversation also turns to the USMNT, as the guys assess expectations, pressure, and what success should realistically look like at the 2026 World Cup.
Advertisement
Christian and Alexis then tackle the troubling racist incident involving Vinícius Júnior during Real Madrid’s clash with Benfica. They unpack how these situations are currently handled, question whether the responsibility to stop a match unfairly falls on the player experiencing abuse, and debate what meaningful structural changes could better protect players moving forward.
Finally, it’s a jam-packed Champions League recap. Folarin Balogun shines in a statement performance against Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus suffer a shocking defeat to Galatasaray, and Bodø/Glimt pull off a stunning win over Inter Milan. The boys react to all the drama, surprises, and what these results mean going forward.
Timestamps:
(6:30) – 2026 MLS preview and predictions
Advertisement
(30:00) – Gio Savarese’s USMNT World Cup outlook
(39:00) – Vinicius Junior deals with racism again: time for a rule change?
(59:00) – Folarin Balogun shines in Champions League loss to PSG
(1:04:30) – Serie A teams suffer shocking Champions League losses
Hulu‘s revival of The X-Files is moving forward and the project has cast its first co-lead.
Danielle Deadwyler has landed one of the two coveted starring roles in the series.
In addition, Sinners filmmaker Ryan Coogler — who has long been attached to the show — is now confirmed to both write and direct the pilot, which has been officially greenlit.
The new show’s official description: “Two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents form an unlikely bond when they are assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena.”
This logline is slightly different from the premise of Fox’s original, which debuted in 1993 and ran for nine seasons and spawned two movies. The original series kicked off with Agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) being assigned to the paranormal division to help debunk true believer Agent Fox Mulder’s (David Duchovny) work.
Jennifer Yale (See, The Copenhagen Test) will serve as showrunner. The X-Files‘ original creator and showrunner, Chris Carter, will be a non-writing executive producer on the series. Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler, who are Coogler’s partners at their Proximity Media banner, are also non-writing EPs on the show.
Coogler is a great get for Hulu, with the Black Panther director red hot after delivering last year’s most celebrated surprise hit with Sinners, which is nominated for 16 Oscars.
Deadwyler has appeared in The Woman in the Yard and Netflix’s adaptation of The Piano Lesson (and earned a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for best supporting actress for the latter). She is also set to appear in HBO’s upcoming third season of Euphoria and star in HBO’s upcoming comedy series Rooster.
The X-Files will be produced by Onyx Collective and 20th Television and is returning amid a widespread surge of interest in aliens and UFOs. The topic has received congressional attention with several hearings devoted to UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena), recent headlines with presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump weighing in on the topic, and Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film, Disclosure Day, having a premise that sounds straight out of The X-Files.
Yale is repped by CAA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, and Hansen Jacobson. Carter is repped by CAA and Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman, Inc.
With nine total NBA Champion rings — five as a player and four (thus far) as head coach of the Golden State Warriors — Steve Kerr is a bonafide NBA legend. But what would be truly legendary is if Kerr’s bright mind could help change gun culture in America.
Kerr’s father Malcolm Kerr was assassinated by a pair of gunmen in 1984 at the American University of Beirut, where he served as president. Malcolm Kerr allowed Lebanese residents to use the college’s vacant buildings to avoid an Israeli assault on West Beirut. What he did not allow was for Israeli officers to inspect those he sheltered. Kerr’s assassination was claimed by the Islamic Jihad Organization, a militant organization close to Hezbollah.
Steve Kerr is a natural shooter — he still holds the NBA record for career 3-point shooting percentage. Given his family tragedy, Kerr has also naturally transitioned into an advocate for common sense gun safety. His two pursuits crossed paths just a few months ago when John Beam, the athletic director at Laney Community College and the head football coach on season five of Netflix docuseries Last Chance U, was shot and killed on campus some 12 miles from where the Warriors play.
At a press conference for just another NBA game in November, Kerr used his platform to honor Beam and pushed for a change in our unfortunate culture of American gun violence. Kerr’s message brought him to Joshua Seftel’s All the Empty Rooms documentary, a short film chronicling the bedrooms of children murdered by gun violence that is now on Netflix and in Oscar contention, as an executive producer. That’s where The Hollywood Reporter began its Q&A, recorded on the Friday of NBA All-Star Weekend, with Kerr.
