BS Meter on Biggest Rumors Coming out of the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine

At the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, college prospects garner most of the attention. Away from the workouts at Lucas Oil Stadium, team executives and coaches are talking, which feeds the ever-churning rumor mill.

The new league year is less than two weeks away, so teams will gauge the free-agent market and discuss potential trades.

Entering the offseason, Las Vegas Raiders edge-rusher Maxx Crosby and Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown have generated a ton of trade buzz. Malik Willis has drawn some intrigue among quarterback-needy teams. Impending free agent Kenneth Walker III has become a popular name since his Super Bowl LX performance.

What's the latest on these players, potential trades and the open market? Let's dive into the biggest rumors at the combine and assess them on a scale of one (low on the BS meter) to 10 (high on the BS meter).

Browns' Top 2 QB Targets Are Malik Willis, Anthony Richardson

AP Photo/John Amis

Colts QB Anthony Richardson

The Cleveland Browns will have a fascinating quarterback competition this offseason.

Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel are holdovers who started in multiple games last season. Deshaun Watson, who hasn't played since Week 7 of the 2024 season because of back-to-back Achilles tears, is also in the mix.

The Athletic's Zac Jackson believes the team will look to add Malik Willis or Anthony Richardson to the offseason battle for the starting job.

After two seasons of improvement with the Green Bay Packers, Willis could draw several suitors in free agency. According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the Indianapolis Colts and Anthony Richardson "mutually agreed to explore a trade."

The Browns have about a quarter of their total salary cap tied to the quarterback room, and they only have $3.2 million left in cap space. Based on the buzz around Willis, Cleveland isn't a realistic landing spot for him because of his earning potential on the open market. 

As for Richardson, he would be a reclamation project. The Browns can develop Sanders and Gabriel, with hope that one of them outshines the other candidates for the starting position. There's no need to bring in a signal-caller who will look to revive his career.

If Cleveland's new coaching staff wants to handpick another addition to the quarterback room, it should do so in the draft. In that scenario, the player would join the team at a low cost, with a clean pro slate.

BS Meter: 8

Eagles GM Howie Roseman Has 'Difference in Tone' About WR A.J. Brown's Status

AP Photo/Caroline Brehman

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown

Since the Philadelphia Eagles' NFC Wild Card Round loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the team hasn't hinted about a split from A.J. Brown, and the wide receiver hasn't requested a trade.

On the day of Super Bowl LX, NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported that the Eagles hadn't engaged in trade talks that involved Brown at that point.

Nonetheless, ESPN's Peter Schrager noted that general manager Howie Roseman has a "difference in tone" regarding Brown's future with the club and that he's listening to offers.

Teams are likely inquiring about Brown, but that doesn't mean Roseman is actively shopping him.

The Athletic's Brooks Kubena pulled a recent quote from Roseman about his mindset when he makes a deal.

"It's always going to be about the team," Roseman. "It's always going to be about our players. If I start doing things that are about individuals, as opposed to the team, I'm not doing my job."

Roseman also said, "We're always listening," which is a part of a general manager's job. He hasn't committed to Brown's stay or suggested that the team will trade him. It's been a fluid situation since the beginning of the offseason.

BS Meter: 7

Giants Edge Kayvon Thibodeaux Will Be Traded

AP Photo/Gregory Payan

New York Giants Kayvon Thibodeaux

The New York Giants have a talented edge-rushing trio that features three-time Pro Bowler Brian Burns, 2025 first-rounder Abdul Carter and 2022 first-rounder Kayvon Thibodeaux.

Carter and Thibodeaux are recent top-five picks, though the latter may be the odd man out this offseason.

SNY's Connor Hughes spoke with teams that believe Thibodeaux "will eventually get dealt." 

The Giants elected Burns to be a team captain last season, and he's arguably their best player.

In his rookie year, Carter registered 43 tackles, seven for loss, 34 pressures and four sacks, but the previous regime benched him twice because he missed a walkthrough and a special teams meeting. Still productive at just 22 years old, he has room to mature in a bigger role.

Thibodeaux's sack, pressure and tackling numbers have dropped since the 2023 campaign, in which he logged 11.5 sacks, 12 tackles for loss and 35 pressures. On top of that, the four-year veteran has missed 12 outings over the last two seasons.

It's plausible the Giants would shop Thibodeaux before his contract year if they don't see a long-term future with him, given his numbers are trending in the wrong direction.

