NFL Week 16 latest buzz, questions, news and fantasy tips

Insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano have been calling sources around the NFL for the latest news and buzz on key situations heading into Week 16 of the 2025 season.

This week, we asked around on the aftermath of torn ACL injuries for Patrick Mahomes and Micah Parsons. What happens next for the two superstars and their respective teams? We also gathered intel on Philip Rivers, who is coming off his first start since 2020 and is set for another. Can the 44-year-old keep the Colts in the playoff hunt?

Speaking of the playoffs, Jeremy and Dan also leaned on their reporting to make big postseason-centric predictions. And lastly, they looked ahead to the offseason and named a few players who could be trade candidates in March. It’s all here, as our national reporters answer big questions and empty their notebooks heading into Week 16.

Jump to:
Mahomes/Parsons | Rivers
Playoff predictions | Trade watch
More notes for Week 16

What are you hearing around the league on fallout from Patrick Mahomes’ injury?

Graziano: A few people suggested to me that missing the playoffs won’t be such a bad thing for the Chiefs, as it will force them to rethink their roster-building strategy around Mahomes. There’s a perception that the Chiefs have been kind of perpetually retooling and counting on Mahomes’ greatness to cover up their flaws and bail them out when things get dicey. Now, they basically have two extra months to focus on their offseason plans, and they hope to put them to good use.

The Chiefs have devoted resources — money and draft picks — to the offensive line. Assuming Josh Simmons comes back healthy and they find a competent replacement for Jawaan Taylor, that group should be a strength in 2026. Tight end Travis Kelce has been on the way out for a while now, and him hanging it up would probably force them to reimagine some things about the offense. The Chiefs need to build a run game, which they didn’t do this season.

Mahomes will rehab, and they’ll probably go through the 2026 offseason program with some combination of a veteran backup quarterback and a younger developmental one. By the time Mahomes returns, the goal will be to have a roster that doesn’t need as many heroics from him as it has the past few seasons.

Fowler: The Chiefs were already forced to look in the mirror well before the Mahomes injury. If anything, his absence will remind Kansas City how much it will miss him — and how much it needs to strengthen the roster around him. Despite Mahomes’ pedestrian (for his standards) numbers, people I’ve talked to inside the league did not see him as the problem for the offense’s struggles. The way Mahomes got hurt, grinding for every inch on the field, was an example of just how much he had to manage to simply manufacture first downs this season.

“The fear factor with him is still thick,” said one NFL coordinator who recently prepared for him. “He’s still the best at winning differently each week. I still fear that player more than most. It just didn’t go their way this year.”

I expect the Chiefs’ roster to be vastly improved by the time Mahomes returns, which should be some time next season, though Week 1 feels awfully ambitious. He faces a lengthy nine-month recovery from a torn ACL and LCL, a timeline that threatens the early portion of the 2026 season. That he had the surgery so soon after the injury occurred was telling.

What about the aftermath of Micah Parsons’ injury?

Graziano: I think people were taking the Packers very seriously as Super Bowl contenders and that the Parsons injury shifts that perception a bit. They are still well-coached; quarterback Jordan Love is playing great; the non-Parsons injuries they suffered Sunday in Denver don’t sound as if they’ll be long term; and there’s plenty of talent left on defense. They still could make a run. But Parsons gave Green Bay something a team needs if it’s going to string together playoff wins — a finisher who can get the opposing quarterback on the ground in the game’s final minutes and close things.

Things will change for the Packers’ defense without Parsons. He elevated other parts of it, and teams will play Green Bay differently. The Packers have enough to overcome it and still compete at a high level. But if you’re talking about beating, say, the Bears, Rams and Eagles in consecutive weeks on the road in January, that might be a lot to ask without their best player.

play

Foxworth: Parsons injury eliminates any margin of error for Packers

The “Get Up” crew breaks down what Micah Parsons’ season-ending injury means for the Packers.

Fowler: This injury isn’t a referendum on the Cowboys-Packers trade. Parsons was worth every dollar to Green Bay, playing brilliantly before what can be classified as a fluke injury. Parsons’ explosiveness could suffer in 2026, when Green Bay will undoubtedly start him on a pitch count, but he’s 26 years old, so there’s no reason he won’t resume his dominant play.