What did you actually do here as an executive producer?
My joke, which is the dead truth, is that executive producer is a fancy way of saying, “I had nothing to do with it.” But I support it. I was asked maybe a year ago if I would be interested in being an executive producer, and immediately said, “Yes,” because I think— number one, I think it’s brilliant. I think it’s so powerful, and I think it speaks to everybody, and it cuts through all the political bullshit. And I think it’s so important. I mean, I have two granddaughters who are going to be heading off to school in the next couple of years. You know, the thought of them having to go through these active shooter drills, it’s just heartbreaking. So I just think there’s got to be ways to get through to people that this is an issue that we can tackle, and we don’t have to be pitted against each other on political lines.
What is your solution to gun violence in America?
I do work with Brady — you’ve probably heard of them. And one of the things I like about Brady is that they’re named after a Republican, and they are very much nonpartisan in their quest to protect people and save lives. But it almost sounds funny saying that, because it so clearly is a partisan issue. What Brady tries to do is cut through the political lines, and I do think that there are ways to do that. And one of the the campaigns that they have is called End Family Fire. It’s basically a nationwide campaign for gun owners to safely store their guns. So you’re really reaching out to gun owners, not far left people in San Francisco. You’re talking to directly to people who have guns. Eight kids a day are shot by un-stored guns. Seventy-five percent of school shootings happen with unsecured guns.
And so this is a really simple campaign that Brady has embarked on. This is not about the Second Amendment — it’s about gun responsibility. And in the old days, the NRA was all about gun safety. They taught gun safety. They encouraged good habits, and they were a completely different organization than they are now — now they’re just basically a wing of the gun lobby trying to increase sales. But when they first started, they were trying to teach gun owners how to be safe. And so even that alone is saving lives already.
Like most social-impact documentaries, this one was a very hard watch at times. Is there one story or scene that is particularly tough for you to watch?
Gosh, I mean, I cried several times. You know, I’ve seen it several times, and I’ve cried every time. I think the SpongeBob characters in the room (was the hardest for me). That was really, really tough … Seeing the rooms, I think, is so real because — you know, I have three kids, and they’re all grown now, but it’s like those rooms could have been my kids rooms or your kids rooms. I think that’s what hits home, is that anybody with children, it really reminds you that this is about human loss. It’s not about a statistic or political issue. And that’s the power of the movie.
You know they never mention guns one time in the film. They don’t even talk about solutions. It just focuses on the loss. And I think the most beautiful part of the film is just how deeply moved and empathetic (journalist) Steve Hartman and (photographer) Lou (Bopp) both are. Like, the juxtaposition of them going home to their own kids, and how respectful they are, you know, taking their shoes off before they go into the room. I just thought it was so beautifully done. And I don’t know that it could have happened without those two guys and their humanity and how prominent that was.
It was interesting to me that, to a family, each of the kids rooms were untouched — for some that included not picking up after and cleaning dirty laundry. No judgment on my end because far be it for anyone not in that terrible situation to say what they would or wouldn’t do, but it struck me.
Yeah, yeah. I totally agree. I thought that was really interesting, too. And it seemed to be the common thread that all the parents just wanted to preserve everything so that they could go in there and just feel the presence of their children. You’re young enough where you haven’t experienced it yet, but for every family who’s an empty nester, you go into your kid’s room after they leave for college and you sit in there sometimes and you reminisce and you think about their childhood — and they’re alive. So imagine the power of that room if the children are no longer with you. So, yeah, it was really, really something — so difficult to watch and yet so necessary to watch.
What would an Oscar mean for this film and the subject matter?
Well, I don’t really know, because it’s not my world. It’s something that I’ve thought about, and I don’t really know what to make of it. I would hope that it would just increase viewership. I think the more people who watch it, the more impact it will have. And that’s the main thing for me, is — what I want is, I want people to act, I want people to be proactive with this issue. I think Steve Hartman talks about it in the beginning of the movie, he says that human nature is to go numb and to look away — but the point of the movie is for people not to look away. It’s to address it and understand it. What my hope is, if they can address it and understand it a little bit, then they’ll be more willing to act on it.
