49ers
49ers GM John Lynch is cautiously optimistic about a long-term deal between LT Trent Williams and the team.
“We’ve had good communication throughout,” Lynch said, via ESPN. “I would say in the last week it’s kind of intensified and feel like we’re on the precipice of something good happening, but we’ll see. Don’t want to make any statements that, like, ‘Hey, we’re right there,’ because these things have felt like that before, but I do feel like we’re in good communication and hopeful.”
Lynch added that the negotiations have always been straightforward and there’s never been ill-will towards either side, he did admit that Williams is on the back-end of his career, which is something the team has to take into consideration.
“This one’s never got ugly,” Lynch said. “It’s been very straightforward, direct. And I just think there’s a lot of nuance to that situation. He’s one of the great players, I think, to ever play the game, but there’s a reality with his age. It’s like, how do you thread that needle and how do you find a deal where everyone’s taken care of and happy?”
Cardinals
Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur doesn’t think that veteran quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew will have any problem adjusting to the team’s new offensive scheme. LaFleur also revealed that the team had conversations about keeping QB Kyler Murray, but wouldn’t elaborate any further, noting that they could still add at the position.
“I’ve always felt that both, in their own way, would be good fits in this system,” LaFleur said Monday, via the team’s official site. “We had discussions (about keeping Murray), and we’ll keep it at that. You name it, we were talking about it. The quarterback position is the most important position in all of sports. We know that. There were lengthy conversations in so many different aspects of it, and there will continue to be until we know we have the most perfect room possible. Every room, if we can improve it, we’re going to try and improve it. The quarterback room all the way down to the kicking room.”
Rams
Rams QB Matthew Stafford quickly decided to return for another season in 2026, which HC Sean McVay said was a big boost to the team’s morale at the start of the offseason.
“It was good. Everything starts with that position, and when you’ve got a guy like him that instills belief in everybody around him, the way he goes about it, he epitomizes everything we want to be about,” McVay told NFL Network’s Steve Wyche at the Annual League Meeting in Phoenix. “Then, obviously, he’s a special player, but even more a special person. It meant a lot. We’re so connected, I think there was a good feel, good vibe that that was the direction you were going in, but you never want to be presumptive. He’s earned the right to be able to do it on his terms, and I think he still loves playing. He’s obviously playing at an incredible clip, so that was big.”
“That’s always the great challenge is you want to make sure you’re maximizing the opportunity you have with him while also not being naïve to, hey, I’m hopeful to be with the Rams for a long time,” McVay said of Stafford. “He’s gonna be able to play as long as he’s able to, whether that’s one, two more, who knows, he might be one of those guys that plays late into his 40s and I wouldn’t have a problem with that. Those are dialogues and discussions that we have a lot, and it’s always figuring out that balance of continuing to build and take advantage of what a unique player you have while also not being naïve to eventually we are not gonna have the luxury of having him as our guy, and that’s a super important position.”
Looking for the latest NFL Insider News & Rumors?
Be sure to follow NFL Trade Rumors on X.com and FACEBOOK for breaking NFL News and Rumors for all 32 teams!
