49ers

• Matt Barrows of The Athletic believes that the 49ers would like to retain six wide receivers and dress five for Week 1, including Mike Evans, Ricky Pearsall, Christian Kirk, De’Zhaun Stribling, Jacob Cowing and Jordan Watkins.
• Barrows adds that while former draft pick Junior Bergen can’t make an impact on the roster as a receiver, he could still compete for a job as a punt returner. However, he’s probably a long shot since several other players can fill that role. 
• Barrows adds that Pearsall could also be expected to return kicks or punts, depending on the roster status of other players such as Bergen.
• Seth Walder reports 49ers Football R&D Analyst Meredith Manley is no longer with the team after opting to leave at the conclusion of her contract.

Cardinals

Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur isn’t worried about the absence of veteran QB Jacoby Brissett from voluntary workouts.

“It’s not mandatory, right? Like I’ve said with Jacoby and all veterans I’ve ever been around, they’ve played football,” LaFleur told reporters Monday, via NFL.com. “The hardest thing to do in this league is get used to the speed of the game. Not just the rookie, but the second-year, third-year guy, and he’s played a lot of football. He’s done probably everything that we’ve ever done schematically, it’s just a little bit different verbiage. It’s the flip stuff, getting used to the game, like if a rookie’s not here or a second-year guy’s not here, you’re like, ‘Oh, crap,’ because it takes a minute.”

He was a lot sparser when asked if the two sides had made any progress on a new contract, which is why the veteran Brissett is staying away. 

“Same as where we were a few weeks ago,” LaFleur said. “We’ve had contact. I’ll keep it at that.”

Rams

The Rams surprised some by taking QB Ty Simpson with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. When explaining what stood out about Simpson, HC Sean McVay said they considered Simpson to be a “starting-caliber quarterback” and liked how he was asked to play at Alabama. 

“This is a guy that based on the film and some of the vetting that Les and his group did, you project this guy to – whenever Matthew decides (to retire) – potentially be a starting-caliber quarterback. And you like the body of work because of the way he was asked to play the position,” McVay said, via RamsWire.

Although Simpson only featured as Alabama’s starter for one season, McVay thinks the rookie showed promise in their pro-style offense, noting that he was good in their drop-back passing game. 

“Is it a short sample size? Yeah, it is,” McVay said. “But it’s easier to evaluate that short sample size because you’re evaluating all parts of, hey, in the drop-back pass game, you’re watching the three-step, the five-step, the seven-step. The way the field is distributed. The types of coverage contours he’s seeing in the SEC are similar to what he would see. He’s reading with his feet, with a timing and rhythm. He’s redirecting protections. He’s getting under center and throwing play-actions off seven-step one-hitch or eight-step one-hitch timing and anticipating second-level in-cuts with front-pad throws. Making a little bit of throws off-schedule and you’re saying, ‘I like this.’”

McVay was also impressed by how Simpson responded to adversity.

“I like that it wasn’t easy,” McVay said. “I like that he had to wait his time at Alabama and the easy thing, especially nowadays, would’ve been to run away. I like that he didn’t. They lose to Florida State and the sky is falling and they find a way to have some resolve and they get in the SEC championship and there’s a lot of good things in the midst of it. I like the way that he responded when guys would drop balls and he didn’t flinch. Or when guys would give up an immediate free-runner and didn’t say a word except for, ‘Man, where can I be better?’ Those were the things that the tape communicated to me.”