I was supposed to be there Monday night.
Then I was supposed to be there on Tuesday.
Then I was supposed to be there by Wednesday morning.
And did that, at least, happen?
No, friends, it most certainly did not.
As anyone that lives on the upper East Coast or just watched the news is aware, we had ourselves a BLIZZARD.
Travel was just wrecked all over the place, flights canceled, roads shut down, the whole thing was a disaster and with NBC Sports headquartered in Connecticut, it meant that my travel to Indianapolis for the annual NFL Combine was delayed, delayed, and delayed again.
I finally got there on Wednesday (after a three-hour delay, sigh) and the reason I bring this all up isn’t just to complain, but rather explain that, for the first time in the decade I’ve been going to the Combine, I missed all the press conferences.
Many of the head coaches and general mangers in the NFL meet the press for 15 minutes at a clip and I always attend them, listening to what they say, reading between the lines, and trying to sneak in a NFL question or two that’s really just a disguised fantasy question.
So, upon realizing that I was going to miss all the press conferences and we weren’t going to be able to do episodes of Fantasy Football Happy Hour from the Combine, I still decided to trudge through it all and get there. Why?
Because I would still be able to do the best thing about the NFL Combine: talk to folks. In bars and restaurants. In back corners, over coffee or drinks, late at night or just walking between hotel lobbies.
After we said hello to each other and caught on up families, kids and jobs, I asked the exact same question to my friends, contacts, league, and team sources and honestly, people I just met.
There’s a quick pause and I always say the same thing.
“Look, every year I write a column from the Combine where I say ‘Hey, I’m not a journalist. I am not reporting this as news. I haven’t double-checked my sources or done extensive research here. These are just unsubstantiated rumors that I heard while drinking at bars late at night. So what have you heard?”
In case it wasn’t clear, let me put a fine point on this. Everything you are about to read is ENTIRELY gossip, rumors, and reasonably-informed speculation. I haven’t double-sourced or confirmed ANY of this.
Maybe it turns out true, maybe it doesn’t. I won’t be surprised either way.
For what it’s worth, I will say over the years this column DOES have a pretty good track record. In 2020, it was the first column to suggest Tom Brady would, in fact, leave New England and that the place he would go was a 7-9 Tampa Bay team, of all places. At the time, people were split on whether Brady would even LEAVE New England and if he did, NO ONE thought Tampa Bay was a possibility.
That was by far my greatest hit, but every year I hit on some good, off-the-radar ones. Last year, this column correctly predicted that teams were not as enamored with Shedeur Sanders as many in the media thought (telegraphing his draft day fall) and that the one team that DID like him was Cleveland. We predicted Sam Darnold would not be back with the Vikings, Russell Wilson would move on from the Steelers, Stefon Diggs would not be back with Houston and that New England would get a No. 1 WR for Drake Maye (that turned out to be Diggs). We had that the Buccaneers would bring back the very injured Chris Godwin with a big multi-year contract with guaranteed money and Deebo Samuel would go to the Commanders. We also predicted the Niners were so confident in Christian McCaffrey’s health (remember a year ago he had missed most of the previous season) that backup Jordan Mason would be traded, that A.J. Brown would NOT be traded, that Christian Kirk and Evan Engram would be moving on, making Brenton Strange a thing that year, that Amari Cooper, in the eyes of the NFL, “was done” and finally that Anthony Richardson was NOT guaranteed to start for the Colts this year. (Unthinkable a year ago this time).
So yeah, strong stuff. Of course I also had in that column that Justin Fields would return to the Steelers, that Tyrod Taylor would go into the season as the Jets starting QB, that Aaron Rodgers would wind up playing for the Giants or the Titans, that Sean Tucker would have a bigger role this year for the Bucs, and by far my biggest miss – I wrote that, with Minnesota not wanting Sam Darnold back, it’s hard to find a spot for him and that if things break a certain way, there’s a chance Darnold doesn’t have a starting job in 2025.” Oofa. Seattle was NOT on my radar at this time last year as I had no idea the Seahawks would move on from Geno Smith.
So, to reiterate one last time, this column is NOT NEWS. Nothing you read below is anything more than rumors, gossip or an educated guess. It’s a column about me asking some pointed questions with a distinct fantasy football point of view and in some cases, reading between the lines in folks’ answers. These are unsubstantiated nuggets and tidbits, full stop.
Enough caveats for you? Good. Let’s get to it.
