This week starts with sad news. Rest in Peace former NFL edge defender Aldon Smith, who suddenly passed away at 36 years old. Smith was the fastest player to reach 30 sacks in a career in NFL history, doing it in his first 27 games with the 49ers.
➡️ Brendan Sorsby to the NFL
Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby is applying to enter the NFL Supplemental Draft this summer.
Sorsby has had a back and forth legal battle with the NCAA over his eligibility after admitting to compulsive gambling, including on his own games while at Indiana.
Ultimately, when a Texas judge gave Sorsby an injunction to stop the NCAA from banning him, it looked like the star QB would be playing this fall.
However, a major uproar from other schools—including many boycotting Texas Tech across all sports—AGs, and others across the nation is probably what led to this decision by Sorsby.
What now? The 2026 NFL Supplemental Draft doesn’t have a set date yet, but it’ll be in either July or August. The most recent supplemental draft pick was S Jalen Thompson by the Cardinals in 2019. There have been 46 supplemental draft picks since its inception in 1977.
The supplemental draft is a blind process. Teams can select which round they would select the player (Rounds 1-7). The order runs via a weighted lottery system broken into three tiers: Teams with six or fewer wins last season, non-playoff teams with seven or more wins last season, and last year’s playoff squads.
If a team selects Sorsby (which is fully expected, despite the gambling issue), they’ll have to give up their draft pick from the 2027 NFL Draft for whichever round pick they use to take him. The expectation is that it might be a Day 2 pick that someone spends for Sorsby. WR Josh Gordon was the latest second-round supplemental draft pick in 2012, and he went on to become an All-Pro in his second NFL season.
💰 Mahomes inks NFL’s first $500M deal
Mega-extension: Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes added two years to his contract, making it an eight-year, $504.75 million deal through the 2033 season.
Mahomes’ deal is the NFL’s first at over half a billion dollars—perhaps a mark both sides wanted to hit.
The three-time Super Bowl champion is coming off a torn ACL, and his play over the past few years hasn’t been quite the level it was early his career—but Kansas City is not going to part ways with Mahomes any time soon (if ever).
In eight years: Mahomes will be 38 years old when this current contract is up, but don’t be surprised if Kansas City continues adding years while trying to push for Super Bowl titles.
Mahomes wasn’t alone in getting a big extension, with a few more players inking long-term deals over the past week:
Dolphins signed C Aaron Brewer to a three-year, $52.5 million deal.
The Jets locked up G Joe Tippman on a four-year, $64.4 million extension.
Panthers WR Jalen Coker signed a three-year, $35 million extension with the club.
Plus, the Broncos extended HC Sean Payton, who has led a tremendous turnaround for Denver.
📝 More of the latest player news
G Joel Bitonio announced his retirement after 12 NFL seasons, all with the Browns. The 2014 second-round pick was a two-time First-Team All-Pro and a three-time Second-Team All-Pro.
Out of retirement: Meanwhile, the Eagles released EDGE Za’Darius Smith off the reserve/retired list after his surprise retirement during last season, meaning the former Pro Bowler intends to resume his career at 33 years old.
Acquisitions from the past week include the Falcons acquiring OT Wanya Morris from the Chiefs, the Eagles signing EDGE A.J. Epenesa, and WR Hakeem Butler landing with the Broncos.
Off-field news continues across the league:
Broncos EDGE Jonathon Cooper was arrested again for additional charges stemming from allegations against him, and the team says they are disappointed to hear the news and are reviewing the matter.
Rams OT Alaric Jackson was arrested on a felony domestic violence charge.
The NFL found that FA WR Stefon Diggs did not violate the NFL personal conduct policy and will not be disciplined.
🏈 Offseason training
11 teams open mandatory minicamp today, with players who miss the training to be fined.
Cowboys star WR George Pickens is attending mandatory minicamp despite being unhappy about the franchise tag and the lack of a long-term deal.
Some news from the end of voluntary offseason training last week:
Broncos QB Bo Nix is set to participate some in minicamp and will be “full-go” for training camp—with HC Sean Payton saying there’ll be no limitations for Nix’s mobility after ankle surgery.
Colts WR Alec Pierce could miss most of training camp after offseason ankle surgery.
Our YouTube video from last week dives into why new Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown is set to put up numbers in 2026.
We didn’t expect Brown to be traded earlier in the offseason. But, he clearly wanted out of Philadelphia. A big reason why is that he’s set to be the focal point of the New England passing game—giving him a better opportunity to keep putting up numbers for what’s been a Hall of Fame pace to this point.
The Josh McDaniels factor is huge. Some notable first-year receiver performances with McDaniels as the play-caller include Randy Moss setting the NFL single-season in receiving touchdowns (23) while Wes Welker went for nearly 1,200 yards and eight scores for the 2007 Patriots; Brandon Marshall posting a 101/1,120/10 line in 2009; and Davante Adams having perhaps his second-best season with 1,516 yards and 14 touchdowns in Vegas.
McDaniels compared the All-Pro Brown to legendary tight end Rob Gronkowski in terms of being “a force” on the field. Look for the Pats to feed Brown this season, with him being a potential steal as late as the the third round of fantasy drafts.
📰 More NFL news and notes
The NFL Top 100 Players of 2026 will be unveiled throughout the summer, starting on June 22 and concluding on September 4.
Bling: The Seahawks received their Super Bowl LX rings, which they call the most technologically advanced ever.
New Bills S C.J. Gardner-Johnson hilariously did not take it well when he learned that QB Josh Allen was previously voted as the NFL’s best trash talker instead of him.
Bears QB Caleb Williams responded to Packers star Micah Parsons calling him the best player in the league, honestly saying he probably wouldn’t vote for a player on a rival team.
Other Sports Updates
🏆 Stanley Cup champions: The Hurricanes defeated the Golden Knights in six games for their first title since 2006.
⚽️ The World Cup is underway across America, with the USMT winning their first game against Paraguay by a 4-1 score.
🏒 Lightning star Nikita Kucherov won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP for the second time.
✈️ UFC Freedom 250 took place on the White House lawn on Sunday night.