To your point, the Packers have one issue above all others: How will they close games? Luckily for Green Bay, it has quality pass rush depth with Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness, Kingsley Enagbare and others. And the Packers managed a top-six defense last season without Parsons. But he has been deadly in the fourth quarter with game-sealing playmaking. The Packers must get creative with their personnel to offset his loss.

What is the leaguewide buzz on Philip Rivers’ first start in five years?

Fowler: The overall feedback was that he was reasonably good, all things considered. “He played about as well as he could have,” an NFL offensive coach said. And that’s the challenge of playing a 44-year-old off the couch — “as well as he could have” equals 120 passing yards. And he had to strain for that 120. The football wasn’t exactly popping out of his right hand.

The Colts were never expecting fireworks from Rivers. But he ran a clean operation against an elite Seahawks defense on the road and seemed to get the Colts in the proper plays. He was ready to dirt the ball when pressure collapsed and made a few timely throws. That’s all Colts coach Shane Steichen can ask at this stage. Driving the ball deep downfield will be a struggle, and I’m curious to see how Rivers responds physically after back-to-back games. Do you have the Colts sneaking into the playoffs with Rivers?

Graziano: I do not, largely because of the way the teams in front of them are playing. The Jaguars and Texans have turned it on in the latter half of the season and look considerably better than the Colts right now. I understand what Indianapolis is trying to do with Rivers, and I’m hearing the same things you are about how pleased the Colts were with his ability to get them in and out of the right looks, change protections and all those things he needs to do to manage a game.

But it does not appear as if he will elevate them, and they’re going to need some help to get in — even if they can run the table. That won’t be easy, as they need to beat the 49ers this week and win their head-to-head matchups against the Jags and Texans to finish the regular season.

Fowler: The Colts know that Anthony Richardson Sr. had a prime opportunity taken away by an eye injury. He could have used this past month as a career springboard by potentially guiding Indy into the playoffs. “It sucks,” a team source said, citing Richardson’s positive training camp while battling Daniel Jones. Maybe Richardson can find his way into the lineup over the final week or two. But Steichen sounds like a coach ready to ride this out with Rivers, for better or worse. The schedule is simply brutal. Indy’s last three opponents have a combined 29 wins, putting another losing season on the Colts’ radar … unless Rivers can stop their slide.

Graziano: I guess I wonder what happens if they finish the season under .500 and miss the playoffs again. Are people on the coaching staff and in the front office on the hot seat? Remember, Indianapolis is sort of under new ownership, as Jim Irsay’s daughters inherited the team following his passing before this season. I wonder at what point Carlie Irsay-Gordon will look to make changes.

It’s certainly possible the Daniel Jones and Richardson injuries buy people some grace — everyone knows this Rivers experiment is a Hail Mary and miles removed from their best-case scenario. But the Colts have gone longer without winning the AFC South than any other team in the division, and it doesn’t look like that will change this season.

Make your best playoff-related prediction.

Graziano: The Bills will win the AFC. We still don’t know yet whether they’re going to the playoffs as a wild-card team or as division champs for the sixth year in a row (or at all, technically). But assuming they’re there, they would certainly be the most playoff-tested of the likely AFC teams. Quarterback Josh Allen has 13 career postseason starts and seven wins, both of which would be the second highest in the current AFC field behind Aaron Rodgers’ 21 and 10, respectively. (This holds even if Rivers drags the Colts into the playoffs, as Rivers has 12 career postseason starts and five wins.)

Lamar Jackson has eight postseason starts and three wins, but right now Baltimore isn’t in the field — and if it gets there, that means Rodgers won’t. C.J. Stroud has four playoff starts and two wins, Trevor Lawrence has two and one, while Bo Nix and Justin Herbert have zero wins (Nix has one playoff start, Herbert two). The Bills are aware of the experience difference between them and the rest of the AFC field, and they would point out with no disrespect intended that we don’t know how teams such as the Patriots, Jaguars and Broncos are going to do in the playoff pressure cooker. The Bills feel pretty confident they know what it’s going to be like — even if they have to go on the road.

play

Is this Josh Allen’s best shot to win the Super Bowl?