Don't be surprised if the club trades Thibodeaux in the coming weeks.

BS Meter: 3

Malik Willis Will Command $30 Million Per Year on a New Deal

AP Photo/Mike Roemer

Green Bay Packers quarterback Malik Willis

Malik Willis could be one of the biggest winners in free agency. NFL insider Jordan Schultz expects him to get $30 million on the open market.

Schultz's estimate shocked some people because Willis has only six career starts on his resume, split between the Tennessee Titans and the Green Bay Packers. 

Although $30 million per year is a steep price for a player with limited starting experience, Willis' time in Green Bay certainly increased his market value. Compared to his time with the Titans, he made significant strides as a passer under Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and his staff.

In six games with the Packers, Willis threw for 972 yards and six touchdowns. The club went 2-1 with him as the fill-in starter for Jordan Love. Clearly, the 26-year-old has more room for growth, and quarterback-needy teams may be willing to gamble on his upside.

For context, Willis' projected $30 million annual rate would be 20th among quarterback contracts in average yearly earnings, per Over the Cap. It's not an outrageous investment in a dual-threat signal-caller who's shown the potential to be a viable starter.

BS Meter: 1

Panthers Are Receiving Trade Calls for QB Andy Dalton

AP Photo/Brian Westerholt

Carolina Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton

A number of quarterbacks will be on the move via trade or free agency. Aside from Malik Willis, many of those signal-callers are older veterans on the back end of their careers. 

Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Joe Flacco, Marcus Mariota, Carson Wentz and Kirk Cousins (pending his release) will be available on the free-agent market.

ESPN's Adam Schefter added Andy Dalton to the offseason quarterback discussion with a report that he's drawn trade interest.

Since 2023, Dalton has thrown for 1,643 yards, 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions with a 64.7 percent completion rate in 13 games with the Carolina Panthers. The team is 1-6 with him as a starter.

At 38, with so few starts over the last three years, Dalton isn't a name that strikes you as someone in demand. 

On The Pat McAfee Show, Panthers general manager Dan Morgan said he hadn't talked to teams about a trade for Dalton. You would think Carolina would be willing to get anything for a backup signal-caller close to 40 on the last year of his deal, so there may be a disconnect in how the two sides are characterizing trade interest.

BS Meter: 9

Patriots Will Cut WR Stefon Diggs, Unless He Agrees to Rework His Contract

AP Photo/Doug Benc

New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs

The New England Patriots should look to upgrade their receiver corps as quarterback Drake Maye enters the third year of his rookie deal. Yet The Athletic's Chad Graff talked to sources who believe the team could cut its best pass-catcher from the previous season.

"…One league source expects the Patriots to cut Diggs unless they're able to dramatically lower his cap hit with a reworked contract," Graff wrote.

Graff noted that Diggs' contract carries a $26.5 million cap hit, and that there's an expectation that the Patriots will explore a trade for Philadelphia Eagles wideout A.J. Brown, who played under head coach Mike Vrabel for three seasons with the Tennessee Titans.

However, if New England isn't able to make a deal for Brown or any other high-end receiver on the trade market, it would be a questionable decision to part ways with its top receiver when you consider the limited options on the free-agent market.

Mike Evans, 32, is a few months older than Diggs. Tyreek Hill is on the mend from a serious knee injury. Jauan Jennings could have a competitive market for a player who started his career in a backup role and hasn't racked up 1,000 receiving yards in a season.

Diggs' future in New England likely hinges more on the outlook of his legal case— charges of felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery from an incident with a personal chef—than the cap hit on his deal. 

The Patriots aren't strapped for cap space, so they can afford to retain a productive wideout past his prime.

BS Meter: 6

Raiders Could Get 2 1st-Rounders and a Player for Maxx Crosby

AP Photo/William Liang

Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby

The Las Vegas Raiders' relationship with Maxx Crosby is one of the biggest storylines this offseason, and among insiders, the trade chatter around him reached a higher volume in Indianapolis.

During the week of the Super Bowl, Fox Sports' Jay Glazer told Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz and Caroline Fenton that he expects Crosby's time with the Raiders to come to an end, and the team will be able to get a Micah Parsons-like deal for him.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio said he heard the Raiders want two first-rounders and a player for Crosby. NBC's Chris Simms agreed with the asking price and suggested the Chicago Bears make the most sense given their roster setup, with wideout DJ Moore as the player to include in the package.

