PHOENIX (AP) — Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins, Jimmy Garoppolo and Russell Wilson are still unsigned for the 2026 season.
Options vary for the four accomplished veteran quarterbacks.
The 42-year-old Rodgers can return to Pittsburgh and play for new coach Mike McCarthy if he doesn’t choose to retire. Steelers owner Art Rooney II told reporters Sunday he expects a decision from the four-time NFL MVP before the NFL draft next month.
Cousins finished last season strong, leading Atlanta to four straight wins down the stretch but the Falcons still missed the playoffs and coach Raheem Morris lost his job. The 37-year-old Cousins threw for 876 yards in those four games with seven touchdowns, two interceptions and had a 93.6 passer rating. Overall, he was 5-3 as a starter after opening the season backing up Michael Penix Jr.
The Falcons hired coach Kevin Stefanski, signed Tua Tagovailoa and released Cousins, who will likely have to settle for a backup role somewhere unless another starter is injured in the offseason. He could end up in Pittsburgh if Rodgers retires and the Steelers want to turn to another veteran QB after going from Wilson in 2024 to Rodgers in 2025.
Stefanski said Tagovailoa and Penix will compete for the starting job in Atlanta. Penix, a first-round pick in 2024, is coming off surgery last November to repair a torn ACL and it's uncertain when he'll be ready to go.
“He has had great success in this league when doing a lot of things that we believe in,” Stefanski said of Tagovailoa. “He's looking for an opportunity and we can provide that.”
Garoppolo has an opportunity to go back to Los Angeles for a third season to play behind NFL MVP Matthew Stafford. If not, Cousins would be an option for the Rams and coach Sean McVay. They were together in Washington when McVay was the offensive coordinator.
Wilson began last season starting for the Giants and finished behind rookie Jaxson Dart and Jameis Winston. The 10-time Pro Bowl pick also is out of starting options and doesn't appear to be drawing much interest as a backup even though he was supportive of Dart in that role last season.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said “nothing’s changed” regarding Brown, the three-time Pro Bowl receiver who has been involved in trade speculation.
“A.J. is an Eagle,” Sirianni said.
The Eagles have listened to offers for the veteran and also signed veteran wideouts Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and Elijah Moore, who was Brown’s roommate at Mississippi. Miami’s trade of Jaylen Waddle to Denver for a first-round pick along with a third and fourth raised the bar for A.J. Brown’s market value.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said three-time All-Pro right tackle Penei Sewell is ready to switch over to the left side to protect Jared Goff’s blind side.
The Lions need to replace Taylor Decker, who was released. Sewell played left tackle at Oregon before Detroit selected him with the seventh overall pick in the 2021 draft.
The Browns withdrew their proposal that would allow teams to trade draft picks five years into the future instead of three, a person with knowledge of the decision told the AP. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Cleveland’s decision wasn’t announced.
Owners will be voting on other proposals by the NFL competition committee and a proposal from the Steelers about contacting players during the free agent negotiating period.
Any changes need to be approved by at least 24 of the 32 teams.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen is no longer wearing a protective boot on his right foot after breaking a bone in it during a game in Week 16. The 2024 NFL MVP had surgery after Buffalo lost to Denver in overtime in the AFC divisional playoffs.
“His foot, I don’t want to say it’s 100 percent, but he’s good,” Bills general manager Brandon Beane told reporters on Monday. “When he gets back in April, we expect him to be full-go.”
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New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh talks with reporters at the annual NFL football meetings, Monday, March 30, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Monday that it is important to closely monitor inflation amid a spike in energy prices from the Iran war.
Powell, who spoke before nearly 400 students at Harvard University as gas prices inched toward an average of $4 per gallon in the U.S., said there wasn't a lot Fed policymakers could do since energy shocks “tend to come and go pretty quickly” and monetary maneuvers work over the longer-term. But a series of energy shocks, nevertheless, could be concerning.
“You have to carefully monitor inflation expectations because you could have a series of big supply shocks and that can lead, you know, the public generally, businesses, price setters, households ... to start expecting higher inflation over time. Why wouldn’t it?” Powell said.
In wide-ranging remarks, Powell acknowledged young graduates were entering a challenging job market. He noted the role of artificial intelligence and that while employment is historically low, there is very little job creation right now.
The U.S. job market has been lackluster for the past year. Employers added fewer than 10,000 jobs a month in 2025 – the weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002. This year began with a strong 126,000 new jobs in January, but the United States whipsawed to 92,000 job losses the following month.
Economists refer to a low-hire, low-fire job market in which companies are hesitant to add staff but don’t want to let go of the workers that they have. That’s made it especially hard for young people to find employment. There’s some concern that artificial intelligence is taking over entry-level work that previously would have gone to young jobseekers, or that companies are reluctant to make hiring decisions until they better understand how they are going to use AI.
Powell said he was optimistic over the medium- to long-term, noting that history has shown that technological innovations have repeatedly raised living standards and increased production. Large-language models, he said, make people, including himself, more productive.
“You’re in a situation where you need to really invest the time to master the use of these new technologies,” Powell said. “There’s no denying it’s a challenging time to enter the labor market, It may take some patience and all that, but in the longer term, this economy is going to give you great opportunities. Just be a little optimistic.”
In a question-and-answer session, neither Powell nor the students mentioned President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticized the Fed chair. But Powell did stress the importance of the Fed's independence.
“It’s very hard to build great democratic institutions and much easier to bring them down,” Powell said.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged Powell and the Fed to cut interest rates, which would lower the costs to borrow for households, businesses and the U.S. government. Powell’s caution has infuriated Trump.
Some of the economic policies under the Trump administration, however, have complicated the dual mandate of the Federal Reserve, which is to keep prices stable and seek maximum employment.
The U.S. has hit all of its trading partners with new tariffs which can boost retail prices, and the war in Iran has sent energy prices soaring.
The average gallon of gas in the U.S. rose to $3.99 overnight, according to motor club AAA.
Trump escalated his attacks on the Fed in January, when the Department of Justice served the central bank with subpoenas and threatened it with a criminal indictment over his testimony last summer about the Fed’s building renovations.
Trump has nominated former Fed official Kevin Warsh to succeed Powell. But Warsh’s confirmation has been delayed by a Justice Department investigation. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, has said he won’t vote to confirm any Fed nominees until the investigation is dropped.
Still, Powell took a moment to offer some advice to his would-be successor without naming him, saying it was “very important to stick to your knitting and to stick to the things that were actually assigned.”
“We have very powerful tools. They’re supposed to be for maximum employment and price stability and financial stability,” he continued. “There’s always a time when an administration looks and say it would be good to use that tool for something else ... We just have to be in a situation where we’re not trying to work against any politician or any administration, but we have to be careful to stick to what we’re doing.”
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell gestures while addressing students at Harvard University, Monday, March 30, 2026, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, seated at right, gestures while addressing students with economics professor David Laibson at Harvard University, Monday, March 30, 2026, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell addresses students at Harvard University, Monday, March 30, 2026, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell gestures while addressing students at Harvard University, Monday, March 30, 2026, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell addresses students at Harvard University, Monday, March 30, 2026, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