The “Get Up” crew discusses if this is the year Josh Allen finally leads the Bills to a Super Bowl.

Fowler: Solid argument, Dan. Buffalo’s time might be now, even if Allen must will a Super Bowl berth into existence with heroic weekly outputs. Buffalo’s supporting cast is good but not great.

Staying with the AFC, give me the Texans for a Super Bowl run. They are 9-2 in their past 11 games. Stroud is back and playing good football. The defense might be the NFL’s most feared. Several teams I’ve talked to after playing Houston have talked at length about that muscle-bruising physical defense. The offensive line has settled down lately. And wide receiver Nico Collins can take over a game. Much will depend on their draw. If the regular season ended right now, the Texans would be in New England in the wild-card round. That’s a winnable game.

Also, I’ll say Mike Tomlin will get his first playoff win since 2016. The Steelers will win the AFC North and steal a wild-card game at home. They are flawed, but they have an identity built through their running game.

Graziano: In the NFC, I’m going with the Bears to win a game or two, especially if they can beat the Packers on Saturday. That will go a long way toward giving them the NFC North title and at least one home playoff game. When talking to Packers people before Sunday’s game in Denver, I came away believing they were extremely impressed with Ben Johnson’s bunch, whom the Packers beat in Green Bay the week before, and are certainly not overlooking the importance of this week’s rematch.

Chicago’s run game is outstanding with the two-headed attack of D’Andre Swift and rookie Kyle Monangai. It could give the Bears an edge if they end up in close, low-scoring playoff games in the cold. And while quarterback Caleb Williams is still young and a bit of a wild card, he has come up big in some late-game spots already this season.

Fowler: As far as quick exits, Denver is on my radar despite its impressive push for the No. 1 seed. The AFC feels more open than in years past, and though the Broncos’ offense has improved in recent weeks, I still can’t shake that midseason lull it had in eking out wins against the Jets and Raiders.

Denver has a dominant defense that can overcome its inconsistent offense. And to his credit, Nix knows how to move an offense downfield. He finds a way, especially late in games. I’m just not sure Denver has enough firepower at the skill positions to keep getting by in January. I might look foolish for this take considering Denver seems to be peaking at the right time.

Who is the most interesting offseason trade candidate?

Fowler: I have several candidates, but let’s start with A.J. Brown. The weekly concerns about Brown’s messaging — from sonnets to sound bites — must be taxing on Philadelphia’s locker room, even if players understand the receiver’s frustration due to the limitations of the Eagles’ passing attack. Several executives I spoke to believe the Eagles could look to move Brown, who is 28 and still has prime years left.

He would undoubtedly have a market. He’s due $50 million in cash over the next two years, which is manageable for a WR1. The Eagles would absorb a $20 million cap hit if he’s traded before June 1, or they could save $7 million on the cap by waiting until after June 1 to deal him. Either way, the Eagles have shown cap challenges won’t deter them (see: the Carson Wentz trade). And it seems that Brown would welcome a new passing game at this point.

Graziano: Mac Jones is under contract with the 49ers for next year at $2.8 million, but the way he played in relief of Brock Purdy this season has people wondering what it would take to trade for him (and presumably pay him more) to come in and compete for a starting role. There are plenty of teams with unsettled 2026 quarterback situations (Colts? Steelers?) that could look to a 27-year-old former first-round pick who has been through the Kyle Shanahan career rehab program as part of their potential solution.

Fowler: The quarterback trade market is worth watching, particularly with supply failing to meet the demand once again. Jones might be the next reclamation project QB to take off in a second act. This leads to a conversation on Kyler Murray, whom the Cardinals are subtly — or quite obviously — trying to stash to preserve his health for a potential trade this offseason. His nearly $37 million in guarantees on the 2026 books complicates the market for his services, but Murray is 28 and isn’t far removed from fringe top-10-QB status.

Does a safe landing spot exist for Murray? Working with, say, Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota would be ideal, but J.J. McCarthy has shown improvement over the past two weeks. The Raiders and Jets are among teams that appear to be in transition at quarterback. Whether a team takes a chance on Murray’s maligned career — and gives up draft capital and financial resources to do it — remains to be seen.