Here are the 35 Most Interesting Rumors I Heard at the 2026 NFL Combine:
1. Not surprisingly, the majority of conversations at the Combine revolved around quarterbacks. And the most interesting one I heard involved Derek Carr. Yes, the retired 34-year-old Derek Carr. From what I heard, the Saints expect him to un-retire and play in 2026. The Saints are very happy with Tyler Shough, so New Orleans expects Carr to un-retire and then they will trade him.
For what it’s worth, Vincent Bonsignore, a beat reporter for the Raiders, says he heard the Vikings for Carr.
Now, I did NOT hear that at all.
I did heard a BUNCH of names for the Vikings (more on that below), but Derek Carr was not one of them. What I heard was that the Saints think Carr will un-retire and they will be able to trade him to the Jets. Shrug emoji.
Shough names Saints' top 2026 breakout candidate
On the heels of a standout rookie year, Saints QB Tyler Shough explains why sitting early on helped refine his process and why he believes New Orleans' offense will "keep climbing" next season.
2. Speaking of the Jets, I heard two other rumors about them for QB. One was Kyler Murray. (More on Kyler coming up as well). And the other? Fernando Mendoza.
The Mendoza stuff is very much me squinting and trying to read something that probably isn’t there. So, this is even more of a stretch, but here’s the thinking and this is me piecing together a bunch of very small comments here and there.
But the feeling I heard is that consensus on Mendoza is that he’s good, not great. That his projected No. 1 overall draft selection is more about a very weak QB class than the idea he’s a can’t-miss franchise maker. To put it another way, I spoke to a few scouts who said if Mendoza came out two years ago, he’d have been drafted after Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, and maybe Bo Nix. And that if he’d come out last year, he’d had been drafted after Cam Ward. Those are just to give you a comparison level and explain that in most years, Mendoza wouldn’t be the No. 1 overall pick.
Mendoza was awesome last year, of course, but also played behind an incredible offensive line. So, now you have the Raiders, who, ahem, do not have an incredible offensive line. The Raiders have many things, including a bunch of needs all over the roster, a competent current QB in Geno Smith, a division with the Broncos, Chiefs, Chargers so it’ll be a while before they can compete and, oh yeah, a minority owner who is sure to have strong opinions on the QB position.
If the Jets offer a haul (and they have the picks to do so) I think there is a non-zero chance the Raiders take it. Let Geno (or another veteran) start this year as they take a QB a little later and try to develop him, or maybe they just wait until next year for a better QB class.
3. So, back to Kyler Murray. I don’t know what team he is playing for next year. I just know what team he isn’t and that’s the Arizona Cardinals. A trade seems unlikely, but they’ll try. If not, expect Murray to be released. And I will say anyone who says they know for sure where Kyler will wind up is lying because I don’t think anyone – including Kyler and his team – have any idea. That much was clear throughout the Combine. He’s playing somewhere other than Arizona next year but it’s anyone’s guess at this point.
The Jets were definitely one team I heard he could possibly play for next year. I also heard Atlanta could be in play. And I know there are a lot of press reports out there about Minnesota.
So where Kyler lands will be a big story this offseason. And I don’t think he’s guaranteed a starting job. My guess is it will be similar to Daniel Jones last year where (if Kyler’s a free agent) he will go to the team where he has the best chance to start and maybe do a one-year prove-it deal.
4. Speaking of Arizona, I heard they want Malik Willis. Said one source to me “Malik Willis to Arizona for $30M – mark it.” We will see if that number ends up being right – I know ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler specifically wrote that he sees Willis more in the Justin Fields last year $20M/yr range. So we will see on the money. But I do think Arizona should be the betting favorite to land Willis. I don’t think Minnesota is in play for him (more on that below) nor do I think Miami is a destination for Willis. The Dolphins are just too cash-strapped and won’t be able to afford Willis in what should be a robust market for the Green Bay backup.
The other issue at play here is Cardinals General Manager Monti Ossenfort. With a 15-36 record since taking over in Arizona, the thought here is that Ossenfort doesn’t have a long leash. So he’s better off overpaying to get the best available free agent QB this year to try and win rather than draft a QB in a weak class and/or take the time to develop one.
5. Okay, let’s talk the Minnesota Vikings. So first, this is not breaking news, but they are NOT sold on J.J. McCarthy. They will keep him on the roster and try and coach him up but they want a veteran that has had success in the NFL that will “shock J.J.” In other words, someone who will be in camp and let J.J. know that the starting job next year is NOT guaranteed. In fact, if I had to bet today on “Starting QB for the Vikings in Week 1 of 2026” I would take “the field” over McCarthy.
6. Part of the reason for the Vikings wanting to bring in viable competition is that supposedly by mid-season they had to scale back the playbook as McCarthy was struggling to pick up the entirety of the offense.