Like a lot of issues that society has — it’s kind of a movement that has to happen. It’s not going to be, you know, all of a sudden people in Congress are going to come to their senses and say, “Oh, OK, maybe [we’ll change gun laws].” It’s going to be a movement. It’s going to be people sort of demanding it. It’s the turning of the cruise ship, is the analogy. So hopefully this will, you know, help turn the cruise ship.
7 May 1996: John Starks (left) of the New York Knicks puts a hand in the face of guard Steve Kerr of the Chicago Bulls during the Bulls 91-80 round 1 Eastern Conference Playoff win at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Doug Pens/Getty Images
If you’ll indulge me, I’d love to talk some hoop here too.
Of course.
Your Warriors contract expires in a few months — what are you thinking for next season?
I love what I do. I love coaching and so this is something I want to keep doing. But you know, it has to line up organizationally, and, and I’m completely at ease with that fact. These jobs all have expiration dates on them, and you don’t know exactly when that is. But, it’s important for me that this ends in a really healthy way. So if it’s not right for next year and I move on, I’ll be very happy and grateful for the opportunity. And if it works out, great, then I’ll keep going — but we all have to be on the same page.
You were a pretty good 3-point shooter in your day and still hold the record for highest career three-point percentage. You have a guy on your team who can shoot a bit as well — is there anything you’ve personally taught Steph Curry about shooting?
I’m not touching it — I haven’t touched it. I’ve never, ever given him one bit of shooting advice.
When I was growing up, there was a commercial about the Maytag repairman. The Maytag repairman just had nothing to do all day because Maytags run perfectly. I am the Maytag repairman (with Steph).
Last week (at the time of this interview), Fox Sports talking head Nick Wright said the way to fix the NBA All-Star Game is white players vs. Black players. Thoughts?
First, I thought it was hilarious, and I’m glad we’re getting back to being allowed to tell politically incorrect jokes. But maybe he was actually serious. I don’t really know.
The Oscar-winning performer will portray former President Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln in the Bardo, a feature adaptation of author George Saunders’ best-selling 2017 novel.
Duke Johnson is directing the film that is a hybrid of live-action and stop-motion animation. Hanks will appear as a live-action version of the 16th U.S. President for the film that is currently in production in London.
Johnson, who co-directed the Oscar-nominated 2015 animated feature Anomalisa, helms Lincoln in the Bardo from a script by Saunders. Lincoln in the Bard centers on Lincoln’s relationship with his recently deceased 11-year-old son Willie Lincoln.
Producers include Hanks and Gary Goetzman for Playtone, along with Johnson, Devon Young Rabinowitz and Paul Young for Starburns Industries. Saunders, Steven Shareshian and Aaron Mitchell are executive producing. Saunders’ acclaimed novel won the 2017 Booker Prize.
Hanks’ recent features include The Phoenician Scheme, Here and Freaky Tales. He reprises his voice role of cowboy Woody in Pixar’s Toy Story 5, set for release this summer from Disney, and also stars in director Aaron Schneider’s forthcoming World War II drama Greyhound 2.
Lincoln’s legacy has remained in the forefront of popular culture in recent years. Hamish Linklater played the commander in chief in the 2024 Apple TV+ series Manhunt, while the Broadway play Oh, Mary!, a comedic examination of the politician’s personal life, won multiple Tony Awards last year.
Hanks is represented by CAA and Greenberg Glusker.
The Indianapolis Colts have had discussions about a multiyear extension for quarterback Daniel Jones, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Jones signed a one-year, $14 million deal with Indy last season and is set to hit free agency unless the team can get a deal done or tag him.
The deadline to franchise tag a player is March 3. The franchise tag or transition tag is a one-year, guaranteed tender that prevents players from hitting free agency. For quarterbacks, the salary is set at $47,321,000 and the transition tag is $40,799,000, according to Overthecap. NFL free agency officially starts March 11.
Jones beat out Indianapolis’ 2023 first-round draft pick Anthony Richardson to be the team’s QB1. Jones threw for 3,101 yards, 19 touchdowns and 8 interceptions before tearing his Achilles tendon in Week 14.
