At long last, football is back on the field.
The 2026 NFL preseason opened Thursday night with the Carolina Panthers edging the Arizona Cardinals in the Hall of Fame Game. While Carolina walked away with the win, Arizona rookie quarterback Carson Beck quickly became one of the night’s biggest talking points after a sharp performance in his unofficial NFL debut.
Still, even with actual game action finally on the schedule, NFL contract news continued to drive much of the conversation around the league. Two standout running backs landed lucrative new extensions, one of them a record-setting agreement. In Tampa Bay, meanwhile, attention has shifted to a different kind of contract storyline involving two prominent players still waiting on major new deals.
Here are the key NFL headlines from Thursday.
The Hall of Fame Game rarely delivers a long list of meaningful preseason takeaways, but this year’s matchup gave fans at least one performance worth discussing.
Beck finished the night 15-of-19 passing for 188 yards and a touchdown in Arizona’s preseason loss. The rookie quarterback flashed an impressive range, connecting on several throws downfield and helping the Cardinals generate 17 points before Kedon Slovis took over under center in the second half.
For a Cardinals roster many expect to sit near the bottom of the NFL standings this season, Beck’s debut adds a fresh layer of intrigue. It may also increase the pressure on veterans Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew, neither of whom appeared in Thursday’s preseason opener.
The most productive quarterback performance of the night, however, belonged to undrafted rookie free agent Haynes King. Entering after Kenny Pickett, King completed 21 of 34 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. He saved his most memorable moment for the final snap, scrambling into the end zone from 5 yards out as time expired to lift the Panthers to a 33-30 victory.
Running Backs Keep Getting Paid
Shortly after the Atlanta Falcons made Bijan Robinson the NFL’s highest-paid running back, the Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions secured their own star halfbacks to massive deals.
Jahmyr Gibbs agreed to a deal that made him the highest-paid running back in NFL history. The two sides agreed to a three-year deal worth up to $75.75 million with $51.5 million fully guaranteed, making him the highest-paid running back in NFL history, ESPN reported.
Gibbs had a massive year for the Lions in 2025. He racked up 1,223 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground, while making a huge impact in the passing game with 77 catches for 616 yards and five receiving touchdowns.
Hours before news of Gibbs’ deal broke, the Colts and star running back Jonathan Taylor agreed to a two-year, $44 million extension, per ESPN. The deal is worth up to $47 million and also includes $39 million in guaranteed money for Taylor as he enters his age-27 season.
Taylor is coming off one of his best seasons since entering the league in 2020. He ranked third in the league last season with 1,585 rushing yards and a league-leading 18 touchdowns, while adding 46 receptions for 378 yards and two receiving scores.
No running back appears to be an imminent threat to break Gibbs’ record. No running back taken in the 2024 or 2025 drafts has been as productive as him. Of course, that could change in the coming years.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht addressed the status of two key veterans on Thursday, stating the team has no plans to trade Pro Bowl defensive tackle Vita Vea amid ongoing contract discussions.
“We love Vita,” Licht told reporters. “We’ve been engaged with his agent recently. I don’t know how it’s gonna end, but we’ve been engaged and that’s at least some progress.”
Licht also discussed quarterback Baker Mayfield, noting that while placing the franchise tag on Mayfield in 2027 remains an available tool if necessary, it is not the team’s primary plan. He emphasized that the franchise’s main objective remains securing a long-term contract extension with Mayfield.
“I’m not going to get into specifics about the contract and all that stuff, but yeah — we do think he is [a franchise quarterback],” Licht told reporters. “We love Baker. … Baker’s in a great place right now. We’re in a very good place.”
Mayfield is entering the final season of a three-year contract.
Tensions flared on the practice field between New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez and wide receiver A.J. Brown on Thursday.
Gonzalez and Brown have repeatedly sought out head-to-head matchups and exchanged words throughout training camp practices, according to reports at practice.
Following lockdown coverage by Gonzalez, competitive back-and-forth trash talk between the two players escalated, nearly requiring the pair to be separated as the team transitioned to a new drill.
“It’s good on good,” Gonzalez told reporters following Thursday’s practice. “He’s a No. 1 receiver in this league going up against a No. 1 corner. That’s how it’s going to go. It’s football at the end of the day. There’s never no disrespect or anything. We’re just battling and getting each other better. He’s going to face corners like that, that are going to yap at him and going to try to get in his head, and I’m going to face receivers like that who are strong and come right back at me. It’s great work for the both of us.”
The Houston Texans and head coach DeMeco Ryans are doing whatever it takes to keep the young nucleus of their defense intact. The Texans and linebacker Henry To’oTo’o have agreed to a two-year, $16 million extension, first reported by NFL Network.
Entering his age-25 season, To’oTo’o can earn up to $1 million more in incentives in the deal.
To’oTo’o is coming off his first full 17-game season with Houston, establishing himself as a big contributor for one of the league’s premier defenses. He recorded 95 total tackles, with 42 of them being solo, along with 2.5 sacks and a fumble recovery.
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