Another name on my radar is Chiefs corner Trent McDuffie. The last Kansas City corner eyeing a big extension, L’Jarius Sneed, was shipped to Tennessee for a draft pick. McDuffie would have value, and Tampa Bay would be a perfect spot for him.

play

Woody: It’s time for the Chiefs to retool

Damien Woody explains why the Chiefs should reshape their roster after Patrick Mahomes’ injury and missing the playoffs.

Graziano: The Chiefs always seem to let cornerbacks go when it’s time to pay big money, but a big reason they’ve been able to get away with that is that they always have a replacement ready to go — as McDuffie was when they traded Sneed, and like Sneed was when they moved on from Charvarius Ward. I’m not sure they have that heir apparent on the roster, unless they think it’s Joshua Williams or Jaylen Watson.

When the rubber hits the road with McDuffie, it’ll be interesting to see whether that pattern is a result of how they value the position or is more about their confidence in drafting corners and Steve Spagnuolo’s ability to develop them. It’s also worth noting that Watson, Williams and safety Bryan Cook are all eligible for free agency after this season. The Chiefs have a lot of decisions to make about their secondary.

What else are you hearing this week?

Graziano’s notes:

• There are a number of theories bouncing around the league regarding Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who followed up last week’s gloomy news conference with a shockingly poor performance by himself and the entire team in Sunday’s 24-0 loss to the Ravens. That game eliminated the Bengals from the playoffs, and Burrow continued to seem uncharacteristically despondent afterward. Receiver Ja’Marr Chase even said, “You never know what he might be going through.”

A couple of the people whom I’ve spoken to about this worry that Burrow could be going down a road similar to former Colts QB Andrew Luck, who retired early because he grew weary of constantly rehabbing injuries. But I also spoke to a couple of people who insist Burrow is obsessively competitive, loves football and is just down about the way this season has gone from a win-loss standpoint.

Regardless, this offseason looms large for Burrow and the Bengals, who are assured of their first losing season since Burrow’s 2020 rookie year and will miss the postseason for the third year in a row. There is also speculation around the league about the future of coach Zac Taylor, and the team has major roster questions on the defensive side of the ball, where high draft picks haven’t panned out and the switch from Lou Anarumo to Al Golden at defensive coordinator didn’t change much. Burrow remains the centerpiece of everything the Bengals do (many seem to believe his relationship with Taylor is one of the reasons Cincinnati might stay the course at coach), and getting/keeping him happy will be at the top of their offseason priority list.

play

Rex Ryan: Joe Burrow is the only one trying to bring it for Bengals

Rex Ryan believes Joe Burrow is disgusted with the performance of his teammates after their loss to the Ravens.

It’s important to note that Burrow has never said he’s unhappy in Cincinnati and has taken opportunities, even recently, to explicitly state the opposite. But his recent comments about his own happiness and the way he and the team played Sunday in a must-win game aren’t helping tamp down the outside speculation that things aren’t great between him and the Bengals.

• Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel has made a quarterback change late in Tua Tagovailoa’s disappointing season. Here’s the math on where things stand with Tagovailoa and the Dolphins. He has $54 million in fully guaranteed compensation in 2026. That breaks down as a $39 million salary and a $15 million option bonus that needs to be exercised between the first and third days of the 2026 league year in March. Additionally, on the third day of the 2026 league year, $3 million of his $31 million 2027 salary becomes fully guaranteed. So if he’s on Miami’s roster as of 4 p.m. ET on March 13, the Dolphins will be on the hook for $57 million guaranteed.

If they were to release him before that date, they’d still have to pay him the $54 million in 2026 cash and would absorb $99.2 million in dead salary cap charges. (They could spread that out over two years if they designated him a post-June 1 release, but they’d still take $67.4 million in dead money charges on their 2026 cap and the remaining $31.8 million in 2027.) If Miami were to find a way to trade Tagovailoa before March 13, the acquiring team would become responsible for the $54 million in 2026 salary and bonuses, and the Dolphins’ dead-money charge would drop to $45.2 million. If they traded him after March 13, presumably they’d be on the hook for the $15 million option bonus, while the new team would take the $39 million salary; the Dolphins’ dead money charge would be $60.2 million.