Advertisement
Jones was in his first year with the Colts and had spent his first six years with the Giants. Jones was cut by the Giants in 2024 before signing with the Vikings, but did not start a game for Minnesota.
The Colts backslid after Jones went down. After going 8-2, the Colts finished the year with seven straight losses. Indianapolis went 8-9 and missed the playoffs for its fifth consecutive season. The Colts were only the third team in NFL history to start the year 8-2 and miss the postseason.
Last season was a preview of what the Colts could look like if they don’t re-sign Jones. With Jones and Richardson being injured, the Colts signed 44-year-old Philip Rivers out of retirement. Before Rivers’ second stint with the Colts, he last played during the 2020-2021 season. Rivers threw for 544 yards, 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions in his three starts.
Advertisement
With Rivers announcing after Week 18 that he will go back to coaching high school football, the Colts are down to Richardson and 2025 sixth-round draft pick Riley Leonard at quarterback.
Richardson has 15 starts in three seasons and did not start a game last year. Richardson is reportedly expected to request a trade. Leonard threw for 270 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception in his only start last season.
The Colts have had 14 different quarterbacks start at least a game since Andrew Luck retired before the 2019 season. The Colts have also had a new QB open the season each of the past seven years.
Veteran outfielder Michael Conforto will try to revive his career after reportedly signing a minor-league contract with the Chicago Cubs on Monday, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian reports.
Conforto, who will turn 33 in March, played last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He appeared in 138 games, batting a career-worst .199/.305/.333 with 12 home runs, 20 doubles and 36 RBI in 486 plate appearances. But he wasn’t a factor in the Dodgers repeating as World Series champions, as the team left him off its postseason roster.
Advertisement
Looking at the Cubs’ roster, it’s difficult to see where Conforto would fit in.
Taking over in right field for the departed Kyle Tucker might seem like a possibility, but the Cubs have Seiya Suzuki and his 32 home runs to play there. Ian Happ will likely play left field and hits right-handed pitching (.791 OPS, 18 homers in 2025 ), as well as Conforto (career .811 OPS). At designated hitter, Moisés Ballesteros (.309/.387/.491) is probably the preferred choice, though Conforto could provide more power.
Additionally, Conforto hasn’t regularly played center field since 2019 so he likely wouldn’t be a defensive replacement or substitute when Pete Crow-Armstrong needs a day off.
The hope is that Conforto could find something close to his 2019 form when he hit 33 homers and 29 doubles for the New York Mets. But the 10-year MLB veteran hasn’t approached those numbers since, failing to register an OPS above .759 in four of his five seasons since then. (He missed the entire 2022 campaign with a shoulder injury.)
Advertisement
Otherwise, if the expectation is for a left-handed bat who can play both corner outfield positions (and maybe center field) and provide depth to the lineup, Conforto could be a nice addition. Cubs manager Craig Counsell said as much to reporters.
“At this point, we’re looking to bring in candidates to just strengthen the roster,” Counsell said, via the Chicago Sun-Times. “And it’s a sign of just continuing to do that. Michael had a down year last year, but has been a good player in this league for quite a while.”
But Conforto will also face competition from veterans Dylan Carlson and Chas McCormick. And top prospect Kevin Alcantara could be in the major-league lineup by the end of the season.
The franchise tag window is here, and there are several big names to keep an eye this offseason.
While there are plenty of players who could pick up the tag over the next week, it’s unclear how many actually will get the franchise tag. Last offseason, only two players — Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins and Kansas City Chiefs guard Trey Smith — were tagged. The Dallas Cowboys are reportedly already planning to use the tool, so we we’re halfway to reaching last year’s mark. Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts, assuming the Cowboys actually make the move, then got us there.
Advertisement
Here’s everything you need to know, and who to watch out for, during the franchise tag window.
What dates is the franchise tag window open?
The franchise tag window opened Feb. 17 and runs until 4 p.m. ET on March 3.
What are the franchise tag rules?
During this two-week window, teams are allowed to tag one player who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. That would then keep that player with the team for the 2026 season. The sides can still negotiate a long-term deal up until July 15. If that deadline passes without a new deal, a tagged player will play on a one-year contract under the tag’s price determined by position.
