The debate around the top wide receiver prospect in the upcoming NFL Draft centers around\u00a0Carnell Tate<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jordyn Tyson<\/a>. Both are talented players, but some analysts and fans believe USC receiver Makai Lemon should be in the conversation as well. If you go purely off production, Lemon had both Tate and Tyson beat in terms of number of catches (79), receiving yards (1156) and receiving touchdowns (11) last year. But of course, production in college is not always equal with differing levels of competition and different styles of offenses.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Lemon is a very different type of receiver to Tate and Tyson, and is quite a unique profile. At 5-foot-11, 192 pounds, he projects as a slot receiver, which is where he spent the vast majority of his time at USC. However, when you think about typical slot receivers, you think shifty guys that win quickly underneath on things like choice routes and pivot routes where their footwork and change of direction ability enables them to beat slot corners, safeties and linebackers quickly over the middle. But watch any highlight reel of Lemon and you\u2019ll see a guy that gets down the field and wins a bunch of 50\/50 jump balls as if he\u2019s a 6-foot-4<\/p>\n Lemon\u2019s ball skills are clearly outstanding, especially for a receiver of his size. To be able to adjust his body in the air and go up and make some of these catches at 5-foot-11 speaks to a physical, determined receiver that has that gritty personality and play style that you love to see. But it\u2019s more than just that. Lemon tracks the ball incredibly well down the field and is able to make all the necessary adjustments to wayward throws.<\/p>\n Commanders Roundtable<\/p>\n Is Ja\u2019Kobi Lane the Redzone WR the Washington Commanders Need?<\/a><\/p>\n While his teammate Makai Lemon has gotten all the spotlight, Lane himself is a talented player who is a potential steal for anyone looking for a big red zone threat. He measured at 6-foot-4, 200 pounds at the scouting combine, while running a 4.47 40 and placed top ten in both the broad and vertical jumps. Washington doesn\u2019t have a true red zone threat at receiver at the moment, but Lane fits the profile of one.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Lane broke out in 2024, having 12 touchdowns on just 43 catches. While his touchdowns dropped to four in 2025, he did have a career-high 49 catches and 745 receiving yards. Lane went over 100 yards three times last year, including an insane 115-yard performance against Illinois on just three catches.<\/p>\n While not the number one at USC, Lane still provides great value, being a bigger receiver who can go up for a pass and is faster than people might think. Teams will value his threat in the red zone and look for mismatches to give him an advantage. His adjustment to the ball is top-notch, and he has the hands to make the tough catches. Lane has also frustrated would-be tacklers after the catch, slipping out of their grasp before they can get a hand on him.<\/p>\n Lane has drawn buzz as a potential day two pick, giving the Commanders a viable option at 71 should the first round materialize into a non-wide receiver selection. Capable of lining opposite of veteran Terry McLaurin, Lane could be the sneaky sleeper pick who can add value in Washington.<\/p>\n Commanders.com<\/p>\n Logan Paulsen\u2019s \u2018guaranteed ballers\u2019 of 2026 draft class<\/a><\/p>\n The opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of the team.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Germie Bernard, WR, Alabama<\/p>\n \u201cIf you asked \u2018what does a modern receiver look like?\u2019 it would be Bernard. At 6-1, 200 pounds, he doesn\u2019t do anything great, but he does everything very well. He is good after the catch, he runs excellent routes, he blocks, he tracks the football. He feels like a right down the fairway type of player.\u201d<\/p>\n Tanner Kozol, TE, Houston<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s 6-6 \u00bd and 250 pounds With 33.5-inch arms. He plays above the rim in the red zone. If he gets in the right system, he can do some damage in terms of getting some touches. He will be a late round guy, but the upside to him with that build and body control is enticing.\u201d<\/p>\n WUSA9<\/p>\n How fan feedback directly influenced the new Commanders uniforms<\/a><\/p>\n Fan uniform designs on social media acted as a communal focus group<\/p>\n But this path isn\u2019t one the team has walked down without fans, not just in mind, but as an external partner of sorts, by way of public and cultivated feedback the team has leveraged to ensure as much as possible that the vision marches to the beat of the fan pulse.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m blown away, actually, by how sophisticated fans are at creating uniform closets and almost dangerously (in a good way) social media posts.\u201d In fact, the source shared, those posts\u2014your posts\u2014sometimes make their way into the meeting rooms, and while the team may not be taking them as blueprints, they are seen and considered as feedback and as a sort of communal focus group.<\/p>\n Podcasts & videosNFC East links<\/p>\n Blogging the Boys<\/p>\n The Cowboys have actually spent a fair amount of money in free agency<\/a><\/p>\n If we apply the same logic to all NFL teams by including all guaranteed money from<\/p>\n All players on re-worked contracts<\/p>\n then we end up with the following 2026 Top 10 in guaranteed money spent on players signed or re-signed to the 2026 roster:<\/p>\n The Cowboys didn\u2019t go overboard with total contract values, as the Spotrac and OTC numbers show. But neither did they sit still and do nothing. Does $106.7 million count as \u201cbusting the budget?\u201d I don\u2019t know. For a team that is very much focused on their cash spend year-in and year-out, it probably is. But because of the high rollers at the top of the table above, it\u2019s only slightly above the league average of $97.2 million.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The $106.7 million in guaranteed money handed out may come as a surprise given the relative paucity of headline-grabbing signings, but the disparity in spending on external versus internal free agents is nothing new for the Cowboys.