None of this is even close to ideal, obviously, as it would leave Miami in a terrible cap situation and also without a quarterback. The Broncos took $80 million in dead money charges (spread over two years) when they released Russell Wilson in 2024, and they managed to make the playoffs last season and currently hold the 1-seed in the AFC playoff field for this season. So huge dead money charges don’t necessarily kill a team’s chances. But one of the reasons it has worked for Denver is it found a first-round QB in Bo Nix who could play right away.

Rookie Quinn Ewers could theoretically be a 2026 starting option if he shows enough in these remaining three weeks. But moving on from Tagovailoa would probably require the Dolphins to be players in that Mac Jones/Kyler Murray/etc. second-chance QB market if they want to compete next year. Not a great spot for whoever their next general manager turns out to be.

• Speaking of Nix and those red-hot Broncos, I spoke over the weekend with veteran tight end Evan Engram, who has played with a wide variety of quarterbacks in his time with the Giants, Jaguars and now Broncos. He said the thing that has impressed him about Nix is his desire and ability to quickly fix mistakes. “You know when you have a gamer,” Engram told me. “He’s a guy who’s going to go out there and make whatever play he needs to make, whether it’s with his arm, with his feet, whatever is needed in that moment. He obviously has tremendous confidence. He’s had games or moments he’s wanted back, but the coolest thing about him is, when he makes a bad play, instantly it’s like, ‘I’m going to get this fixed.’ So he has that confidence and that ability to make plays in the pocket with his arm, and he’s also able to correct things in a very quick period of time.”

Coach Sean Payton is keeping the Broncos very much aware of their goals and what’s in front of them. He has preached the importance of winning the division and claiming the AFC’s top seed, which is why there wasn’t a celebration in the postgame locker room on Sunday, even though their victory over the Packers clinched Denver a playoff spot. The Broncos still have more they want to accomplish. “Sean’s been very open and real about our goals,” Engram said. “So now it’s, ‘Let’s finish. Let’s not back in.'”

Payton is trying to become the first head coach in history to win the Super Bowl with two different teams. The Broncos can clinch the 1-seed this weekend with a victory over the Jaguars and losses by the Patriots, Bills and Chargers.

Fowler’s notes:

• Bucs coach Todd Bowles’ profanity-laced tirade Thursday night had been building. In fact, just minutes earlier, Bowles had addressed the team with even more scathe, unleashing in a way that he hadn’t all season. He made it known he was going to do the same on the podium. One team source described the postgame scene as Bowles’ effort to wake up a team in a slumber.

Losers of five of the past six, the Bucs are pressing on offense and reeling on defense. They are playing third-string offensive guards and the pass rush is poor. Those are not easy fixes at this stage. But from what I’m told, part of Bowles’ frustration that spilled over last week is related to the lack of total buy-in on parts of the 53-man roster. That’s not a problem with players like Baker Mayfield or Mike Evans, who was so visibly shaken by the last-second loss to Atlanta that he entered the tunnel toward the locker room before Zane Gonzalez’s kick went through the uprights. Some of the younger players, however, are still learning how to be pros with an edge and killer instinct and need to shed the “happy to be here” mentality. Center Graham Barton said it best: “We all have to look in the mirror.”

play

Schrager: This Bucs defeat is the single worst loss this entire NFL season

Peter Schrager explains how the Buccaneers have put their season in jeopardy after Thursday night’s loss to the Falcons.

The Bucs still believe they are better than the Panthers. Beating them twice (Weeks 16 and 18) will ensure a fifth consecutive division title. But this is a team that’s failing to turn the late-season switch like in previous seasons, and the defensive issues are not easily correctable. At least they are built to win a shootout. The receiving corps might be the league’s best pound-for-pound. The team is especially excited about the return of Jalen McMillan, who picked up where he left off in the preseason with two catches for 38 yards. Emeka Egbuka has hit the proverbial rookie wall, so don’t be surprised if McMillan’s profile grows. On defense, Zyon McCollum was placed on injured reserve, and the Bucs should be getting rookie corner Benjamin Morrison (who has missed the past month) back in time to fill the spot.

