Buccaneers

Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield remains confident an extension will get done before the season, as he enters the final season of a three-year, $100 million deal.

“I would love to be there,” Mayfield said, via Greg Auman. “I think both sides want to get it done. Now it’s a matter of finding that middle ground and what makes both sides happy.”

Falcons

Falcons 2025 first-round DE Jalon Walker put up 5.5 sacks in his rookie year and is in the middle of his first full offseason as a pro. Atlanta DC Jeff Ulbrich believes Walker’s best trait is his versatility and implied Walker could see his role expanded much beyond just rushing the passer.

“There’s a lot of steps. The fact that he is so versatile and that his calling card is his ability to do so many things,” Ulbrich said, via the team’s website. “We are going to need to become better in everything he does — whether it is pass rush, edge setting at the line of scrimmage, small role off the ball, coverage, blitz. We are going to ask him to do a lot. He is one of those guys who is going to be in a similar role to what Kaden (Elliss) had last year. What we had asked Kaden to do, I had never been around anything like that before in the past.”

“There were days when he was an outside backer, days when he was a defensive end, days he was an inside backer, days he was — in some ways — a nickel. That’s hard to replace. Jalon is up to the task, and Jalon is going to bring his own flavor to it, too. I think Jalon has some superpowers that are unique. He’s tough. He loves this game. He has this obvious skillset that we all see, but what you don’t see is the guy behind the scenes. He has some real, authentic leadership to him. This word is thrown around way too often, but the force multiplier. But that’s who he is. He is a guy who elevates the people around him. He will make us better, collectively as he gets better.”

Falcons