Dolphins

Dolphins RB De’Von Achane said that WR Malik Washington is someone he expects to make a big stride in his third season with the team.

“Everybody, man,” Achane said, via Dolphins Wire. “Especially the new guys as far as like JT (Jalen Tolbert), Tu (Tutu Atwell), the new additions, but you know, Malik Washington, he’s stepping up in a big way.”

Jets

• The Jets signed C Joe Tippmann to a four-year, $62 million contract extension on June 15, 2026 with $34.924 million guaranteed, including $31 million in new money guarantees and $21.424 million fully guaranteed at signing. 
• Tippmann received an $8 million signing bonus, while his 2026 and 2027 base salaries are fully guaranteed, and his $13.5 million 2028 salary becomes fully guaranteed if he is on the roster on the 5th day of the 2027 league year.
• The contract also includes annual per-game roster bonuses, workout bonuses, up to $4.4 million in incentives, and lowered Tippmann’s 2026 salary cap number by $900,000. (OTC)

Patriots

Patriots OLB Elijah Ponder enters the second year of his career after being signed as an undrafted free agent. New England OLBs coach Mike Smith said he has “very high expectations” for Ponder after being impressive in their spring program.  

“I’ve got very high expectations for him. Very,” Smith said, via Mark Daniels of MassLive. “All these guys have done great all spring, but he really, really looks comfortable out there. It has really slowed down for him. And again, we’re June 9th or 10th, but I got high expectations for him. He’s always gonna fight. He’s not gonna say much. He’s very intelligent. When you’re very intelligent like that, he’s big. He’s as athletic. He’s done some kind of freaky stuff the spring around the edge, the top of his rush that you’re like, ‘Oh, wow, that’s pretty nice to see.’”

Patriots HC Mike Vrabel thinks Ponder has another level of confidence entering his second year on the team. 

“I think maybe confidence of, ‘I am actually here, I am actually doing this again. I didn’t go through the post-draft process, and I know what I am comfortable with what the practices are going to be and the meetings,’” Vrabel said. “Young players that work hard and have a full offseason to train, sometimes that’s a great window of opportunity for a guy that is 22, 23 years old, to make some significant improvement in their speed, in their strength, explosion. So, hopefully that is what we will see.”

Smith is curious to see if Ponder can keep up the production when they get into training camp. 

“Let’s get the pads on and let’s see if we can do that stuff when the bullets are flying,” Smith said. “But he’s had a really good camp, and he has made some big strides.”