• In a familiar script, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin shrugged off portrayals of his demise with back-to-back wins. Here’s my read on Tomlin’s future with the team after making a few calls … Tomlin’s contract runs through 2026 with an option for 2027, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported. Some of Tomlin’s past deals have included an option, which is somewhat common in the NFL. Typically, the team has picked them up. They could do the same this offseason. But one source predicted, “If they don’t, and Tomlin has success in 2026, the team would most likely extend him.”

Otherwise, not much has changed with the dynamics around his future, about which both sides will inevitably discuss at some point in the offseason. I was reminded by multiple people that Tomlin is fiercely loyal to Pittsburgh as a city and organization. I would be at least mildly surprised if he realistically entertained being anywhere else. And the Steelers have redirected the season with wins over the Ravens and Dolphins, forcing a clear path to the playoffs (win in Week 18 over Baltimore, and the Steelers are in).

“There’s no panic in the building,” a source said. “That’s how weeks like [Week 14] pay off. The people there [including team president Art Rooney II] aren’t on social media. It’s business-like there. Mike identifies what the problem is and he digs into the film with his staff to fix it. It’s really that simple.”

• The pressure is mounting on Pete Carroll in Las Vegas after the team has struggled to stay competitive at 2-12. Here’s my sense after asking around Tuesday: The Raiders knew 2025 would be a bit of a slog due to some roster deficiencies, but they hoped they would stay competitive — at least more so than this season’s horrific point differential of minus-167, trailing only the Titans (minus-169). One team source acknowledged, “It wasn’t supposed to be this bad,” and that something will need to change.

Whether removing Carroll is that change has not been crystallized. But the proverbial hot seat chatter doesn’t appear to be going away. As one source with knowledge of the Raiders’ operation noted, what the team needs is what it thought it had with Antonio Pierce — a high-energy first-time head coach with a high ceiling. The Raiders didn’t have enough patience to find out whether Pierce (who went 4-13 in his only full season in Vegas, saddled by bad quarterback play) could mature into that. Either way, the Raiders appear to be in danger of a second consecutive one-and-done in the top leadership role.

• Ohio State is looking to strengthen its grip on the NFL Rookie of the Year award. Egbuka and Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson are prime candidates to become the seventh Buckeyes player to earn an offensive or defensive ROY award since 2016. No other school has more than two recipients during that span. Henderson is tilting the odds in his favor after rushing for 490 yards and six touchdowns over the past five games, while Egbuka’s production (58 catches, 870 yards, six touchdowns) compares with other top rookie receivers such as Carolina’s Tetairoa McMillan (59 catches, 851 yards, six touchdowns). The list of former Buckeyes with the award is impressive: Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (2023), Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson (2022), Saints defensive end Chase Young (2020), 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa (2019), Commanders cornerback Marshon Lattimore (2017) and Bills defensive end Joey Bosa (2016). Penn State and LSU are tied for second with two recipients.

• Rams wide receiver Davante Adams is a long shot for Thursday night vs. the Seahawks, but the Rams are not ruling him out, holding out hope. A source considers Adams week-to-week after he reaggravated a hamstring issue. So it’s essentially a hamstring pull. Usually players don’t come back from that on three days’ rest for a Thursday night game, but let’s see what the Rams decide here.

• Bears receiver Rome Odunze (foot) is considered “week-to-week right now,” per a source. While the team is looking at all options with Odunze’s nagging foot issue, placing him on injured reserve would be at least a mild surprise. It makes sense to keep his availability open, even if he sits a week. But like with Adams, let’s see what the team decides.

• Packers safety Evan Williams (knee) could miss multiple weeks after getting injured Sunday against Denver. The injury is not considered severe, and Williams is hoping not to miss any time, but Green Bay, which is notoriously cautious with injuries, is prepared to be without him in the short term. Williams leads the team in interceptions with three.

• Ravens corner Chidobe Awuzie, who’s having a nice bounce-back season after Tennessee released him, is dealing with a midfoot sprain, I’m told. There’s a chance he can make it back by Sunday but missing at least a week is on the table.