Franchise tag salaries by position for 2026
The projected franchise tag costs for each position in 2026, per Spotrac.
Advertisement
Offense QB: $47.242 million RB: $14.186 million WR: $28.037 million TE: $16.007 million OL: $27.764 million
Defense DE: $26.710 million DT: $27.424 million LB: $27.559 million CB: $20.783 million S: $20.758 million
Pitts looked significantly better last season, much more like the dominant tight end he was during his rookie campaign. He had 928 yards and a career-high five touchdowns on 88 catches, and was a very reliable piece for the Falcons’ offense that lost both quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and wide receiver Drake London due to injuries.
Advertisement
But Pitts has been underwhelming for much of his career. Outside of his first and most recent season, Pitts has largely failed to live up to the expectations that came with being the No. 4 overall draft pick.
It’s unclear how the Falcons’ new leadership feels about Pitts, but tagging him for one final season appears to be their safe strategy. The Falcons can now revisit his long-term future with the organization this fall, depending on how his fifth campaign with them goes.
Top franchise tag candidates for 2026
George Pickens, WR, Dallas Cowboys
This is an easy one, and a move the Cowboys have been planning to do for quite some time.
Advertisement
Pickens is coming off the best season of his career in 2025, his first with the Cowboys after being traded there from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pickens had 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns on 93 catches last season alongside star CeeDee Lamb. The Cowboys will have the second-most expensive wide receiver duo in the league next season when the deal is done. The Cowboys have made it clear they want Pickens on a long-term contract, too.
While negotiations on that deal could take some time, the Cowboys aren’t going to risk losing Pickens to free agency this offseason.
Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets
The Jets may want to spend their money elsewhere this offseason amid yet another rebuild, but Hall would be a great franchise tag option for them. That is, if they want to keep him.
Advertisement
Hall racked up a career-high 1,065 rushing yards with five total touchdowns last season, his fourth in the league. The former Iowa State star was easily the most consistent part of New York’s offense amid a 3-14 campaign, and he may be the top running back in the free agent market this offseason. There will undoubtedly be interest for him, and Hall would get paid if he left.
But Hall, remember, was a big name to watch at the trade deadline. So who knows if the team even wants to utilize this option.
Odafe Oweh, LB, Los Angeles Chargers
Oweh looked like a different player once he landed with the Chargers ahead of the trade deadline. Oweh had 7.5 sacks and 28 total tackles in just 12 games, and he had three total sacks and a pair of forced fumbles in L.A.’s playoff loss in New England. He seemed to be a very good fit for a Chargers defense that struggled frequently last fall.
Advertisement
The Chargers have a lot of money to spend this offseason, too, so securing Oweh could be a very easy move if the two sides can’t agree to a long-term deal. But letting Oweh walk after his revival of sorts feels like something the Chargers need to avoid.
Daniel Jones, QB, Indianapolis Colts
This may not even be necessary, but it’s something to look out for. Both the Colts and Jones have made it clear that they want to reunite next season after Jones’ career-best start with the franchise last fall. He’s currently recovering from a torn Achilles he went down with in December, but said he expects to be ready for training camp.
If the Colts use the tag on Jones — they’ve used it only once in the past decade — expect it to be a short-term option before a real extension is reached.
Advertisement
Kenneth Walker III, RB, Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks rarely use the franchise tag, and it doesn’t seem like that’s going to change, even if they don’t want to let Walker go this offseason. But last week, ESPN reported the Seahawks won’t use their franchise tag on Walker.
Walker racked up 1,027 yards and five touchdowns on 221 carries last season while leading the Seahawks to their Super Bowl title. He was the game’s MVP, with 135 rushing yards and 26 receiving yards in the Seahawks’ 29-13 win over the Patriots. That made him the first running back to win the award in decades.
Walker will be a free agent this offseason if the Seahawks don’t reach a long-term deal with him. And the team is very likely going to want him back this fall, especially since fellow running back Zach Charbonnet is recovering from an ACL injury. Yet, considering Walker’s injury history — he made it in only 11 games during the 2024 campaign, and last season was his first full season in the league — securing Walker on the tag would be an easy short-term solution for the Seahawks as they work to defend their title. Then a long-term deal, or the decision to move on, will be an issue for another day.