Crosby is a five-time Pro Bowler who should fetch a big return in a blockbuster deal. However, the star pass-rusher will turn 29 in August, and he has had offseason surgeries in recent years. 

When the Dallas Cowboys traded Parsons to the Green Bay Packers, he had just turned 26. The five-year veteran has earned Pro Bowl recognition with double-digit sacks every year in the league and made the All-Pro roster three times.

At his age with those accolades, Parsons warranted a massive haul that included two first-rounders and Kenny Clark. Because of Crosby's age, teams may be hesitant to give up multiple first-rounders for him. 

The Raiders might be setting a high price to deter suitors because they would rather keep Crosby. Though if a club is willing to satisfy that demand, it could be hard to turn down.

BS Meter: 7

Saints Haven't Heard from Teams Interested in QB Derek Carr

AP Photo/Jason Behnken

New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr

On his podcast, Home Grown, with his brother David, Derek Carr confirmed that he would come out of retirement for a Super Bowl-contending team.

Among playoff-ready clubs that may be a quarterback away from Super Bowl contention, the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers are likely on the short list of teams that would satisfy Carr's criteria for a return to the league.

However, both teams will likely have multiple quarterback options due to an appealing roster makeup or a recent history of winning seasons, so Carr may not be a top option for either squad.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported that the New Orleans Saints haven't received calls for Carr, whose contractual rights still belong to them while he's on the reserve-retired list.

Florio suggests that Carr may have to wait until a Super Bowl-contending team loses its starting quarterback before generating interest from a top-tier club. And even then, teams may prefer to sign him as a free agent rather than give draft capital to New Orleans, which means he would need to request that the Saints release his rights.

If Carr hadn't limited his potential landing spots with an eye on a Super Bowl run, this would rank high on the B.S. meter, but good teams have options at every position. At 34, one year into retirement after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury, his market isn't going to be robust among the league's best clubs.

BS Meter: 2

Texans Are Eyeing RB Kenneth Walker III

AP Photo/Steve Luciano

Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III

The Houston Texans must bolster their backfield. They ranked 22nd in rushing and 29th in yards per carry for the 2025 season.

As a rookie, Woody Marks averaged 3.6 yards per carry. Nick Chubb will be a free agent. NBC Houston's Aaron Wilson expects the Texans to release Joe Mixon, who missed all of the 2025 term because of a foot injury and underwent offseason surgery.

The Texans need a ball-carrier who can handle a sizeable workload and produce chunk plays on the ground.

According to the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan M. Alexander, the Texans have "floated around" Kenneth Walker III's name as a potential free-agent target. 

As we previously suggested in our updated free-agent landing spots for top running backs, Houston is an ideal spot for Walker. As he did with the Seattle Seahawks, he would split the workload with a slightly younger tailback and likely provide a strong presence on early downs.

Houston has only one hurdle in a potential pursuit of Walker, and that's his asking price. The Texans are $7.5 million over the salary-cap threshold, so they would have to clear some space to make room for the Super Bowl LX MVP's contract. Spotrac projects that Walker will get $9 million annually on his new deal.

BS Meter: 3

Vikings Are Prepared to Replace Starting QB J.J. McCarthy 

AP Photo/Adam Hunger

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy

The Minnesota Vikings have a quarterback controversy to sort out in the coming weeks. Executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski will be "casting a wide net" in the process of exploring quarterback options.

Tony Pauline of EssentiallySports asserted that the Vikings will tab a new starter to resolve their quarterback conundrum.

"The consensus opinion here at the Combine is that the Vikings are in the market for a new starting quarterback. In fact, a source tells me the team is really down on quarterback J.J. McCarthy and is ready to move on from their 2024 first-round pick. The team will bring in another signal caller to compete and eventually replace McCarthy."

Keep in mind that the Vikings fired general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who moved up one spot for McCarthy in the 2024 draft. After that, ESPN's Kevin Seifert reported that "all bets are off" on the 23-year-old signal-caller's future with the team.

Given McCarthy's struggles in the previous season, coupled with the dismissal of perhaps his biggest supporter in the organization, it's plausible that the team could pivot away from him, even though he has plenty of room for growth.

Head coach Kevin O'Connell and his coaching staff may be frustrated with McCarthy's lack of progress. The Athletic's Alec Lewis reported that the team "removed most of its over-the-middle passing concepts" to simplify the quarterback's reads last season.

BS Meter: 3

Team salary cap and player contract details are provided by Over the Cap.

Maurice Moton covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @MoeMoton.