<\/p>\n Next year, 2027 free agents like DE Will Anderson or WR Puca Nacua will be free agents and demand potentially cap-crippling free agency contracts and will again top the free agency wish list of many Cowboys fans, but the Cowboys will instead spend their money on re-signing players like George Pickens, DeMarvion Overshown, or Ryan Flournoy, and fill roster holes with mid-tier free agents.<\/p>\n But for that business model to work, you\u2019ve got to draft successfully.<\/p>\n NFL league linksArticles<\/p>\n The Athletic (paywall)<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Explaining the NFL roster rules changes approved at the 2026 league meeting<\/a><\/p>\n Bylaw change No. 1<\/p>\n This change added language to the stipulations governing final roster cuts in August at the end of training camp. Teams are required to reduce their rosters to 53 players by 4 p.m. ET on the Tuesday following the final week of preseason games. This is commonly referred to as cutdown day.<\/p>\n The new language gives the league some broader power in providing flexibility to teams that are opening their season with an international game.<\/p>\n \u201cFor any season in which the League office schedules an international game during the first week of the regular season,\u201d the new language reads, \u201cthe League office may adjust the procedures and related dates for the roster reduction to 53 players to accommodate travel arrangements for the participating clubs.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n With the new language, the league can potentially give these traveling teams more time for logistics. The specific changes to the rules and procedures are to be determined.<\/p>\n \u201cThe League office will advise all clubs of any such changes in advance via Player Personnel memoranda,\u201d the amended bylaw reads.<\/p>\n Bylaw change No. 2<\/p>\n This change turned the Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day Weekend into business days, so personnel notices will be sent out league-wide on those days.<\/p>\n Cutdown day is the Tuesday before Labor Day weekend. Last season, a personnel notice \u2014 also known as the transaction wire \u2014 was sent out on Friday, Aug. 29. The next personnel notice was not sent out until Monday, Sept. 1, Labor Day. Under the new rules, transactions will be processed and there will be wires posted on Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Bylaw change No. 3<\/p>\n This change pertained to the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. Players who suffer an injury before the start of training camp are eligible to be placed on the active\/PUP list at the start of camp. They count against the team\u2019s 90-man roster limit through camp. If that player remains on PUP through cutdown day, they are moved to reserve\/PUP. Players on reserve\/PUP must miss at least the first four games of the regular season. It used to be six games, but clubs changed that minimum to four games ahead of the 2022 season.<\/p>\n With the most recent change, players on reserve\/PUP still must miss the first four games of the season. But teams now have the option of opening a 21-day practice window for those players after the second regular-season game. Under the previous iteration of this bylaw, teams could not open this practice window until after the fourth regular-season game.<\/p>\n Players on reserve\/PUP can now return to practice two weeks earlier, giving them a ramp-up period while they sit out the minimum four games.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The 21-day practice window is also used for players coming off injured reserve. The same rules apply. Players can practice for 21 days without being activated off the reserve list. If the player is not activated at some point before the end of that 21-day window, they must remain on the reserve list for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n ESPN<\/p>\n Kirk Cousins agrees to sign contract with Raiders, agent says<\/a><\/p>\n The Las Vegas Raiders agreed to terms with Kirk Cousins on Thursday, two days after new coach Klint Kubiak said he wanted to add another veteran quarterback to the roster.<\/p>\n Terms of the deal, which was announced by Cousins\u2019 agent on social media, were not immediately available Thursday morning.<\/p>\n Cousins, 37, will join a Raiders team that is widely expected to select former Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick in the NFL draft later this month.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n But Kubiak and general manager John Spytek, who were among those in attendance Wednesday to scout Mendoza at Indiana\u2019s pro day<\/a>, have said on multiple occasions that they prefer not to start a young quarterback right away this season.<\/p>\n \u201cIdeally, you don\u2019t want him to start day one. You\u2019d love him to be able to learn behind somebody. That\u2019s in a perfect world,\u201d Kubiak said Tuesday at the annual league meetings. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t always work out that way. Sometimes they have to play from day one, and it\u2019s our job as a coach to get them ready to go.<\/p>\n NFL.com<\/p>\n Mark Davis on Raiders owning No. 1 pick: \u2018Had that position before, and it didn\u2019t work out\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Despite bottoming out in 2025, the outlook is sunny in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n It helps that the Raiders own the 2026 NFL Draft\u2019s No. 1 overall pick<\/a>. Then again, maybe it isn\u2019t quite the slam dunk some might believe it is.<\/p>\n Raiders owner Mark Davis knows better than to expect his team\u2019s top selection to be a sure thing. He was working underneath his father, the late Al Davis, in 2007 when the Raiders spent the No. 1 choice on LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell<\/a>, and had a front-row seat for the disaster that became Russell\u2019s career.<\/p>\n This time around, Davis is taking a cautiously optimistic approach.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving the first pick in the draft is exciting because we kind of control the draft \u2014 we get to make the decision on who we\u2019re gonna pick,\u201d Davis said during the NFL\u2019s Annual League Meeting, via the team\u2019s official site<\/a>. \u201cBut we\u2019ve had that position before, and it didn\u2019t work out. So there\u2019s no magic bullet there, but it\u2019s a great opportunity to get a great player, whoever they decide to pick.\u201d<\/p>\n Player safety<\/p>\n Front Office Sports<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/41a8b2026d870ad15309a9fa52878f02.jpeg\"\/)
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